Exclusive breastfeeding till six months now bad, not good January 14, 2011

Oh, wait? Did we say it was good? What’s that? Mandatory? Did we make you feel horribly guilty and tell you that you were ruining your child’s life if you didn’t exclusively breastfeed for six months? Oops. Sorry about that. Turns out to be kind of the opposite. New mothers: you MUST give babies solids at four months.

Come on, folks, how about a bit of epistemic humility in discussing these issues? Nah, that would involve complexity and we all know mothers’ brains can’t cope with that. Must keep messages simple and dogmatic.

Alcohol abuse among young women on US campuses quadrupled January 13, 2011

There is an essay in this month’s The Atlantic called “The Hazards of Duke: A now infamous PowerPoint presentation exposes a lot about men, women, sex, and alcohol—and about how universities are letting their female students down” by Caitlin Flanagan, likely of interest to feminist philosophers.

There a few themes in the article but one of them is the increased rates of drinking among college aged women. I haven’t heard much about this before and I’m interested to know what blog readers make of the article. Flanagan cites Girls on the Edge, by a physician and psychologist named Leonard Sax, which is said to offer “astonishing and troubling new insight into the role and consequences of binge drinking in so many girls’ lives.” It’s Sax who gives the data on men’s drinking remaining constant over the past 40 years, while women’s on campus drinking has roughly quadrupled. Sax also claims that among college students who meet the clinical criteria for alcohol abuse, women now outnumber men, and drinking affects the women “in a different and more pernicious way than it does men.” According to Sax, alcohol is more dangerous to young women than it is to young men, even after adjusting for differences in height and weight. He writes that alcohol abuse appears to damage girls’ brains differently and more severely than the same degree of alcohol abuse affects same-age boys.

Flanagan’s article also describes young women as “liberated from the curfews and parietals that were once the bane of co-eds, but one in which they have also shaken off the general suspicion of male sexuality that was the hallmark of Andrea Dworkin–style campus activism; they prefer bikini waxes and spray tans to overalls and invective. So they have ended up with the protections of neither the patriarchy nor those old-school, man-hating radical feminists.”

Does this sound right to you?

Co-ed team co-ed in name only January 13, 2011

An article in the Toronto Star details the struggles of 12 year old Kayla Watkin to play hockey. The only girl on a co-ed team, Watkins was asked to agree to restrictions on her ice time or agree to improve her skills. Instead, she did the only thing she thought she could: She quit.

Notable is the fact that the team, the Toronto Ice Dogs PeeWee “A” club, is the lowest level of competitive play, intended to be inclusive of all levels and abilities. Except for girls, I guess…

That isn’t fair.

CFP: SWIP UK at Joint Session January 13, 2011

SWIP UK – Call for Papers
SWIP UK Panel at the Joint Session of the Mind Association and Aristotelian Society, University of Sussex, 8th-10th July 2011

At the 2011 Joint Session there will be a SWIP UK panel of papers devoted to topics in any area of interest to women in philosophy. We solicit full papers,(2000 words) plus 250 word abstract, suitable to be delivered in no more than 20 minutes with a further 10 minutes for discussion. We encourage submissions from graduate students. (As with all the open sessions, papers accepted for this session will not be published in the Supplementary Volume of the Aristotelian Society.)

The closing date for submissions is *1st March 2011*. We expect to confirm which papers have been accepted by the end of March.

Papers that are not accepted for the SWIP panel may be considered for the Open Sessions. If you wish your paper to be considered for the Open Sessions, you must submit your paper by the earlier closing date of *1st February 2011*. You should also indicate when submitting the paper whether you wish the paper to be considered for the Open Sessions.

Please make sure that your submission is suitable for anonymous reviewing and attach a separate document with your name and contact details. Email submissions are preferred; please send your full paper, with an abstract, as either .doc or .pdf attachment to Fiona Woollard (f.woollard AT soton.ac.uk) or send a hard copy to: Dr Fiona Woollard, Philosophy, School of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton, S017 1BJ, UK.

To speak at this event you will need to register as a delegate for the Joint Session. See the University of Sussex webpage for information (www.sussex.ac.uk/2011jointsession/index).

Organizers:

Dr Meena Dhanda, Reader in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, School of Law, Social Sciences and Communications, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LY, UK. Email: M.Dhanda AT wlv.ac.uk

Dr Fiona Woollard, Philosophy, School of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton, S017 1BJ, UK.
Email: f.woollard AT soton.ac.uk

Pregnant woman told to leave bar January 13, 2011

You might think this is another one of those stories about pregnant women (that is, competent adults) having what they put in their bodies regulated by others. But it’s not that. She wasn’t even drinking alcohol.

