The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Since tomorrow is a holiday in the US, and many of the contributors and mods either have or are taking Friday off, we're going to cut the week short. We will, as always, have moderated Open Threads Thursday-Sunday.
If you are celebrating Independence Day, have a safe and fun celebration! See you Monday!
Of Course He Did
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
Thirsty jerk and bigot Senator Marco Rubio (R-Eprehensible) is planning to "introduce a bill in the Senate that would ban abortion after 20 weeks, the Weekly Standard reported on Wednesday. The bill is meant to mirror anti-abortion legislation passed last month by the House of Representatives."
And the war on agency rages on.
See also: Digby.
I'll Be Silent When I'm Dead
This morning, during the anti-choice fuckery in North Carolina, I was tweeting about the enforced silence in the General Assembly:
Also this morning, in Texas:
Texas activists, who have been working to defeat a package of abortion restrictions for the past several weeks, are back at it now that their lawmakers are taking up the measures yet again in a second special session. On Monday, an estimated 5,000 activists rallied at the state capitol. And on Tuesday, thousands of protesters registered to testify against the anti-abortion legislation.They don't want to hear the truth. They don't want to acknowledge the voices, or the humanity, of the people over whose bodies they are trying to legislate governance. They want to protect the little bubble of bullshit fantasies about abortion and who gets abortion and who performs abortions in which they exist. And when we refuse to be silent, they try to forcibly silence us. Because they don't want to hear the truth about what this legislation actually means for real people.
But early on Wednesday morning, a Texas House committee ultimately cut off the ongoing public testimony and voted to advance the contentious abortion restrictions, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks and shut down the vast majority of the abortion clinics in the state. According to the Associated Press, Republicans in the House also imposed "strict security precautions" to prevent women's health advocates from disrupting the vote.
More than 3,500 people flooded the capitol on Tuesday to register their opposition to the abortion restrictions. The AP estimates that about 1,100 of those people also signed up to testify before the House committee, although Dallas News reports that figure was actually closer to 2,300. The protesters filled up about seven overflow rooms in the capitol.
"In terms of witnesses, the system has never seen overload like this," Rep. Helen Giddings (D), the vice chairwoman of the House State Affairs Committee, noted.
Nonetheless, fewer than 100 people were actually given a chance to express their views before the committee.
Fuck them. And fuck their desperate desire for silence. I will be silent when I'm dead. Until then, I will make all the noise I can.
Which is Worse?
[Content Note: Discussion of racism]
Inspired by Deeky's post on CNN's excellent "N Word Vs Cracker" segment, I decided the world definitely needed another Tumblr.
I give you Which is Worse?
The general idea is that I take something that one or more white people have done to black people (for instance, hundreds of years of slavery) and something that one or more black people has done (Jamie Foxx once hosted Saturday Night Live). Then I pretend that the white person thing exists in a vacuum, conflate the behavior of one or more black people with the behavior of all black people at all times, and then invite readers to debate which is worse, as if a giant racist wankoff premised on a false equivalence is definitely a productive and not-at-all racist use of everyone's time.
Here's a sample:
The Supreme Court all but ended the 1965 Voting Rights Act.Six of one, A PONY.
Ice-T still has a highly successful acting career.
WHICH IS WORSE?
[Please leave your suggestions here. Comments in this space should be used for serious discussion of racist false equivalencies.]
This F@#king Guy
[Content Note: Racism; violence.]
Here is George Zimmerman, the killer of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, yukking it up in court today during testimony about what constitutes a legal use of deadly force:
U.S. Army Capt. Alexis Francisco Carter Jr. told a Florida court that Zimmerman had been "one of the better students" in a Criminal Litigation course he taught that included the state's "stand your ground" self-defense law.Rage. Seethe. Boil.
Defense attorney Don West asked Carter to explain how the self defense claim worked in Florida.
..."It's imminent injury," Carter explained. "Or imminent fear. So the fact alone that there isn't an injury doesn't necessarily mean that the person did not have a real apprehension of fear. The fact that there were injuries have a tendency to show or support that that person had a reasonable apprehension of fear."
"You don't have to wait until you're almost dead until you can defend yourself?" West asked.
"No, I would advise you probably don't do that," Carter replied.
That response prompted several seconds of laughter from the usually-emotionless Zimmerman before he was able to look downward to regain his composure.
Or maybe, in some cases, "the fact that there were injuries have a tendency to show or support" that a person being stalked and harassed by some vigilante racist asshole was himself reasonably fearful and decided to stand his ground and defend himself.
If the presence of injuries supposedly speaks to reasonable fearfulness, what does being fucking dead speak to?
It is a profound injustice that the jury at this trial is even allowed to entertain the idea that Zimmerman could have perceived himself to be in imminent danger, when at any point, he could have driven away in his vehicle, as was the recommendation of police, leaving the proximity of the unarmed teenager who he provoked and later killed.
WHAT ABOUT TRAYVON MARTIN'S RIGHT TO SAFETY?
Again, I will note that people have a right to be safe, but lots of people who actually are safe nonetheless do not feel safe. Lots of people imagine that they are going to be hurt by someone not like them, some terrorist, some gang member, some random teenage boy walking down the sidewalk with iced tea and Skittles in his hands.
Feeling safe—or not feeling safe—is at the very center of this case: George Zimmerman did not feel safe, even though he was, entirely so.
On the other hand, Trayvon Martin certainly did not feel safe—and he wasn't.
We continually privilege the feelings of safety of people whose privilege tends to insulate them from legitimate fear.
