Posts Tagged ‘misogyny’

If I only had a brain…

or should I say "If I only had a penis..."

Very recently, several sex bloggers, sex toy reviewers and I voiced our disagreement with something. Some people understand why we feel that way, but disagree, which I can respect. Others, rather than consider that our opinions were formed based on careful, thoughtful consideration of the events that have unfolded, choose to be dismissive. Our decisions on the matter have been categorized as melodramatic hyperbole, as cliquish high school behavior, as unworthy of being taken seriously. It does not matter what the situation is that we’re currently upset about, these people consistently make these sorts of accusations to anyone agreeing with a few of the more “popular” sex bloggers.

Isn’t it oddly coincidental that these same accusers are also males and females who have previously demonstrated very misogynistic behavior? I’ve not heard tale of anyone dismissing any of these people’s opinions as catty, emotional, or childish. No one questions their motives or maturity level. They are simply taken at their word, even when they fully admit they have absolutely no knowledge of the situation they’re stating their opinion about. Meanwhile those of us who have done our research and cited evidence for others to consider and made valid points get haughtily ignored by these people, who by their own admission, have no idea what the fuck they are talking about. Yet they get their delicate little assholes licked by their adoring fans. As they click their tongues at us for “spreading negativity and drama” they hypocritically respond to forum posts and write their own blogs full of their uninformed opinions, tweeting at each other the sweet nothings that keep their dicks hard.

Perhaps, if I only had a penis, I too would get my balls cradled in the hands of my readers as they lovingly stroked and sucked my shaft. I could spew my oblivious mental diarrhea onto the pages as my audience lapped it up like it was the sweetest semen they ever tasted.

…but I have a vulva so I will continue to have to work harder, speak louder, and try to remain ‘calm’ enough for people to take my educated opinions seriously.

If you have to qualify your statement with “I don’t really know much about x”, then perhaps you should not have an opinion about x. -Sarahbear

Book Club: The Purity Myth

A gorgeous cover.

April’s book choice is The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti. I read it today after reading Britni’s review of it. I had intended to pick it up earlier this month but our local library doesn’t have much of a selection and I was a bit busy with projects around the house. It slipped my mind. It was a good book, overall, but there are a few things that struck me the wrong way. Especially in the beginning of the book. In fact, there were several points throughout the book that were teetering on the edge of objectivity. I understand that the writer has an agenda, but it puts a bad taste in the reader’s mouth when you come off as judgmental towards something they live (or have lived). You don’t want to put your audience on the defensive from the get go. I am glad I continued reading, after I was offended, because the author had some really great things to say.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist home, so a lot of the things talked about were things I actually experienced. I pledged my (born-again) virginity to my future husband at a True Love Waits ceremony at my church and wore a solid gold band around my ring finger while I was in high school to symbolize this commitment. I’ve got quite a bit to say about how that experience and my upbringing in the church colored my sex life until now, but that’s for another blog. The beginning of the book was quite repetitive and preachy (ha!) and the author backed up their opinions by citing various radical things that the most extreme examples of things done by the Southern Baptist Convention and Focus on the Family.

I appreciated the way she tied in rape culture, misogyny, porn and gender roles into the book. She did an excellent job of explaining how putting virginity on a pedestal related to various aspects of our current society. Reading the book has given me a better understanding of all of those things. As strange as it may sound, it made me feel normal and better about myself and my sexuality. Perhaps that was one point of the book. The way she talked about how idealized and sexualized youth and purity was somehow comforted me about my post-child birth, aging body. I’m really glad I took the time to read it.

If you read the book or have anything to say about it you should head over to Britni’s blog. That’s where the discussion is being held this month. It’s easier to have the discussion in one place instead of trying to follow them on all the different blogs that reviewed the book.

You can read Alana’s review here.

Just because I’m a woman…

Many female sex bloggers are writing about their experiences with sexual harassment this week. The men they are encountering assume that just because they review sex toys, write erotica and participate in a sex positive community that they are promiscuous. They seem to think that they are owed nude photos, cyber sex, real sexual favors or for a woman to preform sex acts on video simple because they graced them with some attention or ‘complimented’ them. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting these types of perverts yet, but I imagine the more popular I become as a sex blogger that they’ll start coming out of the woodwork eventually. What I do have to talk about is the real life and online experiences I have had just for being a woman.

Warning: The rest of this post may be triggering for some women. If you are sensitive to frank discussions about molestation or harassment you should stop reading now.

