sexuality in children´s literature

ok, so in the land that never ceases to amaze vis-a-vis its many contradictions, there is a furore brewing over the word "scrotum" which has made its way into a "children´s book". On the first page of "The higher power of Lucky" by Susan Patron, there is mention of the word "scrotum", which the ten-year orphan kid Lucky hears through a hole when someone mentions that a rattlesnake bit his dog on the scrotum. I think what´s disturbing for many, apart from the word, is that attention is drawn to it; Lucky proceeds, with her child´s mind, to dig deeper into the meaning of the word - to her, "it sounded like something green that comes up when u have the flu and cough too much"..or that it sounded medical and secret, but also important, one reads. Because of this brief passage, many school librarians plan to ban the book from elementary schools. to be fair, there have been varied reactions towards the whole issue with some calling for a more holistic view of the book without singling out words. Personally, i agree with the latter. The author has had to justify her use noting that it´s based on a true incident and besides, Lucky is in a phase of discovery- learning about language and body parts etc. I personally do not see what the link is between it being a true incident and her justification for including the passage...if it were not, would she not have mentioned it?
Well, this whole incident, apart from being hypocritcal, myopic and surprising considering the society we live in, reminds me of one i read of earlier in my country where the Education ministry wanted to band cell phones in schools because a sex ring had been formed with the circulation of vulgar and sexual images of girls having sex etc. Of course, the two topics are different altogether but what links them is the reaction by the authorities..who seem to invent vacuum like responses without even scratching the surface to see what the main issue at heart is.. i think on both sides, there is a lack of what real education is and how we deal with societal and other influences on our young, impressionable ones. I mean we are part of the technology, or as Cronenberg says, technology is an extension of us. We are a transformed society because of it, our bodies are transformed, what we see and how we think are revolutionised and we as adults need to be able to transmit this maturely to our young ones without these silly censoring and radical, couter-productive measures.. censoring a children´s book due to the mere mention of scrotum is ludicrous, especially when children more than eight (not wanting to generalise here) already have a list of synonyms for private and tabu body parts.. and let them slip unabashedly... i think what we need is precisely a wise yet cautious treatment of these topics at this very age to orient children in the understanding of sexuality etc..instead we prefer to just bury our heads in the sand and leave it up to tv, internet, advertisements, adult conversations etc... well, we are definitely living in postmodern times...

Days of Glory- Rachid Bouchareb

A quick comment on this Algerian/ moroccan/french film nominated as one of the best foreign language film for the Oscars- I haven´t yet seen it but this review i just read (link provided) reflects not only a relatively novel angle of the war theme but one that eloquently treats so many of the hot topics in today´s media- immigrants, identity, minorities, revision and subversion of the offical memory, advocacy of cultural difference as against diversity (Homi Bhabha´s reading) etc. I´m reading material now on the participation of Moroccans in Spain´s civil war - very similar with France and the use of Algerian and Moroccan soldiers in their European wars- and worse yet, the use of these "moros" in the indigenous colonial police force during the time of the Spanish Protectorate (1912-1956) to fight and kill their own compatriots!! I´m fascinated in exploring the psychoanalytical side of the identity problems which arise; how these moros perceive themselves, how the locals see them and how they are seen by the colonial power on whose side they fight. It appears that tribal hostilities were greatly used by the colonial powers to spread hate, resentment and division amongst the moroccans. The same question of identity and the locating of the "other", the other within oneself, the colonised, is treated by Homi Bhabha in The Location of Culture. Recently, there has been a tendency to give an outward look at these inside stories, which in some way blurs the private/public divide, transgressing these historical tabous. From the "boundary", from this liminal space- french colonial subjects fighting side by side the French in their international wars, or moroccan soldiers fighting with the Spaniards- we discover new, subversive histories which are universal narratives.

