News/Opinion Blog (a more frequently updated version of this blog.)
Fashion/More Personal Blog
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I hope to see you around!
News/Opinion Blog (a more frequently updated version of this blog.)
Fashion/More Personal Blog
Tumblr
Consumerist tumblr (mostly fashion finds)
I hope to see you around!
"There is no red state America; there is no blue state of America; there is the United States of America"
I just watched Right America Feeling Wronged, the new documentary by Alexandra Pelosi that aired on HBO. She followed the McCain/Palin Campaign throughout the season and put together this little documentary showcasing the feelings of the crowds. It always strikes me how groups don't see themselves in others. The McCain/Palin crowds were under fire for their fervor and hatred, but Obama crowds were probably more enthusiastic in their fervor of a candidate. It's (generally) true that Obama crowds were more positive than McCain crowds, but what about Kerry crowds? At a time when so many people said they were voting against Bush and not for Kerry, that hatred was seen in liberal crowds. The gloom and doom of another's win is there in supporters of all politicians. It's mostly exaggerated claims fueled by mindless fear, but it's still there. On both sides.
The whole discourse would be benefitted if people just understood that mostly, we're alike. Our policy differences are definitely real and there, sometimes intellectually and sometimes mindlessly, but an approach that ignores all the similarities, that claims claimless ill-intent, that makes up fraugulent information to make their case is no approach. But of course it's a two-way endeavor. We've seen it try and fail because one side is being stubborn and more interested in their side's gain than compromising to get anything done. This democratic system is awful slow.
It has been an exciting couple weeks. I got back from DC mid-week and have been catching up on a couple days of missing class. I have to say, being in the Mall during the swearing in was literally awesome and completely worth the early wake-up call, cold, and massive crowds.
Something has been bothering me was Obama's title of the first "Global President", and the use of Shakira in some of the events. I know that America is the BIG-WORLD-LEADER, but it seems to me the world is just trying to take pride and credit for when America does something they deem good and ignoring and shunning all things they think America does wrong. I don't approve. I don't think you get to pick and choose who you are. I may not be a Bush supporter, but I will respect the office. I think respect was forgotten a few years ago, which is disappointing. I read somewhere that Bush became the leader for his base and that Obama has opened up the Presidency to lead the whole country, but that doesn't excuse rudeness.
Maybe I'm being too protective of my Presidents, but they are mine. As much as I think President Bush did what he believed was right, that doesn't mean I will pardon his behavior or think he shouldn't be punished. As much as I am proud and excited for Obama to flex his diplomatic muscle and listen to foreign nations, I don't think he is or should be the World's President. Political enthusiasm is refreshing and will hopefully last. Also, service.
Up next I'll try to tackle religion.
Something has been bothering me was Obama's title of the first "Global President", and the use of Shakira in some of the events. I know that America is the BIG-WORLD-LEADER, but it seems to me the world is just trying to take pride and credit for when America does something they deem good and ignoring and shunning all things they think America does wrong. I don't approve. I don't think you get to pick and choose who you are. I may not be a Bush supporter, but I will respect the office. I think respect was forgotten a few years ago, which is disappointing. I read somewhere that Bush became the leader for his base and that Obama has opened up the Presidency to lead the whole country, but that doesn't excuse rudeness.
Maybe I'm being too protective of my Presidents, but they are mine. As much as I think President Bush did what he believed was right, that doesn't mean I will pardon his behavior or think he shouldn't be punished. As much as I am proud and excited for Obama to flex his diplomatic muscle and listen to foreign nations, I don't think he is or should be the World's President. Political enthusiasm is refreshing and will hopefully last. Also, service.
Up next I'll try to tackle religion.
As a nineteen year old [going on twenty - when did that happen?], the topic of sex has a nice home in my little mind. This combined with Why Porn Turns Men Off the Real Thing and my watching this year's Doctor Who Christmas special with the Cybermen caused me to want to blog about this particular subject. Not in the NSFW variety, just in the introspective kind. Before I start my ramble, some quotes to get in the spirit of conversation.
The last two are from the linked article, and the latter is exactly my point of contention with sex in general [emphasis mine]. I don't consider myself prudish, but I probably regard sex higher than most in my age bracket. There are moments when I think "sex is sex - big deal, what?" [my stream of conscious is very hip and concise], but usually I side on it being more than just an expression of pleasure for pleasure's sake [which begs the question of masturbation, but that is not what this post is about].
