Category Archives: women

When annihilating a culture doesn’t work…

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…you diminish them in other ways.

That wasn’t the only recent incident of continuing to sexualize Native American women…No Doubt also used it in a video.

Holy crap, you couldn’t see how unbelievably offensive this was–not only to Native American women, but to women in general?  I seriously doubt the claims that they had consulted with *cough* experts and Native Americans who thought this was just fine.  Anyone with two brain cells would be offended by it.  Violence towards women is never okay.  It’s not entertainment.

The Phallus of Empire

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…has little to do with the story behind this blog, but I thought it was an amusing comment.

And so, folks, 1989 is just waaay too in the past to, you know, remember it.  Whatsay we take Ronald Reagan’s name off of everything that his name has been plastered on since it’s ancient history, too?  I’d be much more in favor of that than removing Gilda’s name.   

Besides, she’s just a dumb woman, what do they matter?

Good Grief.

Arafat’s exhumation

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It was described as painful, but necessary.

One of the commenters said that Polonium-210 was a favorite of the KGB. Interesting.  It jogged my memory of another involved with the Russians who also suddenly became ill.  Be sure to click on the link for Anna Politakovskaya, whom was also poisoned, albeit unsuccessfully.  When poison doesn’t work, a bullet will do the trick…

Here’s another article on Arafat on the daily beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/12/the-ghost-of-yasser-arafat.html

Here’s an interesting side article on radiation’s effects.  And one here on radiation testing in the U.S. and its consequences: http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/utah_today/radiationdeathanddeception.html

Silkwood

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My apologies, I meant to blog on this last week, at the anniversary of Karen Silkwood’s death, November 13th, 1976~

So now it’s been thirty-six years since her mysterious death after she had raised too many questions about the safety of the plutonium processing plant that employed her.  The TV movie “Silkwood” raised a stir when it was aired.  I remember watching it.  For some reason, my memory had Cher as the lead role…apologies to Meryl Streep.

The only complaint I have about the movie is the emphasis on Karen’s personal life…perhaps they didn’t want to leave stuff out to make an accurate portrayal, but it seems that whenever a woman makes noise about something, her morals are always questioned and if she is not a freaking saint, then she is not to be believed.

And I wonder if anything has changed…whether plutonium is still going missing–and where it’s going to…

Correction

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…okay, okay,  I should have waited until I finished (at lunch) the last of The Birth House before saying that none of the men main characters was a good man…because Ami McKay left it to the end to unveil Hart as a good guy–he being the brother of the late husband of the main character, Dora.  Now, he helped her with some chores before the ending, but that was it–nothing even hinted  that things were going to go beyond courtesy of a brother-in-law.  Yes, well, things developed, as they say, but there again, the reader is left to wonder about much of the relationship.  I think it would have been wonderful to develop that character out.  By Dora’s choosing, they never marry, which is a great ending.  This writer has seen too many they-married-and-lived-happily-ever-after stories…real life just doesn’t echo that sentiment.

Skating to independence

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What a novel approach.  And of course, there are the haters in the commenters who can’t seem to find any good intentions in white folks…imagine, thinking that someone trying to reach out in this way is somehow trying to act superior…?  Seriously??

Edited to add:  Yes, I do totally get not forcing Western beliefs onto others…I’m with that.  But if there is some way to bridge cultures, then shouldn’t that be tried, to?

Passages and Peace

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The dear lady that passed on in our building left behind some wonderful gifts–we were apparently like-minded, but she had barriers up and wouldn’t let people in.  I knew that she had been hurt to put up those boundaries, so I gave her that space to feel protected.  It’s a loss, however, as I have learned she had a B.S. degree and loved to read the same kinds of books I love to read.

One of those books, The Birth House by Ami McKay, had me reading it all weekend.  It’s rare that I read a book through, but since I have an interest in midwifery, I had to find out “what happened next” in the book.  As one of the commenters on the Powell’s website said, I would have liked a little more complexity to the main characters.  There’s something that’s nagging at me but I can’t bring it up to the front of my brain right now–

In the book, the main character, Dora Rare, eventually marries a man who is a conscientious objector.  Archer is the son of a wealthy widow and his objecting to the war brings scorn from a group of the women, who give him a white feather to show the world he’s a *coward*.  (the book goes on to portray him as a drunk who forces himself upon Dora–another issue with the book is that there are no men who are main characters who are good guys–this bothers me greatly.)

I had forgotten about the  custom of pinning white feathers on men during the wars…

…and then I thought of how the white feather was used.  I think that would be a powerful statement–putting a white feather on one’s clothing to show the world that you were objecting to war.  More powerful, perhaps, than the peace sign?

And as is stated in the book, the wearing of the feather brings about such controversy.  Why?

Why is it so difficult to live in peace?  From my parents’ generation (WWII) to my generation (Vietnam) to my children’s generation (Iraq, Afghanistan)…none of us have known a time without war.  Living in such times makes it so much harder to even grasp what a world would be without war…to actually know peace…

Why should one feel guilty or a coward for wanting peace?

I used to think that way before my own metamorphosis, but came to  see how badly the conscientious objectors were treated–how the youth of the Vietnam era went to Canada and were told by their parents that they would turn them over to authorities if they tried to come back home.  It took courage to leave anyway.  Or how they were beaten, hosed down with water, arrested, etc.  I now see standing up against war as an act of courage.

Even now, it takes courage to speak out against war.  You’re viewed as unpatriotic.

And with every holiday being tied to the military, it gets harder and harder for those advocating peace to speak out.

And one never hears about the Quakers, the Church of the Brethren, or the Amish–the religions who do not believe in war….it’s only the religions who somehow have managed to link Good Christians with the military that are promoted.

And the question that they cannot answer is:  Who would Jesus bomb?