Hoy, después de escuchar en el radio a Carmen Aristegui dando las noticias, me puse a pensar en quiénes son realmente aquellos que dicen estar hasta la madre de la violencia y qué es lo que hacen o dejan de hacer para hacer mas evidente su inconformidad. ¿Salen a la calle a manifestarse? Algunos. ¿Dejan de ver la television? Muy pocos. ¿Dejan de violentar a su familia por la frustración que viven en la calle? No, seguro eso no.
Hemos visto que en los últimos años, a los gobernantes poco les importa si la gente sale a la calle a mostrar su inconformidad ante medidas idiotas tomadas en el calor del momento. Hemos visto el fracaso de las huelgas de hambre; las cuales, para aderezar, fueron tachadas por los medios masivos de comunicación como tácticas subversivas y nos dijeron que no era cierto que estuvieran en peligro nunca los huelguistas. Incluso se le trata de lavar el coco a la población por demás mediatizada del país para que se le olvide que tiene el derecho constitucional de protestar las medidas gubernamentales que considere le afectarán.
Yo creo que el tiempo de protestas y huelgas de hambre ya pasó. Es necesario que la población verdaderamente demuestre que en efecto ya está hasta la madre. En otros países, protestas y huelgas de hambre funcionan porque existe otro paso. El gobierno mexicano está plenamente convencido de que la población hambreada, ignorante y huevona de México solo cree en hacer valer su derecho al fútbol y la telenovela.
En países como Francia, Alemania e Inglaterra, funcionan las medidas pacificas, porque el pueblo le ha demostrado al gobierno que se puede organizar y unir. Aquí, le tenemos tanto asco al de al lado que no queremos que ni por equivocación se nos confunda con él, y se nos olvida que tanto él como nosotros, somos parte del pueblo que, a nivel mundial, trabaja mas horas al año y que, a cambio de eso, tiene los peores salarios del mundo. Tanto él, el de al lado, como yo, vivimos a merced de la violencia ante la cual, el acefalico gobierno solo piensa en incrementar el nivel de violencia. Tanto el de al lado como yo podemos en cualquier momento ser victimas de fraude, robo de identidad, extorsión, asalto, violación, levantón, desaparición, desaparición de la fuente de trabajo, incompetencia en los servicios, cobros excesivos. ¿Y qué hacemos? Tanto él como yo seguimos día con día quejándonos sin el valor para decir: hasta aquí.
Hasta aquí con la corrupción, la mía, la tuya y la de los demás.
Hasta aquí con el tener la cabeza gacha ante los abusos de poder, los míos, los tuyos y los de los demás.
Hasta aquí con ser de la clase social que sostiene al resto del país porque los de abajo no tienen para pagar impuestos y los de arriba tienen muchos privilegios.
Hasta aquí con tratar de crear consciencia en las mentes vacías producto del abuso mediático.
Hasta aquí con no hacer nada, con hacerlo todo, con soportarlo todo y no ver la salida.
Pueden no hacerme caso, después de todo, solo estaba yo pensándolo...
12 Apr 2011
6 Mar 2011
Equal Rights
Now that we're talking about equality of opportunities and fair treatment and minorities being empowered and etc, etc, etc. I bring to you another though. If everybody but white males are equal, what are they equal to?
Something that happened recently made me think about true equality. One of the women I work with is also a single mom and she's raising two boys, similar ages as mine. She was asking if I knew of a place where her 5 year old boy could learn how to dance. It dawned on me that we both were unable to find spaces where dance classes are not only for girls. Then I started wondering what else is being denied from our sons? We are so concerned about women's and girls' rights, that we are forgetting that by asking for equality, we need to consider the inclusion of men and boys into activities and places where we women are the only ones allowed.
There are no changing tables on men's public restrooms, not even inside the restrooms in department stores or malls. Is considered normal to see a little girl playing with toy trucks and cars, as well as with toy tool sets, but honestly, how many of us would find it normal to see a boy asking his parents for a tea set or a kitchen? And last time I checked, men are great chefs.
