(Trigger warning: this post discusses a progressive response to a violent 'solution' to the problem of people with disabilities, as well as some language which will be very offensive to people with disabilities)
As I've mentioned before, I'm a translator by trade (and yes, please, if you have work!), of French, German and Russian to English.
One of my Russian friends posted a link today to a post on Livejournal - which has always had a thriving Russian-speaking community, where it's called "zheh-zheh", analogous to our "el-jay" - about a journalist on a Moscow radio station who'd posed the question: "Do 'defective' children have the right to life?"
Seriously. With a question mark. The radio report was following up on an intense public debate about so-called "mercy killing", inspired by an article by a journalist named A.P. Nikonov.
The post contains the text of a letter sent to the Russian President, and to the Ombudsperson for Children, by some parents of children with Down Syndrome. Now, there's not a lot we can contribute from outside to that debate; I've included a rough translation of the text of the post below. I wanted to say publicly that they have my support, of little value though it may be, and that I hope they have great success.
Mostly I wanted to point out that, although it looks from the outside to be (and is, in many ways) a very socially conservative country, Russia has its own progressives, and they're fighting the good fight just as we are.
If anything, they're currently fighting a more dangerous fight than we - well, not as much Russia anymore, but certainly in other countries around the world, each having their own clusters of progressivist elements, many of them facing serious consequences, from loss of housing or employment to imprisonment, torture, and/or execution.
And this is where I turn to an unabashed plug for Amnesty International. I've had the pleasure of being a small-scale activist for AI for many years, writing my letters to ambassadors and heads of state, demanding human rights for prisoners of conscience, or those facing cruel and unusual punishment.
Many of those unjustly held, imprisoned without the usual rights obtaining to membership in the human race, are progressives like you and I, who just happen to have been born in a place with a somewhat more repressive government (and how deep the shame to know that my government, and that of the US, have been complicit in a horrid abuse of human rights at Guantanamo). People like Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, and thousands more, punished for having the nerve to put forward the radical idea of treating all people with basic respect.
The nice thing about Amnesty is, it's *easy* to be an activist for them. You just write letters, mostly. Sure, they need money like any organization, but you can contribute even if you don't have money to give, which is one reason I like them so much.
So, yeah. Plug, plug. Also, bravo/a to our Russian colleagues, and good luck to them with their petition.
The translated post (I'm dashing this off quickly, and if I make any notable errors, I'm hoping one of our resident Shaker russophones can let me know):Dear friends and professionals!
The debate is everywhere right now about the 'issue' raised by the journalist A.P.Nikonov, in his piece "Mercy-killing: to relieve suffering". The radio station Echo of Moscow posed a question: "Do 'defective' children have the right to life?" Just like that, with a question mark. Apparently this radio journalist has forgotten that in our country, every citizen has the guaranteed right to life, and that we are party to a UN Convention which separately stipulates that people living with developmental disabilities (or, in the language of the journalist, 'defectives') have the same rights as other citizens.
An online community of parents raising children with Down Syndrome (these children having become one of the main targets) are sending a letter of protest to the President of our country (in his role as guarantor of the Constitution), and to Pavel Astakhov, ombudsperson for children in Russia. The letter reads as follows:
Dear Pavel:
We, the parents of children with Down Syndrome, ask you to protect us and our children from those who abuse us in the media, namely A.P. Nikonov, in his article "Mercy-killing: to relieve suffering", and the radio broadcast "Echo of Moscow", specifically the one about "Do 'defective' children have the right to life?"
We believe that it is unacceptable to label our children 'chunks of meat', or 'biomass', or 'broken diskette', or 'retard'.
We believe that the honour and dignity of parents of children with disabilities have been harmed by such statements as "Most normal people turn over their defective children to state custody," and "They're crazy, these little mothers," and "They screw up their own lives, turn themselves into holy martyrs," and so on.
We believe there was much that was offensive in the language and tone in both article and broadcast, as well as the very idea of a public discussion of presenting a possible 'solution' to the parents/mother: euthanasia, so soon as the child is born (the so-called 'post-natal abortion').
We believe that such statements as "And you and your family's lives won't be screwed up, and the state - and I, as a taxpayer - won't have to rear this monster in a home," and the thesis of "deep sleep" for "substandard children who will be a burden on the society, in preference to those who are healthy".
We believe that the touching-off of this intense public debate, using offensive terminology, and given Mr. Nikonov's statements aimed at the most vulnerable members of our society, causes grave damage to the cause - newly taken up in our society - of moving towards accommodating the needs of those living with disabilities, and understanding their difficulties.
And we believe that the consequences of such publications/broadcasts can be very serious, particularly with note of the fact that more and more children with disabilities are remaining with their families.
We ask you, as Ombudsperson for Children in Russia, and as a lawyer, to evaluate these messages yourself, and to protect the honour and dignity of parents of children with disabilities, as well as the rights of our children, who are the most socially vulnerable people in our society. Also, we strongly urge you to prevent future dissemination of messages which express contempt for, or urge humiliation of, persons with disabilities.
