Women's Issues Random Thoughts

[286798]

For the luvvagawd... I can't find where it's coming from. I have 2 dogs and they are completely unfazed. It's not attic, it's not chimney... I can't tell if it's crawlspace or in the walls. It is a wood house, and there are nuthatches and other cavity nesters that have punked holes in my siding... so it is possible that the noise is coming from the walls.

 

[Penis Aficionado]

If it got in through a hole it should be able to get out through the same?

I had rats in my attic last year and tossed this stuff made of coyote piss up there. They left and I sealed up the holes. Would that work with birds?

 

[286798]

Well, whatever it was, apparently left overnight.

 

[ItsAll4Kim]

Samantha Bee is funny as hell, and was right to call out Ivanka for being a complicit robot for her father. I may have gone harder than to call her a feckless cunt. I find that mild considering the circumstances.

The world is on fire because a comedian used an "offensive term".

Whatever.

ETA: before anyone calls me a hypocrite for supporting the firing of Roseanne, these are not similar situations. Roseanne wasn't using her comedy to fight for oppressed people. She was just being a racist piece of shit. Sam Bee uses her platform to stand up for women's rights consistently, but now everyone will gloss right over that because of that ONE WORD.

I've never understood why cunt was so offensive. Maybe someone could share some perspective on that?

The trend for the past twenty-some years has been to ignore the intent of an offensive comment....if the words were offensive, the offender was fired regardless of why they said it.

 

[ItsAll4Kim]

I get frogs in my house. All the animals pack up for the hunt.
Most times I am able to rescue the frog, they get thrown back outside with a warning not to come back.

Last week I wasn't so lucky. Later that night Spaz puked up a whole, intact frog *shudder*

By now rumors of the death zone that is my house should have spread to the surrounding wildlife.

Frog, or toad? Some toads can produce a foamy weird froth on their skin when threatened. One of my friends had a Cockapoo named Chappie who used to lick the toads he found. He'd have a reaction to the foamy shit, he'd be lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back. I guess it wasn't bad, because that dog never stopped licking toads.

 

[TexanStar]

Both Rosanne and Samantha strayed into isms. Rosanne made a racist insult about a politician, Samantha made a sexist insult about a politician.

Socially, there is a lot more tolerance for sexism than there is for racism. A lot of media members have made sexist comments who are still on the air, but blatantly racist remarks tend to knock someone out quick. Remember Don Imus?

Even here on the boards, if you find someone making racist remarks they get banned fast, but sexist remarks will seldom even earn a warning. There's a member in politics who's referred to women he disagrees with politically as she-bitches, cunts, and shemales with such regularity that I exceed the forum character limit if I try to quote it all in one post, but a lot of people (even women's issues regulars) happily chats with him like there's nothing wrong with that shit (though potentially because he contains those sexist outbursts to politics forum).

Anyways, point is, both remarks are bad. Both warrant apologies. I made no suggestion about what the network should do in either case. It's largely going to boil down to the business impact. TV networks are corporations and corporations do whatever they think is best for their bottom line. It's all about the money (Rosanne may have been their #1 rated show, but they had to be worried about loss of advertising revenue, public boycotts, etc).

 

[950483]

Frog, or toad? Some toads can produce a foamy weird froth on their skin when threatened. One of my friends had a Cockapoo named Chappie who used to lick the toads he found. He'd have a reaction to the foamy shit, he'd be lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back. I guess it wasn't bad, because that dog never stopped licking toads.

Were these toads the hallucinogenic kind?

 

[sodominsane]

For the luvvagawd... I can't find where it's coming from. I have 2 dogs and they are completely unfazed. It's not attic, it's not chimney... I can't tell if it's crawlspace or in the walls. It is a wood house, and there are nuthatches and other cavity nesters that have punked holes in my siding... so it is possible that the noise is coming from the walls.

