"Don't be grinning THAT much, Brother!"

[EffieBlack]

During a campaign speech today in Birmingham, Obama said, "Everybody likes Michelle" and the audience cheered. He waited a beat and then pointed at someone in the audience and said, "Now don't be grinning THAT much, brother!"

That was funny.

Thought we could use a little cheer break around here.

Now, go back to whatever you were fighting about . . .

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Uh oh....He said "brother"

:P Just thought I'd get that out of the way

[Radical Activist]

3. haha

Well, you're right. Someone would have complained.

[bicentennial_baby]

4. I'm sure they will....

The usual suspects :)

[EffieBlack]

6. That's the second time in a week

Why is he so obsessed with race?

:sarcasm:

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Yeah, him *and* Jesse Jackson...

:rofl:

[ecstatic]

7. and he spoke ebonics!!1111!!! OMG! This is series!1! nt

[Pirate Smile]

2. That was funny.

:)

[NJObamaWoman]

5. I LOL when he said that. Totally funny and sweet too. The Obamas

seem so down to earth and their love feels so real.

[hisownpetard]

9. Yeah, I love the way they seem to relate to each other, with so much love and respect.

[HughMoran]

10. Obama's brother was in the audience?

I didn't even know he had one :rofl:

[Tom Strong]

11. Ah, the old "That Guy's Out To Fuck My Wife" joke....

...I tell it at every family Christmas gathering, much to the chagrin of the missus.

[EffieBlack]

13. Are you really an idiot, or did you just sign up to play one on DU?

[Tom Strong]

16. That's almost exactly what my uncle says!

The wife, she just glares at me.

[journalist3072]

12. Who cares? ! eom

[2rth2pwr]

14. That's so awesome. Makes me tingly all over.

The whole objectifying women thing is so non-pc. Very cool.

[EffieBlack]

17. So it's a man good-naturedly joking about another man looking at his wife is "objectifying" her?

Wow.

[2rth2pwr]

19. They were all looking at her, he assumed they were looking at her as a piece of meat

he made an "inside" joke about it to the other men. Nice.

[EffieBlack]

20. I think you're reading way too much into it

It wasn't an "inside" joke. It was a joke. One that most men and women will appreciate and that doesn't assume anyone was looking at his wife "as a piece of meat."

Methinks thou dost protest too much.

[Tom Strong]

22. Well, I'm not much into "pieces of meat" personally...

...but, oh Lord, how I DO likes me some cheesecake: Nice Betty pic ya got there, 2rth. Know where I could get one with her all tied up?

Aheheheh.

[2rth2pwr]

23. Page is a Feminist icon

"Now, why is Page a feminist icon? Because of what she portrayed. An earlier generation of feminists would say that Page was exploited for her beauty, but the current generation recognizes that portrayals of female sexuality aren't a bad thing. Nudes in art have always really been about sex. It's kind of hard to argue that Bettie and Bunny's sunbather pics were exploiting women, while Botticelli's Birth of Venus is not. In fact, Page and Yaeger were an all female team - if anything, you could argue that they were two women using their considerable beauty, brains, and skill to exploit men.

And then there's Irving Klaw. A fetish photographer with more vision than skill, Klaw defines what we think of when we think of fetish photography. Corsets, black stiletto heels, stockings, opera gloves - all began with Klaw. And Bettie Page was his greatest model.

Like Rita Hayworth and Barbara Stanwyck a generation before her, Page was well cast as both the sunny sweetheart and the dangerous femme fatale. A gorgeous black haired woman with an hourglass figure, a million watt smile, and legs that wouldn't quit, she was almost literally the face of sexual desire. Klaw took that and turned it into the iconic 'kitten with a whip' - the Dominatrix who's gender is her strength and who's sexuality is her power plant."
http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2006/05/notorious-bettie-page.html
__________________________________________________________

"Clearly Bettie is a very inspiring figure to young women because she had a strong independent streak. She did what she wanted to do and she wasn't just doing it for men. . . But I think it's a huge mistake to think of her as a conscious feminist heroine. As far as I can see, she didn't have an agenda, ever. She just followed her own path unconsciously. I don't think she thought of herself as a rebel in any way. She was kind of in her own world of dress-up." (Nerve.com)

Like Page, Harron also does not follow a strict feminist ideology, but has instead openly explored issues, instead of tying herself to a single perspective on gender. She is not aiming to create political films, but may end up doing so anyway, in her attempt to express a woman’s point of view. She says in an interview:

"I feel that without feminism, I wouldn't be doing this. So I feel very grateful. Without it, God knows what my life would be. I don't make feminist films in the sense that I don't make anything ideological. But I do find that women get my films better. Women and gay men. Maybe because they're less threatened by it, or they see what I'm trying to say better." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Harron
__________________________________________________________
Interview of Gretchen Mol who played Betty Page
http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmTv/features/thenotoriousbettiepage/gretchen.asp
UGO: Did you see what she did as a kind of a feminist act?

GRETCHEN: Well, I knew because I read interviews and heard her speak about it, that she didn't take that on herself. She wasn't trying to do anything but her job, and she just happened to have this kind of non-judgmental spirit. People were always able to look at Bettie Page and see what they needed her to be, and she just gave them that permission to do so. So, in that way, she's a feminist, but I don't think she was ever trying to be.

[dailykoff]

15. Good one.

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of both of them!

[jcla]

18. Thanks, EffieBlack!

I appreciate Barak and Michelle's humor. Wish they would show hers more. I heard her give a speech early last year before a small women's group... A most effective speaker.. and her humor was great. She'll need it as First Lady... maybe we should run Michelle in eight years....She'd be the class in any field!

[EffieBlack]

21. This reminded me a little of a 2004 debate in which the candidates were asked the (stupid) question

"Which one of the other candidates would you want to party with?"

When it was Al Sharpton's turn, he said, "Mrs. Kerry."

To which Kerry responded, "I was going to choose Carol Moseley Braun, but now I'm going to have to choose you so I can keep an eye on my wife."

It was hilarious.

I remember thinking at the time how far we'd come - when a black man, running for president, could tease a white man, also running for president, about how he wants to hang out with his wife - and everyone had a good laugh over it. It wasn't long ago that a black man would have been lynched for even looking at a white woman.