doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
society
damage
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“There is no way of measuring the damage to a society when a whole texture of humanity is kept from realizing its own power, when the woman architect who might have reinvented our cities sits barely literate in a semilegal sweatshop on the Texas- Mexican border, when women who should be founding colleges must work their entire lives as domestics.”
Adrienne Rich
Long before we had decided to go to Puerto Peñasco, I was outraged over the politics that are being raised up around the southern U.S. border issues.
I have lived in Arizona for more than twenty years. I have lived with migrant workers as my neighbors, my co-workers, and my friends. I consider the work they do to be invaluable to the economy of the United States.
I’ve wanted to write about the border issue for some time now but I could never quite find the right time. How did it fit in with everything else that was going on?
But this is the thing…
A giant wall will not keep people out if they want to get in bad enough (history has shown us that).
A giant wall only serves to create boundaries between the communication that needs to be ongoing between the nations of Mexico and the United States.
A giant wall creates an air of separatism and an “us versus them” mentality that is not conducive to being good neighbors.
Most of the migrant workers don’t want to live in the United States. They love their own country. That’s where their families are. That’s where their lives are.
They come to the United States to help their families escape the devastating poverty they face in their homeland. They send money home. They return home as often as they can. They, the majority, only come here to work, to earn money, to feed and clothe and house their families.
And I don’t see anything wrong with that. It is a symbiotic relationship. We need them as much as they need us.
But they should be paid a fair wage. And they should be treated well. And they should have benefits while they are here. And they should be able to go home without fear of losing their jobs, of being shot, of dying along the long desolate border.
And it is long and desolate.
As we drove through the hundreds of miles of desert yesterday, I considered the plights of the people trying to make better lives for themselves. Saguaros, chollas, ocotillos, organ pipes, scorpions, snakes, dry sand, hot sun, blowing winds, and no water are only a few of the perils they face as they try to cross the border. That doesn’t take into account steep, rocky mountains, the so-called “minutemen” who “guard” our borders, the border patrol, and the ever-vigilant inhabitants of border towns. Because, afterall, we don’t want them in our backyard.
Children sell tortillas, handmade toys, and washed windshields on the streets just to be able to eat. Children. Children the same age as my beloved niece.
They shouldn’t have to live life like that.
The politics that are happening right now affect real people. Children and adults alike are being told that they are not good enough to share in the wealth that we squander. They do not deserve it because they were not born in the right country, 50 feet across a manmade border.
Shame on us.
you’re it
05 years ago
I’m at odds on the banning of tag in the small suburban city of Attleboro, Massachussetts.
On one hand, I see it as another nail in the coffin of childhood.
We have these games we play as kids. Ring around the Rosey. Olly Olly Oxen Free. Hide and Seek. Tag.
These games help us understand social order and how to interact with one another on different levels than playing with dolls and racing cars in our safe homes allow us. They encourage interaction, confrontation, and diplomacy.
On the other hand, they encourage confrontation and aggression and one-ups-manship.
I wonder if the civic leaders who implement these rules are thinking about how this will affect the futures of these kids.
Will banning tag lead to kids who don’t understand how harsh and cruel the world can be? Or will it foster kids who grow up to be adults who think that there are other means of solving problems than physical violence?
Or are they mostly concerned with the issues of litigation? And if that is the case, aren’t they promoting a more litigious community? If these kids grow up thinking that yelling loud enough will get them what they want (no matter how irrational) and that if they don’t get it, they’ll sue, are we better off for it?
I really do understand the banning. But it also leaves me in a quandary.
beauty
05 years ago
On Saturday, I wrote about body issues and how I view myself because of what other people have said about me or described me.
This week, I’ve found that I’m not alone – not at all. I had a few people write and say that this is a problem for many people. It doesn’t matter if you’re overweight, underweight, average weight (for you) or not. It doesn’t matter how others view you or how you view yourself. It seems that many of us have issues with how we regard ourselves in the eyes of others.
Most of you have probably already seen the Dove Campaign for Beauty. Links and videos are all over the internet these days. Evolution is the newest one and chronicles the changes that a model’s face goes through before it is put up on a billboard. From a fresh-washed face to stylists working on her with makeup and hair products to photoshopping, she is transformed into a person entirely different from who she really is.
