I Am Not Crazy

I'm tired of indulgent looks and whacked-out stares every time I mention gender equality. The former says, "Oh, look at her, going on about her crazy feminist things again. Smile and nod and maybe she'll shut up soon and realize just how good women really have it." The latter simply screams, "You're a crazy man-hating feminist. I'm going to go cover my balls now in case you try to cut them off because of your man-hating."

And since today is Blog for Fair Pay Day, and I'm a teenage girl looking for a summer job and trying to wait out one of the worst economies we've had in a long time in the Ivory Tower of educational institutions, I'm going to address one of my soapbox points. Because I'm not crazy, and I'm not a man-hater, but I damn well am a feminist.

See, about 45 years ago -- wow, that's a long time; my mom would've been, let me see, twelve years old -- Congress passed something called the Fair Pay Act. It basically says that people that do the same work should get paid the same. Specifically, it addressed gender inequality. Sounds like a good deal, right? You know, fair?

Well, it still hasn't happened. In 1970, seven years after the act was passed, women working full-time received an average of 63 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made.

In the 38 years since then, women have gotten a pay increase of 14 cents. That is to say, women working full-time now receive an average of 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. To give you an idea of other advances made in those 38 years:

Since 1970, the life expectancies of women in developing countries have been increased by 15 to 20 years.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court.

In 1990, a woman named Sue Hendrickson discovered the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton to date.

Starting around 1970, mortality rates of all cancers (except lung) began declining slightly. Since 1990, all cancer mortality rates have gone down even more steadily.

In 2006, Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House.

Women currently comprise 56 percent of college attendees. This number is expected to rise.

We have a woman running for president of the United States -- and she actually has a chance.

And yet we still aren't paid as much. We're just as competent. We do the same jobs as men, work the same hours, put forth the same effort. And still, we're shut out of upper-management positions and promotions; we still make about 75 percent as much as men.

So, guys, don't fucking tell me I'm being crazy. You know what? When you've experienced what it's like to grow up female in a society that treats you as intrinsically inferior to the men around you just because of your gender, when you've had to felt the effects of that sexism even with all your other advantages in life - being born white, middle-class, with an intelligent and inquisitive parent who actively participates in your education - and still known that you'd make less money than men around you, when you've faced condescending attititudes and conflicting media messages and objectification just because you have body parts guys think they're entitled to, and been expected to just accept it because you're so much better off than women in fucking Syria or the Sudan, then you can talk. Until then, just put up and shut up, because I'm not going to until equal pay for equal work is reality.

I don't hate men in general. But I'm really tired of the deniers out there, male AND female. Because these inequalities exist. Statistically, realistically, they exist. And until everyone acknowledges them and agrees that we all need to do something about them, the human race is screwed, because a good half of it is viewed by a sizeable portion of the whole as inferior to the other half. And that's not a healthy status quo.

I Can't Believe This Exists

So I was wandering through IMDb -- one of my favorite websites ever, in case you didn't know -- searching for Vampire Hunter D to see if it was worth seeing, and this came up in my search results.

I looked once.

I looked again, because it was too totally unreal.

My eyes were not tricking me.

There really is a movie called "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter." And yes, it is a musical -- because what else would a movie about Jesus Christ killing vampires be? The tagline is as follows:

"The first testament says 'an eye for an eye.' - The second testament says 'love thy neighbour.' - The third testament ... Kicks Ass!!"

I don't know whether it's any good. I seriously doubt it is. But I absolutely have to see it, if only because the title makes me laugh just thinking about it.

So, question: What is the one movie that you knew for a fact was going to be bad, but had to see anyway? And the follow-up, why did you have to see it?

Cross-posted at WTF is a Hoosier?

What Do You Think? No, Really.

Every so often, I feel the need to plug this using every social networking and blogging device available to me. It's a web survey-thing of Harvard's called "Project Implicit." Basically, you take sorting tests over one of a variety of subjects and it measures your subconscious preference for one thing over another. The featured test right now is over presidential candidates and it's pretty interesting, but they're all thought-provoking. Go and take the tests and discuss the results. Do you agree with them? Do you think the test is flawed? What were YOUR results?

Cross-posted at WTF Is A Hoosier?

Sweet Jesus, I Hate Dick Cheney

And all he stands for.

More reports of female contractors being raped by male co-workers and servicemen. This one was published in The Nation and features a KBR worker. KBR is a subsidiary of Halliburton. The "dispute-resolution program" her case apparently falls under, which is making it nearly impossible for this woman to get the justice she deserves, was put in place under our charming Vice President.

Go read the story -- or as much as you can. I can't really add anything to it, except to say that if it does not sicken and infuriate you, you are not a human being.

Cure Breast Cancer -- So Horny Frat Boys Can Grope Them!

I probably should have written this long ago. I was just far too angry.

About a month ago, for about two weeks, I had to pass a fraternity on my way to class every day. Every day, I was left irritated on good days, furious on bad, because of the banner across the front of it. "Save Second Base," it proclaimed in large black letters, while below two hands groped a pair of disembodied breasts in a pink bikini top. It was meant to draw attention to a fundraiser that the fraternity was doing in partnership with a campus sorority, the same one that sold pink "Save Second Base" t-shirts in the spring -- pink with white, six-inch-high letters that at least ten people were wearing in every lecture I attended. The shirts bothered me then, and still do, but the banner was worse. It simply personifies all the things that bothered me about this campaign.

The first and biggest problem with this angle is that apparently the entire point of wiping out breast cancer is to give boys something to fondle. Simply put, it reinforces the notion that women's breasts exist for men's entertainment. It's bad enough that any woman with a bra bigger than a B-cup is apparently a free target for ogling. It's bad enough that that's considered acceptable behavior in some circles. But for women to reinforce that, especially women fundraising for a disease that is at best stressful, painful, and depressing and at worst deadly, makes me queasy.

The floating breasts on the banner bothered me, too. It's dehumanizing. Again, it serves to reinforce the idea that breasts exist for men's entertainment and pleasure, but it also effectively removes the woman from the picture, or identify her solely by, again, something that in their minuds exists for men's pleasure. As a human being, I find it personally offensive. It makes me want to refuse to show mine to anyone, ever again, just on the off chance that they're as big a jackass as the makers of that banner.

My great aunt fought and beat breast cancer. I've participated in Relay For Life. I care about fighting breast cancer, but not at the cost of giving up my right to be seen as a person. And it upsets me that others feel like it's necessary to give up those basic rights in order to find a cure, because it isn't. It really isn't. There are thousands, millions of talented, dedicated, caring people who want to find a cure for cancer and who don't need the titillation of squeezing a boob to be motivated to do that. I refuse to believe that that group doesn't include the majority of men, even adolescents. Give them some fucking credit and stop pretending it's about feeling someone up, because it isn't. It's about helping people that are in pain and can't do anything about it for themselves, not taking away their dignity and humanity too.