Why Haiti Matters: Racialicious.com
The truth of the matter: The US/”First World” has been *)(*&*ing with Haiti for almsot a century, and yet we wonder why it is such an impoverished nation. Our tax dollars made it happen, folks. The above post is a great overview of that sordid history that has been left out of the mainstream narrative.
Macklemore is one of Seattle’s most underrated hip hop artists. These two tracks of his are hella dope–so I’m gonna let the music speak for itself.
So just how important are your looks to your career?
Important enough to get you a job? what about that medical school admission? Making a business deal with a client? Winning that case?
This is a question that’s been percolating in my mind for a few weeks. As a medical student, I (naively) believed that once I got into school, my looks would be rather secondary to my expertise. The reality: not so much. Over and over, I’m being reminded that my physical appearance will be directly correlated with my success, whether I’d be listened to by authority, and my ability to get that post or job of my dreams.
So yeah, I’m sure many of you are thinking: “Boo-hoo, yet another girl complaining about how her looks are getting in the way of being taken seriously.” But hear me out: I would argue that there is a deeper philosophical question here.
First of all, the correlation between attractiveness and success is much stronger for women. Remember that hullaballoo about Susan Boyle, the “unattractive” reality-show singer from the UK? She was a wonderful singer, and yet people could not believe that a woman with such vocal talent could be “ugly” by entertainment-biz standards. Yet, when Ruben Studdard or Clay Aiken (two dudes not so much in line with Hollywood male beauty standards!) won American Idol, you didn’t see profound astonishment at their talent expressed in the media.
This brings up a great point: If attractive women are successful in their careers, the vice versa is assumed to be true: One who is successful must by default be attractive. I’m not going to argue that physical beauty is not an important aspect of how we judge other human beings. It most definitely is- but it just one aspect. What is the value of attractiveness really in ones life? In my opinion, it is superficial, transitory- and ultimately cheap and demeaning, for it presupposes personality and mental attributes that may in fact not exist. A pretty female is supposed by society to be a good person, a talented person, or a smart person.
Does that mean that once women are no longer conventionally beautiful, their value is gone? That they are no longer talented, good, or smart?
Beauty is just that: skin deep. And in its own way, tyrannical: in judging a woman’s worth, it seemingly triumphs over all else.
There’s a hot new commodity on the pop-culture scene, and she seems to be everywhere. From White House partycrasher Micaele Salahi to that chick who flipped a table on Real Housewives of New Jersey, America has been invaded by trophy wives.
At first it was pretty hilarious. I was suckered into watching a few episodes of Real Housewives of Atlanta and I have to admit, the world of crazy drama and excess these women lived in was entertaining.
That lasted all of 15 minutes, though. Then I realized something shocking: other women–educated, intelligent, accomplished women–actually aspired to be like these people on TV–to be trophy wives!
On a certain level, I do get why women of my generation think this is an attractive way to live: on the surface, it seems like these housewives live fabulous lives. They don’t work, seem to spend all day pampering themselves, spending money, and barely pay attention to their kids. Oh, and their husband gives them all the money they need. Man= meal ticket, right?
That would be a NO. There’s no free lunch, ladies!
I think a lot of young women have conveniently forgotten that there was entire era (say, like most of this century) where women were “trophy wives”, completely financially dependent on their husbands. As I seem to recall, a pretty shitty time for women’s rights. That was no coincidence. What’s interesting here is that people forget that very important paradigm: Money is power.
That holds true for states, companies, and for relationships. So it all boils down to this: when a man has all the money, he has all the power. Essentially, a woman financially dependent on her husband is at his mercy: If he wants to drop you for the next chick who catches his fancy, he can. And when he does, your ass is toast because you have no money of your own. You want to go on a trip to a place you like, but he doesn’t? Too bad. Let’s make this even better: you want to buy contraception, but he doesn’t want you to take the pill. Can you buy it with your own money? Oh wait, you don’t have any!
Being a “trophy” wife, a housewife, is not a win-win situation. Sure, you don’t work- but there is a huge price to pay: Your autonomy, self-determination, and individual agency. Not to mention, not being able to buy those Manolo Blahniks that truly belong to you . So I don’t envy those Real Housewives women one bit. My money is my own.
Today marks Eid-ul-Adha, one of the two major holidays on the Islamic calendar. Eid, or the “Feast of Sacrifice” as it translates to, commemorates the biblical tale of the Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Ismail. As the story goes, God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his dearest possession- his son–in his name.
