Thursday Reads: Superman Angers the Right, Weird Childbirth, and Rape Culture Perpetuation
Hey there readers! It’s Thursday, September 21st, the day that J.R.R. Tolkien published my favorite book, The Hobbit. I will be celebrating with a second breakfast, a brisk walk about the Shire and mayhaps a mug of bitter at The Green Dragon Inn over Bywater way. That is if I can avoid getting wrapped up in any bothersome adventures…
In the latest issue of Action Comics, No. 987 The Man of Steel leaps into action to prevent a mass shooting at a factory by a disgruntled employee by his tried and true method of sending bullets randomly ricocheting off of his bulletproof hide. I can’t imagine why anyone would find this action by the Last Son of Krypton to be in any way controversial… unless… the workers being saved may have been undocumented immigrants?
Still, the action of preventing a mass murder, which seems in line with Superman’s moral compass, hasn’t come without controversy. Fox News has a column calling the Man of Steel a “propaganda tool for the defenders of illegal aliens,” and the right-wing website Breitbartderided him as “Social Justice Supes.”
Their argument is that comic book writers and artists have inserted a pro–illegal immigrant agenda into their comics, and that it’s part of a larger trend of politicizing comic books.
But there are a couple of things to note about the issue.
The first is that the “undocumented workers” designation in Action Comics No. 987 comes from the homicidal white supremacist — an unreliable narrator. It could be interpreted that he’s shooting at the workers at his company who aren’t white because he’s stereotyping and projecting his bigotry onto them.
Sally and Nigel Rowe are planning on suing their children’s Church of England school because the school allows “boys to wear dresses.”
The parents have argued the unnamed school has breached their right to raise their kids in line with biblical teachings.
Nigel said: “Our concerns were raised when our son came back home from school saying he was confused as to why and how a boy was now a girl.
“We believe it is wrong to encourage very young children to embrace transgenderism, boys are boys and girls are girls.”
The school said transgender pupils are protected under the Equalities Act 2010 and that it has policies in place to tackle transphobia.
Does your teen want a tattoo? Pediatricians have advice on how to do it safely (all of this advice applies equally well to getting piercings btw.)
Dale McGowan shares a fascinating conversation with his daughter Erin on why Hitler is just like a cheating penguin.
No Longer Quivering is the Patheos: Nonreligious blog for those who are escaping the Christian Quiverfull movement. Their Quoting Quiverfull feature is worth checking out… hear is this weeks, from someone who sounds like a lot of fun at parties…
I am absolutely weary of some of the memes aimed at Christian women these days. You know the ones I mean, ladies- the ones with lovely pictures of flowers or an ocean or a meadow with a superimposed flowing script practically BEGGING us to believe how much worth we have to God, how awesome we are, how we need to discover the greatness within, how God gives us limitless potential and a superfantastic divine purpose, blah, blah, blah.
You know why they have to take that begging tone to try to get us to believe those things? Because they’re not true. You know it, and I know it.
You’re not awesome or great or imbued with some radical purpose or potential that will magically make your life phenomenal and give you oodles of self esteem once you discover it.
You’re a dirty, stinking, rotten, rebellious sinner. You yell at your kids. You don’t submit to your husband. You act out of selfishness. You lie. You gossip. You covet. You bow down to your idols instead of to Christ. You sin against a holy and righteous God in a thousand ways every day in thought, word, and deed. Just like I do. Let’s put on our big girl panties and just admit it. (1 John 1:8,10)
That’s why these memes and false teachers have to try so hard to convince us of how terrific we are- deep down we know we’re not. It’s a lie. And putting all our eggs in the basket of that lie of greatness sets us up for disappointment and self-loathing every time we sin.
The headline says it all… Mom Sues Hospital And Gets $16 Million Because A Nurse Pushed Her Baby Back During Birth.
Their first year away at college will be a grand adventure for your kid. Here’s some advice on how to help them handle the grand adventure of being sick all on their own.
Finally… from our own Steph at Romper… 8 Things Parents Do Every Day that Perpetuates Rape Culture…
There are the overt examples of perpetuating rape culture, like telling or laughing at rape jokes, not stopping what you are doing when someone says no, or saying “boys will be boys” when a man does something problematic. But there are also more subtle examples, too, like when you call someone’s outfit slutty, make your child kiss their grandma, or make jokes about “rules for dating” your daughter. These things seem so innocent, but they can really do damage by teaching your girls that they are sexual objects or your boys that they can get away with bad behavior. In fact, in general, the aforementioned examples teach all kids that they don’t have a right to bodily autonomy.
Because we live in a rape culture, us parents have our work cut out for us if we want to prevent or undo the damage. We have to be more conscious about what we do and say in front of our kids. The good news, though? Us parents are huge influencers in our kids’ lives. We have the power to change the way our kids see and interact with the world, to advocate for our kids, and teach them our values, not our rape culture’s values. We just have to unlearn a few bad habits to get started. It isn’t easy, but our kids totally deserve it.
Hey Hollywood… Stop portraying Muslims as Terrorists…
Featured Image: One of only two images Maurice Sendak completed for the Hobbit
