My (Not So) Secret Crush on Hugh Jackman’s Chest/ Jan 2011

Image by Barbara.Doduk via Flickr

I like a man who isn’t afraid of his chest hair.

Okay, so this is not the most forward (make that forward-thinking) thing I will ever say, but it’s true.  I like a man with a sprinkling of short, dark, curly, man-smelly hair on his chest.  My gal-pals and I have exchanged thoughts on this briefly, and they strongly prefer the hairless chest.  In fact, my friend C has mocked me for getting silly at the sight of chest hair peaking from an actor’s shirt (because, you know, God forbid I should acknowledge my weakness in public).

Hugh Jackman is an excellent example.  But then, he is an excellent example, period, no matter what, if anything, is the topic of discussion.

Visually, he can pull off rough and rugged (any and all of the X Men flicks, but especially X Men Origins: Wolverine, where he wears flannel–”Lesbian lingerie”, as (The Delicious) Brian Kinney of QAF puts it (oh, don’t start complaining about the merits, or lack-there-of, of those films; that’s for another, less hormone-crazed, man-hungry post, don’tcha think?)) , refined and flustered (Kate and Leopold, as the delicious Duke of Albany), and daily casual.  If you’re unsure as to which is my favorite, scroll up and re-read the first sentence.

Femme Funnies: Is that a mower in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

This is not the whole comic, just the start.

Now go here.

Subnormality is an excellent comic exploring the human condition, through the sublimely ridiculous and a case study of assholery.

Draw your own conclusions from this one.

In-Flight Entertainment

This chick's got the right idea.

I love kids. I want to have kids of my own. For the most part, I understand them and forgive them their foibles.

But, kids are people, too. And people are assholes.

I’m on the plane out west, sitting next to two kids, brother and sister, traveling on their own. When I got on, they were all settled in with their blankets, looking a little forlorn. I was quite willing to be their in-flight attendant, lend a helping hand if they needed it. I’d seen their worried mom at the gate. I was supposed to get the window seat but the kids got there first, and, really, aisle is better.

When the little girl (who is small enough to curl up sideways in a seat) had her shoe-clad foot against my leg, I wrote it off. Too young to know better.

Then, apropos of nothing, she turns to me and looks right at me, like I am her official babysitter. “I’m thirsty,” she says, looking at me plaintively. Mom made sure they had snacks, but nothing to drink.

“That sucks,” I say sympathetically. (Oh, shit, what if I just says ‘sucks’ to a Mormon child?) “I’m sure once we take off the flight attendants will bring you something.”

A while later, “Will you buy us a snack?”

Will I what?

Secret Life:

Subterfuge chokes down two more episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Season three, episodes 8 (“The Sounds of Silence”) and 9 (“Chicken Little”).

Much like the show, this post is a giant dump of impetuousness. Read at your own peril.

For the first time in forever, Secret Life didn’t make me want to throw things. “The Sounds of Silence” had only one thing that annoyed me strongly enough for me to remember to write about it this week.

So, Adrian is having Ben’s baby. He accompanies her to her first OB/GYN appointment, with a doctor who specializes in teen pregnancies–this town must be putting something in the water.

“Wait, a male doctor?” Yes, Ben, a man will be taking care of all this. Ben’s mind sticks on this point, he makes a huge fuss about it.

The man who enters the room looks like this:

via ABCFamily

That’s the only remnant of the man I can find, which tells you something–no one cares. There’s nothing special about him, he looks like your average specialist, approaching middle age.

Politics, politics, politics!

Jezebel has a list of the 10 Lowest Moments For Women in Politics This Year (So Far). It’s a mix of men being rude to women, and women doing stupid shit. (Oh, Palin, Bachman, Angle and Fiorina, you do drive me crazy.)

On the other hand, Oklahoma and New Mexico will both electing a female governor this year. Governor is the highest state position, and this is only the third and fourth times, respectively, that two women have secured their parties’ nominations, for an all-woman race. (We have ‘third parities’ in the US, but no one takes them seriously.)

