Voting

I didn’t vote in the latest presidential elections. I didn’t feel like it, it was annoying to register for the first time and I decided to watch House instead. I was open about this to my political friends and the results were predictable. “I am so surprised Amanda! You usually seem to care so much!” “Why not? It isn’t that difficult.” “But voting is your civic duty!” By the end of the day I was beyond annoyed. When I heard about this video my rage rushed back to the front of my mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5k7mv3mj3pc#! I hate things like this. Really Steve Carell? You will be disappointed in me if I do not vote? I agree that voting is important but the presidential election is the place where it is least important. Your vote is being averaged with millions, your individual vote does nothing. Our voting system is so fucked up that voting in any non-swing state is completely pointless. There is a myth surrounding these elections that say each and every vote counts. Even you! Yes you with the cheese stains on your fingers!  You can crucially influence who wins the highest office of the land! This myth was even enshrined in celluloid with the movie ‘Swing Vote’. This is of course bullshit and leads to people treating voting like a bet. Americans do not pick who represents them, they pick a winner. I do not think I need to explain how this is stupid, harmful, and reinforces our two party system which consistently fucks Americans over every day (yay fiscal cliff shenanigans!). As irritating as celebrities are it is even more annoying to be harassed by people in your everyday life who think that voting makes them a special little snowflake. Instead of voting in a presidential election go vote in your local elections. Or attend a protest about something you think is important. Go and sign a petition, which is somehow more useful than voting in the presidential election. Go and call your congressmembers, state and national, about issues that concern you. These other things are all WAY MORE IMPORTANT AND IMPACTFUL than voting in the presidential election. So if you are not doing these things and feeling great about yourself for voting in the election shut up and get more involved. Also stop harassing me simply because I would rather watch house than go vote in an election that I knew Obama was going to win. 

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Gun violence

When I found out that America has experienced thirteen mass shootings in the year 2012, I knew I need to make a post about it. America has always seen an abnormally large amount of gun violence. In 2011, the National Institute of Justice (http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/gun-violence/welcome.htm) reported 11,346 deaths due to guns, 477,040 crimes using a gun and that most murders were committed with firearms, especially handguns. Perhaps I am being pessimistic but I tend not to see too much conversation about this violence. When I do see it discussed it is about gun control. While gun control is a great topic to discuss surrounding gun violence, it is not the only good topic. For that reason I am making gun control its own post and I will not mention it again in this piece.

            The way American culture views violence is extremely unhealthy. The worst part is the conflation of America and violence. Quick think of three traditional American things. Guns, country music and apple pie were the first three that came to my head. This is the reason that people freak out and yell SECOND AMENDMENT whenever ‘guns’ are ‘threatened’. America is completely linked to guns in the minds of most Americans. There is also a culture of fear where guns are seen as the best way to give back power. Everywhere are stories of people whose house are broken into who then buy a gun to protect themselves. After the Aurora shooting it was suggested that if theater goers had guns then lives would have been saved. Those who say this tend to forget that the attacker had smoke bombs and body armor, but I suppose that is beside the point. I have already seen articles suggesting that teachers arm themselves so that a shooting like what recently happened in Connecticut doesn’t happen again. After Columbine the NRA held a rally to make sure people didn’t think that it was the gun’s fault. It is strange to me that I live in a country where people feel the need to protect weapons. Where are the people defending the right to bows and arrows and knives? Why is it guns in particular that people are so obsessed with? Out of the three weapons that I mentioned they are both the easiest to accidentally use and the deadliest one. If you have a bow how likely is it that you will accidentally kill someone? How many deaths have resulted from accidentally stabbing yourself? Why is it guns in particular that Americans feel the need to defend? I don’t have an answer. I find it extremely befuddling.

            Second big thing that I wish to talk about is how we report the mass shootings in the media. Why do we feel the need to put these people’s names and pictures all over the media? This simply gives them the attention they crave. It incentivizes crazy people with no empathy to commit horrendous acts for attention. It also incentivizes them to go as big with it as possible. At least show the consequences of their actions. It is nuts to allow them looking normal on television and not show their dead bodies or them on trial.

            I think the thing I hate most of all though is that the only time gun violence comes up in public discourse is after a mass shooting. That is just ridiculous. This is a big problem that needs to be discussed and solutions need to be found. A vast majority of gun violence is 1. Accidental 2. Suicidal and 3. Violence between people that know each other. There also needs to be more investigation into how gun violence shakes away and the roots of this violence. Only then can we really know how to fix the issue.

            

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Sex work

I recently read a piece on feministe.com http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2013/02/06/supporting-sex-workers-rights-opposing-the-buying-of-sex/#comment-600391

       One part of the piece really caught my eye “My view is basically that sex work wouldn’t exist in the feminist utopia. Why? Because sex wouldn’t be this commodified thing that some people (mostly woman) have and other people (mostly men) get. Sex would be a fun thing, a collaborative thing, always entered into freely and enthusiastically and without coercion.’

I have seen this idea repeated over and over again.  This article does three things I dislike. One, that sex work wouldn’t exist in a feminist utopia. Second, that if something is sold it is a commodity. Third, if anyone is having sex for any reason other than pure pleasure it is coercion.

         I find the first error presumptuous and I just hate the argument. By placing something in an idealistic specific utopia the author is cutting off most rational arguments.  You cannot argue that you can never completely abolish sex work or that not everyone finds sex work bad. Most importantly, you cannot even argue that it is not the utopia of most feminists as she states it is her view and thus her utopia. I find this method of argument extremely weak because you know that your argument is not strong enough to open it up to pragmatism and other opinions. She could have easily said that she feels sex work is x, x and x. However, by using this method she is undervaluing her own opinion and making it easier to dismiss.

        The second error is something that comes up with sex work all of the time. A commodity is always a thing. By saying sex work commodifies sex what you are really saying is that the woman’s body is being sold. This frame of mind about the issue can lead someone to believe that prostitution is degrading and objectifies women. However, saying this about sex work just reinforces that idea. According to society a man has sex for pleasure while a woman is ‘sharing her body’ it is supposed to be more important and deeper to a woman. Feminists have done a lot to say women like sex for pleasure too!!! but they use the same language when discussing sex work which just undermines their argument for sexual freedom. Another critique is that there is no reason to say that sex work = sex as a commodity. Sex work is a service. A waitress uses her personality and knowledge to make a customer’s meal more enjoyable and her body to deliver food in a quick way. Why can a prostitute not simply be using her body and knowledge to deliver physical release?  There is no real difference between the two but because our society says that sex is so different and important from everything we do we consider it differently. However, a social construct is not real and we should stop feeding this one.

