Category: whimsy

Not More Than a Mouthful

Posted by – September 1, 2010

I miss mine, to be honest. Glad to hear not all women with smaller busts are constantly trying to make it all bigger, or to make it appear bigger, even.

With all the hormones in our food, it’s going to be the rare (& so more valued thing) for women to have small breasts soon, anyway.

Tickling a Slow Loris

Posted by – August 23, 2010

Since Monday sucks for almost everyone, & I’ve gotten too many emails in the past week from people who are really going through some complicated stuff, please take a moment to watch this video of a slow loris being loved on. Really. It’ll do your soul good.

(Found on Allison’s blog about her Medical Spa, Tres Belle, the services of which I highly recommend.)

(How anyone could see those eyes and kill these critters for them I can’t understand, but they do, which is why these critters are endangered. How messed up is that? What goobery lovely big eyes on an obviously gentle creature.)

“Which is the rooster & which is the hen?”

Posted by – July 10, 2010

From 1925:

Here are the lyrics:

Masculine Women! Feminine Men!

Hey! Hey! Women are going mad, today!
Hey! Hey! Fellers are just as bad, I’ll say!
Go anywhere, just stand and stare,
You’ll say they’re bugs when you look at the clothes they wear.

Masculine Women, Feminine Men,
which is the rooster which is the hen?
It’s hard to tell ‘em apart today. And SAY…
Sister is busy learning to shave,
Brother just loves his permanent wave,
It’s hard to tell ‘em apart today. HEY! HEY!

Girls were girls and boys were boys when I was a tot,
Now we don’t know who is who or even what’s what.
Knickers and trousers, baggy and wide,
Nobody knows who’s walking inside.
Those Masculine Women, Feminine Men

Masculine Women. Feminine Men
which is the rooster which is the hen?
It’s hard to tell ‘em apart today. And SAY…
Auntie is smoking, rolling her own,
Uncle is always buying cologne.
It’s hard to tell ‘em apart today. HEY! HEY!
You go and give your girl a kiss in the hall,
But instead you find you’re kissing her brother Paul.
Mama’s got a sweater up to her chin,
Papa’s got a girtle holding him in.
Those Masculine Women, Feminine Men

Stop, Look, Listen and you’ll agree… with me.
Things are not what they used to be… you’ll see.
You say hello to Uncle Joe,
Then look again and you find it’s your Aunti Flo.

Masculine Women, Feminine Men
which is the rooster which is the hen?
It’s hard to tell ‘em apart today. And SAY…
Wifey is playing billiards and pool,
Hubby is dressing kiddies for school.
It’s hard to tell ‘em apart today. HEY! HEY!
Ever since the Prince of Wales in dresses was seen,
What does he intend to be the King or the Queen?
Grandmother buys those tailor-made clothes,
Grandfather tries to smell like a rose.
Those Masculine Women, Feminine Men

I got the lyrics from Box Turtle Bulletin, where there’s more about the song, too.

Federal DOMA Section Declared Unconstitutional

Posted by – July 8, 2010

Good news, in a states’ rights kind of way:

BOSTON (AP) — A U.S. judge in Boston has ruled that a federal gay marriage ban is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define marriage.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro on Thursday ruled in favor of gay couples’ rights in two separate challenges to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA…. Tauro agreed, and said the act forces Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.

“The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment. For that reason, the statute is invalid,” Tauro wrote in a ruling in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Happy 4th from Your Creepy Ice Cream Man

Posted by – July 4, 2010

I love it, you may not.

Dads’ Day

Posted by – June 20, 2010

A very happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

Dads, I hope you got to sleep in. Or eat what you want. Or do whatever it is that makes you happy in a simple, lovely way.

NSFW: Buck Angel

Posted by – May 22, 2010

I may as well continue with my theme on trans guys, so here’s an interview with FTM porn star Buck Angel, and a blog post by him about getting hate mail from – of all groups – the trans male community.

Happy Harvey Milk Day!

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted by – May 9, 2010

A happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers.

This isn’t the cheeriest article about parents – and the children who have stopped speaking to them – but I thought it was an aspect of family/parenting that we otherwise don’t talk much about as a culture.

When SciFi Comes True

Posted by – April 23, 2010

The first full facial transplant, imagine that.

Anti Pope

Posted by – April 15, 2010

Richard Dawkins and Chris Hitchens want to have the Pope arrested when he comes to the UK. I saw the story on MSNBC & laughed for a full five minutes, because: why not? Is there some rule about why we should respect religious leaders globally? Don’t people who aren’t Catholic have the right to see justice for those kids?

I think it’s brilliant. After that, we can arrest all sorts of religious leaders for whatever, & then – no more religious bullshit.

I know it wouldn’t work. But the idea is lovely.

