Feb 24, 2013
Feb 21, 2013
Labrinth ft. Emeli Sandé
The only thing I can post after this incredibly shitty day is a song. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Feb 20, 2013
Feminism and masculinity: Stereotypes hurt everyone
One of the many ways that the patriarchy hurts both women and men is to typecast us into tiny boxes that restrict our fully realized expression as people.
If we say that “men think with their head, just not the one on their shoulders,” we are not only confining men and their motivations to a tiny box, but we are reinforcing to men that it is, in fact, okay to allow themselves to be led solely by their sex drive.
If we ever hope to realize a more positive masculinity, though, we must leave behind these insulting generalizations about the nature of men.
Just as we must never excuse the misogyny of intimate partner abuse by saying that men are violent by nature, we must be careful never to excuse other forms of sexism by saying that men are slaves to sexual desire. It’s time we hold men to the high standard that our cognition deserves.
- Jamie Utt (male) ~ article link
My Latest Read
"Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History", written by Florence Williams.
A fantastic, insightful read so far. If you're even mildly interested in learning about evolutionary anatomy, social changes and influences on how we view breasts, and how everyday toxic chemicals are affecting the mammary and reproductive health of not only women but men, too... then this book is definitely worthwhile.
The back-cover synopsis of the book starts out with: "Did you know that breast milk contains substances similar to cannabis? Or that it's sold on the Internet for 262 times the price of oil? Feted and fetishized, the breast is changing. Breasts are getting bigger, arriving earlier, and attracting newfangled chemicals. Increasingly, the odds are stacked against us in the struggle with breast cancer, even among men. What makes breasts so vulnerable?"
This bookis an engaging narrative written in an informing-yet-witty (and humourous, at times!) way. It's a bit long, at over 320 pages, but it's worth every minute. Right now I'm on the chapter called "Toxic Assets: The Growing Breast", and it ties into Rachel Carson's research back in the 1970s. BPA and other xenoestrogens are a huge focus in this chapter, and I'd like to share some of the facts with you.
~ BPA is an artificial estrogen --called a xenoestrogen-- that was developed in the 1930s to prevent miscarriages in women. It failed to work as that... but was then used in the chemical industry to strengthen plastics.
~ BPA is a byproduct of refining petroleum (aka CHEAP to use and add to everything from food packaging to grocery receipts to dental sealants)
~ One dose of BPA to lab mice effectively damaged THREE generations. The same appears to be true in humans, meaning our chemical exposure starts much earlier than in the womb and lasts much later than death.
~ BPA alters the way mammary glands grow and respond to later threats.
~ Age-old saying: "The dose makes the poison." False: Even minuscule amounts of exposure can cause severe problems. What are these associated problems?
~ Early-in-life exposure to BPA can lead to:
• early puberty
• lower sperm counts
• changes in mating behaviour
• predisposition to obesity
• increased risk of breast and prostate cancers
• increased risk of miscarriages
We are crippling both sexes at once with our chemical exposure. Whether we know it or not, toxic ingredients in household cleaning products and even in the lining of our food products (canned goods included!) are altering the hormones in our bodies and introducing environmental toxins in our breast milk. It's extremely disheartening that corporate America (and the government) choose to turn a blind eye to human health in favour of high profits and low regulatory control over these profitable industries.
A fantastic, insightful read so far. If you're even mildly interested in learning about evolutionary anatomy, social changes and influences on how we view breasts, and how everyday toxic chemicals are affecting the mammary and reproductive health of not only women but men, too... then this book is definitely worthwhile.
The back-cover synopsis of the book starts out with: "Did you know that breast milk contains substances similar to cannabis? Or that it's sold on the Internet for 262 times the price of oil? Feted and fetishized, the breast is changing. Breasts are getting bigger, arriving earlier, and attracting newfangled chemicals. Increasingly, the odds are stacked against us in the struggle with breast cancer, even among men. What makes breasts so vulnerable?"
This bookis an engaging narrative written in an informing-yet-witty (and humourous, at times!) way. It's a bit long, at over 320 pages, but it's worth every minute. Right now I'm on the chapter called "Toxic Assets: The Growing Breast", and it ties into Rachel Carson's research back in the 1970s. BPA and other xenoestrogens are a huge focus in this chapter, and I'd like to share some of the facts with you.
~ BPA is an artificial estrogen --called a xenoestrogen-- that was developed in the 1930s to prevent miscarriages in women. It failed to work as that... but was then used in the chemical industry to strengthen plastics.
