Clarence and Virginia Thomas (Photo: Associated Press)

ON BOOBS: The Washington Post's Richard Cohen is tired of the whole Clarence Thomas Anita Hill thing. Is it because Hill testified against Thomas nearly 20 years ago but he and his wife refuse to let it go, accusing Hill of racism in autobiographies and demanding apologies in early-morning telephone messages? Nope, it's because it's perfectly acceptable for a man who runs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to inquire as to the breast size of his female staffers:

In elementary school, some kid must have plastered a "kick me!" sign on Clarence Thomas's back -- and it has never been taken off. Every 20 years or so, some woman surfaces to accuse the now-Supreme Court justice of being a male chauvinist pig -- to resurrect an old term from the tie-dyed era -- but falls frustratingly short of making a case for true sexual harassment. Thomas stands nearly alone on the court in his shallowness of his scholarship and the narrowness of his compassion. But when it comes to his alleged sexual boorishness, he stands condemned of being a man.

"Some of this is self-protection," Cohen concludes. "I was young and boorish once myself and have turned out to be a veritable saint." GUH.

The Dept. of Education has released new guidelines for federal anti-bullying laws: "The letter states that while federal statute provides no specific protection against bullying on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, LGBT students are protected on the basis of gender under federal law" and "while federal laws don’t provide explicit protection from bullying on the basis of religion, they do offer protection against the harassment of members of religious groups based on their shared ethnic characteristics."

The Washington Times borders on feminism (again!). From Cheryl Wetzstein:

In a study released in October, [Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media] said that, among speaking characters, men outnumbered women by a ratio of 2.42 to 1. That's an odd imbalance since women make up more than half of the world's population, said Madeline Di Nonno, GDIGM's executive director. Moreover, this tally "has not changed significantly in 20 years," the institute said.

. . . Female characters were more likely than male characters to be in "sexy, tight or alluring attire" (24 percent to 4 percent), be physically attractive (14 percent to 3.6 percent), appear with partial nudity (18.5 percent to 5.6 percent) and have "small" waists (22.9 percent to 4.5 percent). Such results "show that females' curb appeal is more important than their male counterparts," wrote USC associate professor Stacy L. Smith and colleague Marc Choueiti.

One caveat: "Speaking personally, I am not a media critic, and arguments about onscreen gender parity don't really excite me."

MISC.: "In general, they're trying to create the impression that I'm in favor of statutory rape, pedophilia and child pornography," Ariz. Attorney General candidate Tom Horne says of a D.C.-based attack ad against him. Md. Gov. Martin O'Malley has reiterated his intention to sign same-sex marriage into law if it passes his desk. And Anne Applebaum is upset that they couldn't find more "moderate" comedians to stage a "Rally to Restore Sanity." Gallagher, anyone?