The most pointed problem with "Stand Your Ground" and other self-defense laws is that people who feel unsafe, irrespective of whether they have a legitimate reason to feel unsafe, implicitly have their fears justified. The laws intrinsically convey people are trying to hurt you and there's something scary out there and you should feel afraid, always afraid. So, ironically, these laws do not in any way encourage feelings of safety and security in fearful people. They entrench fear.
And that makes the world a very dangerous place for the people they're afraid of. People like Trayvon Martin.
Which is a goddamned punchline to George Zimmerman.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by the color blue.
Recommended Reading:
Resistance: In What World [Content Note: The post at this link contains frank discussion of white privilege and racist violence.]
Kumar: McCain Slams Efforts to Curb Rampant Campus Sexual Harassment as Violating Free Speech
Fannie: Duggar Takes Position at Family Research Council [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of misogyny and homophobia.]
Jamilah: Mayor Chokwe Lumumba Wants to Build a 'Solidarity Economy' in Jackson, Miss.
Cristan: Name the Problem [Content Note: The post at this link contains frank discussion of cis privilege, transphobia, sexual exploitation, and child abuse. On the same topic, see also: Grace.]
Mike: The Congressional Retirement Plan: Some Data Points
Melissa and Kerensa: Melissa McCarthy is Outperforming Comedy Dudes
Isabella: Gina Torres as Wonder Woman Fan Art
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Daily Dose of Cute
Dudley Q. McEwan: Nap Contortionist.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia, racism]
Today's News Brought To You By Gingerballs:
A military coup is underway in Egypt, according to President Mohamed Morsi's national security adviser. The adviser stated that he expects army and police violence to remove pro-Mursi demonstrators from the streets of Cairo.
The Obama administration will delay a crucial provision of its signature health-care law, giving businesses an extra year to comply with a requirement that they provide their workers with insurance.
A Breaking Bad spin-off about shady lawyer Saul Goodman is moving full speed ahead. Woo hoo!
You're interested in the distribution of red hair in Europe, aren't you? Of course you are.
Find out if your Congressional representative is sponsoring an anti-gay Constitutional amendment.
Hey, Dr. Who fans!: John Barrowman and his partner Scott Gill took advantage of California's new marriage laws and tied the knot yesterday. Congrats!
Also: Helen Mirren said a gay, black female Dr. Who would be best of all. No Doy!
More Paula Deen
[Content Note: Racism.]
Paula Deen evidently paid a HUGE retainer to the PR firm of Yikes & Whoops, so they continue to come up with excellent ideas for her:
On Tuesday, Deen filed a notice with the federal court hearing a race discrimination lawsuit against her, suggesting that the court should dismiss this lawsuit in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in the Prop 8 case. Last week, the Court explained that "for a federal court to have authority under the Constitution to settle a dispute, the party before it must seek a remedy for a personal and tangible harm."Setting the suit itself aside, I want to note that the idea oppression only "personally injures" the oppressed is bullshit. And I don't mean that in some garbage "reverse racism" false equivalence sense. I mean it in the sense that the personal cost of privilege is an indoctrinated lack of empathy that robs privileged people of a piece of their/our humanity. (Among other things.)
Deen is employing the precedent to claim that the white plaintiff who is suing her, Lisa Jackson, cannot bring a race discrimination suit alleging animus against African Americans because she is not personally injured by racism directed at people of another race. Deen's former restaurant employee has bi-racial nieces, however.
As a matter of law, Deen's filing is far from surprising, but it is somewhat ironic that Deen is employing a ruing that effectively struck down a discriminatory proposition and allowed [same-sex couples] to marry in California, to dismiss allegations of discrimination.
I am a person who has some axes of privilege, and some axes of marginalization, and I see as both a person who is privileged and as a person who is marginalized how privilege makes people, made/makes me, less decent, less kind, less compassionate. I have experienced the ways in which examining and being aware of one's privilege makes one more decent, more kind, more compassionate. More fully human.
The harm of institutional prejudice done to those oppressed by that prejudice is greater by several orders of magnitude than the harm done to those privileged by that prejudice. There is no parity on the opposing sides of oppression. But there is harm on both sides, irrespective of whether we are willing to see (or care about) that harm.
We all have a personal interest in dismantling bias. Is what I'm saying.
Which would be evident if we didn't mask the reality that it is not being a marginalized person, but being a privileged person, that has the capacity to make us less than. Less than what we could be.
(All of which is to say nothing of the "personal interest," that isn't meant to count, of just giving a shit about meaningful equality because it is ethical.)
Quote of the Day
"I do think that what's going on here in Texas shows that [Governor Rick Perry] has courage and is a principled leader, and ultimately this is a good fight for him."—Republican strategist Rob Johnson, on whether Perry will run for president again in 2016.
HA HA FUCK YOU.
That, right there, says everything you need to know about the Republican Party. They are willing to wage legislative assault on half the population, because it's "good for" their political fortunes.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina...
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
Republican legislators in the North Carolina state senate have tacked on "a suite of new restrictions and regulations pertaining to abortion clinics" to "House Bill 695, which prohibits the recognition of foreign law, such as Islamic Sharia law, in family courts." This last-minute addition was "was unveiled unexpectedly during an unusual late-day committee meeting," because, according to Republican State Senator Buck Newton, who chairs the Judiciary 1 Committee, "It just took a while for there to be a consensus of support for it within our caucus. Sometimes these things come together at the last minute."
