I Was a Misogynist Comedian

There’s a great opinion piece by Michael J. Dolan over at The Skinny. Motivated by a mixed review of his recently released stand-up record and by some candid words from a friend, he re-examines his material only to discover in it — and in stand-up more generally — misogyny of which he was previously unaware. Dolan’s piece is smart, engaging and bracingly honest. Here’s a taste:

The defence so often used is that they’re only jokes. They’re not to be taken at face value, we obviously don’t mean it. But you’ll rarely hear a contemporary act try to justify racism that way. We know that in a culture of racism every racist joke contributes to that culture and that none of them are acceptable. This is no different. In our culture of misogyny, of violence against women, every misogynistic joke contributes.

(Thanks for sharing, SP.)

How should feminist think about sports competition?

The Fit, Feminist and (Almost) Fifty bloggers have things to say:

Tracy I writes:  The Competitive Feminist: the Bad, the Ugly, and the Good

Sam B writes:  Six reasons not to race and why they might be mistaken

 

CFP: The Monstrous, the Marginalized, and Transgressive Forms of “Humanity”

The Religion Graduate Organization at the Religion Department of Syracuse University seeks submissions for its graduate student conference:

The Monstrous, the Marginalized, and Transgressive Forms of “Humanity”, April 5th and 6th 2013

Monsters, angels, demons, vampires and cyborgs challenge conventional notions of
humanity. The lived experience of many humans also pushes against these norms. Through the investigation of trangressive being(s), this conference will explore what it means to be “human.”

We welcome panel and individual paper proposals on topics relating to the boundaries of humanness including, but not limited to discussions of Avatars, Angels, Demons, Cyborgs, Superheroes, Vampires, and Post-human Bodies. We also welcome papers which address Abilities/disabilities, Madness, Genius and Mental Illness, Animality, Hybridity, Race, Gender, Religion and Sexuality.

Please submit paper proposals of 350 words or less to Wendy DeBoer (wdeboer[@]syr[.]edu) by Feburary 1st 2013. Please also include name, institutional affiliation and program of study with your proposal. Acceptances will be communicated by February 15th 2013.

Should women be bishops?

The Church of England thinks not. But you can let them what you think here:  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/42117

Photo from here, http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2012/03/07/the-women-on-both-sides-of-the-bishop-debate/

 

Cute animal pics increase productivity.

Fans of the Sunday cat will be pleased to learn that looking at cute baby animals makes one more productive. The study linked seems to show a rather more direct route to the productivity than this guy took.

CFP: Philosophy, Knowledge, and Feminist Practice

XV International Association of Women Philosophers (IAPH) Symposium:
“Philosophy, Knowledge, and Feminist Practices”

University of Alcalá, Madrid, 24-27 June 2014

In the last decades, feminist philosophies have made a fruitful exercise of self-criticism. This criticism has helped dismantle and unmask both the monolithic and hegemonic models of personal identity that pervade in our societies and the normative conceptions of rationality that support these models in an implicit but effective way. This line of thought has also contributed, and still contributes, to account for, and make visible new and different conceptions of human identity and, particularly, of gender identity. As a consequence, many different normative conceptions of rationality and identity have appeared to support them. The label “multiculturalism” is a simple way of referring to theses different normative
conceptions that, as a matter of fact, cohabit in a conflicting social scenario. Nevertheless, some women have started suffering in their lives the crude and undesired consequences of accepting the facticity with which the normativity of each different culture presents itself. One of the main unresolved tasks of feminist philosophy and politics is to figure it out how to break the walls of this facticity as a first step towards the delegitimation of political and cultural actions that have a sexist import.

The philosophical practice of feminist theory has contributed to the international arena of philosophy with new insights and new approaches. How then can we assess the impact of feminist theories and practices in philosophy and knowledge? This is one of the challenges of this symposium.

We invite philosophers and feminist scholars of all disciplines to present papers in which they discuss the conceptual and practical relations between philosophy, knowledge, and feminist practices. Areas of interest in this conference include:

1. The influence of feminism in contemporary philosophy
2. Norms and values: knowledge and action
3. Crisis of the subject and political philosophy
4. Bodies, sexualities and biopowers
5. Philosophy, motherhood and feminisms
6. Science, technology and feminisms

7. The iconic turn: images, arts and communication
8. Feminist theology
9. Feminist thought without borders: territory, culture, nation

Keynote speakers:

Judith Butler (University of California, Berkeley)
Celia Amorós (UNED, Spain)

The Organizing Committee invites abstracts for individual 20 minute presentations. Please submit your abstract (max. 300 words) and a brief biography (max. 100 words) via electronic form at http://www.institutofranklin.net/en/events/conferences/next-conferences/xv-symposium-international-association-women-philosophers-iaph

The deadline for submissions is 1 June 2013.

For more information, visit http://www.institutofranklin.net/en/events/conferences/next- conferences/xv-symposium-international-association-women philosophers-iaph

or contact us at iaph2014alcala@gmail.com