Funny Business. August 31, 2007

Knoxville has an interesting way of dealing with KKK rallies.

Saturday May 26th the VNN Vanguard Nazi/KKK group attempted to host a hate rally to try to take advantage of the brutal murder of a white couple for media and recruitment purposes. www.volunteertv.com/special

Unfortunately for them the 100th ARA (Anti Racist Action) clown block came and handed them their asses by making them appear like the asses they were.

Alex Linder the founder of VNN and the lead organizer of the rally kicked off events by rushing the clowns in a fit of rage, and was promptly arrested by 4 Knoxville police officers who dropped him to the ground when he resisted and dragged him off past the red shiny shoes of the clowns. www.volunteertv.com/home/head….html

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheered and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.

At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed “White Power!”

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!”

Normally I’m not really down with clowns (reading Stephen King’s ‘It’ at age 11 may leave you slightly scarred in that respect), but I would definitely let any one of those clowns shock me with their hand buzzer.

Corporate Lolitas. August 27, 2007

The sexualization of children (specifically young girls) is everywhere these days. Bratz Dolls are the new Barbie. You can’t walk into a children’s clothing store these days without seeing tiny mini skirts and skimpy or just plain inappropriate tops, it seems. Even then-12-year-old Dakota Fanning, most recently the star of Charlotte’s Web, had a stint shilling for Marc Jacobs.

Melinda Tankard Reist is the founding director of Women’s Forum Australia and editor of its new report on women’s magazines, Faking It. In an interview with MercatorNet, she discusses the widespread treatment of young girls as sexual objects for the purposes of marketing, and about the necessity of creating a global movement of women and girl advocacy.

A few highlights:

MercatorNet: Most of us have seen the little girls in miniskirts, platforms and boob tubes; we have heard about the bralettes and g-strings designed for them, and the sexy Bratz Babyz dolls. But tell us about the magazines for young girls — are they really so bad?

Melinda Tankard Reist: An analysis of the three most popular magazines for young girls — Barbie Magazine, Total Girl and Disney Girl — showed that about 50 per cent of the content of the last two was sexualising material. For Barbie it was no less than 75 per cent. This is really bad because these magazines are aimed at girls from five or six years old and up. Around a third of girls aged six to 12 read one or more of them. The pages are full of advice on fashion, beauty and products. Lip gloss, perfumes, deoderants and hair styling products are promoted as must-haves for primary school girls. Along with this they can get “hot gossip”. Little girls are shown how to look and behave like pop stars, including how to do “sexy” dance moves.

One Barbie Magazine issue was touted as a “cute crush issue”, with images of teenage boys and men up to 30 years of age and comments such as “who’s your celeb dream date”. This can lead to girls being prepped for sexual advances from men. We know that this is happening to some girls who use social networking sites on the internet. Popular culture, including magazines, prepare them to be approached by men sexually and the internet provides the opportunity. An Australian, Jim Bell, who served time for child pornography offences, wrote an article justifying himself on precisely this ground. He said society allowed sexualised images of children in television, pop music and fashion, and the world of internet child porn merely completes the process. He had a point.

Breaking News: Double Standards Still Suck August 21, 2007

The following lists have been posted by PC Bloggs, a British police officer, who also just happens to be a blogger. These are real supervisor notes, taken after rapes have been reported to the police.

1. Incident:
Caller reporting her 17-year-old daughter was raped last night by two named offenders after going out drinking at her local pub. Daughter is very distressed and sore.
Update from supervisor:
Officers to attend and establish the following:
1. Is the daughter making an allegation?
2. Names and descriptions of alleged offenders.
3. How much alcohol was consumed?
4. If allegation is being made, locate scene.
5. Will the victim attend court?
6. If allegation could be true, will she consent to a medical?

2. Incident:
Caller reporting her 18-year-old son was raped last night by a male known to him, following a party at his house. Son is in pain and upset.
Update from supervisor:
Officers to attend and establish the following:
1. Locate the crime scene.
2. Arrange medical examination and take victim to rape suite.
3. Name/description of offender.
4. Preserve forensic evidence, seize clothing.

You may notice some discrepencies:
- at no point is the word “alleged” used in the male notes
- the amount of alcohol consumed by the male is not an issue, but the amount consumed by the female is

The male is seen as a victim, no questions asked. The female may be complicit in her own rape by being so slutty as to get drunk in public, and besides, she might be lying anyway.

Yeah, we don’t really need feminism anymore. Obviously, men and women are receiving equal treatment.

Violet at Reclusive Leftist has more.

Smoking is For The Boys. August 21, 2007

Samhita over at Feministing has discovered a ridiculously sexist article about why women don’t get stoned.

Perhaps the obstacle to female toking is a fear of looking lazy. Getting stoned is, in effect, a great way to relax. Men are allowed to be lazy—being stoned is part of their farting, pajama-wearing, video-game-playing pantheon of acceptable male relaxation techniques. Since Jeff Spicoli made his debut in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and continuing into the entire oeuvre of director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up), stonerdom is an accepted part of modern maleness. Their sloth is even kind of adorable.

