Tag Archives: feminism
Guest blog: Redefining ‘alpha male’ for the 21st Century
There are few terms that make me more uncomfortable than ‘alpha male’ – alongside the fact that self-defined ‘alpha males’ usually only come across my radar when they’re spouting misogyny, the phrase itself seems to pack masculinity into a teeny tiny box from which there’s no escape. But this week’s guest blogger – Phoenix Rose (who’s guest blogged for me before on sleepy subspace) – wants to have a go at exploring the phrase, and seeing if there are ways it could be redefined for the 21st century. What if ‘alpha’ didn’t just speak to tropes about aggression and competition, and instead represented something different?
What are women worth?
A famous thought experiment proposed by a dude called Roger Fisher: that the President of the United States should be accompanied 24/7 by a volunteer who carries the nuclear launch codes with him, implanted in his chest. Should the President wish to launch nukes, killing tens of millions of people, he would have to first kill this one man with his own hands. Take a knife and cut the codes out of the volunteer’s chest. “The President says, “George, I’m sorry but tens of millions must die.” He has to look at someone and realize what death is—what an innocent death is. Blood on the White House carpet. It’s reality brought home.”
What I hear from the Republican Party on Kavanaugh
It’s important that you know: he didn’t do it. He has never done it. Would never do it. Kavanaugh is a good person.
Note: this post discusses the very credible sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, via quotes and ideas put forward by Republicans. Some of the comments and links are disturbing.
‘I was brave getting an IUD fitted today!’
Note that this post involves some graphic medical detail about injections and vaginal examinations during an IUD fitting.
The other day a woman put a big needle inside my vagina, and injected me three times in the cervix. I know you don’t like hearing this, my darling, but I really need you to know it. The other day, when getting an IUD fitted, I had three injections in my cervix.
‘Marrying up’: every single layer of this is bullshit
I’m late to the party on this news, but a couple of weeks ago someone released some research about what straight women are looking for in a partner, and how they’re struggling to find someone because they’re intent on ‘marrying up’. There’s loads of bullshit to wade through here, and it’s quite fun sometimes to unpack it all, smearing it liberally all over the floor until you realise there’s nothing of value even hiding in the centre of what is a wholly ridiculous concept. Let’s look at ‘marrying up’ and ‘marrying down’.