Shakesville

The Virtual Pub Is Open

2009-11-20T23:59:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your screen name...

TFIF, Shakers!

Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison.

Quote of the Day

2009-11-20T17:22:00.002-06:00

[Trigger warning.]

"If they were put in front of me I'd probably watch it."—Billy Arnone, Carrie Prejean's brother, on his sister's sex tapes, in an interview with Radar Online, during which, btw, he was wearing a t-shirt reading "Loose Lips."

Seriously: WTF? I don't even know how to deal with that.

I know this makes me the Queen of Obvious Statements, but there is something deeply, deeply wrong with our culture.

Today in Rape Culture

2009-11-20T16:14:00.001-06:00

[Trigger warning.]

In three parts...

Part One: Shaker Richard Gadsen emails about this theater review in The Guardian, in which Mark Lawson wonders if he should have walked out on a play in which there was objectionable content about sexual assault:

It's a rightly angry play and I shared the writer's rage, until a moment when it turned against him. A young woman, Dora, is raped by three of her classmates in turn. The characters look back on the action of the past – from either old age or the afterlife, depending on their luck – and Dora's reflections on this violation are: "I screamed, but I could feel myself getting wet … I felt a pleasure I'd never known … I'd been raped by that pack of savages and I'd actually felt pleasure."

My first reaction was to hope for a mishearing caused by the actress's mumbling or my ageing ears. But the published text was on my knee and the lines had been crisply delivered as written. I have never believed in censorship, but it struck me that these words, though possibly tolerable if spoken as personal testimony in a documentary, have no justification when given by a male writer to a female fictional character because they appear to validate one of the nastiest and most discredited of male fantasies. Even more queasily, the speech is an incidental detail, irrelevant to the main business of the play.

Lawson reports that no other reviewers have noted the passage that angered him, despite the fact that "there was angry discussion among women in the audience the night I went."

Women (and men) can become physically aroused while being sexually assaulted. But Lawson's point is well-made: It is a very different thing for an actual survivor to report such an event, and quite another for a male playwright to put it in the mouth of a female character, with no evident purpose or relevance to the central plot.

The dialogue could have a conceivable rationale—if, for example, the play were about a rape trial in which a defense attorney were trying to use evidence of a victim's arousal to discredit the accusation of sexual assault (which has happened in real life). But stuck in randomly, it serves the exact function that Lawson describes, "to validate one of the nastiest and most discredited of male fantasies," that women secretly enjoy rape.

Part Two: Shaker Keeks emails about this dreadful post at Waiter Rant, in which "Waiter" compares no one helping Kitty Genovese while she was being raped and murdered to everyone thinking someone else is leaving the tip at a restaurant. Seriously.

Now I'm not making light of Ms. Genovese's murder, but if you've ever watched a large party in a restaurant divvy up a bill you'll see the same "diffusion of responsibility" thing at work. In many cases patrons think the host or the "other guy" is going to leave the tip so they don't throw in. The result? The waiter often gets a bad tip or no tip at all.

You gotta love someone who can, with a straight face, follow "I'm not making light of Ms. Genovese's murder" with a comparison of her murder to being stiffed on a tip.

Here's the thing: It's possible to explain diffusion of responsibility without invoking the gruesome attack on Kitty Genovese. For example: "You know how everyone in a workplace always thinks someone else is going to throw spoiled crap out of the refrigerator?" See how easy that is? No equating rape-murder with something not even in the same galaxy required.

Part Three: Shaker Katecontinued emails about this PSA about chemical cleaners, which was approvingly posted at TreeHugger with the note that it's "hilarious."

Musical jingle, as if a typical cleaning commercial, as cartoon bubbles race around bathtub grinning and a woman watches them contentedly, bopping to the tune: Shiny Suds / We're Shiny Suds / We shine like only Shiny Suds / Shiny Suds do a shinetastic job / A shinetastic job!

[edit; the same woman is walking into the bathroom clad in only a bathrobe; she yells over her shoulder "Breakfast in 20!" just before closing the bathroom door to indicate it's the next morning; she takes off her robe, yawns, and pulls back the shower curtain, where the Shiny Suds are still hanging out]

Shiny Suds [all male voices]: Morning!

Woman: What the f-?! [she jumps back and wraps herself in the shower curtain]

Leader of Shiny Suds [deep male voice]: You forgotten us already? [the Shiny Suds laugh]

Woman: Why are you still here?

Leader of Shiny Suds: We're still here because you sprayed us here.

Another of the Shiny Suds: We're chemical residue left over from your cleaner.

Another One: Made from toxic ingredients. We give you the impression of clean-

Another One: -and then we get to watch you clean! [the Shiny Suds laugh]

Leader of Shiny Suds: Now, if you please...

Another One: Scrubsy-dubsy, baby.

[Woman looks freaked out and reluctant.]

Another One: You don't wanna be late for work! Awwww.

Another One: Get in the tub, please.

