Potential Of Womens' Only Cabs In NB Gets Dudes MAD!!!!

Not the most graceful post title to be sure, but I'm supposed to be on vacation here, anyways. So, let's get right to it. As usual, here's the link to the CBC story. I'll give you the skinny. This dude in Saint John, David Barnes, realizes that for some women, getting into a cab with a dudely driver can be a scary thing. You're in an enclosed environment with a dude you don't know for an undefined period of time. Alone. No duh that gives lots of women the willies. Especially when you consider how common sexual assault by cab drivers is. So, this dude isn't a feminist. He isn't trying to make a statement. He just noticed how female-only cabs seem to have caught on over in Europe, and probably wants to make a buck or two doing it over here. Because there's nothing like a dude cashing in on the fact that women are afraid of men to really make you aware of the "feminized society" that we live in.

And then there's the comments. And they are BAD. Apparently, just the thought, the mere mention of possibly, maybe, sometime, somewhere starting a female-only cab service in this country is equatable with passing a law that it's now legal to shoot dudes' dicks off after five on Thursdays. Dudes are up in fucking arms about how "misandric" this new service would be. "It'd put male cab drivers out of business!" "How's a dude supposed to get home if the cabs are only picking up chicks?" "You know, one time, Karla Homolka killed a dude, so that proves that dudes aren't the only violent ones!" You know the kind of bullshit that gets spouted by the MRA fucks that mostly populate the CBC comment threads.

But, there was one comment I read that really made my skin crawl and made me realize just what kind of heartless, depraved FUCKWADS are shitting on womens' issues on the CBC. It was a reply to a comment made by someone called FatherJones. (As an aside FatherJones, like Mother Jones? If so, I think that's kinda neat.) Anyways, Jones says:

A dear friend of mine was badly beaten and sexually assaulted by a cab driver. It's sadly not that uncommon. The police didn't really do anything and acted like she deserved it because she had been drinking. It's not just the drivers make women feel unsafe, it's knowing there will be no justice if something does happen that compiles it.

To which one FrancoPwned (lame, dude, just fucking lame) replies:

I say links to the news story or I didn't happen.

And, of course, all the other little misogynists on the CBC just back this dude up wholeheartedly. And all I can think is "... wow, just fucking wow. So THIS is what it's come to." And what if a link was provided? I'm sure this dude would've found some other reason to call Jones a liar. But, he doesn't get what he's really doing here. Because that's the power of dudely dudes. If they want to make something that happened go away, then they just collectively don't believe it. And, poof! It's gone. That's how the legal system works, isn't it? Because no one ever gets convicted! The rapists always get away with it! Jones tells an anecdotal story to illustrate just why women's-only cabs are a good idea, something terrible that happened to his dear friend (or perhaps more, maybe his spouse, maybe his daughter, who knows if he's protecting the victim's identity) and FrancoFuk'd there shits all over it. Because in his mind, that story can't be true. If it were, well that would ruin all his logical dudely arguments, so false it must be! And, true to form, other dudes come out of the woodwork to back him up. And what does that mean? That means that FatherJones, and potentially his dear friend that was assaulted, have to relive all the pain of that incident as well as the pain of probably not being believed the first time around. And Franco just thinks he's fighting the good fight.

Well, I say fuck that. I say that dudes ARE fucking scary, and I don't blame any woman that doesn't want to get into a cab with one, or sit next to one on a bus, or get into an empty elevator with one, or whatever else. I mean, I am a fucking dude, and I'm still scared of them a good ninety-nine percent of the time. So, me, I'm all for women's-only cabs. And women's-only gyms. And whatever else. And I don't think it's "misandric", I think it's just fucking smart. Dudes are shitty. Ladies, stay away from them whenever you can, however you can until you're damn sure that they're safe. And even then, keep your keys handy. Let the hate mail begin. See you all in 2012.

You're Fooling No One, So Quit It.

A young Ottawa boy, about the age of fifteen killed himself after being bullied relentlessly by his peers at school. This boy, Jamie Hubley, was bullied because he was gay. He was tormented for being a figure skater and being openly gay in high school. He battled depression until he could battle it no longer. The city mourns him. His family mourns him. And, the Conservative Party of Canada has decided to join Dan Savage's 'It Gets Better' campaign in this boys' honor.

Wait, what?

Yup, that's right John Baird (hate that guy), Vic Toews and Rona Ambrose among others star in a heartwarming video telling gay teens that although they might be bullied in high school, life gets better out in the real world. Because out in the real world you've got people like Vic Toews, who from 2003-2005 was relentlessly opposed to both Bill C-250, which protects homosexuals under hate crime legislation and to Canada recognizing gay marriage nationwide. He even launched an extended filibuster to delay committee work on the issue. Toews also argued that religious organizations should be permitted to deny gay individuals the use of their facilities.

You think someone like that should be giving out this kind of message? A message that, in time, the bullying will stop and you'll be in a land of wonderful tolerance and unlimited possibility? Toews, who we might as well just come out and say it: fucking hates homosexuals. And the rest of this Conservative crew that was apparently slapped together at a moments notice to star in this low-budget garbage fest probably aren't much better.

