Go read the comments to this article.

The article itself isn't that bad, about a somewhat ridiculous and tone-deaf approach to "Pardon our appearance during construction" sign. But hoo-boy, the comments! It's like everything out of a bad book on feminism in the 70s!

I've been taking the novel approach of attempting to educate people about why catcallling = bad instead of simply pointing out that there's a reason they can't get laid (because they're jackasses - and yes, if some of them could post their names and photos I'd very much appreciate it for reference purposes), not that it's likely to do any good. But still, last week I managed to explain to some internet commenter why it's inappropriate to TALK IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME!!!! so I'm just buoyed with my own success now. There's still a (admittedly very slim) possibility that I could convince somebody. Just one person.

(Yeah, I know, not gonna happen. Comments on articles are so useless, but they're something to do, anyway.)

Dug up this link and posted it to, in the comments, which proves the point. Some people don't want to listen, and others are trolls, and... and... okay, this is depressing. Don't click the link, it'll only upset you.

Girls are, of course, less likely to be given mathy toys like blocks or legos as presents. (Boys are less likely to get books. I'm sure that all these gift-givers know the children intimately and are only following the kids' interests, interests which were formed devoid of any outside input, straight out of the ether.)

At any rate, you've probably already seen these two videos on Lego's pointlessly gendered advertising, but just in case, there you go! (They even have transcriptions.)

And here's a bonus lego-related entry on... well, influencing how other people build with them, basically.

Bike trailers, child safety and the media's fear agenda

The title pretty much sums it up.

Here's another one. You'll love this... for a given quality of the word "love", that is. Apparently, Houston has a backlog of sexual assault kits that have never been tested. The city now wants money to deal with them. Great, right? Yeah! Except the police department wants that money not to run through the kits and test them, but to study why they have a backlog.

Oh, and I've heard about this Japanese show about sending small children out on their very first solo errands, but I've never seen a clip of it. This is even slightly subtitled! Of course, the comments suck, but that's to be expected. Is it just me or is there a middle ground somewhere between sending two year olds off to do the grocery shopping and not allowing twelve year olds to stay home alone for half an hour?

A report by Amnesty International on the shocking (!) rate of death in childbirth in the US.

Apparently more than two woman a day die of pregnancy related causes... if this information is even accurate, which it might not be.

And those two woman? Are probably black. Black woman are four times as likely to die from pregnancy related complications than white woman, even though they aren't any more likely to suffer from complications such as hemorrhage.

I'm not actually shocked or surprised by this, of course.

Here's an article about the fight in Ethiopia to eliminate bride abduction. It's fascinating. (Also, it gave me nightmares. This article gets its very own trigger warning for its descriptions of rape.

Oh, and I have two quick posts on Jewish literature, particularly fantasy:

Click
Click

Apparently, there are quite a few men out there who are perfectly willing to admit to rape so long as you just don't use that word.

A later comment purports to gives the exact wording of the questions, but I don't know where he got them from:

( Read more... )

From Shakesville comes this urgent call for action to save a woman's life. Kobra Najjar was forced into prostitution by her husband to support his heroin habit. A client of hers who was sympathetic to her plight killed him, and subsequently both were imprisoned for eight years. Now, however, she faces execution by stoning for adultery while evidently he does not.

Here are the people you can contact to help save her.




Update: Women's Action 29.2
July 2008

Iran: Kobra Najjar Faces Imminent Execution by Stoning for Prostitution

Kobra Najjar Equality Now is urgently concerned about Kobra Najjar, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery who lost her final appeal for amnesty. Iranian women’s rights activists working on her case report that Kobra has exhausted all domestic legal remedies and that her execution by stoning could happen any time.

Kobra is a victim of domestic violence who was forced into prostitution by her abusive husband in order to support his heroine addiction. He was murdered by one of Kobra’s “clients” who sympathized with her plight. Kobra has already served 8 years in prison as an accessory to her husband’s murder. The man who murdered her husband also served 8 years in prison and is now free after paying blood money and undergoing 100 lashes, while Kobra faces imminent stoning to death for adultery - the prostitution her husband forced upon her.

Equality Now is also concerned about recent reports of seven other women and one man, all accused of adultery sentenced to death by stoning, whose executions are also reported to be possible at any time. In Iran, adultery is the only crime punishable by stoning.

Stoning violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a state party. The ICCPR clearly prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. It also limits the imposition of the death penalty “only for the most serious crimes.” No criminal or other act warrants violent and inhumane punishments such as flogging and stoning. Moreover, adultery is a private act and should not incur criminal punishment. Protection from arbitrary or unlawful interference under the ICCPR has been found by the United Nations Human Rights Committee to include consensual sexual activity between adults in private.



Recommended Actions

Please write to the Iranian officials below, calling for Kobra’s immediate release, the commutation of all sentences of death by stoning and the prohibition by law of all cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments in accordance with Iran’s obligations under the ICCPR. Urge the officials also to initiate a comprehensive review of the Civil and Penal Codes of Iran to remove all provisions that discriminate and perpetuate discrimination against women, including those regarding adultery and fornication, in accordance with Iran’s own constitutional provision for equality before the law.

His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Head of the Judiciary
c/o Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Teheran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iripr@iranjudiciary.org, irjpr@iranjudiciary.com and info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
Phone: +98 21 22741002, +98 21 22741003, +98 21 22741004, +98 21 22741005

Note: The contact information above may encounter delivery problems so please keep trying to send your message. Thank you for taking action!

Please also contact the Iranian embassy in your country. The following link may help you find the contact information: http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Iran/Iran.html

( List of embassies )

I'm never sure what to say in these sorts of letters. Does anybody want to help me out here? I'll post good suggestions up here for others with my troubles.