I've blogged about this before, specifically about Barbie and body image, but another case has come to my attention. 50 Shades of Gray is causing unhealthy relationships.
Mixed heavily with rants about 50 Shades of Gray are those mourning Lesley Gore. You know Lesley - she sang "Judy's Turn To Cry" and "Maybe I Know". Roughly fifty years ago, these songs were huge hits. For those among my hordes of readers who don't know, let me summarize. "It's My Party" tells us about how, at Lesley's party, Johnny dumps her for Judy and she has to explain why she's crying. "Judy's Turn To Cry" tells us about how Lesley gets Johnny back - she kisses another guy and Johnny hits him. The entire song "Maybe I know" can be summed up with the lines "Maybe I know that he's been a-cheatin' but what can I do".
"I Love Lucy" was a hilarious show about a woman's misadventures, largely caused by her stark terror of her husband. "The Honeymooners" featured a man threatening his verbally abusive wife with violence. "Xena: Warrior Princess" has Xena keeping her magically conceived child (her partner Gabrielle blithely assumes that Hercules was the father) just a couple years after ordering Gabrielle to kill HER magically conceived child. "The Walking Dead" featured Lori, who only had a backbone when defending her husband/marriage. I've heard that the "Twilight" relationship is less than healthy, but having not read/seen more than the first book/movie, I really can't say.
A popular meme about 50 Shades is "Women don't watch porn, but they read the hell out of it". This isn't news - women have always read porn in the form of The Bodice Ripper. Historical romance, thus the woman is wearing a bodice, which the man rips off of her. Rips. Usually to her protests. But that's okay, because she eventually becomes overwhelmed with desire. She gets grabbed against her will, has her clothes ripped off, and then gets turned on. "Gone With The Wind" features marital rape in the same vein.
So don't tell me 50 Shades of Gray is gonna cause unhealthy relationships. If anything, the opposite is true.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
Minimum Wage
"Minimum Wage work is for school kids." Even the language of the legislation belies that statement. Look it up if you don't believe me. Read the text of the actual law creating Minimum Wage. Anyone who works forty hours a week should be able to, at the very least, eat and keep a roof overhead.
"You want more pay, get the skills". How can the worker get the skills if he can't even afford gas to drive to work? They should have gotten the training before entering the job market? Sure, that lady ringing you up totally knew she'd end up raising three kids alone. Also, the real world is full of people who do have the skills but are (for various reasons) unable to get a job using said skills. Others lost "better" jobs through no fault of their own.
The one that really galls me is this: The assumption that no one, ever, would do a minimum wage job for the enjoyment of the work. That no one, ever, can simply take pride in an honest day's work. I know from experience that there are freaks out there who actually enjoy providing customer service or doing manual labor. Some people are without a "need to succeed" in the financial sense.
But I don't think raising the Wage is going to fix anything. Because bosses are greedy. If they have to pay more, they will find ways to protect the profits. The worker who was getting 40 hours a week will suddenly be getting 30 or 35 - if that many. Some workers will be fired and not replaced - increasing the workloads for the rest (who are now working fewer hours). Prices will go up.
And people will start calling for an increase in Minimum Wage. It is a vicious cycle. If we do raise the Wage, we need to also prevent the protection of the profit margin. Since God Money dictates all this, maybe employers who don't do that stuff could get a tax break. Or outright fine them if they do raise prices and cut hours.
But we definitely need to get past the thinking that minimum wage earners are somehow wrong for not being doctors or lawyers. We will always need ditch diggers.
"You want more pay, get the skills". How can the worker get the skills if he can't even afford gas to drive to work? They should have gotten the training before entering the job market? Sure, that lady ringing you up totally knew she'd end up raising three kids alone. Also, the real world is full of people who do have the skills but are (for various reasons) unable to get a job using said skills. Others lost "better" jobs through no fault of their own.
The one that really galls me is this: The assumption that no one, ever, would do a minimum wage job for the enjoyment of the work. That no one, ever, can simply take pride in an honest day's work. I know from experience that there are freaks out there who actually enjoy providing customer service or doing manual labor. Some people are without a "need to succeed" in the financial sense.
But I don't think raising the Wage is going to fix anything. Because bosses are greedy. If they have to pay more, they will find ways to protect the profits. The worker who was getting 40 hours a week will suddenly be getting 30 or 35 - if that many. Some workers will be fired and not replaced - increasing the workloads for the rest (who are now working fewer hours). Prices will go up.
And people will start calling for an increase in Minimum Wage. It is a vicious cycle. If we do raise the Wage, we need to also prevent the protection of the profit margin. Since God Money dictates all this, maybe employers who don't do that stuff could get a tax break. Or outright fine them if they do raise prices and cut hours.
But we definitely need to get past the thinking that minimum wage earners are somehow wrong for not being doctors or lawyers. We will always need ditch diggers.
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