Be heard on the issues that matter most to you!
These two pictures accompany an article in this morning's Times on the presidential candidates' use of their opposition to NCLB (which stands for No Child Left Behind, not No Cheerleader left behind") as a way of rallying supporters.
Maybe it's just that my brain is still a bit addled from the end of the semester, and I'm only through my first cup of coffee this morning, but it seemed like an odd selection of images to me. Take a look. Then feel free to discuss in the comments whether or not these images matter at all.
This one is captioned "Students at Central High School in Davenport, Iowa, listening to former president Bill Clinton."
The article also includes a photo of high school students and faculty listening to Barack Obama. That photo is captioned "A crowd listening to Senator Barack Obama at the junion high school in Washington, Iowa".
Now the photo that ran in the actual paper version of the story was a bit different. It contained an older white male teacher, for example. The cheerleader photo, however, appears to be unedited for its online appearance. Also interesting is that online the boys listening to Obama picture is much smaller than the cheerleaders-for-Clinton picture. (And of course the boys are actually listening to Obama, while the cheerleaders are listening to Candidate Clinton's partner, not the candidate herself.)
I promise I'll get back to some serious blogging in the next few days. There's a lot to write about: the dropping of the repeal of the global gag rule, the difficulties in writing about or investigating child pornography, the sex panics that are fueling irrationality in our attempt to deal with sex crimes, and I'm also working on a series on the lives of men who have sex with men (often though not always secretly) but are committed to marriages with women.
Meanwhile, how about a rousing discussion in the comments about race, class and gender in the Democratic primaries, using these two pictures as a case study. Is it demeaning to Hilary Clinton, or helpful to her, that a photo referencing her campaign depicts cheerleaders listening to her husband? Is it a problem for Barack Obama that his listeners are junior high school boys while Clinton's are more mature young women? Other thoughts?
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
reading this is a reality check for me...i am familiar with the candidates and recognize the nuance..
i think mrs clinton should be offended...why should attentive but non voting cheerleaders listening to her husband be a positive for her??
it's so early in the race, i can't imagine how many hairs will be split in the push to the white house
i can share a conversation....monologue, really by a british co worker...
"have you seen this? that black guy, runnning for president? he 'as oprah backing 'im now, ha, it'll bring 'im way up in the polls...you know how they worship oprah in america"
i had to bite my tongue...
looking forward to the next 12 months...
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
as dismissive of both of them, but then the topic being discussed is of direct relevance to the groups depicted.
That said, I've tentatively made my choice of presidential candidate (by process of elimination, unfortunately), and I think I can safely say that none of these types of (intentional or otherwise) subliminal messages has affected that decision. It's just not been a very close descision for me because of the blatant violation of my own particular deal-breakers that I already had in place.
I've already posted (at UDoJ) that every one of the Republicans is right out (and why - including my list of deal-breakers).
I'll be getting to the Democrats shortly.
Kisses,
JanieBelle
