78uuu lumière des étoiles

Dusty:Starlight:Culture



Tell Me What to DO!
2006-12-21   9:41 a.m.

No matter how self-righteous this is going to sound, I'm going to say it: one of the other reasons I want to further my work in pursuing non-profit, NGO work is because I'm mighty sick of how need for humanitarian/relief work has been presented, classified and oversimplified in mainstream media.

There's a great article in the most recent issue of bitch magazine called "Egos Without Borders", which rips Oprah and other celebrities who practice a sort of aimless, apolitical, warm n fuzzy "activism". The author invites us to laugh at scenes of Oprah walking through a women's Obstetric Fistula hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and handing out make-up kits, which I suppose was "doing something nice" for these victims.

Indeed the scene is ridiculous - and furthers weird, arcane gender stereotypes at that (massive, third-world endemic reproductive health problems got you down? Just put on a little lipstick!). And I agree that the larger problem - and a great opportunity - is missed when Oprah does things like this. Why not turn to her audience and explain that the REASON obstetric fistula is on the rise in that region is DIRECTLY related to a policy change in our administration regarding funding & foreign aid? One of the first first things Bush did when he came into office in 2000 was to cut the "International Family Planning" foreign aid program that Clinton and others worked so hard to instate and protect. Bush's wedgie with this was over programs that may or may not have provided abortion as an option to women in third world countries - including those in regions where rape is used as a war strategy and a form of genocide. So in the process of trying to save the planet from the big bad A-word, Bush cut all funding in a hardliner, holistic way - which meant all the other needed services reproductive health organizations provide went bunk. Way to punish em, boss. Consequently the funding that goes to provide pre-natal care, prevent birth defects, and save women - mostly "women" around 12 or 13 years old who are forced into marriage and whose tiny bodies can't take childbirth - from deadly and stigmatized conditions like O.F. through education and outreach programs.

I'm sure the women in the Ethiopian hospital appreciated the eye shadow. And I'm sure Oprah's viewers felt sorry for those Ethiopian women. But wouldn't it make tons more sense for Oprah's viewers to understand one of the reasons the condition is so pervasive? It's not too optimistic to assume that Oprah's viewers might lean on our politicians if they understood that AIDS issues, poverty, women's rights issues, etc., have a lot to do with our own administrations decisions - or at least can be helped by our administration acting differently (and not just in the way of heaping $ on these countries).

When I mentioned this at work, a colleague of mine said, "Oprah's viewers would be too stupid to understand any talk of politics or policy". Really? I said. Why, because they're mostly women? He stiffened up when I said that, cause I caught him in a snag: he was assuming vapidness based on superficial characteristics (Oprah-viewer, female, "non-professional", "stay-at-home-mom" etc.). Yeah, sometimes it hurts when someone holds up a mirror and shows you your bias. But I'm getting sidetracked.

Back to celebrity activism:

I dig Gwenyth and whatever other waspy celebrity saying "I AM AFRICAN" in that somewhat laughable campaign" designed to "raise awareness" about HIV in Africa. So, thanks to Gwenyth, and to other celebrities like Lindsay, who said she is "very interested in going to Kenya" in the interest of "doing something about AIDS" (is she bringing meds in her Hermes carry-on? giving out the condoms our miserly country will no longer pay for?), we now know there's a problem with AIDS in Africa! Which is good, cause I think most people had no idea.

Again, what a perfect opportunity to not just say "AFRICAN PEOPLE WITH AIDS NEED DRUGS, SO PAY FOR THEM, AMERICAN CONSUMER (WHO IS ALREADY STRUGGLING WITH YOUR OWN HEALTHCARE COSTS)!" but to also say "DRUG COMPANYS LACK ETHICS AND PRICE GOUGE EVERYONE, FROM DIABETICS IN DELAWARE TO AIDS AND OBSTETRIC FISTULA PATIENTS IN ZIMBABWE!" and have us understand, at a policy (and not just "philanthropy") level, what can actually be constructive and pro-active in solving these obviously serious problems (lean on profit-obsessed pharm. companies and the gov'ts who refused to subsidize serious health care needs). Money is nice, but it makes no sense to just heap it on to people and expect things to be fine.

Much of my exposure to mainstream media campaigns involving any kind of activism included campaigns that asked me to "just do something!". But do what?, I always wondered as a kid. Ok, Oprah, Lindsay, etc., you've "raised awareness". But now what? People donate $5 to UNICEF or "Feed the Children" or whatever and all will be well? Why not explain that some countries are so corrupt that the rice/meds/clothing/money donated never even reaches those in need because the country in question lacks the infrastructure to get it there? What about the constant banditry or bloody military coups our government will support and arm if it means more oil, or something? Those coups tend to disrupt distribution of rice/meds/clothing/money.

I think even kids can understand the problem lies not just with funding, but with politics. Why not say that? Why not scrutinize our govt's involvement with corrupt African leaders? Why not criticize the unfair trade policies our govt engages in that bankrupt those countries in the first place?

Oh, 'cause then Gwenyth won't get such and such role, and people will stop watching Oprah. Women should just stick to what women do best: cry for others' pain, read books by Alice Walker, adopt Malawian babies, and wear fat suits to star in movies with Jack Black. Any talk of politics is so un-sexy, so masculine. Leave that to Bono, Michael Stipe, and George Clooney.

Um...oh yeah. So check out that article.

xox