Hosted by "Happy Together."
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!
I've got some personal stuff to do this afternoon, so we're wrapping up a little early. See you on Monday!
Daily Dose of Cute
Dudley Q. McEwan: Large and in charge.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
The Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by ukeleles.
Recommended Reading:
Amy: [Content Note: Misogyny; violence; rape culture; splaining] Elliot Rodger, Louis C.K., and Why Men Need to Stop Explaining Misogyny to Me
Digby: [CN: Surveillance] RIP Fourth Amendment
Andy: [CN: Transphobia] Transgender Man Files Suit Against NYC After Being Barred from Locker Room at Public Pool
mochalisaccino: [CN: Racism; appropriation] Pharrell's War Bonnet and Anti-Black NDN Country
Golda: [CN: Discussion of body image issues] Confession: I Still Have Occasional Body Image Issues That Are Exacerbated by Fatshion Blogs
Jessica: LeVar Burton: Criticism of Reading Rainbow Is "Bullshit"
Jill: My Little Pony's Lauren Faust to Helm Medusa Comedy for Sony Pictures Animation
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Bob Dylan: "Mr. Tambourine Man"
This week's TMNS have been brought to you by folk singers.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Guns; shooting; death] Another man has gone on a shooting spree in Seattle at Seattle Pacific University, leaving four people injured and one dead. "A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at Seattle Pacific University, wounding multiple people before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, police said. The 26-year-old gunman, Aaron Ybarra, was obsessed with the Columbine High School shootings and had even traveled to the Colorado site where two student gunmen killed 15 and injured another 21 fellow students in April 1999, police sources told KIRO 7."
[CN: Guns; shooting; death] And in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, Justin Bourque, 24, has been arrested after going on a shooting spree in which three RCMP officers were killed and two others were wounded.
I don't even know what to say anymore. My condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the victims, and I hope the survivors of these incidents have the support and resources that they need.
[CN: Carcerality; armed robbery] In a case reminiscent of that of Cornealious Michael Anderson's, Colorado man Rene Lima-Marin was set free via a court error, after serving 10 years of what was erroneously marked as a 16-year sentence for armed robbery (with an unloaded gun, in which no one was hurt), and has now been returned to prison to finish a 98-year-sentence. Lima-Martin had a perfect record while serving time, and, in the intervening years, has committed no crime, has gotten married and had kids, and lived an upstanding life. His case "was aggressively prosecuted under a program call COP (chronic offender program) that's no longer in use." Get this guy outta there. For fuck's sake.
[CN: Misogyny] OMG: The Utah high school who altered female students' yearbook photos to make them "more modest" allowed male students to appear bare-chested and revealing their underpants in a section headlined: "Wasatch Stud Life: Studs doin' what studs do best!" Because of course they did.
[CN: Surveillance] Welp: Vodafone reveals existence of secret wires that allow state surveillance. Neat!
[CN: Misogyny; rape culture] It continues to be a real mystery why Republicans aren't connecting with a majority of female voters: Three Michigan state Republican lawmakers, all of whom "voted to approve a controversial provision dubbed 'rape insurance' that bars private insurers from covering almost all abortions," posed for a photo in which they're holding women's fashion magazines, captioned, "Don't say we don't understand women."
[CN: Misogyny; victim-blaming; slut-shaming; reproductive coercion; choice policing] This lady has some great advice for young women on how to find a husband. And by "great advice," I mean terrible, terrible advice. Deeply contemptuous advice. Horrendous advice.
[VIDEO] This baby goat IS NOT wimpy, and don't even try to tell hir that zie is!
Fat Fashion
This is your semi-regular thread in which fat women can share pix, make recommendations for clothes they love, ask questions of other fat women about where to locate certain plus-size items, share info about sales, talk about what jeans cut at what retailer best fits their body shapes, discuss how to accessorize neutral colored suits, share stories of going bare-armed for the first time, brag about a cool fashion moment, whatever.
Working yesterday afternoon. Blouse by ModCloth.
Most of the time, I work wearing jeans and a tank top and my specs, but every once in awhile, I'll put on a favorite top or skirt and dress it up a bit when I need a boost of enthusiasm.
(And I will wear contacts when I have a mean zit on the side of my nose right where my specs tend to lie, lol.)
I'm not super motivated by what I wear, but sometimes a change in routine just feels good. And necessary. One of the best things about working at home is that you don't have to care about what you wear. And one of the worst things about working at home is that you don't have to care about what you wear. Heh.
ModCloth is one of my favorite places for happy prints. They can be really hit-and-miss, fit-wise, though. If you ever order from ModCloth, I highly recommend checking the reviews to see if people are saying something runs small or large.
One of the things I love the most about ModCloth is that users posts pictures of themselves in the reviews. Whenever I see a fat lady of my size post a picture, I am overjoyed to have her help in figuring out if it's something that will work for me.
I do wish ModCloth used more fat models for that reason.
Anyway. As always, this is a general thread for fat fashion, but, if you need a topic: Do you get a boost from wearing something out of the ordinary? If so, what item(s) make you feel good when you're in a rut?
Have at it in comments! Please remember to make fat women of all sizes, especially women who find themselves regularly sizing out of standard plus-size lines, welcome in this conversation, and pass no judgment on fat women who want to and/or feel obliged, for any reason, to conform to beauty standards. And please make sure if you're soliciting advice, you make it clear you're seeking suggestions—and please be considerate not to offer unsolicited advice. Sometimes people just need to complain and want solidarity, not solutions.
LOL
Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul wants to run for president in 2016, but also wants to run for reelection the the US Senate in case (ha ha) he doesn't win the presidency. But a Kentucky law "preventing candidates from having their names appear more than once on the ballot" would make that difficult if not impossible. So now Rand Paul suddenly cares a whole lot about federal law:
Joe Biden was re-elected to the Senate in 2008 in Delaware and resigned to assume the vice presidency he won in the same election. Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman ran for re-election in 2000 while teaming with Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore as his running mate. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan did the same thing while running as Republican Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election."Clarify" it. Ha ha.
Paul, the son of former presidential candidate Ron Paul, said those examples only strengthen his position.
"Can you really have equal application of federal law if someone like Paul Ryan or Joe Lieberman can run for two offices but in Kentucky you would be disallowed?" Paul said. "It seems like it might not be equal application of the law to do that. But that means involving a court, and I don't think we've made a decision on that. I think the easier way is to clarify the law."
Kentucky lawmakers considered legislation this year that would have relieved Paul from the potential quandary. The GOP-led state Senate passed a bill that would have revised the ballot law so as not to apply to candidates running for president or vice president. The measure died in the Democratic-run House.So much for states' rights, when it comes to Rand Paul getting what the fuck he wants.
Paul's camp maintains that states don't have authority to restrict ballot access for federal elections. A Republican with considerable tea party support, Paul maintains that federal law governs federal elections.
Yeesh.
Would that he and his cohorts showed so much passion for federal governance of elections when it came to protecting voting rights.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker bekitty: "What is the first book you remember reading as a child?"
Shakers Are So Dreamy
Part five in a hilarious ongoing series.
Two nights ago, I had a dream that Amy McCarthy and I had gotten matching mohawks. Because obviously.
(I asked if there was a nonappropriative name for that hairstyle, and Amy suggested MISANDRY HELMETS. A+.)
We looked awesome. They were blue and purple.
Anyway!
Naturally, we shall use this as the jumping-off point for another thread about how frequently I and the other contributors/mods and other Shakers appear in each other's dreams. Shakes-related dreams come up in comments fairly regularly, and one of the most common subjects among reader emails is telling me that they dreamed about me and/or another contributor. (And, no, the vast majority of these are not the least bit creepy.)
So: Fess up. Have I appeared in your dream as your first-grade teacher? Has a fellow Shaker met you for drinks on the moon in your sleep? Has Deeky come to you in the night as a gummi-worm wielding organ grinder? Did I just invent the quadruple entendre with that last sentence...?
