In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Police brutality; images of police brutality at link] The New York Police Department had the swell idea of starting a #MyNYPD hashtag on Twitter yesterday, inviting people to share images of themselves with New York cops. Whoooooooooops! "An exercise in social media outreach turned #epicfail Tuesday when users flooded the Twittersphere with some of the NYPD's most infamous moments of brutality."

[CN: Domestic violence] This is a very interesting piece about the difference it is making for Native American survivors of domestic violence since the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act which included a provision giving "many federally recognized tribes the authority to prosecute non–tribal members for these crimes." In other words: Closing a loophole which, for a very long time, effectively meant that non-native men were allowed to harm native women with impunity. (Obviously, non-native women could harm with impunity, too, but the vast majority of perpetrators were men.)

[CN: Misogyny; ageism] Erick Erickson continues to be the fucking worst, telling Rush Limbaugh: "All my Democratic friends are salivating...at the idea of Hillary Clinton running in 2016. She's gonna be old. I don't know how far back they can pull her face; can I say that on the air?" Shaker Aphra, who sent this to me, says (which I am quoting with her permission): "I love how he asks if he can say that on the air. Hahahahahaha YEAH dipshit, you can say it, so please stop pretending there's some kind of feminist thought police who will arrest you. Now you might get CRITICIZED because you are awful, but that's not the same thing." This fucking guy.

[CN: Misogyny; worker exploitation] Fucking hell: "Four former cheerleaders for the National Football League's Buffalo Bills have filed a lawsuit against the team, alleging that it 'exploited the women by failing to pay them in accordance with New York State minimum wage laws.' ...The complaint asserts that 'between game performances, practices, rehearsals, and appearances, each individual Jill provides approximately 20 hours of unpaid labor per week,' which 'equals 840 hours of unpaid work per woman, per year.'" Meanwhile: How the fuck much do the players and coaches make?

[CN: Transphobia] Today, a judge will consider Chelsea Manning's petition to legally change her name to Chelsea. Manning is serving 35 years in prison for whistleblowing "espionage." It's fucking ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned, that a judge gets to rule on whether Manning has a right to legally change her name.

Lupita Nyong'o is People magazine's Most Beautiful Person of the Year. On the one hand, fuck "most beautiful people" shit. On the other, as long as this stuff exists, yay for expanding the boundaries of "acceptable beauty."

Relatedly: Meryl Streep says she once thought she was "too ugly" to be an actress, and advises young aspiring thespians to embrace whatever about their appearnace makes them unique.

[CN: Gender essentialism] Emma Stone calls out her boyfriend Andrew Garfield on gender essentialist claptrap at a promotional appearance. That cannot have been easy. Good for her.