Mar

2

A Big White Lie About Race and Hiring

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Education and Academia, Mail Bag, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Sociology | 38 Comments

I received this comment a few days ago, and quite frankly it’s hard not to critique something like this. The writer calling him/herself chiba said,

Heres an interesting one.

I cant get a full-time job at my school because Im white. The administration (dean) has made it clear to the departments (hiring committees) that there WILL be 50% minority professors in all departments.

Im not sure what the double standard is there, but it kinda bugs me. I always thought they were supposed to hire GOOD teachers, not black/Hispanic/Asian/etc. teachers.

I don’t think for one minute there is a predominantly white University in the United States of America where half of the employees (especially faculty members) in all of the academic departments are people of color. In fact, it is rare that people of color make up more than 20% of faculty members, and in the data I’ve analyzed as part of my old job, Black, Latino, and Native American faculty members are all highly underrepresented compared to their percentage of the population (which would be about 12%, 13.5%, and 1%). Furthermore, these groups are even more underrepresented among PhDs. I’m sure the Dean knows this, and I don’t believe for one minute that any University Dean would issue such a mandate. Here’s why: 1) Because setting a rigid number would be illegal and 2) Because it would NOT be possible to meet such a goal. In fact, when I sit at faculty meetings and go to conferences like the American Sociological Association conference, I’m always amazed at how white the professoriate is. I’ve been at several conference sessions and faculty meetings in my lifetime where there was not a single person of color in the room.

I also find it interesting that the commenter suggests in the final statement that “black/Hispanic/Asian/etc” teachers are somehow not good teachers. Unfortunately, this rhetoric is typical when many whites talk about how they think race plays out in the hiring process. Many white Americans assume that they are somehow more qualified than the people of color who apply for the same job. Unless a person has looked through the entire applicant pool, how would that person know if the “black/Hispanic/Asian/etc” teachers are not good teachers. How would the person know that white teachers are somehow more qualified? They clearly don’t know and are making a guess based more on prejudice than data.

To me the “I’m white so I can’t get a job” line seems more like a lame excuse. There are studies showing that whites often have advantages in the job interview process, so rather than chalking up one’s difficulty getting a job to people of color, perhaps (white) people should look over their resume. Send out more applications. Try revising their cover letters. Beef up their qualifications. Blaming people of color and whining about how hard it is for a white person to get a job is not going to help anyone: Not the whiny white job seeker and not the people of color in the same applicant pool.

Nov

25

Cultural Appropriation Question From a Reader

Filed Under Mail Bag, Pop Culture, Race and Racism | 72 Comments

In the comments on atlasien’s “We Are Wapanese if You Don’t Please” post a reader Dana asked,

Could anyone provide some resources that explain what cultural appropriation entails and how to avoid it? Over the years, I’ve had a healthy interest in cultures besides my own (I’m pretty sure I’ve never been an otaku/”Bapanese”, however), and I’ve always been worried about how expressing this interest may affect or impinge upon the cultures and the people who were born into them.

Personally, I think many of the discussions of cultural appropriation replicate racial essentialism (as Buster alluded to in the earlier post). In fact, I had a go ’round with Maxjulian over a year ago on this topic. I searched around trying to find the back and forth between he and I, so people could get the various positions in the debate, but the only post I found was this one over at Maxjulian’s place (unfortunately it is missing comments, which is where the debate between he and I played out. Some of the italicized comments are mine–the one about okra soup. Those quotes come from an earlier post where the debate kicked off.). The debate started because I objected to this flier because I thought it was racial essentialist.

Around the same time, Gandolf Mantooth also had several posts on appropriation that I really liked (which he mentioned in the comments section of atlasien’s post).? You can find this one, comparing Quentin Tarantino and Vanilla Ice. This was also part of a long series he put up: here, here, here, and finally go here.

In the meantime, what do you think about Dana’s question?

Oct

9

Race and Recruiting Adoptive Families in the United States and the United Kingdom Pt.1

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Family Issues, Interracial Relationships, Mail Bag, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Sociology, Uncategorized | 34 Comments

Not proofread : Read at your own risk.

