Take 2: Will.i.am doesn’t like women who have their own condoms and I don’t like him

As Shakes wrote below, in a recent interview with Elle Magazine, Will.i.am said that he thinks women who have condoms in their home- i.e. who are prepared to have safe sex- are ‘tacky.” Check out the exchange:

ELLE: If you walked into a woman’s house, what one item would convince you that you weren’t compatible?

W: If she had condoms in her house, that would just fuckin’ throw me off. That’s just tacky.

ELLE: Well, okay, I could see if she had a candy bowl full of them on the coffee table. But if she’s got a few in a drawer, wouldn’t that simply suggest she’s health-conscious?

W: I just think, like, if you’re into someone and you guys get to that level, then that’s something you should converse about together and say, “Hey, maybe we should get some.” Another pet peeve is wet sinks.

Well, Maya at Feministing has some choice words for Will.i.am, as well as an act of “Skank Solidarity”: “I am gathering all the condoms in my apartment and putting them in a big candy bowl on my coffee table. There they will remain. Forevermore.” I think I’ll join her! Whataya say, ladies?

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Rachel Bishop

How Chris Brown Can Eff Up A Feminist’s Sex Life

“In a culture where sisters are dying in alarming numbers from domestic violence, what responsibility do I have to them and to myself to choose intimate partners whose thinking and actions are sound on these matters?. . .Can I feel safe in the softness of your touch if you don’t feel led to question a culture where other men routinely touch other women violently?”

Check out this thoughtful essay about Chris Brown and when personal relationships can become profoundly political.

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Rachel Bishop

The Middle East’s Hip Hop Protest Music

Check it out! A group of Libyan exiles called Khalas has released a mixtape of the hip hop music that provided the soundtrack to the protests in Tunisia and Egypt. You can listen to an interview with Khalas co-founder Abdulla Darra here and listen to the mixtape here!

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Rachel Bishop

Norwegian Company Brands Scarlet Letter on Adulterous Females

Ok, that should really say “Norwegian company forces women to wear red bracelets during their periods”, ostensibly so that their boss will know why they’re taking more bathroom breaks during that time. But it’s not that far off, is it?

Clearly, this is a horrible invasion of privacy, degrading to all the women involved. The feminist blogs have all ranted about that aspect at length, so I’m going to take this opportunity to rant further (yay!) on the closely related issue of how menstruation is treated by society at large.

Because what upsets me most is the way women will be treated when they’re wearing these bracelets. Everyone knows that many men (and women) will immediately back away in fear if they hear a woman has her period. The trope is that a woman will be irrational, emotional, and bitchy during her period and for about a week before. Women often buy into this conception as much as men do; how often will you hear a woman say “Oh, don’t mind me, I’m PMSing”? But think about what that means; if we’re irrationally emotional for a week before our periods and a week during our periods. . .and there’s four weeks in a month. . .wouldn’t we have to just “not mind” our emotions for a full half of our adult lives?

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Rachel Bishop

USDA Health Guidelines: “Don’t Eat Too Much Cheese. Buy Extra Cheese Pizza!”

An article in today’s NYTimes revealed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working with the dairy industry to increase cheese sales. You know, the USDA. The dudes who brought us the food pyramid and all those patronizing ads telling us not to drink so much soda.

So this government department is spending money both on convincing people to eat less cheese and also to eat more of it; they recently issued a pamphlet telling readers to “Ask for whole wheat crust and half the cheese” but are also working with Dominos to increase the amount of cheese on the pizzas they serve in order to increase sales.

Surreal, right? But this sort of thing is a common result of the government’s interest in both sustaining the economy and keeping citizens healthy. Government subsidies for corn farming, for instance, have led to massive overproduction of corn that leads to the proliferation of cheap, corn-based crap. And then they put out ads telling people not to drink so much high-fructose corn syrup.

… Continue Reading

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Rachel Bishop