The Feminist

[profeminist]

Comic source

Better Birth Control Access Could Drop Abortion Rate 67%, Save $12 Billion

#StandWithPP

My post on the 100% hypocrisy of the so-called “Pro Life” movement

[angeliclizard]

Yes. This. All of this.

[buzzfeed]

We Surveyed Hundreds About Tech’s Harassment Problem. Here Are Their Stories.

More than 500 people told BuzzFeed News that they’d been targeted with harassment and discrimination while working in tech, and it had far-reaching implications for their careers and personal lives.

More than 500 people told BuzzFeed News that they’d been targeted with harassment and discrimination while working in tech, and it had far-reaching implications for their careers and personal lives.

Tech is one of several fields — including entertainment, media, academia, and politics — that have been rocked by an outpouring of sexual harassment and discrimination allegations in 2017. Silicon Valley’s harassment problem is exemplified by stories of blatant prejudice, like ex-Google employee James Damore’s anti-diversity memo, and abuse, like the allegations of systemic sexism detailed in Susan Fowler’s Uber blog post and the alleged behavior of certain powerful venture capitalists whom female entrepreneurs accused of harassment and intimidation. This kind of mistreatment was reflected in the hundreds of responses to our survey and in dozens of follow-up interviews we conducted. Our respondents also detailed the insidious, death-by-a-thousand-cuts effects of harassment and discrimination that are harder to put a finger on. (Although most survey responses were about sexism, our respondents also reported other types of discrimination.)

[tatteredbooksandinkypages-deact]

Hey!! Can I ask why are you pro abortion? I mean you have this prompt where you wrote your body, your choice and you reblogged that abortion is not murder? and it said it simply isnt? Like yes it is murder. like youre killing the life before gotten a chance to live. I mean if ppl cant handle the responsibility, shame or they think theyre not yet ready then use protection or better yet dont practice premarital sex. I mean if its not murder, what do you call the procedure of killing an unborn kid?

Hi! 

Okay, yes it is no shock that I am pro choice. Why? Because it is about choice. Women aren’t breeding centres where their main role in life is to carry children and give birth to a child. I don’t think it is fair for a woman to carry around a child she does not want. It isn’t fair for the child either. 

What if the woman was raped? 

Is she meant to carry around that child then, if she doesn’t to? On top of having to live with the fear and anger and trauma after the attack, the psychological, emotional, physical and mental damage that this person has done to her, she has to carry around a child that is the product of a rape? 

What if she was raped and she’s a teenager or younger? What if she was still a child? I was nine when I got my first period. There are cases that I’ve heard where a girl as young as twelve fell pregnant and she died during child birth because she was forced to keep the baby. Is that fair? 

What about her body? She’s been through emotional, physical and mental hell and then she has to carry a baby around, that she doesn’t want, while the rapist is off scot-free. And she’s a child herself. Is that right? In your opinion? 

In mine, that’s not right at all. I believe that a woman has a choice over what happens to her body. If she doesn’t want to have a child, then she doesn’t have to. It isn’t murder because the child hasn’t formed yet. You do realise that when a woman becomes pregnant, the child takes nine months to form? In the beginning, when most abortions take place, the child isn’t a child. 

It is a cluster of cells. Even if the abortion took place later, it is not murder. The cells aren’t a sentient being. 

I don’t think it’s fair to judge someone because they had sex. A woman is allowed to have sex. She’s allowed to explore her sexuality and of course, using protection is good to ward off diseases and unwanted pregnancies, but sometimes, these things just happen. Why is it that the woman gets the blame? Doesn’t the man? It takes two you know. 

Some women aren’t financially stable to have a child. They may be mentally unwell, too young, or the victim of abuse. Or, in some cases, they just don’t want to have the child. It’s her body. She has a choice. It isn’t fair for her to give birth to a child she doesn’t want. For either her or the child when it is born. 

My mother had breast cancer and fell pregnant with my little brother not long after. She was assured that no harm would come to her or the baby, so she had the child because she wanted to. But if she had chosen to have an abortion, would I have called her a murderer? No way. 