Sweet pepper relish, have you watched this shit? A bunch of Conservative MP's, all privileged as hell, droning on in their dead voices about how it gets better, so obviously cold-reading off cue cards because they can't say anything from the heart on this issue, repeating the same thing over and over and over, they couldn't even clear the fucking halls in the House of Commons for five minutes so you don't get all that fucking background noise? Is it nitpicky? Yes, but the poor production values make it look even less sincere, and makes it seem that these people just slapped this together to capitalize on what could potentially be good publicity. The message is delivered with less gusto than those old 'The More You Know' ads that used to run on NBC. You're dedicating this to someone who just took their own life after years of bullying and abuse! Can't you folks fucking just pretend to give a shit for five goddamn seconds? You can see it here for yourself.

They're really pushing the Kids Help Phone, too. Unfortunately, when you're in a situation where you really need really real help, the Kids Help Phone can't always do much for you. The Kids Help Phone can't stop people at your school from bullying you. The Kids Help Phone can't make your parents accept you for who you are. The Kids Help Phone can't promise you that 'It Gets Better' anymore than can Conservative MP's, some of whom if given the chance would make it worse for you, out there in the world after high school. Neither can Dan Savage, as a matter of fact. He can just tell you that if your partner likes to rape you, or slap you or shit on you and you don't much care for it, well, then you're a prude.

Maybe I'm being overly critical of this. I do tend to suspect ulterior motives when Conservative MP's do anything even close to human. It's mostly the gall of Vic Toews to even be in the video that gets me. I mean, did they just not tell him what it was for? However it happened, having a well-known homophobe tell LGBTQI youth that 'It Gets Better' seems just a final slap in the face to one youth that it never quite got better for.

The Four R's: Readin', Ritin', 'Rithmatic and Ridiculous Pro-Life Garbage.

Hey, just quick, really, right quick: When did shit in Manitoba get all fucked up beyond belief? Some jackpipe elementary school principal wants to give credits to students who attend pro-life rallies?

Well... I just... I mean... fuck.... so, if you.... and then you get a..... so..... and nobody thinks that this is....

Aw, fuck. I'm too tired for this kinda shit today. The intersection of pro-life and Christianity (particularly Catholicism) always turns into a four-way stop of doom for womens' rights to choice. And now, besides the pro-life stance being taught in Catholic schools, students are getting fucking rewarded for shitting on the autonomy of women all over the country. Well, fuck that noise. That's a load of goddamn golden calf shit and everyone knows it. I'm all for students having to do community service for high school credits, but a pro-life rally doesn't service the community. Not all members of it, anyways. This is getting really fucking scary. More on this as it develops. But for now, lazy.

Okay, What The Fuck....

Alright. I'm back. Nevermind where I was, or what I was doing, it's not important. Let's just be glad that the royals are gone and we can get back to our lives now. There's lots to talk about. Let's start with this goddamn travesty. Here we are, ever on the cusp of legalizing the action of men purchasing women with no consequence to themselves, and some group in Halifax comes out with an ad campaign reminding us that prostitutes are people, too? This group, Stepping Stone Nova Scotia, is a non-profit organization providing services and shelter to prostituted women... just not exit strategies. Because sex work is just work after all, only a little more dangerous. So they do the nice things, like giving condoms to prostitutes, giving them the odd check up if their pimp lets them have the morning off and promoting propaganda such as the one about most women prostituting themselves independently, from the "myth versus reality" section of their website. The website also features black and white photos of women who are not prostitutes, but airbrushed models who will more than likely be prostitutes one day, due to how the fashion/modelling industry chews up and spits out the young women that don't die from modelling first. But I'm getting away from the issue here.

Prostitutes are mothers/daughters/sisters/aunts/nieces too. Well, no shit. So, would you want your mother/sister/daughter/aunt/niece out there, "servicing" however many men a night, even if she did choose that life for herself (which remember, happens only so rarely, it's not worth counting)? Of course not. But putting up these little posters which are supposed to remind johns that while they're raping these women they probably shouldn't beat the hell out of them or kill them, because they might have families, is doomed to failure right from the start. If a man is capable of purchasing a womans' body for use, he has already ceased to see that woman, indeed all women as human type people. The fact that this thing he has purchased may have relations to other similar things, or to other men even, matters not to the john. The john knows what he wants, and what the john wants is all the john cares about. To surmise, I think aiming PSA's at people who are already at the level of inhumanity that they can purchase women is about as effective as patching the hole in the ozone layer with saran wrap.

The article even acknowledges that serial rapists/murderers often target prostitutes because they are looked down upon by society and often go unmissed. But rather than, oh I dunno, trying to come up with exit strategies and getting these women off the streets, the easier route is to put up posters asking johns to exercise their humanity when dealing with prostitutes. The message is stated with all the gusto of a "Be Kind, Please Rewind" sticker on an old VHS tape, showing that even the outreach programs could give a damn about getting these women off the streets. Stepping Stone Nova Scotia thinks prostitution is honest work, using the tired "world's oldest profession" line once again. I'm so fucking sick of hearing that garbage. Prostitution is NOT the world's oldest profession. Slave trader, however, might be, or as they're called these days, pimps.

It's not that I think the idea of viewing prostituted women as humans is a crappy idea, I just can't believe that we need a PSA to tell some of us that. And that the people putting these posters up supposedly talk to these women all day long. They really have no idea how shitty the life is? They really think they're doing anyone any good by letting women stay on the street? They really think anyone would stay on the street if they had just One. Other. Viable. Fucking. Option? There should be groups vying to provide these other viable options to women. Telling johns to see their victims as people does not an exit strategy make.