Tell the tales of your Shakesville Dreams here.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Reproductive policing; disablist language; heterocentrism; invisibilizing infertility.]
When I see married people who don't have kids, I wonder what's wrong. Really. Because something is. Of course it is. I mean, if you aren't going to have children, why bother with the rest? Why bother with the $30,000 bash and the white crinoline dress? And you can say that about everything. What do you think we are doing here, biding our time on this planet with our misspent years, justifying our days with our ridiculous schemes of leisure? Is anyone's life so meaningful? Really? Really, really, really? Is yours?—Elizabeth Wurtzel, agreeing with Pope Francis, in Time magazine.
The existential nightmare of the everyday is way more than even those of us with enormous egos who love what we do can possibly cope with. We are on this earth to keep on keeping on. We are here to reproduce. We are here to leave something behind that is more meaningful than a tech startup or a masterpiece of literature. Everybody knows this. The biggest idiot in the world who thinks he knows better—even he deep down knows this.
Everything about this is terrible. Everything.
Your life is worthless if you don't have children. There is only one reason to live at all. Everyone's work, no matter how important or valuable, is garbage compared to parenting. Marriage is pointless shit without children.
Et cetera.
Which is to say nothing of the fact that not everyone who gets married can procreate. Not everyone who gets married is allowed to parent, if parenting necessarily means adoption. Not every married couple can afford to parent. Not every married couple has a "$30,000 bash" with a "white crinoline dress."
Et cetera.
Wurtzel is, of course, talking about married straight cis people who are fertile and financially stable but choose not to procreate.
She's talking about someone like me. Or mostly like me—since I was required by my government to get married in order to live with the person I love, and I got hitched at a courthouse wearing some crap I very likely pulled off the floor of my closet. Where I keep all of my clothes like AN ADULT.
I could spend the next six years of my life writing about what I think I'm doing here on this planet, married and not having kids like I'm supposed to, why I "bother" to have a marriage that is not for the express purposes of childbearing, what the meaning of my life is to me, but I'm not going to, because I don't have to justify my choices to Elizabeth Wurtzel or Pope Francis or anyone else.
And even if I tried, they wouldn't be convinced. People who think they know my life better than I do never are.
Fat and Happy
[Content Note: Fat bias.]
"Fat and happy" is an interesting phrase. It's interesting because it's an idiom that means, in its common usage, lazy and content with indecency, or incompetency, or some other sort of insufficiency. It's interesting because it's an idiom deployed with sarcasm, indicating that fat and happy isn't ever a good state in which to find oneself.
If you're "fat and happy," something's wrong with you.
And if you're literally fat and happy, well, you must be lying. So goes the common narrative that any fat person, especially a fat woman, who claims to be happy is projecting a false contentment.
There's no way, assert the people who routinely challenge fat people's claims of happiness in our lives, that any fat person can really be happy.
And, truth be told, it's hard. It's really hard.
Sometimes it's impossible. And no fat person owes anyone else their happiness, any more than they owe anyone else their thinness. This is certainly not a piece suggesting that fat people have to be happy; it's a piece arguing that it's foolish and cruel to suggest that we can't be.
Happiness is hard for many people. Maybe everyone. It's not a fixed state. There are very few people, if any, who can say they are happy all the time.
But what fat people are told, loudly and often, is that it's inconceivable that we can be happy—or achieve any semblance of whatever variation thereof is under debate: contentment, satisfaction, joy, self-esteem—because no one can truly be fat and happy.
Bullshit.
The thing is, it's virtually impossible to persuade someone who insists that a fat person can't be happy. People who try to convince others of their own happiness rarely come off sounding happy in the end, anyway—even if they are.
So I won't insist that I'm happy. I will, however, note that I'm lucky. A very, very fortunate girl—blessed by chance, touched warmly by the fingertips of providence. The fates shine on me.
You see, when people tell me that no one who's fat can be happy, luckily, I don't give a shit.
Luckily, I don't give a shit whether anyone believes I'm happy or not. I don't give a shit whether anyone believes I am happy, I don't give a shit whether anyone thinks I should be happy, and I really don't give a shit whether anyone thinks I would be happier if I looked different than I do.
Luckily, I'm all smiling, contented apathy in response to their furrowed brows, their firm insistence that I couldn't possibly be happy, given my big fat arse and my double chin and my stretch marks and my wobbly upper arms.
Luckily, I'm nothing but a chuckle personified at their sad desperation to prove that I'm secretly unhappy.
Funny thing, though—one of the main reasons I am happy is because I don't give a shit about what they think. That freedom from the oppressive shame they want to impose on people who look like me is itself a happiness.
And—spoiler alert!—it wasn't really just luck at all that I ended up with that freedom, although I am indeed lucky to have found supportive fat community; it was hard work and the will, the undiscouragable determination, to love myself and my body—my big, imperfect, transgressive body—for exactly what it is, whatever that may be.
It shouldn't require hard work and will, but it does—because everything around us is designed to subvert the profoundly rewarding and nourishing act of self-satisfaction. Of happiness.
The psychological freedom of caring about oneself, instead of caring about the happiness auditing of exhausting old shame-mavens, is pure joy.
The arbiters of my emotional life can believe whatever they need to believe to make them happy. Me—I'll be over here, blissfully indifferent and happy-go-lucky. Because that's what I've chosen to be, and I won't be denied the splendor of this freedom by anyone.
Especially not people who seek who dehumanize me by insisting that I do not have access to the full spectrum of human emotions, because of my deviant body.
As I've said many times before: It remains a radical act to be fat and happy. If you're fat, you're not only meant to be unhappy, but deeply ashamed of yourself, projecting at all times an apologetic nature, indicative of your everlasting remorse for having wrought your monstrous self upon the world. You are certainly not meant to be bold, or assertive, or confident—and should you manage to overcome the constant drumbeat of messages that you are ugly and unsexy and have earned equally society's disdain and your own self-hatred, should you forget your place and walk into the world one day with your head held high, you are to be reminded by the cow-calls and contemptuous looks of perfect strangers that you are not supposed to have self-esteem; you don't deserve it. Being publicly fat and happy is hard; being publicly, shamelessly, unshakably fat and happy is an act of both will and bravery.
I choose to be brave. That makes me happy.
Daily Dose of Cute
Queen Matilda, the ruler of all she surveys. Even upside-down.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
B-b-but Calories In Calories Out!
[Content Note: Fat bias; "headless fatty" imagery at link.]
Here is yet another article confirming that "it's nearly impossible to permanently lose weight."
There are a lot of problems with this article, starting with the headless fatty imagery right at its top, but it's effective at highlighting the value of a Health at Every Size paradigm and noting that the belief about people's ability to maintain permanent weight less is really rooted in anecdotal evidence about outliers.
And there's more to it than just that, of course: The media loves to feature stories about people who lost lots of weight "through old-fashioned diet and exercise," but does not love to feature stories about people who find that even "old fashioned diet and exercise," even when those "lifestyle changes" are maintained, are generally not effectively in preventing weight regain.
The article also addresses the role that "obesity researchers" are playing in maintaining the facade that permanent weight loss is possible for most people:
So if most scientists know that we can't eat ourselves thin, that the lost weight will ultimately bounce back, why don't they say so?They're worried about "the stigmatizing nature" of the message of natural body diversity, but not worried about the stigmatizing nature of the message that fat people are just lazy pieces of shit whose bodies are evidence of our moral failure. Neat!
Tim Caulfield says his fellow obesity academics tend to tiptoe around the truth. "You go to these meetings and you talk to researchers, you get a sense there is almost a political correctness around it, that we don't want this message to get out there," he said.
"You'll be in a room with very knowledgeable individuals, and everyone in the room will know what the data says and still the message doesn't seem to get out."
In part, that's because it's such a harsh message. "You have to be careful about the stigmatizing nature of that kind of image," Caulfield says. "That's one of the reasons why this myth of weight loss lives on."
