The Pink Triangle

Once I read graffiti on the toilet wall at campus and its content shocked me in disgust. The graffiti said that homosexual is fashion. Did he understand that throughout history, homosexual had been harshly treated? Because of this writing on the toilet wall about gay, I decided to write up one grim story of gay during the Nazi.

For popular belief, most of the Nazi victims were Jewish. This argument was not entirely wrong as most Jewish indeed received harsh treatment from the Nazi. Apart from Jewish, Gypsies were also amongst of the Nazi victims (later I’ve learnt that the term Gypsies actually has a derogatory meaning. Sinti or Roma are perceived to be appropriate term. Europeans thought that these nomad people were from Egypt and Gypsie is a modification of that word Egypt). The lives of massive number of Sinti people ended up in the hand of the Nazi and its collaborators.

Since the stories of Sinti and Jewish came to surface, only little did people know about the murder of gay people during the Nazi occupation. Even though, some stories of survivors may have mentioned the life of gay people in concentration camps or elsewhere, it may have been only a fragment of that personal narrative. The hidden story of gay people during the Nazi came out only in the eighties following the gay and lesbian movement. As a result of this more liberated atmosphere, one survivor published his personal account on homosexuals during the Nazi era. From that moment, the stories of gay people in the camps began to unfold.

It was puzzling as well as challenging to see the prosecution of gay during the Nazi era. Hitler as many may understand it was not madly preoccupied with gay as he was with Jewish. We all know that Euthanasia was carried out for elderly and others because they were unfit within the society. Is it because this ideology that was based on politicised body conception so the gay were haunted and sent off to the camps? Isn’t it strange to know that homosexual was pilloried while the Nazi party itself was masculine and homosocial in nature? Isn’t it possible homoerotism appears within homosocial organisation? How did the Nazi characterise gay people as gestures and official records did not give clues at all? Why female homosexuals were not widely targeted as the males? What is also interesting is that we can’t simply put victims and perpetrators paradigm as these gay people were sent to the frontier in order to defend the German military.

What is surely known is that the Nazi used one article in the penal code to proscribe homosexuality. It was known as the article 175 of the German Penal Code. The Nazi did not create this article. Nor did the Nazi insert homophobic passage into it. The article was a legacy of 19th and it was only modified in 1930s.

Prior to the amendment of Article 175, Nazis had already started to purge homosexuals soon after they seized power in 1933. Nazis raided gay pubs and bars as well as Magnus Hirschfeld’s Sexual Science Institute in May 1933. Two years later, the executions of Ernst Röhm and others members of Sturmabteilung (SA), a paramilitary organisation, took place. Ernst Röhm was close to Hitler and helped him a lot in the development of SA. This has been noted as marking the turning point in Nazi policy against homosexuals. The amendment of Article 175 two years later provided a legal basis for continued persecution, and the establishment of The Reich Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion as part of the Criminal Police reorganisation functioned to register and compile records of homosexuals.

Some Nazi scientists thought that homosexual is sort of disease which could spread and contaminate society. They also maintained that homosexual behaviour is curable and some attempts were therefore carried out to sort this problem out. One of them is castration, which was common within the military. It was believed that after being castrated the deviant sexual urge would decline. At that time, within scientist circle, there was a raging debate over the nature of homosexuality as to whether it was nature or nurture. The nurture paradigm held more sway, nevertheless.

The number of gay held in the camp is difficult to know. One scholar, Lautmann, estimated that around 10.000 alleged homosexuals were found in the camps. While it is widely known how atrocious prisoner conditions were in the camps, for homosexual inmates’ treatment was even worse, from guards as well as other inmates[1]. This is, of course, not suggesting that there is a hierarchy of anguish within the camps or amongst victims of Nazi atrocities. Rather, this discriminatory treatment against homosexual inmates can be seen as reflecting society’s attitudes towards homosexuals outside the camp or in a normal situation. Homosexual inmates were marked with pink triangle to identify them within the camp.

This discrimination stemmed from the view that homosexual men were weak and effeminate, which could undermine the strength of the state. As homosexual men were not contributing to the reproduction process, their non-procreative sexual practice meant an inevitable decrease in the population[2]. Moreover, the Nazi movement was the ultimate manifestation of the Männerbund. Stemming from the eighteen century view, Männerbund prioritises male friendship over other relationships, stressing solidarity and dedication created through male bonding. Yet tension arose from the homosocial concept of Männerbund and the tendency towards homoeroticism. According to Harry Oostehuis, this tension was pushed to extremes during the Nazi anti-gay crusade[3]. George Mosse has an interesting analysis of this tension and its relation to the vilification of homosexuals, suggesting that the ‘otherness’ was necessary to construct Nazi masculinity[4]. In this sense, criminalisation through legal definition of homosexuality enabled a concurrent definition Nazi masculinity by denigrating ‘the other’.

Following the downfall of the Nazi party, the persecution of homosexuals remained a largely untold story, and Article 175 has not yet been repealed until after the reunification of Germany. Even when some survivors of the Nazi campaign began to share their horrific experiences, homosexual survivors remained largely silent due to social and legal stigma. In the post-war period, even within gay and lesbian circles there was a reluctance to talk about experiences of persecution, with majority indicating that they wished to forget about the Nazi period[5]. As the gay and lesbian liberation movement created a more tolerant atmosphere, some attempts were made to bring the hidden effects of Nazi atrocities into the public.

The anti-gay crusade during the Nazi period tells us much about how issues of sexuality are crucial in enriching our understanding of violence. In the case Nazi Germany, discourses on the homosexual experience, whether it be a legal, medical or historical discourse, often function to categorise homosexuals as what we consider ‘the other’. However ambiguous the definition of Article 175, it enabled the Nazi party to significantly impact on homosexual community in Germany, which was perceived as a menace to the social hygiene of Aryan Germany, and as undermining the foundations of masculinity upon which the Männerbund was laid.

[1] Rudiger Lautmann, ‘The Pink Triangle: Homosexuals as “Enemies of The State”, in Michael Berenbaum and Abraham J. Pech (eds), The Holocaust and History: The Known, The Unknown, The Disputed, and The Reexamined, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 1998, p. 348.
[2] The argument of population growth and procreative sex re-emerged in the Nazi propaganda against homosexuals. Heinrich Himmler was particularly concerned with the imbalance between the number of homosexuals and the number of those who died during the First World War. He estimated in a speech, that there were two millions homosexuals and two millions deaths of soldiers during World War I which meant, according to Himmler, that four million men were unable to contribute to the population growth. Stümke and Finkler in Michael Burleigh and Wolfgang Wippermann, The Racial State Germany 1933-1945, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 192-193. See also, Robert G Moller, ‘The Homosexual Man Is a 'Man,' the Homosexual Woman Is a 'Woman'": Sex, Society, and the Law in Postwar West Germany’, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 4, No. 3, Special Issue, Part 2: Lesbian and Gay, Histories. (Jan., 1994), p. 403.
[3] Harry Oosterhuis, ‘Medicine, Male Bonding and Homosexuality in Nazi Germany’, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 32, No. 2. (Apr., 1997), p. 205.
[4] Elizabeth D. Heineman, ‘Sexuality and Nazism: The Double Unspeakable?’, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 11, Nos. 1/2, (January/April 2002), p. 38.
[5] Erik N. Jensen, ‘The Pink Triangle and Political Consciousness: Gays, Lesbians, and the Memory of Nazi Persecution’, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 11, No. 1/2, (January/April 2002), p. 321.

