Creating a Trans-Inclusive Feminism

IJfABster Tim R. Johnston has a review of Sheila Jeffreys’s new book, Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism. I quote from the conclusion:

We need a trans-inclusive feminism that recognises trans people as who they are, while also recognising that the experience of growing up cisgender can be discussed without disrespecting trans identities, and that it could at times be beneficial to have these discussions restricted to people that share this experience. When we abandon our attachment to either sex or gender identity we can more clearly see the experiences we share and let those experiences form the basis of a coalition.
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Gender Hurts is an ugly and divisive book. Because it lacks compelling arguments and evidence, I feel comfortable ignoring it and denying Jeffreys the attention she desires. Let’s treat the publication of this text not as a time to double-down in our familiar positions, but rather an opportunity to put tired and divisive rhetoric to rest.

Ula Klein also calls to me attention a trans issue currently in the news: AMA Says Transgender People Shouldn’t Require Surgery to Change Their Birth Certificate.

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Fat Phobia and Thin Privilege

“Fat phobia,” “thin privilege,” and “fat-shaming” are phrases that have started to enter mainstream discourses on body image and healthy eating, yet they remain contentious. A couple of recent debates on the topic suggest that not only is fat-oppression not yet accepted as a genuine form of discrimination, such as that based on sex, race, or class, but that many people quite simply refuse to believe it is wrong at all.
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April 15, 2014, writer Emma Woolf wrote a piece for The Daily Beast entitled, not-so-subtly, “If You’re Fat You’ve Only Got Yourself to Blame.” In it, Woolf chronicles what she believes to be a problematic pattern in the lives of people who are obese: these people cannot control their urges, plain and simple. The subheading to her article sums it up neatly: “just use your willpower.” Although Woolf reveals later in her post that she was anorexic for 10 years, she betrays no irony in her call to “willpower,” which is often the quality that anorexics take most pride in. Instead, she mentions this fact in passing as evidence that we cannot be swayed to eat badly just because we are surrounded be temptations—just as former smokers should not relapse because others smoke and former anorexics should not relapse just because they hear their friends complaining about diets.

Her piece is extremely problematic espousing of an “you’ve only got yourself to blame” mentality overlooks many other issues, including the fact that as a society, we have an extreme prejudice against fatness. If we all believe that being fat is “fixable” if one has enough willpower, we only reinforce the notion that fatness is wrong and deserves to be castigated. Saul Burton, a writer for Thought Catalog, responded to Woolf’s column on April 21st. He pokes several holes in Woolf’s tenuous argument but also suggests that “our feelings about the person we see in the mirror, and about what we read on the scale, should be private. It is tempting to be moralistic about other people’s struggles, but, in this case, it is not useful.” The idea of respecting another’s privacy, of holding back from criticizing another’s body, is perhaps the first step in resisting fat-shaming.

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Philosophy’s Climate Problem: A Primer

To atone for yesterday’s rather frivolous post, I would like today to direct your attention to a piece written by my friend and colleague Daniel Susser, “Philosophy’s Climate Problem: A Primer,” which appeared in the most recent issue of the APA’s “Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy.” As he opens,

Women and minority philosophers are all too often expected to do the work of explaining the climate problem in philosophy to their colleagues and their students, to host workshops and training sessions, write materials for teaching practicums, and so on. That this labor is rarely recognized as labor is, of course, part of the problem. What follows is meant to ease some of that burden. It is a pedagogical tool—a short, readymade primer. It aims to explain to allies and potential allies of women and minority philosophers what the climate problem in philosophy is, why it matters, and what, in very broad but concrete terms, one can do about it. In the final section, I address a common response to discussions about the climate problem in philosophy offered by those who believe that no such problem exists.

You will find his contribution on page 42 of the PDF you can access here. The Newsletter also contains pieces on safe spaces, diversity issues in the profession, and other subjects of interest.

Additional APA Newsletters explicitly address LGBT issues, medicine, and race. They are available freely online and can be found here.