Michelle Lee was enjoying a glass of water and a chat with a friend at a Chicago-area bar on Friday night when a bouncer asked to speak with her privately.

The bouncer immediately questioned Lee as to whether she was pregnant. Upon confirming that she was indeed eight months pregnant, the bouncer ordered her to leave the bar immediately, claiming that should a fight break out in the bar and something happen to her, the bar could be held responsible and they were unwilling to take that risk.

For more, go here.

and just how does criticism of Palin incite hatred and violence? January 12, 2011

We swore off Palin, if I remember correctly, or at least I have a vague memory of one of us suggesting that we could end up fetishizing her, if we weren’t careful. And, judging  by recent posts, it does seem that one post about her leads to another.  Still, there are times when one has to consider what is going on. It seems now that she thinks that criticizing the violence in speech like hers is going to end up in more bloodshed. As she says, “But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.” (See link to video below.)

Now, I have to say that it was a slightly heady sensation to think of philosophers reading our blog and then going out to storm some streets. I mean, WOW! But not only are we not journalists or pundits, that’s far less likely to happen than getting feminist work published in top journals. And it isn’t very likely that those listening to Rachel Maddow, for example, are suddenly going to grab guns and go shoot something up.

Another interpretation is that when she imagines reacting to the words of blame in the media, she thinks of violence; despite her overt condemnation of illegal violence, it remains her idea of how to settle scores. Another possibility: Palin knows full well the power of her words and the results of her rhetoric; what she is issuing here is a threat. After all, there has been a huge rise in threats against members of congress and the President; it seems safe to say at least of threats against Obama that they are not principally from the left.

And then there’s her use of  ”blood libel” to characterize the criticism of her use of violent images.  Really! It’s too close to her claiming that she’s having her own private holocaust.  In fact, “blood libel” refers usually to false claims that the Jews kill Christian children to use their blood to make matzos. 

So here’s a link to the video.  I certainly didn’t waste time watching the whole thing; I think the reference to blood libel is shortly after 3:15, but there are comments about the media starting at 1:35 or so.

Call for authors January 11, 2011

Authors Wanted!!!
“Book Encounters” for PhaenEx: Journal of Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture

PhaenEx, the online journal for the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture, is looking for submissions for the “Book Encounters” section of their publication. We are looking for reviews of books (preferably published in 2009 or later) relating to the interests of our readers, including phenomenology, psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, feminist philosophy, queer theory, philosophy and literature, bioethics (broadly construed), existentialism, critical theory, biopolitics, deconstruction, animal studies, etc. We are also looking for creative projects that may not correspond to the typical model of a review such as interviews, dialogues, or more creative pieces about “encountering” recent publications. PhaenEx publishes two editions each year in Spring and Fall.

For more information, please contact Bronwyn Singleton at bronwyn.singleton AT utoronto.ca, or click here.

Note that we do welcome (high-quality) submissions from graduate students. If you are new to publishing and unsure how to get involved please don’t hesitate to contact me. Finally, please note that we are a feminist friendly publication!

Didn’t you mean ‘congress*man*’? January 11, 2011

If you type in ‘congresswoman assassinated’, google asks if you meant ‘congressman’. It might seem this means that google thinks ‘congresswoman’ isn’t a word, but the truth is more complex. (Thanks, Jeff!)

No comment January 10, 2011

 Except to say that if such things didn’t get their supporters all fired up, why did they use them?

Kelly was running against Giffords:

CFP: Association for Political Theory January 10, 2011

CALL FOR PAPERS 
Association for Political Theory 2011 Annual Conference 
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 

Proposals due:  February 15, 2011 

The Association for Political Theory (APT) invites proposals for its ninth annual 
conference, October 13‐15, 2011, at the University of Notre Dame.  To learn more 
about the Association and its annual conference, please visit the APT website at: 

http://apt.coloradocollege.edu.  The Association for Political Theory welcomes 

proposals from all approaches and on all topics in political theory, political 
philosophy, and the history of political thought.  Faculty, advanced PhD candidates, 
and independent scholars are eligible to participate.  We also encourage faculty to 
volunteer to serve as chairs and/or discussants.  

For more information, go here.

“But She was not alone.” January 9, 2011

So Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive, observes after calling for shame for Sarah Palin.  Her shocking map has disappeared from her web site, and her team is busy denying that it had anything to do with guns.  But she clearly targeted Giffords.

Rothschild reminds us:

Shame on other rightwing politicians and pundits who have bandied about incendiary rhetoric over the past two years.

Shame on Sharron Angle for speculating on the need for “Second Amendment remedies.”

Shame on Sean Hannity for cheering on “Tim McVeigh wannabes.”