(signatures follow, and instructions for how to send messages to the right people)
Russian Debate About Rights of the Disabled
Open Thread
Hosted by the cutest little knitted squid evarrr and a cup of coffee.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by squid. Squid: Bringing the awesome since 1742.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: fatso-fu. lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Important Announcement
If I have to listen to one more dipshit say they're rooting for the New Orleans Saints in the Superbowl "ya know, because of Katrina," my head is going to fucking explode.*
Because here's the thing: I keep hearing that saccharine, pithy, bullshit well-wishing for the inconceivably wealthy football players who play in the Superdome falling out of many of the same mouths I heard victim-blaming the poor, infirm, disabled, elderly, adolescent, infant, and/or otherwise unprivileged—or just fucking unlucky—people who were trapped in and around the Superdome in the aftermath of Katrina, hungry, thirsty, scared, unsafe, surrounded by the dead and dying, and swimming in a river of piss and shit.
No. You don't get to be indifferent to human suffering while it's happening, and then five years later go on about how you hope that town wins the Superbowl because of all that suffering, like you're some kind of compassionate hero.
If you can root for football players to win a fucking game, but can't root for your fellow Americans to be delivered from a waking nightmare no person should even have to contemplate, there's something deeply wrong with you.
And you really just need to STFU about your magical football hopes for NOLA. Because you're a jackass.
-------------------------------
* No, I'm not talking about people who remark, quite rightly, that this is good for the city of New Orleans, economically and spiritually.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109. 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 and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
SNN: Breaking News
This just in:
Several days ago, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-o_O) officially withdrew herself as a speaker from the terribly exciting Tea Party Convention, "due to conflicting advice on whether Congresswoman Bachmann’s participation in the upcoming Tea Party Nation Convention would be in line with the Committee on Standards."
As it turns out, her withdrawal had nothing to do with standards. Portions of Bachmann's planner have been leaked clearly showing that she had the next couple of days blocked out for secret meetings with several Al-Qaeda terrorist cells.
Pass it on.
Texting! With Liss and Deeks!
Deeky @ 9:31am: When your tired ass gets out of bed and has a moment, can you add the Assvertising code to the bottom of my post in drafts?
[Liss ignores this text for an hour because she left her phone in the living room.]
Liss @ 10:37am: I only just noticed this text now – sorry! I'll add it right away!
[Liss adds text; publishes posts; checks email. Finds email from Deeky asking if she ever got that damn text.]
Liss: I just got your email. I guess we're telekinetic now.
Deeky: That was inevitable.
Liss: LOL!
Deeky: So, what am I thinking about right now?
Liss: Wieners.
Deeky: I hate you.
Liss: LOLOLOL! Yeah, 'cuz I was right!
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, publishers of "From Here to Absurdity: The Collected Letters of Liss and Deeky."
Recommended Reading:
Echidne: Some Good News
Mannion: What They Told Each Other at Lunch Yesterday
Andy: CBS to Air Second Focus on the Family Tebow Ad on Pre-Game Show
Tami: More Exploitation of Brown Bodies
Fannie: Dude Mansplains the Lesbian Life Experience
LeMew: The Court and African-Americans
Leave your links in comments...
Quote of the Day
"The vice president needs to step up to his constitutional duty as presiding officer of the Senate and begin overturning those age-old parliamentary precedents that now allow partisan obstructionists to eviscerate all semblance of majority rule. Until that's done, Republicans will have no incentive to agree to any real compromises, Democrats will continue trying to pass legislation without them, and everyone will come out a loser."—Steven Pearlstein, in the Washington Post, commenting on "The myth of Washington bipartisanship and the art of true compromise."
Obama Gives Choice A Pass
Here's an intersting (meaning "infuriating") bit of analysis from the Guttmacher Institute. President Obama's new budget fails to address any of the current anti-choice policies currently in place, including the Hyde Amendment.
On abortion rights, however, the president is taking a pass. There can be little doubt that the fact that health care reform legislation remains in limbo has something to do with that—with the options on an ultimate compromise on abortion coverage ranging from terrible to horrible. Also tied up in health care reform is the fate of two other key provisions: one to make it easier for states to expand eligibility for family planning under Medicaid and a second to establish new funding for home visiting programs for low-income first-time mothers. [Emphasis mine.]More here.
Remember how we were all told we just had to vote Dem, because who else was going to protect Roe v Wade? Yeah, okay.
OFFS
Shaker ErinM emails (which I am posting with her permission):
From the "We don't sexualize little girls enough already" Department. Miley Cyrus' little sister Noah, age nine, NINE, is launching a lingerie line for kids. The article is pretty gross as well, with its slut-shaming of a nine year old. I weep for little girls everywhere, and hope this line is a miserable, miserable failure, because parents refuse to put their little girls in sexually suggestive clothing. It's a vain hope, I know, but I still hope.Just...no.
Anti-Choicers Targeting Black Women in Atlanta
Renee at Womanist Musings emailed me about "an anti-abortion group in Atlanta [that] is targeting Black women by putting up billboards stating that Black children are an endangered species." No, really.
Renee notes:
As proof of this claim they offer the fact that Blacks account for 30% of the general population and 56% of the abortions.It's not an unreasonable suggestion at all, of course. We know, for example, that 73% of women (pdf) seeking to terminate a pregnancy cite "Can't afford a baby now" as their reason for seeking an abortion.
