Toying With Gender

The Mad World blog over at Bitch Magazine had a very interesting, yet equally disturbing, post about toy marketing and how gender roles are pushed on both boys and girls. I know if I have a daughter we will be building space ships with Legos and playing Metal Gear Solid. It makes me so mad to see these commercials limiting girls to taking care of urinating dolls and having epic shopping and makeup adventures.

Cartoon Yourself… Crappily

So here I am looking for martial arts news and what not,  and I’m trying not to pay attention to any stupid ads on the pages. Nevertheless, this one stuck out. At first I thought:  “that cartoon is really lame because it doesn’t seem like a person could actually look that jacked up.” Then I looked again.

Wow.

They found a model whose face does look that jacked up. Not that she is ugly, it’s just that she has a look on her face like she has a concussion.

I don’t understand why concussion girl here, or anyone else for that matter, would want to use this crap. There are other options out there to “cartoon yourself” including a decent South Park character creator as well as plenty of other themed or chibi avatar creators out there. Or, I mean, you could just use a picture of yourself…

The End Is Here… Awww, That Is Really Sad :(

Many children’s TV shows come and go. Most of them frankly stink and almost all just get canceled without a real concluding episode. Now, this little post is not intended to make anyone depressed or have a bad day, but I’m sorry to say that destroying the environment can kill off your species and gnomes only live for 400 years. Evidence after the jump. Read more »

Vaseline Promoting Self-loathing Skin Whitening in India with Facebook

Skin whitening is very popular in India despite the social and health consequences. Here are two articles, from Feministing and CBS News, about a new Vaseline campaign on Facebook India where people can whiten their profile picture.

Guess I’m going to have to buy another brand of lotion now.

From Philadelphia Cop to Taser Hero

All my life, ever since I was able to think about my future, I wanted to be someone. I would be a man who could, at the right moment, fulfill his destiny. But my Pa taught me that in this dark world, this world… cold as a gun, you have to understand that if you miss your shot… your one shot… you’re dead as a doorknob.

Yeah, I was just a kid at the time, but I took a break from my Kit Kat bar and took a bite of it while thinking, “I ain’t gonna lose to nobody, no one.” I swallowed my masticated chocolate covered wafer, took a long drag from my candy cigarette, looked my old man right in the face, and told him what I was thinking.

“Pa, I em not like you, I AM a winner. I don’t lose. I don’t get defeated. I won’t die.”

Well, my Pa was right. My time was near. I had been on edge for over two decades, keeping my whuppin’ stick handy, ready to give some punk a beat down. I didn’t let the times pass me by, and after seeing some guy heckle John Kerry, I knew my stick was old news. I didn’t become a cop to be old school. I wanted to push the envelope when it came to taking care of punks.

Finally, when the time did come… I was ready.

My baby had charged all night.
I had my lucky cap to keep the light out of my eyes.
I even had my lucky gun to keep the flies off my hotdog.

When I saw my enemy, I didn’t hesitate, and as I raised my arm and twisted my body to take aim like God raising his sword of epic wrath, I thought in that moment… everything clear:

“I don’t lose to punks… I won’t die . . . I WIN.”

[Inspired by Times Online]

Did You See His Cartwheel Kick?

This reads like something from a lame modern cop show drama that everyone likes but me. But the scary or (if you are insensitive and immature) funny thing about it is that it’s real!

On Dec. 9, 2009, Howard showed up at the Toronto Star with a briefcase. He looked like a businessman, but his clothes were worn, and his knuckles were bruised and caked with dried blood. In a hoarse voice, he said there was a plot to ruin his life. He claimed he had been injected with a liquid that hardened his veins and immobilized him. He held out his shaking hands for inspection, his eyes wide in desperation. As he was escorted out of the building, he left nodding to no one but himself. “On to Plan B,” he told an editor before leaving.

What was Plan B?

Almost two weeks later, residents of a Niagara Falls street were awakened by screams. Howard was attacking his sister and nephew with the claw end of a hammer. His 21-year-old nephew fought back before Howard screeched out of the driveway.

It seems that Howard started to “lose his grip” mid 2009 largely due to his long term addiction to pain killers, which, according to the rest of the Toronto Star’s report, was an important factor in his downward spiral.

The importance of this, or at least the interest in this man, is the fact he was part of the UFC’s early history. He earned his shot at Royce Gracie with two wins at UFC 3, but instead Howard ended up facing a replacement and losing.

In early 2009, Sherdog did a piece on Howard. In it he is a little crazy, but a nice, kind, and according to the article, “colorful, memorable and honest.”

“We’ve got a saying back home that if you’re coming on,” he fumed, whipping off the shades, “come on!”

I just hope that he can turn his life around, but after reading at least the Toronto article about him, it seems his family has pretty much given up on him. What is worse is that he also seems to have given up on himself.

Sad.

[via Fightlinker]