TresSugar

Fox News Gives NY Times Reporters Yellow Teeth, Big Nose

LibertySugar — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:00:02 -0700

When I came across these photos, I couldn't believe my eyes. Yesterday on Fox and Friends, Fox News aired photos of New York Times reporters, calling them "attack dogs." In the photos, reporters Jacques Steinbert and Steven Reddicliffe became the victims of yellow teeth, a receding hairline, and exaggerated features.

The Fox hosts were upset with Steinberg's recent article "Fox News Finds Its Rivals Closing In" which declared that CNN and MSNCB have added viewers at "far more dramatic rate" than Fox, so far this election. When asked if the NY Times would respond to the image doctoring, the paper's Culture Editor Sam Sifton said no thanks: "It is fighting with a pig, everyone gets dirty and the pig likes it."

Fox News has found some pretty creative ways to outrage me lately. What should be done to address this visual dishonesty? To see the video, read more.

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Yellow Teeth

GiggleSugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:24:46 -0800

gross

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Racial Preferences in Dating: Fetishism or Not a Big Deal?

TresSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0700

We all have our physical preferences when it comes to finding a romantic partner. Some women want men to be tall, broad shouldered, and dark haired. Men may want a big-breasted blonde. We objectify those we find attractive to some extent, but what are the implications of preferring someone of a different race?

After reading an article a friend sent me, A White Woman Explains Why She Prefers Black Men, I realized that there's a big implication: the desire could be based on racial assumptions and stereotypes that, just because they're "positive," don't make them any less pernicious, objectifying, or, to put it bluntly, racist. Want to find out about racial fetishism? Then read more.

Whether you have "jungle fever" or "yellow fever" (you date blacks or Asians exclusively), you would be described, in the parlance of the day, as having a "fetish." One thoughtful person has explained a fetish this way:

Sexual fetishism in general is the sexual attraction to something which is not in itself a sexual object, such as feet or leather. Sexually fetishizing a person or group of people however means reducing them to objects, important only in their sexual function or interest to the fetishizer. Race fetishization means effectively reducing all members of a racial group to a monolithic whole, only valued in terms of their racial stereotypes. You are hearing racial fetishization when people talk about how black men have big penises, Asian women are exotic and submissive . . . just because a stereotyped characteristic is a "good" characteristic, that doesn't mean it's not racist.

So how does our White Woman (who is also a sex columnist) Who Prefers Black Men rate on the racial fetishizer scale? She's off the charts, a textbook case. Here are some salient bits from her essay.

That phrase, "Once you go black, you never go back'" is all about the feeling of the skin . . . Black men have more energy, style and edge than white men . . . something white guys don't have anymore: confidence in their masculinity, their sexuality . . . I am sure there must be some black men who aren't good in bed. Personally, I have not experienced one who isn't . . . They look better than white men, they touch and kiss and make love better than white men. Statistically, their penises are only a fraction of an inch bigger on average, but they seem bigger and harder . . .

Obviously, this white woman likes black men - a lot. It's all about sexualizing them, though, reducing all of them to their skin, to their presumed sexual prowess, their instinctual energy and innate masculinity. If racism is about assuming things about people based on their physical traits, how is this not racism? More disturbingly, her desire, conscious or not, participates in the kind of sexualization of black men that once justified their persecution and even murder.

So what to do about these nonpolitically correct desires? Censor them? Pretend they don't exist? One of my favorite sex columnists, Dan Savage from Savage Love, provides some intelligent advice. He never argues that we should police our desires, just that we be aware of where they're coming from and what they could mean in how we treat our partners. "There's nothing wrong," he tells one person seeking advice who has a fantasy of having a black man have sex with his wife, "with treating someone like a piece of meat during sex . . . some people enjoy being treated like pieces of meat . . . Consent is . . . always and everywhere the magic ingredient . . . As long as you understand the cultural forces that shaped your fantasy . . . there's nothing unethical about realizing your fantasy."

One wonders if these black men who Susan Bakos hooks up with know that she views them all the same way. (One wonders if she thinks viewing them this way is problematic at all.) The heart may want what it wants, Woody Allen said euphemistically about hooking up with his adopted daughter, but that desire can have ripple effects far beyond the couple in question, particularly when one woman's desire is presented, without any qualms or self-questioning, in an essay many people will read.

Do You Write in a Journal?

TresSugar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0700

I've written in a journal (what I decided to call my diary after the 5th grade!) since I was a wee girl. I'd write poetry, observations about classmates, and complaints about life in general. (I was way Emo.)

If I stacked all the journals I've kept since I started, they would reach the ceiling. I love Meade's wide ruled notebooks (my life tends to go well in blue journals, as opposed to yellow ones), and I have to use a gel ink pen.

