[Thanks to Shaker Rachel B. for passing this along.]
Torchwood: Children of Earth - Open Thread
Alright, since I have now seen it in its entirety, I'm going to selfishly decide this is the day on which we start the Open Thread.
There are spoilers below the Open Wide. Do not enter if you do not wish to read spoilers.
No really. Spoilers. Lots of 'em. Don't blink. They'll sneak up on you. Whatever you do - Just. Don't. Blink. Oh, wait, that's that other show!
So - what did you think?
I was impressed, as always, with their wonderful portrayal of non-heterosexuality, from love to lust and in-between. I liked that the heartless killer assassin happened to be a woman, and that that didn't seem to make undue difference in how horrible she was. I liked that there were POC in various positions, important and not, with no discernible pattern of $NONWHITE=EVIL (not discernible to me, anyway; I can admit that may be an artifact of privilege, and welcome being corrected if I'm mistaken).
The emotional charge of the series was huge, I felt, and though I can certainly understand how people could be peeved with RTD about it, it was still done well enough that my friends and I watched all five in a row, ending at 3am (it was broken into five instalments by Space, the Canadian sci-fi channel, and shown in 75-minute slots - yay for full eps!).
The casting was outstanding: so many enormously talented actors* in this show. Even smaller parts were well-filled, with superb actors familiar from a host of BBC productions.
I cried for Ianto (poor beautiful Ianto!), and for Clem, and for Jack and Alice, and for Steven, and even for Frobisher, and the girls and their mother...tragically mistaken right to the end. And even though it was totally telegraphed, I still jumped half out of my seat when the shots came.
So - go at it, Shakers! What did you think? What do you think the future will bring - there's been a renewal for a fourth season, though all but Gwen are now gone from the team we're used to (Owen and Tosh first, then Ianto, then Jack leaving)? Where will they set up, without the old Hub? What happened to the pterodactyl in all this?
* I use the word "actor" to refer to a person who acts, regardless of gender.
Activist, Terrorist, Potato, Potahto
CNN: "Trial set for anti-abortion activist in Kansas doctor's death."
Anti-abortion activist. Really? Wow.
I mean, it's technically accurate, but calling al-Qaeda "anti-American activists" would technically be true, too, you know? But I don't see CNN soft-pedaling that one.
CNN.com feedback form.
[H/T to Shaker Debra.]
From the You've Got to Be Shitting Me Files
[Spoiler warnings for the film Orphan lurk herein.]
No transcript for the trailer, but the general gist is that a young couple adopts a girl from an orphanage...but she's got a secret! Surprise—she's a psycho!
So, when I first saw the trailer for the film Orphan, my first thought was: "Oh, yeah, that's exactly what the millions of older kids desperately in need of adoption need—a movie that depicts them as freaking murderous lunatics." (Actually, my first thought may technically have been: Peter Sarsgaard, what are you doing in this piece of crap?! But I digress.)
And the whole adoptive-child-as-psycho thing would have been bad enough, but it's actually far worse than that: Esther isn't an orphaned child at all, but
a thirty-something psycho-killer with proportional dwarfism which allows her to pose as a perpetual 9-year-old adoptee who tries to seduce her adoptive fathers, and when they refuse her, brutally kills them and burns down the house with the rest of the family in it. She's done this like, twenty times, and apparently no one has noticed a pattern. Listen, I watch this stuff so you don't have to.Awesome. So not only another film about an Unhinged Fuck-Me-or-Death Lady punishing men who won't sleep with her, but a dwarf lady who inexplicably poses as a child in order to insinuate herself into the lives of unavailable men. Ooooooookay.
Among all the other many, many reasons why this concept is brutally fucked up, let me offer this final reason: I have exactly one non-fantasy film in my vast collection that has as its central protagonist a dwarf. (That movie, btw, is The Station Agent, with the exceptionally dreamy Peter Dinklage.) And I have exactly zero films, non-fantasy or otherwise, that have as their central protagonists a woman with dwarfism.
Suffice it to say, this is not because I'm avoiding films about dwarf women.
Help a Shaker: Disability and Ally Resources
Shaker Betsy emails a request to the community:
A friend of mine has been having mobility problems for a few years due to severe pain in her ankles that has been given varying diagnoses. Last year, relocating to a new town, a new baby, and the debilitating pain conspired to leave her isolated and unable to do basic tasks or participate in activities she loves. Recently, she has had to seek medical treatment after suicidal thoughts. She is likely to get a wheelchair soon. That is the background.Please help out, if you can.
I want to offer her as much support as I can, but as someone with no experience in this arena, I was wondering if any Shakers had recommendations for support groups or websites for the newly-disabled, to help with everything from the emotional consequences to the practicalities of figuring out how to get the most out of a wheelchair and find decent health insurance/providers. I did some googling, but I have no way to evaluate what are good resources and what aren't. I would be so grateful for any sites or books or other resources that you, or a loved one with a new disability or in a wheelchair, have found to be helpful.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, your headquarters for Utter DisdainTM at how the Democrats can fuck up a great possibility since 2004.