Reog: sexuality in Indonesia

As this blog is dedicated to history of sexuality, I feel bad that I haven’t written anything about sexuality in Indonesia. Only here and there, I alluded to sexual mores in the archipelago.

There is one particular topic that I’d like to post here. It’s about Reog, cultural practice in a small town of eastern part of Java, Ponorogo. Reog is a traditional dance which involves a number of people. In Reog, there is a man wearing a massive demonic looking mask which is weight approximately 50 kg and held between his teeth. This dancer is called the Lion King. Another performance is called Warok. Usually this warok is dressed in black and is believed to have a magical prowess.

Traditionally, warok engaged in same-sex relationship because they fear of loosing their supernatural power if they have sexual encounter with females. Warok’s partner is called gemblak who is having effeminate gestures. For our modern conception of sexuality, this same sex companionship between two males has homosexual tendency. But for people in Ponorogo where this tradition is proudly practices, the same sex desire between warok and his partner is not homosexual matter.

Warok’s partner is normally younger and is chosen around the neighbourhood area. The procedure of choosing gemblak is very interesting as it has similarity to wedding ceremony. Delegation is sent by warok to the home of the boy and put forward the proposal to the parents’ boy. As Ian Wilson noted, there is economic benefit of being a partner for warok. Once the boy is chosen and agreed to the proposal, the warok is responsible for his needs including education. For the boys and their poor families, being a companion of warok is giving them social prestige as well as protection since warok is considered as strong man the village. Of course any proposal can be rejected by parents if they don’t concur.

Interestingly, although gemblak engaged in same-sex relationship with another man, it does not mean his sexuality is doomed to be homosexual. Later when gemblak is entering a more mature stage, warok will actively involve in finding a future wife for him. Likewise, marriage for warok is not entirely out of question. Yet a step to marriage would be taken when the power of warok is fully developed and this usually happens around forties.

At the moment, I am reading a book called The Gay Archipelago by an American anthropologist, Tom Boellstorff. According to him, it is difficult to trace history of sexuality in Indonesia as written documents are scarce. Even in colonial government archives, homosexuality in the archipelago was not recorded. It is interesting why the Dutch authority did not impose Victorian values upon the society. Although banning was imposed but it wasn’t on the ground of breaching a normative sexual mores, it was because of its potentially political threat as the dance could attract many people.

It is interesting why these people do not consider this same-sex relationship as homosexual. Homosexuality as a sexual category is a modern invention, coined in the late 19th century. Prior to that invention, there were terms reffered to homosexuality but only denoted the sexual practice rather than sexual identity. Only after the trial of Oscar Wilde, there was a growing awareness amongst gay people about their social position and identity.

I think it is understandable if these people do not perceive the same-sex relationship as homosexual. How could they reconcile traditional and modern concepts of sexuality? Once they accept this categorisation then the next thing would be shifting the sexual mores that underpins that categorisation.

*pictures are taken from the web of Petra University in Surabaya and wikipedia.

Pretty Little Thing

I received an email about NYT coverage of female circumcision (FC) in Indonesia. I heard this practice before. But I heard this from small talks with my neighbours or friends in Indonesia. It might have been written in media but unfortunately this news may have been out of my knowledge.

After I read the whole story from NYT, curiosity pushed in and dragged me into google search engine and found several reports on female circumcision in Indonesia. It’s bewildering me to read the story of this cutting-off female genital practice and the reasons why there is a need to take a bit of female organ. As we may have known, female circumcision can be found in African countries, Malaysia and Indonesia.

With the growing awareness of human rights and women’s issues, female circumcision is now becoming a huge concern and is able to draw attention from many parts of society and responded to the matter differently. As alarming as it appears, the global health organisation, WHO and UNICEF put female genital mutilation into their campaign programmes. Likewise, foreign aid organisations such USAID supported topic-related researches in the countries where this practice take place. Academics also show their interests in this discourse and the topic is soon becoming the main theme in the journals of various disciplines.

From what I researched so far, female circumcision in Indonesia fits into type IV within WHO categorisation as it shows below:

Unclassified, which includes: pricking, piercing or incising of the clitoris and/or labia; stretching of the clitoris and/or labia; cauterization by burning of the clitoris and the surrounding tissue; scraping of tissue surrounding the vaginal orifice ('angurya' cuts) or cutting of the vagina ('gishiri cuts'); introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina to cause bleeding or for the purposes of tightening or narrowing it; and any other procedure that falls under the definition of FGM given above.

A research by Population Council suggests that FC in Indonesia falls into type IV and it is done for religious and traditional belief purposes. Their work, which was aided by USAID and gained support from the minister of health and academics, is very interesting. Its conclusion is contesting the popular belief, which may be suggesting the pivotal role of the Islam doctrines in the practice, arguing that tradition is the rationale behind this practice.

“Parents and religious leaders alike were found to have no significant knowledge on the formal links between FC and Islam. We can conclude that the practice of FC in Indonesia is essentially a tradition which has been passed from one generation to the next with little questioning about its meaning or its basis in Islamic history or law. Many adhere to, and pass down, this tradition simply because elders and grandparents wish to preserve this practice in the younger generations".

If it is generally said that ‘cutting-off’ female clitoris is part of religious duty. However, people will differ in their opinions about female circumcision and would be more likely to broadly interpret the Islamic doctrines that rule this matter.

Similarly, clerics could disagree amongst themselves as to whether FC is obligatory or commendable. Yet, the more likely scenario is that nodding gesture is given when these clerics are asked if female circumcision is harmless. The practices itself differ from one another. Some will involve piercing or incising of the clitoris and some will do it symbolically such as rubbing turmeric on to it.

It is also important to note that this practice typically occurs in the village rather than in the cities. In this respect, it is, therefore, very inviting to take this discussion into modern versus traditional framework. Yet, I don’t subscribe this sort of theorisation as it only allows me to see this in very patronising way. Even if the pace of modernisation quickened in the villages, particularly in the field of medicine and health, it does not necessarily lead to shifting cultural values and practices. As the reports strikingly found, the practices are medicalised, involving more health care practitioners with modern knowledge. Medicalisation presupposes that such practice is more justifiable if it is done by more knowledge of hygienic standards.

