I beg your pardon?

Once again, I am slack-jawed in awe at what ridiculous everloving poorly evolved jackasses inhabit the same universe as I do:

Wife-beaters.com, a Dallas-based business that sold wife-beater T-shirts, has been shut down after a San Antonio man complained to the company hosting the site.

The Web site sold white tank tops, commonly referred to as “wife-beaters,” and gave a discount to anyone who could prove they were convicted of wife beating.

No. Words.

Jaw-dropper

Here's the BBC with today's reason to curl up and cry (emphasis added):

In an apparent video confession, the middle-aged woman [Samira Jasseem, "Mother of Believers"] described how she identified potential bombers, helped supply them with explosives and led them to their targets.

She also explained, in a separate interview with the Associated Press, how insurgents used rape as a tool, with the "shamed" women persuaded to redeem themselves through suicide attacks.

Her apparent confession could help throw light on the recent increase in attacks in Iraq involving female bombers.

[...]

Insurgents use female bombers because they can hide explosives under their robes and are less likely to be searched by male guards at security checkpoints.

That last bit is fairly common knowledge, but I think it's important to include anyway in terms of understanding how central gender oppression is to this whole tactic.

I have a lot to say about this, but I can't right now. I'm too overwhelmed just now. I'm angry at the men who did these things, but even more so I can't think of anything but how profoundly sad I am for the women who have been used in this way. I can't find a word to describe it other than grief.

As for Samira Jasseem...I will have to think about her.

How is it even possible?

How is it possible for people to live in such completely different realities? For example, I know for a fact that most domestic violence is perpetrated by men against women. Dov Charney, on the other hand, seems to think otherwise:

“Women initiate most domestic violence, yet out of a thousand cases of domestic violence, maybe one is involving a man. And this has made a victim of culture out of women.”

I'm not honestly sure what he's actually saying when you try to parse the grammar, but it's hard to imagine a way to get it back to a sentiment that reflects reality in any way. Renee has the rundown on statistics and I suggest you read her post on this generally. [H/t Feministe]

Dov Charney is the owner of American Apparel. He is also, for some reason, highly invested in denying women ownership of their reality. Women are battered by men in the vast majority of cases, and the ability to speak of, name, and share that pain is important both to recovery and to prevention. Charney, apparently, is so threatened by any notion that his gender might bear some responsibility for this--and it is sad that he can't separate himself from a generalized notion of maleness--that he must insist it's actually men who are victimized by a culture of victimhood. If he were less focused on gender wars he might be able to notice that things that some men do are not definitive of all men; if he liked women better he could, perhaps, hear their words as truth and not as threats and scolds.


It boggles my mind. Women try to translate their pain into something constructive and Charney's response is, "but you're hurting our feelings!"

This is a fascinating and saddening study.

It demonstrates a shockingly strong link between teen pregnancy and sexual violence--that is, that girls who have been sexually abused or raped are likely to have sex earlier and engage in more dangerous behaviors, and, not surprisingly, get pregnant.

What's so incredible about this isn't the link--the link really isn't that surprising--but rather the sheer numbers. The disparity between groups of abused girls and not in terms of behaviors (age of first intercourse, use of protection) is incredible, and what gets even worse is when you look at the statistics by ethnic group. Teen pregnancy rates among Latina and black girls are much higher, as is the incidence of sexual violence. Native American girls experience sexual assault at TWICE the rate of other groups, mostly by people outside of their ethnic groups. (How much you wanna bet these guys are white? The more things change, the more they stay the same.) This has a lot to do with the way our culture positions these girls and their bodies (sexy, exotic, "spicy"; girls of color are seen as "bad" or not as buttoned up as white girls and so are sexually available; old colonial narratives about conquest and sex with conquered women).

A big part of why this is important is that teen pregnancy is largely seen as an issue of promiscuity--"Those durn teenagers just keep having sex! Weird!"--and morals ("OH MY GOD THEY'RE HAVING SEX AND SATAN WILL TAKE THEM FOREVERRRRRR! THEY MUST NOT HAVE CONTRACEPTION OR ABORTIONS SO THEY CAN BE PUNISHED FOR THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS WITH BAYBEEEEZ!"). This study makes it clear that in large part, the public debate on this issue is missing the point.

I highly recommend that everyone click through. And remember that a teen mother or young mother is not necessarily an irresponsible slut (and even if she is, it's none of your business); she's a person struggling, that's all. Or hell, maybe she decided she wanted a baby. Like I say, none of my business.

It is terrible to be a woman in Afghanistan.

57% of marriages are to brides under 16--sometimes as young as six.
87% of women complain of abuse, half of which is sexual.
The rate of women who die in childbirth in Afghanistan is the highest in the world, up with Sierra Leone.
88% of women are illiterate.
5% go to secondary school.
Over 60% of marriages are forced.

The thing that shocks me the most? So bad is it that the rate of self-immolation has doubled from before we invaded.

Just to be clear, self-immolation means burning yourself to death.