Bush and the veto dilemma

Just saw this cartoon published in Islamica magazine that really caught my eye and reminds me of how inconsistent and fraudulent this Bush really is... i mean..he inspires zero credibility!-
So this is the "bushy" musings-
"why did i veto stem cell research legislation?... because, deep in my heart, i believe that stem cells are a form of human life"...then "why did we veto a U.N Resolution to stop the bloodshed in Lebanon?...because, deep down in my gut, im not 100% sure that Arab children, women and unarmed civilians ARE a form of human life!". Then in the corner, u see a puny shrouded semblance of a human saying "have mercy: Arabs are full of stem cells!". One more example of the Bush logic which needs a category all by itself if u ask me.

movie "Cartas de Alou"

Just saw the above titled movie about a Senegalese immigrant who comes to Spain illegally by boat, in the end, gets deported and is seen attempting once more to return to Spain by boat. What do i think about the movie? Well, it was made in the early 1990s when i imagine the immigration topic wasnt in the news as much as it is now, although it was then that the whole "patera" issue came into the headlines after a tragic incident so i guess maybe it was already in the news. So it starts off rather dramatically with the boat ride, one person actually falls off, but later we find out that he is alive and is in Spain. in fact, thats the same person who Alou finds himself with in the boat at the end, reattempting to enter Spain. One thing i can´t grasp though and seems very inverosimile is how perfect Alou´s spanish is when in the beginning, he couldnt speak a word! As usual, the issues of racism, exploitation, solidarity, love etc are raised and treated in the movie, effectively i would say. One can describe Alou as an ambitious immigrant who holds on to his friend Mulai in Barcelona almost like a dream of everything which the West is supposed to represent. He meets Mulai finally but in many ways he is disappointed. He admires Mulai but also wants to seek better, to have his own life, but with dignity, and legally too of course, which Mulai cant give him,Mulai leaves his flat with his spanish wife and child and leaves it to Alou and another compatriot. Alou, at the moment, was working in the dump, collecting old appliances which could be repaired in some way. he finds a heater and behind his boss´s back, takes it home and he and his compatriot celebrate when they are able to light it. However, as to be predicted, the said heater only brings tragedy as in the end, it kills the friend.
the movie also attempts to highlight the African immigrant as a subject with a culture of his own, with its traditions, its language etc. Many times, the dialogue evolves in the african language, we see a scene where they pray in congregation in the cave, and then the burial of the friend and the walk to the cemetery where they chant and do a kind of "janaza" before they place the coffin in the slot.there are some harsh racist scenes, for instance, when alou, this time, picking fruits, throws some to his friends from a box during the lunch break. A spaniard who sees him orders him to leave the fruits adding that only the fallen ones from the tree are for them. alou breaks out into a fight with the guy and has to leave before a scene occurs and the police intervene. Then there´s another scene in the bar where he enters and asks for a coke, several times, and is ignored. he serves himself and is violently told to get lost, that there is no place for him here, that his people only bring trouble, more or less.Then there is his love encounter with a Spanish woman who helps her father in a bar. When the father realises that there is something between the two, he tells Alou to get lorse, albeit discreetly, that he doesnt want problems for his only daughter... in the end, they meet secretly and it is during one of these meetings, when Alou accompanies her to take the train back, that he is stopped by police and escorted to the station when he admits he doesnt have papers. his girlfrend witnesses this from the train.it is interesting to note too that once again in his home town, he realises that this is not where he belongs, he says that he now knows how to treat whites and that he is gonna try again...all this in a letter to his friend Mulai.
The film has been described as "una película de denuncia" which sought to highlight the precarious conditions of the immigrant in Spain. this was one of the first Spanish films to treat this topic. One critic describes the director´s attempt in the foll. words- Montxo Armendáriz consigue en Las cartas de Alou un film que es al mismo tiempo comprometido, riguroso y objetivo. Al denunciar este problema social huye de los planteamientos extremos y de las situaciones dramáticas que fácilmente provocan la identificación sentimental del público, pero que no tienen eficacia alguna como reconocimiento crítico de una situación de la que todo el mundo es, en cierto modo, responsable.

