The, uh, Late Sunday Linkfest

[jhameia]

>_>

Anti-Racism: What Went Wrong? (Namely, too many white people took over. Oh irony!)

Columbus, Go Home!

PhDork fisks this "feminine-ist" article

A timeline of Geocities services. Epic.

The Pornography of Non-Rejection, or, why the fuck is Twilight so goddamn popular?

Ten Webcomics You Should Read and more recommended in the comments!

In Defense of using the term "Douchebag" as an insult, because you know, women aren't allowed to choose insults we use.

John Cho goodness. John Cho totes gives my Asian brothers hotness cred <345678

What is "authentic" Americcanness?

Ian McKellen on religious bigotry, out actors, and his epitaph.

Shakers of Shakeville had varying but great conversations on the Nova Scotian forms

Cripchick warns allies about the term "professionalism".

This just in: Family Friendly Workplace Politics Enhance Competitiveness. NO REALLY?

Adorable little video on the fall of empires

Horrible advice given to a woman who got ditched by her husband after she decided to keep her baby conceived when she was raped by her boss. Because, you know, men are assholes, apparently. Hugo Schwyzer, M. LeBlanc, Amanda Hess and Amanda Marcotte weigh in.

Here's a random academic sentence generator! Still Life with Cat has a an interesting take on what it does.

How Not To Be An Asshole, by the Czech

A quote on the loss of 'membership' to a group once you start speaking out against its -isms.

Zuzka on some academic chick who excludes feminists even though feminism is what gave said woman the right to belong in academia in the first goddamn place.

Comments

[ardwynna-m.livejournal.com]

I've only in the last month or so realized that 'douchebag' was meant to be a gendered insult. Like one of the commenters mentioned, my first thought was of anal douching (who says reading all that yaoi is unproductive?;P). I'd long known vaginal douching to be a big no-no and considered it a silly practice of days long gone by the time I first heard the word used as an insult.

Yay for John Cho! The ads for 'Flash Foward' were barely getting a rise and then all of a sudden, THERE HE WAS! What's that, Airbender casters, about Asians not drawing in an audience?

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

You know I'm not fan of Twilight, but nor am I a fan of this (or most other) Twilight-bashing articles, for the very reason pointed out in the article you linked:

It’s understandable, and even a little disturbing that we expect women to be ashamed of having these kinds of sexual fantasies. After all, no one who has even an ounce of sophistication would deny that men have a right to watch all sorts of trashy porn without their general good taste being questioned.

As long as no one raises an eyebrow about James Bond or the countless tidal wave of Marty Stu male protagonists, then it's sexism plain and simple to demand answers and analysis for why women like Twilight. Many men like trashy absurd escapist fantasy. Many women do too. The very existence of articles like this, dissing women for liking this schlock reinforces the idea that women must explain and justify their desires, while men get free reign. Fuck that. =/

Secondly, the article criticizes the lack of sex:
In many romance novels, the sex is based around coercion, if not outright rape. In “Twilight”, there just isn’t sex.

A lot of erotica for women I’ve read avoids the infantilizing trap, and centers around female characters who know what they want and go get it.

Considering that first admission that sex is often a painful leverage tool about power plays that put men in the driver seat, why criticize Twilight for avoiding that realm altogether? What if waiting for sex is what the character wants?

The article author wants to see "female characters who know what they want and go get it", but what if they don't want sex?

I'm depressed by this idea that chaste girls are repressed and must be liberated. Only sexually active women are liberated. There are plenty of reasons why a woman might chose to postpone sex (or choose satisfying masturbation over unsatisfying sex). This notion that only sexually active women are liberated and chastity is worthy of ridicule really sickens me. Just as much as the feminists who think all women should be in the workforce and not choose to be homemakers. That very idea that "We know what you women need more than you do" smacks of misogyny whether it comes from men or feminists.

Hello there!

[theczech.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Hi! Thanks so much for linking to my blog. I just wanted to point out that I didn't wrote that "How Not to Be an Asshole" bit... I was just reposting it because it was getting hard to find.

The real author is Chris Clarke. Just giving cred.