You know I have always had an affinity for France that I really can’t explain, I have just come to accept that I am a francophile and if I had my way I’d live in a small town on the southern coast of France doing absolutely nothing. But that’s not really the point of this post. Granted I’m a little late keeping up with this news but I am so pleased to write that France has actually passed legislation banning “death messages” to young women who starve themselves to be thin. I find this to be particularly progressive and encouraging because Paris is the seat to so many prominent fashion houses. I just love it, I love that they value the health and well-being of their people enough to do something this progressive. Yay! Click here to read the BBC article on it I’m so excited that they are promoting healthy body image instead of starvation on the hopes that you may become a model. Seriously people, looking like a coat hanger is way over-rated.
Category: news
Faltering Feminism
Yesterday I read this beautiful article by Susan Faludi, who I know can be extreme at times but this was really worth reading. It is called Second-Place Citizens and is an Op-Ed in the New York Times. I recommend reading it because it actually gives some really good insight into why there are so many women that have gotten so upset over the Democratic primaries. I, for one, am part of those women who feel like our voices are not being heard and who fear for feminism. In fact, today at work two of my coworkers were talking about Hillary’s speech at the DNC last night and I knew that one of them had not heard it and was just speaking with the same vitriol that we’ve been hearing in the media for months now. The best part is when I bring that up they can’t speak because obviously the things they have to say are inappropriate for work. It is so frustrating to continue to live in a misogynistic country and yet have everyone in denial about it. The worst part is that *so* many women today choose to ignore this and therefore men are not held accountable. When will we learn that the battle for equal rights is not over? In fact it’s not even close.
Sadly it is people like those that I work with who make me consider voting for Ralph Nader yet again, there is a man whose values I can stand behind. Who lives up to what he believes in. Who is not a part of the political machine. Despite what Barack Obama touts he has been an extremely successful politician working within the framework of the Democratic party’s politics. If it weren’t for Hillary’s call to vote for Obama, I wouldn’t give this a second thought, my vote would be for Nader. But if she can so gracefully step down and give such a beautiful speech I will consider the Democratic nominee. I am far from blindly accepting because on principle I surely do not approve misogyny or the dog-whistle tactic that Obama used in the primaries but she made a good point about whether I really want another Republican in the White House for another 4 years. It’s a tough call, the future of the country or continued misogyny. More than likely I suppose I will side with continued misogyny but it is severely disappointing to have to make that choice.
Evolution in Education
I have always wondered why it is such a shock to have evolution be required in the public school curriculum. I find that most people I know are thoroughly shocked that in my high school (in Texas) it was unimaginable to not have evolution in the curriculum. I truly believe that not learning about evolution is the equivalent of allowing our country’s youth to be uneducated. I mean the public school system has enough flaws in it already, we don’t need to help detract from anyone’s education any more so than we already do. Imagine my shock when I read this article in the Times. To me it is simply mind-boggling to blindly say that evolution is not real when it has clearly been proven over the course of many decades. In fact it is the only theory we have as of yet for how humans came to exist. The universe has gone through many changes and it is just a little ludicrous to believe that *poof* God created humans overnight and well here we are. Does God explain what happened to the dinosaurs? Or all the other historical creatures that we have fossil records for? I just think we should be a little more practical about the whole thing. God and Evolution can exist in the same world. Also, who said you have to “believe” everything you learn at school. I may learn it but I can disagree with it. But to cut it out of the education system altogether is just unimaginable. After reading the article I am glad that it is now required in the Florida schools. You do not have to agree with everything you learn but you choose ignorance when you choose not to learn at all. And that just makes for a country full of ignoramuses and who really wants that? Certainly not me.
An Amazing Olympic Dive
I tell you watching Guo Jingjing and Yuhlia Pakhalina dive is just like watching poetry in motion. I happen to think the dive that Yuhlia Pakhalina did was just visually more interesting but I will admit that no one did a dive quite so perfect as Guo. That was like watching perfection. I mean to see her focus and execute something so brilliantly. It is truly a pleasure to watch the Olympic atheletes, to see the talent and hard work in action is just incredible. I wish I had more words but I’m a little speechless after that. Simply in awe.
