Violence, Fetuses, and the Media

So the other day, I saw something pretty interesting on my way to class. I had just gotten out of a test, so I was a little early getting to German. And as I was about to walk into Faner, I saw a large display and people holding signs. Some of the signs were caution signs warning of potentially offensive or disturbing images ahead. Having some extra time and wanting to know what it was, I approached.

What it was was a huge billboard (on ground-level) showing pictures of aborted fetuses. These pictures were pretty grotesque, but I didnt get all grossed out like I do when I see gross stuff on TV. For some reason, real pictures bother me a little less. 0.o
Anyway, the aborted fetus pictures were surrounded by pictures of the holocaust and pictures of black people hanging from trees in the time of slavery in the U.S. There was also a picture of a kid with a bruise and it said "You wouldn't abuse a child after they're born" or something like that.

I'm not sure if this suprises you, but my first reaction was to analyse this display from the view of a media major. Apparently the display was a traveling one and had been there since the day before. So of course when I opened my Daily Egyptian some five minutes later, the Letters to the Editor page was filled with nothing about complaints about the abortion display. And my reaction didnt change after this either. It just expanded.

From my point of view, those who put up the display got exactly what they wanted: attention. The people who make the most noise are the ones who are heard. By putting up this potentially offensive display, they're getting people to talk about abortion rights. I personally think that for them, this was a very good tactic...although I understand why the people who had class in the building right next to it were upset. They couldnt STOP looking at it. I myself wasnt all that disturbed. I was actually impressed that the group (a group trying to become an RSO - Registered Student Organization) was even allowed to put up the display. I was impressed by their choice of media to get their point across.

What I did have a problem with was the people who wrote into the DE about it. One girl had a very poorly-written letter that was hard to read and full of sarcasm. Another criticized the display as being religious. I dont recall the display as being religiously-run at all. I think it was just run by people who thought babies should live. However, one point someone made was that by SIUC administrators allowing this display, they were showing some sort of "double standard." It's really more like they were being stereotypical Americans and showing favoritism.
You see, before school started, a student had publically shown a display about "Dangerous women" or something like that. It was a photography exhibit and a copy of it had been outside of the campus Museum. It featured a series of women of all different shapes and sizes and widths and colors and races, etc. One had a crown on, another had a bunch of piercings, some of them were in scandalous clothing, scandalous positions, or just looked odd. There were preppies and rockers, and queens, and female rappers, etc again. Anyway, the problem people had with this exhibit was that one of the girls was mooning the camera. Once students started coming back to school, parents saw the picture and complained. The thing is, this girl's butt wasnt even prominent in the picture. It was off to the right of the middle. Eventually what happened was that the artist was forced to censor the picture. The copy on the Museum was censored with black. The copy I saw in the Comm building was pixelated.

The point is, a large and disturbing abortion display was allowed on campus, while a picture featuring a nude butt had to be censored. Maybe this was because the abortion display was only on campus for two days, whereas the "women" picture was on display for at least a month. Either way, neither of the displays really bothered me much. So how is this all a stereotypical American thing to do? Well, Americans seem much more sensitive to sexual content than to gory content. In Europe, this is the other way around. Sex is more likely to be seen on TV than violence in that part of the world. (I like this take because at least in the animal world, sex is more natural and more common than violence.) So this may be another reason administration was ok with this display. Subconsious patriotism. Yuck.

Like I said, my first reaction wasn't about the morals of abortion. It was about advertising and media. It wasnt until about an hour later that I even thought about what I think about abortion. But just for the record, here's what I think: My stances on most issues are pretty liberal. However, when it comes to abortion, this is the one more conservative opinion that I have. However, my reasoning is liberal...
I disagree with abortion. However, I dont think that it should be illeagal. I just think people shouldnt do it. (Abortions are bad, mm'kay?) I think that if someone's going to screw up and get pregnant (and it's their fault), then they should at least take more responsibility and at least have the kid and put it up for adoption. Just because you're at a point where you dont want kids isnt really a good enough reason for abortion. And nothing bothers me like those people who use abortion like birth control and just keep having them to try to justify their being a slut-bucket.
Now, in the case of rape, I can more likely understand an abortion. However, I would still urge these people to go for the adoption route.
I dont think it should be completely illeagal, though. What about those woment who just wouldnt be able to survive pregnancy? You know there's got to be some tiny little person out there or some girl with medical problems who wouldnt be able to have a kid without killing herself first. In these cases, maybe the abortion thing isnt so terrible. If it's not your fault, then it's not so bad. Also, it shouldnt be illeagal because I dont think the government should have a say in what people do to their bodies. I know I wouldnt want my uterus controlled by the government. That's just a little too disturbing. >.<

Ok. Enough of this. I've made this blog super-long enough. I hope I've at least left you with some insight and some stuff to think about.

Feet, Cheerleaders, and Yogurt Deprivation.

So apparently I have athlete's foot...which really sucks. A few weeks ago I noticed that my left pinky toe was all swollen and itchy. So I go into the student center to see the nurse and I show her and she's like, "well, I don't think it's athlete's foot." She gave me some sort a cream to stop the itching. She called a couple days later to ask if it was better and (not lying) I told her it was. So I didn't schedule an appointment at the health center.

