Reason #842 why "Strike Witches" is creepy fanboy lolicon moe pandering: The second issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Nyantype magazine will offer a limited Strike Witches Pants Ja Nai Kubi Makura (Strike Witches They're-Not-Underpants Neck Pillow) to its readers on Thursday.

Yes. It is a young girl's crotch, which you wear around your neck.

- Apparently, Local Apartment Complex is taking lessons from Evony's advertising team.

( Large image warning. )

Of course, the last ad doesn't even bother having any information about the apartment complex at all.

- New Ping Your Spaceman post on Tampax's problematic "man with a vagina" ad campaign.

- I keep finding and purchasing Avatar: The Last Airbender DVDs on $3 clearance, all the while still having a huge existing show backlog already. And this is not counting the fact Avatar is a gamble for me, because I wasn't won over by the first few bits I saw, though it tried very, very hard.

I shall commit myself to getting at least half of S&A's last season done tonight if I can stave the guilt off long enough.

We Must Protect the Childrens!, for "just depicting nudity could be considered a sex act," as [Penn. DA George Skumanick] told Threat Level."

Bad teenage decisions aside, the very fact this case exists horrifies me.

For those internet-privacy concerned Americans, is an important read around an stance I've long held: that the 'expectation to privacy' on the internet is ridiculous, but the expectation to security is most definitely not.

When it comes to me, two things are certain -

1) If you say it's bad, I am almost sure to watch it (and double points if it's by a creator I think is over-hyped)
2) I am widely considered impossible to squick with anything but embarrassment, and even that is hit-or-miss

I say this to presage a first for me: I couldn't finish the first episode of Dollhouse.

( Here's why. Spoilers contained herein. )

I haven't had any interest in Dollhouse, Whedon's latest series, but this popped up in my Google Reader and ended up being rather well-thought-out and constructed (though the last answer is...superficial at best): The Joss Whedon Question, on the problematic nature of Dollhouse and Whedon's reponse to criticism.

• Chinese artist Coco Wang, best known on the internet for her post-earthquake mini-comics, now has a blog up republishing chapters of her tuwen book, Coco Wang Goes to Study In England. Also, Paul Gravett has a fantastic interview with her on her work, manhua in general, working in an "Big Post-Production System" economy, and the future of Chinese comics.


• Reading Andrew Lorenzi's penrod_pulaski slice-of-life comics.


• Reading Chii's Sweet Home, also known as The Adventures of a LOLkitten in manga form


• Wanting to marry Timothy Egan - On Joe the Plumber's new book deal: The idea that someone who stumbled into a sound bite can be published, and charge $24.95 for said words, makes so many real writers think the world is unfair.


• Reading Roger Ebert's blog, which I did not know about! As a lover of Ebert mostly (except when he decides to be a clueless white straight male liberal), his blog should be enlightening.


• Rewatching Sarah Haskin's Target Women videos. The best humor is that which never gets old.

There is nothing quite like listening to Jesus Loves Me in Chinese sung over rock guitar, complete with air-guitarable solo.

Pop-out quote of the day: “Sarah’s appeal,” Mr. Mystrom said, “is that she is everywoman and she became what every woman thinks she can become.”

I'm so glad the important thing here is that what all women really want is to marry, pop out children, believe in Jesus, then maybe run for public office while her small, adorable props stand around in the background of photo ops.

EDIT: Oh, oh! I missed this gem!

“Sarah Palin is a different kind of feminist,” said Joy Ng, who lives in Kodiak with her husband of 35 years. “She is a strong woman who can wear a skirt and be proud of it.”

God, there's really nothing I can add to that, is there?

Did I mention that I've stringently avoiding getting into the whole new HHS rule allowing for "moral objections"? Because I have. Not for lack of an opinion, certainly; it's just that my life has been crazy-busy lately.

But I've gotten link-dropped to some real doozies on the "religious freedom!" scale in post comments, and I'm irritated enough to spend some time on it.

