Miami Shores isn’t normally known for its political activism. But students at Miami Country Day School poured out of class and marched to a nearby park in order to send a message to the gun lobby.
Let’s just say that they didn’t hold back.
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Liberal Men With Agendas Can Be Dangerous To The Feminist Movement
Feminism as a movement is one which sets to confront the patriarchal structural inequalities that oppress women across the world.
From the wage gap to conceptions of femininity and existing in spaces dominated by the male presence, the focus given to men in feminist discourse is not something which can or should be taken lightly, especially when taking male influence into context.
Margaret Atwood’s fictitious The Robber Bride makes significant comments on this:
“Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it’s all a male fantasy: that you’re strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren’t catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you’re unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.”
For many women, the male gaze and influence is one which permeates views of oneself: from the applying of make-up to choosing to go without it, from sitting on a train to walking down the pavement, from speaking aloud and recognising the voice inflection of a female to increase in pitch, a questioning, unsure manner.
So what happens when patriarchy is molded to a male’s intent? Well, many things: rape, prevention of abortions, standards of femininity, abuse, and the list goes on.
The socialisation of gender roles is one which means the most casual of practises deserves to be unpacked; girls going for pink, boys going for blue, and feminism wondering exactly why all these things exist.
This isn’t to say that every man is afforded the same privileges of his male neighbour: the intersections of race, class, sexuality and religion are valid. A white man may not experience racial profiling. A black man from a deprived area may not be afforded the same consideration as a white man from a wealthier neighbourhood in a job interview.
These differences are significant and deserve to be paid attention to in the wider scheme of things. But when it comes to notions of masculinity in life, men share a common factor of dominance and space-taking, informed by weighted upbringings and casual exchanges. It is therefore easy to recognise how this would translate to their practises of feminism.
I once came upon a quote which argued that men shouldn’t call themselves feminists: rather, they should take the spaces they inhibit and make them feminist. This is a notion which accepts that men are privileged but argues that they have the chance to use this privilege to benefit women. When looking at a number of male feminist figures, from the failed to the somewhat successful, the distinction of success is one which should be clarified. Feminism as a movement is one which cannot be simplified to misandry.
For men, it is a far from simple exchange which harms just as much as it benefits: with toxic standards of masculinity and social cues for dominance comes a questioning of exactly how comfortable one can be to do this, and whether some even question this. In bell hooks‘ ‘Feminism is for Everybody’, it is noted that:
“Most men are disturbed by hatred and fear of women, by male violence against women, even the men who perpetuate this violence. But they fear letting go of the benefits. They are not certain what will happen to the world they know most intimately if patriarchy changes. So they find it easier to passively support male domination even when they know in their minds and hearts that it is wrong.”
So what happens when patriarchy is molded to a male’s intent? Well, many things: rape, prevention of abortions, standards of femininity, abuse, and the list goes on. The male fantasy, as Atwood mentioned previously, is perverse. It can also color a male’s practice of feminism, and this is precisely what happened with Tumblr’s Josh Macedo, known online as confusedtree.
For the Internet-savvy, this is old news, a drama concluding in 2013: a 20-something lover of nerd culture builds up his following through a mixture of meme humour and feminist discourse, maintains himself as a defender of misogyny, and then is revealed to have sent sexually-explicit material to underage teenagers.
Pedaling the guise of the awkward loner, the scandal that followed Macedo was one which took notice of the undercurrent of manipulation which plagued his actions. His fame was one which was credited to a cause he took little notice of except to manipulate to his own intents: Macedo was aware of the benefits of his masculinity but could not shake off the allure of its benefits.
Prompting hesitant, terrified responses to his sexually-explicit behaviour, these exchanges are typical of the pressurizing male, aware of his power and using it to his own advantage. Aja Romano said it best for the Daily Dot:
“When you frame yourself as an outside-the-establishment liberal who understands the struggles that women face, it puts you in an elevated, respected position—and it becomes easier to abuse your power in the community.”
