Day of Silence
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights
Day of Silence : April 25, 2008
Tags: bullying, Day of Silence, GLBT
Weight Discrimination As Prevalent as Racial Discrimination
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, Size Acceptance
I was going to ask, “This is news to whom?” Then I realized that it’s perfectly likely that people who aren’t fat really don’t realize how much size discrimination there is, while it’s impossible for the rest of us to avoid it.
From the International Journal of Obesity, 4 March 2008:
1
Discrimination against overweight people-particularly women-is as common as racial discrimination, according to a study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University.
“These results show the need to treat weight discrimination as a legitimate form of prejudice, comparable to other characteristics like race or gender that already receive legal protection,” said Rebecca Puhl, research scientist and lead author.
(…)
The study also revealed that women are twice as likely as men to report weight discrimination and that weight discrimination in the workplace and interpersonal mistreatment due to obesity is common.
(…)
Co-author Tatiana Andreyava of Yale said weight discrimination is more prevalent than discrimination based on sexual orientation, nationality/ethnicity, physical disability, and religious beliefs. “However, despite its high prevalence, it continues to remain socially acceptable,” she said.
I’ll probably be slammed for this, but I honestly thing that weight/size discrimination may be even more prevalent in the U.S. than racial discrimination, because it’s socially acceptable.
1 Reposted in Medical News Today
Tags: bigotry, discrimination, Rebecca Puhl, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, Tatiana Andreyava, Yale University
Friday Links
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, Links, News, Relationships
It was a nice, boring day, which means I don’t have much to talk about. Happily, other people do.
Open Relationships: What the World Already Has is a very good post over at Huffington by Jenny Block. I hope to read more from her. I definitely intend to get a copy of her book, Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage when it comes out in June.
I can’t say that I was shocked to hear that the TSA forced a woman to remove her nipple piercings with pliers before allowing her to board a flight, but I am disgusted. I’m glad that I don’t have to travel much,1 but I definitely think that the next time we do travel we’ll give Amtrak serious consideration over flying.
Why is it that 29 total strangers have started “following” me on Twitter, when I haven’t even logged in since the 21
1 Not that I wouldn’t like to travel more for pleasure, I just wouldn’t want to do it on someone else’s schedule
Tags: government stupidity, Jenny Block, polyamory, responsible non-monogamy, Twitter
They WANT to be repressed!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, politics
Somebody help me, please! I’m awash in a sea of stupidity.
My humanities classmates are full of ideas like:
“it isn’t really that big of a deal unless you have something to hide” — it being government surveillance.
“…they won’t target you or really care about what you are doing unless you are doing something wrong” — tell that to Peter McWilliams. Oh, you can’t, he’s dead!
“…the cameras don’t limit freedom, you can still do what you want” — as long as “what you want” is within the current cultural norms, and there isn’t a power-hungry fundamentalist deciding what to do about what they view.
Those examples are from just ONE post. The class is full of people who are saying, over and over, very explicitly, that they welcome ANYTHING the government does to “make us safe from terrorism.”
I’m scared.
Tags: civil liberties, government scrutiny, idiots, Peter McWilliams, politics
Rainbow Stickers = Gang Affiliations? Right
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, Education
Yeah, I hear there’s a real problem with queer street gangs these days, tagging everything in sight with those damned rainbows.
ACLU sues Florida school for barring Pride gear
Administrators at Ponce de Leon High School stated that students’ wearing rainbow stickers could mean that they are members of an illegal organization.…
An unidentified student was suspended for five days for expressing her support for gay rights, the ACLU said. Students said a lesbian peer was harassed and tried to report the situation to administrators. She was instead greeted with censorship of supporting students writing “gay pride” on their arms and notebooks.
This story definitely goes in the “glad to be homeschooling” file, but it also gives me cause to wonder if the school administrator training process surgically removes all common sense. Or do they just prefer to recruit those who don’t have much of it in the first place?
Tags: Florida, Gang Affiliations
Red/Blue, Strict/Nurturing Families, and Inherited vs. Negotiated Commitments
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, Family, politics
I know that I read Red Family, Blue Family: Making sense of the values issue by Doug Muder several years ago.1 I clearly remember posting a link to it in Suzette Haden Elgin’s blog, and having her pick it up and pass it on enthusiastically.
