My "Star Wars" Personality

Soylent Green is People!

And shashlik is white people!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN??

Kevin from Slant Truth needs help locating his brother. His name is Michael Patrick Vaughn, and he may be in California or somewhere on the west coast. If you have any information, please send an e-mail to Kevin. If not, pass along this picture and get the word out.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

I haven't been in the blogosphere for very long. Actually, I'm not even sure if my piddly little blog would count as a part of the blogosphere. Maybe I'm just floating around in space making little side trips to different spots that amuse me. And lately, as you can probably tell by most of my posts, I've been visiting a lot of progressive blogs.

I visit the feminist blogs because I'm very concerned with the way women are portrayed in the media. Through these blogs, I've also learned that there is a lot more going on concerning women's issues that often get glossed over or outright ignored in the mainstream media. Also, I've learned that feminists can get very bitchy if you don't agree with them 100%.

(Yeah, I said "bitchy". It's not like I had any pull in the feminist community anyway.)

It just seems as though there are these tenets you absolutely must follow in order to call yourself a true feminist. If you disagree with just one of them, then your ideals are questioned. I call bullshit.

Also, as a woman of color, I find that there are times when women of color - Asian women, Black women, Latina women, Hispanic women - are being disenfranchised, but I don't see White feminists rising up in arms like they should be. More often than not, it's not considered a feminist problem, but a POC (People of Color) problem. I've learned that I'm not the only person who feels this way. This problem has been occuring since the height of the feminist movement in the sixties, which is why many Black feminists refer to themselves as womanists rather than feminists.

Speaking of racial issues, I also like to visit anti-racism blogs. Not only do I like to see what's going on in the Black community, but I like to know about the Asian community, the Native American community, and the Latino community. Many of the stories that are shared are, of course, muted in mainstream media.

I read these blogs because I love to feel the passion through the writer's words. I read blogs telling stories of racial injustice and I remember the stories that my parents told me about seperate washrooms and movie theaters and how my dad sat on his front porch watching the National Guard tanks roll by during the riot after the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. I remember how it felt it felt the first time someone called me a nigger. (I remember how it felt the next time someone called me a nigger and I hit him in the face with my purse!)

I read the feminist blogs and I look at advertisments and television in a new light. (Is it really necessary to put a half-naked woman in a commercial just to sell anti-stink spray to men?) When I'm in a store or walking down the street, I'm not afraid to tell a guy to get lost if he says something nasty to me. If I see something lewd or offensive, I will say "that's not right."

And that's the part that gets so tiring. To me, it's just common sense: Racism, sexism, discrimination, and oppression occur on a daily basis and we need to stand up and fight back. I do understand that it's not a part of everyone's life. However, what I don't understand is why people don't see that it is a part of other people's lives. What frustrates me the most aren't ignorant dumbass trolls, it's the apologists.

Apologists are the ones who will say that a racially motivated action wasn't a racially motivated action because - and then they'll offer up some stupid dumbass excuse that shows the rest of the world that they've been living under a rock for all their miserable lives. Apologists are also the ones that will attempt to gloss over the blows of misogyny by - what else? - blaming the victim! Racist apologists like to toss out that their Black friend, Mexican roommate, and Asian wife totally agrees with them. Chauvinist apologists will whine about child support payments and not being able to know whether a not a girl (yes, girl) is too drunk to consent to sex. Here's a clue: If you have to ask: Just keep it in your pants! Both types of apologists like to throw out statistics, dates, and quotes that they googled moments earlier in order to try to make their point. They are so set on the notion that they are right and we - as women, as people of color, as the ones who have lived through this shit daily - could not possibly know what the hell we are talking about, that they completely tune us out.

Just like in the real world, right?

So we offer anecdoctal information. But they offer some lameass statistics that some 13 year-old posted on Wikipedia. We offer family history. They say it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and they want proof that said racism/sexism/elitism/oppression does exist.

Again, I call bullshit.

I already know that it exists because I see it and I live it. And I'm not wasting anymore time trying to get through your thick skull to make you see beyond your "white is right", "strong male species" world view. I know that there are people in this world, in this society, that are disenfranchised.

Now prove to me that there aren't.

Random Ramblings

• I went to the doctor's office yesterday. You know how at most doctors' offices the doctors will take notes on a legal pad or scribble them into your file? At this office, they roll in a table with a laptop and type while you talk about your symptoms. I can't help but wonder if all they're doing is checking my symptoms on WebMD.
• I never want to hear anyone disrespecting a Black sista's hairstyle when mess like this is considered "shear genius."
• And, in case you're wondering, I was pleasantly surprised when Imus was fired.

Link Dump: Procrastination Edition

Catirina Bonet Designs: What is she on and where can I get some?

The Cute Project: I wanna hug 'em! And Squeez 'em! And wuv 'em to itty bitty pieces!!

International Bra-Size Converter: Ever wonder what a 36D is in the Czech Republic?

GargWiki: A wiki site on one the best Disney animations ever, "Gargoyles"!