Abortion is not about killing a child. It is about terminating a pregnancy and each woman has her own reasons. The child, the baby, isn’t formed yet. In the beginning, when a woman is pregnant, as I said, all it is, is cells. She’s not killing something. Because it’s not alive yet. It doesn’t have a heart or a brain or a set of lungs. You can call me a murderer all you want. 

But I am a strong believer in a woman’s choice. 

[feminismandmedia]

Anon..it’s literally not murder. It doesn’t fit the definition. 

[tatteredbooksandinkypages-deact]

Just for reference for anyone wondering, this is the original ask.

[tatteredbooksandinkypages-deact]

Also, this:

stay-square-noobs

What about all of the men who refuse to wear condoms? Fake putting them on, or take them off mid session?? Birth control can be expensive and hard to come by for women and girls. No not everything relies on the woman as you said it takes two to tango, the relative ease that men dodge responsibility with is disgusting.

So wouldn’t using a condom be killing something as well?? Masturbating? Those poor spern that could have turned into a baby. People with so little education and so much ignorance need to keep their mouths/keyboards closed.

This person is basically saying a woman’s responsibility is to be a womb and have their children, her worth only lies in that and that’s disgusting. It’s not like abortion is throwing on a pair of shoes in the morning it’s a hard decision and is by no means just running away

I hope you don’t mind me adding this. But I just had to. 

[parkranger-monster-fucker]

No problem dude I’m really passionate about this stuff too. Especially with life experiences, it ticks me off so much when people attack like this it doesn’t make sense. And sadly no matter what we say their mind isn’t going to change because they’re so stuck in their ways .

[tatteredbooksandinkypages-deact]

Exactly @stay-square-noobs!

[yeetusmcneetus]

What really makes me angry is the fact that when teenagers and young women fall pregnant, everyone talks so much trash about them, but not about the father of the baby. He had just as much of a part in the conception as she did, but everyone only wants to blame the girl.

[tatteredbooksandinkypages-deact]

@yoghurtbowl thank you very much. Exactly. Why does everyone jump to blame the girl? What about the man?

It takes two and it’s the SPERM THAT IMPREGNATES THE EGG. Not the other way around. Why doesn’t he take any of the blame?

[yeetusmcneetus]

@tatteredbooksandinkypages there was a girl at my school last year who fell pregnant, and decided to keep the baby. I am incredibly glad to say that both mother and baby are happy and well, but what I am upset about is the way that people talked about her throughout the pregnancy. Everyone, and I mean everyone, talked so much shit about her, and called her the most awful names, yet not once did they mention the father of the baby. By the time the baby was born, I knew every little detail about the girl, and her life, but I didn’t even know the name of the father, or hear him mentioned. And that’s just wrong. And I’m going to go on to sing the praises of the girl a little bit, because she still went to school up until a week before she gave birth, and she did incredibly well in her exams, and is going to go to university as a mature age student once her child is a bit older. She is only 5'2, and has a tiny frame, but she was lugging a baby around school in her stomach for so long, and I just think that she’s incredible. Sorry about the rant, but it is something that I feel strongly about.

[tatteredbooksandinkypages-deact]

@yoghurtbowl I agree. You never have to apologise to me. Rant away. She’s an incredibly strong young lady.

It’s infuriating that the guy is never mentioned.

People are so quick to blame women for everything. It’s fucking sickening.

[deeplylearning]

If you are butthurt over the fact that there exist special conferences specifically for women in physics only, not men in physics, I’m happy to block you. Because I have no interest in arguing with you.

Women are minorities in physics (roughly 20%). We face unique problems that men in our field do not face. Conferences for women function as a safe space for us to enjoy our field without the gender bias and sexism we face at regular conferences or, really, every day in our own departments. A space for us to come together and talk about our experiences and encourage each other to stay in this field we love.

It is not a place intended to specifically exclude men. Rather, it is a place to include or even protect women.

