Go buy the new Beck CD. Immediately.
It's called Guero. It's fantastic. It rocks and grooves. He will be remembered as one of the greatest.
I'm taking a little break from the philosophy-speak tonight. You try working with a bunch of 16 year-olds all night and then thinking clearly afterwards. I have a newfound respect for parents, and a slightly less vague idea of what dad means when he says "your life is over as soon as you have kids." All teachers probably need to be commited.
A note about feminism, and most other ism's...why is racism bad but feminism good? Racist, supremacist, elitist, fascist, socialist, communist, fundamentalist...feminist. Maybe that's the point, though. Maybe the oppression of women is so complete that even their movement gets lopped in with all the other ist's, relegated to the trash heap of discarded and humiliating parts of human history. But then again, maybe it belongs there.
I'm taking a feminist philosophy class this semester. There is about as much philosophy going on in this class as you might find in a Waffle House thirty miles south of Macon, GA at four in the morning. Speaking of which, ever notice the Waffle House policy of the waitress calling out the order to the cook instead of writing it down for him? Such faith in the literacy level of your employees you have, oh WaHo.
But back to feminism...I don't think it should be completely ignored. The women's rights movement was indeed essential for the growth of our country and western society as a whole. (Now that I have copped out...) But get over it already, quite simply. The authors that we are reading conflate the situation of western women today with American slavery, domesticated animals, and Coca-Cola products. All of this while they live in a society that lets them speak their mind, publish their fundamentalist garbage, and do basically whatever they want--at the same time that the religions and cultures of the east really do treat women as property and while 97% of women in Egypt are still genitally mutilated. But man oh man, have they got it rough here.
And I guess it all boils back down to fundamentalism. If there is only one truth, and you've found it, it can be tough to let go, to ever admit that your one Truth is nothing but the worst of your own biases and psychosis emotionally manifest as Clarity.
So. Don't ever take feminist philosophy at the University of Georgia taught by Sherman, though it has provided a great deal of entertainment, and more violent, destructive, dream fantasies than any other class I've had.
As Father Kurt says, there is nothing to be said about a massacre except what the birds say. Poo-tee-weet.
Terry Schiavo is dead. So it goes. I have nothing to say about that situation except that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity deserve 15 years in limbo between dead and alive for turning her situation into a talking point for the republican party. Go read the constitution, please. And no, I'm not talking about the New Testament, Rush, though you would benefit from a better understanding of that, too. Heil, heil, heil.
But seriously. Go get Guero. Tune out the awful cycle of broadcast hatred for a little bit. Next time I'll be in a better mood. Goodnight all.
posted by Bob Howard @ 4:28 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I listened to Hannity several times while Schiavo was starving to death, and I didn't hear him make her situation into a "talking point," unless that phrase simply means something a radio personality talks about a lot. He did express amazement that nine Republicans in the Florida Senate voted against reinserting the feeding tube, but that is a rather remarkable fact, since Republicans generally support life. And yes, "life" is the appropriate term for what Schiavo had until recently. That is, unless you believe her husband, the benevolent figure who repeatedly asked his wife's caretakers when "that bitch" would die, bragged about the things he would do with the insurance money when she finally did, and tried to inject her with insulin to speed up the process. Terri's nurse stated in a signed court document that she responded with specific words to conversation and was able to communicate when she was in pain. The noted philosopher/lunatic Peter Singer might suggest a number of lower animals who can do the same. But she wasn't an animal, for God's sake. She shouldn't have been expendable at the whim of a man who could barely hide his glee at the prospect of her death.
Additional music suggestion: anything by The Black Keys
Bob, please sign up for the fantasy baseball league. The draft is tomorrow morning.
Hi, Pizza Boy,
Thought about your blog thing today, Bob. Even read some of it (and had to add “blog” to my spell checker). You should write a book. "Waffle House and Feminist Philosophy", eh?
I looked up the Oxford English (British English) definition of "feminism".
fem·i·nism (f• m-n• z• m)
• noun • the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of sexual equality.
Sounds about right to me. Doesn’t philosophy transcend gender? It needs a class?
I don't get it…but, feminism has sadly gone w-a-y beyond the lexical explanation... Glad I’m not a philosophy student, feminist or otherwise.
I did a Google search for 'feminism’ and funnily enough, but not surprisingly, the word ‘lesbian’ cropped up a whole lot.
I found lesbians in the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance and a web site for Feminist Lesbian Women of Colour and even a site in the UK to help with “…Identifying the difficulties experienced by [feminist] Muslim lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in accessing social and legal services.” I won’t be adding that url to my favourites.
Seems to my warped, dirty Brit mind like the feminism of today is not so much a woman’s right to be respected, as would a man, but rather the right to BE a man. Which led me to my next warped thought… It reminded me of a Monty Python movie scene in which the People’s Front of Judea (or the Judean People’s Front) first century, anti-imperialist group are holding a meeting on the steps of the forum, about why they hate the Romans and, “What have the Romans ever done for us?” kind of stuff:
STAN:
I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me 'Loretta'.
REG:
What?!
LORETTA:
It's my right as a man.
JUDITH:
Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?
STAN:
I want to have babies.
REG:
You want to have babies?!
STAN:
It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.
REG:
But... you can't have babies.
STAN:
Don't you oppress me.
REG:
I'm not oppressing you, Stan. You haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!
STAN:
[crying]
JUDITH:
Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies.
FRANCIS:
Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister. Sorry.
REG:
What's the point?
FRANCIS:
What?
REG:
What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?!
FRANCIS:
It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
REG:
Symbolic of his struggle against reality.
Maybe I’ll become a fundie femininist.
I will reserve the right to be treated fairly as the fairer sex; the right to walk in my God-given gift of femininity. I will relish words like ma’am, wife, lady and princess.
I will champion the gentleman who opens a door for me, doesn’t sit down until I have, shields me from the rain with his coat, and takes my arm when we cross the road.
I will steadfastly believe that a husband is the head of his household. That stay-at-home-motherhood is the most rewarding career in the world. That marriage is a covenant, not a dispensable union. And that eyelash curlers and high-heeled shoes are worth the pain. Not sure about nose-piercing yet. :o)
They were my thoughts today, my nocturnal friend. Good night. :o)
Hey Brian, Bobby and your "brit friend". Mom here. And look at the time - 1:40am, so I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree as they say. I have to agree that feminism has "gone too far". The victim consciousness of society and people in general makes for many ism's. I'd recommend taking a look at "Uncle Gil's" blogspot at heartofservice.blogspot.com for some very interesting commentary on the victim consciousness, responsibility and the road toward true service. In my profession (serving women, babies and families) I am constantly urging new parents to "take responsibility" for their births, but this is such a frightening concept for people that many cannot wrap themselves around it. If we all were to simply take responsibility for what we say, do, want, for our behaviors, etc., there would be little need for any of the ism's out there.
love,
mom
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