Good morning!

Republicans Unanimously Block Equal Pay Bill

CREDIT: AP

After allowing the Paycheck Fairness Act to move forward last week, Senate Republicans turned around on Monday evening and unanimously voted to block the bill, which would ban salary secrecy and tighten rules to try to narrow the gender wage gap.

The vote came weeks after the Republican National Committee claimed that “All Republicans support equal pay.” Senate Republicans have unanimouslyshot the bill down multiple times over the past four years.

The bill includes a number of provisions aimed at preventing the gender wage gap in the first place, which currently means a woman who works full time, year round makes 77 percent of what a similar man makes and hasn’t budged in a decade.

It would ban salary secrecy, in which employers prohibit or strongly discourage employees from discussing pay with each other, thus making it difficult for women to discover unequal practices. While it’s illegal to tell workers they can’t talk about wages with each other without a business justification, since it infringes on the right to engage in concerted activities for mutual aid, it’s still widespread: about half of private sector workers say they can’t talk about pay at work. But in workplaces without this practice, the wage gap shrinks. Among the federal workforce, where pay scales are usually transparent, the wage gap has fallen significantly over the past 20 years. It’s also falling among unionized workers, who similarly tend to have wage transparency.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would also narrow the definitions of what is considered a legitimate business-related justification for pay disparities between a man and a woman with the same skills, responsibilities, and working conditions, while increasing penalties for those who are found to have no reason for gaps. It’s meant to discourage unequal pay scales so that women don’t have to remedy situations by bringing lawsuits, which are time consuming, costly, and increasingly difficult to win.

Republicans say they are in favor of equal pay for women’s work, but they haven’t articulated their alternatives to the Democrats’ bill. Instead they say women are already protected and argue that the gap isn’t as big as the statistics say. But while it’s true that many factors go into the gender wage gap, it can’t be explained away and discrimination is likely at least partly to blame.

*****

Readers: I really don’t get it. I am so sick of the repubs claiming one thing and their actions don’t backup their claims. What woman in her right mind would vote for men who block a bill that would narrow the gender wage gap? If that language is too confusing for you, please tell me why you would vote for men who are not in favor of equal pay for women’s work. Really…I want to know. Blog me.

Speaking of women…

Let me address the NFL and the player’s abuse of women. Fifty Six players have been arrested for domestic violence since Roger Goodell became the commissioner.  And of the fifty six arrested only 13 were suspended from games in total. Some of the players didn’t get any penalties…some only got fines. This is really disgusting.

In my opinion, if we are going to take a hard stance on domestic violence, these players need to be suspended from the NFL indefinitely. The ramifications need to be strict enough that they won’t even consider raising a hand…and the way to hit ‘em hard is in their wallet – take their million dollar contracts away and perhaps they’ll limit the beating up of others where there is a level playing field. (no pun intended.)

Goodell has basically given these players a license to abuse when there are hardly any consequences for acts of domestic violence. Rep. Jackie Speier calls on Goodell to resign, and I couldn’t agree with her more. But he won’t. He made a cool 44 million last year. There is no way he s going to give up that pay.

As Rep Jackie Spier said, “It is really all about money.” Yep. Again, I couldn’t agree more. Meanwhile women’s lives are in danger because the dollar is more important than the well-being of women. That’s what their actions are saying when domestic violence is prevalent, and nothing is being done to stop it.  How many more women need to be abused before this is taken seriously?

John:  Perhaps before you address the article you should actually read the article. The couple you are referring to is not the couple that is in the write that I posted. Just saying…

And even if it was, who cares? Lots of people have sex in the open. If it was between two white people we wouldn’t be having this conversation and you wouldn’t come to the assumption that the woman was a prostitute. It is because the sex is happening between a white man and a black woman, that you say “…it’s not out of normal thinking to assume…she might have been a prostitute.“ What you’re assuming, and what you think is “normal” to assume, is that no white man would have sex with a black woman unless she was a prostitute. You’re racist. Just saying.

