Photo of the Day
This is just a super cute picture of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul at the premiere of the final half-season of Breaking Bad. They are adorable! It is fun to remember what nice gentlemen they both seem to be, even though Walt is THE WOOOOOOOOORST and Jesse is only SLIGHTLY LESS TERRIBLE.
I can't wait for the final episodes to start airing, y'all! BUT I WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AUGUST 11 BECAUSE OF TIME-SPACE CONTINUUM STUFF. I am very excited!
[Photo via.]
More Weiner
[Content Note: Hostility to consent.]
Anthony Weiner says the young woman who disclosed an online relationship with him isn't the only one since he resigned from Congress. "I don't believe I had any more than three." Okay. Sure. Who can keep track? This fucking guy.
Meanwhile, at least House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is calling out this gross behavior in her party (woman's work): "It is so disrespectful of women, and what's really stunning about it is [Weiner and San Diego Mayor Bob Filner] don't even realize, they don't have a clue. If they're clueless, get a clue. If they need therapy, do it in private."
But she stopped short of calling for Weiner to drop out of the NYC mayoral race, saying that's his decision.
Awesome. (By which I mean: Not awesome.)
Because we're still all pretending that this is a "sex scandal" and carefully avoiding identifying Weiner as a predator.
Which is also why Pelosi can say something truly incredible like "they don't even realize, they don't have a clue." Because of course predators realize that what they're doing is disrespectful of women. That's kind of the whole point.
Rape Joke, A Poem
With a content note that this is very difficult to read, so take a moment to assess your spoons, I direct to you Patricia Lockwood's "Rape Joke." Because, though difficult, it is also very brilliant and very powerful.
Yes. Yes, this. Yes.
"It's just time that everybody knows that Paula Deen don't treat me the way they think she treat me."
[Content Note: Racism; worker exploitation.]
Dora Charles worked for Paula Deen for 22 years. By all accounts, she was integral to Deen's success.
She helped open the Lady & Sons, the restaurant [in Georgia] that made Ms. Deen's career. She developed recipes, trained other cooks and made sure everything down to the collard greens tasted right.Deen called Charles, a black woman, her "soul sister," and once promised Charles that they'd both get rich together. Instead, Deen paid Charles "less than $10 an hour, even after Ms. Deen became a Food Network star," and only after Charles, along with three other employees, filed a discrimination suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was her salary raised to $71,000, which Jamie Deen, Paula's son, incredibly claims was not connected to the EEOC suit.
"If it's a Southern dish," Ms. Deen once said, "you better not put it out unless it passes this woman's tongue."
Charles loved Deen. That much is clear. Once upon a time, at least, they had a friendship Charles valued. Deen betrayed that friendship, in addition to treating her employee like shit.
And there were tough moments. She said Ms. Deen used racial slurs. Once she wanted Mrs. Charles to ring a dinner bell in front of the restaurant, hollering for people to come and get it.Deen found another black female employee to do it instead, and sells pictures of her on a postcard in her shops.
"I said, 'I'm not ringing no bell,'" Mrs. Charles said. "That's a symbol to me of what we used to do back in the day."
Dora Charles' story is heartbreaking, precisely because she was a partner to someone who did not treat her like one. An erstwhile friend who used and exploited her. Because she could.
It's pretty amazing that the national conversation around Paula Deen, which started with an employment discrimination suit, has centered around whether she's racist for using a slur, while this is how she treated a black friend and employee.
The Times article says: "The relationship between Mrs. Charles and Ms. Deen is a complex one, laced with history and deep affection, whose roots can be traced back to the antebellum South. Depending on whether Mrs. Charles or Ms. Deen tells the story, it illustrates lives of racial inequity or benevolence." As if the sort of "benevolence" shown by Deen is not itself indicative of racial inequity.
Benevolence that fulfills some kind of savior complex for a privileged person isn't kindness. Kindness is a thing that happens between equals. And someone who views another person as her equal doesn't exploit them.
Funny, isn't it, how working for less than $10 for decades to help a friend amass a fortune isn't considered the act of "benevolence."