[edit; woman is now in shower, washing herself, with her arms tight, to try to keep her breasts covered; the Shiny Suds are shouting and leering]

Shiny Suds: Oh, yeah! Woo! You know you want it! Wow! Look at you! [she balances on one leg to hide her genitals] That's doing wonders for your core!

[cut to close-up of Shiny Suds gawking up at her, panting]

Leader of Shiny Suds: Use the loofah.

Shiny Suds: LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH! [she reaches down and quickly grabs the loofah] Wooooooooooo! Yeah! Woo! All right!

[They celebrate by singing the Shiny Suds jingle, as we see the woman through the shower curtain, crouching and trying to keep herself covered while she cleans herself.]

Text Onscreen: You deserve to know what chemicals are in your cleaners. Support the Household Product Labeling Acts.

[Woman drops loofah. One of the Shiny Suds says, "Oopsy-daisy!" When she reaches down for it, they whoop.]

Wow.

Daily Kitteh

2009-11-20T15:01:00.001-06:00

Fluffy

Lazy

Small

Friday Blogaround

2009-11-20T14:48:00.000-06:00

This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of CaitieCat's Wootmobile.

Recommended Reading:

Marti: The Daily Transadvocate Twitter Digest

Anna: 60th Disability Blog Carnival: Intersectionality

Lauredhel: Rape Is Now a Girl's "Secret Sex Shame," Says Brisbane Times

Resistance: The Browning of Disease, Part IV

Melissa: Sexism Watch: Hollywood Reporter's Cinematographer Roundtable

Leave your links in comments...

Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"

2009-11-20T14:13:00.001-06:00

[Trigger warning. Background.]

Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.

Meet-Up Reminder

2009-11-20T13:36:00.003-06:00

The Chicagoland Meet-Up is this Sunday! If you want to come and/or need any information about time, location, directions, parking, public transportation, etc. email me, or our organizing guru Red Sonja (at sonja1023-at-gmail-dot-com).

Also: Anyone coming from southern Indiana/northern Kentucky direction besides Screaming Lemur, or anyone who would if they had someone with whom to travel? If so, let me know!

Liberty and Justice for All

2009-11-20T13:29:00.001-06:00

We discussed Will Phillips, the adorable 10-year-old Arkansas kid who is refusing to say the Pledge in class because he recognizes that there actually is "liberty and justice for all," in a thread earlier in the week, but there hasn't been a main-page post and I'm getting lots of emails about him. He is just about the cutest thing ever, so here's the video, with transcript below. Enjoy!

John Roberts, CNN Anchor: A 10-year-old boy from Arkansas is taking a stand by sitting down. Will Philips is refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag in his fifth grade classroom until there really is, as the pledge says, liberty and justice for all. That is, he says, until gays and lesbians have equal rights. Joining us now in an exclusive interview are Will Phillips and his father, Jay. They're in West Fork, Arkansas for us this morning. Will and Jay, good to see you this morning. Thanks very much for being with us. And Will, let me ask you first of all, when did you decide that you weren't going to stand up and recite the pledge?

Will Phillips: I decided that I was going to do that the weekend before when I did it. Um, I was analyzing the meanings of it, because I want to be a lawyer.

Roberts: Mm-hmm. All right. So what did you decide in "analyzing the meanings of it" that caused you not to stand up and recite the pledge?

Will Phillips: Well, I looked at the end and it said "with liberty and justice for all." And there really isn't liberty and justice for all. There's—um, uh, gays and lesbians can't marry.

Roberts: Mm-hmm.

Will Phillips: Um, uh, there's still a lot of racism and sexism in the world, um, yeah.

Roberts: All right. So you, so you think that the country isn't living up to the ideals of the pledge and you took it upon yourself to sit down and not recite the pledge of allegiance until the country comes in line with, to embody the ideals that are embodied in the pledge?

Will Phillips: Yes!

Roberts: All right. So, your teacher, who is a substitute teacher at the time, was giving you some grief about not standing up. And this went on for a few days. What did you eventually say to that teacher?

Will Phillips: I eventually very solemnly with a little bit of malice in my voice said, "Ma'am, with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge."

[Roberts chuckles; Jay Phillips rolls his eyes and covers his face in an amusing way.]

Roberts: [trying not to laugh] You said, solemnly, with a little bit of malice in your voice, maybe you can go jump off a bridge. And we saw your dad, Jay, put his face in his hands just then. That obviously, Jay, earned him a trip to the principal's office, and you were contacted after that; what did you think when you heard what was going on there at school?

Jay Phillips [Will's father]: Well, my, my initial response was, uh, measured and considered, thoughtful and was—uh, he's dead. That's it. He's, he's doomed! [Phillips is obviously kidding and Roberts laughs.] Uh, however, when I got home and I talked to him, the more I heard from him, the more it became apparent that this wasn't a typical act of juvenile delinquency. This was a very atypical act of juvenile delinquency. He, uh, he just made it clear that he sat for four days and, uh, took brunt of the criticism. And reminded her that it was his first amendment right and that he didn't have to stand or say the pledge. And on the fourth day, he lost his temper. Now, he did apologize in writing to the teacher and we really, really want to emphasize that we have a wonderful school district, a wonderful town. This is a great community and that the teacher, in our opinion, was just trying to—

Roberts: Gotcha.

