I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that a quick Google search of “chess queen” would yield a surprising number of images of the sexualized female body. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. When I think of chess, sex doesn’t come to mind, though it may from here on out.
Amidst photos and renderings of the pieces themselves were anthropomorphized images like the one here and a striking number of images of breasts, bellies, and “sexy women” with chess paraphernalia. At first I thought, “Maybe there’s a chess fetish culture I’m not aware of.” So, for kicks, I googled “chess king” hoping to find some phallic renderings (or at least some idealized six-pack-abs carved in ebony and ivory) and “chess fetish” hoping to find some groovy alt-culture (Does an imaginary alien race count? See Wikipedia). But, my half-hearted “research” gave me the usual pop-culture, hetero-centric breakdown: women’s bodies are sexy objects, even if those “bodies” are merely representational. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under - Feminism
Ursula Le Guin
Ursula Le Guin is one of my favorite thinkers and my favorite pieces of hers tend to be her theoretical musing. I recently ran across a speech she gave in 1982 called “The Princess.” The piece is a call to action and inspirational, but what struck me the most was that the speech was given in 1982 and yet Le Guin’s words are acutely appropriate at this exact moment in time. It made me realize that the debate over a woman’s right to choose was never fully won, that Roe v. Wade was just a stepping stone and that we have to spend every day of our lives fighting for the right for women to have control over their own bodies. Below is an excerpt from the conclusion that I found to be the most powerful. Hope you enjoy!
What was it like, in the Dark Ages when abortion was a crime, for the girl whose dad couldn’t borrow cash, as my dad could? What was it like for the girl who couldn’t even tell her dad, because he would go crazy with shame and rage? Who couldn’t tell her mother? Who had to go alone to that filthy room and put herself body and soul into the hands of a professional criminal?–because that is what every doctor who did an abortion was, whether he was an extortionist or an idealist. You know what it was like for her. You know and I know; that is why we are here. We are not going back to the Dark Ages. We are not going to let anybody in this country have that kind of power over any girl or woman. There are great powers, outside the government and in it, trying to legislate the return of darkness. We are not great powers. But we are the light. Nobody can put us out. May all of you shine very bright and steady, today and always.”
-Ursula Le Guin
“The Princess” 1982
Dancing at the Edge of the World
Filed under - Reproductive Rights
"Dualism" by Cristian Dumitru
I was chatting with a good friend the other day and she used an analogy that I really like. We were talking about sex education and what you should teach your kids (she just had a beautiful baby boy!), and she used the phrase “give them a curb.” As in, if you believe in abstinence before marriage that is something you should absolutely teach your kids, however you need to teach them more than just “don’t have sex.” We (as a society and as individuals) need to teach our kids everything about sex–about contraception, about STDs, about the possibilities of bad and good (oh my!) sexual experiences. Give them a curb, so instead of falling off the cliff into the utter abyss, kids have the tools to think for themselves, and if they choose to have sex, they know what that experience entails and how to be safe about it.
Just sending kids blindly out into the world with the instructions to do as you say and not have sex causes more harm than good. Contraception, in its variety of forms, should be as easily available as candy–literally candy. On the shelves (not behind a counter) in drug stores, mini marts, gas stations, vending machines, everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under - Reproductive Rights
Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune want something from you. Their demand isn’t as impossible to achieve as you may have been led to think. In fact, they go to great lengths to show you how other women are already doing it and how you can, too! So, what do they want?
In their book Reclaiming the F Word: The New Feminist Movement, Redfern and Aune demonstrate the vitality and relevance of contemporary feminism, rescuing the term from negative and unsubstantiated stigmas. What they deliver to their readers is a revitalized pride in the identity of Feminists–women and men who work toward challenging and dismantling patriarchal systems and attitudes–and an urgent desire to act out. The book identifies the sexual/social narratives that rule women’s and men’s sexual/social behaviors. While many of us merely react to these narratives, Redfern and Aune point out that “feminists want to avoid limitations on what’s considered appropriate behavior for each gender” (50). Feminism, Redfern and Aune point out, isn’t merely “still alive”– it’s an essential movement in human rights. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under - Feminism
