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femtique
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femtique
I was having a discussion with one of my fellow bloggers earlier this morning about the latest email I had sent out regarding Duke University’s lacrosse team and the raping of a young black woman. This conversation I had went something along the lines of:
Blogger: Men who hire women for sexual purposes, race may or may not play a part in it. The larger issue is the way the women in general are treated. It isn’t a matter of race as much as it’s a matter of power over women–all women.
Me: That is a very reductionistic perspective of the role race, gender, and class play against women.
And what do I mean by being reductionistic? Well, reductionism entails the argument of viewing a social phenomenon by rationalizing it by “reducing” the factors that contribute to it. The factors in this rape case are race, class, and gender in the forms of racism, classism, and sexism. All three factors play a large role in the vulnerability of the black woman who was raped by these priviliged White male athletes.
Rachel Sullivan, at her blog Rachel’s Tavern, is one of my frequent reads. She wrote in Alas, a Blog:
I also don’t want people to think about this story as a gender issue, but as incident that reveals how racism, sexism, and classism intersected to make this young woman particularly vulnerable to a sexual assault. [...] A group of young wealthy White men felt that it was ok to assault this woman, raping her and yelling racial slurs at her. This should be blowing up in the blogosphere folks.
Rachel is against a reductionistic viewpoint, because in the U.S. there is a social hierarchy of race, class, and gender. Yet, note what is being said here at Black Feminism that I find very interesting considering that it is a blog about, well, the black feminist perspective:
I’ll put the race issue aside. This is also the result of universities allowing a negative athlete culture. More than a few studies have shown that athletes and frat boys are more likely to rape than other men, in part because all-male environments encourage aggressive and violent displays of manhood. I suspect that campuses that force athletes to live with everyone else (shout outs to AU) have less of a problem with Athletes Gone Wild.
But why put race aside in the first place? Why must every time it has to do with a white person oppressing a black person, we put “race aside”. That is one of the most inaccurate ways of understanding racism and for that matter, eliminating it. Race has everything to do with the rape of this woman. Rachel gives an excellent picture of why race matters:
The two young women left the party after the racial slurs began and they feared for their safety, but I can’t help wondering if they were thinking about how they were going to pay their bills or feed their kids when they went back in, something most of these young men don’t even have to think about. I wonder if these guys were thinking about how much power they had over this young women when they yelled racist slurs and when they physically and sexually assault this women? I also wonder if those guys who remained silent were more concerned about protecting their buddies than stopping this terrible assault. How much do they think this woman’s life is worth?
In other words, here is the breakdown of the situation as viewed:
Rich White men vs. Poor black woman with two mouths to feed (classism)
Student Athletes vs. Black student exotic dancer (classism)
White men of privilege vs. Black woman of less privileges (racism)
Men vs. Woman (sexism)
As one could clearly see as illustrated, all three factors play a part. What Americans can do to better understand racism, classism, and sexism, is to not seperate them into seperate categories, but understand how they relate. Once a person understands how they relate, then Americans can no longer take a reductionistic standpoint any longer.
I was pointed out later by my fellow blogger that this woman would have been just as violated as a minority if she was another type of minority. And yet again, reducing even race can be a not so good way to go in even understanding racism. There is no question that in our country that their is racial stratification based on skin color. Of course, this topic of a reductionistic view of racism is an excellent topic for another blog entry some time in the future.
If you have any questions, comments, or dissentions, please feel free to email me at krisandapril@gmail.com or comment on this site, which ever is more convenient.
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femtique
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femtique
You can watch several videos of what I would call “reality t.v.” at it’s best.
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femtique
Since the beginning of the semester, I have been working on two group projects for my two classes. One of my classes is online, and we just finished presenting our group project on Vietnamese culture vs. the dominant Anglo mainstream culture in the U.S. on Sunday.
The presentation was excellent, but the days and hours leading up to the project was complete hell for me emotionally. The conflict began last Wednesday in an email I opened up. The email was the supposed “final” draft of the two page paper portion of our presentation. I had trusted our two group members to do the right thing and be very critical of their writing and make sure they followed what our professor had wanted in our paper as noted in the syllabus. Boy was I wrong in trusting them! I should have known from the beginning that their work was not going to be as good as I expected because their attitudes were lousy during our first group meeting. Both of my group members wanted to put up inaccurate information about Vietnamese people and their culture just to get the job done as soon as possible.
