I just thought I’d share few pet peeves… 

• Couples who sit on the same side of the booth when dining together. Come on, face each other, for fuck’s sake. 
• When people confuse “they’re” with “their”. I’m a snob, sorry.  
• Capri pants. There. I said it. 
• Phil Collins. 
• Goatees. Yeah, on anyone. 
• People who pee on the seat and don’t wipe it off. You’re assholes. 
• Camping. 
• Being called a “girl”. I’m a grown ass woman, fool. 
• Shameless rocking of camel toe (often the result of VERY tight pants) 
• Hippie jam bands. 

That’s enough for now… really, I could go on and on (I’m a Jew- we have a lot of pet peeves). 

Happy Monday! 

xo 

Shady Sadie just published it’s 100th post since launching on July 6, 2008! That’s right, we are the jam. Thanks for noticing. You might be wondering, how have we done it? A great deal of hard work, thought and some good old fashioned drinking and writing, that’s how.

So thanks for reading and commenting — we love you right back!

True to form, Gloria Steinem published an Op-Ed in the LA Times today taking the Republican Party to task for trying to appease/win over women by giving Sarah Palin the VP nod:

Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing…are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president.

But…It won’t work.

Thank you! It won’t work, because we aren’t idiots. Palin and McCain together at the RNC looked like they’d never met, didn’t have a damn thing to say to each other, and betrayed what’s probably true - that there’s really no reason whatsoever for them being on the same ticket other than her posession of a pair. Of ovaries.

Steinem goes on to also call bullshit on the asshole former Hilary supporters who are now claiming that they’re going to vote for McCain/Palin “in protest”:

To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, “Somebody stole my shoes, so I’ll amputate my legs.”

Honestly, that claim from former Hilary supporters might be one of my biggest pet peeves of this election so far. First of all, it’s not a protest if only you and like five of your friends know you did it. Second of all, protesting by voting into office someone who disagrees completely with pretty much everything your precious candidate stood for (and I was a Hilary supporter, too, so nothing but love for her)? Really nice way to pay your respects. I’m sure Hilary appreciates the shit out of you.

Anyway, Steinem finally places blame where blame is due:

The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can’t tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom.

Although I would say the culprit is the entire party, who has been in the pocket of those ideologues for what, eight years or so?

Oh, you guys, did I ever have a pregnancy test yesterday. A test of will, that is. 

While out and about for my (day) job, I was speaking to a pregnant woman, and her (slightly senior) father. He said to me, 

“Hey, looks like you have something cooking in the oven there, too, eh?” Wink wink. My response (with a smile, I might add), 

“Nope, just fat! But, you are the first person to ever ask me if I’m pregnant- which is every fat girl’s nightmare, so thank you. I’ll remember you forever.” Blink blink. Smile. 

His daughter slapped his big beer belly and exclaimed, 

“Yeah, looks like the only two people here who are pregnant are me and YOU, pops!” Nice treatment, sister! 

Truthfully, this was a glorious moment for me- for two reasons. The first of which is, in fact, that I think I have been subconsciously awaiting the day that someone would actually ask me that question, and it feels damn good to get it out of the way. And the second reason is that I was totally prepared to answer it, and thanks to the one and only Joy Nash and her amazing Fat Rant videos. Joy, you fucking ROCK. 

Wasn’t my response awesome?!!!! Come on, let me (and Joy) get some props. 

Life is good, and this belly ain’t getting in my way, and you can be sure as shit that neither is that lame old man’s. 

:) 

So was I the only one who had somewhere to be last night, and yet stood slack-jawed and glued to the TV, unable to move, eyes tearing up, swelling with pride while listening to Obama’s speech? Was I? Surely not. Barack Obama last night made me want to go out and do something important, relevant and meaningful - and made me actually (I can’t believe I’m about to say thing) proud to be an American. Here are some of the particularly poignant, Shady-approved excerpts:

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

…now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives. (OH SNAP!)

We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past. (ONE MORE TIME!)

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington. But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.

By this point, I was crying, I had goosebumps, my make-up was running down my face. If that speech doesn’t motivate people to get out, to vote, to volunteer, to drop some cash on the campaign, and to do whatever it takes to get him in office, then I don’t know what will.

I, for one, have never quite believed that those lovely young men from Duke were innocent in the infamous 2006 rape case. There were just so many things that pointed to some shady shit going down.

First, you had the constant reminder of how entitled they were. The fact that they were so shell shocked over the idea that something bad could be happening to their sheltered, privileged asses made it hard to believe that they might have ever learned to consider the consequences of their actions.

On top of that, you had the media tripping over themselves to perpetuate the story of the crazy sex worker vs. the rich white boys, and because of that they continually referred to the accuser as “the stripper” this, and “the stripper” that. She became defined by what she did for a living, which didn’t do much to endear her to a public - or a justice system, for that matter - that has a penchant for determining how likely it was that a woman got raped based on how much sex she’s had in her life (hence the need for rape shield laws).

