No Platinum Mines In This Needed Feminist Update of "Santa, Baby" by Miley Cyrus

One of my least favorite Christmas season songs is the 1953 Eartha Kitt classic, "Santa, Baby."

In the song, Kitt purrs her way through a gift list she wants from Santa when he "comes down the chimney tonight. "

In the long list of expensive things she wants is  a car, specifically a nice 1954 convertible, light blue. Also, holiday decorations from Tiffany's, a sable (who wears real fur coats anymore?). big checks with lots of zeros after a first integer, a duplex (why a duplex, why not just a house?) and of all things, a platinum mine.

Who the hell would even think of asking for a platinum mine for Christmas? Who the hell would want one?

That old gold digging song needed a serious update. Most women I know don't pine for all that weird stuff anymore.  They especially don't wish for a platinum mine. Some women might want to shove a bad, lousy ex into a platinum mine, but that's another story.

Miley Cyrus recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. There she was in a cute green and red Christmas outfit, lounged out on a couch. With an earnest smile that is apparently required whenever you sing a holiday song, she belts out "Santa, Baby."

But this Miley version is seriously updated.  Sables, checks, cars and platinum mines are out.  Cyrus's "Santa, Baby" now has a refreshing feminist twist. Sample lyric:

"Santa, baby, I've got a baller car of my own, no loan. I bought it all by myself, Santa baby, with zero help from Elf on the Shelf."

The rest of the song is definitely worth a watch and listen. Especially when she gets to what Santa and other men can do with their chimneys:

Here ya go!

Understatement Files: Missouri Senate Candidate Probably Not Getting Womens' Vote

Courtland Sykes is either a wacko U.S. Senate candidate
from Missouri, a parody, or the star of a really bad
1980s soap opera. (He looks like the later)

There's quite a dodgy guy running for the U.S. Senate from Missouri who has some interesting campaign positions that are of interest to women, to say the least. 

Before I go on with this candidate, named Courtland Sykes, quite a few people, me among them, suspect this Courtland Sykes character might be some sort of parody.

It doesn't help that his supposed girlfriend is named Chanel. Courtland and Chanel. It sounds like characters from some really bad 1980s soap opera.

More on my suspicions about a hoax in a minute.

But first, our supposed candidate, Courtland Sykes, had quite a statement up on Facebook the other night regarding "women's rights."

"I want to come home to a home cooked dinner every night....One that she fixes and one that I expect one day to have daughters learn to fix after they become traditional homemakers and family wives."

Oh, but he was just getting started. He soon escalated into a fever pitch.

He goes on to tell us that feminists have an agenda they "made up to suit their own nasty snake-filled heads."

Sykes also hopes his would-be daughters don't grow up to be "career obsesses banshees who forgo home life and children, and the happiness of family to become nail-biting monophonic hell-bent feminist she deveils who shriek from the top of a thousand tall buildings they are (sic) think they coud have leaped in a single bound - had men not been 'suppressing them'. It's just nuts."

Wow! I wonder how long it took Sykes to think up that wild sentence!

I'm sure this all will endear Sykes to women in Missouri who just love being on the receiving end of 19th century-style sexism.

One question Missourians are asking is, "Is Sykes for real?" That's not all sarcasm. He might not actually be real.

The Riverfront Times, relying in part on reporting from the Kansas City Star, had this murky bit on Sykes:

"His LinkedIn page says he....attended Harvard University's Extension School... earning a degree in 2014. That page also had listed him as a graduate student at the University of London, but when the Star questioned him about that, he said he had to put those studies on hold to focus on his campaign.

The LinkedIn page was edited to remove the college shortly after. he is listed as the managing director for a military consulting firm named Talosorion, but he tells the Star that the firm currently has no clients."

Supposedly, Sykes recently moved from Arkansas to Missouri. But even that is questionable.

The Riverfront Times goes on:

"Even Arkansas seems flummoxed. The Arkansas Times notes the 'fudge factors' on his resume, and even goes so far as to ask its readers if anyone knows who the guy is."

Also, conservative consultants in Missouri who would jump at the chance to help a Trumpish  candidate like Sykes say they've never heard of this moron.

Of course, Sykes, if he really exists, hasn't got a prayer in this election. First, he has to get through the Republican primary. Missouri Republican State Attorney General Josh Hawley, who has the benefit of being considered sane, is the frontrunner, and Hawley will be the likely Republican to run against incumbent Missouri U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskell.

McCaskell, for her part, says she's not particularly worried about Sykes.  I can see why.

