become a feminist superhero

I am very dedicated to the cause (feminism) so this will be an continuing goal and I will come back to this but am marking this done.

I started taking my summer course from the Grad School program at Simmons College; Special Topics: Pop Culture. Loads of reading but I think I am going to love it!

We started off with a “word pool” (one of the techniques I use in “warming up” to write….and the writing that came from the hour was more real, more vulnerable, more piercing and strong than I have heard in a long time.

Kudos power women.

I am thinking I really am a feminist super hero already.

I am going to mark DONE and want to continue DOING!

Yay!

what it takes to become an official feminist super hero….

does that count?

^{I feel almost like I can mark this one “done”}

I know the old adage; it was on posters in my childhood classrooms. “What’s right isn’t always popular. What’s popular isn’t always right.” I seem to be following that as an unspoken motto for my life.

There is no situation that doesn’t pertain to that quote. Every time that I speak up, there has been someone, even if they only exist in the back of my head as a caricature of someone I expect to meet in real life, who stands there, telling me that what I’m doing is wrong.

I continue to do what I deem the right things. I regret nothing. I’ve been tormented by my classmates for my decisions and actions, but there is always a shining moment that makes me realize that I did the right thing.

I posted on another feminist forum about the situation detailed in lesson six. I asked them what kind of disciplinary action I should be asking for in my letter; and asked if anyone else had any sort of experience with situations like these. Is what the professor said, if found to be true, a firable offense? Or something to damage the track of tenure?

I was expecting to be met with the sentiment “there’s nothing you can do about it.” I was fully prepared for that. What I wasn’t prepared for was every single comment on my thread to be just that. Essentially, had I asked if I should give up, everyone thus far will agree with me.

Their comments are valid. They bring up many of my same concerns: that the statement was falsified or exaggerated. They bring up a better situation: finding someone who was in the class and urging them to report it. However, in the latter situation, it would be much more difficult to find someone in the class than to just go to the Office of Equity myself and show them the evidence I have.

Someone said that it was “not okay” for me to be bringing in the young man who posted the comment on facebook. I can understand that, in a sense. He is merely the bridge between the statement and the professor; however, he has made himself that bridge by posting the statement online. I don’t expect him to get in trouble for posting the comment, and I really hope he doesn’t. All I ask of him in the letter is that he is made to understand why the statement is wrong, which would go hand-in-hand with why the Office of Equity would be investigating.

Ultimately, I don’t care if it’s “not okay” for me to be using him this way. I’ve been in situations like these and the police don’t care if you’re an innocent by-stander; they will question you. They have to. It’s their job. This guy witnessed a comment that was wrong, and because of the vantage point of the situation, he will be questioned. Plain and simple.

Had I posted something that got one of my professors in trouble… Yeah, I’d be pretty upset. But it doesn’t matter how I feel about the statement, because in the end, it wouldn’t be my fault that he got in trouble. It shouldn’t be, at least, because others in the class are just as likely to talk about the statement outside of class.

Everyone is saying that it’s just “hearsay” and thus the university won’t take me seriously. Part of me knows how much my university relies on its image, and at the very least, this comment will be seen as bad press. (In fact, I may write that up in my report.)

I am not on a proverbial witch-hunt. I was trying to enjoy my damn facebook time and was smacked in the face with this statement. The very idea of a professor saying that and getting away with it makes my stomach churn. It affected me, thus I have a right to say something about it, even if it is hearsay. I can’t prove that it’s not, but I can inform the Office of Equity and they can do that for me.

If the university doesn’t take me seriously, I will probably let the situation go, unless something comes up that outrages me more. Just because it’s hearsay and there’s a chance I will be blown of does not mean that I shouldn’t speak up. Think of how many people have spoken up only to be ignored, or murdered, and then they and others continue speaking up, knowing what the consequences are.

I won’t give up that easily.

It disheartens me that a bunch of educated feminists who I respect all disagree with what I’m doing. That they all think I probably shouldn’t say something, because the university won’t take me seriously. If they don’t think I should do it and it’s not “important” enough to make a record on, what will my university think? Will they take me any less or more serious?

I cannot control how the situation will unfold. That is one thing that I am always reminded of by someone, to the point where the end isn’t even what matters to me. I will continue to have nightmares and stomachaches about this until I inform the Office of Equity, and from there on, will come physical release. I will be able to sleep well knowing I did the right thing, although I might continue to be outraged at the way they will handle the situation.

I am disheartened by all of this.

From the Overheard at (My University) facebook group:

“Psychology teacher talking about altruism:
‘You know, I dont think I’ve ever done anything altruistic… Oh, wait, I have. I saved a girl from being sexually harassed… I took a cold shower.’ :]”

Are you fucking kidding me? I’m used to this kind of shit from my peers, but a professor?? If you don’t understand how hateful and hurtful and wrong this professor’s comment is, reply and I’ll enlighten you. I would like to think that shit like this is obvious, but I realize there are a lot of (willingly or unwillingly) ignorant people in the world.

I really wonder how this comment went over in the class. Obviously the guy who posted it thought it was cute, telling by his smiley afterwards.

I messaged him, by the way, and asked what professor said this, adding, “Was it So-and-So?”

Here’s where a lot of people don’t understand some of the things I do: I asked because there is one professor in the Psychology department who is constantly written down on Overheard. His students keep track of the usually funny things he says. The likelihood of it being him is pretty high.

Also, by asking if it was him, it creates familiarity between myself and the guy who posted the comment. Just asking him who it was might have scared him; by saying, hey was it So-and-So, it shows that I have some knowledge of the Psychology professors, and thus the guy might be more willing to say “Yes/No, it wasn’t.”

