This just in from our friends at RHRealityCheck.org who has done an outstanding bit of investigative journalism exploring further Hobby Lobby hypocrisy. RHRC reports that Flowood, Mississippi Hobby Lobby employee Felicia Allen was about to pop and not surprisingly asked for her medical leave. Instead Hobby Lobbycanned her after her baby was born and then tried to fight her filings for unemployment.
What would Jesus say, folks?
Not that it matters, but everyone in Ms. Allen’s Hobby Lobby store agreed this was messed up, as I’m sure many of us do.
Hobby Lobby believes it is totally fine to invest their pension plan in the pharmaceutical company that makes the birth control they oppose their employees using,
But, John Oliver wants to remind you about the 1950’s and the warm fuzzy optimism about how we’re all going to be ok when hit by a nuclear bomb because we can just hide under our desks or even a friendly picnic blanket! But what about things like ICBM’s (intercontinental ballistic missiles) controlled by computers that use floppy drives? Sorry, America, that’s been a little compromised.
If you’re afraid of the end of the world here’s a gif of a sleepy kitten whose belly is being rubbed:
Masters of Sex, Showtime’s envelope pushing show about the science of sex and sexuality in the 1950’s, addressed a very serious topic the LGBT community has worked to bring awareness to for years: Gender assignment at birth. I swear… this show is one of the most political shows on television today.
Season 2 Episode 3 trailer:
In Sunday night’s episode I watched as Dr. Masters explained to a new mother for whom he’d just delivered a baby, that the child had adrenogenital hyperplasia. The new father was angry and hysterical telling his wife they didn’t need to know anything about it because no one would never know and he was damn sure not going to “hold it” meaning the baby.
“It’s not ‘it’ Mr. Bomback… it’s a boy. The blood test conclusively shows the XY chromosome… understand the physical ambiguities are off putting, Mr. Bomback, but eventually a surgery will take care of it….”
The father became more hysterical – not wanting to take the new baby home.
“The baby is otherwise in good health, he’ll be released, and a surgical plan will be formulated” Masters began but the father demanded a surgery to assign the gender be done immediately hurling some unfortunate comment about a “freakshow on the boardwalk.”
The show takes place in the 1950’s so I it’s no shock that gender roles are a huge theme in the show from the idea of women owning their bodies and liking sex, to a gay husband subjecting himself to electroshock therapy to be able to have sex with his wife, to all sorts of marriage insanity. But Dr. Masters nailed it with one simple line: “Well there’s a very wide spectrum of ‘normal’ as far as genitalia is concerned.”
The father demanded the doctor “cut it off” claiming the child would “never be a man.
Dr. Masters, instead, smacked the father down “Let me tell you how this is going to go, Mr. Bomback. You’re family is going to leave here in a few days and you’re going to take some time to become informed. Let your mouth catch up with your mind. And you will come to accept that your son, YOUR SON, has a condition that can and will be corrected. And when you come back here for the surgery that will make sure that his outsides match who he is inside, you’re going to thank me for protecting your child from your own poor judgment.”
Damn.
Later in the show as Masters is describing the “condition” to his research partner (and mistress) Ms. Johnson who was shocked and appalled “That’s what they do they just make it a girl based on the issue of convenience?” she asked.
It is one of the entertainment industry‘s most endearing qualities that it helps to expand understanding of things different from ourselves, increasing acceptance and providing a glimpse at differing perspectives at life experiences. That effort is a component of the successes we’ve seenon LGBTequality.
So… I’ll admit that when we saw this story last week we laughed about it and rolled our eyes at yet another example of an overly prudish society that is clearly too uncomfortable with sex and sexuality to even conceive of visualizing someone’s lady parts. But then The Daily Show brought a whole new different understanding to this issue (brought to you by Decades of Deep Sexual Repression).
According to legend, a demon would have unhealthy hidden in the vagina of a young lady, and with the use of his sharp teeth would have castrated two young men on their wedding night. Following this, a blacksmith carved an iron penis to break the teeth of this demon. This object, ultimately, became an object of worship. This is why we celebrate the Kanamara Matsuri in Kawasaki every year.
Why can’t we all just value each other …. genitals and all? And for once, not diminish one while glorifying another? It’s a silly fantasy, I know. Maybe it can be a reality before I die.
Genius TV news journalist Rachel Maddow has said exactly what we’ve said all along: Boehner and the GOP’s lawsuit against President Obama is going to end up hurting the GOP. To quote Charlie Young, “Voters aren’t stupid. People treat voters like they’re stupid during elections.”