Indian women in the 21st century

interesting article in spanish on the evolving role and place of women in the Indian society. Focus on actress and director Shabana Azmi and her function as an activist in dignifying the Indian woman, among many other things... and mention of other noteworthy female examples from all spheres of Indian society

Artículo- Arte de escribir sin arte

Cercas maintains that the largely decorative, ornamental style continues to take precedence in todays writings, to which he disagrees. he notes that the reader in the main, distrusts his own tastes, following instead what he is told he must like, giving us an example, he cites- el adjetivo desusado, la acrobacia sintáctica, la metáfora pinturera. he maintains that what is behind literature is not beauty but truth, he adds that what sounds like literature is never really literature, because wirting well, he says, is the opposite to writing beautiful phrases...he quotes Hannah Arendt who notes that the only element whihc seduces and attracts the reader of Kafka is the truth...he ends with the following citation from the author Alaiz- “No es el hombre quien ha de hablar como un libro abierto”, dice Alaiz, “sino el libro abierto quien debe hablar como un hombre”.

Classical "Love Story" (Ali MacGraw and Ryan O Neil)

Jan 29 Edit Note Delete
Last nite a friend and i looked at the classic and beautiful movie "Love Story", a huge hit when it came out in the 1970s- it´s set in the tumultuous period of the sexual revolution, student protests, opposition to the Vietnam war, questioning of conventional moral codes etc. A beautiful story of a couple who is in love and gets married despite opposition from the guy´s super wealthy, famous and intellectually loaded family. He breaks off all contact with his parents and the young couple struggle to make ends meet. the girl, Jenny, sacrifices her dream of Paris and her studies to work and maintain her husband while he struggles to climb the law ladder.. they soon discover that Jenny is dying from leukemia and well she has very little time left... Apart from some extraordinary scenes and a beautiful script as well as rewarding character development of both protagonists, the film has a haunting musical piece chosen by Francis Lai. then there is the motif of "love means never having to say youré sorry" which is also quite powerful in the film.. I also liked the character Jenny and her stubborn, sincere and sarcastic attitude to life and love. i like the part when she tells her husband Ollie that she also likes his name and the numeral attached to it and that its part of who he is...which is conciliated in the end when he tells the doctors that he is a millionaire and returns to his father, with respect but maintaining his rebeliious truthful stance, asking for a loan and not giving even the reason for his request... it was also lovely to see how he keeps the memory and character of his wife alive, when he tells his father who discovers the wife´s ilness that "love means never having to say youré sorry".something that crossed my mind today though was how much women in general sacrifice for the ones they loved. in the movie, it is rewarded and equally compensated by a loving wonderful husband. in real life though, i know too mnay cases of women who abandon their own self and plans to help their husbands and all they get in return is infidelity, harsh remarks, ungratefulness etc... i know its unfair to generalise but it seems to be a growing phenomenon... anyway, at least we have movies like this classic to give us hope and enjoy a beautiful, evasive love story to the very end...

Taken from the 17th century Jesuit monk Balthasar Gracian, in his work- The Art of Worldly Wisdom:

Taken from the 17th century Jesuit monk Balthasar Gracian, in his work- The Art of Worldly Wisdom:"Knowledge and courage. These are the elements of greatness. Because they are immortal they bestow immortality. Each is as much as he knows, and the wise can do anything. A person without knowledge is in a world without light. Wisdom and strength are the eyes and hands. Knowledge without courage is sterile."

original intention for the Statue of Liberty

Curious to know that the Statue of Liberty by the French sculptor was initially intended to be an Egyptian peasant girl who was supposed to adorn the entrance of the Suez Canal...

cita sobre la capital de España- Madrid

POOR Madrid. Stuck in the middle of Spain, the city has long been perceived as the provincial, sleepy sister to Barcelona. Even today, you can see little girls dressed exactly as their mothers were, in 1940s-style dresses and matching topcoats. But that is precisely Madrid's charm. As the city fast-forwards into the 21st century — with designer hotels that rival any international city's, a sleek new airport terminal designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers and non-tapas bars that flirt with minimalist décor — Madrid is still the country's political and cultural capital. It remains, as Ernest Hemingway wrote, “the most Spanish of all cities.” (Sarah Wildman, 2007)
Well Madrid´s lema "de Madrid al cielo" seems to be gaining adeptos a pasos gigantescos.. the mix of new and old seem to hold a particular charm as the citation indicates.

closer to a cure for smokers?

