THE GENDER TRAP

Two Little Boys - By the Numbers Blog - NYTimes.com

What stands out about this chart is not simply a reflection of homophobic attitudes but the ways in which gender identities are such a toxic trap. I just finished wrapping up a section on gender inequality in my class and one of the things I tried to stress to my students is that the ways in which we conventionally deal with gender expectations is that the masculine and feminine are seen as completely separate identities there is an acute anxiety over any overlap between them.

People understand that, especially when you ask them for examples of how this works...what isn't as clear is WHY we see gender identities as such separate spheres. What is the rational logic? It makes sense as a way to maintain unequal relations between the sexes but it serves no beneficial purpose to insist that our boys "act like boys" and our girls to "act like girls." We (and by "we", I'm also including myself) conform to these behaviors largely out of ingrained practice, especially since the rules around them are deeply entrenched that we've forgotten why we established them to begin with (let alone why we continue to invest in them).

Such unnecessary tragedies - and alas, far too common.

--O.W.

ADOPTION LESSIONS

What Adopting a White Girl Taught One Black Family | Newsweek Culture

(Credit: Mark Anthony Neal)

--O.W.

FALLING DOWN, 2009 STYLE

The Rage of the Privileged Class As It Loses Its Privileges -- New York Magazine

I found this to be a compelling read - not because you sympathize with the privileged class whining about their loss of privilege - but because it lays bare some of the conversations around class that, up until this crisis, we've tended to ignore or avoid. Personally, I can't see really see a long-term bad consequence of a shrinking class gap though the the elitist-populist anger (if that makes any sense) may have some interesting political repercussions.

--O.W.

MY SOFA SEES NO COLOR

--O.W.

THE GAYTHERING STORM

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

--O.W.

FLEX v. INTERSCOPE

Funkmaster Flex Threatens To Ban All Interscope Artists � Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner-(The Blog)

Whoa. It will be VERY interesting to see how this plays out.

--O.W.

BEHIND THE WHITE HOUSE DOOR

james gets jimmied
Justine Lai's "Join or Die" series (NSFW)

Artist statement:

"In Join Or Die, I paint myself having sex with the Presidents of the United States in chronological order. I am interested in humanizing and demythologizing the Presidents by addressing their public legacies and private lives. The presidency itself is a seemingly immortal and impenetrable institution; by inserting myself in its timeline, I attempt to locate something intimate and mortal. I use this intimacy to subvert authority, but it demands that I make myself vulnerable along with the Presidents. A power lies in rendering these patriarchal figures the possible object of shame, ridicule and desire, but it is a power that is constantly negotiated.

I approach the spectacle of sex and politics with a certain playfulness. It would be easy to let the images slide into territory that’s strictly pornographic—the lurid and hardcore, the predictably “controversial.” One could also imagine a series preoccupied with wearing its “Fuck the Man” symbolism on its sleeve. But I wish to move beyond these things and make something playful and tender and maybe a little ambiguous, but exuberantly so. This, I feel, is the most humanizing act I can do."

A provocative artistic series to say the least. I do wonder, however, about the assumption that the office of the Presidency is typically seen as (prepare your rimshot): "impenetrable" given the huge wave of best-selling histories of different Presidents that, in my opinion, precisely aim to offer a portrait of them in "intimate and mortal" ways. If anything, Lai's portraits (all except one, perhaps) takes the presidential power dynamic and "humanizes" them only insofar as making the phrase "getting f---ed by the President" into something more literal rather than the common figurative sense.

Of course, for that reason, I get the feeling that the fan favorite among these will likely be the Buchanan portrait where Lai gets to turn the tables by pegging him instead. Of course, there is also a certain irony that it should be Buchanan given 1) the rumors of his sexual orientation and 2) he's reviled as one of the worst Presidents in history, having done his fair share (arguably) of screwing over the nation. Is Lai's portrait some form of creative payback? (If so, one can only imagine what G.W.'s portrait will look like. And now that I've imagined it, I wish I hadn't).

There's also something amusing in realizing how many people will likely relearn their history of Presidential succession once they cease to be able to recognize the obvious ones such as Washington or Lincoln in order to ascertain, "wait, which President was getting his spank on? Was that Grant or Jackson?"

One last thought: Lai doesn't discuss race in her statement but that has to be the (blushing) elephant in the room, no? (I can only imagine the response this series will get from Angry AZN types...and no, I don't mean Phil Yu). Speaking of which...

(Link: Angry Asian Man)

--O.W.

PITCHING THE WRONG TENT

John-Anthony Cavanagh got robbed

One of my greatest fears in life is to miss one of the first five questions on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and leave with $0.