Jay Phillips: —to handle what probably to her seemed like a student who was trying to give the, uh, fill-in teacher a hard time.

Roberts: Gotcha. All right. Let's bring in Will here again. Will, why is this issue so important to you that you would commit, as your dad said, this atypical act of juvenile delinquency?

Will Phillips: Because I have many— I've grown up with a lot of people and good friends with a lot of people that are gay and I really—I think they should have the rights all people should. And I'm not going to swear that they do.

Roberts: So, so what's the reaction been from your fellow students at school to you not standing up for the pledge and the views that you hold about this issue?

Will Phillips: Not very good. They've, um, taken from what I said an assumption that I'm gay and in the halls and the cafeteria, I've been repeatedly called a gay wad.

Roberts: A gay wad. What's a gay wad?

Will Phillips: I really don't know. It's a discriminatory name for homosexuals.

Roberts: Okay. All right. Well, Jay, were you prepared—this has obviously gone well beyond the school; this is the sort of thing as you know gains the attention of the national media—were you prepared for the type of reaction, both positive and negative, that your son's actions have precipitated?

Jay Phillips: Well, actually, uh, before we heard from anybody, my first thought was oh, my god, this is the type of thing you see on CNN. [Roberts laughs.] And I sat down and talked to him and I said, uh, you know, you realize there's potentially severe ramifications to this. And we ran through everything and his words to me were that if there was a chance to talk to the local newspaper or something like that, that he wanted—he saw it as an opportunity to, uh, raise awareness and for education and he was very, very clear in that he felt that just because he's 10 years old doesn't mean he doesn't have opinions—

Roberts: Right.

Jay Phillips: —it doesn't mean he doesn't have rights and doesn't mean that he can't make a difference.

Roberts: He does seem to have very strong opinions, we should say, and obviously they are very reasoned out. We should say that he's an extraordinarily bright child. He skipped the fourth grade, went right from the third grade to the fifth grade. But Will, as we prepare to leave you here, what will it take for you to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance? And I ask this question based on what we saw in the off-year election just a couple of weeks ago: A same-sex marriage initiative was put to the test, put to the voters in the state of Maine, and every state across the nation where it has been put to the voters, it has gone down to defeat. So, the Democratic process is taking place here; it seems to be something that voters at large do not support. So what will it take for you to return to saying the pledge?

Will Phillips: For there to truly be liberty and justice for all.

Roberts: And what does that entail?

Will Phillips: That entails everyone being able to marry.

Roberts: All right. Will Phillips, Jay Phillips, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll keep watching the story. It's certainly an interesting one.

[Roberts waits for Will to say something; Jay nudges him and Will nods sagely. There is laughter in the studio.]

Roberts: Wow. He's got his arguments down.

Kiran Chetry, CNN Anchor: He does. He's a really, really well-spoken little kid.

Roberts: He is and he is certainly impassioned about this as well.

Chetry: He is!

Civil Disobedience Against Laws of Choice

2009-11-20T12:55:00.001-06:00

Shaker Eastsidekate emails:

Fundamentalist Leaders Pledge Civil Disobedience.

There's too much stuff to parse here. Among other things, I'm not sure when these folks are going to actually break any of the non laws they're complaining about (call me when the federal government compels the Orthodox Church in America to perform abortions, or to pay taxes). I also wonder what will happen if any of these folks break any laws. Are they really ready to go to jail? I suppose Chuck Colson already has experience as a political prisoner. /snark.

Discuss.

Listen Up!

2009-11-20T11:45:00.001-06:00

My inquiry yesterday into listener submissions for a special edition of Radio Shakesville seems to have generated some real interest. Awesome. Totally awesome.

(I will be posting up info on how and where to submit your contributions after the holidays. So get your recordings together now. Unless you're a procastinator, in which case, don't. Wevs.)

And as sad as I am that there may not be a tuba sonata sent in, let me be clear: Any and all submissions are welcome. Lo-fi, hi-fi, refried, covers, originals, mash-ups, audio collages, poems, rants, classical, jazz, disco, country, or even your rap about H1N1. I'm not excluding anything at this point. I'll listen to whatever you're willing to send.

And for anyone who is shy or thinks they're just not up to snuff, give this a whirl:

Sing, asshole, sing!

There is no way you could be any worse than that.

What I really want to know is, Liss, did you have to look up the lyrics, or did you recite this from heart? And what the fuck is the Pony?

The Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report

2009-11-20T11:36:00.000-06:00

[I'm posting this today at CaitieCat's request, because she's on the road today, headed this way. Woot!]

Time for another opportunity to show off your mad teaspoonin' skillz, Shakers! Drop into comments your recent act(s) of teaspooning.

