The Return To Innocence

I often "cross post" between here and Facebook, since sometimes stuff I say there, in increments, can be transferred here as stories and ruminations.

Lately, I've been getting genuinely angry at many Facebook friends and acquaintances - and it takes a fucking lot to make me genuinely angry. Multiple people on my Feed have been reading and watching the internet and talk show versions of medical conspiracy theories and tabloids - technincally slightly true, definitely not completely true. "So, these doctors on this daytime talk show or YouTube segment or extremely biased blog are saying that almost every serious health problem in America can be linked to pharmaceutical drugs or the side effects from those drugs. So, have fun taking those deadly dangerous pills! I'm going to be all smug and condescending because I don't take any pills at all even though I probably should for medical conditions I refuse to talk about."

Have you ever had a triggering of your rage gag reflex? Not quite retching, but a mental version of "I am about to explode rage all over this!" because something has truly, severely pissed you off. That has been me over the last couple of days. Some very very intelligent friends have been reposting these ridiculous claims, and my response is usually double facepalm and "For fuck's sake, take everything you read and hear on these blogs and talk shows with grains of salt, please, please, please." Like... okay, I like watching the Doctor Oz show every now and then. Quite often, he is extremely insightful, helpful, and correct. But he is also trying to get high ratings. Same for that talk show The Doctors. Who also used to be Oprah's friends. A panel of four core doctors from different specialties talking about medical breakthroughs, things that are good and bad for you, et cetera. Apparently, a recent episode featured the ER physician claiming that pharmaceutical drug side effects were causing most of the country's medical problems. At which point I facepalmed, went online to trusted websites, and proved him essentially wrong with a few keystrokes. It turns out that after the episode aired, multiple physicians and specialists who were not mere ER doctors called bullshit and blasted the episode and the hosts for being irresponsible. Again, ratings ratings ratings. But so many Facebook friends are falling for it that I wound up "hiding" their posts because I was getting seriously insulted. Funny that this happened after I made a status post about how grateful I was for the pharmaceutical drugs I've been taking to help mitigate my conditions.

Look, pharmaceutical drugs are not the Best Things Ever. They have serious side effects for many people. They alter the body and brain in ways that can be more damaging than the conditions they are treating. BUT. For millions of people, they are lifesaving. They have treated the symptoms of thousands of crippling diseases successfully. For many patients, they are the only options, because holistic medicines, supplements, and alternative therapies haven't worked for those patients (and of course, holistic medicine is either The Best Only Medicine Ever or Quackery Placebo Bullshit). So, to say something like "I heard from a TV doctor that pharmaceutical drugs are the main cause of most medical problems" and to follow it up with a slap in the face like "Good luck taking your pills, guys!" is... a slap in the face. Especially if that doctor was being paid to exaggerate findings or to promote some sort of media, to gain readers or viewers. And especially if the people repeating these claims hadn't seen a doctor themselves in years due to lack of opportunity, fear, hatred, or simple mistrust of doctors - which makes me laugh my ass off. "I don't trust doctors, doctors have never made me feel better, but this one doctor said this thing and I believe it completely and so should you!" It is one thing to drink the Kool-Aid. It is another thing to splash the plastic cup of Kool-Aid in my face.

You know, this is why doctors practice medicine. Practice, not master. It is a practice. Many many times, they get things wrong. Doctors are not perfect. Nobody is perfect. Not even you. So, dear Facebook people, please double check your facts, get second opinions, and actually think about it before you quote what sounds like medical conspiracy theories.

In the meantime, I'm going to sit back, smile, watch silly cat videos, and take my evil pharmaceuticals and my quack herbal supplements that are all maliciously working wonderfully to effectively relieve the worst symptoms of my twenty separate medical conditions. Damn them! *nods*

Also, in May I have my first appointment with a licensed craniosacral therapist. Having had craniosacral therapy twice, with extraordinary results, I am eagerly anticipating this.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070220/ts_alt_afp/uschildrensex_070220135757
While there are a few points to contend with, there is one thing I will vehemently agree on:
Those Pussycat Dolls music videos.
Oh, good gods.
Why don't they just call it musical porn? That's all it is. It's porn. They just don't show the pink parts. Those videos honestly embarass the hell out of me. There is no art or substance or beauty behind the plastic polyester over-the-clothes masturbation and forthright "Rip my clothes off and fuck me" message. Madonna did it much better in the 1980's, honestly. It was subtler and softer and gentler and not so "Holy crap it burns my retina" aggravating.
The Fergie videos bother me, too. Thank you, but wearing a schoolgirl uniform and grinding yourself against a British Guard is really not going to make me interested in buying your albums. If you are going to do that, move to Skinemax.
Some people may disagree with me -- maybe the women are just sending the message that we need to be sexually free, not afraid to show our bodies and show our sexuality. I have absolutely nothing against that. I often model nude for artists myself. I love nudity. But there is a difference between artful nudity and sexuality, and in your face fuck me now nakedness and porn.
And, there is a reason many "sex" shows and documentaries are shown on certain channels at certain late-night times. It really is jarring to turn on VH-1 and watch half a dozen skinny women wearing almost nothing, thrusting their crotches and asses at the cameras and blatantly asking the viewer to remove their clothes, with no subtlety, no mystique. If I wanted that, I really could just change the channel to a cable station specializing in nakedness and sex. That's why those channels are there (and gods bless them).
Am I wrong? I am a prude? Am I cold? Maybe. But I have a real issue when popular female singers decide that the only way they can get attention from fans is to masturbate over their clothes and dry hump a dozen men in every music video, and in their lyrics become so blatant and forthright about sex that there is no imagination at all. The Pussycat Dolls used to be a private burlesque act before they became "pop stars." I think they should have stayed that way; there was beauty and power and mystery. Now there is just porn.
Where is the art? Where is the creativity? Where is the absolute beauty of a half-nude woman dancing sensually, artfully to soft sweet music, her body veiled in silk and imagination -- and not actively grinding her crotch against a chair?
I love nudity, and expression, and the art of the human body. Seeing a music video that is done with art and love and beauty takes my breath away. Seeing a music video done with crass exploitation, commercial attitude, plastic shine and no substance makes me cringe.
I'm not saying this to cry, "But think of the children, boo hoo," and I'm not saying it to demand, "Take this filth off the air." It's not even filth, it's expression. And thank the gods for freedom of expression, especially sexual expression.
But I want to gently explain that there are better ways to express sexuality and freedom in the public media without feeling a burning desire to desperately fling oneself at a crowd of millions of strangers while fondling one's genitals. To me, that just says that you have no talent and no appeal other than your sex; and even that is a lie.
There is a reason strippers and exotic dancers perform at private clubs and places not completely open to the public, why prostitutes perform their jobs in private -- sex is not something that should be so insanely thrown out there with no meaning. Sex is a power, it is power in itself; and in certain forms of media, it becomes crass, commercialized, dragged down, stripped of its beauty. It becomes something ugly in those hands, something that should be locked away and destroyed.. when it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful, magical elements of humanity.
And yes, I know we can always just change the channel, not look at the photos, look away, etc etc. But that can be difficult when it really does surround us from all sides.

I just... I don't feel that we should be hurting ourselves over false beauty and false power.

You are welcome to debate and disagree. I would like to hear viewpoints from all sides.