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| Shoma Chaudhury (Credit) |
"In a sense, to be a woman in India is to straddle two imprisonments: the idea of the goddess and the idea of the slut. Both extreme repute and extreme disrepute can be a form of enslavement. In between, there lies a whole spectrum of other staggering disempowerments."Woman in India: Goddess or Slut? (Al Jazeera: September 30, 2013).
Onward!
6 comments:
And to me it seems that there's only one reason why everyone in the world suddenly needs to know about rhino poaching in SA and rape in India: our future approval for whatever ill-considered measure will be suggested to combat these issues. For SA it'll obviously be an american invasion (actually they're already here), but for rape on the other side of the world? Probably a chip in the arm for every person on the planet. You won't know until it's too late.
I mean, what in the name of holy hell can we do about fucked up culture in India? The only thing that comes to mind is for the PC sheep to approve whatever suggestion is to follow from the new world government. Don't worry, it's for our safety.
How come these media frenzies can show up out of nowhere and nobody asks what the motive is? Who pays for the brand-less ads perpetuating the government line about global warming? "Who cares? Climate tax NOW." WTF?
But what about the victims Pstonie?
Surely you not suggesting that media coverage is constructing a crisis where one does not exist?
And whose "fucked up culture" is so remote from the concern with human rights that decent people everywhere should not care about rape and violence anywhere?
It is one thing to critique elitist politics for its ability to manipulate power politics but it is a cop out to see the world as shrouded in a conspiracy outside the control of decent people everywhere to stand up and demand change.
Just because the US and its allies invade this and that country does not mean that the dynamics of resistance toward change and peace is doomed.
I choose to see the world as my domain for interaction and activism. In existentialist terms life is about bringing meaning to absurdity.
My grandmother used to relay the common wisdom born of struggle that you must stand for something in this life or you will fall for everything.
I care about the Rhino. No-one manipulated me to care. I don't drive a Hyundai or use a Motorola cell phone because of their immersion in Palestinian oppression.
And I care about women in India because it is the right thing to do just like I care about my mother and women and girls in Africa and elsewhere.
My voice may mean absolutely nothing here on the blog or anywhere else but I live for principle and that to me means I stand for what is progressive and just in any terms.
Just saying but thanks for your comment anyway.
Trust you are well.
Peace,
Ridwan
I'm not saying that the pursuit of change is doomed, I'm saying that you can't fix anything with a broken tool.
I'm not suggesting that the media is constructing a crisis where one does not exist, I'm saying in terms of crises we have much bigger fish to fry, crises that the same "news" outlets are complacent in covering up.
I'm saying that on 11 sept 2001 the US government blatantly murdered more than 3,000 people in order to have an excuse to invade oil-rich countries and kill hundreds of thousands more people. For profit. Where's the coverage of that? Anyone who asks a government official what really happened literally gets dragged out of the press conference without comment.
Where's the coverage?
Fuck the rhino.
Pstonie the mainstream media is unlikely to cover stories or issues that do not support its corporate position. It is a capitalized truth as you know.
But I think you would agree that there are other sources for alternative information and news coverage.
To some extent that is what I try to do here and via the Aboriginal News Group (ANG): Give voice to issues that do not appear elsewhere especially in more mainstream venues.
That said though I must take issue with the gloss that rapes/abuse of Indian women or the enslavement of Nepali women/girls who happen to be indigenous is a kind of mainstream grandstanding that obscures more important stories like what the US does to extend its empire.
This blog spends more time than most pointing fingers at the empire and its excesses. And it does so on a corporate tool provided by Google.
But this is just a blog like I have said before. It is not a revolutionary font or even a useful tool for anything more than just thinking aloud and sometimes attracting engaging comments like yours.
On average the hits range between 400 and 500 a day but most hits don't accrue comments because I have made it harder to leave abusive anonymous rants.
But that is an aside and probably on my mind because this blog is 7 years old this month.
Anyway, for those of us who care about animals and their welfare it is hardly worthless to recognize the destruction of an ancient life form like the Rhino.
But I understand your general point that there needs to be more nuanced reporting and thoughtful analysis across the board.
Again, I think that there are a wealth of alternative news sources - even ones that provide more of an anarchist or radical view of politics, etc.
Perhaps these sources could develop more clarity on the "broken tool" you reference and possible alternatives, etc.
Those sources need not languish in the background if folks are fired up enough to make the issues they cover more accessible and known.
Peace,
Ridwan
I'm really just ranting at society and media in general, not your blog, which I enjoy reading.
It just seems kind of fucked up that families are being murdered by drones, and poachers are poaching too much (rhino), and then the media keeps repeating one while burying the other. And all the "non-profits" do the same.
That apparently means almost anyone can feel like they fulfilled their activism quota by putting a plastic horn on their SUVs and wearing an orchid on vagina day.
I absolutely hear you and welcome your rants here.
The first time I saw one of those plastic horns attached to the front end of a car - an SUV mind you - I stared for the longest time trying to figure out just what the hell it symbolized.
I asked my friend "does this mean the car has a hard-on?"
Now that I know it is supposed to be a Rhino horn it still appears to me to be more of a hard-on to feign relevance or as you say to front "their activism quota".
Most of these folks probably have no idea about drone murders or its relevance in the bigger scheme of things.
Thanks for reading here and making valuable contributions.
Peace,
Ridwan
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