miriamct1

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By miriamct1 • 15 years ago

PETA gets it right this time

File this under encouraging positive behavior:
I really like PETA’s newest ad regarding Thanksgiving Turkeys. It is totally cringe worthy but without their regular sexist crap! They stay on message and stage it in a scenario that many of us will be taking part in this Thursday. I don’t know if it makes up for all the other stuff they have done, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Check it out here:

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/11/nbc_nixes_commercial.php

By miriamct1 • 15 years ago

Racism in the Children’s department at your local library

My sister has worked in public libraries for a very long time and she often has interesting insights on working with the public. The other day she shared this story with me.
In public libraries there often isn’t enough room to keep every book they ever acquire. The process of removing books from the collection is called “weeding.” Weeding is not about censoring books that make some people upset. This is about removing books that are either woefully out of date or have little or nothing in the way of circulation. My sister said that it’s easy to weed out of date books, any book that talks about “Soviets, Negros or Retarded people” (in the present tense) can be weeded ...

By miriamct1 • 15 years ago

bumper sticker

I’m sure this is all too common a thing, but I today I saw a bumper sticker that made me feel weird in a way I’m not sure I can describe. The sticker was on a pick-up truck (ever the gendered “male” vehicle if there was one) and it said in large type: “I LOVE MY WIFE.”
Oh, OK, that’s nice. It immediately made me feel odd. Was this more like those stickers that say “I (heart) my X breed of dog” or maybe more like the ones that proclaim pride in the honor roll child?
Isn’t the assumption that one would love one’s spouse? It just struck me as a whole “wife as property” thing…of course I might be ...

I’m sure this is all too common a thing, but I today I saw a bumper sticker that made me feel weird in a way I’m not sure I can describe. The sticker was on a pick-up ...

By miriamct1 • 15 years ago

pink diapers on a boy

This just makes me crazy. I’m in the whole “mommy-baby-small-children” universe right now with my life, and I get so tired of the wah-wah crap with fathers being uncomfortable with “girl” diaper bags, baby carriers and other baby gear. Just this morning I was checking out baby carriers for sale on this baby wearing community website and someone was selling a perfectly good carrier that she herself admits she loves because she needs something more gender neutral for the “hubby” to wear. Why are some men so freaked out by “girl” things, pink diaper bags and what not? Why does their sense of masculinity feel so threatened by a lavender baby thing that’s anywhere near them? Are they worried ...

By miriamct1 • 15 years ago

Last Names

When I got married eight years ago I did not take my husband’s last name. I’ve only ever had to defend this choice of mine once, when my sister-in-law asked in a rude way. I don’t care what other people choose to do with last names when they get married, I love hearing about all the things people come up with to answer the “name question.” For myself, I knew I’d never take another person’s name, or hyphenate.
When my son was born four years ago, my husband and I decided that he would have my husband’s last name as his last name and my last name as his middle name. Recently we had another child and ...

When I got married eight years ago I did not take my husband’s last name. I’ve only ever had to defend this choice of mine once, when my sister-in-law asked in a rude way. I don’t ...