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Blogging Against Disablism Day: What Is Disablism?
2010-05-01 21:04:00
What is disablism?Disablism is arranging a meeting in an inaccessible venue.Disablism is sitting in the 'priority' seats on public transport and not offering those seats to a disabled person, if you are not disabled yourself.Disablism is when a doctor ignores physical health problems because you have mental health problems.Disablism is parking in a disability car parking space when you are not disabled (even if it is *just for a minute*).Disablism is using words like retard, psycho, spastic, handicapped and lame.Disablism is thinking that making buildings accessible is 'bending over backwards' and political correctness gone mad.Disablism is presuming that disabled people are less than you.Disablism is not hiring a disabled person because of assumptions you have about their abilities or needs.Disablism is staring at someone because they look different.Disablism is making assumptions about what someone can and cannot do.Disablism is making offensive jokes about a group of people o...
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Amanda Knox
2009-12-08 14:36:00
I first wrote this for the F Word blog.Amanda Knox has been convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, and if you weren't paying attention, you might believe that she did it alone.In fact, two men have also been convicted of the murder - one last night and one last year, but they are very much secondary to the story, even though, as far as I can tell, it has never been decided who did the actual killing.Now, I have not studied the trial or the evidence, and I do not know whether Amanda Knox did or did not kill Meredith Kercher, but I do know that this is seeming to be another legal case where the woman involved is demonised to a degree rarely seen in male defendants.And the fact that Amanda Knox appears to be a young woman with some confidence in her sexuality has certainly worked against her. That she had condoms and a vibrator in a see-through bag has been widely reported, as some kind of proof that she was deranged enough to kill her housemate in a sex game. That her nickname ...

God Wants to Cure Me
2009-12-07 13:45:00
Yesterday a man approached me at a farmers' market, and said, "I can't help but notice you use a walking stick". This exact phrase is regularly used by people who want my address to send me mobility aid catalogues in the post.However, he then went on to say, "And God wants you to walk home without your stick. I have seen healings here today, and wonder if you would let me pray for you so that he can heal you."I was amused at the time, refused his offer and walked on. However it wasn't long until I was actually furious.Firstly, how dare he make all sorts of presumptions on the basis of my using a walking stick? Actually, my stick is a good thing. It helps me to get around without falling over, which is always a bonus. Sure, it's a hassle sometimes and it's wrecking my wrist, but his outlook assumed that mobility aid = awful, must be fixed. When my outlook is mobility aid = great, helps me go places.And secondly, I don't think that your God does want me to walk without a stick. ...

Not-So-Helpful Advice from Women's Magazines
2009-12-06 18:41:00
My fifth guest post at the F Word.Yesterday while waiting for an appointment, I picked up one of the women's magazines on the waiting room table and started skimming through it to pass the time.I came across an article entitled '25 health tips women doctors want you to know'. I thought this may be interesting - or at least more interesting than how to emulate the latest look from the latest celeb, so I started to read.To say it was disappointing is somewhat understating the matter. One tip told me to use moisturiser. Another to walk rather than take the lift. Another to eat plenty of calcium. Then one tip was to buy a vibrator. While this may be good advice, the explanation behind it was infuriating! It said that some men are not good at foreplay, and if this is the case with 'your man', then rather than be frustrated, get a vibrator instead and you won't have any problems any more.On so many levels, this is dreadful! Firstly, many women are single, many are with women not men...
More About: Advice , Magazines

A Tweet Too Far?
2009-12-05 16:29:00
My fourth guest post at the F Word.As an avid tweeter, I'm not sure how I missed this story when it actually happened, but I became aware of it about a week ago.Penelope Trunk, a woman in America, was widely condemned after sending the following tweet:I'm in a board meeting. Having a miscarriage. Thank goodness, because there's a f**ked-up 3-week hoop-jump to have an abortion in Wisconsin.The main criticisms aimed against her seemed to be that:1. it was insensitive to those who had had miscarriages and were devastated about it, 2. that it was an inappropriately detailed message, which her many followers did not want to read, and 3. that she was heartless and abortions are bad.I think these are all different points, and the former certainly has more validity as a criticism. A miscarriage can be an utterly awful experience for a woman who wants the baby. And indeed women who aren't sure. There is huge grief, loss, fear and hopelessness. Penelope Trunk herself has experienced such ...

