Yes Means Yes

Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape is a feminist-themed book by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti published in 2008. The book was one of the 99 Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2009^[1] and has inspired a sex education non-credit course at Colgate University.^[2]

The book consists of a series of 27 essays by various authors which all share the central theme of preventing rape by addressing the cultural and societal milieu that the authors claim is complicit in enabling rape. The title is a reference to the popular "No Means No" campaign against date rape. Contributors to the anthology include Rachel Kramer Bussel, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Stacey May Fowles, Coco Fusco, Lisa Jervis, Heather Corinna, Julia Serano, Hanne Blank, and Margaret Cho.
Colgate is committed to improving the sexual climate on campus, providing numerous programs to promote healthy sexuality. ^[3] Not only do they offer a course on Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape, they have a committee as well. This committee is called The Sexual Climate Advisory Committee. ^[4] This committee is composed of faculty, staff, and students.^[5] It is charged with developing and evaluating initiatives at the individual, environmental, and system level that contribute to a climate of sexual respect. ^[6]Scott Brown, who is the dean of students, leads monthly meetings. ^[7]

From the slogan, "No Means No", colleges are abandoning the old slogan and accepting "Yes Means Yes" to promote more positivity. “The swiftly evolving conversation about defining sexual assault signaled to us that we needed to reframe our name as something more positive... and it’s even possible that ‘No means no’ will be an outdated or irrelevant concept in 10 years. Students may not have even heard of the phrase by then", said by Allison Korman, the group’s executive director.^[8] Now, there are more than eight hundred colleges and universities that have adopted an affirmative consent definition in their sexual assault policies.^{[9] 
READ MORE}

Working With Your Rapist as Your Supervisor? The Widespread Sexual Abuse of Women in Farm Work

It should be no surprise that on America’s farms, many women are treated as less than human, since not even the government sees them as worthy of respect under the law.

May 27, 2012

There aren’t many jobs in the U.S. that are tougher than farmwork--spending the day picking crops under a sweltering sun, earning just enough to survive, jumping from one unstable seasonal job to another. But the job is especially unbearable if all you have to work yourself to exhaustion all day under the watch of the man who raped you.

There have over the years been numerous reports of widespread sexual abuse of women farmworkers--everything from being called demeaning names by supervisors to brutal sexual assault. Many of the victims suffer in silence, cut off from law enforcement and social services and fearful of losing their jobs if they come forward to authorities, according to a report on sexual violence in agricultural work by Human Rights Watch.  READ MORE

Meet the Governors Behind "State-Rape" Transvaginal Ultrasound Laws (It's Not Just Virginia)

Virginia's Bob McDonnell isn't the only governor who's backed terrifying new laws violating women's rights (and bodies). February 26, 2012
His name is Bob McDonnell.

We have talked so much about the proposed Virginia transvaginal probe law that I thought I should remind you the name of the governor who wants to run a state that supports legalizing rape.

So, again, his name is Bob McDonnell.

When this story broke, I had so many questions. The immediate ones seemed so basic. I wondered why Bob McDonnell is so cruel. I wondered why Bob McDonnell felt he had the legal authority to force doctors to rape their patients.

And why, why, why did Bob McDonnell, the governor of the great state of Virginia, a man on every Republican presidential hopeful's short list for vice-president ever feel he needed to?

"But wait!" you say, "Bob McDonnell backed off his support for this bill. He clearly realized that this was one of the most profoundly invasive hideous pieces of legislation anyone could imagine."

Yeah, not quite.

   READ MORE

Why Is an Atheist High School Student Getting Vicious Death Threats?

Her state representative has called the student "evil" and she has been threatened with violence, rape and death. What gives?

January 18, 2012

If you take away just two things from the story about atheist high school student Jessica Ahlquist, and the court case she won last week to have a prayer banner taken out of her public school, let it be these:

1. The ruling in this case was entirely unsurprising. It is 100 percent in line with unambiguous legal precedent, established and re-established over many decades, exemplifying a basic principle of constitutional law. 
2.  As a result of this lawsuit, Jessica Ahlquist is now being bullied, ostracized and threatened with violence in her community. She has been called "evil" in public by her state representative, and is being targeted with multiple threats of violence, rape and death.

Which leads one to wonder: What the hell is going on here?

Let's get #1 out of the way first. This court decision -- READ MORE

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No, the majority does not always rule.

In a constitutional democracy, people with minority, dissenting, or unpopular
opinions and identities have some basic rights, which the majority cannot take
away.

If the majority thought that everyone had to dye their hair brown, or that all
witches should be burned at the stake, the majority would not rule.

Redheads have the right not to dye their hair brown; witches have the right
not to be burned at the stake. No matter how much in the minority they are.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@