Two weeks ago, Camille Paglia made a bunch of stuff up about why I'm apparently not having enough sex, and for some reason, The New York Timesprinted it. Yawn. I figured the whole mess was none of your damn business. Besides, Echidne wrote a brilliant rebuttal:
There is no evidence whatsoever that there is some new sexual malaise that 'appears to have sunk over the country,' and Paglia gives us exactly zero evidence on such a giant change happening over time or in the recent past. Neither is there any evidence that the 'overachieving white upper middle class' is somehow behind the demands for female viagra.
Anyhow, I bring this up not so much because I care what Camille Paglia thinks, or because I think you should read Echidne (although, yes, I think you should). I bring it up because I just read a bunch of letters to the Times' editors, and now have a headache.
AFAICT, six of the seven authors seem to take it for granted that yes, female sexuality ain't what it used to be. After all, Paglia says so! In the Times! I shudder to think what these same letter writers think of David Brooks, who also says things. In the Times!
I had the pleasure of marching in the [video, audio may be NSFW] I Can't Believe It's Not A Dyke March! in Toronto this past weekend. I didn't have the chance pose the question "whatever happened to female sexuality" to the woman with the clown nose, duct tape covered nipples, and amazing (and huge!) "PERV" flag.* The same goes for the lady with the bikini made out of police tape. Or really, any of the fabulous women in attendance. It's just as well; I'm guessing since we're dykes, we don't really count.
Back to the matter at hand: humorless feminists. Hormones! OMFG hormones!!! Misplaced priorities. Death fat! Neglecting the role of fertility and reproduction in love making! (Again: Dyke March). Poooooooooorn!
In short, women, (and to a certain extent, *you* people) are DOIN IT RONG, just not necessarily for the reasons Paglia throws out there. Great. Just great.
Forget feminism 101, let's try some feminism 099. It's not credit-bearing, but the texts are cheap.
Women are people. People are individuals. Individuals vary. For example: not all women experience sexuality the same way. Not all the middle class white ones, not even all Latina and Black women. (Really, Camille Paglia, you thought you'd slip that in without 1 out of 7 letter writers calling you on it? Okay, that one letter is probably precisely why you slipped it in.)
Feminism? It's not the problem. Nor is having the wrong approach to sex. Indeed, last I checked, many feminists and womanists (the ones I agree with) posited that there's not a single correct approach to sex and sexuality. And our bodies? They're fucking fabulous. Fat or re/un/mis-hormoned, or whatever the fuck you're talking about. It could, indeed be, that some women are stressed and tired, and therefore experiencing some sort of sexual malaise, but gah! Please. Stop. Projecting.
Let me give a special shout out to the Times for making this all possible, because really, I only see three worthwhile responses to a column so willfully absurd. You could ignore the situation, you could quote Molly Ivins and refer to the column as compost, or you could write the Times to remind them that print is dead and column space is precious. None of these tactics is likely to get a letter printed in the gray lady. Thus, we're left with what appears to be serious debate on why women are broken. Again, thanks.
Remind me to save this post for the next time some pundit says something bizarre about what's wrong with women, and the public uses it as an excuse to discuss all of the other things that are really wrong with women. It should be happening in three, two, one...
-- *I am so going to get a little plastic version of this to put on the SUV that I'm going to buy just so I can drive around with my little flag on top.
Last we heard, James Cameron and Fox were targeting the "spring of 2012" to re-release Titanic in 3D. Thanks to Ministry of Gossip [via /Film], we now know that the spring month in question is April. The news was mentioned in a tribute to Gloria Stuart, who played "Old Rose" in the film and celebrated her 100th birthday on July 4th. April 2012 marks a centennial anniversary of its own, as the Rms Titanic attempted to traverse the Atlantic from April 12-14, 1912. In addition to the historical timing, the intended month of release (nearly two years away) gives Cameron and Co. plenty of time to perfect the finer details of the 3D conversion.
After reforming earlier this year for a benefit show, the Founding Fathers of Britpop return with more shows this fall:
Smukfest, Skanderborg, Denmark, 7 August 2010 Parkenfestivalen, Bodo, Norway, 21 August 2010 Elysee Montmartre, Paris, France, 28 November 2010 Cirque Royal, Brussels, Belgium, 29 November 2010 Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden, 1 December 2010 Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2 December 2010 Huxleys, Berlin, Germany, 3 December 2010 The O2 Arena, London, England, 7 December 2010
[Trigger warning for stalking/violation of privacy.]
One of my favorite pastimes is about to do something incredibly, incredibly stupid and dangerous.
Okay. I play World of Warcraft, and I enjoy it ridiculous amounts, and recently they implemented an in-game system where you can give out the address associated with your Warcraft account to other people and they can see your real name. Which not everyone is crazy about, but it's optional, so it's not an involuntary invasion of privacy. Also there are some benefits: You can talk to people when they're playing their opposing side characters, and also when they're on a different realm than you are. So there's a trade-off.
