Proof that republican men know nothing about Vaginas or general female reproductive organs. They are the last people that need to speak on what is and isn’t right for women.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
March 1, 2012
Rush Limbaugh: I’ll Buy Georgetown Women ‘As Much Aspirin To Put Between Their Knees As They Want’
February 29, 2012
Colorism
Today I read an article regarding the cover for FHM Philippines magazine. The cover depicts a Filipino actress named Bela Padilla. She is surrounded by three Filipino models who are representing “the shadow” that the actress is emerging from. On the surface this sounds like an artistic, maybe even fashionable (for FHM) photograph. So, what’s the problem?
For starters, the three models accompanying the actress have been painted to appear as if they have much darker skin tones. The tagline for the cover is, “Stepping Out of the Shadows.” In America, this photograph conjures up imagery of “Black Face,” which is a medium that the majority of African Americans would agree is offensive. But, that’s our American slant on things. This publication is out of the Philippines and, to understand the backlash and the offensiveness of the cover, you must consider THEIR history.
Several years ago, I was on the interwebs looking for products to even out my skin tone. While I was researching this, I came across a forum where young, mostly Asian, girls were discussing different ways to lighten their skin. As an American with little exposure to the outside world at the time, I was shocked at the suggestions that were given and I was shocked that there were girls out there who loathed themselves to that degree. That loathing didn’t come from a desire to skin cats or feasts on the bones of children, it was instead based solely on something that is completely out of their control. Their skin tone. As a black American I was also intrigued by what I discovered there because, until then, I had not heard of people from other, non-white, races suffering from “colorism.”
So, what is colorism? A quick web search will get you the following definition:
Colorism is discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social treatment based on skin color.
I consider colorism to be the preference of light skinned individuals over dark skinned individuals within one race. People who “practice” colorism believe that if someone is dark skinned, they are generally and inherently inferior. (This mindset is often subconscious. Personally, I cannot tell you how many times I have heard men, in passing, describe their perfect woman as having light skin, for instance.)
Most people who do not understand the concept of colorism have a difficult time understanding the offensiveness of this photograph. If it wasn’t for my own experience with colorism, it’s a good chance that I would not get it either.
As I research colorism within the Filipino culture the picture that is painted is that, although they are the minority, light skinned Filipinos receive the best jobs and generally live a high class life while dark skin Filipinos do not. If you were to see a Filipino movie, or to pick up an average Filipino magazine, you will likely see mostly light skinned Filipinos. Along with this, Filipinos are inundated with ads for skin whitening creams. I’ve read many comments like the following over the years:
“I’m just wondering if light skin makes a person more beautiful in the Philippines. It seems everywhere I go around the Philippines there are commercials, billboards, ads, ect. that promote skin whitening products.” (Link)
With the prevalence of this mindset, it is no wonder that FHM Philippines felt such a huge backlash from readers who are fed up with being told, directly and indirectly, that they are inferior. That dark skin is a shadow that must be shed in order to emerge, beautiful, pristine and, most importantly, white. In FHM’s apology, they stated that they will strive to be more “sensitive” in the future, but IMO, it goes beyond sensitivity. Until people understand that harm that colorism causes, they will never truly understand what is so wrong with that cover, thus it’s likely that they will struggle to see it in the future. For example, in an attempt to clear things up, Padilla stated that the models weren’t actually dark skin models, but had been made up to look as if they were. So not only are they portraying dark models as “the shadow” they also still refused to hire dark skin models for the shoot.
To sum things up, a user that responded to my post on the Huffington Post stated it perfectly:
…. this happens all over the world, especially in colonised/commonwealth places + among various ethnicities.
people are made complacent through controlled stimuli, while others try to imitate what is considered to be ‘majority’ social concepts – whether it is stifles them or not – to fit in…so sad. when messages such as the one depicted in the picture are so slight that most people miss it and some who see it chalk it up to a misunderstanding or overreaction, this is to be expected from both sides.
history is relevant. truly understanding a culture in order to appreciate nuances of perception is important. what to some might seem completely irrelevant, may not be so to others. it depends on how it impacts lives from both spectrums on a fundamental level. in this instance the message is clear. it helps when you understand the role of advertising. -Nikmc
I concur.
February 22, 2012
If I wanted to talk to myself, I would blog!