I recently received an email from a reader, Laurie, asking me what I thought about an advertisement she saw in Britain. The ad text said, “Black children need black families–right now, Islington is looking for single people, couples, and families to care for children through adoption.” She saw the ad in Islington, which is a borough near London.1. Laurie asked me what I felt about the ad, and I realized that my answer to that question would take a few thousand words. In fact, it is probably better suited for a book length explanation, but for now, here is my abbreviate answer to how I feel about the ad. In order to understand why a group would put up such an advertisement, it’s important to discuss the racial dynamics of adoption in the US and the UK. While I don’t believe that a Black child must be raised by black parents, I understand the sentiment expressed in the advertisement. In both the US and Britain, Black children are languishing in foster care, and in the hierarchy of adoption, they are often the kids least likely to be adopted.

Foster Care and Private Adoptions in the US

When we compare the children in foster care to the population as a whole, there are dramatic differences. Children especially Black children are strongly overrepresented in foster care. Of the 520,000 children in foster care in 2003 the majority were from racial and ethnic minority groups. Of course, most of children in foster care will be reunited with parents and other relatives, so they don’t end up eligible for adoption. When the data is confined to the 120,000 kids eligible for adoption and the 50,000 kids adopted out of the foster care system, the situation looks even worse for Black children.2 3 The first table gives the racial make-up of the US in 2005, and the second table shows the racial make-up of kids in foster care.

us-race-2005.pngfoster-care-us-2003.png
What is clear from this chart is that black kids are overrepresented for all groups, and the over-representation is even greater among those who are eligible for adoption, and when are eligible for adoption, they are less likely than all other groups to be adopted out of foster care.

While the data on adoption through foster care is interesting, public adoptions no longer make up the bulk of adoptions. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 2001 39% of adoptions were through public agencies, 15% were international, and 46% were private, independent, or tribal adoptions. It’s likely that a small percentage of the 22,728 children internationally adopted in 2005 were black children since 19,534 of the children were from China, Russia, Guatemala, South Korea, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, none of which are known for their black populations. My estimate based on visa data is that around 1000 of the children adopted internationally are from predominantly black countries. Thus, international adoptions don’t often involve black kids.

I had a difficult time finding data on exactly how many black kids were transracially adopted in private (non-international adoptions), but the data on this site suggests it is very uncommon. The slightly outdated figure, found that 1% of the kids adopted by white mothers were black. I suspect the number may be a little higher today, but not by much. Even though many black kids available through domestic adoption, it is rare that they are adopted by whites. Most whites are not rushing to adopt black kids, and unfortunately, many black parents are directly or indirectly placed at a disadvantage in the adoption process, so those most likely to adopt black children are not getting a foot in the door.

In the next post I want to discuss why it is important to recruit black adoptive parents, focusing more on Britain.

  1. I don’t know exactly how towns and cities are organized in the UK, so I’m not sure if suburb or borough would be the best word to describe this to a US audience. [back]
  2. Data is from the 2003 Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. [back]
  3. I’m not using the term people of color because neither the US or the British Census uses that term. This is not a value judgment on the terms people of color or racial and ethnic minorities. Since I’m drawing from the US Census and the UK Census, I’m trying to use their terminology. [back]

Sep

14

Serious Question…For Everyone About Slavery Defenders

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Blackface Parties, Mail Bag, Pop Culture, Race and Racism, Serious Questions | 26 Comments

So I get up this morning, I’m getting ready to clear out my spam filter, and what do I see. This comment from somebody calling himself Carlos:

The Portuguese bought black slaves because they were being sold from black tribes in Africa. The Portuguese needed slaves because of sugar crops. They could make alot of money off sugar but they needed tons of labor because its a labor intensive crop. It was all about money, not the portuguese being lazy. Africa had a resource they could make money off of, slaves, because there was a demand for them. So learn your history. Not all slaves were beaten by there masters in America but for the ones that wereit certainly wasnt the first time for a slave to be beaten in the history of the world.

I dont ever hear white people complaining of Dave Chapelle dressing up as a white guy that looks like he got hit in the face with a bag of flour?? Not only that he goes on to actually ACT like what i guess is a sterotypical white person while in costume ON a major network program. So GET OVER IT its a joke!

