Fuck Sexism

[Zephira]

Also, I'm a gay robot. I doubt Z can boast that!
They show up side by side on my screen, but I'm using a seventeen inch (about the size of a small church).

[Radical_Dreamer]

There's one comment I'll make to you, Z, and that is this: Most people don't think they are wrong, or wicked. Very few people are of the mustache twirling, Dick Cheney type. They believe that what they are doing is good, and that is why they do it. Josh touched on this; people won't think that their behavior is sexist, or they will think that the world is somehow a better place for sexism. This is ignorance, and while the results of ignorance are almost evil, very rarely is the intention of the ignorant individual to do evil. Berating someone for their wickedness isn't going to be terribly productive if they sincerely don't believe they are wicked. I think you already know this, but sometimes it helps to be reminded of it. I know I need to remind myself of this from time to time.

[Lord J Esq]

Berating someone for their wickedness isn't going to be terribly productive if they sincerely don't believe they are wicked. I think you already know this, but sometimes it helps to be reminded of it. I know I need to remind myself of this from time to time.

You? You're like the Great Bearded Fluffy Kindness Guy. When have you ever berated the wicked? Do you have a sordid past we should know about? Did you kill a man? Are you Osama bin Laden?

[ZaichikArky]

No, I wasn't confusing anyone. Actually, I was agreeing with Zephira's post which I thought was a response to Zeality.

[Lord J Esq]

My mistake. But at least I got an opportunity to trot out that ridiculous picture of ZeaLitY. I love that picture.

[Uboa]

I am very familiar with female genital mutilation as this was one of my professor's special focus of study when I was doing anthro (and she was one of the best profs in the program). It is a sick practice and so many young girls die from it, and those who do survive remain affected for basically the rest of their lives. The worst kind of female genital mutilation is called infibulation, where the clitoris is hacked off as well as some parts of the labia, I believe, and then the labia is sewn shut.

Another terrible thing about infibulation is the fact that the wound must be re-cut and subsequently sewn every time a woman who has had the "procedure" gives birth.  Otherwise the skin can't stretch enough, and this can obstruct the baby and put the mother's life in jeopardy.  

[Zephira]

It was a response to his invitation, but it's directed more towards everyone. Z is not the only one brash in his words. diplomacy and patience are tools that everyone forgets, at one point or another.

I'm curious, what does QTF stand for? Urbandictionary says it's "quoted for truth", but that's a bit out of order...

[ZaichikArky]

Yes, "quoted for truth" is correct.

[Radical_Dreamer]

You? You're like the Great Bearded Fluffy Kindness Guy. When have you ever berated the wicked? Do you have a sordid past we should know about? Did you kill a man? Are you Osama bin Laden?

It's not something I enjoy doing, but when people are rude or disrespectful to people I care about, I have no qualms about humiliating them for their disgracefulness. I much prefer, however, to be fluffy and kind. It means my friends are being treated well.

To offer an analogy (tangentially related to a comment I made in the libertarianism thread) I'm glad that there are police officers, but I'd be happier still if there were no need for them.

And bin Laden's malnourished facial droopings can not match the justice of my beard. Huh. No bearded icons, huh? Very well then, such is the price of beardlessness: http://www.drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=21&issue=1

[Thought]

Very few people are of the mustache twirling, Dick Cheney type.

And yet, oddly enough, O' Dicky supports same-sex marriage. Even the mustache twirling, Dick Cheney types aren't totally without a shred of humanity.

The problem with that is that many people see Christianity as an inherently sexist religion..

Not the Romans, though. One of the main complaints about Christianity back in the day (the first few centuries C.E.) was that they treated women and slaves like equals. This did, admittedly, change over time, particularly as Christianity began to be turned into an ossified religious structure.

But as much as I would like to, I won’t go into a long defense of religion (and trust me, I can be very long; Lord J can attest to this). There is a little known, 8th deadly sin: the sin of sidetracking a very important topic with a non-sequiter discussion on religion as a whole.

Let me propose that in this case, religion is a red herring. If Josh is right and religion is naught but bunk, then all the sins of religion are the sins of humanity, all the faults of religion are the faults of humanity. Addressing sexism in religion, under such an assumption, just addresses as single symptom of the sexism that is part of humanity itself; it ignores the underlying cause(s). Faust asked the question of what motivates men to support the sex-slavery industry. The answer to that question does not lie within religion.

One of the really disturbing things about that article that you linked to, Sajainta, is how under-the-radar the sex-trafficking industry is (certainly not the only really disturbing thing; that article had a lot). It is quite possible that I've seen a young girl being transported to another hellful experience on the New Jersey Turnpike, or that a "father" I passed at Disneyland is really going to commit a crime against humanity.

Then there are the stories about sexual abuse in general, like the father in Australia who sired four children with his daughter. Even if the sex-trade industry evaporates overnight, people like this would remain.

I would like to bring your attention to the neighbor of the man:

One neighbour told the paper that she had suspicions about the man for at least four years but took no action because she did not want to interfere.

"I didn't go to anybody because it wasn't anybody's business," she said, accusing the woman who encouraged the victim to report the crime of being a "busybody".

Until humanity can figure out what is causing individuals to engage in sexually abusive activities, this highlights a good way we can all help the situation: Get to know your neighbors.

America has largely turned into an isolated society. How many of us can say we know our neighbors well? What about the other people on your street? The clerk at the grocery store? Etc. A house on your street might really be infested with the scum of humanity, but how would you know? Our isolation allows activities like this to continue. Ignorance doesn't wash us of blame, it only makes our fault worse.