My guess is the walls....I have torn down many a well that contained a bird skeleton....don't know where ya live or what codes are...but houses are never really air tight..(or we would die...hehehe)....

 

[ItsAll4Kim]

Were these toads the hallucinogenic kind?

That would be my guess, but I only saw the toad in question briefly...my friend got it away from Chappy quickly and then related what had been going on. Apparently the toad frequented a small hole in their ground-level deck. It was funny to see Chappy waiting above the hole staring at it for long periods of time. Waiting to get his fix.....

 

[ItsAll4Kim]

Not a WI except that I'm a woman and it's my issue... I think I have a bird in my house... or in my walls... I keep wandering around trying to triangulate where the chirping is coming from. It's making me crazy!!!!

There are three. They're fucking with you.

Fill the damn bird feeder.....

 

[sodominsane]

Socially, there is a lot more tolerance for sexism than there is for racism. A lot of media members have made sexist comments who are still on the air, but blatantly racist remarks tend to knock someone out quick. Remember Don Imus?

Ya know it's shocking how ingrained sexism is in our society.....so much so that it's almost unconscious

Look at language.....complaining is often called bitching....

In the army....talk about an injury....someone invarably says..."whaaaa my pussy hurts"

In fact almost any feminine name doubles as an insult

Quit being a girl

Your acting like a woman

 

[MickeyLee]

Both Rosanne and Samantha strayed into isms. Rosanne made a racist insult about a politician, Samantha made a sexist insult about a politician.

Socially, there is a lot more tolerance for sexism than there is for racism. A lot of media members have made sexist comments who are still on the air, but blatantly racist remarks tend to knock someone out quick. Remember Don Imus?

Even here on the boards, if you find someone making racist remarks they get banned fast, but sexist remarks will seldom even earn a warning. There's a member in politics who's referred to women he disagrees with politically as she-bitches, cunts, and shemales with such regularity that I exceed the forum character limit if I try to quote it all in one post, but a lot of people (even women's issues regulars) happily chats with him like there's nothing wrong with that shit (though potentially because he contains those sexist outbursts to politics forum).

Anyways, point is, both remarks are bad. Both warrant apologies. I made no suggestion about what the network should do in either case. It's largely going to boil down to the business impact. TV networks are corporations and corporations do whatever they think is best for their bottom line. It's all about the money (Rosanne may have been their #1 rated show, but they had to be worried about loss of advertising revenue, public boycotts, etc).

I think the targets of both statements are more important than the isms.

Rosanne attacked a woman based on her race. One comment in a long string of racist, right-wing conspiracy tweeting. Roseanne is not her character. She is a very wealthy woman who hasn't been in touch with her demographic for the last 30 years.

Sammie Bee slammed a very privileged, highly tone-deaf white woman who happens to have a good amount of influence on the highest office in the land. An influence she has yet to flex in regard to rights of women and children. She is blind to the harsh realities some people live under on a daily basis.

One is beating down an already oppressed minority. The other is striking back at blind privilege.

Ivanka Trump is a feckless cunt. If she has one shred of decency she would not have accepted the position her father offered her. And she would have actively dissuaded her husband from accepting his seat. She has invited a national commentary on her actions by becoming a public servant. She has opened her private life to comment by posting on social media. She can't play the wounded victim card when her father's action, with her silent complicity, literally endanger the lives of millions of people every day

 

[TexanStar]

I think the targets of both statements are more important than the isms.

Rosanne attacked a woman based on her race. One comment in a long string of racist, right-wing conspiracy tweeting. Roseanne is not her character. She is a very wealthy woman who hasn't been in touch with her demographic for the last 30 years.

Sammie Bee slammed a very privileged, highly tone-deaf white woman who happens to have a good amount of influence on the highest office in the land. An influence she has yet to flex in regard to rights of women and children. She is blind to the harsh realities some people live under on a daily basis.

One is beating down an already oppressed minority. The other is striking back at blind privilege.

