Archive for June, 2007

telling

4 years ago

by dawn in just a thought, liberal, politics, rant, society, women

Yesterday I wrote about a woman being branded by a group of people for calling CPS to protect children.

Today, I’m going to write about the way a female candidate is treated by a certain male journalist.

But first, confirm this for me. We are in the year 2007, right? And people keep saying we’ve reached the threshold of equality, right? I mean, I keep hearing younger people saying that we have complete equality between the sexes.

But…the disparity between us is still huge. Take, for instance, the election for President of the United States.

MediaMatters reports that on the Chris Matthews Show, this took place:

Asked by Time managing editor Richard Stengel, “What are you suggesting by asking does this diminish her as a commander in chief by being surrounded by women?,” Matthews replied: “No, the idea that it — well, let me just get historic. We’ve never had a woman commander in chief.”

Right…historic. Because everything should be based on what has happened in the past. As if going with the status quo — John Wayne and General Patton — has been so great for us.

What really gets me, though, is that people are actually discussing the fact that Clinton has other women surrounding her. That’s a bad thing? And then discussing their hair color. WTF?!?

“It makes a case with a certain demographic, and I noticed the picture on the front of The Washington Post the other day showed her with all these women and her crew, and did you notice, there was only one blonde out of about 15 women, so it sort of — I thought that was very telling.”

Women with needs, Matthews says. Yeah…because, really, we’re either needy, maladjusted women or supposed to be beautiful, barefoot, and in the kitchen waitin’ for our man. We’re not supposed to be ambitious, intelligent, or fraternizing with other ambitious, intelligent women. Cardinal sins, those are.

Be a good girl. Shut your mouth. Don’t try to work outside the box.

summer downpour on campus

4 years ago

by dawn in poetry, sunday songs

american life in poetry: column 110

by ted kooser, u.s. poet laureate, 2004-2006

I’ve talked a lot in this column about poetry as celebration, about the way in which a poem can make an ordinary experience seem quite special. Here’s the celebration of a moment on a campus somewhere, anywhere. The poet is Juliana Gray, who lives in New York. I especially like the little comic surprise with which it closes.

Summer Downpour on Campus

When clouds turn heavy, rich
and mottled as an oyster bed,

when the temperature drops so fast
that fog conjures itself inside the cars,
as if the parking lots were filled
with row upon row of lovers,

when my umbrella veils my face
and threatens to reverse itself
at every gust of wind, and rain
lashes my legs and the hem of my skirt,

but I am walking to meet a man
who’ll buy me coffee and kiss my fingers–

what can be more beautiful, then,
than these boys sprinting through the storm,
laughing, shouldering the rain aside,
running to their dorms, perhaps to class,
carrying, like torches, their useless shoes?

Reprinted from “The Louisville Review,” (No. 59, Spring 2006) by permission of the author. Copyright (c) 2006 by Juliana Gray, whose most recent book of poetry is “The Man Under My Skin,” River City Publishing, 2005. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

snitch

4 years ago

by dawn in abuse, humanity, women

The things that human beings do to one another never fails to surprise me. I cannot even begin to think up these things and yet, new atrocities happen every day.

In the Phoenix news today:

The suspects shaved off a portion of the victimâ€™s hair and using a branding iron, wrote the word â€œsnitchâ€ on her face, then blindfolded her, officers said.

Her body was also burned with a propane torch, investigators said.

I am sick to my stomach over this. It pisses me off.
People are frightened enough about coming forward and reporting crimes — especially crimes dealing with domestic violence. Then some monsters come along and mutilate a woman for watching out for their children — children they should have been caring for — and I think this will scare people away from calling the authorities even more.

They waited for her. They waited in the house for her so they could torture her.

I can only imagine what their children have been going through.Â I hope the children find good homes and that this woman is able to find some semblance of peace after this.

Monsters.

feed me

4 years ago

by dawn in cancer, food, life

A friend posted this link, What the World Eats, on Twitter the other day. It came shortly after I had made some decisions about my own eating habits.

I’ve been working really hard to lose some weight in the last year. I have lost nearly 50 pounds but I have had a diet filled with a lot of processed foods that come under the label of “spa classics” and “homestyle” and “cafe’ delights.” I chose to eat these foods because they were easy, I could count the calories easily, and it didn’t take more time for cooking than I really had.

However, I started thinking about what I’m eating and what it is costing me. First, those meals are extremely expensive. At $3 or $4 a meal, I could use that money to make 2, 3, or 4 meals that are more healthy.

Second, the meals are frozen so I’m not getting the same nutrients out of the vegetables that I would get if I actually made the food myself.

I don’t know where those foods are coming from. If I buy fresh fruits and vegetables (and I usually buy organic), then I have some sort of control over the quality.

Also, everything I have been reading says that certain foods are good to help combat cancer. Maybe if I treat my body better, I will have less incidences of cancer and a healthier life. I think, too, that it can help me with the fatigue and illness that seem to plague me.

I looked through that pictorial and watched the food that went by. The wealthy western families had diets full of processed foods. The poorer families had diets full of vegetables, whole wheats, and non-processed foods. And the less wealthy diets looked better to me. The abundance of fruits and vegetables made my mouth water.

I’ve been thinking about the whole slow food movement, too. Enjoying the food we eat. I put my fork down between each bite, savoring the food that is going in to my mouth. I think about what is going in, and appreciate the work that has gone into it.

I want to enjoy my food and let it work for me, not against me.

I figure it’s never too late to treat myself right.

–

The MacBook Pro is a work computer. It’s not really mine but it is mine to use. I’m still excited. Glossy screen. 17 inches. The better to see my photographs with.

I’ll miss my little 15″ PowerBook G4, though. It has been a good machine for me. My first Mac. I feel almost weepy. *sniff*

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telling

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