Property of a Lady
Deborah Lipp goes on about Wicca, politics, movies, Paganism, and cats. Not necessarily in that order.

 

3/30/2007

Marines Ban Tattoos

Fast on the heels of yesterday’s post about banning some forms of body modification, comes the news that the Marines have banned “any new, extra-large tattoos below the elbow or the knee.”

Shakes points out that this is the whitewashed front that is meant to hide the ugly core. And of course she’s right. It’s not unlike banning the coffins of returning soldiers from appearing on TV. But I want to add that it is a part of the creeping Puritanism that I talked about yesterday.

This culture is increasingly trying to legislate and enforce a monolithic image of whiteness and purity, even while we become more diverse and pluralistic. Frankly, it freaks me out.

The suppression of diversity among those who “fight for freedom” is more than ironic, but more insidious than that is the notion that there is only one way to have a “professional demeanor.” The Corps says they “represent…traditional values” and so I must ask, whose tradition? Whose values? The values of the Marines risking their lives are expressed in the tattoos they choose.

Filed under: Politics — deblipp @ 10:34 am

Friday Catblogging: Convalescence

Probably the only good thing about Arthur’s long illness was that he got some quality time with the Gang of Two.

You know how sometimes you can’t get up because there’s a cat in your lap? In our family, we call that being “catted.” As in “Would you get the phone? I’m catted.”

Catted by Mingo
Howdy!

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Filed under: Gang of Two — deblipp @ 6:15 am

3/29/2007

Answers to Trivia of 3/26

Two unsolved this time.

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Filed under: Trivia — deblipp @ 1:41 pm

Body Modification Controversy

So, Suffolk County, New York (that’s Long Island) is considering a ban on certain forms of body modification.

There’s several things wrong with this story. First, They are fairly consistent in confusing the phrase “body art” with the phrase “body modification” (see the headline of the linked article; I heard the same error on the radio). Body art is decorating the body, either temporarily with things like henna, or permanently with tattoos. Some piercings which tend to be temporary (like an eyebrow piercing, which will close up pretty much as soon as you remove the jewelry) might also fall under the category of body art. Body modification is changing the shape of the body, with branding, tongue-splitting, scarification, etc. You can lump the two together, but they’re fairly different, and there are many tattooed people who don’t do the piercing thing (like me), and vice versa.

The reason this is important, obviously, is that it bespeaks an ignorance about the procedures they’re going after. Legislation rooted in ignorance, that always works!

But let’s keep looking at this:

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Filed under: Politics — deblipp @ 10:03 am

3/28/2007

Hints are up

Hints for three items. Now with a crunchy chocolate coating.

Filed under: Trivia — deblipp @ 11:06 am
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