          Third, sometimes sex is used for something else. That doesn’t make it rape. Sometimes I want oral and have traded my fuckbuddy sex for that. Sometimes you want the exercise. Sometimes you lost a bet. Who the fuck cares. Consent =/= having sex for pleasure. That is putting ENORMOUS amounts of pressure on sex and people. People can have sex for whatever reason they want as long as both partners are down for it and not being forced. Even me going “babeeee ppllllleeeeaassseeee I’ll dooo the dishes for a quicky :c” should not be considered criminal coercison or bad. It is just part of a relationship. I watched a war movie with one of my ‘guy friends’ because he begged and said he’d let me pick the next movie. Is that coercion? Most people would say no. So why should it be considered thus just  because it is sex?

        What I really want to argue here is that even feminists need to examine what they think about the importance of sex and how this is influenced by society. We are all raised with beliefs about sex that are insidious and rarely spoken about. When we form opinions about something as broad as sex work we need to be careful that we are not reinforcing narratives that are harmful to the subject we are trying to help.

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The Sequester

Congress is absolute shambles lately. It has been for a while. I believe this is why people are not paying attention to the stupid shit they do anymore. First they killed Susan Rice’s nomination for Secretary of State because she gave ‘incorrect information about Benghazi’ (Benghazi being the attacks on the US consulate in Libya last year). After that they FILIBUSTERED Obama’s nominee for Defense Secretary in order to force out information about once again Benghazi. This is after the fiscal cliff bullshit and the debt ceiling shenanigans of 2011 and 2013. March 1^st was the deadline for the so called Sequester cuts. By the time those rolled around only the most stouthearted of souls was still keeping an eye on these idiots.

                For those that have not been paying attention there is one very important thing to understand about these cuts. They were completely created by the US congress. The Sequester was created to force Congress to work together in order to create a balanced budget. It is 85 Billion Dollars in spending cuts with 28 Billion hitting domestic spending and 57 Billion taken out of the Military’s budget. One thing that is conveniently missing from these cuts? Anything affecting the people in congress. So basically they loaded a pistol, cocked back the hammer and put it to the head of the American people. Do you think that I’m being Dramatic? I don’t. These spending cuts will fall onto the backs of employees and those needing federal aid the most. It will not affect those that let it happen. Hell, the tea party republicans that are being such stubborn asses have their districts Gerrymandered so fucking hard that they will not even lose their seats.

Economists are saying that these cuts could send our economy back into a recession. If our economy bottoms out or not is not my primary concern with the Sequester. I am pissed that it actually went through. I was hoping that these idiots would propose something at the last minute but nothing was proposed. Obama signed it. Already there is a republican bill to reduce the military cut. I have no idea if it will pass or not. The Sequester is something that should never have occurred. It was something that no one wanted to see happen and yet it did. I do not see how to fix this congress but it needs to be fixed. My point of writing this is both informative but I also want to urge people to pay attention. At least write your congressmember. I’m going to make sure that I take action sooner instead of whining about it afterward next time. With this congress I’m sure that I will have a change to do better, the fuckwits. 

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Why I will never ever run for office

I’m a private person and therefore do not enjoy sharing my motivations and dreams with many people. However, when I asked for suggestions on what to write a friend suggested that I discuss why I do not wish to run for congress. I’m sure that my adamant wish to not run for office would confuse many that know me. I love telling people what to do, make decisions and I am passionate about politics.  Political office seems like an amazing fit. However, I joined the United States Pirate Party.

            I first joined the party in December 2011 after googling and finding the website. I even learned how to use IRC so that I would be able to go to the meetings. I heard about the Pirate Party from a friend who was involved in PPUK and the more I read the more I loved. Transparency, Accountability, Freedom of the Press? Sign me up! I love these things! I was looking for a way to dip my toe into politics and a process to grow from impotent rage at stupidity in politics to action. What I found was utter shambles. There was no central organization; people were fighting too much to agree on the most minor of details and there wasn’t even an actual meeting time. I yelled and whipped the people that were there into shape and the older members started to trickle back into the picture. This experience taught me a lot about myself. I’m hot-headed, rash, opinioned, hard-headed, stubborn, too honest for my own good and have a complete lack of respect for seniority and authority. Basically it was a shit storm.   

People who were long time members expected a certain amount of deference. People expected me to scratch their back if I wanted anything. Politics requires a game. When I went into all this I thought that dishonest people happened to get into politics but what I learned was that it is required. You have to treat those who have more ‘clout’ and ‘reputation’ with respect even if they are a grungy bitch with a stick shoved so far up her ass that she must cough splinters. You have to get along with people you hate and go along with projects you think are stupid in order to get support for your projects. The entire experience soured me from change from the inside. I just cannot toady to people that I hate. I cannot be two-faced and maintain a secret agenda. It is necessary in that world and it isn’t the right fit for me. I see now that when you are not part of the majority on any issue dishonesty and games are required to get what yo want. People will even roadblock you because you offended them or have a bad attitude. Personality and ‘relationships’ can matter even more than your ideas. I’m a shit starter with passion, intelligence, and a mouth the size of an ocean. That is simply who I am. So with that in mind I have decided to move more into an NGO, watchdog or reporter role. Political office is not the place for me. It would simply hold me back.

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America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    I’ve been paying attention to the Israeli-Gaza escalation lately. I use this blog in a very cathartic way sometimes and this is one of those times. I am going to focus on Americans with this piece because America is one of the few countries that still show widespread support for Israel. Some background, until this escalation I did not pay attention to Gaza. My major opinion was that both sides needed to Deescalate and that violence is harmful. I knew the US supported Israel but it wasn’t a big thing on my radar. I really saw the two sides as equals who were fighting over land. I didn’t see Israel nor Palestine as more flawed than the other and I pinned blame for escalation cleanly on the shoulders of both governments. I didn’t even really think about how the United States was playing into the violence or how their position affected things. After these days and after numerous discussions with a close friend I’ve changed my mind on this subject. I want to start this piece by going through the three major opinions that I have seen and placing myself firmly in one camp.