...We already know that a woman living alone with a child is more likely to be poor and therefore when we factor in racism, it is quite obvious that poverty would increase. Would it really be so hard to suggest that part of the reason that the rate of abortion is so high is because Black women are already aware of the herculean task and are simply opting out due to a lack of community support and government funding?
In the qualitative sample, of women who stated that they could not afford to have a child now, the majority had children already. Financial difficulties included the absence of support from the father of either the current pregnancy or the woman's other children, anticipating not being able to continue working or to find work while pregnant or caring for a newborn, not having the resources to support a child whose conception was not planned and lacking health insurance.Additionally, about one-fourth of participants in the qualitative sample cited her own health or possible health problems with the fetus as reasons for the abortion, citing concerns including "a lack of prenatal care." The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that "about 30 percent of Hispanic and 20 percent of black Americans lack a usual source of health care compared with less than 16 percent of whites."
Renee notes that this subject, the targeting of black women by anti-choice campaigns, isn't getting nearly the same attention as, for example, the Focus on the Family ad that is due to run during the Superbowl: "Finally, as scared as White women may be to interact because of the racial undertones of this argument, I must ask don't Black women matter? ... If abortion were to be outlawed tomorrow, more children may indeed be born, however you would also see a rise in the deaths of Black women due to back alley abortions. The Black woman has a right to life and this must be forcefully asserted."
A right to an autonomous life that includes the right to choose, which must be forcefully defended.
And, in my opinion, if not the opinion of glibertarian shits whose privilege affords them a personal security they erroneously attribute to bootstraps, a right to a life rich with opportunity, and comfortable in the security of a strong social safety net that means never having to decide between paying the electric bill or paying for prenatal care.
That any country who forces women to make such decisions has the temerity to call itself civilized is beyond me.
Today in Rape Culture
[Trigger warning.]
Shaker clairedammit sends this emblematic example of how casually the rape culture permeates our culture in a million little ways every day. This is the first paragraph of a story in the Houston Chronicle on finding the right restaurant for Valentine's Day:
As man has evolved, so have his courtship rituals. Primitive man had it so easy: He simply dragged his woman to his cave with a knock on the head with a rough-hewn club and maybe the promise of a choice hunk of mastodon.Sounds like someone's been watching Year One.
I just can't get enough of listening to men wax rhapsodic about the good old days when they could just hit women over the head and rape them without fear of consequence.
Johnny Depp: Rape Defender
by Shaker mschicklet
[Trigger warning.]
Johnny Depp wants us all to know that Roman Polanski is no longer a threat. You see, Mr. Depp seems to think that Polanski is no longer capable of raping someone, because he is in his 70s and has a wife and children. So, there you go, nothing to worry about. We can all sit back, relax, and join the "Free Polanski" crowd.
Except, wait a minute. The second man who raped me had a wife and children. Every single day, I am blindsided by anxiety attacks brought on by the memory of his scent, his voice, even the sound of his name. Memory is a fickle thing, but I remember what he did to me. He raped me. While he was married. While his two young daughters were sleeping in the next bedroom.
But, Mr. Depp says there's no way a man with a wife and children would do such a thing. No way someone who's married for 20+ years, who kisses his daughters goodnight and tucks them into bed, could possibly rape anyone. So, does that mean my experience means nothing? Does that mean it really didn't happen?
I take issue with the fact that Johnny Depp is using his privilege to minimize and even deny the horrific events that so many victims have been forced to endure. And, after reading the Survivor Thread and listening to the stories of other rape victims in tear-filled counseling groups, I know my story isn't all that rare.
Because, as we've learned, that's the thing about rapists. They rape people. A wedding band doesn't stop them, nor does the fact that they have children. Nor does their age. Denying this, as Mr. Depp is doing, silences rape victims. And, really, haven't victims already been silenced enough?
In addition to trying to be the final word on what a rapist is or is not, Johnny Depp also wants to know why Polanski was arrested. "Why now?" he asks. Why is this coming up now? Because Polanski fled the country for 30 years and refused to serve his time. By asking "Why now?" Mr. Depp is focusing responsibility on the wrong people – the people who want our justice system to do its job. Instead, he should be holding Polanski accountable. Mr. Depp's words absolutely scream, "Poor him! Poor guy! Let him go! Leave him alone!" What sort of a society do we live in if so many people feel the need to defend and protect a rapist? If this isn't rape culture, then I don't know what is.
And ever since the arrest of Polanski, that's what I've seen from such a large portion of Hollywood and society in general. I've seen some of the most respected actors and filmmakers in Hollywood defend someone who doesn't deserve it. Either they deny that he is a rapist, deny that he ever was a rapist, or blame us for not letting the rapist go. I wish Johnny Depp realized that by adding his name to the long list of rape apologists, he not helping the situation – he is hurting so many people who are now faced with the cold truth that one less person is on their side.
It must be nice to live in the fantasy world that Johnny Depp lives in. In fact, I remember when I had similar beliefs. Men with children are safe, I would think to myself, in large part because that's what my mother taught me. It wasn't until I was raped that I finally realized how wrong I had been. But it shouldn't take something like that to "wake us up." We shouldn't have to wake up in the first place.
Assvertising
I stumbled across this little gem (and have you noticed how i am forever "stumbling across" stupid shit in my travels? I'm such a klutz) in some sordid corner of the interweb and just had to share it:
(Click to embiggen.)
