Update #2: Also, this.

Update: Keys contacted me tonight on Twitter and said:

You’re right. That’s the wrong idea to put out there. And if that’s what you took from my post, then I absolutely apologize.

That definitely was not my intent. I don’t like making my personal opinions known — because, honestly, I don’t think they matter.

But if I did, and this once I will, I would say this: I don’t think it’s okay in any circumstance. I think we can both agree on that.

To which I said:

It’s not what I took away, it’s what you said, the space you opened up with that line of questioning.

I appreciate that it wasn’t your intent but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t offensive.

And I still believe there is a HUGE distance btwn what we say about ourselves and what others say about us.

And he responded:

If one doesn’t mean to offend, and yet they do it anyway, they’re still at fault. It wasn’t my intent, and I do apologize.

There already exists a Rush Limbaugh and a Glenn Beck. I don’t aspire to join their ranks.

To which I wrote:

Thank you. And – WOW – one would not ever aspire to that, right?

And it ended with him saying:

I like being honest with people: I worked at a FOX station for 2.5 years. I couldn’t handle it anymore.

I think there’s another point that even I missed: Just because Lin used the word then doesn’t mean he doesn’t regret it now.

Now he and his boss (@AntDeRosa) are following me on Twitter. Sorta think they’ll unfollow me tomorrow when I’ve moved onto something else.

___________________________________

This morning, while scrolling the dashboard on Tumblr, I came across a post written by Matthew Keys, aka Producer Matthew (@producermatthew):

(I’m using screen shots because, as we shall see, Mr. Keys deletes things)

So we’re all just going to ignore the fact that Jeremy Lin used the word ‘Chink’ in his Xanga username in 2004, right?

Just wanted to be clear, since, you know, we’re firing ESPN headline writers for being insensitive and criticizing ESPN anchors for using the word during play-by-play.

At what point do we draw the line between “acceptable use” and “unacceptable use?” Do we further divide people by saying it’s okay for some people to use the word, while barring others?

Or can we all agree that nobody should use these sorts of words, in any context?

I have a Tumblr. I have a few, actually (here and here). They are all very specific, content-driven sites. None of them address issues of sports or racism or people talking out of turn. So, I chose not to respond on Tumblr to this. I responded on Twitter (@scatx):

If you don’t know diff btwn Lin calling himself a “Chink” & ESPN doing it, @ProducerMatthew, I don’t know what to say. http://producermatthew.com/post/17948546396/so-were-all-just-going-to-ignore-the-fact-that-jeremy

I can call myself a bitch but you sure as hell can’t call me that. Especially if I have endured week of slurring. @ProducerMatthew

Wow. What a white dude thing to say.

And yes, @ProducerMatthew, we do complain when some people use certain words in certain contexts when talking about certain ppl. #decency

Some time goes by and then Angus Johnston (aka @studentactivism) responds to Keys on Tumblr (link to direct post):

The part Mr. Johnston wrote:

Here’s the thing that burns me up most about this tired, absurd argument: nobody would ever offer it in any other circumstance. The “if you ever use a word to describe yourself, it gives everyone else on the planet the right to use that word to describe you in every situation ever for the rest of your life and you don’t ever get to complain” rule is a rule that doesn’t exist.

It’s not a rule. It’s not a thing. It’s just completely made up and spurious.
More here.

Mr. Keys then blogged on Tumblr about what Mr. Johnston wrote but has since deleted that post (you’ll see why in a few moments). But Mr. Johnston then re-blogged it so it is still saved in the Tumblr-sphere (so this is Mr. Keys’ follow up to Mr. Johnston’s original response followed by Mr. Johnston’s response):

Mr. Keys wrote (if you click on the link to his post, it takes you here):

Student Activism has a great follow-up piece to a Tumblr post I made earlier today.

Definitely check it out, lots of good points made.

Let’s be clear about some of the opinions or topics posted on here: They aren’t meant to be an accurate representation of my opinion, just something to get you thinking in a different way. If something I post provokes thought, dialogue or debate, it’s doing its job.

Mr. Johnston responded to this with:

When the “dialogue” your posts are provoking includes such gems as “last time i checked chink wasn’t even that offensive to the orientals” it’s maybe time to consider rethinking your approach.

What I tweeted to Mr. Keys in response to this new post:

.@producermatthew: your post trying to get people to think “in a different way” was just getting people to think in racist ways.

This isn’t true, @producermatthew. “If something I post provokes thought, dialogue or debate, it’s doing its job.”

