Something Needs To Change 6

Cosmetic change is a very popular and common salvo. If it looks the way it should, if it sounds and talks the way it should, then that is all the change we need. Everything else will follow. If only! it is still believed by many frustrated and scared aging women, and a growing number of frustrated and scared aging men, that just a little bit of Botox, a little nip and tuck will make them look ten to twenty years younger and they will be chrismed with instant sex appeal, they will find that dream job, that dream spouse, that dream vacation, that dream everything, and all for the price of a little cosmetic alteration such as, at best will leave them looking like one of Madame Tussaud's waxworks and at worst, something not exactly human. Other cosmetic changes that often turn into an exercise in futility? How about the fatuous notion that more women in politics and in positions of elected office will make the world a nicer and more peaceful and loving place (are you singing Kumbaya, Gentle Reader?). Especially now that Vancouver is blessed with a city council dominated by women (eight women to two men). But what if some of those women represent a particularly obnoxious and rightwing party, aka the Non-Partisan Association or the NPA. Being women is not going to make those people any more compassionate or nicer, they still do not care about housing for the poor, all that matters to them is business, generating wealth and satisfying the demands of their rich backers. Suzanne Anton for Mayor? That almost happened in 2012. how about those five years or so of Christy Clark as premier of BC? Need I say more? Has the world been made a better place with women as prime ministers and presidents? I think Angela Merkel has done a good job in Germany and with the mess of the European Union and the refugee crisis. On the other hand, the UK languishes under Theresa May, a woman, natch. And let's not talk about that dreadful Margaret Thatcher woman! Or Golda Meir. Or Indira Gandhi, all barbarous warmongers! Their is a certain fly that spoils the ointment. It is called power. We all know about toxic masculinity, don't we, Gentle Reader? It is caused not by testosterone, nor by anatomy. It is caused by power. Has allowing women to serve in the military made our war machine a kinder and gentler place? If they really want to be progressive they might abolish the military altogether as they did in Costa Rica seventy years ago, a country that enjoys one of the highest standards of living in Latin America and one of the highest life satisfaction and happiness indexes in the world. Oh, and another newsflash here: the incidence of rape and sexual harassment in the Canadian military are now way up. But how about women in the clergy? Surely the Anglican Church of Canada is now a much lovelier and more progressive, compassionate and inclusive place now with female priests and bishops (ah, you're singing Kumbaya again, Gentle Reader!), as well as gays and lesbians. In my experience, the worst, nastiest, most vicious and damaging priests that I encountered were a woman and a gay man. By the same token, two of the best, kindest, most compassionate and most helpful priests that I encountered were also a woman and a gay man. So, go figure! The straight white men in clerical collars have all had rather a mixed record, in my experience. And what about people of colour? There has been a lot of whimpering and hand-wringing in local progressive circles about the lack of ethnic diversity in City Hall in my city. I really don't see what the problem is. The two Asian-Canadian candidates for mayor were both running for rightwing parties and, even if one of them was also a woman, there is still no way I would vote for either of them, not because of their skin colour but because of their policies and platforms. And if you really want to get an ide of what it can be like having a person of colour as head of state, we have only to remember the eight years of the US under Obama, which weren't at all bad years and he was a really decent president as well as a great human being. And his wife was pretty decent, too. (Oprah for president, anybody?) And so was Nelson Mandela in South Africa. On the other hand, look to Zimbabwe and they had...Robert Mugabe! Not to mention the dangerous, and black, demagogues heading Uganda and Tanzania and their campaign to exterminate gays, lesbians and transgender people from their countries. I am not writing this in order to dismiss diversity, nor diverse representation in positions and offices of public responsibility and power. I am merely expressing concern that we need more and better than cosmetic change if we want to see our conditions and living environment also change in positive ways. I think a lot of this begins with changing ourselves, which is likely going to be a little bit harder than using tokenism to remind us of how good we really are.