Disabled Feminism
2009-12-04 19:12:00
My third guest post over at the F Word.I was very anxious before writing my first post here, but when the comments starting rolling in, I was overwhelmed by the positive messages in response to it.Firstly, it really helped me. The encouragement that I am doing ok, I am doing good things, and I am making a difference, even if I can't necessarily do the 'outside' things.And secondly, that it touched so many people. Not especially that my words helped, but that talking about disability and feminism seems such a rarity, and that many people were reading about it for the first time. I'm so glad I could do that, and I'm so glad that it provoked thought for some and reassurance for others, but we need much more!I mentioned on my main blog that I had posted here, and one of the commenters there said, Isn't it a shame that writing about disability and feminism and inclusivity is something that is still a remarkable thing?And she's right! Feminism and activism really needs to catch up,...
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Send a card, save a life?
2009-12-03 17:16:00
My second guest post over at the F Word.For some reason, last year was the first time I ever took part in the Amnesty International Greeting Card s Campaign. It was on the long, long list of things I intend to do, but never got round to.But then last year, I did it. I made greetings cards from some of my photos, wrote encouraging messages inside, and posted them to the people I had chosen. It was easy, creative, and actually felt like a good reason to be in a Post Office queue.I would have loved to send cards to everyone in their campaign, but I knew the postage would be prohibitive, so I had to decide on who I would send to. I went for sending cards to all the women in the campaign, and sending one to Binyan Mohammed, who was a British resident being held in Guantanamo Bay.So when my booklet for this year's Greetings Card campaign arrived in the post yesterday, I instantly read through it and started ticking the pages of the ones I wanted to send cards to.Again, I will focus my att...
More About: Life , Send , Save

Bankrupt the BNP
2009-12-02 20:39:00
From Bristol Antifa: Bankrupt the BNP!Well, maybe not quite bankrupt, but folks in the UK can help make this bunch of fascists considerably poorer.They've just got themselves a freepost address:British Heritage FREEPOSTNice and easy to remember eh? Every 'letter' to this address costs them 42p, and can simply be an empty envelope with the address on it. It's cheap to buy a bunch of these (you can get 50 self-seal ones for 75p from Wilkos) and run them through your printer while you're off doing far more interesting things. A friend has so far sent 1250 envelopes, costing the fash over 500 quid. That's less than £20 of my mate's hard-earned cash very well spent!Please feel free to join in.42p may not sound like much, but it would pay for dozens of BNP leaflets. Multiply that by potentially tens of thousands of empty envelopes sent their way and the impact on their activities becomes much more obvious. And when an envelope costs little more than a penny, it really does make sou...

Feminist Spoons
2009-12-02 19:14:00
My first guest post over at the F Word.You may not have heard of the Spoon Theory, but it is worth a read.A woman called Christine Miserandino was trying to think of a way to explain to her best friend exactly what it was like to live with a chronic illness, and came up with the Spoon Theory to give her an idea of what her life was like.I find myself quite regularly using it, e.g. "I was planning to do that, but I don't have enough spoons". It is also becoming more well-known and well-used by other disabled people I know. It's very simplified, yes, but it gets the message across, as long as the person you are mentioning it to knows what you are talking about.Friends and family are aware enough of my health problems to understand when I have to cancel things, or rearrange them. But these days, I am much less involved in feminist activism than I ever have been. This is definitely spoon-related, and also directly related to my main local feminist group meeting in an inaccessible venu...

