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Open Thread with Painted Snipe

tigtog

This greater painted snipe watching over his chicks features for this week’s Open Thread. Please natter/chatter/vent/rant on anything* you like over this weekend and throughout the week.

Painted snipe family.jpg
“Painted snipe family” by Charles Lam from Hong Kong, China – Dad and Kids. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Caption: Greater Painted Snipe, Rostratula benghalensis with chicks. Saw at the wet lands. Got videos of their relaxing time, dad’s covering,dad’s protection and their food searching time.

So, what have you been up to? What would you rather be up to? What’s been awesome/awful?
Reading? Watching? Making? Meeting?
What has [insert awesome inspiration/fave fansquee/guilty pleasure/dastardly ne’er-do-well/threat to all civilised life on the planet du jour] been up to?

* Netiquette footnotes:
* There is no off-topic on the Weekly Open Thread, but consider whether your comment would be on-topic on any recent thread and thus better belongs there.
* If your comment touches on topics known to generally result in thread-jacking, you will be expected to take the discussion to #spillover instead of overshadowing the social/circuit-breaking aspects of this thread.

71 thoughts on Open Thread with Painted Snipe

  1. Awwwww. Makes it hard to understand how so many people could keep going on snipe hunts.

  2. Finally turned 21 recently! I actually care way less about the fact that I can buy booze legally and way more about being able to go to more concerts and actually get to hang out at bars. I’ve been to a bar before, but both times were embarrassing and the first one involved me guzzling down my brother’s alcoholic drink when no one was looking (I was 15 and so drunk I flirted with a random cute girl without being awkward). So hopefully this time I can hang out at bars with friends under much more chill and stress-free circumstances!

    1. Sometimes it seems like 21 isn’t the drinking age in the U.S. so much as the starting-to-get-a-chance-to-drink-responsibly age.

    1. Im game! I’m usually around a 5 or 6, but I dont have the luxury of not working. It doesn’t seem to grasp that you can be a mix. Like i can be 5, but also 8 in the same day. Or start off at 7 but get to 10 then be at a 4 then back to 7. Within a span of hours.

      1. Yes, that’s exactly what my problem is with it – daily variations! I tend to finish the day at least two numbers higher than I start it – yep, that’s not a typo. Gotta love the fibro for all that screaming post-sleep joint pain and nightmares and disturbed sleep. Swimming means I can reliably up my level by 1, but without money, I can’t swim, and without a job, I can’t money, so I have to be up by that 1 anyway in order to get money, and…you see how this cycle goes.

        And it doesn’t seem to take the…transactional? nature of chronic pain into account. Like, I can pull off a five-day week at 6, if I’m allowed to spend the weekend at 2. I can pull off a four-day week at 8, but then I’m at 1 (or if I’m lucky, 2) for three days after that. I spent four months in fall 2013 continuously running at 9, minus social/family stuff, and it took me until spring 2015 to dig myself out from under being a 5; I’m still feeling the repercussions of it. And these transactions are…not predictable. One day I can do dishes, vacuum, laundry (assuming no other work or classes) and still be able to swim. Other days I spend curled in a small ball until I can swim, and then I have enough flexibility and dexterity to do dishes, laundry and vacuum. And be fucked if I can figure out which is which in advance.

        tl;dr this scale is useful if you want to generalise with a doctor who’s side-eyeing you as being some sort of “lazy” person. Aside from that IDK if it works for most people, except for the ones in very unwavering levels of pain (I can’t figure off the top of my head who that’d be, but I’m sure there’s some, because statistics).

        Would a different scale with multiple variables that takes “what is the trend of your ability-transactions across these areas of life” be more useful than “what does your life look like right now”? I mean, I just… this scale divides life into work, volunteering, family life and social events, and I have known disabled people who have shitcanned each category entirely in favour of the others (I used to volunteer a lot, and now basically I proofread and edit friends and family’s stuff and that’s it; I know other people who’ve dropped work or family or outside socialising). Urgh. IDK.

    2. I find it weird with the ‘Take part in limited social activities on weekends’ being a 6 and ‘Can make plans to do simple activities on weekends’ being 7? Because I can’t do activities without planning for them. If I haven’t made plans well in advance it just isn’t going to happen.

      1. I…guess they could be talking about hanging out with friends at home as an example of 6, and going out to a park as an example of 7? Charitably?