[H/T to @JanvierNoir.]
Daily Dose of Cute
Trying to perk up an old couch? Ten out of ten Aphra Behns recommend draping it with a Greater American Beaglemix Dog. Pure, soft, beagle-y eye hypnosis compels petting and distracts from ugly couch. Try one today!
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Catatonia: "Mulder and Scully"
(Filling in for deeky while he's undercover as a Confidential Agent.)
Quote of the Day
"I don't think there's anyone in Congress who has a stronger belief in minority rights than I do."—Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul.
LOL FOREVER.
Says the man who has employed white supremacists and is virulently anti-choice, despite the fact that, last time I checked, there were women of color who want the right to have agency over their own bodies.
I don't know how many times and in how many different ways I can say this, but YOU ARE NOT A CHAMPION OF FREEDOM AND NOT AN ALLY TO WOMEN OF COLOR IF YOU ARE NOT PRO-CHOICE. The end.
In The News
Here is some stuff in the news today!
Care of the Supreme Court's garbage gutting of the Voter Rights Act, the state of Florida will be able to resume its voter purge.
A couple in Virgina is challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Good luck, gentlemen! You are brave and awesome!
A federal judge orders $1 million wrongly confiscated by police be returned to the woman who "saved the money $1 at a time during her 15 year career as an exotic dancer." With interest. GOOD.
[Content Note: Racism] Ted Nugent continues to be remarkably terrible.
[Content Note: Racism] Three producers have been fired, and one has resigned, following the on-air reading of fake racist names purported to be those of the Asiana pilots involved in a deadly crash.
George H.W. Bush is less terrible than his son. (Which son? Any of them.)
[Content Note: Sexual harassment] Another day; another allegation of sexual harassment against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.
Do you want to read an interview with Nicolas Cage? He is such a weirdo. I mean that in a good way! I have spent many hours of my life being entertained by terrible and/or great films starring Nicolas Cage in a wig!
Beth Ditto married her girlfriend Kristin Ogata in Maui and they looked ridiculously cute, of course!
Definitely the best thing in the news today, or any other day, ever, is this little girl who dance-bombed the local news:
[Video of the news report which aired earlier this week is here.]
Blame Huma
Because we are a garbage culture that seeks to blame women always and forever for men's bad behavior, the implicit shaming of Anthony Weiner's wife Huma Abedin has begun. As if his career trajectory (he still leads in the polls in the NYC mayoral race) is her personal responsibility; if she'd only leave him, then he'd be done. It has nothing to do with the party that still supports him, or the donors who still fund him, or the voters who still say they're on his team. All of them are magically held in thrall by Abedin's decision to stay with her husband, for reasons we cannot know.
All we do know is that we definitely need to judge her, and speculate about her motives, and treat her life like a TV show, and delight in how her humiliation "humanizes" her, and talk about her fucking lipstick.
New York Times—Many New York Women Are Baffled at Loyalty Shown by Weiner's Wife.
Washington Post—Huma Abedin Steps into High-Profile Role as Anthony Weiner's Chief Defender.
Vanity Fair—An Alternate Theory of Huma Abedin.
The Week—Can Huma Abedin Save Anthony Weiner?
The New Yorker—Anthony Weiner, His Sex Messages, and His Wife.
MSNBC—Huma Abedin and the Wifely Role.
ABC—Huma Abedin's Devotion to Anthony Weiner a Familiar Subplot.
Raw Story—8 lessons Huma Abedin Should Learn from "The Good Wife."
CNN—Hillary Clinton Adviser Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner's Wife, Now in Spotlight.
NY Magazine—No Longer Flawless, Huma Abedin's Been Humanized.
Huffington Post—Huma Abedin's Red Lipstick Takes Her Through Tough Times.
Et cetera. Gross.
We mustn't ever forget that the purpose of traditional hetero marriage is for men to control their wives, and for wives to tame their husbands.
Tweet of the Day
Yes, I know it's early for an "of the day," but this made me laugh for ten million years. GOOD MORNING! (Unless it is not morning where you are! In which case: HELLO!)
