Fox News

FOX News' coverage of Adele and Kelly Clarkson's performances at the Grammy's took a bizarre turn when the channel brought on a nutritionist to discuss the "critics who are taking to Twitter saying they need to slim down." Why random people calling famous women fat on Twitter is valued as a "criticism" that requires discussion remains a mystery. But the results were appalling. In their conversation, the anchor and nutritionist Keren Gilbert articulated that stringent body image standards can be harmful for young women—and then turned around and critiqued Adele and Clarkson's bodies for not being "normal." The anchor even took a pot shot at the nutritionist's body for being too thin. 

Apparently, Fox News has gone meta. They're now wrapping a conversation of unrealistic female body standards within a conversation exemplifying exactly that problem. 

Good morning! Happy Monday! Here's our list of feminist news links to kick off your week. 

• Grammy Time: Was Frank Ocean stiffed awards because he's unconventional? [Guardian] Will we all let out a collective sign of relief at some future date when Rihanna dumps that jerk Chris Brown? [Jezebel] 

• Millions of immigrants could be cut out of immgration reform. Here's the infograph to prove it. [Colorlines] 

• FOX News accidentally endorses same-sex marriage: The news agency mistakenly runs a photo of a lesbian couple to illustrate a story about the need for traditional gender roles in marriage. [Feministing] 

• Standing up to domestic violence... on Social Media: An American woman living in China posted photos online of the bruises she received from her husband, building support as she fought for justice through an apathetic and discouraging court system. [NYTimes]

• Hooray for contraception! The US teen pregnancy rate is at an all-time low. [Jezebel]

• Science says: Gender doesn't determine whether you're "assertive" or other traits traditionally thought of as male. [Buzzfeed]

• Who are these "female readers"? A great little historical retrospective on peoples' conceptions of what women want to read. [LA Review of Books] 

• Sylvia! Today is the 50th anniversary of great writer Sylvia Plath's death. [Guardian] 

• One more reason to never listen to Rush: On gun control, he disrespects and distorts the histories of African-Americans. [Miami Herland] 

• Who made Mardi Gras for tourists? A history of the race and class behind Mardi Gras Krewes. [Sociological Images] 

• Finally! A statistical analysis of what rappers actually say about the police [Sociological Images] 

Did I miss anything? Post it in the comments!

It's a little embarrassing to call out Fox News on the Douchebag Decree, because that channel is basically a love letter to this column: "Dear Douchebag Decree, I will always be here for you. You will never be lonely as long as I'm around. Love always, Fox News." But it's also embarrassing to let the outrageously offensive commentary go without reminding the Internet that we DON'T just shake our heads and sigh every time Bill O' Reilly et al. run their fool mouths. We get mad as hell, and we tell people about it. On the Douche slab this week are Dana Perino and the rest of the commentators on "The Five," for their responses to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requirement that insurance cover the cost of birth control.

I was in San Francisco last April, having dinner with an old friend from college. His mother married, many years ago, a close business partner of Rupert Murdoch. This had been, back in our school days, the cause of many a sympathetic, slow shake of the head, because we liberal middle class kids felt badly that he was only two degrees of separation from a man we thought sucked in a big way. I asked him, not really remembering the Murdoch connection, how his mother was doing. He smiled and said she was fine, and then started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked. 

"Her husband was over at Fox News in New York last week and oh my God those people are so dumb. They're all running around, talking about needing to be conservative enough for Rupert, and guess what? Rupert doesn't care what the fuck they say on TV." 

He kept laughing through the rest of his sentence, something to the effect of Fox News is so right-wing because they think they're supposed to be right-wing, not because they really want to be.