Mixed Bag

Random Thoughts and Insights from the Last Week:

"Stop shoving things up me. Stop shoving and stop cleaning it up. My vagina doesn't need to be cleaned up. It smells good already. Not like rose petals. Don't try to decorate. Don't believe him when he tells you it smells like rose petals when it's supposed to smell like pussy. That's what they're doing- trying to to clean it up, make it smell like bathroom spray or a garden. All those douche sprays- floral, berry, rain. I don't want my pussy to smell like rain. All cleaned up like washing a fish after you cook it. Want to taste the fish. That's why I ordered it." 

- from My Angry Vagina, The Vagina Monologues, and possibly the most hilarious 

monologue I had witnessed. 

Basic arithmetic: 

(Beer consumption - hydration - dinner )+ orange juice the next morning = headachitus vomitus 

Extra, Extra: Chris Brown's a Bastard

I usually do not read celebrity news or gossip because, despite finding some joy in the shallow products they produce, celebrities themselves do not pique my interest. However, the mention of the Chris Brown and Rihanna domestic abuse incident on a couple of blogs provoked  efforts on my part to read more into the situation. 

The long and short of it is that Chris Brown and Rihanna were involved in an argument after the Grammys that turned violent and culminated in Rihanna taking some blows from her celebrity, teen-dream boyfriend. There is a photo of Rihanna's wounded face circulating on the internet that was supposedly 'leaked' (unbeknownst to the LAPD) to the gossip site TMZ. Chris Brown turned himself into the police and was released on 50,000 dollars bond. Rihanna identified him as the one that caused the trauma.

Here are some of my thoughts on the matter:

1) Police photos do not get leaked without someone knowing about it. Gossip sites and tabloids pay a lot of money for their 'material'. People know that. It's disgusting that a site like TMZ will use an image of a woman's beaten face for sensationalism to get more hits. Celebrities or not. Yet, it's even more disgusting that someone saw the  picture- one  of a woman who had been involved in a domestic violence dispute- as a way to make money. And that those opportunities exist everywhere. 

1a) That said, I am somewhat glad that the photo is being circulated, even if it will not garner the most positive type of attention. The image of a beaten woman, and especially, a woman that is usually in 

the spotlight without a physical blemish, makes the issue real. Domestic Violence seems to be the

urban myth of the media- it's rarely mentioned, and if it is, it's in the form of nameless/faceless 

statistics that make it seem impersonal. Actually seeing Rihanna's face battered and bruised solidifies

the fact that yes, she was physically attacked and harmed, and that 

2) just because Chris Brown is a celebrity, doesn't mean he's not a misogynistic bastard, or susceptible to effects of  the patriarchal attitudes and institutions of the Entertainment Industry. In fact, I would argue that he, and most celebrities, are the embodiment of everything that's wrong with our society. The elevation of the celebrity to god-like status, and the public's pre-occupation with their personal lives, almost inevitably means that most celebrities are total sociopaths. It is amazing that we do not hear about more stories like this. I guess that's why most have publicists and good lawyers, though.

 Thus, am I surprised Chris Brown hit Rihanna? Hell no. 

I'm thrilled she was courageous enough to report it and has not shied away from pressing charges. Because, inevitably, there will be people, men and women, who will take Chris Brown's side and say she deserved it, or provoked him or also hit him, or he's a nice guy. Sure. 

He still hit her. 

Do my feelings about celebrities make me a hypocrite for listening or consuming their products? Maybe. I own it. 

There's something wrong

with mini-vans. I don't like them. They make me uncomfortable. Mini-vans and their drivers form a large number of the population who honk angrily and unnecessarily at cyclists. They are surprisingly fast, and their drivers, astonishingly aggro. Maybe it's because a great deal of them are toting around too many kids and the drivers have had too many starbucks lattes and the combination makes for one overbearing and aggressive human being. I don't know. I can only guess. I don't like never statements, but I will never own a mini-van. 

Bedtime. Love.