So, I kind of love Michael J. Fox. And, although he's a fine actor and all—Alex P. Keaton OBVIOUSLY; Marty McFly YES PLEASE—it's really who he seems to be as a person, a person with a disability, a person with a big teaspoon, that makes me kind of love him. His memoirs are very good.
A short little prelude to sharing the news that "Michael J. Fox is readying a return to prime-time series television, and the broadcast networks are lining up to welcome him back. ... We're still trying to track down plot details, but our sources tell us the show will be inspired by Fox's own life."
Fox will reportedly star in the series to be filmed in NYC.
Neat.
Important Michael J. Fox News
Quote of the Day
"The president seems to be running to hang on to power. I think he'll do anything in his power to try and get re-elected."—Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, making tons of sense, as per usual.
Romney, who has run one of the nastiest, classist, race-baiting campaigns I've seen in my lifetime, also said the Obama campaign is "about division and attack and hatred" that is "designed to bring a sense of enmity and jealously and anger."
Okay, player.
Photo of the Day
President Barack Obama laughs as he works the crowd during a campaign stop Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, in Boone, Iowa. [AP Photo]The Presidential Nose-Wrinkle, which I know is very popular around here. And deservedly so!
Fatsronauts 101
Fatsronauts 101 is a series in which I address assumptions and stereotypes about fat people that treat us as a monolith and are used to dehumanize and marginalize us. If there is a stereotype you'd like me to address, email me.
[Content Note: Fat bias; body policing.]
#10: Fat people need you to intervene in their lives.
Shaker Word_Wrestler requested an entry on "Fat People Don't Know What's Good for Them, and its corollary Fat People Will Welcome My Attempts to Educate Them on Health."
Or, of course, educate us on any one of a number of other subjects, such as: Exercise, How Many Calories Are in That, What We Should Be Wearing, Why Fat People Shouldn't Have Kids, Which Hairstyles Work Best with Our Fat Faces, Why Our Knee Hurts, or How Happy Your Cousin Is Now That She's Had Bariatric Surgery.
That is not a comprehensive list. Which is to say: Oh yikes, this topic. YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES.
This is a defining experience of many fat people's lives: Being constantly lectured like we are children about how to take care of ourselves.
There are, to be sure, fat people who emerged from extremely poor, isolated, and/or neglected families of origin (or state care) who have never had the benefit, at home or in sub-standard public education, of learning about nutrition, irrespective of their access to nutritious foods. And there are fat people who want to increase their fitness, whether that's attached to or detached from their weight, who aren't sure how to do it. And there are fat people who, by virtue of living in a culture steeped in thin privilege, aren't sure how to best dress their bodies.
That is also not a comprehensive list.
But here's the thing: This issue isn't really about fat people who genuinely could use some advice with some aspect of their lives related to fatness. Fat people, like any other person, can solicit advice as necessary.
This issue is about the fact that fat people are presumed to need help by lots of thin people, who are not responding to explicit advice-seeking, but instead constantly offer up "helpful" advice unsolicited, under the presumption we simply have no idea how to take care of ourselves ("be thin").
And it's generally doubly insulting in the sense that this unsolicited advice not only presumes we don't know how to take care of ourselves ("be thin," and could be, if only we knew), but also presumes we are unhappy with our appearance and desperately want to change it.
"You're stupid AND ugly! I am so helpful!"
And then these same generous advice-givers have the temerity to act aggrieved when we don't receive with gratitude their selfless acts of helpfulness.
Did I say yikes yet? Yikes.
This is one of those topics about which I could spend the next five thousand years detailing all the ways in which it is infuriating, infantilizing, and contemptible. But ultimately, this is all I really need to say: My fat is neither a permission slip nor an invitation for you to tell me what to do with my body.
If you understand how privilege works, and the history of how privileged populations interact with marginalized populations, including seeking to control their bodies, choices, and lives, then you should understand why offering unsolicited advice about what I should be doing with, putting in, putting on, or doing to my body is A Problem.
Generally speaking, offering unsolicited advice is ill-advised. If a fat person wants your input, they'll ask. If they're not asking, there's probably a reason for that.
Recommended Reading
[Content Note: Reproductive rights.]
Lynn Beisner: I wish my mother had aborted me. I'm not even going to excerpt it. Just go read the whole thing.
I imagine there will be a wide variety of responses to this piece, and that's okay. There's no right or wrong reaction. How we respond to it will be inextricably tied to our own personal experiences and backgrounds and respective availabilities of choice.
But I trust we can all agree it's a very important story to tell, and Beisner is brave for telling it.
#sheparty
If you're on Twitter, Jessica Luther (scatx) and I are about to be on #sheparty with @womensmediacntr re: Flyover Feminism. You can follow here & use the hashtag to be a part of the conversation.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: Misogyny; body policing.]
