Thursday, April 22, 2010

"Spectacular"

I first saw this video on Feministing, but I reallllly wanted to post Kiely's response video. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, ex-Disney star Kiely recently released her first single. It goes a little something like this...



This video is disgusting. Talk about perpetuating rape culture. You are probably able to form your own opinions, but I do want to relay a few legal things:

NO MEANS NO
SILENCE MEANS NO
YES while intoxicated MEANS NO
...someone who is passed out can not legally consent.

Women are constantly taught to blame themselves when they experience sexual assault. "I shouldn't have been wearing that. I shouldn't have been walking alone. I shouldn't have drank so much." Our parents tell us to be careful and to protect ourselves.

What should the real message be and to whom should it be delivered? It's rather simple actually: "DON'T RAPE!" For far too long, the message has been loud and clear: "Boys will be boys"...and girls are just going to have to learn to deal with it. This awful mentality only supports sexual assault while shaming the survivors into not seeking the help they need.

Kiely doesn't see what the big deal is. Here is her response:



AWFUL.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Intersections

I'm sure many of you have heard about Constance McMillen and the blatant violation of her human rights on behalf of her high school. But just in case, she is the high school student who requested to take her girlfriend to prom. In response, the administration decided to cancel prom entirely. Of course this pitted the entire class against Constance, when the real anger should have been aimed at the homophobic actions of those in charge.

In a more recent update, Constance was duped into going to a fake prom while the real prom took place across town. This was orchestrated at various levels including students AND parents. This is just an awful testament the complete lack of humanity some people are capable of exhibiting, however there is a piece to this puzzle that has been overlooked. There were other invites to the fake prom, including two developmentally disabled students. What originally started off as a story focused mainly around gay issues has become a revealing intersection of ableism and heterosexism.

Constance was not welcomed to the prom because she was viewed as something laughable, deviant, and wrong. What then was the reasoning for lying to the other students? What message does this send to youth across America? The answer is simple: "Difference" will not be tolerated. If this example isn't proof that marginalized groups need to come together to fight against prejudice, I don't know what is. I now see that there is no age limit on bullying. SHAME on all those involved in this awful event and SHAME on anyone who thinks this type of behavior acceptable.