Sep 12 2014

Face in the Crowd

Just over a year ago now, I made my first trip to the United States of America. As I was heading to the East Coast, I had the ‘joy’ of an eight hour layover at LAX. As I wandered around the airport, looking at the shops, grabbing some food I noticed there was a lot of people of colour moving around me, doing the same ‘wasting time at an airport’ type of things. There seemed to be a higher ratio of black faces than I had expected. I assumed they were African American, but at the same time it’s a busy international airport so there could have been a vast diversity in country of origin. I momentarily wondered where everyone was heading, and then focused back on not getting lost. A few days later, I came to realise that the ratio wasn’t skewered by it being an international airport. American society was far more ethnically diverse than I had pictured.

Before this trip my understanding of American society had mostly come from media portrayals. News reports, television programmes, and the occasional movie was my main access to what the country looked like, the cultures, the cities, the structures. As someone who works and studies in areas of social justice and constructions of knowledge, I have always made an effort to consider the ways we represent people and ideas. How media (re)produces constructions of ethnicity, gender, sexuality etc. Do we only ever see black men portrayed as angry, violent criminals? Is the homosexual man only ever seen as effeminate and promiscuous? And while I work, both professional and personally to challenge the dominant constructions and open up a greater range of possibilities, this trip to America made me realise a big part of the picture I had no previous awareness of.

There have been shows I’ve watched and loved that have had no black characters. Some shows may include a character of colour but then the ratio of often very high. Criminal Minds for example has one African American character and six European American characters. I had heard of the term ‘token black’ before, but always thought of it more in terms of identity construction, rather than a simply numbers game. And often this one character of colour is supposed to stand in for all non-Caucasian people. The one African-American actor is there to show diversity, as if his face will be a representation, a connection for everyone else, for the African-American women, for the Asian men and women, for the Hispanic women and men, those from South Asia, from Western Asia, for those Indigenous to the land. How can you complain you aren’t represented, see we have one face that is of colour.

Hiring actors that bring a diversity of ethnicities to the programme is good. Writing characters that explore those ethnicities would be even better.   But on an even simpler level, require the extras, the people you hire to fill the background, to have that range. I have watched a show set in DC, a city with a diverse population, and yet never once saw anything but a Caucasian face, not one of the actors, nor one person in the background was anything but Western European looking.

As a foreigner coming for a holiday, the lack of diverse representation was interesting and noteworthy. It stayed with me for months. But I can only imagine what it must be like to never see a reflection of yourself in shows set in your city, in your country. I imagine spending my free time watching television and never seeing a female face. How limiting that would feel, how separate I would feel from the world’s portrayed in my entertainment, in my media. If the only time I saw a female face was when there was a report of some violent crime, what would I see as my future.

There is an insidious nature to this. The lack of representation becomes common, expected. Damn media, and shrugged off. But eventually common comes to mean normal and true. The lack of representation becomes an accurate portrayal. I recently watched a couple of seasons of Arrow. In the first season roughly half the characters were of colour. These were regular characters, either in main roles or recurring supportive ones. And much to my chagrin, my first reaction was to be surprised they used so many non-Europeans. In the year that I had left America and once again only been immersed in television programmes, I had forgotten that there is a higher ratio of ethnic diversity that portrayed. I had returned to believing one or two people that didn’t look like me was the norm. And I do wonder why in season two, that diversity in Arrow was cut back. Is it blatant racism that restricts the diversity, or a pervasive insidious version that unless challenged is constantly creating a world where all but a few look Caucasian.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/09/12/face-in-the-crowd/

Sep 11 2014

Rome and Italy by Livy

Mostly this is a record of Rome’s interminable wars with the Samnites. War is hardly a trivial event, but Rome fought so many wars during this period that reading about one battle after another becomes wearying. The most interesting and unusual thing that happened during this period was that a Vestal Virgin violated her vow of chastity and was buried alive as a punishment. Other than that and a few plagues, this was mostly an endless catalogue of battles and was rather boring.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/09/11/rome-and-italy-by-livy/

Sep 11 2014

White Paper Review – Pew Research Center: Younger Americans and Public Libraries

The Pew Research Center has released an interesting white paper named Younger Americans and Public Libraries: How those under 30 engage with libraries and think about libraries’ role in their lives and communities, concerning Millennials and their reading habits. Contrary to what some might expect, the results are not all doom and gloom.