If your “job” is to provoke dialogue about how what you wrote is racist, then, I guess, you’re doing your “job,” @producermatthew.

Seriously, @producermatthew: everything both of your posts said about Lin today can be filed under “things oblivious white dudes say.” #ugh

He NEVER responded to me AT ALL during all of this.

At the same time, though, he was tweeting with Mr. Johnston:

Johnston said: “.@ProducerMatthew When “last time i checked chink wasn’t even that offensive to the orientals” is the “dialogue” you’re provoking, rethink.”

Keys responded but has since deleted the tweet. Basically he said, “I didn’t say that.” To which Johnston said, You didn’t say it. One of the commenters on your post did. That was the kind of “dialogue” your post provoked.” Again Keys must have responded but the tweet is now gone. You can tell he said something, though, because Johnston next tweeted to him, “Sure. But the people backing you up are creepily, aggressively racist. If you’re okay with that, I am too, I guess.”

Keys’ next tweet is still on his TL as is Johnston’s response:

Keys (I still have received NO response): “Are you free to chat on the phone for about 5 minutes? Probably easier to talk there than it is in 140 characters.”

Johnston: “If you’d like to email, my address is on my website.”

Then this… (the screen shot is from @studentactivism‘s Twitter timeline – he had re-tweeted my tweet that you see at the top here):

Me: “And clearly Producer Matthew is NOT going to engage with me, which says a lot about what voices he thinks matter. Fuck.”

[I guess Producer Matthew must have had a tweet that said I was "hostile and irrational" but I never saw it and it's since been deleted]

Johnston: “I called your position absurd idiocy, and you wanted to talk on the phone. But @scATX you dismiss as hostile & irrational?”

Keys: “You offered a rebuttal on a post I published; they attacked me on a completely different foundation – https://twitter.com/#!/scATX/status/171627396598988800“

[So you know what tweet he is linking to, a screen shot:

Of course, he picked the one that simply said, "Wow. What a white dude thing to say." Now, back to dialogue above.]

Johnston: “For the record, what you said WAS a totally white dude thing to say.”

Keys: “Alright. My phone number is in my Twitter bio for a reason, but I think I need to end this conversation now. Thanks.”

Johnston: “Don’t post poorly-reasoned racially provocative crap online and then pout when you’re criticized. It’s not a good look.”

In the middle of all of this and in response to whatever Keys said when Johnston wrote, “You didn’t say it. One of the commenters on your post did,” I wrote two more tweets, each of them went to both Keys and Johnston:

The point is that you provided them ready, open space to say such things. That = condoning such garbage.

And now you are acting like you are somehow neutral when in fact you are instrumental.

Keys has still not responded to me and I believe he has blocked me on Twitter. And he, at some point, deleted his post on Tumblr that pointed to Mr. Johnston’s complaints about his original post.

Once I finally saw the tweet which called me “they” and linked to my account without actually linking to my handle or directly engaging with me, I re-tweeted the one where he linked to me and then said, “The fact that you picked that one tweet of many to highlight, @ProducerMatthew, says way more about you than it does about me.”

It basically ends there. Keys did tweet, “You don’t “reclaim” a word by using it. That’s stupid. You educate people on the offense of a word. Using it in any context is offensive.”

_____________________________________________

What he said was racist. Reclamation of words and language is a real thing that affects actual people, whether Keys acknowledges that or not.

The interesting things here are:

1) Keys deleted a lot of things. He clearly feels embarrassed or, rather, doesn’t want a trail of what he said. BUT not embarrassed about the initial post, which is beyond problematic.

2) Keys works for Reuters. He is their “deputy social media editor.” From the link:

He will produce online content for Reuters.com, expand Reuters’ presence on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr and new platforms, and play a key role in helping to train Reuters journalists on best practices in social media.

Matthew was recently nominated for an Online News Association award in the category of “Breaking News excellence” for his coverage of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

Matthew is a recognized leader in helping journalists turn social media into valuable reporting tools. His online tools – a journalist’s guide for Tumblr, a guide for finding breaking news video on YouTube, and a guide for finding breaking news images on Twitter – have helped many journalists take their first steps into social media.

The man who wrote the original post and then basically ignored my complains but fielded and responded in earnest to the other white guy’s complaints does all of that for one of the world’s leading news-reporting agencies. He’s been recognized in his field and awarded for his work.

