Race
how we construct the “other” as the biased ones
After Judge Walker’s decision that Proposition 8 in California is unconstitutional, the rumors have begun: Is he gay? For instance, here’s a clip from CNN (via Pam’s House Blend): On PHB, Pam Spaulding asks, “In what universe is the sexual orientation of any judge relevant to ANY case?” A justified question. Of course, it doesn’t [...]
The rise of white nationalism in the United States
This video from Democracy Now, an excerpt from Rick Rowley and Jacquie Soohen’s White Power USA, is just terrifying. It chronicles the rise of white nationalism in the United States over the last year. I’d embed it, but the embedding code doesn’t appear to be working on this blog. The except from the documentary is [...]
thoughts on Bruno
Possible spoilers ahead. I saw Brüno in the theatres this afternoon, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I mainly went out of curiosity, because I’m fascinating by his over-the-top performances. I heard a lot of concern from folks that this might be the type of movie that’s hilarious for queer folk and [...]
on Judge Sotomayor
I’ve been wanting to post on the whole (racist, sexist, peculiar) rhetoric surrounding Judge Sotomayor, but I doubt I really have anything to say that hasn’t already been said. Joseph Orosco has an interesting post about Sotomayor, empathy, and the oath of office. Good read. Some links: Pandagon: This appears like it’s going to be [...]
caring about how language affects people
via Sociological Images, here’s a video in which Jay Smooth addresses Asher Roth use of “nappy headed hos” in a tweet. I like Smooth’s attention to care in the video:
um, what?
From A Racist Recession?, which discusses the racial disparity in unemployment rates: “High black unemployment has more to do with lags in educational attainment and skill acquisition than with racism.” Um, what caused those lags in educational attainment and skill acquisition? Oh, that’s right. Institutional racism. (not to mention the victim blaming) EDIT: I thought [...]
decentering the performer
I went to the drag show put on by a student group on campus today. It was a decent show, and some of the performers were really engaging. But what really got me thinking about the show wasn’t the performers on stage (a group of drag queens from Pittsburgh), but a group of students (I [...]
notes from the interblags
• Inside Higher Ed: On the age bias in hiring academics • Anne-Marie offers some information literacy tools for synonyms • Matt offers some tools for annotated websites • Matt also shares some videos about Twitter. This one on ambient intimacy is especially interesting. • Irene Monreo at Bilerico: Gay is NOT the new black [...]
“whopper virgins”
From Feminist Philosophers, Here is a 7+ minute video that shows a taste test conducted by Americans in regions of the world where people have never eaten a hamburger. They conducted an experiment to see if these “whopper virgins” would like the Burger King Whopper or the McDonald’s Big Mac better. This video might be [...]
notes from the interblags: some points of interest as the winter draws near
• Michael Bérubé points to the funny little blog fafblog, which back in 2004 might have coined the best little phrase I have read in a while, during a spoof interview with James Dobson (which sounds eerily like a real interview with James Dobson): “Oh no! Not Western Civilization! That’s where all my friends live!” [...]