Compare that to CAWP’s list of woman-versus-woman U.S. House races, and the difference is striking. In 2008 alone there were 10 races in which a woman was assured a seat in the House of Representatives. And since 1944, there have been a total of 114 such contests, not including the four woman-versus-woman 2010 House races at last count. Clearly, women are more likely to run for, and win, House and Senate seats than find themselves in their state’s executive office. There are currently six female governors, or 12% of the total; meanwhile, 17% of both the U.S. House and Senate are women. (Of course, there were eight female governors until Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas left for the Obama administration and Sarah Palin decided to quit her job.) (Washington Post)

When I heard about these woman vs. woman races, I thought, “Huh, lets see how much focus is on their hair and clothes now!”

Then I saw the Jezebel post:

Yesterday, we learned that voters were polled on whether Barbara Boxer or Carly Fiorina has better hair. Even without the 2008 election’s bombast (Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin), the past year has been rather rocky for women in politics. Some lowlights:

1) Public Policy Research’s question about the really important stuff in the California Senate race had its own illustrious background: Carly Fiorina being caught on camera calling Boxer’s hair “so yesterday.”

“Do I Look Like a Slut?”

via Flickr user striatic

Citibank fired employee Debrahlee Lorenzana for the way her clothes fit. Her manager argued that the curves of her body violated appropriate dress guidelines for the company, because the clothes fit her differently than they fit less-curvy employees. His judgment blurs the line between what a dress codes ultimately regulate: clothing and bodies.

Most of us have wondered, “do I look like a slut?” But when does a piece of fabric turn sexual, and where does this question come from?

The unlikely answer can be found in dress codes. From their start in ancient Greece, to their current-day applications, dress codes have clued us in to our inner “sluts” by dividing people in accordance with dominant virtue— both voluntarily and by force. The reasoning behind many dress-codes is the importance of public order and “professionalism,” or that “the outfit makes the man”— but what does it make a woman? For many of us, the answer is complicated. It’s bundled up in a complex set of rules and guidelines that date back to ancient times, which claim to uphold public order— but ultimately buy into a sexist system that disadvantages and sexually objectifies women on the basis of clothing.

She’s not a slut if she didn’t want to do it… at first.

Oh darling, no, we mustn't! Not 'til you put a ring on it!

I was over at F’s earlier, and picked up a book I keep seeing around but haven’t yet bought. It was a romance by Judith McNaught, with one of those mild covers that doesn’t indicate anything vaguely erotic, unless you cought the castle thrusting up through the clouds. As I flipped the pages, my eye landed on tongues and other such things, and I found myself smack dab in the middle of a love scene. As we’re wont to do, I began reading it out loud in a melodramatic voice.

“What,” F demanded, “is so enjoyable about RAPE? All these love scenes are rapes!” (She has read the book.)

“Ah, but you see,” I explained, “it’s to avoid being a slut. She can’t want it. But if he rapes her and she enjoys it, then it’s ok, because she’s not a slut.”

F shook her head in disgust.

LiLo’s RTs will be held against her in a court of public opinion.

They're saying what? I just hit a button!

The headlines are outraged–Lindsay Lohan is comparing herself to that innocent Iranian woman sentenced to stoning! I really don’t care about Lindsay, but I do care about Sakine, so I clicked.

Linsday Lohan got a DUI a while back, and she’s done a bunch of stupid things like not show up to her hearings, or follow through on things the judge ordered her to do, like attend alcohol education classes. Durr. She was just in court again this week, and the judge has ordered to jail for her violations. The world weeps for her, really.

So, what did she say? She didn’t, she Tweeted. Here is exactly what she tweeted:

It is clearly stated in Article 5 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights that….
4:09 PM Jul 7th via web

, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
4:09 PM Jul 7th via web

this was taken from an article by Erik Luna.. “November 1 marked the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. But there were no
4:12 PM Jul 7th via web

celebrations, parades, or other festivities in honor of this punishment scheme created by Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission….”
4:13 PM Jul 7th via web

Instead, the day passed like most others during the last 15 years:Scores of federal defendants sentenced under a constitutionally perverted”
4:13 PM Jul 7th via web

system that saps moral judgment through its mechanical rules.”
4:13 PM Jul 7th via web

http://tinyurl.com/29kxdyf — please RT
4:15 PM Jul 7th  via web

The tiny link takes you a Newsweek article about Sakine, the Iranian woman.

Maybe I’m thick, but I don’t see the connection. That link looks like a pretty standard re-tweet to me. The bulk of the messages here are certainly referring to the ‘harsh’ sentencing she was given this week, but I hardly think she’s comparing herself to a victim of Shariah Law.

So what’s with inflammatory articles like this one at Hollywood Life?