I Just Can't Shake My Frustration

Melissa at Shakesville has this post up today with photos of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a visit to China, including this one (via Getty Images) which caught my attention.

When I first started reading Melissa's post, I felt a swell of pleasure, pride, and emotion at seeing Secretary of State Clinton meeting with women activists in China. And I will confess to having a few seconds where I wished she was President Hillary Clinton. Perhaps these photos would have been of Secretary of State Obama while President Clinton was home in the US getting some shit done!

It was a lovely fantasy. Then I clicked below the fold and was astonished by the change of direction, and I suppose the post title, Today in Trailblazing and Misogyny: Photos of the Day, should have given me a clue. I was about to be shaken from my trailblazing fantasy.

The "misogyny" springs from this Getty Image:

Yes, I shit you not. But then, maybe my definition of misogyny is outside the norm.

Thus begins Melissa's rant.

Aside from invoking other memorable "Look—disembodied ladyfeetz!" images like this one, are you fucking kidding me with the phallic boom mic inserted between two women's lower halves?!

[...]

I don't for a moment believe that there wasn't a single person along the path from photographer to photo editor to publisher, at either photo agency, who didn't notice the unfortunate implications of the above image.

Yeah, it's a "little thing," but it is the pervasive, ubiquitous, inescapable "little stuff" that creates the foundation of a sexist culture on which the big stuff is dependent for its survival. It's the little things, the constant drumbeat of inequality and objectification, that inure us to increasingly horrible acts and attitudes toward women.

As Melissa accurately points out elsewhere in her post, the Getty photographers do seem to have a "thing" for photographing boom mics. Maybe it's a weird fetish. Maybe it's an inside joke, or a bizarre tradition, within photographic circles. Who knows.

I, with my little pea-sized manbrain and insufficiently feminist credentials, am clearly unable to discern the blatant conspiracy at work here to reinforce the sexist foundations of our culture, simply because I only see a nothing-to-write-home-about photograph of a boom mic with blurry ladypartz in the background. And it's not like someone staged the photo in order to have the boom mic appear to be shoved up in some asshole's crotch! (Gee, thanks for that one, Getty!)

Rather than walk away from that post with a President Clinton fantasy, and a momentary positive feel-good distraction from all the truly heinous shit going on in the world right now, I left feeling anger. It was not anger directed at any perceived or real misogyny, but anger at the blatant attempt to manipulate me into agreeing with a premise and to accept that as a fact without question, while my dumb mangut tells me it is a crock of reeking feces.

And in questioning the validity of Melissa's assumptions about such boom mic photography being representative of misogynistic foundations, I am therefore, by default, incapable of seeing the reality. I think the expectation is that I should be having an "oh wow" moment: Of course it's misogyny at work. How could I not have seen it? And then of course I should accept that I have so much more to learn from my great teacher. I should throw my teacher some praise and support, and maybe a few bucks.

It's a damn good thing my commenting privileges were revoked at that blog many months ago. If they hadn't been, they would be today. Because I do question Melissa's points, as do others, I would be disregarded as a concern troll. And I'm still being far nicer than some have been.

I guess that's what I get for going below the fold. I should have just wallowed in my Clinton-as-President fantasy, admired her for representing the United States so well while overseas, and moved on along, blissfully ignorant of boom mic photography and the dark evil undercurrents thereof.

It is an event which has rendered me with little desire to visit that blog again. And the irony is that the post didn't even come with a trigger warning.

The Poor Pityful Patriarchy

Pity da menz. Because dim menz can't be havin' da wimminz all runnin' around abortin' babies and shit not havin' permissions from Da Man, ya know. How dare them bitchez actin' like they own their bods -- Da Man does, ya know! It's right 'cher da BIBLE.

If this asshole had he way, women would need to get permission from the biological father before being allowed to have an abortion.

And what if the woman isn't sure?

In cases where the identity of the father is unknown, women would be required to submit a list of possible fathers. The physician would be forced to conduct a paternity test from the provided list and then seek paternal permission to abort. Claiming to not know the father's identity is not a viable excuse, according to the proposed legislation.

How's that for being worthy of the Asshole of the Day Award?

