The Hegemony of Representation

Two semesters ago, whilst reading an article on unofficial Soviet art, I encountered the quite useful term -- a hegemony of representation. I can't remember the technical definition, so here's how I internalized the term: what you get when one ideology or model dominates discussion and dicourse to the point of excluding all other models. By creating and maintaining a hegemony of representation, one group within society can effectively oppressive minority groups whose lives and realities are not reflected by the dominant paradigm. Pretty much a common sensical no brainer. But a useful concept when you want to analyze political function.

In Which Metra Longs for a McCain/Rice Ticket...

...'cause at least we wouldn't have this nonsense.

Attacking Russia would be a absolute disaster, and given that the USA and the Russian Federation have the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons has a very good chance of heralding an actual eschaton.

I bet that didn't just leave Condi Rice cursing -- she probably had to fall back on her fluency in Russian.

A Swing...

...and a miss for Cindy McCain.



Are you serious, ma'am? Do you understand how flipping big Russia is? Is your entire understanding of foreign policy based on Risk where you can launch a nice attack on North America from Kamchatka?

Repeat after me: Putin is not an idiot. He will happily piss off America by expanding Russian Federation control over former Soviet republics. He will not attack America. Why? Because Vladimir Putin is not an idiot.

If John McCain were that great on foreign policy, you might think he might correct a misunderstanding on the part of his wife that's this glaring.

h/t to Pam's House Blend

I am not now, nor will ever be, a member of the pre-pregnant party.

The Apostate on pregnancy, abortion rights, and bodily control.

I agree. One hundred percent. You should see me freak out when I think too much about the shard of wood embedded in my leg -- the drugs I would have to be on to carry a pregnancy to terms would probably result in a miscarriage anyway. Reproductive control is psychologically important.

And read down in the comments, it's also true that women are simply expected to hand over control of our bodies far more frequently than men, and with no fuss. If a man avoids doctors, the response is a shrug -- boys will be boys. If a woman avoids doctors like the plague and maintains an extreme distrust of medicine -- we're categorized as being irresponsible. Probably because for a good chunk of our lives we're categorized as "pre-pregnant."

Things You Should be Reading

Terrance at the Republic of T. has a series of posts on hate crimes that have occurred recently in Memphis. Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. I'm ashamed to say that I was only aware of one out of the three incidents.

"Transphobic Words and Deeds" at Questioning Transphobia is one of the most enlightening and thought-provoking posts I've read in a while.

How's life in my neck o' the woods?

This, approximately.

Yes, Picard would totally kick Kirk's Behind

And I don't know enough about Doctor Who to make a prediction, but I totally wish I could see this production of Hamlet.