In case you can't see the image, it is a photograph of a seemingly nekkid and very young woman giving her best come-hither look directly to the camera. Under her visage is the following text: "You know you're not the first. But do you really care? BMW Premium Selection used cars."
Oh, for fuck's sake.
[Assvertising: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two, Ninety-Three, Ninety-Four, Ninety-Five, Ninety-Six.]
Remember, Ladies...
You can spend your entire life working at something, learning, practicing, training, honing your skills, building your talents, giving every piece of yourself, your nights and mornings and weekends and every spare minute you have, keeping a laser-like focus on your ultimate goal, inch by inch making your way to the top of your field, becoming the best there ever was, maybe the best there ever will be...and whether you're a presidential candidate or America's best female skier, they can still put you in your place with a single slur, a single touch, a single picture:
Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi (emphasis original):
I've thought to myself and predicted out loud that leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics that we would see a LOT of Lindsey Vonn in the media.In Dr. LaVoi's comments, there are all sorts of the usual contortions of logic and protestations of looking for things to get mad about, seeing things that aren't there, blah blah blah. But as Dr. LaVoi notes, sure, Vonn's in an actual ski pose, but she's not skiing. This isn't an action shot; it's a still, posed image, and Vonn is not wearing her helmet, which would obscure her smile as she looks directly into the camera.
Vonn is first a GREAT athlete, but she also represents norm of feminine attractiveness. The combination of athleticism and attractiveness make Vonn the likely poster girl of the US Olympic Team, and the media hasn’t disappointed in constructed her as such.
Not to be left out, Sports Illustrated is featuring Vonn on their February 8,2010 cover. For those of you who follow SI Covers, know that female athletes are RARELY featured on the cover.
Over the last 60 years researchers have shown that about 4% of all SI covers have portrayed women.
That the shot is angled with the slope is not incidental either.
This is about as obvious a sexualized image of a female athlete for male consumption as I've ever seen. It's absolutely absurd. And equally depressing.
Contact Sports Illustrated.[H/T to Shaker Nellie.]
Tea Party Tomfoolery
The first ever Tea Party Convention, aka Profiteer-a-Thon 2010, has kicked off in Nashville, and it already sounds great:
The opening-night speaker at first ever National Tea Party Convention ripped into President Obama, Sen. John McCain and "the cult of multiculturalism," asserting that Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country."Sad trombone. Wah wah wahhhhhhhhhhh. Still sounds like loads of fun, though!
The speaker, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., told about 600 delegates in a Nashville, Tenn., ballroom that in the 2008 election, America "put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House ... Barack Hussein Obama."
..."This is our country," he told the crowd. "Let's take it back."
Tancredo's speech received enthusiastic applause at times, but the crowd did not fill the large ballroom at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center.
Someone hung a poster of Palin from a balcony overlooking a garden atrium at the Opryland complex. In the hotel lobby, a few delegates sat on luggage and read copies of the Declaration of Independence.Hot damn. I haven't been this excited since I was in a truck stop on the Pennsylvania-Ohio border!
And outside the convention hall, entrepreneurs sold souvenirs: sterling silver tea bag necklaces ($89.99), bags of "Freedom Coffee" ($9) and T-shirts emblazoned with a bald eagle ($20).
Question of the Day
What is your favorite work of art?
Mine is Botticelli's "Birth of Venus." It may look kind of underwhelming when you see a print or view it online, but if you ever have the opportunity to stand in front of the original in the Uffizi, you'll understand.
[Click image to enlarge.]
Missionaries Charged
They have been charged with kidnapping:
Haiti has charged 10 US missionaries with child abduction and criminal conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 children out of the country.The arrogance of people to go into a sovereign, if damaged, nation and simply take children without proper authority and permission or any actual verification of the lives of the families of the children is beyond appalling (yet, it's unsurprising). I understand the desire to help but this sure as shit isn't it.
Haitian officials said their cases would now be sent to an investigating judge who would decide how to proceed.
If convicted they face lengthy jail terms, says the BBC's Paul Adams, in Haiti's quake-hit capital city.
[...]
After the hearing the 10 missionaries were taken back to the jail where they have been kept since Friday.
Amid chaotic scenes, the group was bundled into a van outside the court.
"I feel good," the group's leader Laura Silsby told reporters. "I trust in God."
The five men and five women, most of them from Idaho, were due to have a hearing earlier in the week, but that was postponed because of a lack of interpreters.
Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has labeled the Americans "kidnappers".
Justice Minister Paul Denis said they should be tried in Haiti despite the damage done to the country's judicial infrastructure and casualties among judges and court staff.
There have been suggestions the 10 could be tried in the US.
"It is Haitian law that has been violated it is up to the Haitian authorities to hear and judge the case," he told AFP news agency.
"I don't see any reason why they should be tried in the United States."
National Prayer Breakfast
This morning was the National Prayer Breakfast, which CREW urged the president et. al. not to attend so as not to further lend legitimacy to The Family. Of course, Obama did attend (as did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, among others; we'll come back to Clinton). The president's full remarks are here, and a few things really jumped out at me:
I thank God every day for being married to Michelle Obama.Well, while you're thanking people, you should thank the good people of the great state of Illinois, who see fit to extend marriage rights to opposite-sex couples.
