Moon over Atlanta
Originally uploaded by mrkholcomb.

All hail.

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Blog snippet of the week, courtesy of Peach Pundit:

Unbelievable. From an article in BlackAmericaWeb.com:

“Even during the days of slavery, the slave master always had his puppet,” Brooks said, accusing Johnson of willingly receiving support from GOP loyalists intent on unseating McKinney.

….

Brooks said he didn’t know of any black voters supporting Johnson.

This, despite the fact that Hank Johnson got at least 25% of the vote in nearly every precinct in Dekalb County. The worst Johnson did was 21.74% in the Tilson Elem. precinct, which is 96% African American. On the other hand, the Jolly Elem precinct, which is 83% African American, gave Mr. Johnson 56% of their vote.

And no blacks voted for Johnson, Rep. Brooks?

You are disgraceful.

Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that more than 80% of fourth-grade girls have been on some form of fad diet? Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance?

Aside from the rather specious uncited statistic at the end there, I guess I can’t really argue too much. Hollywood and advertisers probably do create an ideal image type for women unachievable by most of the fairer sex.

But who really knows where to draw the line? Apparently, NOW does.

From their “Offensive Ads” page…

Not even taking into account that these ads were manipulated (by adding the phrase “offensive to women”) and published on their page without any of the advertisers’ or represented companies’ permisssions, this kind of sheee-ot bugs the stew out of me.

First of all, it’s incredibly arrogant for them to suggest that these ads are “Offensive to Women”, as if they have a direct connection to the attitudes, ethics, beliefs, and standards of all women.

To All Women Out There: NOW is doing the thinking and speaking for you, even if you don’t agree with them. Take back your individuality. If you’re offended by these ads, fine. If you’re not, fine. Just don’t let them tell you what is and isn’t offensive.

Additionally, the “Love Your Body” folk use a very common mind-trick when presenting these ads.

When radical religious nutjobs were speaking out against the scientifically impossible “backmasking” (subliminally recorded backwards messages in rock songs that the subconscious supposedly would supposedly internalize and interpret - be it to smoke marijuana or worship Satan) back in the mid-to-late 80’s, I got ahold of a tape of one such preacher addressing his congregation on the dangers of such psuedo-technology. So did he play a backward segment of a track and then ask his flock what was being said? Of course not, he told them what they were going to hear, THEN played it. And of course, everyone heard exactly what the preacher told them they’d hear.

Another example: Don’t think of a cow. Ha! You thought of a cow.

So the NOW folks are telling you what these ads mean, ladies. But would all the women out there derive the same conclusions NOW did without their snarky little comments? Of course not. They’re speaking for you.

The worst is the Longchamp ad:

This is an ad for luggage, right? And the nearly naked, bronzed woman is there because…? When creativity fails, insert sex.

Um, there’s sex in there? Where exactly? Or do the people at NOW immediately equate nudity with sex? If so, how messed up is that? Makes you wonder how they’d react to something like this. Or this?

Oh yeah, and what about lesbians out there who think these ads are really hot? You speaking for them too, NOW?

Anyway, this kind of destructive groupthink festers across religious, ethnic, sexual, and cultural boundaries. And it is destructive. Think for yourself.

Oh, and NOW has declared October 18 “Love Your Body” Day. Delightful. Thanks for establishing that for us, NOW, but at La Casa de DAve, every day is “Love Your Body” day. And if any fine ladies wanna come by La Casa, I’d be happy to love yours, too.