Recommended Reading:
Igor: Dean: "What's the point of having a 60 vote majority" if you can't pass health reform?
D-Day: Same Old Song and Dance
Bill: For-Profit Medicine is a National Sickness
BAC: Rep. Maxine Waters Nails the Problem
Le Mew: The Core
Steve: Reid Talks About What to Expect
Shayera: Legislative Democrats PAY ATTENTION!
And on non-healthcare reform subjects...
Rachel: Government Women's Health Site Acknowledges That Women of Different Sizes Can Be Healthy
Renee: Meryl Streep and a Lack of Sexiness
Roxie: Pour One for the Lady
Holly: Opportunity to Vote for Your Top Ten Favourite Blogs (This is for UK blogs/bloggers. I encourage UK-based Shakers with blogs to nominate themselves in comments. And don't forget The F-Word, hint hint!)
Leave your links in comments...
Totes Post-Racial
This slow, agonizing implosion of conservatives since Obama took office due to their complete inability to handle their own racism has been really amazing for me to watch. On one hand, we've got people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, wallowing happily in their deeply embedded racism like so many hogs in slop. They're unable to keep from gleefully repeating racist talking points, like calling health care reform "reparations." Beck recently said:
This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture....without a trace of irony. And if you like that, you'll love Limbaugh blurting "I had a dream that I was a slave building a sphinx in a desert that looked like Obama."
On the flipside of this two-sided coin, you've got people like conservablogger Dan Riehl, who is so eager to prove that he's totes not racist, that he sits down at his keyboard and writes one of the most racist things I've ever read. I could throw up some blockquotes, but really, you need to just read the whole thing for yourself.
As an extra special bonus, Riehl shows how totally non-racist he is by offering up an encounter with a white woman, dripping with extra misogyny sauce. (Garbled sentences and typos intact for your pleasure.)
Anyway, I get lost in a DC suburb yesterday and need directions. I pull into a shopping mall and see this lady (white) walking to her car, I'm in mind. I'm inside the vehicle, so I power the passenger side window down and say, excuse me, I'm lost. Can you tell me how to get to so and so.Of course, the idea that this woman may not have "desired" to help him because, oh, maybe she had a good reason to not stop and give directions to a strange man that slowly pulls up behind her in an idling car never crosses his mind. Getting out of his vehicle and making it clear to this woman that he's not a threat before asking directions would obviously be too much goddamn work, so let's paint her with the bitch brush and move on, shall we? After all, Big White Man has some brown men to pat on the head for doing such a good, good job getting him to his destination!
Well, she barely paused, looking at me with this almost disdainful look. As though I was ruining her day. "Well, you want to get to so and so the best way you can". ANd on she goes with really no help, or desire to help at all.
(Tip 'o the energy dome to S,N!)
In Odd Things I Stumble Across
Dollhouse miniature of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's
Via The Miniature Bookshelf, which bills itself as "the largest selection of dollhouse books online." Firstly, I had no idea there was such a thing as dollhouse books. Secondly, I love the idea that there are little dollhouses out there with fully stocked libraries. Thirdly, I am tickled to know that there is a tiny little version of my favorite book of all time available. (And even though it's not an actual book and can't be read, the idea still pleases me.)
By the way, I am so getting a copy of The Grass Harp for my Bossk action figure.
SNN Breaking News: Birther Identified as Threat-Making Shit-Stirrer
In a completely stunning revelation, Delaware Online has discovered that the woman behind the recent "birther" rant directed at Rep. Mike Castle during a townhall is a shit-stirring weirdo whose local conservative radio station has banned her for being too unhinged even for them—and possibly dangerous:
According to another WGMD host, Jared Morris, she has been banned from calling the station -- known for its conservative leanings and hosts -- on several occasions. [...]And, as Jared Morris pointed out, this is the woman that people were cheering.
She repeatedly has called Obama "the antichrist" on the airwaves, and "her phone calls have turned to faxes and threats," according to Morris.
"I have actually talked to an angel who came down in human form," she said during the Jan. 1 show. "We will have alien contact in October of this year, in the southwestern USA."
[H/T to C&L]
So…
I'm watching this clip [NSFW] of some ding-a-ling going totes apeshit on Hell's Kitchen and Gordon Ramsay trying to look all hard as if there aren't two giant bodyguards flanking him, and I wonder, once again, if the contestants gets paid per "bitch" on that show or what.
I haven't watched it this season at all, even though I only watched it to hate the sweet fuck out of it before, because I can't even bear to look at Ramsay since he acted the complete überscum toward that reporter in Australia. He's just a despicable bully.
So I'm interested, if totally unsurprised, to note that the show remains populated with contestants who use the word "bitch" like it's going out of style. I've never seen anything like it.
