I am gutted.
I would say this verdict is a miscarriage of justice, but justice never entered that courtroom in the first place.
Comments will be closed. There will be a discussion thread on Monday. In the meantime, I am sharing my thoughts on Twitter tonight.
Zimmerman Verdict: Not Guilty
Transcript Quickie
I've sent out about 20 videos for transcription today, but I'm concerned that my emails might be blocked as spam due to heavy link content. If you're signed up to volunteer, can you check the sheet and see if you have a video? And if you do have a video and didn't get my email, let me know? Thanks!
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Daily Dose of Phew
"Why u so worried, Two-Legs?"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Tweet of the Day
GUNS YES, TAMPONS NO IN A WAR ON WOMEN. THIS IS FUCKING TEXAS, Y'ALL. #HB2
— Jessica W. Luther (@scATX) July 12, 2013
Apparently, Texas legislators who want to legislate control of reproduction don't want to see any evidence of it. So tampons are not being allowed into the Capitol, and women (and presumably others) are being forced to empty their purses of sanitary pads and tampons. Meanwhile, concealed weapons are still A-OK!
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by the reddest face.
Recommended Reading:
MsSpentyouth: My Own Private Abortion [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of the war on agency, hostility to choice, anti-choice harassment, and illness.]
eeshap: Reproductive Injustice and the 'War on Women' or, An Ode to the Intersections [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of the war on agency and intersectional fail across multiple axes.]
Relatedly, see also "Anti-Abortion & Health Care War is War on Women of Color" at Black Skeptics.
Lyle: New Test of California Same-Sex Marriages [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of homophobia.]
Reni: Martha-Renee Kolleh, and Tackling Racism Head-On [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of racism and racism apologia.]
Leigh: The Killing and the Misogyny of Hating Bad Mothers
And Mary has your 62nd Down Under Feminists Carnival! [Please note content indicators for each section at post link.]
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Racism; eliminationist violence; dehumanization; guns.]
"The only one who was injured at all—except for the gunshot—was George Zimmerman."—Defense Counsel Mark O'Mara, in his closing remarks at George Zimmerman's trial today.
Except for the gunshot.
I truly do not have the words to express my rage at the rank dehumanization and erasure of Trayvon Martin in those words, which are emblematic of the entire terrible defense strategy during this contemptible trial.
[H/T to Shaker JarredH, who hat-tips Grace.]
In The News
Deeky is taking a break, because work is super busy at the moment and just because he needs one, so I'll be doing In The News for awhile.
Here is some stuff!
[Content Notes: Death; racism; misogyny; homophobia.]
A packed passenger train has derailed outside Paris; at this point, at least 7 people are believed to have died and several more injured, but that is still very preliminary.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is leaving the DHS to head the University of California system. I can't wait to see who Obama nominates! In other breaking news, whoever it is, the Republicans already object!
The Hubble Telescope has spotted an azure blue planet where it rains glass. WHUT. That is amazing!
Kevin Drum has "the Latest in Race-Baiting Conspiracy Theories From the Right." File under things you definitely don't want to read, but probably should.
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that it's totes cool to fire a woman for being "too attractive." Neat!
Finally! Today is the National Gay Blood Drive, a nationwide demonstration against the ban on blood donation by men who have sex with other men.
Fuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Sorry I disappeared, everyone. The latest in our AC adventure: The AC guy left the back gate open and the dogs got out. They are now home safely, but it has been a nightmare couple of hours.
I have spent the last few hours being a total basketcase, basically. But Dudley and Zelda are now home, and no worse for the wear.
I am supremely grateful to my friend Ari, who came right over to help, and to a nice man who helped and let me give him a hug even though I had what Ari described as the reddest face she's ever seen and was covered in mud and leaves and probably poison ivy from running around in the woods, lolsob.
"What?"
More Transcript Updates
Holy mackerel, ya'll, I have ninety-nine volunteers for transcript work. I'm pretty sure that if we haven't broken some kind of Volunteer Transcripting Feminist Brigade then we will soon if I keep getting more folks on board. SOMEONE CALL GUINNESS.
I have sent codenames to everyone who sent me an email offering to help. If you haven't got one, send me another email 'cause yours got lost in the intertubes.
I have also sent out videos 3-10 as of last night. ABOUT WHICH I AM VERY EXCITED. What is really awesome about having lots of volunteers is that I can break the videos up into 10 minute chunks instead of 15 minutes ones, which means I can churn out more videos faster. Yeeeeah!
Also cool: If you were wondering what happened to Sarah Slamen after state troopers hauled her away, she is fine and well and doing AWESOME television interviews, raising awareness about both TX and NC. Now that's a big teaspoon.
[Note from Liss: As ever, Jess has your latest action items and an explanation of what's happening today in Texas.]
Republicans Think People Aren't Entitled to Food
Yesterday, I noted that the farm bill had passed the House with no funding for food stamps. The expectation was that Republicans were wrenching the two apart in order to attack the food stamp program with deep cuts. And so it begins:
House approval of a scaled-back farm bill is setting up what could be an even bigger fight over food stamps and the role of domestic food aid in the United States.The GOP is divided, once again, over how cruel to be. Part of the caucus supports cruelty; another part of the caucus supports extreme cruelty.
... Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., has pushed the idea of a split bill for more than a year. A farmer, he has maintained that Congress should consider food stamps by themselves.
"By splitting the bill, we can give taxpayers an honest look at how Washington spends our money," he said.
If a bill to cut food stamps reaches the House floor, it could be the first major debate over the role of the program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in decades.
... Proposals to reduce the program have ranged from what was in the original farm bill, a 3 percent cut and changes in eligibility, to an overhaul of the program that would take a fraction of the federal money now spent and give it to the states to administer. Others have proposed putting an expiration date on the program, which is now permanent, so Congress would have to take a look at it every few years.
Republicans have already supported an amendment to the original farm bill that would have put broad new work requirements on food stamps.
...The GOP caucus is divided over how much to cut. Many Republicans praised the 3 percent cut to SNAP in the original House farm bill and the changes in eligibility. But others said it didn't go far enough and voted against the bill, leading to the legislation's defeat.
If that sounds like hyperbole, well, I don't know what else to call a proposal that wants to institute work requirements for access to food in the middle of an economy with widespread unemployment. It's not like members of the Republican caucus don't know what's happening in this country; they sure know the unemployment numbers well enough when they want to blame them on the President. It is a deliberate strategy of nutritional denial to attach food access to work, while work is elusive.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THINKS PEOPLE ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FOOD.