Having read this, we might think that this practice is typically non-western tradition. In fact, female genital mutilation occurred during 19th century. According to an archivist and historian, Lesley Hall, an English doctor Isaac Baker Brown carried out ‘unknown number of clitoridectomies’ in order to cure a prevalent masturbation. In modern days America, a surgery is conducted on girls who have large clitoris. The reason behind this operation is to ‘normalise’ the gender. Large clitoris could be similar to penis and having it reduced means that the girls’ genitals are appropriated with their gender.

However dissimilar in its forms, female circumcision in Indonesia and African countries as well as clitoropasty in the US suggest that women’s bodies are a site of battles for society and its culture upon which dominant values can be imposed.

Birthday is not an Asian thing!

Q: What you are gonna do on your birthday?
A: I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be having BBQ at my place.

Q: What are doing on your birthday?
A: I have no idea really. I am thinking of having a nice dinner at the restaurant

Q: Do you have any plan for your birthday?
A: Shite! My birthday was a week ago.

Birthday never used to be a big thing when I was living in Jakarta. As cultural practice, celebrating birthday in Asia is associated with middle classes who embrace modern culture, or western culture. In contrast, lower classes can’t afford to have a party and might put aside the idea of making one particular day special. For them, there are too many things that are far more important than spending sometime with family and friends on birthday. Having spent seven or six days a week at work, leisure time is hardly available for them.

When I was a kid, I was rarely invited by friends who celebrated birthday. I remember when I was in high school, only affluent people circulated cutely decorated birthday invitation in the class or close friends. Sometimes my friends and I did not come as we didn’t have any idea of appropriate presents for the birthday boy or girl. As a kid, it is nothing worse than turning up at birthday party without any presents.

Likewise, within the family, no one would get offended if every one forgets about the birthday of one family member. I’ve never received any birthday card from my uncle or aunties. My parents often did not remember even if they did, we never expected any gifts. More than once, I got up in the morning and realised that I missed my own birthday but it didn’t sadden me.

When i was nearly twenty, usually the birthday girl/boy had to shout everyone. It could be food or drinks, or even both. The birthday person can go to a restaurant or buy some take away food then eating them up at home with friends and families.

Birthday as part of festivity in our culture derived from Dutch settlers who occupied the country for more than three hundred years. Not only did colonisers bring their cultural practices but they also changed the calendar system, replacing traditional and Arabic with the Gregorian. These two calendars do not entirely disappear in modern days but they are put together with Gregorian one for those who still practice tradition.

There is one celebration related to birth in Indonesia but as far as my recollection is correct. But it is based on Javanese calendar rather than Gregorian. Usually, my grandma would prepare a plate of fruit and traditional cakes and put it in her room. I didn’t really know what was the purpose. She just told me that she did it for someone’s birthday.

Since I’ve been living in Australia birthday party becomes part of my ritual of modern culture. I get number of birthday invitations from friends. In return, they want me to make 10th of February is special for me. I do like this sort of celebration and appreciate any efforts they made to cheer me up on my birthday. However, sometimes I feel like going out somewhere on my own, wandering around the city and doing nothing special. I thought people were born in this world alone and birthday could be a perfect moment to contemplate about life.

Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay or Spew-it-all perhaps?

Never did i think cooking become so popular tv show. Before it was only few cooking shows on the television and all the prime time was taken over by soapies. But now, cooking shows begin to outnumber soapies and its popularity seems to emulate reality tv. Popularity does not equate to quality. Audience can freely choose which cooking shows that magically force them to skip dinner time.

Nigella Lawson is one of them. She looks great as a person: sexy, charming and stunning. Yet, the message of the show does not seem to get passed on. It is obviously cooking show where food, sauce pan, frying pan, and whisk should be on the shot. But why is it, the camera is always shooting at her boobs rather than mashed potato? Dolly Parton in the kitchen? Not sure if this will work. We can't blame all on the dirty perve cameraman. She also likes to give an erotic gesture. The way she talks and moves are sort of like sexy ads screened during non-kids-presence time. "Call me" as if she tries to say.

With his sweet and gentle gestures, Jamie Oliver, who is having an affair with his veggie patches, is one of favourite chef for many. His show is representing a great image of a father-should-be or perhaps a boyfriend-should-be. His food is always simple yet its simplicity seems to promise you a pleasant experience for your tastebud. It is perfect for making your home kitchen vibrant and warm. I found him a bit overrated. The images of Jamie's kitchen seems to be far from reality. Kitchen is not always like that, even at home.

A highly qualified and three Michelin starred chef, Gordon Ramsay show is an antipode to sweetness of Jamie and Nigella's kitchens. Kitchen is a hell to be. Swearing, bullying, and crying are scenes that you are more likely to see in his show. Ramsay is an interesting character. His precious experience requires him to set up the standard very high. His distinguished record does not seem to impact on his communication skills, however.

Iron Chef is very entertaining. Three professional chefs with their different expertise have to accept the challenge from other chefs. To see how these chefs competing to create food out of the chosen theme is amazing. The show reveals more about culinary art and every time i watch it, i feel like watching if three realist artists abandoned their canvases, paints and brushes and ended up working with tongs and knife in the kitchen.

Spew-it-all. He is not like all these people, not even the slightest thing. He has no boobs like Nigella. Nor is he sweet like Jamie. Only his frequent swearing is perhaps the similiarity you can get from comparing him and Ramsay. He won't look good in Iron Chef's outfits. Although very avarage in most aspects, he has passion for food, nevertheless. Once he made this pan seared trout with orange based salsa for his girl. It worked well. The size is the only criticism that he received (i thought i was not cooking for inmate!).

Healing the Wound

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", George Santayana.

To say sorry is always a nice thing. It means that we have a humility to recognise any mistake that we've made. Without this humble recognition, it would be hard to build a better future as we are vulnerable to trap into the same mistake. However, it is not easy as it sounds to say sorry. Once we said it, we are taking the position on which we stand and we are no longer innocent. We are therefore acknowledging our guilt. This is perhaps what makes people reluctant to say sorry when they've made mistakes. No one wants to be feeling guilty as it may change peoples' view on themselves.

The Australian government's plan to say sorry to indigenous community for what has happened in the past is sort of humility. For a long time, the Aboriginal communities, human rights activists and like-minded people have been working really hard to put pressure on the government to say sorry to Aboriginal people.

In the past, aboriginal children were taken away from their parents by the government to be fostered out to white families. Some of parents could maintain a contact with their beloved ones but more likely there were large number of parents who had no clue on their children's whereabouts. Removing the children from their families is like pulling something down its root. The children have to give up most of their cultural identities. They were not allowed to talk with their own language, to have their traditional belief, and to contact the families. When they grew up, most part of their cultural identities disapperear.

The Stolen Generation is the name for children who grew up during that grim period. One of my history lecturer told me the reason why stolen generation was chosen over, for instance, lost generation. It signifies the struggle so that someday aboriginal society could regain it again.

