Sunday, July 18, 2010

Femonomics reads the internet: early puberty, racist tea party, whoopi, and an app that lightens your skin

People used to think just Americans were hitting puberty early, due to unhealthy lifestyles, but a new Danish study shows the age of puberty dropping among Danish boys.  A large part of this may be due to better nutrition, but it also may be caused by exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals or other environmental factors.  What do you think--does this trend concern you?  Or is it simply a marker of better health in the developed world?  Importantly, how do we get people to separate in their minds the age of puberty and the age of maturity?  (The linked article worries this will increase sex abuse--but only if people viewed 15 year-olds, who would have mostly gone through puberty, as sexually mature before the change!)

The NAACP issued a mild statement asking the Tea Party to repudiate racists in their ranks.  The Tea Party spokesperson, Mark Williams, responded on CNN by saying the Tea Party is ground up, has no set ideology, and isn't racist.  He then went on to pen a shockingly racist blog post (full text below jump) that contained these words:
We Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!
...And the ridiculous idea of "reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government." What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life? As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!
The racist tea parties also demand that the government "stop the out of control spending." Again, they directly target Colored People. That means we Colored People would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.
The end result, thankfully, was the Tea Party doing exactly what the NAACP resolution requested, by kicking out Williams and repudiating his racist statements.  Seriously, all you have to do is come out with a statement that your group stands for equality and you won't tolerate racism from people under the Tea Party banner, and then follow through on that commitment.  It's not so hard to be not racist, unless you're worried about alienating racists.  Oh, and Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, I hope this provides sufficient proof to you that some people in the Tea Party are in fact racist.

Jezebel has a list of 15 questionable things Whoopi Goldberg has defended.  Between coining the word "rape-rape" and sticking up for Mel Gibson (she says his anti-Semitism was because of drinking, and in her experience he's not racist), I'd say it's time for Whoopi to hang up the towel on opinonating a bit.  Renee Martin has more here and here.

Omigod, Vaseline has a new facebook app that lightens users' skin, to advertise their skin lightening products in India.  "Shadeism" is a huge problem in India and throughout the world, and many people experience permanent skin damage from using lightening creams.  I understand that there is market demand for this, but I can't help feeling like the companies that sell these products are evil.  I don't really know what to do about it, though.  Where will the pressure come from to eliminate shadeism, and the dangerous products it creates a market for? (hat tip Katey-kat)

NPR has a big spread on summer books.  (Hat tip Fug Girls.) What are you reading?  What's on your list?  I'm tackling the Stieg Larsson trilogy next.


Text of extremely racist Mark Williams "satirical" blog post:
Dear Mr. Lincoln
We Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!
In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week. We voted to condemn a political revival of that old abolitionist spirit called the 'tea party movement'.
The tea party position to "end the bailouts" for example is just silly. Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn't that what we want all Coloreds to strive for? What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us coloreds! Of course, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the only responsible party that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.
And the ridiculous idea of "reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government." What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life? As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!
The racist tea parties also demand that the government "stop the out of control spending." Again, they directly target Colored People. That means we Colored People would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.
Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea parties is their demand that government "stop raising our taxes." That is outrageous! How will we Colored People ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?
Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.
Sincerely
Precious Ben Jealous, Tom's Nephew National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Head Colored Person

2 comments:

  1. Hey,
    from his itw on This Week, I think Biden was actuallybsaying that they were some fringe elements in the Tea Party mvt who were racist, but that the organization was not a racist one. I think that the whole Mark Williams story actually vindicates what he was saying.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're right that that's a more fair characterization of what he said, but the timing of Biden's comments made them seem in opposition to the NAACP, who ALSO said the organization was not racist. The difference was that the NAACP asked the non-racist members of the Tea Party to come out against those members who made racist statements. In light of the Mark Williams front-and-center racism, the Tea Party has done just that, but it bothered me that Biden couldn't do the same. The NAACP's ask was a pretty low bar.

    ReplyDelete

Commenting is now open, but we'd love it if you chose one username so other commenters can get to know you. To do this, select "Name/URL" in the "Comment as" drop down. Put the name you'd like others to see; the URL is optional.

Any profanity, bigotry, or synonyms for "[ ] sucks!" will be deleted. We welcome criticism as long as you're making a point!