They think people are not entitled to jobs. They think people are not entitled to healthcare. They think people are not entitled to homes. They think people are not entitled to education. They think people are not entitled to safety. They think people are not entitled to equality. They think people are not entitled to vote. They think people are not entitled to agency. They think people are not entitled to any of what the baseline security of being a citizen in a wealthy democracy should guarantee.
They think people are entitled to guns and bootstraps, and that's about it.
Unless those people are corporations, robber barons, military contractors, or members of the Republican Congressional Caucus. And then they are entitled to everything for which they could ever ask, no matter the cost to the rest of us.
Question of the Day
What is the most interesting gift you've gotten recently? Or not recently. Not necessarily a tangible item. Define "gift" however you like.
For my birthday (in May), Iain gifted me a tattoo, which was a great idea, and of which I made use earlier today. Also for my birthday, Paul the Spud got me the most amazing bag, which, on one side, says, "Nice girls don't wear cha cha heels!"—a quote from John Waters' film Female Trouble—and, on the other side, has what I call the Shroud of Divine.
Spudsy and I are both huge Divine fans; one of the very early conversations in our friendship that bound us together was talking about how Divine was so integral to Spudsy's coming out and so integral to my body acceptance. So this bag has a very special meaning to me and I love it. Is what I'm saying.
This Might Be the Best Thing You See All Day
Astronaut Karen Nyberg demonstrates how she washes her hair on the International Space Station:
Video Description: Expedition 36 Crew Member Karen Nyberg, a thin white woman, floats in the International Space Station, her long hair floating straight up above her head. She says she is frequently asked how she washes her hair in space, so she's giving a demonstration. She first shows what she needs: A packet of warm water, no-rinse shampoo, a towel, a comb, and a mirror. All the items are velcroed to the wall so they don't float away. She squirts the warm water onto her scalp, and bits of the water float away; she catches as much as she can and puts it on her scalp. She then squirts some shampoo on her scalp and rubs it in, rubbing it through to the ends of her hair. She uses the towel "to help get some of the dirt out." Then she squirts more water onto her scalp and runs her hands through her hair to the ends of her hair, straight up above her head. She dries her hair with the dry part of the towel. She then explains: "And now, as my hair dries, as the water evaporates from my hair, it will become humidity in the air, and then our air conditioning system will collect that into condensate, and then it won't be long and our water processing system will turn that into drinking water." She does a "final comb-through" of her hair, and that is that!
[H/T to Jordan.]
Compassionate Conservatives
The Republican Party is utterly devoid of decency. I know that's not exactly breaking news, but they just passed the farm bill without funding for food stamps, promising to get back to it later:
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives defied a White House veto threat and passed a farm bill on Thursday that expands the taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance system but omitted food stamps for the poor.Of course that's the plan. Because, like their last nominee, the Republican Party doesn't believe people are entitled to food. People on food stamps are "takers, not makers." They're too lazy to work (and please pay no attention to the millions of workers behind the curtain who are working their asses off for greedy megacorps who won't pay them enough to not need food stamps). If people reliant on government aid are so darn hungry, they should just eat their bootstraps. Etc.
Lawmakers passed the 608-page bill, unveiled by Republican leaders late on Wednesday night, on a 216-208, party-line vote after two hours of debate in which no amendments were allowed.
Republican leaders said food stamps, traditionally part of the farm bill, would be handled later and that, for now, they needed a way to start negotiations with the Senate over a compromise bill.
Democrats said the real intent of the action was to isolate food stamps for large cuts in funding.
"A vote for this bill is a vote to end nutrition programs in America," said Rose DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat.That their constituents will starve if it means Republicans will protect them from kissing boys and feminist abortionists and scary brown immigrants. Except whooooooooops public support for same-sex marriage, abortion, and immigration reform that includes amnesty is up. Too bad corporations can't vote! Although I'm sure SCOTUS will take care of that oversight soon.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "You are taking food out of the mouths of your own poor constituents. What are you thinking?"
At latest count, 47.6 million people, or nearly one in seven Americans, received food stamps at an average of $132 a month, equal to $4.25 a day.The pricetag is unbearable. But starving USians isn't. Raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest people in the country is unbearable. But starving USians isn't. Acknowledging that the federal deficit alarmism is unmitigated horseshit being mendaciously used to undermine funding of the social safety net is unbearable. But starving USians isn't.
Enrollment has doubled since 2004 and the cost of the program, $74 billion last year, has tripled. Fiscally conservative lawmakers say the pricetag is unbearable when the federal deficit must be reduced.
The Republican Party is ethically bankrupt. They are criminals who scheme against the basic welfare of their own constituents, in order that banks and box stores can make more money.
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: Violence; racism.]
They "painted" him that way, huh? I guess they're into photo-realism.
Frankly, Zimmerman's lucky if they only painted him as an angry vigilante, since he's actually a fearful, dangerous, cold-blooded, eliminationist killer.
In The News
[Content note: Racism, homophobia]
Thursday:
A Detroit area school district has erupted in protest over the discarding of a historic book collection that is said to contain more than 10,000 black history volumes, included films, videos, and other artifacts.
William Orbit says the new Britney Spears album is awesome.
They will kill us all!
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane says she won't defend the state's ban on gay marriage in court.
Food: Not everyone eats tacos and burritos. Whut.
Sony Picture Classics has acquired the North American rights to Frank Pavich's documentary, Jodorowsky's Dune.
This is really just fucking scary and awful. [Note: Animal cruelty.]
I'm Not Surprised; I'm Contemptuous
Olivia Marshall and Samantha Wyatt at Media Matters: On Cable News, Women's Health Experts Noticeably Absent From Women's Health Debate.
Cable news channels hosted only four women's health experts during two weeks of coverage on a Texas bill that would restrict women's constitutional right to safe and legal abortions and that experts claim would "erode women's health."Emphasis mine.
I highly encourage you to go read the whole thing.
Blog Note
I'm going to be indisposed for part of this afternoon while work begins on fixing the AC. Just wanted to give you a heads-up so no one worried I had exploded like an overripe tomato when things slowed down on the front page. :)
Daily Dose of Cute
Legs akimbo + grody beef tongue = Dudley, inimitably.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. LOL.
(You can see on the bottom where his two wee front teeth got pulled at the doggy dentist.)
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Zimmerman Jury Allowed to Consider Lesser Charge of Manslaughter
[Content Note: Violence; racism.]
