niyad
niyad's JournalBarbie discovers the patriarchy Pt. 2
Barbie discovers the patriarchy Pt. 2
Hannah Irvine | January 25, 2024
The 2024 Oscar nominations were released on Tuesday after a long build up of speculation of which movies would take the top spots. “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” have been pitted against each other since their release, breaking box office records and earning rave reviews, and were expected to win big. Apart from being released on the same day, the two movies have very little in common. Notably, Christopher Nolan’s three hour blockbuster doesn’t include a hit Nicki Minaj song like Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” However, their statistics were watched closely and the two became a well known pair with “Barbenheimer” trending throughout the summer of 2023.
Regardless of their creative differences, one is very clear. The “Oppenheimer” team is majority male, while the “Barbie” team is majority female. “Oppenheimer” received thirteen nominations, including the highly sought after Best Director and Best Actor, while “Barbie” received eight nominations, with none in those two categories. When Margot Robbie, who played the title character of a film that has been nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, is not nominated for an Oscar, but her male co-star is, it becomes extraordinarily clear that there is a problem. When Greta Gerwig who wrote and directed the film only receives a nomination for Adapted Screenplay, but not for Best Director, the problem becomes even more painfully obvious. Gerwig even set a new record for the highest-grossing female-directed film at the domestic box office, but that is clearly not enough to earn a top nomination.
Ryan Gosling, who played Ken, released a statement in response to the snub: “There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no “Barbie” movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”
The Oscars have long received harsh criticism for their lack of diversity and, although some very welcome changes have been made over the years, there are still fundamental issues within the list of nominees year after year. In the award show’s 94-year history, only two women have ever been named Best Director. The irony of the nomination saga is excruciating. With “Barbie” acting as a social commentary on misogyny, this snub was simply too on the nose for fans. The plot of “Barbie” is quite simple: Barbie discovers the patriarchy. Life imitates art.
https://feminist.org/news/barbie-discovers-the-patriarchy-pt-2/
Far-Right Players Behind Latest Attacks on Abortion in Emergencies (FUCK THE GODDAMNED WOMAN-HATERS)
(FUCK THE GODDAMNED, CHRISTOFASCIST, THEOCRATIC, PATRIARCHAL WOMAN-HATERS)
Far-Right Players Behind Latest Attacks on Abortion in Emergencies (FUCK THE GODDAMNED WOMAN-HATERS)
1/24/2024 by Ansev Demirhan and Lisa Graves
Who is behind the latest attack on access to abortion even in emergencies? Some of the same players trying to impose their religious worldview on others.
A projection condemning right-wing legal activist Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society as government watchdog website Accountable.US launches a campaign during the Federalist Society annual conference on Nov. 9, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Leigh Vogel / Getty Images for Accountable US)
Just days before what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Idaho to continue its near-total abortion ban despite federal rules that require hospitals protect patient’s health in medical emergencies. In April, the nation’s highest Court will hear Idaho v. United States and Moyle v. United States, a pair of cases that will determine whether the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) preempts state laws that impede emergency abortions needed to protect the health of pregnant people even if they are not on the brink of death. Both of these cases have ties to the main anti-abortion zealots that helped overturn Roe: Leonard Leo and Alliance Defending Freedom.
Anti-Abortion Extremists Play Politics in Idaho
On Aug. 25, 2020, Idaho passed an anti-abortion trigger law, called the Defense of Life Act (DOLA), which would immediately criminalize almost all abortions if Roe were overturned. That law was passed just weeks before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. At the time, Donald Trump had already appointed two men hand-picked for the Court by Leo and strongly endorsed by anti-abortion groups: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Within weeks of Idaho’s new law, the Republican-controlled Senate rammed through another appointee selected by Leo, Amy Coney Barrett, even though Americans were already voting in the 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden won.
. . . . .
. . .
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and then-Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), arrive for the House Republican Conference meeting in the basement of the Capitol on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call)
. . . .