ô,ôP

Caitie's Reminder: "The teaspoon is an indivisible unit. If you done some, you done a whole teaspoonsworth. Be proud of your acts, no matter how small they seem, because that's how teaspoons work: little by little, the ocean gets emptied. And there's no scale for determining whether something is or isn't a teaspoon - no sizism here!"

[We're sticking with the "no congratulations" rule for now, until Caitie's had a chance to go through this thread, in which comments are still welcome.]

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

2009-11-20T11:10:00.000-06:00

[Trigger warning.]

Media Matters has noticed that prominent members of the conservative media sure love using "rape" as a metaphor (note the number of times it's used to accuse progressives of "raping" their fellow Americans):

[Transcript below.]
There's plenty more where that came from. Over at conservative cesspool Townhall, you can find Thomas Sowell writing about "The Rape of Justice," and Dennis Prager explaining "The Rape of a Name Is Also Rape," and Mike Adams bemoaning "The Intellectual Rape of Scott Savage." Et cetera.

It's not just the guys, either: Ann Coulter, for example, is fond of saying that God gave humans the earth to "rape it."

Let's do this again, shall we? The appropriate use of the word rape is to describe the act of forcing or coercing a person into a nonconsensual sex act. The End.

This is, by the way, a lesson not a few fauxgressives could take to heart, too.

Title Card: Why are so many media conservatives so obsessed with rape?

Rush Limbaugh [on video clip]: Well, isn't this good?! Get ready to get gang-raped again folks!

Rush Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled June 5, 2006]: Let me just put it in graphic terms. It is gonna be a gang rape. There is going to be a gang rape by a Democratic Party—

Michael Savage [audio clip from his radio show, labeled June 16, 2008]: —mental rape that's going on. The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia. That's my position! They're raping our children's minds!

Glenn Beck [on video clip]: —you know, pretty much raping the pocketbooks of the rich to give to the poor—

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled January 13, 2006]: It's nothing other than a government-sanctioned rape.

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled May 27, 2009]: We need somebody on the Supreme Court who can understand how people in the private sector are getting raped by this administration.

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled January 22, 2009]: Obama said "You get up there, and you rape 'em."

Neal Boortz [audio clip from his radio show, labeled June 30, 2009]: They're gonna rape us. They're gonna bend us over, and nail us, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it.

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled May 6, 2009]: He thinks these people should have something for nothing because they have been raped! The union people and the disadvantaged, the downtrodden, the poor, have effectively been raped by American capitalism.

Beck [audio clip from his radio show, labeled November 19, 2009]: People in New York, you're being raped by your government. Raped!

Savage [audio clip from his radio show, labeled April 20, 2009]: Obama is raping America. Obama is raping our values. Obama is raping our democracy.

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled June 24, 2009]: He's like a lotta other dictators. He's got the private sector, and he thinks it's always gonna be there to be raped!

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled July 1, 2009]: The way you get all this stuff done, if you're Obama, is you simply insult the intelligence of the average American, call whatever you're gonna— You could legalize rape and call it the "consumer something" and it would pass.

Savage [audio clip from his radio show, labeled August 5, 2008]: —the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America—

Limbaugh [audio clip from his radio show, labeled July 1, 2009]: Likewise you could legalize rape and call it the Civil Rights Act of 2009 and it would probably pass.

Savage [audio clip from his radio show, labeled August 5, 2008]: The Statue of Liberty is crying; she's been raped and disheveled. Raped and disheveled by illegal aliens! But you turn on the cable news networks? Missing children, rape. Rape, missing children, missing children, rape. Rape, missing children, rape, missing children, missing children, rape! How about missing country and the rape of a nation? Why don't they cover the real story?

Beck [on video clip]: We're the young girl saying [puts on scared voice and crying face] "No, no—help me!" [back to regular voice] and the government is Roman Polanski.

Title Card: Media Matters for America. mediamatters.org

I See We're Still In Stage One: Denial

2009-11-20T10:00:00.002-06:00

Clap your hands as hard as you can, Republicans. That still won't make it true.

The poll asked this question: “Do you think that Barack Obama legitimately won the Presidential election last year, or do you think that ACORN stole it for him?” The overall top-line is legitimately won 62%, ACORN stole it 26%.

Among Republicans, however, only 27% say Obama actually won the race, with 52% — an outright majority — saying that ACORN stole it, and 21% are undecided. Among McCain voters, the breakdown is 31%-49%-20%. By comparison, independents weigh in at 72%-18%-10%, and Democrats are 86%-9%-4%.

Look, folks... if you really think ACORN could possibly have that much power, you're either being dishonest, or you're indulging in a collective fantasy.

And I guess those bajillions of people celebrating in Grant Park election night were there to catch fireflies.

This one never gets old.

2009-11-20T09:48:00.000-06:00

Shaker BethanyJo emails: "I saw a link to this, complete with thumbnail photo, on the front page of the 'lifestyle' section of msn.com. It shows a cooked turkey that has had foil put on it to look like it has bikini tan lines. Really made my stomach turn."