But today, Blizzard, the company that owns WoW, announced that they would implement this system, the RealID system, in their public forums. That means every post you make will have the name linked with your account published. On a public forum. Where everyone can see it. If you want to ask a question in their Customer Service forum, if you want to post a Bug Report, if you want to talk to other people in your realm, the name associated with your account will be displayed. And it's supposed to be your real name.
You can't turn it off. You can't opt out. You can't opt to have only your first name displayed, or a nickname. It's your real name.
There are people who've moved servers to get away from people who were stalking them on other servers. There are a lot of women players who hide behind male avatars to avoid being harassed. Where are they going to go?
They're even going to force this on their Game Masters, who are required to live in one of two cities to do their jobs. So now the Game Master on the forum who told you that thing you didn't like…? Google hir name around Irvine, CA or Austin, TX, and you just might find hir.
I hasten to clarify that this hasn't happened yet. It's supposed to happen around the time they roll out the new expansion, which rumor says will happen around October or so. So we've got time to get it through their heads that they should absolutely not do this. Shakers, let us work our teaspoons to spoon some sense into Blizzard.
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.]
On June the 9th, the Dutch elected their new parliament. The new MPs are officially installed. But more importantly: There are indications that the new government isn't going to be all that bad. Spoiler Alert: Geert Wilders' Freedom Party is out of the current round of negotiations.
Holland has a multi-party system. But because we have always had substantial minorities—in contrast to, for example, Denmark—we've never experimented with minority governments. Instead, we build coalitions, that make negotiate a "regeerakkoord" or governing agreement. It's not perfect, but it works. Well, it usually works.
The coalition-building is done in two phases—the information and the formation. In the information phase, the party leaders discuss their preferences, and perhaps their "absolutely not" with the informateur. There is no real translation for informateur, but he is appointed by the queen as a go-between for the parties. When there is an agreement, one or more formateur(s) is or are appointed to look for the ministers and junior ministers to form the government.
Over the last few weeks, there have been a number of developments.
First of all, the VVD and Freedom Party seemed to want to form a government. That required a third party, so they looked to the Christian Democrats (CDA). CDA members are deeply divided over the question whether they should govern with the Freedom Party, for all the obvious reasons.* Additionally, CDA has lost almost half their votes, so they're not very eager to join the government. Thirdly, even if Freedom Party and the VVD agree on immigration (against), development cooperation (against), more police in the streets (in favor), and fewer civil servants (in favor), they differ hugely on socio-economic issues.
So, CDA MP Maxime Verhagen decided it would be better if VVD and the Freedom Party work out their differences before CDA joins the negotiations. Weird, from a team-building & negotiations perspective. Geert Wilders didn't want to start negotiations without CDA. Net result is a right-wing coalition is off the table.
Which means that Purple Plus is back on! Purple Plus is code for Purple (VVD, Social Democrats and D'66—the LibDems Dutch cousins if that helps) Plus GreenLeft. Which hurts like hell for VVD, because they have to work with more progressive and more left wing parties. I'm really not sure how it will work out for the Greens. I mean, we've casually tossed the notion of governing with the VVD having drinks after a party convention, but actually doing it... feels... weird.
Monday, the queen has appointed two informers, one Labour, one VVD. They have started negotiations today. Without the Freedom Party. It's not a done deal, but it seems this country is not going down the drain just yet.
Also: The Dutch football squad beat Brazil 2-1 and is playing Uruguay tonight.
---------------------------------
* Most importantly, the Freedom Party is racist, and wants out of the EU. But the Christian Democrats may also have their doubts about the governing skills of the Freedom Party: There is no internal party democracy, so there are no obvious candidates for the ministerial positions outside of the MP candidates list. Finally, it has been argued that because of these things, governing with the Freedom Party violates the party's basic principles.
By request, here is some video of Dudz at the dog park—with some bits from home, too—over the holiday weekend. Set to Blur's "Song 2." For those who can't view the video, there are a pair of still shots below the fold, at the end of the post.
By way of update on Dudley's progress, he is getting increasingly playful both at the dog park and at home, evidence of which you'll see in this video, if you've been following his story. He almost gets tennis balls now, at least for chewing on, but still greets our throwing them with a quizzical look cut with a cold streak of indifference, as if to say, "Call me when you can throw it at 50 miles an hour."
When Iain comes home from work at night, Dudz gets so excited he can't contain himself. When Iain goes upstairs to change clothes, Dudz runs around in a circle in the living room and I say, "Oh, Dudz! You're gonna be in big trouble!" and I slap my knees with my hands and he falls to the ground in a spring-loaded crouch. I jump toward him, and he leapfrogs from one side to the other, still in a crouch, which makes me laugh uproariously. At which point he runs around in a circle again. "Oh, Dudz! You're gonna get it, you bad boy!" Back to the crouch. And on and on until we are both panting, and Dudley's tail is wagging furiously and I am a heap of giggles.
