Woman complains about being assaulted

I found this article on hollabacktoronto called Sex Assualt Charge Follows Subway Attack.

Did anyone else notice that the victim of assault was repeatedly refered to as the complainant? God forbid a woman should COMPLAIN about being sexually assaulted! I guess the writer of the article felt that a good woman knows her place, so to speak and so she should just keep quiet. It's as if they're likening the act of speaking up against sexual assault to a grumpy old neighbour complaining about the kids next door who always step on their grass. Sexual assault just doesn't seem to be taken seriously. Furthermore, it paints the actor of assault in a passive voice, as if he was doing something normal/natural and this woman was just being difficult.


It's amazing how the language one uses can alter how one perceives a situation.

Only chance to get inside her

I came across this on feministing.com. The caption in the bottom right-hand corner reads "Becoming an organ donor is probably your only chance to get inside her." Are you serious?! This is so horrific.

Look Great While You Give Birth with Pretty Pushers

Pretty Pushers is a company based in the US that is selling a birthing kit that includes lip gloss, a mirror, a dress, a lemon-water towelette, and heated massage oil. Can we find anymore ways to place even more pressure on women to "look their best" in every aspect of their lives? I mean, socially it's expected that women hide their bodily "troubles" like menstruation, passing gas, pooping, sexuality and now during childbirth (when it's arguably one of the most painful moments of one's life) one must repress any expression of discomfort in an effort to be presentable. As if child birth wasn't hard enough!

- Alice

Menstruation Tabling

Our tabling event on Monday was a success! It was great to engage with the student community, and it was very interesting to see some of the students' reactions. Some students just couldn't believe that we were talking about menstruation in public. Some giggled as they took the pad/tampon packages that we were handing out, others were completely shocked and mortified. We have been talking about the stigma associated with menstruation for a long time, but it wasn't until I was confronted with these reactions that I really understood how important it was to make menstruation visible. To be frank, menstruation has been constructed as a problem that needs to be avoided at all costs. Corporations capitalize on ideologies of uncleanliness to sell a myriad of products that will help women "cope" with their "feminine troubles". And so the process of menstruation itself fades into the background. For instance the pad/tampon commercials that I've seen on tv are so ambiguous. I don't know whether they're trying to sell me a box of flowers or a box of tampons.

Although we were met with some resistance, there were many students who were very interested in what we had to offer. They were surprised to see alternative options/products, and also to find out that the products that they have been using for so many years were toxic. One individual asked, "Aren't these products FDA approved? If they weren't safe, then why would they be on the market?". The truth is that mainstream pads and tampons don't usually cause immediate harm (although some individuals may experience irration on the skin surface), but they do contain chemicals/dioxins that are carcinogenic. This means that they can cause cancer. So the question is: do you really feel safe inserting a toxic tampon into your body, or having a bleached maxipad rubbing against your skin?

We'd like to thank natracare for donating the samples of safe/chemical-free pads and tampons to us, and Divacup for donating the demo poducts. The York student community really appreciates it!

- Alice

I need a bitch

Here's some mid-day sexism to chew on. Enjoy!

Click here to listen to Cherry Pie by ICP (Insane Clown Posse) on youtube.

Here are some lyrics that stood out to me:

I need a bitch, I need a slut
I need a bitch who like bananas in her butt
I need a bitch now more than ever
I need a bitch who gots a head that I can sever
I need my cherry pie

Baby I want you, baby I want my cherry pie
Baby I want you, baby I need my cherry pie
Baby I want you, baby gimme my cherry pie
Baby I want you, baby my cherry cherry pie

I found this part of the song particularly disturbing. I feel that it reinforces sexist and misogynist notions of women as disposable posessions who are ultimately reduced to their "cherry pies". Apparently, one's body should be made available upon request, and after it is used it should be disposed of (I presume by means of decapitation according to the lyrics). For the record, I'd just like to say that I am more than my vaginal opening, and my "cherry pie" belongs to me and no one else! This final statement is not intended as a puritan call for women to hold on to their sexualities. Rather, it is an attempt to resist the social acceptance of misogyny and to reclaim expressions of sexuality that are based on mutual respect for all parties involved.

- Alice