Short ‘n’ Stubby: Ms. Manx pinks up

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Happy Anti-Bullying Day! Ms. Manx may not be wearing pink (unless you count the tip of her nose), but that doesn’t mean she ain’t thinking it. So, here are your pink throughts for the day…

First up, an intriguing history of the gendering of pink (and blue). Did you know that pink used to be recommended for boys, and blue for girls? It’s true! So if anyone tells you that dudes don’t wear pink, send them that link.

The American Academy of Pediatrics takes on a bunch of Christ-killing bullies (who push an anti-gay agenda) and whups the bejeezus out of them.

The Pentagon has finally decided to do something about all the white supremacist bullies entering the military in order to gain weapons and tactical training for the mayhem they plan to unleash against their own country. Took ’em long enough; was Tim McVeigh not a big enough wake-up call for them?

Let us also not forget Norma Scarborough, who, along with Dr. Henry Morgentaler, took on the anti-choice bullies (otherwise known as lawmakers) here in Canada, and won.

All the bluffing and bullying the Catholic church hierarchy is doing right now when it comes to sexual abuse is nothing new to us Canucks. We still remember residential schools and the Mount Cashel orphanage. And we are still not impressed with the way those were handled. The church may as well face facts–it is running out of rugs to sweep things under, and those bulges are getting awfully big!

Have I mentioned yet today how much I love Richard Colvin for taking on the bullies on Parliament Hill when it comes to the Afghanistan torture scandal? They’re trying to sweep him under the rug too, but the man refuses to be swept. And when he sees the broom coming at him, he pushes back.

And what is this “enhanced interrogation” shit of which everybody speaks? It smells like bullying to me. Very, very bad bullying. As does the way soldiers are being treated for speaking out against it.

Also, while we’re at it, what’s up with all these armed nutters making threats? That’s bullying right there!

But not all verbal bullying is so obvious. Some of the worst is very subtle indeed. In fact, it’s more about what’s not being said than about what is. One comforting upshot: the more you try to silence them, the more people talk…and push for the truth.

And here’s another comforting story: Orly Taitz’s birther bullying is being rebuffed, well, everywhere.

Finally, here’s a little song from Tom Petty for all you fighters out there. Make it your motto!

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One Response to Short ‘n’ Stubby: Ms. Manx pinks up

  1. Wren says:

    I have a funny feeling that the crackdown on right-wing militants in the military was only possible because they are no longer having trouble filling their recruitment quotas and had little to do with any real concern by the Department of “Defense.”
    As for the disposable soldiers story, it should be crystal clear that most soldiers are just as big a victim of the U.S. military and U.S. foreign policy as their victims are. They are trained to kill and maim and are sent to where they are killed and maimed in kind. Most are too young when they join up to know what is really in store for them. They just know they can’t find a job and the military is offering them large signing bonuses. Others have some naive sense of patriotism based on a lot of jingoistic propaganda.
    The whole Military Industrial Congressional Complex is a machine designed to grind up humans, both the pawns it employs and those it declares a threat, for the benefit of a very few. The fact that the military has found a way to save some money by discharging soldiers with some made-up pre-existing condition, even torturing them to get the soldiers to sign papers to that effect, didn’t really shock me. If they are not able to perform their duties in killing for the system, the system has no use for them. The American media must have a really short memory: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401394.html
    Support the troops indeed. The whole military system is one big bureaucratic bully. It’s no coincidence that basic training breaks down people’s resistance to killing other human beings by using the bullying tactics of shame, fear and humiliation.
    The gendering of pink and blue was very interesting. I remember my first time noticing it was in kindergarten. The girl’s bathroom was painted pink and the boy’s was blue. Didn’t realize just how insidious those simple preconceptions were. The fact that corporate marketing was a big part of the stereotyping didn’t surprise me much though.

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