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labyrinth2015"They said: you better hold on to what you got..."
This week, David Cook packed his guitar and his lead guitarist and traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the UN Foundation to raise awareness about the importance of girls' education, for a special episode of IDOL GIVES BACK to be aired on April 21st.
My various thoughts:
01: How fine is he? Seriously.
Cook in English class during a visit to Biruh Tesfa, a United Nations program supported by the UN Foundation. Credit AP Photo/Stuart Ramson/UN Foundation.
02: All around the world, there are more women who wanna have his babies and men who wanna enter into life-partner adoptive parenting with him. Check the evidence of Cookly parenting skill (most recently, with 7 year old Mekdes, which makes me legitimately teary):
More photographic evidence of Davely awesomeness (with bonus Neal) here.
03: Girls' education in the developing world is a huge issue. Elizabeth Gore, the Executive Director of global partnerships and Nothing But Nets for the United Nations Foundation, gives the statistics: 70% of the world’s out-of-school youth are girls. “That shocks us every day.” And staying in school can be the key to their future.
It's awesome that Dave and Neal are out there raising awareness for this immensely important cause, and genuinely forming a bond with the girls - chatting, singing, dancing (like a dork). Dave sounded truly grateful and excited to be there:
“This has been one of the most enlightening experiences I’ve been able to be a part of...That’s what’s great about this initiative that the UN Foundation put together, it gives these girls a chance. Statistically, only 20% of the girls in this country have any sense of education. Seeing that, and realizing how much of a widespread problem that is…the millennial generation has a massive opportunity for change.” He'd also said, "(T)he fact that that’s not a right for these girls, but in a lot of cases a privilege…that was a major...factor for me. That’s why I wanted to get involved."
Somewhat less awesome was when a reporter called into question his suggestion that children shared common experiences the world over.
Dave had said this: “I got a chance down here to play games with some of these girls. You watch a girl be a girl, you watch a child be a child, and that’s universal. A child being a child in Ethiopia is exactly the same as a child being a child in America. It’s easy to assume that the things that you surround yourself with and the things that surround you are reality. And while that may be your reality, it might not be somebody else’s. There are common themes, there are common threads. It’s been a huge learning experience for me to see these girls smile and laugh. It’s not that hard to help them, it’s not that hard to empathize, it’s not that hard to want to help.”
The reporter said she was "“taken aback” by David’s answer. The massive problems in sub-Saharan Africa, including genital mutilation for girls, makes African girls’ problems completely different from girls in the US. “They really aren’t like American kids, there really isn’t that common ground.” The reporter wanted to know why women were so devalued in this culture.
WELL. Dave clarified that he wasn't suggesting that the struggles are the same, but that, inherently, "a child is a child is a child no matter where you are". And I had thought that was clear from his answer, actually. Of course Dave doesn't understand and can't comment on why women are devalued in Ethiopian culture; devaluing of women in any culture is so inherently wrong it's incomprehensible.
I am irked by the reporter's implication that Dave was being condescending (or stupid). I don't even think he was being simplistic - in my view, he was right to emphasize the common experiences of girls the world over and the rights they should have: the right to education, to equal treatment and value. I think he should be commended for focusing on the commonality of experience, rather than called on it. Conversely, how useful to this dialogue is it to emphasize the otherness of the Ethiopian girls, how Americans can't hope to understand them?
Ah, I am likely being over-sensitive about this. I do some work with women's groups here on the Island, and would be the first person to admit to the widespread nature of a particular kind of sneering, condescending, faux-supportive male approach to women's rights. But I absolutely believe boys and men need to be engaged and heard on women's issues, and to the extent that Dave's views were being subtly discounted (subtext being: by virtue of his male celebrity status), that doesn't please me. All right, end of overly sensitive rant.
04: I needed this reminder of all that's good about the fecking cheesy manufactured American Idol franchise (IDOL GIVES BACK ♥), after the fiasco of this week's results show.
SEASON NINE, I AM HEARTILY DISPLEASED WITH YOU. I am watching these performances on repeat. AND TRYING NOT TO THROW SOMETHING.
All right, this aspect of Season Nine pleased me:
And I am enclosing a gratuitous additional vid, because acoustic "Living on a Prayer" pleases me today, too. See - a hardscrabble life, love despite hardship - I believe these are universal themes that form a common language across the world.
