the Infamous Scribblers

To fall in and out of love: with ones country

2009-02-21T23:13:00.003+10:00

A friend of mine recently made a Facebook Post about falling out of love with ones country. Upon reading this Facebook post, another friend quickly referred to an article that he thought would inspire her and hopefully, make her fall in love with her country once again.

Ten African American Women Who Changed the World

Black History Month dates back to 1976, when “Negro History Week” was extended to the month of February. That year doesn’t seem so long ago, but when we stop to consider where we are in 2009, it’s shocking to see how far we’ve come. Along with celebrating black history, we’re also celebrating the fact that the NAACP will celebrate its 100th anniversary on February 12. We’re rejoicing that a man of color now occupies the most powerful position in the country. It might seem like social change happens slowly, but witnessing such momentous events in our lifetime makes its occurrence undeniable. Though Obama’s election ignited a nation with optimism, it is just as inspirational that a woman came so close to the presidency. We have much to be grateful for this month, and it seems essential to recognize the achievements of some of the African American women whose pioneering efforts made this groundbreaking election possible.

1. Sojourner Truth

Sojourner was born into slavery with the name Isabella Baumfree. She changed her name after escaping from her owner and became a Christian preacher while living with a family in New York. After the state’s Emancipation Act was passed, she became a vehement and vocal supporter of abolition and women’s rights. She traveled the country giving speeches, including a famous one entitled Ain’t I a Woman? that emphasized the strength and power of women and the need for equality between the sexes.

2. Harriet Tubman

Like Sojourner, Harriet was born into slavery and found a means of escape with the help of her abolitionist neighbors. In 1849, she fled her slave life in Maryland and found respite in Philadelphia. There she formulated a plan to liberate the rest of her family by way of the Underground Railroad, a system that involved moving slaves from one safe house to another under rigid secrecy. She was able to free her family and numerous other slaves throughout the years, taking them as far as Canada and helping them find safe jobs. Later, she worked as a nurse during the Civil War and was a proponent of both women’s suffrage and the abolitionist movement.

3. Maya Angelou

Before she was celebrated for her poems and autobiographical texts like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya was a nightclub singer and dancer who toured Europe. She settled in New York and became part of the burgeoning black writing scene in Harlem. After moving to Ghana to teach at the University of Ghana’s School of Music and Drama, she met Malcolm X and collaborated with him on bringing equality and unity to America. She returned to the U.S. and was involved with the Civil Rights Movement, working closely with Martin Luther King Jr. She continues to inspire others and promote change through her writing and public speaking.

SPOWF'S NOTE:

A poem by Maya Angelou 'Still I rise' has been covered previously in this blog by Illaine.

4. Oprah Winfrey

Early in her career, Oprah was the protégée of Maya Angelou; they are open about their close bond, likening it in one article to a “sister-mother-daughter-friendship.” Now Oprah is one of the richest and most powerful people in America. Her vast influence on the women in this country is remarkable and a testament to the strength and kindness of her character. She uses her resources and celebrity to enact positive change in communities worldwide, such as fostering literacy through her book club, building a school in Africa, encouraging others to perform good deeds, and campaigning tirelessly for Obama.

5. Mary McLeod Bethune

In 1906, a teacher named Mary Bethune built the Daytona Literacy and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls in Florida. Initially a one-woman operation, she enlisted the help of a few community members and sold baked goods to help raise funds for supplies and maintenance. After getting funding from one of the founders of Proctor and Gamble, the school joined forces with an all-boys school in Jacksonville and it became the Bethune-Cookman College. Later, she went on to found the National Council of Negro Women and worked with FDR on minority issues and youth policies.

6. Mae Jemison

A physician who volunteered with the Peace Corps and the first female African American astronaut, Mae was also the first black woman to go into space. After her 1992 expedition on the Endeavor shuttle, she left NASA and founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence (which sponsors science camps for kids), as well as companies involved in scientific and technological research. Currently, she is a professor at Cornell University and strongly involved in the science community.