Who knows why he chose to ignore me initially. Not enough Twitter followers? Mr. Johnston has many more than Mr. Keys. I’m not a dude? Eventually I called what he wrote “racist” (and I happily stand by that assertion) so I can see that as shutting the conversation down on his end. But there was plenty of time before that.

I don’t want an apology. I don’t really care what Mr. Keys has to say at this point. I just want it known how the deputy social media director of Reuters handles himself. And also WHO he considers important and WHAT writing he deletes/hides and what he does not.

I lose motivation, I cry a lot (more than normal, at least), lose all sense of anxiety, become more numb to other people in my life, less attentive to relationships. It’s never anything that feels extreme or that becomes so debilitating that I am forced to do something about it in order to continue my normal life. Part of this, perhaps, is that I lead a pretty cushy life, especially when it comes to day-to-day expectations. I don’t have a 9-to-5 job, I have loose deadlines on the work that I do have, and the money I make is not what keeps us fed. Perhaps if I lived under those conditions I would have had to deal with these sad patches more actively throughout my life.

Anyhow, this is all to say that I am currently in one of the rougher patches I have been in for quite some time. I was trying to finish my dissertation under blistering deadlines that I set while also teaching my first lecture course ever and still be a mom and spend some time with my husband and eat on a regular basis. I started giving up sleep, riding on adrenaline and coffee, and failing at most tasks. Things just were compounding and there was no good ending I could imagine.

I was finally able tonight to admit that it is probably time to go see a professional. And I’m cool with that.

I also need to reset expectations for myself, allow myself to take longer on the dissertation in order to give myself time to sleep and enjoy my family. And that’s okay, too.

Through this all, I have felt the worse when I could see that my sadness/blues/depression was affecting my son. I would just be too out of it, too tired, too lazy, too blah to play with him or interact with him the way he wanted me to. And I knew it. I know it. And I can’t do anything about it. It’s other-worldly, that feeling.

Tonight, finally, after about a month of feeling like I was spiraling down, like I was being eaten up from the inside out, I told my husband over dinner that I was pretty sure I was depressed and that it was time to do something about it. I started crying. It was a good cry, a cathartic cry.

My son, ever aware of my feelings and always worried for them, instantly said, “Why are you crying, Mommy?”

I told him, “I’m sad.” And my husband echoed that. And then I said to my 3yo, “But it’s not about you. You aren’t making me sad.” I had read that kids like to internalize whatever is happening around them so I thought I would at least vocalize what is certainly the truth, even if he doesn’t believe me.

Then my brilliant child in all of his glorious innocence replies, “I’m not making you sad. And Daddy’s not making you sad. Is Mommy making Mommy sad?”

Yes, son. Yes. Exactly.

Exactly.

Hearing those words from my 3yo’s lips were like a moisturizer to my cracked soul.

“Oh. That’s okay, Mommy.”

Yes, son. That’s okay.

From movieline:

Signs continue to emerge suggesting that What to Expect When You’re Expecting is a real movie with real stars and a very real prospect of opening theatrically…. The latest indication: Character posters! It’s like The Avengers of maternity anthologies! If, that is, the Avengers labored superhumanly on behalf of the beleaguered population of Cringe City.

Who’s got it worse? It’s a tough call, right? I mean, I feel worst for Anna Kendrick, but Elizabeth Banks wields arguably the least convincing baby bump in modern moviegoing. And Cameron Diaz. That face! That posture!

Here are the posters (also available at movieline):

The pictures are bad enough (back to them in a second) but the quotes are atrocious:

• “I’m calling bull$#!%. Pregnancy sucks.”
• “I can wait to meet my baby.”
• “I just have all this extra energy. Plus I’m like crazy horny.”
• “You pee on a stick. It’s pretty idiot proof.”
• “If I knew I’d have a rack like this, I would’ve gotten knocked up years ago.”

These statements make me embarrassed to have ever been pregnant.

I know nothing about the book the movie is based on except that it is famous. I did not use it while I was pregnant and I’m not sure I have ever read it. But when I posted the movieline article on Facebook, my doula (who is as kick ass as human beings come) said “That became a client screening method for me. If that was their favorite resource, we probably weren’t going to click. To be honest, it does have some good info, but you have to wade through so much other junk that I’d rather read something else.”