        But mostly I think it’s pretty shoddily defined, IDK.

        I’m starting to think the way to do this is to have a set of variables (let’s say work, school, childcare, housework, volunteering/hobbies, family obligations and social life, since that sums up the time use of most human beings). Assuming that I can’t stop working full-time, how many of the other categories can I engage in, and to what extent on the scale of 1-10?

        E.G. I’m in school. I can’t drop out. Given full-time studies I can work 30 hours/week and do no housework+no social life+no hobbies+no volunteering, or 20 hours/week and do housework. That’s a much more meaningful sort of life-breakdown-scale for the vast majority of chronic pain sufferers, I think.

  4. have been practicing some figure drawing by trying to draw myself in my underoos. It’s prelim work for a painting I want to do for a show coming up on the mind and body.

    Also, I’m on holidays! I’ve been off for a week, and have been chilling out, going to the beach. I feel very lucky to live near a large body of water.

  5. I have been bummed about not getting an interview for this really great girl-centered non-profit that I volunteer with. So, I’ve directed a lot of energy into my blog. Created a new header image, started a mailing list, and – more importantly – focused in what I really enjoyed writing about (feminism and self awareness), and took out what wasn’t working (productivity ‘tips’). It’s helped to keep my spirits up and give me motivation.

  6. A friend of mine is looking for resources/communities for Middle Eastern trans women and I thought I’d ask if anyone here has links?

  7. So fucking tired of whites who use me for my labor and show barely a sliver of gratitude or even acknowledgement.

  8. Hi, i was wondering if I could hear your opinions on something.

    I have seen some tumblr posts lately saying white women shouldn’t use the term ‘Intersectional’ as it was meant to describe the experiences of black women. The source for this appears to be someone’s recount of a conversation with Patricia Hill Collins in which she talks about the way it has been often misused (although she doesn’t seem to say it shouldn’t be used, but that it should be used correctly). I have read Crenshaw and I haven’t come across anything in which she says this is meant to describe a racism / sexism intersection only. Does anyone have any information or thoughts on this? As a white woman I obviously would not want to continue using the term ‘Intersectional feminist’ to describe myself or Intersectional feminism to talk about other things such as class, ability, etc, if it meant I was appropriating the term but it’s also a hugely important concept that is central to how effective feminism can be and I wouldn’t want to stop using a term which can help to make the application of feminist theory more equitable purely because of a misinterpreted offhand comment by Hill Collins if that is what it turned out to be if that makes sense .

      1. Oop, sorry. I meant to answer! I have also read Crenshaw’s essay and don’t see anything there about it being specific to black women…? And I’ve read it very carefully, because I have also encountered this argument. Crenshaw has also clarified, iirc, that it’s not specific to black women and can be applied multidirectionally. The alternative is to find a different word that means the same thing (IDK, multi-axial oppression?), but that leaves one potentially open to the accusation of plagiarising black women’s work, so it doesn’t seem like there’s a viable option. I’d take Crenshaw’s word for it and go ahead, personally.

    2. I know I’m not directly answering your question, but I was looking into this and found this article:

      “Until the mainstream feminist movement starts listening to the various groups of women within it, then it will continue to stagnate and not be able to move forward. The only result of this is that the movement will become fragmented and will continue to be less effective.”
      I completely agree with this. I am a white feminist, but I think we should focus on women as a whole. There should be no discrimination or anyone left out.. it just defeats the purpose! It saddens me to know that there are women out there with that kind of mentality.

      1. Oops, I’m new to the site. I didn’t mean to post my comment under a link. I meant to share the link, then comment below. My apologies.

  9. So I ran across this article a few days ago, where a man talks about how opening up his marriage taught him about feminism. (Note: this is a pop-culture magazine, so be wary about reading the comments.)

    Before my wife started sleeping with other men, I certainly considered myself a feminist, but I really only understood it in the abstract. When I quit working to stay at home with the kids, I began to understand it on a whole new level. I am an economically dependent househusband coping with the withering drudgery of child-rearing. Now that I understand the reality of that situation, I don’t blame women for demanding more for themselves than the life of the housewife.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that he’s reached a new level of understanding about the historically limited role society has asked women to serve. But that doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with his wife taking new lovers – that understanding was brought about by becoming a househusband/full time childcare giver.

