(no subject)

[gwydion]

* A little while ago Melissa Harris Perry casually mentioned all the hate mail she's been getting about her hair. It haunts me. Her hair is beautiful, a cascade of lovely little braids, but that's beside the point, I think. There's this long ugly tradition of judging female public figures on the basis of subjective measures of appearance rather than measures of trustworthiness, intelligence, or sensibleness, all of which seem a hell of a lot more pertinent. Melissa Harris perry being all three, I can't help but wonder if they are going after her appearance because they can't touch her on her facts and logical arguments. This doesn't even get into the racially loaded of the issue of African American women's hairstyles, which I'm not going to touch, but may be a factor in them picking this aspect of her appearance to zero in on.

It's fucked up and it infuriates me. She brings a quality of analysis and an historical depth to the issues she discusses, and I am very much hoping they are grooming her for a show of her own. Discussion of her analysis should be about those things, not her hair. I'm glad that like Rachel Maddow, she's resolved not to change her style to try to appease the haters. I'm glad she's as tough as she is intelligent, and knowing that people are being superficial dicks makes be just root for her success even more.

* "California: a greater room for words:" http://lettersfromtitan.com/2011/09/03/california-a-greater-room-for-words/

When I moved to Oregon, my Western friends kept trying to get me to explain why I moved there. I framed it in terms of pacing and manners. I used to do a little routine showing the difference between Philly sales help, Birmingham sales help and Oregon sales help, a little bit like Goldilocks and the three bears with Oregon being just right. I talked about the way there were more shades of green than I knew existed, and the size and shape and colour of the sky. The thing I never could put in to words was the sense of freedom, the lifting of the weight of expectation, the careful parsing of manners and clothing for survival, the street paranoia, and stratified class structure. I could not explain how laid back it felt in the PNW, how exciting the possibilities were, to dress and look and be exactly as one wanted to appear without.

* I'd seen the Fringe they were running tonight, so i flipped over to PBS early, to have something in the background while i worked on some things. I'm not normally big on blondes, but they had a handsome one with long hair pklaying fiddle with guitar and orchestra. Long time readers will know I'm a sucker for fiddles, and I did my work happily with the pretty man sawing his fiddle in the background. And then he played "Master of Puppets." OMG. Heavy metal fiddle! The speed of his bowing was perfect to interpret the trademark Metallica guitars. Dude! I need to remember David Garrett's name.

As it turned out, my show was preempted for fund raising.

* I've been in the mood for this so i'm linking it:

* Moment of Zen:

Comments

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

re appearance: agreed. Though I will say that Bachmann and Palin have the crazy eyes, even more than Moose does.

Re East vs. West.Good lord yes. Though there are some restaurants where I wish they were a bit more East coast in their service.

One of the guys I worked with in Denver was Portland, OR born and raised, and he was really looking forward to getting back: "The people here in Denver are so uptight." I advised him to never cross the Mississippi or his head would explode.

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

I will definitely agree on the Bachmann eyes for sure. Her expression reminds me of Charlie Manson. My serious concerns about her fitness for office based on her radical disconnection from reality based on her speeches, doesn't mean I sign on for sexualized attacks on either Bachmann or Palin. There is a fine line, but an important one. I have similar reservations about male politicians like Mr. Gommert, who is promulgating his belief that you can pay for medical care in 21st century America with baked goods and chickens. To my mind he's the male Bachmann. In Ms. Palin's case, I think it's less a matter of unmedicated schizophrenia than a deep and abiding lack of intellectual curiosity combined with deep ignorance. I class her more as a female Bush, but I could be wrong.

I admit, I feel the same way on restaurants. Sometimes, you just want to eat.

Re: Portlander in Denver. *snerk*

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten how different it was until the last time I went back East; I was in a grocery store at 8:00 on a weekday morning to get some 1/2 and 1/2 for my coffee. I was wearing a jacket, sweats, and a t-shirt. Every man I saw in the store was in a button down shirt, and all the women had makeup and jewelry on. It really weirded me out.

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

It's easy to forget that a tie or makeup aren't a choice back there, isn't it? It's why i'm still charmed by PNW lawyers with beards and pony tails.