It seems that damage to a certain area of the brain- near the ear, to be more precise- could remove instantly and entirely addiction to smoking...says scientists. So now brain injury is a possible solution to addiction...sounds freaky and scary to booth. Scientists, it seems, think this part of the brain has no real function! For now at least. And further add that its removal, for instance, doesn´t have any negative effects on say..appetite etc- I wonder why this part of the brain is only being considered for smoking adictions..wonder what would be the effect on other addictions as well......All the same, it still seems to be a crazy, drastic idea... imagine eliminating part of the brains of our already brainles society!

Racism, case of Spain

Over the last weekend in a town called Alcorcón, in the outskirts of Madrid, violence erupted between hispanic immigrants and young spaniards. Apparently it was all organised through the use of mobile phones. It seems that another outburst is being planned for the upcoming weekend. there were cries of racism, xenophobia and the usual politically loaded terms were bandied about- integration,failure of social systems etc..What is curious is the way the incidents were reported...im not totally aware of all the details..so i cud be out of line here..but it seems that many residents, denying that they are racist, seem to justify the spanish violent reaction by saying that it was a response to delinquency problems. Well this brings me to the current article im reading and which id like to quote from:España no es solo un país racista, es la quintaesencia del racismo, todo lo que significa ser racista concentrado en la conciencia colectiva. Un país forjado en los mitos de la invasión islámica y de la reconquista, en la pureza de sangre y el confesionalismo obligatorio, un país que todavía no ha logrado arrancarse las cadenas, que no asume gran parte de su historia como propia.Well to be fair, i don´t think one can generalise especially when it comes to such dlicate issues, but i must admit that i´ve encountered quite racist comments since im here...some of the speakers not being aware of thier "peso"..but sometimes i have to remind myself that because of our histories, in one way or the other, we are all racist..
Just a quick quote from Tahar Ben Jelloun, a morocca author who defines racism as the following: "El racismo es un comportamiento bastante extendido, común a todas las sociedades, que desgraciadamente se ha vuelto banal en muchos países porque llega y nadie se da cuenta. Consiste en desconfiar de las personas que tienen características físicas y culturales diferentes de las nuestras, e incluso en menospreciarlas". In english more or less, it would be- Racism is a well extended behavior, common in all societies, which unfortunately has become banalised in many countries because it appears and no one takes note. it consists of distrusting or even despising persons based on their physical and cultural characteristics, whihc are different from ours. for starters, not a bad working definition

Congrats to the Caribbean island of Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago)

Well alot of ppl here in Spain have no clue where to put Trinidad and Tobago in the map. In Rome, after attempting to explain its location in the Americas, a girl insists- so it´s close to Madagascar! hhee. Anyway, so this most southerly Caribbean twin islands, right above Venezuela is known for its petroleum, carnival, beautiful queens (we won Ms Universe in 98), sports players, Nobel Winner Naipaul who has issues with his home country...and well its beautiful natural landscapes..Hence this note- tobago has won the World Travel Market Award for BEST CARIBBEAN ISLAND for the second year. Well at least we trinbagonians living in scary times of rising prices, political tension and corruption, growing crime and kidnapping..have something to smile about. So, hooray for tobago!