And I find it really curious that a nonstop stream of "bitch" is considered appropriate (i.e. unbleepable) during primetime, despite the fact that it's a slur demeaning half the population. And the way it's frequently used on Hell's Kitchen, it's a homophobic slur embedded with a rape reference.
But a brief view of Janet Jackson's tittay was a national scandal.
This country is so fucked up.
[Commenting Guidelines: Let's not play Oppression Olympics here, please. Even though it may be true that some other kinds of slurs might not be treated as unseriously in this one arena, it's not relevant, and pointing that out is just expressing a grievance that hurts the people who have earned that little bit of respect, not the people who fail to extend it to everyone. In other words: It hurts the wrong people. And we all know that one slur being beeped on telly isn't evidence that the associated bigotry is gone, anyway. On-topic comments will discuss the hypocrisy of how women and/or gay men are treated, e.g. ubiquitous slurs against them fine, but images of women's bodies or portrayals of gay male consensual sex treated as scandalous.]
Some Movies Just Aren't Sexist Enough
We've discussed The Ugly Truth before, and by all accounts it sounds like a pretty shitastic film (it's certainly marketed that way), a fairly uninteresting "romantic comedy" with a heavy dose of sexism and misogyny to presumably (what other rationale could there be?) lure in the all-important dudebro dollar.
And for some, the film just doesn't have enough sexism and misogyny.
From St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall: "The Ugly Truth is a movie telling women to loosen up a little, get in touch with your inner pig. If only the rest of [the] movie were that subversive." And by subversive the author seems to mean "reducing women to objects to serve as targets for men's lust." Yeah, that's subversive.
And while it might appear that referring to Gerard Butler's character as "an unapologetic poster boy for misogyny who wandered off the set of a Judd Apatow raunchfest" isn't a compliment, Persall assures us that Butler is, in fact, "keep[ing] things fairly real."
You see, all men, well, anyone who's "a rugged man's man" like Butler's character, really are "selfish and sexist." I guess I'm not a real man, not by his definition.
I'm okay with that.
(Now, don't get me started on his review of Sex and the City.)
LOL Okay
Rep. Virginia Foxx, (R-NC): [The Republican plan] will make sure we bring down the cost of healthcare for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government.I don't even know what to say anymore.
[Via.]
"Sin to Win" Snub FTW
Last Friday, I wrote about a contest being held at ComicCon by EA, in which participants were asked to be "sinful" by taking "lustful" pictures with "booth babes" at the convention in order to win dinner and a "sinful night with two hot girls, a limo service, paparazzi and a chest full of booty."
Shaker Selasphorus just emailed me a heads-up about a gay gamer, PixelPoet, who subversively submitted a cheeky pic of himself with a hot guy, blogged about it, and was "randomly selected" as a runner-up contest winner. He was offered "a $240 gift certificate to the EA Store and a limited print t-shirt for being selected," but instead of taking the winnings, he emailed them to decline.While I'm grateful for the team 'randomly' choosing me as one of the runners-up for your #Lust contest, it seems as though the internet has once again made it difficult to relay tongue-in-cheek humor to the desired recipients. I became aware of your contest through one of the many blogs decrying it. I think the contest was somewhat sexist, misogynist, and exploitive, especially since you were sending fans upon ANY booth babe at SDCC; however, as a gay man, I also saw this PR stunt as missed opportunity that resulted in what appears to be a narrow minded view as to what your game's audience can truly be. While I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, this stunt projected a view of your target demographic as lustful heterosexual males, when in reality a larger and larger portion of the gaming population are women and LGBT people.
Rock on, PixelPoet.
...I sent in my photo of me with a burly man that I took at PAX last year as a humorous portrayal of how your contest is not only misogynistic and demeaning to the women that attended the conventions, but also to anyone that doesn't follow the hetero-normative ideal. I know booth babes (and guys) get paid to man those booths and deal with gawkers, but there are also PR, production, and development people at those booths caught in the crossfire of dealing with people trying to do "acts of lust" with them to win your contest.
Again, while I am grateful that you have chosen my submission as a runner-up, I feel I must decline your free t-shirt and $240 gift certificate to the EA Store. Instead of giving that $240 away, I would prefer the money to be used in the following ways:
1) A new sexual-harassment training video/seminar
2) Another PR team to try to spin this whole debacle of a contest into a positive light
3) A direct phone line to EA's legal depart to use before you try anymore PR stunts
4) Six copies of your game when it releases, since I know you've lost at least that many fans with this stunt
5) Or the next time you go to Hooters (for the wings, of course), leave a $240 tip for your waitress in a karmic way of balancing out what has been done to the booth babes of SDCC due to this contest
...Thanks for the response though, and there is a part of me that hopes I wasn't just "randomly chosen" and that you guys wanted to include my picture to help save face. That maybe on some level all the negative press and feedback actually got back to you guys and you were trying to include more than just guys drooling over girls; however, I have to decline use of my image or name for the contest.
