By Lori Adelman • @ladelman • 13 years ago

TSA encourages blogger to “get her freak on” after finding vibrator in bag

Yesterday it felt like the Internet exploded when friend and fellow feminist blogger Jill Filipovic Tweeted the following:

“Just unpacked my suitcase and found this note from TSA. Guess they discovered a “personal item” in my bag. Wow.”

The Tweet was accompanied by this picture depicting a handwritten note that read “Get your freak on girl”.

TSA slip says get your freak on grl

Jill is a blogger for Feministe and a longtime friend of Feministing. She wrote a post about the experience on her blog, calling the note a “total violation of privacy, wildly inappropriate and clearly not ok” but admitting that she did have a good laugh about it.

I too had something of an ambiguous reaction. It is pretty hilarious, but at the same time there’s something disturbing about the TSA’s (Transportation Security Administration) lack of professionalism and downright immaturity. I’ll think of this little incident next time I see one of those TSA slips in my bag, and I’ll definitely hesitate to pack a vibrator.

Comments on Jill’s original Twitpic are representative of the wide range of opinions this elicits:

“So WRONG. Our personal items are not for TSA comment.”
“A rare human moment/connection from a normally humorless agency. I like it & whoever wrote it.”
“wow, that’s inappropriate!”
“Might as well read, “We’ve just invaded your privacy. Haha. How does that feel?” Icky! Sorry.”

What do you think, readers? Funny, disturbing, inappropriate, or a little bit of all three?

Brooklyn, NY

Lori Adelman started blogging with Feministing in 2008, and now runs partnerships and strategy as a co-Executive Director. She is also the Director of Youth Engagement at Women Deliver, where she promotes meaningful youth engagement in international development efforts, including through running the award-winning Women Deliver Young Leaders Program. Lori was formerly the Director of Global Communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and has also worked at the United Nations Foundation on the Secretary-General's flagship Every Woman Every Child initiative, and at the International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch. As a leading voice on women’s rights issues, Lori frequently consults, speaks and publishes on feminism, activism and movement-building. A graduate of Harvard University, Lori has been named to The Root 100 list of the most influential African Americans in the United States, and to Forbes Magazine‘s list of the “30 Under 30” successful mediamakers. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lori Adelman is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Partnerships.

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