    She didn’t present it as an issue of feminism to me, but after much soul-searching about why the idea of my wife having sex with other men bothered me I came to a few conclusions: Monogamy meant I controlled her sexual expression, and, not to get all women’s-studies major about it, patriarchal oppression essentially boils down to a man’s fear that a woman with sexual agency is a woman he can’t control.

    Nor am I criticizing the life-style choice of either him or his wife. If monogamy isn’t y0ur thing, well, you gotta do what you gotta do. As long as everyone involved is a consenting adult…go nuts. But I confess that I’ve never really associated the poly lifestyle with feminism, per say. There’s a certain intersect, I suppose, in that both movements run counter to the mainstream, and both resist traditional, patriarchal social roles. But I don’t think there’s anything more inherently feminist about a poly setup than a monogamous one.

    Feminism always comes back to sex, even when we’re talking about everything else. … The point is that it should be women who choose, not men — even the men they’re married to.

    I don’t know that I agree with this either. Contrary to what Madison Avenue tries to tell you, there is more to life than sex – a lot more, actually, and feminism is concerned with most of it. And while everyone should be free to choose how they express their sexuality, I’m not sure that a general expectation of monogamy in marriage runs counter to feminist ideals. If you want to open up your marriage – great, I hope you find happiness – but I don’t see that as a victory for feminism. Just an individual lifestyle choice.

    But I’ll be the first to admit that my exposure to this topic is limited. Am I missing something?

  12. Caitlyn Jenner’s new role as a spokesperson for the trans community promises to be…interesting.

    The group quickly zeroes in on homelessness and unemployment, stressing the importance of welfare programs to provide assistance to trans people when Jenner’s well-publicized conservatism bubbles to the surface.

    “A lot of times, they can make more not working with social programs than they actually can with an entry-level job,” Jenner tells the group.

    At this point during Sunday’s episode of I Am Cait, Jenner’s somewhat unlikely friend, GLAAD co-chair Jenny Boylan, gently steps in. “I’d say the great majority of people who are getting help are getting help because they need help,” Boylan says.

    “But you don’t want people to get totally dependent on it. That’s when they get into trouble. ‘Why should I work? You know, I’ve got a few bucks, I’ve got my room paid for,'” Jenner counters.

    I suppose none of this is surprising given her background, but it is a tad disappointing. That said, everyone starts somewhere. Hopefully, increased exposure will give Caitlyn more perspective and enable her to be a more effective advocate.

    1. The fact that as the producer of the series, Jenner allowed these criticisms of her to be aired, gives me some hope that she’s willing to listen and learn.

      1. “To those of you who have asked me for my opinion or expertise, I want to remind you that while I’ve know that I was trans since I was a small child, learning about the trans community is still very new to me, and I don’t have all the answers, ” she wrote.

        This is at least superficially promising.

      2. It might be a moot point soon.

        Ratings for E!’s groundbreaking reality series I Am Cait plummeted for the show’s second episode.

        Sunday’s hour had only 1.3 million viewers, a drop of more than 50 percent from the show’s premiere.

        Caitlyn may not be giving off quite enough of the ‘I am a crazy trainwreck out of control’ vibe that a lot of reality television viewers are looking for.

  13. For some reason I feel like seeing what races the Disney Princesses are. Using the official Disney Princess list (http://princess.disney.com/) and the U.S. Census race categories (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_RHI125213.htm), I get: There are eight white Disney Princesses, if you count Arab as white as the U.S. Census does (Jasmine is from a fictional Arab country, then there is Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Aurora, Rapunzel, Ariel and Merida); one black African-American Princess (Tiana), one American Indian and Alaska Native Princess (Pocahontas, American Indian but not Alaska Native), one Asian Princess (Mulan), no Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander Princesses, and no bi- or multi-racial Princesses. There are likewise no Hispanic Princesses, although Hispanic is not considered a race by the U.S. Census. So that makes eight white Disney Princesses out of eleven, with three of color. If Anna and Elsa become official Disney Princesses, as it seems they will, that will be ten white Disney Princesses out of thirteen, with three of color.

    1. Meh, I feel like going by US Census designations is pretty questionable- Arab is markedly non-white in most American sociopolitical contexts.