Except, after a recess called in an all-day session at 5:20, which had no abortion bills scheduled for consideration, the committee reconvened at 5:30 and immediately "took up an amendment to revise HB 695 to include the regulations on abortion." Further:
"They're doing it quietly on Fourth of July weekend because they've seen what's going on in Texas and know that women will turn out," Melissa Reed, vice president of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems said, referring to the protests surrounding a similar bill in Texas. She said Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights advocates had no idea the measure would be taken up Tuesday.So pro-choice advocates were not notified, and anti-choice advocates were. Because when Republicans can't win outright, they break the rules.
Lobbyists with nonprofits that have religious or moral purposes, including the Family Policy Council, Christian Action League and N.C. Values Coalition, were in the room for the committee debate and the subsequent Senate floor debate. Senators noted that those lobbyists were given notice of the bill and its contents ahead of time.
The amended bill "tentatively passed" the Senate yesterday, and there will be further debate again today before the bill is returned to the House for a vote.
On the Senate floor, Democrats objected to the measure being pushed through so unexpectedly.No. No, it is not appropriate. This behavior is anything but appropriate.
"This bill and this process is not worthy of this chamber," said Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake. He said the process circumvented the public's ability to learn about legislation before it was discussed and voted on.
...As for amending the bill and bringing it to the floor right away, [Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger] said, "It is not something that is unheard of. It is not something that is inappropriate, in my opinion."
NARAL North Carolina has information about how to take action here. If you're in Raleigh, and can get to the General Assembly, head on over there for a protest to let them know that pro-choice North Carolina is watching and has a voice.
You can watch a live feed of the debate here.
If you have other suggestions for how best to support choice in North Carolina and let Republican legislators there know the nation is watching them, please leave them in comments.
[H/T to Shaker purplefinch.]
UPDATE: The NC Senate has approved the bill. It now goes to the House for a concurrence vote. Republican Governor Pat McCrory has not indicated whether he will sign the bill, but said in a statement: "When the Democrats were in power, this is the way they did business. It was not right then and it is not right now. Regardless of what party is in charge or what important issue is being discussed, the process must be appropriate and thorough." All right then. So show that you're the allegedly more principled party and veto it.
Question of the Day
What is your favorite album released in the 1990s?
(Yes, re-releases and best-of collections totally count.)
Home Improvements for Guests
[Content Note: Bugs.]
A little later in the evening, Iain called me into the bathroom to look at something.
Photo of the Day
Fireworks burst over Tahrir Square in Cairo on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people again turned out to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood-backed administration of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. [AP Photo]The Guardian has live updates on the protests in Egypt here.
Dispatches from the Zimmerman Trial
[Content Note: Racism; eliminationist violence.]
The George Zimmerman trial, and much of the media coverage thereof, is a racist clusterfuck and a total disgrace. There are times when I start to write something, and I don't know what else to say besides that. The treatment of Rachel Jeantel is a disgrace. The defense's case is a disgrace. The defense team's behavior out of court is a disgrace. This isn't what justice should look like. I am not such a fool, however, as to believe this is not what it looks like for marginalized people most of the time.
In this morning's testimony, the lead investigator on the case (which originally did not even charge Zimmerman with the killing of Trayvon Martin), Chris Serino, was asked by prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda whether referring to people as "fucking punks," as Zimmerman did on the non-emergency call he placed to police before killing Martin, is indicative of "ill will or spite," which is a reference to the second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman, a conviction for which is contingent on the state proving he acted with ill will and spite. Serino conceded that it did.
But when defense attorney Mark O'Mara asked Serino if "these assholes always get away," a phrase Zimmerman also used during the same call, demonstrated ill will or spite, Serino replied: "If I may, not towards and individual—it seemed like more of a generalization."
One of the central pieces of this case is that George Zimmerman saw Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager minding his own business, as a threat, a "fucking punk," for no reason other than that he was black, a prejudice which is born of monolithizing an entire community. That's what racism is.
And yet now a police officer testifies in the trial of that racist killer that "these assholes always get away" isn't ill will or spite, because it's a "generalization" about an entire community, rather than a specific comment about Trayvon Martin.
The whole fucking point is that George Zimmerman didn't see Trayvon Martin as an individual. And now the very fact of his generalized, nonspecific hatred might be the thing that sees him freed.
Whut.
I don't even begin to know what to do with this information:
Over the Christmas break of 2010, Mitt Romney and his family took an internal poll on whether he should run for president once more. Twelve family members cast ballots. Ten said no. One of the 10 was Mitt Romney himself.OH WELL THE FAMILY HAS VOTED AND THAT IS LEGALLY BINDING! YOU ARE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT LIKE IT OR NOT, MITT ROMNEY!
In an interview with [the Washington Post's Dan Balz, author of a forthcoming book on the 2012 election] that's placed at the very end of "Collision 2012," Romney explained that he ultimately decided to run when he saw the other (leaving-something-to-be-desired) candidates in the GOP field.Huh. Welp, you should have saved yourself a lot of time and energy, because you didn't have a good chance of defeating President Obama, either. And, while I am admittedly a silly, bleeding-heart, ninny-brained lady who doesn't know the first thing about big man business like politics, I have long been under the impression that believing people are entitled to food is a requisite perspective for running a nation.
"I didn't think that any one of them had a good chance of defeating the president," he told Balz, "and in some cases I thought that they lacked the experience and perspective necessary to do what was essential to get the country on track."
(Nope. I am never letting that go. NEVER.)