He's also become a ridiculous snugglepuss, leaning on me whenever he wants attention, and rubbing his face and the length of his body along my legs like a giant cat. He frequently lies on our feet, and he loves kisses on his velvety head (but not as much as TREATS!!!eleventy!). A couple of times a day, I get on the floor with him for a cuddle, and he twists himself around and flips onto his back, putting his big, pink belly in the air for scratches.
He was just at the vet on Friday for a booster shot and a check-up, and he's gained seven pounds, and now weighs a respectable and healthy 75. His hip bones don't show anymore, and he's less muscle-bound and more flexible, able to turn in tight spaces much more easily than he could when he first came to us.
And he's increasingly independent in the house. The first few days he was here, he liked to nap inside his crate; it was his safe space, and we left the door open for him, so he could retreat there whenever he felt overwhelmed with his new circumstances. Then, for a good month, he liked to nap wherever I was. Now, he spends some time with me, and some time up in the loft with the girls, where the sunshine streams in through the skylights. Right now, all four of them are up there together, dozing away, each with an ear open for the distinctive rustle of a treat bag.
There are about 35,671 versions of these on teh internets. They are so good, even just as a concept, that it's probably worth it to try all of them.
Yesterday we hosted a shindig and I made these. It's a good thing everyone arrived when they did or else I may have eaten the whole platter before anyone else had a chance! Anyway, this is how I made them:
Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Jalapeños
A dozen fresh, medium sized jalapeño peppers one & a half pkgs of cream cheese one clove elephant garlic (or about 4 regular cloves) kosher salt freshly ground pepper thin sliced bacon latex or plastic gloves
-- Wear latex or plastic gloves when handling all these peppers and their insides. Halve, lengthwise, the peppers and de-seed/de-rib them (if you like it HOTTT, leave in some seeds). If you don't like it HOTTT much at all, you can soak the halved peppers in cold milk for about 10 minutes OR drop them into boiling water for a couple minutes. Drain, dry (and/or cool) before stuffing. Both methods are supposed to reduce the heat factor (though I have not done either).
--Cut the cream cheese into smaller blocks. Put in bowl of food processor. Cut the garlic into chunks and also put in with cream cheese. Add a bit of the salt & pepper (about 1/2 tsp salt). Process until the garlic is totally minced into teeny bits and worked into the cream cheese. If the cream cheese mix is very soft (more like "saucy"), then put it in the fridge for 10 - 15 minutes to harden up a bit.
--Cut the package of bacon in half, down the middle (so you're cutting all the bacon in half). Put on some new gloves. Spoon some of the cream cheese mix into each pepper half, filling it nice and full but not overflowing. Wrap a halved piece of bacon around each one. Secure with tooth pick, if necessary.
--Grill over medium heat until bacon is crispy. OR bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. If baking, put peppers on a rack inside the pan so the bacon grease will drip down. Let cool for a few minutes before eating.
They're delicious and I'm craving more. LOL
I did make a vegan version for a guest that was very similar--just used Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese and mixed it with garlic, salt, & pepper. No bacon, of course. Very easy and also turned out tasty!
"The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it. The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you." — Prince (AKA The Artist Formerly Known As Prince AKA The Artist AKA Unpronounceable Symbol), on why he closed his official website.
While Corporate America, owners of the Republican Party, conduct their delicate dance of funding and promoting the latest incarnation of the Know Nothings in the form of Tea Partiers, while continuing to support their own unfettered access to the labor of undocumented immigrants kept in a legal limbo which makes them easy to manipulate and mistreat, their takeover of the Democratic Party proceeds apace.
Paul Krugman (smart guy! they even gave him a prize for it) notes in his blog that George Stephanopoulos said today on Good Morning, America that an official of the Obama White House told him "what we need to get businesses investing is for business to know that the government has stopped".
In particular, Krugman interprets this to mean, stopped spending and stopped regulating business, which seems to cover everything beyond imprisoning people and fighting wars. In short, Rand Paul's lifelong wet dream *(as long as the government continues to regulate women's bodies, and who among us doubts they will?)
Krugman points out that this is "garbage", while also noting that administration economists know it's garbage. But apparently on the political side of the Obama White House are those who fully support the Corporate Republican position that President Obama's job is to make them happy, and that he must do so by using his control of the U.S. government to halt its functioning.
There may be one thing this administration has been spectacularly successful at — sucking all the meaning out of the words 'hope' and 'change'.
*Edited to note the one regulatory function which neither Paul nor the Obama White House seems willing to give up.
