open thread

OK, so I guess I was sort of under a rock the past few days, because I kind of missed the Tina Fey mega-freakout that blew up all over the feminist blogosphere. I have only watched a few clips from the episode, and I think I've yammered on (in blog form as well) about Tina Fey enough already, so I won't say anything about SNL here. (Except that I thought the Brownie Husband skit was kinda funny. There. I said it.)

Anywho, getting to the point, all this Tina Fey jibber jabber has me thinking: What DO we want from a feminist comedic actor? What ARE our expectations for our fellow funny feminists? Because of course we don't want to see ladies bashing other ladies, and we don't want to see ladies objectifying themselves in order to get laughs, and we don't want offensive humor that caters to the lowest common denominator (hell, we don't want to see dudes do that either). But what is it that we do want? And is anyone currently giving it to us? Let's discuss.

We've got a discussion in the works on our Facebook page about the phrase "how's it hanging?" that I thought I'd bring to the blog as well. What's the deal with how's it hanging? (Asked in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice, of course.) Is it sexist? Does it refer to a dangling penis, or is it just a way to say hey? And what other slang terms are we using that are secretly SEXUAL? It's open thread time!

Way back when I was but a young feminist in a WGS 101 class, my professor asked the class to describe our Thanksgiving traditions as a way of further explaining the notion of gender norms. As more and more students told tales of men sitting on the couch watching television while women basted turkeys and mashed potatoes, light bulbs turned on around the room. Aha! Gender norms! Men and women are both expected to play certain roles, even during such great American holidays as Thanksgiving!

Holidays can bring out the best and worst in all of us (especially when you've got an uncle that likes to play "bartender" by pouring shots for everyone the way I do). So what are your Thanksgiving traditions? How do you negotiate gender norms when you get together with your friends and families in the kitchen? What about the racism inherent in Thanksgiving? What are you going to cook/eat this year? Oh, and do you remember THIS?



Read on for more Thanksgiving!

image via The Guardian

Earlier this week in Bridgeville, PA, a 48-year old man opened fire on a fitness class and shot 12 women, killing three. As more information becomes available, it is clear that the shooter, George Sodini was motivated by a hatred of women (watch a video describing his diary entries here, and the full text of his blog is available here -- view/read with caution).

As coverage of this horrendous woman-hating event unfolds, it is important to continue to focus on the misogynist nature of Sodini's actions. This was a hate crime against women, and should be labeled as such. More coverage of the sexist nature of the shooting and the ways in which we as feminists can begin to process it (and encourage the media to do the same), as well as some historical context for gendered hate crimes, can be found by visiting the following links:

- WIMN's Voices
- Feministing
- The Pursuit of Harpyness
- Jezebel
- Feministe

This shooting (one of the many violent crimes targeting women over the past several years) is a tragedy, but also an opportunity for issues of misogyny and violence to be addressed in the media. How do you feel about the coverage of this event so far? Is the gender-based nature of Sodini's actions being properly highlighted? What are you hoping to see from the media in terms of future coverage? Please share your thoughts in the comments section, and continue to do so as more information is released.