One of my friends decided not to pursue physics after graduation because at an interview she was actually asked, “Do you think you can keep up with the boys?” A man in a female-dominated field would never be asked that question.

There are countless stories on the internet of women being forced out of their labs and/or entire fields because their advisor was sexually harassing and/or assaulting them when those advisors have too much influence in their field not to completely destroy the careers of those women.

I watch as my male classmates do their homework together, asking each other questions, collaborating freely and openly, with no judgment. But whenever I study with them and ask a question, I am treated like a burden to them. Even though I’m doing just as well in my classes as the boys, if not better than many of them.

I would hear the boys gossip about the girls in the other year of physics. Making judgmental comments about their work. Comments that were more severe on them than their male counterparts that were clearly doing worse. One of the girls they made fun of I was told by another girl in the program, “Yeah. She got a 100 on nearly every assignment. She was so smart.” But they didn’t want to see that side of her. They only picked out her mistakes.

I was sexually assaulted at a national physics conference by an older man in the field. But I guess I was too naive to talk to him about his career, right? I was asking for it at a professional conference where I was trying to network and build my career? My pant suit was too sexy or something?

Honestly, fuck you if you think women don’t deserve to have their own conferences. We fucking deserve it. If you didn’t realize it before, I hope this helps you understand. But if you outright refuse to acknowledge this problem, I have no time for you.

[bellygangstaboo]

She doesn’t even know the difference between a Muslim and a Sikh. She just made herself look extremely stupid right there. Uneducated unaware and uncultured. That’s what she is. Sikhs are one of the nicest people on earth and the very fact that a woman who thinks middle east is a country is abusing him angers me. We need politicians like him here in the US.

[fratboykate]

Guys, the first images of Irma’s level of devastation are coming out of Barbuda and it’s heartbreaking. The President of Barbuda says that 90% of the island is uninhabitable, upwards of 60% of the TOTAL population are now homeless because the hurricane destroyed virtually every building and home on the island, and that the estimated damage is valued at no less than $200 million dollars. That’s money a small island like that doesn’t have. They’re saying it’s going to take years to rebuild and Hurricane Jose is right behind Irma on the same path which means they could be hit twice. This is just one of the islands being affected.

Please, show up for the Caribbean like you did for Houston. There is no safety net for any of these islands including mine. They’ll rely entirely on foreign aid. Find local charities or global trustworthy charities (NOT the Red Cross) and make a donation asking them to aid the Caribbean. There’s whole countries being turned into rubble with no financial means to repair their infrastructures. They’re going to need help.

[fratboykate]

For the hundreds of people replying or in my inbox asking “Why not the Red Cross?!”:

Google is free.

Why The Red Cross Faces Backlash on Harvey Relief Efforts [Washington Post]

Red Cross Built Exactly 6 Homes For Haiti With Nearly Half A Billion Dollars In Donations [Huffington Post]

Red Cross Exec Doesn’t Know What Portion Of Donations Go To Harvey Relief [NPR]

Report: Red Cross Spent 25 Percent Of Haiti Donations On Internal Expenses [NPR]

Seriously, guess where I found all of those in two solid minutes of searching? Google. Even better, they didn’t charge me a penny for it. 

Stop wanting things to be spoonfed to you. While you waited for someone to link you to sources, you could’ve done it yourself and already donated to people who desperately need it. 

[fratboykate]

Because people are also asking where to donate instead of the Red Cross:

MercyCorps [89% rating on Charity Navigator]

Heart To Heart International [97% rating on Charity Navigator]

Direct Relief [100% rating on Charity Navigator]

Habitat For Humanity [83% rating on Charity Navigator // Because with islands like Barbuda 90% destroyed and French St. Martin said to be 95% destroyed then people are going to need homes built]

Catholic Relief Services [90% rating on Charity Navigator // For those who would want to donate to a religious organization]

If there is a note or comments section on their donation page please do let them know that you would want your money to go to their Caribbean relief efforts. Houston and Florida have the US government backing them in whatever they will need but these islands will have very little except for these charities to fall back if they have any hope of rebuilding what seems to be entire countries in some cases. For the people who lost everything even a few bucks will go a long way. 

