[F]or the first several years the SAT was offered, males scored higher than females on the Math section but females achieved higher scores on the Verbal section. ETS policy-makers determined that the Verbal test needed to be “balanced” more in favor of males, and added questions pertaining to politics, business and sports to the Verbal portion. Since that time, males have outscored females on both the Math and Verbal sections. Dwyer notes that no similar effort has been made to “balance” the Math section, and concludes that, “It could be done, but it has not been, and I believe that probably an unconscious form of sexism underlies this pattern. When females show the superior performance, ‘balancing’ is required; when males show the superior performance, no adjustments are necessary.”
“Gender Bias in College Admissions Tests”, FairTest.org
And then people urge me everything is fine, of course it is, when you’re ignoring statistics that is.
(via cwnl)
And of course test-makers are not interested in culturally balanced tests, either.
(Source: fairtest.org)
Why aren’t more people freaking out about the new Venezuelan labor law?
You know, the one that gives housewives/full-time mothers a pension— wages for housework?
It’s ONLY A HUGE VICTORY FOR FEMINISM, SOCIALISM, AND WOMEN OF COLOR. Not a big deal or anything. Tumblr is mysteriously silent about this.
http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/05/venezuelas-new-labour-law-best-mothers-day-gift
holy shit!
fucking COOL
Buycott : Finally an App That Reveals the True Story Behind the Brands You Buy
Here’s how it works. After scanning a barcode Buycott traces the brand to the parent company that owns it and then let’s you know if it’s in conflict with the campaigns you’ve joined or created. A campaign has a goal (“Avoid Sweatshop and Child Labor” or “Support Veterans”, for example) and a list of companies that it aims to support (buycott) or avoid (boycott). So, if you support gun control, for example, the App will tell you that it’s a good idea to buycott Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and boycott Starbucks coffee.
How to Talk to Your Kids About Masturbation
It’s National Masturbation Month! To celebrate, we’ll be highlighting resources on the topic every Sunday in May. Today we’re featuring Use Your Words, a Sex Positive series for parents who want to talk with their kids about sexuality in a fun, honest, healthy and comfortable way. In this episode, Melissa provides some conversation starters for talking with teens about masturbation and shares some masturbation facts.
A catcall is entirely about reminding you that you are not yours. The purity myth is entirely about reminding you that you are not yours. The fetishization of female purity in a world where catcalls are an acceptable form of communication telegraphs one thing very clearly:
“Women, stop sexualizing yourselves—that’s our job, and you’re taking all the fun out of it.”
The sexualization of women is only appealing if it’s nonconsensual. Otherwise it’s “sluttiness,” and sluttiness is agency and agency is threatening.
“Female ‘Purity’ is Bullshit”, by Lindy West (at jezebel.com)
I FUCKING LOVE LINDY WEST. SHE’S FROM SEATTLE AND SHE’S DA BEST.
(via abbigshmail)
^ Perfectly sums up why slut shaming is a load of misogynistic bullshit <3
And why these pathetic, limp dicked little weaklings need to get it through their dense skulls that we don’t give a fuck if they don’t like us ‘Dressing/acting like sluts’
We don’t give a fuck what they think/feel about us doing ANYTHING for that matter
The only person whose opinion of the way I dress/behave matters to me is MINE
(via thefingerfuckingfemalefury)
(Source: fictional-clue)
Lots of love today to everyone engaged in the hard work of parenting, and to the friends and families that have helped to raise me. Shout-out to myself, too, for the work I had to do growing up, and to everyone for whom parenting holidays are conflicted, confusing, or painful.
I like to remember the badass historical roots of Mother’s Day:
- The first attempts to establish a “Mother’s Day” in the United States were mostly marked by women’s peace groups. A common early activity was the meeting of groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War.
- In 1868, Ann Jarvis created a committee to establish a “Mother’s Friendship Day” whose purpose was “to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War”, and she wanted to expand it into an annual memorial for mothers, but she died in 1905 before the celebration became popular. Her daughter, Anna Jarvis, would continue her mother’s efforts.