7. Zora Neale Hurston

Zora was a boisterous writer who was part of the Harlem Renaissance, a social and cultural movement that explored the experiences of black people in America during the 1920s. She used her background in anthropology at Barnard College to write short stories and essays about African American folklore. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was published in 1937. Because some people disagreed with the way she wrote African American dialogue, her works were not initially as popular as they later became. Now, there is no question of her influence on black female writers like Alice Walker, who wrote an essay about her in 1975.

8. Shirley Chisholm

In 1968, Shirley became the first black Congresswoman and in 1972, she became the first black woman to contend for the presidential office. She used her time in Congress and on the campaign trail to voice her opinions on women’s and civil rights, giving a public voice to many of the grassroots campaigns she was involved in prior to her election.

9. Angela Davis

Angela has worn many hats in her lifetime—university professor, writer, public speaker—but she is best known for her political activism with the Black Panthers, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Community, and the Civil Rights Movement. She ran into legal trouble when it was suspected she helped Black Panther George Jackson escape from prison, but was eventually released from jail when the evidence against her failed to prove her involvement. She continues to lecture and write about human rights and equality. Currently, she is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

10. Rosa Parks

This list wouldn’t be complete without including Rosa Parks, the woman who refused to give up her bus seat in 1955 and sparked a movement that led to the end of segregation. Her courageous act fueled the Civil Rights Movement and inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. to get involved. Along with MLK, Jr., she continues to inspire those who still fight for equality. Anybody who thinks her dreams are impossible or that society can’t be changed by one person’s efforts need only look to these women as role models. Their bravery and determination acted as catalysts for profound change in the world, and each had only one thing in common—the belief that she could make it happen. Yes they could, and yes we can too.

By: Vicki Santillano (http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22343/66732-ten-african-american-changed-world)

Quick Links

2008-03-17T07:31:00.004+10:00

World Doco

The Souls of Black Girls by Clutch Mag online

PNG Developments

An ICT revolution in PNG by Malum Nalu via Masalai Blog

World Music

2008-03-17T07:13:00.001+10:00

Damian Marley- One Loaf of Bread (something for you)

Bring the lyrics back to music

2007-10-24T10:27:00.000+10:00

Directed by Kerry Washington, I want you is the 3rd single off Common's Finding Forever album. While its not a conscious song about "the times", its a love song that anyone can relate to. Common reminisces on his lost love (I been thinkin bout,I been thinkin bout,I been thinkin bout u lately) wondering and then realising where he went wrong 'Things seem to come up when I hear our song/Golden brown girl, it seem so long Since I heard your voice where did the king go wrong? and 'I spent many years tryna be the heartthrob
I guess it's only right that I got my heart robbed'

With other stand out lines like 'you don't know what you've got till its gone, yeah I like such and sucho a lot but the feeling's not as strong' and 'my friends say it was a change for the better
but I say, girl u changed my forever' this song hits home for people who've had love so good and lost it, hoping that by some miracle they can have it back.

Spot the cameos in this vid

Worth A Click

2007-10-11T09:21:00.000+10:00

Check out :

Be Inspired a new section over at The Vent
In Congo, an epidemic of Rape over at Clutch Magazine online
Time Magazine does Style & Design
All Black arrested in London over at Stuff.co.nz

WORLD FEATURE

2007-10-10T12:53:00.000+10:00

Its been 13 years since the systematic slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus took place in Rwanda. 13 years later the country is picking itself up and forging ahead

Seeds of Change in Rwanda
By ALEX PERRY/NYAMATA for TIME magazine

We step inside Nyamata church and my guide, Josh Ruxin, points out the wall where babies were smashed up against the brick. "You can still see the blood," he says. More blood, wide dry brown stains, covers the altar cloth. Against a side wall, I find two new-looking closed coffins covered in cloth, a stack of 20 more, empty and expectant, and an open sack scattered with ribs, femurs and broken skulls. "Oh yeah," says Ruxin, looking over. "Thirteen years later, they're still finding new bodies round here every day." We walk around to the front of the church where a raised white-tiled plinth is scattered with dead flowers and plastic wrap. In its center is another stairwell. "If you want the full tour ... ," Ruxin trails off. I descend. At the foot of the stairs is a narrow corridor. The walls are lined with shelves, floor to the ceiling, stacked with neat piles of bones and skulls. "There's 50,000 people down there," says Ruxin, when I emerge.

