Over at Gaelick, I wrote a response to Julie Bindel’s latest biphobia:
TENI held a Trans Health Forum in Dublin this week. I livetweeted (check out my twitter in the sidebar!) and blogged about this over at Feminist Ire:
Also, I’ve been playing around with the look of this place. What do you think?
Enjoy!
Marching for Choice in Dublin, my latest post on Feminist Ire, is a writeup of yesterday’s pro-choice march.
We were genuinely and collectively in awe at our numbers, here on O’Connell street. For the first time in my life, I felt that we might get somewhere with this. That we might really have some power to change things. Living in Ireland, it’s hard to truly explain what a truly big deal this is. How much of a revelation.
The Irish state needs to face up to its responsibility for the many thousands of women who have travelled overseas for abortions. It has a long-standing habit of brushing inconvenient women under the carpet- years ago to be incarcerated in Magdalene laundries, now on Ryanair flights to Britain. At yesterday’s march we came together to say that we are no longer going to accept this. We’re sick of being silenced and of our choices villified and shamed. We’re not going to accept being caricatured as heartless murderers anymore. We care deeply for the rights and well-being of all of us, for everyone in this country’s right to self-determination. And we’re not going to be quiet anymore.
For more, and for tons of pics from the march, head over to Feminist Ire!
My latest post over at Feminist Ire, Debating Choice at TCD is a review of last week’s abortion debate in Trinity.
I expected the usual suspects and more of the same- accusations flying from all sides, a lack of common ground so extreme that it’s surprising that we’re all technically speaking the same language.
I was pleasantly surprised.
Check out the rest over at FemIre
Also, have a super bonus pic of me and fellow-FemIreist Ariel with Feministe‘s Jill Filipovic, who was a guest speaker at the debate. And who was brilliant. Us bloggly types are super cool, yo.
Also in FeministIre this week, Wendy asks What Happens to the Victims of sex trafficking. An excerpt:
there seems to be this assumption that if sex traffickers can’t get their victims into Sweden, they’ll just give up and go home. Why would that be? There’s nothing special about sex trafficking into Sweden that would lead traffickers to make a career change if they couldn’t do it anymore. So what would they do instead?
Definitely worth a read. TW on both of those links, by the way, for talk of misogyny, sexual assault & trafficking, and associated unpleasantness.
Ladies and gentledudes, I am really really happy to be able to let you know that the Awesome New Project I’ve been talking about lately is up and running! Come check out Feminist Ire:
We are feminists.
We are Irish, or Irish-ish, or based in Ireland.
We want to create a space for those on the margins and between the lines. We want to question traditional ideas about identity, about sexuality, about who we are and where we should be going.
We would like a nice cup of tea.
We have some fantastic, opinionated, articulate people writing over there. I’m incredibly excited (in case you hadn’t guessed already) about creating a new space for progressive Irish feminism.
If that wasn’t enough for you? How about checking out my first Feminist Ire post, in which I give Dan Savage a stern talking to about the difference between outreach and research, and why it matters to take bi kids at their word.
Dan, as activists and people who reach out to kids, our purpose isn’t to prove ourselves right. Our purpose isn’t rigorous study design and eliminating false positives. Our purpose is to be heard by the people who need to hear us. It’s to let them know that they’re not alone, and that there are others like them out there.
When one of the major difficulties a group faces is doubt over their very existence, then we need to stand up for that existence.
You know you want to check it out.
considertheteacosy.wordpress.com 