The 10th Carnival of Feminists is out at indianwriting. This issue is huge! The is “Body, Mind, and Struggle” and topics include South Dakota and what’s to come, body image through the media, female foeticide, contraceptives, childbirth, prostitution, raunch culture, being a feminist, writing, and more.
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The second edition of the Radical Woman of Color Carnival is out at Brownfemipower’s Woman of Color Blog. Topics include identity issues, voice, mamihood, and a section for allies so us white folks don’t feel left out.
I do say that with tongue in cheek–a few days ago in my Global Women class we were discussing a women of color week event called Woman of Color Fashion Show: Undressing the Other. The show kicked all kinds of ass. All types of people dressed up as a stereotype and performed to exemplify how others see them. In the second act the performers told their real stories.
In class, one critique of the show brought up was that some white women felt left out (a good third of the performers were white). In turn, we analyzed why those women felt that way, but a few classmates were sympathetic. They didn’t feel the need to make an issue of race when we discussed the necessity of our university’s anti-racist white student union. I attempted to articulate (much less eloquent on the fly) that being able to say race doesn’t matter was white privilege because our race is portrayed as the neutral norm–a nonrace, that race is something other people have but not us. I raised a few ires because white people can be discriminated against too. Well, sure. I’m oppressed for my gender, but not my race. Whites can even be on the receiving end of racial prejudice in my country, but that isn’t racism because someone isn’t having power over them based on their skin color.
Coming back to carnivals: Call for Submissions for the Second Big Fat Carnival and for Carnival of Empty Cages. I’m really excited about the latter carnival, which vegankid is starting, because I want to start blogging more about my veganism. I recently realized animal liberation prepared me for feminism and am pumped to share.
I’m sure y’all have noticed that my posting has slowed way down (even for me) in the past few weeks. Well, it’s only going to get worse for the next two months. You see, I’m about to be off to Japan to attend language school in April, so I get to do the oh-so-fun jobs of packing, unpacking, and settling into classes. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to at least finish some of the posts sitting in my draft box. If not, well, there’s always May.
To make up for my shortcomings, however, Ariel has agreed to do more posting over here and Sour Duck will be guestblogging for the duration. She should have an intro post up sometime in the near future.
Wish me luck at school and I’ll be backed to my regularly scheduled programming in May!
Octavia Butler died yesterday at 58 in a fall that led to a fatal concussion. Creating strong, vivid female characters, Butler is one of my favorite authors and a personal inspiration when writing my own feminist scifi stories. She was the first woman of color to be published for writing science fiction, and the first genre author to win the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.
In my women’s studies course last quarter, I selected Butler for a presentation on an amazing women my classmates and I heard too little about growing up. I explained that Butler reached people who weren’t represented among the white supremacist, sexist voice dominating science fiction, and used the tools of speculative fiction to imagine alternatives. My peers responded well to my presentation, and a few remarked that that Butler’s stories sounded like ones they would enjoy; they previously had little interest in science fiction. I passed out URLs for a pair of Butler’s short stories available online, and hope that my classmates found their way to them. I’ve included the links at the end of this post.
Other bloggers on Butler’s death
My lived sense of the way power and difference play out in the politics of futures our pasts propel us into easily owes as much to Octavia Butler as it does to Michel Foucault or to Donna Haraway or to Judith Butler, and that is saying something. It’s hard to convey what it means to me to know there will be no more Octavia Butler books to look forward to, each one always sure to be so much her own, never like anybody else’s, in a voice I felt I understood and came to crave, attesting to a world that seemed so painfully real and familiar to me, however alien.
I haven’t read any of her books, but yet, I find myself sitting in front of the computer almost in tears…I thought I had time! I thought I had time to get to know her style, form a critique, maybe see her at a speech and then maybe walk up to her, pages in shaky hand, mouth dry, and ask her to look over my stuff.
More on Octavia Butler
After over two months, I’m finally sitting here typing on my brand new laptop. I’ve been spending the past few days migrating my stuff over from my old laptop and desktop and I’m not quite done yet. Am I happy it’s here? Hell yeah. Do I like it so far? Sure. Would I recommend this company to someone else? Probably not.
The main reason why I don’t think I would recommend this company again is because of the sheer aggravation I went through to get this thing. Another is that you can get a comparable machines for a lower price, although VoodooPC offers some peripherals that Sager does not (including the paint job and tatoo, which I rather like). If this machine turns out to be the best thing since baked bread, however, I may give people a qualified endorsement. But, onto my retelling of the Delay Saga and the first impressions of Rouge (my computer, named after the Sonic Adventure 2 character, of course) when I first got her.
Rewind, if you will, to January 2, 2006 (22 days after I placed my order). Jess Williamson, a member of VoodooPC’s Web Team, sends out a (presumably form) e-mail to update me on my computer.
I just wanted to let you know your computer has been gathered and in about 10-15 days it should be complete. Let me know if you need anything.
Jess
46 days after that (68 days after I placed my order), I get another (presumably form) e-mail from VoodooPC. This time it’s from Jodie Salvador:
Hi Andrea,
I was just emailing you to let you know that your computer has finished testing and will be sent out to you in the next few days. Thank you again for your order.
Jodie
I was not pleased to learn that they hadn’t even sent it yet, so I fired off this e-mail in return:
Jodie,
First of all, I would like to thank you and VoodooPC for keeping me up to date on the progress of my laptop. I must say, though, that I am highly disappointed in the turnaround time.
When I purchased the machine back in December (68 days ago), my confirmation page told me that my laptop would be ready and shipped in approximately 30 days. The previous e-mail, from Jess Williamson, I received 46 days ago said that my laptop would be complete in 10-15 days.
I had expected that the 30 days would be give or take a week or two, but this is bordering on ridiculous.
