Love / Shove

 

So apparently the Florida Federation of Republican Women has launched a boycott against Oprah's TV show and magazine because of her refusal to invite Sarah Palin onto her show until after the election. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Oprah, and frankly, I find it incredibly difficult to remain tuned in to electoral campaigns. But I don't have to agree with everything she does and says to jump to her defense on this one...

And someone please tell me that Olivia's creator has nothing to do with this campaign's use of Olivia! 

(Thanks to Dawn for the news)

Y'all, I'm officially Sarah Palined out. My Google alerts have been seriously off the chain for the past two weeks, but it's getting to the point where I just can't face them every day. Yes, San Francisco Chronicle, I am aware that "Palin Candidacy Stokes Debate Among Women." No , Bonnie Chernin Rogoff, it's not Palin's "sudden popularity" that has feminists in a "snit." Yes, various religion- and motherhood-focused bloggers, we're all cognizant of the fact that both Christian women and mothers can be feminists. And listen, Us Weekly and similar publications, I never thought I would say this, but could you do me a favor and stick to coverage of the fashion foibles of Tori Spelling and the cast of Gossip Girl and not get all involved in comparing Palin's looks to those of Tina Fey and Megan Mullally? Because it's going to really ruin the new season of 30 Rock for me.

But I do want to point out that Katha Pollitt, is her inimitable fashion, has distilled all the Palin madness and hypocrisy wonderfully in her latest column for The Nation. Even if you're sick of the Palin-palooza, it's well worth your time.

So by now we all know the basics about Sarah Palin, first-term governor of Alaska and John McCain's utterly transparent pick for running mate: She's a self-described "hockey mom," an avid proponent of drilling in Alaska and an equally avid opponent of abortion and gay-marriage rights. (She's also so unknown as a politician that Fox News has repeatedly been referring to her as "Susan" Palin—though admittedly, getting facts right has never been the forte of that particular outlet, has it?)

Um, have you seen this one? It's a video game called Cunt.  

So New York lawyer Roy Den Hollander once married a young woman he met while working as a private investigator in Russia. Once Den Hollander moved himself and his foreign bride back to New York City, though, she took a job as a stripper and proceeded to dump him within months.

It's a sad little story, and probably not nearly the first of its kind. But to say Den Hollander seems to have had a wee bit of trouble letting it go would be a massive understatement. Since his marriage ended, the spurned groom has turned into a men's-rights crusader so convinced that feminism is the reason for all his personal woes that he's literally made a career out of litigating against it.

Say what you will about the shock-schlock, soft-core oeuvre of filmmaker Russ Meyer, the man was definitely ahead of his time when it came to showcasing the hips-lips-tits-power! aesthetic that would eventually become inextricably linked to third-wave feminism. His best-known work, 1966's sinsister thrillride Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, has come to be regarded over the years as something of a prefeminist classic, but even those who cock a skeptical eyebrow at the equation of big-breasted go-go dancers + homicidal karate chops = empowerment can probably appreciate the film's gonzo exuberance, as well as its arresting black-and-white cinematography.

...for Estelle Getty — also known as the Golden Girls' Sophia Petrillo — who died today at age 84. Though her shoes were undoubtedly tiny, has any sitcom actress really filled them since? That's a rhetorical question, by the way, since each and every one of those smartypantssuited retirees kicked ass, but today's about Sophia. So share your favorite "Picture It: Sicily, 1912..." moments in the comments section, why don'tcha?

Escaped the 100-degree heat in Portland this weekend with a trip to blessed air conditioning to see Kung Fu Panda. And while you can't escape its exploitive racial sterotyping and fat-phobia, it did provide a good takeaway lesson for my 8-year-old daughter.

I don't know whether to thank my friend Elise for bringing this to my attention, or gently curse her:

High heels. For babies. That is all.

Also, when Fox News's Megyn Kelly starts sounding hard-hitting and feminist, the apocalypse is clearly nigh.