The latest Mad Men episode primarily had the Feministing writers tearing their hair out over Betty’s weight gain storyline.

Betty joins Weight Watchers, tries to manipulate Sally to undermine Megan and Don.

I stayed awake through this episode. Barely.

Unsurprising–Betty has never been particularly mature. Also, her weight is the most annoying plotline because it’s not really making sense. Is she unhappy and got fat? Is she happy and got fat? Or did getting fat make her happy? Is being fat terrible? Is this a tragedy? Hella sloppy storyline and it’s a little boring. Sally’s mean streak was really intense right there tho–was she channeling Don or Betty? That scene was intense, but the way Megan ends up being the voice of reason in the end makes it clear she is way more keyed in to the family dynamics than anyone else. -Samhita

The whole Better Draper fat-shaming storyline is getting completely out of hand. It’s the most tired, sexist trope of all time. Being fat is not a tragedy. Let me say that again. Being fat is not a tragedy! Up until this season, Betty Draper represented the most idealized version of womanhood and femininity. I get that they’re trying to flip the switch and portray Betty in a completely new light. With that, they had so much potential to challenge viewers’ notions of women like Betty who appear to “have it all.” They had an opportunity to humanize Betty, but all they did was reinforce damaging stereotypes. Megan’s power lies in her taut figure while Betty’s downfall lies in her…late night whip cream binge?

C’mon, Mad Men! You’re insulting our intelligence. All you’re doing is regurgitating the message that’s shoved down our throats every other day of the week by every other media outlet: being fat is the worst possible crime a woman can commit. You eat too much ice cream, you become a sad, despairing lady. That’s some really lazy writing. -Anna

I hate this storyline. Seriously, it’s not smart enough for Mad Men. I’m sorry, but I have no interest in watching fat shaming for entertainment. It’s mean spirited towards the character of Betty, and just insulting to the audience. -Jos

Yeah, Samhita said it: This storyline is just boring. For a show that is so subtle in every other way, this heavy-handed storyline is just really odd. Whip cream?? For real? Like, we get it: She’s fat and sad. Seriously, is there anything else to get here? As we’ve said before, Betty’s weight gain has potential to be an interesting, complicated storyline. But so far the fact that she’s gained a few pound is literally the only thing we’ve learned about Betty all season. Well, that and that she thought she was gonna die for a second. -Maya

Michael Ginsburg is upstaging everybody.

Michael Ginsburg could get it. Also, Don’s feeble attempt at undermining him and Michael calling him out, but Don clearly lying since he spent all night figuring out a way to upstage Michael is showing Don’s declining influence and relevance. But if he upstages Peggy in the long run, I’ll hate him forever. #loyal -Samhita

Seconded. #TeamPeggy -Anna

I noticed in this episode that Peggy’s kind of old fashioned like Don. Are either of them really caught up with the cultural changes going on around them? Cause that’s kinda their job. I’m totally in the Michael Ginsburg can get it club – but also, I think it’s smart to have the character who’s work represents the future be so ignorantly sexist. The more things change… -Jos

Roger pitches Manischewitz.

No one on the corner has swagger like Roger. His borderline anti-Semitic jokes were annoying but era appropriate. Roger’s ability to appeal to the rich Jewish folks of Manhattan will keep the old man in the game. I mean–he’s gotta run out of money at some point right? -Samhita

Megan teaches Sally to fake cry.

Is Megan the best actor ever playing the role of her life or is she confused and all over the place? Every time I think we are seeing who she really is, we get another glimpse of how she can con people, including fake crying. Sally seems to be connecting to Megan on a real talk level, but is feeling sorry for mom and being protective of her. -Samhita

But not really! I was kind of surprised when Sally lied to Betty about everything being A-OK on the Anna Draper disclosure front back at Don’s place. Sally’s turning into a beast! She’s learning from all of the worst of them! Yikes! I’m kind of scared of her. That scene where Don tried to reprimand her and she screamed back at him? We’ll see what kind of 1960s/70s young adult she becomes. -Anna

Megan: “Some men are the kind of big, mean assholes who chase you around your apartment and throw you to the ground. But hey, you can totally manipulate them with your tears. Girl power!”

I actually enjoyed seeing Sally stand up for herself when all these adults are manipulating her. Yeah, she’s definitely learning some disturbing behaviors from her parentals, but she’s also learning to navigate these relationships, and frankly I think she’ll quickly learning to do that better than the adults. -Jos

Roger and Jane have sex, he pays for and “ruins” her new apartment

The clarity that Roger experienced post-LSD is clearly not shared and he is mucking this break-up up all over the place. And it’s costing him a fortune! Or…is she the one playing him? -Samhita

Ooooh, I really hope she’s playing him. -Maya

The latest CBS News/New York Times poll is bullshit. (Sorry, Mom!) No, seriously it is. That’s the latest national poll of women voters which puts Romney ahead of President Obama by 3 points.

