Fast-Track Mel to Sainthood--Prevent More Movies!

It only takes two miracles to make the fast-track to Sainthood! Surely the grosses of Apocalypto serve as one miracle, as the flick should have been shunned like a Raver in a Mennonite village by women, Jews, the entire LGBT community, actual movie lovers, non-torture enthusiasts, etc. Mel's powers are supernatural! Get this man to Opus Dei, and away from my Netflix choices.

---Notorious AR

Bullying in the Workplace--U.S. just starting to notice

In the British Isles bullying is a very serious, oft-written about workplace issue, whereas in the U.S. it seems to be strictly limited to a school setting.

Here is quite an informative article from Bully Online that elaborates on this interesting topic. Although bullying is not to be confused with hostile work environment, which is still based upon the usual protected categories, the debate over what might constitute this behavior (think of movies such as Boiler Room) is quite pertinent. Bully Online says:

Bullying differs from harassment and discrimination in that the focus is rarely based on gender, race, or disability. The focus is often on competence, or rather the alleged lack of competence of the bullied person. In reality, the target of bullying is often competent and popular, and the bully is aggressively projecting their own social, interpersonal and professional inadequacy onto their target. The purpose of projection is to avoid facing up to that inadequacy and doing something about it, and - mainly - to distract and divert attention away from the bully’s inadequacies, shortcomings and failings. In most cases, the bullying you see is the tip of an iceberg of wrongdoing by the bully.

And are the differential perceptions based on cultural differences? Or are we making certain in-roads in the U.S., as exemplified by the Hawaii Government?
This will be a long time coming. The American way is to encourage meanness--you're a big girl, you can take it. However, I think the key to push is dignity--That's how the Europeans frame the issue, Dignity at Work. You shouldn't *have* to respond to this behavior. Bully online offers a guideline to changing the workplace environment.
--Notorious AR

"That's So Gay"

A friend of mine sent me an article about an case in Santa Rosa where a high school student who had been disciplined for using the phrase, "That's So Gay," failed in her bid to receive monetary compensation for being disciplined and "mercilessly" teased. As interesting as the result of the case was, the arguments of the teenager, Rebekah Rice, were even more interesting.

Rice argued that 1) the school district violated Rice's First Amendment rights and 2) the school had a double standard because its teachers never sough to protect Rice from teasing based on Mormon stereotypes. Rice's lawyer obviously didn't spend much time in the first year law school class called, of all things, "Constitutional Law." If s/he had spent more time there, they would have learned that there are exceptions to free speech. You can't say whatever the hell you want whenever you want. You can't cause panic. You can't overthrow the government. You can't incite a crime. Two additional areas that likely torpedoed Rice's claim was the prohibition against defamation and the prohibition against fighting words. Defamation is prohibited and is defined, in short, as harming the reputation of another. If something that is stupid or repulsive is referred to as "so gay" and I am gay, then I am also stupid or repulsive. Since in reality I am neither stupid nor repulsive, you have alleged a fact that is false and caused me harm. The second exception that applies here is known as "fighting words." Chaplinsky v. New Hampshirestated that words meant to inflict injury or an immediate breach of peace are prohibited. Does, "That's So Gay" qualify? Well, this is one Queer that has known to be incited to immediately breach the peace upon hearing the phrase.

The Rice's second argument is less interesting, but equally delusional. It is the age-old argument of "Well, she started it!" To be more legalistic, the Rice's had to establish a duty, then prove that the district breached that duty, and finally that Rice suffered as a result of that breach. Obviously, since Rice was already under fire for her comment, the proffering of this claim amounted to little more than pointing to everyone else and saying they are guilty too.

The big surprise here: Rice never admitted any wrong doing. She never said she misspoke, but should have been punished less severely. She never said she knows she may have unwittingly caused some people to have their feelings hurt, but didn't feel the punishment fit the crime. Those things I would get. Maybe the punishment was too harsh, who knows. To say that you are entitled to say ,"That's So Gay" as a Constitutional right and that the school district was not identifying other idiots is a very poor legal and moral argument.

Queers have fought for a long time to be able to voice their opinions when and where they please. We are used to disparaging remarks about the LGBTQ population. When there is an event such as this that decides it is not okay to use our sexual orientation as an adjective for something that sucks, it is a good day. For Rebekah Rice, I wish you the very best in your quest for the fulfillment of your Constitutional Rights. You may not have the freedom of speech you seek, but you certainly have the right to waste your money on really stupid law suits. God Bless America.

