We continue to not know how to deal with domestic violence against men

A recent story about the Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk presents very common scenario.  I have seen this happen myself, first hand, and over and over. A statement is made about domestic violence.  A comment is made that the statement or initiative embraces only female victims.  Adjustments are made, but very shortly afterwards the gender bias of the DV community reasserts itself.

Domestic violence is, as Palaszczuk notes, one area in which gender is relevant in that there is often a dynamic where the  "issue is the attitude men have to women as their possessions". But gender is also at play when men are victims and the seriousness of their situation is not respected, their experience is not validated, and there may be little of no help available to them as male victims because services and shelters in the area accommodate only females.

Palaszczuk's argument seems to be that we should essentially ignore, or resist paying undue attention, to male victims because they are a minority.  When Australia long history of discrimination should sure teach us that ignoring the plight of vulnerable minorities is a mistake that the government just keep on making. Any initiative to address domestic violence must accommodate male victims as equally 'valid' victims of this crime with equal access to assistance.

Navy to De-gender Uniforms

In a reverse move to the tendency to make different versions of things for males and females, the US Navy is moving from having different uniforms for men and women to a single uniform for both genders.

Dolls Depicting Real People, How is This Legal?

It has been all over the news, a company has been making sex dolls in the likeness of real life people--celebrities including Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. While the look-alike dolls are given a slightly different name, the intent is crystal clear.

Other products like pornography are general sheltered by being works of satire.  But can a static product claim a genre?

And while the gossip has focused on teen idols looking at other listings in the celebrity section include Hillary Clinton and Mariah Carey.

I am guessing the actual product would be a disappointment to anyone wanting to actually use it, and he main market s gag gift.  But still...  I am surprised that profiting off  person's identity in this way has not been shut down by a team of lawyers.

In the end any likeness is very slight, so anyone who has a fantasy about a celebrity is going to be better off (so to speak) using their own imagination.

Playboy without nude women?

There are many ways to over-extend your brand.  Like Harley Davidson cake decorating kits, or Star Wars coffee creamer.  But this really takes the cake in terms of outright abandoning your brand identity.

Playboy is going to try and enter the space of general lad's magazine by no longer having pictures of naked ladies. It has long been the case that Playboy did carry good journalistic stories, but without nudity--what exactly is it?

Probably just a new entrant into the lad magazine space already crowded by bolder, hipper, and more authentic-feeling magazines like GQ, Maxim, Esquire and FHM.

Gendered Jerky

New in the ranks of necessarily gender food is Bombshell Jerky.  It is meant to be a low cal jerky treat for women.  Somehow "for women" means equating each flavor with a pin-up girl.

Now obviously I am all about the feminist reclaiming of classic pinup girl looks.  But actually objectifying a meat product with a female image, that goes rather too far to be in anyway ironic.

Especially with the "exotic" flavor being paired with a girl of Asian appearance, which takes the overall stereotyped nature of their marketing into distinctly dubious territory.

Sexy Pizza Rat Costume

First there was Pizza Rat, the plucky New York scavenger who went viral (but not in a plague-y sort of way).

And now, with a kind of meme-like inevitability, there was the sexy Pizza Rat Halloween costume. With -- I shit you not -- genuine pizza pockets.