Some might argue that it is inappropriate to ask the current goverment to say sorry for what happened in the past as the current government did not involve in that event. It is true that the horror took place before us. However, it is important to remember that the existence of the contemporary society and goverment can not be separated from the past. This is not to say that the nation moved forward linearly. Rather, it shows that the past and the present are inextricably linked. To forget the wound that the Australian government cause on its society, means to accept that the flawed morality once became the ground of the nation.

13 February 2008 will be an important date for Australians. Officially, the new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will apologise to Aboriginal people. It will a historical moment and important remedy for the wound of the nation.

Below is a lyric of the song Took The Children Away by Archie Roach, an aboriginal singer who was taken away when he was a child.


This story's right, this story's true
I would not tell lies to you
Like the promises they did not keep
And how they fenced us in like sheep
Said to us come take our hand
Set us up on mission land
They taught us to read, to write and pray
Then they took the children away
Took the children away
The children away

Snatched from their mother's breast
Said this is for the best
Took them away
The welfare man, the policeman
Said you've got to understand
Cos' we'll give to them what you can't give
And teach them how to really live
Teach them how to live they said
Humiliated them instead
And they taught them that and taught them this
And others taught them prejudice

Oh took the children away
Oh the children away
Breaking their mothers heart
Tearing us all apart
Took them away

One dark day on Framlingham
Came and did not give a damn
My mother cried go get their dad
He came running, fighting mad
Mother's tears were falling down
And my Dad shaped up and stood his ground.
He said you touch my kids and you gotta fight me boys

Then they took us from our family.
Took us away
Yeah took us away
Grabbed from our mother's breast
Said this is for the best
Took us away.

Told us what to do and say
Taught us all these are white man's ways
But then they split us up again
Gave us gifts to ease the pain
Sent us off to foster homes
And as we grew up oh we felt alone
Cause we were acting white
And feeling black
One sweet day all the children came back

Yeah the children came back
Yeah the children came back
Back where their hearts grow strong
Back where they all belong
The children came back
Said the children came back
Oh the children came back
Back where they understand
Back to their mother's land
The children came back
Back to their mother
Back to their father
Back to their sister
Back to their brother
Back to their people
Back to their land
All the children came back
All the children came back
Yeah the children came back
Yes I came back.

New Look!

I played around with templates and ended up having my comments disappeared! Not good really. But haloscan is getting a bit annoying. It takes one century for new comment to be up. Well, decision has to be made and here is mine: i will keep this new look and sacrifice my comments--albeit i miss reading them.

On the weekend, i was unrealistically happy. For a long time i have been waiting to see The Police concert and that night my wait was over. Three genius men rocked Melbourne and pampered their fans' ears with syncopated reggae beat of their songs. In short, it was awesome. 'Message in the Bottle', 'Every little thing she does is magic', 'Roxanne', you name any of their songs that sat on the top chart, they sang it.

I will post some more soon! Have been busy to write an article for online magazine.

Nymphomania

If we ask random people on the street this question: what do you call a woman who sleeps with many men?, the most likely answer would be a slut. Sometimes we might hear the word nymphomania mentioned. These days, we tend to hear less that fancy word nymphomania than slut when it comes to describing female sexual behaviour.

There is a huge different in term of meaning between slut and nymphomania. Slut is a social label which is used to denote sexual libertine females. Sometimes it is used in parallel with prostitutes. On the other hand, as fancy it may sound, nymphomania is scientific word ascribed to an excess of sexual desire in female. Nymphomania was categorised as disease rather than merely deviant sexual behaviour. Despite this difference, still there is a tendency to confuse these two words in every day use.

In nineteenth century during which a conservative sexual mores prevailed, nymphomania became a huge concern for the newly emerging medical science. Many works were dedicated to diagnose such thing. Medical science worked within the nature of male chauvinist perspective. As a result, female sexual behaviours were analysed and then constructed according to males’ vision on female. Although, science back then recognised male’s overindulgence on sex, which was called satyriasis, only female sexual behaviours that was perceived as menacing the existing values. Interestingly confusion was found within medical experts as to what constituted nymphomania. Many experts had different definitions on nymphomania. Nevertheless, the concept of nymphomania constructed by medical science was able to produce ‘the truth’ about women.

According to historian, Carol Groneman, who studied the term nymphomania in nineteenth century Europe, “the concept of nymphomania constructs a female sexuality that is totally out of control, both literally and figuratively: out of the control of their husbands, mothers, and doctors; and out of the control of the "natural laws" that supposedly determined women's passive response to male desire” . In an interview with salon.com, Groneman explained that the term is not “defining anything real”.

As the time went on, the relation between men and women has changed. It is relatively equal than what happened in nineteenth century or to be precise, more opportunities are open up for women to compete with their opposite sex. Similarly, the conception itself has changed. Instead of tagging women with a huge lust nympho, people favour a sort of general term: sexually active.

Despite this change, it’s not that easy for women to sleep around or to have a frequent fiddle in order to release their sexual urges. Society, to some extent, still sees sexually active women in a very subjugating manner. The expression, ‘only a slut who sleeps with a lot of men’ is often accepted as truth.

The C-Word

My name is a CUNT! So simple. Every one can find me where I am. I am located down under the women’s bellies and it is adjacent to my friend rectum. It’s basically not a great spot for me but being in between two thighs offers me sort of protection.

I am not called that way everyday. It’s only in certain circumstance my name is allowed to say. Sometimes my name CUNT is mentioned during a vigorous and raunchy sex. But not in every sex as the sound of it may be a turn-off for some who are comfortable with old-romance-style of sex. Certain ages can’t say my name either. It is extremely taboo for them to say it. So it’s not a word for kids, say adults the rule-creators. It’s the worst language in English language. Actually I have different names other than CUNT. But my other names have different meanings for those who are using it. When they’re a bit polite and curious, I am then called VAGINA, which supposedly doesn’t carry an offensive meaning. VULVA is another name that is used in a very different manner. Another time, I am called PUSSY. I don’t really know exactly (not even more and less) what is the connection between a name for a kitten and genital. Only context rules out our similarity, I suppose.

My name CUNT can be barometer for people. When people are using it, the others will suggest what kind of emotional state the speakers are at. Sometimes the use of my name CUNT is related to social background. The more people say it, the more likely they get labelled uncultured. This is the worst part that I don’t really like. My name CUNT is used and given a bad meaning. When a person is called a CUNT means he/she is really bad, awful and disgraceful. I am not sure why do I get this meaning. Is it because of my look? I don’t think my look is that bad. Women can be proud of having me and men can be crazy for me. So why is it, my name is used to describe something really terrible. In different context, my name can also be used as term of endearment. Ah you are such a funny cunt! But again it still implies vulgarity. They loathe me and love me at the same time.