Experience #1: “You developed breasts and hips at 11/12 years old so you’re obviously lusting to have the cock of a thirty year old man shoved between your thighs”

My mother met and married my step-father around the time I turned twelve. I’m very close to my step-dad and consider him my father, so no, this story isn’t about him. When he married my mom we all moved to his house in a small town. A lot of my relatives live in this town and they all live on the property my grandparents owned and split up amongst their children. Because of the land being owned by family, my brother and I were permitted to wander around and do as we pleased. There is a pond about a mile behind my parents house that we frequently spent our summers splashing around in. Usually one of my uncles was there fishing with us and grilling the fish he caught so we’d have something to eat while we played. One day my uncle wasn’t around, and instead my thirty-something year old cousin came out to swim with us. It wasn’t long after he climbed into the water that he found his way behind me and slipped his arms around my waist. He had pulled his erect penis out of his swimsuit and was rubbing it between my thighs. At this age I had no idea what a penis looked or felt like, but I knew something was wrong. I got away from his as quickly as I could and climbed out of the water. I hollered for my brother and told him we needed to go.

My cousin said “You didn’t like that?” with the most disgusting grin on his face. I said “No. I didn’t.” and then I walked straight home with my brother and told my mom what I thought had happened. I remember telling her it felt like he put a stick between my legs but it didn’t feel like a tree stick. Needless to say, she was livid. She demanded that my dad go confront this asshole, and he did, and my cousin denied the whole thing. My parents believed me, but there wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it. I was too young to even know what was going on, but because I had developed hips and breasts already he apparently thought that I would be thrilled to have his penis touching me. Just because I was starting to look like a woman.

Experience #2: “The girls my age don’t want anything to do with me, and you’re the most developed so you should let me touch your boob.”

I remember this event a bit more clearly than the previous. I was fourteen. I had just tried out for the flag team at the high school I would be attending the following year. I was so excited because we were allowed to take flags home to practice with until he final try out. There were a few girls in my church youth group who were seniors on their flag teams and they had promised to help me and my friend practice after our bible study. During the class, one of the senior boys had taken my flag and hidden it in one of the classrooms. Afterward he told me he had hidden it and that I had to come with him to get it back. I had a crush on him so I followed him. He took me into one of the empty rooms with the lights off and sat me on his lap. He started telling me that he liked me and asking me to kiss him or let him touch my boob. I was scared and I was giggling to try to lighten the mood, but still batting his hands away and telling him no. I had never really kissed a boy before. I was scared and nervous. He told me that if I would just kiss him or let him touch my boob that he would give me my flag back. I could feel his heart racing and hear his voice shaking. He finally gave up and decided to let me have my flag back, but only if I promised not to tell anyone. I promised not to tell, and I fully intended not to, but he drove past me as he was leaving church and told me again to not tell anyone. My friend was asking me what he was talking about and I waited until she and I were alone to tell her what happened. We probably should have gone to the adults, but I was scared.

Experience #3: “You don’t really mean no, I’m your friend.”

There was a guy who was my age that I was very close to in middle and high school. He liked me, a lot, and he was always hoping I would date him. I knew he liked me, but I wasn’t ever really interested in him like that. I confided in him about guys I dated and when they would hurt me he was there to talk to. There were a few times that he convinced me that we should be boyfriend/girlfriend because he was such a good friend and the other guys were assholes. I would agree and we’d date for a week before I came to my senses and broke up with him. We were still friends though, and I would always go to his house after church on Sundays. His parents would make a big dinner and we’d spend the afternoon playing video games, walking and talking. One Sunday his parents were out of town for some reason and we still went to his house to hang out. I can’t remember if we were dating at this time or not, but this guy knew I had done things with boys before because I told him everything. He wrestled me down to his living room floor and crawled on top of me and held me down as he tried to kiss me. I tried telling him no, and he kept saying ‘come on, I’m your friend.’ and ‘you should just kiss me.’

I felt weird around him for a while, but I still stayed friends with him. I don’t know why he thought that was okay or why I didn’t tell anyone or stop talking to him. He, like the other guy from church, was one of the good kids. No one would have believed me if I told them. Especially since they knew my mom had me when she was eighteen and had been married four times. My mom liked sex, so she probably passed some of that type of behavior down to me, so I was probably asking for it, right?

Experience #4: “With a body like that, you must want to be gawked at and have people talk about it all the time.You need stalkers.”