So, Miley Cyrus recently got a haircut. She cut her hair into a short, spiky, platinum pixie cut (which I happen to think is adorbz, not that my opinion matters), and she tweeted pix of it, saying how happy she was with it, how great it made her feel, etc.
But the big question was, of course, HOW DOES HER FIANCEE FEEL ABOUT IT?!
People magazine: "Miley Cyrus Defends Her New Do – Liam 'Loves It'."
Phew!
First of all, I love how a woman is even expected to "defend" a haircut in the first place, as if women's bodies are public property.
Secondly, I love how a male-partnered woman is obliged to report how her male partner feels about her cutting off her hair, as if she is his personal property.
This has happened to me every single time I've chopped long hair short—and, now, every time I get the pixie trimmed down again. "How does your husband feel about this short hair?"
My stock answer has become, "Well, he likes it, which is lucky for him, because he doesn't get a vote since it's my hair."
Which I deliver with a smile and a laugh. And the inevitable response is some variation on: "Ooh, my husband would KILL ME if I said something like that!"
In the year of our lord Jesus Jones two thousand and twelve, it is still radical for a male-partnered woman to assert unilateral control over the hair growing out of her own fucking head.
And it is still acceptable that, if he doesn't approve of her hair choices, that should matter. To strangers.
Daily Dose of Cute
Yesterday afternoon, I walked out into the living room and discovered this on the sofa:
I went up and gave Dudley's grody beef tongue a little tug, then kissed him on the head. He didn't even stir. He is such a dingus.
Fifty Shades of Goldberg: 7. DIVERSITY
[Content Note: misogyny, racism, sexism]
For those of you who are new here, this is part of a series where I pretend Jonah Goldberg's The Tyranny of Cliches is a book.
OHGODOHGODOHGOD. Chapter 7 is about diversity. It reads with all the excitement of Jack Kemp's diary. (For the record, there was no mention of Nazis in this chapter. What the hell? Did we lose a war or something?)
I shit you not, Goldberg starts off this chapter by complaining about how Barbra Streisand once complained that he was a no-talent hack who only got hired at her local paper on account of how he was a pompous asshat who got off on pleasing the Tribune Company's stockholders. Also, Jonah thought Streisand's grammar was atrocious. Perhaps he's right. On the other hand, neither Streisand or I get paid to write for the LA Times.
The "meat" of this chapter is the typical privileged bullshit about bootstraps and people who aren't Goldberg sucking at things. I could dissect the writing, but you've heard all of this shit before. Besides, Goldberg has a PhD in Metaphorolojizzim from Bulwer-Lytton University. Observe:
Ever notice how in the movies the "good" street or prison gang or band of mercenaries is the one that's diverse? Those rapists and murderers can't be all bad. Look, there are two black guys and an Asian!No. Actually, I've never observed that. Ever. What I have observed is that there's no dearth of roles for black actors, provided they're willing to portray a criminal. Also, the prison industrial complex is so a thing.
There's no shortage of horror stories about diversity run amok-- from the first responders in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, who were forced to undergo sensitivity training before they could fish drowning people from flooded neighborhoods, to the fire departments that seem to spend more energy fighting for quotas than fighting fires.Okay, he's got me there. If there's one complaint I have about governments' responses to Katrina, it's that they were too racially sensitive. Also, there are too many firefightwomen.
An omelet with red peppers and sausage is better than one with only red peppers. But an omelet with red peppers and kitty litter is not.To those of you who are planning to sell "Gays are the kitty litter in our national omelet" bumper stickers at next year's Value Voters Summit, permit me to say: dibs! And what's up with starting a sentence with a conjunction, Mister Grammar? And wait, you can't imagine the existence of people who don't want tubed meat in their eggs? Yours truly is a rich and colorful world.
Adding carbon to molten steel creates the stuff of samuarai swords. Adding tapioca to molten steel is less advisable.I guess, but neither is adding Slavic-Americans to steel, yet judging by various books I've read, US STEEL IS MADE OF PEEE-POLE. (Or at least it was. Back in the day. Out East.)
[T]he National Basketball Association would be made vastly more diverse if a rigid quota of midgets and one-legged point guards was imposed upon it. But the game would not be improved, and any team that voluntarily adopted such a regime would have very long odds of making the play-offs.People of color are to practicing law as
It would not strengthen the DVD sales of a porn flick if the content was sufficiently diversified that it included a long tutorial on gardening tips.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by calculators.
Recommended Reading:
NCTE: Trans Pilots Allowed to Fly: FAA Updates Medical Requirements
Cuppycake: Feminism 101: Offensive Language and Dismissal of Responsibility [Content Note: Misogyny in gaming.]
