Tag Archives: violence against women

18-Year-Old Woman Raped & Beaten By As Many As 6 Men In Chicago

Jessica WakemanJanuary 3, 2012 //

An 18-year-old woman was raped and beaten by as many as six men on New Year’s Eve in Chicago. The young woman, described by the Chicago Sun-Times as a Highland Park High School senior from the suburbs, went to a concert by British DJ “Rusko” at the Congress Theater and was turned away because she had no ID. Security cameras caught the woman inside a Mexican restaurant walking away with six young men. The woman was found naked, beaten and bleeding at 9:30 p.m. that night. On Sunday morning, she was listed in critical condition and in a coma. Keep reading »

Facebook Pulls Some (But Not All) Rape Jokes

Jessica WakemanNovember 10, 2011 //
Rape Jokes On Facebook
caveman photo
Joking about raping women is cool with Facebook. Read More »
Penn State Abuse
Reactions to the Penn State sexual abuse against boys is galling. Read More »
Paterno Fired
The students who are protesting need a reality check. Read More »
Mark Zuckerberg photo

On November 2, feminist activists organized together to protest Facebook’s refusal to remove pages that contained jokes about rape and violence against women from their site. Facebook’s Terms of Service bans language that is “hateful, threatening,” or contains “graphic or gratuitous violence” — which you will quickly find out if you make a “joke” about, say, dragging a black man behind a pickup truck. And if you post pics of yourself breastfeeding or anything just “too sexy,” like Courtney Stodden did, you’re in trouble. But Facebook rationalizes that their Terms of Service doesn’t include “jokes” of hate, threats, or gratuitous violence against women — because those are joke-jokes, right, bro? 

The progressive web site Change.org collected 188,000 signatures asking Facebook to ban rape jokes and jokes about violence against women. Throughout the day on November 2, activists tweeted the names of offensive pages like “We’re gonna have sex tonight” “Why?” “Because im stronger than you are” to the @Facebook handle on Twitter.  And finally — finally! — Facebook listened and responded.

Sort of. Keep reading »

Protest Today Against Facebook’s Rape Jokes

Jessica WakemanNovember 2, 2011 //
caveman photo

There’s a lot of dodginess on Facebook (status “updates” from your sister’s fetus, hello) but there’s one thing we cannot tacitly approve by ignoring — rape jokes such as:

  • “Kicking Sluts in the Vagina”
  • “Whats 10 inches and gets girls to have sex with me? my knife” 
  • “I know a silly little bitch that needs a good slap”
  • “We’re gonna have sex tonight” “Why?” “Because im stronger than you are”

Yes, some immature, insensitive people post rape jokes or create pages with themes about raping, stabbing, or threatening their girlfriends and moms.  That hate speech is bad enough, but alas, you are allowed under the First Amendment to be a douchebag.

The real question is, though, why is Facebook permitting jokes about sexual violence? Keep reading »

Quickies: Suri Cruise Has Better Shoes Than You Do & Kanye West’s Decapitated “Monster” Model Speaks

Jessica WakemanJune 10, 2011 //
  • In addition to these cutie-patootie galoshes, Star magazine claims Suri Cruise, age four, has a pair of mini Louboutin heels and several pairs of Marc Jacobs shoes. Let that sink in for a sec. [DListed]
  • Sean Penn allegedly told Scarlett Johansson she better go back to college, take a political science course, and better educate herself if she’s going to speak out about politics. That’s so douchey! I’ve never heard ScarJo say anything dumb about politics. She reportedly got dumped by him, but I’d be willing to bet it was the other way around. [Celebitchy]
  • Kanye West may have defiled the maidenhood of an Olsen twin. Rumor has it he was seen canoodling Mary-Kate Olsen, who is the “bad” one. This would be the weirdest couple ever. [Stuff NZ]
  • “The Undefeated,” a pro-Sarah Palin documentary, is getting a nationwide release. But first it has some salty language in it that needs to be cleaned up first. What would a hockey mom say? [NYMag.com]

Keep reading »

