12 September 2008

Non-gendered recognition

Here’s the ideal opportunity for the gender abolitionists amongst us to do something simple and positive to show our support for someone who’s trying to make a practical difference. Christie Elan-Cane has made a request for support in per fight… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 12 September 2008

22 August 2008

Silence please

I read the report, Many support ex-principal in gay rights case (link here) in the NWF Daily News with an increasing sense of incredulity and outrage. It raises so many questions, but it seems that the judge’s view is that… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 22 August 2008 | Comments (5)

16 August 2008

Kellie Telesford

Kellie Telesford, a 39 year old black woman, lived in south London where she worked as a florist and beautician. Her body was found by police officers (who had been alerted by her friends, worried because they could not contact… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 16 August 2008 | Comments (37)

3 August 2008

An open letter to cis feminists

In my opinion, every non-trans person who calls hirself a feminist should click over to the blog Sexual Ambiguities and read this post and its comments: An open letter to cis feminists The article has been reposted in full at… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 3 August 2008 | Comments (62)

29 July 2008

Computer says…

Mike On Ads has a mildly amusing toy which analyses your web browser history to estimate your gender… (Or should that be "construct your gender"?) Mike says that the idea of this kind of analysis is far from new and… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 29 July 2008 | Comments (43)

23 July 2008

When is a Lesbian not a Lesbian?

A couple of months ago, three islanders took gay rights group OLKE, the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, to court to get a ban on anyone except islanders and their descendants using the term Lesbian. The issue was about… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 23 July 2008 | Comments (10)

18 July 2008

We are the robots

Kate Bornstein has posted quite an imaginative take on the genders of the two robots in the animated movie WALL•E. She considers it from the point of view of being: ‘[…] a feature length cartoon about a pair of lesbian… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 18 July 2008 | Comments (2)

11 July 2008

Whose cup floweth over?

Marks & Spencer has defended its policy of charging typically £2 extra on some of its bras that are bigger than a size DD. The retailer said that the additional cost is "standard industry practice". The policy has drawn protests… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 11 July 2008 | Comments (10)

4 July 2008

“Pregnant man” gives birth

Thomas Beatie, the so-called "pregnant man" (see also these previous posts here, here and here) gave birth to a baby girl on 29 June in Oregon, according to this report by Reuters. Father and daughter were said to be "healthy… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 4 July 2008 | Comments (21)

27 June 2008

Race, gender identity, the justice system and the beating of Duanna Johnson

The slowness of Black civil rights organisations to denounce the police brutality towards Duanna Johnson in a Memphis Criminal Justice Center (link to my earlier post) has been given a thorough analysis by Monica Roberts, founder of the African-American trans*… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 27 June 2008 | Comments (2)

26 June 2008

Equalities Bill announced

The Government’s Equality Minister, Harriet Harman, has said she wants to tackle entrenched pay discrimination against women and to create a workforce more representative of society. Ms Harman defended plans to make it legal for firms to discriminate in favour… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 26 June 2008 | Comments (20)

25 June 2008

Carnival of Feminists No 59

The Carnival of Feminists No 59 is up at Philobiblon. And as Natalie says, there’s "a veritable cornucopia of feminists posts". And she’s used an interesting way of organising the links: they’re in the order in which the nominations arrived…. Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 25 June 2008

22 June 2008

Stop smoking or the IVF treatment gets it

The Observer newspaper today reports that childless women, and in some cases their partners, too, are being asked to stop smoking before they can be considered for fertility treatment. A Department of Health survey released to Labour MP Sally Keeble… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 22 June 2008 | Comments (13)

20 June 2008

UN labels rape as a ‘tactic of war’

The UN Security Council has approved a resolution that demands warring governments and factions act to halt violence against women, calling rape a war crime and a component of genocide. Sexual violence in war is nothing new. Accounts of women… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 20 June 2008 | Comments (3)

Transphobic violence: the video

It is something of a truism that women are second class citizens - and transsexual women merely second class women. This has been graphically demonstrated this week with the (belated) news (via Pam’s House Blend and others) of the beating… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 20 June 2008 | Comments (3)

15 June 2008

Genome sweet genome

According to AFP, researchers at Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the Netherlands have mapped the full genetic sequence of a woman for the first time. A statement issued by LUMC said, "[She]’s the first woman in the world and… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 15 June 2008 | Comments (8)

13 June 2008

Crosstown traffic

The US Department of State has published its 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report, which reviews the efforts of the governments of 170 countries to combat people trafficking. (The full report is available for download from the US Department of State’s… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 13 June 2008