Called "the Suntanned Turkey," this one comes up every year around Thanksgiving. When I first blogged about it in 2007, it was going around in an email that came complete with this charming little bit of rhyming fat hatred:

May your stuffing be tasty; May your turkey plump.
May your potatoes and gravy have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious and your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs!
Yeah—'cuz if you're fat, no one will ever make a turkey that looks like you to carve apart in a ritualistic holiday feast! Or something.

I can't even begin to tell you how fast I would stand up and walk out of a Thanksgiving dinner (or any other dinner, for that matter) in which the main course had been anthropomorphized to evoke a woman, just before a carving knife was plunged into it.

Uncanny!

2009-11-20T09:39:00.002-06:00

I just opened my email to find this:

Subject: Found a picture of you visiting London!‏
From: CaitieCat
To: Liss

OMG, I can't believe this, it looks JUST LIKE YOU!

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!

Transgender Day of Remembrance

2009-11-20T09:25:00.000-06:00

And brothers.

Today marks the 11th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is set aside to memorialize those killed as a result of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice resulting from fear and ignorance. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 spawned the "Remembering Our Dead" online project and candlelight vigil.

This year, we remember: Yasmin and Noelia of Honduras, Taysia Elzy and Michael Hunt of Indianapolis, Kátia Otacílio Vilela and Marcela Cairo Souza of Jataí, Brazil, Alexa Rojas Castro of Monterrey, Mexico, Cynthia Nicole of Comayaguela, Honduras, Aline Da Silva Ribeira of Castelfranco Veneto, Italy, Caprice Curry of San Francisco, Rovilson Teixeira of Londrina, Brazil, Minja Kochis of Belgrade, Serbia, "Víctor Manuel" Albor Camacho and "Juan Carlos" Guillén Bautista of Acámbaro, Mexico, Nicole Castillo García of Tarapoto, Perú, Cita Solorzano of Asunción Ixtaltepec, Mexico, Camila Hernández Nieto of Sincelejo, Colombia, Noor Azlan Khamis of Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia, Will Teixeira da Silva of Recife, Brazil, "Ailton" Correa Maia, Juliana Martins, Fernanda Botelho, Jenifer, Dara, and Rafaele of Curitiba, Brazil, Cristy of Guatemala-City, Guatemala, Puttalakshmi of Bangalore, India, Camila Pereira of Uberlândia, Brazil, Cris Francisco das Neves of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Brazil, Vicky Londoño Chavarría of Ibagué, Columbia, Pequeña P of Gualeguaychú, Argentina, Miriam Nunes Lucas of Ribeirão das Neves, Brazil, Guimarães de Lima and "Wanderson Wanderley" Teixeira da Rocha of João Pessoa, Brazil, Kirsi Ubrí, Jeva Padilla, and Ramon Martinez of Santiago, Dominican Republic, "Julio" Avila Albarracín of Mar del Plata, Argentina, Ebru Soykan (aka Dilan Pirinc) and Hadise of Istanbul, Turkey, Adriana Sánchez López of Juchitan, Mexico, Eda Yildirm of Bursa, Turkey, Sasha Estefania of Caracas, Venezuela, Smail L. of Valencia, Spain, Gisela "Roni" Galante of Gualeguaychú, Argentina, Melek K and Cagla of Ankara, Turkey, Jimmy McCollough (aka Image Devereux) of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Carneiro de Sousa of Fortaleza, Brazil, dos Santos of Varzea Grande, Brazil, Diksy Jones of Wellington, New Zealand, Tigresa de Souza Reis of Feira de Santana, Brazil, Xiomaran Duras of Caracas, Venezuela, Foxy Ivy of Detroit, Papucha of La Victoria, Peru, Kelly (Frederick) Watson and Terri Benally of Albuquerque, Tanya Ardón and Catherine of San Salvador, El Salvador, Carla Regina Bento of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Anita Fajardo Ríos of El Carmen, Mexico, Luana of Maceió, Brazil, Kamilla of Volgograd, Russia, Christopher Jermaine Scott of Philadelphia, Cesar Torres of El Paso, Beyonce (Eric) Lee of New Orleans, Kanan of Setapak, Malaysia, Tyli'a Mack (aka NaNa Boo) of Washington DC, Paulina Ibarra of East Hollywood, Kristina Muça of Tirana, Albania, Andrea Waddell of Brighton, UK, Destiny Lauren of London, UK, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado of Cayey, Puerto Rico, an unidentified victim in Gebze, Turkey, an unidentified victim in Milan, Italty, an unidentified victim in Guayaquil, Ecuador, an unidentified victim in Baltimore, an unidentified victim in Penang, Malaysia, an unidentified victim in Algeria, an unidentified victim in Honduras, nine unidentified victims in Guatemala, fourteen unidentified victims in Brazil, and eighteen unidentified victims in Venezuela, and all the other trans women and men around the world who lost their lives to transphobia this year, whose faces we never saw and names we never heard, because they were living on the margins of societies who did not respect nor want them.