Why does anyone still care what Santorum thinks about anything? I wouldn't even trust his yelp reviews. http://t.co/28xs7lni7Y
— Chloe Angyal (@ChloeAngyal) July 25, 2013
(And, naturally, in case it isn't clear, she's not referring to Robin Marty's excellent reporting, but to the people who still value Santorum's opinion.)
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Risla: "What trivial tasks are you incapable of doing or really bad at for no good reason? (Example: I cannot wash spoons by hand under running water, lest the water ricochet off of them and get the entire kitchen wet.)"
LOL. I so relate to that.
Film Corner: Gravity (Again)
Hey, everyone! Do you remember when I posted the first trailer for AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH: The Movie I MEAN GRAVITY the name of this movie is definitely Gravity even though it should totally be AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH: The Movie? And remember how I said that I can sit through a movie like The Blair Witch Project, or whatever found footage bullshit is currently making people pass out and barf in theaters if their hyperbolic advertising is to be believed, without a flinch or even passing evidence of interest flickering on my face in between my disinterested yawns, but movies like Open Water and Open Water 2: We're Gonna Need a Smaller Boat terrify me! And this is like Open Water 3: This Time It's in Space, so I AM FOR SURE GOING TO BE TERRIFIED BY THIS MOVIE!? Remember all that?
Well, Warner Bros. has released more trailers, and we should definitely all watch this one together and pee our pants:
Astronaut Sandra Bullock is hurtling through space. SHE IS JUST HURTLING THROUGH SPACE ALL BY HERSELF! She is breathing really hard because HOLY SHIT. We are seeing EARTH and SPACE and EARTH and SPACE from her perspective as she tumbles through space ass over teakettle OMG.It's all one shot. IT'S ALL ONE SHOT. Somehow that makes it even more terrifying!
The camera pans around so we can see her DEEPLY PETRIFIED eyes. "Explorer, do you copy?" she asks. HURTLING. TUMBLING. "Houston, do you copy?" HURTLING. TUMBLING. "Houston, this is Mission Specialist Ryan Stone. I am off-structure and I am drifting. Do you copy?" HURTLING. TUMBLING. "Anyone?" HURTLING. TUMBLING. "Anyone? Do you copy? Please copy. Please."
The camera pans back so we can see her HURTLING and TUMBLING through space, as a brightly-lit Earth hovers in the background like a taunting reminder of her isolation. Fuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh.
I know that some people hate these kinds of movies, because they are often very heavy-handed metaphors for some shallow existentialist commentary on how we all die alone or whatever, and I know that some people love these movies for the same reason, but THESE MOVIES MAKE ME SO LITERAL, Y'ALL. Wev your metaphors! I don't want to get eaten by sharks! Or space sharks!
I will probably see this movie. Is what I'm saying.
Republicans Are All Geniuses on Abortion, Clearly
[Content Note: Hostility to choice; late-term abortion; loss of wanted pregnancies.]
What is there to even say about these nightmares anymore?
Missouri Senate Majority Whip Brian Nieves (R) recently got into a testy exchange with a commenter on his Facebook page in which he claimed that [third trimester] abortions to save the life of a mother are "a matter of convenience."Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
I guess Senator Nieves went to the Joe Walsh School of Garbage Medicine for his degree in reproductive healthcare.
Fatsronauts 101: Fat in Public
[Content Note: Fat bias; body policing.]
Cat's guest post put in mind of an email I received recently from a young woman asking for advice on how to get over the fear of going in public when you are fat, knowing that people are negatively judging you as "worthless and gross." Below is the response I sent to her, which I thought might be of value to other fat people, many of whom struggle with this same fear.
I have so been in that place where I've got huge anxiety about going in public, especially wearing certain things, because I'm afraid of how people will look at me and judge me. And let me first say that I still feel that way sometimes! One of the most difficult parts of self-acceptance, at least for me, has been giving myself permission to feel anxious sometimes, and recognizing it's not because of some inherent flaw in me—it doesn't make me any less strong or awesome because I have a reaction to pervasive fat hatred and judgment. It is simply an indication that I'm human.
