Amazon: Your Virgin Eyes!

amazon, lesbian, gay, homophobia, homosexual,
Amazon has decided that any book with a gay or lesbian theme is "adult" material, whether or not it includes any sexual content at all. So, if you're a woman, you can read books from the female perspective, if you're black, you can read books from the black perspective, but if you're gay your very existence is x-rated.

You know what isn't adult material? Playboy.

This is unacceptable, and we should let Amazon know it.

From Jesurgislac's Journal:

Mark R. Probst, author of The Filly, noticed something rather odd on April 10th:

On Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books: “Transgressions” by Erastes and “False Colors” by Alex Beecroft. Everybody was perplexed. Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings, including my book “The Filly.” There was buzz, What’s going on? Does Amazon have some sort of campaign to suppress the visibility of gay books? Is it just a major glitch in the system? Many of us decided to write to Amazon questioning why our rankings had disappeared. Most received evasive replies from customer service reps not versed in what was happening.

And this is the answer he got, from Ashlyn D, at Member Services for Amazon.com Advantage:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

“Adult” materials, eh? Well: that apparently doesn’t include this:

With the first Centerfold, who just happened to be the radiant Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Hefner masterminded a cultural icon: Playboy’s Playmate of the Month. Now, for the first time ever, Playboy has gathered together every Centerfold from every issue into one luxurious collector’s edition. That’s over 600 beauties. We’ve reproduced these Centerfolds exactly as they appeared in the magazine to create a full-size, deluxe volume. Paging through this colossal, chronological collection provides a breathtaking view of our evolving appreciation of the female form: from the fifties fantasy of voluptuous blondes to the tawny beach girls of the seventies to the groomed and toned women of today.

But perhaps Amazon think people only buy Playboy Centrefolds for the articles.

Again, please contact Amazon and let them know how you feel. Oh, and feel free to express your displeasure with your pocketbook- I will be.

Saddest and Happiest Thing Ever

lesbian, homophobia, homosexual, gay, pregnant, rape,
I'm not trying to make a point here. I just wanted to share.

I have a lesbian friend (surprise, right?), who has never had sex with a man. (I explain this because plenty of lesbians have had sexual experiences with men, and it's important to know this for what happens next.) About 2 months ago, she was raped. A complete stranger dragged her into the back room at the convenient store where she worked and raped her. That was her one, and doubtless only, sexual experience with a man.

She's 7 weeks pregnant now- and couldn't be happier.

I knew she loved children, I knew she was fantastic with children, but I never realized exactly how much she wanted a child of her own. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the money for IVF or adoption, so she figured she would never get to have a child, that that was something that she would forever be denied. All of our friends have children, and how it must have hurt her to watch everyone else have, multiple times, what she couldn't have once.

Now she will have her rapist's baby and she is thrilled.

I'm thrilled for her, too. It feels wrong to be tangentially happy* that a woman was raped, but life is a funny old dog, ain't she?

ps- I WILL NOT publish any comments decrying her "selfish" choice not to give the baby up for adoption to a hetero couple. It's her baby. Hers.

*by this I mean that I am not happy that she was raped, but she couldn't be pregnant without the rape, so, yeah, I feel weird. Which she is cool enough to totally understand.

Redefining Optimum

homophobia, homosexual, ivf, childless, children, babies, infertile, infertility, lesbian, gay, prop 8, stupid,
I won't bore you with the entire post, mostly because it just makes my stomach hurt, but the salient details in the back story are: Lesbian couple in Scotland wants the same access to government sponsored IVF that hetero couples in the UK enjoy. Government says "go have sex with men." Lesbian couple sues and wins.

Now for emissary's conclusion on all this:

The regrettable part of this story is that the board eventually changed its mind after being sued. It sets a bad precedence for two specific reasons. The first is that it forces the taxpayer money to pay for children who will be given to a home without a mother and a father. The second is that, since IVF is so expensive, the government may not be able to help as many heterosexual couples who could provide a more optimal life for their children.

First of all, it sets a bad precedent, taxpayers will pay, not taxpayer money, and the children will be born in the home, not given to the home.

Now that I've corrected the basic English, let's review emissary's argument. Basically, if the government pays for IVF for homosexuals, less heterosexuals will be able to have babies, and heterosexual couples are automatically better parents.

The first argument is patently false on its face. The UK health care system (socialism!) views infertility the same as any other medical condition and pays for a certain number of treatments over a certain time period. For everyone. If more people need IVF, more IVF will be paid for, they won't ration it any more than they would ration bypass surgery. They may well raise taxes to pay for the increase in IVF, but heteros will still get the same amount of IVF as they always were.

The second argument relies on debunked research into same sex parenting. Hetero couples are not automatically better parents than gay couples. (Research does show that children do better with two parents instead of one, but that has to do with economics and the time available with the child, not the sex of the parents.) According to emissary, a man and a woman are automatically better parents, even if the man is a pedophile and the woman is a junkie. When you find yourself making that argument, you need to admit that you're a homophobe, and that you don't really like children all that much.

My Vagina is The World's Greatest Threat

feminism, feminist, homophobia, homosexual, lesbian, gay, prop 8, father, masculine, masculinity, vagina,
Today I learned that my vagina is at least as destructive as a nuclear weapon. It has caused the destruction of the family, the demasculinazation of an entire generation of males, and the downfall of Western Civilization.

All Hail My Vagina!

The feminist movement has done more damage to the family than any other cultural movement in recent memory. man, mormons can be a little annoying. just because your prophet said so is not actually logical argumentation. Because of the feminist movement, we have legalized and subsidized abortions all over the world. why don't these asshats get that choice really means choice? I am fine with your choice, whatever it is. I do not want everyone everywhere to be forced into abortions. (Oh, and even raving, fundy prolifers have abortions.) Because of the feminist movement, mothers have been encouraged to leave their children to be raised by “a village”. it's not the economy, it's feminism. I'm happy that beetleblogger can stay home and raise her children while her husband works, but that is not an option for millions of families these days. would you like to shame poor people a little more, beetle? yes, feminists believe that you should have the choice to work, but we also believe you should have the choice to stay home, too. should be up to you. unfortunately, these days, not up to you. up to the economy.

Because of the feminist movement, men have lost their sense of identity and masculinity. if my strength makes you feel less, the problem is not me. strong, intelligent men have no problem feeling like men around women like me. (see: my hubby)

Because of the feminist movement, fathers have left their homes and families. why aren't we putting blame where blame is due? feminism does not turn men into deadbeat fathers. men turn themselves into deadbeat fathers. we cannot solve the problem if we put the blame in the wrong place.

Because of the feminist movement, men have sought companionship with other men; look who's been talking to euripidesraper, who is, by the way, a history professor. homosexuality is mentioned in the bible. clearly homosexuality existed prior to feminism, unless you're trying to tell me that the ancient Israelite tribes were crawling with feminists. jackass.

and women have sought it with other women. lesbianism finally gets a shoutout. totally unrelated to feminism. i'm a feminist and i don't have sex with other women, nor do i want to. if you are struggling with your own lesbian desires, beetlesilly, don't blame the feminists.

Because of the feminist movement, religious beliefs have been questioned as “outdated” and “unlawful”. i thought that was atheism. look, feminists, stay off our turf!