racism

Oh Ashton Kutcher. If it's not one douche-y thing with that guy, it's another. The Two and a Half Men star (I was going to make a douchebag joke there but "Two and a Half Men star" is a pretty good zinger on its own) is back in the news for all the wrong reasons again this week, this time for doing brownface in a Popchips ad.


UGH.

Like many, I find these images racist, repulsive, and anti-woman. But, because this cake was consumed at museum and not, (believe it or not) at a pathetic frat party, and this cake was conceived as performance art, we will discuss further.

"Finger wagging" doesn't really sum up the tense moment on the tarmac: Brewer is using her white privilege to mask her anger, in an attempt to assert power over Obama. The little power play at the Phoenix Airport speaks to the age-old stereotype of black men being seen as a threat to white women, and the fact that Jan Brewer took advantage of that earns her this week's Douchebag Decree.

The CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls has earned a reputation for racist jokes (also for unfunny jokes). You'd like to think that showrunner Michael Patrick King was working on fixing these problems instead of sticking to—and defending—his racist joke guns. Think again.

Earlier this month the Village Voice made public the findings of a study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which looked to define the most vulnerable population of sex workers: underage prostitutes. According to the study, "The typical kid who is commercially exploited for sex in New York City is not a tween girl, has not been sold into sexual slavery, and is not held captive by a pimp." The study found that 45% were boys, 45% got into the business through friends, 90% were U.S. born, most serviced white, wealthy men and struck deals on the street (as opposed to the Internet). Importantly, 95% of respondents—70% of whom had sought assistance through a child service agency within the past year—said they exchanged sex for money "because it was the surest way to support themselves." According to these researchers, even the most at-risk segment of the sex worker population—underage sex workers—are going it alone, selling sex on their own volition, and perceive themselves as making a choice given their circumstances. Only 10% were involved with what the researchers labelled a "market facilitator" (aka pimp).

Born in LA's Chinatown in 1905 to a family that ran a laundry service, Anna May Wong was Hollywood's first Chinese-American movie star.

Full disclosure: I have had misgivings about Slutwalk from day one. "Slut" has never been a term used against me. Though the idea of reclaiming the word seems to resonate with many young, white heterosexual women, it is not clear to me that it's something that can unify all women. It felt alienating and exclusionary to me from the start.

Well, today's Columbus Day, a time when we feel weird about getting a day off work because Columbus and the genocide that followed his "discovering" of America is not someone we should celebrate in any sense of the word. If you're currently feeling conflicted about staying at home on the couch watching Real Housewives reruns, take a minute to call out some of the Native appropriations for sale at a retailer near you.

• A must-read at Crunk Feminist Collective about ongoing racism within feminism (spurred by That Sign at NYC Slutwalk) 
• Emily Manual writes about how trans children are portrayed sympathetically by mainstream media for Raising My Boychick. 
• Ms. iw in the midst of their Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction book list! (Bitch's own Andi Zeisler made #33 for Feminism and Pop Culture!)
• Amanda Hess delves into the world of prostate-health awareness marketing at GOOD. 
• Le Tigre and MEN's JD Samson reminds everyone that even our most beloved artists are struggling financially, too.
• Adrienne Keene over at Racialicious takes a big bite out of an the "Affirmative Action Bake Sale" at UC Berkeley last week (and makes better jokes about it than that one).
• Pursuit of Harpyness takes time to remember two pivotal social leaders whose obituaries you may not have read this week.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

For those who don't follow theatre news (so...quite possibly a lot of you), one story is currently dominating coverage, and it's got a number of complicated aspects to it. I am referring, of course, to the kerfuffle over Diane Paulus' mounting of Porgy & Bess at Boston's American Repertory Theatre. What I'm finding fascinating are the general questions raised by this scenario. Namely, what are our obligations to a work of art? When is it and when is it not appropriate to change things?