Other friends on Facebook told me it wasn’t useful. Misty Clifton told me on Twitter that “I hated that book. So much so, I harbor residual loathing several years later, lol. I am definitely not seeing that movie.” @KushielsMoon said, “”What to Expect” is actually one of the worse pregnancy books. It’s condescending and anxiety inducing.” And @rachelcooks followed up with “It’s like, “Here are many details of a rare but horrible side effect of sth inconspicuous. But don’t worry about it!!”" Misty also said, “”Month Four: Your baby is developing ears…AND IT MIGHT BE DEAF!!!! Be sure to follow this routine and diet OR ELSE.”

Anyhow, let’s just go through and categorize what is wrong with these posters:

1) These are stick figure women with fake baby bumps strapped to them. Even Decker, who appears to be in her last month of pregnancy, is not at all bloated, no red face, no pimples. Nope. She’s just horny with lots of energy!

@KnittingRad‘s response to these picture: “why does Brooklyn Decker have a goddamn basketball stuffed under her shirt?” And @biscuitzombie said: “Brooklyn Decker looks like she is literally smuggling a soccer ball under her dress.”

My currently pregnant friend, KH, told me: “I totally look like that…oh wait, I look like a houseboat.”

2) As @biscuitzombie said: “Also, all the photoshopping and soft angles and smiles, my goodness. Pregnancy must only be a good thing with no side effects!”

My friend, RDR said on FB, “What I want to know is, will this movie address all bizarre things that happen to one’s body? I’m guessing there will be no discussion of ‘good gawd, why do I have so much snot all of a sudden,’ or ‘surprise, colostrum!’”

3) Of these five women, the only one that doesn’t have the baby bump here is the only woman who has actually been pregnant.

4) The hands underneath the stomach. When I posted this complaint on Twitter, my friends said:

• @biscuitzombie: “Well, yeah. It’s the ol’ “Look at me I am but a baby factory” move. Draws attention from anything else.”
• @catvoncat: “I think it is meant to convey, “No, no, I’m not fat! I’m just pregnant!”"
• @KushielsMoon: “Well yes, otherwise you might mistake them for fat, & we all know women are completely afraid of being mistaken for fat.”

Now we all know. The hand under the pregnant belly is the universal sign for “I’m PREGNANT. NOT fat.”

5) These look like the covers for “Cosmo: Pregnant Edition.” Diaz’s face next to “Look at my awesome rack!” is best example.

I’m going to go ahead and judge this movie based on these ridiculously terrible, terrible posters. Therefore, as I said on Twitter, I plan on seeing this movie as many times as I saw The Help. And as @snipy said in reply, “can you see something negative times?” If only.

I can’t really say it any better than @diannapevensie said: “I feel sad for every woman involved with that hellfest of a movie.” Or, in shorter form, from Melissa McEwan: “Oh. My. God.”

FINALLY, my wonderful friend @iwriteplays (Laura Birek) is a funny, masterful photoshopper. On FB, she said, “WE NEED TO MAKE PARODY POSTERS OF THIS NOW. PREGNANT LADIES, PLEASE HELP!”  I posted that on Twitter and @biscuitzombie said, “Get ladies to shove basketballs under their clothes and pose with vapid smiles, throw on some garbage quote?” I put that suggestion back on FB and Laura’s response was, “”Nobody ever told me how uncomfortable this basketball would be under my shirt.” What to expect when you’re fake-expecting.” I told her that ALL parodies should then end in “And I’m crazy horny!”

The end result, my friends (as created by Laura):

BOOM!

Also, don’t go see this movie. And if you do, NEVER tell me about it.

Text submitted by MG, my doula. Pic by Laura:

Text provided by me and Mr. Scatx, pic by Laura:

[We are going to do away with “crazy” in future parody posters at http://whattoexpectforreal.tumblr.com/ because it is ableist. It is here in these because they are mocking the original, albeit, ableist language of the WTEWYAE posters.]

I have to say, if I could (every once in a while) tell my authority figures to fuck off (by my behavior or whatever) and was so secure, knowing they would continue to love me and take care of me…. Well I might spend whole days telling them to fuck off.

Both she and I grew up in families that were built on conditional love. How much of it is perceived to be conditional versus actually being conditional, at least in my case, is hard to know – I was always too terrified of it being conditional to test it (and when I did test it, I retreated quickly back to the safe path).

These words my friend wrote me, this idea of my own child existing in a familial space where he doesn’t feel the love and comfort we show him/tell him as a condition of correct behavior is just…breathtaking.

Sometimes I literally do not know what I would do without my friends. My partner and I talk often about our decision to only have one child and what that will mean when our child is grown and we are gone. What will he do for family then?

