The Mystery of Objects

You know…you would think a vacation would afford lots of writing time. But I have found little time for that.

I saw this…and I feel like I am missing something:

METHODOLOGY: Researchers led by Philippe Bernard presented participants pictures of men and women in sexualized poses, wearing a swimsuit or underwear, one by one on a computer screen. Since pictures of people present a recognition problem when they’re turned upside down, but images of objects don’t have that problem, some of the photos were presented right side up and others upside down. After each picture, there was a second of black screen before each participant was shown two images and was asked to choose the one that matched the one he or she had just seen.

RESULTS: The male and female subjects matched the photos similarly. They recognized right-side-up men better than upside-down men, suggesting that they saw the sexualized men as persons. On the contrary, the women in underwear weren’t any harder to recognize when they appeared upside down, indicating that the sexy women were consistently identified as objects.

CONCLUSION: People objectify women in sexualized photos, but not men.

I am not questioning the existence of objectification, mind you…but I do find myself scratching my head a little. If I cannot recognize you when a picture of you was shown to me-and then shown again, but upside down? You should probably assume you made no impression on me. I cannot even remember what you looked like in the same picture from seconds ago?

And I am curious what is meant by “objects”… Because a square is a square…if you find it tough to differentiate that when turned upside down…there are some cognitive issues. I wonder how complex we are talking about for objects. It is the assumption that being able to recognize a person in different states (in this case, right side up and upside down) is actually a negative. I understand the claim about objects… I am just wondering if it translates as cleanly as implied here.

Again, not challenging the reality of objectification here. Simply certain assumptions within this test.

Oh What A Beautiful Morning

At the cabin this week, there is a chill…but on the other hand…there is a little ray of sunshine warming the place up.

Shining Lantern

So, apparently, in the updated Earth 2 continuity for DC Comics, the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is gay. There are some questions raised, but more because they also made him younger. Does he still have kids? How old are they?

The reaction so far that I have seen has been muted…especially considering some of the stuff I was seeing when it was unknown which character was going to be revealedas gay. Folks were freaking out about DC making Superman gay. Ty Templeton addressed how this would drastically change Superman:

Memorial Day Morning Pic

Spending a week at the cabin.

Righteousness or Fascism?

Or just outright stupidity and bigotry?

So…some Pastor (Rev. Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, N.C.) recently said:

I figured a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers, but I couldn’t get it past the Congress. Build a great, big, large fence — 150 or 100 mile long — put all the lesbians in there, fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified ’til they can’t get out. … And you know what? In a few years, they’ll die out.

I suppose he might claim suddenly that he was “only kidding around.”  That He didn’t mean it.”  He was “only joking.”

Truthfully, I cannot fathom how that could be a joke you would tell in a sermon at church.  I mean, for one thing?  Jokes are supposed to be funny.

Explain To Me…

Why I should give a damn about what Steven Moffat thinks of CBS’s Elementary? Does having a critically loved Sherlock Holmes in modern times fan fic tv show make him some sort of protector of all things Holmes?

Lock Up Mary Jane

I am sure there are some who presume my general defense of the President equals no ability to express extreme dissatisfaction with the President. But the fact is, there have been some areas which I find stunningly off base.

Such as this.

Most true professionals in the MMJ industry would likely agree that the government should shut down dispensaries and growers selling to people without patient cards and engaging in illegal drug sales.

The problem, however, is that the Obama administration isn’t just targeting those types of operations. Dispensaries and cultivation sites in full compliance with state medical cannabis laws have been caught up in the government’s crackdown as well. In California and Colorado, for instance, dozens of dispensaries located within 1,000 feet of schools have been forced to shut down or close – even though they were operating legally under local regulations.

It is insane that we continue to waste time, money and jail space on people for selling and using marijuana. Yet, those things have increased under our current President,not improved. In fact, on this issue? His record is pretty abysmal.

Along with the gay marriage announcement*, I find this troubling. On the other hand, do we thing Mitt Romney would be a change for the better on this stupid war on drugs?

*I get that it is historic. But to declare you support it as a right-but then say it is an issue of state rights? Arg.