For the most part I would suggest staying away from privately launched GoFundMes unless you know the person directly. Ultimately, you just never know where those funds are going to end up and if your money will be used wisely. Sure, the same can be said for charity organizations but at least there is a better shot at possibly helping through them. The five listed above are world known and have been studied by charity oversight organizations. It’s as close to perfect as we’re going to get.

[batboyblog]

[meursaults]

A consequence of feminism merging with pop culture is that it’s becoming commodified. Teens are buying feminist etsy patches and are putting ‘intersectionality’ into their twitter bios, but are failing to engage or critically think about how the sexism woc face is often racialised (i. e i n t e r s e c t i o n a l i t y) I mean i’m all for visual representations of your feminist praxis, but f e m i n i s m is much more than some cool quirky watered down tumblr aesthetic

[andwhatexcellentboiledpotatoes]

Okay of course I’m happy that Malala got accepted to Oxford, but I really want to know more! What did she write for her personal essay- “Just google me bitches”? Did she have to do an interview and if so did she just plonk her nobel peace prize down on the table? Did her student counselor advise her to apply to other crappier places just in case she wasn’t accepted? Was there anyone who actually turned down freaking Malala Yousafzai, I need to know!!

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

#she just walked in and was like ‘i go here now’  #and they were like ‘thank you’

[erudite-princess]

Right right right - I put this in the tags of my reblog but this is bugging me so I’m going to chat about this.

Malala wasn’t automatically accepted to Oxford, with them just going ‘yeah, you have a Nobel Prize. Welcome to our university’. She had a CONDITIONAL offer to university. If she didn’t get the required grades, she would’ve run the risk of being rejected, especially as the course she’s going to do is super super competitive. She applied to Oxford through UCAS, meaning she had to apply in October. To put that in perspective, my application wasn’t for Oxbridge or Medicine/Dentistry, so I had to apply by January. She also would’ve had to do an entrance exam thing and an interview, and even then she could’ve been rejected. You don’t apply to Oxford and Cambridge unless you have A*AA MINIMUM as your predicted grades. Just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you automatically get an unconditional offer, especially not from super competitive universities. Oxford and Cambridge pretty much never give out unconditional offers.

Through UCAS, you can apply for five courses. Malala would’ve had 4 other courses to be allowed to apply for, and probably would’ve applied for other unis. However, she wouldn’t be able to apply to Cambridge. She probably did apply to other unis, and probably had an insurance in case her grades weren’t up to scratch for Oxford.

As far as I understand, you aren’t allowed to prioritise accepting someone famous. Everyone gets an equal opportunity.

A few of us were joking on twitter that a Nobel Prize wasn’t enough for an Oxford unconditional. Her experience would’ve helped her application, and her Nobel Prize would’ve been mentioned, but her grades would have been the deciding factor to bring her in for interview. It wasn’t even until she got an offer that people found out she’d applied.

In the UK, generally, university applications and offers are dependent on predicted grades. Some unis, including Oxford, will pay little attention to your personal statement.

In other words, Malala does deserve her place, and she worked so fucking hard to fulfil her offer conditions. Same as thousands of other students in the UK. She is an absolutely exceptional woman, and deserves her place, but don’t be under the impression that they automatically accepted her because she has a Nobel Prize.

Apologies for how long this is, but people don’t seem to understand the university application system in the UK, and having just gone through it, got a place at my top university and now getting ready to move, I know a fuck ton about UCAS. Mainly from my stress research. Don’t think Malala could step back when applying for unis; she still had to compete for her place, and work as hard as she could to get in.

[totallyamelia]

Actually, yeah, everyone should have the right to a meal, housing, and the ability to have an income. These shouldn’t be privileges. 

