Comments on: Why lack of representation in your government and news media matters

By: Alas, a blog » Blog Archive » Blogs discussing the “strip search” case

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:05:33 +0000

[...] readers, I think, that part of this story is that eight of nine Supreme Court Justices are male. Historiann points out that this aspect has seemingly escaped the notice of most mainstream newsmedia. (Via Feminist Law [...]

By: Historiann

Historiann — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:02:24 +0000

Reader Susan sent me a link to Maira Kalman’s latest illustrated essay in the New York Times, “May it Please the Court.” Check it out–it’s really an interesting meditation on women and women’s history and what little representation women have in the corridors of power.

And of course, the ninth comment (out of 190 so far) is a rant by a man complaining about how “feminist rage” has perverted the justice system against “devoted fathers and their children.”

Sigh. As I’ve learned over the past 16 months of this blog’s existence, antifeminists just can’t let a feminist space be a feminist space.

By: Rose

Rose — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:13:55 +0000

ej, I had the same reaction to the comparison of stripping for gym and being strip-searched. *These* are the people who were appointed for LIFE because of their allegedly superior sense of logic?!

By: Historiann

Historiann — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:21:23 +0000

Acutally, I think ibuprofen is safer than asprin, and it’s much much safer than Tylenol (acetominaphin). You have to eat a gallon of pills almost to OD on the stuff. I think schools in the U.S. went overboard with their “no tolerance” policies after the Columbine massacre in 1999–maybe this case represents the crest of a wave rolling back such absolutist, draconian policies.

Or, like 8/9 of the Supreme Court, we might just point and laugh at 13 year-olds who had to strip and shake out their bras upon command at school.

By: quixote

quixote — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:57:57 +0000

Well, after seeing this, I had to go find out what happened. I read the McClatchy link.

The school was conducting strip searches, violating the student, for what amounts to some aspirin? Are you bloody kidding me? Have we all gone mad?

By: Historiann

Historiann — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:52:57 +0000

Notorious–great point about weight. I haven’t seen photos so I missed that angle.

By: blue epiphany

blue epiphany — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:51:04 +0000

Notorious Ph.D. – I hadn’t seen any pictures of Ms. Redding, so thanks for bringing that up. It’s completely believable.
It’s interesting, too, that the Salon article is the only place I’ve seen that mentions that Ms. Redding dropped out of school at some point after this incident, especially since as has been noted, there has been a lot of emphasis on her being an honor student. It’s all about the titillation of a kid being strip-searched, with little mention of the damage it did to her.

By: Notorious Ph.D.

Notorious Ph.D. — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:13:20 +0000

NB: My previous comment should not be taken to deny the gendered aspects of this case or the way it was argued. Anyone who’s been within a 10-mile radius of a 11-15 year-old girl knows that privacy (especially with regard to their bodies) is a seriously sensitive issue. Anyone who’s been an 11-15 year-old girl has probably been the recipient of unwanted attention from men her father’s age.

And I wonder if there’s something even more insidious at work here. If you’ll bear with me for a moment: in the one picture I saw of the now young woman in question, I noted that she was overweight. As a former obese twelve year-old myself, I can’t help but wonder whether this girl was experiencing yet another incident where overweight bodies are assumed to be less deserving of respect than others, and the girls inhabiting those bodies less fully human.

By: Notorious Ph.D.

Notorious Ph.D. — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:05:06 +0000

I don’t buy the in loco parentis argument one bit in this case: I think a twelve year-old (male or female) would have a pretty strong case even if their actual parents made them strip down to their underwear in front of “parents” of both sexes.

That may not be the most coherent argument, but it’s the best I can muster, as this whole incident and the justices’ minimization of the harm done has reduced me to typing with my head in my hands.

By: Strip Searches in Schools: Not Just for Girls! « Kittywampus

Strip Searches in Schools: Not Just for Girls! « Kittywampus — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:40:28 +0000

[...] – normally a good ally to liberals – managed to trivialize the issue in a dudely way, and oth Historiann and Amanda Marcotte are taking him to task for it. Historiann writes: Justice Breyer suggested [...]