Miranda was a racist, and Steve was an adulterer.

My review of Sex and the City: The Movie: Hated it.

I also hated the trailers that preceded it. They looked like they were sponsored by A Whiter America, or some such supremacist group who is in deep denial about the changing demographics of the U. S. Almost every person starring in every vaguely Sex and the City-related movie was some combination of young, thin, American, white, and blatantly hetero. Except for Australia's Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, and an aboriginal child of indistinguishable gender who is somehow educated and saved by the aforementioned couple. As if Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are the right people to teach this child the history of Australia. I'm pretty sure the colonization--i.e., the rape, pillaging, and destruction of the native peoples--will be left out.

I did like spending time with my friends before and after the movie. However, I am so tired and angry at the studios who continue to perpetuate the myth that people like me, like us, don't exist. Listen up, oppressive media conglomerates: We "ethnic" people are here, some of us are queer, get used to it.

Also, if I don't take back the loser that 1) cheated on me and could have infected me with HIV or some other STD, 2) told that he didn't think that I was the one, or 3) spent the past 10 years screwing me over and tipped the iceberg by leaving me at the altar . . . don't you dare imply that I am an unforgiving witch for not welcoming said loser back in my life with open arms. That was some lazy, insulting, dangerous writing, and I sincerely resent the producers of Sex and the City: The Movie for it.

That is all.

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In Rape Today

Eight teen rapists go free after taping their crime, by Jessica at Feministing.

Eight teen boys in Australia were given a slap on the wrist after sexually assaulting a 17 year-old girl, taping the assault, and distributing it as a porn movie.

The girl was filmed performing oral sex on two boys, had her hair set alight, was spat at and urinated on during the incident at a park at Werribee, inMelbourne's outer-west, in June last year.

...A DVD of the attack - which was titled 'C**t the Movie' - was distributed throughout the community, the court heard.

The most poignant comment so far has come from Blitzgal:

You know what stands out the most for me in this case? Six guys in Jena, LA were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy for beating up a guy who was then well enough to go to a school function the same evening. They literally faced decades in prison. Many of them were the same age range as these guys. Just to put it in perspective. Rape simply isn't treated as a serious crime. Period. Bodily assault is treated with more severity.

The problem is that rape is bodily assault. So is setting someone's hair on fire. Rape is not about sexuality. It is about violence and control and humiliation. And in this case, it is about a society that encourages violence against women in particular, and condones depraved, unforgivable behavior by eight individuals who, in a different world, would be justifiably "released."

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Marital Rape, by Courtney at Feministing.

You all know I have complex feelings about my girl Oprah (evidenced by the title of my book review column), but right now she is doing a great service. I'm watching her show on marital rape and it is both horrifying and such a relief that more national airtime is being devoted to this critical and neglected issue. She just told viewers that 1.5 million American women are raped or sexually abused every year by an intimate partner...

I'm trying to watch the episode now. I get so frustrated and angry when I read these stories and I watch these shows, with these stories of women who stay in relationships with men who abuse them mentally, physically and emotionally. Women who don't recognize the abuse because they married to their abusers. Women who think their wedding vows have deservedly condemned them to a life of misery. Women who put their shattered matrimonial dreams first, and their own well-being last.

There is so much that can be said and has been said on the subjects of rape, sexual assault and abuse. Here are two more sentences:

• If you have been forced to perform sexual acts against your will, you have been raped.

• If you have forced someone to perform sexual acts without their consent, you have committed an act of rape.

For a more educated view on the subject, visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline or call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).