It’s been awhile, blogosphere, since I’ve made a post. I’ve been busying myself with various endeavors ranging from attempting to get my jewelry line off of the ground and venturing into creating textile fabric patterns for scarves, dresses, skirts, coverups and blouses. Don’t ask me why I have decided to start a fashion line. Not something that I thought I would do, but sometimes life just directs you in the… uh, direction that you need to go!
I figure now is a good time to start blogging again, with the 2012 presidential season well underway. While I focused mostly on politics in the past, I will now blog about my various other interests as well, which may include everything from my latest artistic endeavor to the latest episodes of “The Voice” and “Revenge.” I once felt that these things should all be separate, but the fact is that I have a lot of interests and if I tried to have a blog for all of them, I would go crazy.. or crazier.
I’ve spent the last year and a half or so using various online websites to voice my opinions, but really, who can deal with all of the rampant censorship? The Huffington Post is the absolute worst offender, in those regards. Half of the time I don’t know if my post will even make it past the moderator, even if it isn’t ladled with obscenities or general insults. Besides, I like to converse “real-time” and not have to wait an hour for a post to make it onto the page. If I wanted to talk to myself, I would blog! So, here I am… doing just that.
So, here I am blogging again. What do I discuss first? The recent story about those teenage girls in Gainesville, Fl who are terrified for their lives after their racist rant via video blogging? (I can’t imagine why anyone would be offended!) Or, maybe the story about the school district in Georgia that believes that using the history of slavery in America as math problem is an effective teaching tool?
“If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in 1 week?”
Like… really?
OK, I have plenty to say about both of those stories, but what I really want to talk about in my first blog back is….
Whitney Houston.
I know. This story has been done IN over the last couple of weeks. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the topic as there is a lot that can be, and has been, said about this. It’s unlikely that I can add anything of value to it. I just wanted to share my memories of the singer for my own personal, selfish reasons.
Growing up, my cousins and I loved to sing and dance and Whitney is one of those singers we looked up to. I was 6 years old when her first album debuted, and I went on to enjoy it and several other albums after that. I remember watching “The Bodyguard” over and over again and just always being so excited to hear her sing, to watch her videos, and to see her on award shows.
It saddened me to hear about all of her drug abuse and to see her life deteriorate to the point where people started calling her “Old Whitney” and “New Whitney,” most wishing that the Old Whitney would return. Deep down, I knew that her voice would never recover, but I did have hopes that one day she would find her way out of the darkness and recover from her addictions. Unfortunately, that day didn’t come soon enough.
In all of this, my heart is with Bobbi Kristina. As a woman who was only 2 years older than BK when my mother died, I know how devastating it is and how much it changes ones life. I wish I could say that I was strong in dealing with that death, but I wasn’t, and honestly, am still not. It probably has changed the course of my life forever. Fortunately, I could suffer this without being under the microscope of millions of people. I cannot imagine the weight of that.
There are so many negative things being said about this family that I just want to be one of the positive ones saying that I wish Bobbi Kristina the best and that she finds her own way to deal with this tragedy, and that it is HEALTHY. The disease of drug and alcoholism is a tough one to battle and I hope that she finds a way to deal with it that doesn’t end in the same way that it did with her mother.
I recognize the destructive path that Whitney went down, but I will not remember her for that. I will remember her for the memories she helped create growing up with my cousins. I will remember her for her mind blowing rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” I will remember her for “The Bodyguard” and “I Will Always Love You.” I will remember Whitney Houston for her influence on countless other young starlets who have taken the positivity that “I” grew up with and turned it into promising and successful careers. Personally, I would be shocked if I ever heard another female vocalist with quite the same quality, strength and beauty of Whitney Houston’s. That is bittersweet.
I WILL always love you Whitney. Rest in Peace.
November 9, 2010
Palin Lashes Out At WSJ Reporter, Misquotes Story
Facts and Palin just don’t mix.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
::impersonates Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin::
There goes the LAME STREAM MEDIA again and their fact checking and using the words that come out of my mouth to prove that I haven’t a clue of what I’m talking about. The important thing here is not that my data is, in fact wrong, it’s that the American people get that I’m a real person, just like they are; and, also, too, Mister Fancy Elitist_Pants Wall Street Journal Guy with your fat_juicy steaks and succulant (succulent) lobsters every night for dinner, real people like me notice when our food prices rise 0.011111% from the previous year. Perhaps that’s not a lot where YOU live, but I absolutely refudiate and refuke (rebuke) everything that passes through your educated lips as I am a TRUE American scraping by like everyone else and if it wasn’t for the hundreds of thousands of dollars I make at speaking arrangements I would be on the streets, in line for free government cheese and chicken broth, waiting for retirement age so that I could live off of Medicare and Social Security.