This is important trial news [note: video begins to play automatically at link]:
The judge in the Trayvon Martin murder case agreed Thursday to instruct jurors to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter when they begin deliberations.So, basically, the prosecution decided not to roll the dice with a single charge, because if the jury decided the prosecution hadn't proved second-degree murder, they would be forced to acquit Zimmerman. Adding the manslaughter charge as an alternative means that the jury can find the prosecution didn't prove second-degree murder and acquit on that charge, but still convict Zimmerman of manslaughter. They can also, of course, find Zimmerman not guilty of all charges, but adding this lesser charge increases the chances of a conviction.
George Zimmerman had been charged only with second-degree murder. Judge Debra Nelson did not immediately rule on a prosecution request that a third-degree murder count would be added.
Zimmerman's attorneys had objected to adding any lesser charges, and Judge Debra Nelson held a hearing on the issue Thursday morning. The jury still has the option of convicting Zimmerman, 29, of the second-degree murder charge that prosecutors sought when the trial began.
...Second-degree murder in Florida carries a possible life sentence. If convicted of manslaughter, Zimmerman could get up to 30 years.
Jury deliberations will begin tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Photo of the Day
[Content Note: Cancer]
A receiving line for Prom King Rick "Supergross" Santorum forms on the floor of the Texas Senate today.
Immediately after everyone got their picture taken with Rick, the Senate decided to adjourn for the day in memory of the wife of a staffer. The woman had died from breast cancer at 35, which is (as some of you might have heard!) one of the breast cancers that Planned Parenthood and other Texas clinics devoted to women's reproductive health specifically screens for.
What a perfect state government I have!
[Note: Please recall that name bullying and disablist rhetoric is not allowed in this space.]
This Is Only Happening Now?
[Content Note: Clergy abuse.]
Pope Francis makes child abuse a crime in the Vatican:
Pope Francis has laid down a law making it a crime to abuse children sexually or physically on Vatican grounds, the Holy See announced Thursday.Good job, Pope Francis, for doing WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
The acts were already crimes under church law, but are now specifically outlawed within the Vatican city-state, which is home to hundreds of people.
The legislation also covers child prostitution and the creation or possession of child pornography.
Now, if any member of the Catholic clergy in Vatican City found to have abused a child actually gets prosecuted under these BRAND NEW laws at any point, I'll be really impressed.
[Commenting Guidelines: Please take the time to make sure any criticisms are clearly directed at the Catholic Church leadership and not at "Catholics," many of whom are themselves critical of the failures of Church leadership.]
Just a Perfect Idea from a Terrific Guy
Charles Koch, one-half of the infamous Koch Brothers duo, conservative corporatists worth around $50 billion who are seeking to turn the US into a giant playground for exploitative corporateers and the 1%, has a super plan to help the poor:
We want to do a better job of raising up the disadvantaged and the poorest in this country, rather than saying 'Oh, we're just fine now.' We're not saying that at all. What we're saying is, we need to analyze all these additional policies, these subsidies, this cronyism, this avalanche of regulations, all these things that are creating a culture of dependency. And like permitting, to start a business, in many cities, to drive a taxicab, to become a hairdresser. Anything that people with limited capital can do to raise themselves up, they keep throwing obstacles in their way. And so we've got to clear those out. Or the minimum wage. Or anything that reduces the mobility of labor.Anything that reduces working class mobility—like the minimum wage!
This would be fucking hilarious if it weren't so horrific. Koch actually believes that a minimum wage impedes financial security—and no wonder, really, because corporate douchebags like him treat it like a maximum wage. "Well, if the government is going to force me to pay my workers some amount, that's all I'm going to pay them. I would totally pay them more, but I'm mad at the government for telling me what I have to pay them, so I'm going to punish workers by paying them only what the stupid government requires."
That is the sad and dishonest mantra of robber barons across the country, who claim to want to pay workers more, but pay them the bare minimum out of spite. Or so they claim. But if business owners were as generous as they assert, or would be if the stinky government stopped telling them what to do, there wouldn't be a need for a minimum wage in the first place.
It's the same bullshit argument conservatives make about the social safety net as a whole. "This isn't government's role! Charities should be doing this work!" Okay, players. I'm sure you'd just be funding charity (secular charity, that doesn't make, say, Bible classes a requirement for access to help) left and right if only the government just did away altogether with food stamps and Social Security.
Such garbage.
The problem with the minimum wage isn't that it exists. The problem with the minimum wage is that it isn't a livable wage.
Question of the Day
What was your last act of pro-choice teaspooning, no matter how big or small, public or intimate?
With Allies Like These, Part 2
In part one, Jonathan Chait presumed to lecture progressives who took issue with Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry appropriating Democratic State Senator Wendy Davis' life story in service to his anti-choice agenda.
Today, under the amazing headline "Conservatives Hate All Legislation Now," Chait writes: "One of the novel developments in conservative thought during the Obama years is a burgeoning hatred not merely for government but for lawmaking."
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooops.
The thing is, I agree with Chait that the Republican party is bereft of meaningful engagement with lawmaking and governance on a number of issues. But I am able to make that sort of point without disappearing the fact that the Republican party is waging a national war on reproductive rights that has seen 43 new abortion restrictions enacted in state governments so far this year alone.
Conservatives do not, in fact, "hate all legislation now." They love anti-choice legislation like a loved thing made out of loved bits. They love anti-choice legislation like if they manage to render Roe an empty statute, they'll reanimate Reagan's corpse. They love anti-choice legislation like a bunch of fucking shitheads who love curtailing the agency, autonomy, consent, and equality of women and other people with uteri.
Oh, I know, I know—Chait wasn't talking about that kind of legislation. He was talking about the kind that matters to men like him.
You know. The important stuff.
I AM A TOMATO IN A GREENHOUSE
Thanks to everyone who's inquired about what's going on with our AC. The AC tech finally came out last night, and, unfortunately, it's the worst possible news: The compressor is shot, and it's an old unit which is incompatible with new freon, so the whole thing has to be replaced. It's going to take a few days and be very expensive blah blah fart. I feel very lucky that the weather isn't worse than it is.
So, in the meantime, I am hot and crabby. I would love to go sit at a cafe somewhere, but then I'd have to close up the whole house, which wouldn't be safe for the animals, since it gets REALLY hot in here, even with the windows open.
Thank you so much for all the cooling images, which have made me laugh, and the suggestions for beating the heat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dunk my head in a kitchen sink full of ice.
Take it away, Buster Poindexter!
[Video Description: Video of Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot."]
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by noodles.
Recommended Reading:
Imani: Hannity Asks the Important Questions: Are Negroes Gonna Riot Over Zimmerman? [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of white supremacy and violence.]
Pam: A Quick Pondering of Rage Face... [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of guns, white privilege, racism, and violence.]