[Previously: Still Not Wanted: Girl Geeks (& We're Not So Hot on Gay Guy Geeks, Either), What More Could a Girl Want?, Again Let Us Contemplate Why There Are Not More Girl Gamers, Still Not Wanted: Girl Geeks, Over at Shakes Manor..., Liss Isn't the Only One Who Writes Letters, Fat Princess Greatest Hits, "Women are treated better than men online," says NerdBoobLoot-man, Rape for Sale.]
I Needs Help!
[Moving this back to the top for a bit, in case any more requests/suggestions/additions need to be made...]
Okay, Shakers—so I've been trying to find time to finally finish the Shaxicon for months, but I never seem to be able to carve out enough uninterrupted time to just sit with it and get it done. And then I realized that bunches of you are always generously offering to help out with the blog however you can, and this project is a perfect example of something with which I can easily get help if only I'd ask for it. So I'm asking! Wheeeeeeeeee!
Below are all the entries; I'm including the ones that have already been defined so that everyone knows what's included in the Shaxicon, but the ones in need of help are in bold. Some just have links to relevant posts or comments, but need definitions. Define whichever ones you like, and multiple submissions are okay. I'll just grab my favorite, or combine them, or wev.
If you have requests for other words/phrases, let me know in comments and I'll consider adding them.
My sincere thanks and gratitude in advance to anyone who helps out!
All In—Being "All In" is an acknowledgement that not speaking up, that not using one's teaspoon, that turning a blind eye toward or meeting with apathy the injustices wrought against other people tacitly condones them. To be "All In" is to recognize: I make a difference in this world, for good or ill. There is no neutral. There is no Switzerland. There is only saying no to the indignities one human visits upon another—prejudice, hatred, humiliation and pain—or saying yes. And silence, the craven averting of one's gaze so the offense may take place out of view, is not a no. It is not ambiguous. It is a yes. Yes, go ahead, just don't do it to me. It is a permission, and a plea. I'll sacrifice her if you'll let me on my merry way. We routinely cede our expectations of goodness for guarantees of safety, but only our own, and we can no longer fool ourselves that people who hurt others while we cast down our eyes are aberrations; they are, in the void of unyielding solidarity our self-interest has left, inevitabilities. There is no neutral. You're in or you're fucking out.
Apatowcalypse—
Assdrip—A non-gendered expression of disdain, as in: "I don't give the tiniest, microscopic shit about Joe Lieberman. I don't care if I never even hear the name of this oxygen-sucking assdrip again for the rest of my everloving life."
Benjamin Buttons Shit—[link]
Blub—To cry, either with sadness or extreme joy.
Boob Pistol of Disdain—Liss' recommended, oft-used, and awesomely gratifying response to cow-calling, i.e. strangers screaming, commenting, grabbing, or otherwise rudely reminding you that you're publicly fat: 1. 1. Grab your boob. 2. Aim it at them like a pistol of righteousness. 3. Blow a giant, loud raspberry.
Bowl of Farts—A general insult, coined by Space Cowboy.
Clusterfucktastrophe—A catastrophic clusterfuck; a huge-ass mess.
Cult of the Feminazi Cooter—See: Feminazi Cooter.
Douchehound—[link]
Drip of Dogwank—As described. One of Liss' favorite turns of phrase to express disdain, as in: "I don't give a tiny drip of dogwank what any former president did or didn't do when it has nothing to do with what the current president is doing now. What Clinton did about wiretapping in 1994 has about as much to do with what Bush is doing about wiretapping now as pickled pigs' feet have to do with supernovas."
Dudebro—
Expect More—An important component of teaspooning, the rejection of complacency masked as cynicism: "I'm not ironically detached, I'm not apathetic, I'm not resigned, and I'm not contemptuous of bleeding hearts. I am a greedy bitch with voracious expectations, and I dream long and lustfully of a better world that is both my muse and objective. I want it like the cracked earth of the desert wants rain, and I will neither apologize for nor amend my desire because of its remove from the here and now; its distance encourages my reach."
Fainting Couch/Pearl Clutching/Mint Julip/Smelling Salts—The accoutrements of affected Victorian shock.
Fauxgina—An honorary vagina granted by a feminist/womanist woman to a F/W or F/W-allied man as a show of solidarity, as in: "Your 'Honorary Feminazi Cooter' fauxgina is in the mail."
Fauxgressive—Someone who claims to be progressives but demonstrates a bigotry incompatible with authentic progressivism, e.g. sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, disablism, classism, sizism, etc.