In some countries, men can ask their employer for paternity leave if the just adopted a baby, but do they get paternity leave in all countries when they had a baby? No. If a woman decides to go back to work as soon as she can after having a baby and comes home tired and doesn't want to deal with changing diapers and hires a nanny for that purpose, we applaud her decision, if a man decides he's not going to be part of the diaper changing experience, he's an irresponsible father.
It is true that we have lived with the stigma of double standards and are tired of being considered unable to perform certain activities, but aren't we doing the same to men?
If a couple takes the decision of having kids and one of them has to stay home to raise them, shouldn't be the man's right to stay home if it works out better for them? Why can't a man be considered better at dealing with domestic issues?
Some of my male friends have been talking lately about wanting to have kids, but they are stuck since for them, it is necessary to first find a wife that wants kids. It is this recent trend of men being in touch with their feelings that makes them realize that they, unlike us, need more steps to get to paternity than us, since all we need is an ejaculation at the right time of the month. Men, if they decide to be single parents, have to share their kids with the mother, women don't have to have sex to get a baby if they choose to be artificially inseminated.
I think that now that we are commemorating 100 years of the struggle for equal rights for women, and thinking about all the violence women have to endure, we should think about the 21st century men and the equality they're asking for.
Take it or leave it, but after all... I was just thinking.
Something that happened recently made me think about true equality. One of the women I work with is also a single mom and she's raising two boys, similar ages as mine. She was asking if I knew of a place where her 5 year old boy could learn how to dance. It dawned on me that we both were unable to find spaces where dance classes are not only for girls. Then I started wondering what else is being denied from our sons? We are so concerned about women's and girls' rights, that we are forgetting that by asking for equality, we need to consider the inclusion of men and boys into activities and places where we women are the only ones allowed.
There are no changing tables on men's public restrooms, not even inside the restrooms in department stores or malls. Is considered normal to see a little girl playing with toy trucks and cars, as well as with toy tool sets, but honestly, how many of us would find it normal to see a boy asking his parents for a tea set or a kitchen? And last time I checked, men are great chefs.
In some countries, men can ask their employer for paternity leave if the just adopted a baby, but do they get paternity leave in all countries when they had a baby? No. If a woman decides to go back to work as soon as she can after having a baby and comes home tired and doesn't want to deal with changing diapers and hires a nanny for that purpose, we applaud her decision, if a man decides he's not going to be part of the diaper changing experience, he's an irresponsible father.
It is true that we have lived with the stigma of double standards and are tired of being considered unable to perform certain activities, but aren't we doing the same to men?
If a couple takes the decision of having kids and one of them has to stay home to raise them, shouldn't be the man's right to stay home if it works out better for them? Why can't a man be considered better at dealing with domestic issues?
Some of my male friends have been talking lately about wanting to have kids, but they are stuck since for them, it is necessary to first find a wife that wants kids. It is this recent trend of men being in touch with their feelings that makes them realize that they, unlike us, need more steps to get to paternity than us, since all we need is an ejaculation at the right time of the month. Men, if they decide to be single parents, have to share their kids with the mother, women don't have to have sex to get a baby if they choose to be artificially inseminated.
I think that now that we are commemorating 100 years of the struggle for equal rights for women, and thinking about all the violence women have to endure, we should think about the 21st century men and the equality they're asking for.
Take it or leave it, but after all... I was just thinking.
26 Feb 2011
Ek lief jou meer!
Ek is so verskriklik lief vir jou
kannie glo ons is saam
is mal daaroor as jy jou arms om my vou
en hoe jy my soen onder die maan!
Het vergeet hoeveel liefde ek het om te gee
en te kan se ek het nie meer seer
saam stap ons elke tree
en kan ek met alle eerlikheid se, ek lief jou meer!
