Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
So I started this book for English (that I read four years ago and forgot about… but don’t mind that!) and I finished it in the same night. I thought it needed a post.
The book, which I thought was going to be whiny feminism, was about an African American woman who married very young.
All her life, she fantasized and idealized love. It was something that swept her away; it was something that was sacred in nature and, frankly, perfect in every way, shape, and form. And then, she got to the marrying age. Her grandmother (mother figure) in the book married her off to some financially stable bloke and she was treated like a pack mule. Always complaining, she did not notice the good he was providing. The shelter, the food, the water were all ignored because she didn’t love him. But a love like that doesn’t exist. The perfect relationship doesn’t exist.
She ran away from husband number one for husband number two. He was a dreamer who treated her like a princess. But that wasn’t good enough for her. She needed to be respected, to be a part of everything, to be the center of attention. She stayed in her self-inflicted misery for twenty years until husband number two, a rather prosperous man, died. Then she went to husband number three.
It was the story of a woman who dreamed too much as a child and whose unrealistic ideals screwed up the rest of her life. This is the classic situation I bitch about daily. Is we aren’t realists, if we are optimists or even idealists, we will be screwed up. We will never be happy; we will never have the ability to be happy. The world will not become that fairy tale we’ve always hoped for because life actually sucks. Idealists are the worst.
The weekend passed I spent in Oslo at the Rød Ungdom “Red Youth” film-festival, ProgFilm. I learned some, met some cool and nice people, some old friends, and two of our fellow-authors: Bjørn and Vegard. Huzzah.
The lecture I will focus this entry on was about feminism and sexual harassment. The movie was the sweedish “Hip hip Hora!” (Loosely translated: Hip hip Whore-ay!, but it’s more funny in sweedish…) and the speaker was Hanna Helseth, author of the book “Generation Sex”.
The lecture, and the book, is about sexual harassment, how young girls and women are expected to act a certain way, and how girls who have one-night-stands, or at least are said to have one-night-stands, easily gets labelled as a whore, of cheap. And it’s about sexual assaults, and how they are easily labeled as “reciprocal sex” if the girl/woman has a rumour for sleeping around.
These kinds of lectures always leave me thinking a lot, mostly about how terrible the world is. Middle- and High-school teachers tell their female students that guys pinching their asses is just a childish way of flirting, and that it’s meant tp be a compliment. And girls who dare speak up against it gets labelled as lesbian, “tight” (not in the good “ay, we tight, bro”-way…) and boring. Sometimes even a-sexual, meaning not having any interest in sex – Anti-sexual.
On the other hand: The girls who flirt with these guys, maybe even has a couple of boyfriends, or makes-out with guys sometimes at parties gets the blame for it if they get raped or assaulted in any other way.
How is this fair?
I believe in Simone deBeauvoir when she says that you’re not born a woman, you become one. I believe that society tries to shape girls and women to fit in the mould of “The Perfect Woman”. Not too flirty, not too out-spoken, pretty and insecure.
I have never fit into this mould, because my mother told me to speak my opinions, say no if I didn’t want it, say yes if I did want something, and just generally to be happy with the girl/young woman I am. To this I am thankfull, and I believe that it has made a lot of stuff easier for me. Guys learn quickly not to mess with me, I feel free (most of the time), and I wish that all girls could have this knowledge. A mould isn’t a good thing, because we’re all different, and we should let ourselves be different. And society should learn to accept these differences.
And most importantly: We have to respect ourselves and each other, in order for guys to respect us. Don’t call your girlfriends whores, or your “less-masculine” friends gay. Don’t speak down to a girl because she chooses to have sex, the same way you shouldn’t speak down to girls who chooses NOT to have sex. These are individual choices to be made my the individual person.
I think that was it from the soapbox for this time…
-Frida
I read one of the most amazing, heartbreaking and enlightening novels I have ever read this summer. The book is titled Mornings in Jenin, and is said to be “[…] a heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan”. And I believe this to be absolutely true!
The story of the novel revolves around a palestinian family, through different generations, and through the history of the occupation, the wars, and about life in the refugee-camps. The family history starts in Ein Hod, Palestine in 1941, and it continues untill present time.
The author, Susan Abulhawa, is a palestinian refugee, currently living in the States. And I think that that is a part of what makes the book so great and moving: It feels so personal, so real, and allready during the first chapter I was moved to tears by her writing.