Today, I still have anxieties about this when I'm awake and nightmares about it when asleep ... despite the fact that I already appeared on the show, did not miss any of the first five questions, and am ineligible to ever be in the hot seat again.

(Side note: Backstage, the producers on the show assured us contestants that the first five questions are designed so all contestants can reach the $1000 milestone. While this was intended to be comforting, they only exacerbated my fears of missing a question that every elementary school student knows. It was the equivalent of having Meredith precede a question with, "Ok, only a tard would miss this next question.")

The nightmares flare up after I see an actual Millionaire contestant live out my horror scenario and leave with no money.

This happened two nights ago when John-Anthony Cavanagh, a New York doorman, missed the $500 question.

What was unusual about Mr. Cavanagh's situation, however, is that I think the question he missed was patently unfair.

His $500 question was:

Q: "Whittle a stick to a sharp point" is one of the first steps in which of these traditional camping activities?"

A. Roasting marshmallows
B. Cleaning a fish
C. Collecting firewood
D. Pitching a tent

He thought about it for a second and answered D. Final answer.

There were no gasps from the audience.

When Meredith told him the correct answer was A, he conjured up a familiar look of horror that compelled me to take a photo of my television:

Let me begin by saying that I respect the writers on Millionaire. Their questions are consistently creative, thoughtful, and detailed, avoiding the ambiguities that often surface when most amateurs write trivia questions.

But the $500 question above is inexcusable because A and D are both correct answers.

While a stick with a sharp point is undoubtedly useful for roasting a marshmallow (if you don't have a skewer), it's also useful for pitching a tent (if you don't have a peg).

Normally, the Millionaire writers include some extra bit of information -- e.g., "Kraft's Jet Puffed brand's packaging states that ..." or "According to campfire.com, ...-- to ensure that only one answer is correct. But there's nothing that clearly eliminates D as a reasonable answer.

Granted, a person could concoct explanations for how a sharp stick might be useful in cleaning fish (Choice B) or collecting firewood (Choice C). But that would require a serious leap and a creative imagination.

In contrast, it takes no work to imagine how a sharp stick would be useful in anchoring a tent. In fact, as a former Boy Scout, I'm sure that I once found myself short a tent peg and used a sharp stick to replace it.

If John-Anthony Cavanagh is anything like me, he's going to be reliving that nightmare every few minutes. Especially if he Googles himself and discovers my photos of his fifteen seconds in the spotlight of national humiliation. But he owes it to himself to appeal.

In conclusion, John-Anthony Cavanagh deserves a second chance in that Millionaire hot seat and I need to find better things to do with my time.

--Junichi

A LITTLE SPICY MEXICAN AND AN ANACONDA THAT DON'T WANT NONE UNLESS YOU GOT SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS BUNS, HON

According to Reuters, Burger King has apologized for its "Texican Whopper" campaign and vowed to change it after Mexico's ambassador to Spain said that the commercial (see above video) offends Mexicans.

The ambassador, whose name isn't worth mentioning in any news article, suggested that BK's new commercial -- in depicting a tall Texan cowboy with a short Mexican wrestler -- "improperly used the stereotypical image of Mexicans."

Let's put aside the issue of whether Burger King is seriously suggesting that the diminutive swimming wrestler is a typical image of a Mexican person.

And let's ignore the fact that the Mexican ambassador has a hundred more important things to demand international attention to, starting with, oh, the horrendous environmental and labor conditions in today's Mexican maquiladoras and ending with, shall we say, the failure of the United States to honor the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Here's my question: Is it really a "stereotypical image of Mexicans" to portray them as short?

As an East Asian, perhaps I'm territorial about all the vertically-challenged stereotypes. (In Lost in Translation, look at Bill Murray towering over all the Japanese men in the elevator. Ha ha ha!)

This makes me wonder ... when Emmanuel "Webster" Lewis did all those Burger King commercials in the '80s, did anybody accuse the BK Lounge of promoting a stereotype that all black people are short?

If anything, the Mexican ambassador should be offended about Burger King's other current advertising campaign ...



Granted, the above commercial has nothing to do with Mexicans.

But it should be offensive to people of all nationalities because it somehow combines a children's cartoon about a fry cook in the Krusty Krab restaurant with a hip hop song about knock-kneeded bimbos walkin' like hoes into a commercial for burgers that are real thick and juicy.

At this rate, Burger King is going to hire Elmo to start spitting about how he "once got busy in a Burger King bathroom" and the Mexican ambassador will attempt to overthrow the king.

--Junichi

THRILLA IN MANILA

unforgiving

For those who have HBO, try to catch their screening of this documentary on Joe Frazier's career, framed around, but not exclusively on, his 3rd and final fight with Muhammed Ali in Manila in the early 1970s. Besides being a pretty damn good doc on boxing and the appeal of its violence in our culture, it's also a fascinating look at the Ali myth from the "other" side, especially given how poisonous he and Frazier's relationship seemed during that era.