Anyway, it looks like we’re about to get both sides of the story. FishbowlLA reports that the woman who accused the three men of rape is publishing a book, to be released in October, called The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story. The book, according to her publicist, will be less about the case and more about her life and her background. Seeing as how the poor, victimized young men had the good fortune of getting their names cleared, I say good for her for standing up and clearing hers as well.

I have to admit, I didn’t know a ton about Joe Biden until yesterday, when I feverishly started researching his VP ass. I knew a few things… sure, he’s made some foot-in-the-mouth comments in the past, he’s been in the Senate since 1972, and well, he loves the ladies (and didn’t he once refer to his wife as “hot”? Word.)

I went to his website yesterday morning (after I didn’t get the text from Obama Mobile, what happened?! Instead I got the email… sad), and found these two pieces of info listed under his issues section, in the “Women” category. One…

Ending Violence Against Women: Senator Biden wrote the ground-breaking Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the 1990s that set the national agenda on criminalizing violence against women and holding batterers truly accountable. It encouraged states to set up coordinated community responses to domestic violence and rape; was the catalyst for passage of hundreds of state laws prohibiting family violence; and provided resources to set up shelters so battered women abused by husbands and boyfriends had a place to go. 

Yeah, that’s the shit. And two…  

Protecting Roe v. Wade: Senator Biden supports the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade that protects a woman’s right to choose. Believing family planning could help prevent many unwanted pregnancies, Senator Biden has consistently supported Title X – the nations’ family planning program - that provides information, services, support, and research for family planning.

Thank god! So many of these guys (and gals) will shy away from the issue entirely, especially in writing. Although it is the last thing in the “Women” section, which is the last section in his “Issues” category- I don’t care, because it’s there. 

One thing, Joe. You really could use a new doo. The hair, man, it’s rough. But your foreign policy experience, stance on reproductive rights and the fact that you commute from Delaware to Washington DC on the train, those things are all incredibly awesome. 

Well done, Barack. Well done. 

Susannah Breslin, a.k.a. the Reverse Cowgirl, has a great, short article up on The Frisky called “The Happy Hooker?”. The article is a response to a feature in Radar, “Secrets of A Hipster Hooker,” written by a woman who apparently aspires to be a hooker but can’t go through with it at the very last minute. Breslin sums up the phenomenon of sex work becoming “hip” up so nicely, so succinctly - it’s really quite delicious:

It’s become increasingly hip to trumpet the “empowering” virtues of sex work, but the fact of the matter is that the realities of sex work are far too hardcore for most aspiring “hipster hookers” to handle.

Yep, the reality is that sometimes sex work sucks. And as someone who regularly sees women hanging out at strip clubs because it’s suddenly become cool, it’s refreshing to see someone issue an apparently needed reminder that sex work is not like leg warmers: sure, it might seem fun and easy to try on, but after the fad has passed you’re left with a lot more than a stupid purchase and some embarrassing photos.

The Bush Administration moved forward with proposed regulations that would provide what they’re calling “freedom of conscience” for doctors who don’t want to perform abortions due to religious or moral objections.

Sp, if you were wondering how all those nasty, anti-choice folks that Bush appointed to random offices over the past eight years would actually lead to bad things happening, now you know. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, a Bush appointee who will ultimately decide whether this regulation goes through or not, has the following to say:

“Freedom of conscience is not to be surrendered upon issuance of a medical degree,” said Leavitt. “This nation was built on a foundation of free speech. The first principle of free speech is protected conscience.”

And by freedom of conscience, of course, he means the right, as a doctor, to deny your patients legal medical care cause you don’t wanna do it.

This is the man who is responsible for our nation’s health, and he is stating in no uncertain terms that women’s health comes second to doctor’s ideology. Nice.

I first noticed the phenomenon of Bare Feet when I glanced over at H. during a lap dance. I thought she looked shorter, and sure enough, down at the bottom of her legs were not her usual seven-inch Lucite platforms, but just…her feet.

It was jarring. Tall and slim with long, wavy black hair, H. was a straight vixen on the stage. But once she got her prey into the VIP room, off came the stilettos, and down she came from her pedestal.

I wondered briefly if I could do it. It sure would be a lot more comfortable. But I thought about it, and I realized - as a stripper, I am incomplete without my shoes.

My shoes are like my armor. Without them I’m my normal height (short), with my normal proportions (normal…nothing to write home about), just dolled up in a glorified bathing suit. But with them on, I’m a glamazon, a fantasy both to my customers and to myself.

I admire those girls who take the damn things off, cause let’s be real - they hurt by the end of the night. However, just like my life story, I want the bastards to know as little about me as possible, including what I look like when I’m talking to people I know and like.