Mixed Feelings About Rosie the Riveter

WIRED has a real honest-to-goodness woman engineer on the cover, and she isn’t just a couple of breasts.

She is, however, striking the Rosie the Riveter pose. It was her idea, and while I get that the idea is that “women are the workforce” and “we can do it,” it’s also worth remembering that “Rosie” and her fellow female workers were let go after the war-—their services were no longer required. It’s difficult for me to separate that part of the story from the Rosie icon, and I’m not sure I want to. It’s important to remember that history because we’re not so far removed from it that it can’t be repeated.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer used the Riveter pose in her 2010 campaign, which I found offensive at the time in large part because of the irony of her use of the “We Can Do It” tagline while she repeatedly takes orders from Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce. She has recently broken ranks with him, but I’m sure that’s just to keep up appearances. Pearce almost always gets his way, and when he doesn’t, it usually isn’t because of Brewer.

It’s not like it’s special that Arizona has a woman governor. She’s the third consecutive (Jane Hull and Janet Napolitano are her immediate predecessors), and she’s the fourth overall. It’s also not like she did anything special to win her first gubernatorial election, except sign the notorious SB1070 and take a few cheap shots at President Obama. Arizona has had its share of good governors and more than its share of bad governors, and Brewer is on the wrong side of that divide. Her adoption of Rosie seeks to capitalize on girl-power iconography for cheap political gain while her administration more accurately reflects the post-WWII reality of women making way for men.

A new geek website aimed at women, The Mary Sue, uses several comic Rosies as its identifying icon(s). While I have some issues with some of their reasoning for using “The Mary Sue” as their name, I’m left wondering why they couldn’t come up with something new and original for both the name and icon. Isn’t it time we let Rosie rest? Isn’t it time for a new icon? Isn’t it time for a name and an image that aren’t already hobbled with baggage that belonged to our mothers and grandmothers? Don’t we deserve it?

This Is As Far As We’ve Come? Really?

In a story that is too disgusting and despicable for words like “disgusting” and “despicable” to adequately convey how horrible it is, 18 “men” allegedly gang-raped an eleven-year-old girl. The New York Times had a public relations nightmare when the first article it first ran on the story appeared to blame the victim (sorry, “alleged victim”) or at least sympathize with the alleged rapists. More recently, a female Republican lawmaker in Florida made statements that all but exonerated the rapists. Because an eleven-year-old girl who dresses provocatively (according to the rapists and their allies) and acts older than she is (whatever that means—the lack of precise and verifiable accounts of this apparently slutty behavior on the part of a child leaves it to readers’ imaginations) obviously had it coming to her. She was asking for it. When it comes to rape, apparently, men should never be held accountable for their actions if it is remotely possible to blame the victim.

There are times when I think it would be nice to be a believer, because then I could believe that anyone who thinks that an eleven-year-old child (or anyone else, for that matter) provoked a gang-rape would spend eternity in the vilest pits of hell. On the other hand, being an atheist means I can’t pretend that there will ever be any real justice for this girl, and I can’t pretend that promises and threats of an afterlife make the crime any less heinous than it actually is. Pretending only helps the rapists.

Easier than pi

In honor of March 14, known in silly circles as “pi day,” I bring you pie. Well, photos of pie. (Of course, 3.14 is a simplistic approximation of pi, so it makes sense that the pie is such a simple recipe that it’s practically cheating.)



Preheat the oven to 350º F. Start with a crumb crust. I used vanilla wafers, but graham crackers or ginger snaps or any number of plain cookies unencumbered by chips or nuts or fruit (etc.) will do. You’ll need at least 1 ½ cups of crumbs, but no more than 2 cups. To the crumbs add 3 tablespoons of sugar. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine (more if you need it, less if the crumbs have a lot of fat in them). Slowly add the melted butter to the crumbs and mix (use a fork or your hands). When the crumbs are fairly evenly coated with the melted butter, pat the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely.

At this point, you’re going to melt a large chocolate bar (or its equivalent; I used a bittersweet chocolate from Trader Joe’s, and I used too much of it, if it can be said that there is such a thing as too much chocolate). Use a glass mixing bowl as the top of a double boiler for melting the chocolate. When the chocolate is completely melted, allow it to cool for about 20 minutes. Add whipped cream (whip at least ½ pint real whipping cream yourself, or use one regular tub of whipped cream or whipped topping—this kind of cheating is allowed in this recipe) to the cooled chocolate by folding it in. Once the cream is thoroughly (but gently) mixed into the chocolate, distribute the chocolate into the crust. Chill until set.

You can adjust the density or richness of the pie by adding more whipped cream and/or using less chocolate.

This is a ridiculously easy recipe, and it’s good even when the ingredients aren’t anything special. So if you use real whipping cream and a good quality chocolate, it’s fantastic. And still easy.