7 June 2008

Livin’ it up at the Hotel California

For me, one of the worst terms of abuse is to be called ‘it’ - usually it’s just another piece of street harassment that goes with the territory of being a trans woman who doesn’t ‘pass’ very well. But, so… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 7 June 2008 | Comments (6)

1 June 2008

Crazy love

Further to my recent blog posts Mad as hell (cross-posted here at The F Word) and Still mad: more on DSM-V/Zucker/Blanchard, I see that Mercedes Allen has published on her blog the contents of an Open Letter to the American… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 1 June 2008

31 May 2008

Pretty vacant in pink

Goin’ ridin’ on the freeway of loveIn my pink cadillac Carrie recently made a technology-related post (link here) which captured my geeky attention. She was looking to buy a new USB memory stick and her search turned up, amongst other… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 31 May 2008 | Comments (25)

29 May 2008

(Don’t) show us yer tits

Renegade Evolution has an interesting post (link here) about that very gendered thing, the bra. Or, to be specific, one particular aspect of it: the lining. It seems that Playtex has introduced an additional little piece of foam lining in… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 29 May 2008 | Comments (23)

27 May 2008

Message in a bottle

The other morning, I got off the Tube near where I work, as usual, walked round the corner from the platform and just stopped in my tracks in front of this poster (click thumbnail to embiggen). The caption reads:… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 27 May 2008 | Comments (27)

25 May 2008

Calm down dear, it’s only a movie

Inevitably there are loads of reviews of the new Indiana Jones movie doing the rounds at the moment (IMDB link here, may contain spoilers) - and many of them seem intent on slamming it for its over-reliance on CGI effects… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 25 May 2008 | Comments (22)

21 May 2008

Thank a second wave (old) feminist if…

Daisy has posted what I think is a rather wonderful piece on her blog, and when I finally get to be Empress of the Universe (next week sometime, if my plans for world domination succeed!) - it will be emblazoned… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 21 May 2008 | Comments (5)

16 May 2008

International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO)

Tomorrow, Saturday 17th May, marks the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). This particular date was chosen because it marks the day in 1990 when the World Health Organisation (WHO) removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. If only homophobia… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 16 May 2008 | Comments (2)

11 May 2008

Mad as hell

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is an American handbook that lists different categories of mental disorders and the criteria for diagnosing them, and is widely used by mental health professionals worldwide, including "clinicians and researchers as… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 11 May 2008 | Comments (11)

Sexist culture drives women out of science

As something of a geek, I’m a little perturbed to read this piece in the The Sunday Times, Sexist culture drives women out of science. The gist of it is that "[a] time warp of 1970s sexist attitudes is driving… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 11 May 2008 | Comments (15)

Word of the week: liminal

"Liminal": according to Ask Oxford (the online Compact OED), it means either relating to a transitional or initial stage or at a boundary or threshold, but I really like William Gibson’s explanation, referring to ‘liminal spaces’ he says: "They’re not… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 11 May 2008 | Comments (2)

27 April 2008

And now blackamazon has quit blogging

Her final post is up at Problem Chylde. And when you’ve read that, you might want to go and re-read blackfemipower’s final post. Having Read The Fine Print is now invite only but the angry black woman is still around… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 27 April 2008 | Comments (11)

The sun has got hir hat on, hip hip hip hooray!

I’d like to start a new thread, based on a couple of comments in response to my post below, in which I said, jokingly, that I was putting on my ‘humourless trans feminist’ hat to write it. Amongst the responses,… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 27 April 2008 | Comments (11)

26 April 2008

58th Carnival of Feminists

I seem to have turned into the carnival queen this week but no matter - I’m more than happy to announce that the 58th Carnival of Feminists is now up at Be A Good Human - and the link is… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 26 April 2008 | Comments (1)

25 April 2008

That joke isn’t funny any more

The notion that ‘feminists have no sense of humour’ is a bit of a cliché so I thought I’d update it a little and put on my ‘humourless trans feminist’ hat. So here goes: Graham Norton’s recent ‘jokes’ about Thomas… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 25 April 2008 | Comments (13)

24 April 2008

Day of Silence

Tomorrow (Friday, 25th April) marks this year’s Day of Silence in America. The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996 and its purpose is to highlight the bullying and harassment of LGBTQ students, and their… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 24 April 2008 | Comments (6)

Don’t stop the carnival

Three bloggy carnivals for your delight and delectation: The Disability Blog Carnival (37th edition) is hosted by Cripchick. The Disability Activist Collective, a group of disability activists working to create change within the disability community by shifting focus towards culture… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 24 April 2008 | Comments (1)

23 April 2008

Walkies!

