While my feelings are not necessarily new, over the last year I have begun to accept the possibility of self-identifying as a feminist. This has come from a lot of reading of academic feminist thought as performed in the human geography studies. And I have come to realize: once your eyes have been opened to the patriarchy, it cannot be unseen.
The reason I am writing this is related to the recent excommunication of Kate Kelly, the whole Ordain Women movement and the discussion that has been raging in the Mormon bloggosphere for the past 6 months, yesterday's SCOTUS ruling on the hobby lobby v Sebelius case, and finally having reached a tipping point in my personal experiences with a 'conversation' I had today with a worker doing a job at my house. Let me start with that.
The man is the owner of a paving company, has a family, and at least an undergrad college education. He asked what I was studying, I responded, and his next comment was "How 'bout that pussy'?" When I didn't immediately give a manly grunt and chest bump him, he clarified his meaning that I can summarize as 'the best part of IU campus is all the hook-up opportunities, amirite'. I still didn't really respond, not because I was 'uncomfortable', but because there was just no reconciling his world-view and mine. I said I was married, which luckily changed the subject, but came across as some sort of excuse. Like if I wasn't, I would be out there 'hittin' that!' So why didn't I just shut him down, and tell him how disgusting that kind of comment and mindset are? 'It was neither the time nor place', but really, its just not in my nature to stir up conflict. So here's the question - what's a guy to do? Breaking the patriarchy is also about men standing up to other men when they degrade women, but what's the playbook for doing it in everyday, casual conversation with people with whom you hold no rapport? My confession: I feel ashamed for not doing more. I feel more ashamed for not knowing what to do to do more.
Interlude rant: carl's jr./hardee's: I know that 'sex sells', but you do not have to be a 'man' to eat a burger, dripping barbecue sauce on women in bikinis in a 'cat fight' is... I can't even..., and when you imply that a chicken breast sandwich 'brings all the roosters to the yard', you sound like a middle schooler saying 'bewbs, heh heh heh, boobies, heh heh heh'. And PS (not food related) shampoo is not orgasmic!
I see a lot of my conservative friends/family celebrating (on social media) the hobby lobby decision. I believe, or at least what I'd like to believe, is that in the rush to vilify obamacare and to celebrate any political defeat of the current 'regime' they cheer the ruling. Even if that is true, it's still wrong-headed, but that's a discussion for a different day. It is not a victory for religious freedom. It's not. Under the guise of religion, a certain class of corporation just got the green light to nickle and dime on healthcare costs that would cut into their profits. I immediately thought about B Corporations (http://www.bcorporation.net/) that publicly state, and certify, that their purpose is to benefit society as much as, or more than, making a profit. It's like that, but the opposite. I'm not going to add to the commentary on women's health issues, and the political crusade against providing adequate care. There are already enough voices doing that, and I'm just saying that I agree. If my view is unclear given the context of the post...
On the issue of Kate Kelly's excommunication and the Ordain Women issue. I'm not including any links for background, so educate yourself if you're interested. I first heard about the movement earlier this year before the push for admittance to the priesthood session. A lot of the issues they brought up were valid, and I was totally in agreement. Why can't Sunday school presidencies have women? Why should welfare focused bishopric meetings exclude the Relief Society president? Why don't young women have opening exercises with the RS and serve as companions to adult visiting teachers? I even incorporated a lot of the ideas into discussions I was leading in elders' quorum trying to encourage a more open dialogue and welcoming atmosphere for people that think differently than the Mormon norm. I''ve started emphasizing that church policy/procedure ≠ church doctrine in all cases, and that Mormon cultural practice is another thing entirely. So there is plenty that the church can do to change culture and policy that would be more equitable toward women without any questions of doctrine. I do think that the way OW has gone about some things, including the appearance at the priesthood session of conference, have not been the right way to do it. I also think that Elder Oaks' talk in conference made long strides to answering some of the essential questions posed by OW, but left others utterly unaddressed.
As for excommunication, I will not say whether I agree or disagree with the decision, but that from what I have read, I do believe the local leaders went about the whole thing inappropriately. But in moving on, I hope we have learned that there absolutely has to be room to ask questions, and that simply 'closing ranks' will not bridge the divide.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
01 July 2014
19 December 2011
Good stuff
There's this website I was introduced to a couple years ago, and was reintroduced to a couple other times before I became a real fan. Good.is is good. And it's kind of me, too. They do infographics! They are global and local! They do education! They do social activism! They do design! They do geeky tech stuff! They do progressive politics! They do green! They do food without being too 'foodie'! They do 're-purposed' crafts!
