Inspired by Shaker lajoie's comment in today's C&S thread, as well as my 20-years-and-counting quest to conceive of my first tattoo, here's a thread to discuss womanist/feminist tats. Do you have one? Do you want one? Have you seen one you really liked or admired?
[Related Reading: Me and My Teaspoon.]
Discussion Thread: Feminist/Womanist Tattoos
All Righty Then
Change that matters.
The reviews aren't particularly enthusiastic. Gawker's Jim Newell said it looks "like the sort of logo you'd find on baby boys' sneakers," which is equal parts hilarious, depressing, and true.
I don't think it's a great logo, but I will give the Dems credit for the not-so-subtle exhortation to action it creates when paired with the iconic Obama insignia:
"Do."
The paired logos feature at the bottom of each page of the Democrats' revamped website, the context of which is less thrilling. "Reproductive Choice" isn't even featured as a line item in their "What We Stand For" section, and, under "Women," accessed from the "People" section, choice doesn't even get a passing mention.
The "Women" section also begins thus: "The Democratic Party and women share common values and priorities." It's a theme that's repeated elsewhere: "Democrats stand with the LGBT community" and "For decades, Democrats have stood with the African American community" etc.
Here's a hint, Dems: Addressing these populations as though they are mutually exclusive from the Democratic Party is not the way to foster feelings of inclusion.
I'm not even going to start on the patronizing tone of the "Americans with Disabilities" section, which might as well be written in crayon. I'm a person with a disability, Dems. I need institutional support for accommodations, not gold stars on my notebook from condescending ignoramuses.
[Via Andy.]
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.]
This is a real thing in the world.
WTF? How is this possible? We have too many channels, too much airtime to fill. Fuck, just put on some Simon & Simon reruns, for Maude's sake.
For those not willing and/or not interested enough to click the link, it's a piece about a new TV reality show called "The Vanilla Ice Project." Hold on, it gets worse. "The Vanilla Ice Project" is about Vanilla Ice renovating and flipping mansions in Palm Beach. What? Yeah. How is this possible? Oh yeah: Too many channels, not enough Simon & Simon reruns.
p.s. Go to hell, DIY Network.
OH NOES! NOT SOCIAL JUSTICE!
Senator Judd Gregg (R-Eprobate)—who once upon a time (until he withdrew) was Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary (lol)—is Very Concerned about Elizabeth Warren using her position in a new consumer protection agency to promote social justice.
Gregg, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and a senior member of the Banking Committee, expressed dismay at President Obama's decision to tap Warren as a key "adviser" to help set up the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency established in the Wall Street reform bill.LOL! OH NOES!
..."My concern is that she would use the agency for the purpose of promoting social justice," Gregg said on ABC's "Top Line" webcast.
The Republican Party: Officially Against Social Justice.
And what does Gregg think that Warren should be using the CONSUMER PROTECTION bureau to do?
The agency, Gregg said, should promote improving access to credit, as well as other financial services.LOL! Of course.
Photo of the Day
Image Description: My partner Iain stands on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago next to the Wienermobile, giving two big thumbs-ups and a goofy grin. He just sent the picture to me under the subject heading: "My New Job: Wiener Driver." (Posted with his permission.)
Quote of the Day
[Trigger warning for clergy abuse and rape apologia.]
"These revelations were for me a shock and a great sadness. It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly ministry was possible. … It is also a great sadness that the authorities of the church were not sufficiently vigilant and insufficiently quick and decisive in taking the necessary measures."—Pope Benedict XVI, expressing his alleged shock and sadness about the recent spate of reported clergy abuse—which might be more meaningful if it weren't for this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this and about ten billion other posts to which I could link undermining the Pope's claims to shock and sadness.
Joelle Casteix of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, responded to the Pope's quote thus: "It's disingenuous to say church officials have been slow and insufficiently vigilant in dealing with clergy sex crimes and cover ups. On the contrary, they've been prompt and vigilant, but in concealing, not preventing, these horrors." Ouch.
It's bad enough when the Pope just runs his usual defend and deflect routine, but this feigning innocence shtick is intolerable.
In Which CNN Doesn't Get "It"
Liss directed me to an article on CNN entitled “Is Ethnic Beauty the New “It” Factor?” From the article
There was a time when the Caucasian girl-next-door looks of Christie Brinkley, Cindy Crawford and more recently Kate Moss dominated the fashion pages. Then came new fashion icons: Naomi Campbell, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce - and then Giselle, Kim Kardashian and Shakira.My immediate response was, “Eww.” Because I'm so generous, I’ll give you some reasons why in simple, numbered form.