When my friends send me emails like my friend did today, I am reminded that as we grow older, our friends are the families we choose for ourselves. And if my partner and I do this parenting thing at all correctly, hopefully our son will not have a problem finding his own family of friends to care for him, love him, hold his hand, hug him, comfort him, right him when he is on the wrong path, give him advice, and see him through life the way my friends do for me.

I happen to have a sister whom I adore and, despite whatever flaws exist in my family, I love them thoroughly and with my entire heart.

But today I want to celebrate the amazing thing that is a good, true, chosen, loving friend.

Gingrich, who found himself in hot water last month for saying America’s child labor laws are “truly stupid,” called on Trump to create an “Apprentice”-style program for 10 inner-city New York children to teach them “work ethic.”

“We’re going to be picking 10, young, wonderful children, and we’re going to make them ‘apprenti,’” Trump said after a high-profile meeting with Gingrichon Monday. “We’re going to have a little fun with it, and I think it’s going to be something that is really going to prove results. But it was Newt’s idea, and I think it’s a great idea.”

While it is unclear if the program will run as a reality TV show, like Trump’s NBC show “The Apprentice,” Gingrich said the program is intended to give students “an opportunity to earn money, and get them into a habit of showing up and realizing that hard work gets rewarded.”

Gingrich, the current GOP front-runner, has been a target of fierce attacks from unions and liberal commentators after he said poor school districts should fire unionized janitors and replace them with schoolchildren.

“Young children who are poor ought to learn how to go to work,” he said, defending his stance in an interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper last week. “What I’ve said is, for example, it would be great if inner city schools and poor neighborhood schools actually hired the children to do things. Some of the things they could do is work in the library, work in the front office. Some of them frankly, could be janitorial.”

Maybe I am biased because I know history, but when I hear about white guys wanting to offer apprenticeships to children from poor neighborhoods, especially since Mr. Gingrich is talking specifically about “inner city” children, I think of another time when white dudes “apprenticed” black people: post-emancipation Jamaica.

This is what post-emancipation Jamaica’s “apprenticeship” program was:

Although emancipation laws required former masters to provide apprentices with lodging and food, many owners charged for food or for rent in the form of extra labor. The special magistrates were intended to put a stop to these injustices, but they could not be at every plantation at once, and the majority worked extremely hard to improve the conditions of the apprentices.

Another problem of apprenticeship was the division of labor hours. The apprentices were required to work 40.5 hours per week for the master, but the hours were not divided. While special magistrates fought for a nine-hour day – leaving the apprentices half a day on Friday as well as Saturday free for other work – planters almost always insisted on eight-hour days, meaning the apprentices were not given much time for their own.

The plantation owners also charged exorbitant rates to former slaves who wanted to buy their own freedom, though nearly 1,500 did in two years – the highest recorded sum being more than £100. Planters were also known to work their apprentices more harshly than they had when the blacks were slaves, with more brutal punishments as well.

Such brutal punishments included the treadmill: This had been introduced to Jamaica by Lord Sligo in an attempt to help the apprentices because he had always hated the use of whips, particularly on women. The treadmill is not like those we know today, but instead was a large cylinder with a series of steps attached to it. The person’s weight on these steps caused the cylinder to spin, and they would have to step quickly to remain standing. If a person fainted or fell, he would hang by the wrists tied to a handrail while the steps hit him.

Image of said treadmill:

Captioned, "An Interior View of a Jamaica House of Correction," this illustration shows a scene during the Apprenticeship Period (1834-38); man on left being flogged, in center at bottom, a woman has her hair cut off. Below the title is a message from Jamaica's Governor Lionel Smith to the Jamaican House of Assembly: "The WHIPPING OF FEMALES, you were informed by me, officially, WAS IN PRACTICE; and I called upon you to make enactments to put an end to conduct so repugnant to humanity, and SO CONTRARY TO LAW. So far from passing an Act to prevent the recurrence of such cruelty, you have in no way expressed your disapprobation of it. I communicated to you my opinion, and that of the Secretary of State, of the injustice of cutting off the hair of females in the House of Correction, previous to trial. You have pad no attention to the subject."

According to Diana Paton, author of No Bond But the Law: Punishment, Race, and Gender in Jamaican State Formation, 1780 – 1870:

The treadmill as invented in 1818, and…became widespread in British prisons in the 1820s. Treadmillls had been installed in Trinidad in 1824, in Berbice in the late 1820s, and in the Kingston house of correction in 1828. (88)

The significance of the treadmill to post-emancipation Jamaica: this was a society that had for centuries built its entire economy on the backs of people who were coerced through violence and force, where slave owners could brutally punish and torture their slaves with almost no oversight from the law or society at large.

