The Breeders: "Cannonball"
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
Breaking News
Bork to publicly oppose Kagan for Supreme Court.
McEwan to continue not giving a fuck what Bork thinks.
Monday Blogaround
Today's Blogaround is brought to you by Jango Fett in Comme des Garçons:
Image description: a fashion illustration of Star Wars character Jango Fett in casual designer clothing by Comme des Garçons, including a bright multi-colored sweater vest.
(This being the internet, there is of course an entire collection of Star Wars fashion illustrations, called He Wears It. Via The Selfish Seamstress.)
s.e. smith at FWD/Forward: US Signal Boost: New ADA & section 508 regulations – public comments due today June 21
Andy: 150 Protest Marine Gay Bashing, Hate Crimes In Savannah, GA
The Nation's 2010 Student Writing Contest asks, how has your education been compromised by budget cuts and tuition hikes? . The contest is open to high school and college students, including those receiving degrees in 2010. Entries accepted through June 30. Details at The Nation website. (H/T Racialicious)
There is discussion in parts of the science blogosphere lately about how work-life balance advice is usually offered only to female scientists, and calling upon male scientists to discuss how work-life balance problems affect them. A couple of men respond, including Prof-Like Substance: The balance and PalMD: How did we get here? See also Zuska's take on calls for bloggers to write about specific subjects.
Writer and Nobelist José Saramago has died at the age of 87. More from NPR: Jose Saramago, Nobel-Winning Novelist, Dies At 87
Please note that there are both compliments and criticisms to be offered of Saramago, and there is no deliberate intent or will to whitewash his life or work in this mention of his passing. More links and respectful discussion welcome in comments.
Writer/Activist Carlos Monsiváis has died at age 72. More from The Latin Americanist and Professor Zero.
Scott Gavura: The Science of Dosing Errors
Samia: How to choose a PhD project...?
Diandra Leslie-Pelecky at Cocktail Party Physics: things are often not what they seem to be...
Sew, Mama, Sew!: Enter the Make It, Wear It! Challenge! "Submit a photo of clothing you make this month in our Make It, Wear It! Challenge [...] You could win a SINGER sewing machine or a subscription to Ottobre."
Alexander Chee continues his June fiction serial, "You're Not From Around Here". See also parts 1 and 2.
This Is...
...the stupidest fucking thing I've read in a long time.
Seriously, can I get a gig writing "black is white, up is down" bullshit and get paid for it? This bozo's job consists of writing the same "what you think is true is actually the opposite!" column over and over and over, unless he's taking time out to write a "book" with the same theme. My first column will be: "The moon actually is made of green cheese!"
Thanks for those bootstraps, mom!
Discussion Thread: Defensive Condom
[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]
Several people have sent me this article about Rape-aXe (which used to be called Rapex, as those who participated in previous discussions here on the subject will recall), a female condom developed by Dr. Sonnet Ehlers which is lined with "jagged rows of teeth-like hooks" that attach the condom to a man's penis during penetration; rendering it removable only by a doctor. (To be clear: He can pull out; the sheath comes with him.)
The primary objective of the Rape-aXe is a deterrent, the hope being that men who know it exists will be less inclined to rape. And in South Africa—where Dr. Ehlers designed it in response to the country's urgent rape crisis, and where women desperate to protect themselves against rape will insert sponge-wrapped razor blades into their vaginas before venturing outside—some convicted rapists with whom Dr. Ehlers spoke say it may have deterred them.
I'm not particularly inclined to believe that; what I find more compelling is the secondary objective of serving as evidence of sexual assault, as doctors tasked with removing the object will be able to work with law enforcement to connect perpetrators with their crimes. Though, the cynical part of me wonders how long it would be before private removal of the Rape-aXe becomes its own cottage industry.
One of the arguments against the Rape-aXe is that it will lull women into a false sense of security, which I frankly find laughable; there's no sense of security to be had when you're walking around with a proxy vagina dentata in the fervent hope that, if you get raped, maybe the $2 apparatus in your cunt will help convict the asshole who did it.
And on the other end of the spectrum, there is the argument that the Rape-aXe necessarily keeps women in a heightened state of terror.
It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."
Hmm. Well. That doesn't particularly resonate with me, either. I'm certain for some women, that could be true. But for others, it could feel empowering. Insert broken-recordery about how women aren't a monolith and all that.
Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.
"It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma," she added. "It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults."