A journal can be so many things - a place to write reminder notes to yourself, to analyze stuff that's going on in your life, and just generally practice writing. I remember telling someone once who asked if I were a writer, "Not really - I just write daily in my journal," and the person said, "If that's not writing, what is? Only writers would do that!"

Sometimes it’s fun to go back and look at what was occupying your mind in the past, and to see how far you’ve come. Have you ever written in a journal, or do you still?

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Room Sprays That Smell Like Books: Cool or Crazy?

TresSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

I have not yet given into the e-book craze. I love books and the culture of bookstores too much. I'm especially fond of used books. As long as no one has underlined too many things or (even worse) highlighted passages, there's an added dimension to the random notations, the yellowed pages, and . . . the smell. The smell of used books is practically an aphrodisiac to me.

Smell of Books is banking on the fact that those who have moved on to the Kindle may be feeling nostalgic for all those musty smells. They've created a line of sprays that include scents like New Book Smell, Scent of Sensibility (smells like a Jane Austen book!), Eau You Have Cats, and Crunchy Bacon Scent (what?!). These aren't the first ones; niche perfumer Christopher Brosius actually has an amazing fragrance called In the Library.

So are these sprays cool or crazy?

WTF?!

GiggleSugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:40:00 -0800

If you ever find your teeth as yellow as Post-It notes, I doubt a remedy you find online is going to fix them. May I suggest dentures?

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Flashback: Weird Folgers Commercial

GiggleSugar — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0800

If a great commercial could be considered a work of art, then the following Folgers ad from a couple years ago is a masterpiece. This ad depicts exhausted people in a land of gray who wake up to the sight and sound of singing freaks in yellow spandex. And then there's the tagline, "Wake up, you sleepy head/You can sleep when you are dead"? Deep, man, deep.

eBay Find of the Day: "T-Shirt Left Behind by Guy Who Slept With My Wife"

GiggleSugar — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:00:00 -0800

Whoa! This is one intense item up for sale on eBay! Let's see how the seller starts off, shall we? "Up for sale is this yellow t-shirt left in my home by the man who is giving my wife the goods." Gulp. Ready for more? "I can only guess that this shirt had become stained with sweat and love gravy forcing him to take one of my shirts." Yowza! I dare not continue to quote him, but I must. Well, actually, I changed my mind. Click here if you want to get creeped out further. Hey, maybe this was cathartic for this poor bastard!

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Keeping the Faith: Are Abstinence-Only Pledges Unrealistic?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:30:00 -0800

Ever think evangelical teens are most likely to be the next Juno? You might be onto something. While religion may be a good gauge for attitudes towards sex, it is not for sexual behavior.

A national survey talked to 3,400 teens between 13 and 17 and found that evangelicals are the most likely to say they do not believe in sex before marriage, yet they are just as likely to have it - if not more. Seventy-four percent say they do not believe in premarital sex, compared to 50 percent of mainline Protestants and 25 percent of Jewish teens. Second only to black Protestants, they lose their virginity on average shortly after turning 16.

While the effectiveness of abstinence pledges that are so popular among evangelicals has long been contested, I never knew inflation was a problem. A pledge movement often collapses in a school when it becomes too popular. As soon as it loses its magical minority milieu - 30 percent is the tipping point - teens feel less unique and pledges get tossed aside like last year’s yellow.

Minding the gap between sexual beliefs and behavior becomes even harder when looking at the outcome of abstinence pledges. To find out how effective they are, read more.

According to a 2001 estimate, 2.5 million people in the US pledged to abstain from premarital sex, yet more than half of them do it anyway. Pledges do have some impact though. Teens who take them lose their virginity 18 months later than those who do not and have fewer partners on average.

Once religious conviction gets factored in, pledges sounded even more effective. Those who scored high on religiosity - defined by behaviors like going to church and praying at home - are more likely to abstain. But better indicators are the strength of social networks and quality of relationships with parents. Teens who live with both biological parents and feel their families understand them, pay attention to their concerns, and have fun with them are the most likely to delay sex - regardless of how religious or what religion they are.

What do you think about abstinence-only pledges? A good guideline? Or unrealistic and only for the most religious?

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New York Taxis Won't Go Green Under City's Watch

CitizenSugar — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:00:13 -0700

New York City's plan to turn its whole fleet of yellow cabs green by 2012 got the red light this week from a federal judge, who ruled that regulation of fuel emissions standards falls under federal authority.

The plan called for every new taxi to have a standard of least 30 miles per gallon - a benchmark met by hybrid and clean diesel cars.

US District Judge Paul Crotty said enforcing the new regulations now would be costly to the taxi industry, which prompted Mayor Michael Bloomberg to release a statement saying the city is considering an appeal.

Green taxis are a focal point of Bloomberg's environmental plan. There are currently about 1,400 hybrid taxis in the city.