      The first argument that I will discuss is the pro-Israel argument. I have mostly seen supporters argue that Israel is merely defending itself, that it only targets Hamas and the Jewish deserve a homeland after the Holocaust. However, I do not believe any of these excuses are enough to justify the deliberate slaughtering of the Palestinian people. So far Harry Fear, a British documentary producer, is estimating the death toll at 71 Palestinians. The death toll for Israelis is set at 3. I am sure some will disagree with my use of tweets as a factual reference but that right now that is the best I have been able to find and Harry is in Gaza which gives him credibility in my eyes. This is an extremely disproportionate amount of death at the hands of the Israelis. The Israelis also have far more sophisticated weaponry than those in Gaza do. The Israelis do not send out specific warnings of the areas they are bombing including media buildings that housed RT and when interviewed http://rt.com/news/gaza-media-center-strike-977/ said that they sent out general warnings for people to not be near Hamas which was warning enough. The issue here is that Gaza is about the size of Washington D.C and the only way to not be near Hamas is to leave Gaza really. It is obvious to anyone who looks at the death tolls that at the very least, Israel is not a victim. This picture shows some of the disparities between Israel and Palestine. Israel is at the very least an equal partner in this fighting which means that anyone who supports Israel’s right to exist must admit that they are escalating the violence and need to desist.

     The second argument is that it is not the United States concern and there are other things that we should concern ourselves with. To that I submit a series of issues that go against that. One the United States is the biggest Ally Israel has. The United States has routinely reinforced its support even during this specific skirmish. The United States government is directly inserting itself into foreign affairs with these statements. If your position is really that the US should not be involved then you should protest US treaties of alliance to Israel.  If that doesn’t concern you the sheer amount of aid that the United States is sending to Israel should.  The U.S. spent $106.1 million on this program in 2012 and plans to spend $99.8 million in 2013. Considering that everyone loves to talk about our poor economy and spending habits this directly involves the US public and so we should get involved and demand that we stop sending aid to Israel. The third point is that Americans are being pushed into only one perspective of this conflict, the pro-Israeli one.  this person is discussing how the IDF (Israeli military) has a sponsored ad on Facebook. I can guarantee that Facebook would never accept money from Hamas and showing material from one side on a social network is incredibly inappropriate. So you can protest Facebook accepting money to insert politics into your social network. Reports have shown how the BBC is biased in favor of Israel and I recommend comparing the articles that are seen in Mainstream American Media and ask yourself if they are any better. If you feel they are biased, as I do, then you now have something else to protest. Americans should have access to contrasting viewpoints and be allowed to form opinions without the interference of their government or corporations.  This picture shows how Google auto completes searches in a way that favors Israel. It is clear that no matter what your flavor of outrage is, there are things that you need to protest in America.

     The third position supports Gaza and wants the fighting to end. This is the camp I am in. Gaza is essentially a third world country and the idea that Israel needs to defend itself from them is a joke. Some reading materials that explain my views on this fairly well are here  and ifamericansknew.org. I think that what is happening in Gaza and the United States support of it is heart breaking. It is wrong and it needs to end. Anyway I know this post is biased. I wanted to be one hundred percent clear where I stand throughout this entire piece. To me the answer is clear. Innocent people are being slaughtered and misinformation is being spread far and wide. Not only that but my country is supporting and funding it. I can’t support that. I can’t stay quiet about it and now that I know I will not stand for it. I hope that I will be able to find my own place in ending what is happening to Palestinians and will someday see US support dwindle into nothingness. I feel guilt for what I allow my country to do in my name. I refuse to relieve myself of the burden of that guilt and responsibility because it is difficult to carry. If American support for Israel ended tomorrow so would this conflict. The United States is Israel’s sole reliable Ally. I am in a position where I can actually do something and fight to change what my country is doing. Sorry for moral fagging but I am what I am *curtsey*.

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Gender differences in contemporary society

                My last post created an interesting conversation between my best friend and I. A person commented that ‘men think about sex all the time’ and she really hated that idea. I asked why and she explained that she simply thought it wasn’t true and that it was sexist. So I decided that I should make a post to further expand on what her and I discussed. I plan to cover three main ideas. Number One: Men think about sex all the time. Number Two: Men will want to have sex with you even if you are friends. Number Three: The repression of ‘manliness’.

                First I will say that evolution is used as a basis to ‘scientifically’ justify our culturally dramatic gender stereotypes/ gender roles. I will say right now that this is bullshit. There are differences between men and women but when compared to differences between species or even individuals it is ridiculously, jokingly tiny. Evolutionary differences when it comes to human intelligence are so small that you need hundreds of people to have a significant difference of five seconds (I am taking evolutionary psychology and have to write papers about this shit, if you wish to challenge me make sure you bring studies). This whole “men have evolved to be aggressive” is bullshit and doesn’t pan out in studies. It is cultural and if you do not believe me take a look at Mead’s work with gender roles and cultures. Hint: Not all cultures see dominant males and submissive females. Hell, even western interpretations of which is the more sexual sex has changed (during the times of the puritans women were too sexual and their excessive sexuality made them weaker to the devil, not too long later and you have Victorian England where women hate sex and men are the sexual creatures). Basically, I am tired of seeing this bullshit assumption. It is sexist. It is stupid. It is not true. Stop thinking it and stop using it to be the basis for an argument. Evolution is meant to explain differences between species not why ‘women be shoppin’.  

Topic One:  Men think about sex all the time

                On face value this is a completely innocent comment. This issue is that it implies women do not. Let me clear this up for you, women do. Studies have demonstrated that straight women will become aroused from porn whether is gay or straight, while straight men only become aroused from girl on girl or straight. I feel pretty safe then in concluding that women get aroused easily. I know that I am and I really am not arrogant enough to think that I am some sort of sexually frustrated goddess that needs orgasms more than mere mortal females. Another problem with this phrasing is that it implies that men literally think about sex all the time. If you are walking down the street and you see nothing arousing or are thinking nothing arousing and somehow spontaneously get a cockstand and are not a 13 year old boy, you may have physiological issues. That is not normal. Seek help. If you just think about sex when you see someone physically attractive, see depictions of sex or notice that you have a penis. Congratulations you are perfectly normal!! Fun fact: Women are the same way. Sometimes I’ll be chilling in my bedroom and realize holy fuck, I have tits and then I masturbate because I start playing with my tits. All perfectly natural and normal, I assure you. I am just tired of men patiently explaining to me that I don’t understand how they want to have sex all the time because I am a female. Bitch, you do not know your life story. I masturbated in a field for the hell of it and I would have sex in a movie theater because the idea amuses me. I am down for sex pretty much any time or any place. Sex is awesome so most people are like that. Just keep in mind that I am not unique from other women because I want sex more or something crazy like that. I am different because I am loud and have no shame.