Feminazi Cooter—This is the feminazi cooter. Now, I'm sort of breaking the Feminazi Cooter League's code of secrecy to do this, but let me just explain how the process works, to clear up any confusion: The Radical Gay Eggs are kept in the ovaries until they are fertilized by the dulcet tones of Barney Frank (or a Frank-certified Fertilofag like Spudsy), at which time they are deposited in the womb where they incubate alongside the Radical Gay Agenda Pink Disco Ball, which spins to the beat of It's Raining Men. In mere hours, the Radical Gay Eggs hatch into teensy lavender copies of Melissa Etheridge singles, which slowly disintegrate as they pass through the vaginal canal, emitting radiating vibrations of the Radical Gay Agenda.
Flounce/Echo Flounce/Epic Flounce—
Fooking Hoff oon a fooking Tschoosday—Care of Iain, a comparison for something you just can't handle at the moment, as in: "It's too much. I can't take it. This is like fooking Hoff oon a fooking Tschoosday."
Fuckneck—
Gay as a pair of pink shoes—
Gaypocalypse—The impending meltdown of the American family after radical queers and their radical allies take over the entire country and force good, conservative, Christian straight people to get gay-married against their wills and give up their firstborn children to be gayified with their gay-beams of gayitude.
Here, there is only pie.—In the truly hilarious but browser-crashing Fat Princess Flypaper thread (the Top 10 Troll Droppings from which are recounted here), Shaker JupiterPluvius calmly, brilliantly, and memorably explained to a troll who was missing the point: "What you are doing, sir, is the equivalent of going into a pie-shop and demanding a jellied eel, because the jellied-eel shop had been closed down after a gang of hooligans had demolished the place. SIR, YOU ARE TOO LATE FOR THE JELLIED EELS. HERE, WE HAVE ONLY PIE."
Hey your gay—A particularly amusing troll dropping.
Heyyy! Everybody! [Gibberish]! Wooo!—[link]
Homomentum—The inevitable gay equality train barreling down the tracks. Choo-choo!
I am Spartacus—
Jizz! in! my pants!—An expression of extreme excitement, care of Andy Samberg.
Kumbaya, bitchez.—An ironic comment on idiots who can't get along, usually because they're deliberately stirring shit.
Learn to logic—A particularly amusing troll dropping, which can be adapted for any purpose, e.g. Bill O'Reilly should learn to math.
lol your fat—A particularly amusing troll dropping, frequently applied in other contexts, e.g. lol your hopey-changeyness.
lolsob—Laughing and crying at the same time.
Maude—Liss' imaginary higher power.
Metric Fuckton—A lot. More than two fuckloads.
Misogybag—A misogynist douchebag.
MREWYB—My rights end where yours begin. Liss' political philosophy, in one sentence. Example in practice here.
Nieztschean bake sales—[link]
Nutria-based economy—[link]
o.oP—The teaspoon salute.
OFFS—Oh for fuck's sake. [/deeky]
OMG Shoez—"OMG Shoez" is something that Spudsy and Liss call each other just to say like 90 times a day, all because of this video. It's also a good way to indicate that a troll is being a hyberbolic dipshit, e.g.: "Liberals will be the end of America!" You: "OMG Shoez!"
Orientrollism—
Pathetic Anger Bread—Another superb troll dropping from the Fat Princess Greatest Hits parade.
President Mondo Fucko—Liss' nickname for former president George W. Bush.
QCoFM—QCoFM is an abbreviation for Queen Cunt of Fuck Mountain, which Liss christened herself in response to emails she'd been getting about her coarse and decidedly unladylike language: "Fearing that we face a whole new level of bullshit about which we will, and should, be visibly angry, and preparing myself thusly, comments and emails composed specifically to tell me to stop using bad language or to start being less aggressive, less hostile, less antagonistic, less bitchy, less arrogant, less belligerent, less vitriolic, less nasty, less acerbic, or less of a poopyhead, are as welcome as any other, but I feel obligated to inform all potential authors of such missives that they are, however, a waste of time. If I get my facts wrong, let me know. If you don't like my tone, tough. At this bus stop in the blogosphere, I'm Queen Cunt of Fuck Mountain, and I'm mean for a reason. Once we get our country back on the right track, there will plenty of time for nursery rhymes."
Retrofuck Jackhole—Liss' coinage for the "traditionalists."
Ronpaulbuxxx—[link]
Roomba—
Safe Space—[This one still needs work, but I'm going to write something pretty long for it, so don't bother on this one.]
Scan Your Credentials—
Shakesville—In October 2004, Liss started a blog she called Shakespeare's Sister, after one of her favorite Smiths' songs, and adopted the same as my own handle. When she had no readers besides Iain, and no other contributors, it didn't seem particularly weird to share the handle with the name of the blog, but as an entire community of contributors, guest writers, commenters, and lurkers grew, it didn't make a bit of sense. And so, as a nod to the community, Shakespeare's Sister became Shakesville.
Sodomy Squadron, aka The Sod Squad—Purveyors of the radical gay agenda and harbingers of the gaypocalypse.