This person, who I think has left comments before, appears to be (based on his/her email address) a student, employee, or faculty member at a large university in the south. I think this is the kind of guy who happily goes to one of those blackface Martin Luther King Day parties, but I digress…..

This is not the first defense of slavery I’ve ever heard. The one I have heard more recently is the “black people in America are better off than black people in Africa” argument, which I responded to here at Allywork. I would divide this slavery defense into three categories 1) slave owners were really good people, 2) slaves didn’t have it bad, and 3) slavery was an economic necessity. There’s also the “it’s really black African’s fault that whites had slaves” defense as well.

Then of course, we have the Dave Chappelle defense. I don’t know what parallel universe this person is living in, but I have heard whites complain about Dave Chappelle ad nauseum. Go read this thread, and you will find a whole bunch of whiny white people invoking Dave Chappelle. Did you know this is exactly why Dave Chappelle gave up his $50 million dollar TV show? He realized that many in his core audience didn’t get the point of his humor. And when people like Carlos are not in the mood for Dave Chappelle, they talk about the movie White Chicks.

So let’s get to the point. How would you respond to this comment? What counterpoints would you make about slavery? How would you explain the difference between Dave Chappelle and blackface? Do you think it’s even worth it to respond? Does this sound like someone you know?

Aug

8

And the (Real) Whiner Is…….White Racists

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Mail Bag, Original Essays and Analysis, Race and Racism, Uncategorized | 37 Comments

This is a really long post, mostly made up of ignorant white people comments, but I promise the commentary will make it worth the read. In fact, you can just skim over the quotes because they are quite repetitious.

I love my mailbag.? What I love even more is watching the same comments come up over and over, they have different authors, but the sentiment and the structures are remarkably similar.? I decided to pick out two themes that racists love to reiterate.? The first theme is the patronizing racist sexist theme, and the second is the whiny white people theme.

Theme 1 “Rachel? Stop Defending Black People They Don’t Appreciate You, and? Black? Men Will Take Advantage of You”?

Here’s one fresh out of the moderation queue from a commenter who calls himself1? Hero:

Wow why is a white chick so obsessed with perceived slights towards blacks?

Do you know how black men talk about white women behind their backs?

Im not black or white, but I have hung out with black dudes sometimes and they say the most vile, un-manliest things.

And for the most part the stereotypes of Black people are true. They perform the lowest in America even with all of the government assistance they get.

I dont know what part of New York City you are from. But go to Italian, Irish, Indian or Asian neighborhoods in the northeast and they all are tired of how blacks act. They complain about racism but all of these groups have faced tremendous racism in America and are still successful and respectful people.

Jeez reminds me of this comment from T-Rex (not of Firedoglake BTW) in April:

Just a question. This is way off topic but How does a person of one race, in your case white, develop this love affair or obsession with the culture of another race? It seems very odd to me. Now I can see becoming interested in another culture for reasons such as it is interesting, rich in tradition, you can learn something. But you seem to more interested in feeling sorry for them or try to be some kind of Joan of Arc for them. Do black people really appreciate that? To me it seems a little insulting. I work with people and am friends with people of several different races and nationalities but I would not dare start a website assuming they were abused and down-trodden and I was going to help them overcome something. They say mind your own business I am no more downtrodden than you asshole. At least I think they would. You can do what you want to but its odd.

Not only are these comments racist, but they are also sexist.? ? The point of the comment is that as a woman? I am too naive to understand how black people “really are,” so they are going to intercede with their paternalistic statements to correct my naivete.? I have italicized the gender specific comments to make clear the gendered nature of these statements.? Generally, speaking white men who speak out against racism or engage in anti-racist work don’t get many of these types of comments.? ? In one case from long ago, which I have since deleted, the commenter even suggested that given my ignorance and naivete I should be raped by rapper 50 Cent.?

Some? white men get really? upset when white women speak out against racism because they think white women are incapable of fending for themselves; moreover, a white woman who is deemed a race traitor is also violating some of the patriarchal norms of white men.? In particular, these white men fear white women marrying, dating, or? having sexual relationships black men, as? this is seen as undermining white men’s power and control over white women?2.