The criticism which does resonate more strongly with me is that using the Rape-aXe could expose women to retributive violence, particularly since gang rape is prevalent in South Africa. If one guy is debilitated with the Rape-aXe during a gang rape, that leaves several other men to wreak immediate vengeance. And that is worrying.
Still, that concern must be balanced against the potential positives, which also include increased protection against the transmission of HIV/AIDS, another serious concern in South Africa.
Where does that leave me? On the fence.
I don't think the Rape-aXe is something I would personally opt to use, but it is certainly a tool I would support making available to other women.
And, in a broader sense, I wish we weren't having a conversation about an item that tasks women with rape prevention in the first place. Which is not a criticism of Dr. Ehlers, nor the women who might want to use the Rape-aXe, because they are dealing with an immediate reality of daily life. It's just so frustrating that all the discussable proposed solutions to a human rights violation as old as humankind are still so heavily skewed toward the victims of that crime, rather than its perpetrators.
Anyway, discuss.
Guess Who's Still An Enormous Douche
Comedic genius and all-around bigot Mike Huckabee wants you to know "The only thing worse than a torrid affair with sweet, sweet Nancy would be a torrid affair with Helen Thomas. If those were my only options, I'd probably be FOR same-sex marriage!" Har har!
He's joking! Of course! Because he is totally not for gay marriage. And why not? The ick factor! Duh!
"We can get into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship, biologically, that doesn't work the same," says Huckabee.
Also: Huckabee = biologically a genius! Because when a man sucks another man's dick, it is totes different, biologically, plus when a woman licks a woman's clit, biologically, it doesn't work the same! Ick!
Or something.
[Cross-posted.]
Q&A
Question: Would a male Supreme Court nominee be described as "brassy" in a headline by a major news outlet?
Answer: No. Because "brassy" means impudently, shamelessly, insolently, brazenly bold, and thus it is a gendered term, reserved almost exclusively in its use to describe women.
Men are just bold. Women, on the other hand, are brassy, bold in defiance of the expectation that they will not be.
If it's a compliment, it's a backhanded one.
[H/T to Shaker koach.]
Quote of the Day
"My pockets are fat!"—Gwen DeVoe, former athlete and model, current fashion-show producer and event planner, and founder of Full-Figured Fashion Week, who "stepped onto a runway in Manhattan [last] week and made a pitch to retailers for the plus-size woman," noting that "Every curvy girl that has a dollar is willing to spend that dollar."
What I like about this quote is how it underlines so pointedly the depth of entrenched fat hatred in this culture. We are as consumerist, greedy, market-driven a capitalist culture as exists on the planet, in which needs are created just to sell products to serve those conjured needs, and yet the existing, vast, easily identified market of fat fashion remains almost totally untapped, even despite its demographic's pleas for product.
(You can read a good interview with DeVoe here.)
Happy Birthday, Portly Dyke!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
You look like a portly dyyyy-yyyyke!!!
And you've got a portly duke 'tude, too!!!
Happy birthday, grrl!
Open Thread
Hosted by a yarn bowl.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by things made from felt.
At the Gender Justice Summit 2010
Just a quick note before I head to the afternoon session, I chose the Food Security path as a number of you suggested, and it's been very interesting. Several speakers from the global South spoke with great intensity and feeling about the difficulties they experience, and what we in the North can do about it.
Anyway, I'm off back to the session now. I've met one Shaker today, someone who's never been able to post for some unknown reason (technical, I mean).
Have a good Saturday (or Sunday if you're there already *waves to Shakers on the other side of the world*)!
Edit: Finished the afternoon session, now for a short visit to the reception, then home to my hosts' for a rest. I should have a good several days' worth of material to write on, much of great interest, I expect.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
And yes, I see I added an extra "o" in saloon. LOL. Wevs.
I'm too lazy to fix it now, so enjoy my knuckleheadery!
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
Take Action for Kyrgyz Refugees
by Shaker WhiningGirl
[Trigger Warning for sexual assault.]
Over the past few days, I've been reading about the worsening situation in southern Kyrgyzstan, where hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have been displaced. The situation for them is dire, and the UN today issued a report that more than a million people have been caught up in the Kyrgyz violence.
A bit of background: Kyrgyzstan is a relatively small, mountainous Central Asian nation located between China, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, and Tajikistan. In April, Kyrgyzstan's president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was ousted by a collation of opposition leaders, demanding more transparency in the corrupt government. Violence and rioting spread across the country, but the violence quieted down on April 15th when Bakiyev resigned and left the country (he is now in Belarus).