Two More Posts at the F Word blog
2009-11-19 18:33:00
I am still guest blogging at The F Word . My two latest posts are Send a card, save a life? about the Amnesty International greeting cards campaign and Disabled Feminism, about several things including feminist groups whose meetings are still not accessible.Head over there, have a read!
More About: Blog , The F Word , Posts

Bonfire Night Baddies
2009-11-05 22:56:00
I've always wondered whether fireworks were environmentally dodgy, and the Guardian have confirmed that they indeed are.Every asthmatic knows that the 6th November is really, really bad on the breathing front. And there are good reasons.Fireworks come in all colours. But they certainly aren't green. The full spectrum of toxic nasties shower down from firework displays all over the country today. Aluminium provides the brilliant whites, antimony sulphide produces the glittering effects, carcinogenic copper compounds produce bright blues, barium nitrate gives off glittering greens but a poisonous smoke that can cause breathing problems and bright red colours are sadly accompanied by strontium which can cause bone disorders. The list of hazards to people, pets and the environment goes on.But are there any alternatives? In the United States 4 July is the annual big bang in a country which last year got through 97 tonnes of fireworks. After residents near Disneyland started to complain...
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First Guest Post at the F Word
2009-11-05 16:33:00
I wrote my first guest blog post at The F-Word a few days ago, Feminist Spoons.I have been amazed and pleased by the fantastic comments that people have left - it has been empowering and encouraging for me, and it seems for blog readers too.When we do what we can, that's enough, it's good enough. Maybe the things we are able to do are different from the things others can do, but that doesn't make them lesser. We're all doing good :)
More About: Post , The F Word

Guest Blogging
2009-11-01 11:39:00
I am very excited to announce that for the month of November I will be a guest blogger over at The F Word.So watch that space, along with this space, for posts!
More About: Blogging

Purple Ribbons
2009-10-17 22:56:00
I had a light grey zippy top with a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon embroidered onto it.I was dyeing some clothes a few months ago, and I didn't really like the pale grey of the top any more, so decided to dye it purple, along with some other stuff which I was tie-dyeing.The result was that as well as having a newly funky purple hoodie, it also now sported a purple ribbon instead of a pink one.I have finally got round to looking it up, to see what I'm inadvertently supporting these days with it.Good old wikipedia informs me that I have quite a choice.A purple ribbon is worn to raise awareness for various causes, including:-Xenophobia and Homophobia (Austria 2009)-Overdose Prevention-Domestic violence-The exile of FVSports poster Str8EastCoastin-Alzheimer's disease-Crohn's Disease-Cystic Fibrosis-Epilepsy-Huntington's disease-Lupus-Fibromyalgia-Arnold-Chiari Malformation-Animal abuse-Religious tolerance-Homelessness-Victims of 9/11-Macular degeneration-ADD and ADHD-Sarcoidos...
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I'm Not Like Other Girls
2009-10-17 15:15:00
Following my call for zine submissions post, I now have a deadline, so if you want to send me your sentence about why you're not like other girls, please do so by Sunday 25th October.All the info you need is here.Thank you!
More About: Girls

Testing times for disabled people
2009-10-15 10:55:00
From the GuardianTesting times for disabled peopleThe new eligibility test for people on sickness benefit will only intensify the massive disadvantage faced by disabled peopleThere are some good principles behind the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), but what does the accompanying eligibility test actually mean for disabled people? The first full set of figures to show its impact suggest that more disabled people could end up in poverty.A year ago the ESA was introduced to replace Incapacity Benefit (IB). At the same time the "work capability assessment", was introduced. Now the figures showing the impact of this new assessment have been published.Essentially, they show that the new assessment is considerably tougher than the old one, so fewer people are being found eligible for the benefit. As eventually all existing recipients of IB will also be retested under the new assessment, the figures also show us that many people currently in receipt of IB will be found ineligibl...
More About: People , Disabled , Times