Last weekend I was in Toronto for an *amazing* queer roller derby event, loosely affiliated with Toronto Pride. My teammates and our hosts put a lot of work into bout production, what with the 5-foot high vagina and everything.
There was one rough spot, though. We were expecting hundreds of unsuspecting people to come out to this queer, pride-affiliated event, and the dj desperately needed to know what music we could play to aid in our recruitment efforts. The Allman Brothers? Peaches? Kansas? Finding music that could prove a gateway-to-gayness was a lot of work.
Fortunately, one of our ringleaders found [Trigger Warning: Homophobia] an amazing resource. You should really check it out. It's quite insightfulhilarioustragic hateful (ETA: and also made up).
Another teammate pointed out that the same site also has a [TW]"Powerful tool" that can aid in your quest to avoid the hellish hellfires of hell. Cyndi Lauper tops the list of purifying acts, something that proved, uh, convenient?
Reparative therapists: we're not even trying.
--- ETA: As Deeky points out, Donnie Davies is totally a hoax, something that raises a bunch of questions that have undoubtedly already been discussed on the internet. Why is it that such a bizarre character resonates with some of us as an earnest person? Is someone out there making money off of this?
There were people saying things on the internet, and I wasn't told? Damn.
CasterSemenya, the South African teenager who won the 800-meters at the world track championships so decisively last August that she was asked to undergo gender testing, and who was eventually allowed to keep her title and her gold medal, thus having rendered pointless the international invasion into her privacy and her very body, has been cleared by the International Association of Athletics Federations to return to competition, effective immediately.
The 19-year-old South African was sidelined for 11 months after undergoing gender tests following her 800-meter victory at the world championships last August.
The International Association of Athletics Federations said Tuesday it accepts the conclusion of a panel of medical experts that she can compete with "immediate effect."
The statement adds that medical details of her case remain confidential and the IAAF will have no further comment on the matter.
I am pleased that Semenya is being allowed to return to racing. I remain angry that she was ever required to stop in the first place.
I could spend the next two hours detailing the many outrages of the invasive, coercive, exploitative, and flatly unnecessary gender-policing that went on in regard to Semenya, but instead I'm simply going to highlight a brilliant and incisive comment Shaker Rhiain left in a previous thread that gets right to the heart of the matter (emphasis mine):
There has been quite a bit of speculation about just what elements of [Michael Phelps'] physiognomy allowed him to be such a fast swimmer, but even those folks who are saying "he's fast 'cause he's a freak" are saying it in a good way; lucky him that his body is "weird" in a way that allows him to be so awesome at the sport he loves.
He essentially won the genetic lottery, because male bodies are coded as functional in our society, and Phelps' body allows him to be extra-functional. Semenya, who also won the genetic lottery* in a way that allows her to be awesome at the sport she loves, has the misfortune to exist as a gender that is coded for ornamentality rather than functionality, and therefore extra functionality is seen as cheating.
*Of course, she has won a lottery that sure seems to have made her life up to this point difficult and, now, carries dangerous implications for her personal safety. I'm not really asserting that she's coming from a position of privilege here.
Which makes for this rather bitter irony: There is, perhaps, no better evidence of Semenya's womanhood than the fact a year has been spent hand-wringing over her womanhood.
Monday, July 5, 2010: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toasts in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia. Hilary Clinton is on a Caucasian trip visiting post-Soviet states of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Clinton has rebuked Russia for failing to live up to the cease-fire agreement it signed nearly two years ago to end the fighting in this small former Soviet state.
More recently, my wife [filmmaker Lori Silverbush] started mentoring a young girl from Brooklyn and she would come to the house and she would eat and then she'd say "Oh, I'm full. Can I bring this home?" And we realized what she was doing; she was bringing it home for her siblings.
When food stamps run out halfway through the month, these kids are hungry. And they're fed sweetened juice water, just to put something in their stomach; it's not nice.
…We had a Major General who testified that forty percent of new recruits going into the service fail out because they're obese. It's not from overfeeding. This is what people don't understand: obesity is a symptom of poverty. It's not a lifestyle choice where people are just eating and not exercising. It's because kids - and this is the problem with school lunch right now - are getting sugar, fat, empty calories - lots of calories - but no nutrition.
…And they're hungry, they're eating more cheap food.
They're hungry.
In 2005, 12% of USians, 35 million people, were unable to put food on their tables for at least part of the year, and 11 million of them reported going hungry at times. It's only gotten worse, as joblessness has become more widespread and unemployment benefits run out. Access to nutrient-rich food is a class issue even in the best of times, and these are not the best of times.
The "war on obesity" is largely a class war, and the more we uncritically repeat narratives about laziness and lifestyle and pretend the primary solution to all childhood obesity in particular is increased activity, the more profoundly obscured is this simple fact: They're hungry.
(Which is to say nothing of the other issues we may be obscuring.)
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