Real Men of Feminism

After the "most notorious American male feminist" stepped down the other day (and then didn't, but definitely did after that) there's been a lot of talk about men feminists (like there ever isn't, am I right?). I'd like to take this moment, however, to turn the spotlight away from the preachy, narcissistic men of the feminist writing spaces and celebrate the real men of feminism. Oh, they're there. They're right here, in fact.

That is Billy Joe Cain, standing with his 14-year-old daughter who wins the award for best sign ever in the history of signs.

Before we move on, let's all get the meaning of this sign clear.

Jesus is not a dick (meaning, cleverly in this case, jerk, douche, asshole, ballseam, term du jour, and also penis).

So keep him out of my vagina (meaning religion has no place dictating a woman's rights to her and continuing beautifully with the little metaphor).

Got it? Okay.

As the pro-lifers came out in droves to attack this young girl, her father stood resolutely by her side. He did not once lose his cool with these monsters who called his daughter a whore, called him a pimp, called her a slut...well, here, read yourself. (And PS - these all came from this post, which you should all read immediately)

This was just one of dozens of calls to physically assault this child for her impertinent sign-holding. And throughout all of these awful, horrible, disgusting threats, her father was able to not end the twitter users' lives. How, I'll never know.

Billy Joe Cain makes the excellent point that holding a sign that says Jesus isn't a dick so keep him out of my vagina is not equal to holding a sign saying I'm having sex at 14 years old.

These two things are not the same.

He doesn't come out swinging, like, how dare you insinuate my sweet pea is having sex with people! He doesn't scramble to re-explain their actions in a this sign has nothing to do with my daughter; she's not having sex! manner. He does not put pressure on her one way or the other. He does not insert his feelings as a man, or as a father into her fight. He does not weigh in on her sexual activity except to ask others not to in a completely benign and calm way.

He stands with her, not for her, and patiently points out the obvious. Even after people too dumb to type words call her a gardening tool.

He gives no air-time to the utterly insulting ridiculousness aimed at both him and a 14-year-old child. He rightly knows that these people will never get the point. He instead spends his energy building up his daughter and her beliefs, protecting her rights and her body.

I mean, seriously, I would be flipping tables in rage right now. Billy Joe Cain? Rides it out. There is no hope for these people. Fanning their flames would only bring hardship on his daughter. They gave their message. They're allowing "discourse". They take their (awesome) sign and go home, leaving the world a better place.

Again, he is simple and directly to the point, cutting through all the garbage. I also do not understand why they are calling his daughter a whore.

Billy Joe Cain goes on to say briefly that his daughter had every right to hold that sign as 14 year olds can and do get pregnant and need to know they have a choice about their own bodies.

And then, you know what? He marches on. He doesn't dwell on his daughter. More importantly, he does not dwell on himself and the good he is doing for the feminist movement.

Instead, he continues to quietly fight the fight. This is his twitter, as of the writing of this post:

This is a man women can call their ally. This is a true male feminist. There's nothing about him anywhere on his feed. There's nothing there showing women how to do feminism correctly. There's no talk of feminism at all.

There is simply a man fighting for the rights of his daughter and her female friends and women at large through education and the works of others.

Billy Joe Cain. A true male feminist.

...

And for another truly wonderful take on this story from the Christian / religious perspective, head over to Corn Dog Mama. She's brilliant, as always with her latest post, "Vaginas, Jesus and Slut Shaming."


 

Six Outrageous Things about Texas That Have Nothing to Do With Women's Rights

Recently, Texas has done some unbelievable things--changed the space-time continuum, made rape kits into abortions, got out of voting fraud (but wasn't so lenient on these poor senior citizens), and managed to turn tampons into feces and urine...all before stripping the state of the majority of their abortion clinics, prompting the lovely Erick Erickson to encourage ladies to use coat hangers instead.

And with all this hullabaloo surrounding SB5 and then SB1,  people continually seem surprised that these over-the-top political maneuvers and backward logical stretches could happen in real life. To which we have to say, well, guys, it's Texas.

Let's not forget all of the other completely sane and rational moves the state has made.

1) They tried to secede.

And unlike the other states' little, laughable petitions, they got more than 100,000 signatures and sent that shit off to the White House.

But Obama told them "no".

Shame, really.

2) Creationism

No, seriously. Texas is solely responsible for almost half of America believing that the Earth is 10,000 years old. (Well, the Bible helps a little, but, honestly, even half of the people reading the Bible as, well, gospel, believe in a mix of Creationism and evolution.)

Here's how it works. Texas is the nation's largest textbook distributor. Come on, we all remember Texas McGraw Hill, right? So, once every ten years, the Texas Board of Education revises its standards for teaching and textbooks. This board is crazy politicized and is made up of only 15 people. In fact, the chairman, Don McLeroy, served for only a short time on his local board before moving up to the big stuff. He is an unapologetic Young Earth Creationist. Awesome.

For all you people mired in reality and science out there, Young Earth Creationists believe the following (according to their website):

"The book of Genesis should be taken as a literal account of the pre- and early history of the earth. The creation week is taken at face value: consecutive 24-hour periods adding up to six calendar days. Allowing for gaps in Old Testament genealogies, this means that universe was created between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. YECs also hold that geological data, including the fossil record, should be understood in light of the worldwide flood depicted in the account of Noah and the ark."

And this is important enough to repeat: Texas only revises its curriculum once a decade. So, basically, it has control over entire generations of American learners. How is this possible, you ask?