The researchers ended up dividing Millennials into three distinct age groups:

There are actually three different “generations” of younger Americans with distinct book reading habits, library usage patterns, and attitudes about libraries. One “generation” is comprised of high schoolers (ages 16-17); another is college-aged (18-24), though many do not attend college; and a third generation is 25-29.

I won’t fully quote all of the interesting tidbits that the researchers came across, but I will put a few of the finding headings here to pique your interest.

  • Millennials’ lives are full of technology, but they are more likely than their elders to say that important information is not available on the internet.


  • Millennials are quite similar to their elders when it comes to the amount of book reading they do, but young adults are more likely to have read a book in the past 12 months.


  • As a group, Millennials are as likely as older adults to have used a library in the past 12 months, and more likely to have used a library website.

    • It’s not a long read, and if you enjoy books and think reading is important, then it’s something you’ll want to take the time to check out. No pun intended.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/09/11/white-paper-review-pew-research-center-younger-americans-and-public-libraries/

    Sep 02 2014

    The Spanish Civil War by Stanley Payne

    All civil wars and revolutions are confused in their narrative accounts, but the Spanish Civil War is even more confusing than the French Revolution. Who, exactly, was rebelling against whom? The Leftists were supposedly the “revolutionaries,” but they actually supported the Republic. Franco’s Nationalists were the “counterrevolutionaries,” but they were dedicated to overthrowing the Republic. Throw in Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, and George Orwell, and you have quite a cauldron of conflicting parties. This books was heavy on facts and details but failed to give a coherent narrative rendering of this chaotic event. The significance of the war is still debated: was it the opening salvo of World War II? Was it the beginning of the Cold War? Was it the merely the culmination of the long festering tension between the forces of progress and reaction in Western Europe? And how does the war’s legacy play out in Spanish society today? This book is an introduction only.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/09/02/the-spanish-civil-war-by-stanley-payne/

    Sep 02 2014

    The Mission Song by John Le Carre

    In this book Le Carre succeeds in doing what he failed to do in Tinker Tailor: creating characters that the reader actually cares about, as a well as a plot involving a covert operation whose outcome is not merely a an academic move in a geopolitical chess game. I identify in some ways with the protagonist: he is biracial, good at languages, looking to make a difference, and concerned about his soul. The ending is pretty much what had to happen given that the arena for the covert operation is Africa and not Europe, but it still shocks one’s sensibilities and even provokes a bit of moral outrage. This book was a pleasure to read from beginning to end; Le Carre seems to have saved his best material for the post-Cold War era.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/09/02/the-mission-song-by-john-le-carre/

    Aug 25 2014

    The Secret History by Procopius

    Most later historians tend to dismiss Procopius’ account as grossly exaggerated, maintaining that Justinian and Theodora were just, able, and virtuous co-rulers. But if that is really the case, it is hard to see why he would have written this history, since it obviously posed great risk to himself. If Procopius can be believed, Justinian and Theodora were vicious, bloodthirsty, depraved, and greedy, and they were guilty of all kinds of sordid deeds and misrule during their co-reign. This hardly agrees with what I have heard from other sources, but the stories he reports do not sound fabricated. Yet I wonder if he merely had some personal axe to grind; it is hard to believe that the great legislator, builder, and administrator Justinian could have been such an immoral tyrant. I would like to know more about Procopius himself before I give his story too much credibility.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/08/25/the-secret-history-by-procopius/

    Aug 22 2014

    Misery by Stephen King

    I was familiar with the premise of this book before I started it, and it didn’t seem very interesting, but once I started it I was surprised by how engrossing the story was. In a way, this is King’s own story, the story of a writer whose formidable talent never fails him, not even during the greatest crisis of his life. Whatever his critics say, King isn’t writing for them or even for his fans, he is writing because he has to, because it’s what he does, and it’s what he would do if he were in Paul Sheldon’s place. In my more creative moments I fancy myself a writer, but I don’t have a fraction of the gift King was born with. Once again I bow to the master.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/08/22/misery-by-stephen-king/

