Racists and Sexists Have a Forum on Yahoo Answers

Okay, so we have 'black people' in our Google alert emails (among other terms) and some of the things people ask on Yahoo Answers are ridiculous.

These are just the ones we saw within the last 24 hours:

Why do many Black people believe they are beautiful enough to date?

 

Why do women think they are entilted to “equal pay”?     (Yes, 'entilted')

Granted, most of these questions have been deleted by Yahoo but they are still pretty telling. 

We are starting a running tally of these on Twitter. 

You can follow the madness @SBWomanBlog. 

Middle Schools Separate Students By Sex, ACLU Sues

The American Civil Liberties Union claims that two middle schools, which separate students by gender are in violation of Title IX. According to the ACLU's complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, Middleton Elementary School in Idaho and Huffman Middle School in Alabama are "forcing students into a single-sex environment with little or no alternative options, rely on harmful gender stereotypes and deprive students of equal educational opportunities merely because of their sex."

"We understand that teachers and parents want to provide the best education for their children. But coeducation was never the problem with failing schools, and single-sex programs are not the answer. These programs are poorly designed and based on pseudoscience and stereotypes that do nothing to enhance learning, and only reinforce discredited ideas about how boys and girls behave," said Christina Brandt-Young of the ACLU Women's Rights Project.

We couldn't agree more. Learn more here and here. 

Vermont Pays Women $10,000 Less Than Men? - Woman Sues For Pay Discrimination

Lynne Silloway, a female employee of the Department of Corrections is suing the state of Vermont. She claims is "alleging that she was being paid $10,000 less than a male co-worker for performing substantially the same work." She says the male employee shared the same title, performed the same duties, and had less seniority. The Human Rights Commission has joined her to sue the Department of Corrections, looking to have an independent organization audit all state employees to ensure the issue of pay inequity is addressed.

Read more here.  

"Make Me a Sandwich" T-Shirt Graces The Shelves at Wal-Mart

Yes, you can buy this t-shirt at Wal-Mart. No, you probably shouldn't.

Enough said.

It's official: Two Person Boycott.

Read more here.

P.S. And because one half of Strong Black Woman worked at Wal-Mart briefly before college and saw how women employees were paid a full dollar less than men and who was reprimanded for even thinking about collective action, we join the #notbuyingit movement without reservation. 

    

27 Year Old Reporter Asked Nancy Pelosi If She Was "Too Old" To Be The House of Representatives Minority Leader - Speaker Pelosi Shuts Him Down

When reporter Luke Russert, 27 (son of Meet the Press' Tim Russert), asked Nancy Pelosi, 72, if she was too old to remain as the House of Representatives minority leader, the reporter was met with a room full of boos. It doesn't help that he asked the question while she was flanked by thirty women from the Democratic Caucus.

Russert asked, "Some of your colleagues privately say that your decision to stay on prohibits the party from having a younger leadership and it hurts the party in the long term. What’s your response?”

[insert 30 boos]

Pelosi responded, “Let’s for a moment honor it as legitimate question, although it’s quite offensive that you don’t realize that, I guess.”

She continued to put the reporter in his place by stating, "Everything that I have done in my almost decade now of leadership is to elect younger and newer people to the Congress.” Nancy Pelosi served as the 60th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011. She is the only female to hold that position to date. 

Read more.

New York Knicks To Remove Sexist Ads

 
The Knicks will be removing the above ads after the franchise drew criticism for the sexist and misogynistic tone of them. Maybe the franchise will get it together at some point. These ads don't exactly look good, especially due to the fact that the Knicks have lost a number of sexual harassment lawsuits over the past ten years. More here.

'Vote For The Cute One' - Sexism Isn't Cute

EMMA: Hey, Olivia. What’s it gonna be?
OLIVIA: Hi Emma. Hmmm. Latte, cappuccino? I can’t make up my mind.
EMMA: That’s how I felt about this election… until I took a good look at the candidates.
OLIVIA: And?
EMMA: I’m for Sean Duffy. He’s pretty cool, actually. He’s part of this new generation of leaders, the kind we need in Washington. He’s a good husband and father and he fights for small businesses, like mine. So I can keep the doors open and even hire more people.
OLIVIA: He’s the cute one, right?