Jamilah: Google Play's 'Angry Trayvon' Game Ignites Fury on Twitter [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion and imagery of racism, appropriation, and violence.]
BYP: Illinois Passes Concealed-Carry Law [Content Note: Guns; violence.]
Simms: Dentist Wouldn't Take My Blood Pressure Properly [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of fat bias.]
Edward Wyckoff Williams Interviews Janet Mock: Black and Transgender: Still on the Margins [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of racism and transphobia.]
Fannie: Boo-Hoo Orson Scott Card [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of homophobia and privilege.]
Brooke: Apparently, Female Gamers Spend as Much Time and Money on Gaming as Male Counterparts. This is Surprising?
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Daily Dose of Cute
The tiniest cat in the world keeps an eye on the backyard.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
I'm Pro-Choice and Shit
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
Hey, ya bunch of radical feminist weirdos! Long time no talk about LOVING AMERICA.
Man, all this abortion talk lately has really been getting under my skin. Along with three ticks I acquired while fishing with my best friend Dick Balzac last weekend, but I guess that ain't relevant right now.
I know what you're thinking: Ol' Butch is about to go off on one about how abortion is just a radical feminist scam to let women control their reproduction and do offensive shit like "be financially stable" and "enter the workplace" or whatever, and I understand why you'd be thinking that, because that's definitely what I used to think! I mean, come on, if there's any more obvious feminist conspiracy than legal abortion, I can't think of it. Except maybe giving women the vote?
Anyways, the truth is, I used to be a pretty hardcore anti-abortion dude, which is an opinion I kept to myself, since I figured anyone with any sense agreed with me. But one day I accidentally said something about how women who want abortions are sluts who should suffer the consequences of their slutty actions, or something else relatively innocuous like that, and, boy oh boy, let me tell you that my stepmom Cheryl and my ex-wife/fiancée Tammy were so pissed! They both started screaming at me at once, and I couldn't even make out anything they were saying, because they were so mad and screeching at me at such high frequencies. It was like being descended upon by a swarm of feminist bats! Also, I was trying to watch Fat Cops, and I wanted to hear what Big Sexy was saying, so I turned the TV up real loud. The point is, I wasn't really listening.
But eventually Tammy wrestled the remote control away from me, and turned off the television, and they took turns yelling at me, and at first I was just pretenting to listen cuz I thought looking like I was listening would shut them up faster, which usually works. But they were saying stuff about sex, which is a subject in which I am very interested LADIES, so I started listening for real, and, you know, I actually learned something.
Like, Tammy was all, "You are slut-shaming," and pointed out that it was pretty hypocritical to shame sluts when I totally love having sex with sluts. I mean, I've had sex with her like a million times, and she is a total slut, which is, as Tammy pointed out to me really loudly, just a shitty name for a woman who is "sexually empowered," which I think means "owns a dildo." And Cheryl was all, "You think you're a stud, which is just a male slut, and that's a double standard," or some crap like that, which I have to admit was a pretty good point that I'd never considered probably because I don't talk to women or seek their perspectives very often.
They talked at my face for a really long time, and eventually convinced me that OKAY ABORTION SHOULD BE LEGAL, but I was like I still think it should have some restrictions, though. And then the feminist bats attacked me again.
Cheryl told me that abortion restrictions were horseshit, and I was like, "Nuh uh, they sound totally reasonable to me!" And then Cheryl was like, "They only sound reasonable in a contextless void that ignores reality," and I was like OH MAN SHE FOUND THE LINK TO SHAKESVILLE, because that sounds like some major Shakesville shit, right there. So my hackles were up, but Tammy still had the remote, and I broke my iPod last week when I threw it at my dad, so I didn't have anything else to listen to except Cheryl.
So she was all, "Parental notification laws only sound reasonable because we never talk about girls who are raped by their fathers. And mandatory ultrasound laws only sound reasonable because we never talk about people who are pregnant via rape, or survivors, or unable to afford the additional cost of the ultrasound which is sometimes passed on by the state, or anyone else who might consider a transvaginal ultrasound, or any ultrasound, an unnavigable barrier to accessing abortion." Or something like that. Which I also have to admit was a pretty good point.
And, honestly, I was getting kind of pissed at this point that I'd never even heard this stuff. It's like the dudes who make the laws deliberately avoid talking about real life in order to make people like me support stupid positions, cuz they know I probably won't have any cause to think about it unless my stepmom is yelling about it three inches from my head.
But I was still kinda dubious, so I was all, well, that sucks for those people, but maybe the laws should be passed anyway, and Tammy and Cheryl both asked me, in that voice like it's not really a question and they have a really good idea of what my answer should be, if I thought it was good public policy to write laws that fail to protect the people most in need of protection, and, man, I started thinking about my niece Sierra and how her dad, my stupid-ass brother, would never let her get an abortion no matter what, and I was pretty not in favor of consent restrictions any more.
And I don't know why I said it, I guess because I just wanted to win ONE THING during this epic battle of being forced to listen, but I said there was still no way I could ever support NO restrictions on abortion, because I don't like the idea of some lady who's twenty-three months pregnant (I think that's right; I remember reading elephants are pregnant for two years, so I am assuming humans are about the same) just willy-nilly changing her mind and aborting a perfectly good baby right before it comes out.
And Cheryl and Tammy just shook their heads, and Cheryl was like, "Do you want this one?" and Tammy gestured that Cheryl should take it, because Tammy looked tired and maybe kind of regretful, probably cuz of this grody hotdog she ate for lunch, and Cheryl explained to me that she doesn't support any restrictions because the only women who get abortions late in their pregnancies are women whose own health or life are in danger, or are carrying fetuses that are gonna die anyway if they're born, or tried to get an abortion when they first got pregnant, but couldn't, because of early pregnancy restrictions, or because they couldn't get off work, or because they couldn't afford the abortion cuz it turns out the government doesn't actually pay for them after all, or because, contrary to what I've heard from other patriots all my life, there isn't an abortion mill on every corner and, if you can believe this, some states only have one abortion clinic in the whole damn state! Abortion is really way different than I thought, you guys!
Anyways, Cheryl was like, imagine it takes you four months to save up $500, and I'm like HA HA IT'S TAKEN ME ALMOST FIFTY YEARS TO SAVE UP $500, which is mostly because I keep spending it on weed and RC boats but still, and Cheryl is like PAY ATTENTION, and then she's like, "And by the time you save up enough for the closest abortion clinic, and schedule time off work, which might have to be a couple days if there's a waiting period restriction, then you're suddenly past the point at which you can even get an abortion near you, so you have to find money and time to go to a clinic even further away, maybe out of state, and by the time you get all THAT sorted out, you've got to go even FURTHER, and suddenly you need $13,000 to go to a clinic five states away, and if you can get there at all, it might not be until your third trimester, and is that really your fault?"
