Walt Whitman - how to talk about the body the right way

Watched a good documentary about one of my fave poets, Walt Whitman. Here's what one of the scholars on the show said about his poetry, in relation to slavery:

“Whitman equates the human body and democracy in some radical and essential way. That the human body is what we all share. We all experience this world through the body and if we can all begin to agree that the body itself is a sacred thing, then we have the beginnings of democracy.” From American Experience: Walt Whitman

I like it.

You can also view the whole thing online.

*

ONE'S-SELF I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.

Of physiology from top to toe I sing,
Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say
the Form complete is worthier far,
The Female equally with the Male I sing.

Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power,
Cheerful, for freest action form'd under the laws divine,
The Modern Man I sing.

Pig Nosed

I watched the movie Penelope on the airplane ride back from vacation. It's structured as a modern fairy tale, featuring a girl who is pig nosed because of a family curse, and the curse will only be lifted when she is loved by "one of her kind" (meaning someone with blue blood status.)

Really well executed, and Penelope is completely adorable.

The Thoreau GPS

I've got Dr Roizen (the partner to Oprah's Dr Oz) on the tube, talking about dieting, while I internettagize. It's called "You on a Diet" but Roizen & Oz promote pretty *innocent* stuff... good eating stuff.

Anyway, he just said something cute. He said, if you eat too much crappy stuff, don't give up: Just do what your car GPS does when you make a wrong turn. It says in a calm, non-judgmental voice: "At the next authorized point, make a U-turn."

I like the idea of having a computer voice as one's inner voice. Instead of a nasty, name-calling inner voice, have something more like Hal. "You don't want to do that, Mabel."

Which ties in nicely to the Thoreau I've been reading:

"Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate. Self-emanicpation even in the West Indian provinces of the fancy and imagination--what Wilberforce is there to bring that about?"

Ann Wilson - where is your body??

Once upon a time Ann Wilson, lead singer and powerhouse of Heart, had a body. I became a Heart fan in the 80s when they released "What About Love." I wanted to BE Ann Wilson. I wanted to own her wardrobe. Back then I could see her wardrobe, because she still had a body. But as subsequent videos and albums were released, Nancy Wilson--and her bustier--remained in sight, but Ann's body... disappeared. And has not been seen since. Even in recent photos, even post gastric surgery, even with her first solo album coming out... she's just a disembodied head. So sad, so sad. How does she feed herself?

School debt, car debt, home debt... plastic surgery?

"The medical industry has responded by marketing plastic surgery as if it were an appliance or other big-ticket consumer product: a commodity to be financed with credit cards and loans.

About a third of people considering plastic surgery reported average household incomes below $30,000, according to a survey conducted in 2004 for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The poll of 644 people found that 13 percent of those seeking information on plastic surgery procedures reported an annual household income of more than $90,000.

...Michelle Lee, 28 ...used a finance company to pay for $6,000 in liposuction after her regular workouts failed to perfect her arms, stomach and inner thighs, she said. 'Those were problem areas for me and I needed results now,' she said. 'It is all about instant gratification for me.'"

From the New York Times

Too fat for opera?? Oh. Ease.

The soprano opera singer who was fired from Covent Garden because she was too fat, has been rehired. After having had gastric by-pass surgery. yay.

Story at NYT.

Princess Leia - hero of the day

Been watching the Star Wars movies again this week (original 3.) Lucas isn't exactly a poster boy for feminism, but he did a good job with Princess Leia. Most chick heroes have to be clad in skintight or skimpy clothes in order to bring in the male traffic / make them seem less tough or masculine. But Leia wore dignified robes or practical fighting outfits; and though Lucas eventually gave in and gave us one of the most enduring sci fi pinup images, at least she got to kill Jabba with the chain of her captivity. A great hero to grow up with.