A Probability of Being

Forbes just released a Top 100 Websites for Women . Feministe, Feministing and Jezebel are on it. But... that's it. The rest of it? Lifestyle blogs, work, mothering, all very important, yes! But, where is Shakesville , which covers all sorts of feminist issues, providing insight on how media and culture affect women's lives? Where is Love Isn't Enough , a blog about parenting and how to raise non-racist children? Where is the Pursuit of Harpyness , which discusses self-esteem, academia, pop culture, and other such issues relevant to women? Geek Feminism , resource and discussion for and about women in the still-male-dominated IT industry, HELLO? Racialicious may have more focus on race and pop culture, but they still lean towards questions of gender, they just don't limit themselves to that! Feminists with Disabilities too! Oh wait, disability isn't a women's issue, okay. 

Sometimes, I like to take note when boys are doing the smashing of the gender binary.  There is a national cheerleading competition every year here in Malaysia, which got its start several/a few years ago (depending on how you calculate time - I know its first year was before I left for Canada, so that's quite a long time from my perspective). I've never actually seen it in person, but there's always one splash page in the newspaper, featuring the teams in some sort of cheerleader-y pose, with the name of the team and what school they're presenting.  The first year this happened, I noticed that there was an all-boys team, and I thought, that is so awesome! Good for the boys. I hope they do their best. And from what I read later on, they certainly did.  There are a lot of gender stereotypes floating around, many of them stemming from the West, about how men should act and what women should (not) do. I've noticed that some of them just don't have any roots h

Helen Keller Blogswarm Day came and went, and since I knew about it beforehand, I'd already made a promise to write something for it. This, despite not being Helen Keller's birthday, or even the day of her death.  At the same time, Juneteenth came and went, an actual day of celebration.  And from here on out, this post is going to be All About Me. Even though I know it ain't about me.

June 19 is the designated day for Helen Keller Mythbusting !  Image: A grey banner divided in three parts. A photo of a young Helen Keller is in the center. On the right, it reads “Political Activist. Radical Thinker. Suffragist. Pacifist. Journalist. Socialist. Who was she?” On the left it reads “Helen Keller Mythbusting Day 2010″ I first learnt about Helen Keller through a calendar book of sorts in which each day was marked with something of significance to the date. The item was illustrated by a blond girl at a waterpump, one hand pumping, the other hand under the rush of water. Her eyes were wide and looked rather bewildered and lost (she was also blonde and blue-eyed). I learned that she was blind and deaf, until her teacher taught her how to read and write through impressions on her hands.  I did not know her teacher was also deaf blind until much later. I only caught snippets about Helen Keller later, and saw a picture of the first story she typed up; I think it was