~ BPA is a byproduct of refining petroleum (aka CHEAP to use and add to everything from food packaging to grocery receipts to dental sealants)
~ One dose of BPA to lab mice effectively damaged THREE generations. The same appears to be true in humans, meaning our chemical exposure starts much earlier than in the womb and lasts much later than death.
~ BPA alters the way mammary glands grow and respond to later threats.
~ Age-old saying: "The dose makes the poison." False: Even minuscule amounts of exposure can cause severe problems. What are these associated problems?
~ Early-in-life exposure to BPA can lead to:
• early puberty
• lower sperm counts
• changes in mating behaviour
• predisposition to obesity
• increased risk of breast and prostate cancers
• increased risk of miscarriages
We are crippling both sexes at once with our chemical exposure. Whether we know it or not, toxic ingredients in household cleaning products and even in the lining of our food products (canned goods included!) are altering the hormones in our bodies and introducing environmental toxins in our breast milk. It's extremely disheartening that corporate America (and the government) choose to turn a blind eye to human health in favour of high profits and low regulatory control over these profitable industries.
Feb 19, 2013
Quote of the Day
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours,
That which it loves, and also that which it fears.
It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations,
It falls to the level of its unchastened desires.
And circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.
-James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
That which it loves, and also that which it fears.
It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations,
It falls to the level of its unchastened desires.
And circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.
-James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
Feb 13, 2013
Happy Chinese New Year
On Saturday, I went to Atlanta's Chinatown with Lin and my mom. We had a grand ol' time sampling different Chinese treats and walking around the [small] Chinatown plaza. Overall it was a great walk down memory lane without the permanence of buying a plane ticket to ZhongGuo 中国 (China). Here some pics! :)
More to come...
Feb 10, 2013
Feb 7, 2013
Randoms
Above: Shallow advertising: The reason why I don't watch the superbowl (aside from the fact that I detest football). Women aren't possessions or commodities. Stop fueling the problem, people!
Below: This picture below captures a really lovely quote (in my opinion). :)
Feb 2, 2013
MSG, the hidden ingredient
I know I flip between many different topics on my blog-- from recent adventures (hence the blog's name) to thoughts, quotes, new articles, and songs I like. This time it's what I did today and a note about a toxic ingredient in our food (MSG).
I hope you're all having a great weekend. Here it's been a bit nippy and rainy. As we grew up saying in my hometown, it's "spitting out" -- meaning "it's raining lightly". Today I babysat the most adorable little boy, who was about two and a half years old and FULL of endless amounts of energy! He would leap and dive across couches and run around the house, throwing basketballs and molding playdough and wanting cereal and running to the neighbours' to run around with their dog. Needless to say, I was WORN OUT by the time his dad came home! (Here's a cute picture of him playing with Callie).
The main focus of this post is monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG. I became quite familiar with this ingredient in China, as the Chinese use MSG instead of salt in all their cooking. In fact, I spent months looking for real salt in grocery stores in Zhuzhou... checking the "foreign" grocery store and other places I thought might carry it.
“你门有没有盐?" (Do you have salt?) I would ask, only to be pointed to an entire shelf of MSG packages. I was faced with the same impostor every. single. time.
Why was I trying to avoid MSG? Because it's a cheap chemical compound -- a toxic amino acid, to be exact -- that can have negative effects on the human (and animal) body and brain, specifically the nervous system. Remember the negative hype about aspartame when it first hit shelves? It's another toxic amino acid... discovered by scientists trying to create a fertilizer. Not exactly something we want to ingest, right?
Many low-fat and fat-free foods contain MSG, along with countless other foods. And why don't we know it most of the time? Because food companies disguise the ACTUAL ingredients when they create their ingredient lists. (Surprise, surprise. Big corporations don't give a crap about the people who buy and eat their products!) How can we really know what's in the food we're eating?
Well, for starters, we can learn how to decipher the ingredient lists. Did you know that companies have hundreds of different names for MSG and compounds that include MSG? As a rule of thumb, don't consume foods that include ingredients you can't pronounce. And the longer the ingredient list, the more dangerous the food product is. Basic is better and safer!
Second, beware of the following ingredients, as they contain MSG:
amino acidsThis renders a lot of "health foods" unsafe. If you don't believe me, just check the labels of a few items in your pantry. I'm not trying to be Negative Nancy or Perfectionist Patty (lol), since it seems almost impossible to fully rid ourselves of chemicals in our food... But, we sure as heck can try!
autolyzed yeast
citric acid
glutamate
glutamic acid
hydrolyzed protein
monopotassium glutamate
monosodium glutamate
natural flavors
protein
whey protein concentrate
If you're interested in reading about the other substitute names for MSG in foods, here's a helpful resource.
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