I didn’t receive a reply after that, but an hour later I got an e-mail informing me that my order had been shipped. I checked my tracking number and discovered that the shipping had been expedited, and therefore would arrive at my dad’s house in Miami in two business days. I’m not sure if the shipping I paid for was expedited shipping, or if they expedited it because I complained. Neither my invoice nor my website specifies what “North America” shipping entails.
The arrival date, mind you, was right in time for me to be up in West Palm Beach in preparation for my returning to Washington with my mom. Long story short, much aggravation led to my dad bringing it up to Boca (where my grandpa lives) and us having dinner, me getting the package, then flying up with two laptops. Quite an experience, let me tell you.
My very first impression of Rouge was a mixed one. I was impressed that I was given all relevant discs, including the Windows XP install (which, if I remember correctly, Toshiba did not give me). I was interested to see that I had to go through the final part of the installation myself. I was not, however, happy that the laptop lacked a hardware volume control. The one that it uses is dependent on Windows being fully booted, so the only way I could stop from waking up my nieces sleeping next door was to put my earphones into the plug. I’ve had a few other embarassing experiences with the volume being up too high since then.
My only other complaint is that the software that I have discs for requires that I enter the CD key the first time I use them, which isn’t bad except that I haven’t done it for everything yet and I don’t have the discs on me when I travel. The fans can be noisy sometimes, but they keep the laptop nice and cool. The bottom has little grates for the air to come out, which seems like a stroke of genius to me given the bad design of other laptops I’ve seen.
Other than that, I have been pretty happy so far. I’ve been having a lot of fun exploring the different features, and playing with my webcam (I think I need to install better software for it). There’s a bar on the bottom with (among other things) controls for a CD player. I doubt I’ll ever use it for that function, but it works with all of my AV programs so I can go to the previous/next tracks, stop, and play my files without having to use my mouse. That is totally cool in my book.
I’m allowing myself to hope that the worst of this experience is over. It was a pain in the butt waiting so long for my laptop, especially given what I paid for it, but the machine itself seems to be pretty quality. I haven’t played any games on it yet, and I don’t know how it will hold up against the rough handling I tend to put my electronics through, but I suppose that’s a blog post for another day.
The saga of Rogue is far from over.
We here at OS.CB blog against sexism all the time, but we know not everyone does. But, really, everyone should. Or at least they should on March 8, which is Blog Against Sexism Day. Vegankid commands you (and so do I!).
What is this Blog against-whatsit? From the official page:
Inspired by the Blog Against Racism Day in December, it was decided that for at least one day we would try to focus the blogosphere on another evil: sexism. While those that write about sexism on a regular basis are gladly asked to join in, we enourage those that never or rarely talk about this important topic to join in. There are no guidelines. All that is asked is that you write at least a little something against sexism. We especially encourage men to challenge themselves and write about the topic.
If I can get off my butt and get a post ready for March 8, then so can you.
Mind the Gap has just put up issue 9 of the Feminist carnival. Topics include: Feminism, Issues That Matter, and The Body.
Gamestop has done an excellent job of setting up a strawprostitute in its recent article, Prostitutes call for ban on GTA. Tim Surette, the author, is pissed off that SWOP, the Sex Workers Outreach Project, has spoken out against Grand Theft Auto [GTA]. Pissed off enough, it seems to conflate the words ‘ban’ and ‘boycott’.
From the first paragraph of the article, he says [emphasis mine]:
The Grand Theft Auto franchise is getting attacked from all angles. Joining the ranks of politicians, policemen, and attorneys in their crusade to see the game lifted from shelves are the nation’s sex workers. On its Web site, the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA is asking parents to assist them in calling for a ban of Take-Two Interactive’s controversial game.
The two parts I have highlighted give the mistaken impression that SWOP is out to enact legislation that would bar GTA, and games like it, from being made and sold. He later on dismisses the repeated assertion from SWOP that it is “adamantly opposed to any and all forms of censorship” because they express the wish to speak out to parents. Given the tone of the article, this only serves to further conflate boycotting (and, dare I say, criticism) with censorship and banning.
So what, exactly, does SWOP say on this matter? Well, here’s the first paragraph from SWOP-USA Statement Regarding the Video Game Grand Theft Auto created by Take-Two Interactive:
Although SWOP-USA will always be adamantly opposed to any and all forms of censorship, as concerned parents ourselves, we wish to inform other parents of the potential danger extremely violent video games pose to children. And in the interest of furthering sex worker’s human and civil rights to life and personal safety, we object to any media which represents sex workers as legitimate targets of violence, rape and murder. Censorship is a blight on the freedoms we hold dear but we wholeheartedly encourage citizens to vote with their dollars by refusing to purchase products which encourage the denigration and destruction of prostitutes. Since the video game Grand Theft Auto accrues points to players for the depiction of the rape and murder of prostitutes, SWOP-USA calls on all parents and all gamers to boycott Grand Theft Auto.
Notice the word ‘boycott’ and the conspicious absence of ‘ban’ or any call to legal action. This is a very, very important distinction that Surette (intentionally?) glosses over in his post.
I share the concern about the sensationalist backlash to video games, and other popular culture, but, and this is a big but, that’s not what SWOP seems to be aiming for. Do I necessarily agree with their cited research? Well, no. I haven’t read it, but I don’t need to because my agreement with their premise or not is immaterial. They aren’t advocating a ban, or anything like it; they’re advocating an informed boycott based on what they perceive to be a tangible threat to themselves. They have, and should have, that right.
Via feminist.
In honor of this oh-so-wonderful holiday that has been making single people miserable since time immemorial, I’ve written a short story called “Game of Hearts”. It’s based on this post from the feminist LJ community. Enjoy the hoiday, and please remember to revel responsibly.
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