Coded Discourse

In a job listing on Craigslist for a tech start-up:

"We value ability over experience. If you have a 20 yr office manager background, this probably isn't the position for you."

That is code for No Olds should apply which translates into a discriminatory hiring practice. Shame on you, Paystand.com! 

Mood Rings and Magic Carpets

We had a yard sale over the weekend on Saturday and it sprinkled then poured rain throughout the day despite a weather forecast of partly cloudy with 20% chance of rain. It may have been May 31, but we and all our early arrivals were all in long sleeves with hoods up, and shivering. Our first sale was for .50, a scrap of silk from an Indian sari I'd sewn into a scarf.

One of our early customers was a woman of approximately my same vintage, in a mini van who was particularly interested in the antique hand-knotted wool Hamadan 2'10 x 9'7 hall runner on sale for $200. The price was too high, it was early in the day, so she left without the rug and I forgot all about her.

Jeopardy!

Julia Collins is setting records of winnings on Jeopardy right now though if you are the Jeopardy nerds we are, you already know it. She has nearly doubled the number of consecutive games won by a woman from the previous record of 7 to her current total of 12. Collins, a Wellesley graduate who also attended graduate school at MIT, has won nearly $300,000 dollars which places her 4th of all-time winners, male or female. She plays a traditional style of Jeopardy which has nevertheless allowed several of her wins to be runaways.

In other words, Julia Collins is a player and if you know and understand Jeopardy, you should be talking about her.

TLDR: Modi

Is the newly elected Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, good for India? The short answer is no, and here's why. He is a right wing religious (Hindu) conservative nationalist who has an ugly history with Muslims dating back to his days serving as the state's chief minister in Gujarat, that resulted in the slaughter of approximately a thousand people, mostly Muslim. This is the approximate equivalent to Bill Clinton presiding over riots and slaughter of African Americans in his home state of Arkansas prior to winning the presidential election.

That said, I hate that The New York Times chose such an inappropriate image of Modi on their front page coverage of his win; it reeks of the "Inscrutable Oriental".

Foreign Coverage?

From a series at Salon.com described as "The latest installment of a continuing series in which American events are described using the tropes and tone normally employed by the American media to describe events in other countries" comes the following analysis of the NY Times/Abramson firing debacle:

"Once considered a regional media outlet for the city whose name it still anachronistically bears, the New York Times has long been a national force, though it is primarily consumed by the economic elites who cluster in the coastal metropolitan areas of this economically stratified country...Reports have since emerged that Abramson may have been paid less than her male predecessor, and that some in the paper’s leadership may have resented her aggressive style. While the laws of this rapidly modernizing country outlaw gender discrimination in compliance with international norms, inequalities rooted in centuries-old patriarchal practices still persist, even in elite institutions, and those who challenge these unwritten rules can face severe backlash." - Josh Keating via Slate

That's right folks! "Inequalities rooted in centuries-old patriarchal practices still persist, even in elite institutions..." and we should all be ashamed. #Pushy.

#Pushy

Abramson Fired

A prominent New York media observer wrote in a recent post, Why Jill Abramson Was Fired, that former NY Times editor Jill Abramson was fired, in part, because she inquired as to pay discrepancies between her remuneration and that of her male predecessor:

"...Abramson discovered that her pay and her pension benefits as both executive editor and, before that, as managing editor were considerably less than the pay and pension benefits of Bill Keller, the male editor whom she replaced in both jobs. “She confronted the top brass,” one close associate said, and this may have fed into the management’s narrative that she was “pushy,” a characterization that, for many, has an inescapably gendered aspect." 

I will wait to hear from Ms. Abramson herself before tearing the NYT a new one. In the Twitter feed of Solange Knowles (I know, right?) lies this gem: "Yo. I don't believe in violence but I almost beat someone's ass tonight. Lot a bit of Martin, but a lot a bit of Malcom" (via Huffington Post). As white as I am, I know the feeling well.

Equal Access

Sacramento, CA Mayor Kevin Johnson (center) at a press conference at Los Angeles City Hall with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (third from left) and current and former NBA players regarding L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling on April 29, 2014, NOEL VASQUEZ/GETTY IMAGES

60 years ago the Brown vs. Education case was decided.

"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools violated our basic equal rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—a decision that gave birth, in large part, to the civil rights movement in our country...nearly three generations later, we’re still fighting to provide equal access to a high-quality education for every student in America." Via The Root.

