What an Idiot

I'm one of those people who has a sick fascination with pop culture and when I'm avoiding my homework I often find myself watching train wrecks of tv shows that fill me with a combination of venomous disgust and profound shame in American culture. Anything involving Tyra Banks falls into this category - through America's Next Top Model and her pathetic talk show Banks is trying to fashion herself the next generation's Oprah, a symbol of what it is to be a strong woman. However, she's full of contradictions and hypocrisy, and this article filled me with both sadistic glee (haha stupid bitch!) and once again made me sad about the state of womanhood in American pop culture:

Tyra Banks' sex life is being ruined by her wig.

The supermodel is said to be very "insecure" about her hair and refuses to spend the night with men because she doesn't want to remove her long fake locks in bed.

A source said: "Tyra is a confident woman for the most part, but she is really insecure about her hair. She doesn't want any guy to see her without her wigs or hair extensions.

"Tyra feels like guys are with her for her image that they see on TV and in magazines. If one wakes up without her glamorous hair, she's worried he may not call back!"

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old star has confessed she doesn't like wine - but orders it in public just to look sexy.

Tyra said: "Every now and then I'll order some wine at the table. I'll only take two sips, but I'll keep holding the glass cause it makes me feel sexy, but I still don't drink it because it still tastes kind of nasty to me."

The chat show host believes she is lucky as her dislike for alcohol means she won't end up in rehab like other stars.

She said: "I feel like I've been very lucky because I don't really have an addictive personality. I'm not really an 'alcohol girl' and I'm definitely not a 'drug girl'."(Female First)

What a fucking douche bag. Seriously. If Tyra Banks is such a "confident woman", why is it in photos she is airbrushed within an inch of her life and why then doe she parade around wigs and cake her face in whore paint to such a severe degree that she looks some kind of drag queen? It seems she always tries to talk about the importance of beauty on the inside, but in her tv shows it is physical beauty and looking good that is emphasized. Whenever a woman who has low-self esteem comes on her talk show, she gives them a makeover, dressing her in expensive designer clothes, slapping a thick layer of makeup on her face, and at times even giving them workout tips or access to a fitness program so that she may lose weight. All of this is done so that, through the improvement of the outward appearance, the woman's confidence is elevated and supposedly her inner beauty may shine through. Bullshit. While it is true that looking good does make you feel good, it is a superficial fix and it is in many ways just a charade that obscures the underlying problems of the shit status and expected role of women in society. Look pretty and do what I say. Make babies. Make me a sandwich, whore! Fuck Tyra Banks.

Man, that rant really got out of hand.

"Afghanistan has more than 2 million widows, and these and other desperately poor women often turn to prostitution, despite the risk of being killed by their families if they are discovered. So they remain in the shadows, beneath a double veil of tradition and shame. This woman’s husband is too old to work. She sold her daughter into marriage before the girl was 10, and now she sells herself."
-from a photo essay by Lana Slezic

Prostitution Behind the Veil (1/5)

Interesting documentary that follows two Iranian prostitutes. I think it demonizes religion a bit too much (women are treated this way all over the world in many different religious and cultural contexts - you can't pin it all on Islam), but worth watching nonetheless. Not incredibly uplifting though.

خواب

Last night I had a rather interesting dream.

I was back at my high school gymnasium, and there was a children's basketball camp or something like that going on. I soon realized that I recognized one of the children - it was me. Little Becca, wearing a blue skirt with silvery trim and a dirty shirt with dirt smeared across her face, dribbling like a mofo and being antisocial. It was incredibly strange. It was definitely me. The only difference is that my hair was longer, something I had always wanted as a little kid, but alas no pigtails in real life for me. I ended up walking over and talking to myself...Little Becca wasn't amused and was pretty distant, not very present, off in her own little world. I was such a strange little kid, the wheels were always turning, I was always pondering and worrying about strange things. From a very young age I was an insomniac, always awake at night in the midst of an existential crisis. I sat with Little Becca for awhile and just kind of observed her...or me, I don't know. That last thing I remember from the dream is just sitting with Little Becca and thinking about how small and weak and strange she was. Then I woke up.

Hmmm.

I also enjoyed multitasking as a child:

"Some day we'll get more than 2 sentences"

But not today. Two will do just fine I think.