The Prophet went through with it, only to discover that a sheep had been put in his place, and that the sheep had died instead. Around the world, Muslims celebrate the Feast of Sacrifice with a morning mass prayer, as well as celebrations and feasts at home. Eid ul Adha also marks the end of the Hajj, the mass pilgrimage of nearly 3 million Muslims every year to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
To me, Eid took on a whole new significance in post-9/11 America. It’s a time to dress up, celebrate, and to come together with thousands of other Muslims. For once, we get to create a happy image of our community, rather than the scary one peddled on the six-o-clock news by Fox. It’s the time of year that WE get to exchange presents, party, and have a good time. It’s great PR, and it’s good fun.
So to all of my bros and sisters out there- have a great Eid. Be joyful, be beautiful, be proud.
Or rather- Is Caring Out?
I found myself pondering that question this past week. Looking at this country’s shit-tastic economic state, the impending passage of an equally shit-tastic health care reform bill that will do more harm than good, and ironically (or perhaps not so ironically) the hipster culture that’s gone mainstream in America; it seems like a valid conclusion.
I attended a conference for PNHP (Physicians for National Health Program) two weeks ago, and I had the honor of hanging out with Dr. Margaret Flowers, a member of the PNHP Board. Dr. Flowers was one of eight doctors arrested at a Senate Finance Committee meeting last spring for protesting the exclusion of Medicare-for-All (single payer) advocates from the discussion. I remember wondering to myself if I could be moved to do the same if necessary. This doctor cared enough about her cause to put her degree and her livelihood on the line.
But Dr. Flowers and the like are an exception to the rule. A majority of Americans have seemingly abdicated taking any personal responsibility for what’s happening around them. Caring about society has become passe for a whole generation. Yeah, we have people fundraising and working on political campaign (Obama’s campaign is a notable example) but how many people are willing to put their careers and lives on the line? In the eminent social scientist George Lipschitz’s groundbreaking work Possessive Investment in Whiteness, the opening chapter describes the story of Bill Moore, a white postal worker from Baltimore who undertook a daring political action for the sake of civil rights in the 1960’s. Bill Moore was murdered by pro-segregationists as retailiation for undertaking that action.
Idealism is a powerful vehicle of radical change. But it only works if one believes wholeheartedly in it. If not for the brave actions of a few like Bill Moore, we would’ve lived radically different lives from what we have today. The longer we stay apathetic, the bigger of a hole we dig ourselves in. In recognizing that the problems of society at large filter down to the individual, we realize that self-centrism is inherently flawed: for, in the words of John Donne: “No man (or woman!) is an island”.
My opinion? Apathy is out.
Do Some Good
Posted in social commentary with tags political commentary-USA, racism on January 19, 2010 by SultanaToday, January 18/2010 is Martin Luther King Day. Observing this holiday when I was a kid usually involved us watching a video of the “I Have a Dream” speech, and having a class assignment to write something about what I did that day. That, or volunteer at a local soup kitchen or something. In actuality, now that I’m a bit older- I look back and think that I didn’t really understand what it meant at all.
The idea of MLK Day as a “day on, not a day off” is a good one. Making it a “Day of Service”–I’m not so sure about. I’m not saying that volunteering at a homeless shelter or collecting canned food is a bad thing. However, I don’t think that kind of activity is a proper homage to the the Civil Rights Movement. What the ordinary people of the Movement struggled for, bled for, died for- was dignity, safety, equality, and respect for people of color. Their explicit mission was to bring down a socio-political apparatus that treated African Americans as second-class citizens. It was a radical critique of widespread social norms and laws that reinforced a system of segregation and oppression for non-whites.
In essence, they were radical activists. An activist is someone who is an active citizen, who refuses to accept unjust laws, norms and practices as legitimate and fights to change them. What the current conception of the MLK Day of Service does is promote a model of “passive citizenship”: Donate time and money–charity–to the less fortunate for one day. But don’t you dare critique and question the socio-economic system that creates and reinforces poverty. Forget about challenging a corporate-bought government that serves the interests of Wall Street (see: health care bill) rather than the people. Never mind that taxpayers and contributing trillions of dollars to a mind-bogglingly expensive quagmire known as Iraq. Oh and let’s not mention that we still have pervasive racism, homophobia, and classism at all levels of American society.
Serve- but do not question.
What MLK and the other civil rights leaders of their time would have wanted us to do is address the above. To make noise, protest, put our lives on the line and struggle to correct the injustices of our day–much like they did. So called “community service” is no substitute- it simply asks us to be passive charity-givers and not radical questioners of our society. To be a true citizen is to look clearly and realistically at ones nation and act in whatever way possible to improve it, to make America a fair and just place to live for an individual of any race, orientation, religion or creed.
So this MLK Day, look around and ask youself why America is the way it is. For example: Why are public schools failing? Why does our health care system fail to meet the needs of our people? Why are we cutting back funds for basic social services while bailing out Wall Street? Why do you see so few people of color or women in positions of leadership? Why do we have abject poverty in the richest nation on Earth?
And then: do something about it.
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