God's grace, and the compassion and decency of the American people is expressed through … the efforts of our Armed Forces, through the efforts of our entire government.Separation of church and state is for losers! At the end of this section cataloging all the many ways in which "God's grace, oh yeah, and some stuff that isn't totes religious" is expressed, he adds, "By Americans of every faith, and no faith, uniting around a common purpose, a higher purpose." So, let me get this straight: God's grace can be expressed by Americans of no faith (we'll come back to that phrase) uniting around a higher purpose? Okay, well, I've just got one question, Mr. President: How the fuck does that make any sense?!
Atheists—who, for the record, may have a secular "faith" in things other than god-belief, but it's always fun to be described as having "no faith" as opposed to "no belief in god"—have quite rightly requested acknowledgment from their government and its leadership, but awkwardly inserting oblique references to our existence into your remarks at a prayer breakfast isn't necessary. In fact, it's insulting.
Not attending prayer breakfasts would, however, be a swell idea.
[Erosion of civility in the public square makes us] lose sight of the children without food and the men without shelter and the families without health care.Hmm. I wonder what it is that made him lose sight of women altogether during that sentence.
Whatever.
Clinton, in whom I'm disappointed for attending yet again for aforementioned issues of credibility-lending, did, however, do something very interesting during her remarks: She first of all didn't pretend she was anywhere else but at a gathering of religious people; she spoke about her own faith and how it acts in her life, rather than making vague pronouncements about how faith acts in other people's lives; and, most extraordinarily, she spoke about how religion is misused:
Religion, cloaked in naked power lust, is used to justify horrific violence, attacks on homes, markets, schools, volleyball games, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples. From Iraq to Pakistan and Afghanistan to Nigeria and the Middle East, religion is used a club to deny the human rights of girls and women, from the Gulf to Africa to Asia, and to discriminate, even advocating the execution of gays and lesbians. Religion is used to enshrine in law intolerance of free expression and peaceful protest. Iran is now detaining and executing people under a new crime – waging war against God. It seems to be a rather dramatic identity crisis.Did you get that? Hillary Clinton stood at the podium at The Family's National Prayer Breakfast and told them that she thinks that legislation in Uganda is bullshit. Told the sponsors of that legislation that it's bullshit.
So in the Obama Administration, we are working to bridge religious divides. We're taking on violations of human rights perpetrated in the name of religion. And we invite members of Congress and clergy and active citizens like all of you here to join us. Of course we're supporting the peace processes from Northern Ireland to the Middle East, and of course we are following up on the President's historic speech at Cairo with outreach efforts to Muslims and promoting interfaith dialogue, and of course we’re condemning the repression in Iran.
But we are also standing up for girls and women, who too often in the name of religion, are denied their basic human rights. And we are standing up for gays and lesbians who deserve to be treated as full human beings. (Applause.) And we are also making it clear to countries and leaders that these are priorities of the United States. Every time I travel, I raise the plight of girls and women, and make it clear that we expect to see changes. And I recently called President Museveni, whom I have known through the prayer breakfast, and expressed the strongest concerns about a law being considered in the parliament of Uganda.
I'm not going to mince words: I still wish neither one of them had gone. I wish both of them had stayed clear of that fucking prayer breakfast like it was radioactive.
Sometimes, though, I read something that makes me feel like there is a game of 12-dimensional chess being played in Washington. But it ain't Obama at the board.
Worst. Sexual Assault Prevention Tips. Ever.
Evarrrrrrrrrrr.
[Trigger warning.]
Passed on by Shaker Julie, who says: "I think my 'favorite' is 'If you get on the elevator on the 25th floor, and the Boogie Man gets on the 22nd, get off when he gets on,' which comes directly after 'Remember, bad men don't always look bad'."
Personally, I'm partial to: "Women are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT, it may get you raped, or killed." I hate it when my sympathy tries to rape me.
Amanda notes that "the sexual assault policy gurus at SAFER Campus" deem these hottt tips "deeply offensive, misogynist, heterosexist and [perpetuating of] myths about the reality of sexual assault." They also note that "no information was found that suggests that a sexual assault victim may be male or transgender," making them transphobic as well.
To that list, let us add disablist ("If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS run!") and classist ("If you don't have a cell phone, shame on you."), too.
And probably more stuff that I missed, which I'll leave you to add in comments.
Quite the spectacular fail.
Daily Kitteh
Hmm, who could have done such a dastardly deed, I wonder...?
Another mystery solved!
The Marriage Ref
Last February, when Jerry Seinfeld's new television project, The Marriage Ref—a "reality series that seeks to mine laughs out of marriage problems"—was announced, I said:
Seinfeld explains that, despite the fact that the show depends on marital problems for its existence, it's "not a therapy show; it's a comedy show," the concept for which he developed after nine years of marriage wherein he "discovered that the comedic potential of this subject is quite rich." … [T]he reason most [modern comedy] is garbage is because most of it is tired, hackneyed, rehashed rubbish (which wasn't even funny the first time) about "relationships." Men are horny dogs! Ha ha ha! Women are shopaholic chatterboxes! Ha ha ha! Mars and Venus, baby. Mars. And. Venus.Well, I've started seeing promos for The Marriage Ref on NBC. I'll let you be the judge:
Oh, my aching sides.
