moments when I believe in capital punishment

I'm glad in the case below that this oxygen thief has been jailed for three years but I doubt it will reform him, more likely to amplify his hideous nature.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7063366.stm

Poor, poor woman, such an undiginified death.

cute. and true.

cats. gotta love em.

the buffalo shall return

this does take a little while for something to happen but watch it all the way through, its amazing.

Today, buffalos are the bomb.

mentalism from across the pond #8765

you can only laugh [or you would cry]

For the women of Texas, USA, I'll collect/use/enjoy dildo's on your behalf [apologies mum]

smokin!

well done my dear, you rock.

fake bruises, fake campaign?

Below I ranted about Benetton being a bunch of low-life, exploitative assholes because of their 'colours of domestic violence' campaign. Well it seems it aint the work of Benetton after all

I'll say sorry when I'm absolutely sure this is the case.

ditto love

There is a lot of talk about lovely Beth Ditto, from the downright vile to the highest praise but all I care about is that she has an effin amazing voice, enigmatic presence and is a beautiful woman.

I would rather have her as a role model for young women than someone like this

anything to sell a sweater

This [via the F word] actually made my jaw drop.

Benetton cant seriously think they are highlighting the plight of abused women by 'using' them to advertise their overpriced and frankly ugly clothing can they?

If this was a serious campaign, with money heading in the direction of shelters and organisations for victims of domestic violence, then I may be able to forgive the unsavoury fashion house. However as this seems to not be the case and they are still peddling their expensive , [probably sweat shop produced] clothing to the world, I would urge all to steer well clear of them.

They have just been double added to my list of hideous capitalist greed vs ethical consumerism in the NAY column.

go on steal it I dare you...

Arf.

Not my bike but a sculpture in Vancouver. With my current security fixation, my Mabel may soon look the same.

link via boing boing

tears on a friday [good ones]

this made me cry laughing

and this one

I heart 'my cat hates you'

Their bodies are a battleground...

While browsing through the F – Word, I happened upon this video http://www.irinnews.org/audiofiles/071220067.wmv about Female Gential Mutilation or FGM. It is distressing and fairly gruesome to watch but it certainly highlights the plight of some 8-10 million*** girls that suffer this ritualistic mutilation.

It occurs to me [particularly when some smart ass points it out] that although us white middle class women, that fight the good fight for feminism, may well have ‘come a long way baby’ practices such as FGM remind me that we have not even scratched the surface. So long as there are women and girls in the world who are forbidden/incapable of speaking out for themselves, we need to spread the word and put pressure on those governments & religious leaders to stop this most hideous and brutal of practices. Amnesty International already cover this and do some work toward eradicating FGM but there are other orginisations that you can read about or join here

While reading the facts on this site I came across this statement, a justification for the mutilation:

In various cultures there are many "justifications" for these practices. A girl who is not circumcised is considered "unclean" by local villagers and therefore unmarriageable. A girl who does not have her clitoris removed is considered a great danger and ultimately fatal to a man if her clitoris touches his penis.

Here in the western world, many have jested about the ever ‘elusive’ clitoris but to my knowledge no man has EVER died due to contact with the little love button. It infuriates me to think that those people hiding behind their religion and culture in order to condone and continue this brutality, are for the most part men.

Quelle Suprise?

*** taken from http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/fgmintro.php

Opting out?

I found this video via feministing and think it has real relevance to an event I am helping to co-ordinate at the ICA in London called 'Can Women Have It All?' which is a series of interviews with high profile women who appear to have achieved the work/life balance perfectly.

Feminaissance?

According to the Guardian Unlimited feminist art is on the up again. I happen to think that it has always been there, ever present, but like most things it really just depends on the exposure it gets. Women [and some men] artists the world over continue to make art that challenges the contructs of gender identity, that challenges the traditionally patriarchal art history and that gets to the heart of gender politics wherever they occur in the world.

As a feminist and artist myself, I always feel like there are going to be moments when it is considered trendy again to have my 'cunt art' on display, however to make art on the basis of pursuing trends would be a futile and soul destroying exsistence.

I do think it is great that feminist or indeed women artists get more exposure, I'm sure the Guerilla Girls [ one of my favourite exhibitions at the Tate Modern ] would say it's been a long time coming and we aint there yet but we need to celebrate when it does happen and push, push push for more events, more exposure and a more equal representation of female artists in our museums and art galleries around the world.

America does seem to be at the forefront of campaigning and pushing for more feminist/women art with events and exhibitions like the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles as well as Global Feminisms, an exhibition that launches a permanent new wing of New York's Brooklyn Museum, the Elizabeth A Sackler Centre for Feminist Art. I guess we here in the UK need to do more to be better represented.