Idaho’s abortion ban has driven OB-GYNs out of the state—because, for them, treating patients with nonviable pregnancies, where the fetus is not expected to survive, puts them and their patients in physical danger and under severe emotional distress. Research has shown that post-Roe, OB-GYNs have felt extreme anxiety as they have been forced to weigh the potential legal penalties for providing their patients with a moral and clinical duty of care. The argument that Idaho’s near-total abortion ban somehow values life and children is hard to square with the actions of a state where the GOP-led legislature failed to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage and turned down federal funding for childcare. Idaho is also the only state in America without a legal requirement to track and review the state’s maternal mortality rates. Idaho’s decision to disband its Maternal Mortality Review Committee in July of 2023 seems designed to obscure the effects of its abortion restrictions. The U.S. already has the highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized nations, with rates worsening post-Dobbs.
Dobbs has provoked a sustained backlash in the elections that followed it, as Americans have repeatedly rejected dangerous and repressive abortion bans and the candidates backing them. This has not stopped far-right dark money groups, the judges they helped put in power, and their other benefactors from attempting to impose their personal religious will over Americans’ who wish to maintain freedom to control their bodies and futures. When the Supreme Court rules on the Idaho case in a few months, Idahoans and other Americans will see if the right-wing faction Leonard Leo helped get installed on the Court changes course or continues to use the law to impose its religious worldview on Americans, despite the demonstrably dire consequences and even though most people oppose that extreme agenda.
Alyssa Bowen, director of True North Research’s Equality Project, contributed to this story.
https://msmagazine.com/2024/01/24/leonard-leo-idaho-abortion-emergency-alliance-defending-freedom/
Taliban Leader: Afghan Women's Rights "have been fully Secured."
(try not to choke or scream when you read this propaganda)
Taliban Leader: Afghan Women’s Rights “have been fully Secured.”
Anselma Ellingwood | January 22, 2024
Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban’s leader, said in a recent statement that women’s rights in Afghanistan “have been fully secured.” The Taliban leader who has never been seen in public or by any official except Taliban members, claimed that women have been given their full rights under Sharia.
It is unclear which standards the Taliban is using to assess the status of Afghan girls and women’s rights. The pervasive systemic discrimination against women through the release of over 100 edicts issued nationally and sub-nationally would suggest otherwise. According to Tahira Nasiri, a women’s rights activist, not only are women deprived of their basic rights such as work and education, “but women have also faced forced and early marriages, murder, detention, and suppression for over two years.”
By educational standards, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls cannot seek an education after elementary school. In fact, Afghan culture and Islam both value the importance of women’s education. In terms of employment, women are prohibited from working in all sectors, including with local and international humanitarian organizations. As a result, women who were once the primary breadwinners are now unable to feed their families. Over the past two and a half years, we have been witness to gender apartheid policies that relegate women to a subhuman status. Women have been essentially erased from public life and are prohibited from any social and cultural contributions.
A recording released on Wednesday at a religious scholars’ meeting in Kandahar, however, conveys a different interpretation. Hibatullah says in this recording that women’s rights have been “guaranteed in all areas” under their rule. He refers to the orders he issued in areas such as inheritance rights, prevention of forced marriages and providing a dowry for women but none of those have been implemented and the order issued were more advisory. Hibatullah, leader of the de facto authorities, suggested that these rights are “better secured” than in previous governments. Gender apartheid must be officially recognized as the situation in Afghanistan, regardless of the Taliban’s empty promises for women’s rights.
Source: social media, Khaam Press.
https://feminist.org/news/taliban-leader-afghan-womens-rights-have-been-fully-secured/
International Day of Education requires us to fight for women's education everywhere. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has d
International Day of Education requires us to fight for women’s education everywhere. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has denied women and girls access to education.
Anselma Ellingwood | January 24, 2024
“I love school. It brightens my future, builds up my education, and I learn about life,” Fariza, Afghan girl, UNICEF.
As the world celebrates International Day of Education (January 24), this day serves as a grim reminder of the restrictions on Afghan women’s and girls’ opportunity to pursue an education. Afghan women and girls have been forced out of school for more than 850 days.
Girls cannot pursue an education beyond sixth grade and women cannot pursue higher education in public universities. Banning women from receiving an education does not only inflict harm on 50% of the population, it isolates Afghanistan from the rest of the world, affects all Afghans and their communities, and has a negative impact on Afghanistan’s economy. Prior to the Taliban takeover, all 34 provinces offered women and girls access to education at all levels. From 2002 to 2021 3.5 million girls enrolled in first to 12th grade. Afghanistan also had 200,000 teachers, including 80,000 female teachers. Over 100,000 women were enrolled in public or private universities.
