January 18, 2020

The National Archives blurred "vagina" in the photograph of a sign that said "If my vagina could shoot bullets, it’d be less REGULATED."

And it blurred out "Pussy" in "This Pussy Grabs Back." And "Trump" in "God Hates Trump" and "Trump & GOP — Hands Off Women." These were all signs in a photo of the 2017 Women's March that is on display in an exhibit on the occasion of the centennial of the 19th Amendment.

At WaPo, Joe Helm tries to figure out why the Archives would tamper with a photograph like that:
The Archives said the decision to obscure the words was made as the exhibit was being developed by agency managers and museum staff members. It said David S. Ferriero, the archivist of the United States who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, participated in talks regarding the exhibit and supports the decision to edit the photo.

“As a non-partisan, non-political federal agency, we blurred references to the President’s name on some posters, so as not to engage in current political controversy,” Archives spokeswoman Miriam Kleiman said in an emailed statement. “Our mission is to safeguard and provide access to the nation’s most important federal records, and our exhibits are one way in which we connect the American people to those records. Modifying the image was an attempt on our part to keep the focus on the records.”
That is such a bad explanation that I'm only wondering if Kleiman is straight-out lying, stupid, or deep into some truly unfortunate ideological zone. If I had to guess, I'd say lying. It looks to me like a desire to keep things nice and uplifting for everyone. It wasn't a "focus on the record," but a deception — changing and sweetening the record, a disneyfication of history.

The article quotes a couple of historians, and they, quite appropriately, disapprove heartily. Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said "there's zero reason why the Archives can't be upfront about a photo from a women's march. Purdue history prof Wendy Kline said the Archive "buys right into the notion that it's okay to silence women's voice and actions... literally erasing something that was accurately captured on camera."

81 comments:

John henry said...

I wasn't aware that there are any regulations on anyone's vagina in the US

To the point, I agree with Ann. Vagina is not a word deserving of censorship. Leave it clear so peopl can see what fools the marcherd were/are.

John Henry

Oso Negro said...

It makes you wonder what they fiddle with that is not so obvious.

Lucid-Ideas said...

I am so sick of this "guns are less regulated" conflation. They're so regulated there's an entire legal practice group devoted just to 2A law.

Hysteria.

Shouting Thomas said...

That march was a mass psychotic episode. I'd think that feminists, in particular, would want to erase the memory of that psychotic episode since it proved that every negative stereotype about feminism as a form of hysteria is accurate.

That said, I'm not in favor of censorship.

Let feminists discredit themselves with their own psychotic behavior. They're good at that. Shine the disinfecting light on feminist hysteria.

The stereotype of female hysteria is, as usual for stereotypes, amazingly accurate.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Feminism is dried up actresses hating Trump
And hijab wearing muslims supporting women with pussy-hats
Or women dressing up as giant vaginas
While bringing their kids along
All while simultaneously demanding respect
From people they think are 'crazy'

Can we just say it already? Trump broke half the women in the country.

gilbar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
clint said...

I understand blurring references to genitalia, sort of, but why are they blurring out the President's name?

gilbar said...

If my vagina could shoot bullets, it’d be less REGULATED

hmmm
waiting periods for periods?
limits on high capacity maxi pads?
Virginia's law for background checks for loaning (or sharing) vaginas?

Oh! Oh! I know! I KNOW!
magazine limitations, to three cartridges for IUD's when hunting waterfowl !!!

Also, last i checked; you were NOT supposed to stick a vacuum cleaner up the barrel of your rifle and suck a baby out through it


and finally....
This is my Vagina
This is my Gun
One is for Fighting
The Other for Fun!

Rory said...

The connection between that demonstration and the Suffragettes is dubious.

rehajm said...

As a non-partisan, non-political federal agency...

I'm only wondering if Kleiman is straight-out lying, stupid, or deep into some truly unfortunate ideological zone.


The verbiage is nearly identical to the BS the GAO spat out the other day...

The accountability office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress.

Government actors strongly feel the need to defend themselves from accusations of political bias, don't they?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Lie.
Guns are regulated to the hilt.
You can get an abortion at any time, in most states.

Unlike the lie machine that is George Clinonopolis and Chuck Todd - tampons are available everywhere.