I remember the first time I saw slides of Judy Chicago's 'The Dinner Party', I was completely gobsmacked at the visual impact of so many vaginas as dinner plates, dedicated to the most inspiring women through history that it instantly inspired me to commit my final year art school degree work to the joy and wonder of the cunt/vulva/vagina. As the badge on the right hand side of my website states, I still love my cunt and although I may not be making as much art as I used to, that statement will always ring true and I hope to inspire other women to do so too.

poor little idiot

As reported on the BBC news website, Miss Hilton is soon to be a jailbird. Not a moment too soon I say, as I consider her a complete menace to society.

One can only hope she reads a book or two while incarcerated [and no Paris, Vogue is not a book]

Mum, YOU ROCK!

I love my mum for a multitude of reasons, not least because she birthed me, clothed me and fed me for a good 20 years and had to endure the rather hideous teenage years [I was a teenage goth, enough said] but I also have great respect for her as a woman, as she instilled all my feminist values in me from a very young age and lived them as best she could herself. She also has my utmost respect for being a compassionate human being that works tirelessly with the elderly mentally infirm as a nurse. Every day I marvel at the patience, love and understanding she has for the elderly and I am dumbfounded at how well she deals with the suffering and loss. She is a bloody great woman and I love her a great deal. With this in mind, for the few of you that do read this blog, please go here. It's a campaign run by the Fawcett Society, to get every premiership footballer [including the SPL] to donate a day's wages to a fund to help support the UK's nurses.

I think it is a damn fine idea and besides, the WAG's could do without a designer handbag in the name of supporting women that actually work for a living, cant they?

Gotta love this woman

The artwork for Bjork's new album Volta [due out May 7th]. She said this about the album:

The album cover is meant to evoke pagan femininity and, to some degree, feminism, which is a running theme throughout the music of Volta. "It's not necessarily about me as a woman, but just women," Björk told Stosuy. "Kind of that long leap of 10,000 years back, when they [were] in harmony with nature, and just little things like the fact that there are 13 full moons in a year and most women have certain things happening to them 13 times a year, but Christianity wanted to have 12 months, just to try to put that off." "It's sort of trying to put out some good vibes for the little princesses out there. There are actually other things than losing a glass slipper. I mean, part of it was having a little daughter and realizing, what are we telling girls? All these books out there about finding your prince. All these little girls, all they want to do is be pretty and find their prince, and I'm like, what happened to feminism here?"

Can hardly wait.

excerpt from pitchfork

another reason to despise China

Today, the news from China, a country that still thinks it is OK to breed tigers for their traditional 'medicines' and have bears perform like circus clowns, there comes some rather worrying news. China is preparing to call for a lift of the ban in tiger products. Xiongsen is the world's largest battery farm of tigers, bred not only for their 'entertainment' value to visitors but for their ultimate use in traditional 'medicines'. This treatment of endangered animals as a disposable commodity makes me sick to my stomach and despair of human beings. In addition to their atrocious record of human rights violations, they seem unperturbed at their abuse of endangered species as well.

China, you should be ashamed of yourself.

more on this story here

EDIT:

more shockingly disgusting behaviour from China

Things I love about London #0001

This will be a series of things I love about London.

#0001 - the fact that my bike ride to and from work features both Abbey rd and Wimpole St.

just when you think....

that we, as women, are advancing in this old patriarchy, something like this comes along and makes you wanna rant, loudly.

I mean sure, football is a sport predominantly played by men, supported by men and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

See? that's what happens when football is mentioned, loud snoring from sheer boredom.

I really could not care less about the sport itself but really, having a cunt does not disqualify you from commentating on football. Particularly as this woman played the sport herself and is as well qualified if not more so than any arm chair pundit out there who shouts at the telly on a Sat afternoon.

Time to play nice boys.

Anti-feminist Bingo!

brought to you via feministe and by hoyden about town

If I had a quid for every time I had read or heard most of those statements/opinions I would be a very rich lady or a winner at Bingo.

cutest kid and future feminist

I know this has done the rounds already but it is seriously cute.

amusing take on life, love & the music industry

Ethical is like so cool, so chic, dontcha know?

Observer Woman Monthly, yet again manages to make me [and others] seethe.

This month, 'Ethical is Chic', allegedly. Does ethical living really need to be 'sold' to us in a fashion package in order for us to take it seriously? Will wearing Stella McCartney** heels, an Edun dress and swinging an Anya Hindmarch handbag really make me sleep better at night? Well the Vogue girls say yes, so I guess that's it settled. As if the bloody fashionistas out there dont make us 'normal' [ for normal read, not a size zero, prone to picking up a bargain in Primark and never likely to spend £1000 on a designer handbag] women feel bloody worthless enough, now we are not even fashionable enough to be green. Well screw you OWM [ I channel Cartman every now and then] my ethical status is just fine thank you, I can live without fashion facism invading yet another sphere of my life, so bugger off.

