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Tuesday, December 6th, 2005
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Sunday, October 30th, 2005
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I've decided to not explain what my self-summarization of "walking and feeling" means. You can interpret it for yourself... Much more interesting that way, right?
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, October 27th, 2005
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My sociology teacher asked the class to write two words that represent the concrete, not-just-some-phase, "you". My two words were:
Walking
Feeling
I'll explain more soon -- off to class I go.
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Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
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Dear Friends at CMRE Financial Services, Inc.—
I would like to make it known that I do not intend on paying the $195.00 that has recently been asked of me on the behalf of Northwest Acute Care. I believe that a sense of security in one's wellness is a basic human right, belonging to no individual, and should not be limited by expense. This basic need is no different than the need for water, food, or clothing.
With that said, I do recognize the generosity and skill of medical professionals, and extend to them my most sincere gratitude. It is in protest of the greed and corruption in the medical and pharmaceutical industries – as well as in the national government in regards to the poor administration of an already feeble health plan – that I withhold the money requested of me.
Thank you for your understanding.
Shawn Biggers
October 27, 2005
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This, just like the last post, is an assignment for my general sociology class. We were told to act like someone of the opposite sex for a short period of time, and to reflect on how you felt, how people reacted to you, and what you've learned from the experience. Tell me what you think of it!
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This assignment was nice. I'm one of those people who tend to question gender roles, and even the reality of male/female. It was with this mindset that I "acted like a woman" for a half-hour.
The first step in this process was defining "woman." I, as always, had trouble with this. Is a woman simply a person with a vagina? Or is "womanhood" more like a state of mind? What about an individual who is born with both "male" and "female" organs, but is raised as a girl – is that person only part of a woman?
To prevent my mind from exploding, I decided to simply act in the traditional role of the woman in our society: loving, nurturing, candid, emotional, and diplomatic. I was a cooking, cleaning, shopping, furry animal loving, child rearing (yet sexually desireless) machine.
I decided to deploy my experiment in femininity during a meeting with my attorney. (The reason for my meeting with an attorney is a long story, which I would be happy to tell at another time.) I had never before met my attorney. He is a black man around the age of 30, and is rather feminine himself. He didn't seem to think that my own womanly conduct was out of character.
My attempt to be a woman was mostly shown through how I talked. I spoke with passion – not holding back the emotional context of my thoughts, fears, and wishes. It seems to me that men are hesitant to show many emotions, seeing it as a vulnerability issue. I tried to ignore such hesitancies. In the same spirit, I also was open with compliments and gratitude. I thanked my attorney several times, and commented on his friendly, grounded nature.
I also used many gestures that are often looked at as feminine or gay, like that certain flick of the wrist, crossing of the legs, or tilting of the head. I already employ these gestures frequently, so this wasn't new to me. I've often noticed that women feel more comfortable with me, and men feel less comfortable, when I use these gestures. I imagine it's because I am perceived as gay, and thus women feel less sexual pressure, and men feel more.
My thoughts weren't any more feminine than usual. I noticed how the attorney's necktie matched his shoes, how he had a nice complexion, and how the furniture in the small meeting room was unexciting. Some would say that those are feminine thoughts – I would not, however.
Thus was my experiment in womanhood. Perhaps I should have tried to act like a man, instead...
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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| Subject: | swaraj |
| Time: | 10:37 am. |
| Music: | the clickity-clack of people typing in the computer lab. |
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This is from an assignment for SOC 204, in which we were asked to describe the single most important thing that we would want our children to learn. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to voice them.
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Something that I really value, and want to pass along to my children, is the Hindu idea of swaraj, or, simply translated, self independence. There's a lot of meaning behind that one word. Swaraj, as I understand it, means self-sustainability, self-reliance, self-motivation, and, as used by Gandhi during his campaign for Indian independence, self-rule.
This has a lot of meaning to me in everyday terms, and I'd like to convey that meaning on to my children. Swaraj means never sitting back and letting life be lived, or decisions made, for you. It means being involved with your life as much as possible. This can be applied to everything: community, politics, art, food, clothes, entertainment, education, raising children, understanding truth, etc.
I can think of some specific habits that I would like to foster in my children, and that I would encourage through my own example:
-Growing and preparing their own food.
-Being active in their community and politics.
-Making their own clothes.
-Making their own entertainment and art... Music, writing, film making, etc.
-Being active participants in their education by reading, writing, and studying outside of class.
-Being active participants in their spirituality and Truth.
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I'm co-organizing this... It's going to be a huge opportunity to promote youth voice in our local government! COME COME COME!
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Our Bill of Rights :: for Children + Youth
Creation Summit
Join us in authoring a bill of rights that will guide decision making process around youth issues!
Everyone's Invited!
Young people -- children and youth, in school or not
parents :: teachers :: school staff :: service providers
Matt Dishman Community Center
77 NE Knott, Portland Oregon
Tuesday :: May 17 :: 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Bring friends :: Bring ideas :: Bring passion
Snacks + Refreshments! Childcare and Bus Tickets Provided!
RSVP to office of Mayor Potter:
Call 503-823-4790 or icarpenter@ci.portland.or.us
Hosted by Mayor Tom Potter and County Chair Diane Linn
Sponsored by the Success Academy and the Multnomah Youth Commission
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