Owen said...

Blurring an accurate record of an event deemed historically important = closing our eyes to the world as it is = psychotic behavior.

There ought to be a law against willfully tampering with a Federal record. Taxpayer money spent to doctor reality. Hmmm...I guess after the BleachBit episode, this is all OK.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We need more regulation on lies.

rehajm said...

I will say I'm persuaded by the explanation We do not alter images or documents that are displayed as artifacts in exhibitions...In this case, the image is part of a promotional display, not an artifact.

If they want an image of the women's march crowd for public display they're not going to find one without offensive language. I can imagine scenarios where they would want to edit...

stevew said...

Yes, very Orwellian of him.

Why was it necessary to the story to identify him as an Obama appointee?

Balfegor said...

It's basically like going through and editing out every time Nixon says "fuck" in his transcripts. The effect is to make him seem less coarse and awful. And so also with the Womens March protesters -- sanitizing their posters helps conceal the offputting coarseness and ugliness of the event.

Meade said...

A well regulated [redacted], being necessary to the security of [redacted], the right of the people to keep and bear [redacted], shall not be [redacted].

Curious George said...

Hey, no one needs a vagina to hunt!

rhhardin said...

limits on high capacity maxi pads?

They fall apart quickly if used as bike helmet forehead pads. The regular pads last for weeks.

Their failing ought to be posted on the package, in my opinion.

rhhardin said...

I don't get why fuck and cunt are offensive. They're colorful in the right hands, and stupid in others. Take it case by case.

Rush thinks vagina is always okay, and pussy is forbidden. I think the linguistic stretch is there to exhibit conscious substitution and imply propriety from it, to mollify advertisers.

They're actually pussy hats, as in cat ears. A cunt hat design would have been designed like a garrison cap. It was pushback recalling grab them by the pussy.

Owen said...

Meade: threadwinner.

I bow down.

rhhardin said...

Gresham lectures has a lady discussing the penis and the clitoris as social history next month.

This is certain to be extremely boring. You can get a taste from this month's history of the breast.

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-the-breast

There's a bit about silencing women in it, to let you know where it's going.

Humans being animals comes from mammal, having breasts, the female part. What distinguished us as people is the homo sapiens subdivision, the sapiens being the male power of reason. She implies this is unfair.

rhhardin said...

When is clitoris awareness month.

Michael K said...

At least he didn't steal original historic documents like Sandy Burglar.

wendybar said...

Because they don't want the world to remember how whacked out American women were that President Trump beat Crooked Hillary??? Glossing over the hate filled lefts anger.

stevew said...

They are just words, the meaning and relative offensiveness of each is determined by the listener. If you are greatly offended by Carlin's Seven Dirty Words then you are sure to hear them when someone is trying to provoke you.

Do we have a candidate for the Civility Bullshit tag?

Matt said...

It still saddens me to think of all the sandwiches that went unmade that day.

I really want to make jokes about what a disaster liberal womyn are for the country but the lefty beta males doing the lefty womyn's bidding for a chance at being able to watch the womyn get the ol' in-out in-out with someone else aren't any better.

Tommy Duncan said...

"... literally erasing something that was accurately captured on camera."

Oh my, they rewrote history. Where have we seen that done before?

Paul Zrimsek said...

If they want "not to engage in current political controversy", perhaps dragging in the Women's March at all was not such a hot idea.

Dave Begley said...

I sure would like to see a bullet shooting vagina.

rehajm said...

buys right into the notion that it's okay to silence women's voice and actions... literally erasing something that was accurately captured on camera.

I'm compelled to consider the night the inevitable first female President discovered she lost the election. Despite the numerous embedded reporters, the videographers, the photographic archivists on hand to capture the historic night..yet not a single image or video clip has ever been released or leaked (in this era of inevitable leakage).

History erased...

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The left lie about everything.

cacimbo said...

An exhibit celebrating women's suffrage would highlight females of all political beliefs voting. Images of angry female leftists protesting election results because they disagree with how roughly half the female and male population voted has nothing to do with suffrage. Trying to erase the political bias that caused you to use such an inappropriate photo by blurring parts of the image - that just piles on the stupid.

