Things are different right now.
My two-track mind used to be: theatre, sex. Occasionally there’d be a third track--Buffy, for example, or Harry Potter around the times a book or movie came out. But now THE WORLD REVOLVES BACKWARDS ON ITS AXIS…because I have not been thinking about sex AT. ALL. My two tracks are now: real estate and electoral projections. Once I finally get the keys to my flat, I suspect we’ll be down to one.
Politics are consuming me.
But I am MUCH gratified to realize I am not alone. I have recently discovered Dan Savage’s Podcast (the “SavageLovecast”), and partially out of homesickness I’ve been listening non-stop (there are 103 episodes, after all—I’m up to 78, though I always listen to the most recent update as well). I think there’s fodder for multiple posts in having listened to all of these in quick succession*, and several of his principles—so evident when you hear them in dense amounts—have helped with my latest angsty issues. But this! In last week’s episode (102), in the intro, he actually says:
...I’m a little scattered, I’m a little tense, election day approaches, and we will get to your calls, because I assume you’re scattered, and you’re tense, otherwise you wouldn ’t be calling with your sex problems—AT A TIME LIKE THIS, when the future of the whole world is at stake, when our democracy teeters on the verge of complete and total bullshitification, you’re calling with your sex problems—I’m amazed that anybody can think of sex at a time like this, but I’ll do what I can. To focus. On your genitals.
(Bold emphasis mine, caps emphasis an attempted representation of his vocal stress.]
Dan Savage, a man who has built a career on his willingness to discuss any and every sexual issue—and who in fact has been known to merge sex and politics, as when he ran a contest that ended up redefining Santorum--is not thinking about sex right now. I think he and I are two pretty fucking salient examples of the MAGNITUDE of this thing that is about to happen, the knowledge that barring a large unexpected event (knock on wood, ptoi ptoi ptoi, etc), Barack Obama will soon be our President Elect. And having heard Dan say this, I feel absolved--one of the two or three main reasons I haven’t been posting is that I’m thinking less about sex and feminism and more about the nitty gritty of this election**. So, with Dan’s unwitting blessing, I will now share these thoughts with you.
My latest addiction is fivethirtyeight.com—“Electoral Projections Done Right.” You may have heard of this by now, as its readership has skyrocketed recently. What they do is based on statistics—they take all the major polls, each time they come out, and
run 10,000 election simulations (I don’t know exactly how, but the founder was on COLBERT forchrissake so you know he’s reputable). They then post the percentage of these elections each candidate wins (showing all their data). When I started reading the site, Obama was at around 70%. Today he’s at 90.9%. Nate Silver has made clear that if nothing SERIOUSLY MAJOR happens during the next 25 days (knock on wood, salt over the shoulder, etc), Obama wins, end of story. They also have excellent, easy-to-understand analysis of both polls and debates***.
So that’s all I talk about lately. Whenever I run into an American, or a Canadian, or a Brit whom I’ve heard mention Obama, I blurt out “Obama’s at [whatever it is] percent!” And if they care they go, “What?! NO. WAY.” And I have to clarify that I don’t mean in national polls, it’s not that 90.9% of the country says they’re voting blue, but rather the 10,000 simulations blah blah blah.
And then the other half of the time I ask them where they live and what they’re paying.
The good news? The other day I noticed a cute hipster guy in a Tesco Express and thought “I would totally do him.” So the prognosis is good. Hopefully on November 5th I can go back to non-stop thoughts about fucking and Brecht or whatever.
Knock on wood, ptoi ptoi ptoi.
PS: Maybe don’t listen to the rest of that particular podcast, because the first caller has the MOST DEPRESSING STORY I’ve ever heard. She sounds like SHE’S okay with it, but if you’re in a dark mood don’t go there.
*And after posting this I will shortly write a “Dudes I Like” post devoted to the man.
**The other two reasons are still not having a place to live and some significant personal angst for which this blog is not the appropriate forum.