Excuse me while I go and laugh uncontrollably.

Confession: I’ve long thought national tracking polls for presidential races were totally stupid and pointless. Why do they exist? It’s not like we haven’t had an election where the person who won the popular vote lost the election. (Well, I guess technically that election was stolen, but you know what I mean.) Since we have the electoral college, the only polling that I pay attention to is state polls. Even more importantly, my focus is always on the battleground/swing state polls. Ya know, the ones that are yellow on Chuck Todd’s map on MSNBC. Those are the polls that really matter.

The reason why I don’t trust national polls–or believe they matter–is because they are over hyped by the media (big red flag!) and because, while they might help shape a narrative in said media, they don’t actually affect outcomes. While it’s true that President Obama has benefited in the so called “war on women”–and poll after poll shows a huge gender gap–national polls of women, just like national polls of both genders, are always prime for inconsistency. They go up and down all the time.

I’m not saying that Romney can’t be ahead of Obama in a poll; I’m saying that it is highly suspect that Romney is ahead of Obama in a poll of women. Any poll that says that given all that has happened in recent months is likely flawed. And it turns out that yes, this one is likely flawed. The Obama campaign certainly thinks the CBS News poll is “biased.” The same CBS poll last month was the only one that had the presidential race tied and instead of using a different sample of voters this time, the CBS pollsters used the same people for this month’s tracking numbers.

But, of course, because these national polls are for the media, the flawed poll isn’t explained away as an outlier. Instead, it’s used by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh to show that the “war on women” is made up and that women really do like Romney more than Obama–despite the fact that all of his policies would make our lives suck.

So quit it with these national polls folks. They’re dumbstupid.

Via The Washington Post

I certainly think last week’s announcement by President Obama is a sea change. Yes, it was a symbolic gesture, but I think it’s important and allows many more public figures to speak out in support of marriage equality. The latest public figure to do so is the hip hop mogul Jay-Z. When asked about President Obama’s support of marriage equality, Jay-Z told CNN:

 I’ve always thought of it as something that is still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.

And when asked whether supporting marriage equality may cost President Obama the election, Jay said:

I think it’s the right thing to do so whether it costs him votes or not. You know, again, it’s really not about votes, it’s about people. So whether or not it costs him votes, it’s the right thing to do as a human being.

The significance of a rapper supporting marriage equality and condemning homophobia cannot be overstated. Hip hop has a long and troubling past of misogyny and homophobia. Jay-Z speaking out in this way is no small thing. Sea change, folks.

Check out video of the interview here.

You almost gotta respect how anti-choicers in Mississippi are totally upfront about their goals. I wrote recently at Mother Jones about the new law that’s basically custom-designed to shut down the state’s only abortion clinic.

And now here’s State Rep. Bubba Carpenter bragging about how they’ve found a way to “literally” stop legal abortion in Mississippi without messing with Roe v. Wade. And what do you think about the “poor, pitiful women” who are forced to turn to coathanger abortions, Bubba? “But hey, you have to have moral values.”

Via RH Reality Check. Transcript and more context at the Maddow Blog.

The National Partnership for Women and Families is out with a new report called “Expecting Better” that grades state laws that help new parents–such as paid parental leave, paid sick days, protections against pregnancy discrimination, and laws to accommodate breastfeeding mothers. A whopping 18 states were given Fs for “failing to provide a single benefit or program to help support families before and after the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.”

It’s not news that the U.S. is notoriously “family unfriendly.” Rhetorically, of course, politicians of both stripes think mothering is the most important job in the world–one apparently deserving of lavish praise but little material support. It has never ceased to amaze me that conservatives can get away with yammering ad nauseam about their “pro-family” values without supporting a single policy to help real families. Indeed, as Jezebel notes, conservative states get some of the worst grades. It’s high-time both progressives and conservatives not only expected but also demanded better.

Pic of the day. (Via)

A remarkable speech from 1970 on gay rights by Black Panthers co-founder Huey Newton.

Starting tomorrow, Amplify Your Voice is hosting an International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Blogathon.

Samhita at The American Prospect on marrying yourself.

Kelley at the community blog talks about the abysmally antiquated and sexist selection of online games for girls.

An awesome and innovative campaign by Mama Hope to break stereotypes and get important work done in the process.

