As initiator of this blog, and as a feminist, I must say this essay comes as a shock, although I was aware of its arrival on Boboquiche, and accepted to it. But reading it once more, and reading the previous post as a reflection on the use of freedom (individualy and collectively-sometimes opposed), I feel that there are some interesting problems linked to posting satirical essays on firy topics, such as women and warfare.
This essay is, first of all, a satire, and I believe the authors wrote it as a response to vocabulary often found in feminist essays which consist in using battle-related vocabulary to talk about the emancipation of women in a male dominated world. In this sense, it is a very smart response, one that takes into account the 'battle of the sexes' and that brings to an absurd logical conclusion the wish of women to rule over the world in a particular 'feminine' way.
But, in many respects it urks my sensibility (purposefully) as it bases its assumptions on the fact that war is a necessity, and that women have the desire to fully be a part of it. Both assumptions which I do not agree with.
Therefore, my warning to anyone who is going to read this post is simply to take it with a grain of salt, and take it for what it is: a satirical response to a certain branch of feminism, written by two smart, yet perhaps a little bit sex deprived male students...
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En tant qu'initiatrice de ce blog, et en tant que feministe, je dois dire que l'article qui vient d'être posté me choque, bien que j'étais consciente de son imminente arrivée sur le blog. Mais en le relisant, et en relisant l'article précedant sur l'utilisation de sa liberté de manière responsable, il me semble que certaines problématiques intéressantes apparaissent concernant l'écriture et la publication d'articles sur des thèmes aussi brûlants que la relation entre la guerre et les femmes.
Il faut clairement assurer, tout d'abord, que cet article est une satire.
Les auteurs ont écrit cet article satirique en réponse à certains essais féministes qui tendent à utiliser un vocabulaire guerrier pour parler de l'émancipation des femmes dans un monde dominé par les hommes. En ce sens, l'article est une réponse futée, qui prend l'expression 'guerre des sexes' au sens littéral et qui poursuit, dans une logique absurde, la métaphore guerrière de l'émancipation et de la libération des femmes.
Cependant, cet article, malgré son intelligence coquine, touche à ma sensibilité.
Il se base en effet sur des réalités que je dénie et que je rejette: que le monde doit inévitablement être en guerre, et que les femmes veulent en faire activement partie.
Donc, je veux juste clairement assurer que les personnes lisant cet article devraient le prendre au second degré, et le prendre pour ce que c'est: un article satirique en réponse à un certain courant féministe, écrit par deux étudiants intelligents, ayant peu-être besoin d'un petit peu plus de relations sexuelles dans leurs vies...
Note: Je ne suis pas sûre d'être en mesure, ou même d'avoir l'envie de traduire cet article, donc il se pourrait bien qu'il reste en langue originale.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Freedom: the other end of the deal
I would like to forwarn any reader of this article that it is by no means a study, or text of any authority, but simply a reflexion on a topic that I am adamant about. Some sections may involve a bit of sarcasm and subjectivity on my behalf but I do hope the essential content remains fairly objective.
Every time I hear on the radio or on TV, or read on the internet, the word "freedom", my ears and eyes stand alert, and I stop whatever I am doing; for each time, I feel something akin to shivers of anger crawling in my limbs as I listen to, or read the words of, the discourse promoting "my freedom to" and "we do it for freedom" et caetera et caetera.
It seems that the noble word has fallen into profound misuse, and as a justification of anything one may do, whether lawful, marginally so, or not at all. A quote that spreads like wildfire around internet profiles runs thus:
Translated, it gives
(The quote itself is attributed to Voltaire, but I find no sources on the internet citing the source of the quote itself...)
Granted, without freedom of speech, we would probably end up in a fairly ignorant state (or State for that matter, however you wish to read it) and not be as advanced as we pertain to be.
However, I single it out as a potentially damaging quote when not examined carefully enough - as is indeed often the case.
If by freedom of speech we mean the right to make reasonable statements, with as much due care as applicable to the situation (I would not expect a fully thought out phrase from an interviewee for example, but a speech or an article of authority should certainly not go unchecked), fair enough. But if by freedom of speech we mean the right to also indulge in stupidities passed on as truths, slander, lies and outright insult - to persons or a community, regardless - then I would want it not.
It seems however that, in many a mind, such is how the expression is understood.
A far less quoted text, possibly and sadly due to its verbosity, is that of Rousseau, in his essay on the Social Contract:
You won't find that in profile "favorite quotes"...
If I were to translate by snippets, I could (I think!) propose that it boils down to the following:
Or, in layman's terms, each individual could consider that between choosing to fulfill his own desires because he has the right to do so, or accomplishing his duties as a responsible citizen, and would choose the former option as it is easier and more pleasing (pardon the translations/interpretations, but French philosophers do not always write for the common man to understand at a glance).
