Ms. Magazine: BLOG, & Oscars Deliberation

Just thought I’d give you guys a heads up that Ms. Magazine now has its own blog! In honor of International Women’s Day, they decided to give all of us the opportunity to check out the latest news via the internet (win!).  Ms. began in 1972 with the help of Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin.  Since 2001, it has been owned by The Feminist Majority Foundation.

One of the first posts– Mo’Nique, Bigelow + Oscar: Mixed Feelings– explores the combination of triumph and disappointment felt by women after Oscar night.  Many feel that Precious is contributing to wretched stereotypes of black motherhood.  Courtney Young also mentions the conflict of race in Hollywood films– a conflict that has multiple dimensions.

Sandra Bullock’s win for Best Actress, worthy as it may be, gives me pause when I  consider her recent filmography: The roles that have won her critical acclaim–Crash and now The Blind Side–are ones in which she plays privileged upper-middle-class White women who have brief or long-lasting encounters with men of color. The former film portrays blatant racism, the latter embraces a “savior” narrative, with those needing saving being poor and Black.

The blog post is an adequate query, daring to dig through the endless subliminal messages and ideals that we absorb while watching these movies.  Were these nominations and wins a triumph or a setback?  It seems this new wave of feminists (myself included) will have to decide for ourselves, and as always: forge ahead.

Chatroulette Part II

As promised, we have a few more pictures to share from the smut generator that is Chatroulette.  Late Saturday night delivered some pretty interesting characters, although the majority of the people we saw were doing things that we could never manage to blur out.

We ran into some gems, thankfully– there was a group of highly intoxicated and brash British men.  That conversation consisted of football talk (my favorite thing about CR– the ability to speak with folks who care about it) and then being called a “ginger jock cunt” by mister loud-mouth when I mentioned I was Scottish (bad move on my part, I know).  Then they unleashed one of the oldest taunts in the book– they mentioned William Wallace.   I love childish European cultural and racial grudges, if only for their humor.  But I digress– I prefer derogatory Cockney slang rather than wee wees. We also decided to let Lord Charles do his thing. Unfortunately, with the webcam focused on him, there were infinite “next”s in store.  He did manage to charm a few, and was met with a chorus of “aww”s and hysterical facial expressions.  Pictures after the jump– NSFW (kind of), as what kind of Chatroulette screenshot post isn’t?

Chatroulette OH NOES!

As promised, here are some wonderful screenshots from our crazy night checking out Chatroulette.  (Check ‘em out after the jump– kinda NSFW!)

WTF Round-Up

Yes, we know we’ve been absent these past few months.  I’m back at college studying for my degree in social work.  Peter has been screaming at the television during Glenn Beck, and Charles is (still) sleeping.  However, I’d like to share what we’ve been laughing and gawking/face-palming at for the past month or so.

Glenn Beck, Vatican sex scandal, and Stupak after the jump.

Why can’t we say “rape”?

Another gender socialization flop in the media.  Are we surprised?  Yes Means Yes reported on a man’s r-a-p-e in Brooklyn, New York.  Michael Mineo alleges that he was sodomized raped back in October of 2008.  According to The New York Times:

On Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, a criminal trial began at the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn against three officers charged in the case. Prosecutors said that one of the officers, Richard Kern, repeatedly shoved a retractable baton between Mr. Mineo’s buttocks, then told Mr. Mineo that if he revealed the attack to anyone or went to the hospital, he would be charged with a felony. Two other officers, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales, helped to cover up the attack, prosecutors charged.

So what is the officer being charged with? The crime of sodomy.  Not rape.  He (allegedly) “repeatedly shoved a retractable baton between Mr. Mineo’s buttocks“. That sounds like rape to me.  However, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) classify rape as: “the carnal knowledge of a female against her will” (by a male).  Same-sex rape, or the rape of a male by a female are classified as “sexual assault”.

Chris Matthews: Insert Foot in Mouth

Chris Matthews put his foot in his mouth (again) for several moments following President Obama’s State of the Union speech.  The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates eloquently responds with I Just Remembered Chris Matthews Was White.

This is why Obama will never be postracial–he can’t make white people face the lie of their ignorance, anymore than Jimmy Baldwin could make black people face the lie of our homophobia. It’s white people’s responsibility to make themselves postracial, not the president’s. Whatever my disagreements with him, the fact is that he is brilliant. That he is black and brilliant is pleasant but unsurprising to me. I’ve known very brilliant, very black people all my life. At some point that number of white people who still can’t get their heads around our humanity will have to accept the truth: the president is black, even if you don’t quite know what that means.

Chris Matthews did “clarify” the remark later on during MSNBC’s coverage of the State of the Union.  During the Rachel Maddow Show, he mumbled his explanation as Rachel seemed rather uncomfortable (giving the “what the hell are you talking about” look I love her for).  Sigh.

Scott Roeder: GUILTY.

Scott Roeder has been found guilty of murdering Dr. Scott Tiller.  Sarah Cliff’s blog on Newsweek’s website:  What the Roeder Guilty Verdict Means for Abortion Providers. NOW (National Organization for Women) has issued a press release in response to the jury’s decision:

NOW urges the Department of Justice to investigate this network of anti-abortion terrorists. NOW leadership and our dedicated grassroots activists across the country, have been tracking and witnessing these terrorists at work for decades. Some of our own members have survived harassment and assault. NOW would be happy to share with the Justice Department any relevant evidence we might have that would help shut down this conspiracy to deny women their fundamental right to abortion through violence and the threat of violence.

Say Anything: “Life Has a Boyfriend”

I’ve now had an entire month to digest say anything’s self-titled album.  And yes, it has taken that long for me to fully absorb everything about the record.

yodeling.

what i’m listening to.

podcasts:

• speaking of faith with krista tippett.  APR: speaking of faith.
• stuff you missed in history class. how stuff works blog
• the young turks. TYT: rebel headquarters

albums:

• ma rainey: black bottom.
• tom waits: glitter and doom.
• johnny cash : country christmas.
• buddy guy & junior wells: play the blues.