Julia Serano, a trans activist and author of the oft-mentioned Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, has noted that transphobia kills not just by violent action, but apathetic inaction.

Trans people are often targeted for violence because their gender presentation, appearance and/or anatomy falls outside the norms of what is considered acceptable for a woman or man. A large percentage of trans people who are killed are prostitutes, and their murders often go unreported or underreported due to the public presumption that those engaged in sex work are not deserving of attention or somehow had it coming to them.

Some trans people are killed as the result of being denied medical services specifically because of their trans status, for example, Tyra Hunter, a transsexual woman who died in 1995 after being in a car accident. EMTs who arrived on the scene stopped providing her with medical care—and instead laughed and made slurs at her—upon discovering that she had male genitals.

Lacking federal employment protections, transgender men and women are at higher risk for lack of insurance, adding to the difficulty of securing routine medical care from welcoming practitioners. Transmen, for example, frequently have trouble locating accommodating gynecological services for annual pap smears, risking undiagnosed cervical cancer. The great 2001 documentary Southern Comfort spans the last year in the life of Robert Eads, who died of ovarian cancer after two dozen doctors refused him treatment.

That's the kind of hate crime that doesn't make headlines. Or even federal hate crimes statistics.

We remember all the victims of violence and apathy today.

The rest of the year, we must always be fierce advocates and allies together, so that we may never add a new name on a victims list ever again.

[Photo via LA IndyMedia's coverage of 2006's Day of Remembrance.]

What the Hell?

2009-11-20T09:15:00.000-06:00

Shaker Neilleast.

Neil is best known for playing Cousin Oliver in season six of Leave It to Beaver.
(If you've a ridiculous and/or embarrassing photo of yourself from your youth, please send it to shakerwhatthehell_at_yahoo_dot_com. I'll post them up as part of our series called What The Hell? so everyone can laugh at with you.)

[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, Rikibeth, MishaRN, CLD, Cheezwiz, MamaCarrie, Temeraire, somebodyoranother, goldengirl, Liss (again), summerwing, yeomanpip, Susan811, bbl, Deeky (Part II), A Daily Shakesville Fan, Sami_J, liberalandproud, Temeraire: Redux, Mama Shakes II, Bonus Deeky, OuyangDan, J.Goff, Iain, Talonas, The Great Indoors, gogo, kiwi_a, em_and_ink, Tik_bev, phdintraining, Deeky Freakhands, busydani, Jenny Anne, rowmyboat, DesertRose, Steve/Pido, Anne Onymous, phredrika, The Last of the Famous International Deekys, Iain, Another Mustang Bobby, mkp-hearts-nyc, Arvan, Norbizness, Electrasteph, SteffaB, molliecat, Aestas, catvoncat, Filthy Grandeur, Shelly, Mighty Doll, IraeNicole, sevenhelz, the Shaker Halloween Special, and Mistress Sparkletoes.]

Open Thread

2009-11-20T08:00:00.001-06:00

Hosted by Kirk Cameron's best friend from Growing Pains: Boner Stabone.

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

2009-11-20T07:13:00.000-06:00

Plastic Man

Question of the Day

2009-11-19T18:34:00.003-06:00

What's your favorite breakfast food?

Ironically, I love breakfast food, and it is the most important meal of the day, but I rarely, if ever, eat breakfast. I'm pretty standard, bacon & eggs* usually, but I'd say my top three are:

1. Corned Beef Hash (with eggs)
2. Steel-cut oatmeal
3. Bacon**

That's only if I don't include cereal. Because Boo Berry always wins.

* That's a shout-out to Liss, because she totes loooooves eggs.

** Okay, the bacon everything thing? You know, bacon mints, bacon candy, bacon belts, bacon wallets, bacon t-shirts, etc.? It's done. Stop it.

We Interrupt...

2009-11-19T18:00:00.000-06:00

...your regularly scheduled installment of "Conniving & Sinister" to bring you a very special episode of the Adventures of Spudsy:

OldCarHornsSingle CRT021303 sound bite Cartoon sound bites

"Gender is between your ears, not between your legs."

2009-11-19T17:18:00.000-06:00

Chaz Bono stopped by Good Morning America to talk about transitioning, and what it's like to be probably the most famous transitioning person in America.

[Transcript below, courtesy of Quixotess.]

Host, in TV studio: Now to a GMA exclusive, the American Psychological Association estimates that one in thirty thousand biological females in western countries have undergone a sex change. Chastity Bono, daughter of actress and performer Cher and the late Sonny Bono, was one of those women. Now, he's known as Chaz [camera shows us Chaz, also in the studio], and is coming forward to talk about his journey into manhood. This is a GMA exclusive.

[TV clip of Sonny and Cher, with toddler-age Chaz]

Sonny: Here's our own very special guest.

Cher: Tonight and every night.

