I follow a lot of truly terrible people on Twitter — Manosphere bloggers, white supremacists, Fidelbogen — so it took me a moment to realize that this dopey, backwards tweet didn’t come from some obscure reactionary bigot but from none other than antifeminist celebrity academic Christina Hoff Sommers, inventor of “equity feminism” and the author of the bestselling The War Against Boys.
If "bossy" has to go because it is sexist, then shouldn't we stop using male-vilifying terms like "mansplaining" & "rape culture"? @banbossy
— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) March 12, 2014
Oy.
Also, I think she meant to end that with #BanBossy, not @BanBossy.
Interesting that she doesn’t seem to understand hashtags any more than she understands rape culture.
@jennydevildoll, we can go back and read what you wrote, you know.
Shorter @jennydevil: If I like to use a word, I will deny that it is a gendered slur. If you prove how it is used as a gendered slur, I will immediately admit that ok, it can be used as a gendered slur but not by my friends and me. Our use of it is pure and unsullied and our positive use overcomes any negative use.
I’m okay with the reappropriation of slurs, but it must be done carefully. I’ve seen some men actually try to reclaim the word “bitch”, which I think is really problematic.
With men doing it, I’ve heard it among gay men…just curious and not refuting, is that where you find it problematic? Or are there other aspects of it’s use among men?
I slept through it. Doad, OTOH, had a dentist appointment and was going to be able to sleep him and the earthquake went and woke him up right when he would have had to get up normally. He is unamused.
Yes, let’s have the LA locals tell earthquake anecdotes. Far more interesting than the other conversation.
Seriously? It’s pretty fucking “problematic” whoever’s using it.
I think the main problem with Slutwalk was that it was for white women only. The word “slut” can’t be reclaimed by women of color as it can be reclaimed by white women; for example, it doesn’t target black women. So suggesting that black women can reclaim “slut” just like white women amounts to contributing to the anti-black, misogynistic black-woman-as-hypersexual narrative.
@trans_commie -I know a lot of people feel that way too, but at the same time, when there was a Slutwalk here a few years ago, we went to check it out and found other Latina women there, and black women as well. One of the performers was a singer who addressed this saying that being Latina, she knew of all the hyper-sexualized stereotypes concerning the “promiscuous Latina women “(which resonated with me) and she felt part of what confronting the “slut” idea could do is potentially address the way these sexual stereotypes are used against women of different ethnic backgrounds. Not to say that Slutwalk itself really achieved that aim, in the long run. But was it wrong of her to try and see the potential, even if in this case it didn’t pan out?
I was in Seattle for the big Nisqually quake in 2001. That was my first earthquake, and I did not enjoy it one bit.
First earthquake that happened while I was here I slept through. My cat is now carrying on that grand tradition.
You get a bit blase about earthquakes in California, but the idea of being in the BART tunnel under the bay when one hits? That’s a bit scary.
@titianblue -if I bore you you don’t have to engage me. Telling someone to “go away though? Sounds a bit “silencing to me.”
@hellkell – I am genuinely curious to hear trans_commie’s thoughts on this, after reading the rest of her posts on the topic. Even if we may not agree on everything, I admire her writing and approach to things…
Everyone else regarding the earthquake, I know 4 isn’t the most extreme on the richter scale, but I extend well wishes for posters out there, or any friends family or pets also out there.
We once had one here that was noticable – I was at work & my first thought was “Oh the boiler has started up” because my boiler at home would make the floor give a little shudder when it fired up. then I realised I was on the 6th floor of an office block. But that was the sum total of the excitement – the floor gave a tiny short little shudder.
I just wanted to share this example of miscatry. All the drinks belong to the furrinati to do with as they please!
I had fun during the Nisqually earthquake, but I was 15 and we got a half day.
Our gym had this ledge maybe 20 feet up where sports balls and stuff would occasionally get stuck and you couldn’t retrieve them without a lift, and during the earthquake, there was a mini avalanche of lost sporting equipment. (Which did not hurt anyone, for the record.)
The idea of it raining shuttlecocks amuses me.
(Basketballs not so much.)
And squash balls would be murder.
I think the only bit of jennydevildoll’s recent comments that merits closer examination is this bit:
Apparently it’s okay to call someone bitchy if she really is a bitch!
A deluge of dodgeballs would be funny, though.
This whole “but what if Sandberg really is bossy?” thing is starting to make me uncomfortable. Sorry, Jenny, but unless there’s some specific reason why we should all dislike her I’m afraid you’re just going to have to accept that your antipathy towards her isn’t communicable via insinuation.
N’thing what everyone’s said about slut not being reclaimable.
Hee hee.
Well, didn‘t you? Or at least, you didn’t stop if from happening and frightening them. Bad hoomin!
You know what? You can fuck off. You’ve read this blog long enough you should have some idea of what people here are talking about, and the terms that get used (you still seem to have no clue that FREEZE PEACH is found in social justice blogs all over the place) but it seems you’re more interested in big-noting yourself, from that first blog link to ‘splaining and condescending to all and sundry.
Earthquakes!
We don’t get major ones here in southern Australia; there is the occasional big one further north. We’re lucky, it’s pretty stable here, not like the Shaky Isles aka NZ.
We’ve had a couple of noticeable tremors here over the last few years. Noticeable to us, anyway; enough to make the house tremble a bit, nothing more. They seem to be centred around Korumburra, in Gippsland (eastern part of the state). I always say it’s the giant earthworms getting restless.
Yikes, cloudiah! I experienced a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the Bay Area once, and it was scary. Hope the cats become less scared soon.
Also, in unrelated news: I just got back from my first therapist appointment, and it turned out great! She exceeded my expectations, and almost immediately I stopped feeling nervous once I started talking to her. I opened up to her completely and explained all sorts of things going on with me. And she even reduced my fees significantly. I’ll be seeing her again this Thursday. I’m so glad I found her, and I’m grateful that you folks (among many others) have helped me reach this point of self-care. Thanks. =)
I’m a veteran of the 1989 7.1 Bay Area quake. Thought at first it was an elephant stampede. Seriously. Logic was not my strong suit at the onset of that earthquake.
And cheers to Ally for finding a good therapist!
Hooray! I am so glad to hear that!
@katz – There’s also that while “bossy” defines a specific behavior (controlling, domineering), “bitch” has always been more nebulous. When someone calls a woman a bitch in the perjorative sense, I’ve heard it leveled for any number of things from being outspoken to being too introverted (standoffish, don’t you know) to everything in-between.I think part of the reason I decided long ago to not let fear of being called a bitch affect what I do or don’t do was because it seemed that there was nothing a woman could say or do without getting her labelled a bitch by someone.
@kittehserf – Oh yes, I’ll get right to fucking off just because I haven’t heard this one particular phrase of internet lingo that you seem so fond of. Hmm, no actually, I have no intention of fucking off over it.
Jenny, there’s no nice way to say this, but you are not following this conversation. You are not successfully understanding what people are saying or responding with relevant comments that follow from what was said.