If you want to avoid spoilers for the new Transformers movie, I recommend that you don’t read the leaked call sheet. However, you probably still want to check out the new girly-bot that is set to appear in the anticipated sequel.
Pink paintjob? Check.
High-heeled shoes? (wtf???) Check.
Barbified body type? Jesus-fucking-check.
Vomiting all over my keyboard in disgust? Check, check, and a slimy pile of more check.
Why does a motorcycle need breasts?
I’m sure that you all remember the case of Tory Bowen, the rape victim who was barred by her trial judge from using any language that might imply that her assault was anything other than a consensual act of lovemaking. She fought back, and filed a lawsuit against the judge. Quite rightly. Hopes were high that justice would be served in this case. But, once again, the system has let us down.
A Nebraska federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against a state judge who barred anyone from saying “rape” or “victim” during a criminal trial, ruling Tuesday that the accuser failed to prove that he should intervene.
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf also determined Tory Bowen didn’t provide enough evidence to show her lawsuit against Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront wasn’t frivolous.
Bowen, 24, filed a complaint earlier this month against Cheuvront, saying he violated her free speech rights by barring the words, along with the phrase “sexual assault,” from the trial of Pamir Safi last November. Cheuvront said he banned the language because he was concerned about Safi’s right to a fair trial.
Kopf said he could not imagine a jury being swayed because a woman uses the word “raped” instead of “some tortured equivalent for the word,” but he said that wasn’t his decision to make.
This is infuriating. Are they planning on applying this sort of censorship to trials relating to other crimes? Rather than “he robbed me”, should we be saying “my wallet entered his hands”? Instead of “and then he hit me in the face”, we can state “my cheekbone made brief contact with his fist”.
This is utterly ridiculous and incredibly frightening. I can’t imagine how many women will decline to press charges against their rapists if they are forced to submit to this sort of censorship during what is already an overwhelmingly difficult and emotional time.
Thanks for nothing, Nebraska.
From Barry Manilow’s website, re: his choice not to be interviewed by anti-choice Elizabeth Hasselback on The View:
Hey guys,
I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out.
It’s really too bad because I’ve always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those.
Love,
Barry
Awww, I never knew that he was pro-choice!
Hat tip, Ann, Feministing.
From Ad Turn-Offs:
I could write a novel on how reliably Axe ads piss me off. Honestly, an entire novel. Axe has a history of putting out some of the most ridiculously sexist adverts I’ve ever seen. In that context, their “Bom Chicka Wah Wah” campaign doesn’t disappoint.
The premise is simple. A woman is placed into an ordinary, everyday situation (ie, a dinner party, a classroom, or a dentist office). A man walks into the room, presumably wearing the company’s product. The woman immediately stops what she is doing, and makes an utter fool of herself by undulating sensually, and loudly singing “Bom Chicka Wah Wah” to the man. The phrase “Bom Chicka Wah Wah” is a reference to the cheesy music used in pornographic videos, and is colloquially used to imply an impending sexual encounter.
Of course, you all remember the case of Airman 1st Class Cassandra M. Hernandez, who was gang-raped by fellow Airmen Russell J. Basile, Jerrell W. Apache, and Rotez J. Butler. After opting not to testify against her assailants, she was charged with committing indecent acts and her rapists were offered immunity to testify against her.
Well, there is a happy update! The charges against her have been dropped!
Thank fucking god. Though, of course, it would be nice if the rapists were actually punished.
Back in June, Jessica @ Feministing blogged about the rape trial of Pamir Safi, accused of raping Tory Bowen in 2004, in which the judge deemed it unacceptable for the victim and her attorney to use the words “rape”, “sexual assault”, “forced”, “rape kit”, “assailant”, or “victim” throughout the trial.
The woman fought back, saying
Which is obviously the correct response to such a ridiculous ruling. Especially since the jurors were NEVER EVEN TOLD about the banned words. Which is CLEARLY absurd.
I’ve been asked to contribute to Ad Turn-Offs, a new blog that highlights the particularly ridiculous and distasteful advertisements that flood our airwaves and public space. Feel free to pop over and have a look.
A quick preview of my first contribution:
Where to begin? This advertisement is ostensibly directed towards men who are sick and tired of their girlfriends trying to encourage them to eat healthy food, AKA Chick Food (which, in the case of this ad, apparently consists of garnish). Casting off the shackles of female oppression, the men set out to hunt down and consume a Texas Double Whopper, which contains 1050 calories and 69 grams of fat. Along the way, they appropriate a feminist anthem, triumphantly flip a minivan over a bridge (a not-so-subtle message that family life is emasculating?) and somehow manage to attract a group of cheerleaders who gleefully applaud the manly antics of the men who are humble enough to admit that, once, they were forced to eat quiche … but, never again.
Check it out!
And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months time — on Russia’s national day on June 12 — she will qualify for a prize, perhaps even winning a new home.
“It’s normally something for the home — a fridge or a television set,” Yelena Yakovleva at the Ulyanovsk regional administration press office, said.
Is a television set a good trade-off for 9 months of gestation, a painful delivery and 18+ years of dependence? More importantly … LCD or plasma?
This site is old news, but it was only forwarded to me yesterday (I’m woefully behind the curve when it comes to forwards and memes).
The site is so over-top that it not only flirts with parody; it sticks its tongue in parody’s ear and promises to call it the next day. But it never calls.
Let’s have a look at some of the gems of wisdom that Dick Masterson has to share, shall we?
If there was a day dedicated to buying three times as much crap at a 50% off sale, or spilling fancy candle wax all over the carpet, then we wouldn’t need Mother’s Day.
If that’s all that it takes to be a mother, I may start to rethink my inclination towards tubal ligation. It sounds like a fairly easy job. My own mother apparently went above and beyond the call of duty. Not only did she take advantage of 50% off sales, but she also raised me by herself, kept me fed and clothed, made sure that I had access to medical care, helped me with my homework, paid for and drove me to tennis lessons, comforted me during hard times and rejoiced with me during happy times. I guess she was a bit of an overachiever, huh?
No comment on that, aside from an irrepressible chuckle followed by a smirk.
The Onion rules.
Immediately following a physician’s examination for her menstrual cessation, 37-year-old events planner Janice Crowley told reporters Tuesday that she is “ecstatic” with her diagnosis of a rapidly growing intrauterine parasite.
“I’m so happy!” Crowley said of the golf ball–sized, nutrient-sapping organism embedded deep in the wall of her uterus. “I was beginning to think this would never happen to me.”
Crowley’s condition is common and well-documented, with millions of women between the ages of 12 and 50 diagnosed every year. Studies have shown that while the disorder strikes without prejudice across racial, ethnic, and class lines, it bears a very high correlation with the consumption of alcohol at the time of infection. Although there is a low-cost daily medication available that can prevent the harmful symbiote with 99 percent efficacy, many women inexplicably choose not to use it.
The whole article is hilarious, and I wholly recommend reading the entire thing.
Hat tip to Jill at Feministe.