[bloodqueenmsk-deactivated201710]

In which an angry Republican proves that capitalism is ridiculous as hell

[sazandorable]

… These are all literally human rights? I keep seeing stuff like this and. Do people not know about the human rights?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(…)

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(and that’s just the basics on that topic, 22 is a good summary and 24 is worth knowing about too, and by the way since it’s currently relevant, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” is article 9.)

[gender-evil-rose]

Friendly reminder the USA have not ratified the Declaration of Basic Human Rights.

[i-the-throw-away-deactivated201]

“Yes, being in a female dominated field, I do know what it means to be marginalized. “

oh

my

god

omg

oh my fucking god

[freedominwickedness]

The really ugly part is they’ve actually done multiple sociological studies on this, and guess what the result is? Men in female-dominated fields aren’t marginalized at all; they get special treatment and are fast-tracked to the top, getting more credit for their work, faster promotions, and greater pay and benefits than their female colleagues.

Here’s one study. Here’s another. And another.

[momqueer]

^phenomenon known as the glass escalator

[dynastylnoire]

have you ever been around male nurses….mannnn

[sourcedumal]

Men in female dominated fields are entitled as hell. Don’t get it twisted

[greatmardini]

teaching is a female-dominated field but most principals are male

librarianship is a female-dominated field but most directors are male

[lechugaaaaadeldiablitoooo]

Cooking is female dominated but most chefs are males

[pinkcheesegreenghost-deactivate]

a large percent of hair stylists are women,  but most major hair care brands are owned by men

[righteoussness-deactivated20210]

literally cannot stop thinking about this.

[yayfeminism]

Why does being a woman put you at greater risk of having anxiety? Part biology, part what we teach our kids about their place in the world.

[jumpingjacktrash]

and it teaches boys not to bother asking for help, and that their hurts will be ignored. you can see how that can lead to a) a higher death rate from depression because we refuse to get help, and b) acting like bullies because if my bruises are nbd then so are yours you big baby, here have some more.

sexism is a plague on us all and we need to stop inflicting it on our children.

[aki-anyway]

When someone says these days sexism and misogyny don’t exist anymore show them this.

[micdotcom]

Women engineers get real about the worst sexism they’ve experienced at work

When Annie, a 29-year-old software engineer in Austin, Texas, fixed her male coworker’s code while he was on vacation, he got mad.

“He said to me in front of everyone that I was a cunt because I thought I could write better code than him,” Annie told Mic in a Twitter message.

Annie said she responded to her coworker during the team meeting, telling him that his comment was “out of line,” but none of the other men spoke up. She was the only woman on a team of nine at a mid-size startup.

“Shortly after, I asked to move to another team, which was approved, and he got promoted,” she added. Read more. (7/17/2017 11:13 AM)

[v-is-a-cyberpunk]

A version for tumblr that can be read without opening a new tab, since plenty of people would scroll past this story otherwise.

[fuckyeah-nerdery]

The bravest woman on Earth.

[unofficiallyjuni-deactivated201]

I love her. Forever reblog.

[theatsymbol-deactivated20210220]

I have the utmost respect for this woman. 

[the-dream-i-had]

please reblog. reblog the way you would reblog a picture of a hot singer, a pretty girl, a tasty meal or some nice stationary. Because this will not make your blog ‘less aesthetic’ or anything. This is important, far more important than anything I’ve mentioned before.

[cassolotl]

Two applicant profiles were created for a police chief position. One profile was streetwise and one was formally educated. When the streetwise candidate was named Michael and the formally educated candidate was named Michelle, participants tended to choose Michael-and when questioned why, would believe that streetwise characteristics were more important for the job of police chief. But when the streetwise candidate was named Michelle and the formally educated candidate was named Michael, participants would still tend to choose Michael, and would now believe that formal education was more important. This is how we are as humans. Many people who discriminate “feel especially convinced that their selected candidate is the obvious and objective choice.”

From The Best Candidate is a Lie by Brie Code for gamesindustry.biz, referencing this 2005 study. (via cassolotl)