I guess I am not the only only thinking this as I just read Morris’ comment. 

Done for the day. Your turn. Blog me. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

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Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

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Good morning!

A few days ago on the 13th of September, VAWA celebrated its 20th anniversary. Football season is here. And yet, it seems there is more talk about the abusive players, and how the NFL is handling them,  than there is about the actual games.

A write from Think Progress.

Not Just Ray Rice

On The 20th Anniversary Of VAWA, Important Stories On Domestic Violence

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) – the landmark legislation that was signed into law by President Clinton to provide more institutional resources for domestic violence victims. The anniversary comes at a time when the country is engaged in a national conversation about NFL player Ray Rice, his wife Janay, and the NFL’s responsibility to adequately respond to incidences of domestic abuse within their ranks.

Here’s a rundown of stories related to this issue that you don’t want to miss:

• How The Country Has Changed Under The Violence Against Women Act. We have more resources to address and prevent domestic abuse and fewer people are becoming victims of violence. But there is more work to be done.
• Brutally Honest Sportscaster Delivers Powerful Commentary On Ray Rice. James Brown on CBS: “Our language is important. For instance, when a guy says ‘you throw the ball like a girl,’ or ‘you’re a little sissy,’ it reflects an attitude that devalues women. And attitudes will eventually manifest in some fashion.”
• Domestic Violence Kills More People Than Wars, Global Study Finds.Researchers say that violence at home is an overlooked issue that deserves more international attention.
• Gabrielle Giffords: 20 Years After VAWA, There’s Much More Work To Do. Even though many couples are choosing to marry later in life, our laws haven’t been updated to address dating partner abuse.
• You Shouldn’t Ask Why Janay Rice Stayed. The people asking that question don’t understand the reality of domestic violence. They should place responsibility on the abusive partner, not the survivor.
• Columbia University Students’ Powerful Display Of Support For A Rape Victim Seeking Justice. Students are banding together to help Emma Sulkowicz, a senior visual arts major who’s carrying her mattress everywhere as long as her rapist remains on campus.
• Domestic Violence in The Times: From Civil Unrest to Spouse Abuse.The term “domestic violence” has appeared in The New York Times throughout its history, but until the 1980s it mostly referred to civil unrest and rioting rather than acts of violence in the home. Its usage has spiked since 2010.
• Nearly A Third Of U.S. Women Have Experienced Domestic Violence.Ray Rice’s violent act has been widely condemned, but it is also all too common: More than 31 percent of women in the United States have been physically abused by an intimate partner at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Fox News Mocks Victim Of Ray Rice Elevator Assault: ‘I Think The Message Is, Take The Stairs’. Victim of domestic violence who don’t leave after they’ve been abused send a “terrible message,” says Fox’s Brian Kilmeade.

BOTTOM LINE: It shouldn’t have taken a video leaked to the world to make the NFL finally take strong action against Ray Rice. It shouldn’t be forgotten, either, that domestic violence is a problem that extends far beyond the headlines: more than 31 percent of women in the United States have been physically abused by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. And 20 years after the Violence Against Women Act passed Congress, it shouldn’t be forgotten that there is still much more we can do to protect all women from abuse.

*****

Readers: What is going on? The only way that this abuse is going to stop is when women’s health and safety is made a priority and the consequences of the perp’s actions are serious. How much more leeway are men going to get before this is stopped? It’s so simple. Make the laws so detrimental for the dirty deed doers that they will not even consider raising a hand.

But first we need to get politicians in office that will support women. That is the big push. Because as long as the repubs are in control you can kiss that idea goodbye. They have no intention of supporting women.

Ugh…this is so frustrating that our future lies in our own hands and we aren’t taking control. I sure HOPE women get a clue, support their sisters, and do the right thing when the time comes, or this is going to be a never ending conversation and battle to boot.

I know I am not the only one who is sickened by all of this. What’s your thoughts on all that is going on? Blog me.