Starting A Fad? Girl Dresses Up As Superhero Notorious RGB

This young girl went to school on Superhero
Day dressed as the Notorious RBG, also known
as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

There's lots of superheroes out there. Superman. Wonderwoman. Batman. The Green Hornet. Notorious RBG.

What? Notorioius RBG?  

Notorious RBG is also known as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but it seems she's known more and more as Notorious RBG, especially since there's a popular Twitter account and book that calls her that. 

In Michele Threefoot's opinion, the Notorious RBG is also a superhero, a position I can't argue with.

So, when it came time to dress up for Superhero day at school, Michele, 8, dressed up as the Notorious RBG.

"She and her sister aren't really into Marvel superheroes, so I was just going to put them in Supergirl capes and masks. But while our family was talking about it she told me she wanted to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg. So we went with it," Michele' mother, Krista Threefoot told the Huffington Post. 

Michele had quickly become a fan of the Notorious RBG after reading a book called "I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark," which discussed how the Justice has worked for decades fighting inequality in the United States.

Especially now, in the age of Trump, the so-called alt.right, and a resurgence in racism, bigotry and misogyny, Michele is right about people like the Notorious RBG being superheroes.

The logic behind dressing as the Notorious RBG is sound, too. As Krista Threefoot wrote on her Facebook page: "Girls who read really are dangerous...to unfairness and outmoded inequalities."

I like to think that although people seem to want to believe fake news and the latest rumor on Twitter, we still need and want facts and logic and sound arguments to win the day.

Young women like Michele, in particular,  seem to be stepping up to the plate, despite the instincts of some of the guys who are now the Powers That Be to slap down these "uppity women."

One of the best analysis late last year of Trump and the dangers his administration pose came from the magazine Teen Vogue of all places, which tells us a lot about the (I hope!) growing power of intelligent young women.

You can tell that these young women are hitting a nerve. After the Teen Vogue article called "Donald Trump is Gaslighting America," the journalist who wrote the op-ed, Lauren Duca, got a lot of harassment from male Trump fans who can NOT believe a woman would write such a piece, given their supposed frilly little brains.

I guess young women aren't supposed to read and be informed. They're just supposed to choose which makeup to buy, Cover Girl or Maybelline.

Yeah, right.

When Duca dared to go on Fox News, where Tucker Carlson instructed her to "stick to the thigh-high boots, you're better at that."

As if to prove Duca and Notorious RBG's points about some guys just being way to weird about inequality, the so-called "Pharma Douche" Martin Shkreli, a Trump kinda guy, got suspended from Twitter for trolling and harassing Duca.

Shkreli isn't exactly on the moral high ground to begin with. He made himself famous last year for exponentially raising the price of a life saving medication his company made, mostly because he could and wanted to make more money and who cares if people die because of it.

Plus, he faces trial for fraud because of his pharmaceutical company shenanigans.

So yeah, young women who are fans of the Notorious RBG are going to get a lot of pushback in the age of Trump. But I like to think superheroes always win in the end, so these superheroes will win, too.

I was glad to see that Notorious RBG sent Michele Threefoot a note, congratulating her on dressing up as the Justice on Superhero day at school.

In the note, Notorious RBG told Michele: "Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams and more reading helped me make my dreams come true."

Yep. We all have our marching orders from Notorious RBG: It seems almost too simple, but it's also profound: Stay informed, and fight for what you believe in.

A Letter To My Young Nieces In The Era Of Trump

My nieces Sydney and Alex are "nasty women"
in the best possible and young women like them
will get us through the Trump years, just you wait. 

This open letter is to my nieces Sydney and Alex, who are super sharp college age young women. This letter, from an old white man in Vermont who is thinking about Donald Trump, is also to all young women and girls.  

Dear Sydney and Alex: 

With the election of Donald Trump, you might not feel like this is a great time for a woman to rev up her young adult life.

Once again, old white men decided that a woman's place is not in the House, Senate or White House, but someplace subservient. Which of course is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Oh sure, there were many reasons Hillary Clinton was not elected president, but her being a woman was one of them, as we all surely know.

This time, the old, white men who had such an influence on selecting a president brought us one that really doesn't appreciate women, to say the least. The misogyny during the campaign was breathtaking.

Women are right to worry about what a Trump presidency will bring. Women are right to worry about the future. After all, the Powers That Be seem to want to go back to the days when women were truly considered second class citizens.

But you'd be wrong to give up in despair.

This is a setback, definitely.  But remember, Syd and Alex, you are "nasty women." You know what I mean. During one of the debates Trump snarled that Hillary Clinton is a "nasty woman." Women embraced that moniker as a badge of power, strength, purpose and morality. All of which made me cheer joyfully.