In essence, the quote is pinpointing the two crucial aspects of being a citizen in a free country (a.k.a. "being free"): whilst we have our rights, which we may enjoy at full leisure, we also have our duties, which are not to be disregarded, and are in place not to hinder our pleasure for the sole sake of doing so, but to prevent us from hindering, through selfishness, each others pleasures. The text continues:
this being, to the best of my abilities:
introducing an old schoolkid's literery gem of an oxymoron... What it means is that if one cannot act responsibly, they will be contrived to do so willy-nilly.
It disheartens me somewhat, to hear contemporaries of mine to be spreading the words of one quote around the world whilst ignoring the other, but it especially pains me to see it come from the pens and mouths of supposedly educated persons.
For example, in the matter of the cartoons published in the Danish newspaper (and later in the French one), depicting the Prophet Muhammed with a bomb in his turban, it was not until we were fully into the second week of debate that I heard, for the first time, the word "reponsability". Everything else was revolving around (and I do imply going round in circles getting nowhere) the right of the papers on one hand to publish the cartoons, and the right of the Muslims on the other to be respected. All about the rights, the rights, the rights, but scant hint towards any idea of responsibility or consequence, as was demonstrated by the French editor's propmt dismissal from his paper - someone forgot to tip him off the fact that France was supposed to be trying to integrate its Muslim community, not alienate it.
This is not to say that censorship should have systematically been applied - it is a tool to be wielded with great care and not the main subject of this essay, however closely linked - but to illustrate the fact that even after the action was done, and on postulations either side of the debate, and considering further that the whole business undeniably provided a beatiful catalyst to the shattering of an already fragile relation with the Muslim world, the paper's representatives did not even offer a hint of a squeak of a "maybe it could be said that we did a boo boo", and instead stubbornly invoked the Holy Right to Insult in the name of Freedom of Speech. We then received reports of Muslims burning Danish flags. Nemo me impune lacessit and you reap what you sow, as the sayings go.
Examples of this shunning of Responsability in the name of Right are rife, and it would be long-winded and redundant to go into the subject here, but ultimately we are only as free as we are respectful of one another, lest we allow our personal interests and egocentricity undermine our relationships with the outer world, as individuals, communities, nations and so forth.
And so, as a parallel to the first quote of the present discourse, I will simply say: Respect may only be only be gained once given. I forget where it came from.
Every time I hear on the radio or on TV, or read on the internet, the word "freedom", my ears and eyes stand alert, and I stop whatever I am doing; for each time, I feel something akin to shivers of anger crawling in my limbs as I listen to, or read the words of, the discourse promoting "my freedom to" and "we do it for freedom" et caetera et caetera.
It seems that the noble word has fallen into profound misuse, and as a justification of anything one may do, whether lawful, marginally so, or not at all. A quote that spreads like wildfire around internet profiles runs thus:
"Je désapprouve ce que vous dites, mais je défendrai jusqu'à la mort votre droit de le dire."
Translated, it gives
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it."
(The quote itself is attributed to Voltaire, but I find no sources on the internet citing the source of the quote itself...)
Granted, without freedom of speech, we would probably end up in a fairly ignorant state (or State for that matter, however you wish to read it) and not be as advanced as we pertain to be.
However, I single it out as a potentially damaging quote when not examined carefully enough - as is indeed often the case.
If by freedom of speech we mean the right to make reasonable statements, with as much due care as applicable to the situation (I would not expect a fully thought out phrase from an interviewee for example, but a speech or an article of authority should certainly not go unchecked), fair enough. But if by freedom of speech we mean the right to also indulge in stupidities passed on as truths, slander, lies and outright insult - to persons or a community, regardless - then I would want it not.
It seems however that, in many a mind, such is how the expression is understood.
A far less quoted text, possibly and sadly due to its verbosity, is that of Rousseau, in his essay on the Social Contract:
En effet, chaque individu peut, comme homme, avoir une volonté particulière contraire ou dissemblable à la volonté générale qu'il a comme citoyen; son intérêt particulier peut lui parler tout autrement que l'intérêt commun; son existence absolue, et naturellement indépendante, peut lui faire envisager ce qu'il doit à la cause commune comme une contribution gratuite, dont la perte sera moins nuisible aux autres que le payement ne sera onéreux pour lui; et regardant la personne morale qui constitue l'État comme un être de raison, parce que ce n'est pas un homme, il jouirait des droits du citoyen sans vouloir remplir les devoirs du sujet; injustice dont le progrès causerait la ruine du corps politique.
You won't find that in profile "favorite quotes"...