America gets that this is a partisan political game, just like it was during the late 90’s when Newt Gingrich used Congress to attack the President for partisan purposes. We’ve seen this movie before. It ends exceptionally well for Democrats, particularly in a year where Congress is choosing politics and party over passing actual legislation.
Last night, The Daily Show took this confusion and controversy head on with a montage of Fox News clips talking about blowing Obamacare and a dismembered head… which some might argue are pretty much the same thing.
A new action adventure film is coming out, which means it’s yet another opportunity to ask the age old question of why there aren’t more women not only in leading roles, but in movies to begin with. The New York Film Academy asked exactly that question last year during the launch of the last Hunger Games movie which features another female lead (albeit some women take issue with whether or not she’s a real feminist). I could probably go off for hours on whether or not Katniss is a real feminist… but I’ll spare you.
I digress… The real question is… What’s up with the ratio of dudes vs. ladies in films? Here’s a friendly infographic that helps illustrate:
Last night our favorite news program, The Daily Show, talked about how Rupert Murdoch wants to buy CNN from Time Warner. There was a series of clips then talking about how Murdoch isn’t going to give up so Stewart is imploring the public’s help so that we can get CNN for our very own! He even launched LetsBuyCNN.com which leads to a kickstarter page with awesome prizes for major sponsors!
Before I launch into this ass-cactus who has no business telling anyone how they should run their marriage… let me also remind you BNR is beginning a series on dating in the progressive world where we will have staff, guests, and sometimes scientists answer any and all questions you have. Feel free to email sex@bluenationreview.com with questions!
Remember ladies, you don’t own your body. You’re only here to please men and push other men out of your lady parts. Oh, also to clean and make him a sandwich. If you’re not fulfilled by these requirements, then clearly there is something wrong with YOU. You’re probably a witch and we might ought to burn you at the stake. Remember this fun moment in The West Wing? I’m just saying… “It has nothing to do with husbands and wives, it’s all of us. St. Paul begins the passage ‘Be subject to one another out of reverence to Christ. Be subject to ONE ANOTHER…”
So, you’re going to find it shocking that there are some things I agree with that Nigerian minister Tony Rapu has said (though not for the reason he would think) and some things I find abhorrent.
Here are some really messed up philosophies:
If there’s anything a man hates in his life, it’s a nagging wife. Please stop nagging. #MarriedWomen — Tony Rapu (@drtonyrapu) July 20, 2014
Let me just answer this: so does a cat. Just saying.
Absolutely, and if there’s one thing wives hate it’s being married to someone who doesn’t contribute. Relationships are a partnership. Give and take doesn’t mean one person gives while the other person takes. That’s called being an asshole. When one partner doesn’t contribute it makes the other unhappy. And everybody knows… when Mom ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy.
Your husband truly wants you to be happy but he really doesn’t want to be blamed when you’re not happy. #MarriedWomen — Tony Rapu (@drtonyrapu) July 20, 2014
First of all – I hope he’s not talking about depression. Because that’s a whole other category. If you’re just talking about displeasure then see above. If she’s not happy because you’re not contributing, then that’s the fault of the spouse. If she’s unhappy because of external factors then again, it comes back to the partnership where you help each other out. You should motivate and encourage each other.
Here are some things I find that I do actually agree with:
Stop expecting your husband to be what he’s not. Unmet expectations will be the greatest source of sorrow in your marriage. #MarriedWomen
Your husband is not a ‘project’. He’s not yours to change or fix or mould. Please he is yours to love. #MarriedWomen — Tony Rapu (@drtonyrapu) July 20, 2014
Here’s a newsflash: if you want to change who someone is, why are you married to him or her? Don’t marry someone who doesn’t meet your needs. If you have to constantly nag your spouse because he (or she I suppose) doesn’t meet your needs, that means something is out of balance. Either resolve it and figure out what the source is, or the relationship isn’t for you.
Congratulations, Tony Rapu, you’ve become the biggest divorce advocate in all of Christian ministry!
Want more of this guy? Check out the storify. There’s a great deal of conflict in his advice.
In case you missed it Friday evening, Hillary Clinton did an outstanding interview with Charlie Rose. I’m a big fan of Charlie Rose personally, but HRC was great and addressed many many critically important issues in our foreign policy that were in this week’s news.
About the plane crash in Ukraine
About Israel and Gaza (you know HRC negotiated the last ceasefire? Yup…)
And on a more personal reason – the major reason she might NOT run – which is all personal and about being a grandma for the first time and how excited she is about Chelsea’s new baby.
What would Jesus say, folks?
