Our post today is in regards to Thursday's article in the New York Times: Milk Campaign Withdrawn Amid Social Media Firestorm. To sum up the article, there was an ad campaign launched by the California Milk Processor Board and its advertising agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, which touted milk's ability to help reduce PMS symptoms. The campaign was partially targeted at men who, admittedly, are frequent targets of the famed "PMS rage". They called the web address everythingidoiswrong.org "your home for PMS management". Following the campaign and website launch, the social media world (mostly women in this case) slammed the site as sexist.
Of course they did. The PMS scattergun claims another victim.
Daisy: Personally, I thought it was funny, and I'm in the midst of wielding the PMS scattergun. I can attest to the aid of milk during PMS. I'm one of those "fortunate" women who really does turn into another person for two weeks out of every month, unless I get monster doses of calcium and other vitamins. It was either that or Prozac.
Penn: I can attest that it's true, she does become a different person during the PMS cycle. I can't say that her head really spins around while she spits pea soup, but it comes damn close. I think it's ridiculous to say that the campaign is sexist. Men have been taking it on the chin because of the raging hormones of women since time began. I'm not throwing women under the bus on that count - it's just a simple fact of our biology and their unfortunate habit of saying the wrong thing (which can be anything and everything) at the wrong time (which can be anytime and every time) when a woman is in the midst of PMS-inspired irritation.
Daisy: It's really more like slow-simmering rage at the entire world and everything in it. Especially anyone who looks in your general direction. It's not fun, although the bits where I lose my filter are generally rather amusing as long as I don't hurt anyone's feelings. Because, beside the rage, I'm exhausted, lethargic, melodramatic, depressed, achy, forgetful, spacey, weepy, and just generally crabby. But, with the vitamin cocktail I'm now on, I'm more like my usual self, just a little more acerbic and less likely to filter my thoughts before they come flying out of my mouth. Penn seems to find the last highly amusing.
Penn: I don't really have any of the symptoms Daisy has when I have PMS. Really, I'm one of those fortunate women who doesn't really get PMS at all. I'm a little more brusque from time to time, but that's about it. Hey, no hating out there, I just happened to win the genetic lottery on that one. But, it took a good amount of time for me to figure out how to dodge or deal with Daisy's emotional swings (which sometimes occur over the space of five minutes) and then Daisy stumbled upon an article that recommended the specific vitamin regimen she's on now. Life has been quieter and easier to deal with for both of us since then.
Daisy: My doctor recommended that I look for the article after I talked to her about it. Really, yoga wasn't cutting it anymore, and I was at the point that if I didn't do something drastic, we were going to have some serious relationship issues. If anyone's interested, I'm taking 1200 mg of calcium (and drinking milk), 400 IU of vitamin E, 250 mg of magnesium, and 50 mg of B-Complex. The calcium seems to help a lot with the depression, which in turn helps with the crabbiness and mood swings. So, now I'm back to my generally cheerful self, with a side order of sarcasm not directed at my spouse. It works better that way.
Penn: Talk to your doctor before starting this or any other vitamin regimen, however. Just wanted to make sure we mentioned that. We're not medical professionals here.
To sum up our side of the argument, we feel that rather than hitting this unsuspecting ad campaign with both barrels, as many women seem to have done, they should thank the campaign for helping them find a way to manage their PMS troubles and helping men figure out how to keep from getting in the way more often.
So, let's all have a tall one, ladies! A tall glass of milk, of course. Help ourselves, hapless men, and dairy farmers everywhere.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Our Thanks for the Respect
Imagine my surprise when, wading through The Washington Post's endless articles on the debt-ceiling fight and budget talks, I came across the headline "Obama backs bill to repeal Defense of Marriage Act". Turns out that California Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill at some point this year (completely unbeknownst to both me and Daisy) aimed at repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
It's called the Respect for Marriage Act.
Honestly, I got an extra little feeling of warmth for Senator Feinstein when I read the name of the bill. Even as I thought that it's an odd time to bring up such a bill. (I'm still appreciative of it, mind you, regardless of the timing.) Then, I thought, only a Californian senator, and the Obama administration for that matter, would think that two weeks from financial default is the right time to come down on the side of lancing that ugly DOMA.