In the post-slavery era, as those same white ex-slave owners tried to maintain their incredibly rich economic system, they attempted to extract that same level of labor through coercion that was legally-mandated (the apprentice system that forced labor) with the punishment coming not from owners themselves but rather the state at large (because, just as during the era of slavery, the state was almost exclusively created by and useful for white Jamaicans and Englishmen).

Despite the rhetoric of the time claiming that forms of discipline like the treadmill were morally reforming prisoners, the ultimate goal was to discipline former slaves into be willing workers on plantations.

In summary: without the type of coercion present during slavery, white Jamaicans turned to disciplining black Jamaicans in prisons, essentially punishing the latter for not being good, hard workers (sometimes just not being good enough):

The stated purpose of apprenticeship was a…process of training, in which apprentices became accustomed to wage labor. Yet in reality, apprenticeship was a system of directly coerced labor in which responsible, self-directed liberal individuals had little place. The contradiction is resolved if we realize that “reform” of prisoners always requires people to emerge from confinement adjusted to their “station” in society. Thus, for Jamaica during apprenticeship, when the biggest anxiety of both planters and colonial officials was the future continuity of plantation labor, emphasizing reform meant aiming for the re-creation of individuals as willing plantation workers. (87)

ALSO, really important to note that the people who pushed for and implemented the treadmill in Jamaica were often leaders of the anti-slavery movement:

For its antislavery advocates, the treadmill represented the peak of regulated and civilized punishment. Its mechanical operation meant that it supposedly required the same labor from all who worked on it, unlike more traditional forms of hard labor in which prisoners worked more or less diligently according to their own inclination and the degree of coercion applied. (88)

Despite the praise it received as a non-brutalizing punishment in the early phase of apprenticeship, treadmill labor in practice inflicted physical pain. Even in normal operation, the treadmill should be thought of as a form of corporal punishment. (105)

The type of “benevolence” that Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Trump think they are imparting on the poor, black children of inner city New York through any kind of apprentice system is, whether they recognize it or not (which, of course, they don’t), part of a long, terrible, and racist history.

During that parade, members of Occupy Austin caroled for the crowd three original songs that they create, which were, you guessed it, occupy-themed.

I asked multiple members of their community if I could post the lyrics on this blog and they said that was fine as long as I gave credit to the movement. As far as everyone knew whom I talked to, the songs were a collaborative effort and attributed to “anonymous.”

So, here are my two videos of them caroling.

The first is “CEO”, set to the tune of “Let it Snow:”

The second is “Occupy is coming to town,” set to the tune of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town:”

Here are some images of the lyrics (from the handout that occupiers were passing out), which include the two songs above and an additional song, “Corporate Jails,” set to the tune of “Silver Bells:”

Amazingly clever and well-sung.

Occupy!

Siri’s Position On Abortion? A Glitch, Not Conspiracy, Apple Says

by Julie Rovner

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re out to get you.

Feminists are paranoid nitpickers, amirite? Sigh.

That could be the motto this week for abortion rights groups that immediately sprang into battle mode when it was discovered that Siri, Apple’s new artificially intelligent personal assistant, wasn’t so, well, intelligent when it came to abortion.

And feminists as militant. Yay! Because women can’t possibly draw attention to systemic failures in a major piece of technology without “springing into battle mode.” (But, of course, me even writing this post tonight is just simply evidence of me being in battle mode, I guess)

It turns out, however, that it was all much ado about not so much.

Except that you are about to tell us why Siri is a problem and in ways that people hadn’t considered on a large scale (one that goes beyond simply information about abortion), especially since Apple markets Siri to make you think it’s backed by a powerful database, ala Google:

True, Siri does fail to find multiple abortion providers in large cities like Washington and New York City. She (the voice is female) also tends to send inquirers instead to far-flung pregnancy crisis centers, which not only don’t do abortions, but also actively work to dissuade women from having the procedure.

In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan complained that Siri “is not providing your customers with accurate or complete information about women’s reproductive-health services.”

“complained”? Come on. You know you could have picked a MUCH better word than that. But we also all know that feminists are complainers.

Some advocates wondered if there was a conspiracy afoot.