After the, umm, lively debate following Samara’s More on shoes piece, well, how could I not mention these two links? First, is an interesting take on the old adage "walk a mile in my shoes": The student newspaper of the… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 23 April 2008 | Comments (3)

18 April 2008

Gwyneth Dunwoody (1930-2008)

Gwyneth Dunwoody - the ruling Labour Party’s longest serving woman member of parliament - died yesterday. Mrs Dunwoody was fiercely independent and although a Labour MP, was nevertheless very outspoken about New Labour and its values. At the heart of… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 18 April 2008 | Comments (2)

17 April 2008

Feminism, racism and bfp

After the recent row over ‘intellectual theft’ - explained here: http://highonrebellion.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/intellectual-theft-is-still-theft/ - and here: http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2008/04/10/this-has-not-been-a-good-week-for-woman-of-color-blogging/ - and here: http://guyaneseterror.blogspot.com/2008/04/thats-all-she-wrote.html - and her resulting blog closure: http://brownfemipower.com/ - brownfemipower has written this: http://bfpfinal.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/3/… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 17 April 2008 | Comments (4)

16 April 2008

Money for nothing but the choc’s for free

This year’s Information Security Awareness week starts on 21st April and to highlight its approach, the organisers of a corresponding IT industry trade show, Infosecurity Europe, have carried out their annual survey and once again found that a lot of… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 16 April 2008 | Comments (15)

14 April 2008

Domestic Violence Act deters victims from seeking help

Jennifer Drew’s recent feature The epidemic of male violence against women has been depressingly underlined by a report in The Times which states that "applications for non-molestation orders have fallen by between 25 and 30 per cent since implementation (of… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 14 April 2008 | Comments (3)

8 April 2008

Nurtameen?

Lately I’ve been thinking about language, and how I use it in the context of My Life As A Trans Woman™. I’ve adjusted to some parts of the language but not to others. For example, I’m comfortable with pronouns: I’m… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 8 April 2008 | Comments (6)

4 April 2008

"What do you mean by ‘What do you mean?’?"

I’m still struggling with the questions I was asking in my previous post What is transfeminism? and wonder if it’s actually possible to combine the two in some sort of pragmatic symbiosis. What if - despite my personal conviction that… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 4 April 2008 | Comments (15)

30 March 2008

Cluesticks?

According to Live Science, a recent study by Indiana University’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences suggests that "young men just find it difficult to tell the difference between women who are being friendly and women who are interested in… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 30 March 2008 | Comments (7)

28 March 2008

What is transfeminism?

My gender dysphoria, transsexualism and consequent transitioning have informed many aspects of my opinions on Life, the Universe and Everything, including my still-developing views and beliefs about feminism. Yet there is still much for me to learn. For example, what… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 28 March 2008 | Comments (8)

24 March 2008

Tibetan Refugee

Tibet, or as it is also known, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is five times the size of the UK with 5% of the population. 10 March 2008 was the anniversary of the (failed) 1959 Tibetan uprising against the rule… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 24 March 2008

21 March 2008

A moment of reflection

In 1981 Bernice Johnson Reagon gave a presentation at the West Coast Women’s Music Festival in California. It was entitled ‘Coalition Politics: Turning the Century’. She Who Stumbles has provided a transcript. Inspirational words. (via Belledame)… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 21 March 2008

18 March 2008

D-I-V-O-R-C-E*

It’s been almost impossible to avoid the media’s coverage of yesterday’s divorce settlement between Heather Mills McCartney and Paul McCartney, and two random points have occurred to me: 1. The newspaper headlines always seem to be defining her in terms… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 18 March 2008 | Comments (13)

15 March 2008

Where sheep may safely graze

True confession? I’m one of those annoying people who wake early, even on a weekend. Another true confession? I listen to Radio 4 a lot. I live on my own and it’s company. So, last Saturday morning, I was semi-snoozing… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 15 March 2008

12 March 2008

Today is No Smoking Day

Here is a link to the No Smoking Day website. Here is a link to the NHS Go Smoke Free website If you’ve decided to quit today, good luck and I hope you’re successful. That’s all I’m going to say… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 12 March 2008 | Comments (2)

11 March 2008

The privileged few

Jess’ recent posts about class privilege at Liberal Conspiracy, and the Trans 101 For Dumbasses video by Calpernia Addams have started me thinking once again about the subject of ‘private law’, with particular reference to "My Life As A Trans… Read more...

Posted by Helen G at 11 March 2008 | Comments (6)