And as if all that ethical is chic guff was not enough to incite my wrath, they had to go and print this utter shite

an excerpt:

Introducing then, the Cadogram Agency, a collection of seducers, rakes and immoral (yet highly handsome) men, available for hire. Promising an antidote to 'dreary dates' with 'boorish dullards', Piper and his pals (collective girlfriend count: 'several thousand') offer 'a zest- filled lightning encounter with a masterly raconteur, a rakish man of the world ... Someone,' they say, 'who will hold doors open for you, take command of the situation', and 'pay you undivided attention in the most stylish manner'. Quite a boast. They will also compliment your eyes, look at your arse and flirt with your mate. You can put money on it. Money which, it's fair to say, you'll be splashing around like dirty water - an evening with one of the eight cads available costs £500, and dinner's on you. 'Yes, you'll go somewhere swanky and nobby,' David says, 'perhaps the Wolseley, or Claridge's, and he'll turn up 45 minutes late, drunk.' So far, so fine. 'Then he'll proceed to charm you thoroughly, and get you excited about your future, talking about holidays you could go on, and trips you could take together. It'll never happen.' Sweet. 'He'll keep the intensity rising, while constantly cutting away at it by flirting with the waitress, and returning from the toilet with lipstick traces on his collar. And all night he'll be secretly stealing taxi money.'

OH right, so that's what's been missing from my life! An opportunity to spend £500 + for an evening with an utter bastard. Think I'll decline thanks, I've over spent on bastards already this month.

FOR. THE. LOVE. OF. JEBUS.

*takes myself off to count to ten, to stop shaking and to clean my keyboard from all the spit that was the result of my vitriolic outburst

**for the record I really like Stella McCartney, she shares the same values as me [vegan, PETA member] but I still aint gonna spend nearly £500 on your shoes love.

another sad loss

And so time to say goodbye to one of my favourite authors and indeed favourite humans. I didn't think I would warm to his war stories and quirky sci-fi tales but he really did engage me and had just about the best attitude to life. You will be missed Mr Vonnegut but your fabulous books will remain. May you rest in peace.

Mourning Miles

It is with great sadness that I post this today.

My good friend Jill Mingo's little grey gentleman died in the early hours of this morning, in his owners arms. He got ill quite suddenly and was diagnosed with a tumour in his belly and not long to live. This was little over a week ago.

He lived a great life with the gregarious, loyal and outrageous Jill Mingo. He came to her approx 14 years ago, from a cat rescue home and soon enough settled down as Jill's little grey husband. Through all Jill trials and tribulations, he has been a constant friend and companion and shared his hosting/entertaining skills with Jill, in a laid back, perfectly feline way.

I loved the little fella, much like I love all the great cats I have ever known, he was gorgeous and sweet and if he were human, would have been a silver haired fox of a man.

May you rest in peace little man, I have a feeling that somewhere, somehow you may well be keeping some of Jill's other favourite people company, miss Anna Nicole Smith & mr James Brown.

well bloody done

This blog OWMMMS fills me with joy, particularly for a line like this:

"WHAT THE SHITTING FUCKERY IS GOING ON HERE?"

Do go and read this blog, particularly if paging through Obsever Woman's Monthly makes you feel ill and you are not quite sure why.

On yer Bike...

In the spirit of it being [almost] spring, I, in a moment of madness, bought a bicycle to commute on[look at her, aint she sweet? Her name is Mabel] Knowing me, this will be a very short lived phase of 'lets get fit and save some money on bus fare', if only because my lifetime habit of sheer laziness will win. It is a very lovely little thing, soon to be fitted with a girly basket on the front. If I were riding my bike with the view to attracting the opposite sex, this would be an entirely futile excercise not just because of the high visibility waitcoat and equally attractive luminous trouser straps but also because of my bright red, make-up-less face. So very bloody sexy indeed. Anyway I had better be more concerned with the death machines better known as London buses and taxi's than with looking sexy. I sense a whole lot of cyclist road rage to come.

Cunt Ownership

A reason, if you really need one, to shout very loudly & despair of the Christian right wing of America.

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/02/05/dates-with-daddy/#more-4456

For those Americans [or anyone in the world, I know we are in the minority] that still believe a girl/woman's cunt & indeed her body, belongs to her and HER ALONE, I salute you. For those that that disagree, bite me.

quickest route to broken fingers

A word of warning to all the young men out there that think one of the rules of seduction is a big bloke hand ruffling the perfectly quoiffed hairdo of a grown woman.

