Kelly At Large #138 The (Nearly) Optimistic Edition
In which I meet cheerful people and watch the Women's World Cup.
Hello from Paris!
So… a while ago I signed up with the unemployment office. It was partly in the vain hope of finding a job. (There are plenty of jobs in digital media in English, but most demand a “digital native” “early” in their career, which translates to a 24 year old willing to work for minimum wage.) Mostly though, I wanted to move to some other field and pôle emploi offers free courses.
When I’m being realistic I look at the classes that are purely tech. When I’m not—I look at the programs that would turn me into a boulangère, a baker. Like half of France I spent the Covid confinement watching baking shows and making homemade sourdough. Besides, a friend of mine actually went so far as to get certified and encouraged me to as well. If nothing else, I could get an article out of it.
This week, curious, I signed up for a program for people who want to start their own businesses, and was sitting there waiting for my appointment when a guy came in, sat down, waiting for his own appointment, smiled and said, Comment ça va? How ya doin’? Which was oddly friendly and informal for a Parisian.
After he went back to meet his mentor, a young woman arrived who smiled and said hello, too, then started chatting to the guy at reception about how the city was emptying out for the holidays. He was glad because it meant more seats on the often crowded subway. She, who only walks or takes a citybike, said the best thing about July and August was that with everybody gone there were fewer distractions and she could concentrate on her project. She was so happy, cheerful, optimistic, like the man who said hello—rare among the Eeyorian Parisians I know, and for that matter, New Yorkers…
…that I started wondering how my political outlook would change if I knew more people like them. Because I was happy by contagion the rest of the day.
Speaking of optimism…
the Women’s World Cup in Football (soccer) started this week, and while I enjoy the games it makes me think more generally about women. How women’s first World Cup was only contested in 1991 to no great fanfare but is now broadcast on major channels, and even, if you believe Wikipedia, “ranks in the top five for most watched sporting broadcasts in the world.”
And how now, important matches, not just the World Cup, are played in some of the largest stadiums and burst at the seams, like the European Champions’ League. And they deserve the audience. The players have improved immensely since I started watching a couple decades ago.
It’s a little embarrassing, but I sometimes find myself getting teary watching them display everything women are supposed to deny. Strength. Determination. Desire. A will to dominate and overcome. To fucking win. A screw you to all those who have told them, “girls shouldn’t” “women don’t.” Though sometimes they pay for it with their lives.
Watching South Africa battle Sweden on Sunday, I thought of Eudy Simelane, a famous South African player and lesbian activists who was gang-raped and stabbed to death in 2008. “I’m not sorry,” said one of the monsters convicted for her murder. “Corrective” rape is still a problem, and not just in South Africa.
My point though, is this— that these women don’t quit. They refuse. I’ve watched every game so far, and no matter how outmatched they are, I haven’t seen one team give up yet. Not for a minute. Their fierce desire is something to behold.
A link to a video showing how women’s football was wildly popular in Britain—before it was banned. Most speakers are in English though it’s subtitled in French.
In Other News
Here’s an update on Ukraine. I know I keep sharing links to the same guy, but he is one of the few commentators whose analysis seems based on reason.
Quit taking supplements—seriously
If you live in the U.S. (or Canada) or probably anywhere else, don’t take health supplements.
That’s the only thing I can conclude after reading this absolutely shocking newsletter revealing how they almost never contain what they promise, and often contain downright dangerous things.
And in terrible news…
Italy starts removing lesbian mothers’ names from children’s birth certificates thanks to new legislation passed by the “traditional family-first” government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
That’s it for this time,
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Gruntedly yours,
xoxo K