Of course, maybe their thinking was that the rabid conservatives bent on holding the American people hostage on morals and finance wouldn't notice that the bill was brought forward, now, while they're absolutely transfixed on sending the United States to bankruptcy court. One can only hope that might prove true.
Does this bill have a snowball's chance in Hell of passing? Maybe. After all, stranger things have happened in our political system. Like the former leader of the "Party of No," current Speaker of the House, John Boehner, suddenly seeming like the voice of reason in the Republic party and working with the president on a debt solution.
Daisy and I will have our fingers crossed as the Respect for Marriage Act plays out, of course.
--Penn
It's called the Respect for Marriage Act.
Honestly, I got an extra little feeling of warmth for Senator Feinstein when I read the name of the bill. Even as I thought that it's an odd time to bring up such a bill. (I'm still appreciative of it, mind you, regardless of the timing.) Then, I thought, only a Californian senator, and the Obama administration for that matter, would think that two weeks from financial default is the right time to come down on the side of lancing that ugly DOMA.
Of course, maybe their thinking was that the rabid conservatives bent on holding the American people hostage on morals and finance wouldn't notice that the bill was brought forward, now, while they're absolutely transfixed on sending the United States to bankruptcy court. One can only hope that might prove true.
Does this bill have a snowball's chance in Hell of passing? Maybe. After all, stranger things have happened in our political system. Like the former leader of the "Party of No," current Speaker of the House, John Boehner, suddenly seeming like the voice of reason in the Republic party and working with the president on a debt solution.
Daisy and I will have our fingers crossed as the Respect for Marriage Act plays out, of course.
--Penn
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Our Introduction
After much resistance to the idea, Daisy and I (Penn) finally caved in to the idea of starting our own blog.
Why? Because we're terribly opinionated people, and we decided we wanted an audience other than just each other and the cat (who often looks positively bored at our rants) to which we could express our opinions. And, since it's often considered rude to call a complete stranger at 12:30 at night to tell them about the thoughts on our minds, we opted for the blog instead.
What sorts of things can you expect out of us and our blog? We're going for a general smash-up of a forum. We'll likely discuss LGBT issues, politics, books, people being stupid at the grocery store, and of course the cat (probably with pictures). If you're lucky, Daisy might even share some of the recipes that have nearly gotten her shivved by highly competitive relatives at various family functions.
A caveat about the LGBT issues, though. You'll find that we don't always fall in line with the rest of the "community" (the "community" being the greater one and the local one) on these issues. Some we agree on, and some we don't. We hope you'll respect our right to agree/disagree on these issues in the same way that we respect your right to feel whichever way you do about the issues. We welcome any healthy discussion on these issues, however; just keep it civil. Negativity gives Daisy hives.
Alright, enough with the introduction. Thanks for stopping by. We hope you'll come again.
--Daisy and Penn
Why? Because we're terribly opinionated people, and we decided we wanted an audience other than just each other and the cat (who often looks positively bored at our rants) to which we could express our opinions. And, since it's often considered rude to call a complete stranger at 12:30 at night to tell them about the thoughts on our minds, we opted for the blog instead.
What sorts of things can you expect out of us and our blog? We're going for a general smash-up of a forum. We'll likely discuss LGBT issues, politics, books, people being stupid at the grocery store, and of course the cat (probably with pictures). If you're lucky, Daisy might even share some of the recipes that have nearly gotten her shivved by highly competitive relatives at various family functions.
A caveat about the LGBT issues, though. You'll find that we don't always fall in line with the rest of the "community" (the "community" being the greater one and the local one) on these issues. Some we agree on, and some we don't. We hope you'll respect our right to agree/disagree on these issues in the same way that we respect your right to feel whichever way you do about the issues. We welcome any healthy discussion on these issues, however; just keep it civil. Negativity gives Daisy hives.
Alright, enough with the introduction. Thanks for stopping by. We hope you'll come again.
--Daisy and Penn
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