Art Imitates Life

Noor Abed's public art installation, Rotten, in the making at Ramallah's Manarah Square. Courtesy Noor Abed

From Ramallah in Occupied Palestine comes the interesting story of 21-year-old artist Noor Abed, who got tired of comments and catcalls from men on the street and decided to see if she could do a little consciousness-raising with art. FTA in the UAE paper, The National:

Ms Abed decided to place a mannequin in a long white dress in Manara Square in central Ramallah. Then, with two male colleagues, she urged passersby to write comments on the dress. She asked them to write what they might have thought had they seen a woman walking down the street in similar attire.

The comments veered between corny and outright filthy. But almost all had as a common thread: sex, or the desire for it.

Sex is universal. The desire for it is universal. But the expression of that desire varies from culture to culture, and has historically been oppressive to women and those whose sexuality differs from the norm.

Sex advice columnist Dan Savage, an icon of our queer community, talks to the parent of a gay adolescent and advises him to treat his gay son like a daughter:

You should also regard your son, at least through his adolescence, as more of a daughter to you than a son. We tend to be more protective of our daughters — our straight daughters —than we are of our sons. Why? A sexist desire to keep our daughters “pure”? That’s a part of it, sure, but there’s also this: Men are pigs, and people on the receiving end of male sexual desire and attention are in more danger than people on the receiving end of female sexual desire and attention. (In general — individual results may vary.) Testosterone is the crystal meth of hormones, a badass drug, and men are more likely to be abusive and violent. The prevalence of HIV among gay men makes the stakes higher for your son. So don’t allow him to date anyone you don’t get to meet and approve of, and don’t confuse “being supportive” with “letting him do whatever/whomever he wants.” Be active, be engaged, and never stop being his meddling, interfering, hypersuspicious dad.

Kudos to Danny for voicing those sentiments, and kudos to Ms. Abed also for her courageous art!

James Brown and Pete Seeger

Today are the birthdays of James Brown and Pete Seeger. Now, what in the hell do they have in common? Besides music? I guess wanting to change the world. You can say that about the Godfather of Soul ... the King of Funk ... the ex-Hardest Working Man in Show Business. He got side-tracked more than Pete Seeger ... but he was wanting to change the world for sure: "Say it Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud."


So, I"ve got two songs here by both men. "Doin' it to Death" has been one of my favorites my whole life. I was in a music appreciation club with co-workers for many years and we once made up a Top Ten list of songs -- "Doin' it to Death" was one of my top tens. The rhythm and beat and melody is so fantastic!!! It is so very impossible to stay seated during this song.

James Brown, may he rest in peace ...


Doin’ it to death - James Brown

Hit it! How you feelin' brother? (Feelin' good!)
You're feelin' good
You play so much bone, brother
How you feelin', man? (I feel alright!)
I won't call your name
I don't want no people to know you're in here
How you feelin', fellas? (Alright!)
Now jam! Sure gettin' down
We're gonna have a funk good time...
We gotta take you higher
Huh! Alright!
We gotta take you higher, huh!
Brothers! Now I want everybody to blow
About two choruses
And then I'm gonna wave you in
I wanna get the fella
With the little horn over there
Fred's gonna take us higher, take us higher
Fred, Fred, Fred!
You know what, when I hear a groove
Like this groove, oh!
I say, I got to get higher
Yeah baby, yeah, yeah
Look a'here
When someone's got a groove like this
You know, you know, no!
I need to grit, gotta grit
Gonna eat, gotta eat
Need to grit, gotta grit, no breath
You know, brothers
I'm gettin' ready to wave y'all in
You know what
I feel so down, I need to get down
In order for me to get down
I got to get in D.
In order for me to get down, I got to get in D.
Need to get in D., dog for D.
Down D., funky D., shakin' D.,down D.
Oh! Huh! Ha ha!
Get on down!
Look a'here, look at that
What we gotta do
Gotta have a funk good time...
Oh, yeah
I didn't know you were singin', Fred
Don't moan so much
Buddy, don't moan so much
We gotta take you higher
Wait a minute!
Know who you say that was over there
(Man, you're lookin' better)
(I know I've seen him somewhere)
Is that Maceo?

*****

In my teenage years, I madly loved this song -- "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" -- and couldn't understand how our leaders, if they listened carefully to this song, could lead us into war. Hitler is a challenge to many many pacifists and he and other evil bullies of that ilk are why I cannot truly call myself a pacifist. I would have joined the services in WWII. If someone seriously attacks one of my friends or families, I would fight to kill. But there's a H-U-G-E difference between that and going to war for all the greedy reasons the U.S. and other countries have gone to war.

Pete Seeger was a pacifist before WWII and it sounds like he debated a lot with his friends about what to do about Hitler. He joined the Navy in 1941. He was trained as an airplane mechanic but was reassigned to entertain troops.

The song is a bit heterosexist but I can overlook it. Years of 12 step programs: "Take what you like and leave the rest."


Pete Seeger is turning 89 today.



Where Have All the Flowers Gone - Pete Seeger

Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone,
Young girls picked them every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the young girls gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young girls gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young girls gone,
gone to young men every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the young men gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young men gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young men gone,
gone to soldiers every one,
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the soldiers gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the graveyards gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Gone to flowers every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn


To the young men and women all over the world who find themselves fighting in a war: we bless you, want you to return to us, and pray for you. I just wish you weren't there.