Take your complaints to the management/Julius—
Teaspooning—The teaspoon reference started with Liss' post on International Human Rights Day: "Today is the final day of the 16 Days of Action Against Gender Violence, during which I suppose I have blogged exactly as often as always about violence against women, in America and abroad. Sometimes it feels like it's all I ever write about; sometimes it feels like I can't possibly write about it enough to do the issue justice; often, those feelings exist within me simultaneously. All I ever do is try to empty the sea with this teaspoon; all I can do is keep trying to empty the sea with this teaspoon." From that came the Shakesville Silver Teaspoon for Random Acts of Feminism, and a whole lot of subsequent references to teaspoons in these pages, when we are feeling crushed by the vastness of the work to be done.
This is gay, your all gay.—
titty-wrap hugs {{{OTWHRecipientO}}}—
Totes—Totally.
Trigger/Triggering/Trigger Warning—
Unsullied Cunt—[link]
Vagynomite—The power of Hillary Clinton's vagina in destroying male bromances.
Venus Fly Vagina—[link]
Wankstain—As described. One of Liss' favorite turns of phrase to express disdain, as in: Chris Matthews is a misogynist wankstain.
Wev—Wev is what Liss says when she has too much contempt for something to even bother uttering the full three syllables of whatever. Or, as the case may be, typing them.
Who farted?—Fred Thompson did.
Who monitors your bevis?—
WTP—What the Poop, or WTP, is like WTF, except...more so. Or less so. WTPs are sort of like Potter Stewart and obscenity—you just know it when you see it. WTF, while exceptionally useful in conveying cynical anger, pales in comparison to the genius of WTP when one needs to express guileless bewilderment at so much weird and fucked-up shit in the world. Its genesis lies with Mama Shakes, who exclaimed "What the poop?!" one evening in response to a confounding clock. I told Mama Shakes that "What the poop?!" was going straight on the blog—and she was going to have to pose for a picture, to which she immediately consented, because she's as batshit nutz as I am.
Your Gayest Look—
Sigh
by Shaker Ginmar—liberal pinko commie hippie feminist female combat veteran who loves zombies and werewolves and hates trolls, twits, and MRAs.
[Background reading: The Startle Reflex.]
A few months ago, I had to fill out a post deployment questionnaire. It was depressing in and of itself, and made more so by the fact that the NCO and clerk who came out to my house to help me with it were so nice. Another reminder of all you leave behind, again. Just fix me, goddamit. I still remember the cadence from Basic: Pick up your ruck and follow me/I am the Infantry. Not exactly accurate in my case, but the spirit's there—and the willingness. Indeed, there's something freeing about it. Leave behind all the fetters of gender and nicety and push yourself to your limits; no sleep, no rest, mile upon mile of road going by, the dust turning to grit in your hair, the dirt solidifying on your face. Endured, it's a trial; remembered, it's an honor. And...lost...oh, God, it's a tragedy. I'd sell my house, my possessions, sign up for another eight-year hitch, hit the plane for the desert, anything…if they'd just listen to me—and then fix me up.
And so, I told the DOD that I had so much pain from my back and shoulder that it woke me up at times, makes me walk hunched over. There was no place to put the experiences with contemptuous doctors, who looked at X-rays for soft tissue injuries, who ignored the paperwork filled out by a doctor who observed bruises and swelling after I nearly got tossed out of the gun turret of a Humvee swerving wildly back and forth going north to Baghdad. The gun shield broke loose and slapped around and knocked the .249 off the pin, and I was suddenly wrestling with about seventy pounds of heavy metal—more than half my body weight. It was only when my helmet threatened to go flying that I gave up and unloaded the weapon and dropped back down into the vehicle. The next day I had to have help sitting up and getting out of my bunk.
As for the psychological stuff, well…finding that soldiers have service-related illnesses is against VA guidelines. It means that bonuses have to be withheld. Those bonuses are awarded not for treating and healing soldiers, but for meeting budgetary guidelines. (If a soldier commits suicide while pursuing a claim for benefits, the VA stamps their folder, "RESOLVED" and the Army doesn't count the death as a service-related suicide.)
I gave paperwork to my shrink to fill out a month ago. She said she'd fill it out, call my unit—I gave her the number—and then send me copies. I called my unit yesterday. They hadn't heard from her. The deadline is Thursday. She could have called me. She didn't. As always with the VA, they play passive, forcing injured soldiers to push and push and push, even while they struggle to survive against an array of self-destructive illnesses and symptoms. This is the woman who threatened to commit me when I reported my symptoms to her. She put me in a therapy group full of female veterans who'd…never been in a war zone, much less any hostile action. When they asked me why I was there, I told them, and they complained to the shrink that I was triggering them. Well. So much for that therapy group. She wants me to try it again. With two suicide attempts under my belt, I'm sure the VA has high hopes for stamping, "RESOLVED" on my claim soon.
