The Increasing Gender Polarity

These days when I open the newspaper all I see are advertisements which claim to make a girl look like a princess. With a pink background and pretty tiaras, little toddlers dressed in puffy pink dresses with big smiles on their faces. And small boys, with gelled hairs and black sunglasses, posing with attitude suitable for a 35-year old.

And if I look around myself all I see is gender stereotypes being reinforced everywhere. With parents choosing blue and pink for their son and daughter, pink buses for girls, pink compartments in the metro just for women etc. etc........ All this makes me go WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE????

I for one am not a fan of the color pink, but I don't judge those who are. However, I do not like those who force it on others especially children. I mean, would a girl be any less a girl if she likes say red or black or any of those colors. Children have impressionable minds and the “smart” advertising people are exploiting them by conforming them to such stereotypes. Children today demand the princess themed parties, faux tiaras, princess themed bedrooms and parents today in a bid to give everything their child wants are complying with such demands without thinking of the long-term effects of such stuff. I read the article Gender Issues in Media and I strongly agree with the writer.

Moreover, such practices are so wide-spread and deep-rooted that many a time’s people do not even realize when they accept them as "normal". In the above said article the writer suggests some ways to curb this menace and I highly recommend them.

Kidney Stones: Modern Technology to the Rescue

A kidney stone is an aggregation of certain materials -phosphorus, calcium, and oxalate- which gets accumulated in the kidney or the urinary system. Kidney stones are one of the most common ailments affecting people today. A list of factors can contribute to the formation of kidney stones such as weight, environmental factors, and cystic kidney diseases, which are disorders that cause fluid-filled sacs to form on the kidneys etc. They can also be hereditary. Moreover, they are incurable as it is a tendency of the body to form them.  

In my family, kidney stones have plagued every generation, from my great-grandfathers to my grandfather to my father and me. Also, my mother and her father had kidney stones too. In their time, the only way to treat kidney stones was to perform an operation on the kidney. The doctors would cut open the kidney and take the stone out. This was a very risky not to mention expensive procedure and was only used when the stone reached a certain size. Also there was a high risk of infection and other post-op complications. But today, thanks to modern technology and advancements in healthcare, a lot of new and safe options have come up to treat kidney stones.  Some of them are:

•Shock wave lithotripsy. A machine called a lithotripter is used to crush the kidney stone. The procedure is performed by an urologist on an outpatient basis and anesthesia is used. In shock wave lithotripsy, the person lies on a table or, less commonly, in a tub of water above the lithotripter. The lithotripter generates shock waves that pass through the person’s body to break the kidney stone into smaller pieces to pass more readily through the urinary tract.

•Ureteroscopy. An ureteroscope—a long, tube like instrument with an eyepiece—is used to find and retrieve the stone with a small basket or to break the stone up with laser energy. The procedure is performed by a urologist in a hospital with anesthesia. The urologist inserts the ureteroscope into the person’s urethra and slides the scope through the bladder and into the ureter. The urologist removes the stone or, if the stone is large, uses a flexible fiber attached to a laser generator to break the stone into smaller pieces that can pass out of the body in the urine. The person usually goes home the same day.

There are more procedures too like Percutaneous nephrolithotomy but the above two are the comparatively used more. You can find more information about the above at National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). Moreover, not only are these procedures less expensive and less invasive they also reduce the chances of post op complications considerably.
Hence we can see how with the use of modern technology and advance techniques people's lives have been touched and changed for the better.

#this article is written as an entry to ApolloTouchingLives

A little note to Suzanne Collins....

Recently, when I was studying the structure of  the Aggregated diamond nanorods (ADN), I was reminded of this correction which I forgot to mention in my review of Catching Fire. Here's the quote from the book:

No copyright infringement intended.

I found this hilarious when I was reading this book. Pearls are primary made of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) and conchiolin. And the interesting fact is that certain mollusks form a pearl sac to protect themselves from a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside its shell, or an attack from outside, injuring the mantle tissue. It uses the pearl sac to seal off the irritation.

A black pearl and a shell of the black-lipped pearl oyster.
 The iridescent colors originate from nacre layers.

Furthermore, its diamonds that are formed by subjecting coals to extremely high pressures. In fact, for manufacturing of artificial diamonds, carbon beads are subject to pressures as high as 5 GPa at 1500 °C. This process is also called the HPHT method. So now you know better!!!

Something you should Read.......

In my last post, "Is Marriage the Ultimate goal?", I talked about how I feel that marriage shouldn't be the ultimate goal of a women's life. While reading today, I came across this article by Urvashi Butalia. It talks on the same lines that how the old gender-based goals have become obsolete in the contemporary times in the lives of women. Women today are not only questioning the roles that cultures have defined for us but also making choices on their own terms. And the article above discusses the dilemma that women face when they do not conform to such stereotypes and and are asked questions like:" Don't you want to be a mother?  Aren't you lonely? Why aren't you married?"

Is Marriage the ultimate goal?

Today, I was watching a rom-com and it occurred to me that why marriage always is thought of as the only goal in a woman's life? Why isn't her career given as much importance?

Often in movies, there is a woman who is desperate for a husband and a guy who is absolutely tailor-made for her, they bump into each other, don't like each other at first and then fall hopelessly in love. Also, these days the term "emotionally damaged" is like the new in thing in rom-coms. I'm not against love or marriages but I simply ask why do you need a certificate for your love? Why can't it be just companionship? Or why doesn't a girl choose who she is over who she loves? Am not "I" equally important? 

Even while growing up, the whole concept of marriage is introduced to kids in a much gloried manner. Fairy tales endorse the promise of marital bliss. Toys such as many dolls come in pairs. Girls grow up with dreams of walking down the altar in big white dress. Why aren't they raised with the dream of being a successful being? Why aren’t they encouraged to find themselves and their place in the world?  Why is everyone in a rat race for finding their happily-ever-after???

Sketches

Something from my sketchbook.............Hope you like it :)

A Question

A QUESTION

a voice said, look me in the stars

and tell me truly, men of earth,

if all the soul-and-body scars

were not too much to pay for birth

ROBERT FROST

I'm not a big fan of poetry but the above poem did speak to me so I thought I must share it with you all.