No surprises

G20 protest videos: Growing catalogue of evidence against police


See previous post.

What A Woman 2!

This Woman, Maureen Lipman, an actress with more than 40 years experience behind her has written to Daily Telegraph theatre critic, Charles Spencer, who described her as "a wildly unlikely grande horizontale who is supposed to have slept her way round most of the royal families of Europe" in his review of A Little Night Music at the Garrick because of her angular looks. Slagged of for not being fit enough by a man too gnome like to be a theatre critic (in my opinion)? Good grief.

Lipman wrote to Spencer is response to his review enclosing pictures of homely women in history who have won the hearts of kings and aristocrats including Wallis Simpson and The Countess of Wessex. I think the photographs uncessary (sure I get the point, but doesn't sending pictures of women often called ugly lend creedence to the idea that what you look like matters?), the letter too. I would have just picked up the phone and bellowed 'FUCK OFF'. I imagine my feelings would have been perfectly clear.

What A Woman!

All evening I've been reading stories about this woman. Kari Ferrell, a 21 year old from Salt Lake City who has managed to steal more than $60,000 from various people in her home town and a variety of hipsters in New York. She even managed to get a job at Vice Magazine on the back of her charm, wit, a fake job at GoldenVoice and a massive set of balls. Now I know I shouldn't idolise theives and liars who bring untold levels of pain to the people around them, but there's something a little bit sexy about being able to use your looks, wits and front to make a living. Right? Right? Anyway Utah have extradited her and she's bound to go to jail. Hopefully when she gets out she wont see this blogpost and think me a kindred spirit. I don't have enough cash to keep her in tattoos and 'cancer' treatments.

Read articles from
The New York Observer
Gawker Media

Amazon Fail Update

So Amazon are explaining away the removal of sales ranks from gay, lesbian and sex-related literature as a 'glitch' that they are trying to fix. The internet is ablaze with conspiracy theories More news below.

Publishers Weekly

Salon.Com

And yes, Jezebel

Amazon Rank

So it turns out that Amazon.com have been removing the sales rankings from Gay and Lesbian literature titles that they sell on their site. No big deal right? Well wrong, removing the sales ranks from a book keeps the book out of the best seller lists and off customer's minds. Their excuse is 'Please Think Of The Children!!!!!' or Amazon is used by everyone and that adult items need to be classified seperately. But as it stands, you can still see the sales rank on Rampant Rabbits, Clit Massagers and Ron Jeremy's Biography but not Heather Has Two Mommies, Queer Theory, Gender Theory; An Instant Primer or Ellen Degeneres' biography. This is bigoted, wrong-headed, illogical nonsense. It means that when you search for homosexuality on Amazon you get this list. A list that begins with 'A Parent's Guide To Preventing Homosexuality' and continues in pretty much the same vein (bar a few children's books - they'll be gone next as it's them we're thinking of, of course) is hardly representative and I don't want my reading and my moral viewpoint on homosexuality to be dictated to me by bloody Amazon!

It started with gay and lesbian books and now books containing sexual content are also gone, Delta of Venus - Bye, Lady Chatterly's Lover (Of course banned in the UK until 1960) - Later.

LiveJournal community MetaWriter are keeping a list of all the books affected. Peruse and wonder whether this is really 2009.

Oh and here's a link to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Google Bombing page. Amazon Rank. Link to it, if you feel the need.

BEHOLD! The coming of God.

Sorry. Dog.

BO!

Happy Easter.

More News

This stuff isn't as heavy as death...

I have a real love/hate relationship with Women's issue blog Jezebel. At first I loved it, loads and loads of female-centric news stories, articles about sexism in the US presidential elections, and an opportunity to talk to other women about the issues that are close to my womanly bosom (failures of the police to catch rape, attitudes to women in the West and everywhere else, the sexualisation of young girls). But good Lord I mostly hate it now. In their desperation to keep the blog as light as it is serious, they're clogging the pages up with daily (at least!) stories about Lindsay Lohan, clips from trashy exploitative reality television shows like Bad Girls Club and Rock Of Love, and posting mean comments about pretty inoffensive women that they don't like (Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston, Nadya Suleman please stand up) while lecturing posters on Girl-On-Girl crime*. 

They also like to fly off the handle, take this for example. This Youtube vlogger Jesusophile posts a litany (arf!) of pro-Christian videos on Youtube and his latest video 'Why It Is Okay For Sex To Hurt The Vagina' got Jezebel editors and commenters really riled up. I watched about 2 minutes of the video and it was pretty clear to me (and most of the Youtube commenters) that this guy is a troll, posting outrageous things for attention. But most Jezebel commenters didn't look at it critically and just posted earnest messages about not caring what God thinks about their vaginas and punching him in the face. 

This is what I hate, hate, hate about Jezebel (along with the frankly unfunny and often mean Pot Psychology - A word of advice, sure you guys are stoned but if someone writes in with a serious worry and you can't give a serious answer, skip it). A lot of the commenters will dive in head first and write embarrassing comments without actually studying the evidence. 

I most definitely describe  myself as a feminist, I respect myself and other women, but unlike some Jezebel commenters I'm not blind to our faults. In order to be taken seriously, we need to be serious, (not all the time), but a blog that purports to reflect the views and interests of today's young feminists can not be posting videos of women in bikinis fighting over men and calling each other bitch when we know that these programmes denigrate and humiliate women for the benefit of the public, so why give them the oxygen of our attention? Why post pictures of cute cats all day so that everyone can comment with 'Awwww' and 'Nom Nom Nom' ad infinitum? Why are Barack Obama's abs more important than his policy, while they complain about Michelle Obama being reduced to mannequin? I mean, if Gawker Media commenters take the piss out of you, you know something is wrong.

Oh and of course there was Rape-gate last year. Moe Tkacik (who now solely works for Gawker) and Tracie Egan aka 'Slut Machine' (who has recently got engaged and funnily enough, now not so comfortable with being known by her former moniker). The two editors went on the Shoot The Messenger Show, got drunk and made some really questionable statements about women who  are raped ('they are like, not smart'), birth control ('pulling out is like, fun') and date rape. Forgive me, but I can't take birth control advice from anyone called Slut Machine/has herpes. 

Click for reportage by interviewer Lizz Winstead.

That may sound completely bitchy and Girl-On-Girl crimey** but I was and still am completely appalled by the things that these women said. Calling into question the intelligence of women who have been raped just because you have been lucky enough not to be is just not on, and then to continue to call yourself a feminist after that is just fucking stupid. But some women are of the opinion that what Tracie said was ok, and that the rest of us are hypocritical and stupid for being of any other opinion. I despair. You can't justify the fact that you've said some really stupid things by saying 'Oh I always stupid things, now chill out grandma!' It just makes you look like a douche. 

Anyway, if anyone can suggest a less hateable blog with a feminist slant, please do.

*Are we really referring to women as 'girls' on a feminist website? Really?

** Seriously. Really?