The influence of social media is one which, paired with the fast-evolving rate of social justice and feminist discourse, is dynamic, and which can be both negative and positive. A community which is both effective and which can amount to nothing is difficult to comprehend, but for many, saying the ‘right’ thing can be backing women’s rights while remaining divorced from them, refusing to support victims of abuse or to understand the dangers of the male gaze but accepting the number of likes or shares something you penned acquires.
The male voice is one which requires being conscious of one’s actions. It is to recognise that where an intention is positive, an effect can be negative and to speak is to speak with an awareness of patriarchal repercussions.
For a male, it is easy to use feminism as a tool, to speak over a woman without realizing one’s influence or that a woman’s voice has already articulated your words. Male influence within feminist discourse is powerful in this way.
For Matt McGory, star of Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black and self-proclaimed feminist, a male understanding of feminism is to recognise misconceptions and to fix them, to know the limits of your knowledge and to expand on it further:
“The people we have to convince who are gonna be allies, like me—the people I feel like I’m trying to go after are the good people who just maybe have blind spots about gender inequality like I did. Or, didn’t know what the term feminism meant. You know, a guy who’s a bigot who hates women is not gonna care what feminism means anyway, so I don’t need to go after him. But I’m trying to incorporate an easy way in for those people that don’t know a lot about it. Who actually have good intentions.”
While intention is not sacred and while one can be aware of the privileges afforded to them based on race, gender and sexuality, the idea that an ally is protected from ever making a mistake is an unfair demand. McGory’s estimate of a male ally is simplistic, but fair. In speaking about the wage gap, trans rights, and the importance of intersectionality, his handle on feminism is interesting and somewhat significant.
While it is already regarded a dilution of the value of feminism that we now place celebrities (with personal agendas) as the faces of the movement, the value given to a voice is only worth something if it corresponds to an awareness of power, an awareness of domination, an awareness of how masculinity is detrimental in its effects for society.
The male voice is one which requires being conscious of one’s actions. It is to recognise that where an intention is positive, an effect can be negative and to speak is to speak with an awareness of patriarchal repercussions.
It is to divorce the self’s need for approval, to ignore the modification of social justice as ‘trendy’, to prioritise the need to improve the standard of living that women so ardently require, and to be happy with this decision. The most important thing comes from an awareness of the history of male oppression and dominance: to recognise that your support will always be secondary to the issues women face.
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Cover Photo Credit: AK Rockefeller/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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How A Phone Call Changed The Life Of A Miami Dog Groomer (And Thousands Of Animals) Forever
By Ana Cedeno
We live in a time where altruism can be seen as somewhat subjective. You can’t be nice to strangers, because they could rob you, some would negatively say.
Trusting people, or rather being naive about it can make you seem stupid in the eyes of many, if not an easy target, and no good deed goes unrewarded has turned into no good deed goes unpunished.
But Regina Nicole Vlasek has decided to live her life in a more hopeful manner.
Vlasek is the president and founding partner of the Saving Sage Rescue organization.
A no kill animal shelter located in the northern Miami suburb of Miami Shores, Saving Sage’s story began from a single act of kindness.
The story began with a phone call in 2012.
At the time, Vlazek was working as an animal groomer and while she and her friends often rescued animals who were abandoned at her salon, they were far from a legit non-profit.
But then, the call came.
“A client Judy Sanchez reached out to me about the dog sighting situation” Vlasek said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “A bunch of dogs were picked up by animal rescue and a little dog was left behind.”
Vlasek and Sanchez raced to where the dog had been sighted intending to make sure he was safe and to find a place for him.
“We made a big scene. We stopped traffic to get the dog,” Vlasek recalled.
Regina Nicole Vlasek, the founder of Saving Sage. Photo Credit: Facebook.
Despite their best efforts they couldn’t plan or prevent what would happen next.
The dog was startled by some nearby children.
Skittish and still not used to people, the dog ran from under the house she was hiding in and into a car.
“The dog had very bad injuries,” Vlasek said. “There were pictures of this dog being picked up on the stretcher. Channel 7 [WSVN] picked up the story and it was on the news.”
