Staunchly, vol. 106: Stop, Hammertoe!

7/29/19

Alt-subject lines for today’s short and sweet issue: 

Quid Pro Hammertoe 

Elizabeth Chambers Get Your House In Order

This Isn’t Italy 

Ford Hammer is Cancelled! 

Al Franken Has Regrets. Kirsten Gillibrand Does Not. by Lisa Lerer and Shane Goldmacher (NY Times) 

I am so sick of women shouldering the blame for Al Franken’s political demise. I will leave it at this: 

“With the first accuser, we didn’t call for his resignation from the get-go. It was a difficult decision,” Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, said on Tuesday. “But when the eighth person comes forward, there’s a pattern. Women have been putting up with this B.S. from time immemorial. And we’re sick of it.”

Mazie Hirono for President. 

2020 Democrats are tweeting about the murders of black trans women. Where are their policies? by Katelyn Burns (Vox) 

Talk is cheap. While it’s positive that Democratic candidates are finally drawing attention to the epidemic of violence against trans women of color, they are doing so minus any proper reckoning with their own complicity in the policies, legislation, and structures that put these women in danger (ex. FOSTA-SESTA). 

“The reason trans women of color are particularly susceptible to violence involves a complex intersection of poverty, overpolicing, housing insecurity, and race,” writes Burns. “Black trans women and other trans women of color deserve real policy proposals while they’re still alive, rather than their deaths being used as stump speech applause lines and candidate hashtags.”

An American Citizen Is Released From Immigration Custody After Nearly a Month by Manny Fernandez (NY Times) 

Another horrifying chapter in Trump’s war against people of color: the 26-day detainment of an American citizen that occurred simply because ICE agents believed his birth certificate was fake. He lost a pound per day in custody due to the extraordinarily inhumane conditions. He wasn’t allowed to shower once. This is happening. 

New Research Suggests Fear of Disease Is at the Root of Racism by Tom Jacobs (PS Mag)

The link between Trump’s racism and his germophobia and how fear of infectious diseases fosters hatred of immigrants and people of color. 

More: 

Slovenly buffoonery is a new hallmark of power, but it’s only for men. Disney promotes a falsely patriarchal vision of lion society. A satisfying headline: “Unmarried Women with No Kids Are the 'Healthiest and Happiest Population Subgroup,' Says Expert.” 

I’m still kvelling over last week’s Midsummer Reading List! I’m slow to put the Staunchly archives online, but I promise it will be up there soon. For now, find the goods deep in your inbox (probably in spam—Gmail is anti-feminist), or email me and I’ll send you a copy. It’s really good this year, guys. The women in my life have excellent taste.

I love red lipstick. Nothing makes me look or feel more like myself. I’ve probably bought over a hundred red lipsticks in my lifetime, forever on the hunt for that perfect one. The one that will blur out heavenly, last forever, brighten my face, and instantly transform me into a French ingenue or Charlotte Pickles—something between an effortlessly chic woman in the Marais and a ’90s working power mom with a car phone.

In this weekend’s Saturday Staunch I did a roundup of my four essential red lipsticks. Here’s one: 

Linda Rodin Luxury Lipstick in Red Hedy 

The perfection of this red defies words. I didn’t even buy it for myself! My mom surprised me with it. I never outsource my reds so I was very skeptical. I was stunned by how much I love it, but honestly I should’ve have been. Silky formula? Check. High pigment? Check. Named for a classic screen star and wireless technology innovator who basically invented the systems that beat the Nazis and created my iPhone? Fucking check! Please note though that the packaging, while cool, is logistically, shit. The cap is going to come off in your purse and I’m telling you now there’s nothing you can do about it.

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