Why Public Broadcasting Is Important

“I urge you, I urge you to put the people's airwaves to the service of the people and the cause of freedom. You must help prepare a generation for great decisions. You must help a great nation fulfill its future.”

Newton Minow’s 1961 speech to broadcasters is best remembered for its description of television as a “vast wasteland,” and those who argue that PBS and NPR are no longer necessary do so on a few additional passages that call for more variety in programming and more channels of television. The speech predates the founding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and NPR. At the time, there were only three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Now we have many networks providing a wide variety of programming. Surely the plethora of television stations available to those with cable television render public television (and, by extension, radio) obsolete, critics say (George Will among them).

The main thrust of Minow’s speech, however, was not the lack of variety in programming, but the lack of a voice in television that served the public interest rather than corporate interest. The title of the speech is “Television and the Public Interest,” and while “vast wasteland” was used only once in the speech, “public interest” was used nearly a dozen times. Yes, there are many stations that provide a wide variety of programming, but they serve corporate interests.

And they serve only a handful of corporate interests.

In the 50 years since Minow’s speech, mergers and takeovers have allowed corporations to purchase themselves some echo chambers, but there remain only a few voices, and their primary focus is not “service of the people” but service of their corporate owners. (Note that George Will ignores the "public interest" argument altogether and that most of his argument is largely straw men.)

Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is under attack. The CPB says that federal funding makes up only a tiny percentage of its budget, but local PBS stations that receive funds from the CPB would suffer a great deal if funds are cut.


PBS makes its own case for its survival here.

Interesting Lineup

Ron Barber, one of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's staffers who survived the shooting on January 8, is organizing a benefit concert, scheduled for March 10, to raise money for the new Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding. Tickets are on sale at the Tucson Community Center.

So far, the concert has lined up Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and David Crosby, Keb' Mo', Dar Williams, Ozomatli, Nils Lofgren, Sam Moore, Calexico, Jerry Riopelle, and Alice Cooper.

I am not making this up.

Are You a Radical Feminist?

Until recently, I'd never considered myself a "radical feminist," because I didn't think the rights I wanted for myself or for other women are all that radical. At least, I don't think they'd be considered "radical" if we were talking about the rights of men, so why should they be "radical" for women? It's easy to forget sometimes that it's been less than a century since we won the right to vote.

What's happening in the GOP, with its attempts to redefine rape, call rape victims "accusers" instead of victims, defund Planned Parenthood, allow hospitals to refuse medical care for women if saving them means killing any fetuses they may be carrying, defunding Head Start programs because women should be staying home with the children, and any number of other measures (I was going to provide links for each of the listed assaults on the rights of women, but they're all found easily enough on a Google search on "GOP war on women"), has led to such a limited view of what rights the right wing thinks women should have that it's becoming more and more difficult not to be a radical feminist. In fact, I think it should probably be embarrassing not to be a radical feminist.

So, how do you tell if you are a radical feminist?

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that women don't cease to be valuable human beings in their own right the second they become pregnant.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that rape victims should be treated the same as other victims of violent crimes.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that women who have sex and enjoy it are not by definition sluts.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that a hospital should not be allowed to deny life-saving medical treatment to women if it means sacrificing the life of a fetus, regardless of the odds of survival for the fetus.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that medical doctors are better equipped than a clergyman (any religion, any rank) to decide if an abortion is medically necessary to save a woman's life.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that women have more to offer society than the constant use of their reproductive organs for the purpose of reproduction.

You might be a radical feminist if you trust women to decide for themselves what constitutes acceptable risk to life and limb.

You might be a radical feminist if you notice the irony in "small-government" politicians insisting that government try to control the reproductive options of half of the population.

You might be a radical feminist if you notice the irony in "pro-life" people not batting an eye at the loss of a woman's life.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that rapists alone should be held responsible for the rapes they commit.




Does anybody have anything else to add?

Women of Egypt

Last week in Cairo, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was attacked while doing her job. I will not allow this space to become yet another outlet for the ugly speech about the “responsibility” Logan bears for the violence committed against her. Blaming the victim is wrong, and I suspect that if there were not an element of sexual assault in the attack, it would not be an issue.

I prefer to focus on the fact that the attack was stopped by Egyptian women, with the help of some Egyptian soldiers. There are at least some women in Egypt who now believe that they can stand up for themselves and for other women. There are at least some women in Egypt who now believe that they don’t have to take harassment from men just because they dared to leave their homes. There are at least some women in Egypt who now believe that they can be a force for their own good and for the good of all women in their own country.

The women who stopped the attack are heroes. Let’s hope that part of the story wasn’t an isolated incident. Let’s hope that part of the revolution continues.