      2. Not sure what you mean- I’m saying I don’t think Arab = White in this context, so that’s what I’d prefer? I mean, there’s no ‘objectively’ right answer.

  14. One might also note that Merida is a native of Scotland, which makes her indigenous although she is white.

    1. I’m not even sure what you mean by that. The majority of people in Scotland are descended from Anglo-Saxons and some Vikings, just like people in Northern England. (The Scots language — think Robert Burns — is Germanic, and related to Old English.) And even the Gaelic-speaking people came over from Ireland originally.

      As for Arabs in the U.S., I’ve known a number of Christian Arab-Americans (from Michigan) who do identify as white and are perceived as such. It isn’t possible to generalize.

      1. As for Arabs in the U.S., I’ve known a number of Christian Arab-Americans (from Michigan) who do identify as white and are perceived as such. It isn’t possible to generalize.

        Sure. It’s just been my experience that Arabs who immigrate to the US from the Middle East (or who live in the Middle East and are depicted in US media) frequently/typically are marked as non-White. Maybe not?

      2. Ludlow, you’re definitely correct. Part of that is that people who are visibly Muslim (as a result of their clothing) aren’t seen as white. But there’s no absolute rule. There are people in Syria with blond hair and blue eyes. All of which goes to show how arbitrary “whiteness” can be.

  15. Also note that Ariel turns human at the end of her movie, in case you’re going to say mermaids can’t be white.

  16. Overall pretty good write up, Charles Lam seems to be somewhat knowledgeable (or did his homework well) about esports and wrote a great article.

  17. Fat Steve, are you still around? I don’t know if I ever mentioned, but I totally tried Baby Feet on your recommendation and just got my second box. (I call it Snake Feet, because I’m morbidly fascinated by the molting process).

  18. So I missed the Macleans Debate tonight (oh yeah, in case anyone missed it, we’re having a federal election here in October. It stands to be a pretty important one, as we sincerely need to get our racist fuckwit of a PM OUT OF HERE.) but I was happy to hear through Twitter and tumblr communities that Harper got his ass handed to him.

  19. Something I’ve noticed recently when clicking on old links from Google: the SSL cert on this site is invalid (according to Chromium, it’s expired and the URL doesn’t match). Not really a necessity for regular users, but sometimes old links will link to the HTTPS version of the site and the browser will squawk about insecure access (for example).

  21. So, today a conversation with my best friend about whether he should let his toddler daughter play with dolls parlayed into a general conversation about raising girls in a healthy manner to be independent and empowered and I was wondering if any one had recommendation on raising girls from a feminist perspective, but that is particularly aimed at fathers raising daughters that I can recommend to him?

    1. The idea that any parent would seriously consider forbidding their toddler daughter — or son — to play with dolls if they want to, is rather horrifying to me. Playing with dolls doesn’t have to be a gendered activity, and certainly doesn’t preclude playing with anything else. Not to mention that there’s no substantive difference between playing with dolls, playing with stuffed animals, and playing with so-called “action figures.”

      1. Wasn’t so much dolls in general, more barbies and the like.. The concern was that letting her play with barbies was going to turn her into a mess of self-esteem issues. I told him that media sources were a worse source of toxic messaging than a somewhat disproportional plastic doll, which he said sounded reasonable. I also added that kids use dolls as a way to kind of suss out human relationships, and are a good way to talk to your kid about how people interact.

  23. TW

    This isn’t exactly topical anymore, but I’ve been reading Harry Potter and I think the whole metaphor of persecution against muggles by Voldemort as standing in for persecution against some human minority is pretty lousy. It’s hard to argue people who can use magic aren’t actually superior at least in some sense to people who can’t.

    Also, I’ve heard Lupin’s being a werewolf is meant to stand in for him having AIDS or some other stigmatized disease. Which seems to make the disease in question truly seem dangerous and horrific, as werewolves are (and Lupin being a werewolf does eventually put the students in danger.)

    1. Does having running tap water make a group superior over another? No. Neither would magic. Doesn’t make them better human beings, or better as a people.

      People do ( and did) perceive HIV as a dangerous and horrific disease and treat people infected differently. The fact he , as a werewolf , did eventually endanger the students isn’t part of the metaphor, it’s just part of the plot. James, Lily, Sirius and Pettigrew also trained themselves to become animagus to keep him company and safe wasn’t a stand in for them all purposely infecting themselves, it was to showcase their friendship. Not every single thing that happened is directly linked to the metaphor.