I grew up in a time where Ali's lionization is practically untouchable and likely for good reason - he's been an incredible icon and social figure. However, this doc offers a different perspective - not one that tears down Ali's stature but it introduce some more nuance than more facile hagiographies suggest. To put it another way, Ali comes off looking like a real a**hole towards Frazier, especially since Frazier helped support Ali during the years he was banished from boxing because of his anti-Vietnam War stand.

Of course, Frazier is hardly a golden boy either - he might have wholly legitimate reasons for being pissed off at Ali but his continued bitterness is astounding, especially in suggesting that Ali's well-known struggles with Parkinson's is a form of divine retribution. Ouch.

Thrilla in Manila < TV | PopMatters

--O.W.

DEBUNKING THE ETHNIC ANGLE

Debunking the 'Ethnic Angle' to Mass Murders like Binghampton and Virginia Tech | AlterNet

Andrew Lam on why conflating culture and psychology is a dangerous endeavor.

--O.W.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAINBOW

A Rainbow Coalition Of Terrible Actors - Backlashes - Videogum

Wow. So that video that the National Organization For Marriage posted, against gay marriage? (Look down a few posts). Looks like someone kept the audition tapes for it and those have been leaked. Funny and sad in the same moment.

--O.W.

GUESS WHO'S IN PANIC MODE?

Folks need to watch the video that's available via this link.

It. Makes. No. Sense.

It's clearly fear-mongering (you have to love the floating storm background - spooky!) but it's literally a bunch of non-sensical phrases strung together with absolutely zero explanation of how gay marriage threatens personal freedoms.

It reeks of desperation though I hear they're running this heavy in California and that means people need to wary of these misinformation campaigns - even when they make no sense.

--O.W.

WHERE IS BUZZ LOCATED?

‘The Geography of Buzz,’ a Study on the Urban Influence of Culture - NYTimes.com

I think this is an interesting study but I just don't find the methodology - combing through Getty Images - to be convincing. After all, isn't it likely to reinforce those institutions that are already popular, rather than those with "buzz," which, to me, always meant emergent sites rather than established ones?

Maybe this just comes down to a definition of buzz. According to the article, buzz seems to be linked to "hot spots based on the frequency and draw of cultural happenings" but unless buzz is linked with "new," then I'm not sure you're necessarily talking about buzz. Maybe that's just me though.

That said, I'm all for work that seeks to link cultural studies with urban studies and the approach here is rather innovative and provocative despite my reservations.

--O.W.

NOT MOS' MOST DEFINING MOMENT

Ta-Nehisi weighs in.

--O.W.

VT > CA?

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage With Veto Override - washingtonpost.com

Between recent events in Iowa and Vermont, California is looking more backwards. We gotta step it up!

--O.W.

GUESS IOWA ISN'T SO PROGRESSIVE AFTER ALL

school district revokes lori phanachone's national honor society membership (link: Angry Asian Man)

I'm half-joking (in my title) but it's unfortunate that in a week where Iowa's state court has taken a step forward in social progress, Storm Lake School District is taking a step back in being completely tone deaf in their handling of the situation involving Lori Phanachone's case. Right now, they seem to be intent on digging a deeper hole for themselves...and for what?

--O.W.

TEENAGERS: NOT SO RANDY AFTER ALL

Well - The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity - NYTimes.com

Recent studies suggest that teenagers are actually less sexually active than is commonly thought. It seems that even though teenage pregnancies have seen an uptick, that has more to do with lack of contraception (you hear that Orange County?) rather than increasing numbers of teens having sex.

In other words, teens aren't more promiscuous, they're just more ignorant! (Somehow, this doesn't seem so comforting).

--O.W.

WTH?

I have no idea what this is supposed to represent but I can't stop staring at it.

--O.W.

BENGALI/KOREAN TURF WAR IN K-TOWN

Facebook | A spicy turf battle in Koreatown - Los Angeles Times

We need a khashi taco truck to broker the peace!

--O.W.

IOWA COURTS LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE

Gay marriage ban ruled unconstitutional by Iowa court - Los Angeles Times

Unlike California, Iowa's legislative process will require a more concerted effort than a simple 50.1% ballot proposition. It'll be interesting to see if the political will is going to be strong enough there to sustain an amendment to invalidate the ruling.

--O.W.

THE BINGHAMTON SHOOTINGS

Shootings in Binghamton, N.Y., 'truly an American tragedy' - Los Angeles Times

One question we may never get an answer to: why the immigration center?

--O.W.