The right to education is a universal human right outlined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Moreover, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC) holds that countries must make education accessible to all. In fact, a quality education is listed as goal number 4 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “In Afghanistan, education for all, for girls and boys, women and men, is more than just a fundamental right. It is the foundation for Afghanistan’s future,” said Roza Otunbayeva, using this day as an opportunity to once again call on the Taliban to lift the ban on girls’ education.
Opening schools is not only a western ideal but a demand of Muslim countries. “In the holy religion of Islam, every day is the day of education, but unfortunately today on the International Day of Education schools and universities are closed [in Afghanistan.]”, said Tafsir Seyaposh, a women’s rights activist. It is no secret that education is the key for women to independence, escaping poverty and building a successful future. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations said “to educate girls is to reduce poverty.” In Afghanistan, the dire humanitarian crisis demonstrates the need to educate women and girls.
The Taliban’s edicts on education also target men and boys. Schools have been burned down as a tactic to crack down on educational institutions. Over the past two years, Afghanistan has seen the rapid increase in madrassas, religious education institutes. While there is nothing inherently wrong with religious education, these madrassas have been used as centers for training suicide bombers and weapon use.
Source:
UNICEF, Tolonews, UN, USIP
https://feminist.org/news/international-day-of-education-requires-us-to-fight-for-womens-education-everywhere/
Welcome To Wonkette Happy Hour, With This Week's Cocktail, The Dirty Martini!
Welcome To Wonkette Happy Hour, With This Week's Cocktail, The Dirty Martini!
Go ahead, admit it. You like it dirty.
Matthew Hooper
Jan 26, 2024
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff2463731-8772-47f2-b61f-732951b465c2_4032x3024.jpeg
I promise, it is green. Barely.
Greetings, Wonketeers! I’m Hooper, your bartender. We’ve done some pretty novel drinks this month. Let’s make something simple and straightforward. And then, because it’s me, let’s make that same drink overly complicated. Time to stir up a Dirty Martini, Hooper style
. Here’s the recipe:
Dirty Martini
3 oz olive-infused Tanqueray gin
¼ oz Stirrings Olive Brine
Chill the gin, brine, and martini glass. Stir together the gin and brine in a cocktail vessel with two ice cubes until cold. Strain into a martini glass with an odd number of olives as a garnish. (Remember, an even number of olives in your martini is bad luck.)
Olive-Infused Tanqueray
Pour the gin and ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil into a container. Stir the oil and gin until combined. Seal the container tightly and place in the freezer overnight. The next day, break a hole in the congealed oil and strain the gin through a double layer of cheesecloth into a bottle. Keep in a cool dark place until service.
So, hot take: The “dirty martini” is not a true martini, no more so than a chocolate martini is. I can find recipes for a dirty martini using gin and vermouth, but every time a customer asks me for one, he’s inevitably asking for vodka and olive brine in a glass. Vodka doesn’t belong in a martini. Yes, I am a snob. But as evidence, I will point to the fact that the “dirty martini” didn’t appear on menus until the 1980s, when chocolate martinis, espresso martinis, and all sorts of non-martinis started appearing on menus.
That doesn’t preclude a splash of olive brine into your classic gin and vermouth. FDR was purported to splash a little brine into his martinis, and I’m loath to gainsay such an epic cocktail fan. But for the most part, the standard dirty martini is flavorless vodka and the olive juice of choice — in other words, diluted alcoholic brine. If you’re unlucky, the “olive brine of choice” is a little brine poured off from the garnish tray next to the bar, where maraschino cherries and lemon wedges go to die. Unappealing.
I decided to make a version of the classic dirty martini with a ton of olive flavor. I had spotted olive-infused gin on a Hanukkah-themed popup bar menu last month (yes, there are Hanukkah-themed bars). I immediately understood how it was made; I was less certain of how to use it. Fat-washing doesn’t sound all that nice, but it builds some impressive flavor bombs (like Maple Bacon Old Fashioneds). Fat is water-insoluble, which means that anything that makes that fat tasty is a suspension, not a solution. Let a fat sit overnight with a good solvent, like alcohol, and the flavors will migrate from the fat to the booze. It’s easy to take the solidified oil off the top of the liquor when everything is cold; just pour carefully and strain thoroughly.