The genocide museum in the capital Kigali concludes its description of 1994 with the words: "Rwanda was dead."

The Hutu slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda between April and July 1994 was so quick and wholesale, it has proved impossible to find all the dead or separate their remains. It is estimated that Rwanda lost 800,000 people in 100 days. Perhaps 2 million took part in the slaughter, this in a country of 8 million. The genocide museum in the capital Kigali concludes its description of 1994 with the words: "Rwanda was dead." As a Tutsi area, Nyamata was a crucible of the killing. It was where, in a series of practice massacres after 1990, that the Hutu militia, the Interahamwe, honed their calculations of the optimum rate of dispatch. Come April 1994, around six out of every 10 people in Nyamata were killed, though again, no one is sure of the exact figure. A few miles from Nyamata, a sign at a second massacre site reads: ÉGLISE NTARAMA: +/- 5,000 PEOPLE.

A holocaust colors everything that follows, alters the essence of a nation. And it fosters a lasting mystery — an incomprehension over how man could behave so inhumanly to man. At his offices in Kigali, President Paul Kagame says: "Hutu fathers killed their own children because some of them resembled their wives, who were Tutsi. How do you explain that?" Nations that haven't just peered into the abyss, but lived in it, have a tight grasp on the price of failure. Those that survive are duty-bound to do everything to avoid a repeat. So when Columbia University public health and development expert Ruxin, 37, arrived in Rwanda and asked where to set up the Millennium Villages Project, a program to end poverty in 80 villages across the world, Kagame's government gave him an office 100 m from Nyamata church.

'It pulled itself up by its bootstraps when there weren't even any boots'

Rwanda's unbending approach since its holocaust has led it to some remarkable successes — and embroiled it in controversy. What's undeniable is that Rwanda is forging a remarkable path to development. Last week the country was named the most improved sub-Saharan nation on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, ranking factors such as transparency and human development over the last five years. If yesterday Rwanda was Africa's great tragedy, today, to many, it is its great hope. "This is not just a nation that's emerged from the ashes," says Ruxin. "It pulled itself up by its bootstraps when there weren't even any boots. Now it's achieving a level of recognition that makes other countries salivate. It's a place of real hope."

SOURCE

Click here to continue reading

What are your views? Can a country heal itself after such acts of violence have occurred?

Port Moresby's Colourful History

2007-09-22T10:21:00.000+10:00

War time Port Moresby

Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, has a colourful history behind it, particularly during World War 11 when it saved Australia from being invaded by the Japanese.
Many of our young people also do not know of the pivotal role our capital city played in swaying the tide of WW11.

Long before the arrival of the white man, the Motuan people of the area now known as Port Moresby, traded their pots for sago, other food and canoe logs, with their partners from the Gulf of Papua.They sailed from Hanuabada and other villages, built on silts above the waters of the bay.They also intermarried with the Gulf people and created strong family and trade links.

The Hiri expeditions were large-scale.As many as 20 multi-hulled canoes or lakatoi, crewed by some 600 men, carried about 20,000 clay pots on each journey.To the Motuans, the Hiri was not only an economic enterprise but they also confirmed their identity as a tribe because of the long and dangerous voyages.These voyages are commemorated in modern times by the annual Hiri Moale Festival held at Ela Beach in September.

The area was already an important trade centre by the time Captain John Moresby, of HMS Basilisk, first identified the area of the site later to become known as Port Moresby.

The Englishman had just ventured through the Coral Sea at the eastern end of New Guinea and upon encountering three previously unknown islands landed there.
At 10 o’clock in the morning of the 20th February, 1873, he claimed the land for Britain and named it after his father, Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby.He called the inner reach “Fairfax Harbour” and the other “Port Moresby”.

