The BBC Goes Blatantly Sexist

Now, some of you may think that I am overly sensitive to gender discrimination considering that I am, heaven forbid, a gggiiirrrllll. Perhaps you would be right to make such an assumption. But I think not. I will tell you, though, that if a feminist group ever asked be to join? They would be met with decisive skepticism. But that is neither here nor there.

In reading this quarter's "BBC Focus on Africa," I see that the detail offered by a "Noname" writer on a particular seven members newly appointed to Tanzania's cabinet as overseen by president Jakaya Kikwete, is the biggest most blatant insult I've seen in western print....ever.

And I quote:
"Taking over the finance and foreign affairs portfolios respectively, they wield some heavy-duty lipgloss, and, by all accounts, they have the mouths to wear them. ( ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! ....Noname continues...) Renowned for their, eloquence, dedication and impeccable records in public service, their presence offers a long-overdue 'heads up' to their male counterparts." (Heads-up what? That woman do actually have the capacity to be as competent and capable as men even while having to endure antiquated insults that their male counterparts have never had to deal with?!?!)

Little rule of thumb, small-weenie-Noname (Readers, I ask your pardon for my crassness but not for the demasculinating insult...I mean, why is it, really, that you think men take more interest in the lips of women than in their legitimate accomplishments and qualifications as professionals?.....because they want to take them to lunch and refuse to let us pay, just so we understand their financial prowess?!?!?!?!?!?!?), if what you are going to say about anyone in any position of power obtained by any legal means (i.e. appointment or election) can construe that that person is either male or female after the removal of the subject reference, THEN CHANGE YOUR SENTENCE! Have you ever heard a reporter comment on the unusually supple lips or deep, dreamy blue eyes of a male official? Do you understand that in doing so you are invalidating any legitimate accomplishments you site following your d*ck-driven comment?!?!? Now, the collective name for the seven women appointees throughout east Africa is "Kikwete's babes" - nothing tiny-tot-Noname could do about that. But then mini-puder-Noname closes the article with the following:

"Former French Prime Minister, Alain Juppe (a derivative of the French word for skirt), famously gave a group of women (as if they were a band of insurgents making threats to get a post), known as his (he posesses them now!?!) jupettess or 'mini-skirts' , a leg up into his cabinet (oh, gee thanks for the helpin hand "mas'a" and that pun?! Did he really put mini-skirt and 'leg up' in the same sentence? How about 'grab and twist' in the same sentence as 'boxers or briefs' comfortable?). For better or worse, at least for the sake of equality (WHAT?!), perhaps, one day, it will be 'Ellen's eye-candy' hot on the heels of 'Kikwete's babes'."

No, no, no, no! What you don't understand puny-pee-pee-Noname is that we DON'T WANT TO come up with cutesy little insults for the males we work with. You think we want to turn the tables to the point that well quaified men are mocked on a level unrelated to thier competence?

SO - my point is, the magazine's email address is focus.magazine@bbc.co.uk the Editor-in-Chief is Joseph Warungu.

Absolutely unacceptable on any continent. And, let me remind you, THIS CAME FROM A BBC WRITER! Not some right-wing nut job in the US, not from a dinky reporting agency in Istambul, not a state run newspaper in the UAE, which, would all be more susceptible to preferential publishing. This is ONE OF THE LARGEST NEWS MILLS IN THE WORLD PROMOTING BLATANTLY BIASED COMMENTARY ON APPOINTED OFFICIALS IN A NON-EDITORIAL NEWS ARTICLE....only for the reason that they are female....uuhhmm...anyone want to refresh their memory as to the definition of sexism? Discrimination? FACTUAL REPORTING?..................................Buehler?...................Buehler?.....


PS - If you don't get the intended irony of the male sexist comments splashed throughout....please read a less brazen blog ;)

Immigration Policy

In recent months, the issue of illegal immigration has plagued the United States. Talks of deportation, border walls, military presence along the borders, revocation of driver's licenses, a guest worker program all this along with a you're-a-racist-for-thinking-that-a-sovereign-country-
has-the-right-to-protect-its-already-dilapidated-
infrastructures-from-being-further-taxed-
by-non-citizens-who-don't-pay-taxes-or-work-in-
a-capacity-that-would-bolster-the-limited-
social-structures-we-do-have-set-up-for-
the-benefit-of----US----CITIZENS attitude.

However, according to a judge in Zambia, we are already doing the right thing with our illegal immigrants! A UK businessman who overstayed his visa to Zambia, by an undisclosed amount of time, has been sentenced to gardening for 15 days......

...........................................is..........uh........is he making fun of us?

Biggest Tease

Three days ago, the headphones to my beautiful, black, 60gb, video iPod died. Too lazy to replace them as of yet, I have been deprived of their shelter since....and life has been oddly real. I understood how the presence of music on long walks up to campus, bus rides, work days, study outings and gym sessions could uplift your mood, increase your diligence and focus your game. However, I had not realized that this iPod was my crack.

As a hermit by nature, crowds annoy. I could spend a year in solitary with nothing but white walls and find entertainment...but the last three days, without the iPod, have reawaken senses I had forgotten were valid. I feel the cool keys as I type, I hear the weights clink back into place as I lower to a halt at the end of a squats set, I hear the murmur of people speaking around me, I feel my chest restricted as the smoke from the patio outside drifts in to find me, I hear a song playing over the cafe speakers; one of my favorite songs from high school that I haven't heard since...and it brings a sadness to me. I realize that enhancing my mood and heightening my heartrate by way of selfishly selected playlists brings with it a dichotomy that actually affects how I react to my environment. For one, there are songs that make me smile to myself when I wanted to cry but two minutes before. Yet it takes from me the reality in which I am actually knee deep...........this reality is not particularly enjoyable: it seems to drag on, moment by moment similar to the difference between driving a car down the street or walking there instead; only you don't get there any faster.

I wonder, if we are all such lonely creatures, constantly seeking out and needing contact with others - by touch, by warmth, by communal areas, by listening, by watching, by being watched, by asking, by hearing, by drunken hook-ups, by servicing institutions, by reading, by buying, by hoping, by smiling, laughing, needing, wanting, crying, shopping, squeezing, forgetting, crashing, leaving, clinging, being left, waiting, fighting - why do we cling to our iPods? To console the soul when the contact never comes? To remind ourselves that you can only take care of number one and hope for organic connections to plow into you hard enough to throw your earphones off? But, then....well, are we not enclosing ourselves in musical capsules at the bursting of which we react with fury against people we don't know but may have had a chance at connecting with?

Where did the "we" go?