I don't mind telling you all: THAT BLEW MY MIND. Facts are really brain-benders, amirite?
It's real fucked up how these early restrictions seem to be a way just to push poor pregnant women so far into their pregnancies that they CAN'T get an abortion. That just don't seem fair.
And, look, I do a lot of stuff, A LOT OF STUFF, that pisses off Tammy and/or Cheryl, so much in fact that they pretty much just ignore me when I piss them off now, WIN-WIN I SAY, but this abortion stuff was different. Their faces looked hurt and scared, not just angry, and, man, I'm a real dipshit sometimes, but I don't want to make anyone feel that way.
So, long story short, I am now totally pro-choice. And any dude who isn't should come see me about it, man.
Pornstache: Out.
And Because It's the Only Ethical Position
[Content Note: Hostility to agency. NB: Not only women need access to all reproductive options.]
Here's a few things you should know about me:
I'm gay.
I have sex with men.
I am cis.
I will never get anyone pregnant.
I will never become pregnant, even if I am raped.
I support women. I support their right to choose. I support their having meaningful choice. I support their having unrestricted access to contraception and abortion. I support their right to do with their bodies as they see fit. Because I trust them.
I trust women.
Calling All Pro-Choice Men
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
There has been a lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the fact that the Republican party and conservative operatives who are advocating and legislating against choice are disproportionately men. In the interest of showing those men that they do not have the universal support of other men in their assault on the rights of women and other people with uteri, and that there are men who trust women et. al., and want us to have bodily autonomy, the right of self-determination, and full access to our federally guaranteed right to control over our reproduction, and because treating the fight for reproductive rights as "woman's work" is some fucked-up irony, I invite men who support choice and access, and who trust women et. al. to make the best decisions for ourselves, to leave in comments why it is that you support choice and have nothing but contempt for attempts to restrict it.
Pro-Choice Men: Make as much noise, MAKE MORE NOISE, than anti-choice men!
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia]
A Sharknado Warning Is In Effect:
ENDA has passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions with bipartisan support.
An estimated 30,000 inmates in jails across California are participating in a hunger strike to protest against solitary confinement and other conditions they say amount to torture.
Want to listen to David Lynch's new album? Sure, why not!
ACLU and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation announced plans to take on North Carolina's same-sex marriage ban. Fingers crossed!
Sarah Palin is considering running for Senate next year in Alaska. Fingers crossed!
Can they get one of these in Indiana? They need one in Indiana.
Wal-Mart says it will pull out of its D.C. plans should the city mandate they pay their employees a living wage.
An anti-gay group is being set up to rival Boy Scouts. They will, in part, focus on sexual purity. Sounds fun! Let's all get badges in Not Masturbating!
Gun-rights activist (LOLOLOL!!!) Adam Kokesh was arrested and charged with possession of schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm. Whoops! Also: Freedom!
Today in North Carolina
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
As you may recall, last week in North Carolina, Republicans rammed through the state senate HB695, which tacked on to a family court bill a collection of profoundly restrictive anti-choice regulations. Yesterday, the North Carolina house Health and Human Services Committee met to discuss the legislation, which is expected to soon be put to the full House for a vote.
Robin Marty describes what's happening outside the capitol:
While the committee argued about whether the house should concur with the senate version of the legislation, pro-choice activists met outside the capitol to protest government interference in personal decisions, building on the previous day's Moral Monday protest, at which dozens of protesters were arrested.Jessica Luther has a round-up of ways to support choice in North Carolina, locally and not.
...While politicians and advocates inside the capitol debated HB 695, outside the movement against the bill continued to grow. Gathered on Halifax Mall, pro-choice state politicians spoke out against the restrictions. They were joined by Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "North Carolina is not alone. In too many states, politicians are carrying the water for a radical minority who think they know how to live our lives better than we do," said Hogue. "And these folks believe the ends justify the means. They don't care if women get hurt, if children are lied to, and they certainly don't care if politicians skirt due process, the laws of our land, to get their way."
...Tuesday's rally came less than 24 hours after a Moral Monday protest that focused largely on the bill. The Monday event drew roughly 2,000 participants, which Reuters called one of the biggest crowds since the NAACP began organizing the events this spring. Sixty-four protesters were arrested Monday, including Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina President and CEO Janet Colm.
Republicans' primary defense of abortion-restrictive legislation is some deeply mendacious variation on the contemptible fallacy that Republican lawmakers, the vast majority of whom are men, are just "helping women make good choices." (Without a trace of irony, since the explicit objective is to give women and other people with uteri no choice at all.) Even with thousands of engaged and passionate and informed and decisive and strong women et. al. showing up at statehouses to demand the right of self-determination, risking harm and exposure and arrest to do so, Republican lawmakers refuse to be honest about their gross agenda.
It is a damnable fairy tale that women are incapable of making the best decisions for themselves and their own bodies (and, frequently, for the children they already have).
The reality is this: There is an inextricable link between the economy, the funding of social services, access to contraception, and abortion. If "pro-lifers" really wanted women to want to have babies, they would start arguing for universal healthcare, just for a fucking start, considering about one-fourth of women seeking abortions cite their own health or possible health problems with the fetus as reasons for the termination, owing to concerns including "a lack of prenatal care." If "pro-lifers" really wanted to reduce abortions, they would start advocating easy and affordable access to contraception, just for a fucking start. Et cetera ad infinitum.
But they're not pro-life. They're just anti-women.
And they can caterwaul about how that's not true all they fucking want, but, the truth is, they refuse to listen to women, to the millions of women and other people with uteri who are telling them we don't need waiting periods or ultrasounds or parental/spousal consent or anti-abortion counselors or any of the other disincentives being proposed to deter us from terminating unwanted pregnancies, and we sure as shit don't need 20-week bans, but do need jobs and healthcare and childcare and parental leave laws and associated institutional framework that supports successful parenthood, and access to a spectrum of reproductive options that allows us to plan and control when to become, or not become, parents.
And when you refuse to listen to women, your argument that you're not explicitly anti-women holds precious little water.
Particularly when your party has failed utterly to fund a robust social safety net, but has been trying, with various degrees of success, to chip away at Roe virtually since the decision granted people with uteri the right to terminate pregnancies.
