Quote of the Day: Diamonds and Sex Trafficking

“A diamond is forever”

Here’s some cultural context for you in an analysis of this new phenomenon of the “GFE” in prostitution:

[...]Dude, talk about buying someone heart and soul.

Then of course there’s the entitlement aspect. The men who engage in such a thing not only believe that it’s right and appropriate to buy away a woman’s loathing of them and that she should act like she likes it, but they also believe that they, for whatever reason, have a right to a relationship. They have a right to buy another human being, use it, discard it, and she should pretend that she enjoys it.

A local anti-sexist activist of faith here (where I live) regularly talks about how “the culture is a pimp for all our girls and women.”   In other words,

Quote of the day: Banned Books

Banning Maya Angelou from school libraries and curricula is like banning Jesus’ crucifixion from Bible studies because it is “violent” and possibly “gory.”

Here is the relevant quote:

While you’re at it OC, ban the bible too. There’s a lot more rape and killing in that horrid book.

No, I don’t think the Bible should be banned.  I think every school should have important religious and cultural texts in its library, for students to access and study (including important books of other religions, such as the Torah and Qur’an).

For the same reason, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings should be in every school library.  It is a relevant, timeless classic that can help us learn about ourselves, including how to develop empathy and compassion.  For example, to overcome internalized homophobia (that says gay people somehow want or need to become straight, rather than asking us to accept them for who they are).  And isn’t that what Jesus was all about?

“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.”   –Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

Quote of the Day: People’s History

Viggo Mortensen writes over at Huffington Post about his experience unlearning the myth of the “great man” in our histories, and what it means about our abilities and responsibilities:

We can’t wait on others to “lead” us or solve our problems for us. We have to participate, to engage, every day and not just once every four years.

The rest of the brief essay is great.  Check out the Voices of a People’s History project when you have a chance.

Quote of the Day: Gender (e)Qualities

Thomas over at Feministing posed a great question in response to the movie trailer for the new film, An Emasculating Truth:

So I’ve been thinking about this, and I keep coming back to a question that I can’t answer:

What positive qualities do I want to see in a son that I don’t want to see in a daughter?

I can’t think of any.

Great question.  Hopefully, it stumps most everyone.  Hardcore sexists, maybe not so much.  But in the least, it’s a great conversation starter.

Quote of the day: Feministing

UPDATE:  Alex Dibranco is a woman.  And I still love her question.  Thank you to Alex for the correction.

Courtney over at Feministing have put together a compilation of various men’s thoughts in response to her previous post, which discusses alternatives to “toxic masculinity” (e.g., Tucker Max).  My personal favorite (either by Courtney or David Pitcher — I can’t tell) echoes sentiments I expressed in response to a local outbreak of domestic violence murder-suicides:

Boys are so paranoid about appearing feminine that they adapt a “culture of cruelty” and retreat into the common male role. How can we raise our boys to break this pattern?

To answer this question, a little further up, Alex Dibranco ventures:

What if

Alternative Gifts: Giving of Yours and Yourself

We have a lot of material crap in the world.  And most of it is distributed extremely unfairly.  For example, some of us have never known what it’s like to be hungry (let alone starving), while a huuuge swath of the world’s population wonders whether their next meal will come at all (let alone where it will come from).

You’ve heard this all before.  Here’s something easy that you can do about it — maybe it will help you come away from the holiday season feeling a bit better about yourself and the world:  Give the people you love an “alternative gift” — a donation in their honor to a cause that you and/or they care about.

Quote of the Day

Laura Bush met with Michelle Obama last Monday (11/10) to give her a private tour of the White House, while the hubbies did Important Man Stuff.

Says Laura Bush of what transpired:

“I think I showed her the closets, I showed her all the things that women are interested in.”

Gee, I’m sure Michelle was captivated.  By the closets, I mean.

“But I didn’t try to give her a lot of advice.”

Probably for the better.  What really gets me is that Laura Bush says she “thinks” she showed Obama the closets.  Something — or someone — has sucked that lady of her essence.

Quote of the Day

…or week.  Or month.  However it turns out.  Every now and then, I hear something ridiculous(ly) funny (or offensive) enough that not even context can save it…