I am certain that I am not the ugliest and grossest organ in human body. People will hear their lovers are caling me beautiful. Contrasting to others organ, I have the appeal. But still that doesn’t change anything. If it is because the location where I am at, I don’t think that is entirely the case. Not all organs in the easiest spot to see such as face are having attention.Beautiful eyes, gorgeous legs, nice boobs, sexy lips, excellent hair, and so on. Never did I hear people commenting on ears. Wow, that girl has fantastic ears! What? I know the perception of beauty encompasses any aesthetical aspects experiencing by the viewers. But with ears are different! People are less likely to have experienced a delirium aesthetical satisfaction with ears than they have with me.I deserve more than them.

So far I can only complain. I can’t make appeal to reconsider my name CUNT to be removed from vulgar category in English language.

Little Surprise

Christmas is over! Yay! Frankly, it was tiring to catch up with family. Apart from one hour journey, to make conversation with cousins, uncle, and aunts can be hard. Of course it's always easy if you get along with them. But if you don't, it could be unbearably difficult. Sometimes you have one or two people in the family who are up themselves, thinking that they are fuckin' fabulous and should therefore be modeled. If they are not talking about themselves, they will brag about their kids. Anyway it's over now and time to move on! The novelty of listening to John Butler Trio's new album can surely remind me that there is a little joy at least in Christmas!

After finished working, i decided to drop by at the Asian groceries in the city. I need some spices and bottled chili sauce. The supermarket is great. It has a good varieties of Asian stuffs. Only the design is the downside of it. The shelves are build too high as high as those shelves in the state library. I thought it is funny to think that Asians are not known for having a big figure. Their average heights are not more than 160 cm.

When I walked between two tall shelves of drinks, my eyes caught a blue bottle sitting nicely in RTD (Ready To Drink) shelf where dozens of Japanese rice wine are stored. The drink is called "Tsunami" and what's more is the words underneath the name: "Big Wave of Flavour". First reaction was only smile as i could not think of any response. Strangely, the day i found this drink coincided with the date when Tsunami took place several years ago. It was Boxing Day. I am not sure what is the connection of the date when Tsunami happened and my unexpected encounter with this drink. I will leave this to clairvoyance as i don't like taking others peoples jobs. So i took one and walked to the counter.

Some might say that any moment can be interpreted as texts and reading that texts could lead us to various meaning. For hundred of thousands survivors, the disastrous wave does not have any exciting flavour but desperation, grim, grief, poignancy which stay at their life. That's perhaps what they think about the Tsunami. But for this South Australia based company which produces this drink, the meaning of tsunami is twisted, this sparkling lychee flavoured supposedly is offering a great challenge to your palate. Fear and anguish will not wash you away as the wave does. But only a great wave of flavour will as the message tries to say. Convincingly!

Tonight, the whole world will celebrate the arrival of the new year. As celebration is often associated with alcohol, this drink, if it still available, may be a good company to jazz the night up.

Anyway, i'd like to wrap this up by wishing everyone happy new year and all the best! I hope you will get a big wave of excitement and luck!

All about X-mas

“Have you done Christmas shopping yet?”, asked my friend. “No, I haven’t”. Then she sighed, “I have to do it this Friday, otherwise I won’t be able to get any presents”. Weeks before Christmas are always hectic. The town has been very busy. More people are coming down to the main town. They are flocking to department stores, crowding the bookshops, or going into electronic shops. They know that this time of year is not usual as any other time. It’s Christmas! Traditionally people have to buy presents for families and sometimes other relatives. Without presents, celebration is not complete and it may lessen the joy that Christmas should bring. Many people, of course, are aware of this and they therefore start to make a list in few weeks advance. Yet, it’s not always easy to make the list. Every one dealing with this presents-business will know that. To get presents is such a mission. It can be difficult as rescuing some backpackers who are trapped in the jungle. We have to jostle around in the shopping centre and have to be quick. Otherwise you might find empty shelfs!

Once the list is done, another problem that needs to be sorted is food. Christmas is all about big feast! What should we cook? Roast might be good but seafood is a great temptation for summer weather. Every festive season should involve food and beverage. And during Christmas food and beverage can not be neglected. Some might put aside traditional roast turkey and Christmas pudding as they are now sort of foods in a special package of Christmas function. If decision on what should be put on the table is made, then that’s enough. Do not ever worry if at the end we realise that we’ve cooked too much food. Again this is festive season, the next morning some family members who are hangover may be still having this festive spirit, at least the eating spirit. Of course, the kitchen business seems to less, if any, bother some men in the family. It’s always been mothers’ problem.

I spoke to my mum the other day about how people get stressed during Christmas in Australia. Her response surprised me. She was shocked to know that in a joyful moment like Christmas people get easily stressed. Sometimes I thought she is right. Stressfulness should not burden people during Christmas. But I reminded her that she always got uptight during Christmas although she doesn’t need to walk around the city to buy presents. She is worried about what she’d like to cook. I told her that in AustraliaChristmas is a big thing. It’s bigger than election.

In my country, we normally don’t give presents during Christmas-albeit some may give presents to others. Usually, my mum will cook up some lovely food then pack them in bowls and plates then send them to neighbours who don’t celebrate Christmas. There are coconut-milk-based curry, rice, and some other foods. Not all people doing this tradition, but my mum thought it’s always nice to do this as it strengthens the relation between neighbours. We always get some food from our Muslim neighbours when the biggest Muslim day is on. On Christmas day, we usually go to the church then get together at the oldest family member. In this case, my mum and dad are the eldest. So all family will hang out at my place.

It’s been five years I have to miss out this food-exchange ritual. I’ve got another tradition instead: buying presents for friends and others. Honestly this tradition makes me think that Christmas is all about stress. Oh no next month is Christmas! How much it’s gonna cost me?

In spite of the stressfulness that Christmas may bring, at the end people will have a merry and lovely Christmas: gathering together with the family, sharing the wonderful moment together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE....

Finally Ousted!

Just quick post this time. The whole nation is awaiting the election result now. Yet, so far the labour party is ahead its toughest contender, the liberal.

An old bag, conservative and succesful politician John Howard is finally ousted this time after ruling the country for more than two decades. A young, fresh, clever labour candidate, Kevin Rudd will be the next prime minister of Australia. Despite slightly similarities in their policies of certain aspects, this change might be hinting at a new environment that most Australians is looking for.



We'll see how Kevin Rudd will see and plan the future of Australia.

No More Nice Guy!

Everyone is customer but not everyone is dealing with customers. To be a customer, you must know your right, according to those who champion the rights of consumer. Fair enough, i said. There are many bastards out there who only think of making their bloody wallets swollen up by ripping off the people. For instance, in some places you get charged for having strong coffee but don't get cheaper price for weak ones. Strange logic but again money rules!