You know, maybe the failure to trust women isn't, in fact, the great political attribute we're meant to believe it is, but is instead evidence of precisely why it is that lawmakers who don't trust women shouldn't have the power to legislate women's et. al. agency and bodily autonomy. Ever.
GOOD MORNING, JESSICA LUTHER!
Yes, yes you are.
I promised Jess (@scATX) I would post a terrific picture of her new BFF Rick Santorum this morning, in honor of his trip to Texas to be King Fuck of the Blue Shirts. He will be giving ALL THE VOICES to ALL THE FETUSES! What a patriot! What a hero!
In related news, here is just a great story with a perfect headline: Republican Women Cringe as Men Lead Abortion Fight. Whooooooooooooops!
(Lest anyone mistake in which direction my sarcasm is aimed, the actual story by Evan McMorris-Santoro and Kate Nocera is very good. The subject of the story is what's terrible.)
Anyway! In conclusion: Rick Santorum is terrible.
Transcription Update
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I am blubbing and it is so wonderful and it is all because of YOU wonderful people.
Yesterday afternoon, I put out a call for people to help me with the project to transcribe Wendy Davis' filibuster. I have about 15 hours of filibuster left and have been taking them in roughly 15 minute chunks. That means I have 60 videos left to cut and transcribe.
As of this morning, twelve hours after I asked for help, 73 people have volunteered their services. I officially have MORE volunteers than I have video to GIVE them. I am crying and so happy and cannot stop. I love you all. So, so much. So here are some words.
1. More work! More volunteers!! If ya'll are game, I'm going to expand the project to reflect the support. In addition to the 15 hours Wendy Davis testimony, there is 15 hours of citizen testimony from Monday, and 15 hours of House hearings from Tuesday. If we don't get any more help (and people are VERY welcome to PLEASE keep volunteering!!), that would mean ~3 transcripts per person. If that all gets done, well, I'm sure there will be MORE hearings.
2. Videos Soonish! I'm the bottle-neck here, and I know that. I will start cutting and posting videos either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. (Several of you have asked how I'm recording and cutting the videos. It's a complex process involving no less than 5 programs, string, and some fairy dust. I'll post something longer later for the aficionados, but it's not a process I would willingly inflict on others.)
3. Way Forward Plan! I plan to divvy out the work this way. I don't want to share everyone's email addresses, so you will all be given Kickass Code Names (TM). The work to be done will be put in a spreadsheet against your code name, and only I will have the corresponding key of who is who. I'll post the "to work" spreadsheet on Google Docs for all to see, and it will look like this:
| Name | Segment Name | YouTube Link | SugarSync Link | Finished? |
| Mother of Dragons | SB5-001-Wendy Davis Opening Remarks | http:// | http:// | yes |
| Mother of Dragons | SB5-002-The History of SB5 | yes | ||
| Mother of Dragons | SB5-003-Testimony of Texas Medical Association | yes | ||
| Apples | SB5-004-Bob Deuell Opens His Mouth | no | ||
| Bananas | ||||
| Canteloupes | ||||
Back on my desktop, unshared with the world, will be another table that says something like:
| Name1 | Name2 | |
| Mother of Dragons | Ana Mardoll | anamardoll@gmail.com |
| Apples | Patrick Stewart | |
| Bananas | Margaret Atwood | |
| Canteloupes | That guy from the 70's show |
You will get an email from me (soonish!) saying "Your code name is [xyz]."
I think that's it! Some of you have asked for an open thread for talking about transcription methods, so please feel free to use this thusly. Note that I'm cross-posting this in my usual manner. And, again: THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. This is the happiest I have ever been, ever.
A quick note: If you have any spoons left to give, please follow Kristen Rawls on twitter today. She's covering the exact same stuff going on in NC. And if you can, send her a tweet and ask how you can help or if there's anyone she recommends you follow for on-the-scene updates in Raleigh. Thank you.
Question of the Day
What is your least favorite kind of weather?
(By which I mean least favorite of typical weather patterns in your climate; we can all agree that extreme weather events that are dangerous GWYNETH are bad.)
Discussion Thread: 2016
While Jess was visiting, we were talking about who we think the eventual nominees will be in 2016. At this point, and recognizing these opinions and predictions are likely to change over time, who do you think will win the Democratic and Republican nominations, provided the people we expect are likely to run will indeed run? And why do you think they'll be the nominees?
Please also feel free to share who you believe will be the Green Party nominee, or any other party, with whose potential contenders you're familiar.
Got any instincts about independent runs? Trump? Bloomberg? Some other asshole? Share 'em here, too!
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: White supremacy.]
Rand Paul's Team Has Another White Supremacist. Another.
Like father, like son.
Such great champions of freedom, these two.
What Is Gwyneth Paltrow Even Talking About?
[Content Note: References to death and disaster.]
From a recent interview with British Cosmopolitan (What—did you think she would do an interview with NOT-British Cosmopolitan? You're so weird.):
[Paltrow] disagrees with doctors who warn patients to avoid tanning. "We're human beings and the sun is the sun -- how can it be bad for you? I think we should all get sun and fresh air," the actress tells British Cosmopolitan. "I don't think anything that is natural can be bad for you -- it's really good to have at least 15 minutes of sun a day."All right, look: We all know that someone who imagines the average person has a favorite fishmonger is not particularly a "big fan" of "knowing things" about "real life." But ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The sun is the sun?! How can it be bad for you?! Nothing that is natural can be bad for you?! WHUT.
"I beg to differ."—Someone who died of natural causes.
"O RLY?"—Someone who lost hir home in a natural disaster.
"Ha ha whoooooooooops."—Someone who barely escaped a bear in a nature preserve.
I am no Professor of Nature at Science University, but I believe there are a few things which are both: 1. Natural; and 2. Potentially bad for you.
We should list ALL OF THEM in comments, in case Dame Paltrow happens to stop by. I will start: Meteors! Brown Recluse Spiders! Nut allergies! Cholera! Rock slides! Aging! Raw pork!
YOUR TURN.
[H/T to Shaker Emmell.]
Transcriptioning Help
To anyone interested in helping me with the transcriptioning of the Wendy Davis filibuster:
1. First, THANK YOU. OMG THANK YOU.
2. Please email me at anamardoll@gmail.com so I'll be able to contact you with a list of links.
3. Sometime, probably Thursday, I will split the video that I have (I have the first 7 hours of the filibuster; I'll have to manually record the rest) into approximately 15 minute segments based on the content. I'll load the material onto SugarSync for direct download and YouTube for people who can't download. I'll send out an email (with BCC, so that addresses aren't shared with anyone but me) to everyone and we can dole out who transcripts what. This will probably be done in batches of work (i.e., like 10 videos uploaded to YouTube at a time) as opposed to the whole thing at once.