If I were to translate by snippets, I could (I think!) propose that it boils down to the following:
Each individual [...] may have a particular wish, contrary or dissimilar to the general wish that he has as a citizen; [...] and seeing the moral person that is the State as a being of reason, because it is not a man, he would be granted the rights of the citizen, without wishing to fulfill his duties as a subject; [...]
Or, in layman's terms, each individual could consider that between choosing to fulfill his own desires because he has the right to do so, or accomplishing his duties as a responsible citizen, and would choose the former option as it is easier and more pleasing (pardon the translations/interpretations, but French philosophers do not always write for the common man to understand at a glance).
In essence, the quote is pinpointing the two crucial aspects of being a citizen in a free country (a.k.a. "being free"): whilst we have our rights, which we may enjoy at full leisure, we also have our duties, which are not to be disregarded, and are in place not to hinder our pleasure for the sole sake of doing so, but to prevent us from hindering, through selfishness, each others pleasures. The text continues:
[...] quiconque refusera d'obéir à la volonté générale, y sera contraint par tout le corps; ce qui ne signifie autre chose sinon qu'on le forcera à être libre [...]
this being, to the best of my abilities:
[...] whomever refuses to obey the general will shall be constrained to by the entire body [of society]; which means none else than that he will be forced to be free [...]
introducing an old schoolkid's literery gem of an oxymoron... What it means is that if one cannot act responsibly, they will be contrived to do so willy-nilly.
It disheartens me somewhat, to hear contemporaries of mine to be spreading the words of one quote around the world whilst ignoring the other, but it especially pains me to see it come from the pens and mouths of supposedly educated persons.
For example, in the matter of the cartoons published in the Danish newspaper (and later in the French one), depicting the Prophet Muhammed with a bomb in his turban, it was not until we were fully into the second week of debate that I heard, for the first time, the word "reponsability". Everything else was revolving around (and I do imply going round in circles getting nowhere) the right of the papers on one hand to publish the cartoons, and the right of the Muslims on the other to be respected. All about the rights, the rights, the rights, but scant hint towards any idea of responsibility or consequence, as was demonstrated by the French editor's propmt dismissal from his paper - someone forgot to tip him off the fact that France was supposed to be trying to integrate its Muslim community, not alienate it.
This is not to say that censorship should have systematically been applied - it is a tool to be wielded with great care and not the main subject of this essay, however closely linked - but to illustrate the fact that even after the action was done, and on postulations either side of the debate, and considering further that the whole business undeniably provided a beatiful catalyst to the shattering of an already fragile relation with the Muslim world, the paper's representatives did not even offer a hint of a squeak of a "maybe it could be said that we did a boo boo", and instead stubbornly invoked the Holy Right to Insult in the name of Freedom of Speech. We then received reports of Muslims burning Danish flags. Nemo me impune lacessit and you reap what you sow, as the sayings go.
Examples of this shunning of Responsability in the name of Right are rife, and it would be long-winded and redundant to go into the subject here, but ultimately we are only as free as we are respectful of one another, lest we allow our personal interests and egocentricity undermine our relationships with the outer world, as individuals, communities, nations and so forth.
And so, as a parallel to the first quote of the present discourse, I will simply say: Respect may only be only be gained once given. I forget where it came from.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Quelques petites indications... le but de ce blog est précisément qu"il est bilingue, donc l'idéal serait que tout le blog puisse être lu dans les deux langues. Bien sûr, si les écrivains se sentent plus comfortables dans une langue, ils écrivent dans leur langue originale, et si ils ne se sentent pas comfortable pour traduire, toute une équipe de traducteurs se fera un plaisir de traduire l'article;)
Voilà, j'éspère que je réponds à la demande!
---------------------------------------------------
A few indications... the point of this blog is precisely that it is bilingual, so the ideal would be that the whole blog can be read both in English and French. Of course, if the writers are more comfortable writing in one language, they write in the language that suits them. If they don't feel comfortable translating their thoughts, a whole group of people will be happily obliging in the act of translation.
I hope this answers your query!
Voilà, j'éspère que je réponds à la demande!
---------------------------------------------------
A few indications... the point of this blog is precisely that it is bilingual, so the ideal would be that the whole blog can be read both in English and French. Of course, if the writers are more comfortable writing in one language, they write in the language that suits them. If they don't feel comfortable translating their thoughts, a whole group of people will be happily obliging in the act of translation.
I hope this answers your query!
Language/Langage
I would like to know whether people are more inclined to seeing subsequent posts in French or in English, so as to guide mine own self through this maze and sink as many souls as I may with me.......!!!
So yeah: English or French?? [please use the comments to reply1!]
