Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Argentina’s El Tetazo: Boobs on parade

The women went topless, but the betas wore bras:

“Who decides what is allowed?”

At times like this, one is tempted to despair.

Last month three women got busted for going topless at a public beach some three hundred miles south of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Not exactly what  I would consider earth-shattering news.

In the South American summer (where a lot of places do not have air-conditioning), as in summers all other the world, people go to the beach. Most of them keep their clothes on.

The three women didn’t, one thing led to another, and before you know it, twenty cops turned up. It must have been a slow day at the precinct.

Following their release, the three women decided to make a big fuss, so Argentinian women decided to demonstrate topless, of course, and yesterday the country witnessed El Tetazo [link NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK].

Pernicious exhibitionism, enabling voyeurism, for women’s rights? I’m with Diana Baccaro,

Pero si todavía las mujeres tenemos que recurrir al desnudo como herramienta política para protestar quiere decir que no hemos avanzado nada.

[If women still must resort to nudity as a tool for political protest, it means we have not progressed at all.]

What is it with these so-called feminists who think that reducing themselves to their private parts is a call for gender equality?

SINCE WHEN ARE BODY PARTS AN ARGUMENT?

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And now, the healthy divas

Or, more to the point, healthy narcissists, if you can find them,

Why Divas Need Make No Apology
Demanding People Get a Bad Rap, But Behind the Tantrums and the Drama Lie Lessons in Success

“Having a healthy diva around brings a lot of sparkle,” says Meredith Fuller, an Australia-based psychologist. “They make your world more interesting and pleasurable because you can bask in their spotlight with them.”

Fuller has written a book, Working with Bitches: Identify the Eight Types of Office Mean Girls and Rise Above Workplace Nastiness, and is blogging about the Screamer type, which must be in a circle of hell Dante didn’t get to – Virgil probably thought better to avoid it. Indeed,

It is a waste of time to have women caught up in bitching. She wonders why organisations would allow this behaviour.

But back to the healthy divas, Fuller says,

What separates a healthy diva from an unhealthy diva is this: Healthy divas stand up for others, not just themselves, says Ms. Fuller, author of a recent book about overcoming “mean girls” and nastiness at the office. “They are confident of their abilities and contributions, and they love recognition—but they are happy to give credit to others, too.”

All divas are talented and feel a sense of entitlement.

The issue here is, have you ever met a self-proclaimed “diva” who wasn’t a conceited schmuck, not matter how talented?

The article even has a quiz,

Diva Behavior

Divas are, by definition, high-maintenance star performers. But some are healthier than others, because they are self-aware and willing to share the spotlight. Psychologist Meredith Fuller provided some scenarios to test your ability to tell the difference. Identify which of the two behaviors in each question is healthier. Answers at bottom.

1. Sticking to Their Guns

a. The diva makes various demands about food or working conditions – only to make more demands after the initial demands are met.

b. The diva has specific, but reasonable, demands about working conditions and rarely waivers from them.

2. Accepting Accolades

a. The diva relishes recognition, awards and promotions and if allowed will speak eloquently about how to achieve a dream.

b. The diva relishes recognition, will speak eloquently—and shares credit and acknowledges others’ contributions.

3. Surrounded by Strangers

a. The diva doesn’t really care who is present and will be as demanding with one close colleague as with a room full of people.

b. The diva is most likely to be demanding and inflexible when there are people around, especially those who aren’t friends or colleagues.

4. Trials and Tribulations

a. The diva loves to talk about him- or herself, especially by talking about accomplishments and the difficulties he or she has overcome.

b. The diva loves to talk about him- or herself, especially by telling stories that are engaging but sometimes cast him- or herself in a self-deprecating light.

5. Diva Mode

a. The diva often shifts into diva mode, in which he or she clearly states her requirements, often in an uncomfortably direct manner.

b. The diva often shifts into diva mode, in which he or she expresses displeasure and rants, while co-workers hover and try to figure out what to do.

6. Creative Vision

a. The diva insists on pursuing his or her own creative ideas and vision, but sometimes the ideas fizzle out and then the diva drops them.

b. The diva insists on pursuing his or her own creative ideas and vision and in the vast majority of instances brings the vision to fruition.

Check out the answers. Commenter Kerry Fitzpatrick cuts to the chase, though,

No thanks, Elizabeth. I would never hire or date a “diva”. A professional woman willing to take responsibility and offer her ideas and suggestions? I hired them decades ago. An Intelligent, polite but firm, independent woman who expects to be treated as an equal ? That’s the woman in my personal life now.

Be a star performer, and cut out the tantrums and the high maintenance crap. Be polite. Be professional. Treat people with consideration and respect.

You’re an adult, not a petulant child, fer cryin’ out loud.

And, as for the diva in the video, don’t travel to Cuba.

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Why is this woman so angry?

It’s been an unexpectedly busy morning, and I was browsing through my feed reader, when I came across this, via Michelle Obama’s Mirror,

This is a portrait of an enraged woman. Enraged to the point where she exhibits this anger in public functions.

Is she angry for the same reasons as Dan? The Anchoress explains,

People are feeling not just “fooled” but betrayed and disrespected by their elected leaders, who are supposed to be their servants. No one likes feeling that way. Many Conservatives and Independents sense that their hirees are out of control and dictating to them from on high; to them, America feels like a college campus occupied by a bunch of spoiled adolescents who are alternately calling their tuition-paying parents “stupid and bourgeois” or “stupid and oppressed,” depending on the day. They are bristling at the disdain and condescension they sense from their government. In his speech today, Obama seemed one rhetorical flourish away from saying, “don’t you know who I am?” And the sense I am getting is that Americans are ready to say, in return, “don’t you know who we are, who hired you?”