Daily Dose of Cute
Video Description: Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt lies on the floor of my office beside my chair, wagging her tail. Dudley the Greyhound is lying sprawled out beside her. She turns her head and startles to see Matilda the Cat standing there. Matilda squeaks. "What do you want?" I ask. Tilsy squeaks in response, and keeps chattering as she walks away. Zelly watches her. "What do you think she wants, Zelda?" I ask. Zelly looks at Tils. "Tell me," I whisper. She looks at me. "Tell me." Tilsy squeaks. "What does the kitty cat want?" I ask. Zelly looks at me and cocks her head quizzically. Tilsy squeaks. "Do you think she wants treats?" Zelly cocks her head very interestedly. "Do YOU want treats?" I ask. Cocked head; waggy tail. Tilsy squeaks. "Do you want a little bone?" I ask. She hops up. Dudley sits up. "Yes?! You do?" I pan to Dudley, who is looking at me intently now. "Do you want a little bone, Dudley?" I pan back to Zelly. "You do?! Should we go get little bones?" Zelly waits patiently, looking at me with her tail wagging. "Come on," I say, as I move to stand up, "let's go." Zelly hops excitedly and Dudz gets to his feet. "Let's go get 'em!" Dudley stretches lazily. "Oh, big stretch." Zelly stands at my knee. "Are you excited?" She grins and looks at Dudley. "Do you want little bones?" Dudz touches the camera with his nose. "Okay!"
For the record: "Little bones" = any dog treat.
Also for the record: Everyone got treats. Because YAY IT'S A DAY!!!
In The News
[Content note: Racism, homophobia, sexual abuse]
News and Information for July 2:
Soledad O'Brien will become a special correspondent for Al Jazeera America's flagship primetime show America Tonight.
Marriage equality will happen and be legal in Australia, the new Deputy Prime Minister has promised.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan moved millions in funds to protect them from sexual abuse victims seeking claims against the Catholic Church. Just like Jesus would do!
Related: The Bible Episode II: The Empire Strikes Back is coming to NBC after the network outbid the History channel for the sequel.
Warthog piglets! Warthog piglets!
The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma is preparing to bid on the 2024 Summer Olympic games, and their using the Trail of Tears as part of their marketing effort.
And, lastly: I don't know.
Headline of the Day
Care of the Texas Tribune: Abortion Rights Activists Descend on Capitol.
DESCEND! Like locusts. Or zombies, maybe.
Opponents of Republican-backed legislation to dramatically curtail abortion rights in Texas descended on the Capitol by the thousands on Monday, spurred on by musicians, celebrities and their new hero: filibustering state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.DESCENDED BY THE THOUSANDS! Meanwhile, 100 anti-choice fuckheads who think they have a claim of ownership of those DESCENDERS' bodies marched peaceably in support of their inherently violent ideology.
Meanwhile, about 100 supporters of the omnibus abortion legislation marched to the Capitol on Monday morning to a press conference orchestrated by women who deeply regretted their decision to have an abortion.
The abortion rights rally drew a crowd that organizers estimated to be roughly 5,000 people and featured performances by Bright Light Social Hour — the band introduced a new song with one word, "Wendy" — and singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks.
Fat Guy Falling
[Content Note: Fat bias.]
Yesterday, in my review of The Heat, I drew a comparison between the way Melissa McCarthy's character is drawn and the way Kevin James, despite being a super athletic fat guy, is routinely portrayed as a clumsy fat doofus for laughs. This morning, I read that there is a Tumblr called "The Kevin James Falling Record," which is a "public record documenting how many times Kevin James falls down in each of his movies."
The author of the site has also compiled a video documenting "Every Moment of Kevin James Falling in his Entire Film Career," which is a supercut "of every moment of Kevin James falling down in a feature film from 2005 to 2012."
[Video Description: Scene after scene of Kevin James falling down in his various films.]
Total number of pratfalls: 64.
Now, there are a lot of comedic actors who fall a lot in their movies, and there is certainly a tradition in slapstick comedy of men "getting hurt" for laughs. (See: The Three Stooges.) But there is also a very specific tradition of fat men pratfalling, and "getting hurt," for laughs, which is funny in the specific way that fat people falling is regarded as extra funny. YouTube has an entire section of videos of fat people falling. There is a Facebook page dedicated to Fat People Falling Down, which explains on its About page:
Double points if they're eating whilst they take their epic tumble.When you search for "fat people falling," Google helpfully offers these related searches:
Whether you're walking down the street, at the mall, or just hiding in the bushes, we all get a strange sense of joy and happiness that is rival only to Christmas morning or a celebrity nipple slip when we see a rather portly individual lose their balance and start to wobble. The Germans...have a word for this, that word is "Schadenfreude" which is a psychological term that suggests that an individual gets some form of pleasure from the misfortunes of others. As far as we here at "fat people falling down" are concerned, the bigger the other, the bigger the pleasure.
Kevin James is just giving The People what they want: Lots and lots of images of a fat person falling down.
But why do The People want that? Well. I think we know.
It's not that Melissa McCarthy never falls in The Heat (or any other film). It's not that I'm suggesting Kevin James should never fall in a film. It's that there's a line between being a fat comedic actor who occasionally does pratfalls, and being a Professional Falling Fat Person who lets audiences delight in your mistreatment. And Kevin James is way the hell over that line.
It grieves me to see someone so genuinely graceful use his talents to indulge fat-hating humor, by playing to the pernicious stereotype that all fat people are clumsy, disastrous wrecks whose bodies are never more delightful than when they're being harmed.