State Rep. John Adams (R-OH)

I loved Pam's additional commentary:

So otherwise, a rape survivor would need to find her rapist and see if he's willing to sign off on the whole deal. Jesus H. Christ.

Yes, Jesus H. Fucking Christ on a cracker. How in the hell do these pricks get elected to public office?

That is not a rhetorical question.

Periodically, When I'm Feeling Down I Get Angry

J. Goff at I am Jack’s Non-Blog says this is what Obama needs:

- LESS SYCOPHANTS.

- LESS SEXISM

- LESS TALK

- MORE SUBSTANCE, i.e.:

- MORE EXPLICITLY PROGRESSIVE POLICIES

- LESS HYPE.

I don't believe those are listed in order of importance. I get the distinct impression the #1 issue is sexism. Visit any widely-read feminist blog, find a post about sexism in politics or the media, and watch the fireworks fly in the comment threads.

All of us progressives are, and should be, angry about a multitude of issues. I've been angry since J. Goff was still in his mother's womb, so trust me when I say I'm in touch with what needs to change in this nation.

I'm also a realist on some level and I know there is never going to be the perfect candidate running for any political office. There are 300 million Americans and 300 million different ideas about how to address the problems, let alone fix them! The question is this: are we going to start correcting even a few of them in 2009, or are we going to allow a single hot-button issue to destroy what may be our best hope for real leadership in our lifetime? Or am I just spewing more "hype?"

How many angry feminists does it take to swing an election the wrong way as the result of voting one's conscience or not voting at all? Who knows. This may be a year in which we learn the answer. Feminists don't like having the guilt-card played on them, nor would anyone else. And they are quick to point out that their individual vote is their individual personal choice and their business. I wholeheartedly agree. But there is a "but."

Since I brought up womb earlier, let me tell you what I think.

What you do with your body is your own business and I'm fighting hard to keep that right for you. How you cast your vote is your own business and I'm fighting hard to make certain that vote is, at the very least, actually counted. Your reproductive choices, even as a group of millions, have no recognizable impact on my life whatsoever. On the other hand, your vote as a group most definitely impacts my life and the lives of millions of others who are desperately seeking a new direction for the US. And this is where I get mightily annoyed with some of my feminist colleagues for the same reason I feel raging anger at fundamentalists and other neocons who make the election about preserving the sanctity of marriage and putting God back in the classroom. John McCain picked Sarah Palin for several reasons and I can assure you her position against reproductive freedom was right near the top of that list.

Regardless of who wins in November, even if it's Cynthia McKinney, we are going to be fighting sexism, racism, misogyny, capital punishment, corruption, lobbyists, offshore drilling, global warming, creationists, homophobia, discrimination against the transgendered, right-wing radio hosts, immigration policies, the loss of jobs, warmongering for profit, and a host of whackjobs in every corner of Congress. And I'm certain I didn't name at least 40 other injustices.

In a reply to a commenter on his post, J. Goff had this to say:

I will die for my country. I will not vote for Obama, though, until he starts talking progressively instead of dealing with centralist bullshit.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of politics these days, "centralist bullshit" is what we put up with until such time as a progressive cloaked in "centralist bullshit" can get elected. Politicians will do and say what they have to in order to appeal to the greatest number of voters. And that, much to my never ending dismay, is always going to involve a move to the "center" which is particularly irksome when the current center resides at the 35 yard line of the opposing team thanks largely to almost 30 years of Reagan and the Bush family. Sadly, Clinton didn't move that center as much as he could and should have.

I have spent the bulk of my voting life as a single-issue conscience voter. When I learned that Obama and Biden are both supporters of capital punishment I wasn't sure I could cast my ballot for that ticket. But this year I realized we have too much at stake for me to walk away in disgust. (I will not support them financially with any donation; I have to draw the line somewhere.)

J. Goff does have the benefit of being 25 which is young enough to hope for another chance or two for change in his lifetime even if this one isn't viewed by him as worth it because the candidate is perceived to be throwing women under the bus. (Or supports strapping people -- mostly black men -- into an electric chair, or pumping them with a toxic cocktail.)