Health experts are also afraid people will abandon all efforts to exercise and eat a nutritious diet — behaviour that is important for health and longevity — even if it doesn't result in much weight loss.Perhaps that's because fat people are routinely told by "health experts" that we can't be healthy if we're fat.
If there was as much emphasis on the message that, in fact, fat bodies can indeed be healthy bodies, fat people might be inclined to believe that there was a worthy health objective for which to strive. But we're not given that message at all. We're given the exact opposite message—that we can only be healthy if we lose weight.
"Health experts" aren't actually centering fat people's health. They're telling us that our bodies aren't worth taking care of unless they're thin, and then behaving like it's a fucking mystery that lots of fat people don't feel an incentive to care for our fat bodies unless we lose weight.
I say once more: I do fat advocacy because I care about fat people's health.
And anyone who purports to be concerned about fat people's health will stop trying to demonize our bodies and shame us for having them, and instead get on board with the idea that there is little incentive to take care of a body you hate, that fat hatred is a barrier to seeking care, that fat hatred kills.
[H/T to Shakesville Contributor and Moderator Aphra_Behn.]
Allies, In Theory
[Content note: fat hatred; anti-survivor speech and behavior; misogynistic names, jokes, and labels; rape; rape culture; tone policing.]
Over the last month or so, I’ve seen a lot of men proclaim their hatred for sexism and misogyny. And that’s nice.
It should make for a lot of allies. In theory.
In practice, some allegedly anti-sexist men seem to be having some trouble with this.
In theory, body shaming is wrong. And yet, when this young woman or that young woman report their experiences being publicly shamed by misogynist dress codes, they do not deserve our support. Because, in this case, it wasn’t sexism! It was just about the rules. And it’s totally not shaming when teen girls to have to publicly pose in order for officials to make a determination about the length of their shorts. Or skirt. Or wev.
(In theory, too, it’s wrong to assume that women are prone to lying. Yet, in this case, the girls are definitely not justified in their protests because … well, there just has to be “more to it than that.” There just has to.)
In theory, everyone is against fat shaming. But in the case of this celebrity or that celebrity, it’s okay, because she is totally “putting herself out there,” and anyway, people just like what they like and what are you trying to do, force them to have sex with fat women? But it’s really ALL ABOUT health and think about the children! We can’t have kids thinking you can be happy, successful, AND fat, can we?
In theory, women deserve an equal voice in politics. But don’t they have that already? Just because Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin are routinely called some variation on bitch or bimbo, that’s not sexism because they’re conservatives and they deserve it, and anyway, it definitely won’t discourage any other women from running for office, and, oh my god how can anyone defend THEM?
(And in theory, nobody opposes Hillary Clinton for president because she’s a woman! It’s just that she’s old, and her voice is annoying, and everyone’s tired of her pantsuits, and she can be both over-emotional and totally frigid, and also she’s responsible for her husband’s bad behaviors. None of that is sexist, is it?)
In theory, it’s really terrible that women are barred from driving in Saudia Arabia. But it’s definitely okay to make jokes about how bad women are at driving, hardee harr har, while having that discussion, because of course misogynistic jokes don’t reinforce stereotypes that make it harder for women to drive, and geez, why are feminists so humorless?
In theory, rape survivors are experts on their own experiences, and also everybody knows rape is terrible. But, there’s just got to more to this case or that case or ad infinitum cases because…. well, what was a teenager doing out so late anyway? And she was drinking. And it wasn’t forcible, was it? And he was lonely and sad. And she was flirtatious. And sometimes you have to lock up survivors, but it’s for their own good. And those boys have their whole lives ahead of them! Why ruin it? I mean, can’t feminists have a little sympathy for the team?
And in theory, of course survivors' safety is a top priority! It’s not like you’re doing any harm by pointing all this out, it’s just being fair, because what about the menz reputation? Because it will definitely be ruined forever and ever and ever by a rape accusation!(And when survivors point out the larger rape culture that facilitates this bullshit, it needs explaining that, no this joke or that joke was actually anti-rape, don’t ya GET IT? And those guys are liberal, how could they be perpetuating rape culture? Stop being so emotional! Survivors are just so sensitive!)
In theory, you are on board with feminism! But why can’t feminists be nicer about all this? No-one is going to learn anything unless women suppress emotion, speak in a neutral voice using “clean” language, and dispense education on demand like a Feminist101 Robot Model #22B, amirite? That's not tone policing , but if women keep talking so mean, men aren’t going to want to help.
My point is this:
If you find yourself frequently arguing that women are wrong about the specific examples of systemic oppression they experience, then you are not doing ally work. If you claim to be against sexism, but the only real examples of it you can think of are all from the past, or maybe in other countries, then you are not actually against sexism.
In fact, you are 100% okay with oppression. And you, yes you, are actively increasing women's oppression by insisting we’re crazy, paranoid, or oversensitive. (And no, it does not matter if you did not use those precise words.) You can claim that OF COURSE you're against sexism all day, as if women are stupid to question your credentials, but that doesn't make it true.
If you want to be anti-sexist, stop talking and start listening, really listening, to women. It’s an act so simple, yet it’s a powerful way to practice the ongoing process of ally work. There are men out there who do this. Follow their example.
If you can’t listen, then stop claiming to be anti-sexism. Because if you’re only against misogyny in theory, but you never manage to see it in practice, then you’re fooling yourself. Make no mistake, though: you're not fooling me.
[My thanks to Shaker SonomaLass, who helped me tease this out in conversation.]
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Terrorism; death] On Monday, Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers "killed at least 200 civilians in three communities in north-eastern Nigeria and the military failed to intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent, witnesses said on Thursday. A community leader who witnessed the killings on Monday said residents of the Gwoza local government district in Borno state had pleaded for the military to send soldiers to protect the area after they heard that militants were about to attack, but help did not arrive." This group is the definition of terrorism. Rage. Seethe. Boil.
[CN: Terrorism; white supremacy; guns] Speaking of terrorism: "A massive investigation in Oregon shows evidence of a criminal web—involving guns, drugs, stolen property, identity theft, and violence—linking white supremacists and outlaw motorcycle gangs. 'Operation White Christmas,' as the year-old investigation is code-named, so far has resulted in the arrests of 54 individuals, mostly in the Portland area, leading to 11 criminal cases in state court and another 43 in federal court. ...The Oregon suspects variously are affiliated with at least five known street and prison white supremacist gangs—European Kindred (EK); Rude Crude Brood; All Ona Bitch (AOB); Fat Bitch Killers (FBK); and Insane Peckerwood Syndicate (IPS), authorities say."
[CN: Racism; exploitation] RIP Chester Nez, the last surviving original Navajo Code Talker. "Nez was one of 29 members of the Navajo Nation who helped create the code used by the American military in World War II—a code that Japanese soldiers were never able to break during the conflict. ...Chester Nez spoke to Stars and Stripes in November, telling the newspaper, 'I was very proud to say that the Japanese did everything in their power to break that code but they never did.' Nez also said that he grew up during a time of difficult relations between the U.S. government and the Navajo Nation. He told Stars and Stripes that children were often removed from reservations, put into boarding schools, and prohibited from even speaking the Navajo language. Like so many others, Nez was recruited from one of those schools. The unmistakable irony, of course, is that it was the very prohibited language that proved to be an invaluable tool for the Pentagon in World War II's Pacific theater."
[CN: Rape apology; sexual violence] Babulal Gaur, the home minister responsible for law and order in India's Bharatiya Janata party-run central state of Madhya Pradesh, says that rape "is a social crime which depends on men and women. Sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong." Nope.
[CN: Racism] A new Fox News poll finds that "a majority of voters say the Obama administration is less competent than Bill Clinton's and a plurality say it is less competent than George W. Bush's." Huh. I wonder what it is about President Obama that would make respondents to a Fox News poll say that he is less competent than Presidents Clinton and Bush. I CAN'T IMAGINE.
