Archive for the 'Politics' Category
November 8 2008: Your Son’s Boyfriend
Filed under Family & Media & Politics with 13 Comments
I recently read a human interest story about a mother and father trying to reconcile themselves with the fact that their seven-year-old son identified as being female. They admitted to occasional thoughts of hatred, to having contemplated sending their son to a psychiatrist to ‘cure’ his female identification. More important than these thoughts however, was the underlying love and support they had for their son, regardless of anything he might feel, think, or do. He was their son. End of story.
It brought to mind the 1960 Tracy/Hepburn film, “Guess Who’s Comng To Dinner”. In the film, the relatively liberal elderly white couple (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) hold certain misgivings when their only daughter introduces them to a black man (Sidney Poitier) as her intended husband. Similarly, Poitier’s parents are also shown to have misgivings about him marrying a white woman. Their misgivings are in spite of the fact that each pair of parents are comparatively liberal for their generation, having continually stressed to their child that all men (and women) are created equal. Despite their professions of support for equality, they are still reluctant to accept “someone else” into their own family. In the end of course, both sets of parents end up supporting the match, simply because it’s what would make their child happy. Their child’s happiness is paramount in their considerations.
As a side note, it is interesting to note that Poitier’s character was created to be as exemplary as possible - from being articulate, intelligent, educated, and grounded with an excellent medical career, there was really nothing objectionable in his person, other than misgivings some might have about his skin colour. It raises questions of how accepting Tracy and Hepburn would have been if their daughter’s intended was simply an uneducated farmhand or the like.
Anyway. I find myself wondering how accepting and understanding I would be if my own future children were to turn out being ‘different’ from the social norm. Those who read this blog regularly will know me as a socialist of sorts, championing equality across the board, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, and the like. How liberal will I be though, if my own son turned out to be gay, or if my daughter ended up marrying a black man? How accepting will I be of their differences? Would I invite my son’s partner, or my daughter’s husband to dinner? Would I see past their sexual orientation or the colour of their partner’s skin to simply loving them as the people they are? While I love/accept/choose-verb-here all those of my acquaintance who are ‘different’, I can imagine that it may be dramatically different when it isn’t simply a friend who is different, but a child borne of your own flesh and blood.
I’d like to think now that such things will never bother me, that such things won’t ever concern me. In reality, what one says and believes now, can be dramatically different from what they actually end up doing. I don’t know what I’ll do until it actually happens. And I can only hope that I won’t finally recognise myself as a close-minded bigot.
November 6 2008: Donate Your Blood
Filed under Body & Politics with 34 Comments
Amidst all the election and birthday excitement yesterday, I took an hour out of my day to give blood (I do it about three to four times a year with the Red Cross). Only 2% of the world’s population have my blood type - AB Positive. This pretty much means that I’m awesome and unique, certainly more so than those O Positive sucker clones who make up 40% of the population.
On a slightly more serious note, did you know that out of all the eligible blood donors in Australia (e.g. of age, not pregnant, with normal blood pressure, etc.), only one in thirty donate blood? Keep in mind that one in three Australians will need this donated blood eventually, yet are happy to receive the blood without giving anything back. The hard thing about blood donation in Australia is that we don’t get the clap-on-the-back gifts that other countries distribute to their donors. There are no incentives of monetary value to blood donation (no movie passes, free meals, etc.), so for the vast majority of people in this country, it isn’t even something they consider.
I save multiple lives every time I donate blood. Over the course of a year, I save up to a potential twenty lives, not to mention the medical research I aid with any leftover blood. Yet, chances are that when I come to need donated blood myself, I’ll find it hard to get any, because of the selfishness of other Australians. The process is fast (about half an hour from registration/paperwork to being handed cookies and cordial to replenish your energy), and painless (one needle prick, that’s all). The tangible benefits far outweigh the possible negatives, especially in a developed country like Australia which has high rates of medical hygiene. There’s really no reason for this apathy on Australia’s part.
So a proposal: If you’re eligible to donate blood, yet never have, you’re immediately exempt from receiving blood in the event that you end up in hospital. Fuck the Hippocratic oath. You get what you give. You don’t give blood, you don’t get blood. Let’s see how many people sign up to donate then.
November 5 2008: Best Birthday Present Ever
Filed under Politics with 31 Comments
It was only four years ago that I was on my Freewebs site, cursing all Americans for their stupidity in re-electing George Bush. And today? Best. Birthday. Present. Ever. Thank you America. You’ve made me very happy. You’ve made the whole world very happy, and your respect rating just skyrocketed.
New theme as well, in support of the victory, modelled somewhat on Obama’s own website. I debuted it somewhat early in the count, when Ohio was called for Obama, because I knew from that point that we had won. We’d won. Yes we can? Yes we have.
I love you all. It’s been a fantastic birthday. I’ve been crying all day because I’ve just been so emotionally moved by what I was witnessing. We’ve just witnessed history taking place. The world will become a better place.