• “The New Evangelicals and the Inevitability of Homosexual Accommodation” by Jeremy N. Thomas
• “‘Westernizing’ the Galaxy: Klingon ‘Otherness’ as Affirming Human Superiority in Star Trek: The Next Generation” by Melissa J. Stacer

Thomas’ article because woah, “the inevitability of homosexual accommodation” just invites a reading.

Stacer’s paper because holy shit! Trekkies in academia! How awesome would it be to be able to spend research time on analyzing the world of Star Trek: TNG?!

Abstract of Stacer’s paper:

This project contends that the idea of “Westernizing” is implicated in the science fiction universe of Star Trek. Europeans once explored the earth and attempted to civilize the barbaric peoples they encountered, and I contend that the Star Trek universe portrays humans exploring space and attempting to accomplish this same task with alien species. This project explores how the human species as portrayed in Star Trek represents the hegemonic voice of White America, a representation of the natural and normal to which other species, specifically the aggressive Klingons, are contrasted and viewed as inferior. Klingons represent the human revulsion against the barbaric “Other,” typified by characteristics that humans have already overcome. I utilize Hall’s (1997) theoretical frameworks and themes around which representations of racial differences cluster to examine how Klingons and humans are portrayed in this supposed future utopia. I also employ work by Dyer, whose wrote [sic] that the inclusion of minority groups in media is essential because their inclusion is necessary in order to define and clarify characteristics of whites. These frameworks allow a critical examination of Star Trek’s portrayal of humans and Klingons as well as helping to illustrate what this present day cultural phenomenon may be indicating about current societal relations. [Source: allacademic.com]

Relatedly: “Should Feminists Be Cyborgs?” by Blauwkamp and Krassas

Abstract: Building on Donna Haraway’s cyborg manifesto, we analyze cyborg exemplars from science fiction to assess the potential of cyborgs to challenge sexist dualisms along with the logics and practices of domination that spring from them. [Source: allacademic.com]

Way back when, almost ten years ago, I found Bitch Magazine sitting tucked behind women’s glossies on the top-most shelf of the bigbox bookstore. It was love at first page flip, finding a magazine that addressed real concerns (e.g., the challenges of working mothers vs the latest celeb diet) and whose politics where right there in their tagline: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. By this time my feminist consciousness had been raised and I was deep into theory. I’m not sure how it went for other feminists, but I found myself unable to even flip through traditional women’s magazines. To me they became icons of women’s present day oppression: how-to manuals on subordinating oneself. All I could take away from them was that women don’t need others to oppress them, they’ll do it fine themselves as long as they can try to look hot while doing it.

‘Cosmopolitan’ Institute Completes Decades-Long Study On How To Please Your Man

Will you resent me for this website? Absolutely. And I have spent hours and days and months of my life considering this, weighing your resentment against the good that can come from being open and honest about what it’s like to be your mother, the good for you, the good for me, and the good for other women who read what I write here and walk away feeling less alone. And I have every reason to believe that one day you will look at the thousands of pages I have written about my love for you, the thousands of pages other women have written about their own children, and you’re going to be so proud that we were brave enough to do this. We are an army of educated mothers who have finally stood up and said pay attention, this is important work, this is hard, frustrating work and we’re not going to sit around on our hands waiting for permission to do so. We have declared that our voices matter.

These are the stories of our lives as women….

dooce.com

Goodbye to the double standard . . .
[...]
Goodbye to the toxic viciousness . . .
Carl Bernstein’s disgust at Hillary’s “thick ankles.” Nixon-trickster Roger Stone’s new Hillary-hating 527 group, “Citizens United Not Timid” (check the capital letters). John McCain answering “How do we beat the bitch?” with “Excellent question!” Would he have dared reply similarly to “How do we beat the black bastard?” For shame.

Goodbye to the HRC nutcracker with metal spikes between splayed thighs. If it was a tap-dancing blackface doll, we would be righteously outraged—and they would not be selling it in airports. Shame.

Goodbye to the most intimately violent T-shirts in election history, including one with the murderous slogan “If Only Hillary had married O.J. Instead!” Shame.

Goodbye to Comedy Central’s “Southpark” featuring a storyline in which terrorists secrete a bomb in HRC’s vagina. I refuse to wrench my brain down into the gutter far enough to find a race-based comparison. For shame.

Goodbye to the sick, malicious idea that this is funny. This is not “Clinton hating,” not “Hillary hating.” This is sociopathic woman-hating. If it were about Jews, we would recognize it instantly as anti-Semitic propaganda; if about race, as KKK poison. [...] (All emphasis in original.)

If you’ve got the time, read it in full.