What strikes me about the campaign, however, is how they are reaching out to young girls. The images we give them every day in magazines and videos and tv are unrealistic and it is making them look at themselves in a way that young girls shouldn’t. I can’t imagine not liking my freckles. They are such a part of who I am. From the time I was a little girl, my grandfather would tell me that they were angel kisses and I was special to have them. I try to tell Willow the same thing as the freckles increase in number across her nose.
Should we be concerned with why Dove is doing this campaign? We know they are out to make money. Does that matter, though, if they are getting an important message out to the people who need it the most?
There are moments when I feel beautiful. There are moments when I feel dowdy and unattractive. I’m not someone who pays a lot of attention to a mirror or to buying the right products or wearing designer clothes. That’s not important to me.
I do, however, recognize that I make efforts to look good for certain people. I do realize that I will wear something because I know someone likes it or that I will pull my hair up or back because it makes me look a certain way. I also realize that when someone else thinks I’m attractive, I feel moreso.
Is this right? Probably not. I should feel it from within. But getting that acknowledgment is nice. It makes me feel good.
And while I hate that we, as a society, spend so much time and effort on the physical body and forget that beauty really does shine from within, I also realize that we are visually stimulated and what someone sees will mean that they assess me in a certain way.
If I can instill in my nieces that they are beautiful because of how they treat someone or how they react to adversity or what their minds create, then will this translate into physical beauty? I don’t know. But I think that both need to be nurtured. And I think Dove is on the right track. They are telling us something we already know but sometimes forget.
wait, weight
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I’m a little late in talking about this, I know. The Daily Mail wrote on the story on October 4th. I was thinking about this, though, since the moment I saw the photograph and read the article.
This is the thing, in case you haven’t heard. The fashion designer, Jean Paul Gaultier, decided to use ONE size 20 model in his runway show (you can click on the image to the left to see the image in a larger size). Okay. This is good and fine. EXCEPT, he used ONE larger model and the rest were all size 0.
Not only did he only use one plus size model BUT his show was focused around aerobics. Reuters reports:
“…Gaultier again took the audience by surprise as he turned a catwalk into a fitness room, equipped with glittery exercise machines, sending models racing along in elaborate training suits, pumped up by songs such as Diana Ross’s 1982 hit “Muscles” and excerpts from aerobics classes.
Wearing eyeshades and high-heeled Converse shoes, models paraded in baseball jackets in embroidered satin with shorts reading Gaultier on the buttocks as a recorded voice screamed encouragingly: “Now, we all want to have thighs of steel.”
While I couldn’t find a comment from Gaultier to explain his reason for using one larger sized model, I find this to be a mockery of women who are larger than a size 0. And…what is a size 0 anyway? It makes me think of the Emperor’s Clothing where they would really be naked because 0 means nada.
And why care about what size you are when the highly regarded (ahem) Hewlett-Packard is so willing to make a camera that slims us down automatically?
And do you notice how all of this is aimed at women? Not one man in the HP ad. Not one man in the catwalks is being mocked or disregarded.
Women are the whipping posts for the weight issue. It’s easy to make fun of women because we seem to buy into it so much more. We seem to feed into the furor that arises over weight and feel that we have to meet some ideal look in order to be desireable. And many men feed into that by focusing so much on a woman’s weight.
Sure, being overweight is unhealthy. I completely agree. Being underweight is also unhealthy.
Every person has a weight that is healthier for her or him and it isn’t often in the size 20 or the size 0 areas. It’s in-between. And finding that weight is more important than fitting into designer clothes or buying into a camera that makes us look like something we’re not.
I’d rather be me, fat and all, than be anyone else or try to fit some ideal that is not only dangerous but unattainable.
inequality
05 years ago
I’ve talked about the trend that I see in the photoblogging community to focus on men’s blogs predominantly and to ignore the validity of women’s blogs (for the most part).
Recently, Photoblogs.org started a series that they call the “Hall of Fame”. According to the Hall of Fame page,
“Photoblogs.org regularly adds outstanding photoblogs to its Hall of Fame. The intent of the Hall of Fame is to recognize those who have made a significant impact on the Photoblogs.org community. This list acts as a reference for anyone who wants to see fine examples of what can be accomplished through photoblogging. The selection of Hall of Fame members is determined automatically by a special algorithm that analyzes website influence. No more than one new site is added per day.”