I had a big ass in high school. My body was curvy and sexy, and I knew it. There were times I enjoyed the cat calls and comments, but there were times when it crossed the line. It didn’t piss me off when I would walk past a guy and hear him say “DAYUM!” or “Wow!”, but sometimes the things they said were uncalled for. Sometimes the things they did were uncalled for. Guys would see photos of me in my friends memory books and ask about me. Once they had my name they would inevitably look up my number in the phone book. My family was one of few with my maiden name so it wasn’t hard to figure out which number to call. They would call and ask to talk to me, and when I got on the phone they would start in with the questions about my measurements, if I liked sex, what kinds of sex I liked and if I was dating anyone. If not, they wanted to know if I would fuck them. Some of they guys were ballsy enough to come up to me at school and ask, and some were scary enough to find my house and drive by. I actually have had two guys call and talk to me on the phone as they were driving past my house and then brag about how they saw me standing outside on the phone with them. They assumed that they would be able to pick me up and take me somewhere for sex.

Experience #5: “I took you to dinner so you owe me.”

I met a guy online when I moved to start college. He asked to take me out. I agreed and we went to eat. On the way home he drove me all over the place. I didn’t really know the city well so I was a little nervous. I told him I had a curfew and he headed to where I had parked to drop me off at my car. When I was getting ready to get out of his truck he kissed me and tried to grab my boob. I pushed him off and left. He asked me to go on another date with him, and I stupidly agreed. This time, instead of driving all over town after our date he took me on a bunch of back roads and eventually we wound up parked in the middle of a cornfield. He started in again on trying to grope me and trying to get me out of my dress. When I told him no he said ‘but I love you.’ and I gave him this look that said ‘you have got to be kidding, right?’. He climbed out of his truck and went to his tailgate. I got out to ask him what the fuck he was doing because I was ready to go home when he said “I was just wishing on this shooting star that I hadn’t messed things up for us.”

Experience #6: “You’re a girl and you own a computer so that must mean you own a webcam/want to cyber”

Yahoo Messenger chat rooms and World of Warcraft seem to be a breeding ground for horny, lonely guys. If there was even the slightest hint that I was a female then I would start getting private messages asking me how old I was, where I was from and those would progress into attempts to get me to send nude pictures, get on my webcam or have cyber sex with them. There was no politely declining these requests because internet anonymity gave these guys balls the size of watermelons and they were persistent. I had to block them or endure their constant requests. If I continued to decline they would start to make comments about how I must be ugly and fat if I didn’t want them to see me on camera.

I’m absolutely sick and tired of this male sense of entitlement. Just because I have breasts and a vulva does not mean that I am required to show them to you. It does not mean that I am a bitch or a prude if I refuse to comply with your requests. It does not mean that I think I’m ugly if I refuse to send you pictures and I don’t need your opinion to boost my confidence in the way I look naked.

If she had just been a better wife…

Britni wrote an interesting post today about how sexist the idea of a mistress or woman who cheats on her spouse being called a “homewrecker” is. I’d like to look at another side of this issue that is just as sexist and repulsive.

Have you ever heard people callously suggest that a woman hadn’t been meeting the needs of her husband and that was why he had found a mistress?

Right. You have.

Women are held to an impossible standard in our society. We can’t be too sexually active or knowledgeable unless we want to be called whores and develop reputations for being easy. Yet if we don’t cave in to the desires of men we’re prudes. We’re expected to marry young, have children and cater to our husbands and if we do a good job with all of that we might not be judged for wanting a career of our own.

When it comes to infidelity, you will occasionally hear of men being called cheating dogs. But, typically the blame for affairs is placed squarely on the shoulders of the women involved. Either the mistress is a “homewrecker” or a whore, the cheating wife is a cheating whore or the woman being cheated on isn’t doing enough to please her man. The opinion depends on if you are friends with the wife or mistress. I could go on forever about the things women are expected to do, but I want to really focus on how wrong and sexist it is to blame the victim in these situations.

I’ve heard many people, including the woman my husband had an affair with, suggest that I was doing something wrong. I didn’t appreciate him, any woman would give their life to have five minutes of what I had, I was lazy, I wasn’t paying him enough attention emotionally or sexually. I ‘let myself go’, gaining weight after four pregnancies and didn’t try hard enough to get back into shape.

While some of those statements may be true, it is not my fault that my husband went outside of our marriage. There are appropriate responses and reactions to those things, breaking our vows was not the way to go about it. I shoulder no blame or responsibility for his choice to have an affair, just as he has none for the decision I made to have an affair. We were not getting what we wanted from our marriage, but the correct way to handle that would have been to come to each other and discuss what we needed.

