I always dislike it as well, even if the comments are benign or meant to be flattering or playful. The bottom line for me is that it always makes me feel put on the spot, awkward, obliged. I'm expected to interrupt whatever I am doing to respond to the comment and engage with the person on some emotional level. When…

Ironic racism gets a pass in hipster and upper-middle class educated white circles, unfortunately. That's the vibe I'm getting from this absurd, hot mess of a shoot. As someone else said, there is a strong self-aware Zoolander vibe. Which is not to say that it's O.K.

Legitimate question here, although I am hesitant to enter this fray. Is there historical evidence that blackface spread to Asia and/or South America from North American/European whites? I'm genuinely curious, because culture didn't spread as fast in the pre-global mass media days, when blackface originated.

I think about a similar aspect. As in, some (white) people sat around a table, talked, and decided that this theme was a good idea. I wonder what the conversation sounded like? Ugh.

I was legitimately thinking data for tailored ads could be a possibility.

I do this, too. It's crazy. Typically I wake up about 5 minutes before he does in the morning.

Free focus group information for medical/drug research purposes? I have a hard time seeing how it is insidious, but I can envision scenarios where having access to this info could be profitable.

Sure, but the mechanisms for surveillance are much bigger and more sophisticated now. Joe McCarthy would have killed to have the juggernaut that is today's NSA at his disposal.

Agree. If it can be reaped for profit and/or used to undermine our civil liberties, rest assured it won't be or remain "anonymous." People were doing eyerolls when people were voicing surveillance concerns about facebook in its early days, and look where we are now.

Clearly, I wrote my dissertation on the wrong topic!

Seriously. Bad trolling is like layering fail atop fail.

I will go out on a limb and say he needs a better grasp of how d) trolling works.

I hear you. I have an exceptionally big ass for my frame, which leads to almost everything fitting more snugly in that area. The result: a near-constant battle with VPL. I exclusively wore thongs in college just to avert this issue.

Except when it comes from a place of competitiveness and judgement.

Amen. I have various family members who are weird and judgmental about how many children one has. Weirdly, childfree gets a pass, but only child parenting draws that passive aggressive judgment (you must be poor, incompetent, a slacker, etc.). They also judge SAHMs, so the only way to win is to have a high-powered…

Agreed. It is no wonder that the neighbors took the bull by the horns to reign in this pigheaded behavior.

I don't know, it does sound like these wedding guests are behaving like they were raised in a barn.

I am inclined to agree with you. If the image was of a bound man of color, they would have never gotten away with this. As they shouldn't have, of course, in this hypothetical scenario. But since the image is of a woman, there is a whole host of bullshit socially acceptable cultural excuses-"jokes"- to fall back on:…

I will also be purchasing one for mine. Yay!

Yeah, that's what I meant.