Video made for Amnesty International, in which Patrick Stewart relates some of his own experiences as the child in an abusive relationship, where his father would beat his mother, and calls on the UK government to take violence against women as seriously as it takes smoking, drink driving, and violence against children.

This is a group of people who describe themselves as socialist feminists and who are organising a conference in a London University later this year.

I dont trust them, I dont think we have much in common, or that most of what they talk about represents my interests as a working class woman. I don’t accept that the ideas they present are necessarily socialist or feminist, and my opinion on that is not completely based on the perspectives that they do present, but is just as much based on the ideas that they do not. As an example - I mean sure i’m for access to abortion, but what about those of us who want to go ahead and have children? I’m not seeing these mostly (all?) young, white, educated women showing any real interest in maternity care or the various issues that are specific to mothers, its like for them the whole struggle ends at the right to abortion (or to sell sexual services from some nice flat in a nice part of town). Likewise they don’t seem to realise there are women who are over the age of 25, or who are physically disabled, have mental illnesses, are elderly, are poor, are drug addicts, are homeless.. They say they’re ‘diverse’ but they arent, not really, not in any way that i can tell.

Probably my very negative opinion wont do them any damage whatsoever seeing as everything I believe in is dismissed often enough as a repressed middle class sort of feminism. The irony of this makes me so fucking angry.

I think the women at the leading end of this group and campaign are more concerned with their own ‘names’ and their own future careers than they are in their politics. They deliberately misrepresent other feminist perspectives, particularly radical feminist perspectives. At last years feminist fightback conference they managed to have talks on both queer and transgender issues yet they had nothing specific to lesbians. They didnt even touch the issue of violence against women, I think the closest they got was some sort of talk on traffiking, which was dealt with as an immigration issue rather than as an issue of violence and slavery. They had a few different talks on sex work, presenting several pro industry speakers, but no-one of an opposing viewpoint, and no-one from any of the many groups who provide feminist support to prostitutes (for example, The Poppy Project, who provide direct support to prostitutes as well as lobbying on their behalf). They invited Object, a UK anti-pornography group, to share a platform with pro-pornography campaigners, and slandered Object when they, in my opinion rightly, refused.

Off topic - The thing about conferences on sex work, is that they are always overwhelmingly going to represent the pro side, because it’s very fucking difficult to get the great majority of us who are anti because of our own experiences in prostitution to want to go public about it.

But back to the Feminist Fightback people. Last year they also found the space to provide a platform to Backlash, who are an openly anti feminist group. But then they arent the only feminist platform who are spending resources promoting openly anti feminist spokespeople. Seems a bit fucked up to me but there you go. Don’t anti feminists have enough spaces to talk from and in? Feminists work and fight for the space to talk, then we give it to anti feminists? Why?

I wont be going to Feminist Fightback and I wouldnt even if money and time wasnt an issue. Their focus is too narrow for me, they represent the interests of too narrow a group and it doesn’t include me, in any way.

A man who sexually abused babies and children, walked out of court with a three-year community rehabilitation order.  Michael Porter admitted to sexual assaults on 13 children, over 24 occasions, over the past fifteen years, who knows how many other occasions there were, how many other children this man terrorised.  He was regarded as a respectable member of the Jehovahs Witnesses in Portishead and Clevedon, and used this position to win the trust of parents and get close to the children he abused.

Judge Tom Crowther is the man responsible for this sentence, described as ludicrous by this male terrorists own sister,  Tina Hughes.  She said:

 ”He just took my brother’s side completely and believed that all he needed was a bit more therapy.”

“I am absolutely disgusted. He should not have walked free.

“He has lost nothing. We have to tell the victims we have got no closure. He is an evil person. He is not human.”

Michael Porter -

A man who raped and killed a lesbian woman, has recieved a life sentence for her murder.  Matthew Doman claimed they had had consensual sex and that she had died accidentally after she asked him to asphyxiate her with a plastic bag.  Robert Juckes QC, prosecuting, told the jury:

“Naomi Phipps was a lesbian who had no intimate interest in men”

It seems Doman had developed an obsession with the woman, even going so far as to plant drugs at her house then calling the police, which led to a suspension from her job as a prison officer.

 A man repeatedly smashed a woman in the face and head with a hammer.   The 46 year old woman was walking her dog when she was attacked from behind.  A detective on the case says:

“We don’t know why this woman was targeted and we don’t know who this man is.

Here’s a clue - she was targeted because she is a woman and he is just another guy who gets his kicks from hurting women.

A man who branded the woman he was married to with an iron, slashed her feet with a knife, and beat her up on at least two occasions, has walked out of court with nowt but a £2000 fine. As he’s on a salary of £90k, he was able to tell the court he’d be able to pay within 28 days. I wonder how long the woman’s scars, emotional and physical, will last?

Colin Read - violent abuser of women, terrorist, misogynist, thug.

A man who used his position as a school teacher and choirmaster to abuse women and female children by secretly videotaping them getting undressed, and taking secret photographs of them in the bathroom, has been sentenced to 18 months, added to the sex offenders register, and banned from any contact with girls under 16.

Christopher Bell - sexual offender against women and girls, terrorist, misogynist.

Scientists discover that women’s preference for pink is evolutionary and biological rather than cultural, probably. Maybe. Or maybe not. What a fucking waste of money.

Or just another sad excuse for a man who gets his jollies from imagining women in pain?

“I’m not misogynistic, I nether hate women or mistrust them, rather I just like to make cool photos and happen to have a little dark side along with being influenced by fashion, art, and tragic romance (ala Shakespeare).”
‘Conceptual Wedding Photographer’ John Michael Cooper.

cest.la.vie writes about this here - Misogyny as Art?