It is the utmost of arrogance to assert that a person's personal religion should come before life-saving medical care. It is, boiled down, saying, "My beliefs are more important than your right to live a healthy life." It takes huge loads of unrealized privilege and the utmost arrogance to assert that your right to not do something you find morally objectionable matters more than someone's right to live a healthy life.

The paternalistic self-assurance of healthcare providers who would presume to force a patient into accepting their personal moral objection by proxy because the patient has no other options is disgusting. Patronizing conviction in one's own moral superiority is a trait best left to televangelists and streetcorner preachers, not healthcare professionals.

In other words, fuck you and your fucking Religious Somebody Else's Problem field.

Man, I really don't have the energy to sustain being angry anymore.

In other news, submit locations to the Female-Friendly Comic Book Store Map! Reward awesome stores by getting them more customers. And support the Convention Anti-Harassment Project, because cons should be fun for everyone.

(Oh, and I added a comment the love meme, mainly because I could.)

So, my Intro to Women's Studies (which is being taken because it's a prereq for everything else in the department) class is going to, for sure, be the stereotypical class. Why?

Today, a male student compared the wage gender gap to paying short people less. Short people. (and IIRC, that's also illegal!) He also used "gay" for "stupid" twice while sitting next to me, so I am going to call safe space language rules if he does it repeatedly, especially in front of the class.

I believe there was some attempt made by the GTA to discuss the insanely high part of our national budget that goes to funding the military (46% of income tax), but that was drowned out by, "Of course that's worth it. You're enjoying your freedoms now, aren't you?" and comparisons to how much better we have it than Africa. Why, we have it so much better than the people we historically fucked over because we had the bigger stick and knew better because of our old white man book learnins. Shock!

Man, if part of being an American is living with guilt a Catholic would choke on that I'm not drinking patriotism wine every time I pee, I'm developing constipation and moving to Canada.

And because I think have at least one c-pop fan-ish on my f-list, rec c-pop to me? I have discovered I am going to be busy as fuck this semester, and if C-pop gets me to more quickly absorb Chinese, then I am all for it. (EDIT: Appears to have been covered! WHo would think that the cpop LJ comm would be named, well, cpop)

Are Blue Jeans a Feminist & Lesbian Uniform?

Frankly, I'd like to inform the author that it is not blue jeans, but cargo shorts with made me desperately desire a penis, thank you very much. The powers of those multi-pocketed khaki wonders are endless.

“Slovenly” “Drab” Unkempt” “Slatternly” “Blowzy” –many adjectives come to mind to describe most women who wear jeans.

Clearly, he hasn't been staring at pictures of Skyler Cooper for long enough.

I'm now blogging on and off for ChoiceUSA at their blog Choice Words. My first post was on escorting and the rhetoric of race in the South, and I have a few more in the pipeline.

But since I'm not sure that they'll post this mini-essay due to its nature, I'm including it here for posterity. Mild trigger warnings for discussions of rape (and race in the media, if that irritates you).

EDIT: Since Petra mentioned IBARW and pointed out that this post could fall under that banner, it will be my IBARW post. As such, it is now public.

( A thank you letter. )

I am five and a half, but this Watchmen still is fucking hysterical.

Only two people on my f-list who will care, but: Keitai Sousakan 7 (aka Cellphone Braver 7) is wonderfully diluted Miike, wherein you think the scene is normal until Miike smashes the viewer's expectations with quiet humor. Great acting with entirely believable characters. Plus, it's robotic cellphones that fight crime. How is this concept never not awesome?

Sadly, No!, can I marry you in Massachusetts?

"I know what hookers look like. No, I have never sampled their wares, but while I've also never ridden an elephant, I've been to enough zoos to know what they look like." Elephants? Hookers? Unclear antecedents?

Whenever the conservative crazies try to argue 007 movies are about a Manly Man Who Is Manly clearly does not count the number of naked chest scenes in each movie.