However, i don't agree with a saying that says "customers are always right". No they are not always right. They can be fuckin nightmare and change your mood suddenly, from a happy camper to a nasty bitch. Once i had customer asked me as to whether we weighed the T-bone steak with the bone or not. Jesus, how could you weigh the T-bone without a bone? What do you call T-bone steak without a bone? It's called T-Bone because it has a bone which has shape of letter T. Next time, a lady said that she wanted a glass of wine but when i told her variety of wine that we had, she scoffed me. Well, sweetheart, surely you know that this restaurant is not a kind of place that sells expensive wine. Trying to up yourself by asking boutique wine in a bistro-looks-like restaurant does not impress me at all. It makes you look like a fuckin moron! Darling, i've done fine dining restaurant where a couple spend 300 dollars for two courses and dessert and a bottle of wine. These kind of people are surprisingly down to earth and generous as well, leaving me 50 to 80 dollars tip. Now, you ask only a glass of expensive wine which we dont have, and hardly leave any tips. You won't have any i am afraid apart from my sarcastic response: "i am sorry we don't have the wine that you're after but surely you know that this isn't the place that sells expensive wine".

The other thing that i hate is when i am working on coffee machine and there are always some people asking for very, very, very hot flat white. I hate doing it because the longer you heat up the milk, the more damage you cause to the milk. It ruins the texture and therefore impacts on the experience of having nice smooth froth and silky creme from the coffee. What's wrong with their taste bud? Have they eaten charcoal for breakfast so their taste bud are completely fucked? If they are nice i normally would make pattern and use the right milk, like the one on the picture. If they are rude, then they wouldn't have sort of milk that they asked for. I use full cream milk mixed with skinny if they want skinny coffee or hot chocolate. With their uncultured taste bud, wouldn't they know any different? Hell no! They might have came up to you and say: "That was fantastic coffee/hot chocolate". So you like burnt full milk then?

I think that people can be so rude and annoying because they believe the stupid adage: customers are always right! It's about power game. When you are having money, you think you have more options than bums on the street so you can ask anything you want. And you believe that it's not good for business if the service is poor. I agree service is priority and i always bear that in mind. But it does not necessarily mean that i have to sacrife my mental health.

Having experienced these awful things, i always behave and try to be considerate when i am at the restaurant. Because i know exactly how it feels when some non-entity try to get their way.

Say it right!

I haven't been able to do some writing after my last post. I am feeling guilty actually and feeling it even more guilty after one fellow blogger commented about writing my blog. It's true that i brought up issue on my writing and they gave me helpful hints about it.

I remember that the Australian government once said that fluency in English language is prerequisite for those who like to migrate to Australia. If they think language skill is necessary then they must also emphasise all migrants to naturalise their accents. Because language is not all about grammar. It is bloody difficult for the police to question people with thick accent when they committed criminal offences. You can ask centrelink staff (centrelink is sort of social security service) if talking with migrants who are unable to speak English properly give them worse headache.

Speaking of accent, misunderstanding often occur due to different pronunciation. One particular example is when a Chinese chef was asked by the staff what the soup of the day. His answer made this staff offended and abused him. Chinese people can't say R properly. Every time they say words that have letter R, it will sound like L. So when this chef says the word creamy, most Australian perhaps will hear it as cleamy. The soup of the day was creamy mushroom but this staff thought that he said: cleaning my shoes! "I am not fucking cleaning your shoes man!", she replied. Luckily, being aware of this misunderstanding, another chef said that he meant creamy mushroom not cleaning my shoes.

For people with non-speaking English background like Indonesia, the letter P and B at the end of any English words could sound similar. For Indonesians ears, the word CAP and CAB, taken out of context, will perhaps sound the same. This happened to me when i was asked to explain the salad which has Italian name on the menu. My explanation only caused laugh and giggle instead of nod. It 's crab salad! But i didn't carefully pay attention to the different pronunciation on the letter b. So it sounded like crap salad! Would like fucking turd in your salad? Other time, i spelled it out rather than said the word as i would not intent to jeopardise their appetite.

These experiences make me think that language is fascinating. It develops very quickly without us knowing which direction it will head towards, particularly in this globalised age. Although it mainly functions as a tool of communication, going deeper into its uses, language can also be linked to identity and nationalism. Tetum as nationally spoken language in East Timor was used by Timorese to resist the Indonesian domination during the invasion. When i was in Sydney, often i heard people who live in western suburb or have middle-eastern background use the word BUT at the end of the sentence. The preposition BUT replaces a proper one THOUGH. "I love it here, but". For posh this might be considered as bastardizing the English language but for them it implies their social and cultural identities. Language, in this sense, is a form of cultural resistance.

The spread of English language in the world was a result of the expansion of the British Empire (thanks to Gladstone!). Although it came from one place, later on different social and cultural histories that people have determined the different changes in language. That's why we have so many different kind of English. Modern Australian English, for instance, has a long history. In a one doc that i've watched about Aussie English, commentators suggested that children play important roles in the forming of accent. They felt that they didn't belong to their parents cultures and started to speak differently. Attempts were made to sort this out such as emphasising elocution but this seemed to fail. Most people still speak with a broad Australian accent, like John Howard. Not many people here speak like Howard's foreign minister, Alexander Downer whose English is a sort of products of standarisation in Australian English.
Now the British empire had been gone but another one appears to be more and more dominating: The USA. The American English starts to penetrate into peoples' cultures.

Having lived in Australia for five years, i pick up Australian accent. However, i am suffering from a chronic Anglophile. English accents are fascinating for me. It's hard to deny how beautiful does it sound when Kelly Brook and Rachel Weisz speak with their English accent!

Crap Part 1

I've been writing this blog since April 2006. There was a long pause after that until i began to write again in the beginning of 2007. Inspiration of getting into blogging again came from reading other bloggers. At that time i wasn't sure what i was going to write, despite i regained the spirit. So i decided to read blogs. But sometimes when you read a number of various and interesting blogs, you can feel doubt in yourself: questioning your capability to do the same, or even better. Good things do not always lead others to do the same thing.

Some bloggers are really good. I mean damn good. They are thousand good writers out there. Their writings are enjoyable to read. From my blogroll, you can see good writers there. Much Ado-Steph, Indcoup, Jakartass, John are great--albeit the latest three focuses (Indonesia) are dissimilar to the first one. When i read their writings, my eyes follow each sentence till the end. Once i've finished, i started to have a kind of mixed feelings. I am amazed and inspired but simultaneously feeling insecure about my language dexterity, writing skills and so on. I believe that writings are not merely typing any words to make up sentences then paragraph etc. It is like crafting job. There is an artistic aspect in it.

The next problem was language. I speak two languages: Indonesian and English. Which language should i write my posting with? Will it be easier for me to write in Indonesia? Yes, it will indeed. But i like challenge. So i've decided to write in English. I thought that i can use this blog as an opportunity to perfect my writing skill in English. I am aware that there are so much that i need to do to make it perfect. Readable was perhaps the most reasonable objectives for me to start. Surely, if there are some minors grammar mistakes, readers, if any, will forgive me.