Topic Two: Men will want to have sex with you even if you are friends

                Once again this isn’t unique. I have not had sex with someone who wasn’t my friend and I would have sex with at least like six of my friends right now. This doesn’t need to be explained. The whole idea that somehow women put men in the friend zone and stop seeing them as sexual creatures is stupid. Her wanting to have sex with you but being scared of ruining the friendship that she values is a hundred times more likely. Stop being bitter and tell her  you think she is sexy and would like to kiss her. She says no be a grown up and move on. Thinking that somehow women never want to have sex with their friends or want sex with their friends less than men is too silly.

Topic Three: The repression of ‘manliness’

                I have heard this idea from MRA idiots. What exactly has been repressed about you by society? You realize that society created the same constructs that it is repressing right? Instead of being caught up in proper manliness try to be a good human being and try to be yourself. If you feel the need to spit on the ground and scratch your ass (repressed manliness?) then move in with some white trash. They do not care. If by this you mean that somehow your sexuality is being repressed all I have to say is what? How is it being repressed? If your idea of natural male sexuality is slapping women on the ass or assaulting them I beg you to calm down.

Anyway

/rant

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Gender and Power: A remix of a classic

In “The Origin of the Family” Kathleen Gough lists eight characteristics of male power in archaic and contemporary societies. What I wanted to do was evaluate these characteristics in the context of current American Politics. I am reading a piece that expands on the ideas of her list so I wanted to do my own similar thought experiment.

One thing that I want to explain before getting on to each number is that male control is used in this piece in the broadest sense. I do not use it to discuss individual control, that is a completely different much more complex conversation. I am speaking purely to the systemic level which includes individuals but it isn’t individuals that are choosing to oppress. That is something to keep in mind for this piece because individual men are not the problem but the system that gives men the power over women in these ways.

This post is fairly hetero and cis sexist. Just a warning but that is our culture. I may identify these issues more thoroughly in another post. 

1. The power of men to deny women their own sexuality:

             The idea behind this is that men deny women a sexuality seperate from men. A sexuality which they control or make decisions about. This is a huge issue in legislation right now. The biggest way that men are denying women their own sexuality is through controlling access to birth. By limiting access to hormonal birth control they are limiting a woman’s ability to prevent her own pregnancy. If the only form of birth control becomes the condom it takes power away from the woman by making it a mutual decision if her body is protected from pregnancy. Obamacare led to a huge debate about companies being able to restrict women from getting birth control if they had religious reasoning. So of course the house created a panel to discuss this. Who was on the panel you ask? Five men. 
                 The other big way is culture. In American culture female sexuality is treated like a commodity. This is most easily seen in the phenomena known as a purity ball. In a purity ball the daughter, usually 8-10 years old, pledges her virginity to her father. Her father then gives her a lock while he keeps the key. On the day of her marriage the father gives her husband the key to her sexuality. It is expected that until one man gives control of her sexuality to another she will not exercise her sexuality. This is one of the more extreme and obvious ways that our society controls female sexuality.

                Another more subtle way are Halloween costumes. The sexiness of Halloween costumes is something that many a person has bitched about. I want to take that complaint a bit broader and say that there is a systemic lack of choice for women when it comes to costumes. I saw a sexy bacon costume and lost all hope. The issue here isn’t that women are expected to wear sexy costumes. It is that sexy is almost all that is available. There isn’t even an option for ‘kinda sexy’ it is ‘look like a box’ and ‘what will you do for 20 dollars?’.  I went to a random section of a random costume store and looked only at female costumes. Under classics I found this. Out of 16, I would call 12 hooker wear. They are all sexy to an extent but a vast majority have either tits or ass hanging out. The male costumes didn’t have ‘classics’ so I went with ‘TV, movie’. Out of all of the costumes on the front page I would only say the one from ‘I’m sexy and I know it’ is sexy. The issue here is that there is a gender difference in how sexual expectations for men and women on Halloween. This is a societal pressure and a limiting of options that restrict women’s choices on how to showcase their sexuality.

2. Or to force sexuality upon women.

                 The most obvious way to approach this is through rape. That is the literal forcing of sex. I do not want to really spend time on this because it is such an obvious issue. I want to discuss the heterosexist culture that raises women to submit to male sexuality. A very obvious example is blue balls. Blue balls is the idea that men have certain needs and if these needs are not met it can result in ‘blue balls’, which is painful and results from women denying men sex. This is a link from extreme movie, but it shows what the average ‘script’ for teenage sexuality is. It makes the point for me really. The worst part about blue balls is that it can be used in order to guilt women into sex. They may not want it but they do not want the guy involved to not be able to have sex just because she doesn’t want to. Our society sets up heterosexual sexual interactions where the woman owes a man sexual release.  

                      The second piece that I want to discuss is ‘friend zoning'. The idea is that women put men in the ‘friend zone’ and they want them as more than a friend but the woman does not. There is tons of advice on how men can escape the friend zone and how to prevent from getting into the friend zone. What is not discussed is that the fundamental idea to friend zoning is that friendship may be enough for women but it isn’t for men, that being ‘friends’ with a woman is pointless if you cannot have sex with her. That is the only difference between ‘the friend zone’ and ‘boyfriend’. By refusing to allow intimacy with a woman that doesn’t take place without sex is to force male sexuality on her. It is to say ‘you want someone to talk to? Lean on? Depend on? Then I better get sex out of it’. Mutual friendship is not enough. Sex is what matters.

