Mariss Jansons' Foot Joins that of Andris Nelsons

In an interview in the Telegraph the other day, maestro Mariss Jansons put his foot in his mouth:

Hmm, well. Well I don’t want to give offense,” said Jansons, “and I am not against it, that would be very wrong. I understand the world has changed, and there is now no profession that can be confined to this or that gender. It’s a question of what one is used to. I grew up in a different world, and for me seeing a woman on the podium… well, let’s just say it’s not my cup of tea.

And now, in a statement released by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, he's attempting to walk it back, not too successfully:

Our chief conductor Mariss Jansons has asked us to publish the following statement of his: 

“In a recent interview with the British newspaper ‘The Telegraph’,  a quote from me was published which has provoked considerable attention in the media. I would like to respond to this with the following statement:

I come from a generation in which the conducting profession was almost exclusively reserved to men. Even today, many more men than women pursue conducting professionally. But it was undiplomatic, unnecessary and counterproductive for me to point out that I’m not yet accustomed to seeing women on the conducting platform. Every one of my female colleagues and every young woman wishing to become a conductor can be assured of my support, for we all work in pursuit of a common goal: to excite people for the art form we love so dearly – music.”

In the United States, a gaffe is defined as "when a politician accidentally tells the truth." That first, unguarded remark very likely represents what is in Jansons' heart. I hope that he is taking the opportunity to go see MGT, Susana Mälkki, Marin Alsop, and their peers so that seeing women on the podium can become his cup of tea.

Tuesday Miscellany

Jessica Duchen chatted with John (Coolidge) Adams and published an interview in the Independent, but honestly, I think that the more interesting Q&A is what she posted on her blog....I bet you will be shocked, shocked, to hear that Paul Krugman is rolling his eyes at Paul Ryan's latest pronouncements about poverty; it certainly doesn't help that Ryan omits or misrepresents data that would undermine his positions....At the Geek Feminism blog, Coral Sheldon-Hess talks about why women in technology groups are important....In the course of discussing ticket fees, Drew McManus links to a whole bunch of my past complaints about them; be sure to read the sane and intelligent comments....And lastly, Harold Shapero talks about studying with Nadia Boulanger after he graduated from Harvard. He didn't have to go to Paris, because she was sitting out the war in Cambridge, MA.

Dear Pixar: Ever Heard of the Bechdel Test?

We went to Monsters University tonight, and while it's undoubtedly a beautifully-made animated film that looks fantastic, has fabulous voice acting, and has a great Randy Newman score (shades of Elgar and Brahms!), I came out of it wanting to bang my head against the wall.

It's 2013, and Pixar is still making movies where the plot is out of the 1940s or 1950s. For all the technology that goes into the filmmaking, here we've got a film that's equal parts frat boy movie, buddy movie, and underdog-wins movie. Pretty much everyone is a stereotype of some kind: the nerdy underdog, the big dumb lug, the nearsighted librarian, the chubby, unpopular guys, the droning professor. I mean, don't y'all have any imagination? A stereotype with five eyes and three legs is still a stereotype.

And there's only one leading female character to stand up to six or seven leading male characters, plus there are several subsidiary female characters. The female characters never exchange a word.

Even monsters can't be individuated enough and can't break out of stereotypes enough to get a few female characters front and center. Pixar, you should be ashamed of the stereotyping and your guy-centric plots.

Anti-Abortion Laws Kill Adult Women

Terrifying and tragic story from Ireland: a woman in the midst of miscarriage, 17 weeks into her pregnancy, was denied a swift termination of the pregnancy and died several days later of septicemia.

That's right, she was miscarrying, but the doctors would not perform an abortion, which would have saved her life.

I'm linking above to a blog at the Irish Times. There've been protests and vigils both in and outside Ireland. The Indian ambassador to Ireland is going to pay a call on the Irish PM: this is turning into an international incident, because Savita Halappanavar was an Indian citizen.

It is a disgrace, a criminal act. When you hear the phrase "war on women," think of Savita Halappanavar's death.

Scalia to Women: Rights? You Have No Rights.

California Lawyer interviewed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently. Here's part of what he said:

Q:  In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don't think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or certainly not to sexual orientation. So does that mean that we've gone off in error by applying the 14th Amendment to both?

 A: Yes, yes. Sorry, to tell you that. ... But, you know, if indeed the current society has come to different views, that's fine. You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society. Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't. Nobody ever thought that that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don't need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box. You don't like the death penalty anymore, that's fine. You want a right to abortion? There's nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn't mean you cannot prohibit it. Persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea and pass a law. That's what democracy is all about. It's not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.

Here's the text of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Gosh. I guess we are not "persons," either, even though the Supreme Court ruled in 1971, under Warren Burger, that the Equal Protection clause applied to women. Thanks for clearing that up, Justice Scalia!

Read all about it at the Huffington Post.

One Reason to Become a Catholic Priest

Today the Times has an article containing a big smoking gun pointed directly at Pope Benedict and his knowledge of a child-molesting German priest. There was another, earlier in the week, about an American priest who molested hundreds of Deaf boys in the midwest over a period from the 1950s through the 1980s; it seems likely that then-Cardinal Ratzinger had personal knowledge of this.

But what caught my eye was the photo in today's Times. Look at how the Pope and the other cleric in the photo are dressed. Benedict is in white robes with that extremely fancy red-with-gold brocade cope over it. (I think it's a cope, but I'm doing research, you bet.)

And look at the other cleric, who isn't identified in the photo: black robe with hot pink trim, belt (it must have a real name...) and yarmulke. Okay, he probably thinks of it as a skullcap. Plus, that little capelike thing on his shoulders.

You won't catch them calling their robes "dresses," but, honestly, that's what they are. Dresses for men. As Patrick once remarked to me, certain religious clothes, including priestly vestments and nuns' habits, are among the few remaining vestiges of medieval clothing in the Western world. (Another? Academic robes. It's a joy to watch a graduation parade, with its riot of robes, caps, and draperies.) I mean, in modern Europe and North American grown men do not get to run around in dresses unless they're priests, you know? And the mock nuns' habits of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence aren't that far off what nuns have worn in various times and places.

And I'll take that black and hot pink outfit for $100, Monty. Those colors suit me very well.

Polanski Arrest

There's quite a bit of outrage in the arts world at the arrest and possible extradition of Roman Polanski, who has been a fugitive since he left the United States in 1978 to avoid a possible prison sentence. The latest NY Times article discusses the crime he pleaded guilty to:

Mr. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1978 to unlawful sex with the girl whom he had lured to the home of Jack Nicholson on the pretext of a photo shoot and plied with Quaaludes and Champagne. But when a plea bargain deal appeared to founder, raising the prospect of a prison term, he fled the United States just before his sentencing.

Note the circumstances. The girl in question was 13; she was lured under false pretenses, then given drugs and alcohol and raped. Really, I have no problem with him going to jail for a while for this crime. The victim, now an adult, has reportedly forgiven him. That doesn't make him less guilty. It does seem weird that he has been in and out of Switzerland for many years without being arrested, and I'm curious that. Still.

You Don't Say

In the middle of a harrowing report on efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation in Egypt, comes this:

It is a challenge to get men to give up some of their control over women.