Like some of my fellow bloggers, I have a strong work ethic. In general, I try to do the best I can in whatever I am doing. I wouldn’t say I try to “be the best”, but I do try hard to achieve success in what I do. Something that I have always discovered time and time again is that when I work in groups, I have to pray to God that my fellow group members are as dedicated to their work as I am. If they are not, then I end up doing the majority of the work just to make sure we don’t fail or get less than a B. In this case I did more than I was supposed to.
It wasn’t the extra work that bothered me though. What bothered me was that the two group members that worked the least made fun of me because I was anal. I was only anal because I had the same professor last semester, they didn’t, and I know how anal my professor is and I successfully passed her course with an A-. Not only did they make fun of me, but they were also prejudice in assuming that I thought I “knew it all” and that I wasn’t willing to listen to others ideas. This simply was and is not true at all. Furthermore, not only did they assume I was full of myself, but they didn’t even acknowledge my ideas until the last minute by finally admitting that I was right after six hours of debating that took place on Saturday (the day before our presentation).
As a social worker, I impart what knowledge I have to my clients, of which I find extremely fulfilling. It’s easy to give advice to clients though, because I am paid to do it and I enjoy it tremendously. When I know more about certain things than some of my fellow graduate students in a group project, it can be quite the battle. Let’s just put it this way: on Saturday I ended up so stressed out that I cried my eyes out. I haven’t cried because of others making fun of me since junior high school. All of that hell . . . but at least it was worth it. Our presentation was excellent!
On the other hand, in my other group project things are going smoothly. Any information I have to contribute is appreciated and not depreciated. I am a valued and respected member as opposed to how I was treated in my other group.
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femtique
The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.
“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,” she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.” http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2006/03/22/take-that-south-dakota/
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femtique
One of the hardest parts about being me is that I will not tolerate social injustice in a world where people ignore the plights of the vulnerable and oppressed and continue to stay perpetually self absorbed . Because of my inability to put up with people who don’t give a damn about others, I have lost friends and end up isolated. I think that is one of the reasons why I blog, because I feel so lonely in the real world and find solace in befriending people online who share similar values.
I also love to blog because I am able to share information with people. This is some personal information about my very being, but I wanted to share my heart to you all because I think you deserve it. Some of you have been reading my blog for at least a year and a half, which is quite a long time to be reading about a person’s life. This seems almost trivial, but I want to thank you for reading and commenting on my site. You have no idea of the joy it brings me every day when I get online and find little presents disguised as comments on my blog.
In addition to saying “thanks” for reading my blog, I wanted to extend a warm invitation of criticism to my site. Anything related to content, please let me know by voting in the section with the stars. I love to see what people think of my entries and it helps me improve my writing.
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femtique
Visit his website at blog.logtar.com.
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femtique
As I type this entry, it is noon time and Kris and I are driving back up to Houston. By the time we get home, it will be around 5:35 p.m. We had wanted to leave earlier, but last night one of my mom’s old college buddies Valerie stopped by around 12:30 in the morning, and she didn’t leave until 2:30. Suffice to say, mom wasn’t happy when she showed up and she didn’t even bother to speak to her. Val thought she would wake up mom and they were going to have a good old time, but mom had asked me last night “April, do you want to go and get some coffee tomorrow morning before you and Kris head out for the road?” and I said “Sure mom, that would be cool”. Val didn’t stand a chance because mom wanted to get a good night’s rest so we could hang out and sip on some coffee and enjoy a nice taco made from scratch at our local circle K gas station.
Val ended up calling me in my mom’s room saying “C’mon April, wake up your mom so she will drink with me” and I replied “Um, how about hell no?! That’s my mom;she’ll kick my ass if I wake her.” After that, she looked up at me and pretty much gave up and at the same time, wanted Kris and I to drink Coronas with her, and I said “No Val, I’ve got to drive tomorrow morning”. Now you see, the only reason why Val came over in the first place, was because her husband’s cousin passed away, and she happened to be down in Brownsville. Shaq discovered she was in town because he called her up on my cell phone to wish Val’s son Marc a happy 14th birthday. Shaq lied to Val on the phone by reporting that everyone was awake and she could come over whenever. Val coming over was a big mistake.
