The 2016 Sexist Costume Roundup | Vol. 3 / No. 49.5

I’ve always really wanted a tattoo. I’ve also never actually gotten one, because I am super eclectic, and I fall hard and fast for various phrases, characters, styles (etc.). I can never be certain that my momentary passions are going to remain lifetime ones, or that if they do, I won’t find passions that are even fiercer. How can I know that if I do it, if I finally break down and have “An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards” written in script down my arm, that I won’t one day want to replace it with “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid”? Even if I combine passions, which one do I go with? Minimalist Maleficent? Bombshell Wonder Woman? Art nouveau Princess Leia? I can’t settle on something long for enough.

But now I think that I may finally have a phrase that I’m going to repeat for eternity, so it’s probably safe to get as a tattoo: “I just want a range of representation.” (Note: my friend K initially thought that I said “I just want to rage” and was way more approving of this plan.) This favored phrase has come up in my life once again because this week’s post is another entry in what will probably become an annual series: the Sexist “Sexy” Costume roundup. And as ever, our “friends” at Yandy are happy to oblige.

Fluoridation Is Good For Your Teeth (And Not Bad For The Rest Of You) | Vol. 3 / No. 49.4

I read in the news yesterday that the city of Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada, if you’re not familiar) is being urged to start fluoridation of its water supply now that five years have passed since it stopped doing so at the behest of a bunch of people who apparently have zero understanding of the words “scientific consensus” (exhibit A: the non-profit Canadians Opposed to Fluoride). According to the dentists in Moncton, the number of cases of dental cavities (aka caries or tooth decay) has risen since 2011, moreso among the city’s children.

People have opposed fluoridation of water supplies since it began, usually on the basis of the precautionary principle (“we don’t know for sure that it’s safe”) and of individual liberty (“it’s my right not to have it”). But in the decades and decades we’ve been doing this, we’ve had a lot of time to study it.

Dear Republicans: Don’t Get Your News From “Infowars” (Please!) | Vol. 3 / No. 49.3

Tim Murphy has an article up today in Mother Jones about the strangest of Trump campaign bedfellows, the conspiracy-theory-peddler Alex Jones and his fearmongering site Infowars. I don’t like linking to it. It doesn’t deserve the traffic. But it’s easy enough to find if you want to go down that rabbit hole. I did. I wish I hadn’t.

Infowars is a cesspool of racism, sexism, and instigation of fear. It’s so full of reasons straight white men should be afraid of things, it’s like watching this year’s Republican National Convention look in a mirror and call itself sexy. Here’s a sampling of today’s “headlines,” just for reference:

  • Russia tells citizens ‘nuclear war with the west could happen soon’
  • Fears new ‘birth of a nation’ film could incite racial attacks against whites
  • Exclusive: the truth about Bill Clinton’s abandoned black son banished by Hillary
  • Pieczenik: Clintons behind deaths of 10,000 Haitians

Weekly World News, eat your heart out.

That “This Is An Antidepressant” Meme Sucks | Vol. 3 / No. 49.2

Okay, so number one, depression — not the emotion, the clinical condition — is a real and serious disease. This meme is no different than advocating “eating clean” over chemotherapy for someone who has cancer, or advocating letting your children “acquire immunity” to Polio by letting them get Polio. It’s irresponsible in the extreme, and contributes to the social belittling of people with mental illness. While a mental illness is literally “all in your head” (as in physically), it’s not imaginary and can’t be wished away through the power of positive thinking.

Deep breaths.