Sarah Palin Lashes Out At Media After Gabrielle Giffords Shooting In Tucson

Jessica WakemanJanuary 12, 2011 //

Sarah Palin has lashed out at critics who say her at-times violence-tinged political rhetoric influenced Jared Lee Loughner, the man who shot 14 people this weekend in Tuscon, Arizona, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. “After the shocking tragedy, I listened puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements of those attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event,” Palin said. “President Reagan said we must reject the idea that every time a law is broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing district used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their first amendment rights at campaign rallies, and not with those who proudly voted in the last election.” Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Remembering Christina Green, 9, Victim Of Tucson Shooting

Jessica WakemanJanuary 11, 2011 //
  • A remembrance of Tucson, Arizona shooting victim, nine-year-old Christina Green, who had recently won a seat on her student council and just wanted to meet her local politician, Gabrielle Giffords. (Randomly, Christina is the cousin of “One Tree Hill” actress Sophia Bush.) [Ms. Magazine]
  • Miss England beauty queen Katrina Hodge is deploying for her second tour in Afghanistan. [Styleite]
  • The abortion rate has stalled after 30 years in decline, according to a new study by the Guttmacher Institute, which collects data on reproductive rights. Also, drug-induced (i.e., medical) abortions with RU-486 are on the rise. [Reuters]

Keep reading »

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot In The Head In Tucson, Arizona

Jessica WakemanJanuary 8, 2011 //

Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, was shot in the head this morning outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, by a white male in his mid-20s. Witnesses said she and members of her staff were greeting the public when a gunman approached her from behind and shot into her head. He reportedly fired about 20 rounds; approximately 12 others were injured in the shooting. A staffer tackled the young gunman, who has been taken into custody. Rep. Giffords, 40, a Democrat, has been in office since January 2007. In March, her Tucson office had been vandalized right before the health care reform vote; her office spokesperson said she received “nasty and rude and hateful comments” at the time as well. She was recently elected to a third term. NPR and CNN have reported that Giffords died, but as of 3:20 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, her husband, an astronaut named Mark Kelly, had confirmed to a local TV station that she is still alive. Our thoughts go out to Gabrielle Giffords’ family and loved ones.

[New York Times]
[ABC News] Keep reading »

Kanye’s Leaked “Monster” Video: Sexy Dead Girls, Decapitated Heads, And Other Violence Against Women

Jessica WakemanDecember 30, 2010 //

Kanye West‘s unfinished video for “Monster” has leaked online and it’s a disgusting display of gratuitously sexy dead women. In the opening shot, dead women in lingerie hang from nooses made of chains; the camera lingers on one’s stiletto heels. In a later scene, Kanye lies in bed with two lifeless models, moving one’s hand to her crotch like a rag doll. Later, Jay-Z raps with a woman lying lifeless on a couch behind him, ass up, and the camera lingers on her red patent leather f**k-me heels. But the most disgusting part of the video is when Kanye raps while holding a dead woman’s severed head in his hand. Keep reading »

Obama And Biden Address The Nation About Violence Against Women

Jessica WakemanOctober 27, 2010 //

I know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But the 10th month of the year is another time for reflection on an issue that doesn’t get quite the attention it deserves: Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Frisky has been re-posting some of our past content by our contributor Judy McGuire, a domestic abuse survivor, but we were pleased to see it’s being addressed on a national level, as well.

Today at the White House, Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama made remarks about violence against women, which I’ve transcribed a bit after the jump: Keep reading »

The Anti-Porn Men Project: Dudes Take A Stand Against Violent Porn

Jessica WakemanSeptember 22, 2010 //

If aliens landed and took stock of pop culture from the past decade, they might conclude that men on Earth are boobie-crazed sex beasts enslaved by their own desires, and that pornography is as essential to a man’s life as air. Two male activists are seriously troubled by the ubiquity of porn in Western men’s lives, the degradation of and violence against women in porn, and how they believe the objectification of women warps men’s minds. Earlier this month, Matt McCormack Evans and Jonathan Wragg started The Anti-Porn Men Project, an online space where they hope to have an educational discussion with other dudes about pornography, separate from the one still burning — albeit faintly — among mostly ’60s- and ’70s-era feminists. Keep reading »

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