…And the producer of the show promoted his last film with rape jokes and homophobic and transphobic promo spots.
I've little hope that the combination of a scarcity of groundbreaking and norms-shattering material and Seinfeld's sad retrofuckery are going to yield anything but a patriarchy-propagating monster.
Text onscreen: Based on a true story.
Voiceover backed by wacky music: Based on a true story. [image of elderly white man standing in yard, shirtless] In 2003, a man trying to avoid date night with his wife [image of elderly white woman in bed, with rollers in hair, eating popcorn] started a fire in his backyard [video of raging fire being futilely doused with water from hoses] and accidentally burned down his house. [image of woman looking angry (?) coupled with image of man in mug shot] If only they had "The Marriage Ref." From executive producer Jerry Seinfeld. Coming in March to NBC.
Text onscreen: This is a true story.Shaker EastSideKate emails that there are other promos "featuring panelist Alec Baldwin.* The show's website is predictable. Bonus points to the NBC casting website, which features 'Stand Up for Diversity' right under requests for hackneyed sexist anecdotes to be featured on Seinfeld's latest train wreck."
Voiceover backed by wacky music: This is a true story. David and Susan Harper [images of couple] constantly argue about her first husband's ashes [image of urn] on the mantle and his leg [image of prosthetic leg] in the closet. Seems like they could use "The Marriage Ref." From executive producer Jerry Seinfeld. Coming in March to NBC.
Here, you can find Seinfeld talking about how this show is especially important for men: "Men do not know [that all couples fight], because men do not share with other men about what's going on in their marriage. So they suffer in silence! [laughter]"
Oh for fuck's sake.
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* Sure. Of course. Who better to serve as a panelist on a show about marriage than Alec Baldwin, a misogynist asshole who had a lengthy, ugly, public divorce during which he behaved appallingly childishly?
Today in Rape Culture
[Trigger warning.]
Shaker April emails (which I am publishing with her permission):
I'm e-mailing because I thought perhaps you could bring attention to a rape "joke" on ABC's sitcom "Modern Family" last night. I'm kind of iffy about the show in general, since it relies on stereotypes a lot, and I was glad to see a post about this on Shakesville a couple weeks back. But this "joke" was really over the line, and I was shocked to hear it.April described the exchange to me, and I went to check it out at the ABC website. (It's viewable here, starting right around minute 12.)
A 13-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother, collecting recyclables, have brought home a bunch of empty alcohol bottles discarded after a party in their neighborhood. They show their haul to Dad, and Daughter asks: "What's Jaegermeister?"
To which Dad replies: "Um, well, you know how in a fairy tale there's always a potion that makes the princess fall asleep and then the guys start kissing her? Well, this is like that except you don't wake up in a castle. You wake up in a frat house with a bad reputation."
Daughter then makes amusingly perplexed face at younger brother, lest there be any confusion about whether this scene was being played for laughs.
Har har.
Drawing an equivalence between sleeping potions and kissing princes in fairy tales, and alcohol/roofies and rapists in real life, is not a bad idea. In fact, it's a pretty good way, with age-appropriateness caveats, to teach kids about consent (or the lack thereof).
But, needless to say, drawing that equivalence to warn your tween daughter about "waking up in a frat house with a bad reputation," and preemptively victim-blame her in case she ever does have the unspeakable misfortune of being in the presence of someone determined to rape her, is a bad idea.
I know, I know—blah blah fiction blah blah irony blah blah edgy blah blah it's supposed to show what a shitty dad he is. Yeah, whatever. And maybe one day, when we don't live in a pernicious rape culture that destroys the lives of millions of "sleeping princesses," I'll be able to find shit like this funny.
Or not. Because I quite genuinely don't understand what's so amusing about rape, or about incapacitated victims, or about a dad victim-blaming his own daughter, or about the stories of nonconsensual sexual activity "saving women" that are told to children, or the double-standard that victims of "date rape" are hung with bad reputations but rapists are commendable studs, or about any piece of the construction of this "joke," or about its inclusion on a primetime network sitcom.
As best I can tell, the only reason anyone (besides rapists) might see to laugh at this "joke" is because it's true: There are indeed dads who communicate these hideous ideas to their daughters (and their sons).
But that isn't funny, either. That's tragic.
Quote of the Day
"We use the discarded furs as bedding to give the animals comfort and reduce stress. The fur garments act as a surrogate mother. It is a warm and furry substitute."—Michael Markarian, the Humane Society's chief operating officer in Washington, D.C., on their Coats for Cubs program, which recycles fur coats to use as "nests, bedding, or cuddly replacements for mom and dad" for orphaned, injured, or sick wildlife. [Via.]
That's infinitely more awesome than dousing paint on people. The Animal Rights Group Who Shall Not Be Named ought to take note.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108. 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 and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Texting! With Liss and Deeky!
Last night, starting at 9:16pm Central Standard Time.
Deeky: I'm watching Cops. Who the fuck goes on a drug buy on a bicycle?
Liss: Someone who takes drug procurement advice from an 8-year old?
Deeky: LOLOLOL!
Liss: We're watching Man v Wild. Iain just said, "I like Bear's jacket. This show's like a fashion show for me."
Deeky: LOL! Is it the urban apocalypse episode?
Liss: Uh huh.