And now for a tangent...
So sunday the Marching Salukis do pregame and halftime at the Rams Game. I had to get up at about 4:30 so we could load the busses and leave at about 6am. I slept most of the way there and most of the way back, but I was still exausted for the rest of the day. Anyway, when we get there we had a morning practice, they fed us, and then we did pregame.
Well, after pregame the band had the best seats in the Dome. We were on the field...right in front of the cheerleaders. And I know I was at a game last year, but holy crap their outfits are so slutty. It's like...long-sleved half tops and itty bitty mini skirts. At least this year the cheerleaders weren't completely old and ugly like they were last year. Then Jeremy, Keith, Walter, Sean, and I decided to play "Fake or Real." However, we were dissapointed to conclude that most of the cheerleaders had real-looking boobs. But this isnt why I'm talking about them. What I cant comprehend is why someone would want to dress like that, look like that, and dance like a 90's boy band just to support "professional football" - a business that doesnt even serve a useful purpose when it comes to the world's neccessities. How is it that people will do all sorts of good volunteer work in other countries, or will spend their own money for a good cause, while someone is getting paid ridiculous amounts of money to play a game that wont do anyone else any good? And why do these people have other people who get paid to dress like skanks and "support" the people making money that (I think) they dont really deserve? Professional sports and professional cheerleading are real scams.

So anyway, I get back from this Ram's game...Oh wait! This game got a mention in Sports on River Region (an SIUC-run news program), and you know who DIDNT get mentioned? The band. The school's news broadcast broadcasted the outcome of the NFL game, yet failed to mention that their own marching band played at the game. Once again, the Arts have lost out to useless professional sports.

Ok, so I get back from the game, and I'm extremely burned out even though I slept on the bus on the way back. And when I go to take a shower I notice that my whole foot is swollen. It had kindof been bothering me on the trip, but I'd been ignoring it. But now it's swollen and I'm thinking, "Hm...that doesnt look good." But I'm really not that overly concerned because it doesnt hurt or anything. It's just itchy. So I go over to Keith's later and I show him and he gets all worried (which was actually kindof cute) and tries calling his sister because she's a nurse. But she was already in bed, so he couldnt get ahold of her. So he insists that I have it looked at again, even though I was already planning on it.

So monday morning I go see the nurse again. This time she demands I miss half my Anthropology class to go to the health center and see a doctor about this. Otherwise, I wont be able to see someone about it until Friday. So that's exactly what I did, even though Anth is my favorite class this semester and I was really mad about missing this one because the lecture that day was "Language and Communication." It's kindof relevant to my major AND my minor. So I go to the health center, fill out some paperwork, talk to a nurse about general information not relevant to my foot, and she asks me about my family's medical history and I'm like, "crap, I dont know. My mom knows all this stuff." So she tells me to sit on the squishy table thing and wait for the doctor. Finally the guy comes in and says, "they put you up there like you're a specimen and not a person." I appreciated this comment until I noticed that he only looked at my face twice the whole time he was in the room. He looked at my foot a couple times, said I had athlete's foot and then stared at his computer screen while telling me in doctor-language what I was going to have to take for it. Then he told me to go down the hall to the pharmacy, said bye, and left. Most awkward and discomforting doctor experience ever. >.<

So now I'm on meds. I hate meds with a passion. I hate having to remember to take pills, I hate swallowing them, I hate the thought that something that isnt food is going into my digestive system. And what's weirder is that the stuff I'm taking is also used as acne medicine. (Apparently Keith took it for acne at one point.) And not only this, but I have to take it twice a day with food...and no calcium. I really only eat twice a day...and I have yogurt at LEAST one of those times. It's the only calcium I really get if I dont have soymilk either. It's how I make up for not drinking milk. (Milk makes me really nautious. But 75% of the world is lactose intolerant. In fact, people arent really even supposed to be lactose tolerant in the first place, so I dont really see me not liking milk as being a problem.) So now I'm mad because I have to stop eating yogurt for the next 10 days or so.
However, I was bad today. I only had peach slices before drugging myself today and I havent felt good since. And then I had yogurt at dinner anyway. Keith yelled at me because I said I wasnt going to take the drugs until later and he said I'd forget. But I'm still pretty mad about it so I dont think I'm going to forget.

Not only did they give me pills, they also have me lotions and anti-itch liquids that I have to use two or three times a day for the next few weeks. Not fun.

Point is, I'm really pissed. I hate feet. I hate looking at MY feet. Feet (even mine) are majorly gross. And now I have to look at them more than I could possibly want to. Verdammt. >.<

How Bad of Me...I'm procrastinating.

So instead of doing my German Homework and my RT paper, I make a blog. How characteristic of me. Of course, I have the rest of the night to work on this stuff...but that's just it. I dont want to use the rest of the night. It's bad enough I didnt go to bed until 1:30 and couldnt sleep until after 2am, when my roommate came back and called me because she left her keys in the room like a moron and needed me to open the door. AND THEN I woke up at around 6:30 because my foot was extremely itchy...and then I had to get up at 7:40 anyway because I had to go film five old people talking about the Illinois Constitution. Fun stuffs. >.<
In other words, I dont sleep.
Maybe I should get back to work...