***My mother visited last weekend, and I read her a post on why McCain’s latest Bill Ayres mudslinging isn’t going to have much of an effect, and she said, “I think that’s true,” which is quite the validation.)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Times They Are A-Changed
Monday, March 31, 2008
Fuck The Clever Post Titles: Just Don't Call Clinton A Bitch, Okay? Awesome. Glad We Had This Talk
Feministe has a great post up about why it's important to call out anti-Clinton misogyny, regardless of whom you support. An excerpt:
I’m focusing on the misogynistic stuff thrown at Clinton because this, as you may recall, is a feminist blog. And while there are hundreds if not thousands of other blogs as well as entire networks and mainstream media outlets rushing to the defense of Obama (thus rendering anything I have to say pretty well redundant), there are few outlets calling out misogynistic attacks on Clinton and/or on her supporters. And it matters that somebody’s calling it out. It’s got nothing to do with who’s the better candidate, who should win, the “delegate math,” or what have you. Vote for whomever you feel like voting for; I’ve been on record from the beginning of the primary that feminists don’t have to vote for Clinton to be feminists, since feminists get to make up their minds the same as anyone else does.
Read it. At least read some of it. It's really important, and tackles several issues, especially that of how such misogyny affects women in general.
Now it's personal experience time! I have a friend who is totally smart and not an asshole provided he's sober, but apparently decides to change things up when he's drunk and/or high. (What I'm about to describe is the only first-hand experience I have of this, so I'm not trying to comment on his character.) Basically the argument was over whether it's okay to call Clinton a bitch. He was high and not responding to anything I said so I eventually just left, but I will give you lucky readers the answer to this question:
No, it is not okay. Asshole.
It doesn't matter what you think of her. It doesn't matter if she is a bitch*. You don't say that about women in politics, you don't say that about women in power, you preferably don't say that about women, period. I came up with a great linguistic example (by which no one seems impressed except me, but I am way impressed so whatever): the word "niggard." Etymologically, it has nothing to do with the infamous N-word, but it unfailingly brings that word to mind so you really just shouldn't use it in public, not because of its meaning but because of its connotations.
Maybe this example doesn't impress my friends because it's really a debate tactic aimed at people who don't know they're being sexist. Because "bitch" is misogynist in both origin and typical usage, whereas "niggard" is racist in neither. Perhaps a better example is that you shouldn't call women "hysterical" because of the sexist origins of the term**, but to care you'd pretty much have to not be a misogynist in the first place. This friend was actually insisting that bitch is not a sexist word, ever. But like I said, he was high--when sober, he probably remembers that the word literally means "female dog." He also argued that he sometimes calls men bitches--I tried pointing out that people call men bitches for different sets of behavior than for women, and the thrust of the insult is that you're saying that the man is a woman. Which is, as we all know, A TERRIBLE THING TO BE.
Not that you have to like Clinton. This friend of mine's stance is still "Anyone but McCain!" whereas this other dude in the conversation took the horrifying stance "If Clinton wins I'll vote McCain." There are only two reasons to support McCain: 1) you hate women, and 2) you're a Republican, which means you hate women anyway so there you have it. There's also the possible 3rd reason that you're an independent and don't actually know anything ABOUT McCain, but if you're any sort of Democrat and prefer him to Clinton, I have this to say: dude, I'm sorry you hate your mommy and everything, but do you have to take it out on the rest of us? Do you really hate vaginas so much that you want to force mine to give birth regardless of my wishes? Douche.***
And that's The Word.
*And btdubs, I have never been given any evidence that she is a bitch. A politician? Yes. A bitch? Fuck you.
**From the Greek for "wandering uterus," a condition that was ascribed to women in explanation of "madness." In the 19th century it was used as a catch-all diagnosis for any issue a woman was having, and was sometimes treated with clitoral stimulation, which would result in a "hysterical paroxysm," something we're all fond of. (Vibrators eventually came into use because doctors' hands got tired. No joke.) Freud led the transition from hysteria to neurosis, which was a non-gendered term he used to discuss male and female patients alike, and now the term is not recognized by the psychological community, as it is not only sexist but vague and not particularly helpful diagnostically.