Actual European settlement of the site did not occur until a decade later when the south-eastern part of New Guinea island was annexed to British Empire. British New Guinea was passed to the newly established Commonwealth of Australia in 1906, and became known as Papua.

From then until 1941 Port Moresby grew slowly.The main growth was on the peninsula, where port facilities and other services were gradually improved.Electricity was introduced in 1925 and piped water supply was provided in 1941.

Before WWII, Port Moresby was a small administrative center for the Australian territories of Papua and New Guinea.

During the war it was the strategic objective of the Japanese during the Battle of Coral Sea and the overland during the Kokoda Trail campaign.Japanese invasion attempts were unsuccessful, but the area was subjected to many air attacks.

Japanese air raids against Port Moresby started on February 2, 1942, and continued until April 12, 1943 (plus later nighttime harassment raids).The area became a major American and Australian staging area and airfield complex in support of the Allied push to the north of New Guinea

On January 23, 1942, the Japanese landed at Kavieng on New Ireland and at Rabaul on New Britain where they quickly overcame the Australian defenders.On March 8, the Japanese established themselves firmly at Lae and Salamaua in Morobe.

However, the Battle of the Coral Sea from May 5 to 8 averted a Japanese sea borne invasion of Port Moresby and the American success at the Battle of Midway in June not only destroyed Japan’s capacity for undertaking long range offensives but also provided the Americans with the opportunity to move from the defensive to the offensive.

The Japanese, who were regularly bombing Port Moresby with twenty to thirty bombers with fighter escort, decided on the overland attack across the Owen Stanley Range.
It was on July 21, 1942, that Japanese troops landed on the northern coast of then New Guinea and unexpectedly began to march over the Owen Stanley Ranges with the intent of capturing Port Moresby.

On the Kododa Trail the Australian 7th Division resisted the Japanese General Horii’s overland attempt to capture Port Moresby, and the advance was halted within 30 miles of the city.
Had they succeeded, the mainland of Australia would have come under dire threat.
Kokoda was arguably Australia’s most significant campaign of the Second World War.
More Australians died in the seven months of fighting in Papua, and the Japanese came closer to Australia, than in any other campaign.

Many of those young Australians, whose average age was between 18 and 19, now lie buried at the Bomana War Cemetery outside Port Moresby.Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery is about 19 kilometres north of Port Moresby on the road to Nine-Mile, and is approached from the main road by a short side road called Pilgrims Way.The cemetery contains 3,819 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 702 of them unidentified.

Bomana War Cemetary

Port Moresby has grown considerably since the end of World War 11 and many traces of the war have been removed or disappeared, but airfields and dive sites still remain.

Down Town Port Moresby

The city is home to the PNG National Museum with a collection of war relics and artifacts.
One of the best-known landmarks in the city is the wreck of the motor vessel Macdhui.The vessel, sunk in the harbour by Japanese bombs in 1942, is plainly visible on the reef near Tatana Island.

Numerous WW11 aircraft wrecks lie in shallow water around the coast or on the reefs near Port Moresby and can be viewed by diving.

Nearly the entire city has some connections with World War II. These include Port Moresby (Town) Prewar town and wharf area; Konedobu Northern area of the town; Kaevaga North of Konedobu ; Waigani former 5-Mile Wards Drome and the PNG goverment headquarters; Gordons South-east of Waigani PNG Modern History Museum; Boroko Located to the east of town ; Gerehu Area to the north of the present day University of PNG; Kila Kila East of Port Moresby town, former 3-Mile Drome; Mount Lawes Peak behind Port Moresby; Fairfax Harbor Port Moresby’s Harbor; Bootless Bay Inlet to the east of Port Moresby; Idlers Bay Inlet to the west of Port Moresby, Roku village; Joyce Bay Bay to the east of Port Moresby, Local Island

Present day Waigani Drive

By 1944, Port Moresby had six airfields. Jackson was the largest, and was named after Australian ace pilot John Jackson, leader of RAAF Squadron 75, who was killed in a dogfight against Japanese planes over Port Moresby on April 28, 1942.