Ivanka Trump is a feckless cunt. If she has one shred of decency she would not have accepted the position her father offered her. And she would have actively dissuaded her husband from accepting his seat. She has invited a national commentary on her actions by becoming a public servant. She has opened her private life to comment by posting on social media. She can't play the wounded victim card when her father's action, with her silent complicity, literally endanger the lives of millions of people every day

If you create any justifications or exceptions for usage of sexist or racist language, it keeps the door open for anyone else to use that kind of language (because they in turn feel that the situation warrants it for their case as well).

Ivanka is not a cunt. She's a woman. She might be a cowardly woman. She might be a disconnected and priviledged woman. She might be a feckless woman. But she's not a cunt. No one is (US centric point of view. I know in Australia / New Zealand everyone is a cunt )

 

[MickeyLee]

If you create any justifications or exceptions for usage of sexist or racist language, it keeps the door open for anyone else to use that kind of language (because they in turn feel that the situation warrants it for their case as well).

Ivanka is not a cunt. She's a woman. She might be a cowardly woman. She might be a disconnected and priviledged woman. She might be a feckless woman. But she's not a cunt. No one is (US centric point of view. I know in Australia / New Zealand everyone is a cunt )

Ya know how black people can use the N-word? Women get to use Cunt.

Ivanka Trump is a CUNT. In all caps, with a wicked big font size. Hard C, drawn-out UN, Crisp T.

Women in Australia/New Zealand know a word beyond cunt. They are not legally allowed to use it around anyone who is not an Aussie or a Kiwi.

 

[ItsAll4Kim]

The idea that we get to justify insults and -isms "because they deserve it" is precisely why the trend was to ignore intent and focus on the insult/bigoted statement.

 

[TexanStar]

Ya know how black people can use the N-word?.

Only the ones who don't have a grandma around to slap the shit out of them.

Besides which, reclamation of hate speech usually involves changing the meaning. When Barack Obama jokingly says "my niggah", he's not using it as an insult, he's using an altered meaning of the word.

You're not changing the meaning at all. You're using it as every bit the sexist insult that it is.

 

[MickeyLee]

Only the ones who don't have a grandma around to slap the shit out of them.

Besides which, reclamation of hate speech usually involves changing the meaning. When Barack Obama jokingly says "my niggah", he's not using it as an insult, he's using an altered meaning of the word.

You're not changing the meaning at all. You're using it as every bit the sexist insult that it is.

I had a grandma around to slap the taste out of my mouth. Didn't work. She tried hard.

Being a white woman I'm not really in the place to give a breakdown of the use of the N-word. I have heard the word on the lips of people of color when it definitely had negative intent.

Cunt is multi-use. I call my who-ha a cunt when I am not calling my who-ha a jenny. I also call the President a pernicious hate-cunt on a near-daily basis.
Cunt as an insult isn't strictly a female-directed slam. I've called Trump's entire cabinet cunts at some point. And we all know how he fills about hiring women he doesn't want to have sex with. Exceptions are given to Sanders, he's aroused by her ability to lie with a straight face, and Megan Kelly another bold-face liar he admires.

I know Sammie Bee meant it as an insult. And I know I felt every moment of it, and fripping loved it. You don't get to turn your back on other women then throw up the sexism banner when it suits you. She is outside the need or the deserving of such protections.

 

[TexanStar]

I have heard the word on the lips of people of color when it definitely had negative intent.

Sure, but it's still racist in that context too.

I've heard my own father (who is black) use it in a negative context. Worse than that, I've heard him use it in mixxed company, referencing Chris Rock's skit, in a manner which kind of communicated to some white friends of his that it's okay to refer to some black people as niggers (I don't think it ever is okay).

I think people in the USA have the legal freedom to use sexist or racist language if they want to, but I don't think it ceases to be sexist or racist just because it's uttered by someone from the group that speech tries to victimize.