Now I'm not saying we should all turn into sex-spies; rather, just take an interest in your fellow humans, those that are right outside your door. And, of course, if something’s f'ed up, take action. But if every person who didn't engage in the sex-trade made an effort to get to know their neighbors, that would make America a much harder place to conduct "business" of this sort.

[ZaichikArky]

America has largely turned into an isolated society. How many of us can say we know our neighbors well? What about the other people on your street? The clerk at the grocery store? Etc. A house on your street might really be infested with the scum of humanity, but how would you know? Our isolation allows activities like this to continue. Ignorance doesn't wash us of blame, it only makes our fault worse.

I kind of disagree with this.  In terms of world affairs, I think America is the least isolated country out there and I think this is wrong. I think America needs to be more isolated because I think that we have become the "World Police" since WWII and this sometimes really bothers me. I generally think America has no business going into other countries and fighting off evil..

As for friendliness with our neighbors, I think Americans are some of the friendliest people in the world. It varies by area, but Southerners are known for their hospitality(some people I know who live in the south disagree about the premises of 'Southern Hospitality' but that's another story), and West Coasters are just really friendly in general. Actually, I think Americans are friendly in general except in certain parts of the East Coast. Like, Americans like to go out of their way and say hi to people they don't know. When I walk my dog, or walk in the neighborhood, a neighbor passes and a lot of the time, even if I don't know them, they say hi. This is very uncommon in many parts of the world.

I think that generally you know if you live in a bad neighborhood or not. You know by the number of police there. I always know where the town ghettos are in the places I've lived. I know to stay away from there because I have problems talking to strangers all the time, especially homeless ones. I also know about sex offenders in my due to the online registry.

Americans are considered to be stupid and ignorant from the standpoint of many European countries, but I get pretty pissed off about that because while there are a lot of stupid people, there are a lot of educated people as well. Just because it's hard and very, very expensive to get an education in America, doesn't mean less people get educated. Numbers keep going up and up. There are ignoramuses in all countries of the world. In this country, I think the most dangerous are the right wing nut jobs. Left Wing nut jobs are generally harmless IMO. Organizations like PETA and Greenpeace are examples of "left wing terrorist groups", so I don't exclude them, but I think that people like that "Boston Tea Party" are far more dangerous in this country. I like to think that Americans are educated about what goes on in other parts of the world, but I sometimes doubt this because we're huge pop culture whores and sometimes tend to ignore news of bloodshed abroad.

I guess that I don't always think it's worthwhile to take an investment in my fellow humans. In my own country, I support reform overall, but I don't really support American money spent on going abroad and trying to fix things up for the most part.

[Zephira]

When he said "America is isolated", it didn't mean from the rest of the world, it meant from other Americans. The only times I talk to my neighbours are when I return that dog who keeps getting out, or when the family with the kids come back from a walk and I pet their cat, and even then it's only for about five seconds. I know nothing about their jobs or their relations or families, and they don't bother to get to know us or eachother. I know more about Z than I know about the family I live right next to.

[FaustWolf]

We'd be able to talk to our neighbors just fine if they'd get online, hahaha! I've heard stories about husbands and wives who communicate solely through their blogs, even though they live in the same house.

Americans now interact with one another through binary code, essentially.

[ZaichikArky]

I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong from being isolated from your neighbors. With my neighbors from my apt, I don't really talk to any of them, and they don't talk to me or my dad. The important thing is to be aware if something bad is happening in your neighbors house, but that is what the police is for. Like that girl who got abducted, Jaycee, it was tragic, but no one really thought anything was wrong until many years later. I think peoples' snoopy natures enable them to call the police if they think something fishy is going on. That's what I like to think, anyway.

[Truthordeal]

Being a Southerner, I feel I need to point out that the Southern Hospitality exists mainly in small communities. For instance, in my hometown, a suburb of Charleston, SC's biggest city, if you move into a neighborhood you'll get a few neighbors stopping by and offering to help you move in, throw a casserole at you, etc. It's not hard to make friends with your neighbors unless you're a complete douchebag. Apartment complexes are a bit different though.

Charleston itself, though...well, you might get some good neighbors if you're a South-of-Broad(SOB, mainly very well-to-do families) but I wouldn't hold my breath for the other parts.

I let my southern pride carry me off a bit too far, so let me get back to the matter at hand.

Religion is an extremely powerful driving force in our culture. Think of how much Christian groups have helped Africans with AIDS over the past decade when a religious leader like George Bush started shedding light on the problem. While there were dipspits using the Bible to justify Katrina, there were religious people lining up to help rebuild N'ahlens. I know I'm centering on American sexism here, but that's mainly because as an American Exceptionalist, I believe we should be the ones leading the crusade here. Feminism needs a powerful social force behind it, and the religious community is such a thing.

Maybe its just me, since I come from a church that emphasizes community service, but I think that a lot more can be done this way. I, myself, plan on suggesting a feminist cause for our Winter work; probably building a women's shelter, as that's the only idea I can come up with.

Zaichi, I believe that we should keep to ourselves most of the time anyway. But if you start smelling or seeing or hearing signs of abuse or something along that line, snitch. Speaking from personal experience, its fine to snitch on drug users or people building meth labs, as drugs have a tendency to bring in violence, and meth labs have a tendency to blow up.