The LSM just don’t get it!
October 30, 2010
Project Runway, I Quit You
Rarely does a reality show get me to my keyboard, blogging away about it. Most of my blogs tend to lean towards politics, but I need my guilty pleasures. The things that I do to keep me slightly sane; create art/jewelry, watch Project Runway, and Haagen Dazs. Yes, I “do” Haagen Dazs. The time has come for me to cross one of those three things off my list.
The season finale of Project Runway really irked me in ways that competition reality shows rarely do. When Adam Lambert lost to Kris Allen, was I annoyed? Yes… But, rationally speaking, anytime you have America voting, you never know what you are going to get. So, while Lambert is 100x more talented than Allen can ever hope to be, I can accept the outcome. ‘sides, the most talented people often do not win American Idol. The thing with Project Runway, however, is that we have these “fashion experts” who are touted as individuals who have their fingers on the pulse of what’s fresh and next in the world of fashion. They are supposed to know what we want before WE know what we want! Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Gretchen Jones all apparently have their fingers on the pulse of some corpse rotting away in some grave of some woman wearing those “fashion forward” rags. They’ve collectively channeled her, and Gretchen’s Project Runway, $100,000 grand prize is the result! And all just in time for Halloween!
Last night, we were told that Bohemian was “fashion forward.” That Gretchen knows what is “now,” and that thin, cheap looking material was sexy. And an “easy” sexy at that. The American woman wants Granola, and she wants it now!
Now, if this was the only problem I had with Project Runway over the last couple of seasons, more than likely I would not be breaking up with them. I would shake it off as a bad season and gear up for some fresh and creative talent next year. But frankly, I do not like the road that they have been traveling the last several seasons – since the move to Lifetime. The judges have gotten meaner and the contestants have gotten weaker. There is more focus on drama than there is a focus on creativity. Ivy made it from week to week for one reason. She’s a complete cunt. Which = drama.
I also believe that they picked Gretchen as the winner before the competition began. (Which, honestly, is a big part of the reason that their critique was contradictory. Last week Michael C was told his collection colors were too matchy-matchy. Yet Gretchen’s all brown collection, all with the same cheap looking fabrics, was not too matchy matchy – she won.)
Gretchen won the first two challenges on these creations:
There is simply nothing innovative about those pieces, yet the judges praised her for them. They are drab and common, Bargain Bin basics.
I was baffled by her wins at the start, but I never imagined that she would make it to the finale on those designs. WINNING certainly did not cross my mind.
They then awarded her later on for the following design:
Again. Drab and uninspiring.
Mondo, on the other hand, delivered:
And for Fashion Week, Mondo from head to toe, created fabulous pieces. Do I get that some people find his clothing over the top, yes I do. Not all people are into bold colors, or such an aggressive use of patterns. But there is no doubt whatsoever – Mondo has creativity oozing out of his pores.
The biggest thing that I did not get about Kors’ and Garcia’s criticism of Mondo is that he did not do anything for Fashion Week that was any more over the top than the fashions he created throughout the season. Perhaps their criticism would not have seemed so bizarre if they had voiced this concern prior to the final show. Instead, Mondo won for a lot of those pieces. I also found the fact that they were peeved because he did not alter or toss 1 dress that they did not like catty. You have two women who have actually walked the red carpet of countless events telling them that they would rock that dress in a heartbeat, but the two old farts who think they know it all were displeased, therefore Mondo should have changed it for them. Really? They have been buying into their own hype for far too long.
After it’s all said and done, I know that Mondo will have a fabulous career ahead of him. He is innovative and creative and has more talent in his eyelashes than Gretchen has in her entire body. He’s gracious and down to earth, and seems to be an all around good person. An individual who can openly admit when they are wrong is a human being who is open to growth. He was on the “I hate Michael C” bandwagon until he worked with him and realized that he was not the person he thought he was. He openly admitted he was wrong. It takes a person with true character to do that.
That is all a sharp contrast to Gretchen. A complete bitchcunt who feels that the world revolves around her, and when someone doesn’t like what she does it’s personal. She harbors negative energy and, I’d say that it’s festering at her core and she is not happy unless she’s making others unhappy. I could almost tolerate some of that from her were she actually more talented. Almost. IMO, there is no excuse for people to be as ugly as she is.