Shame on Glenn Beck for all his violence-ridden rampages, including the time he went on Fox and Friends with a baseball bat and said, “You have to ask yourself, as Sean Connery did, what are you prepared to do. If you’re going to get into a fight with these guys, you better be able to battle all the way to the end.”

Today, Representative Gabrielle Giffords remains in critical condition, six people are dead, and eleven others are wounded.

When are we going to learn that violent rhetoric can have fatal consequences?

Heroic woman helped end Arizona shooting January 9, 2011

She’d already been shot. But she’s the one who snatched the magazine away when he was reloading.

Dupnik said that when Loughner ran out of bullets in his first magazine clip, a woman who had already been shot “went up and grabbed” the new magazine “and tore it away from him.” Dupnik said the name of the woman was known but he did not share it during the press conference.

Il Corpo delle Donne January 9, 2011

Lorella Zanardo got really fed up with how women’s bodies are distorted on Italian television and she made a documentary of it. There is an English subtitled version here.

From the blurb:

“This project took off as a matter of urgency. It all started with the observation that women–real women–are an endangered species on television, one that is being replaced by a grotesque, vulgar and humiliating representation.
We sensed the enormity of this loss: the erasure of women’s identity is happening right before our eyes, but without a proper reaction, not even from women themselves.
This led us to select television images that share a common manipulative exploitation of the woman’s body, to let people know what is happening–not only people who never watch television, but especially those who watch it but “don’t see.”
Our aim is to ask ourselves questions, and to pose questions about the reason behind this erasure, a real “pogrom” of which all of us are silent spectators.Our project grants special attention to the erasure of adult faces on television, to the use of plastic surgery to erase any sign of the passage of time, and to the social consequences of this erasure.”

More on the Giffords shooting January 9, 2011

From the Sheriff:

“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous,” he said. “And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”

From Giffords, before the shooting:

“For example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action,” Giffords said in an interview with MSNBC.

For more, go here.

The Sunday Cat finds a new metaphor for philosophical discussion! January 8, 2011

This is a form of feline pre-fight, I believe. 

Unfortunately, this version is dubbed.  If you’d prefer not to have a human speaking for the cats, I’d strongly suggest you turn the sound off.  There is an original, non-dubbed version, but it can’t be played except at youtube.

 

And could we just note that the well meaning remark from a commentor last Sunday’s cat was incorrect, according to the photographer.

U.S. Congresswoman shot in the head January 8, 2011

Updates will be added to this post after becoming available.  So shortly after the 2011 House of Representatives was sworn in, this event seems especially awful.  From the Washington Post:

Tucson – Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot and critically wounded Saturday morning while hosting an event outside a Tucson grocery store, according to local news reports. Doctors said she survived the attack, but six others did not.

The shooter is relatively unknown, and according to the most recent reports on Huffington Post, the most reporters can find about him is a handful of YouTube videos inveighing against government and appearing to convey “paranoia.”

“Huck Finn, Censorship and the N-Word” January 8, 2011

That is the title of this article, which looks at the recent controversy surrounding a new edition of Huckleberry Finn.  The new edition has a couple of textual alterations, the biggest of which is the elimination of 200 occurrences of the N-word, and the substitution of “slave” for them. 

The article linked to does a fair job, I think, of summarizing the pros and cons, along with giving a full picture of who is doing it. 

The biggest point against the change mentioned in her article  is that we loose the record of racism.  We could add to this a worry about simply changing what are regarded as great art works.  Anyone for clothing statues, for example?

There is also a good reason for making the change, the author argues.  This has to do with the harm involved  in the reiteration of racist discourse.

I’m a bit puzzled by why our choices have to be so simple:  take it out or leave it in.  Typographically there ought to be ways to keep the N-word on the page (perhaps in a separate column along with arcane terms).  What do you think?

US passports increase gender-neutrality January 8, 2011

The U.S. passport application process is taking a step toward gender neutrality by dropping the words “mother” and “father” from their forms.

According to a recent Fox News report, applicants will soon be required to fill out spaces labeled “Parent One” and “Parents Two,” instead.

For more, go here.

Molestation’s effects January 8, 2011

This is very sad.  A graduate student at Princeton died on Jan. 5th after an apparent suicide attempt.  He left a long letter about the misery in his life that, he says, resulted from repeated molestation as a child.  I won’t quote from the letter; it says he doesn’t mind its being published, but it should be published as a whole. 

It seems to me that it is a convincing document of the legacy of very severe child abuse.  A whole life can seem as though it is about the abuse.  It is also profoundly sad and disturbing.

I’m posting a link to the letter because I think it is a valuable document to think about if you care about protecting children.

10 year old girl discovers supernova January 7, 2011

Read more here.

(Thanks, Jender-Parents!)