As IF Times

link Frenchman ordered to pay wife damages for lack of sex – Telegraph.

Well what a slippery slope this is.  You can literally hear the stampede of lawyers rushing to the boardrooms as they huddle to quantify exactly what ‘adequate’ is when it comes to conjugal activities between husbands and wives.  When you think about it, there is very little reference to those duties in the normal wedding vows.  Oh sure, “I promise to be faithful” etc etc, but that doesn’t imply any threshold of performance within the marriage.  It’s not as if there’s a line in the wedding registry which the couple signs spelling out the amount or frequency expected in the new marriage.

And of course, there are loopholes.  Let’s say instead of a regularly scheduled amount of sex extending into infinity, the couple chooses the lump sum course of action, sort of like taking the lottery proceedings in a discounted payout.  In this scenario there is guaranteed level of action for a set period of time.  What happens when this threshold gets reached?  I mean really, if the couple  are possessed of more than the normal levels of hormones, they can rifle through the quota within the first 2 or 3 years.  Then what? Is there any further liability or obligation?

What about sex in kind?  An activity can be substituted for sex which accrues a credit.  For example, shopping for shoes can count as a credit…actually that would be more like 3 credits.  Watching any chick movie involving Matthew McConaughey and or Kate Hudson will count for at least 10.  If there’s a constant flow of affectionate but non physical behaviour, can these constitute as credits as well?

Then there are the issues of duration and quality. Do both have to agree that the encounter was satisfactory? You can easily see that this aspect will be open to contentious dispute.  What are the financial penalties involved in non-performance?  Lawyers will be bursting with new business.  But it’s not just lawyers.  When you think about it, there are going to be lots of defaults on ‘contracts’.  The logical action is to protect oneself against financial ruin in the case of non performance .  Enter…Insurance!  In the not too far future, couples will buy rings, take a blood test and buy nuptial insurance to start their futures together.  This will be commonly referred to as “Putout Insurance”. As well as showing off the size of the engagement rings, they can compare the size of their insurance policies.  “Oh you are so lucky, it’s so big!! He must really love you!”

Nothing says romance like a big payout. 

link Miss Universe 2011: Is the Contest Racist? – International Business Times.

It was only a matter of time before the R word came to be an issue in a beauty contest.  We see this type of claim so often in the news, it has lost all credibility.  Years ago, it was determined by some that such beauty contests were white dominated, so someone started a Miss Black America contest.  They even have a Miss Asian America contest.  Well that’s all nice.  You can make a pretty good case that the last two contests may be racist, but even so, in both cases, the contestants are adhering to the ‘western’ ideal of what is attractive.

So is the Miss Universe Pageant racist?  The author of this article claims that women in these ‘world’ contests overwhelmingly have western features to the exclusion of other cultures and races.  The author, Jamie Blair is only partly correct.  For some reason, there are those that think captivating eyes, perfect teeth and shapely figures are attractive.   First of all, let’s consider who sponsors the event.  It’s a gaggle of Western advertisers who are selling beauty products.  The sponsors are typically Maybelline, Max Factor or some other cosmetic company or business connected to the beauty racket.  Does that mean women worldwide who buy these corporate products are complicit in racism?  Wake up Jamie Blair, they’re hawking goods, not creating legacies.  For this reason, Purina Pet Foods or McDonalds are seldom major supporters of such shows.

The success of this type of show is all about capitalizing on the insecurities of young women and the prurient interests of men.  Boy, talk about shooting fish in barrels!  It’s no coincidence that since the advertising is geared towards western tastes from predominantly western companies, that the contestants would reflect western ideals as well.  This is actually harder than it sounds.  If the author were to only look at the average woman on the street, he or she would know that the attractive, tall, emaciated and pneumatic ideal perpetrated by beauty pageants is pretty rare even in the western world…especially in cheese friendly Wisconsin.  If the author thinks the contests are racist, what does that say to the vast majority of western women who come closer to looking like Mr. Universe rather than Miss Universe?

Secondly, is it reasonable to expect that the majority of the intended audience, already established as being western, would find certain beauty attributes of all cultures attractive?  For instance, the women of the Maasai tribe in Kenya are determined to be beautiful by having elongated necks from wearing a series of rings worn to stretch them.  Would that sell in Peoria?  Probably not.  Do we include Pygmies?  Albinos?  What about the famed proclivity of European women to prefer a more natural, hirsute appearance?  I think it’s pretty universally accepted that uni-brows and hairy upper lips aren’t going to sell any makeup.

The author’s sentiments are wildly misplaced.  The feminine ideal as portrayed by beauty contests owes much of its standards of feminine comeliness to gay men! That’s right, most of the costumes, makeup and hair involve the efforts of the gay community. So if there’s any complaining about unfairness, take it up with Perez Hilton.  Finally, there is the nonsensical bleat about such contests being inclusive of ‘inner beauty’ etc etc.  We all know this is as much fantasy as global warming.  If inner beauty had anything to do with the contest outcome, L’Oreal would be out of business and Mother Teresa would have been a winner 5 or 6 times in a row.

Unfortunately, as far as what or who is considered beautiful, life is unfair.  Unlike money, you can’t just even it out among everyone.  Deal with it.