Dutch forensics experts have discovered how to accurately date fingerprints: "'It's not quite the Holy Grail of fingerprinting, but it's a very important discovery,' Marcel de Puit, fingerprint researcher at the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI), told the AFP news agency on Wednesday, hailing what he said was a world's first. 'Police regularly ask us if we can date crime scene fingerprints,' he said, for instance a neighbor's prints found at the scene of a burglary. Were they left the last time the neighbor came round for coffee or from the night of the crime?"
Melissa McCarthy on explaining fame to her oldest daughter: "She asked me, 'Are you famous?' And I said to her, 'Famous doesn't mean anything. Just because people know my face doesn't mean they know us or that it makes us any more interesting or better.'"
And finally: Here is some GOOD NEWS for people who love awesome ladies! Star Wars: Episode VII Casts Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie. More like Brienne of DARTH, amirite?
Today in Misogyny
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Recently, Google disclosed that only 30% of its employees are women, with the numbers getting even worse higher up: Only 17% their engineers and 21% of their executives are women.
And Google is not alone: Ingram Micro and eBay have workforces that are only 40% female; Dell's workforce is only 31% female; Cisco and Intel have workforces that are only 25% female.
It's a big problem in tech. A problem that is more deeply entrenched by repeated instances of rank misogyny at tech conferences.
And here we go again:
Jonathan Doklovic, a developer at a software company called Atlassian that's currently holding a two-day developers conference in Berlin...was making a presentation called, "A P2 Plugin and a SaaS Platform Walk into a Bar…" In the presentation, he threw up a slide about Maven, a plugin execution framework supported by Atlassian that developers can use to add software components to their existing applications.
In the slide, Doklovic compared Maven to his girlfriend, saying that although she looks beautiful she "complains a lot, demands my attention, interrupts me when I'm working" and "doesn't play well with my other friends."
Atlassian's co-founders moved quickly to cover their asses:
Today one of our engineers delivered a presentation that contained inappropriate content at our AtlasCamp developer conference in Berlin, Germany.Well, that's a nice way of putting it. By which I mean: A way of putting it that does not actually acknowledge harm. "We didn't make it any better." No, indeed not. You made "it" worse.
We are sorry for having allowed this offensive slide into an AtlasCamp presentation. The content does not reflect our company values – nor our personal values as co-founders and individuals. Quite simply, it's not OK.
Sexism is a difficult issue for the tech industry, and today we didn't make it any better.
And referring to misogynist, objectifying, sexualized content as "inappropriate," rather than any word that means harmful, they're continuing to make it worse. Sure, it's "inappropriate," and, yes, some people might find it "offensive," too, but those are not real accountability words. Women aren't marginalized because of bad manners. They're marginalized via harm.
Harm that's never going to go away as long as men in charge refuse to own it.
We are going through all the events that allowed this slide to reach the public.Passive voice. Not owning it.
We've already started immediate action. Where our organisation and process were lacking, we will add oversight. Where our culture is at fault, we will change that culture.Is there an app that just churns out this shit for these guys every time this happens? There might as well be, for all the sincerity and meaningful reflection that happens in these totally original "apologies."
It's times like this when your culture and values as a company must guide your decision making. If they are true, they will shine through. We take our values seriously. We apply them to everything we do. We endeavour to ensure all Atlassians live and represent our values.
I know the engineer responsible well. I hired him. I know the slide does not reflect his values any more than it reflects Atlassian's, and he is as deeply sorry as we are. It was an error in judgment, but one the company shares responsibility for making.
I know this guy. He's a good guy. He had a lapse in judgment. He's no misogynist! We're no misogynists. Our values our values our values blah blah fart.
Which means: Stop yelling at us. We're saying words that are supposed to make you stop yelling at us!
And now comes the inevitable discrediting as oversensitive, bitter, hysterical, looking for things to get mad about, never happy etc. any woman who dares to call out this bullshit word salad for what it really is.
As Atlassian, we don't stand behind the slide – but we stand as a team. When we do good, and when we do bad. Today, we failed as a team. We will help him learn from this, as we all must. Our engineer, our event, our issue, our learning, our growing – as a team.They promise to "learn" that women are human beings. Give them their fucking cookies.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Alukonis: "What is something you do for yourself as a special treat, e.g. after accomplishing something or after a really stressful day/week?"
Another Bad Day for Bigots
[Content Note: Homophobia.]
The US Supreme Court has denied, without recorded dissent or comment, the National Organization for Marriage's petition requesting the court to halt same-sex marriages in Oregon while they try to appeal the May 19 ruling of District Judge Michael McShane, which ruled the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
In other words, Oregon can keep on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Too bad so sad, bigots.
This is a real article in the world.
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
This is actual lede of this actual article: "Hillary Clinton for the umpteenth time is coyly chewing over the possibility of a 2016 White House run."
Coyly chewing. That minx!
That opening is followed by this paragraph:
"I know I have a decision to make," the former secretary of state recently told People magazine about her status as early frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. "But part of what I've been thinking about is everything I'm interested in, and everything I enjoy doing. And with the extra added joy of, 'I'm about to be a grandmother,' I want to live in the moment; at the same time, I am concerned about what I see happening in the country and in the world."So, basically, in the course of an interview where she was asked for "the upteenth time" about whether she's running, she gave a complex answer about balancing her private life against her life of public service.
Coyly chewing.
Later, in the same piece, Clinton is referred to as a "dynasty matriarch."
Which, you know, apart from being a gendered term with negative connotations (since she's often said to be unsuitable for the presidency because of her family connections), also makes her sound like Barbara Bush. But Hillary Clinton is not Barbara Bush. She is married to a former president, but she is not married to a former president, mother of a former president, and mother of a former governor and likely presidential candidate.
She's a former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State whose only child is not a politician.
In related news: Digby takes on the "is Hillary using a walker?!" bullshit.
TV Corner: Fargo
[Content Note: Misogyny; violence. Spoilers from the last several episodes of the TV series Fargo.]
I am still loving the TV series Fargo, loosely based on the film of the same name, and I am still really loving Allison Tolman as Deputy Molly Solverson. Give her all the Emmys! ALL OF THEM.
Also! I am loving the addition of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele) as two FBI agents by whom Billy Bob Thornton's creepy Lorne Malvo slips to commit mass murder of a cartel who's got a beef with him.
Peele & Key
Following the failure to stop Malvo on their watch, Agents Pepper and Budge are relegated to the file room for an entire year and counting. At the end of the last episode, an errant tennis ball thrown by Agent Pepper knocks down a tackboard from the wall, revealing a picture of Malvo taken at the scene of the crime a year earlier, which Agent Budge had hung on the wall upon their arrival.
Meanwhile, Solverson is repeatedly calling the FBI trying to inform someone, anyone, who will listen that she knows the identity of the man in that picture.
I desperately hope that where we're headed is Solverson, marginalized on her police force, and Agents Pepper and Budge, marginalized within the agency, are going to hook up and catch Malvo—and, with him, the slippery Lester Nygaard—despite the best efforts of their white male professional superiors to keep them from doing their jobs.
Please, Maude: I don't ask for much, but give me this one.
Also: A+ Colin Hanks!
Discuss.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Fat bias.]
"When I go shopping, most of the time I'm disappointed. Two Oscars ago, I couldn't find anybody to do a dress for me. I asked five or six designers—very high-level ones who make lots of dresses for people—and they all said no."—Melissa McCarthy, who is starting her own fashion line for fat ladies.
I love, ahem, how you can be Melissa fucking McCarthy, but designers still won't design for you if you're fat. Because your fat might be bad for their business.
Know what's bad for your business, fashion designers? When you're incapable of designing clothes that look good on fat women.
Daily Dose of Cute
Kisses from Zelly.
Zelda wouldn't eat a piece of apple if you paid her. But she sure likes licking the juice off my hands after I eat one!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by rain.