If God Had Wanted Me To Be Accepting Of Gays, He Would Have Given Me The Wa
2009-10-13 23:31:00
Gotta love The Onion...If God Had Wanted Me To Be Accepting Of Gays , He Would Have Given Me The Warmth And Compassion To Do SoI don't question God. The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall put none above Him. Which is why I know that if it were part of God's plan for me to stop viciously condemning others based solely on their sexual preference, He would have seen fit?in His infinite wisdom and all?to have given me the tiniest bit of human empathy necessary to do so.It's a simple matter of logic, really. God made me who I am, and who I am is a cold, anti-gay zealot. Thus, I abhor gay people because God made me that way. Why is that so hard to understand?Here, let's start with the basic facts: I hate and fear gay people. The way they feel is different from how I feel, and that causes me a lot of confusion and anger. Everyone knows God is all-powerful. He could easily have given me the capacity to investigate what's behind those feelings rather than tell strangers in the park they're...

Dannii
2009-10-10 23:47:00
I've just made a complaint to OFCOM about a comment made by Dannii Minogue on X Factor tonight. After one singer - Danyl - finished his song she made a comment which essentially 'outed' him.Firstly, his sexuality, whatever it may be, is entirely irrelevant to his talent (or not!) as a singer and performer.Secondly, no-one should ever, ever out anyone else, particularly not on live TV.My mouth actually dropped open when she said it, it was uncalled for, inappropriate, unnecessary, and smacked of desperate bullying.I need to stop fuming so I can go to sleep.

Use Up BNP Resources
2009-10-01 22:18:00
I just wanted to let you know that the BNP has a freephone number, and if you hypothetically called it from a payphone and left it off the hook, it could hypothetically cost them lots of money. The number is 0800 0086191.That's all. Hypothetically, of course.
More About: Resources

More on Polanski
2009-09-30 11:02:00
Another good article has appeared online, called Common Roman Polanski Defenses Refuted.I don't agree with it as utterly as I did yesterday's post, but it's still worth a read, and posting as much anti-rape stuff as possible seems vital.Common Roman Polanski Defenses RefutedRoman Polanski, the 76-year-old filmmaker who was accused of drugging and raping 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977, has been arrested in Switzerland. Polanski, who was convicted of having sex with a minor but fled to France before he could be sentenced, is currently facing extradition back to the United States, where he could finally be sentenced for his 32-year-old conviction. In the wake of Polanski?s belated arrest, commentators have posed dozens of arguments in the Oscar-winning director?s defense. Most of them are bullshit.??But he?s already paid his price, because everyone knows he?s a rapist, and he can never work in Hollywood.?As Patrick Goldstein wrote in the LA Times, ?I think Polanski has already ...

Reminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child
2009-09-29 11:19:00
I was so joyous when I heard on the radio the night before last that Roman Polanski had been finally arrested. The next day, I was utterly bewildered on hearing people defend him in the media. I've discussed it with a few people, and it's not just me that is furious.I just found this article at salon.com and want to thank Kate Harding for speaking the brutal truth about the situation.Reminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child .Roman Polanski raped a child. Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in "exile" (which in this case means owning multiple homes in Europe, continuing to work as a director, marrying and fathering two children, even winning an Oscar, but never -- poor baby -- being able to return to the U.S.). Let's keep in mind that Roman Polanski gave a 13-year-old girl a Quaalude and champagne, then raped her, before...

Sites I Peruse on Sundays
2009-09-27 11:11:00
For your Sunday pleasure:Post SecretPost Secret FranceCake Wrecks - where professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.Fail Blog(The customer is) Not Always RightLOLTATZHanzi Smatter - dedicated to the misues of Chinese characters in Western culturePhotoshop DisastersPassive Aggressive NotesThe "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks
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Referrers.
2009-09-25 20:12:00
I hope that the reader from Independence, Missouri, who found this blog (somehow!) by search ask.com for Teen Rape Porn finds themselves bitten by lots of itchy insects this weekend.

