HYSTERICAL WOMEN ON LOOSE—GET THE HOSES
In the Victorian era, nearly 25% of all women were diagnosed with “female hysteria,” for an array of symptoms, but especially the tendency to cause trouble. Though the diagnosis no longer exists in a medical sense, there is still a persistent, albeit unsaid social diagnosis with much of the same implications as in the 19th century. It really has permeated popular culture (and literary culture—as I have often seen discussed in Women’s Lit. theory books). And I haven’t thought about it for a while, until last night when I saw on CNN this graphic headline covering the Kentucky primary:
ANGRY WOMEN GATHER TO VOTE FOR CLINTON
Really CNN?
Did this graphic get bumped at the last minute?
or this photo?
This whole election coverage has become so distasteful. As someone who has a picture of my dad and Walter Cronkite hanging on my bedroom wall, I can barely even watch the evening news anymore. At this point I don’t care who wins the Democratic nomination. Obama is really inspiring and I think he would really make a great President, a Kennedy hope even. But I’m also really glad that, as James Carville pointed out last week, Hillary hasn’t just given up yet, which has become a kind of plague of the Democratic party of late. Hopefully, though, these kind of little disasters will be over soon, and the gender and race faux pas that have gotten pretty ugly can get cleaned up before November.
torches of/for totalitarianism
Yesterday, Pro-Tibet demonstrators, Reporters Without Boarders, disrupted the lighting of the Olympic torch in Athens. They were there to protest the Chinese government’s actions in Tibet. While some people were carried away from the podium, one woman doused herself in red paint, and fell down in the middle of the road. It reminds me of Mary Oliver’s poem about Tecumseh:
I would like to paint my body red
go out into the glittering snow to die.
And in other, similar news, many of the world’s top Marathon runners are boycotting the games altogether (including Haile Gebrselassie, world record holder), out of protest for the grave environmental problems in Beijing, or simple fear for their respiratory health.
Does anyone see a Clusterfu#& to the Olympics John Stewart graphic in the near future?
In 1963, David Halberstam, reporting for the New York Times, wrote about Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist monk from the Linh-Mu Pagoda in Hue, Vietnam, who set himself on fire and burned to death out of protest for the Vietnam War:
I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think…. As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound…
While I sincerely hope there are no scenes like this during the summer games, I think that these Olympics will draw some much-needed attention to some major issues. My Dad recently wrote about some of the Public Relations implications and the potential problems with advertising and sponsorships. For example, NBC has paid $2.3 billion to broadcast the Athens, Turin, and Beijing Olympics, but China has declared they will ban live broadcasts from Tiananmen Square. No one is commenting. My Dad ponders:
Wonder what happens if someone has to clear a body or two from the track
before the start of the 4×4 relay?
It’s a troubling question that I think will become more prominent in the next few weeks and months.
Also, I stole the title of my blog today, Torches of Totalitarianism, from Bill Sledzik, Public Relations Professor at Kent State University.
the joys of the smash cut
I’ve been so drab during the writer’s strike, especially because the only news I can get is the real news, which most times seems ridiculous anyway. I’d almost forgotten what a relief it was to watch John Stewart at 11, smash cut editing at all. Until last night– and the hilarious recap of the New Hampshire primary. If you didn’t see it, here is the link. My favorite part is when he proves it was not only a night of competing candidates, but it was also a night of battling similes and metaphors. My personal favorite is from one of the pundits from CNN who ponders about Hillary Clinton: Can a souffle rise twice? That and Crazy Chris Matthews going into a long comparison between the Clinton campaign and the film, Lawrence of Arabia. Isn’t this a great season?