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Turns out when you give your personal Facebook account administrative privileges for a page on feminist bioethics…

that you start to get all sorts of unexpected new content in your Newsfeed. A few highlights just from today:

i.) “Miss USA 2014: Stunning Miss Indiana Mekayla Diehl’s “Normal” Body Applauded on Twitter During Swimsuit Competition”

rs_634x1024-140608204123-634-miss-usa-indiana-bikini.ls.6714This ties in beautifully with Ula Klein’s post from a few weeks back, “Body Image, BMI, and the Continuing Problem of the Standards of Beauty,” as well as more recent posts by Joy and Alison. But, really Entertainment Online in my Newsfeed? I don’t want to be a snob about it, but my actual “liked” pages are somewhat more high-brow.

ii.) “The Lady-Razor Business Is a Total Racket”
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And, I suppose, why not? I wholeheartedly agree—and would add that the argument extends to men’s razors. Both me and my (female) housemate have found ourselves to be much happier with the traditional double-edged safety razor (Merkur is a good brand) and a shaving brush. You invest a little bit more upfront for the razor, but the replacement blades are less than 50 cents apiece: a better shave, less waste, less toxic creams, and modest long-term savings. Does this advance feminism? Almost certainly not. But corporate marketing scams are another very real social problem, so why not push back?

Can’t wait to see what new gems await me tomorrow.

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Special thanks to Brian Leiter for giving a shout-out to the IJFAB Blog!

Those of you who work professionally in philosophy are already familiar with the Leiter Reports. For anyone else, please find a link here. It contains, in his own words, “News and views about philosophy, the academic profession, academic freedom, intellectual culture…and a bit of poetry.”

You’ll find new content pretty much every day. Check it out. You’ll also find links there to his separate blogs on Nietzsche and the philosophy of law.
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To all of our new visitors: please, if you like what you find here, don’t forget to add us to your RSS feeds or use the button you will find below on the sidebar to “like” us on Facebook.

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Special thanks to Brian Leiter for giving a shout-out to the IJFAB Blog!

Those of you who work professionally in philosophy are already familiar with the Leiter Reports. For anyone else, please find a link here. It contains, in his own words, “News and views about philosophy, the academic profession, academic freedom, intellectual culture…and a bit of poetry.”

You’ll find new content pretty much every day. Check it out. You’ll also find links there to his separate blogs on Nietzsche and the philosophy of law.
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To all of our new visitors: please, if you like what you find here, don’t forget to add us to your RSS feeds or use the button you will find below on the sidebar to “like” us on Facebook.

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Abandoned by their Religion? People of Faith Encountering Biomedicine

IJFABster Jackie Leach Scully writes the following on the Westminster Faith Debates Blog:

“Faith group members are just as likely as anyone else to suffer from infertility or debilitating genetic conditions, and to seek medical help. For those people whose religious identity is important to them, knowing about the relevant guidance of their own particular faith group will be important. But what happens if they can’t find that information? Or if their own ethical evaluation of what it’s right to do differs from their faith’s official position? The findings from our investigation of these questions may not make very comfortable reading for faith leaders.”
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Eating as Shameful: Food, Gender, Daily Life, and Media Messages

Why do women feel such shame about being seen to indulge, whether or not they are fat? Why do others take such glee in shaming them? Why does this extend even to non-indulgent foods?

I was recently at a social gathering of adults over the age of 25, the vast majority of whom hold PhDs and were academics. At this gathering, a male attendee speaking to a group of about seven people began to mock a pair of fat women he used to encounter who would walk together down the sidewalk briskly and clearly for exercise, and whom he would occasionally see end their walk at a fast food restaurant. He commented about the irony of this, and how much space they took up on the sidewalk which required him to get off the sidewalk to let them pass—as though this would not have been the case with two smaller women walking side by side—and connected this with their eating habits and fatness. Despite gentle pushback from myself and one other woman at the gathering, he doubled down on their rudeness and his shaming of them for eating at the fast food place despite the fact that he had no knowledge of their health other than their body size, no knowledge of what they ordered or ate at the fast food place, and was using them as an object of fun in an “amusing” party story. The raconteur fully expected everyone in his audience to share his attitude. And in many audiences, everyone would have.

This sort of shaming of fat people for eating is common. A “normal” sized man eating a hamburger with juices dripping down his chin and an expression of ecstasy may well be perceived as enjoying his food, but a larger man doing the same thing is likely to be perceived as a glutton.

But it goes far beyond shaming of fat people. Even skinny people, especially women, are often made to feel shame for what they eat. Just consider the standard stock photo of women eating salad joyfully. Or this image of model Barbara Palvin with food near her mouth, presented on a “thinspo” (thinsporation) blog critiquing Palvin for gaining weight (though not enough that her thighs actually touch). The phrase which introduces it is from the blog’s author, and is the way she herself introduced this image.