      1. Actually I would argue that the circumstances under which Lupin endangered students was also relevant to the metaphor. He forgot to take his medication because he’d learned that a dangerous person he’d thought dead was in direct proximity to his students – including his former best friend’s son – and ran to protect them, and find his best friend, and potentially solve the question of how one of his closest friends in the world had been betrayed. His danger wasn’t deliberate – it was the equivalent of, say, a person with HIV running into a hostage situation to save some kids and winding up accidentally splashing blood on them when they get shot.

      2. I think that’s stretching it. The point of him turning was to basically allow Snape to be shown protecting the kids ( we never really see him do that until now) and to let Sirius prove to Harry he’s someone Harry can rely on …plus get him to the lake where Dementors are killing him, which is the emotional shove Harry needed to produce his patronus. The stigma and treatment of lupin, and how he reacts are the metaphors. The rest is plot which had to happen even without werewolfism as metaphor.

      3. I’d argue JK demonstrated a marked tendency to post-hoc reinterpretation of her own work, which may or may not be reflected in the original text (see: Dumbledore being gay). I don’t mean to be a jerk and if it’s a fun conversation by all means go for it, but I ‘m not sure how much there there actually is, there.

      4. Nothing to add (mostly because I’m not sure if it matters to my reading whether endangering others was part of the metaphor – if it was, I think it highlights the problems that occur when we heavily stigmatize a disease), but just wanted to say this is my absolute favorite conversation ever to happen on this site.

      5. Sorry Ludlow, I didn’t realize you were there as the books were being written so you know what she was thinking about each character when she wrote it. Since you do know her mind, enlighten us about all her original meanings please. I’ll wait. I’m sure it’s fascinating. You’re the expert on it, evidently.

      6. Sorry Ludlow, I didn’t realize you were there as the books were being written so you know what she was thinking about each character when she wrote it. Since you do know her mind, enlighten us about all her original meanings please. I’ll wait. I’m sure it’s fascinating. You’re the expert on it, evidently.

        Me:

        I’d argue

        may or may not

        I ‘m not sure

        by all means go for it

        How far did you get into my post before your burning need to be snide overwhelmed you?

      7. Stop being a jerk and you’ll stop getting snide responses from me. Cause and fucking effect.

      9. No, I got your point. Your point was to be a jerk,and interrupt a conversation with your oh so unique and dissenting opinion.

        Again.

        Pro tip- when you say ” I don’t mean to be a jerk” you are in fact acknowledging you’re being a jerk.

        We were discussing what the author stated was a metaphor, not whether or not she was making it up after she was asked. If you want to think she’s lying, go for it. But don’t be a jerk and shoulder into a conversation in order to essentially tell people it’s pointless to even talk about it, because you think so. Aside from that, had she decided Dumbledore was a Martian, it doesn’t matter if she did during or after she wrote the books. He’s her character, it’s her world what the fuck does it matter ?

      10. Aside from that, had she decided Dumbledore was a Martian, it doesn’t matter if she did during or after she wrote the books. He’s her character, it’s her world what the fuck does it matter ?

        Well, as a gay person, it really matters to me. It’s a bullshit way of avoiding anything controversial that might hurt sales while still trying to claim progressive brownie points after the fact.
        The HIV thing presses a lot of those same buttons.

        I’d explain further but I don’t want to be seen dissenting; the horror!

  25. Hi everybody, it’s been a while.

    I’m trying to get back in the swing of real life, but I find after so long out of the loop, I don’t know how to blog! So I’m going to start commenting again first and hoping that it comes back to me.

    I gave birth to my son after a pretty rough labor that culminated in a C-section back in June. He had to spend some days in the NICU, as he kept “forgetting to breathe,” as the doctors put it when he was born, but I was able to take him home after almost a week, and he’s fine and thriving now, and I’m trying to see how much of my life I can get back! I started with work…and now I’m trying to get back to the blog piece I was working on about black girls and the school-to-prison pipeline. But it’s like my brain has forgotten how to organize the information I’m reading.

    I’ve missed you guys a lot!

    3. Good to see you back here, EG! Congratulations on your lovely thriving son! Maybe we can get back into the swing of commenting/blogging again together.

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