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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025

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The rules are ambiguous as to which thread should be used for culture war related/adjacent small questions, but I'll take a guess that the mods would prefer questioners err on the side of the culture war roundup, so I'll ask this here:

How much of the "Michelle Obama is transgender" conspiracy theory is genuine vs trolling? And, among those who genuinely believe it, what are the proposed explanations/is there a consensus for the Obama daughters' parentage? Adoption would be too difficult to cover up, but so would Michelle being transgender, to begin with, so I suppose that's not a great threat to the theory. If the full amendment history of the relevant section of Illinois legal code is available online, finding it would require more effort than I care to make, but "the exception that implies the rule" indicates that it was the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act enacted in 2005 that allowed pre-birth orders for putting intended mothers on Illinois birth certificates:

A significant component of the Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act is the establishment of legal parentage for intended parents. The Act allows for a pre-birth order process, ensuring the intended parents’ names are placed on the child’s birth certificate immediately upon birth. Intended parents must file a petition with the court before the child is born, presenting the surrogacy agreement and other relevant documents to confirm compliance with the Act.

This legal recognition provides immediate parental rights and responsibilities for intended parents, eliminating the need for post-birth adoption procedures. The pre-birth order process highlights the importance of a legally sound surrogacy agreement and ensures intended parents’ rights are protected from the moment of the child’s birth.

"Birthers" didn't hesitate to demand the release of Barrack Obama's own birth certificate - what about his daughters' birth certificates? (Or is the conspiracy theory all trolling or are those who genuinely believe it the kinds of people who wouldn't consider even its immediate implications or ...?)

My guess is that some men get so used to the hyperfeminine women the media constantly throws at us that a normal looking older woman looks masculine to them. Kind of like thinking a woman must have a genetic deformity because her eyes are so much smaller than the eyes of anime girls.

Ehh... I would just say that some women have 'High T' masculine faces with strong/longer jawlines and non-neotenous features.

The PUA community back in the day (using its particular brand of phrenology) generally ascribed these women to having more dominant personalities, higher sex drive and a higher predisposition to infidelity.