[At this point, I fight the urge to link to Lily's list of 50 reasons to have sex - I obviously lose.]
[One reason I don't blog much - I get far too distracted on matters that are closely linked to the subject at hand, but are also digressions.]
Okay, back to the point. Is the amount of sex and sexual images in Western society damaging? Maybe a bit stale and overanalyzed, but my blog, my rules.
A point I find frustrating is the sexualized feminist [feminist backlash, in a way] of "taking their own sexuality in their hands", but really it is just imposing chauvinistic male thought of sex onto females. I am not completely saying that is an awful situation, but I question whether that social norm is the healthiest. Instead, why not turn norm male sexuality female for lack of better phrasing. [This won't turn into a rant on feminist goals, but really, I have to say that this generation has failed in continuing the progress of the generation of our parents. The general lack of respect and original ideas saddens me.] The idea that male ideas of power and sex are better is not instinctively correct, but the assimilation of male ideas into the female arena rings false and does not better the equality equation. The inevitability of differences between and men and women and their roles in society, or at least the way in which it is expressed should be celebrated instead of ignored and hidden.
In this, I see the emergence of "female porn", usually made by women, with women as a target audience. So, more romance, more story to stimulate the more complex sex. Sure, okay. It doesn't take away the societal problem of capitalist consumption using sex as nothing but a gimmick.
The issue of issues. Sex has no mystery. Sex is just something you do because it feels good, because it's going to happen eventually, because that's what's normal. And it is. Normal. Endorphins are released as an evolutionary mechanism to spur pro-creation [but tell that to the pandas, who apparently are not big fans of breeding, making endangered species activists really frustrated]. And I'm on the boat that says tension is fun. But how does one thrive in a world where a vast majority see sex as a means in itself?
I'm not advocating waiting for marriage or even a long-term relationship. I'm not completely concerned with that choice; the idea proliferates all of Western society, even in a prudish country like America compared to some European nations. There's still complete beauty in modesty, as expressed in that last excerpt. I don't want everyone to live one way, but that choice seems to be released for society to say. There can't be both that demure Islamic foundation of modesty, or the extravagant sexual expression of the West. There can't be both, but there can be a moderation.
I don't think all this is necessarily bad, but on the whole, I don't think society has found a great replacement for such emotion and connection. Sex is just a part of this bigger whole that helps keep humanity alive. There are other wonderful traits; friendship, peace, love of all shapes and sizes, but to ignore the reality that sex helps define romantic love, or at least sexuality would be a lie. If sex can stand on its own, the impact it makes on romantic love must dim, even slightly. The ability for any man or woman to watch a performance of such an act at a click of their mouse [pun not intended, I heard clicking a mouse as a euphemism for female masturbation once] should deaden the experience slightly. Without that integral step of redefining such relationships, the issue of impersonality remains. Maybe that's why so many clamor onto social networking sites to pour their secrets out to strangers everyday. We miss it.
We've become immune to the sexualization of people, but is that a good thing? Is sexual freedom that, or is it something more sinister? Sex shouldn't be seen as an evil, but by not attaching it to anything at all, are we demeaning what should be something bigger?
I still wrestle with these thoughts, but I will leave you with one more quotation.
“Scratch most feminists and underneath there is a woman who longs to be a sex object. The difference is that is not all she wants to be.” - Betty Rollin <
"there’s definitely a toxic intersection between consumerism and sexuality. It’s a great sensation, but if it’s just become sensation devoid of any kind of sacredness or spirituality or love - for want of a less problematic word - it’s just become that rat pressing the button to get the endorphins running.” -Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio
“The onslaught of porn is responsible for deadening male libido in relation to real women, and leading men to see fewer and fewer women as “porn-worthy.” Far from having to fend off porn-crazed young men, young women are worrying that as mere flesh and blood, they can scarcely get, let alone hold, their attention.”
"But does all this sexual imagery in the air mean that sex has been liberated—or is it the case that the relationship between the multi-billion-dollar porn industry, compulsiveness, and sexual appetite has become like the relationship between agribusiness, processed foods, supersize portions, and obesity? If your appetite is stimulated and fed by poor-quality material, it takes more junk to fill you up. People are not closer because of porn but further apart; people are not more turned on in their daily lives but less so."