When people suggest that I wasn’t doing what I should have as a wife they never question whether or not he was doing what he needed to be doing as a husband. They never ask if I was happy. They never wonder if he was pleasing me sexually or fulfilling my emotional needs. No one talked about the weight he gained or the times he neglected me to play video games.

Of course not! I’m a woman and my needs are of little importance to anyone. Men are so simple to please that I should have no trouble being a good wife. Men aren’t expected to put forth the effort it takes to help their female partners figure out what feels good sexually. People joke about women being too needy emotionally, always wanting to talk about their feelings. If we ask for what we need we’re accused of nagging, but we should be able to drop what we’re doing the second our husband gets an erection and turn into the sexual freak he wants in the bedroom. We’re expected to find the time to exercise and diet, in between raising the kids and cleaning the house, so that we can be physically attractive enough for our spouse. If he has an affair it’s obviously because I’m not trying hard enough to be a good wife.

Here’s the deal…

Relationships? They’re hard. They take a lot of fucking work. It’s not always going to be 50/50 with the effort each person is putting into the relationship. At times it may feel like you’re pulling more than your share, but there will be times your partner is pulling more than theirs. When this happens open your god damn mouth and talk to your spouse/partner. Tell them your needs, wants and desires.

If you’ve got a hole in your roof you’re not going to try to fix it by plunging the toilet, right? So don’t go involving people who have no idea what’s going on in your marriage. Your friends, a mistress, your parents…no one is going to be able to fix your marriage but you and your spouse. Go buy some damn new shingles and start repairing the hole in the roof!

If you’ve cheated take responsibility for your choices. Stop making excuses and blaming everyone else. Your marriage might suck right now, but don’t point fingers at what your spouse could be doing to fix it. Take some fucking initiative and ask yourself what you could be doing to be a better partner to them. Odds are if you start doing more for them, they’ll start noticing and doing more for you. We have got to stop feeling like we’re entitled to everything just for existing.

*Disclaimer: I did not mean that my husband expects these things of me, but that society expects these things from women. My husband and I have worked through our issues and now have a happy, healthy relationship.*

On Sex Education and Misogyny

A couple of nights ago I visited a website that was shared via a twitter link. At first I thought it would surely be a feminist, sex positive, body positive place. Even the slogan seemed pro-woman “I have a vagina and I’m not afraid to use it.” Unfortunately, once I read the article that had been linked on twitter my opinion of the site started to change. Then I browsed some of the other articles by that writer, and it changed a little more. After reading some of the stuff by the other writers I decided that it was one of the least progressive sites I’ve ever visited.

I literally could not believe some of the sexist, discriminatory, homophobic and body shaming crap that I was seeing. All of which, when contested, was met with ‘Ugh, you guys have no sense of humor. This is totally just sarcasm and humor. You really need to get over yourselves.’

I gave it a day to cool off. I wanted to give myself and the writers on the site the opportunity to step away from they keyboard and really think about the article and it’s response, instead of reacting to it.

I guess I should explain a little more about what was going on. It’s a firestorm over there with the article and about 140 comments. I know not everyone will want to wade through all of that.

The article that started it all was about a writer who has named herself ‘The Kinky Jew’. Judging by her articles, this is probably because she thinks it sounds cute and not because she’s actually kinky. She figures if the bisexuals can misuse labels, she can too!

She wrote an article entitled “Squirting Vaginas Freak Me Out“. Throughout the article she discussed how she was upset that she had to compete with today’s modern, prettier and more sexually experienced porn stars. Specifically the squirting ones, proclaiming that there’s just no way to get away from it because it’s all over mainstream porn. She goes on to talk about how gross and icky and ew squirting is, wondering why men would even be attracted to such disgusting things, ending the article with “Are you a squirter? Does it turn you on? If so, dear G-D… why?“.

Offended sex-positive bloggers, squirters and readers left their comments attempting to tell the author of the article why it was offensive. The authoer, site owner and loyal readers responded with defensive comments about freedom of speech and opinions, eventually comparing squirting to scat play and other sexual fetishes.

And finally, the purpose for me writing this blog:

I get that squirting isn’t something people are use to. It’s new. It’s different. Some people are going to be turned off by it. What saddens me is the reason why people aren’t use to it and it turns them off.

