Jerusalem Day 2011

This is a really fascinating video that depicts parts of Jerusalem Day 2011. 
As with so many YouTube videos, usually the most fascinating thing is the comments underneath the video.
One of the more common things said about this video was that they were probably not Israelis but Americans.  There's probably some truth to it.  That said, the point of the video was not to necessarily criticize all Israelis but Zionists, and although many Zionists may live in Israel, you can believe in the absolute right of Israel as a theocratic state and not actual be a resident of the country.
There was a lot of debate over what this means, but it obviously depicts a certain culture of fear.  In doing this, Zionists send the message that non-Jewish homes will not be respected, and that Zionists have the right to everything there.  For an American example, if white people charged into a predominately African American neighborhood at night, singing songs about the superiority of white people and how white people own the land, and then shouted phrases that called for the slaughter of those African Americans, that behavior would be unacceptable.  It would instill a sense of fear to those African Americans about the safety of their community and the wider world's sense of being against them and seeing them as less than human. 
What's important to take away from this video is the intersections of nationalism and racism.  Nationalism is a tool of the state to make its citizens loyal to them no matter what atrocities they may commit (often worded rhetorically as "for the best of the people" etc.)  States encourage racism because it create an "us versus them" mentality, further reinforcing loyalty to manipulative and oppressive forces.
This video also highlights the importance between separation between state and religion, because most of the problems depicted here are specifically problems that happen in a theocratic society, where one set of religious beliefs is endorsed by the state.  Israel doesn't even endorse Judaism per se but an extremely right-wing, nationalistic version of Judaism, similar in some ways to the nationalistic versions of Christianity (currently used by most members of the American Right Wing Christian groups) and the nationalistically-influenced strains of Islam.  Religion is a tool of numerous states, and its use is not only detrimental to the people who live under that state, a member of that religion or not, but it obfuscates the actual problems. 
Being Jewish is seen as a requirement of Israeli citizenship.  What would be really revolutionary is for citizenship not to be based on religion or ethnic identity.  

Prometheus Books

I've posted here before how much I love good book companies.  Right now I'm loving Prometheus Books.  Prometheus publishes on a wide variety of topics, including women's issues, politics and science.  In particular, they have a large backlist of books on philosophy and religion.

Divorce in Iran

This is an interesting video clip about divorce and women in Iran.  According to this video, the courts assume that women want to stay with their husbands.  Among other things, I wonder, what if a woman does want to get a divorce?  Does she have the same legal rights as a man or is it simply harder? 
The part where she is told to make herself "attractive" made me particularly sad.  I hate the way society enforces such a narrow view of physical appearance for women, and I would really hate being told to make myself attractive to get back my ex-husband.  And then later on in the video they make a woman remove her makeup before going in.  So, they want women to be "attractive" but then they do not want them to express themselves however they want? 
Actually, this scene, where women check other women and enforce a dress code, reminds me very much of a section of The Handmaid's Tale, where women are the enforcers of oppression for women.  Atwood's commentary there was that some women have to be taken in by the forces of oppression to make that oppression legitimate, and this strikes me as the same thing.  "See?" Someone could say.  "Other women don't have a problem with it." 
Despite being a religious person, I love that there is separation of church and state in the U.S., exactly because of this kind of enforcing religious behavior on people. 

Bend it Like Beckham

According to EW, North Korea recently broadcast an edited version of Bend It Like Beckham on the state-controlled tv channel. It's apparently the first time North Koreans have seen a Western film.

As a feminist, I really like this movie because it's about women pursuing their dreams in a male-dominated field. I'm hoping this part of the movie got through the censors and that young women saw this part, because I know when I saw this movie came out, it made a big impression on me.

That said, I'm really curious to hear what did get censored out, because it's hard to imagine what North Korea would have found objectionable with this particular film. The only thing I can think is that they dislike the conversation the main character has about how she is limited in who she can date based on race and religion.

This news story also puts a lot into perspective. North Koreans have so little contact with the outside world that this is the first time they've seen Western films and it becomes a news story. North Korea is famously called the Hermit Kingdom, and if you read more about the country, you'll be horrified by the level of control and despair there.

McLuhan's Religion and the Influence of Media

Carrying on from yesterday's post, Wired magazine has an article discussing McLuhan and a recent documentary on him. The article mentions that McLuhan converted to Catholicism but that why isn't made clear. But if you read the Wikipedia article, you know it's because of G.K. Chesterton, the English writer.

Most of us don't consider how media effects us, but obviously McLuhan was hyper-aware of it. Moreover, we are even less likely to think about how books affect us, especially if we're not the kind of people to see books as media because of how old they are. McLuhan, even at a young age, saw the effect that Chesterton had on him, because it changed him into a religious man. Given McLuhan's own account of what made him convert, it seems obvious he would one day turn around and see other forms of media as having large influence on people, even if they were converting to a very different form of religion.