[Note: Lest anyone mistakenly imagine I am holding Kevin James responsible for something over which he has no control, I will note once again that he is a writer and/or producer on most of these projects.]
Welp
[Content Note: Racism.]
So, this happened last night:
[CNN talking head panel with the headline: "N Word Vs 'Cracker': Which Is Worse?"]
Oof. Okay, CNN, I'm no Race Relations PhD or a News Media Genius, but I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that the word you couldn't actually bring yourself to spell out is worse.
One thing is pretty great though: Look at all the shade being thrown in that picture. Maybe CNN should stick to talking about muffins.
I'm Sorry That I'm Not Funnier About Abortion
[CN: denial of agency, reproductive rights issues, privilege].
Rob Walker has a problem with the fake reviews on Amazon for Wendy Davis' running shoes. Apparently, they are just not funny enough:
I’ll leave it to others to determine what the Davis story means for politics; I am concerned about what it all means for goofing off on the Internet.Oh thank goodness. I was afraid no-one would address this key aspect of Davis' heroic filibuster. What with all the bodily autonomy and such, I hadn't even considered: are people supporting the right to choice funny enough?
... The Amazon page for Mizuno Women's Wave Rider 16 Running Shoe quickly filled up with hundreds of fake “reviews,” which various observers pronounced “awesome,” “passionate,” and “trenchant.”THE HORROR! THE HORROR! I wept, gently, for the crimes of my fellow pro-choicers. If only we had remembered that our primary purpose was to provide entertainment for the Doodz of Mt. Privilege! PLAY ON, PLAYERS!!!
But when I actually read the reviews, I discovered something no one seemed to be mentioning: They are not funny.
Consider these alleged highlights: “Guaranteed to outrun patriarchy.” “I tried on a pair at the local mall and suddenly Texas Republicans started telling me what to do with my genitals.” “If you are looking for a shoe that will never yield to the floor, pressure or good ol’ fashioned boy’s club bullying this is the shoe for you.” “Even if you wear these gems without sox for three days straight, they still smell better than a republican Lt. Governor who tries to push a low through past midnight.”HAHAHAHAHAHAA! Er.... I mean, uh, nope! That is definitely not funny. NOT FUNNY.
Whatever your politics may be, I seriously doubt you’re laughing at any of that.
Unless of course, you've actually had had to outrun patriarchy. If you live in a world where a state-sponsored inherently violent ideology threatens your health, reproductive capacity, and life. If defending agency is more important to you than preserving the "creative inspiration and genuine hilarity" of Amazon reviews.
Because as long as you're in a position where you don't have to give a shit about any of that uterus stuff, then I guess you can write the following with a straight face:
The Davis shoe responses do something altogether different – repurposing Amazon review space into just another medium for the same old party-line cheap shots. They are about as entertaining as status update along the lines of “there goes [Fox/MSNBC] again, distorting the truth!” or the childish name-calling of any given comment thread.Ah, yes, partisan name-calling. Because sure, complaining on World Net Daily that MSNBC refuses to cover Obama's nefarious plan to turn America into a Communist paradise via accessible healthcare and tastefully designed shoe racks is just like pointing out the horrors of the GOP's mandatory forced childbirth policies. It's almost exactly the same, except for where one is an unfounded conspiracy theory with interesting accessories, and the other is the state-sponsored valuation of fetuses above the rights of actually born human beings.
(But not human beings that matter, apparently.)
Well, send me a postcard from Mount Privilege sometime, Mr. Walker. I hear it's a beautiful view.
Take Your Boobs to the White House Watch
[Content Note: Misogyny; rape culture.]
This piece in Politico by Maggie Haberman is incredible—and a perfect example of why this series exists:
For Democrats, there is no fallback: It's Hillary Clinton or probably a long bout of depression ahead of 2016.That is the opening fucking line. If Hillary Clinton doesn't run for president, everyone will be depressed, and it will be her fault! Wow.
Let me say again that I realize Hillary Clinton has unfathomably thick skin at this point, and I strongly suspect if she had any reaction to that kind of garbage, it would be "HA HA FUCK YOU." I don't imagine Clinton needs me to personally defend her, nor do I believe her decision about whether to run for the presidency will be significantly influenced by this kind of media, but I am deeply contemptuous that any woman in public life would be spoken about and written about in such coercive way.
The hope of retaining the White House in an open-seat election is very real — and the letdown that will set in among Democratic activists and operatives will be very deep if Clinton takes a pass on a campaign, as she may well do.She's going to let people down! Doesn't she know that women aren't allowed to disappoint people?
She has said she has yet to make up her mind, but few in the party believe that.Come on, baby—your mouth is saying maybe, but we all know that means yes.
The Clintons' ambition and the chance to make history as the first female president, they figure, will overpower any reticence about another grueling campaign or spending her golden years carrying the burdens of the world's weightiest job.Everyone knows how ambitious that
"We would be at sea in a lifeboat with no food, no water, and no land in sight," said one veteran Democratic operative who has worked on presidential campaigns, and who, like most people interviewed for this story, asked for anonymity to speak candidly about the former first lady. "There is no Plan B." It would be, the operative said, a "gut punch" to the Democratic party.If Hillary Clinton doesn't run, she will abandon us at sea to DIE! But not before punching us! IN OUR GUTS!
If she doesn't run, there will be stages of grief.Because not only will she have murdered us, but murdered our HOPES and DREAMS!