It's a sweet spot for my demographic: young-ish, socially conscious, educated, progressive but not extreme, practical AND playful. They have a DIY lab for a thing they call a no-chart. Try it!
It's a sweet spot for my demographic: young-ish, socially conscious, educated, progressive but not extreme, practical AND playful. They have a DIY lab for a thing they call a no-chart. Try it!
28 October 2011
Climate Shift in Focus
Personally I do believe in climate change. I think that it was an important shift when people started saying 'climate change' rather than 'global warming'. People say, when we got emergency level freezing here in New Mexico and "snowmageddon" in 2010, or 12 inches of snow right before Memorial Day "I don't see a lot of global warming going on here!" Well, they're right in a way. And that's the point. The climate is changing. The cause of it, I don't know (I do have theories and opinions, but that's not the point). But if you deny that there is a huge change going on, even over the last decade, you need to pull your head out of the sand.
But that's not the 'shift in focus' that I'm talking about. All through the 80s (when I recognized 'environmentalism' as a movement) and 90s (when I went to school) the focus was ozone depleting gasses, rain forest deforestation, acid rain, pollution and the quality of life, and consumer society waste and recycling. Now, the focus is on carbon emissions and climate change. It seems like all the 'save the whale' movements and other environmental issues are irrelevant, and the entire focus is on driving a hybrid car or denying human contributions to environmental decline. The shift in focus to Climate Change is damaging to the environmentalist cause because it's so politically charged.
If you believe the climate is changing or not, I don't care. If you believe humans made it happen, I don't care. But you cannot deny that a more polluted, eco-diversity diminished, landfill-filled planet sucks! The climate change argument isn't working, since the developing world is increasingly industrializing despite the inspiring TED talks out there, and the majority of the developed world outsources the responsibility from our minds since we live in a climate-controlled world anyway. There needs to be a new approach, and since environmentalists tend to operate under a more holistic mind-frame anyway, maybe the argument shouldn't be so narrow.
03 July 2011
Thoughts on America
Today in church we sang America the Beautiful. The first verse came on autopilot, but then the second verse hit me a little bit. I thought of the pilgrims beating 'freedom' across the 'wilderness', and how grossly skewed that view is. But then came the line pleading "God mend thy every flaw." This is not a perfect country, and we do NOT have a spotless history, so we require God's forgiveness - as a nation.
America, confirm thy soul in self-control. In light of recent months, self-control, one of the lost American values, is direly needed. Not just regular citizens driving aggressively, or maxing out their credit cards on cheap consumer 'goods', but politicians and public figures acting selfishly, and them and us expecting them to get away with it.
America, confirm thy liberty in law. I won't go into it, but I have been severely disappointed with some of the Supreme Court rulings. There have been rulings that I wished had gone another way, or that I disagreed with. But there have been at least three rulings I can think of that I believe to be both morally and legally bad decisions. Law is about good governance, not politics and on-upping the next guy.
Our true heroes are those who more than self, their country love, and mercy more than life.
Will we see the day where all success is nobleness? Where we honor the people who are striving to be good people? I think that's what it means by God refining our gold. The success is not the gold, but nobleness, and every gain, divine. And that's why a true patriot will see beyond the years, and his dream will not be for political gain, fame, or fortune, but for the future and his posterity.
And in the end, as in the beginning, the blessing of God's grace on the land is brotherhood. Not elitism. Not partisanship. Not class division. Fellowship. E pluribus unum. One.
America, confirm thy soul in self-control. In light of recent months, self-control, one of the lost American values, is direly needed. Not just regular citizens driving aggressively, or maxing out their credit cards on cheap consumer 'goods', but politicians and public figures acting selfishly, and them and us expecting them to get away with it.
America, confirm thy liberty in law. I won't go into it, but I have been severely disappointed with some of the Supreme Court rulings. There have been rulings that I wished had gone another way, or that I disagreed with. But there have been at least three rulings I can think of that I believe to be both morally and legally bad decisions. Law is about good governance, not politics and on-upping the next guy.
Our true heroes are those who more than self, their country love, and mercy more than life.
Will we see the day where all success is nobleness? Where we honor the people who are striving to be good people? I think that's what it means by God refining our gold. The success is not the gold, but nobleness, and every gain, divine. And that's why a true patriot will see beyond the years, and his dream will not be for political gain, fame, or fortune, but for the future and his posterity.