Robert I: Are you around? It’s been awhile. I HOPE you’re doing good.

Lucy, ST:  I saw the photo and read the write. :)

Gwen, Lacy: So sorry to hear about your mother, and sister. So devastating. “Yes, he looked liked such a nice church-going man. He always gave to the community. Never said anything bad about anyone…always kept to his own business…blah blah blah.” THAT should be the profile to be suspect of. Wishing you and your families peace.

Carol: Yes, Health Info usually gave out great info. I can’t say I know what happened to them but perhaps now that they have been requested, they will come back and post. (hint hint)

Peace out. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

Readers: What are your thoughts from Obama’s address last night? What’s on your mind?

This is what’s on mine. From the Wash Po.

I am a 14-year-old Yazidi girl given as a gift to an ISIS commander. Here’s how I escaped.

“Narin” was deeply scarred by her ordeal. (Hassan Haji for the Washington Post)

This is the story told to me by a 14-year-old Yazidi girl I’ll call “Narin,” currently staying in northern Iraqi Kurdistan. I am a Kurdish journalist with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia who covers northern Iraq as a freelancer for several international news outlets. I heard about Narin’s tale through a Yazidi friend who knew her. Aside from translating from Kurdish and excerpting her story in collaboration with Washington Post editors, the only things I changed are all the names, at Narin’s request, to protect her and other victims from reprisal; many of her relatives are still in captivity.

*       *       *

As the sun rose over my dusty village on Aug. 3, relatives called with terrifying news: Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) were coming for us. I’d expected just another day full of household tasks in Tel Uzer, a quiet spot on the western Nineveh plains of Iraq, where I lived with my family. Instead, we scrambled out of town on foot, taking only our clothes and some valuables.

After an hour of walking north, we stopped to drink from a well in the heart of the desert. Our plan was to take refuge on Mount Sinjar, along with thousands of other Yazidis like us who were fleeing there, because we had heard a lot of stories about Islamic State brutality and what they had done to non-Muslims. They’d been converting religious minorities or simply killing them. But suddenly several vehicles drew up and we found ourselves surrounded by militants wearing Islamic State uniforms. Several people screamed in horror; we were scared for our lives. I’ve never felt so helpless in my 14 years. They had blocked our path to safety, and there was nothing we could do.

The militants divided us by gender and age: One for young and capable men, another for girls and young women, and a third for older men and women. The jihadists stole cash and jewelry from this last group, and left them alone at the oasis. Then they placed the girls and women in trucks. As they drove us away, we heard gunshots. Later we learned that they were killing the young men, including my 19-year old brother, who had married just six months ago.

That afternoon, they brought us to an empty school in Baaj, a little town west of Mosul near the Syrian border. We met many other Yazidi women who were captured by Islamic State. Their fathers, brothers and husbands had also been killed, they told us. Then Islamic State fighters entered. One of them recited the words to the shahada, the Muslim creed – “I testify that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is his prophet” – and said that if we repeated them, we would become Muslims. But we refused. They were furious. They insulted us a lot and cursed us and our beliefs.

A couple of days later, we were taken to a large hall full of a few dozen more Yazidi girls and women in Mosul, where Islamic State has its Iraqi headquarters. Some of the fighters were my age. They told us we were pagans and confined us for 20 days inside the building, where we slept on the floor and ate only once per day. Every now and then, an Islamic State man would come in and tell us to convert, but each time we refused. As faithful Yazidis, we would not abandon our religion. We wept a lot and mourned the losses suffered by our community.

One day, our guards separated the married from unmarried women. My good childhood friend Shayma and I were given as a gift to two Islamic State members from the south, near Baghdad. They wanted to make us their wives or concubines. Shayma was awarded to Abu Hussein, who was a cleric. I was given to an overweight, dark-bearded man about 50 years old who seemed to have some high rank. He went by the nickname Abu Ahmed. They drove us down to their home in Fallujah. On the road, we saw many Islamic State fighters and remnants of their battles.