More…

No Words

Posted by – April 8, 2010

(found here: http://catandgirl.com/archive/2010-03-30-cgname.gif, h/t to Lynne)

Otter Love

Posted by – April 1, 2010

I dare you not to cry:

Two elderly otters who were best friends and lived side-by-side for 15 years have both died of a heart attack within an hour of each other.
It’s thought the second heartbroken animal passed away from the stress of watching his mate die.
Daz and Chip – both male – lived and died at Naturelands Zoo in Nelson, New Zealand.
Zookeeper John Miller said the Asian otters, who were 19 and 16 years-old, had been best friends for 15 years.
It’s thought that having each other for company kept them alive beyond the normal otter life-span of 14 years.

Wagstaff Explains Health Care Stance

Posted by – March 12, 2010

A Grand Dame Sort of Day

Posted by – February 17, 2010

It’s my mom’s 80th birthday today, & Kate Bornstein is on her way to Lawrence to speak tonight.

I feel very thankful for the strong women who raised me and who continue to challenge and support me.

Happy Birthday, Mom. I know you said we weren’t supposed to do anything, but hopefully this doesn’t count.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Posted by – February 14, 2010

For Valentine’s Day, Rufus Wainwright performing “My Funny Valentine” with his late mom, Kate McGarrigle.

Kate Bornstein Comes to Lawrence

Posted by – February 13, 2010

Kate Bornstein is coming to Lawrence University on Wednesday, February 17th & Thursday, February 18th. We are very, very pleased.

The listing is on the LU Gender Studies blog, and there is, of course, a Facebook event page.

Superbowl Round-Up, Gender Studies Style

Posted by – February 9, 2010

First, clever Twitter responses to the ridiculous amount of sexism in this year’s Superbowl commercials. One of my favorites:
Posted By: denverlen (February 8, 2010 at 5:19 PM)
This was my fav tweet of the night. Saw a couple of others that were similar as well.
mrbilldempsey: Advertising works. Buying some misogyny first thing tomorrow.

(thanks to Erica for that one)

Weird Superbowl Ad indulges in outworn femme stereotype of a gay couple, but as an Advocate reader points out, in an oddly inclusive sort of way.

An hour of Superbowl watching with Gloria Steinem & Shelby Knox (okay, even I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t).

& As if to summarize, my friend Matty Wegehaupt wrote:
If there is any better evidence than the Super Bowl ads that popular American masculinity is in the throes of a pathetic death spiral, I haven’t seen it. The irony is that even while attacking women as withering harpies, the ads portray the men themselves as even more pathetic: illiterate boors who grunt defiantly at an “unfair” world, yearning for the nourishing respite of crap beer, fast cars, and fake boobs.

Geaux men! Honestly, I find the stereotypes of men in mainstream media horribly offensive – at least as offensive as those idiotic, sexist GoDaddy ads, which is one of the reasons I’ve been very surprised by how well Men of a Certain Age is written, and acted.

F. Scott in Drag

Posted by – February 4, 2010

Really, it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald, which makes me wonder how Zelda looked in a suit.

(Thanks to Courtney.)

Gobama.

Posted by – January 27, 2010

If I’m not mistaken, the President just reprimanded the Democrats, the Republicans, and the Supreme Court, and did all of it with a smile on his face & a reminder of our shared love for this country.

Joel in Alaska; Helen in Wisconsin

Posted by – January 23, 2010

Some thoughts on living in Wisconsin:

  • I’m starting to wonder if my years watching Northern Exposure was actually a prep course.
  • I try not to be an asshole NYer who is always trying to find the NYC cognate for everything I experience. Also, I try to keep discussions of said cognates to conversations with other people who have also lived in NYC.
  • I am regularly amazed at how self-deprecating WI people are about living in WI.
  • I am surprised when I am homesick and surprised when I am not.
  • It doesn’t take long before you find yourself looking at a 19 degree temp and thinking, “it’s only 19″ instead of “that’s fucking cold.” Because “only 19″ means no long johns; you reserve those for the temps that hover just over or just under 0.
  • I regularly feed wild rabbits that live in the lawn next to my house. We buy carrots for them. We probably shouldn’t.
  • I read an essay by Daniel Nester about leaving NYC and wonder exactly why I stayed in NY for so long except for the obvious reason that I couldn’t conceive of living anywhere else.
  • Every once in a while, we realize that all of our new friends are incredibly smart, mostly geeky, & definitely bookish, and we are very happy about that.
  • I’m not sure you’ve ever really been drunk until you’re drunk in a blizzard at a friend’s wedding in an Irish bar in Wisconsin. (Though I’m not sure you’ve ever really been drunk until you’re drunk in a ladies’ room full of drag queens and burlesque stars, either.)