Monday, March 09, 2009
Thots. I haz them.
I missed my chance to post this great pic for International Women's Day yesterday. One of these days I hope to get my combobulation back. Not going to happen this week, though. MrMike and I are home alone while TheClone attends a training in Denver to learn to use special new museum collection management software. Her being away and us being here is a COMPLETE REVERSAL OF NATURE. What next, rains of toads??? ME up EARLY?!?
Anyway. *sigh*
I borrowed the pic from BAGnewsNotes, a blog that focuses on photojournalism, mainly in the political arena. I've found it very educational, reading other people's takes on how the media can subtly guide "the message" through subtext in images. This shot shows two women veterans at a celebration at Arlington, Alyce Dixon, 102, and Ester P. Corcoran, 103, (on the right). I wasn't able to find any articles specifically about them, but you can go here to BAGnewsNotes for some of it.
There's another thing that has been getting stuck in my head lately, kind of like one of those songs that comes for no reason and keeps replaying in your brain, but even less fun. You might not have run across it, even if you are on LiveJournal. But there has been a big meltdown going on about racism. I really really intended to just keep quiet in nineteen languages and let it run its course without me. Yeah, that's gonna happen....
Recently I've seen a new twist, where people are posting a pre-written paragraph where they are "owning" their own racism, as a token of good intentions and a show of solidarity. (Not that there's anything wrong with doing that. As with the proverbial fish and her bicycle, it's fine if she WANTS one.) You know me, though. I'm one of the writers in that joke about why it takes ten writers to change a light bulb. (One to change it and nine to say how they could have done it better.) So here goes.
There are certain things all human beings have in common. We have ALL been raised in a racist, sexist, speciesist, patriarchal, violent, war-mongering society, and this has been true for thousands of years. People wonder whether that's nature or nurture. I say it's both.
Because another thing we all have in common is traces in our brains of reactions hard-wired in from our distant ancestors, millions of little creatures stuck in a big harsh world who only lived long enough to reproduce if they were good at following the impulse to flee, or attack, as needed. Being wary of those who were different, ganging up on the weak -- that's in our genes because once upon a time, it promoted survival. Sucks to be us, doesn't it?
But we have something good in common too. However it happened, humanity was graced with the gift of being able to look beyond the day to day struggle just to live, and imagine something better. Maybe that's hard-wired in by now too. We just have to choose which of our impulses to follow. That's the great part, we CAN choose.
I think it's hard to see change taking place within our own lifespans. It feels like there are more steps backwards than forwards lots of days. It's understandable we feel like if things ARE changing for the better, they are doing it too slowly to be seen.
But take another look at the picture above, of those three amazing women. When the two veterans were born, their mothers couldn't even vote! Things have changed quite a bit over their hundred year plus lifetimes!
Come to think of it, I will quote something from someone else after all. It's part of the Student Oath I learned when I started in tae kwon do. Feel free to borrow these two promises if you want: "I will be a champion of freedom and justice" and "I will build a more peaceful world."
Without going into braggy detail, I'm satisfied that I have, at minimum, put a significant amount of personal effort into doing those things, especially in the past, oh, five years or so. I definitely mess up and let my lizard hind-brain act more often than I should. But I will definitely keep trying to become a better person.
That's going to have to do for my statement of good intentions, because it's all I got.
Past Posts (Political, not Personal) can be found at CodeNeonBlue.net. Only one new one since last week, but it has Superman, so don't miss him!
Anyway. *sigh*
I borrowed the pic from BAGnewsNotes, a blog that focuses on photojournalism, mainly in the political arena. I've found it very educational, reading other people's takes on how the media can subtly guide "the message" through subtext in images. This shot shows two women veterans at a celebration at Arlington, Alyce Dixon, 102, and Ester P. Corcoran, 103, (on the right). I wasn't able to find any articles specifically about them, but you can go here to BAGnewsNotes for some of it.
There's another thing that has been getting stuck in my head lately, kind of like one of those songs that comes for no reason and keeps replaying in your brain, but even less fun. You might not have run across it, even if you are on LiveJournal. But there has been a big meltdown going on about racism. I really really intended to just keep quiet in nineteen languages and let it run its course without me. Yeah, that's gonna happen....
Recently I've seen a new twist, where people are posting a pre-written paragraph where they are "owning" their own racism, as a token of good intentions and a show of solidarity. (Not that there's anything wrong with doing that. As with the proverbial fish and her bicycle, it's fine if she WANTS one.) You know me, though. I'm one of the writers in that joke about why it takes ten writers to change a light bulb. (One to change it and nine to say how they could have done it better.) So here goes.
There are certain things all human beings have in common. We have ALL been raised in a racist, sexist, speciesist, patriarchal, violent, war-mongering society, and this has been true for thousands of years. People wonder whether that's nature or nurture. I say it's both.
Because another thing we all have in common is traces in our brains of reactions hard-wired in from our distant ancestors, millions of little creatures stuck in a big harsh world who only lived long enough to reproduce if they were good at following the impulse to flee, or attack, as needed. Being wary of those who were different, ganging up on the weak -- that's in our genes because once upon a time, it promoted survival. Sucks to be us, doesn't it?
But we have something good in common too. However it happened, humanity was graced with the gift of being able to look beyond the day to day struggle just to live, and imagine something better. Maybe that's hard-wired in by now too. We just have to choose which of our impulses to follow. That's the great part, we CAN choose.
I think it's hard to see change taking place within our own lifespans. It feels like there are more steps backwards than forwards lots of days. It's understandable we feel like if things ARE changing for the better, they are doing it too slowly to be seen.
But take another look at the picture above, of those three amazing women. When the two veterans were born, their mothers couldn't even vote! Things have changed quite a bit over their hundred year plus lifetimes!
Come to think of it, I will quote something from someone else after all. It's part of the Student Oath I learned when I started in tae kwon do. Feel free to borrow these two promises if you want: "I will be a champion of freedom and justice" and "I will build a more peaceful world."
Without going into braggy detail, I'm satisfied that I have, at minimum, put a significant amount of personal effort into doing those things, especially in the past, oh, five years or so. I definitely mess up and let my lizard hind-brain act more often than I should. But I will definitely keep trying to become a better person.
That's going to have to do for my statement of good intentions, because it's all I got.
Past Posts (Political, not Personal) can be found at CodeNeonBlue.net. Only one new one since last week, but it has Superman, so don't miss him!
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