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If all goes “well”, Cambodia is hosting 2009’s Miss Landmines competition here. Sounds like something out of THE ONION doesn’t it? Check it out: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/22/cambodia.internationalaidanddevelopment Okay, a little background why the competition is even a possibility here. As you might have heard, landmines are an extraordinary problem in many places in the world. When countries go to war with each other, one of the most simple and effective destructive devices are landmines. If you plant them in roads or places where military vehicles or troops might advance, it definitely will slow your adversary down. But when the conflict is over and the opposing army goes home, the landmines stay behind. In Cambodia, the human wreckage from landmines is everywhere...you see them begging on the streets and, in this culture, there is a lot of superstition. People who are disabled are thought by many to be “cursed”. Remember, there is that belief of karma and the nascent Hinduism circulates in everything. Did this person DO something to deserve this fate? Don't bring this person around me! I don't want his or her bad luck! In Cambodia there should be no shortage of contenders for the 2009 title. There are 25,000 amputees among the country's 63,000 victims of landmines and blasts from unexploded ordinance left after 30 years of civil war.    There are many who are opposed to this competition because they argue that it actually makes fun of these victims and is incredibly bad taste. Some reason that these women have suffered enough...why deliberately go out of the way to make them hurt further? How could people be so cruel? Others despise the objectification of women no matter what guise it comes in. It is a classic case of how one “sees” things. I never could understand beauty contests and "saw" pagents as the very definition of bad taste. And so ridiculously cornball on top of that. Perky tits? Check. Shapely ass? Check. Can sing a medley from “Phantom of the Opera” while waterskiing? Fantastic! Hand that chick a tiara and a ribbon and send her to speak at the UN about, um, landmines. Why your ASA teachers stress so much that you need to “crack open the world” and inspect it is because everything in your head or what you have been taught is constructed. It is the crucial understanding to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Once you realize this, the entire world shifts and becomes suspect. Good. It is precisely this higher level of thinking that will save you not only in college, but throughout your whole life. Alas, so few people ever realize this, merely accepting the world as presented as an absolute truth. When I was in Nicaragua late last year, I visited the house of a very poor student who I got to know. He had a younger sister who had drawings (actually tracings) of Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty all over the place. I've likewise encountered the same Disney drawings by other young girls here in Cambodia. Wherever you go on this planet, those movies are ubiquitous. Every little kid sees them. But, so few will ever be asked to THINK about what those images represent. To most, those images just "ARE". That is how the world is. It just "IS". But the world isn't just IS and those images aren't just ARE. They were constructed and given to you to represent something that is DISGUISED as a Truth. They all have deeper shadings and ASSUMPTIONS that went into creating those images. Unless your taught to QUESTION those images, the ASSUMPTIONS remain as TRUTH that is never dissected, questioned, confronted or challenged. Your brain never gets to that level so you remain unable to "see" that it is a mask. You think the Mask really is a face. Cinderella is just Cinderella. She and her mean sisters says nothing about who and what girls in general are. Snow White is just a put upon step-daughter of the Queen. The personality, her situation, even her name signify nothing. Prince Charming who is threaded throughout all these tales is just a dude. Right. You can see how lengthy books and dissertations can be written on any of these subjects, but you, as just a little kid, would never even think to ask those questions. Well, i'm sad to report, that's how much of the world is. They have not crossed over to saying, "What the--?" Remember, ASA never tells you WHAT to think. All your instructions are geared simply to MAKE YOU THINK. (Actually, "simply" is the wrong modifier because as you've discovered, there is nothing simple about thinking.) Occasionally it can prove to be terribly painful. You are forced to ask, "Why is it i believe what i do?" Is it just because my parents said so? My church? My teachers? My culture? My economic class? My gender? My country? But you are better off for those questions even if they lead you in unexpected directions. You begin to understand who you are and why you are you. So I guess it's enough that you get the tools to begin THINKING. Boy, we would all do cartwheels if this sort of examination led you to lead a more generous, progressive, open-minded, spirited, adventurous, risk-taking and compassionate existence. And then pass your privilege and education on to others. So when I "hear" the debate back and forth about Miss Landmines Cambodia '09, it is envigorating to hear people confront a sophisticated concept and construct for themselves their reasoning for or against it. Because it is full of irony and is so multi-layered, the very act of the debate makes one smarter. It forces one to confront not only society's "take" on something, but yours as well...and hopefully re-evaluate it and ask WHY? And of course, beyond all the semantics, the issue of landmines is still a life and death problem no matter how you "see" it. Here's the Miss Landmine's Website from last year's competition in Angola, Africa: http://www.miss-landmine.org/misslandmine_candidates.html   Post a comment in response: |
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