So other than last night’s drama, we had a really good spring break. In fact, I can attest that this had to be the best spring break we have ever had. The first day of spring break, we were at my mom’s house and stayed there for a night and then we proceeded to take Shaq and Craig with us to Houston early in the morning. When we arrived back in Houston, we all spent a total of three nights there from Sunday night to Tuesday night. The only thing that worried me during the trip was Craig, because he can be quite demanding at times . . . okay, how about all of the time. If Craig doesn’t get his way, then he acts awkward towards us. His personality is a direct result of his upbringing; of which there is little Kris or I can do to influence this. The only thing that Kris and I can do for him is provide him the chance to learn how to live on his own. Originally, I had not considered doing this for fear that it would interfere in our marriage, but my heart goes out to Craig, and as long as both Kris and I lay down boundaries we should be fine. You see, when Craig came up to Houston, Kris and I offered to help teach him how to live on his own. At first, Craig’s anxieties got the best of him, and he clung to the fantasy that his mother would always be there for him, but after a couple of hours of talking with him, I made it perfectly clear that he really cannot estimate exactly how she (Carol) will age. There really is no telling how she will leave this earth. She is currently 69 years old, and she is getting up there in her age. She has a multitude of health issues, and they are continuously growing. Kris and I both worry about her, but there is very little we can do. She has excluded us out of her life by her own admonition because she cannot accept me. At this point, the only son who hasn’t left her is Craig, and Craig intends on taking care of Carol as she gets older, but he can’t do it if he doesn’t know how to live on his own. I stressed this to him several times, and eventually he realized that this was certainly true, and that he cannot continue to leech off his mother for financial and emotional support forever. On this end of the vacation, a lot was accomplished because both Craig and his mother decided it would be best for him to stay up in Houston for the summer, and perhaps permanently. He will be living in the same house as us starting some time in May. Craig is very fortunate because there just happens to be a room available in the back of the house where John used to live. An opportunity like this doesn’t come very often, and Craig has taken a leap of faith by foregoing his anxieties and changing for the better.
Aside from working with Craig, Kris and I got to spend some quality time with my brother. Kris walked with him all around campus; I got to take him to the dog park, Shaq got to hang out with Jason, played on the PS2, and watched plenty of cartoons onCartoon Network. On Tuesday morning, he went to his appointment at Sylvan Learning Center for his aptitude assessment. I will find out this Wednesday what the results are, and what program best fits him. Kris and I are paying for half and mom’s paying for the other half. Every lesson is $50 dollars, which is quite expensive, but it’s worth it. We are family, and Kris and I need to be there not only for Craig, but for my brother too. My brother needs some serious help in school, and at this point being that he is in 7th grade, reading and writing at the level of a 1st grader, we’ve got some major problems. It is not so much that Shaq isn’t smart, but that the school keeps on passing him even though he hasn’t mastered his math, reading, and writing skills. Sylvan promises to teach children to master their skills, and I am hoping that all of this money is well worth it. At least we are doing something to help the boy. Money is no object when it has to do with my brother’s education. I want him to succeed in life, and I’ll be damned if I’m a stingy bitch with my money like every other asshole on the face of this planet. I mean sure, yeah, if you’re greedy and stingy then do it, but I’m not so screw it. After Shaq completes his studies during the summer with us in Houston, he will go back home and be prepared for the 8th grade and hopefully, he will be able to continue working online with live-interaction with Sylvan instructorsat school or at home. Mom doesn’t have broadband, but Im working on it. I’m really going to have to butter her up before the summer ends so that as long as Kris and I build the computer, she’ll pay for the DSL so that Shaq can continue Sylvan online. Hopefully, Shaquilles progress at Sylvan will be really good in the summer and that will in and of itself convince my mom to get DSL.
So anyhow, during our three night stay in Houston, we finalized the plans of both Craig and Shaq coming to Houston during the summer and spent some quality time with our brothers in a big city. Both Shaq and Craig love Houston, and we love to see them so thrilled.
