Fly the way too "friendly" skies

Via BoingBoing

Public outcry against the U.S. Transport Security Administration's new "intimate" pat-downs has created a new meme —"don't touch my junk" — from the confrontation passenger John Tyner had with agents who he accused of sexual assault.



Taking the conversation further, activist organization Fly With Dignity has released these copyright-free images with a call for any interested or would-be art directors to make their own protest ads and sites:

Is it too much? Sociological Images, an academic site I follow, comments "Apparently when trying to make a point about being degraded or victimized, men don’t make suitable subjects."

This is a good point, as well as the fact that the style of the images almost fetishizes the woman's suffering, and thereby trivializes the experiences of assault victims.

How do they make you feel?

Personally, I prefer their approach to full-body scanners:

I had to submit to one of these scans for the first time just a couple of weeks ago. It was a little embarrassing, but I'll bet it was worse for the viewers than it was for me. At the same time, the scanners themselves have come under fire for their safety (from the pilots union) to privacy (over incidents of publicly leaked images).

My CATSA guy that day actually joked that I could see my pictures on YouTube that evening — thank God for his sense of humour!

However, next time I might return the favour by wearing a pair of these:

Via Animal New York

Update: Cancer Survivor Flight Attendant Forced To Show Prosthetic Breast During TSA Pat-Down

Update 2: "I didn’t really expect her to touch my vagina through my pants.” (I think — hope — that "vulva" is more anatomically correct, but anyway...)

Update 3: TSA Takes Nail Clippers From Gun-Toting Soldier

Update 4: TSA Molests 3 Year Old Child at Chattanooga Metro Airport

Update 5: Bladder cancer survivor was soaked by his own urine after a TSA agent broke the man's urostomy bag

Update 6: TSA Won't Grope [incoming U.S. House Speaker] John Boehner

Update 7: This is how Germans protest their country's body scanners (naked, obviously)

Update 8: Another amusing protest stunt: ‘Feminisnt’ Sex Worker Molests TSA Back

Update 9: Scientist: X-ray scanners deliver “20 times the average dose that is typically quoted by TSA.”

Update 10: On November 21, 2010, I was allowed to enter the U.S. through an airport security checkpoint without being x-rayed or touched by a TSA officer. This post explains how.

Update 11: TSA incalls on SNL: "It's our business to touch yours"

Update 12: Metallic ink on underpants makes U.S. 4th Constitutional Amendment (against unreasonable search and seizure) show up on your airport scan

Update 13: Work-travelling, breastmilk-pumping mom harrassed for wanting to bring her baby's dinner home on the plane. (video)