dispelling debunking dissecting delighting

i've had some good discussions in the community this past week. a talk i gave about male reproductive health (to the micro health insurance women) first became a praisefest for vasectomies and then became a very active discussion about homosexuality. the older, more strictly religious women kind of tuned out and looked a little offended. the younger women started throwing out lots of "but isn't homosexuality caused by..." ideas. many different ideas floating out there. "isn't homosexuality caused by getting raped as a child?" one asked. another responded, "no, i have a nephew who was raped as a child and he's pretty macho now." oh...good response i guess? mostly the beliefs were that homosexuality was a result of an event, accident, or habit formed in childhood, or that people decide to be gay or lesbian all of a sudden. i didn't have to do much talking - the women were very animated and many of them defended the fact that you are born gay or lesbian and that there's nothing wrong with that. i was pretty impressed and delighted. but again - the older generation was not participating.

we've also been doing a series of talks/activities about budgeting with the micro health insurance women. this week we talked about buying on installment plans versus saving up and paying everything up front. one woman had paid for a $500 refrigerator on the installment plan and the total was $800. whoaaa. a lot of goods that are very cheap in the US are expensive here. this rack, for example, might be $50 here. there's no target or ikea here to go pick up your plastics for $5.99. i guess it costs a lot to ship large empty plastic containers that are not stackable. after this discussion, i gave out newspaper advertisements and each pair of women analyzed their ad - at what gender/age is this directed, what is the message, what are they selling, is there a clear price, what does the small print say, etc. they were really into it. "this ad is full of lies!" yes.

i don't remember whether i ever had any kind of "anti-advertising education" or whether i just developed my own bitterness towards ads of all sorts. cell phone companies here, as in the states, are brutal with surprise fees and restrictions and nothing is ever clear. sometimes ads appear here in places that i am not accustomed to - an extra panel above a street sign pointing you towards a kfc, a giant floor-to-ceiling sign in the class room at the gym sponsored by dove that warns that "communal soaps leave residue on your skin." rut roh! the newspaper also runs what i believe are supposed to be sincere articles about things like "chili's adds new menu items." sorry- that is not news. both here and in the US, i think there should be more consumer education and many more restrictions on ads. but you all knew that already.