No, this isn't a teen novel or a soap opera.

It's a sexist radio ad for Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI). 

He's running for Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District. The ad was put together by YG Network, a 501(c)(4). The group also provided 'hair and makeup touch ups' at this year's Republican National Convention. 

Women are not this dumb. And I hope this Real World alum realizes it soon. 

Listen to the ridiculous spot here. 

Hillary Clinton Tells Women to Stop Whining

Hillary Clinton can't stand whining women. She told Marie Claire that woman need to quit complaining about being unhappy with their work and family life balance.

I can't stand whining.--Hillary Clinton

Clinton believes people need to take ownership of their life choices. If you choose to have a kid, then figure out how you're going to be a parent and work to support the child. While Clinton acknowledged that money gives people more options, she does not believe those without financial privilege should sit around complaining. 

"Some women are not comfortable working at the pace and intensity you have to work at in these jobs. … Other women don’t break a sweat. …They have four or five, six kids. They’re highly organized, they have very supportive networks,” Clinton told Marie Claire.

She also believes workplaces should be more flexible to enable women to juggle the care of children and aging parents.

Click here to read more.

The "Vanna White" of Debate Moderators​?

Both the Obama and Romney camps are concerned that tonight's debate moderator Candy Crowley will ask follow-up questions. I.e. forcing the candidates to answer the questions rather than spitting out stock answers from memorized talking points. This second presidential debate is a town hall style forum, and both campaigns believe Crowley should only direct questions to the candidates like a glorified microphone holder.

Moderator Martha Raddatz did an excellent job during last week's Vice Presidential debate and SBW only expects great things from Crowley tonight.   

Read more.

Study Shows Science Professors Share Biases Against Female Students

In STEM news, a recent study conducted by Yale researchers concludes that female students in research-intensive universities face tough biases from faculty members. 

This is despite the fact that the study included equally qualified female applicants along with their male counterparts. Moreover, faculty members offered male STEM students more career advantages, mentoring, and financial compensation for doing the same job as female students. Professors found male students to be more hireable and competent even though an identical female applicant was present. Female professors were equally as biased as male professors, the report shows. 

The researchers conclude that subtle and preexisting bias against women influenced the findings of the study and that intervention with faculty members might assist in decreasing gender bias. 

Totally Biased = Totally Awesome [And There's a Second Season Coming]

FX has ordered a second cycle of Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. On the show, he discusses politics, race, culture, religion, and media with his unique take on the week's events. After garnering great reviews for the first six episodes, Bell will continue to delight us and add to the national conversation. Nick Grad, executive VP of original programming for FX, reported that "What we've seen through five shows only reinforces our belief that Kamau is one of the sharpest, smartest and funniest young comedians in the business. He brings an interesting perspective to latenight TV and has proven to be very comfortable in this format."





Check it out tonight @ 11 p.m. EST on FX. [You can follow Bell on Twitter @wkamaubell.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v42WLN_4Scw&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QoRDG5owxo&feature=plcp

Movie Review Website Renames "The Help" as "White People Solve Racism - You're Welcome, Black People"

A British movie review site tweaked the movie posters for some of the 2012 Oscar nominations. Click here to see more.

We believe Strong Black Woman of the Week Melissa Harris-Perry might approve of this title change.

[It won a Screen Actor's Guild Award today, too - for best ensemble cast, Shame, shame.

More Award Nominations For Mammy - 'The Help' Gets 3 Oscar Nods ***sigh***

The 2012 nominations for the Academy Awards were announced today.

As expected, the Help [unfortunately] received several nominations.

'The Help' was nominated for Best Picture.  [My first thought was that if it wins, the award acceptance will be like when Crash won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2006.  Right, it's okay if everyone's a little bit racist?]

 

Tony Award winner, Viola Davis, who was excellent in 2008's Doubt is also nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.  

In the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category is both the outcast Southern Belle from the film, Celia Foote, played by Jessica Chastain, as well as Minny, played by Octavia Spencer.  Spencer won a Golden Globe for her role during last week's award ceremony.  

It is a shame that Black actresses are still being lauded for roles Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen mastered in 1939.  [See McDaniel's acceptance speech.]   

[Not to mention the obvious Oscar snub to Pariah.]