Recommended Reading:
Aiofe: [Content Note: Transphobia; gender policing; disablism] Neurotic Effigies: Journalism and Threat-Level Trans
Angry Asian Man: [CN: Sex abuse; harassment; violence; guns; racism] Sex Predator Terrorized Asian Teens in Indianapolis
BYP: [CN: Misogyny; terrorism; abuse] Nigerian Officials Ban #bringbackourgirls Protests
ICTMN: [CN: Racism; appropriation] Not Happy! Natives Pan Pharrell's Headdress Look on Elle UK Cover
Aura: [CN: Racism; appropriation] White GOP Candidate Changes Name to Cesar Chavez in Arizona Race
Prison Culture: Illinois Legislature Passes SB 2793: A Big Step for School Discipline Data Transparency
Amanda: [CN: Violence; misogyny] #NoMRA: Protest to Stop MRA Conference at DoubleTree Detroit
Kole: [CN: Violence; misogyny] A "Voice for Men" Is Not a Voice for Me
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Transphobia; carcerality; abuse; racism; misogyny] Jane Doe is a 16-year-old transgender Latina teenager who has been held in solitary confinement in Connecticut's York Correctional, an adult women's prison, for two months, even though she has yet to be charged with any crime. There is a petition seeking Jane Doe's release here. More opportunities to take action in support of Jane Doe can be found via Justice for Jane: On Twitter and on Facebook.
[CN: Transphobia] Jos Truitt on the media's hostility toward trans* people. I'm not even going to excerpt it. Just go read the whole thing.
Tornado and severe storm warnings have been issued across much of the US Midwest: "More than 35 million Americans could face destructive winds Wednesday as a dense pattern of severe storms pelted Nebraska with baseball-sized hail before spreading across the Midwest. Tornadoes are possible across a broad swath of the Midwest and parts of the Mississippi River Valley."
[CN: Violence] Two 12-year-old girls who "plotted to kill their friend for months and then stabbed her 19 times to prove the internet monster 'Slender Man' was real" have been "charged as adults with attempted first-degree homicide and are being held on $500,000 bail, after police say they confessed to stabbing their friend in the woods. Each could face up to 65 years in prison if convicted." The thing is, the girls were questioned without their parents present: "Police say the two girls waived their Miranda rights and gave statements after they were arrested. Asked by the Guardian why the 12-year-olds had been interrogated without a lawyer present, Captain Ron Oremus of the Waukesha police department said: 'If they didn't request we're not providing it.'" That could be a problem, as 12-year-olds should not be able to waive their rights and submit to questioning without a legal guardian and/or counsel. The girls' victim is in stable condition.
On his new HBO show, John Oliver encouraged viewers to weigh in at the FCC during their open commenting period on Net Neutrality. And the traffic crashed the comment system. Awesome. (The segment is fucking brilliant, although I will warn you there is one joke referencing sexual coercion.)
[CN: Homophobia] The Republican LGBT group GOProud claims they are not shutting down, as has been reported, but are merely "rebranding." Well, good luck with all that.
All the blubs foreverrrrrrrrr: "The fourth-grade students at Ebb Valley Elementary School in Manchester, Maryland, were given a writing assignment that not only helped them learn about persuasive writing techniques, but provided voices for homeless pets in their area. The students wrote letters to potential forever families telling them exactly why this dog or cat should be adopted, right now! The letters were then shipped over to the Baltimore Humane Society (BHS), where they were put on display on the animals' cages, according to teacher Tiffani Murphy. 'They have been ecstatic about the whole project,' said Murphy, whom had taken the students on a field trip to the BHS. 'Before they went on the visit they would want to check the [Baltimore Humane Society] website every day to see if it had been updated and see if their dog or cat had been adopted.' Murphy has found out that not only was one of the dogs adopted to a loving home because of the letter written by the student, but the family took the letter home with them, and have had it framed." ♥
This Would Be Unbelievable If It Weren't So Depressingly Believable
[Content Note: Sexual violence.]
Professional soccer player Ched Evans, who was convicted two years ago of raping a 19-year-old woman, will be allowed to play for Sheffield United, as long as he wears an electronic tracking device:
[Evans], who is fighting to clear his name after being sentenced to five years in prison, is due to visit his former club on day release in July to begin training.This news was reported under the headline: "Rape football star Ched Evans set to play again—wearing an electronic tag."
The move is part of a rehabilitation process to help Evans readjust to life outside jail.
The 25-year-old is scheduled to meet with Blades manager Nigel Clough, co-chairman Kevin McCabe and players while using his 24-hour pass.
The Welsh International is expected to be offered a new two-year contract with the Blades, if he can prove his fitness and that he will soon regain his form when he is discharged from his cell in October.
"Rape football star." Welp.
Evans, like all male athletes who have been convicted of rape, "deserves" a second chance because he (claims he) was unfairly convicted. Sure. Isn't everyone.
[H/T to Jess.]
On Louie. Again.
[Content Note: Description of depicted sexual assault. Misogyny.]
Yesterday afternoon, Kristin Rawls let me know that, in the latest episode of Louie, the titular character, played by the show's creator Louis CK, attempts to rape someone. I read a couple of articles about the episode, and then I watched the episode (and some lead-up episodes) last night.
A couple things to note, by way of background:
• The name of the episode is "Pamela 1," which refers to the character Pamela, played by Pamela Adlon who plays Louie's longtime friend (and also played his wife in his short-lived HBO series Lucky Louie).
• The innocuous description provided in the OnDemand cable listing is, simply: "Louie on the rebound."
• The episode aired on FX with its usual warning (ahem) for mature language. There was no warning for sexual assault or violence.
• Louie is fresh off a relationship with Amia, a woman with whom he shared no common language, thereby circumventing the inconvenience of having to acknowledge her actual personality instead of the fantasy he imposes on her. Hence his being "on the rebound."
• Several episodes earlier, Pamela had returned to town and asked Louie if he wanted to try a romantic relationship, but he turned her down because he was pursuing a relationship with Amia, even though she had told him she was going to be leaving soon.
The coverage I've read about the episode has mostly been written by people who seem to like the show and are flummoxed by Louis CK showing an attempted rape, which is played for laughs. As a result, the seriousness of the episode has been largely played down. I'm going to give it as fair and comprehensive description as I can.
When the episode opens, Louie strolls through Amia's now-empty apartment sadly. Later, he gets a text from Pamela, and invites her to meet him in a diner, where he tells her he's ready to give a relationship a try.
Pamela: "Oh, so the thing with that lady, it didn't work out, and now you've come sniffing around me? Is that the basic outline of this thing here?"
Louie: [after a long pause] "Yeah, that's basically it."
Pamela: "Well, sorry. Ticket's no longer available. That ship has sailed. The option is closed."
Louie: "But you said that I got under your skin and that you thinking about us—"
Pamela: "Yeah, that was before, and you didn't bite. The cookie is gone."
Louie: "Jesus. Why are you so mean to me?"
Louie gets a call from his babysitter, who has canceled. He's got two shows that night. Pamela offers to watch his kids while he goes to work. He is very appreciative.
Later, we see Louie doing stand-up, which is described in other articles about this episode as a sort of "pro-woman" set. I'll come back to that.
When Louie gets home, Pamela is asleep on his couch, and he stands over her, looking at her. She sleepily mumbles that she is awake and asks him not to jerk off on her.
Pamela gets up to leave, and Louie stops her from walking out. He grabs her arm and holds her. "Okay, bye-bye now," she says. "BYE BYE." She tells him goodbye with increasing urgency, as he holds her by both arms and turns her around to face him. "I'm really late for not being in here right now," she tells him, trying to wriggle away.
He holds her and tells her to listen, then leans over her and tries to kiss her. "No no no no no," she says, leaning away from him, as he continues to grip her forearms.