Carike Klokow
kannie glo ons is saam
is mal daaroor as jy jou arms om my vou
en hoe jy my soen onder die maan!
Het vergeet hoeveel liefde ek het om te gee
en te kan se ek het nie meer seer
saam stap ons elke tree
en kan ek met alle eerlikheid se, ek lief jou meer!
Carike Klokow
19 Feb 2011
March 8th, International Women's Day
This year we commemorate one century of this particular "holiday", but what are we commemorating? What have we to celebrate?
Every day we see that gender violence is still a reality for millions of women around the world. We also see thousands of women imprisoned for exercising their human rights. Hundreds of women die every day defending those rights.
What is there to celebrate? What do we commemorate? The fact that regardless of the risks taken, we still have brave courageous women willing to risk life and limb to be free, to have a voice that will not be silent, women that go beyond the basics and speak out and encourage and support others to stand strong and show that they are not "the weaker sex", they are equally strong and possess the same needs and desires and we have plenty of examples to prove it.
We have women all over the world who have excelled in many fields and have braved the odds to come out stronger.
All throughout history we can find women that make it necessary to change the saying "behind every great man, there's a great woman" for "alongside every great man, there's a great woman".
So instead of celebrating or commemorating women on "their day", we need to acknowledge them every single day just as we do with their male counterparts, no more, no less.
From the mid-wives to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, from Sacajawea to Valentina Tereskova, from Abigail Adams to Alice Paul, women have been making the difference not just for women, but for humanity; but let's not forget that they were working alongside men who believed them to be their intellectual equals.
So let's make this year a true year of remembrance of those men and women that have paved the way for all of us, and of those who at this very moment are working to change the world, one woman at a time, and one man at a time too. The day we stop believing that we need vindication for the past wrongs we've endured, then will we be truly equal in our own eyes and therefore, the eyes of others.
Take my thoughts to consideration, or not, after all... I was just thinking.
Every day we see that gender violence is still a reality for millions of women around the world. We also see thousands of women imprisoned for exercising their human rights. Hundreds of women die every day defending those rights.
What is there to celebrate? What do we commemorate? The fact that regardless of the risks taken, we still have brave courageous women willing to risk life and limb to be free, to have a voice that will not be silent, women that go beyond the basics and speak out and encourage and support others to stand strong and show that they are not "the weaker sex", they are equally strong and possess the same needs and desires and we have plenty of examples to prove it.
We have women all over the world who have excelled in many fields and have braved the odds to come out stronger.
All throughout history we can find women that make it necessary to change the saying "behind every great man, there's a great woman" for "alongside every great man, there's a great woman".
So instead of celebrating or commemorating women on "their day", we need to acknowledge them every single day just as we do with their male counterparts, no more, no less.
From the mid-wives to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, from Sacajawea to Valentina Tereskova, from Abigail Adams to Alice Paul, women have been making the difference not just for women, but for humanity; but let's not forget that they were working alongside men who believed them to be their intellectual equals.
So let's make this year a true year of remembrance of those men and women that have paved the way for all of us, and of those who at this very moment are working to change the world, one woman at a time, and one man at a time too. The day we stop believing that we need vindication for the past wrongs we've endured, then will we be truly equal in our own eyes and therefore, the eyes of others.
Take my thoughts to consideration, or not, after all... I was just thinking.
6 Feb 2011
En el metro
A ver, que alguien me explique esta nueva del gobierno capitalino.
Para evitar asaltos (y fajes), las autoridades han decidido que no se usen todos los vagones del metro despues de las 22:00 horas. Si yo fuera asaltante, ¡me aprovecho de que ahora lostenog a todos juntitos! Si es cierto que se usan los ultimos vagones para asaltar, ¿no será igual de fácil asaltar los vagones centrales?