I'd rather fight insurgents. They're not as evil as bureaucrats, and you get buddies, a helmet, ammo, a vest, and a weapon. I've shown the fucking VA a video of some of the shit I went through—courtesy of a jittery civilian who found himself in something that could have taken place in Mogadishu in the early Nineties—and they looked at it and said: "So…did you have a traumatic childhood?" The classic diagnosis of PTSD includes what's called a precipitating event. Confronted with actual proof, the VA moved the goal posts, spending what turned out to be two years on fighting rather than treatment. It only cost me my mental health, my career, and my whole life.
I haven't slept all night. I hear things in the dark. Sometimes I see them, too. Sometimes it's full daylight when I see them, too. I smell smoke and burning asphalt. The scent and taste of copper and sand and heat fill my nightmares, and highways turn my heart into a hammer stroke. I was a soldier once, and strong. I don't know who this person is now, looking out at me from the mirror, these exhausted mornings. Even the nightmares are somehow better than the overwhelming exhaustion.
If you care about veterans, don't wait till it comes down to saluting at a grave or a flag-draped casket, once or twice a year. Turn those yellow ribbons red for the blood that's been spilled, and add just one pure drop of white for the ideals we thought we had, the hopes we cherished, and the bright light on every far horizon.
(Cross-posted.)
What The Hell?
Shaker MishaRN
What the hell is up the deal with that little jumpsuit? What the hell is with that dog?? What the hell is going on with that Ann Romano wannabe haircut??? What the hell????
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, and Rikibeth.]
Question of the Day
Apropos of my below post: What product or service have you purchased/used lately that you'd like to recommend to other Shakers (or recommend against)?
Commenting Guidelines: If you have had a different experience than someone else about a specific product/service, please feel free to say: "Oh, I had a totally different experience!" and then explain what your own experience was. But let's not criticize each other's recommendations or warnings. Ditto each other's choices. There are Shakers who do wear leather and Shakers who don't, Shakers who use only environmentally friendly cleaning products and Shakers who don't, Shakers who wear make-up and Shakers who don't, Shakers who eschew bras and Shakers who don't, Shakers who use and love sex toys and Shakers who don't, and I'd really like us to be able to just make recommendations without fear of judgment or condemnation here. If something isn't to your taste or choice, feel invited to make an alternative suggestion, but don't criticize someone else's.
That said, use some discretion when making your recs. "The latest issue of Juggs was worth every penny!" is not suddenly appropriate because of the aforementioned guidelines.
OMG Shoez Sale
6pm, one of my favorite online shoe retailers, is having a good sale at the moment on a couple of great pairs of shoes.
SoftWalk's Bergamo are selling at 83% off for $19.95 (which is the price at which I snagged them this weekend). I'm wearing them right now, and they are as comfortable as they are cute.
And Söfft's Veronica, which I own in Winter Blue thanks to a gift certificate Space Cowboy and Space Cowgirl gave me for my birthday, are currently on sale for $25.
I have an older, similar style in black from Söfft, and I wear the fuck outta these shoes. They are so comfortable—I've seriously been grocery shopping in these things, and suffice it to say that is not something I can normally do (or want to do!) in heels.
SoftWalk's line in onsale all week. Söfft is today only. Sizes are somewhat limited.
(If you're wondering: I'm not getting any compensation from anywhere for this post. I just really like these shoes and thought I'd pass on the recommendations, since they're on sale.)
A case for sex-positive education, or just "othering" Japan?
(Trigger warning: The referenced article may be triggering in its description of sexual acts with objects-perceived-as-girls.)
I'll admit, I struggled to find a way to approach this story, about an outgrowth of the otaku* subcultures in Japan. Fortunately, I'm not alone in this contributor thing, and got some significant help from Liss on this one, so thanks Liss! Errors and omissions may be safely attributed to me, though.
(A brief precis of the article, so people don't have to risk being triggered just to join in the conversation: there is an interview with a fellow who claims to be "in love" with a pillowcase rendition of a particular anime character; then the author delves into a bit of background on this specific type of otaku, including comments from an author who has written on the topic, and from a producer of material for the 2D-love fandom. Let me be clear that my post is not meant, for even a moment, to suggest that otaku-style fandom is all, or even largely, in agreement with this ad absurdum extension of their fandom, and there is an interesting rebuttal of the article to be found here.)
Japanese society, as most others - including mine and most of the readers here - has a strong component of traditionalism, particularly in matters sexual. One of the effects of this can be seen in the survey reported in the article:
According to many who study the phenomenon, the rise of 2-D love can be attributed in part to the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life. According to a government survey, more than a quarter of men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins; 50 percent of men and women in Japan do not have friends of the opposite sex. One of the biggest best sellers in the country last year was “Health and Physical Education for Over Thirty,” a six-chapter, manga-illustrated guidebook that holds the reader’s hand from the first meeting to sex to marriage.So there's that - to me, a suggestion that sex-positive education is of more value to people in a modern society than traditionalist approaches to such topics. Leaving aside the extremely problematic construction of "virgin", and not knowing how the survey was conducted, both of which could have a huge effect on the numbers, that's a fairly high percentage of over-30 adults to have not had sex as they self-define it. It seems to me one of the ways in which, yes, the patriarchy hurts men too (edited to add: men who do not choose to be asexual, or who would choose to be in a relationship, that is - thanks to Shaker Quinara for calling me on that).