- “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” were organized in the late 1800s by the Jarvises to improve sanitation and health in the area. These clubs also assisted both Union and Confederate encampments controlling a typhoid outbreak.
- In New York City, Julia Ward Howe led a “Mother’s Day” anti-war observance on June 2, 1872, which was accompanied by a Mother’s Day Proclamation. The observance continued in Boston for about 10 years under Howe’s personal sponsorship, then died out.
- In May 1877, a Mother’s Day observance was held in Albion, Michigan over a dispute related to the temperance movement. According to local legend, Albion pioneer Juliet Calhoun Blakeley stepped up to complete the sermon of the Rev. Myron Daughterty who was distraught because an anti-temperance group had forced his son and two other temperance advocates to spend the night in a saloon and become publicly drunk. From the pulpit Blakeley called on other mothers to join her. Blakeley’s two sons, both traveling salesmen, were so moved that they vowed to return each year to pay tribute to her and embarked on a campaign to urge their business contacts to do likewise.
- Mother’s Day founder Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become, spending all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration. She decried the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the commercialization of Mother’s Day
So, here are some ways to honor the people who made you
lots of love this mother’s day for everyone who has a complex relationship with their mom, everyone who has ceased communication with their mom for reasons of self-preservation, and every person whose mom is deceased
Men never ask what they should call women’s pain, so they call us crazy. They call us crazy and they laugh at us. The same men who say women aren’t funny obviously do find women funny. They find women funny at the most inappropriate time: when we’re hurting. There is no sympathy, no empathy, for young women under the influence, on the verge of, or currently breaking down. Girl pain is titillating and amusing disaster porn. In Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes’ case, their celebrity eclipses their humanity; they become the “willing victims” of the public abuse of men. Their inner turmoil, a spectacle, is a living punchline reaction gif, making us ask, “Where are their people?
“What Should We Call Girl Pain?” by Safy Hallan Farah
This is why Safy is the most brilliant writer I know. Read the whole thing. She just nails it.
(via britticisms)
5/7 Update: Trans* Women At Smith
For people who want updates about trans* women at Smith, major developments have happened in recent meetings with the administration and admissions. Here they are:
-Smith admissions will accept alternative documentation to confirm gender identity if there are inconsistent or non-female gender markers on admissions materials. It is still indeterminate what kind of language will be used on the website in the implementation of this change.
-Smith admissions will not consider financial aid/FAFSA documents when evaluating an applicant for consistent gender markers
-Smith will allow Q&A to create a “best practices” protocol for admissions employees to use when interacting with or advising trans applicants
-Further meetings with other administrators will discuss inclusion of information specific to trans women’s issues/transmisogyny during diversity trainings, use of preferred name in Smith documents and directories, and reporting/oversight on implementation of demands
-Smith can’t publish statistics about number of trans women applicants and acceptance ratios for confidentiality reasons, but might be able to direct trans women applicants to student organizers who can help oversee the process
-Student organizers and administrative officials will form a committee that will meet, ideally, 3 times a semester to talk about trans women’s inclusion at Smith college which will be co-facilitated by the student RCSG Coordinator (Q&A’s Emily Coffin) and Audrey Smith (Associate Vice President for Enrollment)
Published by Smith Q&Asmith-q-and-a.tumblr.com
fb: Smith Q&A
q_and_a-admin@lists.riseup.net
Now let’s see whether they actually follow this…
“Access Sex”, photos of Kayla Harris by Sarah Murray (more at content source)
The project Access Sex is necessary to not only make people aware of the fact that people with disabilities are seen as asexual beings but to also highlight the origins of their thoughts on disabilities and sexuality. With a range of images the connection between disabilities and sexuality at times is merely a suggestion to ease people into something they may have never consciously thought about.
Ultimately the answer to the question is yes, I can have sex. Want to see some photos that might answer other questions? – Kyla Harristhis is perfect and actually makes it so much easier for me to imagine liking myself????
Bolded. Representation matters.