The last two are from the linked article, and the latter is exactly my point of contention with sex in general [emphasis mine]. I don't consider myself prudish, but I probably regard sex higher than most in my age bracket. There are moments when I think "sex is sex - big deal, what?" [my stream of conscious is very hip and concise], but usually I side on it being more than just an expression of pleasure for pleasure's sake [which begs the question of masturbation, but that is not what this post is about].
[At this point, I fight the urge to link to Lily's list of 50 reasons to have sex - I obviously lose.]
[One reason I don't blog much - I get far too distracted on matters that are closely linked to the subject at hand, but are also digressions.]
Okay, back to the point. Is the amount of sex and sexual images in Western society damaging? Maybe a bit stale and overanalyzed, but my blog, my rules.
A point I find frustrating is the sexualized feminist [feminist backlash, in a way] of "taking their own sexuality in their hands", but really it is just imposing chauvinistic male thought of sex onto females. I am not completely saying that is an awful situation, but I question whether that social norm is the healthiest. Instead, why not turn norm male sexuality female for lack of better phrasing. [This won't turn into a rant on feminist goals, but really, I have to say that this generation has failed in continuing the progress of the generation of our parents. The general lack of respect and original ideas saddens me.] The idea that male ideas of power and sex are better is not instinctively correct, but the assimilation of male ideas into the female arena rings false and does not better the equality equation. The inevitability of differences between and men and women and their roles in society, or at least the way in which it is expressed should be celebrated instead of ignored and hidden.
In this, I see the emergence of "female porn", usually made by women, with women as a target audience. So, more romance, more story to stimulate the more complex sex. Sure, okay. It doesn't take away the societal problem of capitalist consumption using sex as nothing but a gimmick.
When she showed me her little house in a settlement on a hill, and I saw the bedroom, draped in Middle Eastern embroideries, that she shares only with her husband—the kids are not allowed—the sexual intensity in the air was archaic, overwhelming. It was private. It was a feeling of erotic intensity deeper than any I have ever picked up between secular couples in the liberated West. And I thought: Our husbands see naked women all day—in Times Square if not on the Net. Her husband never even sees another woman’s hair.
She must feel, I thought, so hot.
Compare that steaminess with a conversation I had at Northwestern, after I had talked about the effect of porn on relationships. “Why have sex right away?” a boy with tousled hair and Bambi eyes was explaining. “Things are always a little tense and uncomfortable when you just start seeing someone,” he said. “I prefer to have sex right away just to get it over with. You know it’s going to happen anyway, and it gets rid of the tension.”
“Isn’t the tension kind of fun?” I asked. “Doesn’t that also get rid of the mystery?”
“Mystery?” He looked at me blankly. And then, without hesitating, he replied: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Sex has no mystery.”
The issue of issues. Sex has no mystery. Sex is just something you do because it feels good, because it's going to happen eventually, because that's what's normal. And it is. Normal. Endorphins are released as an evolutionary mechanism to spur pro-creation [but tell that to the pandas, who apparently are not big fans of breeding, making endangered species activists really frustrated]. And I'm on the boat that says tension is fun. But how does one thrive in a world where a vast majority see sex as a means in itself?
I'm not advocating waiting for marriage or even a long-term relationship. I'm not completely concerned with that choice; the idea proliferates all of Western society, even in a prudish country like America compared to some European nations. There's still complete beauty in modesty, as expressed in that last excerpt. I don't want everyone to live one way, but that choice seems to be released for society to say. There can't be both that demure Islamic foundation of modesty, or the extravagant sexual expression of the West. There can't be both, but there can be a moderation.
I don't think all this is necessarily bad, but on the whole, I don't think society has found a great replacement for such emotion and connection. Sex is just a part of this bigger whole that helps keep humanity alive. There are other wonderful traits; friendship, peace, love of all shapes and sizes, but to ignore the reality that sex helps define romantic love, or at least sexuality would be a lie. If sex can stand on its own, the impact it makes on romantic love must dim, even slightly. The ability for any man or woman to watch a performance of such an act at a click of their mouse [pun not intended, I heard clicking a mouse as a euphemism for female masturbation once] should deaden the experience slightly. Without that integral step of redefining such relationships, the issue of impersonality remains. Maybe that's why so many clamor onto social networking sites to pour their secrets out to strangers everyday. We miss it.
We've become immune to the sexualization of people, but is that a good thing? Is sexual freedom that, or is it something more sinister? Sex shouldn't be seen as an evil, but by not attaching it to anything at all, are we demeaning what should be something bigger?
I still wrestle with these thoughts, but I will leave you with one more quotation.