Abu Ahmed, Abu Hussein and an aide lived in a Fallujah house that looked like a palace. Abu Ahmed kept telling me to convert, which I ignored. He tried to rape me several times, but I did not allow him to touch me in any sexual way. Instead, he cursed me and beat me every day, punching and kicking me. He fed me only one meal per day. Shayma and I began to discuss killing ourselves.

We were given mobile phones and instructed to call our families. Their journey had been almost as hard as ours: They’d made it to Mount Sinjar, where ISIS surrounded them and tried to starve them to death. After five days under siege, Kurdish rescue forces evacuated them to Syria and then brought them back to northern Iraq. If they traveled to Mosul and converted to Islam, our captors had us tell them, we would be released. Understandably, they did not trust ISIS, so they did not make the trip.

On our sixth day in Fallujah, Abu Ahmed and the aide left for business in Mosul. Abu Hussein, Shayma’s captor, stayed behind. Around sunset the next evening, he went to the mosque for prayers, leaving us alone in the house. Using our cellphones, we had contacted Mahmoud, a Sunni friend of Shayma’s cousin, who lived in Fallujah, for help. It was too dangerous for him to rescue us from the house, so Shayma and I used kitchen knives and meat cleavers to break the locks of two doors to get out. Wearing traditional long black abayas that we found in the house, we walked for 15 minutes through town, which was quiet for evening prayers. Then Mahmoud came and picked us up on the street and took us to his home.

That night, Mahmoud fed us and gave us a place to sleep. The next morning, he recruited a cab driver to take us all on the two-hour ride to Baghdad. The driver said he was afraid of Islamic State but offered to help us for God’s sake. We dressed like local women and covered our faces with a niqab, leaving only our eyes visible. Mahmoud gave us fake student IDs in case we were stopped at checkpoints.

Islamic State militants shot Narin’s brother and still hold her sister-in-law captive. (Hassan Haji for the Washington Post)

I had never felt so much anxiety. At each checkpoint, I was sure we’d be discovered. At one – I cannot recall if it was controlled by Islamic State or Iraqi forces – Mahmoud bribed the guards to let us through. We had contacted Yazidi and Muslim Kurdish family friends to help us in Baghdad, and I cannot describe the dizzy sense of relief I felt when we arrived at their house.

In Baghdad, the family friends gave us another pair of fake ID cards that enabled us to board a flight to Irbil, the capital of Kurdistan in the north. I still couldn’t believe we were free until our plane touched the ground. After staying in Irbil overnight at the house of a Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament, Vian Dakhil, we traveled north to Shekhan, to the residence of Baba Sheikh, the spiritual leader of the world’s Yazidis.

After so much fear for so many days, hugging my dad again was the best moment of my life. He said he had cried for me every day since I disappeared. That evening, we went to Khanke, where my mother was staying with her relatives. We hugged and kept crying until then I fainted. My month-long ordeal was over, and I felt reborn.

But there more bad news to come. That’s when I learned that Islamic State had shot my brother at the oasis. My sister-in-law, a very beautiful woman, is still captive somewhere in Mosul. Now I am trying to come to terms with what happened. I can never again set foot in our little village, even if it’s freed from Islamic State, because the memory of my brother who died nearby would haunt me too much. I still have nightmares and swoon several times a day – when I remember what I saw or imagine what would have happened if Shayma and I hadn’t escaped.

What can I do? I want to leave this country altogether. This country is no place for me anymore. I want to go to a place where I might be able to start over, if that is even possible.

*****

Readers: These young girls were lucky they were able to escape. Many girls and women are not so lucky. I don’t know what the answer is nor what actions are needed to take out and destroy this disease, ISIS, but I trust Obama and his advisors will do what is necessary to protect the U.S.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch his address last night or would like to read the transcript, click here. 

With respect to Roger Goodell, after reading the writes from the Huff Po, I have no doubt that he saw that second video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiance.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that an unnamed law enforcement official sent an NFL executive the video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee in April, months before it was released by TMZ. The report contradicts the claims of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that no one in the league office had seen the footage before it became public on Monday.