[/stupid rant that only matters to me]
This week, David Cook packed his guitar and his lead guitarist and traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the UN Foundation to raise awareness about the importance of girls' education, for a special episode of IDOL GIVES BACK to be aired on April 21st.
My various thoughts:
01: How fine is he? Seriously.
Cook in English class during a visit to Biruh Tesfa, a United Nations program supported by the UN Foundation. Credit AP Photo/Stuart Ramson/UN Foundation.
02: All around the world, there are more women who wanna have his babies and men who wanna enter into life-partner adoptive parenting with him. Check the evidence of Cookly parenting skill (most recently, with 7 year old Mekdes, which makes me legitimately teary):
More photographic evidence of Davely awesomeness (with bonus Neal) here.
03: Girls' education in the developing world is a huge issue. Elizabeth Gore, the Executive Director of global partnerships and Nothing But Nets for the United Nations Foundation, gives the statistics: 70% of the world’s out-of-school youth are girls. “That shocks us every day.” And staying in school can be the key to their future.
It's awesome that Dave and Neal are out there raising awareness for this immensely important cause, and genuinely forming a bond with the girls - chatting, singing, dancing (like a dork). Dave sounded truly grateful and excited to be there:
“This has been one of the most enlightening experiences I’ve been able to be a part of...That’s what’s great about this initiative that the UN Foundation put together, it gives these girls a chance. Statistically, only 20% of the girls in this country have any sense of education. Seeing that, and realizing how much of a widespread problem that is…the millennial generation has a massive opportunity for change.” He'd also said, "(T)he fact that that’s not a right for these girls, but in a lot of cases a privilege…that was a major...factor for me. That’s why I wanted to get involved."
Somewhat less awesome was when a reporter called into question his suggestion that children shared common experiences the world over.
Dave had said this: “I got a chance down here to play games with some of these girls. You watch a girl be a girl, you watch a child be a child, and that’s universal. A child being a child in Ethiopia is exactly the same as a child being a child in America. It’s easy to assume that the things that you surround yourself with and the things that surround you are reality. And while that may be your reality, it might not be somebody else’s. There are common themes, there are common threads. It’s been a huge learning experience for me to see these girls smile and laugh. It’s not that hard to help them, it’s not that hard to empathize, it’s not that hard to want to help.”
The reporter said she was "“taken aback” by David’s answer. The massive problems in sub-Saharan Africa, including genital mutilation for girls, makes African girls’ problems completely different from girls in the US. “They really aren’t like American kids, there really isn’t that common ground.” The reporter wanted to know why women were so devalued in this culture.
WELL. Dave clarified that he wasn't suggesting that the struggles are the same, but that, inherently, "a child is a child is a child no matter where you are". And I had thought that was clear from his answer, actually. Of course Dave doesn't understand and can't comment on why women are devalued in Ethiopian culture; devaluing of women in any culture is so inherently wrong it's incomprehensible.
I am irked by the reporter's implication that Dave was being condescending (or stupid). I don't even think he was being simplistic - in my view, he was right to emphasize the common experiences of girls the world over and the rights they should have: the right to education, to equal treatment and value. I think he should be commended for focusing on the commonality of experience, rather than called on it. Conversely, how useful to this dialogue is it to emphasize the otherness of the Ethiopian girls, how Americans can't hope to understand them?
Ah, I am likely being over-sensitive about this. I do some work with women's groups here on the Island, and would be the first person to admit to the widespread nature of a particular kind of sneering, condescending, faux-supportive male approach to women's rights. But I absolutely believe boys and men need to be engaged and heard on women's issues, and to the extent that Dave's views were being subtly discounted (subtext being: by virtue of his male celebrity status), that doesn't please me. All right, end of overly sensitive rant.
04: I needed this reminder of all that's good about the fecking cheesy manufactured American Idol franchise (IDOL GIVES BACK ♥), after the fiasco of this week's results show.
SEASON NINE, I AM HEARTILY DISPLEASED WITH YOU. I am watching these performances on repeat. AND TRYING NOT TO THROW SOMETHING.
All right, this aspect of Season Nine pleased me:
And I am enclosing a gratuitous additional vid, because acoustic "Living on a Prayer" pleases me today, too. See - a hardscrabble life, love despite hardship - I believe these are universal themes that form a common language across the world.
[/stupid rant that only matters to me]
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Date: 2010-04-04 07:32 am (UTC)