But modern women are not allowed to be lazy, adorable stoners. Women have to go to college (which they’re now doing at higher rates than men), and then get their careers going quickly, before their biological clocks run out. Then they have to have kids and take them to all of their activities. There is no time for women to be slovenly and relax—and if women do relax, it has to be at a gym.

I don’t know what the author has been smoking, but I am pretty sure that I know at least as many (if not more) female potheads than male ones. And I doubt that I am unique in that. Perhaps, like those surveys that are supposed to determine how many sexual partners women have had in their lives, the women are deliberately underreporting. It’s not hard to figure out why. In our society, having any sort of fun is generally considered “unladylike”. Sex, sports, and getting stoned are things to be enjoyed by the boys, you see. Oh, and it’s currently illegal. Almost forgot about that part, oops.

Fiona believes that media images have a lot to do with why so few women smoke pot, but says that fear of weight gain also plays a large role. “You get the munchies, you know?” says Fiona. “A lot of girls wouldn’t want to sit on the couch and eat chips all night.”

Oh no! Women might gain a couple of pounds because they spent their Saturday night giggling and watching Sifl and Olly DVDs while eating a bag of Twizzlers!

But wait, what’s this? A number of mothers in the Phoenix area admit they use marijuana to wind down after a long day, according to television station KPHO.

“I like it just to relax, if I’m very stressed out and I just need some time, just to relax. It’s good for that,” Jan said.

Sue is 37 and has two kids.

“But I’ve also used it for headaches. I’ve used it when I’ve been sick with the stomach flu, when I’ve been really nauseous and, I mean, I need to function. So it’s in my medicine cabinet,” Sue said.

Of the hundreds of mothers Pausa surveyed, 52 percent said they smoke pot at least 10 times a year.

Twenty-seven percent said they smoke it one to seven times a week.

This seems a little more accurate to me. As Samhita said, the original article relies primarily on sexist notions, such as women’s obsession with appearance and weight, to “prove” that women shy away from smoking pot. I, for one, am not buying it. Not even if it comes with a free ounce.

Amnesty International: Now 50% more pro-Choice! August 20, 2007

Yes, it’s true!

Amnesty International has confirmed its controversial decision to back abortion in some circumstances, replacing its previous policy of neutrality.

The human rights group will campaign for woman to have access to abortion in cases including rape and incest.

They are also advocating that women who suffer complications after an abortion should be guaranteed access to medical care.

This is great news. Of course, various Christian organizations are threatening to withdraw their support, but Amnesty International doesn’t seem to be backing down. I’d like to see them back abortions in all circumstances, rather than just rape, medical complications and incest, but it is a good first step.

Just Another Manic Monday. August 13, 2007

Sadly, I’ll be somewhat MIA for the next week or so, due to various work-related projects. But to prove that I still love you, I leave you with Sia’s fantastically catchy new single “Buttons” from her upcoming album Some People Have Real Problems.

HRC/LOGO VisibleVote08 Forum. August 10, 2007

First, the highlights:

9:03 –Obama is welcomed to the forum. He shakes approximately 6 people’s hands before approaching the stage. The moderators then refer to him as a rock star.

9:06 – Obama claims that all Americans should be treated equally … however, this doesn’t apply to marriage, apparently. The separation of church and state denies use of the word “marriage”, in his view, due to the religious connotations that have been applied to the word. So, the straight people get to marry, and the gay people get to civilly unionize. Have I mentioned that I really dislike these “separate, but equal” spiels?

9:11 – I heart Melissa Etheridge <3 Sorry, just having a fangirl moment.

9:15 – Obama is a hope-monger! The way that he delivers this line kind of makes me want to give him a hug, or at least a plush teddy bear.

9:17 – Obama highlights the use of LGBT issues as a political football. He is then questioned as to how he can claim to be so supportive of gay rights while denying them the right to marry. Obama pulls out his dancing shoes. Is it just me, or does he have two left feet when it comes to this issue?

This is mind-Blowing. August 7, 2007

Obviously, sexual assault is a huge problem in the US military. But this is probably one of the most unbelievable cases I have heard of in the past while. An Air Force enlisted woman who was gang-raped by three fellow airmen but then opted not to testify at a court martial due to stress and harassment, is now being accused of committing indecent acts with the three men involved. That’s right. The rape victim is now a criminal, and may have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

But it gets worse.

The three men have been offered fucking IMMUNITY in return for testifying against Hernandez. Airmen Russell J. Basile, Airman 1st Class Jerrell W. Apache, and Airman Rotez J. Butler Butler are not only not being punished for gangraping Airman 1st Class Cassandra M. Hernandez, but they are being rewarded for making HER the sex offender!

This is fucking SICKENING.

And, of course, this is all her fault to begin with, since she was apparently wearing “revealing clothing” and dancing in a “promiscuous way”. So OBVIOUSLY she was asking for it! (insert exaggerated and furious eyeroll here)

And the pièce de résistance, she still has to WORK around these assholes.

What’s more, the men who were accused and still work on the same base as Hernandez.

“I can’t go anywhere without wondering if they are going to be there,” said Hernandez.

This story makes me so angry, I can’t even see straight.