In my opinion he’s just protecting his own interest. Ray Rice is a big ticket for him…so it all comes down to money. Once again money means more than anything. So what if a woman gets knocked out cold by her so-called loving man. If men will take down a country for money and racism (That’s a nod to you Henry and Wendy) a mere woman is expendable. As usual, sickening.

HOPEfully it will all be revealed soon, but as Chris Hayes mentioned on MSNBC, they’ll try to blame it on some guy in the NFL mailroom who didn’t deliver the video.

Goodell should be fired.

Keith Olbermann said it well:

“You have already forfeited your privilege of resigning because to restore just the slightest credibility to the den of liars, CYA specialists and investigators whose job it is to bury whatever they actually find, the owners and the NFL need to publicly and loudly fire you,” Olbermann said.

Debra: I think about that all the time. Not only with Obama but just about any other OTW, that is held back or limited because of racism. We are such a beautiful diverse country that we could be the leaders in so much more if we just nourished the incredible assortment of brain power that resides in the U.S.

It’s really too bad and so sad that the color of one’s skin gets in the way of being truly a great country. Because if we were truly the greatest country in the world, we would love and cultivate the diversity, and be an inspiration to the rest of the world.

I ignorantly thought that Obama, a black man, becoming president, and doing all that I knew he was capable of accomplishing, would break down racism. Was I wrong. Obama becoming president inflamed racism to rear its ugly head. It is more strong than ever before. Or perhaps I should say, if we ever doubted racism was prevalent in this country, what we have been experiencing in politics and the murder of young black boys, etc., should erase that doubt.

As much as I loathe and am thoroughly disgusted by the racism I witness here and in the world, just because we may not have noticed as much racism before Obama became president, does not mean it did not exist or was as rampant as it is. Ask any black person.

In a way, as much as I am sickened by it, the blatant acts of racism that were always there, just not so obvious as they are now, perhaps needs to be exposed and revealed to the world so that we can be sickened and shocked enough to do something. It is a rough way to bring about change but it may be the only way.

Anything else to add…blog me. 

Peace & Love

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

This is literally a Flap Your Lips Friday kind of write. Only in Paris!

From Artfido:

NSFW: Performance Artist Reenacts the Painting ‘The Origin Of The World’

Following on from our previous post where a performance artist was restrained, force-fed and injected with cosmetics in a high street shop window as part of a hard-hitting protest against animal testing (see HERE), another performance artist has gone to great lengths to make a point.

Background: if you’ve ever gazed into the beautiful void that is Gustav Courbet’s “The Origin of the World”, you’re probably familiar with just how provocative (and NSFW) the painting is.

As the title cleverly references, it is a portrait of the female genitalia, through which all human beings enter into life. Combining the romance of realism and the lustful voyeurism of erotic art, it’s, well, heavy stuff.

So, you can only imagine what would happen if someone – let’s say, a daring performance artist – attempted to reenact the racy anatomic still life from 1866… in front of an audience of museum patrons assembled at Paris’ Musée d’Orsay to see Courbet’s masterpiece face-to-face.

Une artiste expose son sexe sous «L’origine du… by quoi2news

According to Le Monde, the racy act took place on May 29 at the Musée d’Orsay’s Room 20. De Robertis entered the room in a gold sequin dress and proceeded to expose her own “L’Origine du monde” to a crowd of unsuspecting security guards and applauding gallery goers. The artist was eventually taken away by police and, as Artnet reports, the museum and two of its guards subsequently filed sexual exhibitionism complaints against the bold woman.

“This is a typical case of disrespecting the museum’s rules, whether for a performance or not,” the Musée d’Orsay’s administration said in a statement published in Artnet. “No request for authorization was filed with us. And even if it had been, it’s not certain we would have accepted it as that may have upset our visitors.”