It was while they had the dog-who they later named Sage on the stretcher that they noticed she was lactating.
They sent Sanchez’s child to check under the house and they found seven puppies.
In her efforts to help Sage and her puppies Vlasek and Sanchez contacted Karina Goldenberg who was at the time affiliated with another animal rescue organization named A Way For Strays.
Vlasek also contacted Dr. Michael Zender, a veterinarian she knew from her days as a groomer.
Both Goldenberg and Zender donated money and medical supplies respectively to ensure that Sage and her puppies made it through.
It was that tight-knit group that started Saving Sage.
“It grew from there,” Vlasek said as she explained how Saving Sage went on to become much more than just saving Sage and her puppies. “We went from being girls who just kind of liked helping to meeting this girl who was part of the organization and it grew from there.”
Saving Sage took off as a full-fledged animal rescue and in their first year alone rescued 198 animals.
In their second year they went over double that number.
Sage and her puppies also found a good home.
The organization doesn’t limit itself to just dogs.
As Vlasek explained, on any given day dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and snakes all could drop by the office.
They’ve also started a program called The All About Animals Class, in which they teach children the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, as well as the often forgotten lesson that a pet is not a toy.
“We can’t just condemn people for not knowing any better,” Vlasek said. “We have to teach them and make a difference. People can go on and on to say that this is wrong but does anyone try to understand? It’s having patience and teaching children from an early age.”
Although they are branching out into educating the public, Vlasek says the purpose of Saving Sage remains as always, to save animals that are out in the streets.
“Even with animal control and the humane organization, the number of stray animals is so overwhelming, any one organization would have a hard time,” Vlasek said.
It isn’t a placid life to be sure and not one, Vlasek ever saw herself having when she answered that fateful phone call in 2012.
“I never dreamed that it would turn into something like this,” Vlasek said. “Sometimes I want my old life back when the phone doesn’t ring all the time, but it’s something I can some day look back and be proud of.”
While it isn’t always easy, Vlasek said that it is rewarding.
“We’ve saved dogs that were days away from being put to sleep and we get pictures,” Vlasek said. “[We] develop friendships from the people who adopt them. It will inspire people to get involved and it spreads and I think it feels awesome to be able to express this. Everyone has their own battle, this is the one that I choose.”
Saving Sage is located at 212 NE 98th St in Miami Shores, FL, 33138.for information on volunteering, fostering, or adopting, visit their webpage at http://www.savingsagerescue.org
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Photo Credits: Saving Sage Animal Rescue
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Fake American Embassy In Ghana Forged Visas For A Decade
Media outlets, government officials and citizens of the world were all astounded when news reports arose that a fake embassy in Ghana had been selling US visas for the past decade without arousing any suspicion.
For a decade, an American flag flew outside a battered pink building in Ghana, welcoming unsuspecting, out of town tourists.
Inside a painting of Barack Obama, the current President of the United States adorned the wall.
Located in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, the embassy sold illegally obtained authentic visas for a price of up to $6,000.
The embassy was said to be operated by a criminal network made up of Ghanaian and Turkish gangsters.
Operatives posed as consular officers and staffed the operation in the fake embassy.
The operatives were not American but spoke English and Dutch.
The State Department issued a statement which said “The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored.”
The officials also said that the embassy was shut down in the summer after a tip from an informant reached the Regional Security office.
Raids conducted resulted in the arrest of a number of operatives and also to the seizure of authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone visas as well as passports from over 150 countries.
Here is the actual US Embassy. Spot the difference?
It is unknown as to how the criminals managed to get their hands on these authentic visas.
The fake embassy was in stark contrast to the real US embassy which is a heavily fortified complex located in one of the country’s most expensive neighborhoods.
The fake embassy was open three days a week and did not accept walk-in customers. Instead, advertising was done openly on billboards.
Despite the size of the scam, the State Department told the Associated Press that no people entered the United States by using forged visas.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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