Ahora, lo que se reporta es que las aglomeraciones fueron tremendas este viernes pasado cuando se implementó la medida, entonces, los vagones no van tan solos como para que se aporveche ningun asaltante. Ademas de que con gente apretada, las carteras, los relojes y las bolsas son mucho mas accesibles para el experimentado carterista.
Se reporta tambien que no se respetaron los vagones exclusivos para mujeres y niños, entonces estamos hablando de que nos importa que a las mujeres no se les moleste, apretuje, manosee y carteree durante el dia, pero a partir de las 22:00 horas, el que quiera nos puede restregar todo lo que quiera donde quiera y hasta donde quiera sin mayor consecuencia porque los apretones estan maravillosos.
Esta medida parece como el hombre a quien le duele el dedo y se lo corta para que ya no le duela.
¿no sería mucho mejor que los oficiales encargados de no dejar pasar a la gente a los ultimos vagones se dedicara a vigilarlos? Un policia por tren que de estacion a estacion se alternara entre vagones sería mucho mejor que cuatro o cinco en las estaciones diciendole a la gente que tiene que viajar toda apretujada porque un oligofrenico con hueso no sabe como proteger a la ciudadanía.
Bueno, eso por un lado. por otro se encuentra la motivacion alterna, la homofobia, se dice que otra razon para cerrar los vagones es porque las parejas de homosexuales los usan en la noche para fajar. Yo en lo particular he visto personas de todas las preferencias sexuales fajando en el metro a todas horas y digo lo que siempre digo: cada quien y lo que quiera hacer público. Si te ofende, volteate, si se pasan, diles amablemente que para eso hay hoteles, pero tanto unos como otros deben de respetarse. Nadie mencionó las parejas heterosexuales que llegan incluso al sexo oral en los vagones, tal vez el público en general no se molesta por el "sex show" mientras no se perturbe su homofobia.
Sea cual sea la razón de la medida, lo unico que ocasiona es conflicot para los usuarios. de por si, no es nada agradable tener que viajar en metro a altas horas de la noche, ahora, imaginense tener que sufrir aglomeraciones a todas horas y no solo en las horas pico.
No cabe duda de que el encargado de seguridad publica y el de urbanismo estan en su puesto por un error y no por competencias.
Para evitar asaltos (y fajes), las autoridades han decidido que no se usen todos los vagones del metro despues de las 22:00 horas. Si yo fuera asaltante, ¡me aprovecho de que ahora lostenog a todos juntitos! Si es cierto que se usan los ultimos vagones para asaltar, ¿no será igual de fácil asaltar los vagones centrales?
Ahora, lo que se reporta es que las aglomeraciones fueron tremendas este viernes pasado cuando se implementó la medida, entonces, los vagones no van tan solos como para que se aporveche ningun asaltante. Ademas de que con gente apretada, las carteras, los relojes y las bolsas son mucho mas accesibles para el experimentado carterista.
Se reporta tambien que no se respetaron los vagones exclusivos para mujeres y niños, entonces estamos hablando de que nos importa que a las mujeres no se les moleste, apretuje, manosee y carteree durante el dia, pero a partir de las 22:00 horas, el que quiera nos puede restregar todo lo que quiera donde quiera y hasta donde quiera sin mayor consecuencia porque los apretones estan maravillosos.
Esta medida parece como el hombre a quien le duele el dedo y se lo corta para que ya no le duela.
¿no sería mucho mejor que los oficiales encargados de no dejar pasar a la gente a los ultimos vagones se dedicara a vigilarlos? Un policia por tren que de estacion a estacion se alternara entre vagones sería mucho mejor que cuatro o cinco en las estaciones diciendole a la gente que tiene que viajar toda apretujada porque un oligofrenico con hueso no sabe como proteger a la ciudadanía.
