Well, arguably, dressing as a specific person or character isn't "black face".

If your costume is "I'm a black guy" then you're playing on stereotypes to create a parody of blackness and black people and its a statement (and not historically a particularly nice one) about status and all that. Minstrelsy was "this is what those wacky black people do!"

If you're dressed as Vanessa Huxtable or Mr. T, on the other hand, you're portraying a particular individual. You dress as that individual and try and talk or move like that individual and not some broad sterotype.

Of course, that costume doesn't exist in a vaccuum (see above re: minstrelsy) so you want to pick your moment and maybe not do it -- but its not quite the same thing.

Did she actually have dark makeup on? Because, yeah, I think I a white girl could be in a Vanessa costume with her own skin color.

And on the other thing, I think a lot of little boys around 4 or 5 are into pretty just like a lot of little girls are, but most of them get shamed out of it.

Bleagh. So sick of the guys in comics who just don't get the double-standard about female characters and how they're depicted. I haven't bought a comic in a while, but I've seen the many articles about WW's costume change. While I can appreciate it on one level, the traditionalist in me prefers the old school costume (pre-Byrne redesign). That said, this bit on C-Section comics pisses me off: [link]

"Roughly seventy years after she was conceived, DC comics has decided that Wonder Woman will undergo a complete makeover. Forget the sexy little red white and blue singlet she was wearing - The amazon princess is now covering herself with a thick leather Jacket and a matching pair of shiny pants. Wonder Woman is definitely adapting a more modest, some may say conservative, look. We can only guess where this is going. The cartoon above is my guess."

My response is:

"Forget the sexy little banana hammock he was wearing, the Dark Knight is now covering himself from head to toe with not only a full body suit, but a cape that obscures him from view."

She did from what I remember, also from the fact that everyone, she in particular, is fairly mortified over it today.

Because this

Of course, that costume doesn't exist in a vaccuum (see above re: minstrelsy) so you want to pick your moment and maybe not do it -- but its not quite the same thing.

do any of the cat owners have a litter that they like and does not track?

I used a bunch of them and finally went back to Arm&Hammer Super Scoop. I have the litterbox inside a large plastic storage box, that I cut a kitty door in one end of. They step out of the litterbox onto the plastic "floor", then step out onto a large doormat. I found that a heavy doormat with a deep grooved pile and a rubber backing, meant for muddy boots, was far superior to any litter mat I ever used, and it isn't uncomfortable on their paws so they don't try to avoid it. Then I take the lid off the plastic box to change the litter, and I can vacuum out the litter from the floor of the box. The lid helps control the odor too. One of my boys tends to aim high and go over the edge of the litterbox, which is easy to clean up now because I can just wipe off the plastic. And lately I've been lining the box with a cut-open garbage bag, so I can just lift out any mess. The whole setup gets most of the litter off their paws before they step on the carpet, and keeps odor and mess and cleaning time to a minimum.

yet no one has addressed the issue of "why didn't he dress as Velma?"

No big mystery, when guys dress up as gals they pick role models with a sense of style rather than the frumpy-but-awesome. When's the last time you went into a drag cabaret and saw someone done up as Sandra Day O'Connor or Betty Friedan?

No big mystery, when guys dress up as gals they pick role models with a sense of style rather than the frumpy-but-awesome.

VELMA IS NOT FRUMPY!

Ok, maybe a little, but that doesn't detract from her inherent awesomeness.

Even as a kid I hated Daphne and loved Velma.

All this Velma and Daphne talk reminds me of the scene in Spaced, when Tim and Daisy are talking about how when they were kids, they always saw themselves as Fred and Daphne, then the camera pulls back and they're dressed exactly like Shaggy and Velma. Hee!

Velma owns her frumpiness. And, as we've seen, come the Zombie Apocalypse Daphne will pay the price for not wearing sensible shoes.

Velma is probably secretly worth millions of dollars due to some sensible investing and some programming she does on the side.