_____ _ _ __ _ __ ____ | ___|(_) ___ | |_ / _| _ _ | | ___ / _| | __ ) ___ ___ ___ | |_ | |/ __|| __|| |_ | | | || | / _ \ | |_ | _ \ / _ \ / _ \/ __| | _| | |\__ \| |_ | _|| |_| || | | (_) || _| | |_) || __/| __/\__ \ |_| |_||___/ \__||_| \__,_||_| \___/ |_| |____/ \___| \___||___/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ISSUE #8 NOVEMBER 2004 ***THE POLITICS ISSUE*** 1. Editor's notes 2. "The Politics of Celebrities" By Sarah Jaffe 3. "Fuck You and Your 'Radical Menstruation' Too" By Mary Green 4. "Being Normal" By Joseph Heath & Andrew Potter 5. About Fistful of Bees ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editor's Notes: On "Being Normal": Again, I must ask that you not sell me out to the intellectual property police. This is but a tiny excerpt from Heath and Potter’s book *The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't Be Jammed*, which you should run out and buy this instant. Or just wait for the paperback... whatever. Anyway, it's a brilliant book, and they don't like Naomi Klein very much, I can tell you that. Next month's issue will have a holiday/winter-y theme. I'm working on an article about Festivus (for the rest of us), for instance. I have nothing left to say to any of you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The Politics of Celebrities" By Sarah Jaffe ------------- "The reason I think that they keep Dick Cheney in loyalty-oath audiences is that if he gets angry, I do believe he turns into the Hulk. The shirt rips and suddenly he has hair..." -Jon Stewart To add to that--I watched Jon Stewart on 60 Minutes. They commented on one point, re: his appearance on Crossfire, that "some saw that" (FOX NEWS journalism rears its ugly head) Stewart might be getting too big for his britches, after all, he's only a comedian. I've got only one thing to say about all the comments that so-and-so should shut up because he or she is only an actor/comedian/musician/whateverthefuck. Guess what, assholes. When George W. Bush took the Oath of Office in a hail of rotten tomatoes, you lost any ability to tell me that the people in government are more qualified to have an opinion than Sean Penn. When you allowed a jerkoff who lost an election to a dead man and who anoints himself with oil to be like the ancient kings of Israel to become Attorney General, you gave up the right to say that Margaret Cho's opinion isn't valid. Some argue "But it's not their place to try to tell people what to think." They're not telling you what to think. They're telling you what they think, and what they know, and allowing you to decide for yourself. But in a world where Henry Rollins has spent more time talking to our troops overseas than George Bush has, I refuse to accept that these people's opinions are less valid. Because then what does that say about my own opinions? What does it say about your opinion or that of the 18-year-old down the street who wants to vote for the first time? We spend 18 years teaching kids to follow orders and do what someone else tells them to do, and then bitch when they follow celebrities blindly. Renee Zellweger censored herself in this month's Elle cover story, saying she may not be educated enough to state her opinion. Fuck that shit. I want to hear her opinion. I want to hear your opinion. I want to hear the opinion of the fifth-grade kids out there who would shock you with the brilliance that comes out of their mouths if only we taught them to think. Welcome to the U.S.A. Everyone can vote, but only for certain choices. Everyone's got an opinion, but we don't want to hear it. ------------- Sarah Jaffe is a writer who lives in Denver, Colorado against her better judgment. She divides her time between getting a better and cheaper education from books than she did from college, and stalking Colorado Avalanche hockey players. She's saving money to move to Canada, but it would make the move easier if you'd marry her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Fuck You and Your 'Radical Mensturation' Too" By Mary Green ------------- A few months ago I was hunting around the internet looking at zine distros, attempting to find a home for the print edition of FoB (no luck so far, by the way). Lots of the distros I found had guidelines on their sites about what kind of zines they were interested in distro- ing. A surprising (to me at least) number wanted zines about something called "radical menstruation". What the fuck? So I looked into it. Apparently, switching from Tampax to LunaPads entitles you to call yourself a radical these days. Jesus H. Christ. Now, I don't object to most of the ideas that were being pushed by the Radical Menstruation sites I visited. For example, I agree with them in that I think its lame that us ladies are made to feel ashamed about menstruation in general (silent maxi pad wrappers, anyone?). I also think it sucks that when I was in grade seven I got an "information pamphlet" (read: corporate advertisement) about puberty and menarche produced by the Always maxi pad company from my gym teacher. It worked too, the bastards, because that's the brand I requested my mother get for me on that fateful Wednesday night two years later. And now that I think about it, on the rare occasion when I buy maxi pads these days, those are still the ones I choose. Fuckers. Anyway... yeah, it's also probably not a good