i haven't been feeling like posting in my little web log probably because i'm located in plush middle america confinement and the world's ills don't permeate me. or i'm too busy sleeping, or something. if you want to throw topics at me, get to it.
anyway: gay marriage. or same-sex cohabitation sanctification or whateverthefuck is the new whitewashed term. it seems the US is slowly marching towards it, which i'm super pleased about (go iowa! who would've thunken that you'd be progressive?). mostly, i'm baffled as to how gay marriage can be illegal given that gender identification is fluid. that is: if it's legal for a "biologically sex normative" (or cisgender, if you prefer) person to live as another gender, doesn't this leave marriage in a very gender-neutral position? scenario: i am born biologically male, marry a woman (as per legality! gee whiz!) and later in life decide to have sex reassignment surgery. my status is now as woman. does this nullify my marriage to my wife?
this makes me wonder if trans people can legally identify themselves with the gender of their choosing. if i were to claim that i'm a male, despite the fact that it says "female" on my birth certificate, can i do this? i find this hugely pertinent to the gay marriage discussion.
AH LEGALITY. we need more anarchists.
gender gender blah blah blah. today at the store, i heard a little boy complain to his dad that he didn't want a certain tennis racket because "it's for girls!" (the racket was clearly pink.) there needs to be more goth kids running around. black is so gender neutral.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
special ed
it seems pretty axiomatic to write but i've been thinking a lot about education and educators lately and how important a good education is. by funding schools based on property tax, the united states essentially stratifies public education: the inner city schools do poorly and continue doing poorly, while the affluent suburban schools continue to thrive. kids that attend the latter institutions go onto colleges and subsequently move into the areas where their children will be best educated -- in short, in the suburbs. charter schools are emerging (with some success) in new orleans, but i feel almost as if that system completely denies the structural problems that american education faces. problems that are, largely, economic in nature.
brown v. ed has, in some areas, reversed itself, with schools being largely 98% or more non-white. equality? no. separation? yes. separate curricula? yes. that ain't right.
brown v. ed has, in some areas, reversed itself, with schools being largely 98% or more non-white. equality? no. separation? yes. separate curricula? yes. that ain't right.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
sex and whose city?
girls love "sex(y) and the city." i think because they like long drawn-out tales. but (some) don't realize that it's...they're archetypes. the women in it. greek story archetypes.
1. samantha = vociferous nymphomaniac. slightly '80s. very empowered. very rich. but she pays for being empowered. she has to take the AIDS test and she freaks out. she fetishizes male genitalia aloud. you're not allowed to do that, as Woman. she's too manly. too many men! too much of everything. put some more clothes on, samantha.
2. charlotte = she started out with an art gallery, but that faded away. all of these women's wealth is assumed. hypothesized. she's very prim. you can tell by her collars and her ponytails and the fact that her hair naturally brown. conservative (despite the art gallery). she's looking for True Love, and, being the prettiest one, she'll sure as fuck get it. she just has to cry a lot and marry into a lot of money to get there.
3. miranda = law school. harvard mug. baby of a cat. then a real baby with someone who's...weaker than her? steve was feminized pretty badly in the show. had a drunk for a mother. miranda's mother died. she had to work for this. all on her own. and come, ginger and short hair? but then she got fat oh no. too much estrogen. get the woman a gym membership!
4. carrie = everyone wants to be carrie. think about her name! carrie. CARRY. and everyone loves her! she's not beautiful, but she has (some) luck with men. the series ends with her swooning over russian royalty! but...did she want to end up with royalty? what did she want? carrie is an enigma. everyone wants to be an enigma. except when the fashion signifies schizophrenia. which sometimes it does, but that just means she's more advanced than you, right?
1. samantha = vociferous nymphomaniac. slightly '80s. very empowered. very rich. but she pays for being empowered. she has to take the AIDS test and she freaks out. she fetishizes male genitalia aloud. you're not allowed to do that, as Woman. she's too manly. too many men! too much of everything. put some more clothes on, samantha.
2. charlotte = she started out with an art gallery, but that faded away. all of these women's wealth is assumed. hypothesized. she's very prim. you can tell by her collars and her ponytails and the fact that her hair naturally brown. conservative (despite the art gallery). she's looking for True Love, and, being the prettiest one, she'll sure as fuck get it. she just has to cry a lot and marry into a lot of money to get there.
3. miranda = law school. harvard mug. baby of a cat. then a real baby with someone who's...weaker than her? steve was feminized pretty badly in the show. had a drunk for a mother. miranda's mother died. she had to work for this. all on her own. and come, ginger and short hair? but then she got fat oh no. too much estrogen. get the woman a gym membership!
4. carrie = everyone wants to be carrie. think about her name! carrie. CARRY. and everyone loves her! she's not beautiful, but she has (some) luck with men. the series ends with her swooning over russian royalty! but...did she want to end up with royalty? what did she want? carrie is an enigma. everyone wants to be an enigma. except when the fashion signifies schizophrenia. which sometimes it does, but that just means she's more advanced than you, right?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
myths
mythology is closely connected to history, and history is closely connected to mythology, so i thought i would write about myths. when i studied them at a much younger age i didn't really pay mind to how much gravity they had, but now that i'm older i begin to see their value.
myth says that narcissus was a beautiful boy who, instead of loving someone, became enchanted with his own appearance. like the painting of dorian gray that oscar wilde wrote about centuries later, myth states that narcissus would stay young forever provided he didn't see his own reflection.
but the story doesn't end there.
there was a love in narcissus's life. the nymph echo fell in love with narcissus but he shunned her affections, causing her to retreat. now, when you call in a cave, you can hear echo calling back.
conclusion: love hurts, but you can't love yourself and yourself only.
myth says that narcissus was a beautiful boy who, instead of loving someone, became enchanted with his own appearance. like the painting of dorian gray that oscar wilde wrote about centuries later, myth states that narcissus would stay young forever provided he didn't see his own reflection.
but the story doesn't end there.
there was a love in narcissus's life. the nymph echo fell in love with narcissus but he shunned her affections, causing her to retreat. now, when you call in a cave, you can hear echo calling back.
conclusion: love hurts, but you can't love yourself and yourself only.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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