Wartime airfields in the area included the following: Kila Drome (3 Mile) Airfield for fighters and bombers; Ward Drome (5 Mile) Airfield for heavy bombers and transport planes; Jackson Airport (7 Mile) Main airfield still in use today by Air Nugini; Berry Drome (12 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base near Bomana; Schwimmer (14 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Durand Airstrip (17 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Rogers (Rarona, 30 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Fisherman’s (Daugo) Emergency landing strip on off shore island

There are a number of abandoned gun emplacements, bunkers and fortifications.
These were constructed by Australian Engineers in 1944, but never used, then abandoned after the war: Basalisk Battery Largest, three gun battery to the west of Moresby; Paga Hill Battery Gun battery and radar set location hill outside Moresby; Gemo Island Battery Gun position on offshore island, overlooking the east; Bootless Bay Battery Gun position at Bootless Bay; Boera Battery Gun position west of Port Moresby.

Source: The National Online

Happy Independence

2007-09-16T09:35:00.000+10:00

The Infamous Scribblers wish our fellow Papua New Guineans a Happy 32nd Independence Day

Feel free to share what you got up to for Independence Day or your views on independence.

Independence and Moti

2007-09-16T09:10:00.000+10:00

It is a sad fact that in the past there has been a number of serious incidents that have taken place within the governments of the day. They have involved prime ministers, ministers and a host of elected members.

Some of these matters have galvanised the nation.

For as a people, we tend to flare with anger at dramatic incidents and then forget them with equal facility and remarkable speed.

As a result, incidents involving political wheeling and dealing have frequently been obliterated from public awareness by some other more exciting or eye-catching events.
Worse, our politicians have learned how to harness this phenomenon. Troubling political or leadership revelations are today often accompanied by some highly commendable public gesture on the part of the targeted individual or group.

The troubling revelations vanish from the national consciousness overnight.
On the eve of our 32nd year as a sovereign nation, we hail the many and varied achievements of our people and our leaders. But if our reputation as a law abiding nation is to be buttressed, there can be no more prevarication.

The Moti Affair is now public property. There are questions to be answered.

It’s time.

SOURCE: The National Online for the full article click here

What are your views on the ways ministers handle these incidents? What do you think of the way the PM has handled the Moti Affair? Do you agree that these incidents "vanish from the national consciousness overnight" and if so what do you propose be done about it?

Death of the MacDhui

2007-09-12T08:55:00.000+10:00

By Malum Nalu
A small, but significant, anniversary took place on Monday June 18, 2007.

That was the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the motor vessel Macdhui, sunk in the Port Moresby harbour by Japanese bombs in June 1942.

One of the best-known landmarks in Port Moresby is the wreck of the Macdhui in the waters just off the Port Moresby Technical College at Kanudi.

Many people just drive or walk past without knowing the significant role that the Macdhui played in the development of Papua New Guinea.

Recently, I was asked to be a tour guide for a retired US veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and one of the World War 11 relics I showed him was the wreck of the Macdhui. As we stood at Kanudi looking out to sea, I wondered what stories the deep blue sea, the rolling hills, and the wide sky could tell me about what they saw that fateful day in 1942.It was then that I realised that June 18, 2007, would be the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the Macdhui and decided to put pen to paper.

The Macdhui, 4630 tonnes, built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1930, was owned and operated on the Australia-Papua New Guinea service by Burns Philp and Company Limited.Macdhui’s maiden voyage took place in March 1931, sailing to Suva, Fiji, via the Azores, Jamaica, and the Panama Canal, with a load of coal.

Then the Sydney to Rabaul route for Burns Philip with 167 first-class passengers’ accomodation.
On June 20, 1931, a fire broke out on another voyage between Madang and Lae, but the passengers were safely taken ashore in lifeboats.