Certainly Michelle Obama’s anger is not due to that.

But, who knows?

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What did we talk about during dinner?

A couple of people saw this picture yesterday,

and asked, “What did you all talk about during dinner?”

Joy fills you in on the coversation,

We had a great discussion about New Media, the winds of political change, and (over the second bottle of wine) the sartorial disaster that is the First Lady of the United States. (Here, I pointed out that I held off for months after last year’s inaugeration on that one, not wanting to diss the wife of our Commander-in-Chief. But the ghastly choices she makes eventually burst the dam of my reluctance, and last night I was the cattiest one by far.)

Speaking of the CIC, during a discussion of daily prayer it was pointed out that he should be on our prayer lists, for several reasons—but two in particular. (That is, because he is our Chief Executive, and because we don’t care much for the way he’s handling the job. A political adversary counts as an “enemy” for the purposes of prayer. So you know what to do.)

She also makes a connection between Vanderleun and free-market capitalism, which you must go read.

(From left to right in the photo, Juliette, Joy, Fausta, Ginny, Kate.)

Unrelated to the subject, Gerard has honed his “Standard Apology for 21st Century Schmucks” for Tiger Woods. (Did we talk about Tiger Woods during dinner? For all I know we did, but after my third or fourth glass of wine…)

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“Hate speech” accusations vs women’s rights

In a lengthy post, Gates of Vienna posts recommendations on women’s rights and Sharia law:

  • Participating States must point out to all religious groups that men and women enjoy quality before the law. In addition, participating states should punish violations according to the law.
  • Participating states should particularly focus on the following:

1. Inheritance laws must be enforced equally for men and women.
2. Testimony from a woman must be considered equal to that of a man.
3. Corporal punishments inflicted from men on women must be strictly prohibited and, if prohibited by law, the law must be enforced and perpetrator be brought to justice.

  • The practice of polygamy must be punished under the law.
  • In order to make gender equality a reality, it is necessary that participating states establish the basic conditions for a minimum of economic security.

Why should these recommendations generate such controversy?

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff of Pax Europa was accused of hate speech for having made this statement:

We have to decide if we’re going to perish under a self-inflicted anvil of political correctness, or whether we believe in equal rights for all.

It’s not hate speech, it’s human rights.

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Obama’s boost to the abortion industry

One of those Friday afternoon stories that mostly go ignored in the news cycle:

Forty million abortions in the USA since Roe v. Wade aren’t enough, now we’re going back to paying for abortions abroad – while we’re in the middle of a huge financial downturn, at that:
Officials: Obama to reverse abortion policy

The policy bans U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of U.S. Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion. It is also known as the “global gag rule,” because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that lobby to legalize abortion or promote it as a family planning method.

Pro-abortion groups prefer to ignore the fact that in those countries most of the aborted babies will be girls.

God forgive us.

The Corner:

How soon until Obama’s pro-life apologists try to argue that repeal of the so-called Mexico City policy is really a pro-life step?

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Boundary issues

A friend emailed this article, asking what I thought, since I once was in a similar situation:

Boundary Issues
My therapist, her housekeeper, Immigration and me

To make a long story short, Michele Serros goes to a therapist. The therapist works from home, her background is entirely disconnected from Serros’s:

But from appearances alone, my new therapist didn’t seem to be in desperate need of my postdated checks. Displayed on the walls of her garden-level home office were her and her husband’s multiple Ivy League degrees; original, signed lithographs; and family photos documenting graduations and European vacations: three generations portrayed in celebration and cable-knit sweaters. My therapist wore silk blouses, stylish gauchos and knee-high boots to our sessions; a sizable diamond ring weighed down her left hand.

I, meanwhile, arrived in baggy sweats and hastily chosen T-shirts, there to talk about a life that couldn’t have seemed more of a contrast: my grudge-holding, working-class Mexican American family (who can’t share a holiday meal, let alone an entire trip); the nine years it took me to graduate from college; the ring finger recently bared by divorce. During our first few sessions, as I struggled with particular pieces of dysfunction, I worried about whether this woman, my therapist, could possibly understand where I was coming from and whether she’d judge my entire ethnic group by the stories I was sharing with her.

In my situation the therapist and I had much more in common when it came to social/educational/financial backgrounds, but I digress.

After eight months of therapy, the therapist hasn’t paid much attention to Serras’s background and naturally assumes that Serras, a fourth-generation American of Mexican background, is the person to ask when the therapist’s housekeeper – an illegal alien – got picked up by Immigration. The therapist had no clue as to whether her housekeeper even had papers.

Serras asks,

This from a professional who earns a living through diligent observation and inquiry. Was she that naive? Was she faking it? How could someone with so many fancy degrees not know how to find the appropriate help? And how could she know I wasn’t pro-wall, as I’ve been surprised to find many Latinos are, discreetly?

This are all very good questions, but the one question Serras should have confronted her with is,

What on earth makes you think I would know?

Then, to add financial injury to insult, the therapist spent Serras’s session on immigration issues.

Serras dropped that therapist, and none too soon.

Later, another friend would joke about the situation, suggesting that I should have billed for my time. But I had a few other concerns: Why the sadness? Why the anger? What am I feeling now?

I’m still sorting out the issue with my new therapist.

I’m sure Serras is a very nice girl who wants to oblige, particularly when going trough a difficult time in her life. I used to be like that.

Then one day I woke up when a comparable situation arose, and decided that wisdom, judgment, discernment, compassion and integrity – and even a modicum of professionalism – don’t come with a psychology degree, so I told the therapist off and walked away halfway through a session.

That was very therapeutic indeed, Michele.

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