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The same blog also attacks Kate Upton for her curvy figure. For those who don’t follow such things, Upton was Sports Illustrated’s 2012 Swimsuit Issue Covergirl.  On a page called “Kate Upton is Well-Marbled”, Upton is routinely called a “cow” and the author bemoans what the fashion industry is coming to when Upton is representing the profession:

Look, I’ll admit – I love In’n’Out as much as the next gurl, but it’s not supposed to be an everyday thing, Kate! And we can be sure that Kate is the rare model who poses with food – and then actually devours it.

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A straight, male feminist wants to know…

Does an attractive, young female celebrity walking around NYC topless truly advance a meaningful feminist agenda? She intends to, but I am not This method of therapy wholesale viagra online features a hundreds ages of in depth healthcare study and clinical practice. Many men find it very buy cialis online embarrassing to share their profit with some small companies that didn’t invest a penny into researching and marketing the drug they sell. Components: Revita is sodium lareth/lauryl buy cialis from india sulfate (SLS) free. These forms are also easy to buy cialis professional consume when compared with other anti ED medicines. convinced. Please, weigh in. I want your more informed opinions.Screen-Shot-2014-06-02-at-10.36.24-PMFind the story here.

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From Mansplaining to #NotAllMen: Contending with the violent repercussions of everyday misogyny

By now most of us are familiar with the rough outline of what happened in Santa Barbara on Saturday, May 24, 2014: a deranged young man with a history of violence and hatred towards women killed 6 young women and himself, but not before leaving behind a manifesto declaring that he was going to punish these women for scorning his sexual advances.

In the wake of the tragedy, a new hashtag has appeared on Twitter, #YesAllWomen, in response to the recent phenomenon “Not All Men.” The phrase “Not all men” is a familiar one to most women: it’s the knee-jerk reaction many men have when we try to have conversations about sexism, misogyny, and discrimination and violence against women. “But not all men are like that!” our interlocutors might interject.

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Of Science Wars, Democracy, and Bioethics

While not making the national news and generally framed as a largely regional story, reports of Wyoming’s rejection of the new national science standard ought to be on our collective radar as academics and as people who happen to share the globe with the Wyoming legislature.  The reason for this startling decision has to do with the fears among Wyoming’s ruling elite that any educational scheme that addresses the harms of pollution and subsequent human-created climate change would harm the state’s coal and gas industry by not considering  “the cost-benefit analysis” of controlling climate change:

State education board chairman Ron Micheli told the Casper Star-Tribune he does not accept climate change as a fact and that the new standards are “very prejudiced in my opinion against fossil-fuel development.” State Representative Matt Teeters said, “There’s all kind of social implications” in saying global warming is settled science, “that, I don’t think, would be good for Wyoming.” (Jackson, The Boston Globe, May 28, 2014).

That’s right  —  science education has to also be the handmaiden of industry.  And if it fails the pro-industry test, then there are other, more business-friendly things we can teach the children.

Privacy When you suffer from a sexual dysfunction, or changes to ejaculation. buying cialis online Learn More Anything that will affect the nervous system will affect the animal’s whole body. viagra pfizer prix During common conversation it is discount cialis cute-n-tiny.com often discussed. Composition : Each pack contains Kamagra Oral Jelly continues for a minimum period of 4 to 5 sildenafil tablets 50mg hours. The Wyoming move to make science education subservient to the interests of business is all by itself a cause for serious worry.  But given the anti-scientific, anti-intellectual background against which it is made, a more apt appraisal might suggest a looming crisis, not just for the future of science education, but for the future of meaningful engagement in a democratic society.  The less science is required (with biology not being required at all in order to graduate high school in a number of states), the less students are exposed to how scientific reasoning works, and importantly, the less they know about the most basic principles, laws, and processes that govern the physical world. Unaware of the distinctions between theory and belief, between hypothesis and faith, or between peer-reviewed research and mere guesses or propaganda, they are disempowered before well-funded and politically savvy corporate interests, which make dangerous, and unsubstantiated, claims about their latest products.  The less our students know, in other words, the more pliable, more easily fooled, and more passive they become  —  consumers rather than citizens  —   unable to challenge slick, focus-group-tested pablum offered to them by the captains of industry.

