“Just suck it up…”

For people who are reading through a number of posts here, this post might seem obvious.  But a lot of people don’t seem to do that much.  So it might be worth looking at a strikingly common thread, which could be called “Should you just suck it up?”

Last night I mentioned to j in response to a comment here that an Hispanic administrator at my uni had mentioned to me how she learned the value of just sucking it up.  (She was then head of our Affirmative Action program, so you can imagine how that worked.)  Then I turned to CNN.com and saw Colin Powell had talked about being the victim of racial profiling a lot and having to just suck it up.  The very same expression.

So here’s the common thread:  Being less powerful and sucking it up.

Sotomayor:  she just sucked it up in the hearing and got through!  A lot of garbage was thrown at her.

Gates:  Should he have just sucked it up? 

The C-section case:  It is horrible and outrageous that she’s lost her child because she didn’t just suck it  up, and do it during childbirth.

Brave Sudanese journalist/UN worker fights appalling charge

In case you haven’t heard yet, a Sudanese woman has been sentences to 40 lashes for wearing trousers. That’s the focus of most of the reporting, and definitely of the headlines. That lets the reader view it through the familiar lens of “appalling backwards country treats women horrendously”. But the headline above captures something important that all too easily gets lost.

The woman, Lubna Hussein – a former journalist who now works for the United Nations – has invited journalists and observers to the trial.
She was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing “indecent” clothing.
She said 10 of the women arrested, including non-Muslims, later each received 10 lashes and a fine of $100.
Ms Hussein and two other women asked for a lawyer, delaying their trials.
Now Ms Hussein has printed 500 invitation cards and sent out e-mails, saying she wants as many people as possible to attend her hearing on Wednesday.
She says she has done nothing wrong under Sharia law, but could fall foul of a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing.
“I want to change this law, because this law doesn’t match in constitution,” she told the BBC.
“It is important that people know what is happening,” Ms Hussein is reported to have written on the invitations she circulated.

(Thanks, Jender-Parents.)

Pink Guns! For Breast Cancer!

You know, I think I may declare this Gendered Products Week (in honour of which I’ve created a new gendered products category). J-Bro just sent me this lovely story about a nice girly gun you can get. It’s got some pink. And buying it actually does give money to a good cause.