Perhaps when J. Goff is my age, 48, and realizing that nothing much has changed, he'll also be getting fast and furiously fed up with waiting for.... something...before reaching retirement age.

I don't like taking baby steps and I really don't like even small compromise when it comes to politics this year. But I am taking a leap of faith because I am desperate for a glimpse of something different, an improvement, a sign of intelligent life in the White House. Being able to relax for awhile without worrying that a member of the Supreme Court is going to drop dead under a Bush or McCain watch is a nice perk.

Under all these circumstances, I am frankly astonished that sexism seems to be a focal point of the resistance to Obama given the fact that sexism is ingrained in our culture. It's not like the guy is out peddling this garbage although I am dismayed if his supporters are doing it.

It's great that the issue is finally getting more attention this year than I've ever seen in previous years, even if it is limited mostly to genuine feminist blogs (as opposed to say, a feminist group like Palin's Feminists for Life. But positive change has to start somewhere. And we must continue to push and fight for the changes we so sorely need. The ultimate question is: which candidate is most likely to listen?

In the end, if McCain is victorious, he and Sarah Palin (only the VP for as long as McCain's ticker keeps ticking) will shred this country for another four years, and it could even be worse than 8 years under Bush. I firmly believe it would be worse.

Such a victory could easily send a signal to future Democrats that the only way to have a chance of being elected is to move more to the right.

Or it could make Democrats so angry, and maybe enough moderate Republicans, to finally swing this country around in the 2012 elections with a progressive candidate who is more explicit with his or her policies, and never, ever says anything remotely sexist, and manages to finally unite the left and center as one big happy family.

I'm not banking on the latter. That's what I was certain 2004 was supposed to be.

Let's ALL get out this November, stand before that touch-screen and vote your conscience, be it McCain/Palin, Obama/Biden, McKinney/Clemente, or another. All I ask is that you let your conscience consider the bigger picture.

If the election tilts to McCain by a slim margin in one state, just don't tell me, or the millions of others who are ready to seize this moment, not to get angry if a few thousand voters in that state were refusing to support Obama because of a dogwhistle.

Equal Rights Skindex

"You've Come a Long Way, Baby."

Remember that ad campaign back in the 70s for a cigarette brand? Never mind that it was still sexist for using "baby" to describe liberated women.

We really haven't progressed very far since then.

Case in point: The Nipple

No real biggie. Just two guys hanging.

Magazine cover? No problem. Just two guys in a sports pose.

Well, it's a swimming competition at the Olympics.Those white speedos are kinda tight but I ain't seeing no huge package.

Are you looking at the male nipples or the timepiece sponsorship placement?

Phelps! My God, what a torso. Nice nips!

Uh oh. What the fuck? Tuck it in you hussy. What is this, a circus? The photo was removed from a gallery after a short duration. Someone apparently overlooked the fact that a woman was exposing her... {gasp}.. BREAST! Oh, I'm sure it was just an accident. That makes it funny.

Kinda reminds me of this Super Bowl Bullshit. Get on "family tv" for 9/10s of a second and try this shit and you end up with a $500,000 fine from the Federales. (Yes, I know it's been overturned but still....)

Chil'ren might be watching. We must protect the chil'ren from the evil female nipples.

Please note: None of the pictures in this post are meant to be funny. They are all equal. One is not funnier than the other. As long as we continue to stigmatize the female breast and "outlaw" it, the humor will continue.

That being said, we can still laugh about nipples. But let's level the playing field and find humor in our attraction to them as opposed to their mere appearance based upon the obscenity factor of the person's sex who happens to be showing a little.

The human body may be funny, but it's not obscene.

The Pain in Spain: Too Pink

Recently elected Italian prime minster Silvio Berlusconi is already working wonders with his popularity in Spain, which apparently is too pink.

Mr. Berlusconi told an Italian radio show that he had jokingly scolded the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, for forming “a government that in my opinion is too pink.” Mr. Zapatero’s new cabinet has eight men and nine women. Mr. Berlusconi plans to have four women in his 12-member cabinet.

And that's just because of women. Gays & lesbians have been legally marrying there since 2005! That's REALLY pink!

