Speaking at the recent Human Rights Campaign's "Time to Thrive" conference for LGBT counselors, actress Ellen Page made what many have called a "brave decision". She decided to be open about being a lesbian in the hope that doing so would make a difference to those who are tired of "lying by omission", as she put it. Why is it that when a celebrity comes out and declares to the press and to the world that he or she is gay they often act as if they are taking a controversial step or somehow putting themselves in jeopardy? Ellen Page wasn't being brave. She was not taking a risk. She will not be black listed. She faces no recrimination.
Ellen Page is not jeopardizing her career by announcing she is gay. If anything, she is advancing it. She is in the papers and on the web. Not only are people talking about her, she now has the cache that comes with coming out of the closet and announcing one's alternative sexual preference to the world. How many celebrities have announced their preference to have sex with people of the same gender as themselves? 100? 500? More? How many of them have suffered for doing so? Pastors and politicians might face repercussions for announcing their sexual preferences, but celebrities don't, unless perhaps they depend on the Family Channel for keeping their careers afloat. Page has merely taken a place alongside all the other notables who have come out of the closet.
Page, like most others who preceded her and will follow her, declared that her revelation was meant to encourage others, to give them hope and lend them support. I am not so cynical to believe that there was no good will or a desire to provide comfort to others in Page's actions. What I take issue with is the characterization of Page's actions as courageous. They were nothing of the sort. Courage is only required when there is risk. Page faces no risk. Her career is in no jeopardy. Indeed, it is quite likely that she will benefit from her actions by acquiring the sheen that attends to coming out in Hollywood.
What Page did can be applauded (if your sensibilities run in that direction). She can be commended, perhaps even praised for doing something she had no obligation to do. Let's just not call what she did "courageous." We should save that word for people who put something more on the line than Page did.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Forward to the Past
According to news reports, the situation in Egypt is becoming more volatile each day. Despite the military's heavy hand, things are getting worse as the opposition reorganizes and turns toward a resumption of violence. For this, the Egyptian military has no one to blame but itself. They have given the Muslim opposition every reason for violence. The Brotherhood cannot take its grievances to the ballot box because the new government has outlawed it. By toppling the elected government and outlawing protest, the military has made criminals and terrorists of those who oppose its rule. If the military had acted more prudently, much of the turmoil could have been averted. Egypt could simply have waited out the Brotherhood. If the Army had just acted to preserve the integrity of electoral process rather than seizing power, things likely would be settled at the next election. Certainly, things would have been turbulent, but so long as the electoral process was kept intact, nothing the Brotherhood could have done would be irreversible. Should the Brotherhood have proven to be as incompetent and divisive as its critics claim it is, they would have been voted out and discredited as a political force. But the military chose not to wait. They decided to act and to act forcefully. They deposed the government and quickly pushed through a new constitution assuring the military's place atop Egypt's political order.
Even though the new government declared the group a terrorist organization last month and brought a heavy and down upon its head, Muslim Brotherhood supporters have continued their protests. The government refuses to relent and has gone so far as to threaten to arrest anyone who attends Muslim Brotherhood protests or provides financial support to the organization. Because of the military's actions, the Muslim opposition has no political options and therefore every reason to shun the political process and non violent opposition. They can point to the coup and the subsequent crackdown on their leaders and party as proof that democracy doesn't work and force is the only way to achieve change. The current government can point to popular opposition to Brotherhood rule as the reason for their action but the fact is that the military acted to preserve its power, privilege, and position. If nothing else, the decision by Assisi to run for president and the expansion of the crackdown to include other, non Islamic opposition groups confirms the determination of the Egyptian military to maintain its position as the paramount power in Egypt regardless of the changing political landscape.
Assisi's decision to run for president also confirms that the military has no intention of entrusting the government of Egypt to the people. Assisi will win and the military will remain astride the government and poised to act wherever and whenever it sees fit. Yet, it was decades of military rule that kept Egypt a politically ossified, economically stagnant, second world nation. With the military's take over, it is unrealistic to assume anything will change. That is not really a problem for the U.S., hence our cautious and measured response to the military takeover. A politically centralized, economically and socially moribund Egypt is to our advantage because it makes it predictable and dependent. Democratic regimes have frequently proven to be precarious and unreliable partners to U.S. goals in the region and require more resources and diplomatic finesse than we would prefer to apply. We will cluck about restoring democracy and protecting civil liberties but we will not apply any significant pressure on the government in Cairo. We will issue statements but our admonishments to restore popular rule will be subordinated to our homage to order and stability.
Giddy at their success after so long in the wilderness, the Brotherhood overreached. But, rather than rebuking or checking the Brotherhood, the military decided instead to crush it, and, by all accounts, it is achieving its goals. But by pushing the Muslim Brotherhood out of power and back underground the Egyptian military is making the Brotherhood once again unaccountable to the people of Egypt and free to brood and plot in secrecy. More importantly, it has freed the Brotherhood from the burden of creating, which has always been a far more difficult task than destroying. Out of power, they will be on familiar ground. The Brotherhood has a great deal of experience as an underground group operating in the shadows. They will be abandoning their weakness and returning to their strength. Egypt's generals can be thanked for that.
Even though the new government declared the group a terrorist organization last month and brought a heavy and down upon its head, Muslim Brotherhood supporters have continued their protests. The government refuses to relent and has gone so far as to threaten to arrest anyone who attends Muslim Brotherhood protests or provides financial support to the organization. Because of the military's actions, the Muslim opposition has no political options and therefore every reason to shun the political process and non violent opposition. They can point to the coup and the subsequent crackdown on their leaders and party as proof that democracy doesn't work and force is the only way to achieve change. The current government can point to popular opposition to Brotherhood rule as the reason for their action but the fact is that the military acted to preserve its power, privilege, and position. If nothing else, the decision by Assisi to run for president and the expansion of the crackdown to include other, non Islamic opposition groups confirms the determination of the Egyptian military to maintain its position as the paramount power in Egypt regardless of the changing political landscape.
Assisi's decision to run for president also confirms that the military has no intention of entrusting the government of Egypt to the people. Assisi will win and the military will remain astride the government and poised to act wherever and whenever it sees fit. Yet, it was decades of military rule that kept Egypt a politically ossified, economically stagnant, second world nation. With the military's take over, it is unrealistic to assume anything will change. That is not really a problem for the U.S., hence our cautious and measured response to the military takeover. A politically centralized, economically and socially moribund Egypt is to our advantage because it makes it predictable and dependent. Democratic regimes have frequently proven to be precarious and unreliable partners to U.S. goals in the region and require more resources and diplomatic finesse than we would prefer to apply. We will cluck about restoring democracy and protecting civil liberties but we will not apply any significant pressure on the government in Cairo. We will issue statements but our admonishments to restore popular rule will be subordinated to our homage to order and stability.
Giddy at their success after so long in the wilderness, the Brotherhood overreached. But, rather than rebuking or checking the Brotherhood, the military decided instead to crush it, and, by all accounts, it is achieving its goals. But by pushing the Muslim Brotherhood out of power and back underground the Egyptian military is making the Brotherhood once again unaccountable to the people of Egypt and free to brood and plot in secrecy. More importantly, it has freed the Brotherhood from the burden of creating, which has always been a far more difficult task than destroying. Out of power, they will be on familiar ground. The Brotherhood has a great deal of experience as an underground group operating in the shadows. They will be abandoning their weakness and returning to their strength. Egypt's generals can be thanked for that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)