Kath: It's All About Colour…Unless You're Fat [Content Note: Fat bias while shopping.]
Pam: Pennsylvania Newspapers Refer to White Supremacist Org as 'White People's Rights Group' [Content Note: Racism.]
Michelle: Food and Exercise Are Not Matter and Anti-Matter [Content Note: Fat bias; eating talk.]
Andy: Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan Poised to Become Next Out Gay Congressman Following Primary Win
Genny and Shane: The Top 10 Trans-Friendly Colleges and Universities
Arturo: Race + Comics: A Good Conversation with a Creator
Leigh: 'Yo Bitch': The Complicated Feminism of Breaking Bad [Content Note: Misogyny; violence; spoilers.]
QOT: Wellington Rape Crisis Needs Your Help
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Shaker Help Request
[Content Note: Sexual objectification.]
Shaker rvh emails, which I am sharing with her permission:
My 13 yr old son is addicted to porn. (In a nutshell). He consumes straight porn. I try to be very open about sexuality in the house with him and his brothers; he's the middle one. However, basically, my fear is that he is seeing women be degraded and presented as a product for consumption. I know there are varying schools of thought surrounding porn and whether it can be empowering for participants, but that isn't really relevant to whether it communicates to a young man that women are a product to be consumed by the heterosexual male gaze. I referred him to Scarleteen for sex questions, but that doesn't seem sufficient.My suggestion: "I cannot think of a great resource for a 13-year-old boy, besides Scarleteen. You may have already tried this approach, but I know a lot of adult straight men I know who have gotten engaged with the concept of enthusiastic and explicit consent have subsequently found straight porn deeply problematic (i.e. less enjoyable), because so much porn is contra those ideals. So maybe talking around the porn discussion altogether about notions of explicit consent and equal partnerships, even and especially in sex coupling, would dim the fire a little bit, lol."
I've almost broken my Google looking for some guidance, but I'm not finding anything great. I don't want him to get the impression that I'm telling him sex is wrong or erotic materials are wrong. My question is: Any ideas? Can you recommend any good resources?
What say you, Shakers?
His Bootstraps Match His Earbuds
Paul Ryan is the first Gen X-er to be picked for a major party ticket, which, as a Gen X-er, I find super depressing. But it's all because of his bootstraps! Also because he is SO COOL!
Republican vice-presidential hopeful and conservative star Paul Ryan kicks back with locally brewed beers while listening to '90s-era grunge music. He's the first member of Generation X to be named to a major party ticket.Ohhhhhhhh he went back to the principles of hard work to get ahead. Cool. See, here I thought it might have something to do with coming from a family of means and having all kinds of white, male, cis, straight, able-bodied, thin privilege, which virtually guaranteed that his hard work would axiomatically translate into success. SILLY ME!
Ryan's up-by-your-bootstraps personality doesn't exactly match the ennui expressed by the grunge bands of his youth -- he was voted "biggest brown-noser" in high school, after all. But his economic and political perspectives, like those of many of his generation, were formed in part by the fiscally conservative Reaganomics principles of his childhood and the stark realities of entering a post-college job market during the 1990s recession and dot-com boom and bust.
"Gen Xers were supposed to be the lost generation. (That label) shaped him because he went back to the principles of hard work to get ahead," said Dylan Glenn, a former Bush administration economic policy analyst who has been friends with Ryan for nearly 20 years.
Then there's the visual appeal of Ryan, who is the same age as one of Romney's sons. When Ryan stands on stage, flanked by his young children and wife, next to the Romneys, the older man looks warmer and more paternal, [Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta] said.Just LOL. I'm pretty sure that no one has said, "Zie listens to grunge? HOW COOL!" since Singles came out on laserdisc.
"Mitt Romney is extremely stiff ... because he still has this persona where it hard for him to feel relatable. To have someone who is young and dynamic helps soften Romney up and attracts that 'it' factor and 'wow' factor," Gillespie said.
"Paul Ryan would seem to be cooler. Even talking about the fact that he listens to Led Zeppelin and grunge. ... The fact that he says he likes hard rock makes him seem cooler. ... That charisma is born in youth."
How Nice for Him
[Content Note: Rape culture.]
Julian Assange will be granted asylum by Ecuador:
Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has agreed to give Julian Assange asylum, officials within Ecuador's government have said.No comment.
The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up at Ecuador's London embassy since 19 June, when he officially requested political asylum.
"Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange," said an official in the Ecuadorean capital Quito, who is familiar with the government discussions.
...The official added: "We see Assange's request as a humanitarian issue."
...Assange took refuge in Ecuador's embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct.
[I]t remains unclear if giving Assange asylum will allow him to leave Britain and fly to Ecuador, or amounts to little more than a symbolic gesture. At the moment he faces the prospect of arrest as soon as he leaves the embassy for breaching his bail conditions.Fingers crossed!