Sonny: Our little girl Chastity. [To Chaz] Say goodnight. Now's the time.

Lil Chaz [in toddler voice]: Goodnight everybody, God bless you!

[Sonny and Cher laugh lovingly, as does the audience]

Host [in voice, over more clips of the family]: We know her as Chastity Bono, the only daughter of the legendary Sonny and Cher. Sharing the stage with her famous parents in the seventies. Now, that same little girl has changed not only her name, but also her sex.

Switches to pictures of Chaz presenting as a man]. Chaz Bono is eight months into a four to five year process of becoming a man. So far, he's received hormone treatments, and surgery to remove both breasts. The treatments have resulted in his voice deepening--he even has to shave his face. These exclusive photos give us the first glimpse into Chaz's life since the surgery. Joined at home with his girlfriend Jennifer and their three dogs.

[Switches back to the first clip of Sonny, Cher, and Lil Chaz. Sonny and Cher are singing "I Got You Babe." Continues with old pictures and clips. Host continues:] Chaz says while growing up as a little girl, he always felt more like a boy. Those feelings set off a long journey of self-discovery. As a young adult, Chaz, then Chastity, came out a lesbian--something mother Cher had difficulty coming to grips with.

[Clip of a previous interview of Chaz, presenting female] Chaz: She went ballistic and, you know, for a couple days, but very quickly came around, and, um, you know, we slowly started to work on it together, to the point where, you know now she's just really supportive.

Host [still in voiceover]: That was eleven years ago. Now, at the age of forty, Chaz has decided that the time is right to go through Gender Reassignment Surgery. In doing so, he's become the most public face of the transgender community.

[Back to Chaz and host in studio.]

Host: We're joined now by Chaz. Obviously it's great to have--

Chaz: Thanks, thanks, great to be here.

Host: Let me ask you something.

Chaz: Mm-hm.

Host: When you see all these different looks of yourself--

Chaz: Yeah.

Host: --do you feel that now, finally, when you look in the mirror, you see you?

Chaz: Getting there, yeah. You know, getting there. I mean, I've only been on hormone therapy for about eight months now. So there's been definite changes, and I feel so much more comfortable than I've ever been. And, but, um, you know, more--more to come.

Host: There is the physical--

Chaz: Mm-hm. Yep.

Host: --involved. There is the emotional. There is the personal, with your own relationship with Jennifer.

Chaz: Mm-hm. Yes.

Host: Dealing with your family, and the public.

Chaz: Yeah.

Host: How do you order the difficulties that you've had to go through, to do what you wanted to do?

Chaz: Um, I think probably the first thing that was just an incredible hurdle, was the idea that I wasn't gonna be able to do this privately, like most people can.

Host: Mm-hm.

Chaz: And that, that took a really long time to get over. And then, I think it was about, um, dealing with the people in my life and how it was gonna affect them. And finally, um, it came down to, you know, realizing that I've gotta live my life for myself. And life is short, and life is precious. And, you know, this is who I am, I need to finally be who I am.

Host: And that's the main question here, right? Cause people think gender--

Chaz: Mm-hm.

Host: --They think, "well, it's how you're born."

Chaz: Right.

Host: "That's what you are." The way you look, basically, that's what--what your appetites are, how you feel, that's different, But you are what you look like.

Chaz: Right.

Host: Is that true?

Chaz: No. I mean, to me, gender is between your ears, not between your legs. ANd, um, you know, I've felt male as far back as I can remember. And, um--

Host: Now, what does that mean? Unpack that for me, Chaz.

Chaz: Sure.

Host: When you say, "I felt male,"

Chaz: As a--as a--I mean, as a child, it was really clear. I felt like a boy. I felt like one of the boys, my friends were boys, um, you know, in school I related to boys. I was one of them. If a--if a game broke out, boys against the girls, I was with the boys. And, um, and then as I--as you get older, it gets more confusing. Because suddenly there's more pressure to fit into your assigned gender identity. And so it becomes really confusing, and a lot of F to Ms--female to male transgender people--end up doing a stint in the lesbian community. Because it just kind of makes sense, and that's, that's what happened to me. I mean, at--at thirteen, fourteen, I was real clear at that point that I was attracted to women. And so it was like "attracted to women, I am a woman, I guess I'm a lesbian," and, uh--

Host: But that's the simple answer, right?

Chaz: That's the simple answer.

Host: Because the--who you're attracted to, you're saying--

Chaz: It has nothing to do with your gender identity. And a lot of people find that really confusing, but they're two completely different things, you know. One is, is how you view yourself, and how you feel, and the other one is who you're attracted to.

Host: And it's also important to know: this is very hard. This [gestures between the two of them, indicating he's talking about the interview] is hard, you don't wanna have to do this. But the process, this is not an easy decision.

Chaz: No. This was a very difficult decision to make, um, but it's the best decision I've ever made, So I'm--I mean, I'm happier, I'm more confident, you know, I feel great. I mean, I feel great. And, um, you know--it would almost be easy to say "Why did I wait so long to do this?" except, but I'm a person who believes that things happen when they're sposed to happen--

Host: Mm.