Deeky: Did he suggest any tips for fighting zombies?
Liss: No, although that would obviously be more useful than how to shimmy down elevator cables. Christ.
Deeky: You know how to avoid shimmying down elevator cables? Don't fucking go upstairs to begin with!
Liss: Seriously. 99% of each episode, I'm all, "That's terrible, terrible advice" or "Yeah, my fat ass could totes replicate these Survival Tips for the Ridiculously Fit."
Deeky: LOL! You're zombie chow, sister!
Liss: Enjoy my succulent breasteses, zombies!
Deeky: LOLOLOL!
Fin.
Adorable Marriage Advice from the State of Utah
The State of Utah is very interested in marriage. Mostly, they're interested in making sure the sacred institution totes created by God after creating Eve from Adam's rib wiener remains an exclusive club for M4W and W4M only. (And the occasional M4WWWWW.*) But that's not all! They're also interested in helping the Almighty-favored opposite-sex couples whose super-special, gloriously gilded relationships have afforded them access to marriage protect that shimmering, golden glow of specialness forever by offering some hottt marriage advice! Woot!
Pop Quiz: Is Utah's advice to married couples…?
A. Find someone with whom you can totally be yourself and retain your individualism, while simultaneously approaching your life with a spirit of generosity and compromise, so that you may be autonomous but complementary equals in a lifetime partnership that fulfills you both.
B. Leave your individualism at the door, keep nothing of or for yourself, and wave goodbye to independence of any description, because you are part of the marriage borg now, bitchez!
If you guessed B, give yourself 1,000 points!
[Click images to embiggen.]
On the left: ME. With a dotted line around the M. Followed by the instructions: "How to build a lasting relationship: 1. Cut on dotted line. 2. Rotate 180 degrees." On the right: MINE YOURS. With a dotted line around the MINE Y. Followed by the instructions: "How to ensure a more successful marriage: 1. Select a sharp #2 pencil. 2. Fill in box completely."
In case you've missed the clever joke there, the point is to turn "Me" into "We" and "Mine Yours" into "Ours."
Now, on the one hand, I appreciate that the intended messages are about not being selfish and about fully committing. But, on the other hand, that's not really what the messages are explicitly communicating—and what they are explicitly communicating plays into some very dangerous narratives that have traditionally been used against women to deny them equality and autonomy within opposite-sex marriage. And there are still plenty of people who regard a woman's disinterest in taking her husband's surname, or retaining her own bank account, or fates forfend anything totally zany like taking a solitary (or girls') vacation or maintaining a separate residence, as selfish. As not being fully committed. As being A Bad Wife.
"Me" in a marriage is not a bad thing. "My" in a marriage is not a bad thing.
After all, you ostensibly marry someone because you love the person they are, not because you want that person to disappear in service to a legal contract.
There is a way to communicate working together on and being totally committed to a marriage without suggesting that either partner's individual personhood, or both, has to be subsumed by the relationship.
In fact, the bottom of the posters read: "If you want a stronger marriage, work on it together." Which is actually not bad advice at all. And it is certainly very different advice than "there is no more me, only we." More different still is the very last line, in the tiniest text: "For tips, marriage class incentives, and resources in your area that can improve the health of any relationship, visit our website."
Any relationship, you say?! Well, fancy that! It's almost like a marriage between two people of opposite sexes isn't actually a special snowflake after all! And that working on a relationship together is good advice for any relationship! Between any people! Of any sex! Wow!
So…why is this a poster about marriage again?
Oh, right. Because Utah is interested in protecting marriage. From Teh Gayz. From whom marriage in Utah is under grave threat. Which is totes why they have an above-average divorce rate. Because of Teh Gayz.
[H/T to Copyranter.]
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* Not a dig at polyamory. That's a comment on the deeply misogynist and sexually abusive polygamy which is associated with certain sects in Utah.
Antiques with Deeks: The World's Most Unfortunately Named Boardgame
Part four in my miniseries (see parts one, two and three) on antiques. Because all us homos love antiques, right? Today, I've just one item. And I submit it without comment.
Annette's Secret Passage game. Yes, you read that right. A boardgame about America's Sweetheart's "secret passage." (I know I said I wasn't going to comment, but...) I don't know what knuckleheaded pervo came up with this name, but really, do we need to allude to the Mouseketeer's nether regions in 72 pt type?
And yes, I am twelve years old, why do you ask?
I came up with a few alternate names that wouldn't have been as ... unfortunate:
Thanks for reading. Next week: Deeky Goes To Church!
[Cross-posted.]
Personal Note
Just checking in to say, yes, I still exist. I'm sorry I missed B&T this week, Tuesday I was catching up my sleep debt from two brutal nights of insomnia. And that's kinda how the week's gone, really. It'll be back next week, but I'm officially taking the pressure off myself to get it done this week.
I'm also (and this is partly the reason I'm speaking up about this) suffering, as I do every year, from Seasonal Affective Disorder, which functions for me sort of like a superdepression (that is, a depression layer on top of the usual one). It's February in Canada, so it's dark, and cold, and everything is either white or grey. And working at home as I do, because of my disability, means I can literally go days without leaving the apartment, and without seeing anyone or hearing anything but my own voice or the TV/radio/CD player/whatever.