In reference to the new "Mamma Mia!" movie: "Keep your manhood--and sanity--intact, and go see "The Dark Knight," instead." C'mon, someone make the joke. Please.

Speaking of manhood...

Poll #1226680 Romance novel sex: A reaction
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

Situation: You have just finished sex with your brand-new wife. You have fallen asleep post-coital when you awaken and realize your manhood is still inside of her. You decide it is hilarious to resume inserting yourself in her while she is asleep to see what happens. Eventually, she awakens when she orgasms.

I have at least two shows to cut, food to buy, a post on individualized racism, co-opting the language of oppression in a presumed effort to fight said oppression and why I escort to write, and a press release to finish. *sighs*

Memo to the universe:

If anyone in my physical presence every says, "And, as others have mentioned, this person didn't go through the legal channels to change her gender. Tough shit," especially about an 18-year-old transwoman, I will punch them in the face without hesitation and gladly be brought up on third-degree assault charges.

And if anyone ever dares use the male-in-female prison hypothetical in my presence, their metaphorical genitals of rhetoric will be coming off and then sauteed in soy sauce.

Brought to you by the privileged commenters opening their fucking mouths at Feminsiting and spewing out cluelessness.

Former black female official sues NASCAR over harassment claims, which include racist, sexist and homophobic remarks.

Oh, schadenfreude. Working at a paper in serious NASCAR country, this is going to be a fabulous clusterfuck.

I am deathly tired, but did have fun in unexpected places.

( Pride Weekend in Birmingham with pictures. )

"But don't put too much whipped cream on it. That's not manly." - secondhand horrifying Quote of the Day.

( Bornstein's Mythic and Power Dynamic cues in Lord Fanny, Desire, and Wonder Woman. )

And dammit, why am I suddenly playing JE bands and AAA on loop from YouTube, of all places? This should really not be optimal writing music. (Also, I did not expect to start liking Arashi. Not so hot on NEWS, though.)

However, with JE being so focused on pumping out bands of bishounen, it is deliciously ironic.

Clinton needs to dress sexy: "You could be the first female president. So dress like a hottie and not Bartleby the Scrivener."

Nothing new, of course, (though, c'mon, you can make a much better snide "lesbian feminist" comment than comparing her to Ellen DeGeneres) but why in fuck is my college paper running a shitty column by someone at U of Virgina who hasn't had anything run in their own paper for at least two months?

(Oh! Bonus: Justifying this with 'Well, a Washington Post Pulitzer-winning fashion columnist wrote about her cleavage!' is just one pig justifying their smell by blaming someone else in the already-crowded pigsty.)

Poll #1130340 Sexy? Really?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

"As America's sexiest brand, Victoria's Secret has been the authority on who and what is the sexiest"

Taking a wild guess, do you think that quote is both real and entirely serious? No Googling!

Fact: Death Note is not a good manga when it comes to representation of women.
Fact: In Death Note canon, the character Misa falls under the category of obsessive and mentally unbalanced.
Fact: Misa is bound in a straight jacket and threatened with torture unless she reveals who Kira is during the series. This is a deeply disturbing scene that communicates how far each person is willing to go to protect or discover Kira.
Fact: In June 2008 Medicom will be releasing a fully articulated figure of Misa in said straight jacket, complete with blindfold for 15,540 Yen (145.92 USD).
Fact: The Ultraman Ace figure released a month later has the same level of articulation, comes with four sets of hands, and costs ten dollars less. Apparently, having them be young and bound comes at a premium.

For the paltry sum of $150 bucks, any fine person can blast away the last shreds of their good taste and purchase a context-less piece of expensive, bendable, nubile female torture porn! Honestly, why pay that much for torture porn paperweights when for the same sum of cash you can eliminate imagination and bend porn to fit your whim?

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't wait to book a ticket on this one-way train to Failadelphia.