More voluptuous figures, fuller lips and darker skin, features traditionally associated with women of African, Latin and Asian cultures, are "in." Over the past decade, an appreciation for ethnic beauty has been on the rise, and these natural features are becoming popular among Caucasian women who desire to look more "exotic."
1) CNN, you’re a little bit late. The New York Times ran a piece way back in 2003 about “Generation E.A.: Ethnically Ambiguous” in which advertising and fashion industry insiders waxed on about the “desire for the exotic, left-of-center beauty.” And you know what T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting discovered when she analyzed the “rise” of Generation E.A. in her book, Pimps Up, Ho’s Down? This:
“Despite the hubbub about Generation E.A., editors and ad executives admit that whiteness continues to dominate the beauty and fashion industries,” (31).2) There is something creepy and fetish-y and colonizer-y about talking about WoC’s “exotic” beauty, white women’s desire for it, and the commodification of it. “What’s not to love, embrace and emulate about ethnic beauty?” gushes one fashion director. And, yes, the NYT article actually used the word “exotic,” too. They also both, not-so-covertly, define WoC outside the realm of “Americanness.” From the CNN article:
The desire for individuality leads people to embrace the image of ethnic women over typical "cookie-cutter American beauties," said [Marie Claire beauty and health director, Ying] Chu.And one blogger claimed that “no one wants to just look like the quintessential American girl.”
With regards to the NYT article, Sharpley-Whiting notes that the “left-of-center” designation “still situates whiteness at the center of American beauty culture and darker hues on this schematic shifting to the left,” (31).
3) There is, apparently, “beauty” and “ethnic beauty.” Love that continued disappearing of (the normalizing of) whiteness.
4) This isn’t just about our increasingly multicultural nation. “ ‘Race’ mixing is not a ‘new reality,’” writes Sharpley-Whiting, “America [has never been] as ‘white’ as it believes itself to be,” (30). This is about the beauty myth and those ever-shifting goalposts. Naomi Wolf is right—women are never going to meet the elusive standards. I did agree with the blogger I mentioned in point two that this has less to do with a melting pot and more to do with the “obsession of perfection.” “The beauty standards,” she said, “[are] a bit skewed and contradicting.”
5) To imply that the fashion industry, with its notorious color and race issues is at the forefront of this “trend” is laughable, at best.
6) Speaking of the word trend, now, come on! I mean, the “it” factor? And the claim that the mainstream popularity and visibility of Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez “made the larger, rounder bottom sexy?" This underlying notion, for which I don’t yet have the words, that implies that so-called ethnic beauty needed the affirmation, acceptance, and envy of white people to exist, is infuriating.
Texting! With Liss and Deeky!
[Spoiler warning for last night's Top Chef finale.]
Liss: [sends picture of Dudley lying on the couch on his back, legs akimbo]
Deeky: LOL! THAT DOG IS SUCH A KNUCKLEHEAD!
Liss: LOLOLOLOLOLOL! He's so the perfect dog for me, lol.
Deeky: No doy. P.S. Taking the trash out, in the rain, in your boxers, is not fun.
Liss: Why did you do that?!
Deeky: Because I didn't feel like putting on pants.
Liss: LOL 4 realz big time. We totes have to watch the Top Chef finale together live.
Deeky: Definitely! I just finished watching last week's now. So it's going to be a three-way sword fight, huh?
Liss: Dude Casserole.
Deeky: I am so not excited for this finale.
[The three sous chefs brought in are also men.]
Liss: Wow, surprise! THREE MORE DUDES!
Deeky: Now it's six dudes. They should all make sausage.
Liss: "Your first course is sausage. Your second course is wieners. Your third course is meatballs. Your final course must be a dessert—spotted dick!"
Deeky: LOL! TOTES. Sausage fest.
Liss: "Let's get ready to cock! I mean COOK. I definitely meant COOK."
Deeky: LOLOLOL! Oh, dear. Angelo is very sick. Poor Angelo.
Liss: GET IT TOGETHER, ANGELO! YOU HAVE A DICK-MEASURING CONTEST TO ATTEND! ARE WE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THIS DICK-MEASURING CONTEST WITH ONLY FIVE DICKS?!
Deeky: LOLOLOLOLOLOL! Vivomart? No Whole Foods in Singapore?
Liss: I know. It might as well be named VULVAMART.
[Angelo gets a shot in the buttocks from a doctor.]
Deeky: Angelo is getting it in the butt!
Liss: This episode should just be called "That's What He Said. Plus WIENERS!"
Deeky: Quick question: Is vacuuming the closet the gayest thing I'll do today?
Liss: No, watching Angelo get shot in the rear is the gayest thing you'll do today.