MacDhui was safely towed to Salamaua, New Guinea's then administrative capital, by Neptuna, another Burns Philp & Co vessel. After patching at Salamaua, MacDhui was sailed to Sydney for six weeks of repairs. With the onset of war the ship was commandeered by the Navy and used to evacuate civilians from New Guinea, then carrying Australian troops back to Port Moresby.

On June 17, 1942, the Macdhui was attacked by Japanese bombers as it was discharging to lighters in Port Moresby harbour.It began zigzagging around the harbour but took one direct hit which caused considerable damage.The vessel later went alongside the main wharf to unload dead and wounded.

The next day, at 10.45am, there was another air-raid warning and the Macdhui moved out into the harbour and began manoeuvring.Soon after the raid began, it took a direct hit.The captain headed towards shallow water where his ship finally keeled over onto a reef. Ten of the crew of 77 were killed along with five Australian gunners from 39 Battalion. Altogether, the Macdhui took four direct hits.

The dramatic sinking was captured on a black and white movie film shot by the famous Australian cameraman, Damien Parer from a nearby hilltop.The loss of the Macdhui was a great blow to the morale of the Australian troops in Port Moresby.

Until then it had been the only regular and reliable link between Australia and Port Moresby.

After the war, the Australian government compensated Burns Philp for its loss.The wreck itself is now deeply pitted and corroded under the waterline. It is gradually breaking up but even if it does slip completely under the surface part of the Macdhui will remain in Port Moresby.

In the late 1960s the mast was removed and now stands outside the Royal Papua Yacht Club as a memorial to those who died. One of the bells was erected in the tower of St John’s Anglican Church in Port Moresby and to this day still calls parishioners to worship.

Former vice-commodore of the Royal Papua Yacht Club, Trevor Kerr, tells of a supernatural experience in 1979 when the ashes of the late Captain J. Campbell, skipper of the Macdhui, were laid to rest with his ship. The powered launch Tina, owned and skippered by yacht club committee member Russ Behan, approached the wreck with Captain Campbell’s two sons, a United Church minister, and Kerr on board.

“The weather in the harbour was unusually placid, not a zephyr stirred,” writes former Port Moresby diver Neil Whiting in Wreck and Reefs of Port Moresby.

“The sea was so clear that the superstructure of the Macdhui could be seen below the surface of the water.

“There was not a ripple on the surface or current drift to break the calm.

“With heads bowed in prayer, the United Church minister upturned the urn containing Captain Campbell’s ashes and scattered the contents into the sea.

“Trevor, observing the ceremony in a more detached fashion than the others, observed the most amazing sequence of events.

“The ashes initially clouded the water as one would expect, but almost immediately condensed into a form similar to a teardrop.

“Then, the most amazing phenomenon occurred.

“The teardrop cloud quite rapidly crossed the six-metre intervening gap between the Tina and the Macdhui and disappeared into the hull.

“At a nudge from Trevor, Russ glanced up and also observed the incredible event.

“The engines of the launch were quickly started and in a state of chilled awe, the funeral party motored away.

“Captain Campbell had returned to his ship.”

SOURCE: http://malumnalu.blogspot.com/

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

2007-09-09T21:02:00.000+10:00

I was 13 or 14 when I first heard The miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I was probably too young to grasp some of its content and its meaning but that didn't stop me from playing it. It was in retrospect the first album by a female artist that I had listened to in depth. It got me with its smooth sounds, funky beats and its lyrics (which I would try to sing along to when I played it).

Released in 1998 the album had 14 tracks listed on it's album cover but it contained 2 hidden tracks (if memory serves me correctly). It featured D'Angelo (nothing even matters) and Mary J Blige (I used to love him) as guest artists and I recently learned that John Legend played the piano accompaniment on the track Everything is Everything.

She talks about the complexities and beauty of love and relationships in tracks like "tell him", "ex-factor", "when it hurts so bad", "nothing even matters" and "I used to love him". On "superstar" I think she was talking about music not inspiring whilst on "to zion" she sings about her son Zion and that whilst his may not have a been a planned pregnancy she's happy and feels blessed to be having him. Then there are the inspirational songs like "everything is everything". "doo wop"'s chorus serves like a warning while in the verses she sings about young people selling ourselves short, asking us to reassess what's important.

