Culture
The Dark Side of the Golden Era
Ah the postwar boom. America’s Golden Era . . .
Several years ago I learned that the United States government carried out a program of forced sterilization on Puerto Rican women during the post-World War II era. Initially, I was shocked and appalled. Why would the government of Puerto Rico with the support of the U.S. government force sterilization on women?
The primary motivation behind this was eugenic. Puerto Rico was overpopulated (it still is) and birth rates were high. The government couldn’t get people to emigrate fast enough and Uncle Sam was worried about another few million people in one of its colonies. Basically what happened is what happens in China today: poor women were tricked or coerced into having abortions or being sterilized. Sometimes it was the only family planning option offered. At others there was no consent.
This came crashing down to me about fifteen minutes ago when I got a call from my father. My grandmother, his mother, died about a year ago. My father had always been very close to her and so, when she died, he took some of her personal effects, mostly letters, back to California with him from New York. He was nearly in tears and bitterness clung to every word. He skipped pleasantries and simply began speaking.
“Sometimes” he said “I am so pissed off at what the government has done.” Read more…
Top 5 Musicians From London
…in honor of my first 24 hours in my new home, from best to worst (note that this is London-exclusive, not all of the UK):
- David Bowie
- The Rolling Stones
- The Sex Pistols
- The Clash
- Queen
Honorable mentions: Elvis Costello, the Kinks, Bloc Party, the Who
Armed Security (retail variety)
originally posted at Grumblebear
There’s a disturbing story by Linda Milazzo at AlterNet relating her near-fatal encounter with an armed Brinks guard at her local Albertson’s store in California. She nearly bumped into the guard as she was on her way into the store as he was coming out with his gun in his hand, pointing approximately stomach-height at whatever and whoever happened to be in its line of sight.
California law allows licensed security guards to carry their weapons unholstered only in high-risk situations, and even then the gun must be pointed at the ground in the absence of immediate armed threat. Read more…
The Year in Film
This was not a year of perfect, universally adored movies. The best films of the year all contain the kinds of quirky appeal that tend to divide audiences, and all of them are flawed. But quirky, flawed movies can often be the most compelling, interesting, and endearing.
The Year in People
A look back on the year’s most influential and newsworthy people in America and around the world.
Nude or Prude?
One thing I learned from living in Europe is that Europeans are much more comfortable with nudity than Americans. You see people in the buff on bus placards, magazines, daytime television, soft-core porn at night, the newspaper, and even at sporting events. What is even more striking is that you regularly see naked people in public parks—and older age or low fitness levels are not reasons to cover up or to be bashful at all. Even more interesting to me as an American who changed into her gym clothes in a stall to avoid showing any skin is the complete ease of being fully nude around family members and friends. I’ll never forget picking up a German friend’s family photo album and seeing her mom, dad, sisters, friends, and neighbors in a group shot with everything, and I mean everything, exposed. Even more shocking was to see my friend’s mom walk around their house without clothes on. Needless to say, I felt uncomfortable at first.
Many Europeans accept nudity as natural. Many Europeans also say that nudity and sex on television is totally okay. Sex is human. Bodies are ordinary—even naked ones. They do not understand Americans preoccupation of censoring all nudity on TV, while Americans allowing so much violence on television. (Child movie censors in Europe censor for violence, not nudity, while in the US, it is often the reverse. The movie “Chronicles of Narnia” in Germany is rated equivalent to the US’s PG13). The European illustration about TV censorship makes sense to me. Why DO we care so much about nudity? Why DO I feel bashful about being in the buff around others? Why wouldn’t I trust my friends and family to see me naked?
I think my shame of being nude stems from our culture. But why is it shameful to be nude in our culture? Why is it in some cases illegal to be nude in our culture? I’m tired of being prude. And I just decided that I will walk from the shower to my room in the morning without clothes or a towel on regardless of what the members of my household think.
Top 50 Film Commentaries
With both Milk and Frost/Nixon opening nationwide this coming weekend, I thought it would be fitting to take a look back at some of the best social or political commentaries to appear on the big screen.
Nutrition by Natalie (and Billy)
Recently I have been exploring the benefits of healthy eating. In my past, I have eaten like a typical American guy of my age: frozen pizzas, cheeseburgers, ice cream, cheese, BBQ ribs, salty snacks, etc. I am still struggling to get out of this phase of my life because I love eating some of those foods. One of the ironies for me of all this discovery is my perception that young liberals eat the healthiest. Young liberals appear to be more likely to be vegetarian or vegan and they appear to be more likely to accept a diversity of foods from around the world.
I have been learning a lot from a Texas gal named Natalie. Her website has a directory of about 50 videos that feature different subjects in nutrition.
This video is a general overview of what to eat on a daily basis. Natalie advocates following the Harvard Food Pyramid instead of the usual US Government’s pyramid.
Wedgies and Words
One of the most significant things I learned from traveling is that my thoughts are limited by the words in my language(s). You’ve probably heard the saying, “It’s hard to translate,” before. Some notions exist verbally in some languages and not others. Usually these translations involve subtleties, but sometimes it can be entire ideas, as well. If an idea is hard to translate from one language to another, imagine how hard it is to individually generate this idea if your language does not even have words to describe the idea!
A very crude personal illustration:
I was walking in Central Park with my German friend, when I found myself suffering from a wedgie. I asked him if we could stop a moment so I could pick it. Puzzled, he asked what a wedgie was. My explanation began, “Well, a wedgie is when your underwear gets shoved up your ass—and it usually happens while you are walking.” He paused a moment and then a lightbulb went off: “Oh, you mean, ‘Arsch frisst Hose!’” I then paused a moment, and said, “Yes, yes. ‘Ass eats pants.’” What was really astounding to me was that my whole life I considered the underwear as the “actor” in the wedgie process—the underwear shoves itself up the ass—, whereas my German friend saw the ass as the cause of the wedgie, while the underwear passively shoved by…
Moral of the story: the word “wedgie” is very limiting to explain the phenomenon of underwear being eaten by your ass.
**Shoutout to Billy Joe—who is finally getting his passport stamped for the first time this winter. I’m so happy for you!