4. Any help is appreciated. I have no training as a transcriptionist and am just listening for 5-8 words, pausing, typing, playing, listening to 5-8 words, pausing, typing, playing, etc., so if you think you aren't qualified you probably are! I'll also re-read everything before posting, so don't worry too terribly much that you'll make a mistake. Reading a transcript is still so much faster than writing one from scratch.
5. I do ask that transcripts which are provided be sent to me with an explicit statement that no rights for your work are reserved. I ask this because I'd like to compile all these into a single document and make it available for download at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. for government students to read. Currently these stores have limitations against "always free" works because they want to make sales to offset bandwidth and delivery costs.
Which means that I would theoretically be making some small profit from 99 cent purchases, and I can't do that unless I own rights to the material (either because I did the work myself or someone else gave it to me without rights reserved). I will credit individual transcriptionists if consent is given for that (otherwise the credit will go to anonymous). I completely understand if this isn't okay with someone, but wanted to let everyone know in advance.
I think that's everything. I'm live-tweeting the House committee meeting, so I'm booked up for today, but your email will go to a velvet-lined box in my inbox. Thank you.
ALSO! Please be aware of Jessica Luther's post about how to help today: Call Your Texas State Legislators NOW (and other things you can do, even if not a Texan). There's lots of good points in there. And, if you can, call EVEN IF your representative is anti-choice, like Nelson or Laubenberg. It's still important to let them know that voters CARE.
The Fat Body Visible and Beautiful
[Content Note: Fat bias; eliminationism; racism.]
Yesterday afternoon, I had the amazing opportunity to speak to a photography class taught by Shaker gwyllion about the Beauty Standard, culturally constructed norms, visibility, and transgressive/deviant beauty, specifically around fat bodies (although during the Q&A following my Skype talk I ended up talking a lot about other marginalized bodies, too, like trans* bodies, bodies with visible disabilities, etc.).
I was the second in a speaking series, following after Leonard Nimoy (!) who spoke about his photography and "The Full Body Project." I was, naturally, completely intimidated having to follow Leonard Nimoy (!), and have been referring to this talk among friends as my "I Am Not Leonard Nimoy Talk," lol. But of course I was beyond thrilled to be in such fine company speaking on such an important subject.
So I spoke for about a half hour, and then took questions for another hour, and it was SO AWESOME. The students were so engaged with the subject and asked a million excellent questions. I loved and valued the experience more than I can say. My sincere thanks to gwyllion for inviting me.
At gwyllion's suggestion, I'm posting the text of the talk below the fold. Some of the information will be familiar to regular readers of the Fatsronauts 101 series, but there's a lot of new stuff, too. I hope you enjoy it.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
"Rick is going to Austin this week to join those in giving a voice to the unborn."—Republican strategist and senior Rick Santorum adviser John Branbender, alerting the country that Rick Santorum is: 1. Going to Texas; 2. Still a total asshole.
LUCKY TEXAS.
I love, by the way, that Republican men need to travel to Texas to "give a voice to the unborn" while (primarily) Republican men in Texas silence the voices of pro-choice women et al. What was that I was saying about valuing fetuses more highly than the people who carry them again...?
(And, you know, not for nothing, but where are the ostensibly pro-choice Democratic men holding national office to go stand with pro-choice people in Texas? It sure would be nice if the leaders of the ostensibly pro-choice party were as engaged in this fight as the opposition.)
Anyway. In conclusion: Rick Santorum is terrible.
Yes, yes you are.
Daily Dose of Cute
Loyal hound.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia]
Tuesday News and Links:
The IRS just put tens of thousands of Social Security numbers out on the Internet for anyone and everyone to see. Whoops.
A giant chrome T-Rex skeleton is terrorising Paris! Oh noes!
Don't worry! A giant Colin Firth will save us! Thank you, giant Colin Firth!
Florida lawmakers have effectively outlawed every computer and smart phone in the state. Good one!
Pat Robertson is still super gross and offensive.
It's weird, it's almost like American businessmen are just greedy sacks of shit.
Need some One Direction duct tape? Yes, you do!
A heavy rainstorm in Toronto, which dumped more than 3.5 inches of water on parts of the city, caused transit chaos across the city and left 300,000 customers without power.
Number of the Day
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
43: The number of abortion restrictions enacted in US state legislatures this year so far, "the second-highest number ever at the midyear mark and is as many as were enacted in all of 2012."
Huh. I wonder if anyone has mentioned this to our pro-choice president who has the biggest bully pulpit in the entire world and the capacity to change the national conversation with a single soundbite. He doesn't seem to have noticed.
Grumpy Trans* Lady Corner
[Content note: Discussion of trans*phobia]
Last week, there was some really great news out of California. The state legislature passed a bill that requires school districts to respect trans* kids' genders. (And you know, poop on "gender identity". I mean, I get that gender is an identity, but I've always though that "gender identity" is a term that some cis* people like to throw around to distinguish "real" genders from the genders that trans* people merely "identify as.")
Really, I think this is great news.
But, um, here's how the Sacramento Bee reported the story: Senate OKs bill letting transgender students pick facilities.
When I read that, my reaction was "O HAI THANX GREAT AND POWERFUL CIS LEGISLATORS FOR LETTING FOLKS LIKE ME GO TO THE APPROPRIATE BATHROOM, WE WERE SRSLY WAITING FOR UR PERMISSIONS." (True story, after 6 pm I think in CAPS LOCK.)
Yes, I suppose part of the reason I've been indignant about this all weekend is the Bee's wording. The bill isn't about letting trans* people live our lives as much as it prohibits school districts from discriminating against us.
But there's something else at play. I really wanted to say that cis* people go to the bathroom and enjoy gender-segregated activities all the time without permission from the state, but that's simply not true. Governments have spent tons of time protecting cis* people's genders.
However, policing is the flip side of protecting. So, while I appreciate the work of the California legislature and the lives it will improve, I don't see this victory as a replacement for doing the hard work* of not policing each others' genders, of not creating and defending establishments that alternative proscribe or erase lives.
--
*In particular, this would appear to be a lot of work for many cis* people. Yes, I know trans* people that fall into the trap of policing other people's identities, but the whole "gender policing" thing is pretty much cis people's baby. Y'all need to own that shit. See also: the cool way that discussion of this bill erases the existence of non-binary genders.
Texas Monday Retrospective
[Content Note: Stories of Reproductive Coercion]
So, yesterday was a day.