Focus was another problem. Many bloggers can be really good in telling their mundane lives. Even the story of boring breakfast could arguably sound interesting. It depends how you are going to present it really. Do some food at the restaurant look boring without garnish even though it was cooked by a great chef? While i am aware of my writing difficulty in English, i also think that telling what i had for breakfast or argument that i have with my mum could be duller than in reality if i don't have 'the presentation skills'. I thought i might try something different. It is sex. Some bloggers expose their sexual lives in their blogs be it has graphic or subtle contents. No, i don't want to do that. Not because my sexual life is bad. I'd rather do something different. Even if i write about sex, i am certain that i won't be good as Abby Lee, the most popular blogger in the UK. I realise that i tend to overanalyse everything and it's quite tiring sometimes. I just can't help it. Having learnt alot about history of sexuality combined with my tendency of overanalysing things, i thought sexuality could be a great focus. Yes, history of sexuality. I thought not many people doing it. That's why this blog has more writings on sex than others topics.

For me talking about sex is interesting. It goes on without saying that nineteenth century was a period during which sexuality came to the fore. It didn't stop there, nonetheless. In today society, sexuality is still interesting to look at. Not only do people like sex but in any given society sex is a marker of morality. No matter how corrupt the government is, no matter how high the crime rates is, one sexual activity suffice to stir controversy. Look what happened to Big Brother regarding Turkey Slap incident, it caused uproar in Australia. People get shocked to what happened inside the house but no noise came out when a housemate said that he doesn't want to have sex with a fat women, let alone a whisper. It is quite often tension arose from sexuality is found in spatial level. A clear line is tried to be drawn between private and public. While some attempt to push sex back into bedroom, the others will pull it back out for a completely different reason.

Things are getting a bit more juicy, at least for myself, when race and gender are added to the heated debate on sexuality. I am amazed how blonde males got fascinated by asian girls or vive versa. Likewise, whimsy of having a great night with a black man is also inviting topic to write. I haven't touched upon transvestite and any issue akin to these sort of identities. Yet, they are surely on the list.

Well for now, i think it is enough to say about the purpose of this blog which i have appallingly forgotten to say in the early day of my blogging journey. This writing, however, is not finish yet. There will more to come in the next posting!

Finding a good hairdresser

Before i wondered why did women spend hours at hairdressers? It shouldn't be ages, should it? For me it didn't make sense if you're gonna spend hours by sitting down and reading what Princess Marry has been up to.

I always had my hair cut at the barber shop. Cheap and easy. It takes half an hour at the most. If it looks shit, you can't say a thing as with 20 dollars price, it will not give you many options. On the contrary, my girlfriend spends more than a hundred for getting it done. She came home afterward and complained about her new hair.

After a four years being a loyal customer to barber shop, i decided to take an important turn. I am going to a proper hairdresser this time. There is one particular place at Newtown, Sydney which i thought would be an honour for them to cut my hair. However, when i got there, i got freaked out. I stood there for a couple minutes then went back home.

The reason why i was worried is because i believe that hairdresser is an important element within the regime of beauty. The equipments, the people, and the products, all these things seem to make me feeling inferior. What in my head at that time was a question about myself. Once i got in and have my hair cut and styled, will i look great?

Anyway, the next day i dared myself to go and made an appointment. Bang! My name was in the list. Two days later, i went back there and there were three people having their hair cut. Once i arrived, a lady offered me to take my jacket at the back. When she came back, she asked whether i like to have a coffee or tea. "This is brilliant service", i thought. So i sat down on the chair and had a chat with my hairdresser. I told her that i'd like to try something new and never been to a proper salon before but happy with any suggestion she offered. Her response was great. She explained what she would like to do with my hair. "Ok, i am happy with that plan". Then my hair was washed and plus massage on my head before the hairdresser and her scissor do their job.

The result was great. I was happy with my hair. But the bad thing is that i get addicted to it and am getting a bit fussy with hairstyle. Hairdresser will be the place for me to cut my hair. Never go back to friendly barber shop. I like being pampered and they give it to you. Since i moved down to Melbourne, i've been to two hairdressers and they were disappointing. Strangely, my hair looked not great but was getting slightly better as it grew. I've never realised before that finding a good hairdresser and stick to it is very difficult. I feel that finding a good hairdresser is like finding future husband/wife. You have to try them and got disappointed before having a good one.

Marriage

I've been lazy posting lately. Essays have been driving me crazy! Actually i could post about anything but i am not that good in telling people about my daily life.

I never quite understand why marriage for some is important in countries where de facto relationship is widely acknowledged. In Australia, for instance, you can have long-term relationship even have children together without sacrament of marriage. Society does not have any problem with it. Even though you get knocked up then decide to carry on without getting married, there is no way people will think that you are committed to adultery. In this sense, marriage is a matter of choice.

If marriage means to have recognition from the state, in Australia social security does not discriminate the status of the couples, unless they are gay (they are pretty strict about gay which is pretty lame). You are still entitled to have family benefit from the government. I've checked Australian Family Law Act 1975 (I know this is crazy. I should not be doing a lot of research for blog posting) and found that de facto relationship is covered in the act and is treated as equally as solemnised marriage. So if society accepts it and law protects the de facto relationship, why do people want to get married?


In contrast, marriage in Indonesia or other countries where religious values and practices are common, is considered sacred. Wedding certificate is a sort of licence through which society and state recognise the status of relationship. Without it, more likely that you are likened to prostitutes. This is because pre-marital sex is perceived as cardinal sin. As marriage in countries where religious values are stronger and pre-marital sex is proscribed, then marriage seems to be a way of having a licence to shag. Underlying the sacredness of marriage is the Christian concept that sex has to be procreative, meaning that it ought to be carrying out message from God to continue life. Divorce is acceptable only by death or special circumstances. Only did church domination begin to diminish, state took responsible of dealing with marital matter.

Marriage also means to connect two families together from both side. This implies that marriage functions as social institution. And family is the smallest unit of organisation within society.

That's not fair is it? If Adam didn't get married. The snake successfully prevailed upon him to eat the apple which resulted in the first intercourse in this planet (i am not sure whether it was a good sex or not as i can't get historical record from both parties. I would, however, be very grateful if someone can share information with me about this).

So what do people want from marriage in countries like Australia, USA or England? I don't know. They don't need a licence to shag as pre-marital sex is not an issue. Perpetuating tradition could be the reason. Another possible explanation will be the image of marriage itself. People feel that long-lasting relationship is ideal and should therefore be celebrated. In popular culture, the notion of marriage as a symbol of ideal relationship can be easily found. For instance, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty are telling about this ideal.