They also tend to assume that I am unfamiliar with blacks, in particular black men.? Then they take special pleasure in hurling insults at black men, who? are not? manly to them.? To them white men are the ultimate, chivalrous, manly men.?

I know there are other problems with these statements, and we can discuss them in the comments section.? I just wanted to highlight the gender issue.

Theme 2 “Blacks Need to Stop Whining; White People are the Real Victims of Racism”
One of the most? interesting arguments that these racists use is that black people are whiners and complainers. What makes these comments so amusing is their hypocrisy.? I have numerous white people who leave whiny comments about how whiny blacks are.? Here are a few:

I have italicized all of the synonyms for whining.? ? This person called sick of hearing it had the time to leave a treatise on whiny black people:

As a white person, Im really really sick of hearing blacks whine. What Im about to say is the truth and everyone knows it. Its time whites stopped being blackmailed by blacks.
1.Racial profilingFace facts, blacks commit far more crimes percentage wise than whites. Thats a fact . Its not racism any more than its sexism to say that men commit far more violent crimes then women or ageism to say that young adults commit more crimes than the elderly. Its a cops job to stop crime, not to be politically correct and he has every right in lieu of these FACTS to be more suspicious of blacks, particularly young black males. This is not racism, its called a law of averages.

2.Slavery-Slavery ended 142 years ago and has nothing to do with blacks today. Despite this, blacks today have benefitted very much from slavery, despite their moaning and groaning which is designed to keep whitey on an eternal guilt trip. Blacks in the usa today make more money, have better jobs, education and a higher standard of living etc. then blacks anywhere else in the world. They live a life here they could certainly never achieve on their own. Anyway, EVERY racial group had past historic injustices.

2.Lynching-Again, this is something from another era that has nothing to do with blacks or whites today, but again is often used to keep whitey on an eternal guilt trip. Its blown way out of proportion. For one thing, white people were lynched too and lynchings were actually quite rare. A person was lynched if they were believed to have commited a serious crime ie. murder/rape. When this happened, once in awhile,an angry mob would then string up the accused, black OR white and hang them. Back in those days, people knew everyone by name just about in a town or neighborhood and knew the penalty for a serious crime, so few people, black or white commited such crimes. Blacks of course have totally hyped this up and often lied to make it much worse then it was, to get sympathy.

4.Interracial crime-For all the talk you hear about James Byrd, the fact is that blacks commit 300 times the acts of violence against whites as opposed to the reverse. Did you hear about the white woman dragged to death by a black man stealing her car a year after James Byrd??? No, of course not. Black on white crime goes unreported while in the rare case that you hear of white on black violence, you never hear the end of it.

5.Welfare-Blacks love to demand that the government ie.whites spend even more on their dysfunctional inner city neighborhoods. The united states government has already spent trillions and still spends trillions trying to help blacks, paying for their subsidized housing, food stamps and free medical in the inner cities while they pop out baby number 5. Face it, black inner city neighborhoods are dysfuntional because of black behavior. If ghetto blacks would stop having multiple kids out of wedlock, if black fathers/baby daddy would raise and discipline their kids instead of walking out, if theyd stop using and selling drugs, stop shooting each other, stop dropping out of school and started behaving themselves, they wouldnt be in the situation theyre in. Blacks have nobody to blame but themselves. Why should whites spend even more of their tax dollars on bad black behavior, weve already spent enough. I personally refuse to give to blacks or mexicans when it comes to charity donations, I pay enough for them in taxes.

6.Racism-Blacks love to claim they are victims of racism. They claim whites are the cause of their suffering. I dont know about you but if a group of people were causing my suffering, Id want to get as far away from them as possible, yet blacks not only dont want to go back to africa where they can be around their own kind free of whites, but they also want to live, work and go to school around whites. Hmmm, somethings not right here. Also, if someone is causing your suffering, would you look to them to help you? So why do blacks look to whites. Lets look at black suffereing, shall we Lets see, blacks have affirmative action, they can get into college on lower scores, get all kinds of aid because they are black, get first dibs on all government jobs, get all kinds of welfare benefits more easily because they are black, get a free pass on just about anything they do or say. Yeah, if blacks are victims of racism, whites should be so lucky.
The above comments are true. Its time white people stopped being made to feel guilty. Blacks today are spoiled brats and whites have nothing to feel guilty about.