Internet Bullying

I happened across this story in the latest Slate
and I find it relevant both as a story about blogging, and as a very disturbing collateral effect of gender discrimination. Kathy Sierra either disbanded her blog or at least reduced activity on her blog due to repeated attacks against her by anonymous and semi-anonymous posters to her blog and other blogs. The attacks involved the typical language and gender epithets usually expressed to bully a woman into a state of fear, including expressions of sexual violence. Photo-shopped graphics were also posted, apparently with the intention of terrorizing Ms. Sierra.
Ms. Sierra’s blog concerned metacognition and computers, not abortion, the EPA, Equal Pay, Gay rights or any usual incendiary subjects. Yet, the vitriol directed towards her would seem that she had done a disservice to the very essence of manhood (the attacks were more than likely from all male posters). In fact, according to Slate, such posts against females on the net, including bloggers, are on the rise. One question becomes how does a woman handle this—get away as soon as possible, or refuse to be cowed. That probably depends upon the woman and her ability and sensitivity to targeted violence—I doubt Ms. Sierra even imagined that such misogynistic reaction would occur. A macrocosmic take is that the reaction from these males explains why gender discrimination is still prevalent, and still so hard to fight. Any time a woman is able to professionally and competently, not to mention expertly, present herself as an authority on an issue, it seems to provoke an atavistic response to take her down. This fear, hatred and violence is just under the surface of certain men, and expressed in the freedom of web anonymity, but also in every condescending comment to a female worker, every instance of favoritism towards a male employee, every action taken on a sense of entitlement to a sexual favor (the same under-acknowledged problem of misogynistic attitude exists in the still-unsolved decades-long murder and torture of women in
Juarez
Mexico. In a way, I’m glad this phenomena has occurred, as it may remind women, and men who support womens’ causes, that until such behavior and misogynistic opinions are considered by the populace to be the wrong thing to do, and such sentiment is continually expressed over these actions gender discrimination will never end. I would bet money without even checking that the same issue applies for any gay bloggers--we all know the first insults and invectives that the truly evolved rhetoraticians in cyberspace use against women and those of or supportive of LGBT.
--Notorious AR

Pride

So this weekend is the Long Beach, CA Gay Pride event. It is a alleged to be one of the largest in the country after New York and San Francisco. It IS big. And it is a lot of fun. There is so much criticism each year that there is nothing different about Pride, its the same boys in thongs, the same tired old drag queens, and the same dikes on bikes. But the truth is, its not all the same. The boys in thongs from ten years ago are now on the sidelines watching the new boys in thongs. The tired old drag queens are new tired old drag queens. The dikes on bikes, well okay, maybe they are the same. But who doesn't just wonder which lesbian will pop a wheelie and tear through the crowd. Its almost as good as NASCAR.

A lot of us have had the chance to play in or around Pride events in the past. It is disingenuous to say that no one else should get their turn to witness or be a part of the spectacle. We don't go to Disneyland than ask that it be shut down because we've already seen it. The Pride parades and events are now as much tradition as they are opportunities to express freedom in regards to sexual orientation, gender identity, attire expression, etc.

In addition to those who claim that Pride events are tired and worn-out, I still can't help but think this is the chance for the LGBTQ community to uniformly say to the population at large, "We determine who we are." Is that very right, 60's liberal? Maybe so. For 364 days out of the year, I work within the population at large expressing myself as I believe, but I am still a minority. During Pride, I am no longer that minority and I enjoy the unity. For those heteros that choose to support Queers during Pride, it is a welcome relief to be supportive in such a, well, supportive environment.

Each year there are the group of religious rights who gather to shout over their cheap-ass P.A. system how we're all going to burn in hell. I am always glad they are there because it is a reminder of what Pride is all about. For each of those religious nut jobs standing there, there are thousands more like them who are not at Pride, but who would say and think the same things as the people promising me hell in a hand basket if I don't stop performing the art of fellatio. I am always grateful for the chance to demonstrate to the holier-than-thou's that God's love is permanent and unwavering. I am not going to be punished for being gay since that is the way He made me and they won't be punished for being assholes, because that is the way He made them.

The one thing I will say about Pride is that we need to continue to make it bigger and better and greater over the course of time. We need special effects, better beads thrown to the audience, more people in attendance, and more almost-naked go-go boys. The only question about Pride should be how great it will be, not whether it will be at all.

Feeling Good For Free

The last couple of weeks have just been a feeding frenzy of falling celebrities. Paris with her going to jail saga, the Hoff with his daughter taping his drunken stupor, Kim squealing on Alec for calling their daughter a little pig, and the adorable Ty Pennington being charged with a DUI. It sure is hard to be a celebrity these days with everyone watching every move you make. Sure, I know that it is great press and we all love to read and talk about it - just like I am doing right now. The other day I was watching an interview with the Shia LeBeouf who stars in the new thriller Disturbia. He was going on about how people who watch movies are just voyeurs who don't want to face their own lives and their own realities. I thought, isn't that bitch? I am going to pay to see your dumb-ass movie and you think that my life is so pathetic that I'd rather pay $10 bucks to watch you for an hour and a half than face my own dismal reality. Well, Shia, you don't understand that all I have to do to feel better about my life is to go to TMZ.com and watch all of the celebrities just like you screw up their own lives. And the best part, Shia ol' buddy, I can watch it all for free.