(Of note: Bakiyev himself took power after the "mostly peaceful" Tulip Revolution of 2005 after the Kyrgyz believed elections had been rigged in favor of Askar Akayev.)
Violence escalated again earlier this month in the southern part of the country, near the cities of Osh and Jalalabad, long home to a significant minority population of ethnic Uzbeks and home to Bakiyev's strongest supporters. The source of the conflict along ethnic lines is incredibly complicated and too nuanced to go into completely (even articles that purport to boil the situation down, such as this one, are deeply flawed). Both countries are former Soviet countries and as such, many Uzbeks were forcibly moved from Uzbekistan into Kyrgyzstan during the Soviet period. The Uzbeks of the region were, very generally speaking, more prosperous and owned more land than the Kyrgyz and tensions between the two groups in the region have been set off before, most notably during the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1990-1991.
The current violence in Osh has specifically targeted the ethnic Uzbek minority, and there are some reports that the violence was sparked by supporters of Bakiev, or even possibly by Bakiev himself, in order to disrupt the planned referendum on June 27th on a new constitution. Chaos means the country would be unable to move forward and make steps toward representative government and democracy, something the Kyrgyz people have long fought for.
Currently, ethnic Uzbeks are being shot at and forced from their homes by soldiers in the south of the country. Many have said they thought the soldiers were coming to protect them, and instead found themselves being shot at and their homes burned.
More disturbingly, there are many reports of rape perpetrated by these soldiers on Uzbek women and girls in yet another instance of rape used as a weapon against an ethnic minority.Uzbeks interviewed by Associated Press journalists in Osh, the country's second-largest city, said that on one street alone, ethnic Kyrgyz men sexually assaulted and beat more than 10 Uzbek women and girls, including some pregnant women and children as young as 12.
The interim president, Roza Otunbayeva, has asked Moscow for military help in quieting the riots, but Russia will only send humanitarian aid. Human Rights Watched has called on the UN Security Council to act, saying protection is "urgently" needed.
Matlyuba Akramova showed journalists a 16-year-old relative who appeared to be in a state of shock, and said she had been hiding in the attic as Kyrgyz mobs beat her father in their home in the Cheryomushki neighborhood.
Akramova said that when the girl came downstairs to bandage her father's head, another group of attackers sexually assaulted her in front of him.
The UN itself is calling the situation for the refugees in camps near the Uzbek border "dire," and, while Uzbekistan has responded and supplies are being air-lifted, both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are very poor countries with an infrastructure not set up to handle hundreds of thousands of refugees (at last report, the UN is estimating there are 400,000 people currently without the ability to return to their homes).
These refugees need aid and they need it now. The UN High Council on Refugees has set up an emergency fund for Kyrgyz refugees that provides shelter and medical aid for the injured and assaulted. You can donate directly to this fund here.
Another way to donate to relief efforts in Kyrgyzstan that is being recommended by my contacts in Osh is through the April Fund set up in conjunction with the Kyrgyz Club of New York.
All of us with an interest in the region are hoping the planned referendum will end the active violence, but recovery for the country may take years.
[Note from Liss: This situation is reminiscent of the unrest in Guinea last year, in which Secretary Clinton's immediate involvement was great. She has reportedly told Uzbek President Islam Karimov that "the current unrest in Kyrgyzstan and the humanitarian problems of refugees and the population of the country's stricken regions remain high on the U.S. agenda." All the same, it never hurts to make your voice heard and let the State Department know that you urge their continued attention on this situation, with additional support to survivors of sexual violence.]
For the Losties
Desmond's Facebook page. LOL.
I miss you, Lost.
[My thanks to the lovely Norbizness for sending that along.]
Wow
[Trigger warning for execution by death penalty.]
I'm pretty sure the only thing that could have made Utah's execution by firing squad of convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner more fucking awesome was Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff tweeting out news of the event.
"I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims."
That tweet was followed shortly thereafter by: "We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I'm told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html."
Jesus.
I'm not inherently against the idea of using Twitter, or any other technology, to convey information about grave events. Particularly in a crisis—the aftermath of a natural disaster, say—the capability to send and share information quickly can be invaluable, can be life-saving.
But, you know, something about reducing an announcement about the decision to end another human being's life to 140 characters, and follow it up with an advertisement for a political event, strikes me as not being at all in the same conceptual galaxy.
