A leaked iPhone commercial spoof that shows you how to stalk your ex.
It looks like Senator Kennedy's death might just be a rallying cry to pass health care reform.
A jury in West Virginia found a man guilty of raping a number of sex workers. The things said about sex workers by the defense were horrific, and I'm thankful they agreed that non-consensual sex is rape, regardless of your profession.
Microsoft is caught in a huge race FAIL, when they were found to have photoshopped an image on their website--to change the race of the man in question.
Angered about what is happening to Caster Semenya? Sign National Sexuality Resource Center's petition asking officials to stay out her pants. Courtesy of community blogger h.buck.
This Saturday marks the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Melissa Harris-Lacewell and James Perry have some thoughts on what they call our "Katrina Nation."
Check out this great cartoon, All Things Being Equal from Indexed.
Metro Weekly, the local DC LGBTQ newspaper, screws up royally in their headline's reference to a trans woman.
Rush Limbaugh is worried about keeping his penis.
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The Iphone app vid is tasteless and quite harmful in trying to get humor from a very serious problem. But it isn't a 'leaked' commercial from apple. It's a parody by someone with a bad sense of humor and no common sense.
True--thanks for the correction.
I thought the parody commercial was absolutely hilarius. It mocks stalkers and shows them for the pathetic, creepy, losers they are.
I think it also highlights how absurb and bad some of those iPhone apps actually are. Sure "stalk-her" sounds ridiculous, but it's an app I could actually see iPhone coming up with.
I remember ads a while ago for some phone where you could get someone's GPS location when you were talking to them or something (like it showed where you were with a red dot and where the other person was with a green dot). It creeped me out. Maybe you don't want the person on the other end of the phone to know your EXACT location.
You're thinking of Google Latitude. A person can't see your location without your express permission, so it's pretty tame.
Though, on the other hand, I have heard discussions on the legitimacy of parents forcing their kids to keep it turned so they can keep track of where they are. So it's not *all* roses and sunshine.
No it wasn't Google anything. I want to say it was like a Boost Mobile phone or something because the tag line was "Where you at?" And the characters in the ad (who were represented by people in big red and green blown up dot suits, yeah it was strange) kept saying "Where you at?" "Man, you know where I'm at!" And things like that. It wasn't marketed towards parents keeping tabs on their kids at all.
It's pretty much the same program and it's also optional.
I can definitely see that.
I think my reaction was conditioned by the (many) rather misogynist comments on the video that appeared at the original site.
I certainly wasn't trying to say that a parody or satire of such behavior was necessarily unfunny or could serve no critical purpose. The reception of the video just rubbed me the wrong way.
Thats all right. We all have things that bug us.
The link to the Limbaugh article isn't working.
Thanks so much for the link! :)
The way you describe the link about Kennedy's death being a rallying cry for healthcare reform (probably unintentinally) sounds really Onion-ish. Oh, he didn't DIE, he's just faking it so people will pass the legislation.
http://www.theonion.com/content/from_print/kennedy_curse_claims_life_of?utm_source=a-section
There is the Onion link about Ted Kennedy.
Why do our guys have to DIE to light a fire under our asses. Tiller is motivating people. Kennedy will hopefully motivate people. I'm sad we have become complacent.
I think this is what Miriam was referencing.
I could have sworn I hit reply... this is supposed to be in response to moonfall's comment that the Rush Limbaugh link wasn't working.
Also, never mind that I have no musical talent whatsoever, I'm going to start working on a rap about Rush Limbaugh's penis...
And I love that he calls Jay Z "Mr. Z" in the audio.
"That means if we need to save our penises from anybody, it's Obama. I did not know I was on anybody's balls."
I know many conservatives aren't fans of sex education, but is Mr. Limbaugh aware that the penis and the testes are not actually the same thing? Circumcision actually is not "on anybody's balls" either.
THERE IS NO TIME TO WORRY ABOUT ANATOMY WHEN OBAMA IS ABOUT TO STEAL THE PENISES!!!
Sorry. I know that was completely juvenile but I couldn't resist.
The Caster Semenya case is an interesting one. In rule of sport, and having myself competed in track & field, males and females compete separately, and for good reason. It needs to be that way, not only for the advantage of womens' sport, fair?
So, her gender is in question by her vocal opponent athletes and the media. In Cases where widespread media objects to a telecast sports rulings (think: Olympic figure skating pairs Canada vs. Russia several years ago), the ruling body of sports federations often bow and perform investigations and take due action. In this case, they need to verify her sex or come to a conclusion regarding her eligibility. If this is performed in a respectful way internally towards her, I see no objection.
Competing in high-level sport comes with the caveat of being subjected to embarrassing gender and drug-related tests, and athletes enter into competition knowing this. example: Urinary drug tests must be performed in front of an official. The observing official must see the urine stream exiting the body. Albeit an invasion of privacy no matter the sex of the athlete, it is an accepted and necessary part of high level sport competition.
I've been through the urine testing thing and it was no fun. You're right to point out that it isn't only Caster Semenya who is treated this way but there's a distinction between testing urine for drugs to determine eligibility and gender being questioned by people who only understand gender as being strictly binary. A pretty big distinction actually.
Yes, athletes are poked, prodded and basically treated as less than human in ways that people who haven't competed at a high level don't understand but those are different invasions than the one Caster Semenya is experiencing.
I'm a West Virginia. I am a sex worker (exotic dancer). That article gave me chills. How could a human being speak of rape victims in that manner? How can he dehumanize them like that? God that makes me ill, considering I know prostitutes in this area. To think these women I know could be lowered to being incapable of being raped because of their trade? I leave further north than Kanawha but still. Ugh.