Video: Doo Wop (that thing) 1998

I haven't covered all the songs on the album but clearly its an album that was worth all its acclaim. It won 5 Grammy awards, was ranked #37 on Vh1's Greatest album of all time while on Rolling Stone magazine it ranked #312 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Click here to listen to the tracks and view its lyrics.

To bonk or not to bonk: that is the question

2007-09-06T19:36:00.000+10:00

Inspired by the famous line in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, the line"to bonk or not to bonk: that is the question" was used in a lecture I attended a few months ago. Although the lecturer posed this question objectively to demonstrate how cultural backgrounds affect attitudes towards sex (much to the amusement of the students present in the lecture theatre), this post will specifically look at why women have one night stands and how this supposedly "enthralling and exhilarating" experience has some rather negative consequences. In particular, the arguments of Amy in her post "An Open Letter to Mad Sheila" on the Feminist Reprise blog will be examined in order draw some feminist feedback on this debatable topic.

This post raised a number of issues which I believe require me to delve deeper in order for me to really establish what my personal stance on this controversial issue is.

First of all, I totally agree with the author in terms of women having the right to exercise sexual autonomy without being labelled a 'slut' or 'whore'. I believe that this form of labelling (either made by women OR men) not only spits in the face of women who have positively contributed to society, it is also an automatic insult and ignorance of a woman's intelligence and skills - outside of the bedroom. Not only is it bad enough to hear such insults being made by members of the opposite sex, it is even more questionable when made by WOMEN ourselves. It could also be argued that such insults are 'patriarchal terms' i.e terms developed by misyoginists (aka pigs) who have a warped perception of a world where there are no equal standards between the sexes - a world where women are inferior than men; a world where women must comply with male authority. In addition, a woman's compliance or subjectivity to 'patriarchy' is also an issue questioned by the author.

Undoubtedly, a one night stand involves the act of "picking up" with the express purpose of having sex with no initial intention of entering a long-term commitment. I agree with the author on the basis that having sixteen sexual partners in two years contributes to one's decrease in self-respect for her body and detrimentally affects one's self-esteem. However, I totally disagree with her blaming 'patriarchy' for her depressive state (ie feeling worthless).

"I was playing out a script written by patriarchy, one which says that a woman isworthless unless she has a man, and the way to get a man is to be sexuallyavailable. I believed—because patriarchy told me so—that by acting hawt andsexxeee* enough, I could hook a man into staying with me."

I don't believe patriarchy dictates that women are incomplete or worthless without a man. I think there is a natural and biological reason why humans are attracted to each other. Patriarchy isn't to blame: it is due to our own mindlessness or lack of exercising our own individual intelligence, caution, power that dictates the decisions we make. I don't think that patriarchy should be given a name and be made out to look like a tyrant because once women start blaming supposedly conspirated ideologies, then our taunts and anguish over our supposed subjectivity and dominance by men is the product of our own lack of intelligence - we are incarcerated by our own thoughts. Women should stop looking for excuses and reasons to justify their misguided decisions (even if being drunk is to blame) and should start being assertive and taking responsibility for their own actions instead of replaying the 'damsel in distress' scene over and over again. Blame 'I' not 'It" - admit it was a mistake (if it indeed was) or be honest and say "yes, it was I who got too drunk and had no fckn clue what I was doing." Don't be fckn mindless but admit personal fault because immediately once you start blaming patriarchy, you contribute to your own subjectivity and inferiority.

I don't think all one night stands are bad at all. Yes, there may be occassions where you didn't need a penis in your vagina in hindsight, but I think that one night stands are great when the attraction is mutual and a high level of respect is exchanged - knowing that you aren't too drunk or mindless of the fact that he is not attracted to you, however you have provided with him with the opportunity of using your body. So therefore, I must once again disagree with the author when she states:

"I justified this behavior to myself, despite how unhappy it mademe, with the Cosmo ideology that“I don’t care about love, respect, andall that boring monogamy stuff. I just want a good regular fuck, and Idon’t really care who it's with.”