un Dios maldijo la vida del emigrante...the cursed emigrant

Esta es la vida del emigrante (This is the life of the emigrant)
del vagabundo del sueño errante. (of the indigent with errant dreams)
Coge tu vida en tu pañuelo (Bundle up you life)
con tu pobreza tira pa´lante. (and push ahead with your poverty)
Si encuentras un destino (if u find a destiny)
si encuentras el camino (if u find a path)
tendrás que irte a ese lugar (u will have to go to that place)
el polvo del camino (the dust along the way)
cubre tu rostro amigo (covers your face)
con tu miseria a ese lugar. (and accompanies your misery to that place)
Un dios maldijo la vida del emigrante (Some god cursed the life of the emigrant)
serás mal visto por la gente en todas partes (everywhere u go, u´ll be shunned)
serás odiado por racistas maleantes.(and hated by evil racists)
y la justicia te maltrata sin piedad.(there will be no justice)
Todos hermanos. Todos farsantes (We are all brothers, all bluffers)
hacen mentiras con las verdades (who distort truth)
buscas trabajo y tienes hambre (u look for a job, u are hungry)
pero no hay sitio pal emigrante. (but theres no place for the emigrant)
La tierra de occidente, ya no tiene vergüenza, (The West has no shame)
arrasa nuestra tierra, nos roba la riqueza (destroying our land, stealing our wealth)
¡Qué bien se come de restaurante! (Eating out is soo good)
¡Cuánta miseria pal emigrante! (but what misery for the emigrant)
Nuestros hijos se mueren. (our children are dying)
Estómago vacío. Tú lo ves por la tele (empty stomachs, u see it on tv,
después de haber comido. (after having eaten)

This is the words of the song "the emigrant" by the Spanish group Celtas cortos. the music is nice, the dancing is cool in the video, but most of all, the lyrics is powerful..speaks of the difficulty of emigration, the ostracism and illtreatment in host countries, the injustices and imbalances which characterise our societies...it is a show of solidarity with any "emigrant"- in whatever guise and whatever form... in the end, it pays tribute to the sacrifice and hardships in the life of the emigrant...nice song...

Jimmy Carter´s new book on Palestine- "Palestine, peace, not apartheid"

When Jimmy Carter spoke about his work at an American Jewish university, he was branded a liar, bigot, antisemite, coward and plagiarist! Whoa! Because he was honest and not politically correct when speaking about the conflict that is only half known by so many of us...It seems that for many, the issue at heart lies in the obstinacy of Palestine to recognise the existence of Israel... but who really wants to hear about the occupation in Palestine, the refugee camps, the deaths which occur waiting at checkpoints etc. Only today i was reading another silly comment by the former president of Spain, José María Assnar who seems to be putting his foot in his mouth too much these days! First he says Muslims needed to apologise for the occupation of Spain during eight centuries and now he says that Israel must be defended from the many threats of Palestinians, suicide bombers, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and...Iranian fundamentalism...poor Israel..always the victim!Let´s see...who has the non-sanctioned nuclear powers here? Hmm... He added that the Iranian President and his silly remarks (they are silly!) should not go "impune". I think in my book, Aznar would hold the record of the day for the most outrageous comment of the day. Somebody needs to wake him up it seems.. let me share his quote- Israel has to be defended because it´s " una nación plenamente occidental” y su desaparición significaría "la pérdida de nuestra posición en este área del mundo y, con toda probabilidad, el inicio de un ataque contra nosotros"!!! Ok, the sad part is that many ppl would share this view.. talk about distortion and misinformation.Now, getting back to Carter and the choice of the word "apartheid" in his title which seems to be provoking so much controversy. Let´s hear the guy´s defense- all he intended, he said, was to describe conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories, and did not mean to equate Zionism with racism, but he wanted to underline that that "this cruel oppression is contrary to the tenets of the Jewish religious faith and contrary to the basic principles of the state of Israel.” Well seems that plain truth does offend. Well as a form of conclusion, it is ironic that very few would raise a finger to defend the millions of Muslims who are equated to terrorists each day, while simply pointing out the grave injustices in occupied Palestine is rewarded with titles such as antisemitic etc....