And in the end, as in the beginning, the blessing of God's grace on the land is brotherhood. Not elitism. Not partisanship. Not class division. Fellowship. E pluribus unum. One.
America, the Beautiful - Katharine Lee Bates
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!
O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!
O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
23 March 2011
30 January 2011
Thoughts of the day
I don't post regularly. I imagine that leads my readers to not read regularly. Or if you do, this will be a surprise. I suppose that there is also a notable trend that I often title my posts, in one form or another, saying that these are random thoughts. The following contents then prove to be paragraphical ramblings on disconnected topics that have been brewing for the previous weeks. Here's the thing, if I posted regularly, these would be just normal blog posts characteristic of most non-themed blogs, and not be 'random thoughts' strung to each other in the one post I am able to throw together when I have time. Therefore, if you do read my blog, consider my posts actually to be a number of entries that have been collected into one spot, and I will try not to always refer to my thoughts as random.
I have jury duty. For three weeks. One week down, two to go. I have to call in every day to see if I have to go in. Now, I am a very civic minded person. I teach kids about the virtues of our system, and I'm actually a little excited to serve. But seriously! I haven't had to go in yet, but I'm all stressed about it. I have to have two lesson plans in my head for each day, just in case I'm gone. I mean, I could just have them watch movies, but I feel uneasy about running my classroom that way.
I love having my students complain that something is hard. Most of the things aren't that hard, but do require thinking. I have the reputation at school as having a hard class. The reason that I love it when they complain is that it means that they are actually attempting, to some small degree, the task at hand. They are pushing their mental limits. And that's what I care about.
I like taking pictures. I also like the think that I'm good at it. But I am an amateur photographer and if I don't even have enough time to blog regularly, I don't get around to posting pictures online, geotagging, writing descriptions, and forget about recording light aperture or anything else. If I got more time, I would probably try to enhance some of the pictures with cropping, experimenting with b&w, boosting color tones or the drama of the shadows, etc. But since I never get around to that, I have developed in my mind that I am producing photographs just as they are captured by the camera, and that there's some kind of integrity in that. I suppose there is, but I also want the pictures to reflect the vibrance of the scene that is possible to my eye when I shot it.
There has got to be a very powerful rbST lobby out there. Consider this, on all dairy products that I can remember seeing in the past year they proclaim that they do not use milk from cows treated with rbST (some growth hormone). But then they also have to legally (I assume) disclaim that rbST has not been proven to be in any way negative. So, though no one is using it, the company is still making sure that everyone knows that even if they were, no one has proved that you'll start growing an extra set of ears.
A while ago I had some dreams that I wanted to share. One had a part where Glenn Beck and two other men had set themselves up as 'holy men' and were all dressed in white suites. He was actually an evil sorcerer, and was trying to capture my family (in the dream, I was not myself) and destroy us and the good that we had worked for. In another dream we were preparing for Mark's wedding. Mark had long (to just below the chin), white hair. It was pretty tight. The preparations included all of us being fitted for Victorian style clothes. The swords seemed fit the style.
My birthday was in November, and then there was Christmas. I really feel that I have not been grateful enough for the things that I received. And I was about to go through some of the things I've been given and thank the people that gave them to me, but I won't. That's tacky. So I will thank you more appropriately the next time we talk. But, in the meantime, know that I am very grateful and appreciate you very much.
I've been Sunday School President in the ward for about two months now. It's the first time I've been in leadership (besides the mission) since I was a youth. Today I taught a teacher improvement lesson, and I wanted to share a thought that I made central to my message. We are preparing for a testimony, not a test.
I have jury duty. For three weeks. One week down, two to go. I have to call in every day to see if I have to go in. Now, I am a very civic minded person. I teach kids about the virtues of our system, and I'm actually a little excited to serve. But seriously! I haven't had to go in yet, but I'm all stressed about it. I have to have two lesson plans in my head for each day, just in case I'm gone. I mean, I could just have them watch movies, but I feel uneasy about running my classroom that way.
I love having my students complain that something is hard. Most of the things aren't that hard, but do require thinking. I have the reputation at school as having a hard class. The reason that I love it when they complain is that it means that they are actually attempting, to some small degree, the task at hand. They are pushing their mental limits. And that's what I care about.
I like taking pictures. I also like the think that I'm good at it. But I am an amateur photographer and if I don't even have enough time to blog regularly, I don't get around to posting pictures online, geotagging, writing descriptions, and forget about recording light aperture or anything else. If I got more time, I would probably try to enhance some of the pictures with cropping, experimenting with b&w, boosting color tones or the drama of the shadows, etc. But since I never get around to that, I have developed in my mind that I am producing photographs just as they are captured by the camera, and that there's some kind of integrity in that. I suppose there is, but I also want the pictures to reflect the vibrance of the scene that is possible to my eye when I shot it.