idea to have wads of bleached polyester jammed inside one's cunt a week out of every month for 40 years or so, especially when you think about all that toxic shock syndrome stuff (a friend of mine had that once; she wouldn't go into details, saying only, "Everything comes out of you. EVERYTHING."). My objection, then, lies mainly in the use of the word "radical" in this context. Changing the brand of crap you buy has never seemed like a particularly radical activity to me; whether it's from Kotex to The Keeper, or Nike running shoes to Adbusters Black Spot sneakers (capitalism, after all, doesn't care so much *what* you buy, only *that* you buy). Consciousness raising is good, but don’t fool yourself: The System is not being overthrown in your underpants, and you can't Take The Power Back with sea sponges alone. Now go liberate your mother. ------------- Mary Green is unspeakably lazy, yet always tired. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Being Normal" By Joseph Heath & Andrew Potter ------------- Anyone who has ever dabbled in subculture will have first-hand experience of the many subtle ways in which social norms are enforced. As a former punk rocker coming from a small town, I know all about it. I actually go into the whole punk business somewhat by accident. For the most part, I was a quiet kid. I started out the first couple of years of high school minding my own business, hanging out in the computer room playing Dungeons and Dragons. This was back in the days before cyberpunk and hackers, so the computer-room crowd was all just a bunch of nerds, without delusions of grandeur and with no prospects of ever achieving coolness. My high school was sort of on the wrong side of the tracks, and it tended to be where they sent all the kids with discipline problems, to give them one last chance before reform school. On day a girl got transferred in who had a completely tricked-out punk rock haircut – bleached out on one side, black on the other. Everyone was talking about it. The principal took one look at her and told her to dye her hair back to "normal" or face expulsion. She refused, and so that was it for her. No one ever saw her again. I thought this was a bit heavy- handed, so as a gesture of solidarity, I showed up at school a couple of days later with my hair dyed exactly the same way. I was interested to know whether the principal would also expel one of his best students for having dyed hair, or if he expelled just the ones he didn't like. The principal didn't do anything about it other than give me dirty looks. But some things did change. Although punks were a stigmatized minority at the time – getting beaten up for looking like a punk was as easy as falling down – it was also widely understood to be extremely cool. The sense of persecution in many ways just contributed to the exclusivity of the club. And so, with my new punk haircut, I found myself suddenly getting access to a social circuit that I would never have had a chance at before. It meant making friends with people who would never have spoken to me, finding out about all sorts of great music, getting invited to cool parties and, most importantly, being able to score with girls who had been way out of my league just a few months before. The other thing that I noticed was just how differently other people started treating me, especially strangers in public. Old ladies would scowl at me in the street, rednecks in pickup trucks would scream obscenities at me as they hurtled by, security guards would begin not-so- subtly trailing me as I wandered through the grocery store, and Christians on the street corner would make an extra effort to press copies of their magazines upon me. In other words, people overreacted. From this, it was not difficult to conclude that I was doing something genuinely radical, this I was challenging people's expectations, freeing their minds, shocking the masses out of their conformist stupor. I was just the thin edge of the wedge, the beginning of a larger revolution, the most visible sign of the impending collapse of Western civilization. I remember describing this feeling once to a friend of my mother's, a woman who could best be described as a hardcore hippie (at the time, somewhere around 1984, she still referred to the police as "the pigs" and used the word "fuck" more than anyone else I had ever met). She said, "I know what you mean. When I was your age I felt exactly the same way. People used to call us 'dirty hippies' and throw us off the bus, refuse us service at restaurants. But now no one cares." This hadn't been what I was expecting to hear. And it raised some uncomfortable questions. After all, just how many times can the masses be shocked out of their conformist stupor before we begin to wonder whether they were ever in a conformist stupor to start with. John Ralston Saul claims that we live in an "unconscious civilization," all victims of conformity and groupthink. We need to wake up, smell the coffee and start acting as genuine individuals. Yet thousands of people read his book, without many feeling that's the description applied to them. After all, it's never *you* who's unconscious; it's always the guy next to you or the guy who lives down the street. If everyone thinks everyone else is unconscious, perhaps it's time to consider the possibility that we are all wide