I am just so tired of lefty media which dominates this country using "women" when they clearly mean "female leftist." They do the same to blacks and hispanics. The smug arrogance in how they feign to speak for all members of _____ group is infuriating.

narciso said...

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/01/the-week-in-pictures-habemus-impeachmus-edition.php

wendybar said...

cacimbo said...
I am just so tired of lefty media which dominates this country using "women" when they clearly mean "female leftist."

Exactly. Pro Life and Conservative women were told to stay away.

It was the ANGRY Progressive Womens pussy hat march.

Oso Negro said...

Blogger John henry said...
I wasn't aware that there are any regulations on anyone's vagina in the US


Well, strictly speaking, you can sell vaginal access, but you can't rent it. So there is that.

Temujin said...

Just looking at the number of people in the US with std's and the number of abortions, I'm thinking there's little vagina regulation. But I could be wrong.

Jupiter said...

"I understand blurring references to genitalia, sort of, but why are they blurring out the President's name?"

Once you start blurring, it's hard to stop.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

It's about covering for something that looks embarassing later.

Howard said...

Blurred vaginas unfairly appropriates Japanese pornographic Culture.

rehajm said...

Will there be imagery of Hillary!’s loss in her upcoming 2020 campaign film...er...historical documentary (Hulu in March)? I’d reckon not...

hombre said...

Deep State protects lefty dingbats. Dog bites man. No news here.

tcrosse said...

The Blurred Vagina will be Gwyneth Paltrow's next Big Thing. It's absolutely pixilating1

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Happiness is a Warm Vagina


She's not a girl who misses much**
Do do do do do do, oh yeah

I need a fix because I'm going down
Down to the bits that I left uptown
I need a fix because I'm going down

When I hold you in my arms (ooh, oh, yeah)
And I feel my finger on your trigger (ooh, oh, yeah)
I know nobody can do me no harm (ooh, oh, yeah)
Because happiness is a warm...
yes it i-i-is...
[redacted]


**lots of range -time

Lucid-Ideas said...

You would never see a men's march where they wore giant penises on their heads. Matter of fact the only giant penises I see these days are worn by women as beads, or carried as giant blow-ups by chicks at bachelorette parties.

If a guy wants to be a real dickhead, it's purely metaphorical.

Mark said...

The Washington Post has been running story after story on the "Women's March," which it says will attract about 10-20,000 people.

Meanwhile, next week's March for Life, which routinely draws 100,000-plus is once again an invisible nonentity in the Post.

Mark said...

They're actually pussy hats, as in cat ears.

Sigh. Do we have to go over that again?

In the original, those weren't ears, they were fallopian tubes.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

If I Had a Rocket Launcher (for a vagina)--B. Cockburn

I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate
I don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states
And when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
If I had a rocket launcher for a vagina, I would retaliate

On the Rio Lacantun, one hundred thousand wait
To fall down from starvation, or some less humane fate
Cry for Guatemala, with a corpse in every gate
If I had a rocket launcher for a vagina, I would not hesitate

I want to raise every voice, at least I've got to try
Every time I think about it water rises to my eyes.
Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry
If I had a rocket launcher fora vagina, some son of a bitch would die

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“And so also with the Womens March protesters -- sanitizing their posters helps conceal the offputting coarseness and ugliness of the event.”

Bingo! Growing up 10 years behind the Class of ‘68 (actual and metaphorical) I’ve watched them do this my entire life. Softening, massaging, slathering the most egregious shitcake with an icing of phony doe-eyed sweet reason. Civility bullshit takes many forms.

SGT Ted said...

How about they get their vaginas out of the taxpayers pocket?

Paul Zrimsek said...

Once the anal-bleaching fad has run its course, getting your vagina rifled will be the next big thing.

walter said...

ingachuck'stoothlessARM,
The better rhyme would be cunt.

walter said...

Concealed carry

wild chicken said...

I actually saw a wire story in the local paper today saying recent resistance demonstrations have been duds.

Surprising admission against interest.

Rabel said...

The decision to blur references to women’s genitals was made because the museum hosts many groups of students and young people and the words could be perceived as inappropriate, Kleiman said in the statement.

Kleiman said the National Archives “only alters images in exhibits when they are used as graphic design components.”