De Robertis feels differently. “If you ignore the context, you could construe this performance as an act of exhibitionism, but what I did was not an impulsive act,” she explained to Luxemburger Wort. “There is a gap in art history, the absent point of view of the object of the gaze. In his realist painting, the painter shows the open legs, but the vagina remains closed. He does not reveal the hole, that is to say, the eye. I am not showing my vagina, but I am revealing what we do not see in the painting, the eye of the vagina, the black hole, this concealed eye, this chasm, which, beyond the flesh, refers to infinity, to the origin of the origin.”

To be fair, de Robertis claims she’s performed “Mirror of Origin” more than once in the Paris museum, without causing hysteria. And it’s not the first time that an avid student of art history has opted to demonstrate the sincerest form of flattery by imitating a famous work of art. Just last year, a 26-year-old known as Arthur G stripped down to his birthday suit in front of the Musée d’Orsay’s parade of male nudes, “Masculin/Masculin.”

As the Guerrilla Girls pointed out in the 1990s, less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art section of New York’s Metropolitan Museum were women, but 85% of the nudes were female. Does it take a nude performance artist disrupting a casual day of museum revelry to make the world notice? Let us know your thoughts on de Robertis’ performance in the comments.

♥V♥A♥J♥A♥Y♥J♥A♥Y♥

Readers: Well? Let the flapping begin. Oh yeah…it already has. :)

Blog me.

Happy Friday!!

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

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All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

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Good morning!

Hump Day….time for a little good news for the LGBT community.

From Think Progress.

A Win For Workplace Fairness

President Obama Just Announced The Single Largest Expansion Of LGBT Workplace Protections In Our Country’s History

As many as 9 out of 10 voters believe federal law already protects LGBT workers from discrimination. But it doesn’t. And while the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was passed by the Senate this year, it has stalled in the House; Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has made it clear that there is “no way” ENDA will pass this year.

Enter the latest chapter of the Obama Administration’s “year of action.” The White House announced today that President Obama will issue an executive order requiring that all companies who contract with the federal government must not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Think Progress reporter Zack Ford has the details:

The order, expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, is an extension oforders previously issued by past presidents — most recently Johnson — similarly banning employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin among all contractors and subcontractors who do over $10,000 in business with the government in any one year.

The protections will reach over one million LGBT workers across the country, making it the single largest expansion of LGBT workplace protections in our country’s history. There continue to be 29 states that offer no employment protections on the basis of sexual orientation and 32 with no protections based on gender identity, but many LGBT workers in those states will now have workplace protections for the first time ever. As many as 43 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and 90 percent of transgender people have experienced some form of harassment or discrimination in the workplace.

As with Obama’s executive order raising the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10, this order will cover an enormous number of people but still relies on Congress to pass a law making sure that millions more LGBT Americans have the freedom to work.

Recently, some LGBT advocates have been giving second thoughts to the current ENDA bill in Congress, based on a religious liberty exemption that could have the potential interpreted too broadly. Here’s Zack Ford again:

The LGBT movement has also become increasingly divided over whether ENDA in its current form is worth pursuing. After two decades of failed consideration in Congress, the bill has been weakened by an exemption that would grant religious organizations unprecedented privilege to continue discriminating against LGBT people. A number of state groups and legal organizations have recently dropped their support for ENDA because they believe that the exemption goes too far and codifies into law the idea that LGBT identities are incompatible with faith. The executive order is thus an important step even if ENDA eventually passes.

BOTTOM LINE: Americans of any sexual orientation and gender identity should have the freedom to work and the right to equal treatment in the workplace. President Obama’s latest executive action is the biggest expansion of those rights in American history. There is more left to be done when it comes to giving all Americans equal protection, and Congress should follow the President’s lead by passing a federal law that ends unfair and discriminatory workplace practices that hurt LGBT workers and their families.

*****

Readers: Our president makes history again. Thank you president Obama.

Al: Thank you. Apology accepted. And of course you may stay and comment here as often as you like.

Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"