This guy comments back that he “thinks so” and when I ask him why he doesn’t know, and that I asked because several of my friends are in So-and-So’s class, he replies that he doesn’t pay much attention to his professor’s names.

This is somewhat sketchy, as is the whole situation. He could be making up the comment, but that isn’t an excuse not to investigate further.

And if you don’t think I’m going to ask someone to investigate further, then you don’t know me at all.

I’ve printed screencaps of the Overheard group, as well as the messages between the guy who posted it and myself, and I will be taking them to the Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity on Monday.

From there, they will probably contact the guy and ask him if it was true/who the professor is, and it’ll be out of my hands.

I’m just a bystander, really; the situation was only made mine when the guy posted the comment on a public forum… unfortunately furthering the hate.

I am very intrigued as to what’s going to happen. Hopefully something will happen, and it won’t just go ignored.

As a radical feminist my first steps in feminist superherodom are writing my feminist blog and helping to get my local feminist activist group off the ground. :D

I remember an old skit on the Carson show that featured Ed Ames, the actor who played Tonto, and how he demonstrated on national TV how he could throw a hachet across the room and hit a target. Ames threw the hachet at a cowboy target right in the middle of the crotch. As he went to retrieve the hachet, Carson stopped him and quickly said, “I didn’t even knew you were Jewish ^{which Ed Ames was} and Johnny closed with “welcome to Cowboy briss.” The skit and how the target was hit was an accident and generated many laughs and one of Carson’s greatest moments.

Now, we have another target against women, there’s an offensive ad that shows women in a bad light like this one shown, some might just say, “aww, you making too much of all of this, aren’t you?” However, if just one person finds it offensive doesn’t that defeat and purpose of the marketing campaign? Why did they have to shoot the camera angle so that the youing lady appears right in the center of the circle, legs wide open? Many feminists, like myself, are going to complain to Target, and ask for an apology why did they do this? It’s going to hurt their business and some may boycott shopping there.

I don’t think Target was trying to get laughs like the Carson axe throw skit was, and if they didn’t want to “target” women, why didn’t their ad execs screen the ad before they placed it on a Hugh billboard for everyone to see in NYC Times Square?

i really wan to do it cause boys smell?

The other week I made a phonecall to a women’s center at another university.

To complain about a man who has apparently been asked to step up and become President of their student women’s organization.

A man who claims he is “god’s gift to women”, that he is supposed to “have sex with women and make them fall all over me”, that radical feminists are the reason anti-feminists exist and that radical feminists need to “shut up” and “oh, I guess they would tell me that I’m using my male privilege there, har har.”

We were all shocked by his comments, and we all did our best proving his ideas to be immature, but he wouldn’t let up.

It hit me when I was walking to work that I can’t merely stand by and let the women’s center remain unaware of his statements on this feminist forum. Chances are they do not know how he is representing them, and they should take that into account before asking him to become President.

I lost a few nights of sleep over this before I finally made the call, and was transferred to an administrator in the Women’s Center.

She took down my notes, took down the specific thread where he made these comments, and said that this was “very important” for the current President to look at and talk to him about and “tell him to stop”; she herself said she would “have a word” with him.

It wasn’t serious until she asked me if I had gone to their meetings, and I replied that I did not go to their university.

I explained at the end that I felt it was my duty to inform them, and they can do whatever they want with the information; I just hoped they would look into it.

I felt a burden lift off my shoulders when I hung up the phone. I’ve done all I can do, and I did the right thing.

And still, some people accuse me of being a sexist. Of only calling because he is a man. That I somehow wouldn’t have done what I did if he were a woman, and that’s ridiculous. The people making these statements need to look at what they’re saying. If it were the opposite: “oh you just did that because she’s a woman and you’re a man”... well, I doubt anyone would say that.

I did what I had to do and it had little to do with his being a man or a woman. It had everything to do with his comments, which were anti-feminist and sexist. It could have been a lesbian woman making the same statements; they’d be just as wrong. In implying that I wouldn’t have called if it was a woman, they are assuming heteronormativity regarding the statements like being “god’s gift to women.”

Sure, had he not said those sexist things first, I might have been more hesitant to call the women’s center. But his feminist-bashing plus sexist comments cannot be ignored.

I’ve also had people say “so? who cares… radical schmadicals.” I’m all for pointing out the flaws in feminism and working to fix them. I am not okay with people claiming that radical feminists are to blame for the negative stereotype of feminists. After all, “man-hating” is probably just the societal reaction to a group of women wanting to have their own space, or women who love women. And no bras were burned, therefore the burden does not fall on the women who threw bras in a trashcan, but the society that took that act and grossly misrepresented it. We should not, therefore, blame these women for their actions, but look at the society in which these actions were performed and how that society acted.

We should rebel from the feminist stereotype, but in doing so, we must not alienate those who fit it. What this man was doing was devaluing the options that women have, saying that if they’re feminist, they better not refuse shave their legs and continue to make us look bad. And if we don’t shave our legs? Well, we’re the reason that anti-feminists exist, which is bullshit.

As a group on this forum, we tried to engage discussion off of his statements. Okay, let’s talk about first-wavers being racist. Radical feminists and how they treat trans individuals. Let’s point out the flaws and decide how we’re going to fix them! Let’s not just claim that the “third wave is here to stay and radical feminists can shut up.” What does that accomplish?

I doubt this man has ever met a radical feminist. Or maybe he feels threatened by them, as a straight male. Who knows.

All I know is that the biggest problem he has with radical feminists is that they don’t do anything. “They do nothing; they sit on their asses and complain.”

Well, this “radical” feminist got off her ass and did something, and I hope he knows about it.