Tomb of Jesus

My friends know that I love to travel, that I'm always looking for an excuse to go somewhere new.  I've been know to read travel guides and watch Rick Steves for fun, even if I do not have plans to go to whatever featured place anytime soon. 
I frequently find myself making lists of places I want to go.  Two days ago, I came across a website called Tomb of Jesus.  Apparently some people believe Jesus survived his execution and went on to live in Kashmir. I am not sure what to believe, but I would like to go there to explore, since this looks like it might be fascinating.  I like hearing other interpretations and thoughts on the Bible and Life of Jesus, which is why I’ve always liked reading about the Gnostic Gospels, especially the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.  As a history nerd, I mostly studied religion.  Although I mostly studied medieval religious beliefs, I liked learning about ancient Greek religious practices and how cosmopolitan African religion sometimes manifested too, so why not explore the beliefs of the often-forgotten region of Kashmir?  

The Social Network

I came upon this great little review of The Social Network.  Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I've been reluctant to do so, since the trailer showed very few women and, as usual, in the service of men.  Yawn.  If I wanted to see stuff like that, I could just watch almost every mainstream movie, thanks.

At the end of the review, the author, Rebecca Davis O'Brien mentions that The Social Network probably only defines half of the generation.  As someone who is loathe to admit that she's part of this generation, I find myself wondering the same thing: when is someone going to tell the story of my generation and my gender, since apparently we can't expect most stories to do both?
And then I find myself pondering other questions, most important this one: what is that story?  Perhaps it is good for me to be thinking that women have such a wide variety of experiences that there is no good way to tell a story that is inclusive of all women in this age group.  And maybe that's why I have a problem with The Social Network being hailed as the story of our generation in the first place: our experiences are too varied to be defined so narrowly, even if we pretend as if gender isn't a factor.  (Or all the other things that are factors: race, sexuality, religion, etc.)  Or this is just another round-about way of me saying that I am sick of movies that focus on privileged men and then hearing about how they somehow represent everyone, even though the world is made up of much more than just these men.  

What to Read When You're a Freshmen

Slate has posted an article on what books incoming freshmen should read.  As someone who has recently ended her undergraduate career, I feel like I have a sense of what these incoming freshmen look like, as I spent the last three years watching the freshmen coming in, and then previous to that, was one of those members of a strange breed. 
So here I present a little list of things I think incoming freshmen should read:

Sandra Cisneros's Woman Hollering Creek.  A lot of schools would probably be tempted to assign Cisneros's better known novel, The House on Mango Street.  There's nothing wrong with this novel, in fact, it's perfect and the sort of book a poet would like.  But Woman Hollering Creek, a collection of short stories, looks at a larger group of mostly women, each struggling for a life that is there own and no one else's.  Perfect for college kids looking to cut those strings and hopefully, a chance to talk about race, gender and immigration. 
Jane Vincent Taylor's What Can Be Saved.  I've never heard of a college assigning a book of poetry.  (It turns students off, because poetry is apparently hard.)  But Taylor's poetry here is one continuous story narrated through two of the character, Mother and Lovey.  Mother is really an older woman caring for Lovey, a young woman with an unnamed condition.  It's easy to forget that there are people out there who aren't so privileged and aren't lucky enough to get a college education, and here these characters are lovingly rendered. 
Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound.  A play about knowledge and who does and doesn't deserve it.  Perfect for a discussion of the same problem. 
Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker's The Roaring Girl.  Another play, one from the time of the Shakespeare that isn't actually from Shakespeare.  Everyone reads that man, but forgets that there were other playwrights working at the same time, and some of them also had interesting thoughts on issues like gender, as with this play, which deals with a crossdresser based on a real woman. 

Christopher Tyerman's God's War: A New History of the Crusades.  The bad news: We're fighting a war in the Middle East, one that is sadly tied with religion.  The good news: The West tried this before.  Even worse news: The West lost the first time.  The best news: We don't have to repeat their mistakes.  Tyerman's book is an excellently written and exciting account of the Crusades (all of them.  All.) and a great way to begin a discussion on the current War on Terror from a more historical and cultural perspective. 
Toni Morrison's Sula.  This novel is perfect for college kids because it's about a friendship between two girls, Sula and Nel.  One goes to college, one doesn't, and when the one who did returns, their relationship falls apart, but they still love each other.  A cautionary tale for all those who left someone behind. 
Willy Russell's Educating Rita.  Another great story about college, but, again, from someone less privileged.  Rita, a woman in her late twenties, tries to educate herself through England's Open University Program, and ends up also educating her well-off tutor.   
Michael Frayn's Copenhagen.  Like a lot of the books on this list, this one is of a play, not a novel or nonfiction work.  It explores the issues of truth, responsibility and science: all important issues that affect college students, no matter where they go or what they study.