Update: The retailer has stopped sales of this shirt and issued an apology.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
JC Penny understands how brainless your pretty girl is
Better run out and buy her this tshirt so she and her little friends don't forget it!
Update: The retailer has stopped sales of this shirt and issued an apology.
Update: The retailer has stopped sales of this shirt and issued an apology.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The introductory post, with a few pre-emptive FAQ.
What is this blog for?
A few things.
1. It's a space for me to aggregate stuff (articles, other blogs/posts, various media) that I find pertinent to feminist and LGBTQ issues. I think about these issues a lot, and I read a lot of the internet dialogue that takes place around them, and I want to keep track of the many many enlightening/infuriating things that I see.
2. It's a space for me to respond to the stuff I read/watch.
3. It's a space for me to get angry about the problems I encounter in my life and see in the wider world, specifically the problems that women and queer people face.
What is this blog not for?
To be agreeable or politic. I do not consider it my responsibility to gently persuade bigoted or merely misguided people to my side of the issues. I do not feel obligated to try to win hearts and minds with my sweet disposition or sparkling wit. I don't even know if anyone will ever read this thing except me. If they do, I hope to provoke thought, and it would be great if some wrongheaded opinions change as a result. But this blog isn't here for those people. It's here for me, and for people like me. We need our own spaces. Sexists and anti-queer people have plenty of space already.
Why aren't you also talking about issues of race/ethnicitiy/class/abledness/ageism/fatphobia/lefthanded invisibility/animal rights/persecution of people with freckles/etc.?
Actually, I probably will sometimes. These marginalized communities are valuable (and, lest ye forget, they often intersect with women and LGBTQ people) and they face real problems. (I cannot tell you how many assholes I know who break out the crucifixes when they see a freckly person.) However, as stated above, this blog exists for me, not for world-saving. Moreover, I am hesitant to speak for groups that I don't belong to. After much dithering, I have started a blog because there's shit preoccupying my brain that I need to get out in writing, and that's the shit I'm going to blog about. I only have so much time and energy. If you start a blog about your own brain-preoccupying shit, please comment with a link! I would love to read it.
Why "The Emancipated Duelist"?
Because of this:
Oh, you noticed the "exposed breasts" bit, didja? Well, you can just haul your naughty mind right out of the gutter. (Don't worry, you can put it back later.) The boobs came out to play because "many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword." A female doctor who presided over the duel, Baroness Lubinska, recommended that the duelists fight topless. This was acceptable for everyone involved because "there would be no men present to ogle them."
In fact, those pesky menfolk were rarely involved even indirectly!
So, in an emancipated duel, you've got a bunch of very bold ladies, facing each other as equals, without the assistance or involvement of men, fighting for their own reasons that were important to them. If they were performing, it was for themselves and each other rather than for male approval. If they went topless, it wasn't because they were interested in titillation (although people who found out about those OMGboobies were titillated anyway).
A few things.
1. It's a space for me to aggregate stuff (articles, other blogs/posts, various media) that I find pertinent to feminist and LGBTQ issues. I think about these issues a lot, and I read a lot of the internet dialogue that takes place around them, and I want to keep track of the many many enlightening/infuriating things that I see.
2. It's a space for me to respond to the stuff I read/watch.
3. It's a space for me to get angry about the problems I encounter in my life and see in the wider world, specifically the problems that women and queer people face.
What is this blog not for?
To be agreeable or politic. I do not consider it my responsibility to gently persuade bigoted or merely misguided people to my side of the issues. I do not feel obligated to try to win hearts and minds with my sweet disposition or sparkling wit. I don't even know if anyone will ever read this thing except me. If they do, I hope to provoke thought, and it would be great if some wrongheaded opinions change as a result. But this blog isn't here for those people. It's here for me, and for people like me. We need our own spaces. Sexists and anti-queer people have plenty of space already.
Why aren't you also talking about issues of race/ethnicitiy/class/abledness/ageism/fatphobia/lefthanded invisibility/animal rights/persecution of people with freckles/etc.?
Actually, I probably will sometimes. These marginalized communities are valuable (and, lest ye forget, they often intersect with women and LGBTQ people) and they face real problems. (I cannot tell you how many assholes I know who break out the crucifixes when they see a freckly person.) However, as stated above, this blog exists for me, not for world-saving. Moreover, I am hesitant to speak for groups that I don't belong to. After much dithering, I have started a blog because there's shit preoccupying my brain that I need to get out in writing, and that's the shit I'm going to blog about. I only have so much time and energy. If you start a blog about your own brain-preoccupying shit, please comment with a link! I would love to read it.
Why "The Emancipated Duelist"?
Because of this:
The most intriguing duel fought between women, and the sole one that featured exposed breasts, took place in August 1892 in Verduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein, between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg. It has gone down in history as the first "emancipated duel" because all parties involved, including the principals and their seconds were female.
Oh, you noticed the "exposed breasts" bit, didja? Well, you can just haul your naughty mind right out of the gutter. (Don't worry, you can put it back later.) The boobs came out to play because "many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword." A female doctor who presided over the duel, Baroness Lubinska, recommended that the duelists fight topless. This was acceptable for everyone involved because "there would be no men present to ogle them."
In fact, those pesky menfolk were rarely involved even indirectly!
Unlike their masculine counterparts, who often dueled for the love of a lady, few female duelists fought over a matter of the heart.
Actresses challenged each other over graceless conduct on stage; a pair of quality ladies fought because one thought she was entitled to precedence of place at a society soiree; and in 1792, in the first female duel to take place in England, Lady Almeria Braddock crossed smallswords with Mrs. Elphinstone over a difference of opinion as to the former’s age.
So, in an emancipated duel, you've got a bunch of very bold ladies, facing each other as equals, without the assistance or involvement of men, fighting for their own reasons that were important to them. If they were performing, it was for themselves and each other rather than for male approval. If they went topless, it wasn't because they were interested in titillation (although people who found out about those OMGboobies were titillated anyway).
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