No. Stop. Back up. I want to point out something first. Again. None of this activism? Is free. NONE OF IT. Everyone who testified before the senate committee yesterday had to take off of work or drive to Austin or rearrange their schedule or just spend the spoons it takes to wait around and stand in lines and hang out at the capitol for fifteen hours to testify. Every person who live-blogged or live-tweeted the witness testimony had to take time and energy and spoons to do this. And the witness testimony took a LOT of spoons. A lot of tears, a lot of rage, a lot of feels.
Good Morning! Or Whatever!
Our air conditioning is broken. Or, there is an outside possibility that I have died and been sent to hell but just haven't realized it yet. I need to call Haley Joel Osment.
AC isn't a luxury for me. I can't sweat, so I get heatstroke really easily. When I was a kid, there were multiple times I'd be running around outside during the summer, doing my swell-up-and-flush-like-a-giant-tomato thing, and I'd just collapse from overheating and have to be revived with Gatorade, lol.
So I've got someone coming to look at it sometime today and let us know whether it can be repaired or needs to be replaced. In the meantime, please send me cooling thoughts.
Question of the Day
What's the strangest/funniest/most misleading combination of items you've ever purchased at once?
We're All Devastated, I'm Sure
[Content Note: Image of gun.]
Rick Perry says he's not seeking a fourth term as governor of Texas. OH NO! LEAVING SO SOON? HOW SAD FOR US ALL, ESPECIALLY THE LADIES OF TEXAS!
Rick Perry has announced that he will not stand for re-election as governor of Texas, paving the way for a possibly unencumbered run at the White House in 2016.Super! I was worried there for a second I would never have the opportunity to write "Rick Perry is still definitely in the race! He has not dropped out yet!" ever again, but now it looks like I will get to write it SO MANY MORE TIMES! Yay!
This fucking guy.
The thing I find most incredible about Rick Perry is that he actually thinks the shit going down in Texas right now is going to make him a stronger national candidate. HA HA NO.
Wimbledon Open Thread
So, the Wimbledon finals were this weekend, and there is A LOT TO TALK ABOUT, if you're interested in talking about that sort of thing! By which I mean tennis, or Scotsmen, or misogyny, or body policing, or racism!
First, here is a fun video of the final moments of the final match between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, Scotsman, while Jessica Luther and Iain McEwan, Scotsman, watch. (Sorry my finger's hanging in the video frame, but I was watching the match, too! Btw, Jess was tweeting stuff "Iain McEwan, Scotsman" was saying while we watched, which was completely hilarious. There really just needs to be a Twitter of ALL THE THINGS that Iain McEwan, Scotsman, says all the time, because he is awesome and hilarious.)
Iain, a white man, and Jess, a white woman, sit on the couch watching the game on TV. Jess clutches her phone so she can live-tweet because SHE LOVES TENNIS SO MUCH. Iain looks nervous. As they watch a volley, Jess squeals anxiously, her hand to her mouth. Iain says, "It's all over...nope...oh my god." They watch intently, then shout excitedly and raise their arms in the air. "ANDY!" yells Jess. "OH WOW COME ON NO WAY!" shouts Iain. Jess laughs. Iain says, "What an amazing game! ...Come on. Championship point. ...I mean, I thought he was just going to spike it, but he didn't go a very good job on that smash." Jess tweets. Iain furrows his brow. "Come on, let's not fuck around here; let's just do this," says Iain. "I want to see this first serve go in. ...Beautiful." They watch intently. And then SHOUTING AND CHEERING AND ARMS IN THE AIR. "YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" yells Jess. "YES HE'S DONE IT!" exclaims Iain. "AHHHH HA HA!" says Jess. "No way! Brilliant." says Iain. They grin and laugh. I pan around to the TV to show Andy Murray lifting his fist in the air and hug Djokovic. "That was a well-fought game," says Iain. I pan back to Iain. "What do you think, babe?" I ask him. "Ach, I'm really not excited," he says, facetiously. "Not at all?" I ask. "Nope," he replies. I pan back to the TV, where Murray is on his knees on the court. "Ohhhhhhhh," says Jess, and makes an I LOVE HIM face. "Aww, there's Mama! Go give your mother a kiss!" she says. "There needs to be a pitch invasion," Iain says. "He needs to be carried on the shoulders of the crowd down Downing Street or something." Jess says, "So now let the talk begin about the 2014 pressure to repeat." And they both laugh.In other news, there was SO MUCH MISOGYNY surrounding Murray's win, as he was announced the FIRST BRITISH WINNER IN ONE MILLION YEARS, which is true, as Chloe Angyal observed, "unless you think women are people." Whoops.
Also! There was SO MUCH horrendous shaming and body policing and general fucking awfulness directed at women's winner Marion Bartoli. Via Shaker Clawfoot in comments, you can find here an unbelievable (HA HA TOTALLY BELIEVABLE) compilation exemplifying the undiluted fuckery that was directed at Bartoli.
And! Wimbledon is still so privileged and SO WHITE, as noted by Writers of Colour.
Plus so much other stuff! Discuss.
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by owls.
Recommended Reading:
Trudy: Bikini vs. Burqa: Examining the Inaccurate Argument About Women, Clothing and "Freedom" [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of policing women's choices and self-image.]
Eren: The Downfalls of Feminism and Why I Am Still a Feminist [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of racism and appropriations.]
Reni: Having a Grown-Up Conversation about Racism [Content Note: The Storifies linked from this post include frank discussion of racism, including specific manifestations of racism.]
Aura: This is What Force-Feeding a Guantanamo Bay Prisoner Looks Like [Content Note: The video at this link is incredibly difficult to watch, but also provides insight into what is being done by the US government in US citizens' names.]
Igor: Koch Brothers to Pour Millions into Obamacare Misinformation Campaign
Rebecca: There's a 12-Foot Tall Statue of Colin Firth's Wet-Shirted Mr. Darcy Emerging from a Lake in Hyde Park. What a Time to Be Alive.
Steve: Heroic Kangaroo to the Rescue
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: Violence; racism; dehumanization.]
WTF is this headline, LA Times?
I'm pretty sure the trial has been goddamned personal to a lot of people, like Trayvon Martin's parents, all the fuck along.
And from the accompanying article: "For the prosecution, [Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother] was the figure of sympathy." For the prosecution. For the defense, she is just an inconvenience to their wretched campaign to dehumanize Trayvon Martin into a personified threat against aggrieved heroes like George Zimmerman.
* * *
Yes, I understand defense teams have a job to do. No, it does not make me any less contemptuous of the particular strategy of this defense team on behalf of their loathsome client.