A friend posted a link to it again this week, and I re-read it today. I don’t know why, but it made even more sense this time around. Muder uses the work of George Lakoff (Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think and Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate–The Essential Guide for Progressives) and James Ault (Spirit and Flesh: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church) to explain things that have previously seemed inexplicable.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Baptist Church, Doug Muder, families, George Lakoff, James Ault, philosophy, politics, Sam, Suzette Haden Elgin, values, web server
Some of Today’s News in Atlanta
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, Links, News
I managed to avoid the crime news, which is always horrific. Okay, I mostly avoided it. The three boys under 10 who are being charged with kidnapping and rape1 is getting to me. That poor little girl!
Transgender candidate misled voters, suit alleges2
Actually, these guys seem to be suing everybody but the dogcatcher down there in Riverdale.
What does Ms. Bruce’s gender have to do with how she’ll perform as a city council member? Nothing, of course Ir’s been brought up because a couple of sore losers just won’t let go. Asshats!
Trumpet the news: Elephant is going to be a mom3
But she won’t deliver until somewhere around April 1, 2009! 22 months of pregnancy. Dumbo never mentioned that little fact.
In metro Atlanta, profile of those in need during the holidays has changed4
It isn’t just during the holidays, either. Food banks across the country are seeing more and more working people who need help. They’re having to reduce the amount of food given to each person or family because the demand has outpaced the supply so much.
I can’t say that I’m surprised. I know too many people who are just barely scraping by, and it isn’t because they’re irresponsible. It’s just how the American economy is, and something needs to change very quickly.
1 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cobb/stories/2007/11/19/assault_1119.html
2 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/clayton/stories/2007/11/19/riverdalesuit_1120_web.html?cxntnid=amn112007e
3 http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/11/19/elephant_1120.html?cxntnid=amn112007e
4 http://www.ajc.com/holiday/content/holidayguide/stories/2007/11/19/food_1120.html?cxntnid=amn112007e
Tags: Atlanta, Bruce, economy, elephant, facts, families, food, Food banks, gender, holiday, hunger, News, pregnancy, trans, working
Teen Assaults Teacher, Activist Worries About Teen?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, News
A 17-year-old running back assaults a high school teacher for doing her job.1 He tosses her around and breaks her finger.
Who would you worry about? The attacker, or the victim?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: activism, assault, Assaults Teacher, Cobb County, Cobb County jail, Cobb County school district, Gerald Rose, high school, Lassiter High School, media outlets, New Order Human Rights Organization, race, racial politics, Rant, USD
Free Burma!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights, News
How do YOU feel about companies “promoting homosexuality” ? Tell the AFA!
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Civil Rights
Actually, the don’t want to know how you feel. They want a very carefully selected group of people to answer their loaded questions as desired, so they can claim, as usual, that they did research that showed that “everybody” hates queers.
They ask:
Should corporations be promoting homosexuality?
Several corporations are now supporting the homosexual agenda. These companies have been convinced by homosexual activists and the mainstream media that in order to be “fair and tolerant,†companies must make special rules for homosexuals and provide company money and resources to help promote their lifestyle. Many companies, at the urging of these groups, have also begun to support same-sex marriage.
What they’re asking about isn’t “promoting homosexuality” at all. Have you ever actually encountered anyone promoting heterosexuality or bisexuality? No? Me neither. Actually, the only promoting I know about is all that pressure to be heterosexual. Methinks the AFA doth protest too much.
What they object to is domestic partnership benefits. They object to the use of matching funds for programs like Planned Parenthood or any other organization that doesn’t agree with the radical right’s agenda. That’s what they mean when they say “promoting homosexuality.
So let’s reframe this a little more accurately.
Do you believe that companies should offer the same benefits to all employees, without regard to their sexual preference or orientation? Would you be more to do business with a company that treats all of its employees fairly? Less likely to do business with them? Would it not matter to you at all?
Now go vote: http://www.afa.net/petitions/businesses/businesses.asp
As Strega pointed out in a comment on my LiveJournal, once again the AFA isn’t conducting actual research, or even a real survey. The numbers on the page never change, no matter how many people vote. They’ve set up a nice little graphic showing how they’d like the numbers to come out in their fantasy world.
Tags: AFA, American Family Association, bias, business, Civil Rights, homosexuality, mainstream media, survey