As you might have heard, I've found myself less than busy lately. Luckily, like a beacon of time-wasting light, the internet has been there for me in my time of need. My biggest thrill is wikipedia, an online encyclopedia which I've discovered has articles on pretty much anything. The site is also responsible for my recent discovery of a number of intriguing paraphilias, including the little-known fetish for crushing insects and small rodents. Thank you, technology!
As usual, I'm also reading a lot. I'm currently making my way through Susan Faludi's Backlash, which though initially slow is proving to be rather interesting. I had been worried that it would feel dated (it was published in 1992) or irrelevant, but while the people, politics and statistics have changed a bit, much applies to the current difficulties facing women today.
I have also gleaned an unexpected but valuable message from it, namely, the need for skepticism when listening to the media, even when news is being covered by ostensibly neutral sources. In the book Faludi references the increasing media tendency to produce "trend" pieces, which rely not on facts, figures, or even in some cases actual trends for the sake of producing catchy or inflammatory "news" that often has ulterior or outright commercial motives. When I read this, the first thing I thought of was the increasingly fluffy and/or slanted pieces I've run across in Newsweek (which all volunteers receive free with service, just one of the many perks, though I must say I'd prefer People) and on the New York Times website.
"The trend story, which may go down as late-20th-century journalism's prime contribution to its craft, professes to offer 'news' of changing mores, yet prescribes more than it observes", Faludi argues on page 78. "Trend journalism attains authority not through actual reporting but through the power of repetition. Said enough times, anything can be made to seem true. A trend declared in one publication sets off a chain reaction, as the rest of the media scramble to get the story too." So what exactly does she mean by a trend story? It "is not always labeled as such, but certain characteristics give it away: an absence of factual evidence or hard numbers; a tendency to cite only three or four women, typically anonymously, to establish the trend; the use of vague qualifiers like 'there is a sense that' or 'more and more'; a reliance on the predictive future tense ("Increasingly, mothers will stay home to spend more time with their families"); and the invocation of 'authorities' such as consumer researchers and psychologists, who often support their assertions by citing other media trend stories". (p. 81) Indeed.
I'm really enjoying feeling fired up about women's issues again, and I'm actually considering writing to Newsweek with a critique of two of their recent articles, based partly on Backlash's trend story idea. Especially as a future social worker, I think it's important that I not be complacent, that I try to do something -- however small -- to address what I see as social wrongs and failings, that I do a better job of asking questions and not just taking things at face value. Plus, wouldn't it be cool to be listed in the "letters" section of a major magazine? 
In this same vein, I have also been having a jolly good time researching anti-feminist and conservative sites online. I figured it is important to know what the opposition is up to, so to speak, plus I'm always interested in learning more, whether it be about bug squashing or Pat Robertson, who has by the way described feminism is a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." Speaking of whom, did you know that he can squat 2000lbs? Oh yes! He apparently was even marketing a super-manly-fitness shake at GNC. All of this, and god directly gives him predictions of natural disasters! Okay, okay, no more ripping on Pat, I am pleased that he recently came to believe in global warming, something our president is still struggling with.
Moving on. Even better than religious sites are anti-feminist sites, from which I have learned, among other things, that:
- An equal number of men and women are victims of domestic violence
- Women molest children at the same rate as men, if not higher
- Women make fake claims of domestic violence because they know that the courts are totally in their favor
- Radical feminists now control the educational system, government and politics
NOW's site actually has a really nice section devoted to "Love Your Body Day", which takes place each year on October 17. (You can send e-cards of the winning posters created each year to celebrate the day, and you can also submit your own entry -- the winners get $400! I think this would be a really great activity for PCVs to promote with young people in their communities.) One interesting anti-feminist site, which declares "feminism is witchcraft", is dedicated specifically to black men, encouraging them to return to activism for
change and reclaim their role in the home and society. The site will help black men achieve this aim in a number of ways, first and foremost through "teaching the blackman how to claim, train, and dominate the blackwoman to make her his queen once again! Because it is indeed women's primordial nature to be attracted to and reproduce with strong men!" Creeeeeepy... Despite all of the hysterical silliness out there, I was pleased to find several sites dealing with men's solidarity around issues such as combating domestic violence and rape. On one site, you can post comments commending men in your life; another has a "because we have daughters" campaign promoting men's positive interactions with their daughters as part of the fight against DV.
So on that note, shout out to the many awesome, women-respecting men in the world! Holla!
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