The Sexist » Fishbowl D.C.

The Morning After: Racist Cunnilingus Party Edition

Amanda Hess — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:04:13 +0000

* Via SAFER Campus, Iowa's Grinnell College has responded to concerns about racist and misogynistic views expressed by students at a jello-heavy, cunnilingus-themed party. The upside: This is not the last time "cunnilingus" will appear on this blog today!

* Former Politico scribe Helena Andrews pens an essay about her frustration at only being set up with black men:

"I've got a guy for you. He's so hot, it's perfect." It was the spring of '08 when Maureen Dowd, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist, decided to take it upon herself to find me a man—specifically, Reggie Love, Barack Obama's "body guy" (read: personal aide). Standing outside the auditorium in Philadelphia where Obama the candidate had just given his loaded race speech, I thought to myself, How could a woman I'd helped with a computer problem once as an assistant at the Times spot the man for me? "Don't be silly," she said, when I demurred. "My assistant will set it up."

. . . It was clear that Reggie and I had just two things in common: We're black and we have bachelor's degrees.

* Fishbowl D.C. then dispenses white editor Betsy Rothstein to mock Andrews for pointing out the racist undertones of a white woman she barely knows declaring her a "perfect" fit with some guy, because they're both black. Rothstein concludes her mockery by pointing out that Andrews was once photographed next to a black dog. A commenter responds: "Maybe you guys should stick to wishing white folks happy birthday."

* Even Bill O'Reilly thinks drawing conclusions about sexual orientation based on former softball involvement is ridiculous:

[youtube:v=kSyOEnerVQc]

* Via Feministing: Newsweek on why Yeardley Love "couldn't have gotten a restraining order if she wanted to."

Photo via stevendepolo, Creative Commons License 2.0

Newsroom Remodeling = Holocaust?

Amanda Hess — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:13:14 +0000

FishbowlDC obtained a memo from the Washington Post's Marcus Brauchli to the newsroom about the paper's "newsroom revamp." In the memo, WaPo says the move will "involve some tricky logistics and no doubt inconvenience some people." Shucks. Fishbowl's Matthew then compares the remodelling of a building to the Holocaust:

My favorite line: "In the meantime, you may want to start packing up or winnowing files so you're ready to go with a few weeks' notice." Very 'Diary of Anne Frank'....

FishbowlDC has been living on the edge lately, but Anne Frank jokes?

Fishbowl D.C.’s Bromance With Its Photo Caption Contest Continues

Amanda Hess — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:01:03 +0000

Once in a while, Fishbowl D.C. really bros out on us. Every year, we all must endure the Hottest Media Types contest and the shameless self-promotion surrounding it. But nearly each and every week, we fight another silent, creeping bro-dom from the Web site: The Fishbowl D.C. Photo Caption Contest.

This week's contest was true to form: It featured a photo of President Bush appearing to prepare to slap the ass of a member of the U.S. Women's Beach Volleyball Team, then asked readers to create a funny caption to illustrate the visual. (Note: This is at least the second in Fishbowl's ass-slapping-themed photo series). These were the finalists:

May-Treanor shows President Bush her finesse, and he goes for the kill.
Now that's what I call a weapon of mass destruction!
President Bush executes a ‘sneak-and-peak’ search warrant on the U.S. women’s volleyball team
I sure hope Laura is not looking.
It's just like foreign policy and Iraq: Hit it and quit it!
Mr. President, I poop on your foreign policy!
That's funny, Laura has the same tattoo.
Here...pull my finger, or do I pull yours?
Nothing yet, keep pushing.

"Now that's what I call a weapon of mass destruction!" was the best D.C. media could do. Do we have only ourselves to blame? Or is there simply no way to resist the groan-inducing, frat-ready punchline when presented with month-and-a-half-old Presidential bikini shots and homosocial baseball embraces?