Republicans would be rallying around the idea of reclaiming the White House after eight years, just as Democrats would be sifting through their second-tier options. Clinton, meanwhile, would have to carefully manage carefully her role as a towering Democratic figure who shattered the hopes of the party.See?
The piece goes on to talk about how, if she doesn't run, she then stands to overshadow whomever does run. And how nobody can get elected without her, because they will need her endorsement and to help "organize women across the country." Which she is obliged to do. So you know, so she might as well just run already SHEEEEEEESH!
To recap: The leaders of the party in which Hillary Clinton has loyally served as a public servant for most of her life told her, during the 2008 primary, that they wanted to make history, but not with her, and she needed to get out of the way for Obama and go the fuck home. (Sort of.) The media literally demonized her, and, when she refused to drop out while she still had a chance to win, the chattering classes, with an assist from members of her own party, called her ruthless and destructive and narcissistic, and made reprehensible accusations that she was so hellbent on winning that she would implode the Democratic Convention in order to try to win. Instead, she gracefully accepted defeat and got behind Obama, encouraging her supporters, donors, and delegates to do the same. And then she went on the campaign trail with him. And then she accepted a role in his administration. And then the same people who had literally called her a devil expressed surprise that she isn't one. And now, six years later, the same people who told her to go home are telling her to COME BACK, because now we're ready to make history with YOU, and if you don't come serve some more at our demand, then you—YOU, HILLARY CLINTON—are a dream-shattering asshole.
I hope that is something that makes her laugh, even if mirthlessly. I hope that it doesn't bother her, because it sure as fuck bothers me.
Question of the Day
What is the last film or TV show you saw that had a positive portrayal of a fat person?
("None" is, of course, a valid answer.)
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Human rights abuses.]
"Had there been knowledge of human rights issues any kind, Jennifer would not have attended."—Jennifer Lopez's publicist, in a statement to the AP, after Lopez received a lot of (well-deserved) criticism for giving a paid performance at the 56th birthday party of Turkmenistan's president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has been "accused of committing widespread human rights abuses while ruling over" what Human Rights Watch calls "one of the world's most repressive countries." Whoops.
This is the same pathetic spin that followed Hilary Swank's participation two years ago in a celebration for Chechan leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is, per Human Rights Watch, "linked to a litany of horrific human rights abuses."
Oh, if only we'd known! Someone please alert industry publicists that GOOGLE EXISTS!
Secure Base
I am not a huge fan (for various reasons) of equating animal guardianship with parenting, but I find this research very interesting, in terms of what it means for our cultural responsibility toward dogs (and potentially other domesticated animals). Laura Moss at MNN with the summary:
Researchers from the Vetmeduni's Messerli Research Institute studied the bond between humans and dogs by testing the animals' confidence levels with and without their owners. They discovered that the "secure base effect" [which leads to infants more confidently exploring the world when their caregiver is present] that exists between parents and children was also present in owner-dog bonding.This is certainly something I've experienced with both of our rescued dogs. Dudley, in particular, was so much more confidently adventurous once he knew we weren't going anywhere.
...Researchers tested this by observing how dogs responded to food rewards when the owner was absent, when the owner was silent and when the owner was encouraging. They also tested how the animal responded when the owner was replaced with an unknown person.
They found that the dogs' attachment to their owners was very similar to the bond between parent and child.
When the owner was present, the dogs would pursue the food reward and address the dog-toy challenges. Whether or not the owner spoke didn't affect the dog's behavior — the owner's presence was enough to encourage the animal.
"One of the things that really surprised us is that adult dogs behave toward their caregivers like human children do," said researcher Lisa Horn in a news release. "It will be really interesting to try to find out how this behavior evolved in the dogs with direct comparisons."
Dudley at the dog park, a few months after coming to live with us.
Photo of the Day
[H/T to Jessica Luther. Photo credit: Erik Vidor.]
That is the back of Texas State Senator Wendy Davis' head as she speaks to a crowd stretching into the distance at today's rally in Texas.
LOL YOU SOUND VERY SILLY!
[Content Note: Homophobia.]
Dr. James Dobson, founder of Emphasis on the Hyperbole Focus on the Family is predictably upset about the Supreme Court's ruling on DOMA:
On his radio show today, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson discussed the Supreme Court's marriage equality rulings with Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and Bill Becker, an attorney affiliated with right-wing groups such as the Alliance Defense Fund and the Discovery Institute.WOW! THE ENTIRE SUPERSTRUCTURE OF SOCIETY?! OMG I HAD NO IDEA SAME-SEX COUPLES WERE SO POWERFUL!
As you could imagine, Dobson was aghast at the decisions, arguing that same-sex marriages "threaten the entire superstructure" of society. "I believe it can come down," Dobson warned. "This has been devastating. Even if eventually legally we somehow walk it back a bit, I don't see our ever completely recovering from what has happened here."
Becker went even further, saying that civilization crumbled the day the court released its rulings: "We're talking here about the foundation of civilization and I wrote today that I believe we've seen the collapse of Western civilization in one day."
Note the total lack of irony of a bunch of privileged dudes sitting around bemoaning the fall of civilization in a country where same-sex marriage is already legal in 13 states, the nation's capital city, and in five Native American tribes, and in a world where multiple nations and/or cities have legalized same-sex marriage, most of which are countries that are doing better than average on multiple metrics that are supposed to be important to conservatives.
I always love the "MARRIAGE IS SO IMPORTANT THAT EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON IT!" argument in defense of denying it to some people. If it's that important, surely everyone should have access. But then we are talking about nightmares of humanity who aren't even convinced people are entitled to food, so.
