President Barack Obama jokingly mimics U.S. Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney's "not impressed" look while greeting members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics teams in the Oval Office, Nov. 15, 2012. Steve Penny, USA Gymnastics President, and Savannah Vinsant laugh at left. [Official White House Photo by Pete Souza]
I love this so much. President Obama's rapport with young people is the best of any president in my lifetime. Maybe ever.
[H/T to everyone in the multiverse, and thanks to each and every one of you.]
The Princess Bible. Via Tami, who's got the pink version here.
I particularly love how it's a children's bible, but it's for "princesses of all ages." Why, hello again, infantilization of women! It's been at least five whole minutes since you've darkened my psychological doorstep!
[Trigger warning for rape culture, victim-blaming, misogyny, racism.]
So, one of the ways racism and misogyny manifest in local and state governments is via legislated dress codes. Of particular popularity in recent years is legislation seeking to prohibit saggy pants, which were never a problem when it was just older white men's buttcracks hanging out in public, but are tantamount to a sign of impending apocalypse when it's young black men (and young white men emulating black men) with droopy drawers and young women with visible thong-tops above low-slung jeans roaming the streets.
Naturally, because she believes in Family Values like covered underwear, Florida State Republican Kathleen Passidomo vehemently supports the "sagging pants" bill which would establish a statewide "student dress code of conduct." How she chose to express her support for this bill, however, is remarkable in its audacity, even for a Republican: Passidomo invoked the Cleveland, Texas gangrapecasein which an 11-year-old girl was raped by 18 young men, flatly asserting her clothes were the cause of the crime.
"There was an article about an 11 year old girl who was gangraped in Texas by 18 young men because she was dressed like a 21-year-old prostitute," Passidomo declared.
"And her parents let her attend school like that. And I think it's incumbent upon us to create some areas where students can be safe in school and show up in proper attire so what happened in Texas doesn't happen to our students," she added.
Apart from the heinous victim-blaming, which utterly relieves the perpetrators of any responsibility (while simultaneously suggesting that men can't help themselves from raping a woman if she's "dressed provocatively"), carelessly perpetuating the erroneous belief that following some dress code will protect children from rape is also an exceedingly dangerous game to play.
Abiding and indulging false notions about what inoculates children (and adults) against sexual violence has the inevitable effect of giving communities an excuse for not being vigilant about the things that actually support endemic sexual violence.
Passidomo's ridiculous victim-blaming isn't just cruel and wrong; it enables predators, who count on the reliable investment in comforting myths to create opportunities they can exploit.
Protip: Pants don't stop rapists. Dismantling the rape culture does.
Cheat Fair playing field Unfair advantage Distinct advantages against women in sports
Forced to have gender testing The concept makes precious little sense
DNA Height Strength 5-foot-11 200-pound Muscle mass Testosterone Male muscling Bone structure Intrinsic biology Strength of men Skeletal structure Masculine physiognomy Having both male and female sex chromosomes
Superior It’s believed
One-time man
She’s 57 57-year-old 57-year-old A transsexual Masters for aging duffers
Transgendered individuals
Postoperative Reassignment surgery Gender-reassignment surgery Switching anatomy if not human atoms Some among us recreate their very identity
Entitlement privileges Conundrum of applying broad civil rights Privileges that she feels she is now entitled to
Even Dr. Renee Richards Male-to-female tennis player Mixed transgendered doubles at Wimbledon
Not created equal The measure of a man Remains that of a man The measure of a woman Female but transgendered to male The two can’t be conjoined into one
Born and raised a female Though never officially confirmed A female, too, both legally and in her own mind
Core reality has been blurred
-- These are but a few of the words in today's Toronto Star.
Video Description: Chris Matthews shows a clip of Hillary Clinton being interviewed by the Australian Comedy Show from which yesterday's Quote of the Day was taken. (If you are able to watch/listen to the video, do, because she is great here.) Then Matthews says: "Had more people seen that side of the former first lady and senator from New York, history might have gone down differently back in 2008." Matthews reportedly intro'ed the clip with: "Had you seen this Hillary Clinton back in 2008, I think a lot of people would have made her president."
OH MY FUCKING GOD.
Gee, Chris, why is that more people didn't see that side of Hillary Clinton during the last election?
Is it because she TOTALLY CHANGED HER PERSONALITY IN TWO YEARS, do you think, or is it maybe because of dipshit misogybags in the media who garbage-farted segments like "Is Hillary Clinton a She-Devil?" and "Smart politics for GOP to demonize Hillary?" accompanied by images of Clinton with FUCKING DEVIL HORNS photoshopped onto her head!!!???!!!
It's not like Hillary Clinton being charming wasn't available for reporting in 2008, you mendacious wankstain. It's just that you chose not to report it.
So do us all a fucking favor and don't pretend like you played no part in voters not getting a glimpse of Clinton being witty and effervescent. Do us all a favor and don't try to imply that Clinton failed to deliver the charm on the campaign trail. Do us all a favor and take some responsibility for the role you play in the democratic process, or just shut the fuck up.
At a recent political debate in Champaign, Illinois, sponsored by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, candidates for the state Senate were asked for their ideas on how to increase black enrollments at the University of Illinois. GOP candidate Al Reynolds of Danville stated, "Minority women are motivated more so than the minority men. The minority men find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs than to do education. It's easier."
Reynolds lost, but I just don't know what to say about Republicans anymore. Many of them become angry when you point out that racism and protecting privilege seem to be HUGE parts of the party platform, but what do they do to counter stuff like this?
And the absolute refusal to recognize and acknowledge structural factors that influence who gets educated, to pretend it's all about individual choices? Yeah, I'd like to bathe in that cluelessness one day. Maybe I wouldn't be so stressed.
I want to write a letter that includes a line that says, "Just FYI, not all or even most men of color are drug dealers. Try again."
Some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.
And these are the people who imagine themselves at the forefront of "protecting life."
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