Bueno, eso por un lado. por otro se encuentra la motivacion alterna, la homofobia, se dice que otra razon para cerrar los vagones es porque las parejas de homosexuales los usan en la noche para fajar. Yo en lo particular he visto personas de todas las preferencias sexuales fajando en el metro a todas horas y digo lo que siempre digo: cada quien y lo que quiera hacer público. Si te ofende, volteate, si se pasan, diles amablemente que para eso hay hoteles, pero tanto unos como otros deben de respetarse. Nadie mencionó las parejas heterosexuales que llegan incluso al sexo oral en los vagones, tal vez el público en general no se molesta por el "sex show" mientras no se perturbe su homofobia.
Sea cual sea la razón de la medida, lo unico que ocasiona es conflicot para los usuarios. de por si, no es nada agradable tener que viajar en metro a altas horas de la noche, ahora, imaginense tener que sufrir aglomeraciones a todas horas y no solo en las horas pico.
No cabe duda de que el encargado de seguridad publica y el de urbanismo estan en su puesto por un error y no por competencias.
25 Jan 2011
Does being online put you on the line?
"We met online". Ever said that to someone about a friend or relation? If so, were you taken seriously about the way you felt? If the other person laughed at you, don't feel bad, you're not alone. Most people around us tend to dismiss online relationships as "not real". Now, I'm in no way an online relationship expert, however, I am a "long distance relationship" experienced person, how? The first years of my now failed first marriage were long distance, my oldest friend and I have been living in different hemispheres for the better part of 30 years,one of my closest friends for the past 5 years is a man that I have never met in person! Same thing with a new developing relationship I have now. One must ask oneself, how can you be close to a person you've never seen? but we've seen each other, and talked for hours on the phone, we've shared many crises and joys together. Together? They live in other countries and continents and I in Mexico!
I've been reading a lot about online relationships, romantic attachments, cyber dating, and the new way of relating to people across the globe. there are lots of things to watch out for and lots of drawbacks about having emotional attachments with persons that you do not see in the regular basis, but there are also some advantages to it. I contact my oldest and dearest friend in a daily basis in Argentina and we both know what's happening in each other's lives with one click of the mouse. On the other hand, sometimes I'm unable to have lunch to catch up with friends that work in the same building with me!
One interesting statistic that I found was that as time progresses, online relationships, or long distance relationships, have a better chance of continuing on that proximal relationships. It could be the annoying little habits that we all have and that we are able to ignore when we don't have the person in front of us; it could also be the fact that an online relationship doesn't interfere with our daily activities that much; or maybe is the fact that whenever we get to chat, message, e-mail or text our online friends/significant others, is because we really want to tell them something, whereas, in proximal relationships, we could feel stuck meeting someone when we really don't feel like it.
In asking people what they thought about online relationships I was told that no matter how strongly you may get to feel towards the person on the other side of the web, we all need human contact and a physical relationship. I do recognize the importance of human touch, yet, I wonder if we forget that as time progresses in a relationship, the physical part of it, either absorbs the whole of the relationship and then communication stops to give way to the will of the body, or it fades away bit by bit. This fading of the physical part is inevitable in the case of long term relationships that go on for several years. Here, two things can happen, the first is the one that we all hope for, the common goals, similar interests, shared life experiences, etc, can make the relationship work for a very long time, in fact, this is the way things were for our grandparents. the other thing that can happen is what we see everyday: boredom takes over, nothing in common, or everything in common and no conversational skills make the relationship fail.
Now, following this, I went online to look for other opinions on cyber relationships and found that the opinions of everyday people were very polarized and of course, the people that supported cyber relationships were in one, had been in one or were looking for one in cyber dating sites; the other opinions were on the opposite side of the coin, claiming that online friends or lovers are not real, people online tend to lie about themselves, a lot of people take advantage of others thanks to the relative anonymity of the web. Experts in relationships tend to be on the fence about this, they recognize the risks involved in dating online and reminding us that we get lied to and taken advantage of in the world world also.