So my first, and maybe most important, piece of advice for you is to go easy on yourself. There's nothing wrong with you for not feeling brave every day. There's something wrong with a world that necessitates our having bravery to participate in it.
The way I've overcome it, to the extent that I have, is to recognize that there are always going to be people who look at me because I'm worthless and gross because I'm fat. And OH WELL, lol. I can't control how other people see me. It doesn't matter what I wear or how I move or where I go or what I say—there are always going to be fat-hating dirtbags who can't see past my fat.
And once I really internalized that feeling—I can't control their bigotry, and I'm not responsible for it—I realized that I don't care what people who are bigots think of me. I don't value their opinion. Let them hate away. It's their problem, not mine.
I am sooooo self-conscious about my upper arms, of all things. Too fat to wear no sleeves—that's what I always thought. And then one day, a couple of summers ago, I was SO HOT, and I took off the little jumper I was wearing over my super cute tanktop and just went sleeveless while I was running errands. And immediately, a woman (another fat woman) passing me in a parking lot said, "What a cute top!"
I almost burst into tears, because I realized that for all the people who might be thinking, "What is she doing wearing no sleeves with arms like that?" there were also people who were thinking, "Cute top!" Or maybe even, "Hell, if she can go sleeveless, so can I!"
So I try to remember not to let the haters dictate my movements and decisions. I remember instead that there are people who don't care. Or will notice my top when it's not half-covered by a sweater in summer. Or will be inspired to love themselves a little bit more. And that gives me fuel.
Here We Go Again
[Content Note: Rape culture.]
Since May 1: An Air Force sexual assault prevention chief was charged with a sexual assault; an Air Force brochure on sexual assault was found to engage in victim-blaming and advise potential victims to submit to attackers; the Air Force's top commander blamed "the hookup mentality" for the US military's pervasive rape problem; Fort Hood's sexual assault prevention chief was relieved of his duties pending an investigation for "abusive sexual contact, pandering, assault and maltreatment of subordinates"; the head of Fort Campbell's sexual assault response program was arrested after violating an order of protection; a staff adviser "responsible for the health, welfare and discipline" of a company of 125 cadets at West Point allegedly videotaped female cadets in the shower without their consent; an investigation was launched at the Naval Academy after allegations that three football players sexually assaulted a female student; and members of the Joint Chiefs and Congress have insisted that the chain of command must be preserved in addressing sexual assault cases.
Today: Officials confirm an investigation has been launched at Fort Carson after allegations of "sexual misconduct" by multiple soldiers involving female minors.
"The command is aware of the cases and is closely monitoring the investigations of these soldiers," said a statement released by base officials. They did not provide further information, citing an ongoing law enforcement investigation.Swell. That's super reassuring, giving the military's track record.
"We assure the community that the Army is taking this situation seriously," the statement said.
Quote of the Day
"It's outrageous that you can work so hard—full time—and still be living in poverty."—Ai-Jen Poo, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which led a rally outside the Labor Department yesterday, demanding long-sought minimum wage and overtime rights for home care workers.
[Lisa Thomas, an in-home aide from Chicago's West Side] said she had been working in the industry for more than two decades and has watched as colleagues work as many as 24 hours a day for as little as $4.44 an hour.Yes.
...Last month, Vice President Biden said rules excluding benefits for in-home workers were created long before the industry grew. The so-called "companionship exemption" enacted for minimum wage and overtime rules in 1974 did not envision the rise of the domestic care industry, he said.
"As the home care business has changed over the years, the law hasn't changed to keep up," Biden said during a speech on the 75th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act. "Shouldn't someone working 40 hours a week be able to make a wage that's above the poverty level?" said Biden.
Home health aide is the fastest-growing profession in the United States. Which is why, as Sy Mukherjee notes at Think Progress, legislation to ensure home health aides make a living wage is so crucial: "Jobs in this sectors are expected to grow well into the future as the health law goes into effect and baby boomers retire; without a minimum wage or overtime, that means a steadily growing class of underpaid workers caring for America's most vulnerable."