Shameful.

College Debate

Media via Salon.com

Fall 2014 will see me return to the community college classroom as a Communication Studies instructor. It is possible that I will be making a contribution to the very new Hartnell College Speech and Debate team as a coach so it was with some interest that I read this article. I had goosebumps by the end of it: How White Elite Racism Invaded a College Debate Championship, and was reminded Junot Diaz' recent excellent MFA VS. POC post at The New Yorker where he wrote, among other gems: "In my workshop we never explored our racial identities or how they impacted our writing—at all. Never got any kind of instruction in that area—at all."



The author of How White Elite Racism Invaded a College Debate Championship, Brittney Cooper, is one I read regularly at Salon although I must say, this is by far the best thing I've read of hers thus far. Her connection to the competitive speaking community is one I share. She writes:

"I shared news of Ameena’s and Korey’s championship in my social networks with special pride because this coming fall will mark my 20th anniversary as part of the policy debate community. I made the debate team as a precocious 13 year-old high school student, and have remained a part of that community in one form or another as debater, coach, debate camp instructor and tournament judge, for the last two decades.

Other than the influence of my fourth grade teacher, I give no other academic experience more credit for informing how I think, write, research and communicate."

The article is an excellent argument that speaks to how our institutions should begin to reflect their constituents sooner rather than later; a constituency that will not be predominantly white or male.

This Lifetime

See more: Unbelievably Sexist Ads From Classic Magazines via Buzzfeed

Women's Magazines

I'm an old now but when I was young I quit reading women's magazine's (when I was premenstrual especially) because they made me feel shitty about myself. Not surprised - but still mad and sad - to see that few things have changed. So You Think Women's Magazines Aren't That Bad? Bullshit - The Vagenda

I still don't read women's magazines for pretty much the same reason(s) though thankfully, premenstruality new word is a thing of the past. The through-line is that women's magazines - in fact pretty much most media- is designed to arouse desire in their readers, which translates into ad revenues. In other words, as my dear Dad used to say, "FOLLOW THE MONEY".

Furthermore, the name of the website where I found the essay, The Vagenda, is such gorgeously punful new word wordplay that it brings tears of delight to my eyes.

White Girls

#WhiteGirlsShouldPlaywithBlackDolls
UPDATE:

White child, Doll of Color (DOC). 

UPDATE:

Doll, complete.

I had a little trouble attaching Dolly's head to her body discreetly. However, after learning that the neighbor child loves orange, I added a scarf of the same color around where her neck should be, and voila! 

UPDATE:
I never did end up at the toy store, locally owned or not; what happened is, I decided to whip up a cute little black/brown doll myself. She is pretty much complete except that I haven't yet attached her head to her body. In other news, her hair turned out really well! The crudeness of the execution is entirely down to my lack of rag-doll making skills though I must say, her beautiful brown eyes do shine, and that big gorgeous smile is definitely happy. Her name is Ailema, and I think my little neighbor will like her very much.

Doll, posing.

Doll, up close.

I plan to consult with Boyfriend about how best to attach head to body. He is a tinkerer at heart and the parent of a very artistic and creative daughter with whom he has collaborated on many such projects; I have every confidence that we will be able to attach the head to the body in a minimally invasive fashion.

UPDATE:
Just printed this pattern:

From Make Baby Stuff

ORIGINAL POST:
I'm inspired by the article, Should White Girls Play with Black Dolls? to which my answer is a resounding yes! I am going today to get my nearly two-year-old neighbor a black doll today, and also a brown one. My mother sewed a brown doll for my (now) nineteen-year-old nephew back in the day; I will do the same if I can't find one I like. In other words, the doll must be black and/or brown but cannot embody gender-based stereotypes, so no pink clothing or princess crowns or pro football-themed dolls. I will avoid anything from Disney or other brands with questionable politics because I'm not a huge fan of the movie tie-in product lines for one thing and for another, well, like I said, politics. Off to the (locally owned) toy store - possibly followed by a trip to the fabric store if necessary. The question then becomes, sew by hand? Or drag out the sewing machine?

Pictures later.

Cucumber, Grape

Excerpt from Frans de Waal's TED Talk: "So this is basically the Wall Street protests you see right here."

Interpretive Dance

"EXACTLY THE SAME !!"

Paycheck Fairness

The bill's lead sponsor, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) got a little emotional in her remarks after the recent failure of the Paycheck Fairness Act by a vote of 53 to 44.