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paw prints
intramural (bad) sports
•Related: Hill, Yes! O., No! [Washington Post]
When Spite Trumps Common Sense, A Resentful Clinton Supporter Is There
The six weeks since Cynthia Ruccia announced that sexism would force her to support John McCain in the general election haven't, as many had hoped, made her any more reasonable. Like many a Clintonista, Ruccia — the co-founder of Women For Fair Politics who appeared on Larry King Live last night (see clip above left) — is still spitting mad and not going to take it anymore: she's going to vote for John McCain! See, John promised her personally that he'll appoint lots of women to jobs in his Administration (you know, like how Bush appointed feminist leaders Christine Todd Whitman, Ann Veneman, Elaine Chao, Condoleezza Rice, Mary Peters and Margaret Spellings to his Cabinet) and that trumps the cunt thing, reproductive rights and other issues that Ruccia, a lifelong Democrat, holds dear. Because in the battle to combat sexism in the media, it's important to show that women have a voice that can be used to show that Clinton supporters are crazy, spiteful bitches who will sell out their own political ideals to nurse a grudge. Way to strike a blow for us ladies, Cynthia!•Related: Hill, Yes! O., No! [Washington Post]
opinion leaders
For Better Or Worse, Maureen Dowd, Peggy Noonan Speak For Us All
Do you like Maureen Dowd? Do you think she accurately represents your views or, even, some views of women other than your own? How about Peggy Noonan? Not so much, huh? Well, you're going to be hard-pressed to find other women on your Op-Ed pages, according to a new study from Rutgers University, which shows that Op-Ed writers are overwhelmingly male. Does that sound familiar? It sounds really familiar to me. More »
media battle
Are Threesomes Really Normal? The National Review Enlists Three Bloggers To Debate Glamour
The late National Review founder William F. Buckley was a famous prude (even in his novels about fictional hedonistic boomer liberals, among whom he once described a sex scene as transpiring thusly: He didn't know then that his ejaculate had burrowed down into her ovum.) But now he's dead! And in a welcome distraction from all the pointless campaignfinance habeascorpus offshoredrilling static his old journal devoted three separate features this week to the subject of…how appropriate!…threesomes! The catalyst: a New York Times feature noting gay marrieds sometimes indulge in the odd menage a trois. So much for the argument that letting homos wed would release them from the deathgrip of their sick culturally-accepted perversities, says Maggie Gallagher. But wait! Media blogger Fred Schwartz thinks the straights have threesomes too! He read about it in Glamour… More »
Mudslinging
Yesterday on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, DNC chairman Howard Dean commented on the rampant sexism in media coverage. "There has been an enormous amount of sexism in this campaign on the part of the media," he stated. "Major networks have featured outrageous comments that… if the words were reversed, and they were about race, people would have been fired." (Carly Fiorina sort of agrees?) We've posted about this issue before, and Anna wrote about it for Sunday's NY Times. What remains to be seen is where we go from here. (Click picture for embedded video.) [YouTube, NY Times]
Natascha Kampusch, the other Austrian woman who was locked in a cellar for several years, is starting a new gig as a tv talk show host. "So much has been written about me, and so many people want to know what it's like to be on the other side [of the interviewer's table]," Kampusch said in a press conference with Austrian media. This just…seems wrong. Kampusch's only qualification seems to be her infamy. Are infamy and fame the same thing these days? Is she so used to press attention that she needs to find a way to spin it into a career? [AP]
Unfair & Unbalanced
The Women's Media Center has launched "Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It," a video and online petition campaign. At issue: The pervasive sexism in political coverage. "While Hillary Clinton's campaign has cast a spotlight on the issue of sexism, this isn't a partisan issue: it's about making sure that women's voices are present and powerful in our national dialogue," states the organization. Watching all of the sexist clips from "news" shows compiled in one video is nauseating, and the focus on looks, cosmetics, cleavage and terms like "nagging voice" and "the Wicked Witch of The West" is extremely infuriating. At least there's this quote: "We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever." That's Susan B. Anthony, who died in 1906. (Click the picture to see embedded video.) [Women's Media Center]
girl on girl crimes
Hatred Of Hollywood Women Reveals An Underlying Misogyny
A marketing study out of England is reporting that the five most-liked celebrities are exclusively male, while the top four out of the five most hated celebrities are female (the one male who is nationally loathed, American Idol judge Simon Cowell, was also voted one of top five best liked). Professor Diane Negra of the University of East Anglia points out that much of this loathing can be blamed on sexism. But the misogyny flung at these females is not always from men — it's often hurled by other women. "[Some women] seem to be incredibly competitive with each other and find it hard to give credit to each other. With male celebrities a lot of men might aspire to be like them or may aspire to be with them," Negra tells BBC. More »
chit chat
Race Relations: What's So Wrong About A Rich White Woman Interested In "Africa"?