From the beginning, I was in favor of Kucinich. Then I heard Gravel speak and I was torn between the two as they were the only candidates to so closely align with my own politics. Now, Kucinich is out and I’m not so sure about Gravel’s future. Being left with only two choices doesn’t feel like much of a choice.

Indiana’s primary election isn’t until May, but if I’m stuck with either Clinton or Obama, my vote will go to Clinton because when compared, Obama is woefully inexperienced and we’ve got some major fucking problems.

[via Pea]

Through the exacting and normalizing disciplines of diet, make-up, and dress–central organizing principles of time and space in the days of many women–we are rendered less socially oriented and more centripetally focused on self-modification. Through these disciplines, we continue to memorize on our bodies the feel and conviction of lack, insufficiency, of never being good enough. At the farthest extremes, the practices of femininity may lead us to utter demoralization, debilitation, and death. (p. 14)

I am looking forward to the rest of the text.

Here’s what I was listening to:

1. The Moldy Peaches — Nothing Came Out
2. Devendra Banhart — At The Hop
3. Journey — When The Lights Go Down In The City (ugh)
4. Peaces — Operate
5. Devo — Head Like A Hole
6. DJ Paul V — Yo Majesty vs Depeche Mode — Just Can’t Get Club Action [mashup]
7. Bratmobile — Polaroid Boy
8. Eric Bachmann — Lonesome Warrior
9. Cola Wars — V As In Victory
10. Princeton — Tokyo, Japan

Blast from the Past Bonus: It was 1993 and I was totally listening to these guys while painting my nails black and dying my hair pink:

Her record is impressive:

“I will never forget the day Purdue alumnus Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969,” Córdova said, recalling it was the same year she graduated cum laude with a degree in English from Stanford University. “It eventually drew me to the California Institute of Technology, where I began exploring the mysteries of the universe. And now I’ve come full circle – to Purdue, the cradle of astronauts and the place that played a major role in launching my quest.”

After earning her doctorate in physics from Cal Tech in 1979, Córdova spent the next decade at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a member of the Space Astronomy and Astrophysics Group. She then joined Penn State University to head the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

In 1993, she began work at NASA, serving as the primary scientific adviser to the NASA administrator and the principal interface between NASA headquarters and the broader scientific community. During this time, she served on the National Science and Technology Council’s Fundamental Science Committee.

Córdova, 59, has served at [University of California] Riverside since 2002, coming from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she had been vice chancellor for research and a professor of physics for six years. Before that, she was the youngest person to hold the position of NASA chief scientist, working on projects that included the Hubble Space Telescope.

She is the winner of NASA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, and was recognized as a 2000 Kilby Laureate for “contributions to society through science, technology, innovation, invention and education.”

She was the award-winning author in 1969 of a work of fiction, “The Women of Santo Domingo,” based on her anthropologic field work in a Zapotec Indian pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico, and a Zapotec Indian cookbook. For that, she won a guest editorship with Mademoiselle magazine and the opportunity to write a feature travel article on Israel. She also wrote and edited for the Los Angeles Times News Service.

In 1984, Córdova was named one of “America’s 100 Brightest Scientists Under 40.” Córdova has earned numerous other recognitions. She was named one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business Magazine, which also recognized her with the Hispanic Achievement Award in Science and Technology.

She is a distinguished professor at UC Riverside, where she teaches astrobiology. She is a member of numerous professional associations and currently serves on the boards of directors for the American Council on Education and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. In 1997, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.

[Source]

Now all we need are more tenured women professors.

While not unexpected, I believe this unfortunate decision is a clear signal that the Supreme Court is opening the door to further challenges to personal medical decisions between patients and doctors that should not involve the government. [Source: (http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/60412.html" title="FreeNewMexican.com)]

While we should be concerned for reproductive choice/freedom/rights, also in peril is the medical privacy between an individual and their doctor for any circumstance.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want some estranged politician having a say in any of my medical decisions.

EDITED 07-24-08: Link to news article expired.

We came home this morning and found our mail in a neat stack on the coffee table (thanks to The Canadian) and wrapped in plastic was the 35th issue of Bitch Magazine, (http://www.bitchmagazine.com/read_sp07.shtml) “The Super Issue”.

I scanned the ‘Love it/Shove it’ section because I always come away with a list of things to research.

And the article, “This is What a Feminist Should Look Like”, caught my eye.

Because of this:

Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Jessica Valenti of Feministing.com wrote about the recent feminist blogosphere kerfuffle over feminist in-group policing, and quoted a few words from Jill of Feministe (when she came out as a “fun feminist”) and responses from a few other feminist bloggers.

Anyone else feel the geeky thrill of seeing the names of feminist bloggers in offline print media?

EDITED 07-24-08: Link to read Bitch issue expired.