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OPINION
7A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 4,2008
letter to the editor
Palin choice insulting to women's causes
Two words on Sen. John McCain's vice presidential pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: Cheap shot. The choice of Gov. Palin cheapens the politics of the election, the intellect of American women and the career of the very woman it supposedly elevates.
In this election, identity politics — defining candidates solely by broad social categories like gender, race or religion — has arguably achieved a stranglehold on public discourse. While the Obama campaign — often the target of these discussions — has worked to move past this, the McCain campaign is putting Palin's identity as a woman above things like experience, trust and policy. It's a shot aimed to woo disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters and generate press coverage in the wake of the Democratic National Convention. This is a shot that once again puts the gender identity discussion above the policy record of the candidates.
This obvious attempt to draw in former Clinton backers, evident in Palin's acceptance speech referencing "18 million cracks" in the glass ceiling, cheapens the feminist cause and assumes political blindness in women nationwide. It assumes
women supported Clinton solely for her gender and not for her accomplishments and progressive views. It assumes women will vote for Palin because she's a lady, despite her pro-life stance and McCain's abhorrent women's rights record.
Finally, it is an insult to Palin for McCain to prematurely make her, a largely unqualified governor, the second woman to ever make a major party ticket. It turns what could have been a legitimate career into a political stunt and turns her name into a tactical ioke.
It makes me nauseous to see how McCain, no doubt at the advice of former deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, let Palin fly like a decoy duck, cheapening the debate and his own candidacy.
My greatest fear is not that this ploy will work (it won't)! It's that putting Palin in a glass elevator to the top will do nothing to help. It will actually hurt women's causes: women who struggle with lower wages, lack of healthcare and domestic and sexual violence. A vote for Palin does not mean equal pay for equal work. A vote for Palin does not mean help preventing unwanted pregnancies. A vote for Palin means politics as usual.
Sara Shannon, senior in political science
editorials around the nation Gay marriages should an honest answer
be legally recognized
Del Martin, a founding member of the gay rights movement in America, died recently at the age of 87. She is survived by her partner of 55 years and spouse since June 16, Phyllis Lyon.
As a new widow, Lyon faces a difficult period of mourning. However, that she and Martin were able to experience the life of a married couple they had so long desired before death parted them must provide her with at least some amount of solace. But because marriage equality for gays and lesbians only became politically feasible recently and because Martin's health had been declining for some time, these women's ability to spend any time together as spouses was never a certainty.
Thankfully, Martin was able to live long enough for her and Lyon to get married. But if California law had changed even a few months later, that never would have been possible. And not every couple is as fortunate as Martin and Lyon.
Of the 50 states, only Massachusetts and California have yet granted full marriage equality to gays and lesbians. Several other states provide official legal protections for such couples, basically allowing same-sex marriage without calling it by that name. However, most states, including Iowa, do not provide any such legal protections. This must change as soon as possible.
Though right-wing activist groups such as the Iowa Christian Alliance fight ferociously in their war against gay rights,
an honest assessment of public opinion trends suggests that they do so quixotically. Support for gay rights, including marriage equality, has grown steadily over the years. Progress in this direction is no doubt due in significant part to increases in the general public's understanding of gays and lesbians and identification with them as ordinary people. But there is also a strong generational component to this ongoing shift.
Any notion that today's young people will become less tolerant as they age is highly dubious. After growing up alongside openly gay friends, relatives, and acquaintances, Americans under 30 simply get it. They understand that homosexuality is a normal part of life, that a small percentage of people are naturally sexually attracted primarily to members of their own sex. The thought of denying such people the right to marry those they love doesn't make sense to most young people and it never will.
Loving couples such as Martin and Lyon don't deserve to suffer because too many of their peers are unable to overcome their traditional prejudices. That's why granting legal recognition to gay marriages all across America is driven by what a certain 47-year-old presidential candidate calls the fierce urgency of now. Elidery gays and lesbians have done the hard work of creating a society in which people are accepted for who they are. Those fortunate enough to come of age in that society owe it to them to finish the job.
The Daily lowan Sept. 27 editorial
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Discovering the weird world of French cinema
I had never watched a foreign language film before I set out to investigate French movies. Perhaps, like the rest of America, I was afraid of subtitles. The majority of foreign language films consistently fail to attract large American audiences, making only short appearances in "artsy" movie theaters. Three French films currently in theaters, "Roman de Gare," "Tell No One" and "The Last Mistress," have all received good reviews but low attendance. Rather than seeking out a theater playing one of the above, I found three French movies, most of which are available to rent or at the Lawrence Public Library, to test out French cinema.
Americans perpetuate legions of stereotypes concerning that arrogant, rude, smelly and loose people: the French. As far as I know, most of them may be true: I went to Paris once, and no one was nice to me. But I recently debunked one French myth, namely that their cinema consists of long, depressing, overly "artistic" films in which nothing ever happens.
My favorite was "Delicatessen," directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and set in post-apocalyptic France during a 20th century that never was. The film's glimpse golden appearance
makes the picture itself as arresting as the story. The plot centers on a lonely apartment building whose tenants deal with food shortage by allowing the first-floor deli owner to lure loners into his clutches.
It may sound like "Sweeney Todd," but this is cannibalism the French way; funny and fatalistic. The hilarious characters include the butcher's daughter, who loves an honest and idealistic clown intended for dinner, a depressed housewife who constructs Rube Goldberg-esque suicide machines and a band of sewer-dwelling frog people.
My second foray into French film yielded "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." Directed by Laetitia Colombani, it stars Audrey Tautou, of the popular leunet picture "Amelie." In the movie, Angelique, Tautou's character, is glowing with love for a married cardiologist. The first half of the movie seems a repetition of the old story of a younger woman's affair with a married man, then we begin to see that Angelique is more dedicated, and creative, than most lovers.