"Texas is one of the nation's largest textbook markets because it is one of the few where the state decides what books schools can buy rather than leaving it up to local districts, which means publishers that get their books approved can count on millions of dollars in sales. Further, publishers craft their standard textbooks based on the requirements of the biggest buyers. As a result, the Texas board has the power to shape the textbooks that children around the country read for years to come." -- PBS

So, yeah, Texas, fighting science in the school systems around the nation.

For Teresa

3) They kill people.

Despite their intense love for life--be it right after conception, or during the embryonic stage, or perhaps as it grows into a fetus (but rarely, of course, after it leaves the womb)--they've just executed their 500th person.

52-year-old Kimberly LaGayle McCarthy died by lethal injection in January 2013 after being convicted of killing her neighbor in 1997.

4) They shoot animals with laser guns...while jogging.

Thank goodness Governor Rick Perry carries his trusty handgun with laser accessory attached when he goes out for a run. Otherwise, how would he be able to shoot coyotes out there in the Texas wilderness?

You see? Right there. A shining example of how very necessary our second-amendment rights are. 

But that is a cute puppy, though, right?

5) They totally ignore their poverty rate.

While Gov. Rick Perry brags about the falling unemployment numbers and the new job creations, he unfailingly forgets to mention that 18 percent of Texans are living in poverty. Actually, it's more like he's just ignoring it, as there has been little-to-no legislation aimed at dealing with the problem.

With all the money and jobs coming into the state, how can so many suffer poverty?

"The two biggest predictors of poverty are poor education and chronic health problems. Only about 80 percent of Texans have a high school diploma, the second lowest in the country, and Texas has the highest number of uninsured citizens," states KXAN.

I'd make a creationism joke here, but I just can't find poverty and lack of reliable education and opportunities funny.

6) They force their own legislators out of the state.

Years before Sen. Wendy Davis stood for more than 11 hours in a one-woman filibuster to stop the most over-arching abortion regulations the nation has seen in decades, Texas was running its democrats out on a rail, almost literally.

In 2003, 50 state representatives fled to Oklahoma and chilled there for as long as it took to block a redistricting bill that would have lost them at least five seats in Congress.

"Political observers say the redistricting plan before the House could mean a shift of up to five seats to the Republicans, giving them a 20-12 edge over Democrats in the Texas congressional delegation and better odds of keeping control of Congress." --CNN 

You tricky Texas republicans, you. Bet you didn't count on the amazing, vanishing democrats!

So, as you can see, women's rights take up just a small percentage of the shenanigans Texas is capable of.

Remember the Alamo, right, guys?

Project Orange - Slice of Life

Texas human beings are continuing the hard-fought battle protecting what little bodily autonomy women have there, with Sen. Wendy Davis at the helm. Thousands of supporters are descending upon the Capital for this second special session as called by Governor Rick Perry who as the meme goes, is so prolife he executed 234 people. You know, it's different and stuff. Well, yes, it IS different. To show a little support from around the world, we gathered a few pictures of those who could not be there in person, but donned orange to lend their voices to the mix, as best they could. And on a Monday, on the first of July, these people found whatever orange they could, and posted them, slice-of-life style.

Here's to you, Texas. You can do it.

Amber Snommis looks the snazziest, and it was HER idea to do this. All credit goes to Amber in Georgia.

Teacher Brittany Parks in Florida

Chrissy McIlwraith puts on everything orange that she owns, in Florida.

Kentucky teacher, Emilie Blanton sent in the very first picture.

Emma Wade in Ohio stands with Wendy, literally.

Janel Copeland in Georgia is serious about women's rights.

Joella Striebel of Wisconsin usually uses this bandanna during hunting season, but brought it out for Stand With Wendy.

Lisa Cuellar in California wears orange flowers for the day.

Melissa Elfers in Canada stands with Wendy so hard, even her dog is orange.

Raeven Zayas in California had to break out the stickie notes, but she found something orange.

Sascha and Maddie Fink in orange head gear in Pennsylvania.

Zane Shakur in California bundles up in the heat to stand with Wendy.

Amanda Lewin in New York stole her seven year old's shirt for this.

Bree Casson for the win. She finds orange in the most unlikely places.

Cassandra Gill in Georgia drapes orange around her for women's rights.

Elizabeth Debacker in New Jersey didn't have any orange. But she did have this pen.

Probably similar to the one Emily Santanella of Connecticut used to write this message on her orange-clad hand.

Jackie Monck in Florida puts on orange eye shadow for the event.

Jepeczenka Svadakovic of California wearing all the orange she could find.

Kate Allen in California with orange eye make-up, and beautiful eyes.

Melissa and Greg Elfers from Canada have orange flowers to commemorate.

Phil and Jilly Copeland of Georgia are contenders for cutest supporters.

Sarah Rocha Tormey and her kids in Massachusetts support women's rights in Texas.

Violet Scholl in Florida is my personal favorite.

Alex Nguyen and her children in Washington support Sen. Wendy Davis.

Baby Cuellar in California for women's rights.

Captain Wade in Ohio joins in.

I stand with Wendy, too. Florida.

Emily Farrar and her family in Massachusetts. Even their frame is orange.

Greg Elfers in Canada says Jack Layton would have stood with Wendy.

Jennifer Kappert in Pennsylvania breaks out her orange tumbler.

John Tormey in Massachusetts joins in. Husbands for women's rights!

MaryAnne Luther in Tennessee stands with Wendy.

Patricia Frederickson of Georgia was already at work, so wrote this orange note!

Russ Wait in Mississippi said something awesome, but I can't remember it!

Tiffiny Rossi in Finland had no orange, so she tinted the picture orange.

Zoe Fufferman and her amazing raincoated cat in California.

The special session lasts for a while. Add your pics, send them to Wendy via Facebook or her website or right here! SB9. As Melissa says, "never again, Texas. Not even once."