There has got to be a very powerful rbST lobby out there. Consider this, on all dairy products that I can remember seeing in the past year they proclaim that they do not use milk from cows treated with rbST (some growth hormone). But then they also have to legally (I assume) disclaim that rbST has not been proven to be in any way negative. So, though no one is using it, the company is still making sure that everyone knows that even if they were, no one has proved that you'll start growing an extra set of ears.
A while ago I had some dreams that I wanted to share. One had a part where Glenn Beck and two other men had set themselves up as 'holy men' and were all dressed in white suites. He was actually an evil sorcerer, and was trying to capture my family (in the dream, I was not myself) and destroy us and the good that we had worked for. In another dream we were preparing for Mark's wedding. Mark had long (to just below the chin), white hair. It was pretty tight. The preparations included all of us being fitted for Victorian style clothes. The swords seemed fit the style.
My birthday was in November, and then there was Christmas. I really feel that I have not been grateful enough for the things that I received. And I was about to go through some of the things I've been given and thank the people that gave them to me, but I won't. That's tacky. So I will thank you more appropriately the next time we talk. But, in the meantime, know that I am very grateful and appreciate you very much.
I've been Sunday School President in the ward for about two months now. It's the first time I've been in leadership (besides the mission) since I was a youth. Today I taught a teacher improvement lesson, and I wanted to share a thought that I made central to my message. We are preparing for a testimony, not a test.
17 April 2010
what's up in the world
let me share what's been on my mind lately: the world.
i've always been a geek for world news, other cultures, and anything of an international flavour. i'm a self declared xenophile. now i teach world civilizations and geography, so i take it as part of my job to be up on current world events, history in the making, anniversaries, etc. (eg: i started my unit on the civil war on the 149th anniversary of its beginning.)
as a result of content and curriculum searches i've been exposed to a lot of online stuff like blogs that i've started following. here are a few i thought i'd share:
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
This guy either grew up in Utah or went to school here. He now teaches in Texas. He's a great resource for social studies, specifically history. he also provides some interesting insight into some current social situations, specifically the texas board of ed.
John Sherffius: Cartoonist
Some of his editorial cartoons are a little cheesy, but for the most part he's right on and very clever.
Information is Beautiful
Visual artist that makes data representations for the Guardian of the UK.
i saw a guy walking along university parkway in orem with a sign saying 'the end is near'. i thought it was hilarious, but he also has a point. with the volcano in iceland, earthquakes in utah, china this week, mexico, chile, etc. i'm sure we'll keep seeing things happen.
lately i've also been frustrated with government. i've been leaning more 'liberal' in the past couple years. but denise said something to me the last time i saw her that has had me thinking: protect your rights even if you don't use them. like protecting the right to bear arms even though i will probably never own a gun or use one. but i really don't like the 'police state' that is rising. am i leaning libertarian? eh, i don't think so. but more than i ever thought i would.
i've always been a geek for world news, other cultures, and anything of an international flavour. i'm a self declared xenophile. now i teach world civilizations and geography, so i take it as part of my job to be up on current world events, history in the making, anniversaries, etc. (eg: i started my unit on the civil war on the 149th anniversary of its beginning.)
as a result of content and curriculum searches i've been exposed to a lot of online stuff like blogs that i've started following. here are a few i thought i'd share:
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
This guy either grew up in Utah or went to school here. He now teaches in Texas. He's a great resource for social studies, specifically history. he also provides some interesting insight into some current social situations, specifically the texas board of ed.
John Sherffius: Cartoonist
Some of his editorial cartoons are a little cheesy, but for the most part he's right on and very clever.
Information is Beautiful
Visual artist that makes data representations for the Guardian of the UK.
i saw a guy walking along university parkway in orem with a sign saying 'the end is near'. i thought it was hilarious, but he also has a point. with the volcano in iceland, earthquakes in utah, china this week, mexico, chile, etc. i'm sure we'll keep seeing things happen.
lately i've also been frustrated with government. i've been leaning more 'liberal' in the past couple years. but denise said something to me the last time i saw her that has had me thinking: protect your rights even if you don't use them. like protecting the right to bear arms even though i will probably never own a gun or use one. but i really don't like the 'police state' that is rising. am i leaning libertarian? eh, i don't think so. but more than i ever thought i would.
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