===
Je souhaiterais savoir si la populace populaire voudrait voir les messages en anglais ou en francais... Je suis sur un clavier anglais, les accents ne sont pas faciles a produire............ Qui les aime les suivent....!
So yeah: English or French?? [please use the comments to reply1!]
===
Je souhaiterais savoir si la populace populaire voudrait voir les messages en anglais ou en francais... Je suis sur un clavier anglais, les accents ne sont pas faciles a produire............ Qui les aime les suivent....!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Bonjour / Hello, introduction
Bonjour,
Le blog Bobo Quiche voit enfin le jour!
Ais-je des explications à donner à propos du titre 'Bobo Quiche'? Non, pas vraiment. A chacun de contribuer à la définition de ce titre. Quel est l'avenir de Bobo Quiche? C'est chaque contribution qui le dira. Peut-être que ce blog n'aura rien de Bourgeois Bohême, et qu'il ne parlera pas de quiches, même si l'expression (certes insultante) qui consiste à traiter quelqu'un de quiche est hilarante, je trouve. Enfin.
Tout ce que l'on peut dire de ce blog pour l'instant c'est qu'il crée un espace de discussion en anglais et en français, pour des gens qui ont envie de partager des idées sur lesquelles ils travaillent, qu'ils ont envie d'explorer, et qu'ils sont prêts à partager. Ce blog pourra être polémique, drôle, triste, avec des points de vue radicalement opposés... tout ce qui compte c'est que le blog soit vivant! Parce que les idées vivent, et tout le monde en a de bonnes de temps en temps, d'où des blogs comme celui-ci pour les receuillir.
Sur ce, longue vie au Bobo Quiche Blog!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hello!
This first post is to officially announce the birth of the Bobo Quiche blog!
Should I give explanations about the title 'Bobo Quiche'? Not really. Each one who will be contributing to the blog will contribute in defining its title. What is the future of Bobo Quiche? Each post will help figure it out. Maybe this blog will have nothing to do with Bourgeois Bohemians ( that is what the term 'Bobo' in French means, referring to a hipster branch of cocktail liberals), and maybe it won't talk about quiches, even though the french expression, although highly offensive of calling someone a quiche, is hilarious in my opinion. Anyway.
Right now, all we can say about this blog is that it is a space for discussion in English and in French, for people who want to share ideas that they are working on, that they want to explore, and that they are willing to share. This blog could become polemic, funny, sad, with radically differing points of view... all that really counts is that the blog stays alive! Because ideas live, and everyone has good ones every once in a while, and that's why blogs like this one exist.
So, no more to say except Long life to the Bobo Quiche Blog!
Le blog Bobo Quiche voit enfin le jour!
Ais-je des explications à donner à propos du titre 'Bobo Quiche'? Non, pas vraiment. A chacun de contribuer à la définition de ce titre. Quel est l'avenir de Bobo Quiche? C'est chaque contribution qui le dira. Peut-être que ce blog n'aura rien de Bourgeois Bohême, et qu'il ne parlera pas de quiches, même si l'expression (certes insultante) qui consiste à traiter quelqu'un de quiche est hilarante, je trouve. Enfin.
Tout ce que l'on peut dire de ce blog pour l'instant c'est qu'il crée un espace de discussion en anglais et en français, pour des gens qui ont envie de partager des idées sur lesquelles ils travaillent, qu'ils ont envie d'explorer, et qu'ils sont prêts à partager. Ce blog pourra être polémique, drôle, triste, avec des points de vue radicalement opposés... tout ce qui compte c'est que le blog soit vivant! Parce que les idées vivent, et tout le monde en a de bonnes de temps en temps, d'où des blogs comme celui-ci pour les receuillir.
Sur ce, longue vie au Bobo Quiche Blog!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hello!
This first post is to officially announce the birth of the Bobo Quiche blog!
Should I give explanations about the title 'Bobo Quiche'? Not really. Each one who will be contributing to the blog will contribute in defining its title. What is the future of Bobo Quiche? Each post will help figure it out. Maybe this blog will have nothing to do with Bourgeois Bohemians ( that is what the term 'Bobo' in French means, referring to a hipster branch of cocktail liberals), and maybe it won't talk about quiches, even though the french expression, although highly offensive of calling someone a quiche, is hilarious in my opinion. Anyway.
Right now, all we can say about this blog is that it is a space for discussion in English and in French, for people who want to share ideas that they are working on, that they want to explore, and that they are willing to share. This blog could become polemic, funny, sad, with radically differing points of view... all that really counts is that the blog stays alive! Because ideas live, and everyone has good ones every once in a while, and that's why blogs like this one exist.
So, no more to say except Long life to the Bobo Quiche Blog!
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