Why A Woman President Is A Bad Idea

Duh! They spread diseases!

Unlike men, women apparently have a long history of infidelity. They are cunning, deceitful, and simply cannot be trusted. And males need to be advised: they will cause your dick to rot off if you are not careful. Protect yourselves. They like to "pal around" you know.

"Good Time" Girls! Beware!

A Brown Norther

I usually keep a pretty close eye on the weather via weather.com and the New York Times weather page. Neither one mentioned a damn thing about a shitstorm this morning. I just came to my desk, started organizing a few things in preparation for blogging, and checked in to see what was going on at a couple of my favorite blogs, and the next thing you know...

I finally got disgusted with the stench and flying debris. I left, cleaned myself up, and went out to lunch. The day is nearly over and the storm is still churning. I suspect this one might last awhile.... early November is my guess. Hell, I'm not even sure it will end.

But damn it was worth it. I learned so much. I decided to create a true or false quiz just to see how much you know.

1. Divide and Conquer is even more effective than I ever thought possible. Those of us on the left can even do it to ourselves and save the Republicans the trouble. How thoughtful of us.

2. Feminism is way more complex than most people realize.

3. There are categories of trolls. Who knew!

4. If you plan to comment in a thread with an abundance of feminists with differing opinions, it's in your best interest to always say precisely the right thing. Good luck with that one.

5. Rest assured, your comments and opinions will always be respected by one and all, even if there is some disagreement in opinions, outcomes and/or solutions to problems. Rebuttal will be swift but quite cordial.

6. If you fuck up, even unintentionally just by virtue of being like, you know, a stupid fucking male or something, you can always explain yourself and apologize, and everything will be a-ok with all involved.

(6a. Not.)

7. Feminists indeed do have reasons to be angry but you can at least count on them to have a sense of humor, even in the face of adversity.

8. Condescension has been elevated to an art form.

9. Words and phrases like overreacting, you the man!, calm down, you're being irrational, and take some advice from a man are probably not going to be well-received and may indeed result in an expected trip to the emergency room.

10. By simply writing and posting this, I am a de facto sexist pig with no respect whatsoever for women and their struggles. In fact, I am a woman-hating fag; I just don't know it yet.

All kidding aside, if I seem angry or pissed off by the experience today, I'm really not. What I definitely am is hurt and disappointed that people with a common desire to achieve similar goals can't even get along at a like-minded community blog when so much is at stake. Honestly, it has me almost not giving a shit who wins the election, because if I can't count on the left to kinda sorta be united at this crucial juncture, then why the fuck should I bother getting worked up into a frenzy?

And it most definitely evokes a feeling of complete and total disgust with our broken political process and the shameless negativity infused in it.

Lastly, I feel for Melissa. I know she's not having a good week. I wish all the real assholes would stay off her blog and leave her the hell alone. I love Melissa like a sister and I have loved her blog and been an avid reader and Shaker for 2 years going on 3. I have learned a hell of a lot there and it has contributed immeasurably to my personal growth. The vast majority of my bloggy friendships were formed there. It is the only blog I have ever helped out financially albeit in my own small affordable and inconsistent way, because I truly feel it is a voice that must be heard; it is a unique blog, and I sincerely wanted to help.

That being said, I am not going to allow myself to be treated with contempt and disparaging diatribes from anyone for simply contributing an opinion, whether the topic is my perception of an environment of intolerance and hostility generated by other regulars in a thread, or whether I think someone's choice in sitting out the election over a sexist remark in the midst of an overall negative campaign is counter-productive to the long-term causes we value. Because honestly, for all my rhetoric, I really don't want to pack up and move to Canada.

Rather than allow myself to be subjected to that, I'll stay here and tend to my own blog, thank you very much. I have enough anxiety going on in my own personal life right now; I sure as a shitstorm don't need to go searching for trouble.

Aside from all this, McCain may be an infidel.

And with that, I'm going to unwind myself by listening to something relaxing and leave the baggage of the day behind me.

Missing the Target

Amy Jussel, founder of a blog called ShapingYouth.org with a focus on the impact of marketing on children, complained about the new ad campaign which features this picture.