Another great thing about this novel is how it is historically and culturally correct. Abulhawa has used UN-documents, articles and stories from the media and even research on Israeli soldiers to get this novel as true-to-life as possible. And yet, even though some of the stories are real, the characters are fictional.
The book was originally published by a smaller publisher as The Scar of David, but after they went out of business Bloomsbury Press bought it, and published it, under the new name, Mornings in Jenin. And I am happy that they did! (And also; If anyone could get me the first edition of The Scar of David I would promise my undying gratitude to this person. And maybe even some kinky stuff if it was in a really good shape!)
Abulhawa has been criticized by many for the book, including a rabbi from a synagogue in New York (surprise, surprise!) claiming it was full of “made-up stuff”, and this criticism led to a scheduled speaking from the author at a bookstore to be demoted to a book-signing.
I do, however, believe this to be one of the most accurate and moving stories about the palestinian people’s history, culture, situation and, most importantly to me, long fight for freedom. And I think that everyone should read this book, no matter background, religion, ethnicity or nationality. If not for learning about the conflicts and wars of the Middle-East, then at least for a great and moving story, written in a wonderfully poetic, yet still realistic and personal way.
I would like to include a very moving, to me, entry from the guestbook at www.morningsinjenin.com, written by an american jew by the name of Susan:
“I must first comment that Mornings in Jenin is a beautifully-written story. You are a talented writer. More than talented-incredibly gifted.
I am an American Jew who is deeply disturbed by your book. I grew up believing unflinchingly in the existence of Israel, and am now besieged by feelings of horror and sadness at the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis as portrayed in your story. Is it all true? I am moved to find out all I can about the formation of Israel and what has happened before and since. I am saddened by the incredible complexity of this issue – the history of Jews vs. Arabs – and am left wondering what I can do to help. […]”
This entry shows how incredibly moving and heartfelt the book is, and also why it is so important for people to read it.
The palestinian-israeli conflict was one of the main reasons I became politically active, and is still one of the most important political causes, to me. Reading this book hasn’t changed my political opinions, only made them stronger, and I also feel a better understanding of the situation. Also, the use of actual arab-terms and the way the book teaches you of the culture and history of the palestinian people just made it even better, to me.
So do you get my point? Read the book!
I believe palestinians to have the most optimistic and beautiful ways of greating each other good-bye:
I will see you in Palestine,
Frida
Tomorrow, I head to ye ol’ town of Dayton in order to help prepare for my, let me think a minute, third cousin’s funeral. I mentioned her in an earlier, emo blog, but I think I have come to terms with her death and whatnot and so I’m feeling much better about things. I don’t know if it’s wrong of me to say this, but I’m actually kind of looking forward to the funeral. It’s going to be the closest thing my paternal side of the family- scratch that, they are my only extended family- has had to a family reunion in years upon years. By no means are we a large family, but it seems like people used to make more of an effort to get together on the holidays and such. For one thing, everybody started dying off. For a second thing, everyone moved away. The only ones left in Dayton are my grandmother and great-grandmother. Anyways, I miss it and so I’m looking forward to seeing everyone, be that moral or immoral of me to say.
In other news, Sarah Palin is a 10th cousin of Barack Obama. Crazy times, yes? What I want to know is how the devil they can trace back that far. I think most of us would be lucky if we could trace back 3-4 direct generations, let alone know all the cousins and distant relations that correspond to each. Mayhap the world of political breeding is similar to that of Royalty- it’s a small pool and inbreeding is bound to occur. Mayhap that is why they are all so fucked up in the head…
Last eve, as I was watching an awesome American television show known as “Sister Wives,” I saw an advertisement for what undoubtedly promises to be the worst show ever: “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.”
You know what this means, don’t you? Palin is going to use this blasted television show to worm her evil little way into the hearts and minds of the American television-viewing public! And then, ohhhh and then, she will use her celebrity to climb up the political ladder once more and eventually become the President of this hopeless nation and we shall be doomed! Nuclear warfare will inevitably ensue and there goes the human race. That’s just what happens when you’re a gun-toting, wolf-shooting maverick like Satan Palin.
What I say to you, my few and totally liberal readers who this won’t even apply to, is this: RESIST! Resist that charm that always comes with a “reality” tv show, resist Sarah and all her Alaska-ness, and most importantly- resist the purely devilish temptation to vote for her on any and all ballots!
Good night, and good luck.
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