Here’s an intersting post on Feministing about Facebook’s avatar, the generic representation of its users: a white male.

BBC News reports on the third International Congress on Islamic Feminism.  Click here.

Here’s a great post at Feministing on “pimping the vote” retro style.  Click here.

I’ve been MIA the last few days.  I’ll be back soon.  For now, all I can say is SEVEN MORE DAYS!  SEVEN!

It continues.  From Palin porn, sexy action figures, offers to appear in Playboy and a nod from Maxim…

Thanks to the women at Feminsting:

Palin Halloween costumes and Palin sex dolls.  Gross.

In keeping with my recent posts on Sarah Palin’s looks (Palin porn, Palin sexy action figures, Maxim’s nomination of Palin and Hefner’s offer for Palin to appear in Playboy), I thought these posts at Feministing were relevant and thought-provoking:

Palin as a ploy to attract male voters: read here.

However a lot of men, especially older men see her as hot. She’s a fantasy come to life. She’s the naughty librarian ‘MILF’ who they’d love to get with. This manifest itself in the form of male talk show hosts giving her a pass. Many actually spend valuable time talking about her looks and small time stuff and not her scary politics. It manifest itself in people actually giving John McCain props for picking such a nice ‘looking babe’ versus’s focusing on his shortcomings. It sort of like him having a trophy wife. Except this one will have serious impact on US policy. It manifest itself in male producers who are behind the scenes spending time editing film and audio tape giving her a favorable look as she is a welcome break from the daily onslaught of old wrinkly white males who they are usually editing.

Journalistic focus on how attractive Palin is: read here.

Reporting that includes inappropriate observations about the attractiveness of candidates, threatens to turn political campaigns involving female candidates into beauty contests.  We must remain vigilant to sexist language in political reporting, and we must protest every infraction.

I appreciated Courtney Martin’s post on Feministing today in response to Michael Kimmel’s latest book, Guyland. Kimmel reported an orgasm gap between men and women engaging in heterosexual hook-ups involving oral sex and intercourse.

It’s not that I’m shocked by these numbers. I’ve heard enough horrendous hetero hook-up stories to know that they’re usually not all that orgasmic, or even all that pleasurable, for the ladies involved. I’m one of those who believes that long term relationships (or at least multiple hook ups with the same partner) are pretty necessary to figure out how your two unique chemistries best match up for good sex (widely defined). This, of course, goes for queer lovin’ as well.

What really made my jaw drop was the discrepancy between the way women reported orgasms and the way men reported women’s orgasms. As Kimmel put it, “Many women, it turns out, fake orgasm.”…

It is your feminist duty to 1) seek pleasure and feel entitled to it and 2) to make the world a more    orgasmic place for other women.

Amen to that, sister.

Feministing featured a brand new blog watch, Women Against Sarah Palin.   At a time when it feels like the walls are closing in and our voices are growing weak, I am inspired by this blog. It is an example of a true call to action.  In my own case, Feminist Fatale has been an idea  has been formulating for years and has been in the works for months but it was Sarah Palin’s meteoric thrust into the political and cultural atmosphere to finally prompted me to make a move and just start writing.

It is absolutely imperative that we take an active role in our own lives and the social/historical/political context that are seemingly private lives are embedded in.  I highly urge you to join the conversation here, at Feministing, at Women Against Sarah Palin, at…??

And, I must admit, the use of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s quote, “Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving” at the top of the Women Against Sarah Palin blog “had me at hello.”

I am happy to know that there are so many other women and men out in the blogosphere, out on the streets, in their homes and in the classrooms having this important conversation and asserting their voices.  It’s like sipping fresh air in a stale room.