Chaz: --and, you know, I was ready when I was ready, and, life is just...great, now. It's just really great.

Host: What scares you the most about all this?

Chaz: Nothing, now. Absolutely nothing.

Host: "Now," meaning why?

Chaz: Um, meaning, you know, I needed to work through the things that scared me in order to start this journey. And, so, at this point nothing scares me, I mean, um, you know, I'm living--I'm living the life that I've always wanted to live now. And that's amazing, so.

Host: So how do you take on both roles, of "I'm gonna be Chaz, this is who I am," you've made it right with Jennifer, you have to deal with your mom and all your family--

Chaz: Mm-hm.

Host: --but also now you're gonna be the public face. You somehow have to campaign for this.

Chaz: Um, I don't, you know, I don't think I'm, I'm looking at it as campaigning. I--I--you know, struggled a lot getting here. If, if by being public about it, other people can see this and not have to struggle quite as much as I did, then I'm really happy to do that. And if I can, you know, help make things easier legislation-wise, you know, I'm happy to so that as well. I mean, that's some--I've been an activist in the LGBT community for a long time, I don't really think that anything's changed. I--I'll continue to do this, I'm just a little bit more focused on the T now than I was on the L and the G.

Host [laughs]: That's a good way to put it. Well, Chaz, if you're happy, we're happy for you.

Chaz: Right. Thanks for the--

Host [shaking hands]: Very nice to meet you.

Chaz: Very nice to meet you too.

Host: Appreciate you taking the opportunity to do an interview with us.

Chaz: Absolutely, it's my pleasure.

Host: Chaz Bono.

Gay/Trans Panic Defense. Again.

2009-11-19T16:35:00.000-06:00

[Trigger warning.]

Shakers Plover, Lena, and Peggy Sue have emailed me various articles about the murder in Puerto Rico of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, a gay man who was dismembered, decapitated, and his body partially burned.

His killer, who has confessed to the crime, has been identified Juan Antonio Martinez Matos, who claims he was

"looking for women" in a red light district last Friday. He had already been turned down several times, but Lopez Mercado, wearing a blue dress and boots, agreed to get in his car.

District Attorney Jose J. Bermudez says that in his confession, Martinez Matos said that he thought Lopez Mercado was a woman. The victim asked him for money and when he refused, Lopez Mercado pulled out a knife. When Martinez Matos realized that the teenager was actually male, he had a flashback to when he was raped in prison while he was serving a sentence for domestic violence. He then attacked Lopez Mercado.

Andy has more here on this horrendous case, which already also includes some appalling victim-blaming by the lead investigator: "People who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen."

Pedro Julio Serrano, Communications Manager for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and founded Puerto Rico Para Todas, said in a statement:

This is a terrible, terrible crime. While we are pleased that law enforcement has acted promptly in making an arrest, it is vital that the hate crimes angle be investigated. This horrendous killing of a young gay man shows no compassion or respect for the dignity of a human life. As someone who grew up in Puerto Rico and has been very active in its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, this is a heart-wrenching moment. Our hearts and sympathies go out to all of Jorge Steven López's loved ones at this difficult time. Justice must prevail.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has urged federal authorities to provide assistance to local law enforcement as requested and "as allowed by the new federal hate crimes law," and the FBI is reportedly investigating the forensic evidence.

There is a lot to process here, but one thing I want to note is that the prison rape narrative being included as part of the gay/trans panic defense almost certainly signals that the defense will rely on temporary insanity by way of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I am a rape survivor with PTSD. Being triggered can indeed evoke rage that manifests as self-harm or a compulsion to physically lash out.

And that is no justification for murder.

Daily Kitteh...with Wrinkly Puppeh!

2009-11-19T15:26:00.001-06:00

Kissin' kittehs Sybil and Emily.

And special guest star, Van.

The Nerve!

2009-11-19T14:22:00.000-06:00

A study has found that some fat people dare to think they're "normal." Oh noes! Get me to the fainting couch, Martha!

Here's the problem with "normal": The study found that about 10% of people who are deemed obese "misperceive that their body size is normal and think they don't need to lose weight."

Hmm. See, I think my body is normal. That doesn't mean I'm misperceiving my body size or fantasizing that I'm not fat. What it means is that I reject the notion there is a standard "normal" and think my body is normal for me.

Along the same lines:

Researchers asked 5,893 people, 54% of them women, to choose their present body size and ideal body size from a chart depicting nine human figures. The discrepancy between the two was used to measure how satisfied the participants were with their bodies.

Ideal for whom? The average person? Ideal based on what measure? The size of airline seats? Or what one's body does naturally, or does on mood stabilizers, or does when a trick knee has made exercise difficult, or does when on 500 calories a day? What?

Normal. Ideal.

These are words that aren't relevant if you genuinely care about people's health and not aesthetics. Except, perhaps, insomuch as what's normal and ideal for you.