Chinese Boot Camp Turns Boys into “Alpha Males” to Fight Rise of K-Pop Culture
This story pisses me off.
Photo Source: https://www.88883250.com/thread-2309-1-1.html
Let’s start with the premise: “K-Pop Culture” is making boys less masculine. OK, sure. Because that’s a thing. Maybe in China it is. But music and fashion doesn’t “make” anyone anything. It doesn’t alter levels of masculinity. It may call some of those notions into question, just as it did in the 60s here in the States. Men with long hair! Oh noes!
Then the term “alpha males”. This is lauded by a surprising number of people. Presidential candidates are “alpha males”, and some are mocked for not being that — one right wing dig at Beto O’Rourke is Beta O’Dork. Clever. (Note: not that clever.)
The term comes from the animal kingdom. An alpha male is “the dominant male animal in a particular group” according to the Internet.
It’s right up there with “winning”. So much winning.
You would think that we have progressed as a society past outdated notions of masculinity. You would be wrong. Look at the current Democratic Presidential candidates. There are real discussions about whether or not “a woman can win”. Lots of men have lost! For fuck’s sake if the best candidate is a woman give her a chance. Hillary lost. All that means is that Hillary lost. It doesn’t mean a woman can’t win.
At some point, everybody can’t be the alpha. Someone has to do the work. I’m a big believer in roles. Sports metaphors for the win! Someone is the coach, someone is the quarterback, and someone is on the offensive line. When the offensive lineman decides he should be the quarterback, it all falls apart.
What about teaching kids to be good people? To be nice? Is there any room for that at Real Man Camp? I’m guessing no. It’s probably a lot of chest beating and playing football. Football I’m in favor of, although maybe not because of head injuries.
What message do camps like this send? That there is one way to be a man. That if you do not conform to these notions of what a man is you have less value as a person. How is that positive?
Source: Chinese Boot Camp Turns Boys into “Alpha Males” to Fight Rise of K-Pop Culture
Japanese Device Allows Fathers to Breastfeed Their Babies
BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!
This is so ridiculous. A friend and I used to joke about a certain baby book for dads: “I wish *I* could have the baby.” (I don’t remember which book it is.) You’re not a woman. You don’t have breasts. Dads don’t breastfeed. Relax. Bottle feeding is fine. It’s a nice thing to do but really it’s about getting food to your kid. Stuff like this is just dumb.
Source: Japanese Device Allows Fathers to Breastfeed Their Babies
9 Muppets Kicked Off Sesame Street | Mental Floss
In over four decades, Sesame Street has featured over 1,000 characters. Although we’ll always have mainstays like Big Bird, Elmo, Bert and Ernie, many Muppets have been forgotten or deemed unnecessary. Here are a few Sesame Street residents who were evicted.
Two of these characters were my favorites when I was little. Roosevelt Franklin was so damn cool. And Don Music was hilarious. Hitting his head on the piano.
Why were they banned? Well, head hitting is bad. And Roosevelt Franklin? “Parents wrote to the Children’s Television Workshop to complain that Roosevelt was a negative stereotype of African-American children, citing his rowdy nature and the fact that his classes closely resembled after-school detention.” I mean… OK. But he was so cool! And fun! Ah, hell. It’s not like my childhood was ruined because it didn’t have Roosevelt Franklin in it anymore. But was it really such a negative stereotype? I was too young to know what detention was so even if that part was valid, who cares?
I’m a big Sesame Street fan and I loved watching it with my kids, even if it wasn’t as good as it was when *I* was a kid. Like so many things.
Source: 9 Muppets Kicked Off Sesame Street | Mental Floss
Texas woman learns her mother’s fertility doctor is her biological father | Daily Mail Online
This is super messed up and of course it’s on television.
From Daily Mail:
- Texas woman Eve Wiley, 31, learned her mother’s fertility doctor is her biological father after taking Ancestry.com and 23andme genetic tests
- Wiley believed sperm donor Steve Scholl was her father and developed a father-daughter relationship with him 14 years ago
- But genetic tests pointed to Dr. Kim McMorries as her biological father
Source: Texas woman learns her mother’s fertility doctor is her biological father | Daily Mail Online
Stan Lee and Superhero Parenting
What is Superhero Parenting? It’s parenting like a superhero. It’s using lessons from comic books to raise your kids. It’s allowing comic books to teach lessons to your kids, lessons they might not want to hear from you but will gladly absorb from a fictional character in a costume.
The biggest lesson of all – “with great power there must also come great responsibility” – comes to us from Stan Lee.
One of the best things my father did for me was introduce me to Marvel Comics. (Note: my father was, at best, something of a putz.) My first was Doctor Strange, and I still vividly remember the splash page – the colors, the small words. (Compare the letters on a Richie Rich comic to a Marvel or DC book from the late 70s/early 80s. It’s a big difference.)
Later I got into Spider-Man and learned the immortal lesson of great power and great responsibility, maybe the best thing parents can learn. Think about it – what greater responsibility is there than parenting a child?
I’m hardly the only person thinking about parenting on the day Stan Lee died. Kevin Smith wrote on Instagram, “Outside of my parents, you were the one adult who gave me the most useful life skills I still use today.”
I think this is true for a lot of people. In some cases Stan might be MORE important than their parents. That’s not true for me; my mother had a huge influence on my moral compass. But so, in his way, did Stan.
More Stan:
Famous people remembering Stan
Stan shows up on these great old Fantastic Four radio shows
All of Stan’s cameos, or “Staneos”
Image: Wikipedia
Build Your Own Mars Curiosity Rover Robot
ZDNet reports that NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has released plans for folks to make their own mini version of the Mars Curiosity Rover.
JPL has released designs and instructions on the now Microsoft-owned GitHub for building the mini rover that presumably will be mostly Earth-bound, rather than roaming over Mars or any other planet, unless you’re buddies with Elon Musk.
…
JPL released the instruction kit to show that it actually does take a rocket scientist to build one of these, but that those skills can also be learned by hobbyists and students.
“One would rightfully assume it takes expertise in mechanical engineering, software development, and electronics to even begin to construct such a complex robot,” JPL says in its announcement.
“Now students, hobbyists, and enthusiasts can learn about these skills and get a taste of what it is like to construct such a rover using plans and instructions from JPL’s Open Source Rover Project.”
In other words, this isn’t one of those tin can robot kits, because it’s from, like, NASA. But even if it isn’t something you can knock out in an hour, it’s still pretty cool of them to release it to the wild.
Also cool: the project is Raspberry Pi-based.
It won’t be cheap – the cost should be around $2500. But remember, we’re talking about a mini Mars Rover. You thought maybe it should be under ten dollars?
Source: ZDNet
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers TL;DR
OK, so I thought this was going to be a Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers cartoon. It’s not. But it does animate Throg, which is awesome.
I love love love love this comic. So while the title implies that you aren’t going to read it, you should. You should buy it for your kids because it’s totally kid-friendly. It’s also adult-friendly. It’s a true all-ages comic!
The concept is simple: the animal sidekicks of various heroes get to be a superteam. If that doesn’t sound great to you, your loss. If it does, pick up a copy of the trade paperback and enjoy.
Description:
And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes were unaware of a threat greater than all of them could handle. And on that day, a teleporting puppy scoured the world to assemble a team of animals to fight the foes no single beast could withstand! Strap on your collar and hop on-board the adventures of LOCKJAW, LOCKHEED, REDWING, HAIRBALL, and an all-new FROG THOR! Collects Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1-4.
Right?!?!??!?
There’s even a sequel!
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Unleashed (UnLEASHed – get it?)