The Influence Of Oprah
Ok so I remember back when Tina Fey did her little sketch on SNL supporting Hillary how everyone just flew at her about her snarky comment about how “Women today feel perfectly free to vote for whoever Oprah tells them to”. (If you want to know where that came from just google Tina Fey Bitch is the New Black). Well, folks here it is from the New York Times, there are economists who have done a study that approximate Obama received a million or so votes because of Oprah’s influence. Check out the Times article if you’re interested. I just think it’s interesting to finally have Oprah’s influence quantified, she is truly remarkable to have that much influence on the country. And while people may argue about how these economists got their evidence, I don’t question the validity of it. Perhaps it is only anecdotal reference but I have far too many friends/acquaintances/colleagues/family members who do take her opinion very seriously to underestimate it’s significance. While I do not read her magazine or watch her show I am well aware that she does hold a significant amount of power to sway public opinion. Far more than any politician I would imagine.
Olympics!
I just love the olympics. The athletes are just so incredible. I wish I had even half as much talent as they do.
Unfortunately the American women’s gymnasts have been having a horrible day. It’s been rather sad to watch, there was this one mishap (at this point I forget which one was the initial one) that just lead to almost every member of the team making some serious mistakes. I believe there were about 3 members that stepped out of bounds on floor and at least 2 that fell from the uneven bars. What I found was most tragic was this stunning performance on the uneven bars that was marred by a slip just as the girl was switching bars. And it had been so capturing up until that point, it’s always so hard to watch.
On a slightly different note there is this amazing woman, Oksana Chusovitina, who is 33!! and competing for Germany. They were doing a piece on her because she used to live in Uzbekistan and her son had leukemia, so she had reached out to a friend in Germany who managed to get her moved out there so her son could get treatment. And this woman is competing in her FIFTH olympics. Maybe I’m out of the loop but I’m pretty certain that that is unheard of for gymnasts, especially women. The sheer amount of skill and fitness it takes to compete against all those little 16-year olds, I just can’t believe it. She is seriously amazing, definitely a great role model/icon.
Cylcing to Work or Reading the Newspaper?
This is my dilemma. I really don’t have time enough in the day for both activities but I took my first bike ride down to work today and I was a little slower than public transportation but I also didn’t have to wait for a bus or train, which was awesome. I’m a little precocious on my bike since I haven’t ridden in ages and well let’s face it driving around in downtown feels like someone’s going to run you over all the time. Thankfully that is only approx 5-10mins (depending on lights and cars trying to take me out) out of my 40ish-min trip down. Actually it may be faster than public transportation come to think of it… I think it’s just the taking out the bike, locking it up that takes up all the rest of the time to make it relatively equal.
Ok I got a little side-tracked there. But here is the real dilemma. I subscribe to “The Times” as the good little informed person that I’m supposed to be (at least so says my uncle who is ridiculously biased and been a subscriber of the Times since the 60’s). Now I haven’t always been a fan of the newspaper. In fact, I don’t particularly care for any other newspapers but after subscribing for a little over a year when I was living in CT I got quite attached to reading the Times every week day and at least a good bit on the weekends. Now that I’ve moved to Chicago I have found some problems with this. For one, I don’t have time to read on the weekends because I’m in grad school and my weekends are devoted to a little soccer and a lot of studying and maybe a couple of hours to see some friends if I’m lucky. Just last weekend I decided I wanted to make a healthy change in my life. With my crazy schedule it’s difficult for me to find the time to work out during the week. But then I thought to myself if I get a bike and just bike around town (and luckily Chicago is a hugely bike-friendly city, yay!) then I’ll get my exercise and cut out the irritating waiting for public transportation deal and it’ll be perfect! While I was thinking about this I totally forgot that I will also be cutting out my down-time of reading the paper while on the bus/train. So now I don’t know what to do. I know that I definitely don’t have time to read the paper during the week should I bike to work. But I’m hesitant to give up my subscription altogether.
I suppose I may try suspending my subscription for a little while and see how I feel about that. Oh how I wish there were more hours in the day. Maybe if I just leave early for work and get to work early I can take half an hour to unwind with the paper afte
The Pangs of War
I know this is only one story. About only one child. But it is simply heartbreaking. This war has caused so much pain for so many people. When will it end?
I am sharing this because I think it is important that people read these stories. That people can understand the heartbreak that this war is causing and then maybe there can be hope for an end.
Coffee is Healthy?
Really, who knew? I was just reading this morning about how coffee can be good for you, in numerous ways. Now I quit drinking coffee several years ago… it was a bit unintentional but I discovered chai. And while I know that there is a drastic difference between (what I call) “coffee-house chai” and real chai, I still tend to prefer either of those to any kind of coffee. Also to be honest, while I did tolerate regular american coffee for several years I have always preferred the espresso kind. I guess my favorite coffee would have to be a latte. Come to think of it I remember hearing something about how a smidgen of espresso a day is good for you, sortof like that one glass of red wine a day thing. Perhaps I should pick up drinking coffee again. Just something to think about.