Here Amy limits respect only to monogamous relationships. Respect and connection is essential for a one night stand too! When respect is not present, then maybe one should start questioning her own values and then maybe admit that she was indeed used for solely one man's sexual gratification and that as a result, she was degraded as a woman, blah, blah, blah. Next, she should ask one very serious question: was this self-inflicted? Think again next time...

An excerpt from the posting which I believe every woman should read in order to clarify her expectations about casual sex or even as a disclaimer/warning before engaging in such activities refers to the following:

"So to the woman who really, truly, honestly says to herself, "Gee, tonight Ijust want a penis in my vagina. That's really all I want, and so I'm going to goout and find that," I say, go sheila. But the minute any other desire creeps inthere--a yen for respect, say, for human connection, or even, dare I say it, for"good" sex from a woman's perspective--I would counsel that sheila to hold herhorses. if you want to be cared about and listened to, if you have any desire tobe acknowledged as a complex human being with an intellect and a soul, I wouldventure, random randy anonymous sheila, that fucking a stranger might not be themost effective vehicle to take you to your destination."

Before I conclude and finish this post, I would like to refer to an excellent article I found entitled "Critique of hookups doesn't reflect reality" by Adda Birnir and Basha Rubin published in Yale Daily News (03.06.2007). Here is an excerpt:

"Neither casual sex or committed sex is anunmitigated ideal; rather, it is how we approach them and what we expect of themthat becomes problematic. "

I will end this post with words I believe are very important (excerpt taken from same article):

"If we talk about “hooking up”more, as a society, a community, or among friends, we can develop a vocabulary,an understanding that it is deep and profound and complex and murky for allparties involved — but can also be enjoyable, safe and even, dare we suggest,beautiful... we believe that the answer is not to condemnany of the behavior.... What our generation needs is toforge a way to discuss these issues openly and honestly with our friends, ourlovers and our society at large. Of course, there is a problem that women oftenfeel abused or used by their casual sexual relationships. So, let’s create anenvironment where women can assert themselves and their sexual and emotionaldesires without being pushed into the old categories of chaste, respectable wifeor damaged slut. "

Still I rise - Maya Angelou

2007-09-04T10:15:00.000+10:00

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise

I rise
I rise.

SOURCE: http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/angelou/poems-ma.html#phen

Love's Deceit by Cee Lo Green

2007-09-04T09:55:00.000+10:00

Pleasure turns to the pain
Lessons learned from the strain
Questions burned in my brain..
About whether love is humane in its touch.

These thoughts are like salmon swimming upstream
In the tears of your deceit.
Fighting the current hurt that kills more than is created by the chaos
of our intertwined emotions.

Chaotic because the anchor of Eros' arrow has been plucked
from the vessel of my undying infatuation
Separation not as simple as the distance between us
My mind no longer possessed by demons that have been the overseers of my enslavement to your lies

The seeds of these lies rooted so deeply
They have cracked the foundation of what we once shared
Allowing the faith in us I had sealed inside to gush out like a river
ripping the image of our future together from my thoughts
as violently and as brutally as if it were a child
being taken from its mothers arms

I'm left surrounded in darkness
but i refuse to be swallowed by it
my loneliness like the night air
invisible to the eye, obvious to the touch,it is cold uncomfortableness

Yet if i could do it all over again
I'd do it in the same skin I'm in
To lay down and let love die
just stay down and let love lie?
no, no..not I

I'd stay around and let love fly
Even though i have seen its darkest form-deceit
Nothing else could taste this warm or feel this sweet...

WATCH THIS SPACE

2007-08-06T14:30:00.000+10:00

I'm still deciding what content to put up. After starting Eric Burns' "Infamous Scribblers: the Founding Fathers and the Beginnings of American Journalism" I wanted to snap up the blog title and blog name before someone else did.
GTG so WATCH THIS SPACE...