I also always love the casual eliding of the fact that marriage is so central to many social structures in the US specifically because so many rights and privileges and benefits are conferred exclusively through marriage. If we just gave everyone the same rights and privileges and benefits irrespective of whether they were married, marriage would be a hell of a lot less important.
"BUT HOW ARE TERRIBLE PATRIARCHAL ASSHOLES WHO ARE THE WORST EVER GOING TO FIND WOMEN TO BE THEIR INDENTURED SERVANTS FOR LIFE IF THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE DEPENDENT ON THEM FOR ACCESS TO IMPORTANT LIFE THINGS?!"—Dudes who are super bummed about same-sex marriage because Jesus.
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by empathy.
Recommended Reading:
First, a few important things related to the George Zimmerman trial:
The Feminist Wire Editors: Rachel Jeantel Is Not on Trial [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of the intersection of racism, colorism, misogyny, classism, and fat hatred.]
The Crunk Feminist Collective: To Rachel Jeantel, With Love [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of the intersection of racism, colorism, misogyny, classism, and fat hatred.]
BYP: Offensive Photo of Zimmerman Attorney Goes Viral
Other stuff:
Ryan: Record Heat and Drought Fuel Chaotic Wildfire in Arizona, Killing 19 Firefighters
Elisabeth: American Way of Birth, Costliest in the World
Grace: FYI: "Black" Isn't Synonymous with "African American"
Ed: It's Gotten Very Intense in Egypt
Resistance: They! [Content Note: Racism.]
Dani: The Friend Zone vs. Unrequited Crushes [Content Note: Rape culture.]
Pam writes her farewell post. ♥
And finally: Andy has a neat video of Kelly Clarkson covering Mumford & Sons' "I Will Wait."
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Daily Dose of Cute
One of our garden bunnies, part of the warren that lives in our front garden, was out being very cute this morning, munching away on the grass and hopping about happily.
[Video Description: A wee brown bunny sits in the grass, eating grass and weeds adorably. It hops forward, stops and munches. Hops and munches.]
I've put out carrots and spinach, but the bunnies are having none of it. They just want to eat the lawn. Which is fine. We have an unspoken agreement that we will not put down weedkiller, and they will eat the weeds.
"What?"
Film Corner: The Heat
So, I saw The Heat this weekend, because Melissa McCarthy, and I loved (almost all of) it.
Let me first acknowledge, with a nod to How to Be a Fan of Problematic Things, the problematic elements of The Heat. It has a lot of gendered and/or gender essentialist humor, specifically that "balls" are things which convey courage. There is also a scene in which Sandra Bullock's character is asked if she is transgender (though I will note that, despite the fact it's a bullshit "joke" for her femininity to be questioned that way, there's no explicit or implicit criticism of being transgender; the people who ask are just surprised she isn't). There is mockery of a person with albinism. Although the movie does feature major supporting characters of color—notably Demián Bichir and Marlon Wayans, who play Bullock's FBI boss and colleague respectively, and Spoken Reasons, who plays a suspect—there are no major roles for women of color, and Bichir's character gets called "Puss in Boots," because he's got an accent. I'm sure I'm forgetting something(s).
Let me now explain what I loved about it.
The first thing I said to Iain (and my thanks to Iain for accompanying me to the film, even though he is extremely ill with The Plague and even though I am eminently capable of seeing movies on my own) after we left the theater was that the film was extraordinary in the fact that it's totally formulaic. It's just a straight-up buddy-cop film, but with two women. The fact that it's so not divergent from a well-known genre is such a fuck you to every filmmaker who refuses to make movies with women. This is something NPR's Linda Holmes observes wonderfully in her review: "Not only is The Heat very, very funny, but it's made with a delightful combination of self-awareness about the fact that it's a rare buddy-cop movie about women and total commitment to being a buddy-cop movie, not a female-buddy-cop movie."
At the same time, it has really neat moments of exploring what it means to be a woman in law enforcement—the double-standards, the unfair expectations arising therefrom, the isolation, the shit you're forced to take from male colleagues. And it has some really special insights about female friendship, especially built within male institutions.
[Minor spoiler] One of the most poignant moments in the film for me was when Melissa McCarthy's character, who grew up in a family of brothers, tells Sandra Bullock's character that her brothers were her best friends while she was growing up, and it sucks because they all grew up to be terrible people. A buddy-cop movie is the last place you expect to encounter the Terrible Bargain.
Naturally, The Heat passes the Bechdel Test all over the place. Also: Not just in McCarthy and Bullock talking to one another. Each character independently converses with other women, too. (I can't even believe that's remarkable enough to report in the year of our lord Jesus Jones two thousand and thirteen, but here we are.)
To explain why I most loved The Heat, let me recall something I wrote after watching Paul Blart: Mall Cop, a film that shares in common with The Heat the fact that it stars a fat person:
You know what the most depressing thing about this film was (and there were many)...? It's that Kevin James is a fat guy who can move! He can run and jump and do somersaults, and he was kick. ass. on that Segway—had it doing all kinds of tricks.That is A Thing that happens with comedic movies that star fat people. Even when the fat people themselves write the films. It's just ten thousand fat jokes about how very fat the fat person is, in case you hadn't noticed how fat they are, because being fat is so funny ha ha fat ha ha fatty-fat-fat.
It was so sad that the movie was so rife with fat-hating stereotypes, because Kevin James himself actually defies so many of them!