"Come on," he says, dragging her across the room. She frees one arm and grabs the corner of a table; Louie drags her, and the table along with her, until she loses her grip. "Just come on," he says, trying to push her through a doorway toward his bedroom. She puts her arms across the open doorway and wedges herself inside. "I don't like that!" she says.
They continue to wrestle, and he tries to lift her t-shirt. "Oh my god," she exclaims. She puts her hand over his mouth as he tries again to kiss her. "This would be rape if you weren't so stupid," she tells him, shoving him away. "God, you can't even rape well."
With a heaving shove, she pushes him to one side and grabs her coat and makes for the front door. He races after her and corners her, literally holding her in the corner at the front door by putting his arms on either side of her. "Hey, listen to me! Listen! Look at me!" he tells her. "Please!"
She turns around toward him, her eyes closed, then reluctantly looks at him. He towers over her, pointing his finger at her. "You said you wanted to do something with me," he says, "and I don't believe you that the ship has sailed."
She looks at him without responding, and he tells her he sees in her face that she wants to do something with him but can't. She doesn't reply, which he takes as a confirmation (and we are certainly meant to take as a confirmation, too, that he knows better than she does what she really wants). He informs her that because she can't take charge, he's going to.
"I'm going to take control, and I'm gonna make something happen," he tells her. She just looks at him. She looks frightened. We're meant to interpret that as her being frightened of her feelings for Louie, and not frightened that he is trying to rape her.
"You said you wanted to be in a thing!" he says. She says, "Does kissing have to be a part of that, though?" and he tells her it does and informs her he's going to kiss her. "Eww," she says, and turns her head away. "I'm gonna do it," he says. "Hurry up," she tells him. Louie kisses her while she closes her mouth tightly and grimaces.
"Okay," she says, turning away from him into the wall. "Thank you for the that. Okay, bye now." She leaves and closes the door behind her.
Louie clenches his fists and says, "Yes!"
There are a lot of rape culture narratives at work in this scene—the idea that because Pamela wanted something sexual with Louie at one point that she doesn't have the right to rescind that offer; the idea that Louie knows what Pamela wants just by looking at her; the idea that rape isn't really rape if it's a Good Guy just being too aggressive because he's awkward and doesn't know any better; the idea that reluctant women really just need men to take control; the idea that bumbling men can nearly rape someone by accident without realizing what they're doing.
In reactions to the episode I've seen, people are trying to make sense of the attempted rape scene in light of the "pro-woman" stand-up that precedes it. But I think it might be more useful to try to make sense of the actual message of the stand-up in light of the scene of sexual assault.
That is, look at the stand-up material without affording Louis CK the benefit of the doubt that he's definitely a Good Guy about women—something no one should be inclined to do, if they've really listened to him instead of hearing what they want to hear, because they don't want to not like him.
In one part of the set, Louie shares his theory that women once ruled the world:
I think that, uh, I think that we made god a man because we wanted men to be in charge, so it made sense. 'Cause it doesn't make sense that men are in charge. It makes sense that women would be in charge.The set is not actually as feminist as people seem to think it is—or want it to be.
Because your mom is the first person who takes care of you, so how— It just makes sense that mothers would run the world. And, uh, it's the opposite—so we have this weird system of, uh, you know, men being— It's kinda upside down.
And I think the reason is 'cause women were in charge, a long time ago, and they were really mean. They were horrible, and they would—you had to walk around naked and they'd flick your penis and laugh at ya. So we're so scared of them! And then finally one guy punched a woman and she was like, "Wahhhh!" and he was like, "We can hit them!" and then that was it! That was it.
Women once ruled—but were mean to men so men punished them with violence.
Let us now recall the scene in the diner, in which Louie asks Pamela, "Why are you so mean to me?" Louie is frustrated that she won't acquiesce to his request to start a "boy-girl thing" with him, and he justifies his use of force by saying he's taking control because it's "obvious" she wants more.
But is that it? Is that all? Or are we looking at a man using violence against a woman because she is in control and being mean?
I am continually amazed by people's willing refusal to hear what Louis CK is telling them.
[Previously: Louie & Fat Girls.]
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker masculine_lady: "What are your favorite or most challenging job interview questions?"
Fat and the Bikini Body Meme
[Content Note: Fat hatred; body policing.]
It's also that time of year where a popular meme starts showing up on social media. It tends to feature silhouettes of what are meant to be read as female bodies, including or sometimes exclusively very fat bodies, and text that is some variation on: "How to Get a Bikini Body: Step 1: Buy a bikini. Step 2: Put it on your body."
Let me first say, once again, that fat women are not a monolith, and different fat women will have different reactions to this meme. I don't purport to speak for all fat women, some of whom like this meme very much, and I am not seeking to police or criticize their individual reactions to it.
I do, however, want to do some awareness-raising on behalf of the fat women who aren't so keen on the meme, because I know there are a lot of thin and in-betweenie women who spend time in this space who want to do good fat ally work and may not have considered some of the reasons not all fat women find it a strictly positive or supportive message.
So, here are a couple of things to consider before you share this image under the auspices of being a fat ally (or even as a fat person):
1. Not all fat women can buy a bikini. That's not just a consideration of financial realities, which are always at issue in consumerist memes, but it's also a reflection of the fact that even off-the-rack (or off-the-website) "plus-size" bikinis have a finite size range.
There are sites who will custom-make bikinis for women of any size based on their individual measurements, but that is, of course, a costly option. And naturally there are women who are skilled enough to make their own bikinis, but that is not an option for anyone who lacks those talents.
Casually suggesting that all fat women can just go "buy a bikini," without any acknowledgment of the fact that purchasing a bikini in one's size might not be an option, especially for very fat women, is not supportive. It also reinforces the idea that there's an "acceptable" level of fatness which tops out at the maximum size of most "plus-size" fashion lines, and anyone whose body exceeds those standard sizes is thus "unacceptably" fat.
2. Putting a bikini on one's fat body is not just about the physical act of getting into a swimsuit. There are all kinds of cultural disincentives to be a fat woman in a bikini in public, and we are obliged to navigate them no matter how much we might love our own bodies.
There is a vast difference in being a woman who has insecurities about a body in which she sees imperfections but is broadly culturally acceptable, and a woman who has insecurities about a body that significantly deviates from what is considered culturally acceptable. That is not to diminish, at all, the seriousness of body insecurities no matter what one's size. It is merely to observe that even if fat women get okay with their own bodies, there is not an existing cultural space in which we are accepted.
There's no equivalent for fat women to the narrative "we all have flaws!" No deviation from some impossible ideal should ever regarded as a "flaw," anyway, but fat is not regarded as a mere flaw.
And we are not, outside fat acceptance spaces, celebrated for a willingness to show our bodies "despite" their imperfections. We are not considered brave. We are harassed, shamed, policed, threatened, attacked.
The thing about "love your body" campaigns for my fat self is that I can love my body all the fuck I want, but the bigger problem for me is other people hating my body.
It's so much more complicated than just putting on a bikini, for lots of fat women. We need to respect and recognize that.
* * *
This isn't a comprehensive list of potential objections. I hope if fat women share in comments any additional concerns they may have with the meme, not-fat women will listen to their perspectives.
Discussion Thread: Summertime School Dress Codes, Shaming, & Gender Policing
[Content Note: Misogyny; body shaming; gender binary policing.]
It's that time of year in the US, when public school is still in session and summertime dress codes are being enforced, which inevitably leads to stories like these:
Teen Girl Accuses School of 'Shaming Girls for Their Bodies' After Being Sent Home for Wearing Shorts.
Teen Girls Sent Home from High School for 'Distracting' Boys with Their Visible Bra Straps.
Many of these policies are inherently misogynist, unhold rape culture narratives about straight male people not being able to "control themselves" around female people dressed in certain ways, and also tend to reinforce the gender binary, often in very weird ways: Many schools have policies, for either or both students and faculty, that women can wear sandals but men cannot, and/or that shorts are prohibited but skirts are allowed—but only if female people are wearing them.