I agree. I'm just absolutely horrified at his statements. I hope this kind of attitude from a attorney will soon be unheard of because juries will see it for what it is, absolutely inexcusable and without any logical merit, and it will be a losing legal strategy. I'm sad to think how often this line of reasoning might work with juries even if it is only implied.
I am even more horrified that the judge allowed this language to continue.
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-10-screwattack/54700
Screw Attack's Top 10 Ugly Chicks In Games. Sometimes I'm really ashamed of the gamer culture.
Yeah, and people wonder why women don't fit into the gamer culture or tend to stick on the sidelines. It's like the gamer culture goes out of its way all the time to make us feel like we're not welcome. Hence the reason I had to prove my worth EVERYDAY I worked at Gamestop. Because of that shit.
Okay, now I've watched it and... and... it makes me wanna throw my xbox out the danmed window. And I heart my xbox! So fat women are no good, "ugly" women should be BEATEN, and totally don't think you're hot when you KNOW you're butt ugly. Just go ahead and remind me (and reinforce to all the gamer dudes) that women are only meant to be sexed up and if you don't wanna sex 'em then they are worthless. God I WEEP for video game culture!
And all the women in the video are side characters or enemies you are supposed to slash apart and kill. 'Cause, you know, when you actually expect dudes to play the game and LIKE the character, if you decide to make it a woman, she's got be super hot and big boobed.
.... I was doing good tonight... now I'm just... angry...
What I don't understand is how so many people who deny the sex binary can nonetheless favor the division of athletes along that exact line.
The reason that it is is absurd to test for an athlete's sex is because it is absurd to care in the first place. Neither sex nor gender can be divided into two categories, what categories do exist are not sharply divided from one another, and gender is not even a physical attribute.
The only self-consistent solution that recognizes these facts is to not try and segregate sports by sex at all.
How many people without a Y chromosome do you think would make non-segregated pro sports teams?
The only self-consistent solution that recognizes these facts is to not try and segregate sports by sex at all.
2008 Olympic Qualifying Mark, Men's 100m Dash: 10.28 seconds
Current World Record, Women's 100m Dash: 10.49 seconds, Florence Griffith Joyner
In order to even get to go to the Olympics in the 100m in a non-segregated event, a woman would have to beat the current women's world record for the 100m by two tenths of a second. That's why sports are segregated for sex. If they weren't, women wouldn't be able to compete at the elite level in many sports.
Some of the comments on the All Things Being Equal comic just make me weep. Reminds me of ignorant people I have discussions with all the time with their "women and men (or races) are equal in the work place now! I have a female (african-american/asian/hispanic) boss!" and you try to tell them otherwise and it gets into the women prefer lower paying jobs, women gots to take care of the children, men handle stress better, etc. etc. that makes me wanna scream and punch people in the throat. D:
This is a reminder of why I tend to only read comments sections on heavily feminist sites. I get enough of those infuriating comments in real life, I'd like to have a few safe (or safe enough) places where I don't always feel like I'm being attacked.
The All things being equal comic is amusing but it fails by using gonads outside = man, gonads inside = woman.
I don't think it says that. It says gonads outside = paid more, gonads inside = paid less. No mention at all about how people of such configurations personally identify.
I did like the commenter who noted that for people of color, the numbers are both much lower, and women are still paid less.
correct my last sentence: people with inside gonads are still paid less. Of course such people often identify as women, but not always. Didn't mean to ignore trans men and genderqueer folks.
"No mention at all about how people of such configurations personally identify. "
"correct my last sentence: people with inside gonads are still paid less. Of course such people often identify as women, but not always. Didn't mean to ignore trans men and genderqueer folks."
Not necessarily. You seem to be under the impression trans women get male privilege while trans men do not. Of course it is all a matter of blending but trans women fall into the lower pay category while trans men will fall into the higher pay category. Of course if trans people don't blend then they might have trouble getting a job at all.
Replying to another comment by pmsrhino, I too appreciate the lack of trolls or ignorant statements here in this community. Today on another site that shall remain nameless I had to deal with a variety people who let emotion short-circuit their ability to reason fairly, and it's never pleasant to have to deal with someone who isn't being rational.
The subject of Ted Kennedy draws so much sanctimonious ire from the right (and from people who type in all caps) that it really makes me sad.
The West Virginia case seriously freaks the shit out of me. I am appalled by the defense attorney's blatant misogyny. It's mind-boggling to me how heartless he got, and how easily he turned these women into disposable objects. When I read about men saying things like that, or hear men say things like that, I immediately panic because I know, a lot of men think that way and our society encourages that line of thinking.
I am very, very close to someone who is a sex worker (male escort, to be exact) and it terrifies me to no end that one of his johns will attack him one day, because it's totally okay, you know, cause he's a "whore." I am terrified of this every single time he goes out.
This could be old news that I didn't see posted but did anyone see this?
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2009/04/15/hbo_womens_studies/
new show in the works called Women Studies on HBO? Sounds interesting.
re: the West Virginia case - in addition to being made ill by the things that were said by Gravely's defense attorney (seriously?), I'm also appalled that the judge allowed him to go on ... and the parents of the kids he coached who dressed them up and sent them to the trial ... what are they teaching their sons by sending them to stand in solidarity with an ADMITTED SERIAL RAPIST?!
I'm glad the prosecutor said it like it is: you may disagree with sex work, but no one deserves to be raped and everyone deserves to be protected from violent crimes such as this.
or the defense attorney:
"They are not like your wife, your girlfriend or your daughter..."
but chances are they are somebody's wife/girlfriend/daughter/sister/friend/co-worker.
DIAF asshole!
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Quebec strip abortion from a bill requiring specialty medical centers to perform certain procedures in an OR.