Or what about this person who cares:

seriously get it over it is right who cares what people do if theyre not doing it in an agressive or threating manner, in this super PC world we live in it seems impossible to make any joke without offending someone, so does that mean we should stop telling jokes? No it means people should stop getting offended about something frivolous and dumb and stop making it out to be life or deathbecause when it comes down to it, you are getting upset because you dont like what other people say or what makes them laughSo whatby getting offended so easily you are giving your power away to those that would seek to offend you, if you dont care the pictures or words have no power over you and would be meaninglessand for those of you who say this needs to have meaning because of terrible history most blacks and whites today had no part of and talk about the history of white oppression , what about black on black oppression still goin on in africa today and slave trade still goin on in africa, or history of white on white oppression or spanish on south american oppressionevery race has been through hard times and repressed throughout history but thats no reason to say hey!!! my great great grandfather was oppressed so i deserve compensation or the right to make a fuss over nothing
GET OVER IT AND LIVE YOUR LIFE

Next? we have Toby:?

Why are blacks such victims? WHINE WHINE!!! BOO HOO!!!

Alex:

Oh grow up. Maybe if black women stopped whining and started learning and educating themselves and stopped having kids out of wedlock, there would be no racism.

Michael:?

i have a story to enlighten all of you. in the past week i have been called a honky, whiteboy, or stoner 9 times. It pains me that irs acceptable to say this to me but yet it is unnnacceptable for me to use a derogatory phrase to a black. Thankfully alot of blacks dont use the terms above because they realize that in exchange for me not using the term nigger, etc. that they will not use honky, etc..
also
stop bitching about slavery and and civil rights. It was in the past therefore why the fuck should the people of today pay for that shit.
next person i see that says they deserve reperations im gonna lay the fuck out : )
as for the picture
theyre just havin fun ive seen blacks do the exact same thing so why do they have the right to bitch but we dont, maybe we should start a civil rights movement about that.

When I read all of this BS, I have to ask who are the real? whiners? I rarely have black people who come to this site in whine.? In fact, the only problems I have had with black commenters tend to be angry reactions to racist commenters, but whining I don’t really hear much of that.? The main whiners who come to this? site are people like the commenters above.

What is also annoying is how they believe that blacks have no right to complain about racism, but whites do have a right to complain about racism.? They base this belief on the idea whites are the real victims of racism.? In other cases, they believe that blacks are actually causing racism because of their “bad” behaviors.

This argument frequent consists of the “get over it” refrain.? These commenters believe they can dictate when and how blacks get offended, and they also insist that whites are best at determining when and where? actions are racist (and don’t forget, the real victims of racism).? They also try very hard to minimize racism–whether it’s lynching, slavery, blackface, or any other racism.

Again there are other problems with these statements, both statistical problems and argumentation problems, which we can discuss in the comments. ? I would be remiss if I didn’t note the obsession with blacks and social welfare programs.

Oh, I can’t resist here are a few more….

Bonus Comment #1 Combination of Themes #1 & #2:
Stephen Thomas says:

Rachel, you really need to find something to do with your time.
The most racist people Ive ever met are blacks.
Blacks are responsible for their own problems.
You dont know what you are talking about. That halo youre wearing is really your asshole and youve shoved your head straight up
Blacks arent failing and in prison because of racism. Blacks are failing and in prison because of poor moral habit, because they commit so much crime, and because of an illegitimacy rate of 70%.