Sex and porn in general have not focused on a woman’s pleasure for a long damn time. Yes, the women in porn are moaning and faking orgasms, but it was focusing on the man’s pleasure. Stroking their ego by letting them know they could please a woman. Performing positions that presented the woman’s body sexily, but weren’t necessarily pleasurable for the woman.

Women have been taught for years that we should be ashamed of our bodies, especially our vulva. We should douche and use feminine deodorant sprays because the natural odor might be unpleasant, even though our vagina is self cleaning and we could get bacterial infections from using those products. We menstruate. There are religious texts that detail how unclean a woman is while she’s on her period and how no one should be near her. People get grossed out when I tell them I use a Diva Cup. Disgusted at the thought of someone holding a cup of their own menses.

We have been shamed for having sex drives. We should be ready and willing to have sex if our spouse wants it, but we shouldn’t have dirty, filthy urges like that. If we have sex before marriage or with more than a few partners we’re whores. Nearly half of the female population has never even experienced an orgasm, let alone a squirting one. With sex toy manufacturers, authors, porn directors and doctors focusing on female orgasms, we’re learning more about our bodies. We’re becoming more comfortable in our own skin. We’re learning how to pleasure ourselves.

We’re learning how to squirt! There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just not something everyone is familiar with, or is even interested in, but that doesn’t make it gross.

What pissed me off was the incredibly sexist tone of the entire article and many of the comments. Saying things like:

I’m glad that squirting has gotten a good rap as of late, but I’m disgusted that women are trying to TEACH themselves how to squirt. Can’t we puddle-making freaks of nature have something that’s solely ours?

Some of us have to teach ourselves how to squirt and have different types of orgasms. We have to learn to relax and allow our bodies to do what they do when we orgasm. Women who squirt are not ‘puddle-making freaks’ anymore than men who ejaculate are.

I am not a prude but I don’t favor anal sex and find it rather strange that people enjoy it

I’m freaked out by BDSM. I don’t feel unfortunate. Feet play disgusts me. I don’t feel unfortunate. I loooove to gush all over my bedding. I feel fortunate.


Certain biological functions ARE gross, but according to some of the commenters here, if I say doody-play is a total gross out (I don’t know the “official” terms for this but I’m sure SOMEONE finds it a turn-on), do I also risk the wrath of the haters coming down on me for being closed minded?

“”Are you a squirter? Does it turn you on? If so, dear G-D… why?”
I’m really.. truly sorry for any of you who can’t hear the sillyness in her question.. let’s try this..
“Do you smear shit all over yours and your partners body during foreplay? Does it turn you on? Geezus! I am so grossed OUT by that! Why would you do that? ”

Like I said in my final comment on the piece. The act of squirting is not a fetish, it’s a natural response to a certain type of female orgasm. Similar to men ejaculating when they orgasm. No one over there was comparing a man busting his nut all over a woman’s face (or tits or ass…which is all over mainstream porn) to him smearing shit all over her. It is very fucking offensive to have my ejaculate compared to feces. It’s sexist.

The rest of the comments have been the same few commenters rephrasing everything they said in a vain attempt to help the other side get it. This won’t happen. The author of the article has made it clear to the commenters that she has no remorse about the article, defending it as just her opinion, ending every response with a childish dig at the commenters about boosting her sites visibility.

Her solution: If you don’t like what she’s posting, why are you reading it?

The problem with the ‘just go read something else’ solution is that her sexist, phobic, misinformation is being fed to her loyal readers and people who may come across the site in the future. Perhaps they don’t mind, but I do. I don’t like that a blog site promoting itself as sex-positive and body-positive is just the opposite. It’s misleading. That type of dialog is what continues to make women ashamed of their bodies. Nobody likes to be considered a freak. The idea of sex blogging and sex communities is to create a place where it is safe to talk about the things that turn us on. To have a group of people we can turn to when we need advice about sex and to learn about things we might be interested in sexually. This is not possible when members of the community speak negatively towards certain groups of people about the types of things they enjoy.

You know what you can do if you think something just isn’t for you? Don’t fucking talk about it on your blog. That makes a whole hell of a lot more sense than asking people not to read what you put up on the internet. If you’ve got legitimate questions about a topic, I’m sure you can find plenty of blogs that will discuss it positively or at least objectively or you can ask questions in public forums.

I’ve got to start preparing food for Thanksgiving and getting the house picked up. Hopefully this has served as more than a rant.

Powered by WordPress | Compare Best Sprint Phone Deals Online. | Thanks to Credit Card Deals, Best CD Rates and Sell cars