I know Sammie Bee meant it as an insult. And I know I felt every moment of it, and fripping loved it. You don't get to turn your back on other women then throw up the sexism banner when it suits you. She is outside the need or the deserving of such protections.

I'm just in the school of thoughts that civil rights are "rights". They are inherent and above questions about whether someone deserves them or not. People do not need to earn the right to be treated as a human being and it needs to be carefully considered where lines are going to be drawn, if any, where we stop considering someone to be a human being.

Being sexist towards someone can feel great. If it always felt disgusting then it wouldn't happen.

Please don't let all this mansplaining convey that I think I'm a saint. I'm bad about muttering hate speech when I'm affected by bad drivers on the highway. I understand the appeal. I just try and avoid ever arguing that it's justified.

 

[MisterB]

Here's my take about Roseanne and Sammie Bee's "shit-stirring" tweets/commentary:

Roseanne lied. Bigly. In this tweet that led to her firing and, let's be honest, in all her other racist baiting tweets...like when she posted the distorted image of Whoppi Goldberg's T-Shirt Pix from the woman's march. And so many many others over the past few years. That's her schtick. That's my issue in a nutshell with Roseanne--SHE SIMPLY LIES AND SPREADS LIES. REGULARLY. I'm not about liars. At all. Ambien tweeting--c'mon now, give me a fucking break. I'm a lot of things, but I ain't stoopid! She's a fucking racist, and she fucked herself out of her show. So now, who's the stoopid one here?

And I said it before and I'm gonna say it again--Bravo to the Black Woman, Channing Dungey at ABC, who fired Roseanne for racially disparaging a Black Woman with lies. Made up shit. That's why I got nothing but contempt for Ms. Barr. Now, if the biggest nut of all would only go back to her Hawaiian nut farm...

Sam Bee told the truth. I agree totally with @MickeyLee. It was a perfect description of Ivanka. It's what Sam Bee does--she uses comedy to tell the truth. Regularly. I'm all about truth-tellers. Even if the truth hurts.

And c'mon now, this faux outrage from the Trumpettes? Hey, here's a newsflash--something I learned as a 6-year old. Don't dish it out if you can't take it. Somehow for some it's okay for Trump and his ilk to routinely post racist, sexist, and/or hateful rhetoric. But when they get called out for exactly what they are, all of a sudden it's not okay. Fuck that!

 

[MickeyLee]

Sure, but it's still racist in that context too.

I've heard my own father (who is black) use it in a negative context. Worse than that, I've heard him use it in mixxed company, referencing Chris Rock's skit, in a manner which kind of communicated to some white friends of his that it's okay to refer to some black people as niggers (I don't think it ever is okay).

I think people in the USA have the legal freedom to use sexist or racist language if they want to, but I don't think it ceases to be sexist or racist just because it's uttered by someone from the group that speech tries to victimize.

I'm just in the school of thoughts that civil rights are "rights". They are inherent and above questions about whether someone deserves them or not. People do not need to earn the right to be treated as a human being and it needs to be carefully considered where lines are going to be drawn, if any, where we stop considering someone to be a human being.

I think when you get to the level of power when you have sway to public policy and laws that affect millions of people you are open for even the most vicious commentary on your behavior. Ivanka Trump wasn't married into her position (much to her father's disappointment) She accepted her role and all the bullshit that accompanies the position.

Being sexist towards someone can feel great. If it always felt disgusting then it wouldn't happen.

I just don't see cunt as an exclusively sexist comment. Cunt goes over gender barriers, across ethnic lines, strides the gap of classism. Cunt is catch-all for those behaving in cuntish fashion. For instance: Cuntery runs deep in the Trump bloodline.

Please don't let all this mansplaining convey that I think I'm a saint. I'm bad about muttering hate speech when I'm affected by bad drivers on the highway. I understand the appeal. I just try and avoid ever arguing that it's justified.

Just cuz you're a man and you are explaining your point of view doesn't make you guilty of mansplaining.