Bonus Comment #2 Black person whining on behalf of whites, or white person with a bad black disguise? You decide:
From Lahoya:

The funny thing to me is that these days everyone is so ready to play the race card. Im not saying its not an issue, but everyone is so hot and biscuit to claim its a racial issue, that its taking away from it when it is really going on. I am a black women myself, but I think some of the most rasist things I have ever seen or heard are things like, Black Awards, Soul Train Awards, etc. Has anyone ever thought about how if white people had, White Awards it would be considered rasist? Going back to Snoop, I have heard the word craker out his mouth more times then I can count. The man is still going strong with no one firing his ass! Maybe white men raped the blacks, well guess what blacks have raped the whites. Why dont we stop keeping score, we all, throughout history, have done very messed up things to each other. The more we focus on race the more we see the differances, and the injustice we feel each race has had, it only makes even bigger gaps in our equality. I say, lets get over ourselves. When I see a black person on tv going to jail I dont think what else is new? Its ignorant to sum up race like that, the same as it would be to say it in Imus case. The more you think whats else is new? the worse the problem gets. This isnt eye for an eye, say this about whites because they say it about us blacks. Those words are a breeding ground of racism.

I get tons of whites pretending to be black.? Do you think this is one?

Ok, have at it.? Every now and then, I try to post these comments.? Many of them have been inspired by the “Halloween for White People” post, which seems to inspire the most ire from racists.

  1. I can’t prove he’s a guy, but I’m going to use the mail pronoun because I’m fairly certain this is a man. [back]
  2. It’s interesting to note that the term “nigger lover” is generally used in a gendered way.? I have rarely heard the term used for white men.? My blog friend Ann has suggested that many of these white men fear that black men will treat white women in the same ways that white men have historically treated black women.? In other words, they fear that black men will rape and disregard white women. Basically, it is what psychologists call projection. [back]

Jun

18

Museums Working on Black/Indian Issues Exhibit

Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Education and Academia, Mail Bag, Race and Racism, Sociology | 7 Comments

I got this email on a list-serve totally unrelated to this site, but I thought it was quite ironic (timely) given issues I have been covering lately.? If you would like to give you two cents you can just respond to the email.

Greetings. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History
and Culture (NMAAHC) and the National Museum of the American Indian
(NMAI) in Washington D.C , are planning a collaborative exhibition on the
subject of “Black Indians” – the shared history between African
Americans and Native Americans.

We would like to conduct a qualitative survey that will help us
understand people’s insights, opinions and thoughts on this subject, so
that our exhibition is informed by community perspectives.

All the respondents can email me at: lakshmir@si dot? edu

Thank you for your help.

And this is the list of questions:

1. Have you heard anything about the Black Indians (shared history
between African Americans and Native Americans)? What does this subject
mean to you?

2. How would you define the phrase, “Black Indians”?

3. Have you heard family and community stories that might relate to this
subject?

4. How does this history play out in different cultural expressions -
now and in the past?

5. If a child has one parent who identifies herself/himself as African
American and another as Native American, how would you categorize that
child in terms of race?

6. What is your age, gender and how do you categorize yourself racially?

7. The Smithsonian is planning an exhibition on the subject? What would
you like to see in such an exhibition? Where do you think this
exhibition needs to be presented?

Rama

Jun

2

Mail Bag 6/2/07

Filed Under Family Issues, Gender and Sexism, International Racism, Mail Bag, Race and Racism, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

I’ve got mail…..

One of my readers wrote me to share this story:

I live in Miami Beach. The recent Memorial Day holiday weekend typically is a time when a significant number of Blackpeople visit the Beach. Unfortunately, it is also a time when white people announce that they are going to stay away from the Beach, and the presence of the police is quadrupled. In fact, the ACLU sent representatives this year to monitor the ridiculous number of arrests that occur. This year several shopowners closed their stores.

I give you that backgound because I saw something on Monday that was quite disturbing. One of the main people watching thoroughfares is Lincoln Road, famous for approximately seven blocks of retail shops, bars, and restaurants. I was walking down Lincoln Road? with my aunt, my sister, my mother, and a female cousin. We passed three young white men, one of whom was wearing a t-shirt with the message: “Looking for a nappy-headed ho.” The four of us stopped and debated whether or not to stop the three men and tell them exactly what we thought about the message on the shirt. Needless to say, we were outraged. The fact that this young white man would feel comfortable enough, or, perhaps, privileged enough, to wear such a shirt amongst large numbers of Blackwomen, left me speechless. My mother, aunt, sister, and cousin were all insulted. I have read many a blog posting and responses to blog postings about the Don Imus incident. Many, and I mean many,? said that Imus’s comment was harmless, the whole thing will be forgotten, what about freedom of speech, etc. The degradation of Blackwomen, however? is serious business, and words — powerful, loaded, degrading words — are never harmless. They seep into aspects of contemporary culture that only exacerbates the harm for which they are intended. I don’t know where all this ends.