Via Upworthy.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved their version of the Violence Against Women Act, which compared to current Senate-approved provisions in the bill which would include protections for LGBTQ folks and immigrants, is just not a good look:

The House Judiciary Committee last week approved its version of the reauthorization bill, which not only omits improvements the Senate bill made to the law but also removes existing protections for immigrant women, putting them at greater risk of domestic and sexual abuse.

The Senate’s measure ensures that victims are not denied services because they are gay or transgender. It also strives to ensure that domestic violence crimes committed by non-Indian men in tribal communities are prosecuted. The Senate bill also would modestly expand the availability of special U-visas for undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic violence. That move was supported by law enforcement to encourage victims to come forward and testify against their abusers.

Each year, VAWA is reauthorized with improvements. But this bunk version of the bill is merely a shade of a legislation, and if passed, will be big step backwards for not only for the communities it should be protecting, but for the Violence Against Women Act altogether.  Let’s also remember that with the current bad rap Republicans have with women and folks with uteri these days, this would be a really, really unwise political move.

If the House knows what’s good for them, they’ll vote for the legislation that protects all Americans. Find your House rep, call them and tell them that if they want a chance in hell of maintaining some standing in Congress, they need to do the right thing.

In the closest the state has come to legalizing civil unions, a special session in Colorado’s legislature effectively killed a bill that would have granted the right to same-sex couples before it even reached the House floor:

A measure allowing same-sex civil unions that prompted Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to call a special session after Republicans killed it last week may be defeated again later today.

On the first day of the new session, Colorado Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty assigned the bill to the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, a panel dominated by conservative members.

McNulty “sent it to state affairs, unfortunately known as his ‘kill’ committee,” said Democrat House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, the bill’s sponsor. “I’m going in knowing we don’t have a committed ‘yes’ vote.”

McNulty said the reason why he sent it to the kill committee was to “dispense with divisive issues as quickly as possible so we can get back to the business of creating jobs.” Additionally, GOP Rep. Don Coram said the reason why he voted against the bill (he has a gay son) was because, ”I’m concerned that the gay community is being used as a political pawn.”

So you’re voting against a bill granting rights to the gay community…for their own well-being? This kind of argument by the right that civil liberties for gay couples (or Obama’s support for marriage equality) is some kind of political ploy or diversion from the “real issues” is a political ploy in itself (not to mention completely trivializes LGBTQ rights) — and not one that will work come November.

Pic via.

What happens when you have a criminal record, fatally shoot a teenager armed with nothing more than a pack of skittles and an ice-tea and argue you were justified under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Laws? Nothing. The police believe you and it takes a national media campaign to actually get the criminal justice system to look into the case.

What happens when you have no criminal record, don’t harm anyone, but fire shots to scare off an abusive husband, who has choked and punched you, and just threatened to kill you? You get sentenced to 20 years of prison, of course. This is justice in Florida, where Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years of jail time on Friday. The 31-year-old mother of three said she had no intention of hurting anyone, but feared for her life, after her husband, who admits to abusive behavior, threatened to kill her. Change.org, which has a petition for Alexander, recounts what happened to her:

Marissa’s husband has a documented history of violence and domestic abuse toward women. The history of Marissa Alexander and her husband includes an injunction for protection against violence and was active during August 2010. In a jealous rage, Marissa’s husband violently confronted her while she used the bathroom.  She was assaulted, shoved, strangled and held against her will. She was prevented from escaping and was not able to obtain her cell phone to call 911.

Her husband was asked to leave repeatedly. He and his two sons (Marissa’s stepsons), were supposed to have exited through the front door but, did not. Her husband entered the kitchen which leads to the garage and saw that Marissa was unable to leave via the malfunctioning garage door. Her husband yelled “Bitch I will kill you!” and charged toward her. Marissa had retrieved her liscensed and registered gun which she owned for years before even meeting her husband – from her vehicle. She held the weapon in her right hand down by her side as he yelled, “Bitch I Will Kill You!” And charged toward her. In fear and desperation, Marissa Alexander lifted her weapon, turned away and discharged a single shot in the  ceiling. As she stood her ground – that single shot prevented him from doing that which he had threatened. He ran out of the house where he contacted police and falsely reported that Marissa Alexander shot at him and his 2 sons.

The contrast between what happened to George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin, and Marissa Alexander, who actually was defending herself, could not be starker. This case highlights the danger of mandatory sentencing, which does not permit any discretion in response to mitigating circumstances. It also shows how unfairly and unevenly the Stand Your Ground law is applied.