3. The power of men to command or exploit their labor to control their produce

             The wage gap comes into play here but it is still broader than that in our present society. Let’s unpack this video of the Presidential debates, the infamous binders full ofwomen. There are a bunch of problems here 1. Women have to be hunted down to be able to find them. The women in question were dependent on Romney finding them, looking for them. The only reason these women were hired was because Romney took it upon himself to find them. I am NOT saying that it is Romeny’s fault or that it is the women’s fault in this scenario. I am saying that it is a problem that women are portrayed in our culture as needing a helping hand. They need ‘affirmative action’ or need male candidates to be ignored to get them. 2. Romney says that women need a flexible work schedule. Since this is a pay equity question not only is he dodging the issue but he is also saying that women need more flexibility than men to pursue ‘other opportunities’. The opportunity of course is motherhood. This is less of an issue than it was in the past and the pay gap has improved of course. But to ignore it or to say that it is based on women’s choices so women need to make better choices is absurd and is exactly the point that I am trying to make. Conversations regarding equal pay and labor rights are ignored or trivialized. Though women make up 51% of the population their employment issues are not taken seriously in our culture and are used by politicians to pander to the ‘female vote’.

4. The power to control of rob them of their children.

              This is an issue that has gotten a lot better and I would argue that the power in this issue has switched. It is now much more easy for a woman to get a child custody or for a woman to get an approved adoption. Of course in general the person that is making this decision is a man so it is really men having power of other men. I would argue that there is still an issue with allowing women to control their ability to have children. In the House a bill was debated that would outlaw abortion for rape victims and invitro fertilization that allows women to have children (the house has 75 female members which shakes out to 5.8%, via wikipedia). Outlawing abortion completely was recently added to the republican platform which is notorious for being old, white and male (I was unable to find demographic statistics). Once again men are making choices that impact women’s bodies. Not in a personal manner because it effects them too, but without even giving them an equal voice in the discussion.

5. The power to confine them physically and prevent their movement

I feel fairly certain that doing this literally is a crime. This culture does restrict women’s movements when it comes to victim blaming and preventing rape.

This ad connects showing up to consenting to sex

 

This judge apologized after telling a sexual assault victim that if she hadn’t gone to the bar that night she wouldn’t have been assaulted

A tumblr devoted to victimblaming

Women’s council leader tells women to not go outside alone

         Our culture beats the idea of not going out alone, not going into dark corners at night, how to even fuck walk around by yourself. “no headphones, shoulders back, walk at an average pace so as not to seem fearful, if someone attacks you call the police on your phone so that they can collect evidence” this was advice given to me and my friend by a police officer that was friends with her father and he asked him to talk to us so that we could ‘protect’ ourselves. My friend and I have had many conversations about this after we realized that we were fucking terrified of being out after dark, even together, because there were not too many people. We were having a physiological reaction to footsteps and were trying to figure out why we were so scared. I have not met a guy that is as terrified of being alone after dark or given advice like this. When society conditions women like this it allows men to be less afraid and to feel that women’s fear is irrational which both constricts women’s movements and disempowers them from even discussing the issue.

6. The power to use them as objects in male transactions.

         We do not have child marriage, arranged marriage, or bride price anymore.  I will refer to an interesting piece that I read once though. A female reporter went undercover as a man just to see what it was like. One thing that she noticed was that cat calling wasn’t about the woman, but about being able to interact with other men. It was a way for men to discuss a neutral topic and actually talk to each other, such as sports or the weather. That was shocking to me because in this case the woman isn’t a person but is a vehicle for male discussion. This is something that disempowers men and women from being whole people but it is something that disempowers women more because the woman in this example is an object and is not even treated as partially human.  
         Another example is music videos this is Bon Bon by Pitbull and if you watch the video women are literally just eye candy. They are objects that are there to entertain the viewer . That is their only purpose.

7. The power to cramp their creativeness

                A woman’s ability to get an education and to work in a creative medium is much improved but the biggest issue that I see is disrespect. I see this the most in female comedians. The idea that a woman cannot be funny is very consistent in our culture.

8. The power to withhold from them large areas of the society’s knowledge and cultural attainments

                Access to education has gone way up and I think that this was a huge accomplishment of second wave feminism. I think there are still issues with sex role stereotyping and conditioning of men and women to go into separate career paths. I think that this specific issue is not a way that men have control over women but a way that our culture affects all of our daily decisions. That is a separate issue to me.
                In closing I really just wanted to do this as a thought experiment. This piece that I read was written in the 70s as the height of second wave feminism and I wanted to compare it to our culture now. How much have we accomplished? Do men still have control over women? What conversations should we be making? This is by no means complete and it doesn’t do everything to answer these questions but I thought it would be an interesting way to place feminist rhetoric into a present day landscape.

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Advice from a life long mistake maker

I’ve noticed that I tend to write about things that make me angry. A lot makes make angry so I can see why that is, ha. I wanted to change things up a bit and give some advice though. I think that it is important to be informed but another thing that I think is important is finding your passion in life, or at least figuring out what makes you happy and pursuing it. I also think it is important to recognize your own abilities and what is important to you. Don’t listen to other people when choosing your life path, not even me. One thing that I always keep in mind is that no matter how many people you please, no matter how many people you love and who love you back. You die alone. In your last moments no one will be there with you in your head and doing the journey with you. So for me it is always important to live life to myself because I am the only guaranteed permanent fixture in my life. However I recognize that I am not everyone which leads me to my first major point.

You need to know who you are.  Don’t hide, don’t deceive, be honest. If you do not know who you are, find yourself. There are no excuses to this. You need nothing external to find your own moral compass. Think about what is important to you, what makes you angry and why, what you want and why, what you are good at, what you are bad at, what flaws you have, what flaws you should accept and what flaws you should work on. I think the biggest thing to figure out is what makes you passionate. What do you care about. My passions boil down to a deep belief in freedom and truth. I am extremely passionate about these things and they branch out into my many other passions such as gender justice, making documentaries, journalism, and politics. My sister is passionate about helping babies. That is what makes her happy and captures her imagination. My passion is not better than her’s and her’s is no better than mine. I think this is something else that is important to keep in mind. In passion difference is equal. Don’t every think that what you are passionate about is not good enough. If people say that what you want to do is pointless, ignore them. If people say that what you love isn’t good enough, ignore them. The only waste of time is doing something you do not wish to do, listening to people that you do not wish to. Don’t waste your life, energy, or happiness on haters.

