One important lesson: democrats may nominate mediocre judges. But republicans want to nominate lunatics that think that the supreme court has been going down hill since the thirties.

This news story about a study revels in discovering that science has found that boys and girls aren’t really all that different in mental acuity and that low income is bad for people.

I don’t know what the real study reveals or does not reveal, but this article, treating the discovery that “Mental performance differs little by gender” as news in 2007 is a little disappointing.

Another good post on the-story-that-should-have-stayed-local.

Via atrios.

Jill has a nice post about it.

I hate public rape cases. They bring out the absolute worst in people. The DA in the Duke case looks to have really done a terrible job on all levels. But that doesn’t mean there are women out there constantly looking to falsely accuse people of rape. Or that women who are strippers, prostitutes or just not perfect virgins can’t be raped.

Two events this week have brought out the strong undercurrents of sexism in America, and both were in relation to university sports.

First, radio host and first-class asshole, Don Imus, made sexist and racist remarks about the University of Rutgers women’s basketball team, who made it to the national championship game this season. Media Matters has been covering the story thoroughly all week. Today the NYT announced that the Rutgers women are going to meet with Imus. I hope that they do not accept his apology, but instead call him on his history of racist remarks, and ask him to resign.

Second, at the University of Minnesota, three football players were accused of raping an 18-year old woman. They were jailed for a few days, and released today without being charged, though the case is still under investigation. I withhold judgment on whether or not they are innocent, but the problem I have is that the immediate response of the university’s athletics department was to express complete support for the players, while the victim-survivor received no public support. This is a very similar case to that involving Duke lacrosse players last year. The woman in that case also lacked support from the mainstream media, which subjected her to a chill effect. We should not let this silencing happen again… sign this petition to the University of Minnesota administration and board of regents, calling for them to stand up for women’s rights to be heard.

Let’s raise some questions by drawing connections between these two events. Why are women’s sports teams allowed to be treated like dirt in the MSM, while men’s teams are sanctified? How does this inequality of public concern relate to the “double standard” by which women are judged in the patriarchical aspects of our society? (The “double standard” is, on the one hand, putting women on a pedestal when they conform to a certain fetishized image of how they should behave, while on the other hand, treating women like dirt when they do not conform to this image - raping them, calling them ‘hoes,’ not listening to, let alone amplifying, their voices in the public sphere (’keep yer complaints in the sphere of the home, wifey’), etc.)

This was linked from a pandagon thread.

Yes, at one time in my life, this was me. I was the clueless (and frankly misogynist) guy that thought that the reason he was single was because he was too damn nice. Oh the shame, the shame.

I was going to say something about this salon article. But pandagon said something better then I could in my 0 hits a day blog:

Another big factor in all of this is that historically speaking, men really have been encouraged to seek identity through being superior to other people and this is an option that’s just not realistic anymore for your everyday man. In the past, men could count on being superior to women, being both the boss of and the protector of the women in his life. Women’s financial independence has basically pissed that away for a lot of men. The other option offered to men in our society is to Be Somebody–an athlete or rock star or something–and that’s just not within most people’s reach. Getting involved in your everyday life and finding meaning from that is sort of disdained in our culture. Taken altogeher, it’s easy to see why there’s a lot of ennui and alienation in American men.

I think this hits the nail on the head. I went to a very fancy film school, and I met a lot of men who were completely positive they were going to be the next Spielberg or David Fincher or whatever. There are usually about two annual openings for succesful entertainment moguls, and probably hundreds of thousands of film students graduating every year. These are men that were told in high school they were going to be the next best thing. Even in college they might keep that illusion up. But by the time they are in their mid to late twenties it becomes clear that they aren’t going to ever be that succesful. And its a hard thing to know that you’re going to have to find a reason for living beyond being an amazing success.

I meet a lot of men my age (mid-twenties) that basically don’t work, or if they do they don’t work hard. Because nothing is ever good enough for them. They want that job that will recognize their genius.

In my anecdotal experience career-minded women tend to be a little more practical. Perhaps it because, as Amanda said, the fact that they can have a career is reward enough after a century of being expected to sit and home and darn socks. I suspect that it may also be because all that encouragement that boys get in high school is not given to girls. High achieving girls often still get little reward other than the proverbial hearty handshake, whereas the high achieving (middle class white) boys are seen with “potential for greatness” (or they get completely written off). They are showered with praise. They get special attention. And everyone tells them how great they will be. One day, after years of odd jobs,traveling to china and working abroad (or maybe after two semesters of college), they realize that they are not going to be great writers or film makers or singer/songwriters. And then they just sort of freeze up. The great direction of their lives is taken away.

Of course, maybe everything I wrote is a bunch of crap. But I think there is something there with the listless twenty-something white males who can’t seem to get their shit together. I even feel the pull myself.