masculinity

Are you looking for a way to take something that is traditionally considered feminine and make it hypermasculine beyond belief? Look no further than Alphanail, the online nail polish retailer for "men and fighters."

Phew! This week saw lots of compelling internet content, including the following:

• Queerty speaks of the problems with intersex kids' parents choosing their gender identities for them.
• NPR, and Jos at Feministing, remind us of "Why BMI is bogus." Woo-hoo!
• cate j at Questioning Transphobia explores the assumptions behind declaring "Welcome to womanhood."
• "That's Gay"'s Bryan Safi talks about THAT KISS on Glee.
• Did you catch Byron Hurt's piece "Why I Am a Black Male Feminist" on The Root? G.D. responds at Feministe and PostBourgie.
• ABC reports on this week's violent outburst by a famous domestic abuser. You're probably sick of hearing his name, but I'll just say it sounds like "Fris Frown." (via Jessica Valenti). Jay Smooth has also made a video in response.
• The Korea Herald explains Cambodia's recent limitations on foreign marriage. (via Racialicious)
• Sure, the late Nate Dogg was a beloved rapper, but... ColorLines reminds readers of the performer's more problematic legacies.
• At Womanist Musings, Renee calls for George Lopez to apologize for his transphobic remarks toward Wendy Williams--not just his fatphobic remarks toward Kirstie Alley.
• At Global Comment, Tiger Beatdown's Sady Doyle discusses the Wal-Mart lawsuit saga.
• Jeff Biggers writes about Arizona's disturbing budget cuts and Ethnic Studies ban, and about the documentary Precious Knowledge.
• Got plans this Sunday? Bitch Flicks looks forward to the Mildred Pierce miniseries' debut!
• Speaking of anticipation: who's looking forward to the release of Bumped by Megan McCafferty? I am, I am! Check out Phoebe North's insightful review in which she describes the dystopian satire as "sex positive" and "a biting comedy with a tender heart."
• The Huffington Post remembers Elizabeth Taylor's activism.
• Jason Linkins recalls a provocative piece about journalism that seeks to create and criticize candidates' personae rather than report on their politics. Sounds like most news stories about female politicians, doesn't it?
• Tom Tom Magazine, the magazine for female drummers, is under attack from Tom Tom GPS, since, you know, people might confuse tracking software with one of the only independent publications covering women and music.
• Poor Knut. I don't know about you, but I was dismayed to learn of the famous polar bear's passing. As always, this song is for him.

Everyone have a good International Women's Day/Feminist Coming Out Day? Check out these compelling links from this week, and feel free to share your stories below!

• Andrea Grimes at HAY LADIES! and Shelby Knox at change.org encourage us to demand an apology from the author of the horribly irresponsible New York Times article about an eleven-year-old rape victim. Over at the Rumpus, Roxane Gay speaks poignantly about the article and its connections to rape culture.
• Excited for the new collection Feminism for Real: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism, edited by Jessica Yee and featuring Latoya Peterson and Andrea Plaid? Us too! Read excerpts now at Racialicious!
• Also at Racialicious, Latoya writes about tokenism, the blogosphere, and book deals in "On Being Feminism's 'Ms. Nigga.'"
• Halle Kiefer responds to worries about the ephemerality of pop culture jokes on Splitsider.
• Sady Doyle of Tiger Beatdown writes about poet Diane Di Prima for Autostraddle!
• At Colorlines, Jamilah King reports on Cairo's Million Woman March, which overcame anti-feminist protesters.
• Also at Colorlines, Jamilah discusses the saddening need for the upcoming International Anti-Street Harassment Day.
• Still celebrating International Women's Day? Same here! Check out this list of IWD-related pieces from around the world, compiled by Bitch contributor Chally Kacelnik for Feministe!
• Beth Saunders shares the latest in bad abortion-restriction news at RH Reality Check.
• In good news, Renee at Womanist Musings reports that trans* prisoners in the United Kingdom are now allowed to dress to match their gender identity!
• At The Good Men Project Magazine, Amanda Marcotte explains how the more the wrongheaded Men's Right Activists sometimes recognize actual problems. Their solution? More feminism, natch! (via Feministing)
• Erica Payne at the Huffington Post talks about Wal-Mart vs. Dukes, calling the equal pay-focused case "one of the most important civil rights cases in the country's history."

