“Marie Antoinette never actually said, ‘Let them eat cake’ when told the poor have no bread, but neoliberals really do callously say, ‘Let them have unions’ when told prostituted women are raped and murdered in strikingly high numbers.” (Samantha Berg)
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Tagged Activism, corporate propaganda, denial, diversity of tactics, genderberg, hypocrisy, intersectionality, johns, liberal feminism, liberals, male pattern violence, male supremacy, misogyny, Nordic Model, patriarchy, post modern, prostitution, radical feminism, rape, rape culture, Samantha Berg, sex work, sex workers, Sexism, tactics, United States
Take a shot of tequila each time a presidential candidate – from any party – says:
“The U.S. Department of so-called Defense is not only a global criminal enterprise, it’s the largest polluter in the world – producing more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined.”
“The breast milk of every mother on Earth contains dioxins.”
“Each day, on average, 200,000 acres of rain forest are destroyed.”
“93% of the large fish in the ocean are already gone.”
“78% of old-growth forests are already gone.”
“Capitalism – or class supremacy – is a system based on the relentless exploitation and consumption of finite ‘resources’. By definition, capitalism is unsustainable, cannot be reformed, and anti-life.”
“In the U.S., there is a reported rape every 6.2 minutes (key word: reported); one in five women will be raped in her lifetime; and 99.8% of those convicted for rape are men.”
“In the U.S., 85% of murders, 90% of violent assaults, 95% of domestic and dating violence, 95% of child sexual abuse, and 99.8% of rapes are committed by men. My administration’s top priority is to recognize and end Male Pattern Violence.”
#StaySober
#NameTheProblem
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Tagged 2016, bernie sanders, black lives matter, corporate propaganda, denial, diversity of tactics, ecocide, election, Environment, Facebook, Genetically modified organism, homelandsecurity, hypocrisy, male pattern violence, male supremacy, mickey z, misogyny, Monsanto, Obama, Occupy movement, Occupy Wall Street, patriarchy, presidential elections, racism, rape culture, Sexism, social media, Solidarity, tactics, Twitter, United States, veganism, war crimes, white supremacy
Trigger Warning: Discussion of sexual harassment and assault.
MTA New York City Transit has teamed with the NYPD to produce “ad cards” entitled “Sexual Harassment is a Crime in the Subway, too.” The advice (sic) they offer falls under three categories:
In case you’re wondering, this category is no where to be found: DON’T SEXUALLY HARASS IN THE SUBWAY OR WHEN WALKING OR ANYWHERE. EVER.
Actual MTA suggestion: “If you think you are being touched, but are not sure—assume you ARE being touched, and move.”
Non-existent MTA suggestion: “If you’re thinking about touching someone, don’t do it. EVER. Always keep your hands, your body, your comments, and your gaze to yourself.”
Here’s how Paul Fleuranges, MTA Senior Director of Corporate Communications, describes the campaign:
“We realized we could do more with the tools at our disposal to beef up our efforts to educate our customers that no matter what service they rely on, they have a right not to be harassed while on our system. As an informational campaign, we wanted to go right to the heart of an issue that is of great concern to our riders. We want them to know that they have options in case they encounter this type of behavior.”
This rationale is no where to be found in Fleuranges’ mansplanation: “We want those who sexually harass to know they will be held accountable for their crimes.”
Apparently, the “heart” of the issue is putting the onus on victims or potential victims to do all the work by learning and implementing State-approved “options” for those apparently inevitable encounters with this type of apparently inevitable behavior.
(If you’ve been sexually harassed on the NYC subway, report it here.)
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Tagged Activism, Blue Bloc, denial, intersectionality, misogyny, New York City, New York City Subway, NYPD, patriarchy, rape, rape culture, Sexism, sexual assault, sexual harassment, Solidarity, victim blaming
One of the most common refrains appearing all across the social media accounts of white or white passing (usually able-bodied, middle-class male) activists goes a little something like this: “I don’t see skin color or sex, I just see the individual. For me, we are all one.”
An an able-bodied middle-class white male activist, here’s a sample of how I choose to reply to such drivel:
As long as women across the globe fear the sound of footsteps behind them on a dark street, we are not all one.
As long as I can peruse media outlets and see people of my race and sex widely represented, we are not all one.
As long as I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a “credit to my race,” we are not all one.
As long as a woman is battered (usually by her intimate partner) every 15 seconds; 75 percent of all rapes are committed by a man that the victim knows; and in 95 percent of reported domestic assaults, the female is the victim and the male is the perpetrator, we are not all one.
As long as I can plan a commute to any protest without wondering if the subway station is accessible, we are not all one.
As long I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color without any penalty for such oblivion, we are not all one.
As long as a woman is raped every two minutes in the U.S. and every day, four women are killed by their abusive partners, we are not all one.
I could go on—and on—but I’ll sum up: As long as I can confidently claim that I do not enjoy white male privilege and have most of my white friends agree and promptly start talking about (wait for it) “reverse racism/sexism,” we are definitely not all one.
Unless we learn to recognize, accept, and celebrate our differences without assigning privilege to them, we’ll never cultivate the kind of solidarity, intersectionality, and coalitions required to challenge the dominant culture while also creating the communities we’ll need to navigate the coming collapse.
In a society built upon a foundation of male supremacy (and its tentacles: white supremacy and class supremacy), declaring “we’re all one”—regardless of our intentions—is yet another example of privilege run amok. If we wish to profoundly connect with those being oppressed by this system, we must become allies…not “one.”
#shifthappens
(Occupy this Book: Mickey Z. on Activism can be ordered here.)
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Tagged Ableism, Activism, denial, Facebook, Human, hypocrisy, intersectionality, male privilege, misogyny, occupy this book, privilege, racism, rape culture, Sexism, social media, Solidarity, white privilege, white supremacy