All stereotypes have exceptions, and maybe I simply happened on those. Still, I could never consider any of the above films depressed works of realism in which "nothing happens." Everything happens, even the crazily unconventional. So for a taste of less mainstream fare, sample some French cinema. Sometimes even snobs have a sense of humor.
Just as Angelique's efforts grow sinister, the movie abruptly rewinds, replaying the story from an opposite point of view. The second half upends the viewer's previous understanding of the plot and characters, even switching the movie's apparent genre from romance to suspense. If this sounds strange, it gets even stranger. Let's just say that only the French would make a dark comedy about erotomania.
Blankenau is a Lincoln, Neb., sophomore in journalism.
By far the weirdest French film
When Papa is found with a knife in his back, the eight women attempt to discover his murderer. Their investigations reveal a ludicrous web of secrets including illegitimacy, multiple affairs, incest and faked paralysis. To top it all off, "8 Women" is a musical, or sort of one. The actresses deliver saccharine French pop numbers while looking directly into the camera. The film is an exercise in embarrassment that leaves the audience both fascinated and pleading, please, no, don't let them sing again.
I tried, and probably the weird.
est movie I've ever seen, was "8 Women," which refuses to take itself seriously. The movie, set in the 1950s, has an all-female cast, with the exception of one man whose face is never seen, and includes Gallic great Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant. Deneuve and Ardant play, respectively, the wife and the sister of a rich businessman whose estrogen-ridden household includes his mother-in-law, sister-in-law, two daughters, a cook and a maid.
The mystery of attraction You are hot, here is why
MICHAEL POPE & RYAN SNYDER
Ryan: Admit it. Two weeks of classes have gone by, and the only thing you remember is that the hot brunette in your history class sits three rows back, two seats to the left. You're not really sure if you're even enrolled in a history class.
Pope: Unfortunately, you can't turn and stare at her for the whole 50 minutes. Apparently that's considered "creepy." Besides, you're in class with that studmuffin Matt Kleinmann, whose mere presence extends a visual tractor beam two to three miles in every direction, demanding your constant attention. It's time to improvise.
**Peope:** Of course, this feeble attempt at peeking doesn't fool you, ladies. You do it too, though your subtley really isn't necessary. You could look at us all day long and we wouldn't care. We may even be looking back, just not at your face.
Ryan: We all have our own methods for checking out the opposite sex. Most people use the fake back stretch, which allows for greater range of movement and enables you to contort yourself like you're in Cirque du Soleil to get that perfect view. The orthopedic back brace in 20 years will be a small price to pay.
Ryan: But why do we all feel the need to take that third bathroom break mid-lecture just to get another eyeful? You don't have to pee, and everyone knew that the second time around. The answer to this long-debated question is not as simple as you may think, requiring formulaic fortitude and stupendously scientific sciences. You don't even want to know how many homeless people we had to dissect to get our information. It would be impossible to fit it all in this space.
Pope: That's what she said.
Ryan: Indeed. However, it is our journalistic duty to inform the public as best we can. In youth, our knowledge regarding females was primitive, consisting entirely of an upside-down calculator and the number 5318008. As we advanced in our learning, so did the algorithms. We were taught to use this standard equation to solve the mysteries of the female anatomy:
(milk² + lemonade)
fudge
Pope: The more we learned, our bodies as well as our minds started to grow at an exponential rate greater than or equal to the gross national product of the cosine tangent. We began to devote all our time to studying a woman's slope-intercept form, eventually becoming obsessed with trying to get a piece of that warm apple $ \pi . $ The focus then shifted to applying our theorems to reality, such as finding the largest circumference possible of two circles resting on the same plane, as well as other equally important curves.
Ryan: After these long years of rigorous study, we have now solved the enigma of human attraction. This scientific breakthrough of ours outshines all others, including the time we cured cancer – twice. Previous theories involving “feelings,” “love” and “lots of money” have been proven irrelevant. We are excited to be able to reveal our discovery here and put an end to all speculation.
Michael Pope is a Kansas City senior in English. Ryan Snyder is a Leawood senior in English.
Pope: I just hope our column isn't too long and we run out of spa—
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500.
Somebody stole my fraternity's flag this weekend
--my night.
Who let the Bible-toting abortion retards on campus?
--my night.
Lawrence Freenet - so easy even toddlers can do it! Why is that baby using the computer
--my night.
I wish I hadn't been so scared to take a chance on her. I took the safe bet and picked you. And now I regret
Hubba bubba wubba
I'm ready to drink some beers and smoke some bowls.
Can I just come to the football games in my birthday
If you have a wiener, no you may not.
The guy I work with, I can't understand a thing he says. I just nod and say yes a lot!
--my night.
I got a job interview!
Maybe now I can upgrade to
corridors
--my night.
--my night.
You know what'd be awesome? If they finished that construction in front of Watson. My short ill' legs need that sidewalk open again.
--my night.
Screw the election, I'm voting for the Energizer Bunny. If he can jump-start a UFO with his ears, he can get this country running.
--my night.
One Milllillion Dollars.
--my night.
Hey Free for All, did you hear Snoop Dogg is coming out with a new song? Presidential seduction, duction, duction...
To the guys who drove by the stadium jamming out to 'N Sync after the football game on Saturday: you made my night
--for eight years writing legislation prior to that, which is significantly greater than the 20 months of experience that Palin has accumulated working as governor of the lowest population state in the
I feel like I am wasting my time with you... prove me wrong
--for eight years writing legislation prior to that, which is significantly greater than the 20 months of experience that Palin has accumulated working as governor of the lowest population state in the
Obama was a senator for four years and he worked
country.
I saw that guy get the shit kicked out of him at the Reserve. That was awesome.
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