Monday madness

So many thoughts have been jumbling around in my head that these past few days I just haven't known where to start with another blog post. On the one hand, I feel like I should break these issues up into separate posts so that I can address the issues adequately, and on the other hand I feel like they're all interconnected and relevant to one another.

For example - Slutwalk. I'm continually talking about this movement with friends and allies and internet strangers alike, because I really believe in this form of activism. Is it perfect? Nein. Are there issues with trying to make it more inclusive so that it doesn't marginalize communities that don't feel reclamation is an appropriate response to a term that continually revictimizes them? Certainly. And these are the conversations I want to keep having - what Slutwalk's original intentions were, what its core message is, and how to move forward with it in 2012.

Related to Slutwalk, is the issue of #ThingsASlutMightSay trending on Twitter. There were (and are) some truly misogynistic and hateful messages relayed through that tweet, thinly guised as "humour". In response to it, I took to the Twitter and tried to put more balanced messages out there that spoke to consent, and challenging the notion that perceived sexuality is a valid reason to dehumanize someone.

And related to misogyny and Slutwalk, are ongoing discussions about privilege. I understand that acknowledging and starting to understand privilege can be scary and threatening, because it requires us to look at our prejudices in an unfavourable light. It's all too easy to dismiss the concept of privilege as being overly antagonistic and simplistic, but much of that criticism tends to come from protecting one's own ego. And, like I've said before in discussions about privilege, if your ego is more important than being a good ally, then privilege isn't the issue - you are.

And related to misogyny and Slutwalk and privilege, is the issue that the Harper government is still working at dismantling women's and LGBTQ rights. Make no mistake, they've been at it since they first attained power in 2006, and they are savvy. Delegitimizing same-sex marriage of non-residents? Refusing to provide health care funding for countries in which abortion is legal, but stating that the abortion debate is "closed", while access to abortion in Canada is dependent in many areas upon disposable income? These are not bumbling moves of a government that "doesn't get it". These are strategic moves of a government that has no respect for its citizens. We're less than one year in to the majority. It'll only go downhill from here.

There's more, there's always more, but I'll go into each of these and more issues in their own post. I just wanted to put them out here in summation for the moment.

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