The nation remains full of young, nasty women, like you, and your numbers are growing.  This old white guy knows that what the nation needs more than anything is legions of nasty women.  The more the better.

Here's the dirty little secret: Old white men who voted for Trump are VERY afraid of nasty women.

Because women, particularly the "nasty"ones, are what will get us through this situation. Your uncle Jeff and I are a gay couple, part of one of the groups targeted as not worthy by some of the Trumpeters. Jeff and I and other LGBTQ people aren't necessarily the principal targets here, at least compared to Latinos, Muslims and African Americans, but we've nonetheless been put on notice.

Nasty women like you also know that love Trumps hate. Alex, I'm particularly happy you posted the following on Facebook:

"To Donald Trump, Mike Pence and their supporters.
I am a woman and I love you.
I support black lives matter and I love you.
I am a feminist and I love you
I am Christian and I love you."

What this tells me is all the nasty women like you, Alex and Syd, will be the ones that lead us out of the darkness in a purposeful, peaceful way.  I wish old white guys like Jeff and I would finally realize that it's always women who make things work when things go to hell.

You know, Rosie the Riveter in World War II. The labor organizer Mother Jones. The simple, honest grace and intelligence of Anne Frank and young Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The "when they go low, we go high" moral clarity of Michelle Obama. And so, so many others.

You will surely get down and depressed at times during the Trump era, but let me explain something else:

I don't normally lecture young women this way, but really, listen to your mother. She's a strong, assertive, smart woman who's trained you well to take on the world. She's a really nasty woman. Thank God.  And you're lucky to have a father who insists on letting you be you.

Everyone should be so lucky.

In her gracious concession speech, Clinton spoke to you, and girls much younger than you:

"Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling but someday, someone will - and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.

And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams."

Hillary Clinton was wrong about some things, but she was so very spot on here. Clinton, like me and your Uncle Jeff, understand the world needs you and all the other nasty girls and women more than ever.

Pop star Katy Perry, a strong woman in her own right who backed Hillary Clinton, is correct when she tweeted after the election. "The revolution is coming," and "Rise up."

I can feel that revolution approaching in a thunderous roar from millions of wonderful, nasty women.

It's up to you, Syd and Alex, to be part of this coming revolution of young women who will finally change the world for the better. I know it will happen.

Your Uncle Jeff and I can't wait to see what you do.

Love, Uncle Matt.

RIP Leslie Gore, One Of the 1960s Best Singers

Lesley Gore  

I'm not quite sure what evolved between "It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To" and "You Don't Own Me," But Leslie Gore sure made some ahead of her time statements back in the 1960s.

I bring her up because she passed away today at the age of 68. 

At first "It's My Party" seems like a typical pouty teenager upset that her boyfriend dumped her.

The song is precisely that, and more. I like how Gore takes control in the song, even if what she's taking control of is the angst of a boyfriend bailing on her.

Maybe she's a little bit too enthralled by that cad Johnny, but she's not going to let everyone else's expectations control her.

"Play all my records, keep dancing all night
But leave me alone for awhile
'Til Johnny's dancing with me
I've got no reason to smile

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I wan to.
You would cry too if it happened to you."

Then, in 1964, Leslie Gore came out with the hit, "You Don't Own Me."

The lyrics, sung to the tune of some assertive minor keys, nowadays seem like only a complete dufus would have to be told this but in 1964, this was kind of groundbreaking:

"You don't own me, I'm not just one of your many toys.
You don't own me, don't say I can't go with other boys
And don't tell me what to do
And don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display, 'cause
You don't own me, don't try to change me in any way."

The sad thing is, you know how I said only a complete dufus would have to be told he doesn't own any women?

If you look at a lot of the online community, especially the legions of trolls out there, any time a woman dares to voice her opinion on say, online gaming, or sexism in the computer industry or anything for that matter, the jerks pounce.

What an odd juxtaposition. The computer nerds are so futuristic, foward thinking. At the same time, a few of them continue to live in the darkest, most sexist corners of the 1950s.

At least Leslie Gore had the presense of mind in 1964 to start setting the record straight. It helped lead to generations of women who are not owned by anybody.

RIP, Leslie Gore.

Here is "You Don't Own Me:"

Fascinating, Empowering Colbie Caillat Video: "Try"

Colbie Caillat  

Hat tip to the JoeMyGod blog on this.

The latest music video by Colbie Caillat called "Try" has gone viral, because I bet it resonates with a lot of women.

As of early afternoon Friday, the video, which was posted July 8, had gotten nearly 18.3 million hits.