We came back down to Brownsville Wednesday afternoon, and mom took us out to Johnny Carino’s Country Italian Restaurant. In two words the food was: awe-some. It was so pleasant to sit there with my familyand eat good food and chat for a bit. After Carino’s, we went to the mall and mom bought herself a cool silver ring with a dragon on it, and then we went to BestBuy so that Kris could buy some blank CDs for Craig so that Kris could burn some music for him on his computer. By the end of the day, we were home and watched “The Corpse’s Bride” on DVD. It was a great flick.
Thursday morning, mom and I woke up early and we went to WAL-MART to buy some groceries and get Shaq a birthday present (a new boom box), and then we went to Petco to buy Smitten some news toys and a new outfit for her. I thought I was broke, but I had forgotten that I got paid that day, so when we went back home, mom took a nap and while she was sleeping, Kris, Shaq, and I went to Starbuck’s for some tasty treats. After Starbucks, we went to WAL-MART again and all three of us got pedicures. Shaq never had a pedicure before, and at first he was freaking out saying “No, I don’t want anyone to see my feet!but then when I made him do it he loved every minute of it. Shaq and I didn’t want manicures because we bite our nails, so Kris had one instead and I proceeded to tell my little 13 year old brother “Shaq, you can get whatever toy you want, but no more than $25 bucks” and he totally freaked out! He stormed down the toy aisle and couldn’t make up his mind as he laidseveral Bionicle and Transformer toys on the floor weighing out which toys were better and deserved to be in his toy box. He then looked at two toys that he wanted desperately and said “April, $25 is not enough to get what I want, can I please have more?” and I looked at him and said “Hell no”, but then I looked at him again and whispered in his ear “Okay my lil’ bro, you can have $30 . . . but seriously, no more!” and he jumped for joy and bought two Transformers toys that he had been eyeballing for months but couldn’t afford. The day could not have been more perfect, but on Friday it was even better.
Friday was St. Patrick’s Day and our anniversary. In the morning, we all went to Best Buy, and mom bought Kris and I anniversary presents and birthday presents (both our birthdays are in April) since she wasn’t going to see us again until May. Momgot me the first half of the first season of Thundercats on DVD (yes, I am such a child at heart) and bought Kris MLB ‘06 The Show for his PSP. Kris and I were like two kids in a candy store, and mom was taking us back to our childhood. She also bought season 2 of the Cosby Show on DVD and the Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universeon DVD so that my brother knew what He-Man was all about. After our shopping spree at Best Buy, we went to IHOP and ate some delicious food. After brunch, we went to the movie theatre and saw “V for Vendetta”. Once that was over with, we came home and watched an episode of Thundercats and then an episode of He-Man. After that, we watched some movies that mom had already bought earlier: “The Legend of Zorro” and “Kingdom of Heaven”. After this entry, I’ll be writing my reviews of these two movies in a couple of days. I’ll need a chance to catch up on things at home after writing this whopper of an entry!
Saturday was a chill day. I was reading blogs, reading the news, doing some research for my policy analysis paper, and working on making a home video on DVD we could all watch based onvideo clips I’ve recorded since December 2003. The home movie was an hour long, and it brought laughter and some tears. All in all, our vacation was eventful, exciting, and everything and more that we hoped it would be. The next big event is my birthday on April 2. I’ll be turning 27, and I’m not sure what I’ll do that day. Two weeks after that is Kris’s birthday on April 15 (tax day) and hell be turning 31. Again, he has no idea what he will be doing either, but one thing is for certain: what ever it is we are doing on our birthdays we will be doing it together.
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femtique
Introduction: “V” is a man who has been tortured by his government, and for twenty years has planned to settle the score one way or another. He meets Evey, a young woman whom he saves from thugs masked as government officials. She joins him to fight for a true democracy; away from a totalitarian government.
Review: What can I say? This movie kicked butt. I have been awaiting this movie for about six months now, and it didn’t disappoint in the least. “V for Vendetta” is the quintessential chicken soup for the activist soul, of which I am fond of. Anyone who knows full well that “it’s not the people who should be afraid of the goverment, but the government who should be afraid of the people”, know that this movie will strike a chord in every single fiber of one’s yearning for freedom.
![[large][AnimePaper]scans_Bleach_ganjyu-san_47971](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2332774930_eb2c222318_t.jpg "[large][AnimePaper]scans_Bleach_ganjyu-san_47971")