So, here's a place for discussion on school dress codes generally, and what your personal experiences have been with them, either as a student, faculty or staff member, or a parent.
* * *
When I was in middle school, we had a no-shorts policy, no matter how hot it got and irrespective of the school not having air conditioning. This meant that on very hot days, girls often wore skirts to school (as long as they hit the knee!), which bred resentment among the boys, who were not allowed to wear shorts, nor skirts, nor even kilts. (Believe me, they tried.)
It was such a shitty policy, for a number of reasons, but that sort of enforcement of the gender binary in clothing is one place where young men get bullshit ideas about "female privilege." They didn't take out their ire on the patriarchal administration who refused to accommodate their legitimate requests to wear shorts, or to wear skirts themselves; they took it out on the girls.
Similarly, scapegoating boys for a failure to "control themselves" when girls wear totally appropriate summertime clothing does not endear boys to their female classmates.
Let kids wear what they want, and address any troublemakers or bullies by telling them to stop making trouble or bullying. FFS.
Daily Dose of Cute
Olivia Twist, chilling on the cat tower beside my desk.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Film Corner: Disney's Big Hero 6
[Content Note: Fat hatred; racism.]
This is the description of Disney's upcoming animated film Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel comic of the same name: "With all the heart and humour audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Big Hero 6 is an action-packed comedy-adventure about robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who learns to harness his genius—thanks to his brilliant brother Tadashi and their like-minded friends: adrenaline junkie Go Go Tamago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. When a devastating turn of events catapults them into the midst of a dangerous plot unfolding in the streets of San Fransokyo, Hiro turns to his closest companion—a robot named Baymax—and transforms the group into a band of high-tech heroes determined to solve the mystery."
And here is the teaser trailer currently playing in cinemas, which actually seems to be a trailer for a movie called Stupid Fat Robot Is Stupid and Fat:
Video Description: A young boy, who from the description of the film is meant to be Japanese but does not look Japanese in the animation, works intently on a robotics design program on his laptop. Dramatic action music. He designs a big, muscular, red robot. "Yes!" he says excitedly.Two quick thoughts:
He looks up, and into his lab walks a fat white blobby figure, with nondescript and expressionless eyes, very long arms, very short legs, and a long torso with a huge wobbling belly. The dynamic music comes to a screeching halt. The creature squeaks like the rubber sole of a running shoe against a basketball court as it walks. Zie stands and blinks at him. He looks back with a vaguely horrified expression.
He looks down at his laptop screen, on which appears his shiny red strong robot design. He flips down the screen, revealing the creature, then flips it back up and down several more times, to really drive home the disappointment of the juxtaposition between his design and the creature standing in front of him.
The creature spies a soccer ball resting on the floor beside hir. Zie reaches down for it, but hir belly knocks it out of the way. Zie squeals and chases after it, hir belly knocking it ever just out of reach, like a fat version of Buster Keaton kicking and chasing his hat down the street.
The boy scowls and looks back at his laptop screen. He hits a button that puts his robot's metal exterior into production. Dramatic action music. Once the first massive robot hand has been fabricated, he grabs it and tries to put it on the creature's hand. The music ends, as the hand comes to a halt up against the creature's fat wrist.
The boy jams the hand onto the creature by backing the creature up against a wall. Then he jams on the rest of the metal exterior, forcing each piece over the creature's fat, which moves like the air getting redistributed in a balloon.
The creature blinks its emotionless eyes as it's jammed into each piece. The boy is breathless from the effort.
Finally, the creature stands in nearly the entirety of its costume, with just its big exposed belly showing. The boy holds the piece that is meant to cover the belly, takes a breath, then runs at the creature with the piece, forcing it into place with grunting struggle. He falls over, then looks up at his creation with awe. Dramatic action music.
The camera pans back so we can see his creation in all its glory. The boy flexes his arms. The creature mimics him as the music swells, then just at the zenith of his flex, all of his armor pops off.
The boy puts his head in his hands. The creature spies the soccer ball and begins to chase it again.
1. This shit doesn't exist in a void: It exists in a culture of rank fat hatred, in which fat bodies are considered weak and useless and bad. And it further exists in a specific context of Disney animated films, which have a documented history of using fat as shorthand to convey "evil" or "weak" or "stupid" or otherwise bad.
2. I couldn't give less of a shit what the rest of the film is about, in terms of placing this scene into a particular context, because this clip is what the studio chose as its marketing launch. Even if the rest of the film ends up communicating to us that the creature is really a hero after all, that's just another example of what I call Deathbed Confession Cinema. You don't get points for realizing fat people (or humanoids, or whatever) are not garbage after treating them like garbage for audience laughs.
Anyway. There's a lot to talk about. Have at it in comments.
[H/T to Shaker Hallelujah_Hippo.]
Nope. No. Absolutely Not.
[Content Note: Hostility to consent; sexual policing.]
This could possibly be a real thing in the world:
Andy Cohen is looking to expand his empire.There is absolutely nothing even remotely acceptable about this premise.
The host of Bravo's Watch What Happens Live and exec producer behind The Real Housewives franchise is developing an unscripted series with the title I Slept With a Celebrity, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The series, which does not yet have a network attached, is currently being shopped to both broadcast and cable networks. Cohen will executive produce the Warner Horizon Television entry. NBCUniversal-owned cable networks would have the first opportunity to pick up the series under Cohen's overall deal.
Each weekly episode will feature two guests dishing about how their walk with fame led to a walk of shame, describing where they met, where they went and what they wore -- or didn't. A one-night stand is usually nothing to brag about, but what if the person you slept with is famous? I Slept With a Celebrity delivers the juiciest gossip from people who say they got to experience the glitz and glamor of Hollywood -- and then a whole lot more.
It's probably safe to assume that the celebrities whose alleged sexual trysts would be featured on the show will not be allowed to consent to whether these stories are told. It's probably also safe to assume that if the celebrities are not explicitly named, to avoid potential lawsuits, their identities will so thinly disguised that it's eminently possible for anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to pop culture will be able to easily discern who the celebrity is.
And let us not pretend for a single moment that the narratives of sexually active men (studs) and sexually active women (sluts) will not be present in a show like this and/or the public discussion surrounding it.
This is exploitative garbage, and I desperately hope that it will not be picked up by any broadcaster. Although that it almost certainly a futile hope.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War] In other military news, the Obama administration traded five Guantanamo Bay detainees for a US soldier, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, held hostage in Afghanistan, a decision which is now being criticized on several fronts. Republicans are (of course) accusing President Obama of negotiating with terrorists, and some members of Bergdahl's unit are angry because they accuse him of being a deserter whose desertion risked and cost lives. Obama's response to some criticism is here. Hillary Clinton was also asked about the deal, and gave what I think is a pretty decent response about difficult choices. The Obama administration was in a tough spot on this one. To leave Bergdahl to languish as a prisoner of war if there was a chance to rescue him, irrespective of how he was captured, would not have been ideal, and to rescue him with this exchange is not ideal. But the latter seems like the better of two imperfect options.
[CN: Car accident; death] Grace Garcia, the executive director of the Texas Democratic women-in-politics group Annie's List, co-founder of the National Latina Political Action Committee, and former senior adviser to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Office of the Chief of Protocol, was killed in a car accident yesterday. A tremendous loss. My condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues.
[CN: Natural disasters; misogyny] Whut: A study done by researchers at the University of Illinois and Arizona State University has found that "female-named storms have historically killed more because people neither consider them as risky nor take the same precautions." I am pretty dubious about these findings, without having seen the study or its methodology, but I do want to highlight this observation by Sharon Shavitt, study co-author and professor of marketing at the University of Illinois: "People imagining a 'female' hurricane were not as willing to seek shelter. The stereotypes that underlie these judgments are subtle and not necessarily hostile toward women—they may involve viewing women as warmer and less aggressive than men." Uh, positive stereotypes are not un-hostile. They are just as dehumanizing via monolithization as are negative stereotypes—and just as dangerous, if the findings of this study are indeed accurate.