I'm Not Like Other Girls
2009-09-25 12:58:00
I'm looking for submissions for a one-off zine called I'm Not Like Other Girls .What I want women and girls to do is to complete the sentence,"I'm not like other girls because..."I will make a zine of the responses.The sentence will appear randomly placed, with all credits at the end, so your sentence and your credit aren't linked. This may help you to be more open, and the zine will flow much better too.They may be categorised by theme, but that will depend on the submissions.If you want to contribute, email me at incurable.hippie@googlemail.com1) Put 'I'm not like other girls' in the subject line.2) Email me your sentence (I'm not like other girls because...)3) Tell me if you want to be anonymous.4) If you want to be credited, tell me how (name / pseudonym, name of zine, etc)5) If you want to receive a contributors' copy when it's ready, tell me your address too.I can't guarantee your words will be put in the zine, but it's very likely. I only want submissions from wome...

Help Imogen Find her Voice
2009-09-22 11:00:00
I very, very rarely post appeals like this, but Imogen is a friend of mine who is in a dire situation since losing the ability to speak after emergency surgery.Please watch this video and see if there's anything you can do, be it donating, or passing the link onto your friends.Imogen's site is at www.imogenmay.com.
More About: Voice , Find

Sexual Assault Prevention Guaranteed to Work
2009-09-21 10:58:00
(edited with non-facebookified links, that was an accident sorry).In the spirit of How to Really Prevent Rape and Rape Prevention Advice, I was just recommended Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Guaranteed to Work by Femin-Ally.Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Guaranteed to Work!1. Don?t put drugs in people?s drinks in order to control their behavior.2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON?T ASSAULT THEM!6. Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.8. Always be honest with people! Don?t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of s...

When Ukuleles and Charity Combine.
2009-06-18 16:01:00
Buy this t-shirt in the colour and style of your choice!.Ukuleles are cool. If you were in any doubt, just watch this:If you don't play the ukulele then you clearly should, and probably know other people who do. In this case then both you and they, and everyone you know, should read on.From 17th June until the 31st July 2009, every sale of this t-shirt will result in a £2 donation to Cancer Research UK.This is to celebrate the London Uke Festival which takes place on June 20th in London. So remember, every time anyone buys a Ukulele Hero t-shirt between now and the end of July, £2 will be donated to Cancer Research UK. Buy one now from the link below! Or buy 5 and give them to friends. Then spread the word by passing on this URL: http://bit.ly/kRVPVBuy this t-shirt in the colour and style of your choice!.
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Racism Against Your Own Children?
2009-06-13 22:10:00
I know, I know, going on the Daily Mail website is never a good idea. But for some reason I did.I was (duly) horrified by this story, about a white couple who had IVF and due to a mix-up had mixed race children, one of whom apparently has noticeably darker skin than the rest of them.Now, clearly this isn't ideal, it is concerning that such mix-ups can occur, and the couple, who wanted to keep their IVF a secret for some reason, are feeling now that this secret might be revealed.However, this poor child is suffering from what, I fear, is an element of racism from his parents. He apparently asks his Dad at night 'Why am I brown? How can I make myself lighter, like you?'This must be hard for them to hear, but there is a clear reason why he is not happy in his own skin.Because of his colour, the Williamses are suing the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (formerly the Royal Group of Hospitals Trust) for damages for their mental distress, social discredit and breach of contract unde...
More About: Children , Racism

Sheffield Anti-BNP Demo. 8th June 2009.
2009-06-09 13:23:00
An urgent demonstration was called yesterday in response to the election of two British National Party MEPs, one in the Yorkshire and Humber region.Many gathered outside Sheffield Town Hall to hear speakers, watch drummers and express their disgust and discontent at racists gaining power.It was a heartening event with a good turnout and a positive atmosphere.You can see all the photos of the event here and the best of the photos here. There is also an Indymedia article up too.
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Don't Vote BNP #2
2009-06-03 17:17:00
Vote tomorrow, for anyone BUT the BNP
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