The only drawbacks I see are the troll comments on the bottom (don't read them!) and the annoying pop up messages that come up as Vevo invites you to watch some of their other videos.

The video is still very much worth watching.

In it, Caillat, and several other women lip-syncing the song, remove their makeup as the tune talks about how women really don't have to do themselves up so much to make people like them, or more importantly, like themselves.

Yes, the idea is a bit cliched, but Caillat and the producers of the video make this really effective.

Watch and tell me and everybody else what you think:

More 80s Video Fun: Cyndi Lauper, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

As I inexplicably continue my series on 1980s music videos as art, I'll give you one that is for a change highly recognizable: Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

(Previous 80s music video highlights are HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE

Almost everybody has seen  Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"  video.  I consider this one art because it has a great social commentary undercurrent beneath all the slapstick, campy colorful comedy that makes the video such a joy.

The cover of Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual" album,
from which we get "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  

The music video to me marks a turning point in the feminist movement, one in which an ill informed stereotype of equality seeking women started to die.

I'm going to stop right here and note I'm now stepping on treacherous ground.  I'm a middle aged guy, hardly qualified to discuss the finer points of feminism. So if say anything particularly boneheaded, go ahead and set me straight.

That caricature of feminism I referenced above was the notion that activists were angry, humorless women who hated men.

And here comes our simultaneously smart and daffy Lauper, in a delightfully chaotic, colorful party video that explains what women really want. Fun, yes, but fun in this song also means being full players in life, not just some subordinate sidekick of men.  She sings:

"Some boys take a beautiful girl
And I hide her away from the rest of the world.
I want to be the one to walk in the sun.
Girls just wanna have fun."

Early in the song, Lauper makes clear that women are not hating on men, not trying to push them aside. In the video she does good humored battle with her father, played by huge wrestler Captain Lou Albano. She subdues him physically and with lyrics, such as this:

"Oh daddy hear you know you're still number one
But girls, they want to have fun."

The song and the video are anything but preachy, the music is bouncy and ecstatic and catchy as hell. The video is full of movement and color-- a celebration.

Lauper also took back the word "Girl," which had become something of a way not to take women seriously to a term that women owned.

Many, many women over the decades have worked incredibly hard to get their gender into full equality, and the work isn't done.  Lauper certainly can't take all the credit with her song and music video.

The crowd parties down in Lauper's "Girls Just
Wanna Have Fun" music video.  

But my perspective is, the notion that feminists are man-hating shrews largely evaporated aroudn the time "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"  came out, notwithstanding the lingering "feminazi" nonsense from Rush Limbaugh and his ilk.

(As an aside, one young woman recently mentioned the term "feminazi" to me and asked how a desire for gender equality is just like invading Poland)

In any event, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" has been among my favorite songs and videos since it came out in 1983. So what if it's, well, girly. Everyone can join the party.

Which is Lauper's point.

As the video for "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" nears its conclusion, Lauper and her posse of fun loving girls parades through the streets. Other people, including quite a few men, join the joyous party which ends up at Lauper's house.

These men realize the world's a much better place if us guys have fun with the girls, rather than trying to tamp down their right to have that fun.

Disturbing Man Wants to Rape Protestor

A disturbing video surfaced last week of a demonstration in support of the LGBT community in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A counter protester, from what to me is a weird group called Black Hebrew Israelites, threatened to rape a woman who was among the LGBT supporters.

 The guy wanted to teach the woman a lesson, to make her learn the proper role, the proper place for women, at least in his mind.

I'm all for free speech, but the threat seemed real.  If we're going to talk about the proper place for people, a good place for this scary guy is in jail.

Grand Rapids Police said they didn't make an arrest because there was no specific complaint against the guy or guys threatening to rape. And they had the right to protest against the LGBT demonstrators.

And that's true, people have the right to say just about anything out on the street that they want to. But I wonder if that extends to making threats. I do hope the Grand Rapids police still have an active investigation on this.

Watch the video for yourself, but be warned, it's NSFW due to bad language, and it is rather disturbing:






There seems to be a lot of this women bashing going on by the fundementalists wackos. A guy named the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson in a  lengthy diatribe of how women should never have gotten the right to vote.

Said he:  "The one thing I know for sure without a doubt (is that) women cannot handle power...It's not real power anyway. Power that the world give you is not power. It's all ego-building"

Then there's the video from this guy, below, who says essentially that maybe good Christian woman shouldn't go to college but should make babies instead. You know to increase the population Evangelicals.

Just seems odd, that it seems more and more people want women to go back to the dark ages or something. What's the problem, afraid that women are running things better than you are, bud>