Once you know yourself and know what you want to do, you need a goal. What do you want to do with your life? This can be a big goal or a small goal. It can be ‘become a photographer that finds new fauna in the amazon’ or ‘get a gender change operation’ or ‘come out to my parents’ or ‘go to college’. The goal in of itself does not matter to me, though it should to you. Having goals is important though, what you want to learn, what you want to do, having a goal keeps you going. Even if life gets difficult or it seems like the bad times will never end, having a goal gives you hope. Once you have a goal it is important to have a plan. If you need help with a plan you can always let me know, as I am excellent at plans. Go to people around you that are older than you, ask advice or your friends and brainstorm on your own. There are infinite ways to solve a problem so if you find no plan, you haven’t looked hard enough.  Lastly keep in mind that goals change and people change. I’ve changed my dreams at least five times in the past three years and each change makes me happier than the last. Just because you decided to do something doesn’t mean you are required to do it and changing your mind does not make you weak and it doesn’t make your last idea bad. The best way to live is flexibly, I always say.  There needs to be structure and aim but it needs to flow around life’s difficulties and changes. So think about who you are and what you want to do all the time but be free to change, grow and be stupid. Being stupid and making mistakes is undervalued and is one of the best tools for learning. Be hard on yourself but not too hard, life is a balance. I plan to return back to our regularly scheduled rants tomorrow so hopefully this wasn’t too much of a bore ;). 

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Transparency

I was reading about updates in the Bradley Manning case and I decided that I should make a post about Transparency. I think that most people only have a half-hearted interest in Transparency. It seems to be similar to congress people not breaking the law. The rules should be enforced but everyone knows that isn’t really going to happen. Ignoring it in this way is worse than not voting for a third party because you know they will not win. It is worse than not voting at all because you think it is pointless. The worst part is that many activists do not scream loud enough, do not think hard enough and do not push for enough transparency. Too few realize that Transparency is the foundation for protection of all our rights and democracy itself.

            I am not shy about my involvement and love for the ideals of the Pirate Party. Its emphasis on Transparency and Freedom of the Press first attracted it to me. I thought that I had finally found a place that understood how important these things were. Sadly through my involvement I have not seen much in the way of advocating for these things, discussing what they look like in our society or even why these two issues are important. Even in a Party that focuses on these issues there is too little discussion about why they matter which is a shame. Generally when Transparency is brought up the idea of National Security is a half-step away, which should say everything you need to know. Transparency is the biggest threat to controlling the public. In shadows and secrecy is where the government commits crimes and injustice. How can you be sure that your leader was democratically elected if there is not transparency on the election progress? How can you protest a law if you do not even know the wording? How can you prove if voters are being disenfranchised without transparency?

            Whenever you see a lack of transparency you will see shady behavior. It is as simple as that. The democratic process relies on knowledgeable citizens picking who best represents them. Without transparency it is impossible to do this. If transparency was something that was fairly protected then I would understand it. However, transparency is always a battle, lately a losing one. I just want to see more people caring about it and advocating for it. All activism depends on knowing what the problem is and raising awareness about the issues. Without transparency this is impossible because there is no proof. This is an issue that everyone should care about and everyone should fight for.

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Fuck breast cancer awareness month

I hate breast cancer awareness campaigns in general. Some are good and actually raise awareness. For an introduction of why I despise this let me introduce to you the shirts that 'raise money' for 'breast cancer research'

I hate you capitalism

Keep in mind that we are only raising awareness here not necessarily donating any profits. What the hell? Are people not aware? I really really believe they are aware. The things these shirts say about about breasts are what I would expect to come out of a very precocious 12 year old boy's mouth. Really, boobilicious? 

Not to mention this lovely shirt that I saw that said "get your's checked or i'll do it for you" with the ribbon. Um what? You cannot grab my tits because I didn't get an exam, go away. The worse thing is that I do not think it raises awareness for cancer. Does anyone remember the relay for life? Instead of giving press or money to stuff like that, where money actually goes to research, we are buying dumb t-shirts and going HUE HUE HUE I'M SO CLEVER. Even worse we are completely ignoring other cancers that are extremely common and devastating as well. 

citation

According to this both Prostate and Lung Cancer have similar estimated cases and Colon and Lung Cancer result in more deaths than Breast Cancer. Did you know that September was Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and that the ribbon color is blue? I didn't until I googled it now because our society does not care as much for some really weird reason. I have yet to see a shirt say "Check your prostate checked or i'll finger your ass myself!!!" so why do we have it for breast cancer? After noticing this I refuse to buy anything related to breast cancer. Instead I will donate directly. Two foundations that caught my eye for the US are

86% of donations go to research and 91% goes to research, how much of what you buy in stores goes to research? If they even donate it is likely 5-15%. That is ridiculous. Instead of raising awareness about breast cancer this month I plan to raise awareness about these two organizations and how we should donate directly instead of feeding to corporate machine. 

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Racism and sexism: Some issues in discussions

I think that people misunderstand what racism, sexism and privilege fundamentally are. Fundamentally racism etc. is an institutional issue. The focus is not on individuals but on the way society creates and enables racism etc. Saying that racists/sexists/homophobes are bad people is stupid and naive. It misunderstands what the issue is. Racism, sexism, heterosexism, transphobia etc. are part of the system of patriarchy. Patriarchy is basically those with power having privilege over those without power. Patriarchy includes race, class, gender, sexuality, religion and other categorizations. It varies from society to society changing over location, subculture and time. The culture and society itself is racist in that it gives privilege and reinforces privilege in populations (think the way news is framed and media, if you want examples ask me for some).

This influences the actions of individuals. Some people are assholes and so use phrases like ni**er and fa**ot and whore to cause fear in others. The reason they can cause fear is because of the privilege they have in the society. If men are cat calling a woman, in general, it is not because they want to cause fear but they have been taught by society that there is nothing wrong with it and that it is harmless. If a woman feels threatened by this it is because she recognizes her lack of privilege and her vulnerability in the situation. If a person makes a joke about black people liking watermelon they are not doing so because they are racist, though they can be doing it to be an asshole, they are doing so because society is set up in a way that makes those jokes permissible. If a black person hears these jokes and feels awkward it is because they realize that if they speak up that it makes them uncomfortable they will be told to be quiet, or to loosen up. They realize their own lack of power in the situation.

The issue here is that people are part of society and influenced by society at large. When people say sexist and racist things meaning no harm they can still be good people, they can simply be ignorant. If someone is saying racist and sexist things on purpose, they are being an asshole not a racist. These are two separate things. This is a very nuanced issue and I hope that people can incorporate these differences into their speech and stop being confused about this issue. 