[CN: Carcerality; sexual violence] Rage. Seethe. Boil. "Complying with federal standards designed to prevent incarcerated people from being raped is too expensive, according to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R). So Pence informed the federal Justice Department that his state will not comply with these anti-rape standards." This fucking state.
[CN: Homophobic slur; rape culture] Charming: Actor Jonah Hill, star of the date-rape classic Superbad, shouted a homophobic slur at a paparazzo and told him to suck his dick. He's very sorry, though. Sure. You know how you're so sorry after you get angry and shout violent bigotry at someone by accident?
And finally! Here is a nice story about a therapy dog who was honored at the graduation ceremony of her companion Paul Aragon, a retired US Army sergeant who has PTSD after serving three tours in Iraq. "Zoey is a lifesaver." Blub.
Welp
[Content Note: Militarism.]
Last week, President Obama gave an address at West Point in which he ostensibly laid out "his vision for a new chapter in American foreign policy," during which he said:
This weekend, Ukrainians voted by the millions. Yesterday, I spoke to their next president. We don't know how the situation will play out, and there will remain grave challenges ahead, but standing with our allies on behalf of international order, working with international institutions, has given a chance for the Ukrainian people to choose their future—without us firing a shot.This week, Obama is touring Europe, and has promised to send US troops and military resources to help provide security:
Barack Obama has assured Poland and its eastern European neighbours that the American commitment to their security was unswerving at the start of a four-day trip meant to show US resolve after the Russian intervention in Ukraine.One billion dollars of military presence to support NATO security, which has some leaders fearful that "a significant increase in Nato forces on Russia's borders could prompt reciprocal steps from Russia and spiral into a standoff reminiscent of the cold war," but we're definitely striking that perfect balance between isolationism and intervention and for sure not a single shot will be fired.
The White House unveiled plans for a $1bn initiative to send more of its military to Europe on a temporary basis but stopped short of promising to increase its permanent presence, as some of Washington's allies are seeking. It said the US would review its presence on the continent.
...The military assistance proposed by the White House, called the European Reassurance Initiative, aims to include greater US participation in training and exercises, deploying US military planners, and more persistent naval deployments near Russia in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea.
All right then.
I'm not making the argument that we shouldn't be sending military support, or any kind of argument about military strategy at all, because I am no Professor of War at Worldfuck University, so my opinion on the matter is pretty much irrelevant.
I'm just saying that the new US foreign policy looks a lot like the old US foreign policy, and it would be nice if we could just be honest about the fact that, if we're sending military aid anywhere, it is a potential escalation and there is a serious likelihood that people are going to get hurt.
Because what I am really tired of is the constant downplaying by US politicians, in both parties, of how serious any military intervention really is. I don't rightly care if it's Bush's team talking shit about how invading Iraq is going to be a walk in the park or if it's Obama's team waxing cheery about how we're just helpin' shucks: Either way, I would appreciate a more honest and serious public conversation about what military intervention, of any kind, really means, and what the political and cultural costs will be.
One billion dollars is an incomplete price tag. Especially if we end up in Cold War II.
A Culture of Violent Entitlement
[Content Note: Guns; threats.]
A young white man in Rosemount, Minnesota, was teaching his daughter to ride a bike along their residential street when one of their neighbors, an older white man, started shouting at him that he was doing it wrong. And then:
The father told Fox 9 News he's still shaken by the encounter. He explained that when he and his daughter got down to the cul de sac, [Gary Drake, 61] began yelling from his porch. When the father responded to say, "I've got it," Drake allegedly said, "If you don't like my advice, get off the street."Naturally, Drake is being described as having "snapped."
At that point, Drake appeared to get angrier -- but as the father and daughter prepared to leave the area, Drake allegedly went inside his home, grabbed a Remington 870 shotgun, pointed it at the father and threatened to kill him.
Drake's wife eventually came out and pulled the gun away, but police said he didn't appear repentant when he was booked. In fact, he allegedly told officers, "Maybe next time. I should have shot him."
But this—If you don't like my advice, get off the street—doesn't come from nowhere. And the idea that people you see as your inferior (via age, or race, or gender, etc.) need to disappear if they refuse to take your instruction is not a concept created by mental illness, but by a culture of violent entitlement.
We cannot keep pretending that every single one of these incidents, of threats of violence and/or actual violence, that are clearly underwritten by a sense of ownership of other people and the spaces in which those people move, is an isolated incident, unconnected from all the rest.
We have a very serious problem of armed men, white or white-identified, who think they own "the streets" and are empowered to violently control the people who inhabit them.
This isn't madness. It's undiluted, unexamined, toxic privilege.
[H/T to Shaker GoldFishy.]
Congratulations, Harriette Thompson!
[Content Note: Cancer.]
Ninety-one-year-old Harriette Thompson, who ran her first marathon at age 76, completed the San Diego marathon last weekend in record time for her 90-and-over age group and became the oldest person ever to finish the race:
[Thompson finished] the 26.2-mile Rock'n'Roll San Diego Marathon in seven hours, seven minutes and 42 seconds, according to race organizer Dan Cruz.Love.
"I'm elated," the North Carolina resident told Reuters on Monday. "I'm pretty active but I didn't really train for this one because I was treating for skin cancer."
Thompson also became the second oldest person to complete a U.S. marathon and the oldest to finish the San Diego race.
The previous speed record in Thompson's age group was set by Gladys Burrill in 2010, when the then-92-year-old finished the Honolulu marathon in nine hours and 53 minutes, according to Guinness World Records.
Thompson, who sat out the marathon last year because of health issues after finishing the race in 2012 in just over six hours, was one of about 25,000 runners on the 26.2-mile course, including her 55-year-old son, Brenny Thompson.
Thompson had radiation treatment for skin cancer on her legs in April, leaving her with sores that she covered with white tights and bandages, which hindered her training.
Thompson said she had no plans to stop running.
"I'll be back next year if I'm still here at all," she said. "But I'm definitely going to train next year. This is the only time I ever attempted to do the race without training, and I sure am feeling it today."
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker jenjay: "Is there an obscure word you'd like to use or encounter more, if only it fit in everyday occasions?"
Oh Hell No
[Content Note: Reproductive policing; choice policing; infertility.]
Your progressive pope on people who choose not to parent:
Pope Francis on Monday (June 2) warned married couples against substituting cats and dogs for children — a move that he said leads to the "bitterness of loneliness" in old age.First of all, I loathe the entire narrative of pets as substitute children, for a whole lot of reasons. It gets imposed on people with pets who choose not to parent, even if we don't regard our pets as children, which is annoying. It makes people with pets who desperately want to parent, but cannot, and regard pets as their children, feel like shit. It erases all the people who have both children and pets, and consider their pets part of their family; I have heard plenty of parents refer to their pets as their "furkids."
...[The pope] strongly criticized those couples who choose not to have children, saying they had been influenced by a culture of "well-being" that says life is better without kids.
"You can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be carefree," the pope said. "It might be better — more comfortable — to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog. Is this true or not? Have you seen it? Then, in the end this marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness."
And I hate it most of all because it is so often, as here, used to mask what is just straight-up reproductive policing.
It doesn't matter, at all, whether people think of their pets as substitute children, because the important thing is that Pope Francis is saying that marriages which don't produce children are garbage and the people in them will end up bitter and lonely.
As if a valid and fair reason to have children is exclusively to oblige them to behave as insurance policies against loneliness in old age.
As if lots of people who choose to parent don't end up disconnected from their living children, for many reasons, in old age.
As if children don't sometimes die before their parents.
As if a childfree person who finds comfort from the companionship of pets in their younger years can't find the same throughout their lives.
As if life really isn't better without children for people who don't want children.
As if other people's reproductive decisions are any of this guy's business.
[H/T to Shaker Rosenleaf.]
