My Life as A Radical Whore/Madonna

So - last week I said:
Consider it a homework assignment: Say something, make some vocal statement or visible action about how you feel. Dissent must been heard or seen if it’s going to make any difference. If no one hears it or sees it, then it can’t do anyone any good. Say something to someone who may not or does not agree. Let someone know that you agree with them. We have to connect. I give you a week to complete this assignment. Everyone who completes it gets an ‘A’. Creativity earns an ‘A+ ‘.

Well, the due date was last Friday, but I generously extended the assignment, and now I wanna see what you all have been doing/saying to express your dissatisfaction with what’s happening in our country and the world at large (assuming that you are dissatisfied, which you should be).

But fair’s fair - I’ll report mine first:

Honestly, after I put this out there I had no real idea what to do. Blogging has been my way of getting ideas out into the world. So finding a way to get a clear, visible message out to people in my daily circles, face-to-face, was a bit of a conundrum. Well, I ended up going the DIY, put your politics-where-your-body-is-route. My first thought was to write something in permanent ink across my forehead. I was seriously considering doing it in time for a birthday party we were going to, but I forgot. Then I realized I didn’t necessarily feel good about Sharpie pen chemicals leaching into my breastmilk through my skin. I know that our bodies are absorbing all kinds of chemicals all of the time, but I’ll do what I can to lessen the load.

So I on my way to go for a walk with a mamabuddy of mine, I quickly (but legibly) drew some pro-love, anti-killing slogans on medical tape, and then taped them across a few of the more prominent parts of my body (i.e. breasts, butt and back). The slogans included:

‘OPPOSE the SLAUGHTER of ANY Innocent Humans!!!’
‘There is value in every life’
‘Love can be radical action’
‘It is WRONG to kill innocent people in any circumstance’

I had my buddy Andrea take pics with her camera phone, but the images haven’t reached my inbox yet. I’ll post them as soon as they come through. The images make the account more interesting, but it’s the action that matters.

It felt good to have my feelings out there for people to see, though I kept forgetting I was wearing them while we were out among people. They didn’t garner any negative responses. I would have liked someone to have asked me about them, though. Alas - perhaps I sparked some dialog in someone else’s world. Sometimes we don’t get to know if we’ve made a difference.

So, now, where’s your homework? What have you all been doing? I really want to hear some tales of vocal, visible dissent - share your stories!

Atena

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.