When I looked through the list of twenty-one current “Hall of Famers”, there were two women’s blogs listed. Two out of twenty-one.
To me, this is a failure in the system. It fails to recognize that the inherent differences between how men and women see the world and how we photograph it are appealing in different ways. It also fails to take into consideration that if a blogger is not a part of the “boy’s club” (and most of these people comment on one another’s blogs but rarely go outside of that loop), then they will not be considered a “Hall of Famer.”
But why does it bother me? Am I concerned with being a Hall of Famer? No. I don’t think most people *get* my photography. And, quite frankly, I’m okay with that. I also don’t think that I will fit in with mainstream photobloggers. I’m not a mainstream sort of person – never have been. And I’m okay with that, too.
It bothers me because there are some amazing female photobloggers out there who are being overlooked simply because they are not hits on the popularity scale – and, essentially, that’s what that list is starting to look like.
–
The other day I had walked down to the local health food store to pick up some things for lunch. As I walked back to my office, I passed the geology building where a group of young men (all in their early 20s by my estimation) were standing.
One of them made a catcall whistle.
I looked around.
I was the only female within viewable distance.
And they were looking at me.
Then came another.
And I was confused.
I’m nearly twice their age and not what I would consider whistle material. So why were they whistling?
So, that’s what went through my mind first.
Then I wondered if I should be offended. They were treating me like a piece of meat walking down the street.
Or should I be flattered? I mean, I *am* almost twice their age and they were whistling.
Was the whistling meant in jest, to be mean? Was it sincere? Is that kind of whistling ever sincere?
And why am I giving it this much thought, even 3 days after the fact?
I think it bothers me. It bothers me that this sort of behavior is still taking place and that women are still being treated with such disdain.
What’s wrong with actually approaching someone and saying, “I just wanted to tell you that I find you attractive.”? Or saying, “I think you look very nice today.”? Why whistle and create this air of separatism? It’s not healthy.
advertising
05 years ago
This video is funny. Nevermind that it’s an advertisement for one more car on the road. Nevermind that it’s feeding into that environment of consumerism and that more is better.
The video is funny.
And guess where I found it? The crab has a MySpace account. Seriously.
And this really cracks me up:
Who I’d like to meet:
Other Actors. Invertebrates. Surfers. Honda fans. Beach Lovers. Environmentalists. People who appreciate a hearty pinch. Vegetarians. Those with seafood allergies. Other actors. Great huggers! Britons by birth, Surfers by soul. Tuners.
Seriously.
This is some good advertising.
once and for all
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This will be the last time I bring up this topic because I have a lot of other things I want to write about. I also don’t think it’s incumbant upon me to educate men about pregnancy. There is a lot of information out there. It’s easy to find.
There are a wide range of opinions and studies and no matter what your opinion on this subject is, you’ll find something to back it up.
Suffice it to say, women have been having babies into older ages since the dawn of time. It just so happens that older ages weren’t as old as they are now. People died at 35.
I have read countless books where women had 10, 15, even 20 kids, well into their middle ages, because they didn’t use birth control (it wasn’t allowed) and because their husbands couldn’t or wouldn’t practice abstinence.
I shook my head when Rick came back to say this,
You say this is a double standard. I don’t see how it is so. I’m not saying that older women shouldn’t date younger men. If it floats your boat and all that. I’m just pointing out the biological “truth†if that word can be used.
At some point we became “enlightened†and women were supposed to wait to start families for a variety of reasons. Why? The species hasn’t survived this long by women waiting to have kids when they’re 40. Probably wouldn’t have either.
Feminism denigrates the role of mother while claiming that it is seeking more power for women. Funny that it is always the men who end up benefitting. Makes you wonder…..Qui bono.
Women are encouraged to explore their sexuality, find a career and eschew differences between the sexes. So when they finally come around to starting a family, they’re no longer in demand. When they were in demand, they weren’t interested in starting a family or embracing marriage and all that goes with it.
And just to let you know, I believe you should have kids whenever you want. I didn’t say it wasn’t ok. I was merely commenting that the man in question is stating a reality.
