Facebook and the perpetuation of rape culture

http://manboobz.com/2013/03/17/raw-story-on-the-top-5-rape-apologist-reactions-to-the-steubenville-verdicts/

Over the last week or so, there has been a backlash against Facebook. Tired of their complaints falling on deaf ears, women–and men–organized by the Everyday Sexism Project have been calling on Facebook to stop their implicit support of "rape culture." I am one of those people.

[...]

Please read the rest of this post on the Girl Museum blog, here. 

RIP Roger Ebert

A man who has inspired me in more ways than you would initially think. He reviewed (most) movies as fairly as possible, recognizing that they should be reviewed on their own merits, not on the preferences of the reviewer. He could value an action movie for being an action movie, not a drama or Oscar-bait.

He was also a consummate writer. His movie reviews are worth reading for not just the value of knowing if a movie is worth seeing, but also for the beauty of his wordcraft. He could be sentimental, funny, snarky, sweet, or harsh, but he always did it with well-styled words. To be able to write like Ebert is the highest goal a reviewer (of any topic) could strive for. I read his personal blog for the same reason.

You will be missed, Roger, and my heart goes out to your loved ones. May you and Gene keep two thumbs up in the Great Beyond.

2013 Reading List: March

MARCH

15. The Necromancer, by Michael Scott (Book 4 of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)
14. The Sorceress, by Michael Scott (Book 3 of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)
13. The Magician, by Michael Scott (Book 2 of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)
12. Plugged, by Eoin Colfer

11. The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud (A "prequel" featuring Bartimaeus from The Bartimaeus Trilogy)

FEBRUARY

10. Weight, by Jeanette Winterson (for reading group. The parts where she wasn't naval gazing were ok. The parts where she was, well, yeah...)

9. The Lady of the Rivers, by Philippa Gregory (Book 3 of The Cousins War)

8. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

JANUARY

7. The Walking Dead Volume 8: Made to Suffer, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

6. The Walking Dead Volume 7: The Calm Before, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

5. Love in the Afternoon, by Alison Packard

4. The Owl Killers, by Karen Maitland (for reading group)

3. The Bromeliad, by Terry Pratchett (actually a compilation of three of his books: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings)

2. Smitten, by Janet Evanovich

1. Witness, by Cath Staincliffe (for reading group)

This. Just....this.

I am tired down to my bones. Tired of trying to explain why I am tired. Tired of fighting all the little things that add up to a mountain and a constant uphill trudge. 

This Steubenville rape case is just the last straw. If you haven’t heard the words “rape culture” by now, you must have been ignoring the whole thing, which I probably should have done, but I just couldn’t.

[...]

Rape culture is a society giving women a list of do’s and don’t's that boil down to “make sure he rapes the other girl.”

Rape culture is a society where women are scared to go out by themselves at night.

[...]

Rape is not a mistake. You don’t just fall over and end up with your penis in someone’s vagina or anus. You don’t accidentally rape someone. Rape takes intent. It’s an act of power over someone who you consider less than, non-human, the other. It’s not about sex and boys are horny and it just happens. It’s about perpetrators not thinking their victim is a person.

Read the full post here.

2013 Reading List: February

I swear I'm missing a book this month, but I can't figure out what, if I even am. Losing our connection for a week meant that I didn't update the list like I normally do. Oh well. If I'm missing one, I'm missing one. That said, I'm not including Elmer On Stilts by David McKee, because while I'm all about children's books, it's a picture book, and took under 2 minutes to read. Nor did I appear to include Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer from January (possibly December), which is also a picture book, but with poetry that can be read both forward and backward, changing the meaning and the stories (they were all fairy tales, and very cool).

FEBRUARY

10. Weight, by Jeanette Winterson (for reading group. The parts where she wasn't naval gazing were ok. The parts where she was, well, yeah...)

9. The Lady of the Rivers, by Philippa Gregory (Book 3 of The Cousins War)

8. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

JANUARY

7. The Walking Dead Volume 8: Made to Suffer, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

6. The Walking Dead Volume 7: The Calm Before, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn (graphic novel)

5. Love in the Afternoon, by Alison Packard

4. The Owl Killers, by Karen Maitland (for reading group)

3. The Bromeliad, by Terry Pratchett (actually a compilation of three of his books: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings)

2. Smitten, by Janet Evanovich

1. Witness, by Cath Staincliffe (for reading group)