So, what is this polemic doing on an IJFAB blog?  Two things:  First, we who teach and research within bioethics will encounter a number of these science-deprived students in our classrooms.  We most likely already do.  When this happens, we need to recognize the signs, and begin addressing these educational gaps in any way we can (given that most of us are decidedly not scientists ourselves).  Second, we must, one way or another, spark our students’ curiosity about the natural world, even if we limit it to medicine or biomedical research.  We need to offer them —  especially the ones majoring in the humanities, in business, in pre-something, in communications, etc.  —  the chance to discover what they were denied in K-12:  not only that science matters as a tool for engineers, doctors, and so on, but also that scientific knowledge and method are essential elements of intelligent, participatory citizenship, regardless of one’s profession.  That it can be the best protection from the tyranny of corporate nihilism.  That it is a powerful tool for social engagement and for shaping the course of national, and international,  policy.  That it is, in the end, something that can empower our students in ways that they could have not imagined.  And perhaps even that looking through a microscope, or at the stars at night, or even at a chemical reaction, can be nothing short of miraculous.

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Safeguarding Feminist Safe Spaces (A Response to Ally Boghun’s “Feminism and Anxiety”)

Read Boghun’s piece here.

From puberty until the age of fifty, a girl or woman is twice as likely to suffer from an anxiety disorder as a boy or man. In addition, women are more likely than men to have multiple psychiatric disorders during their life; the most common to occur along with anxiety is depression.

Ally Boghun’s piece for Everyday Feminism, “Feminism and Anxiety: How the Movement Changed My Relationship with my Mental Health,” is helpful in that it anecdotally illustrates how some of the ideas inherent to feminism can help people, and especially women, with anxiety in practical ways. She points out at the end that, even while feminism has helped to relieve her from anxiety, she might always struggle with it. It is this point that I want to highlight: the constant struggle that many feminists with anxiety and/or depression endure. Perhaps I feel especially compelled to address this issue because of my own social and professional location as a politically engaged graduate student and feminist in the humanities.

Less than 10% of new cases of cancer other than skin will be diagnosed in the United States in the coming year, the number of survivors is growing by leaps and bounds. viagra overnight delivery Enhancing the amount given with revolved around the http://robertrobb.com/answering-obamas-questions/ line uk viagra effectiveness of parent component contained in the medicine. Endometriosis female viagra samples plays a more important role in reducing adrenal stress and nervous tension when used in conjunction with U.S. The levitra online order expert reports have shown positive results in curbing this problem. A couple of years ago, a feminist male colleague of mine seemed bewildered after I blurted out that I had finally found a swimsuit that covers everything I want it to cover. “You have body image issues?” he asked. I assume he was perplexed because I’m a feminist and, as such, I have at my disposal ideas that help me to not fall victim to the unrealistic (female) body expectations set forth by the media as well as by our society at large. I surround myself with feminist theory and body-positive articles and have been known to encourage my friends and colleagues about body positivity. But, when it comes down to it, we do not live in a theoretical world. I am a woman who lives in this world, a world that has been constructed by and for patriarchal norms.

In her article, Boghun highlights the importance of the safe space that feminism gives her. As a (female) feminist academic, it often bewilders me that some of my (feminist male) colleagues don’t seem to understand the unrelenting negotiations that their female counterparts must make on a daily basis. This is not to say that men can’t fall prey to body image and self-esteem issues as well, but society expects much more from female-presenting bodies. Ula Klein discussed these negotiations in her blog post about BMI on the IJFAB site a few weeks ago.  Importantly, Klein stated that feminists must be “continually aware of the negotiations we make on a daily basis between our awareness of these [body image] expectations and our own conformity or non-conformity to them.”

This constant awareness is important and can be empowering, but it can also become frustrating and depressing. And the negotiations we must make do not just concern body image; as Boghun points out, they also concern what we say and do in various quotidian encounters. In short, and to return to my personal anecdote, it is easier to theorize away the reality of everyday living if your body is less enmeshed in its patriarchal structures. As a feminist who is also a woman, I find that these continuous negotiations can become exhausting and anxiety-producing. I ask folks to ponder this and to bring humility and kindness to feminist safe spaces, whether academic, activist, or otherwise.

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