Deeky: LOL!
Liss: Would you want to eat something prepared by someone with Montezuma's Revenge? Or whatever it's called there. The Singapore Squirts.
Deeky: LOLz for real @ Singapore Squirts. No. Fuck no. Unless he used anti-bacterial Hamburger Helper.
Liss: Eww.
Deeky: :"Ed and I were pushing like animals."
Liss: THAT'S WHAT HE SAID!
Deeky: "It takes a lot of balls to make a veggie turine."
Liss: THAT'S WHAT HE SAID!
Deeky: Is this shit over yet?
Liss: This is soooooooooooooo boring.
Deeky: I know. Who gives a shit about these jokers?
Liss: Fucking NO ONE, that's who. BRING BACK TIFFANY!
Deeky: For serious. Worst. Season. Ever.
Liss: "I'll take yours. Bring it on."
Deeky: THAT'S WHAT HE SAID.
Liss: I so don't even care who wins.
Deeky: Me either. Wevs.
Liss: "Kevin really punched me with fruit, but I loved Angelo's diarrhea cakes!"
Deeky: Essence of colon.
Liss: "His botulism stew was DIVINE!"
Deeky: LOL!
Liss: "Personally, I'm not sure we should give the title of Top Chef to someone who gave us all ebola. Plus, his barf gelato was underseasoned."
Deeky: This show should pack its knives and go.
Liss: LOL! Oh, look—Kevin, whom no one, including the editors, even noticed until three episodes ago, just won. Yay? Congratulations, Kevin. We knew nothing about you!
Deeky: OMFG. Top Chef: Pink Donuts is on. Wevs.
Liss: OMG LOLOLOL pink donuts! I can't. Stop. Laughing.
Deeky: Where the fuck is this? L.A.?
Liss: Candyland.
Deeky: Okay, who is this rockabilly goofball?
Liss: He's Johnny Elvisface, King of Candyland.
Deeky: That clown better not bring his sideburns to Faggottown.
Liss: Ha!
Deeky: Ummm, how the fuck do you have a Quickfire BAKING contest?
Liss: LOL!
Deeky: Uh oh, someone's meringues have browned.
Liss: Nice snot cupcake, Ice Queen!
Deeky: LOL! It looked like bile.
Liss: Whoops, that's not ganache he's oozing!
Deeky: Sex or chocolate? Which would you choose?
Liss: I would choose sex with MISTER CHOCOLATE!
Deeky: This show may be worse than Top Chef: Spy Hard.
Liss: Whoops, someone stole your head and replaced it with the head of an Elvis impersonator from a Vegas wedding chapel!
Deeky: "Editor at Large from the Daily Candy"? That's a thing? And Earl Grey mousse? Barf!
Liss: Top Chef: Garbage Desserts.
Deeky: LOL!
Liss: This show blowz, but at least it's not as boring as the last season of Top Chef.
Deeky: I guess. And shouldn't they have changed that knife in the logo to a spoon or something?
Liss: They should have changed it to a pink donut.
Deeky: Well, at least this show will only last one season.
Liss: LOL!
Deeky: Danielle has serious sad face. "Your dessert just didn't measure up." Wevs.
Liss: Please pack your cupcakes and get the fuck out of here.
Deeky: LOL!
Liss: I'm going to bed, Mr. Chocolate B-Hole. Goodnight!
Deeky: Nighty-night, Lady Donut!
Liss: HA!
This is a real thing in the world.
[Trigger warning for fucked-up body image stuff and patriarchy compliance on an extreme scale.]
WHUT:
In one of the most shocking reality TV ideas yet, E! has ordered a new series that crosses a wedding competition with extreme plastic surgery.Case of the sads. :(
The network is set to announce "Bridalplasty," where brides-to-be compete in wedding-themed challenges to win extensive surgical procedures.
Each week, a group of women competes head-to-head in such challenges as writing wedding vows and planning honeymoons. The winner receives the chance to choose a plastic surgery procedure from her "wish list." She's given the procedure immediately, and results are shown at the start of the following week's episode.
One by one, the women are voted out by their competitors and, according to the show's description, "possibly walking away with nothing and losing [their] chance to be the perfect bride."
The last bride standing will receive a "dream wedding," where she will reveal her new appearance to friends, family and the groom. "Viewers will witness his emotional and possibly shocked reaction as they stand at the altar and he lifts her veil to see her for the first time following her extreme plastic surgery," E! said.
Celebrity surgeon Terry Dubrow (Fox's infamous "The Swan") will lend his expertise to the procedures, and celebrity bride Shanna Moakler (ex-wife of Blink-182's Travis Barker) will host.