The way I look at the whole of meeting and keeping friends and lovers online is this: The key to any relationship is communication, whether is talking, chatting, e-mailing, touching etc. when communication stops, all goes to hell. love and friendship are formed inside our heads, nowhere else, and a wise person once told me, the mind doesn't distinguish from the emotions created by a word said and one written.
What makes me chuckle is how people get surprised when there are some of us that are able to keep contact and emotional attachment with people on the other side of the globe when this is not new. Back before there was internet, remember that time? people had pen pals, people they wrote to and didn't meet for years, if ever. It also makes me think of the correspondence marriages and mail brides. For a long time, people have been looking for people to connect to, we've just learned one more way, one that has to do with the instant result we expect in our lives, but this acquaintances, friends, lovers are just like the old time pen pals, mail brides and correspondence marriages.
The only piece of advise I can give you is this: be safe. Whether it is online or in person, take care of yourself and pursue happiness any way you can.
I've been reading a lot about online relationships, romantic attachments, cyber dating, and the new way of relating to people across the globe. there are lots of things to watch out for and lots of drawbacks about having emotional attachments with persons that you do not see in the regular basis, but there are also some advantages to it. I contact my oldest and dearest friend in a daily basis in Argentina and we both know what's happening in each other's lives with one click of the mouse. On the other hand, sometimes I'm unable to have lunch to catch up with friends that work in the same building with me!
One interesting statistic that I found was that as time progresses, online relationships, or long distance relationships, have a better chance of continuing on that proximal relationships. It could be the annoying little habits that we all have and that we are able to ignore when we don't have the person in front of us; it could also be the fact that an online relationship doesn't interfere with our daily activities that much; or maybe is the fact that whenever we get to chat, message, e-mail or text our online friends/significant others, is because we really want to tell them something, whereas, in proximal relationships, we could feel stuck meeting someone when we really don't feel like it.
In asking people what they thought about online relationships I was told that no matter how strongly you may get to feel towards the person on the other side of the web, we all need human contact and a physical relationship. I do recognize the importance of human touch, yet, I wonder if we forget that as time progresses in a relationship, the physical part of it, either absorbs the whole of the relationship and then communication stops to give way to the will of the body, or it fades away bit by bit. This fading of the physical part is inevitable in the case of long term relationships that go on for several years. Here, two things can happen, the first is the one that we all hope for, the common goals, similar interests, shared life experiences, etc, can make the relationship work for a very long time, in fact, this is the way things were for our grandparents. the other thing that can happen is what we see everyday: boredom takes over, nothing in common, or everything in common and no conversational skills make the relationship fail.
Now, following this, I went online to look for other opinions on cyber relationships and found that the opinions of everyday people were very polarized and of course, the people that supported cyber relationships were in one, had been in one or were looking for one in cyber dating sites; the other opinions were on the opposite side of the coin, claiming that online friends or lovers are not real, people online tend to lie about themselves, a lot of people take advantage of others thanks to the relative anonymity of the web. Experts in relationships tend to be on the fence about this, they recognize the risks involved in dating online and reminding us that we get lied to and taken advantage of in the world world also.
The way I look at the whole of meeting and keeping friends and lovers online is this: The key to any relationship is communication, whether is talking, chatting, e-mailing, touching etc. when communication stops, all goes to hell. love and friendship are formed inside our heads, nowhere else, and a wise person once told me, the mind doesn't distinguish from the emotions created by a word said and one written.
What makes me chuckle is how people get surprised when there are some of us that are able to keep contact and emotional attachment with people on the other side of the globe when this is not new. Back before there was internet, remember that time? people had pen pals, people they wrote to and didn't meet for years, if ever. It also makes me think of the correspondence marriages and mail brides. For a long time, people have been looking for people to connect to, we've just learned one more way, one that has to do with the instant result we expect in our lives, but this acquaintances, friends, lovers are just like the old time pen pals, mail brides and correspondence marriages.
The only piece of advise I can give you is this: be safe. Whether it is online or in person, take care of yourself and pursue happiness any way you can.
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