“There was conjecture by many colleagues that perhaps they were afraid of the anti-choice community, or perhaps, as one put it, it was a bunch of dudes programming, who didn’t have any notion of what women might need,” said Jodi Jacobson, editor-in-chief of RH Reality Check, a leading abortion-rights website.

But it turns out not so much.

“Siri is a dumb tool,” says Damon Poeter, a reporter for PC Magazine who wrote a story about the dustup.

“Dustup.” Okay, I see that word choice there. Way to belittle people’s concerns via your diction.

By that he means not literally dumb, but perhaps not as smart as she sometimes seems. For example, Siri doesn’t do searches based on Google, which Apple sees as a rival, but on other, newer search engines.

But Google, he says, “has had a decade to refine its results and get smarter and smarter about deciding what people actually want when they do searches. Siri is still in its infancy, so we’re going to see things like this happen.”

So, then, why don’t you talk about the way Apple markets itself? People were genuinely confused by this lack of information on Siri’s part because they were led to believe that Apple used something akin to Google to power it. And, in fact, it uses Yelp, which is user-added content (this linked article is WAY more informative than this NPR report and I suggest you read it if you are interested in learning more about all this). And clearly users who add to Yelp are much more interested in strip clubs and escorts than abortion clinics.

There’s another reason Siri may be favoring crisis pregnancy centers — they tend to use the word abortion a lot, while actual abortion clinics may not, if only to avoid protesters.

“So when Siri goes out into the Internet looking for what an abortion center is or what an abortion provider is, it hits on these non-abortion-providing organizations because they’re the ones who use the word to underlie their websites,” Poeter says.

Jacobson agrees that abortion-rights forces need to do a better job getting information out.

Yay, pro-choice advocates painted in militaristic tones…again.

“I think this is telling about a broad set of issues about the reliability of information on the internet, and the ways in which we might be self-censoring, that then lead us to have search engines that don’t fully inform us about what we need,” she said.

And now let’s try to point blame away from Apple and make Jodi’s words mean that blame should also be hoisted on the pro-choice movement. Of course, underlying what Jodi is saying is the reality that there is a large group of people that constantly threatens and harasses abortion providers, sometimes even killing them (clinics self-censoring is not simply to “avoid protesters”). It’s not simply about “getting information out” and I don’t think Jodi’s quote implies that pro-choice advocates have to do a “better job.” That’s an unfair assessment and one that shouldn’t be made unless you take the time to explain WHY Jodi mentions self-censoring.

On the other hand, many women’s groups have lamented that many tech products, Siri included, are clearly designed by men, primarily for men.

Indeed, a quick experiment from NPR headquarters in Washington using a colleague’s borrowed phone found Siri unable to find a single birth control clinic (“sorry about that”), but 16 drug stores where Viagra could be purchased (“12 of them fairly close to you!”)

OK, then.

Also, as Amadi and Abortioneers have made VERY clear, this isn’t simply about abortion. Siri fails when it comes to mammograms and rape, too. To act like this is SIMPLY about the controversial topic of abortion is to skate around the fact that Siri has LARGE database failures, especially in the face of Apple’s contention that Siri will provide you the information you ask for.

And as I say about this topic every time I have written about it over on Keep Your Boehner Out of My Uterus, this isn’t about punishing Apple or whining because that’s what ladies do, but is, in fact, about revealing the way knowledge moves in our society, how some of it is privileged and some not, and about changing Siri for the better. So, whether pro-choice advocates were battle-fierce paranoid complainers or not, it only took four days from Abortioneer’s original post to Apple’s response in the NY Times. That’s a win.

This article, though, is a fail.

[NB: the radio version of this report was much better, leaving out lots of the problematic language. Hmmm.]

His video:

