The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for (at some forty-five hundred heartbeats an hour). I know, however, of a young chronophobiac who experienced something like panic when looking for the first time at homemade movies that had been taken a few weeks before his birth. He saw a world that was practically unchanged — the same house, the same people — and then realized that he did not exist there at all and that nobody mourned his absence. He caught a glimpse of his mother waving from an upstairs window, and that unfamiliar gesture disturbed him, as if it were some mysterious farewell. But what particularly frightened him was the sight of a brand-new baby carriage standing there on the porch, with the smug, encroaching air of a coffin; even that was empty, as if, in the reverse course of events, his very bones had disintegrated.

”

—

Vladimir Nabokov.

from dailymeh: Do we view “the prenatal abyss” with such calm simply because it’s past, or is it more existentially troubling to have existed and then disappear than it is to have never existed in the first place? In other words, is our fear of our own nonexistence, or of death?

Bay Area Homecoming Dance Becomes Scene Of Brutal Crime - Richmond gang rape - Jezebel »

This example aside, when was the last time you heard of a group of women brutally attacking a man, with as many as 15 onlookers?

Don’t men have HANDS for that shit?

I mean.

Fuck.

Christopher Walken recites Poker Face

(via chrrrharrr)

Rest in Peace

Annie - “Anthonio”

Hey folkin-around… Annie’s got a song for you.

Hairy Girls »

Merry Wiesner-Hanks, a distinguished professor of history, writes about the daughters of Petrus Gonzales in the 1500s. He and his offspring had a genetic abnormality now known as hypertrichosis universalis, which meant much of [their] body was covered with hair. They were not mocked or shunned but were welcomed in the courts of Europe, spending much of their lives among nobles, musicians, and artists. …

When people looked at the Gonzales sisters, or their pictures, they saw beasts or monsters as well as young women, but this was also true when they looked at most women. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose ideas were still powerful in the sixteenth century, had described women as imperfect men, the result of something wrong with the conception that created them—their parents were too young or too old, or too diverse in age, or one of them was not healthy. Nature always aimed at perfection, and Aristotle termed anything less than perfect “monstrous”; a woman was thus “a deformity, but one which occurs in the ordinary course of nature.”

13 Tips For Single Dames: Pics, Videos, Links, News »

Very useful information, I hear.

Morality is worst interpreted by anatomy.

”

— Male orders hymen | Mohamed Al Rahhal | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Five Great Men On Television »

While the complaint is usually that there aren’t enough female roles on TV that aren’t prostitutes, doormats, or victims, there’s also a glaring issue with the types of male roles we watch. Will it be the awesome bro, the lumpy housedad, or the total slob? I can just hear his first line: Agh! My wife is so demanding! Why does she want me to get out of this chair? Look how funny it is for my arthritic knees!

Here’s a list of five great men on television, courtesy of Anna North over at Jezebel. These are her choices. What would be yours?

Tim Gunn
Admiral William Adama
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Detective Elliot Stabler
Cliff Huxtable

“Today God helped me realise my dream,” says 112-year-old man about marrying his new 17-year-old bride. Born in 1897, he has 114 children and grandchildren by five wives, three of them deceased. His oldest son is 80.

“I didn’t force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love, and then we agreed to marry,” the groom said. The bride’s family said she was “happy with her new husband”.

”

— Somali man aged 112 marries girl of 17 | World news | The Guardian

Former Late Show Writer: Damn Right It Was A Hostile Environment - Nell Scovell on Letterman Scandal - Jezebel »

I guess that explains the surfeit of crappy jokes.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to reconcile the fact that people are sexual beings. It should be a communal, exciting, mutual high, but it’s often translated into a one-sided, abusive mess.

On a related note, how often have you heard that “women can’t be funny”? How many male comedians are out there who are, shall we say, rotund and plain-looking? Are they ever questioned for being “normal” looking? When a female comedian is singled out, how many people are immediately judging her looks and fuckability? Or proclaiming/dismissing her as a dyke?

Men and women are both guilty of perpetuating stereotypes… sometimes because the stereotypes ring true, but often because it’s easier to agree with the status quo. Other thinking is promptly branded as “femin[az]ism” or “overreactions” or “crazy.” The underdog doesn’t need to annihilate the other team. They just want to play on the same field.