    Aug 19 2014

    The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather

    This is a highly revisionist book that challenges the accepted conclusions, chiefly those of Gibbon, on why the Roman Empire fell. It was not, the author argues, the result of unchecked barbarian invasions, or the assimilation of disloyal barbarians within the Empire, or over-taxation, or Christian unworldliness, or political corruption, or moral decadence. The author asserts that in the end Rome’s imperial aggression led to over-extension and therefore, with poetic justice, led to its own downfall. Yet he demonstrates convincingly that even in the late fourth century the Empire was still a formidable world power that no barbarian tribe could hope to challenge, and there was no shortage of outstanding military leaders such as Constantine, Julian, Stilicho, and Aetius to defend the Empire against the encroachments of barbarians. Every generation of historians makes these kind of revisionist arguments, but this book is provocative and provides a fresh look at old data.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/08/19/the-fall-of-the-roman-empire-by-peter-heather/

    Aug 09 2014

    Stop Saying Vagina

    A while ago now, I jokingly (sort of) declared a desire to create “Say Vagina Day”. It was a reaction to an apparent reluctance and distaste for speaking the word. New Zealand society mildly imploded in on itself when the word ‘vagina’ was spoken on a television commercial. Grown women appeared to be more comfortable using terms that made them sound like a pre-schooler than to use the actual biological term. So I started a minor campaign to get everyone I know to say vagina at least once a week. Now months later, I am hoping we’ll stop saying vagina.

    The female genitals are amazing, diverse and complex. The vagina is one part of this system. But when we speak of them, the vagina is all we know, all we acknowledge. There is a reasonable awareness of the clitoris, at least amongst my friends, how widespread I am not sure. But concepts such a labia, pubic mons and the vulva often gets a look of confusion. We don’t have a strong understanding of the female sexual body, even on a basic anatomy level. And if women, who possess the bodies are disconnected from it, I can only imagine it is far more distant for males.

    So now, when we talk about female genitalia, female sexual and reproductive organs, more often than not we simply say ‘vagina’. I agree it is better than not having anything to say, or (in my opinion) the worst option of using cutesy childish terms like ‘vajayjay’. But the fact that it ‘could be worse’ isn’t enough to stop pushing for better.

    A  recent article on The Telegraph website about an arts student that created knickers that depicted a women’s internal reproductive organs got me thinking. Just looking at the picture (see below) I had a mixed reaction of how great it was to have such a direct depiction, and at the same time worried that it linked female sexuality to her reproductive ability.

    vagina pants

    But it was reading the article further that caused this rant. These pants, in this article and elsewhere were quickly labelled the ‘vagina pants’. Why with all the diversity and potential information did it all get narrowed down to the vagina?

    For me this speaks clearly of the construction of the female body, and female sexuality in its relation to the male. When we talk and teach about sexuality, we so often create it in terms of heterosexuality and reproduction. The vagina is often described as the tube the penis enters, or the channel the baby is born through. Vagina is able to be spoken about because it is constructed as a device for male enjoyment and fulfillment, sexual or reproduction. The current common construction is the vagina exists for the benefit of men.

    Female sexuality, the female sexual body has variety and complexity. We still struggle to talk about it within the reference to male sexuality. There is an underlying need to validate our body in relationship to the man’s approval and use. The vagina becomes a male instrument, rather than a female one. Female sexuality on its own is still disapproved and negated. An example is depictions of female only, or female focused sexual pleasure get a higher age restriction in movies than a males. The biological and anatomical changes that accompany female sexual arousal are not discussed. The message becomes males get erections, get a physical response to pleasure, females spread their legs.

    We need to be more aware of the female sexual body. We need to have an understanding of it in its complexity. We need to be able to think and discuss it in the absence of the male. We need to have words like vulva and labia as commonly accepted as vagina, penis and testicles. We need to stop limiting females sexuality to their vaginas.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/08/09/stop-saying-vagina/

    Jul 30 2014

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I by Edward Gibbon

    Although decline is the theme of this massive work, the Roman military machine shows itself still quite capable of defeating its enemies when competently led, and there is no shortage of outstanding emperors in this period. Special praise is reserved for Constantine, the great Christianizer and victorious general, and surprisingly, his antithesis, Julian the pagan restorationist who was equally successful on the battlefield. The decline seems to be in the morals of the populace rather than in the strength of the empire, and from this book alone it is not easy to see why the empire should have eventually fallen. The book ends with an ominous and uneasy truce with the Goths under the emperor Theodosius, with the implication that the presence of the Goths within the empire will be its ruin, but even this does not seem to have been inevitable. Why did the Roman Empire fall? Perhaps, as Victor Hugo said of the reign of Napoleon, God grew bored with it.

    Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/07/30/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire-volume-i-by-edward-gibbon/