9/10, 9/11, 9/12

Today was a very cool academic career moment for me. It was our graduate student conference (Making Waves) at which the students of the two graduate seminars at the Institute of Women's Studies (Gender/Race/Representation and Globalization and...something...) presented their end-of-term work. I learned soooo much, especially that I have some seriously impressive colleagues making fascinating interventions! Topics ranged from citizenship to spectacle, Lady Gaga to veil banning, Sex and the City 2 to surrogacy in India, Sisters of Islam in Malaysia to "The Biggest Loser," Victoria Secret, Marxism, the list goes on. My mind is hopping. Thanks folks!

I presented my artwork on 9/11 as an example of the fetishizing of time by mainstream representations of events. I was a little nervous that it wouldn't be well received because it's mostly theoretical and I know what it can be like to listen to that (cue confused and frustrated yawn), but I felt heard and found respondents comments relevant and stimulating. Yay! One of our professor's comments (thanks Sethna) pointed me to Glenn Beck controversies and the 9/12 campaign. Under my boycott-FoxNews-lest-I-fall-into-paralyzing-depression mantra, this shit flies under the radar.

WHAT THE FRACK IS UP WITH THE 9/12 PROJECT?!  Talk about problematic display of nationalism. The mission of the group is to "unite our communities back to the place we were on 9/12/2001" - because the day after the attacks, Americans weren't concerned with "the color of your skin, or what religion you practiced." Bullshit. Let's scan over some of the principles, shall we?

1. America Is Good. Apparently now a whole nation can be moralized. Innnnteresting.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life. What part of this says inclusive of diverse spirituality? Hey Beck, I think you do care what religion someone practices.
   God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday. As if lying is the cause of American hardship. Cue Foucault's critique of the repressive hypothesis.
   Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government. Spoken like a true upper-middle class, white, heterosexist and non-feminist soldier for justice.
   Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it. (Yeah, and everyone gets a fair trial. Except people we think look like they might have a chance of having something to do with some part of terrorism... we can detain them indefinitely, no question).
   Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results. Greeat.
   Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable. It's hard for me to believe people are unabashedly promoting selfishness and enabled bodiedness. I mean, I know the ideology, but to say it explicitly seems shameful. 
   Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion. This I agree with. If only this led to creative dialogue and not hate speech...
   On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me. The less state, the better, we get it. (How does military fit into this rationale?) 
   Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

I didn't intend for this post to read like a full-on rant over 9/12, but I'm just appalled at the whole thing. I'll certainly employ the 9/12 project as a prime example of disgustingly prejudiced nationalist representations (that rely on a singular understanding of the 9/11 attacks) in my future work on temporality and spectacle. As for me, spectacle of naptime...