Yellow Peril

About two weeks ago, ABC's program MediaWatch critiqued Channel 7 report on Asian migration and its impact on Australian value. According to its report, migrants from Asia are taking over Europe and New Zealand. Well Channel 7 seems to have frequently been bias and we can take this as the fact.

The number of Asian people coming to Australia is quite large. Based on the Immigration report in 2006 around 9000 people from Southeast Asia migrated to Australia and Northeast Asia has about 7000 people. If we treat Asia as one single entity then their number will make the number of Europe migration slightly lower. However Asian can't be treated as single identity. Chinese people would not be the same as Malaysian although the latter has Chinese background. You can't make generalisation that Asians are fucking the same because they eat rice!

One concerning issue for Channel 7 was that this influx will put Australian values at peril. Evidence used to strengthen this fear is an interview with two students from China who have been living in the country for two years. They seemed to have fun with these two girls' ignorance of Pavlova and Don Bradman. "Have you listened to that, hey Aussies, these two girls don't know about Don Bradman and never heard of Pavlova! Our Nation is in a serious danger! Our Bangers and Mash soon will be replaced by rice and chicken and lemon sauce!!!" What a twat! In fact these two girls have answered some question correctly but editing process allowed them to only show the public the wrong ones. Later on, these girls sent a complaint letter to Channel 7 and have a reply explaining that they didn't mean to offend them. A second twat point for Channel 7.

I bet a number of Europeans can not understand the phrase 'flat out like a lizard drinking' or will nod surprisingly when they are told that Lamington is slang word for a kinky sex activity. How many young Australians can sing the famous song of John Farnham, 'You're the voice'? Why the expression 'awesome' are often used by young generation? Shouldn't they say 'beauty', 'ripper', or 'bonzer' to make their grandparents proud?

Have they noticed the advantages of Asian influx? Many Australians can enjoy Pad Thai as much as steak sandwich. Old bastards can play show and tell with their young Asian looking chicks when they are visiting local pubs or RSL although i find this disturbing. Mums out there will not get into trouble to find Cinderella dress for their children's dress-up collection in 2 dollars shops.

Channel 7 obviously did not take any lesson from which history offers. Fear of Asia was one of the reasons for a warmonger Robert Menzies to drag Australia into the Vietnam War. Australian values that we have now are not something invented by settlers from Briton, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. They contributed to it but migrations from Greek, Italy, and others created interconnection of cultural practices which shape what we call now Australians values. In other words, hybridity undoubtedly characterises the rich and complex of Australian cultures.

Sex Drugs for Women

About two months ago i read an interesting article in free bulletin. In that article the editor complained about sex ads which are centred on male sexuality. I thought this is true. Today on the way to office, one ad in the newspaper saying that they can help men with erectile dysfunction problem. Once we arrive at the office and check junk mail box in hotmail account, hundreds of sex ads with various kind of sex services appear on the screen. Yet amongst them are mostly for male: penis enlargement, cheap viagra, natural pill for erection problem and so on.

The author of the article was shocked as to why men's sex problems seem to be more important. It is kind of common to hear stories of women having orgasm issue. At least once in a month, orgasm issue for women comes up in sex column of popular magazines. Does the medical industry consider this as a prospective market and come up with something that could help million women's life? I am not sure but they should consider this.

We could imagine one possible scenario where a woman can't get sexually satisfied due to her 'partner's efficiency' in time. Having asked experts and friends, the solution was to encourage him to buy viagra. However, if a woman could not have an orgasm, let alone multiple one, could she go to the chemist and say: "Excuse me, do you have something to make my sex life better?". She would have an answer to the question as follows: "Well i am sorry darling, so far most of products are designed to enhance male's sexual performance. We only have cream for treating thrush in this place!".

Having studied history, particularly on the topic of sexuality, i traced back to nineteenth century Europe to find out why this phenomenon is rampant in modern time. Back then, medical science came up with the idea that male is sexually active whereas female is passive. Accordingly it was then perceived normal for men to satisfy their urge. What's more important from this notion was that the ability to well perform in sex for men is linked to the idea of manliness. In other words, you are not a man if you don't have lust and are rubbish in sex. As the idea of male as an active sexual creature was pervasive, orgasm for female was out of the question.

Of course, this categorisation of male and female in their sexuality was extensively disputed in many respects. But this does not necessarily mean that this idea could not reappear in the future. A typical example of how this idea reappears is seen in cultural codes in sharing bed. In western countries, where European legacy was very strong, male never shares bed with other males. Generally there is a fear that your mate would try with you. Interestingly, females are at ease with the idea of sharing. Underlying males' fear is that the notion of male as an active sexual creature could be a justification for seducing another male. On the contrary, as passive sexual creatures, females may not have a good reason to be afraid of being seduced by their females' friends. So when sharing bed is brought up amongst males, they might say: "who the hell do you think i am? I am not a poof!" (poof is a derogatory term for gay, but i use this term to emphasise the nature of masculinity amongst males). For females, they can giggle and laugh in the same bed.

Now if we go back to the question raised above, the plethora of sex drugs for males could have a relation with the idea of maintaining manliness. The erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and perhaps small size are seen as threatening for males' sexuality.

So who wants to join me to demand sex drugs for women so they can have multiple orgasm?

Wanna be blonde?

I am finally recovered after four days lying in bed and fighting against bloody fever and nasty cough. Antibiotic did the trick! Imagine if there was no antibiotic invented by medical research, the previous post might have been the unexpected goodbye message from me!

After i was saddened by my misfortune of not being able to buy The Cure ticket, there another grief to bear as i also have to miss The Police Reunion Concert. For the last two weeks, i have been watching clips of The Police concert at Youtube and was thrilled to see three genius people using incredible sounds as their narratives. Superbly talented! My particular attention was drawn to Stewart Copeland, one of the best drummer in the world. Well, what can i say? I won't see them in live next year.

Now let's move on to another topic. Has anyone seen anime? This Japanese cartoon is interesting in term of creativity. Yet what makes me intrigued is that the character on this Japanese cartoon does not represent Japanese people. Mostly, in the cartoon, we can see Japanese women or men with big blue eyes, pointed noses and blonde or brunette hairs. Why their facial features are similar to what we will find in Anglo-Saxon's characters?

When i studied Japanese culture and politics at Uni, i learnt that there was a time in Japan when Japanese tried to put aside some of their cultural things and replaced them with Western ones. Kabuki, a traditional Japanese theatre was less interesting for urban society than Jazz music. Soft drinks became favourable beverage. That was back then when US arrival on Japan which consequently resulted in the opening of Japan trade to wider world. This move gave a huge impact on society.

Now after a century has passed, this anime-with-anglo-saxon-looking is kind of confusing. Is it indicating that to some extent, there is inferiority feeling within society which is reflected through this type of cartoon? Or is it just a coincidence? In real life, i often see Japanese tourists (mostly teenagers) have their hair dyed with golden blonde colour. I hope this is not because of Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan, if it so, they probably will end up in jail or rehab.