A few weeks ago, Latoya Peterson, editor of the blog Racialicious, emailed me to proffer compliments over the success of the site and talk about Jezebel's coverage of racial issues, which, she explained, she wasn't particularly thrilled with. After a few email exchanges, I called her, and we talked for what seemed like hours. We did the same the following day. And, (if I remember correctly) a few days later. Although I didn't always agree with her assessment of our content and the intentions behind it, I found her and her commentary to be intelligent, charming, sensitive and, of course enlightening... so much so that I decided to recreate part of our conversation over email so that commenters could weigh in. After the jump, Latoya and I discuss reader complaints, accusations of colonialism, coverage of Third World countries, and how to deal with issues of "the patriarchy" abroad without being patronizing. More »
crappy hour
Barack Obama Doesn't Look Too Psyched About That Beer
Fifty thousand people are dead or close to it in Burma, and Barack Obama can state unequivocally that he does not drink designer beer. Seventy five percent of American adults will at some point be impoverished. The average American car owner really must save $30 this summer. Chris Hitchens believes Barack Obama may be pussy-whipped. Ellen Page believes Burmese dictator Than Shwe is a modern Hitler. And when tomorrow comes, Terry McAuliffe believes everyone will be saying that Hillary Clinton did better than they thought she was going to do in both the North Carolina and Indiana primaries tonight. Now there's a statement Glamocracy Megan and I can get behind! After the jump, an unusually hip-hop laden edition of Crappy Hour. More »
leftovers
Your Period Could Save Your Life; Swedish Prisoner Gifts Guards With Wooden Willies
• Scientists have found stem cells in menstrual blood. • And a new company, C'elle, is already offering women period blood storage starting at just $99/year! • Joan Benoit Samuelson, "the matriarch of marathons," is running Olympic trials in Boston for fun. • Amy Poehler eats Honey Nut Cheerios because of The Wire• An ex-prisoner in Sweden was fined after he gave parting gifts of wooden dicks to female guards. • More from Sweden: a Muslim woman won a discrimination case after she was told to vacate a bus for wearing a niqab scarf. • The first born are usually the smartest. • The Supreme Court will consider using the death penalty for child rape. • Media Matters calls Bill O'Reilly a big ol' homophobe.
letter from the editor
Big Changes, New Beginnings
Well, guys, we've got some pretty big news: We're moving. Or rather, Jezebel has been acquired by CondeNet, the online arm of publishing giant Conde Nast (Vogue, Glamour, Conde Nast Traveler, The New Yorker). We'd heard rumors last week that there were discussions going on between CondeNet and Gawker Media regarding Jezebel, and those rumors continued on over the weekend. Then, last night, I got word that there would be an announcement of some sorts today, and now it's official: As of this morning, Jezebel is part of the Conde Nast stable of online properties (which include Style.com, Concierge.com and Epicurious.com). We're not quite sure how to feel about this (although the acquisition has no doubt made our boss, Nick Denton, a much wealthier man) and even more unsure how exactly it will affect us, but we do know that the site will be welcoming an editorial consultant and some new staffers in the (very) near future. After the jump, we've got a copy of the press release with some more details. More »
MSNBC, CBS, ABC & Fox News LIED about pastor Jeremiah Wright. See 9/11 sermon in context.
the good, the bad & the ugly
Gay-Loving Guys & Dolls Wore Their Finest To The GLAAD Awards
The GLAAD Media Awards were held last night in Manhattan, and some of our favorite, swoon-inducing stars (straight and queer) turned out to honor MTV president of entertainment Brian Graden and mother of gay rights activist Judy Shepard. I mean, just check out dreamy Mariska Hargitay and her husband Peter Hermann. Yum, both. In addition, Tim Gunn, Malan Breton, Loretta Devine, Graham Norton, and Alan Cumming were in attendance, some, of course, looking better than others. The good, bad adn ugly of the GLAAD Media Awards, after the jump. More »
maghag
Hey Public! What Do You Like To Read About? Because We're Kinda Stumped
What sells magazines? There's a new issue of the MIN media industry newsletter out, and the only sure answer is "Not Britney Spears And Isaac Cohen," a pair responsible for the worst-selling issues of both Us Weekly and OK! (Who the fuck is Isaac Cohen? After the jump!) But everything else was confusing. Do we love bad news? Because rumors that Angie and Brad were on the rocks gave both InTouch and its sister publication Life & Style its bestselling covers. But the equally tragic demise of Katie and Tom gave Life & Style its worst-selling cover. (InTouch's worst cover was about the also-sad Virginia Tech massacre.) But what of the Good Old Days? Rolling Stone's best-selling cover was all about 1967, but Newsweek's worst-selling cover was all about 1968. More »
"People are, like, she must be witchy. I think it's the liberal bias in the media that I'm the one who's argumentative." —Elisabeth Hasselbeck's version of why we think she sucks. [Newsweek]
Ugh. A pregnant Toledo attorney, Karyn McConnell-Hancock, has been reported missing, according to ABC News. Ms. McConnell-Hancock husband told the police that McConnell-Hancock "has a client who has recently been aggressive toward her." Mixed emotions here: terribly sad that this woman is missing; happy that a missing woman of color is being reported on by a national media outlet; wondering if she had been a poor missing woman of color, would this story be running? [ABC News]
rants & raves
