Our buddy Anita over at FeministFrequency.com has another great video up about how women are systematically left out of techno-geek culture.

Created for and originally posted at Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium on July 20th, 2010

“It’s a boys club that’s reinforced socially and culturally. It creates a space that is so undesirable for women to be in that they don’t want to or they aren’t given the opportunity to participate.”

Check it out!

YouTube Direkt

via www.FeministFrequency.com

“Did you get a chance to see “Buffy vs Edward: Twilight remixed“? It was recently nominated for a Webby! And it might be the only feminist anything that is nominated at all this year, which is why we think it’s so important that it wins the people’s choice award for best remix/mashup video! Currently it’s only in third place and it needs a big boost of votes to bring it to first.”

There are only a few days left (voting ends on April 29th) and it only takes a few minutes to vote on the Webby YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/webby?x=remixmashup

For more information on the creator:

Read an article from Jonathan McIntosh about why he made “Buffy vs Edward” at WIMN Voices where he discusses his pro-feminist interpretation of Twilight and also gives a big shout out to the vidding community which was a primary influence in making this video. His other remixes can be seen on his blog at www.rebelliouspixels.com

American U. column and its media coverage distort and confuse the issue

Washington, DC – The recent opinion column in the American University student newspaper – and its ensuing media coverage – fails to accurately represent the reality of sexual assault on college and university campuses. Rape is not an “incoherent concept” for the estimated one in four college women who will be raped by classmates, boyfriends, friends, or dorm-mates during their college career.

Rape is any form of penetration without consent and by force or threat of force; in nearly every state, someone who is intoxicated cannot legally consent to sex. Even though we know that rape is a felony, we are taught that the line of consent is blurry – perhaps even malleable. When a woman drinks too much at a party, or goes home with a certain guy, or goes into his bedroom, consent is too often taken for granted. It is not only the survivors who lose because of these problematic assumptions. On the one hand, eighty percent of survivors know their perpetrators, making it nearly impossible for women to distinguish “safe guys” from “potential rapists.” On the other hand, while the vast majority of these perpetrators are men, most men do not rape women.

Many of the college men that Men Can Stop Rape works with nationwide are engaged around this issue precisely because they have seen firsthand the devastating effects of sexual assault on the women they care about. These men know that the two percent of false rape reports are not the real problem; and they focus on supporting the millions of women – like family, friends, classmates, coworkers, and service members – who are sexually assaulted every year. These men work with women as allies in creating safe, healthy relationships and behavior.

It is not likely that the media will stop victim-blaming unless more people speak out against attitudes like “rape is an incoherent concept.” Last week on April 1st marked the beginning of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. There is no better time for individuals, especially men, to learn how they can stand up, be strong, and take action to prevent rape and date rape.

Five things college men can do to prevent date rape:

1. Does kissing mean that a person wants to have sex? How do you know? When a situation is unclear, asking before you act will ensure safe and healthy sex for everyone.

2. Accept when consent is withdrawn. Even after a person has given their consent, that person can withdraw it at any time. We all deserve the right to change our minds.

3. If a person is drunk or high and can’t give consent, back off and wait until you both are sober.

4. You’ve heard of designated drivers. Now use the same principle to prevent rape. At a party, designate someone among your group of friends to keep an eye on a guy that might be behaving in ways that could lead to sexual violence.

5. You probably will never see a rape in progress, but you will hear attitudes and see behaviors that degrade women and promote a culture of violence. When your friend tells a rape joke, let him know it’s not funny.

Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR)’s mission is to mobilize men to use their strength for creating cultures free from violence, especially men’s violence against women. Named by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as one of the world’s most innovative violence prevention programs, Men Can Stop Rape has reached over 2 million youth and professionals since 1997. MCSR has provided youth and college programming, public awareness materials, and training for the Department of Defense, Office of Health & Human Services, Liz Claiborne, Inc. (Love is Respect), DCPS, California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and more. For more information, please go to www.mencanstoprape.org.

Christina Cicchelli is a sex worker and sex writer who spoke at Paradigm Shift’s event “Sex Work and Human Rights: Feminist Advocacy Strategies.”

Get her e-book Sex Stories here and enjoy some of her tantalizing tales!

“Part-memoir and part-erotica, Sex Stories recounts some of my most memorable sexual encounters with acquaintances and clients. The fantasies in these stories range from sensual to sadistic and everything in between. There are tales of perversity, tales of aggressive lust, and tales of forbidden indulgences.”

From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom, a project of the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program and the Population and Development Program.

Find out what the CLPP Student Group is doing in preparation for this year’s conference!

Check here for more information.

UMBRELLA from cat on Vimeo.

Umbrella is an abstract short film about the experience of trauma. Catherine Tyc, the film’s creator, writes “By choosing to abstract the subject, I was hoping to avoid the traditional liberal vs. conservative debate that happens when people talk about abortion. In deciding to inject this subject matter as a subtext to the Sorrentino story, I was questioning a few things that do not seem to be talked about when abortion is talked about. Primarily, the level of discomfort that some feminist women have towards other women that have abortions and whether or not that comes from the controversial aura that surrounds the subject. I wanted to take on the subject from a purely emotional perspective to bridge that and also invite men as well as women into understanding what this experience can be like for some women.”

Check out more information on the film here!

vimeo Direkt

Film Info: http://www.trixiefilms.com
Blog: http://theamericanvirgin.blogspot.com

HOW TO LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY is the new
documentary-in-progress by Therese Shechter, director of the
award-winning and provocative I WAS A TEENAGE FEMINIST.

Spiritual, titillating, amusing, profitable, ruled by myths,
dogma and misconceptions, female virginity is something our
culture cares deeply about.

Read the rest of this entry »

This series of posts from the Paradigm Shift community is in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week Feb. 21-27, 2010. View call for submissions- deadline 3/5- Click here!

by Elisa Kreisinger

Created by mashing corporate media’s oversexualized depiction of women with a trailer for a misogynistic horror movie, “Captivity” illustrates that our society’s standards of beauty hold women captive.

At Your Cervix