Internet Movie Poster Awards: One of the best things about visiting the movie theater is checking out all of the new movie posters. Sites like this, MoviePoster.com, and BareWalls.com really allow you to appreciate the artwork that goes into these advertisements.

You Damn Kid! Freakin' hilarious!

Live365 Internet Radio: My preset preferences include R&B, classic soul, classic rock, 80s pop, Bollywood musicals, J-pop, classical music, Broadway musicals, and old-time radio shows!

"Walk the Catwalk": Big and Beautiful

I'm sure that by now everybody has heard about the brouhaha over super skinny models on fashion runways. Some fashion capitals banned models of a certain BMI, some said models couldn't walk unless they fit into a larger size, and some (the U.S.) just offered guidelines for people to follow. (cough-Bullshit!-cough) However, I don't think that banning certain people from the runway is the way to go. Instead, more diversity is needed. I say keep the skinny women! But also show the short women, fat women, curvy women, and older women, too!

Diane Pellini and Liis Windischmann are plus size models who have created a campaign called "Walk the Catwalk". They are not only asking for more diversity on the fashion runways and in magazines, they're challenging the fashion industry to "re-evaluate the philosophies being passed on to every generation of fashion students by educators including creating limiting sample sizes, designing only to a size 12-14 and implying that fashionable clothing should end at a certain size" and "encourage size diversity in print and television media".

Doesn't this sound like a great idea?

But, of course, there are naysayers:

I don’t know if this is really positive. It’s good not to convince girls to be aneroxic, but how long can we keep telling ourselves that it’s okay to be obese - it really isn’t.

Having obese role models is akin to having poorly-educated role models. It’s bad for your healthy to be obese, it’s bad for our economy, it’s bad for our health care system.

What've you got against Santa Claus? Look, health costs would rise anyway due to inflation and more developments in medical technology. I've never heard the one about the evil obesity monster sucking up the economy. Anybody got sources?

[Thick and beautiful's] not something I would want to push into acceptance.Especially to children/young girls.

So, you would rather teach children, especially young girls, that you must look a certain way in order to be beautiful? Please don't procreate.

How rich is the US when we have an EPIDEMIC of obesity, when we eat TOO MUCH? Makes me a little more sad to think about…

You know what makes me sad? The fact that all of these comments came from the visitors of an anti-racism blog.

Understand this: I don't blame the author of the blog for the comments left by these people. As a matter of fact, she's all for "WtC". And there were other commenters who were supportive. Also, in no way am I saying that fat-phobia comes anywhere close to having the same hateful history as racial bigotry. All I'm saying, is I'm really disappointed in you people. You know you are.

Unfortunately, I've been having problems getting my comments to show. Either it's my browser or Carmen doesn't like me anymore. :-( Anyway, here's what I would've posted in response to the above commenters:

Why is it that whenever someone tries to put out something positive for larger men and women to let them know "Hey! You're beautiful and sexy too!" people always have to belittle the effort by saying "Well, they're not healthy role models"?

The weight of person is not the only determining factor of health. How many years has Kate Moss been snorting that mess up her nose, and yet she's been idolized by millions? I guess it's okay to have a freakin' pharmacy running through your veins just as long as you can fit into those teeny-weeny size twos!

Look, everyone knows that eating right and being acting is the way to go. But what is not cool is being obsessive over three little digits on a bathroom scale. Oh and- hold onto your celery sticks, folks - you can be heavy and healthy at the same time!

For more on the subject, check out "Junkfood Science".

There are also excellent books on the subject, such as Fat?So!, by Marilynn Wann and Just the Weight You Are: How to Be Fit and Healthy, Whatever Your Size, by Linda Konner and Steven Jonas.

In closing, check out the links. And remember the new commenting policy.

Who'da Thunk It?

Who would've thought that my lousy, pissant, unpopular, little blog would actually need comment moderation? But, that's what it's come down to.

So, in order to get your comments posted, all you have to do is remember these few, simple things:

1. Own your comment. It wouldn't be fair of me to make everyone go register with Google or Blogger just because they wanted to leave a comment, and I'm not going to do that. Just realize, however, that anonymous commenters may not get the same level of treatment as those posts who let me know a little sumthin'-sumthin' about where you came from. There's a thin line between wanting to protect your identity, and being a cowardly punk.
2. Cite your sources. Having a differing point-of-view is a wonderful thing; it's what makes the world go round. But if you can't back your claim, don't whine and scream if somebody else calls you on it.
3. No trolls, no flames, no spam, no free advertising. Period. I feel sorry for you trolls. I really do. There is a wealth of information out there on the internet and tons of new places and ideas to explore out in the real world. And yet, the only thing in your lives that give you any joy is trying to make other people miserable with your juvenile antics. It's pathetic, and I won't have it here.
4. My house. My rules. I delete who I want, what I want, and when I want. And I don't to hear any of that "free speech" mess either. As I've already had to tell one person, "When you come onto my blog, and say something I don't like, it's not called censorship: It's called doing whatever the hell I want."

Rules adapted from Lifehacker's Guide to Weblog Comments.