I'm going to try and get a NQDTR thread up today, and I've got a couple of articles I really want to write (like one on this appalling situation, sent to me by Unree, about a Canadian woman more or less interned in Saudi Arabia for the crime of being a woman, and another from MzBitca via Liss, here). But as with the old regular kind of depression, productivity in "Areas That Don't Contribute To Me Being Fed And Sheltered" is a real problem.
I mention this not because I seek sympathy (but thank you) - my life is what it is, my body is what it is, and it's my lot to live with them - but to be a visible person with an invisible disorder, in a sense. To say to those out there sharing these things with me that they're not alone, that even someone who may appear all successful and shit can turn out to be badly affected too, and that yes, it is possible to live with depression and/or SAD, for some folk (for some; I don't want this to become a lash to whack other sufferers with, just because they're not susceptible to the things that keep me functioning). I muddle through, with a little help from my friends, and a lot of love from those who love me, and with being gentle with myself when it gets heavy and I stop functioning a bit. And with knowing that only a couple more months will bring spring, warmer temps, longer days, less white-and-grey. It'll be more painful (rheumatic pain is no fun in the Days Of Cool And Damp), but it'll be a happier time nonetheless.
So yah. I still exist, and will be writing here again, and the NQDTR will be back, hopefully today. And I'm living with depression, and SAD, and that's just life. I know it sounds contradictory, but I'm really not unhappy; just suffering from depression. All the other depressives are now nodding, cause they get it, but yah, remember:
depression != unhappiness
Hope you all have a lovely day, or have had, if you're at your day's end.
* Note: I really, really don't need suggestions on how to deal with this. I've been doing so since I was a teen, in various ways, which is longer than some of you have been alive. I'm good for coping methods, such as they are, and of the ones I'm not using, you can safely assume that I have investigated them, and discovered they didn't work for me. If they did for you or your friend or your cousin's brother-in-law's hairdresser's mechanic, please know I'm very happy that they've been able to find relief. If someone asks in comments for help with coping strategies, that's on-topic; suggestions to me for how I could live my life differently with $STRATEGY aren't. Thanks. :)
Two Possible SCOTUS Vacancies?
ABC News reports that Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg might both be considering retirement from the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Stevens and Ginsburg are both liberals, so the make-up of the court would retain a conservative majority. In fact, Stevens and Ginsburg are so reliably liberal, I question whether President Bipartisan's nominees will further balance the court rightward.
In any case, he won't nominate nutwits like John Roberts and Sam Alito, Bush's two appointments. The SCOTUS remains, IMO, the #1 place where party difference still matters.
Open Thread
Hosted by jellyfish, squid, and octopus water bottle buddies. Want.
Via. Cutest choking hazard ever.
Question of the Day
What's the strangest item you've ever seen in an antique, resale, or second-hand shop?
Following up on the Antiques with Deeks miniseries, during one of my recent shopping excursions, I picked up this lovely item (left).
It's a bottle that once contained embalming fluid.
I've no idea how old it is, but it's pretty darn cool. Better than a Gabe Kaplan puzzle, that's for sure.
The bottle now sits next to the tub and stores bubble bath.
Today in Not Fat-Hating!
Take it away, Ellen DeGeneres:
Ellen DeGeneres is tired of women thinking beauty is synonymous with being super-skinny.Look at that: No fat-hating, no thin-hating, no deeming a singular body type as "normal," no discussion of "real women," no demonization of one segment of women in order to prop up another. This is Doing It Right.
...The CoverGirl spokeswoman's biggest frustration? Airbrushing.
"Women are looking at bodies like that and going, 'My stomach doesn't look like that. I'm supposed to look like that?!'" the talk show host, 52, says. "So they starve themselves and they work out like crazy."
She adds: "It's not important. We put the wrong emphasis on what beauty is and what health is. Health is being vibrant and having energy and being happy. If you're healthy, it's got nothing to do with how much you weigh."
Thank You for Being a Friend…
LOL: "[Rue McClanahan] is still recuperating in the hospital after her November stroke, but was 'tickled' when she received a card from Betty saying words to the effect of 'Dear Rue, I hope you hurry up and die so I can be the last Golden Girl left.'"
I absolutely love that. I know that sort of repartee doesn't suit everyone's sense of humor, but it hits me right where I live—or, perhaps more accurately, right where I love.
I adore being (affectionately) teased by my close friends—and OMG do I love being teased by Iain. He can send me into absolute gales of breathless, gasping laughter by mocking the hell out of me.
I like it because it makes me feel very known, which is not an easy thing for me to let myself be.
And I like giving as good as I get back to Iain, and my friends who enjoy it. Hence Deeky and I spending approximately 5% of every day calling each other assholes, for example.
That sort of friendly teasing creates such strong bonds—and it serves a pretty important purpose too: Part of the reason stuff like "fuck you fatso!" is so easy to laugh at is because I've got a handful of people who love me who say the same sort of ridiculous shit to me all the time, but with affection.
That's incomprehensible to people who don't share that sense of humor, among whom are also people I consider friends; I get that not everyone likes to be teased, because I don't like to be teased by just anyone. It really is a special sort of trust, shared by people who respect each other's consent to be subjected to the ribald ruthlessness that only a true friend who really knows you can brutally, beautifully, hilariously deliver.
