By Jess McCabe | 4 December 2008, 17:31

US feminist bloggers and activists are organising a conference next year in DC, called Fem2.0.

I like their list of conference goals:

To harness the power of women on the Internet to promote women’s issues.

To create a forum - starting with the Fem2.0 website and continuing through the event - for women to discuss the issues that are of most concern to them today, and to encourage them to use the Internet to learn more, express their opinions about them and advocate for policies that benefit women and families.

To create an opportunity for a “meeting of minds” across generations and media platforms.

To unite women’s voices behind the issues that the vast majority of women support, such as education, healthcare, workplace fairness and economic security.

To position women’s issues and their advocates for the incoming administration.

To draw new audiences to women’s issues, especially those who are Internet-focused and can cross-pollinate to increase activism.

Expand the audience of women engaged in online media activity and activism.

Penny Red has written a must-read post, about how the mental health services “treated” her with creepy attempts to correct her gender presentation and sexuality:

When I was in a mental institution, a lot of otherwise well-meaning medical professionals conspired to screw up my gender identity pretty much permanently, for the best of reasons (they wanted to help me get better) and the worst (they believed that conforming to received ideas of ‘feminine’ behaviour was the best way for me to demonstrate a new, mentally healthy outlook).

Zoe at Shameless pulls together some information on “vulvodynia, severe and often debilitating pain at the opening of the vagina”. She says that after researching a piece on vulvodynia, she found out that relatives and friends had experienced the condition. She also makes this point:

Sadly, even when the condition is mentioned in the mainstream media, it will be misrepresented or trivialized. Magazines will say “if you’re having pain ‘down there’ talk to your doctor” - without mentioning that your doctor will frequently know less than you do.

Mirror’s Edge is absolutely the next game I’m going to play - Latoya at Racialicious has an interesting analysis, not of the game-play, but how the conversations about the game have gone. ‘Games’ I don’t intend to play include this.

Rhetorically Speaking hilariously charts the Daily Mail’s hyprocricy on its coverage of the Polish community. Sparked off by its coverage of Chris Moyles saying:

‘If you’re Polish you’re just very good at ironing…in my experience prostitutes make very good cleaners.’

Wow, yeah, Polish people are just naturally suited to domestic labour and prostitution.

PortlyDyke wrote another amazing post, this time on the subject of being in the closet.

Over at Bird of Paradox, Helen calls attention to a case where a doctor was let off without jail after sexually assaulting a trans woman.

Kay at The Gimp Parade highlights a case in which the family of a 16-year-old girl are still to be allowed to care for her, although they’ve been convicted of raping her.

And, finally, Sinclair asks what are your Identity Alignment Assumptions?