Femmostroppo Reader – August 4, 2010

Items of interest found recently in my RSS feed. What did I miss? Please share what you've been reading (and writing!) in the comments.

• A look back at the original Star Trek series

– “I don’t consider a test audience’s response the final word on whether something like the original version of Star Trek could have survived. But TV does, and this sort of event is exactly why they industry believes it’s the audience forcing their choice to serve up bigoted material.”

• Sexism in Science

– ““Do you have any questions Sir?” The response was almost always the same – a glance at me, a cursory “Yeah.”, and then they would turn to one of my male colleagues and direct the question to one of them.

I don’t blame my co-workers. They clearly know far more about the rocket than I do. I mean, they have penises. All I have is the fact that I was the one who designed the damn rocket. *sigh*”

• NY: 17-month-old baby killed by man 'trying to make him act like a boy instead of a girl'

– “This is the lowest form of scum. If you haven’t reconciled your own masculinity issues, don’t work them out on a f*cking baby. “

• Don’t be a slut, you prude

– “I’m linking this because it’s great evidence of a pet theory I’m working on about how skeptical tools often used to debunk horoscopes and psychics can also be used to debunk reactionary dating advice.”

• Links across the bloggiverse

– some great links from definatalie.

• My feminist agenda. What's yours?

– food for thought

• The Week In Patriarchy

– Linkfest from Tiger Beatdown (BMichael)

• 5 Stupid, Unfair and Sexist Things Expected of Men | Reproductive Justice | AlterNet

– “So I’ve been looking more carefully at the specific ways sexism hurts men. In particular, I’ve been looking at our society’s expectations of men, our very definitions of maleness. I’ve been looking at how rigid and narrow many of these expectations are, creating a razor-thin window of acceptable manly behavior that you’d have to be a professional tightrope walker to navigate. (Which would be a problem, since “professional tightrope walker” is definitely outside the parameters of acceptable manliness.) I’ve been looking at how so many of these expectations are not only rigid, but totally contradictory, creating a vision of idealized manhood that’s not just ridiculous but literally unattainable.”

• last thoughts on motherhood stuff at feministe.

– “How hard would it have been for anybody to say–I’m unclear what you mean by bar, could you explain?

I have to also wonder why the logical extension of going to the bar (that nobody has asked for clarification as to what it means) must necessarily mean two things: 1. the parent with the child is going to “dump” the child or ignore the child and 2. the parent with the child is going to stay out until 4AM with the child, well past the child’s bedtime, and getting outofcontrol drunk to boot.

When I go to the bar (which I have defined as a bar and grill), I go there because I am tired and I want to spend time with my kids instead of making dinner. I go there so that I can spend more quality time with them.”

• Open Letter To Michfest Attendees

– “I am not, necessarily, asking you to not attend. I am asking you to answer, with action that I can see, this: How is this more than just a party in the woods? What does it mean that you can go and I cannot? I cannot forget that my body is not valid there. You cannot remain silent with me about this and expect me to trust you.”

Related Posts:

• Femmostroppo Reader – August 23, 2009 by tigtog
• Femmostroppo Reader – August 7, 2009 by tigtog
• Femmostroppo Reader – May 28, 2010 #feminismfriday by tigtog
• Femmostroppo Reader June 16, 2011 by tigtog
• Femmostroppo Reader January 12, 2011 by tigtog