Hypatia of Alexandria

Tonight I watched "Agora", a 2009 Spanish film by director Alejandro Amenabar starring Rachel Weisz as Hypatia of Alexandria, a 4th century pagan mathematician sometimes credited (probably inaccurately) with inventing the astrolabe and hydrometer, but whose work on conic curves is well established.   Hypatia was brutally murdered by Christian zealots (depicted in the scene below).

The film has been criticized for being historically inaccurate.  Although Hypatia is considered "one of the mothers of mathematics", none of her work survived her death and the only information we have is from secondary sources.  Regardless of liberties taken, the film is worth watching, especially if you enjoy ancient historical dramas as I do, simply for the recreation of ancient Alexandria in the moments before the collapse of the Roman Empire (the film was shot in Malta), and for the poignant performance by Rachel Weisz.

Rational thought quashed by fundamentalism, the distrust of education and intellectual achievement (particularly of women), sexual violence as a means to intimidate an entire gender...  Is this what the 21st century proponents of the "Dark Enlightenment" advocate?

 

International Women's Day

It's International Women's Day.  I love how this "doodle" includes a brief shot of beautiful and outspoken Janet Mock, a (trans) woman activist who has become a prominent voice for transgender rights recently.  This reminds me I need to buy her new book.

Buy a T-shirt, Support the SPLC

Over here at Casa La Strega, I'm holding a little fundraiser for the Southern Poverty Law Center, and you're all invited.  (If this were real life, I would have an open bar, but as we're all on the internet, I can only send you a virtual martini, purtroppo.)  For a mere $15.00+ you can purchase this t-shirt through cafepress.  A third of the proceeds will go to the SPLC.  This is set up as a fundraiser, so you only have 21 days to make up your mind and quantities are limited.  Hey, what's more cheerful for spring than a yellow cotton shirt with a merry little bee stalking dangerously buzzing merrily about? C'mon, you know you want one!

A Heartening Post by Pharyngula

This story on PZ Myer's blog today, about an Indian man who invented a way to make disposable sanitary napkins affordable to poor women, is truly inspiring.  I totally love that he recognized what a struggle maintaining menstrual hygiene was for the women in his village. 

We take disposable tampons and napkins for granted, but in fact they're a fairly recent development.  I remember my grandmother describing how the women in her family had a special bucket in which to soak blood-stained rags in preparation for Wash Day.  It was hidden in a dark corner of the basement, a shameful and disgusting receptacle, vigilantly kept from the eyes of children and menfolk.

Who Cares What Women Think?

Not the "manosphere", that's for darn sure!  I mean, do I have to spell it out for you?  "MAN-o-sphere." 

I so wish, like Matt Forney, I could learn to disregard the opinions of people for whom I have no respect.  (Even if, as in this case, that group constitutes 52% of the population.)  I'd definitely be happier and probably a lot more productive.

On the other hand... For a fellow who considers females' opinions of no consequence whatsoever, Matt F. sure does spend a lot of time tracking down any negative reactions to his opinions.  And then declaring those who dare mock him to be his "enemy" and compiling dossiers on them.  And then plotting revenge, pronouncing his sentence, and meting out his own special version of Wild West justice.

For a guy who proudly proclaims himself "the most hated man on the Internet" and who churns out bestsellers like Trolling For A Living, Matt Forney is shockingly thin-skinned.

In the same post, he re-publishes his own tweets explaining whose opinions do matter:

Matthew Forney @realmattforney Follow

The manosphere is for MEN, young men in particular. The opinions of everyone else are irrelevant.

Unfortunately, this particular tweet didn't go down too well with one of his readers, some old geezer who positions himself as a kind of General in the War On Women:

"Ultimately, it’s the old guys who have the political connections and money who hire the young men and provide resources to make things happen. Don’t ignore the old guys. If daddy ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy."

And then of course our favorite ray of "Christian" sunshine jumps in, to blather on about the gender norming of IQ tests, like anyone there gives a hoot that she "administers them as a part of my job" (that is, when she isn't crashing the boys' parties).  

Oh Mary, dear Mary, can't you read?  Even Red Pill girls haz got cooties!

This Is A Bit Rich!

Roosh, in response to criticism from his forum members for "trolling" them, lectures:

Emotionally secure people are not harmed by others perspectives, genuine or trolling. … If you feel like you are being trolled or become angry at something you read online, see if there is a way you can learn from the experience and be grateful for it.

Uh-huh.

Oh no!

I'll admit that part of the "addictive" quality of following the New Misogynists is that there always seems to be a lot of petty drama going on in their lives.  Really, the "manosphere" (and that especially includes the female bloggers), is like a huge soap opera, full of squabbles, weird sexual fantasies, and the occasional twist and turn in the story lines.  Although I think we could all see this coming.

UPDATE  It was a hoax perpetrated by Il Douche himself.  I wonder how his followers will feel about this.  It's kind of like Fawney calling his readers "retards", isn't it?  Oh these boys, what a merry crew of pranksters they are!