Fire Garcia and Kors and perhaps I will consider taking you back, but as of now – Project Runway, I quit you.
October 23, 2010
Walk A Mile in others shoes? These bigotted ones fit me just fine, thank you!
What makes a bigot?
This week Juan Williams, formerly of NPR, currently of Fox News, made headlines when he stated:
But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.
I must say that I find it most fascinating when someone who is part of a group that has been historically a target for bigotry takes on the role of the bigot. In fact, there used to be a time when Juan Williams believed this:
“Racism is a lazy man’s substitute for using good judgment… Common sense becomes racism when skin color becomes a formula for figuring out who is a danger to me.”
To ruin such a brilliant statement by your own ignorance is truly a shame, Mr. Williams. I know that 1986 was a long time ago, however, so maybe your opinions have changed. After all, most human beings tend to evolve one way or another. One is to hope that you would evolve to become MORE intelligent, but alas… Tis not the case with you, is it Mr. Williams? Especially now that you have become accepted by the machine that is Fox News! I imagine that you forgot where you came from when your bosses accepted you into the fold.
But still, I must ask – Just how pathetic must one (black man with a Hispanic name) be to frequent a show hosted by a man who thought that, upon going to a black restaurant, he was going to find black people who lack basic manners and table etiquette? And it took this visit for him to realize that black people are “starting” to think for themselves – because we all used the same common brain before. Clearly. I am also curious to know just how thrilled you are that other brown people are the targets of such ire from the white (Fox News Regurgitating) masses? (Note: If you are not part of the Fox News Regurgitating White Masses, but are white, the prior comment is not referring to you.)
Bigot–noun
a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.
I am here to proudly proclaim that “I” am, in fact, a bigot! I have an extreme intolerance of anyone who believes that it is OK to besmirch an entire group, religion, race of people based upon the despicable and atrocious actions of others within their group.
Are all black men to be feared because there are black men who are gang members?
Are all Hispanic men to be feared because there are Hispanic men who are gang members?
Are all white men to be feared because there are white men who are a part of the KKK? (Or are CEO’s of big businesses, or work for Fox News, or politicians that have driven this country into financial ruin?)
Somehow, despite all of the horrible things that white men have done historically from starting wars, raping and pillaging lands, etc… we manage to not paint all white people with the same broad brushstrokes. We recognize that there are many truly good white people out there who fight against those types of things EVERY day. And when I say fight against it, I mean they TRULY fight against it. But the moment a minority does something bad, for many people, it is something that reflects on that entire race and/or religion. It’s “black people are thugs,” it’s “Hispanics are illegal immigrants,” it’s “Arabs are terrorists.”
Perhaps one day people will open up their eyes and realize that this is all about divide and conquer. They will keep dividing us along the lines of race and religion as long as we allow them to.
October 15, 2010
Not all Idiots are Foxies, but all Foxies are Idiots
Today on the “cerebrally challenged” hit show, Fox and Friends, genius talking head Brian Kilmeade made the statement that:
“Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.”
Providing context, where none was lacking, Fox News claims that:
“Brian was talking about the events on ‘The View’ yesterday and was referring to the radical extremists who killed Americans on 9/11,” Bill Shine, Fox News SVP of Programming, told the Huffington Post. “Obviously, not all terrorists are Muslim and Brian will clarify this point on television and radio on Monday.”
Of course we (those of us immune to toxic Fox News Juices) know that not all terrorists are Muslim – but do the idiots who watch your network know?
Perhaps I would believe that statement if this network was not notorious for riling their viewership up based on incendiary information that is blatantly false. Fox and Friends is a program where a woman who studied at Oxford – OXFORD – pretends to not know what the word “ignoramus” means. People with 8th grade educations know what the word ignoramus means. The program also smeared their own owner, Al-Waleed bin Talal, in an attempt to stoke MORE fear in the innocently simpleminded individuals that watch the network.
I can only imagine what percentage of their viewership shouted, “that’s right” in blind and willful ignorance as Kilmeade made that proclamation. I’m guessing at least 70%.
In the end, this comment was just another to add to the overflowing landfill of bigoted, hate filled, de-unifying comments that come from that network everyday.
Not all idiots are Foxies, but all Foxies are Idiots.
April 29, 2010
‘Spill Of National Significance’ Declared Over Gulf Oil Spill
Just lovely.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
