Reality: Rape Has Been Decriminalized

Reality: Rape is not really a crime. 3% of reported rapes end with someone in jail and only 40% of rapes are reported. When rapists go jail, their sentences are for less than non-violent crimes.
With basically 0 consequence for a crime, it is basically de-criminalized.

Trump's Not Saying Anything Republicans Weren't Saying Before

I do not understand why people are surprised by Trump's message. He has literally said nothing new or off message for Republicans. Nothing. He just bothered to say it without the cloak of respectability language.

The Double Ghost Standard

Yes, the War on Drugs is Racist

 For those moments you wonder if black people accidentally ended up in jail because of drugs I quote you one of the architects of the war on drugs:

“You want to know what this [war on drugs] was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

- John Ehrlichman, former presidential counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon and Watergate co-conspirator.

Source: Harpers Article

Another Milestone in American Progress

The United States just had a moment to be noted in history, so let's set fighting aside for a moment and measure its importance. Enough of us believe a woman is capable of being president that we nominated one to run for president as the nominee for a major party.

As a woman, as an American, as a human being at this time in history, I'm proud that we broke this barrier.

Thank you America, for finally seeing vagina-ed Americans as more than baby popping rearers.

A woman's place is in the White House.

‪#‎herstory‬

The Crossroads of Our Country

Assuming both Trump and Clinton will move forward in the coming general presidential campaign, our country is at a cross roads of identity. Status quo is not an option now.

To the left we change into the country which sees women as leaders, may valuable all people, and embrace the potential of the future even though the unknown is scary. We may find the path to economic security for more. We risk the facing what we do not know.

To the right we willfully take the looping road to the past, putting minorities and women beneath white men again, and making economic stability only for a few. We embrace the primal satisfaction of knowing white is the default, entitled to the conquered land and people. We know exactly what we will get, we've already had it. 

America has chosen, we will not be stood still. We now decide where we go.

Feminism, Masculinism, Egalitarianism - The Distraction and Defense of the Perfect Label

Let's just say for a second we call the belief that women are equal to men and deserving of equal protections gender egalitarianism because it is about equality for both genders. We could then ask ourselves - are there challenges that women face which men do not which require consideration, and/or redress? If such things do exist, then it is natural to give such things a name. That is feminism. 

Feminists are not at war with equality. It is just a way of saying - hey -  some hurdles exist which need attention that women face and men do not. Man face challenges which women do not. We could call that Masculinism. Both fall under the heading of equality. Addressing specific needs of either gender and giving those needs and advocacy a name does not take it out from under the realm of equality or devalue the struggles of the other gender. 

When we discuss gay marriage, are we somehow saying that we don't think interracial marriage or trangender marriage or inter-relgious marriage matters? No. Asserting that feminism opposes equality because it labels a particular area of focus or advocacy is to say that the fight for equal access to marriage for gay people opposes equality. 

When someone demands a re-naming, they are doing two things; making a big deal of a semantic issue and attempting to make people defensive about advocating for women's needs. 

Having a discussion about the label is truly pointless. We could call feminism "flim-flam-jim-jam". When you oppose the word but not the meaning, you are truly wasting time and bickering about nothing in an attempt to exhaust the other person so they do not discuss the matters of substance- but that is the point for most people who make this argument. By forcing people to address the label on the idea, not the actual idea, the label objector distracts from the idea, gives themselves an out of discussing the substance of the idea, while making it clear that every level of conversation will be hostile - even the terms.  

By making people defensive about addressing equality for women or labeling themselves a person who cares about equality for women or addressing issues that women face but men do not, they shut the conversation down before it even starts.

It  makes some fair minded people feel badly that each discussion about the needs of women is not accompanied by a need of men, thus making every topic about the needs or rights of women tied to a discussion about the needs of men. It is seen as unfair to discuss pay gaps for women without discussing workplace deaths for men. 

Separate discussions does not mean we are devaluing either side. It means each deserves focus.


Feminism and Masculinism are not zero sum games. The idea that one gender's gain is another's loss is why we see so many hateful pictures from Men's Rights Groups like the ones below. Generally, what benefits women also benefits men. Conflict between the two will occur and that is also not solved by changing a label. 

Damned right I'm a feminist - I believe that women deserve equal opportunities, access, and protections but also have special challenges which men do not which need careful consideration and redress. Damned right I am a Masculinist - I believe that men deserve equal opportunities, access, and protections but also have special challenges which women do not which need careful consideration and redress. Damned right I am a gender egalitarianist. I can be all three. 

Let's do our society a favor and discuss the ideas, not the label of the ideas.