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Muslim Rage: How anti-muslim sentiment in America has gone mainstream

Unlike many things in American culture this upswing in Anti-Muslim sentiment has a clear. The amateur video that recently flooded the web titled 'Innocence of muslims'. Many interesting things have come out about this video including the fact that the first claimed director was an Israeli-American when evidence is pointing at an Egyptian group. This is an excellent opinion piece that was publish in Al Jazeera that sheds more light on the situation. This is very interesting and learning the facts that have been uncovered about this is the only conversation that should be happening about innocence of muslims. However stupidity has been flooding social media and news media.

Why so much stupidity? That is because 'Muslims' in the 'Arab world' came out and protested the video. Why do I put that in air quotes? Because it is suggested that these 'protests' were agitated for political control by terrorist groups in the areas to use anti-western sentiment. Whether the video was real, if people overreacted, issues surrounding free speech etc. none of that is pertinent to this conversation and I refuse to speak about it in connection to this issue. What I wish to discuss is how American news media heightened existing anti-Muslim sentiment until it reach the out of control levels I have been recently seeing.

Exhibit One

"Film leads to Muslim attack on US". I personally do not remember such an attack. Perhaps I slept through it. Which building was destroyed this time? How many people died? Oh someone burned a flag? Fuck, we do that. I'm going back to sleep. Don't wake me up again unless you have actual news to show me New York Post. 

Exhibit Two

You woke me up for this. Really. Peace of shit? I hope you censored the I due to pun abuse. This is news. Seriously. Here is some news that Americans should actually know: 

A debate on the ethics of trade embargoes and using sanctions in order to force rival nations to bend to our will based on rules that we do not follow? Now that sounds like news. That sounds like something worth discussing when it comes to the Middle East. But what is this over here?

Being fucked with a rusty chainsaw would be less painful than the ignorance of this cover

Muslim Rage: How I survived it. How we can end it. lDSJFAO WIEUTQ;WOEIA FSADKXA. HOW STUPID CAN PEOPLE BE. I EXPECTED MORE FROM YOU MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA SOURCE. What are the consequences of this lunacy? Hate group nut jobs think they can show their face in public once again

An utterly helpful critique of the Israeli situation showing a nuanced interpretation of Muslim culture from people that are utterly sane and entirely capable of making adult decisions. 

What I want to know is how do they manage to generate so much spit??? Do they spit on each star or do they not have the determination? I am personally offended that they are not using the time honored method of killing it with fire. #Muslimsarelazy or is that Mexicans? I forget my stereotypes : | 

Oh the old 'your god is imaginary' argument. Always helpful and pertinent. 

We will show how non-rage filled we are with extremely tacky hearts on a social media site!!!

Every time something happens in the Middle East three camps rush in to comment. The 'all religion sucks' people, 'Islam is super violent, booooo' idiots, and the 'Islam isn't like that I promise!!!' wastes of space. It is usually ignored by the news media in America entirely and foreign news sources have good information that sheds light on the issue which is ignored by many Americans. My point about this is that none of these arguments are helpful. They result in no useful conversation and the people from the first and second camp just yell at each other and the middle camp just yells at everyone. There is no discussion nor debate. There is no new information. It is ridiculous and pointless. 

The big difference this time is that the mainstream news media got into it. They grabbed a hold of the most harmful camp in that circle jerk and brought it into mainstream discussion. Meanwhile Catalonia is protesting, police and protesters are tangling in Greece, Mitt Romney is being a dumbass about planes, people are being racist in Washington and hundreds of other things are being discussed. Yet our news media is stoking the fires of anti-islam fervor in America. I am so tired of seeing this. Of seeing people feeding it. What I will do and encourage others to do is to find alternative news sources and stop talking about this bullshit in this way. I only want to speak about actual news and information. I want to discuss the Middle East and current events in a nuanced and intelligent way. Spouting off hatred and engaging in an intellectual circle jerk holds no interest for me. I will save my circle jerking hatred for people that deserve it. Like people who do not believe in evolution, pro-lifers, bieber fans, and the Iphone5 map. 

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Mass Media and Conflict theory

More and more Media is becoming a prevalent issue in public discourse. The biggest reason for this is the increase in the sheer amount of media that people are exposed to every day. One area of Media that often resists public critique are News Corporations. Only a handful of people control the steady influx of information into the homes of Americans. It would make more sense that a greater diversity of producers would lead to higher quality and more informative news with little bias. However we see few perspectives and fairly low quality news. The ideas of Conflict theory best explain why so few people are controlling massive amounts of information as well as the quality of the news.

            One important idea in Conflict theory is that mass media is a way that the ruling class maintains control of the working class. Mass Media “simply disseminate(s) the ideas and world views of the ruling class, and deny or defuse alternative ideas” ( Chandler, 3). If this is true then we would expect to see power over mass media concentrated in the hands of a few individuals that are very wealthy and powerful (the ruling class in present day society takes the form of those with the most wealth). When ownership of news channels, print news media and internet news media are traced back to the individuals that own them we see a very small group of individuals. We actually see eight main corporations that control a vast majority of the media (Grazian, 53). Those that own the news media control what is seen. They use their perspective and values to decide what news is important, what news is shown and how the news is framed and presented. This lack of perspective not only leads to controlling the knowledge of the working class but the media also serves to reproduce “the viewpoints of dominant institutions not as one among a number of alternative perspectives, but as the central and ‘obvious’ or ‘natural’ perspective” (Chandler, 5).   This means that the values of the ruling class are exclusively being communicated to those outside of the ruling class. This leads to the views of the ruling class shaping what those outside the ruling class know of the world and what they understand to be truth.

This is something that is very easily demonstrated through the news corporations. The idea that all news is biased is not the dominant ideology of the culture. When bias in news programming is discussed it is with one specific channel compared to another (i.e.  New York Times or FOX news) but the truth is that all news is biased due to the few people that control what news is seen. Since this bias is not properly understood as a unit people take the news as fact.  If one does not follow the money it would look like the New York Times and FOX news are showing different perspectives on different situations when in reality all of these news stations are communicating the same fundamental values (the value of democracy, the power of the presidency, that America is a nation that enjoys much freedom etc.). Not only do they show similar values but they are owned by the same person, Rupert Murdoch (Grazian, 54). However, because of the appearance of ‘different perspectives’ those that watch the news do not understand that they are actually getting one perspective.

