http://www.thefword.org.uk/images/logo2003.gif 2009-07-03T16:45:12Z Latest comments made on The F-Word Blog tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//8 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2009, The F-Word 2009-07-04T11:26:39Z 2009-07-04T11:26:39Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30048 polly styrene said: Christian: I'm white. If I was to convincingly alter my appearance so that I appeared black, I may be able to experience some of what being on the receiving end of racist behaviour feels like. HOWEVER, I have still lived my entire life with white privilege, and that is what I have internalised. So I wouldn't understand how BME people experience racism at all. Because that has been their lifetime experience. Women and girls, from birth, learn to live with the constant, unspoken threat of male sexual violence. One day, or week, or month of having the tables turned, when they know they can return to male privilege in the 'real world', won't give a man an idea of what women experience. And that is completely ignoring the fact that what most actual straight men would do in your imaginary gay club situation isn't to feel objectified, but to react aggressively. ]]> polly styrene 2009-07-04T07:31:24Z 2009-07-04T07:31:24Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30045 Hannah 2009-07-03T21:40:17Z 2009-07-03T21:40:17Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30033 Laura Woodhouse said: Just to let everyone know: I'm on holiday for the next ten days, so won't be able to reply to any comments. Holly will be moderating comments in the meantime. Cheers.]]> Laura Woodhouse 2009-07-03T19:33:38Z 2009-07-03T19:33:38Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30031 Jack Leland 2009-07-03T17:36:27Z 2009-07-03T17:36:27Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30030 Lucy 2009-07-03T16:37:56Z 2009-07-03T16:37:56Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30028 David Kames 2009-07-03T15:41:44Z 2009-07-03T15:41:44Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30027 Rebecca 2009-07-03T15:31:54Z 2009-07-03T15:31:54Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30025 Sarah 2009-07-03T14:32:37Z 2009-07-03T14:32:37Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30022 Rosa 2009-07-03T12:44:39Z 2009-07-03T12:44:39Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30018 Karen 2009-07-03T12:42:13Z 2009-07-03T12:42:13Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30017 Victoria 2009-07-03T10:32:11Z 2009-07-03T10:32:11Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30013 Laura Woodhouse said: Thanks for the link to Charlotte Cooper's blog, fascinating reading!]]> Laura Woodhouse 2009-07-03T09:58:10Z 2009-07-03T09:58:10Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30009 Sal 2009-07-03T09:55:34Z 2009-07-03T09:55:34Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30008 Jess McCabe said: Best evidence suggests is that the false report rate for rape is around 2-8%, in line with other types of crime. A tiny number of people do lie, that's bad. However, the rape conviction rate is 6% in England and Wales and lower in Scotland. And only a tiny proportion of rapes are actually even reported to the police. Given that in the current situation it's incredibly unlikely for rapists to even end up in court, and then if they do, to get convicted, then it seems perverse to start convicting people who the police believe are falsely reporting rape. ]]> Jess McCabe 2009-07-03T09:46:14Z 2009-07-03T09:46:14Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30007 Jess McCabe said: @Sal I don't think anyone's really attacking David, personally. It's just somewhat frustrating when you point out some incidence of sexism or discrimination or whatever, and there's always the inevitable "ah, that's business for you", "they're doing it because it makes money", comments. I'm sympathetic to David's critiques of the capitalist system, but agree that given that there's no imminent signs of a revolution, more interested in what can be done now to address the situation. I also don't agree that capitalism has to be dismantled before this situation can be addressed at all - women pay their license fee to the BBC too, and play and watch tennis. The market economy is relegating women's tennis to the status of eye-candy in response to the sexism of the individuals making decisions, their perceptions of sexism of the audience and actual sexism of the audience. Also, neither the tennis club nor the BBC are (theoretically) commercially-driven organisations, they both will have in their charters other commitments, so there's even more room to challenge their decision-making. There's plenty of leverage for change, such as through David's and Lisa's suggestions of actually watching women's sports and turning off men's sports, lobbying for the same uniforms regardless of sex, playing sport ourselves, writing into the BBC.]]> Jess McCabe 2009-07-03T09:37:19Z 2009-07-03T09:37:19Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30006 Lisa L 2009-07-03T09:27:50Z 2009-07-03T09:27:50Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30003 Sal 2009-07-03T09:21:33Z 2009-07-03T09:21:33Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30002 Jess McCabe said: @Lisa L I think it's completely inappropriate, given a) the incredibly low conviction rate for rape, b) the incredibly low levels of reporting for rape and sexual assault, c) the high level of belief in rape myths. When someone has to go and report being raped to the police, they shouldn't have to be worried that they'll end up with a criminal record.]]