“We do not alter images or documents that are displayed as artifacts in exhibitions,” she said. “In this case, the image is part of a promotional display, not an artifact.”

Dagwood said...

Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said "there's zero reason why the Archives can't be upfront about a photo from a women's march.

Brinkley should know, since he's one of the biggest liberal t**ts in academia.

Iman said...

Gimme back
Gimme back my vaginas

Iman said...

Don’t take ‘em away
‘til I done had my fun

Iman said...

Teh Blurred Vaginas... good name for a band.

Iman said...

Number One with a bullet “C U Next Tuesday”

ken in tx said...

"I sure would like to see a bullet shooting vagina."

In Thailand, I saw a floor show where a woman shot an egg across the stage and someone else caught it in a basket. It was cracked open to show that it was a raw egg and not a boiled egg or fake one.

n.n said...

The vagina is not regulated. Neither is the penis. Human rights are regulated. #PersonalResponsibility #HateLovesAbortion

n.n said...

While the vagina is not regulated, there is a progressive condition that is attributed to Womb of Mass Destruction (WMD).

n.n said...

There are also high-capacity wombs, but they are few and far between.

Iman said...

“ It was cracked open to show that it was a raw egg and not a boiled egg or fake one.”

Cuz that’s important! But amazing... if you think about it.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"When vaginas are outlawed.
...only outlaws will have vaginas"

Why do I carry a vagina?
...because a female police officer is too heavy"

" Fire in the hole!!"
...means she's packin' heat

Candles that smell like Gwyneth Paltrow's Glock !!

gilbar said...

Dave Begley said...
I sure would like to see a bullet shooting vagina.


Do ping pong balls count? I've seen that
I think, We Can ALL Agree, that egg shooting is over the top
There is NO sporting (or self defense) need, for an egg shooting vagina

Pettifogger said...

So she'd be cool with needing a license to carry it concealed in public and even then be restricted from many public places such as schools. For starters . . .

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"Is that a flash suppressor, or are you just happy to see me?"

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

...and one more, for you woke Bond fans

"The Man With the Golden Vagina"

tim in vermont said...

Nothing has lowered my respect for women than giving them the platform to say whatever they think. Thank goodness I know some IRL women to keep perspective on how fringe these women really are to our lives.

narciso said...

that's the cair/splc and 'resist we much' march, remember private maytag's daughter was involved in this, splc's spokesman denied the treatment that hirsi ali had suffered in Somalia, some woman's solidarity, huh, another figure was the one that yelped over the
belated increase in police presence to deal with anti semitic outrages,

narciso said...

rice has really lowered their standards,


https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/deep-thinking-at-cnn-unhinged-historian-douglas-brinkley-compares-president-trump-to-murderers-al-capone-billy-the-kid-video/

Nichevo said...


Dave Begley said...
I sure would like to see a bullet shooting vagina.

Try the Philippines, Russia, Mexico, Thailand, not necessarily in that order. Germany perhaps.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

This is the sort of idiocy gun owners are up against. If that cunt ever tried to buy a gun she'd sing a different tune.

Josephbleau said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josephbleau said...

Government institutions always have this problem, and they need to have a neutral political viewpoint or they will be rightfully criticized as being political government actors.

My favorite example is when the air and space museum made an anniversary exhibit of the Enola Gay and had display material claiming that the atomic attack was unjustified. After criticism a two sided exhibit was made.

If a government body is perceived as political, the only endpoint is that government bodies will have no speech. For this exhibit there should have been an alternate photo exhibit of an anti pussy hat march or Trump supporting signs, which would in this case be going down the rabbit hole.

Josephbleau said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josephbleau said...

Why should the government pay for publicity favorable to one political party? At least wait 5 or 10 years until it no longer is relevant to a current politician. Civil Rights era photos are fine, for example, because they are not politically critical of current politicos.

Iman said...

"I’ll give you my vagina when you take it from my cold, dead hands.”

--- Charlise Heston

stlcdr said...

Blogger Mark said...
They're actually pussy hats, as in cat ears.

Sigh. Do we have to go over that again?

In the original, those weren't ears, they were fallopian tubes.

1/18/20, 10:22 AM


Reminder: do not invite Mark to the party. He’ll start talking about his train photograph collection.