I think it speaks for itself. A reader name Ale sent me a link to this story.? Here’s a brief quote:

Kidnappings are in the news and on the minds of parents everywhere, nowhere more so than in Holland, where a Dutch family has reportedly learned that their son, adopted from India, had been kidnapped from his birth family and sold to a children’s home with false documents that released the child for adoption.

More evidence that the international adoption industry? needs some oversight.

Carmen sent me this link about a pornographer who is promoting “torture” porn.? What is interesting about this? issue is that radical feminists have been making this argument about porn for a long time.? I remember reading a Catharine MacKinnon book in college on this subject. (This link has some of the other anti-porn arguments.)? Radical feminists in an earlier era set their sights on “snuff films,”? which are supposed to depict real killings.?

The pro-porn/anti-porn debate in contemporary feminism is a huge issue.? My sense is that there are three general groups of feminists.? First, would be those feminists totally opposed to pornography and? believe that porn inherently degrades and dehumanizes women (this is the persistent radical feminist position).? Then there is a? middle group where people think most pornography is sexist, but there could be a way to create non-sexist erotic images.? I think most people in this group have some ambivalence–they don’t want to sound like they are against sex or are prudish, but they also think porn as it stands needs to be changed.? I’d venture to say this is probably biggest group.? Then you have the last group, who are more pro-porn.? They tend to think that women should have the right to make autonomous decisions about their bodies, which would include the decision to participate in sex work.? Many in this group would say porn is selling fantasies, and many feminists who are anti-porn are buying into puritanical notions of women’s sexuality.? I think many in this group would oppose some kinds of porn, but they would be hesitant to make blanket judgements. Some of the people in this group call themselves sex positive.? I generally place myself in the middle group.? I don’t think there is anything wrong with pictures of people have sex, but I think most pornography in its current incarnation is degrading to women, but I also think some feminists have inadvertently denied women sexual agency (which is academic speak for taken away the idea that women can embrace their sexual bodies and express power over their sexuality).? I should really go further? because I have other concerns about porn, including the fact that I think porn can be addictive and can alienate people from their sexuality.

We had a really interesting discussion about this in my sexuality class last semester because one of my male students was exposed to porn at a young age, and he was making the argument that it was good because it taught him how to “please women.”? Now this was one of those moments where I had to kick in to feminist teacher mode.? Because I know enough about porn to know that it doesn’t teach men how to please women.? Porn is not generally about women’s fantasies or pleasing women.? I was? really surprised at how many of my students thought of porn as a “how to” guide for sex.? Then, they asked me well if you don’t learn about sex from porn then where do you learn about sex–which is an incredibly sad indictment of our society.? I’ll stop here for now, but my general response to them was that they would probably have a better sex life if they learn about sex with their partners as opposed to watch porn.

Apr

13

Were You One of the People Ejected From New Roc City?

Filed Under Blogs Blogging Blogthropology, Mail Bag, Media Praises and Critiques, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Speak up!!!

The Westchester Journal News is trying to get the perspectives of people who were told to leave New Roc.? If you were there or know someone who was, please let the Journal News know.? They have not had much information? from the? the Bronx teenagers (and their parents)? and other young people who were forced to leave the complex.? You can contact the Ken Valenti at the email below.

Were you at New Roc City or the surrounding area on Sunday? Talk to us.

from the journal news
If you were among the groups of people told to leave New Roc City on Easter Sunday, or if you used go to the entertainment center frequently, wed like to hear from you for an upcoming story. Please call Ken Valenti at 914-696-8255 or send an e-mail to klvalent@lohud.com.