***A douche is, of course, a gendered product, but it's a bad one, so the insult is valid.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Dudes I Like: Op-Ed Style
At last, an Op-Ed we can all get behind! Roommate Katey brought this one to my attention--it is, of course, by Bob Herbert:
This is not the first time that Herbert has used his column to decry misogyny in areas where others ignore it. I really appreciated his piece after the Virginia Tech tragedy about how misogyny is integral to many such shootings. Herbert is very attuned to prejudice in our society--especially the kinds that most people regard as subtle or ingrained but that should be considered, by any reasonable society, obviously outrageous. He never pits gender against race, and his writing on both subjects (among others) is among the clearest, most disciplined there is to be found these days.
This column, like many of his, is a little 101, and Herbert's take on pornography and prostitution is not nuanced. But his passionate, straightforwardly expressed belief that women are NOT second-class citizens and objects of degradation always gives one hope, even in the face of the most distressing news about rape, murder, and humiliation.
Bob, there should be more like you.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Political Quote Of The Day
"I know I've been campaigning too much because I was at a rally and instead of saying 'The time for change has come' I said 'The time for come has changed.' And I have to admit, everybody clapped."
-- Obama in a New Hampshire speech.
Via Jezebel.
Friday, January 4, 2008
I Have A Fever...And The Only Perscription Is More Primaries
That is not actually a joke. The NH primary is on Tuesday and I am chomping at the bit. Obama and Clinton are my Britney, Wonkette my TMZ.
Some say that Huckabee is bad news for the Dems, since he's the only candidate who can galvanize the evangelicals. This is reportedly what happened in Iowa. But the Democratic turnout was more than twice that of Republican voters, so how galvanized can they be? 239,000 Democratic voters (compared to 2004's 125,000!) versus 108,000 Republican voters. Apparently you don't have to wave the Jesus flag to get people to the polls.
I don't know enough to actually extrapolate Iowa voting to how the nation will vote in the November election. I confess that I don't see how Huckabee or Romney could beat Obama, The Most Charming Man EverTM. I have no idea about McCain, since I find him so uncharming, but then I, unlike him, am pro-choice, so how could I find him charming?
I have never before been so desperate for hot primary action. Which is true of the rest of the nation--this is getting tons more coverage now than in 2004. But then, this is the first time since 1928 that none of the candidates are incumbents or Vice-Presidents. All the primaries actually matter!Except for all the ones after South Carolina, but you know what I mean.
Actually, this year's obligatory Stupid Christmas Family Fight was about the caucuses, which my mother for some reason thinks are cool. But she did make the good point that I have little historical perspective on the primaries and am basing my opinion mostly on 2004. (The opinion being that Iowa caucuses are basically the only primary that matters.) I later told her that Anna Quindlen hates the caucuses, too, which shut her up. But she couldn't bring herself to actually read the article.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Call Me Aunt Tom?
I used to love Hillary Clinton. Loved her like Michael Moore loved her. When she ran for Senate, I was thrilled. I was pink with pride over having the best pair o' Senators in the nation: Chuck and Hill.
But President Hillary Clinton? Not so much.
So, when did the switch happen? I'm not sure. But I find I do not trust her on domestic issues like gay marriage and civil liberties. Except that I of course DO trust her on the subject of reproductive rights, which I only realized JUST NOW, and that's obviously not a small thing for me and I'm suddenly forgetting the other things I don't trust her on so what gives? Michelle Obama has said that her husband doesn't poll well among African Americans because black people have internalized racist ideas about who our leaders should be. Is that what I'm doing? Why do I find myself pulled towards both Obama and Edwards? In 2004, I called Edwards a mimbo! I started a Facebook group about Obama's lack of experience! Do I really think Clinton's Supreme Court nominees would be any less liberal than Obama's? Don't I trust her most to follow through on issues regarding contraceptives and sex-ed, while Obama and Edwards could well get away with lip-service?
So now I fear that I've just internalized the idea that Presidents are Men. I know liking Obama over Clinton is the hip thing to do, but when all we really care about is beating the Republicans, it's hard to sort things out. All I know is, I saw this post on Hillary's possibly floundering campaign, felt myself cheered by it, and now all of a sudden I can't quite remember why. Good thing I live in a state where primaries don't matter!
Posts