> Jess McCabe 2009-07-03T09:18:15Z 2009-07-03T09:18:15Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30001 Helen 2009-07-03T09:08:13Z 2009-07-03T09:08:13Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.30000 Lisa L 2009-07-03T04:55:14Z 2009-07-03T04:55:14Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29980 Christian 2009-07-02T23:55:14Z 2009-07-02T23:55:14Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29959 Sophia 2009-07-02T23:04:50Z 2009-07-02T23:04:50Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29956 Jess McCabe said: @Pacian I think it's pretty clear from my post I agree that "interactive media" has a lot of potential. Games are just another form of media. ]]> Jess McCabe 2009-07-02T22:59:45Z 2009-07-02T22:59:45Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29955 David Kames 2009-07-02T20:44:51Z 2009-07-02T20:44:51Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29943 Sherry 2009-07-02T19:47:09Z 2009-07-02T19:47:09Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29935 Sarah Learmonth said: 2 weeks on and we have 48 out of a possible 648 MP signatories. This says loud and clear what Westminster thinks about rape and it's victims. The Home Office puts the cost of each rape at £76,000 and yet Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre is funded only £160 per victim. Only 1 Conservative MP has signed up as yet. Please lobby your MP's and ask them to sign up.]]> Sarah Learmonth 2009-07-02T19:07:25Z 2009-07-02T19:07:25Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29930 polly styrene said: Alternative explanation Olivia - maybe spammers think men are more gullible and will fall for the magic penis enlargement pills. ]]> polly styrene 2009-07-02T18:17:25Z 2009-07-02T18:17:25Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29925 Pacian said: Try playing Punch the Red Ones Only again. The more 'red ones' you punch, the redder everyone becomes. "some themes just aren’t meant to be fun." Out of interest, would you feel it summed it up if someone pulled out of a competition for short stories or movies on domestive violence for the same reason? Just because a narrative is interactive, does it have to be pure entertainment, where static narratives can be harrowing or bleak? I guess I just think that interactive media has great potential for showing people what prejudices they have and what assumptions they make. And also as a way to argue against those who use 'choice' and 'personal responsibility' as ways to blame people for things that aren't their fault.]]> Pacian 2009-07-02T15:34:51Z 2009-07-02T15:34:51Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29907 Eurosabra 2009-07-02T14:57:32Z 2009-07-02T14:57:32Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29900 Melanie 2009-07-02T14:57:15Z 2009-07-02T14:57:15Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29899 Octavia 2009-07-02T14:33:37Z 2009-07-02T14:33:37Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29898 Laura Woodhouse said: @ Sean Jehenna has perfectly described why, while recognising that men of course have insecurities, I don't think they are comparable to the experience and feelings I articulate in my post. We're talking about having to deal with an entrenched structural bias against women, and it is within this that our experiences are situated. I'm not really interested in porn because my sexuality is very much geared towards having other people involved - I'm not interested in getting off on my own. But, as Lattie said, there is actually very little porn aimed at straight women that is not sexist or stuffed with porn-for-men clichés - the straight female gaze is really missing, even in the small amount of self-proclaimed feminist porn that I've seen (I'm actually bi, but I find it really hard to enjoy sexualised images of women because of how they make me feel about myself, among other things - another post entirely I think!). And there are almost no websites devoted to sexualised images of men aimed at straight women, seriously, it's astounding. But whether or not I'm interested in porn and whether or not women choose to make porn is irrelevant to my experience as a woman in a society designed for heterosexual men, as Jehenna so clearly points out. @ Lattie Thanks for sharing your experiences. I agree with you on the femdom stuff - it's all about the men getting off on the women, not genuinely dominant/sadistic women getting off on the mansubs. Bitchy Jones writes some amazing stuff on this: http://bitchyjones.wordpress.com. @Lisa, No, I don't watch any of this shit if I can help it, but avoiding it doesn't mean that I'm not aware of its presence, of the role it plays in other people's lives and the effect it has upon them. So while ignoring it does of course minimise my potential for being angry/upset, just knowing that mainstream society portrays me as wank fodder for men is enough to get me pissed off.]]> Laura Woodhouse 2009-07-02T14:24:25Z 2009-07-02T14:24:25Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29897 Anne Onne 2009-07-02T14:02:41Z 2009-07-02T14:02:41Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29895 David Kames 2009-07-02T12:00:23Z 2009-07-02T12:00:23Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29883 Hazel 2009-07-02T08:17:43Z 2009-07-02T08:17:43Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29858 JenniferRuth 2009-07-02T07:14:36Z 2009-07-02T07:14:36Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29849 Qubit 2009-07-02T04:53:49Z 2009-07-02T04:53:49Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29838 polly styrene said: That is really problematic suggesting that LGBT spaces should be used to prove some point to heterosexual men is both exploitative of LGBT spaces and would impact on the relative safety of those spaces - such suggestions on invasion of these spaces is really problematic. Would we be similarly happy with suggestions of sending straight women into lesbian/bi spaces just so they can get an experience? Or men into all women spaces? This already happens Louise! It's now illegal to have a gay/lesbian only space. And straight couples wanting threesomes have been cluttering up Canal street for years. As well as hen parties playing "snog a lezzer, straight men who are just there to cause trouble etc, etc, etc. ]]> polly styrene 2009-07-02T02:24:18Z 2009-07-02T02:24:18Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29828 Jehenna 2009-07-02T00:47:41Z 2009-07-02T00:47:41Z tag:www.thefword.org.uk,2009:/blog//2.29818 Milly Paige said: 6) Trans genital surgery and all other trans related surgeries and medical intervention do not make one a 'male' or a 'female'. I'm assuming you mean that it is a trans person's sense of their own gender that makes them male or female, and the medical intervention allows them to more easily live as that gender, but is not what originally determines their gender, is that correct? You are entirely correct there! sorry, thought I'd clarified that, but it *was* really early in the morning! lol! xx]]> Milly Paige