Giuliana Rancic executive produces the show, as do Mark Cronin and Cris Abrego of 51 Minds, the company behind VH1's "The Surreal Life" and "Rock of Love" franchises.
I don't believe in the "sanctity of marriage," but, if I did, I'm certain I would hold the position that this undermines it more than same-sex marriage does.
Top Chef Open Thread
[Image from last night's season finale: Chefjudicator Eric Ripert buys some cuttlefish or something.]
Last night's episode will be lamented as the most unengaging finale in the history of finales, so if you haven't seen it, and don't want any spoilers, pack your tools and go...
Obama Appoints Warren to Advisory Role
So, there's this lady named Elizabeth Warren who's awesome. If you watch The Daily Show, or you've seen any recent documentaries about the disaster that is the US economy—e.g. Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, or James Scurlock's Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders—you know who she is, even if you don't know who she is. She's the one who made you think, "I wish she were in charge."
Awhile ago, Warren proposed the establishment of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which everyone thought was a great idea! Everyone except all the people who like to rip off unprotected consumers, who have lots of lobbyists who they've hired with all the money they made ripping off unprotected consumers.
Nonetheless, President Obama was in favor of the Bureau. Thing is, he wasn't sure the very smart lady who actually conceived of it was the right person to lead it. It seems like all those highly-paid lobbyists funded by unprotected consumers were whispering in his ear that they didn't really want someone competent running a bureau that might cramp their ripping-off-unprotected-consumers style.
But labor unions, consumer advocacy groups, and progressives of various stripes lobbied on Warren's behalf, since she's sort of the perfect gal for the job and all.
So it was almost exciting when it was reported yesterday that Warren would be appointed to lead the commission. Sort of.
Elizabeth Warren, who conceived of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will oversee its establishment as an assistant to President Obama.
We're meant to understand that this is GOOD NEWS, because it avoids what could be a gnarly confirmation battle.
...Ms. Warren will be named an assistant to the president, a designation that is held by senior White House staff members, including Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff. She will also be a special adviser to the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and report jointly to Mr. Obama and Mr. Geithner. The financial regulation law delegated to the Treasury Department the powers of the bureau until a permanent director was appointed and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term.
The decision does not preclude the possibility that Ms. Warren could eventually be named director, and at the least, she would play a pivotal role in deciding whom to appoint to the job, according to the official.
Some called on Mr. Obama to formally nominate Ms. Warren to lead the bureau even if it led to a confirmation battle, arguing that Democrats should embrace such a battle as a means of drawing attention to the bureau's significance.
We want to get her in an easily-marginalized role as quickly as possible!
However, the White House saw drawbacks to that approach, according to the official. If Ms. Warren's nomination were in limbo for months, she would be generally precluded from serving fully as the public face of the bureau, or even testifying before Congress.
"The stakes are too high to delay the standing up of this agency," the official said.
Oh, I know. I'm the most cynical cunt in all of Cuntistan, but it's just that Warren, who has spent her career advocating on behalf of middle- and working-class families, is hated by the people with the deep pockets who fund US politics these days: "She has drawn fire from financial institutions for her persistent attacks on abusive, deceptive and unfair lending practices; some banking executives believe she has been overly broad in criticizing those practices."
They're too big to fail piss off.
But Obama's voter base expects him to be the eminently reasonable bloke he purports himself to be, and appoint someone who is clearly their ally—and not just another Wall Street Wonderboy like the rest of Obama's Treasury Department appointees—to a position in which an alliance with the people the bureau is meant to protect seems an integral qualification for the job.
Well, that certainly leaves Obama in a pickle!
So here comes the 12-dimensional chess play, and Warren is being pseudo-appointed. And we're assumed, once again, to be too stupid to appreciate the distinction, and too pleased with the crumbs we're being thrown to question why the president isn't willing to fight for what the people who elected him believe in.
A typical miss, Obama.
Also see: Echidne and Susie.
Happy Birthday, Mustang Bobby!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuu!
You're as gay as a pink pair of shoe-oooooos!
And I love you as much as pink shoes, too!
Happy Birthday, doll!
*mwah*
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Good news, shoegazers! The Smiths' seminal "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" has been confirmed as a playable track on the upcoming Rock Band 3.
And if you can't wait until October 26 to get your mope on, both Morrissey and the Smiths make their RB debut this week with "Irish Blood, English Heart" and "This Charming Man", respectively.
The full RB3 setlist can be viewed here.
[Cross-posted.]
Question of the Day
What have you made multiple attempts to learn, but just haven't been able to master?
Guitar. My chubbly wee short fingers just do not want to cooperate.
I shred on RockBand, though!
