medusanevertalks

[medusanevertalks]

Types of Abusive Men:

The Victim

“Pay attention to how he talks and thinks about abused women. A genuine male victim tends to feel sympathy for abused women and support their cause. The Victim, on the other hand, often says that women exaggerate or fabricate their claims of abuse or insists that men are abused just as much as women are.”

― Lundy Bancroft, Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men; 2002

[medusanevertalks]

hi i want to start reading andrea dworkin but i have no idea where to start, any recommendations?

Hi anon,

thank you for your question!

In regards to not knowing where to start, you could simply go for what intrigues you most. Here you can find the complete works of Andrea Dworkin, in all formats. A lot of readers tend to read chronologically, but you could also start with one of the collections of her speeches: Our Blood (1976), Letters From a War Zone (1988) and Life and Death (1997); which might spark further interest in a specific topic she covered more in-depth in another book.

We wish you a merry rage-read *˚⁺‧📚‧⁺˚* and a pleasant weekend *˚⁺‧

#anon #♡ #rec: Andrea Dworkin #honestly just go for what speaks to you! #(although 'Right-Wing Women' is *chef's kiss*)

[medusanevertalks]

How are you? You have been quiet for a little while. I hope you're happy, healthy and thriving!

Dear anon,

thank you so much for your kind message! And our apologies for the bleary reply (the void held us hostage) ♡ We hope you have been happy, healthy and thriving in the meantime?! Here's to more happy, healthy rage-reading (ﾉ ´͈ ॢꇴ  `͈)ﾉ︵ 📚✨

#anon #♡ #happy/ healthy and thriving #in the void

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We live in a culture in which the sex domination nexus is so tight that victim and victimizer alike often do not recognize the violence in acts that the society has deemed violent enough to be illegal. That’s a rape culture.

Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007  

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #rape culture #sex domination nexus #sexual violence #victim & victimizer alike often don't recognize the violence #. . . #the violence in acts that society has deemed violent enough to be illegal #unless _へ__($◡ $ )>

[medusanevertalks]

[I]n this patriarchy in which we live, men generally are trained through a variety of cultural institutions to view sex as the acquisition of pleasure by the taking of women. Men are trained to see sex as a sphere in which they are naturally dominant and women are naturally passive. Women are objectified and women’s sexuality is commodified. Sex is sexy because men are dominant and women are subordinate; power is eroticized.      The predictable result of this state of affairs is a world in which violence, sexualized violence, sexual violence, and violence-by-sex is so common that it must be considered to be normal—that is, an expression of the sexual norms of the culture, not violations of the norms. That doesn’t mean the culture openly endorses rape, but it does endorse a vision of masculinity that makes rape inviting.

Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007  

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #patriarchy #training boys/ men through a variety of cultural institutions #to view sex as the acquisition of pleasure #trained to consider themselves naturally dominant & women as naturally passive #female objectification #sexualization #women's sexuality is commodified #''Sex is sexy because men are dominent and women are subordinate; power is eroticized.'' #predictable results #violence #sexualized violence #sexual violence #violence-by-sex #so common it must be considered normal #an expression of the sexual norms of culture #culture endorses a vision of masculinity that makes rape inviting

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Analizing Pornography

“One of the problems in generating an honest discussion about pornography is that it is often treated as a unique phenomenon.

Many conservatives see pornography as intrinsically immoral, while many liberals defend it without evaluating it. Because the content is sexually explicit, people often abandon basic guidelines they would follow if trying to understand another mass media form. 

[...]

We should approach the study of pornography as we would any product of the mass media—by studying what messages it contains, how it is produced, and how it is used by people in everyday life. In the terminology of mass communication research, that means looking at:

Textual analysis—what are the codes and conventions of the genre, what narrative strategies are used, and what ideology is conveyed by the product?

Political economy—how is the production of the product organized, what are the conditions under which it is produced, how is it financed, and who profits?

Reception studies—how do people actually use the product, under what conditions do they consume it, what role does it play in their lives? 

[...]

In addition, it is crucial to remember that mass media products don’t exist in a vacuum; we have to study them in the real-world social context in which they are produced and used. That is, we have to keep an eye on what is going on in the culture in which all these words and images are circulating. In the contemporary United States, that means recognizing that we live in a rape culture.”

— Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #analyzing pornography #the problems in generating an honest discussion about porn #porn being treated as a unique phenomenon #! #conservatives: porn is intrinsically immoral #liberals: time to defend porn without any evaluation #bc the content is sexually explicit ppl often abandon basic guidelines of media analysis #the study of pornography #what's the message ? #how is it produced ? #how is it used by ppl in everyday life ? #in the terminology of mass communication research: #→ textual analysis: codes & conventions of the genre/ narrative strategies/ ideology conveyed by the product #→ political economy: organization of the production/ under which conditions/ finance/ who profits #→ reception studies: how the product is actually used/ consumed under what conditions/ what roles does it play in consumers' lives #mass media products do not exist in a vacuum #to be studied in the real-world social context ! #rape culture

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— Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #pornography use #porn consumption #for those w a history of ''normal'' pornography use as children & young adults #quitting porn doesn't necessarily mean you are porn-free #sexual imagination shaped by porn #as Naomi Wolf said: #''For the first time in history children are growing up whose earliest sexual imprinting derives not from a living human being/ #or fantasies of their own; #since the 1960s pornographic upsurge the sexuality of children has begun to be shaped #in response to cues that are no longer human. #Nothing comparable has ever happened in the history of our species; it dislodges Freud.'' #[quoted from 'The Beauty Myth']

[medusanevertalks]

— Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #pornography use #anecdote #the post-Playboy world #viewing sexual material #consciously becoming aware of sexuality #boys' first recognizable cultural lesson #male-bonding rituals #men's use of objectified women #to exist only to provide sexual excitement for males #sexual objectification

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    “How do we explain the fact that most people’s stated philosophical and theological systems are rooted in concepts of justice, equality, and the inherent dignity of all people, yet we allow violence, exploitation, and oppression to flourish?”

— Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #philosophical & theological systems #rooted in concepts of justice/ equality/ inherent dignity of all ppl #yet we allow violence/ exploitation/ oppression #stating values vs living in accordance w #hierarchical systems & structures #class privileges/ pleasures/ material benefits #benefits come at the expense of those subordinated #the existence of hierarchy has to be justified #simply claim they are ''natural'' and go

[medusanevertalks]

Masculinity in three acts: Attempts at dominance through (1) force and humiliation, (2) words and argument, and (3) raw insults.

Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #masculinity #attempts at dominance #through (1) force & humiliation #(2) words & argument #(3) raw insults

[medusanevertalks]

     “If pornography is increasingly cruel and degrading, why is it increasingly commonplace instead of more marginalized? In a society that purports to be civilized, wouldn’t we expect most people to reject sexual material that becomes ever more dismissive of the humanity of women? How do we explain the simultaneous appearance of more, and increasingly more intense, ways to humiliate women sexually and the rising popularity of the films that present those activities?      As is often the case, this paradox can be resolved by recognizing that one of the assumptions is wrong. Here, it’s the assumption that US society routinely rejects cruelty and degradation. In fact, the United States is a nation that has no serious objection to cruelty and degradation. Think of the way we accept the use of brutal weapons in war that kill civilians, or the way we accept the death penalty, or the way we accept crushing economic inequality. There is no paradox in the steady mainstreaming of an intensely cruel pornography. This is a culture with a well-developed legal regime that generally protects individuals’ rights and freedoms, and yet it also is a strikingly cruel culture in the way it accepts brutality and inequality. The pornographers are not a deviation from the norm. Their presence in the mainstream shouldn’t be surprising, because they represent mainstream values: the logic of domination and subordination that is central to patriarchy, hyper-patriotic nationalism, white supremacy, and a predatory corporate capitalism.”

— Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #porn industry #in a society that purports to be civilized #. . . #ever more dismissive of the humanity of women #porn as a cultural pseudo-paradox #the assumption that US society routinely rejects cruelty & degradation #accepting the use of brutal weapons in war that kill civilians/ the death penalty/ crushing economic inequality #the cultural accpetance of brutality & inequality #pornographers are not a deviation from the norm #the porn industry representing mainstream values: #the logic of domination & subordination/ hyper-patriotic nationalism/ white supremacy/ predatory corporate capitalism

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People routinely assume that pornography is such a difficult and divisive issue because it’s about sex. In fact, this culture struggles unsuccessfully with pornography because it is about men’s cruelty to women, and the pleasure men sometimes take in that cruelty. And that is much more difficult for people—men and women—to face.

Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #the assumption that it's a difficult & divisive issue #our culture's struggle w pornography #it's about men's cruelty to women

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— Robert Jensen, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity; 2007

#Robert Jensen #Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity #2007 #quote #pornography #no matter who you are as a woman #to be reduced to a thing to be penetrated #your humiliation will be the central theme #it hurts women #it hurts to know

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#image #graffiti #[no given source] #why are men #why indeed #men aroused by women in pain

[medusanevertalks]

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to make a reading list. Some of the links seem to be broken for me, however. Please could you share the pdf of Gender Hurts, if possible? I've been meaning to read it for a while. 💛

Dear anon, thank you for your kind message ♡ We have updated the links which were inactive, so hopefully you can access the download of Gender Hurts now. If that is still not the case—for whatever reasons—please, feel free to reach out again and we shall find another way. Have a lovely weekend!

#anon #♡ #if you ever wish for a private response—just say so in your message #this goes for all of you #stay ragin'

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“The term transgender was coined by the male—and according to his protestations, heterosexual—cross-dresser Virginia Prince, who sought to distinguish himself from those identified as transsexuals, and to create a more acceptable face for a practice previously understood as a ‘paraphilia’—a form of sexual fetishism (Prince, 2005b).”

— Sheila Jeffreys, Gender Hurts; 2014

#Sheila Jeffreys #Gender Hurts #2014 #quote #radical feminism #gender #trans history #Trans Activism #Virginia Prince #how to create a more acceptable face for sexual fetishism

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“It would be wrong, Hausman argues, to see the patients who sought sex changes as the passive victims of the treatments; rather ‘transsexual subjects’ played a defining role in the construction of transgenderism, through ‘demanding’ surgery and drugs that they considered might help them in their aspirations (Hausman, 1995). She says that it is ‘important’ to ‘underscore the agency of transsexual subjects insofar as they forced the medical profession to respond to their demands’ (Hausman, 1995: 110). Hausman sees the alliance of transgenders with doctors as the defining element in the construction of transgenderism. In 1980 it had led to the inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of gender identity disorder, which paved the way for treatment. It recognized their desires as a form of mental illness caused by being possessed of an anomalous, but essential, ‘gender’.

The identity of transgenders, therefore, depended on the medical profession, and it was their demand for surgery that distinguished them from the other categories of sexual deviance that sexologists were involved in diagnosing and regulating, such as homosexuality. Whereas homosexuality is simply a form of behaviour that anyone can adopt, for the vast majority of its acolytes, transgenderism represents a pilgrimage towards a goal that can only be realized through doctors because transsexuals ‘needed the services of professional physicians to achieve their goals’ (ibid.). As the historian of sexuality, Vern Bullough, points out, these medical developments ‘forced medicine and transsexuals to have a close alliance in the 1960s and 70′ at the same time as ‘gays, lesbians, bisexuals, tranvestites, and later even intersex individuals’ were seeking to extricate themselves from medical control (Bullough, 2006: 4).”

— Sheila Jeffreys, Gender Hurts; 2014

#Sheila Jeffreys #Gender Hurts #2014 #quote #radical feminism #gender #trans history #Trans Activism #transgenderism & treatment #Bernice Hausman #'transsexual subjects' played a defining role in the construction of transgenderism #through 'demanding' surgery & drugs that they considered helpful in their aspirations #the agency of transsexual subjects #forcing the medical profession to respond to your demands #the allience of transgenders with doctors = the defining element in the construction of transgenderism #inclusion of Gender Identity Disorder into the DSM in 1980 #recognition of desires as a form of mental illness #the identity of transgenders depends on the medical profession #their demand for surgery distinguishes them from the other categories of sexual deviance #'transgenderism represents a pilgrimage towards a goal that can only be realized through doctors' #the pharma industry only has your best interests at heart _へ__($◡ $ )> #historian of sexuality #Vern Bullough #close alliance between medicine & transsexuals in the 1960s + 70s #at the same time as others were seeking to extricate themselves from medical control