“Targeting crotches with a bull’s-eye is not the message we should be putting out there,” she said in an e-mail interview.

Target offered an e-mail response:

“Unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets,” a public relations person wrote to ShapingYouth.

Oh. Well pardon the hell out of us.

Ms. Jussel, who described herself as a faithful Target shopper, was not impressed. “Any customer deserves a response to a concern, so I found this to be a shortsighted, ill-conceived judgment call,” she said.

Target does not plan to change its ads.

Aside from the offensive condescending tone of the Target response, I've seen some outrageous ad campaigns in terms of sending the wrong message and being demeaning. And knowing what I know about marketing and the anal attention to minute details, there are very few accidental coincidences. This could be one of them. I do not get the usual sexually exploitive vibes and it confirms my belief that somebody somewhere will be offended by something however trivial. Correct me if I'm wrong.

When I was growing up I recall vividly a billboard for a nearby motel which featured a very shapely young woman in a one-piece bathing suit promoting the motel's swimming pool. As I was only about 5 years old, I was unaware that women's bodies (as well as men's) were actually used to sell shit.

What did catch my attention about that particular billboard was that someone had blown a hole in her crotch with a shotgun. Now that is some disturbing shit worthy of getting your knickers in a twist.

Yes, This Is Sickening, But...

...such is politics. It shouldn't be but it's the current reality and proves just how far we need to go to move beyond the repugnance in which we are engulfed. Or maybe this proves just how immature and unprepared the Obama team really is for leading a nation of men and women, of all races. Honestly, I'm shocked at the raw bullshit being spewed forth by Obama's National Co-Chairman Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Melissa has a great post up at Shakesville on this subject, and some of the comments reminded me so much of my reactions to things lately, I had to take a step back for a second, deep breathe, and then I wrote this comment:

Here's my opinion and feel free to disregard it; I'm sure I will, probably in the next 24 hours.

Don't be too hasty to make decisions based on one incident, and jump ship from one candidate to another.

I've been doing that for years, and this year is no exception. I started off a Kucinich supporter because I tend to vote my convictions (or support a candidate who shares the most of my convictions since I rarely get to vote for them--they tend to drop out before my primary) and I've already gone from Kucinich to Edwards to Obama, back to Edwards, and now I'm straddling the fence... finally.

Not only can this have the tendency to drive you insane, it becomes illogical given that more incidents are likely to happen between now and whenever this crap gets wrapped up.

Keep in mind the pace at which these folks are scrambling for votes, their lack of sleep, the media attention, their schedules, and the attacks coming from all directions on a constant basis.

Who among us hasn't snapped under such conditions and said something we regret saying? And yes, we usually apologize and move on. And yes, these candidates tend to avoid apologies in favor of twisting it in some way to indicate it was taken out of context, was misconstrued, or whatever. Because apologies make a candidate look weak and out of control I guess. Unpresidential.

Sure, it's all bullshit. And absolutely, we need to push them on it when they fuck up.

I still maintain that defending against misogyny is an integral component of comprehensive progressivism -- and he's not doing too well there at the moment, to put it mildly.
Melissa McEwan

Amen to that. I try to remind myself of what these people might be like in the calmer environment of actually running the country and pushing for legislation rather than what slips of the tongue might piss me off and make me want to bail. While Obama’s camp might be making Hillary look pretty damn good right now, just keep in mind which candidates are most likely to resist the heavily patriarchal corporate behemoths that control us.

While we may feel good about ourselves right now for supporting a candidate and ditching another because of a disagreeable verbal misstep, we should consider the long-term ramifications of our decisions and whether that, in the end, isn’t going to be a far greater disservice to our causes.

PortlyDyke correctly pointed out that this wasn't just a misstep but a calculated "strategy trying to spin the tear-factor." And that makes it far more disgusting, and unfortunately for Obama, far more memorable. Had it come directly from Obama himself rather than the surrogate Jesse Jackson Jr., then the Obama campaign might well be cooked as of today, as far as truly progressive men and women are concerned. Obama needs to address this disgustingly adolescent manipulation. Soon. The clock is ticking.