Note: the article at Mutantfrog Travelogue includes a critique on this very point, which raises some good questions about the applicability of those numbers in a general Japanese context.
But there's also a strong aspect to this of reinforcing that set of traditionalist ideas, as can be seen in the quote from Toru Honda, who has written several books on the 2-D love "movement" (though it doesn't seem to be organized as a movement as I would ordinarily recognize such things - more a club, if you will, of like-minded individuals seeking one another out, than one intended to advocate for change in some manner):
“I’m not saying that everyone should throw away hopes of real romance right away. I am simply saying that guys like me who have gotten to a point of no return can be happy living in 2-D.”In other words, men who aren't conventionally good-looking, and who don't have conventionally desirable bank accounts with which to attract women (how about trying "being a decent human being"? - is that too much to expect?). There's even a hint of that old Nice Guy thing going on: Since Nice Guys can't get a break with real women, they need to turn to body pillows draped with pre-pubescent girls in erotic poses, who will be appropriately submissive and willing to give their owners exactly what they want, with no backtalk or lip or demanding of attention to their needs or desires.
I mean, they even get into talking about how great it'll be when there are "girl robots" to date. But we're not really talking about robotic women: we're talking about something to own that has its own ladybits, since it's so hard to find women who are willing to be owned solely for that: something that'll bat its eyelashes and speak basic Japanese.
So, I'm betting, a few people reading this - maybe more than a few - are wondering whether this "movement" is really a problem for a feminist. I mean, Honda is actively advocating that 2-D lovers turn their backs on 3-D (meaning, interaction with other living human adults) love - so how is this a problem for those real adult humans?
And the answer for me is that it's another piece of the objectification of the bodies of girls**, another piece of the male gaze determining the value of a girl by her sexual availability/desirability, another piece of sexualization of children for men who feel too challenged by the concept of dealing with actual adult women.
I'll quote this little conversation with "Momo" (Toru Taima, proprietor of Youkouro, translated here as "Furnace of Child Love", at the which let me say, "EWWWW!") here, again from the article:
“Her existence to me is like daughter, younger sister and bride all put into one.” Does he have sex with her? “Yes.”He then goes on to claim, moments later, that he is not a consumer of child pornography. As our blogmistress has been known to say, WTP? You've "had sex with" a pillow draped with an image of a prepubescent girl, and claim there is no link with child porn? You define the object of your sexual desires as "daughter, younger sister, and bride", but are not a pedophile? How do you figure that?
In the end, though, I'm not sure what, exactly, is meant to be the point of this article in the NYT. Given it's a description of people who like to fantasize about sex with prepubescent girls, I'm a little mystified by the uncritical acceptance of everything the fantasizers have to say about their fantasies - it feels like rather a soft-soap approach to what is basically child pornography.
Why is this news? And if it's news, why isn't more than one side depicted? Why do we not hear from people who do work against child pornography, and its effects on our societies? We hear constantly from the NYT about how their journalistic integrity requires they give voice to both sides of issues - where is the other voice here? Where is someone saying hey, dude: child pornography, this is it? Do they get a free pass because they've sexualized the girls only in an Impossibly Beautiful way?
Further yet, do these questions even matter when the biggest question seems to be: Is this just another way to "Other" Japanese people? When we were talking about this via email, Liss pointed out that Slate just had an article about Japanese "herbivores" last month ("grass-eating men who shun sex, don't spend money, and like taking walks"), and said, "These 'trend' stories are certainly construed (if not intended) to say anything about Japan, and Japanese culture, and Japanese people, but I suspect they have as much value in telling us about Japan as 'Girls Gone Wild' would have in telling us about the US. Why is it that any American can tell you that schoolgirls' panties are available via vending machine in Japan, but hardly any of us can name their prime minister?"
For the record, it's Taro Aso.
* "otaku" as used in the West, referring to "serious" fans of a given fandom, generally of Japanese cultural products such as anime, manga, or video games, though in Japan it has the general meaning of "serious fan" as well, and people can be railfan-otaku, or various other types. It isn't immediately obvious to me in which sense the author - a Tokyo-based writer - is using the term.
** I say girls specifically in response to the article, which focuses only on this phenomenon as a heterosexually-oriented one: it is "mostly male(s)" who are going to the conventions and so on, shopping in the stores, and it seems to be almost exclusively girls depicted in the 2-D milieu. Girls, not women. Prepubescence, or peripubescence, appears to be an integral part of this particular phenomenon - and again, this is not otaku in general.