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today!
President Obama gave a speech in Illinois about the economy.
Something something 2016 election Clinton something.
Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says everyone who's anyone totes wants him to run for president.
Something something Congress pretends to care about surveillance for two seconds.
[Content Note: Misogyny and gender essentialism.] Men who grow up in families with sisters who are assigned the household chores tend to be sexist as adults.
[Content Note: Disablism; homophobia.] The mayor of Gilberton, Pennsylvania is standing by the town's police chief, after he posted videos of himself shooting automatic weapons and ranting about liberals using disablist and homophobic language. Well, they both sound neat!
[Content Note: Sexual harassment.] A second woman has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who recently agreed to be the keynote speaker at a benefit for sexual assault victims.
[Content Note: Transphobia.] Transgender troops in the US military are still forced to serve in silence.
A district judge has temporary delayed the implementation of an Alabama law that would severely limit access to abortion services in the state. The law is called, I shit you not, the "Women's Health and Safety Act." LULZ.
Do you want to see and/or listen to Jennifer Lawrence freak out about getting to meet Jeff Bridges? I don't see why you wouldn't! It is VERY CUTE! (Start at 2:30 if you want to skip the other stuff.)
On Fatness and Safety
by Cat Pausé, author of the fat positive blog Friend of Marilyn. This piece has been crossposted with the author's permission.
[Content Note: Fat bias.]
Growing up as a fat kid, you rarely feel safe.
You can never know when a peer is going to bully you because of your size.
Going on a school trip is a blast, until you can't fit into the ride at the amusement park; the message is clear—this space is not for you.
You sit and wait, fearful that the movie you've chosen to see with your friends is going to toss out a fat joke.
You never know when a parent is going to shame you for eating or choosing to watch TV/play games instead of being active outside.
Developing as a fat teen, you are rarely safe.
Hanging out at the mall is fun, until you non-fat friends drag you into straight size stores. They fail to understand that the reason you spend all your time looking at the accessories is because nothing else in that store is meant for you.
You wonder if the teen that seems to like you is just doing it as a prank; they couldn't possibly like your fat body—this must be a gaff for friends.
Sitting in class you are taught along with your peers that body size is controllable—the law of thermodynamics is very clear that it's a simple combination of calories in, calories out. It doesn't matter that it doesn't seem to work that simply in your body—this is physics. This is immutable.
Being a fat adult, you are never safe.
Turning on the television, opening a magazine, walking past an ad on the street—you are told that you are damaged and unworthy– you can never be wanted. You can never be sexy. Attraction is not something you are allowed to experience.
Politicians speak about you: Obesity, they say, is a scourge on this nation; you are a drain on resources, a burden on society. You are not good; you are undisciplined and dangerous.
People around you moan about their bodies, talk of how friends have let themselves go, compare diet tips and secrets.
You hesitate to take the first step with the person you do like, because they'd never find you attractive—we all learn the same lessons. If you know you're ugly, then they must as well.
Creating safe spaces
As an academic and activist, I'm often able to create safe spaces for myself. I chose a profession that allows me to work in solitude if I see fit. I engage in online communities within the Fatosphere, surrounded by fatties who have similar lives and shared histories; fellow survivors who understand the dangers and societal pitfalls that obstruct my path. I can choose not to watch shows that capitalize on fat hate. I can select to ignore women's magazines who wish to convince me that I am not enough. I can distance myself from relatives who shame and embarrass me. I can forgo visiting the staffroom for morning tea—escaping the fat talk of my colleagues, the moralizing of food and the excuses some may provide for not eating. I am lucky to have these choices and opportunities.
Of course, I can never truly be safe. I still overhear conversations in the hallway about diets, food guilt, and fat thighs. I am still blindsided when watching films and television (thanks, Glee & Dodgeball). If I tune in to any news, media, or political sphere, I am likely to hear fat jokes and proponents of social eugenics railing against the fatpocalypse. Even strangers offer me their advice and/or opinion on my fatness.
So am I safe? No.
Safety: It's just one more thing denied to fat people.