Worst of all: He co-wrote the film and did that to himself. Sob.
That does not happen in The Heat. THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN IN THE HEAT.
There were so many times when I was cringing, waiting for The Fat Joke to demean Melissa McCarthy, and the joke never came. Even in moments where, in real life, some fat-hating shit would have been flying, the joke never came. (I am blubbing writing these sentences.) The closest thing to a fat joke in The Heat is Melissa McCarthy being told she looks like a grown-up Campbell's Soup Kid, which made me laugh forever, because hi. I am a white lady with a perfectly round face and dimples, AND I LOOK LIKE A GROWN-UP CAMPBELL'S SOUP KID, lol. (Just ask Lance Mannion.)
And here's the thing: There shouldn't be any mean fat jokes in that film, not just because there shouldn't be any mean fat jokes ever, but because Melissa McCarthy is the anti-fat joke. Just like Kevin James is. She is athletic, smart, capable, tough, attractive, ambitious, energetic, proud—all the things that fat people are Not Supposed to Be. And it's fucking horrible for a fat person who is all of those things—onscreen, right in front of your face—to be mocked as if she isn't those things.
The Heat gets it absolutely right: It does not give us an awesome fat character just to apologize for giving us an awesome fat character by treating that character like shit. It gives us an awesome fat character and says LOOK AT THIS AWESOME FAT CHARACTER THE END.
When McCarthy's character is demeaned, she is demeaned in the same way as Bullock's character—by a bunch of d-bag dudes who call them ugly and make fun of them for being "alone" (both romantically and on the job). And the film makes it abundantly clear (particularly in one great scene which I will not spoil) that those dudes are assholes. And that not every woman even wants a romantic relationship, anyway, nor needs one to be complete and fulfilled. And that there is rich irony in men who ostracize female colleagues mocking them for being friendless.
I'm not even sure how to put into words how much it meant to me to see a character who looks like me (HA HA A LOT LIKE ME) onscreen who is not the object of ridicule for being fat. Nor considered so delicate and sensitive that mockery of any sort was off-limits. McCarthy's character was drawn as fully human enough to be teased for the shit that a thin character would be teased about. ("Turning a shirt you've worn for three days inside-out doesn't make it a new shirt.")
And McCarthy herself is just so willing to be fat onscreen. There is a scene in which she sits up after getting down by an explosion, and when she sits up, her shirt is tucked under her boobs. I LOVE THAT SCENE. That is what happens when a body like hers, a body like mine, sits up. Your shirt gets stuck under your boobs! And there it was! Onscreen! A real fat body doing a real fat body thing! And it wasn't remarked upon or focused on for laughs. It was just there.
It was there.
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia, racism, Nazi reference]
Happy Monday!
On Friday the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted its stay on Prop 8, allowing same-sex couples in California to marry. Fuck yes!
On Saturday pathetic bigots filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking the justices to immediately halt the weddings. Desperation sad face.
On Sunday Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy denied the bigots their request. LOLOLOL! Whoops!
Gay video break: The Cookies: "I Want A Boy For My Birthday."
North Carolina will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless. Long live bootstraps!
Do you look like Hitler? If so, there may be a job for you at the History Channel. Silver linings, and whatnot.
Speaking of TV: It's pretty great that the Afghan War is now just a reality show.
Meanwhile: David Bowie has been offered a role on Hannibal. Cool. I guess?
Anne Rice is defending Paula Deen and her racist remarks. Okay, sure, why not?
Related: Experts estimate Deen has lost as much as $12.5M in earnings in recent weeks as retailers and partners cut her loose.
Don't worry, everyone, there is nothing wrong with the environment! Nothing at all!
Jim Kelly, the martial artist best known for his work in the 1973 Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon, has died. He was 67.
Meanwhile, in Ohio...
[Content Note: War on agency.]
Pro-choice people across the country (see, for example, TEXAS!) are making it clear that they want access to abortion. And yet, despite this outcry in defense of a legally guaranteed right, the Republican Party marches on, waging a war on agency against people with uteri.
Last night, as part of a budget bill, Republican Ohio John Kasich signed into law three new restrictions on abortion.
The provisions in Ohio will make it more difficult for family planning groups to receive funding for preventive care; require ultrasounds for anyone seeking an abortion; and limit abortion providers' ability to get transfer agreements with public hospitals.Of course he didn't. Because he doesn't even have the decency to be accountable to the people whose rights he just curtailed with a sweep of his pen.
..."Governor John Kasich, surrounded by a smiling group of Republican male legislators, just signed a bill in Ohio that will defund Planned Parenthood and force women seeking abortions to get medically unnecessary ultrasounds," [Elisabeth Smith, spokeswoman for the Democratic Governors Association] wrote in the e-mail. "These positions are controversial, unpopular, and well out of the mainstream in any state, let alone Ohio."
Kasich did not take questions from reporters after signing the budget legislation.
Canada Day Open Thread
[Photo description: Canadian flag fluttering in the breeze in a blue sky. Taken by me at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS in summer 2010.]
Happy Canada Day, Shakers! Have you been celebrating over the weekend? Have you been/will you be celebrating today? Feel free to use this thread to share your Canada Day fun!
The Latest from Texas
Jessica Luther has the latest information about what's going on in Texas. There is a rally today at noon on the south side of the capitol, and all the information you need is here. Also: Be sure to follow her on Twitter for updates.
UPDATE: Shaker Ailei is also tweeting the goings-on. You can follow her on Twitter here. (I am passing on with her permission.)