Just dont do it, ok? Like, ever.

a can of cinnamon whoopass

Never thought I would get to the stage of an official complaint to Ofcom. I only wish I did live in some bloody awful twee/quaint/bordering on Royston Vasey type town, so I could sign off, Disgusted, Buckinghamshire.

Here is the complaint:

The advert was a woman on a night out, clearly enjoying herself and having a drink with friends. It was implied that she was drunk and during the course of the evening spurned the advances of a man. When she was on the way home, the spurned man attacked and raped her. The final tag line for the advert was some or other statistic reporting that a high % of woman that are raped are drunk. I am complaining because women being drunk does NOT CAUSE rape. Men [drunk or otherwise] rape women. Being drunk or otherwise does NOT prevent it. This is a highly ill informed and irresposible message for the GOVERNMENT to be advertising. I would suggest it is taken off the air immediately.

I would love to think that my complaint would get through to the correct folks in our good ol government but I sincerely doubt it. Still, it is always good to make a, what I feel is legitimate, complaint. Terribly un-British of me I know. Should there be anyone out there who wishes to join me in complaining, please do so here http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/complaints_form/ . The advert was on BBC 6 music, 27 Jan 07 approx 9:30pm.

Guaranteed bruises and broken ankles

I am gonna get me a pair of these babies and perhaps one of these to protect the noggin

Then, I am gonna go along to meet the fantastic London Roller Girls and see just how long it takes me to fall flat on my face and break my nose [I estimate about 3mins].

Expect the above items to be on ebay in a few weeks, when yet another fabulous idea for getting fit and being sociable comes crashing down about me. Feel free to send bandages in the meantime.

It's Friday! Song of the day...

"Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. Preferably played so loud that when your colleagues come into your office they have to shout over to it to be heard. Go Aretha!

perfection personified

Physical attributes in a man that are likely to make go all squidgy and/or make me wanna instantly marry them:

• dark hair
• tattoos
• sideburns
• black nail varnish
• black eyeliner
• more tattoos

I appreciate that those particular attributes may make me seem like an Emo bloke botherer but no, this is what I'm after

Dave, Dave, Dave soon you will realise that what you REALLY need in your life is mz Cin.McBad. You will need to get rid of the fags though, although heart stoppingly sexy, I dont wanna snog an ashtray. Thanks darling.

*heads off to dream of the lovely Mr Gahan and be delusional elsewhere

pity the poor fool

I stumbled across this quote again today and it still makes me wanna pee my pants laughing:

"[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians" ~Pat Robertson

The Joy of slap

Not content with just being generally run down, moody, STILL having a cold and suffering from S.A.D and the fact that January sucks ass, my skin has decided to look grey and bland. This is despite lashings of my new favourite MAC blusher. I do however have the following two products to thank, for a ton of compliments that were recently lavished upon me.. These wonder products are Clarins Beauty flash balm, which is like a teeny tiny team of pixies pinching your skin and making it all fresh and wonderful looking when really all it wants to do is sink beneath the duvet and sleep for at least another 5 hours [or until your damn snooze button harps on, AGAIN] and touche eclat, the wonderous elixir that covers the dark circles and belies your penchant for being a dirty denizen of the wee small hours

I would hardly call myself a slave to the evil that is 'that stuff you slap on that makes you look like a painted jezebel' [the words of my dearly departed grandmother] but sometimes I just have to say THANK JEBUS for the stuff. If only so that I dont scare small children and animals on my daily commute to work in thatLondon.

Yay for slap.

The MO for 2007 [as it stands today, the 10th Jan]

There will be no resolutions this year, because as I always say, why change a habit of a lifetime?My other 'missbadger says Love your Cunt' blog, has now sadly departed due to stinky assed mo-fo's asking too much money to host, so this is my shiny new one. There will be none of the "dear diary" crapola found in about a million other weblogs. There will quite possibly be some political discussion but highly likely that these will start with 'them effin politicians" and end with "bunch of effin bastardos". I shall compose my more serious thoughts elsewhere. In light of my contribution to another place that sparkles, there may be some sparkly related chat but generally, I hope to discover new things on the interwebulator and pass on the knowledge. I aim to find funny, useful and otherwise perhaps not fully discussed things elsewhere and put them here for all the world to see.
I will also use the word 'cunt' but fear not those of the faint heart, it will always be used in a positive manner, there will be no deregatory mud slinging about the lovely lady garden round here.
So yeah, welcome to my new blog, please feel free to comment where you wish.
happy new year to you all
cin_mcbad xx