"For Mr Assange to leave England, he should have a safe pass from the British [government]. Will that be possible? That's an issue we have to take into account," [Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patiño] told Reuters on Tuesday.
Do I think Assange should potentially face the death penalty in the US for leaking classified information? Absolutely not. Do I think Assange should be unilaterally supported and the allegations of sexual assault ignored because he might get extradited to the US and might stand trial? No.
This One's for Bo
President Obama, at a podium speaking during a campaign event: We're at a moment right now where home-grown energy, like wind energy, is creating new jobs all across Iowa, and all across the country. And guess what? Governor Romney said: Let's end the tax credits for wind energy production. Let's get rid of 'em. He said that new sources of energy, like wind, are "imaginary." His running mate calls them "a fad."Like his dog. Is what the President is saying.
During a speech a few months ago, Governor Romney even explained his energy policy this way—I'm quoting here—"You can't drive a car with a windmill on it." [audience laughter] That's what he said about wind power—"You can't drive a car with a windmill on it." Now, I—[laughs]—I don't know if he's actually tried that. I know he's had other things on his car. [laughter and applause]
[Via CNN. Related: President Obama and Bo.]
RIP Ron Palillo
Actor Ron Palillo, best known for playing Arnold Horshack on the '70s US sitcom Welcome Back Kotter, died this morning at age 63.
Long-time friend Stacy Stacco said he apparently suffered a heart attack. He was reportedly found at 4 a.m. by his long-time partner, Joseph Gramm, and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.I watched the fuck out of Welcome Back Kotter when I was a kid, and Horshack was always my favorite. RIP Ron.
"He just couldn't have been more fun and intelligent or talented," Stacy Sacco, a close friend, told the Palm Beach Post. "He was an amazing human being."
[Note: If there are less flattering things to be said about Palillo, they have been excluded because I am unaware of them, not as the result of any deliberate intent to whitewash his life. Please feel welcome to comment on the entirety of his work and life in this thread.]
Generally Awful
There is so much GREAT NEWS today, y'all! The thing I'm definitely excited about after reading all this super-duper news is what a great candidate Paul Ryan is! Everyone loves him! By which I mean everyone hates him SO MUCH!
Especially Republican operatives. Who, naturally, don't want to be named because AWKWARD! Especially if the Dystopian Duo accidentally win, and these naysaying ne'er-do-wells want lucrative jobs in their garbage administration.
Anyway! Ed Kilgore and Steve Benen both have great write-ups on that excellent story about how even Paul Ryan's own party think he's a disaster pick.
Meanwhile, P-Krugz makes the excellent observation that picking Ryan was really a ploy to the media, more than any particular conservative constituency.
And Charlie Pierce notes the strategy is looking pretty successful so far.
In other news...
Tara Culp-Ressler at Think Progress: Reagan Budget Adviser Blasts Paul Ryan's Budget as an 'Empty Fairy Tale'. HA HA! Reagan's budget adviser! Seriously, when David Stockman thinks you've gone too far, you have seriously derailed.
Also a fairy tale? Paul Ryan's bootstraps version of his family history. Shocking.
Surprise! He's also a total hypocrite.
Also in the news today...
Lee Brodie at CNBC: Ryan Will Cost Romney Florida. "In a live interview on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime Report, John Taylor, the chairman of FX Concepts tells us Ryan will cost Romney Florida—and likely the election. 'Paul Ryan makes the vote entirely about his tax and spending package and that's very difficult because you're going to lose all the old guys,' says Taylor." ALL the old guys?! Holy shit, that's like the whole Republican base! I kid. The Republican base is only white old guys. I kid. The Republican base is only straight white old guys. I kid. Barely.
Garrett Haake at NBC: Romney Struggles to Get Square with Ryan's Medicare Plan. Here's a great quote from professional genius Mitt Romney: "We haven't gone through piece by piece and said, 'Oh, here's a place where there's a difference,' but my plan for Medicare is very similar to his plan, which is 'Do not change the program for current retirees or near-retirees but do not do what the president has done and that is to cut $700 billion out of the current program'." Perfect. That is just a perfect quote that makes total sense from a sensible and smart gentleman.
Speaking of what a great candidate Mitt Romney is: Host for Romney Event Is a Convicted Drug Dealer. Yep.
Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
Why Hillary Clinton Is Awesome
Hillary Clinton on Being Asked about Her Clothes:
Interviewer: Okay. Which designers do you prefer?She then made *that face*, put on her shades, and departed on her pink pegasus.
Hillary Clinton: What designers of clothes?
Interviewer: Yes.
Hillary Clinton: Would you ever ask a man that question?
Interviewer: Probably not. Probably not.
[H/T to @shelbyknox.]