• helicopters woke me up at one. went to city hall. occupy getting evicted. subways closed, sidewalks blocked, tons and tons of riot police. marched from dilworth to rittenhouse — riot police enclosed park, refused entry. mic check speeches ensued. then marched from rittenhouse, down walnut, back up spruce, past park, onto city hall – still closed with huge team of police, firecrew, etc. clearing out plaza, though you can’t get even close to close. no arrests, violence, or confrontation. at least 100 or more occupiers, no matter what news says (all local media were in full force). not sure what happens next. trying to be hopeful. the militarization of the city and the police was pretty scary to see, but the police were scared too. hoping there’s no violence tonight.
• left to avoid arrest. it’s starting to get tense. watching livestream.
• barricades down. swat out of trucks now.
• protestors separated, they trying to reunite.
• more riot gear/batons/shields, buses, hoses from fire dept. crowd has thinned but they’re serious.
• link to livestream: http://www.livestream.com/occupyphiladelphia
• arrests are coming soon, if Philly Weekly is right. one of their reporters got picked up
• are philly and la evictions being coordinated at federal level? twitter seems to think so.
• arrests :/
• mounted units/horses moving on crowd.
• abc news is full of crap. ugh.
• arguments with cops about jobs/taxes. meanwhile the people who run the city cozy in the ‘burbs or the highrises. #pointlesstoargueamongourselves
• they got blocked from the friends society — the regroup/sleep spot. some seem ready/eager for arrest, to get the media attn. thousands watching on livestream, trending on twitter. arrests in philly and la began at same time.
• “we have traded a tyrant one thousand miles away for a thousand tyrants one mile away.” #creativechants
• not a fan of the anti-police chants. even if they are brutal, gotta not provoke, gotta remember they take home shit pay.
• supposed to regroup at rittenhouse tomorrow at 4pm. will the park be riot-blocked during day time? could be some interesting pics tomorrow, if momentum doesn’t wither.
• if police let into park, they wouldn’t be marching through streets and closing off traffic. what is the strategy? if it was arrests, there have been no coordinated, mass arrest yet…
• Police Band: http://phillyscanner.com/live.html
• wil wheaton is pissed about LAPD blocking out media #iheartstartrek
• #peaceableassembly
• occupy la arrests: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupylacivicengagement
• ‎#occupyphilly goal appears to be to keep going until rush hour. not a bad plan for media attn. not a great plan for winning over commuter community.
• lapd in hazmat suits. #pepperspray
• police mobilizing again. broad and race.
• I WISH WE COULD ARREST BANKERS THIS EASILY. PROTESTING < RAIDING PENSIONS, RUINING ECONOMY.
• Philly has poorest paid police department, big layoffs in PA and NJ. bailouts > public safety. #youarepartofthe99%
• crashing. going to dream of wall street arrests and hope for protestors/police safety and the protestors’ liberty.
• marchers blocked in, vans brought in. seriously like 50 or less protestors and like 200 or so police surrounding them.

And here is a video of a member of the press getting trampled on by a police on horse. Her foot was fractured:

“This abortion clinic is a little ways from you: Abortion Access Advocates 49 miles”

Yes, that is a long way. And when I google “abortion” using the same location, I get a place right down the road (which clearly has its google information/search terms include “abortion”).

But she, at least, didn’t find any CPCs:

“I didn’t find any places matching ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’.”

Hopefully Apple can find a way to streamline all this information as they move forward.

Here is Apple’s contact page (lower right is “Feedback”).

@amaditalks tweeted: “@ShelbyKnox @WentRogue @abortioneers If you say “I’m hurt” she’ll give you hospitals. Say “I was raped” she replies “Is that so?”"

All I have to say in response to this is…WOW. I don’t think Apple is trying to be mean or anything. I just think the guys who programmed Siri didn’t even consider this. And really, Apple can do better. Once I hear of any coordinated efforts to contact Apple about this issue, I’ll post about it.

But there’s more! >> It appears that Siri (whether or not she means to be) may also be anti-choice. [My Siri, though, appears to be more pro-choice than ant-choice. So....]

Amadi’s tumblr can be found here.

UPDATE:

My friend, LB, who is an awesome feminist and programmer, had this to say about all of this:

I have to say, from a programmer’s point of view I’m not ready to conclude that Siri is anti choice or sexist — I’ve asked Siri some basic questions and it’s responded “Is that so?” I think that’s a canned response when it doesn’t understand what you want. That said, I’d imagine 90% of the programmers were men and they’re definitely not sensitive and some of those responses are certainly suspect. I also think Apple is a pretty liberal company and would probably be appalled if they found out they were being perceived as anti-choice, so more power to you trying to get their attention.

I responded:

I agree with everything you wrote. Especially because the programmers planned for the possibility of people propositioning Siri (she gives you info on escort services). This is about what people see and what they don’t because of culture that produces them. There’s no intentional malice – at all – but it’s disturbing nonetheless.

Screen shot proof:

Siri said: “I don’t know what you mean by ‘I’ve been raped.’”

In response to me saying “I’ve been hurt”:

In response, Siri listed 7 hospitals.

Here is Apple’s contact page (lower right is “Feedback”).