awake. Perhaps calling other people unconscious is just a way of dismissing the fact that *not everyone thinks the same way you do*. For a long time, I bought into the countercultural theory, which held that the system was just demonstrating its enormous ability to co-opt dissent. Yet as time passed, the more obvious explanation became increasingly difficult to resist. People initially respond to unusual social conduct with expressions of disapproval. This is how human culture works. It's also a perfectly understandable response. When someone who is visibly deranged gets onto the subway, no one rushes to sit down next to him. This is not so much due to any specific fear, but simply because other passengers do not know what to expect, and they don't need the hassle. Yet subcultural rebellion is not random; it fits a very tightly scripted pattern. This is what allows hippies or punks to "make a statement" with their appearance and not simply be dismissed as lunatics. In other words, it is the alternative norms of the subculture that identify it as a movement of dissent and not merely social deviance. But precisely because of that fact, people eventually get used to it. It becomes "normal" to have a few punks hanging out at the mall. As a result, the adverse reactions go away; people learn what to expect from them. This is how culture changes. It's not co-optation – it's a simple mechanism of adaptation. Here I think we can see the basic error in countercultural thinking. Countercultural rebels take the fact that social norms are enforced and interpret this as a sign that social order as a whole is a system of repression. They then interpret the punitive response elicited by the violations of these norms as confirmation of the theory. The result, too often, is simply a glamorization of anti-social behaviour – transgression for the sake of transgression. In everyday life this is usually harmless, but politically this mode of thinking can be disastrous. It leads countercultural activists to reject not just existing social institutions but any proposed alternative as well, on the grounds that the alternative would also need to be institutionalized and thus coercively imposed. This is what underlies the countercultural dismissal of traditional leftist politics as "merely institutional". The tendency to reject institutional solutions to social problems leads directly to the cardinal sin of the counterculture. Countercultural activists and thinkers consistently reject perfectly good solutions to concrete social problems, in the name of "deeper," "more radical" alternatives that can never be effectively implemented. This cardinal sin contaminates every field of countercultural politics. It shows up among culture jammers and the anticonsumerism movement, among critics of the education system, in the environmentalist movement, the antiglobalization movement and the feminist movement and among the adherents of "New Age" religious beliefs. By rejecting any proposal that stops short of a total transformation of human consciousness and culture, countercultural activists too often wind up exacerbating precisely the problems they are hoping to solve. ------------- Joseph Heath is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of two books: The Efficient Society and Communicative Action and Rational Choice. He lives in Toronto. Andrew Potter is a research fellow at the Centre de recherche en éthique de l’Université de Montréal (CREUM). His work has appeared in the National Post, the Ottawa Citizen and The Wilson Quarterly, and he is a member of the editorial board of THIS Magazine. He lives in Montreal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT FISTFUL OF BEES SUBSCRIPTIONS: Fistful of Bees comes out at the beginning of every month, or whenever I get around to it. You can subscribe via email by sending a message to fistfulofbees@hotmail.com with "subscribe" as the subject. Similarly, if you want to be removed from the subscribers list, send an email to the same address with "remove" as the subject. You can also view individual issues of FoB at this address: http://www.geocities.com/fistfulofbees/zine.html SUBMISSIONS: I'll put just about anything in FoB -- except poetry. Save it for your English teacher. Send your submission to fistfulofbees@hotmail.com either embedded in the message or as a .txt file. Also include a little bit about yourself with your submission. You don't have to give me your name, but your a/s/l and a name or pseudonym you want me to use would be good. Just make everything up if you want, I don't care. Although each issue has a "theme", don't worry about whether or not your stuff will fit in with it. That's my job. And besides, for the most part, I take whatever content I have laying around construct a theme based on that, rather than coming up with the theme first. So if you send me something and I like it, I'll work it in one way or another. CONTACT: As you may have figured out, you can send any comments or suggestions to fistfulofbees@hotmail.com. However, be aware that any mail you send me may end up in a future issue of FoB. Especially if you're a dumbass and I want to ridicule you publicly. Dig it. Oh, and you can find me on MSN sometimes too, although the same rule applies. You guessed it: fistfulofbees@hotmail.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~