First, I think Rick has the best of intentions. But I also think that he doesn’t understand women very well or what the double standard is here. I’m going to lay it out plainly.
By the standard that the men who have responded to these posts have put up, MEN can FATHER children well into their 40s. WOMEN should have BABIES when they are YOUNG and be GRANDMAS when they are my age or older.
That’s a double standard.
No one ever said women were “supposed” to do anything. I didn’t have the opportunity to start a family when I was younger. You want the details? I was dating a VERY abusive man until I was 25. Then he stalked me for 2 years. Then I dated another and another and another because I was stupid and not very sure of myself and probably thinking I deserved it. Then I quit dating altogether because I wanted to get my life together.
Crazy, that. I should have been popping out babies if I had wanted them instead of waiting until I was more stable.
Huh.
And let’s play the feminism game. It’s so very much fun to use the “feminism” word to place all of the world’s woes on the backs of women. Easy cop out. Too easy. Try something original because that definitely isn’t going to work on my blog.
I get it. I’m no longer in demand. I guess I went out of style like emerald-cut diamonds.
If only I were a marquis.
Woe is me.
happy birthday, u.s.a.
0
With all of the recent dryness and fires, fireworks were cancelled in Flagstaff this year. It’s not the first time this has happened and it probably won’t be the last but it does seem to take away from that feeling of celebration – at least in the evenings.
Flagstaff has a wonderful tradition of a 4th of July parade. Each year it is very different. We can always count on the muscle cars and the marching corgis but what comes in-between those entries are a delight.
If you just sat on the corner of a street in downtown Flagstaff, watching a parade go by, you could imagine yourself anywhere in the country. It is lush greens and big, beautiful victorian and edwardian style houses. It is friendly smiles and “how do you do’s”. It is people stopping to let a pedestrian cross the street.
It’s apple pie.
And baseball.
And americana.
This is when Flagstaff shines and lets her voice be heard.
And with the prominent politicians who showed up (the governor and the state’s attorney general, no less), Flagstaff’s annual 4th of July parade has become a local and statewide favorite.
Cool weather, the smell of pines, happy faces and “hellos” from the participants to the crowd and back make this an event that is worthwhile.
selling with sex
05 years ago
This is nothing new. People have been using sex or sex appeal to sell things since the dawn of advertising, I would guess. I think of bathing suit clad beauties perched on old muscle cars. Or the half naked dancing man in Kmart commercials.
It’s about sex, baby. And it sells.
One company, shai clothing (pronounced “shy”), decided to take it up a notch. They aren’t just using sex – they are using porn to sell their clothes. I’m not talking soft core porn where you only see breasts and hear noises. Oh, no…it’s porn. Vaginal and anal penetration, blowjobs, and more. They have sections for men with men, women with women and women with men.
To be fair, they also have an “under 18″ area for those who are not of legal age to still be able to buy their clothing and they do stress that their site has porn on it and that it is safeguarded by one of those parental nanny systems.
Shai is a European company. It is not regulated by the same laws that regulate those within the United States.
That being said, they are very proactive about taking personal responsibility for what is shown and seen on the internet. In their Copyright & Credits they state,
Rules for Kids (Minors, Under legal age)
If you are under legal age, you should not enter this website!SHAÃ believes that children using the Internet require special protection, and we urge parents or guardians to explain Internet safety to their children. Parents are urged to spend time online with their children to become familiar the Internet in general.
Control tools are available from online services and software manufacturers to help create a safer environment for children. This web-site automatically alerts Parental Control Systems regarding its X-rated content.
For more information, please visit: http://www.icra.org/
And that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? They have a feedback section where people are complaining about how blatant it is. People are complaining about how accessible it is.
But this is the thing…we are responsible for what happens on our computers. If our children are online, we are ultimately responsible for what they are doing, what they are seeing, and what they are accessing. We are. Not another company. Us.
When Willow comes over to visit, I am careful about what goes up on my screen. When I’m visiting flickr, I know that I may see some nudity and I use discretion in visiting the site.
We’ve tried, as a society, to completely remove ourselves from responsibility over our (and our childrens’) actions. We try to place blame everywhere else but where it ultimately resides: with us.
We are responsible for what happens on our machines. We have the power to disconnect. We have the power to lock them down. We have the power to disengage.
We should take these responsibilities seriously.