Alice in Stoopidland

 . . .amongst my travels, here and there, in the world and on the web, I occasionally find a nugget of the purest Burning Stoopid.  And unlike Dragnet, here in the catalog, we change names to protect the guilty (and keep from getting sued. . . )

So, we'll call this nugget "Alice" She's got a Bachelors' and a Masters' in, basically, arts and crafts.  She also teaches those very same arts and crafts at a small trade school.  Which is apparently closing down, or at least closing her program.  Sorry to hear that, but that's life in the Obamapression.  Perhaps if you taught a useful, in-demand skill, you wouldn't be getting blindsided by the Education Bubble. (and a h/t Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, for describing the concept. . . )


But more importantly, "Alice" has led to at least one story here in the Catalog, about the failing bookstore that didn't want to move. . .

However, TODAY, it was jackpot time.  A piece by "Soraya Chemaly" about why Feminism is still needed.   A turgid collection of politically-correct shibboleths, delivered in a breathy stream of alleged consciousness. . .

No funny pictures, no videos, just commentary and links.  Because teh Stoopid here is a wildfire proportions. . .

So, let's start in on our tour of Stoopidland, shall we ???

Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women, it’s a weapon we hold between our fingers when we’re walking alone at night.

No, it's a key.  You use it to open locks.  If you're so worried about walking alone, you might want to up your situational awareness.  Better still, if you feel that you might need to defend yourself, you probably should consider a weapon that can be used at a distance, and not only when up close and at a disadvantage.   Something like a good pepper spray, a taser, or, better still, a personal defense handgun. . .

Because last month, my politics professor asked the class if women should have equal representation in the Supreme Court, and only three out of 42 people raised their hands.

Ahem.  Someone needs to remind Miss Chemaly that Equality means equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes. . . 

She goes on:

Because only 29 percent of American women identify as feminist, and in the words of author Caitlin Moran, “What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? Did all that good shit get on your nerves? Or were you just drunk at the time
of the survey?”

Because when people hear the term feminist, they honestly think of women burning bras. Dude, have you ever bought a bra? No one would burn them because they’re freaking expensive.

 Gee, only a minority agree with your position.  Because "movement feminism" pretty much ended 30+ years ago.  And, frankly, people were tiring of always-aggrieved, strident, angry "feminists" who considered men the enemy.  

And that's a VERY selective definition of "feminism".  I can think of a strong woman, who ran for office and won, and went on to some very hard political fights.   But according to the OFFICIAL feminists. . . Sarah Palin is not a feminist.  Yep. Being a feminist is like being Hispanic. . . .it requires a certain ideology. . .

Oh, and burning bras ??  It happened. . . not QUITE in the way popular culture tells us it did. . . but it happened.

She goes on. . .

Because 138 House Republicans voted against the Violence Against Women Act. All 138 felt it shouldn’t provide support for Native women, LGBT people or immigrant women. I’m kind of confused by this, because I thought LGBT people and women of color were also human beings.

Ah, yes, evil, racist, hater Rethuglicans.  They voted against because they hate women so much. 

Except, of course. . . that Gay men aren't women.  Nor are Cross-dressers.  And as for the vote mentioned. . . .the Violence Against Women Act also did a number of things to which they objected.  Like remove constitutional rights from US citizens charged in Tribal Courts.  Or include protections for same-sex couples in violation of the Defense of Marriage Act.  Et cetera.  

This brings up a hoary tradition in Washington Politics: candy-coat objectionable legislation with nice names, so that opponents are caught in the "Have you quit beating your wife yet ?" conundrum. . .  We've seen this before, all the civil liberty restrictions and limits added by the PATRIOT Act, and we've seen the cost of medical care and insurance skyrocket since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. . . it's an old Washington standby, and both parties use it. . .

She even hits old Rush Limbaugh, simply "Because Rush Limbaugh".   OK, you don't like the Rushmeister.  So put forward an argument, ok ???

And then, the Pièce de résistance. . . 

Because out of 7 billion people on the planet, more than 1 billion women will be raped or beaten in their lifetimes. Women and girls have their clitorises cut out, acid thrown on them and broken bottles shoved up them as an act of war. Every second of every day. Every corner of the Earth.

Why, yes, there ARE people who do that, routinely.  You may have heard of them.  We call them Muslims. Who routinely do female genital mutilation, one rarely hears of it done outside of Islamic Culture.  Acid attacks also mostly center on South Asia and the Middle East. And Broken Bottle Rapes also tend to show up associated with Islam. . .

Yes, teh stoopid is strong with Miss Chemaly.    Time will tell if she gets better. . .