Liquor ads capitalize on some of the worst (socialized) masculine traits, glamorize them, and sell these behaviors back to us–encouraging and promoting sexism.

We've been reminiscing a bit at Bitch HQ lately about Free to Be... You and Me. Remember that jam? Even if, like me, it aired before you were born, you're probably the product of its lovey message in some way or another. If not, it's not too late. Check out this video clip of Rosey Grier singing "It's Alright to Cry." Do it! It inspired this week's BitchTapes!



A powerful message, especially coming from a masculine-seeming type like Grier. We all know that men aren't "supposed" to cry. But Grier isn't the only man who'll admit to shedding a tear now and then. For evidence of this, here's a mix of songs by men, about crying. Track list after the jump!

You're looking at the cover of a new book by John Joseph, New York native and author of The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon. Besides grimacing, my other first reaction to the book was Malori Maloney's assessment of Skinny Bastard - the male-marketed follow-up to the "vegan/animal rights manifesto wrapped in chick-lit veneer" Skinny Bitch. Malori wrote, "What could be an awesome vegan manifesto is so rife with gendered language, sexist commentary and an apparent obsession with physical appearance over healthy living that potential positive and/or helpful messages get clouded." Having not read Joseph's book, I can't claim this is entirely true about Meat is for Pussies...but something about that title tells me it is.

The trailer for An Emasculating Truth opens with the following...
"There's always that fear that masculinity is in danger, that it's being lost, men are becoming feminized in one way or another."
"Men are definitely finding their feminine side."
"Their masculinity's kind of questionable."
"Maybe too superficial."
"Settling for less."
"Not...manly."


In fact, "kind of questionable" and "superficial" are great descriptions of the movie itself, where Concerned Male Citizen Oscar reports "Testosterone levels are down 17% in the past 14 years among American men."

Happy All Hallow's Eve Eve! Here is a video from The Onion to get you in the spirit. Warning: It paints a pretty stereotypical portrait of "effeminate" boys, but more than that it parodies parents' fear that their sons aren't (gasp!) manly enough:


How To Find A Masculine Halloween Costume For Your Effeminate Son

 

I get quite a bit of surprised responses when folks find out that I'm an avid sports fan. An incredulous "You really know your shit," says someone, or maybe, more derisively, "Where did that come from?" Or else, I get a well-meaning affirmation that I'll make some guy very lucky (presumably because the guy will get to share his presumed sports fandom with his girlfriend).

These are the reactions that come from folks who simply don't expect females to know much about sports. But there's another kind of surprised response that I get from progressive friends who don't buy into sports and, especially, sports culture. They will point out that the sports world is saturated with macho posturing. It frequently excuses the bad behavior of its heroes; it celebrates brute force; it's history is poisoned by cheating and drug-use; and it is often actively and explicitly hostile to women.

How, these friends wonder, can I get into it? How could I possibly reconcile my feminism with it?

Well, folks, I do, and quite passionately so. (Though of course I have my eyes wide open; it is because of my love of sports that I intend to not ever justify the worst of it).

Why that love? Consider ...

Yesterday, my bf emailed me an article from the consistently obnoxious and terrible men's site askmen.com. Apparently, the hard-hitting journalists working over there were interested in determining the Most Influential Man of 2009, and the winner (chosen through a reader poll) was Mad Men's fictional philanderer Don Draper. You know, because television characters should really be the most influential people in our lives.

At any rate, my beau found the news of Draper winning this award even more ridiculous and upsetting than I did, so I asked him to write a brief response to the article from The Male Perspective. Read it after the jump!