Mercedes Sosa

(thanks to bearginner posting this video that reminded me...)

I was first introduced to Mercedes Sosa by a recording that appeared on an eclectic latin collection I had. It was a live recording from a concert she gave shortly after returning to her native Argentina, after several years of exile by the Argentine military regime, during which her husband died.

The song was _Gracias a la Vida_ and was, as I understand, one of her signature songs that many people loved. What was so amazing about the recording was not just her performance but the reaction of the audience - even before I knew the story, I could feel the joy, the relief, the love. It's always made me think about my life, and what I have and haven't had to endure, and to be thankful.

She died two days ago (Oct 4).

This is a performance of the song:

These are the lyrics.

Thank you, Life, for you gave me so much.
You gave me two stars for eyes and when I open them
I can perfectly distinguish black from white
And up above in the skies the constelations
And in the crowds the man I love.

Thank you, Life, for you gave me so much.
You gave me ears so that I can hear
And record the sounds day and night of
Crickets, canaries, factories, dogs barking,
The rain falling, and the sweet voice of my loved one.

Thank you, Life, for you gave me so much.
You gave me the sounds and the alphabet
And with them the words I think of and declare
Mother, friend, brother and light shining
Over the route of my loved one's soul.

Thank you, Life, for you gave me so much.
You gave my tired feet the strenght to walk
On them I have visited cities and potholes
Beaches and deserts, mountains and valleys
And your house, your street, your backyard.

Thank you, Life, for you gave me so much.
You gave me my heart that beats like a drum
When I see the fruits of the human brain
When I see good so far away from evil
When I look in the depth of your beautiful eyes.

Thank you, Life, for you gave me so much.
You gave me laughter and tears
So I can express happiness and sorrow
The two elements my songs are made of
And your songs, which are like my songs,
And everybody's songs, which are also mine.

Mob

I'm not going to post a link or names, but I've been attacked by a 'net mob in the comment section of someone's blog. No big deal, or shouldn't be, because I've seen this kind of pack mentality in the past (soc.motss). But this one has me shaking and on the edge of tears. Accusing someone of supporting the rape of children as a means of winning an argument is hateful and shameful. It's unfortunate that I now have to remove this person from my friends list, not because of anything they've done (although their complete silence during the attacks bothers me) but because there is no way it will ever feel safe to post a comment there again. And that, and some interesting resulting interchanges, have been in the past examples of why I like LJ better than FB.

This is an excerpt from a message I just sent someone

Let me make very clear: I do not condone or support non-consensual sex at any time. I understand clearly that there are sexual predators who use a difference in maturity, or threats, or physical violence, or whatever to have sex with immature people/children. I believe that is is wrong and horrible. I believe that people who have sex with pre-pubescent children should be executed. There is never an explanation, or an excuse, for that.

I understand that we have to have laws that define age cut-offs for when something is OK and when it's not. That said, I am baffled that merely saying that when you're talking about teenagers/young adults, those cut-offs are arbitrary and don't take into account actual maturity levels somehow opened the door for me to be accused of fucking children, or wanting others to fuck children. I know you forbid me from making any assumptions about your work, but in trying to understand what happened I am guessing that the only time you hear anyone talk about how someone was sexually mature for their age is when they are using it as an excuse for abusing someone underage. Which I in no way condone. And I made no such comments or assumptions about the girl in the Polanski case.

Human sexuality is messy, and how people go about it is messy, and I think its fair to talk about that, even when you're talking about someone technically underage ("underage" does not in any way include pre-pubescent children, I'm talking possibly 15 and onwards.) I've known guys who were sexually voracious from the age of 14, and who were interested in older men. I've known 16 year old girls who loved getting fucked by college guys. Again, it baffles me that even bringing up that fact immediately made me a target for accusations that I was a member of NAMBLA, etc. Most people are not mature enough at 14, or 15, or even 18. I'm sure you know people who are making bad choices well into adulthood. Most people who are becoming sexually active choose partners around their own age. Some do not. My point was, talking in absolutes - all 17 year olds are children, all 18 year olds are adults, anyone over that line who sleeps with someone under it is a predator - just doesn't fit reality. And pointing that out does not mean I am advocating disposing of all laws and protections. I just wanted to _talk_ about the subject. Because it's interesting. Because it needs to be talked about. Because more clarity, and rationality, and reality, around sex is a good thing.

I have to assume that you think/thought I was some kind of monster, which made it possible for you (and others) to say some of the horrible things and make the horrible accusations that you did. I'm not. Some of the things directed at me brought me to tears - like the woman who was raped as a child and I was just like the man who did it. On and on. I hope you can understand how incredibly horrifying that was to me, even from strangers, even when I knew it was groundless. That if there was any way the owner of this journal would think it possible that I in any way condoned what happened to him....

It wasn't just you, it was mostly others, and I got very very angry at what was being done to me, the refusal to listen, the horrible accusations, and I said some things I probably shouldn't have. For that I apologized to the owner for doing it in his journal and I apologize to you because you're his friend.

I feel like I need to come back to one of the things I wrote about Polanski. The context for me was your posting about how things were in the 70's when the rape happened. I was in Los Angeles in the mid-late 70's and it was not the world you describe. LA is for the most part Hollywood and it was druggy, and highly sexualized, pre-AIDS, and there were lots of underage girls out on the scene with apparently no parental knowledge or control. Quaaludes and cocaine were everywhere and I don't know if you have any experience with 'ludes but they were total disinhibiters. Total. The "I'll let you fuck me if you get me high and then make me famous" attitude was very common. Sad, but common, and I agree with you that probably a lot, if not the vast majority, really were lonely and wanted to be loved, and validated, not fucked. But they were there saying "fuck me" nonetheless, and they were clear on what the bargain was.

I am in no way saying that the girl Polanski raped was like that - apparently she wasn't. I am in no way saying that there's a real excuse for what he did. She repeatedly said no. What I was thinking about, and writing about, is how someone who did what he did within that LA-at-the-time context is not necessarily someone who would do what he did outside of that context. That the one-size-fits-all label of "sexual predator" was challenged by that kind of context, where someone who wasn't inherently evil could end up making those sorts of bad choices in that situation, where more evil would be required to do them outside of them. That said, it wasn't unplanned - he sent away her friend. He knew what he was planning. I don't know.

From the victim's perspective it doesn't matter. The damage done is the damage done. From a punishment perspective, you tell me. From a protecting society from further harm, that to me is where what I wrote above comes into play. Is he the same risk as someone who picks up kids by playgrounds? Parents who drug their 6-year-old kids and sell videos of them getting fucked on the internet? My gut sense is no, and that gut sense made me want to talk about it. My writing about it didn't mean I thought I had the answers. Talking about this sort of thing is something that I value friends like the owner of the journal for.

I don't know this makes any difference. I just know that I am horrified and upset by what happened, and I feel a need to try to set things right.