Since so many ‘different’ sources of information are all saying the same thing it is obviously must be true.  This leads to the idea that “Cultural hegemony operates at the level of common sense; it is a soft power that quietly engineers consensus around a set of myths that we have come to take for granted” (Grazian, 2010, 61). The implied values (the value of democracy, the freedom Americans experience) are never explicitly stated. The fact that very few people are communicating and controlling these implicit values is never discussed. Because citizens believe that reading and watching multiple news sources means that you will get an overall unbiased, accurate and total picture of current events when this is not true these implicit values are simply accepted as true, common sense and natural.

One distinct aspect of conflict theory is that “values and ideas are seen as weapons used by different groups to advance their own ends rather than as means of defining a whole society’s identity and goals” (Wallace, 1995, 77). This idea is once again demonstrated through the news media especially when one focuses on the coverage of presidential elections. The ‘liberal’ news media and the ‘conservative’ news media outlets go head to head. They demonize the opposition and show why their chosen candidate is better. More interestingly though is how ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are completely associated with the two dominant political parties (the democrats and republicans) to the point that the phrases are used interchangeably. This collapses down the entire spectrum of political thought into two camps. The idea that any other political parties, let alone candidates, exist is simply not addressed in mass media news outlets. Clearly the Democrats and Republicans do not define America’s identity or their goals or even show the diversity of Americans on the political spectrum. However when you take a look at those who are donating to candidate, who the political system favors, and who controls the news media you see a disturbing amount of overlap. Those that control the news media have a vested interest in keeping third parties out of power as they challenge the dominant power structure in which the present ruling class enjoy much power.

 The more technology grows the more dependent Americans become on Technology and the less we feel we are being controlled by the media corporations. It seems a safe assumption that when you can get your information about current events from multiple sources and have it be accurate and overall without bias. However, this is not the case and conflict theory best explains the reality of the situation. Motivated by power and greed, the ruling class construct a reality aimed at pushing implied values that benefit the ruling class. They do this in a subtle and clever way so that it is very easy to ignore and this communicated ideology simply becomes common sense and the correct interpretation of the world.

~*Disclaimer*~ 

I wrote this for my class and I decided to put it up on my blog because I like it.

           

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Why I hate Occupy Wallstreet

I hate Occupy Wallstreet. I truly despise it. I hate the entire Occupy movement. I hate it because it is disorganized and so accomplishes nothing. It is often offensive such as ‘wage slavery’ and the slave auction. The only times that the movement does something creative it is a stupid stunt. They have no clearly defined goals for the movement and it is really just a bunch of people sitting around getting arrested and the best thing they have demonstrated so far is police brutality. I feel like these are all a good reason to hate OWS, but the biggest reason that I hate OWS is that it is holding back progress.

I think of social justice on a massive scale like a pressure cooker. More and more crap just keeps happening until finally the people have had enough and get into the streets and demand change. Leaders rise up and give voice to the people, give direction to the emotions and then change happens. Governments are overthrown. People band together and accomplish things. OWS is acting like a very small but stead leak on the pressure. This provides a completely harmless release of this anger and vitriol that powers social movements. Not only does OWS do nothing but it is actually preventing another movement taking its place and getting something done.

How they can do better/ what needs to happen. There need to be leaders and structure. They can be officially elected, they can just happen I do not care. Take a look at anonymous everyone loves to talk about how there are no leaders in anonymous and that is bullshit. Behind every operation there was a person that had the idea and gathered people. There were people that planned and came up with ideas about what to do.  The phrase ‘expect us’ came from somewhere. People make videos to state their intentions. This is all organization. This is all leadership. There is nothing like that in OWS. No one speaks for the crowd. No one sets up the plan. There are not hundreds of projects to reach a goal. Fuck, there isn’t even a manifesto of shared beliefs. No one knows what OWS stands for because they just bitch about everything! Just picking apart everything and saying what is wrong is stupid and ineffective. It is good for a first step and needs to happen. But you need to get beyond that and suggest solutions and plans of action.

Activism is something that is dear to my heart and something that I believe in strongly but this fuckwittery is a mockery of it. I know that people will say that they lack of leaders is a good thing because everyone is equal!! What they fail to realize is that being a leader is not about power. It is not about being better than other people. It is about getting shit done. Others will say that OWS has said some of its goals like ending the Federal Reserve!! To them I say really. Then why are we not talking about OWS and the Federal Reserve. How many pictures are idiots getting arrested and how many are signs saying “Federal Reserve ends now”. Where are the chants? Where are the protests against the Federal Reserve?

My ultimate point is that you need to get your shit together OWS or fade out of existence so that the pressure can build and someone more useful can come along.

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Girl on the Internet Syndrome

Today it was suggested that I talk about ‘women who get 20 men on their dicks for posting online once’. Now I have had experience with this. First I will say that this is a huge stereotype. That women just prance around being female and suddenly BAM! every man comes out of the woodwork.

This does actually happen in reality though in a few circumstances. The more women are actually spreading around the internet the less it happens. I will talk about two specific situations it happens in. First when it happens on mainstream social media sites, like facebook.  Most likely she is hot and these men are the many creepers that are on the internet. I stopped putting my face up as my profile pic as some guy said that I was hot and that he thought I would look even better crying. NO THANKS CREEPY MAN. I think that is a big reason for this whole ‘girl on the internet’ phenomenon.

Secondly areas that are less populated by females like… 4chan, or G+ when it was Beta or like the Pirate Party (in my personal experience) there are less females than men, FAR LESS. Why this is I will not go into. Here there are 20 guys on a chick’s dick because females in the area are rare. Especially if she isn’t some giggling monstrosity of a creature (aka fucking camwhores) they are intrigued. Usually the non-cam whore women that wander into these places are interesting, and share interests with everyone else in the group. For example you do not just wander and start actively posting in certain areas like /co/ on 4chan you have to have a specific set of interests.  I think this is the biggest reason for this phenomenon. When heterosexual guys run into a chick that shares their interests of course they want to talk to her and get to know her more. It is just that the internet already filters people in such a place that if you are on the 40 yo virgin board on IMdB you are likely to have a certain personality and there are only like two females in the entire place. 

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