The end result was a decisively olive-flavored gin. I went with Tanqueray for this project. The juniper-forward notes cut through the olives nicely. If you’re not a gin fan, believe me when I tell you the final product here tastes nothing like Pine-Sol. I skipped the vermouth for this not-exactly martini; it’s hard to find an earthy dry vermouth that cooperates with olive brine, and fat-washing the gin brought more than enough excitement to the glass.
As I was building this drink, I found myself tempted to pour some pickling spices and salt into the gin and let it sit for a few days. Infusing and fat-washing a liquor is a definite flex, but the notion of cutting the olive brine out of a dirty martini entirely is rather appealing. Good olive brines for cocktails are difficult to find. The only problem with this approach is the end product would be crystal clear. Is a dirty martini “dirty” if it isn’t green and cloudy? It might taste better, but we taste with our eyes. Additional research is needed.
Let’s talk ingredients:
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Ingredient shot. True confession: After the photo was taken, I dumped the cocktail. I don’t like dirty martinis. But I like money, so I make the best dirty martini you’ve ever had at the bar.
Olive-Infused Tanqueray: Feel free to use Beefeater or another old-school gin for this process. I wouldn’t spend a ton on boutique gin for this trick; the fat wash will overwhelm any subtle flavors in a more complex liquor. I found that letting the gin sit for a few weeks in my liquor cabinet mellowed it considerably. At first tasting, the gin had a very bright olive flavor that didn’t cooperate with the other flavors in the bottle well. After a little time, the olive and gin notes felt a bit more harmonious. However, I also started picking up some bitter notes in the liquor that promised to grow over time. I’d suggest letting the gin sit for a week, but no more than a month. It’s still completely usable straight from the fat-washing process, but some patience will pay off.
Olive Brine: I strongly suggest a pre-bottled olive brine for a dirty martini, instead of scavenging olive brine from a jar of olives. It’s more sanitary, and you won’t dry out your olives. Finding the right brine is a bit of a process; I tried out three at the country club before finding a good one. At the store, it’s not hard to find Stirrings Olive Brine on the shelf, but it’s quite the salt bomb. I had to dial back the amount of brine in the glass from a full ounce to a ¼ oz. splash to make a palatable dirty martini. I used Filthy olive brine at the country club bar, but it’s hard to find in Ohio without the help of a friendly liquor distributor. Play around and find your favorite, if this style of cocktail is your jam.
In summary and conclusion, drink well, drink often, and tip your bartender — donate to Wonkette at the link below!
https://www.wonkette.com/p/welcome-to-wonkette-happy-hour-with-bc5
Thinking about pootie and his newly-demonstrated concern for ruzzian assets,
makes me wonder how much of this is related to the increasing calls for handing over 300 billion in frozen assets to Ukraine.
WTF??? Right in the middle of posting, suddenly the screen blanks, and a new
screen pops up saying, "verifying browser", protected by ezoic. Took about three minutes to watch this litlle green line go around and around in a circle.
Verify my browser, when I am always online, and, in fact, had been actively reading and posting for several hours before that interruption.
The Daily B###&*: Screw your extended warranty. How about you start
making things that last?
*Both a noun and a verb, depending on context.
"To all of you whom I offended in 2023. .
try to improve, so that I don't have to do it again."
HAARP and climate change deniers. On KO's "Countdown" this morning, he
was talking about looney laura loomer and her HAARP diatribe. (For those who have not yet encountered this insanity, in the simplest terms, the HAARP program studies the ionosphere, and is based at the Univ. of Alaska). The loonies have insisted for years that it is a program that controls the weather. KO pointed out that the same people who deny climate change, who insist that humans can do nothing to alter it, are pretty much the same people who believe that HAARP manipulates the weather. (I should probably stop listening at 3 am, I scared my kitty!) Then he said that, if President Buden really controlled this system, wouldn't he have sent rain to end the wildfires, etc.?
We all know that consistency and logic are not in the rwnj's purview, but it is nice to have something so obvious pointed out.
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