Just Put On a Happy Face
New Statesman - Economy - The cult of cheerfulness
Got no job, no prospects? Your injury is not getting better? Don't worry, be happy...
Okay- and never ever ever let on that you are pissed at the hand life dealt you, because otherwise you are doomed. Doomed I say.
Buck up, and think of a few of your favorite things.
Let a smile be your umbrella, on a rainy rainy day...
Yeah- Fuck off!! I love these songs, I even sing them to the kids, but sometimes, I just say screw it and start sining Run To The Hills, before I go into meltdown phase.
But the Big E says it way better than I do. So here goes...
THE CULT OF CHEERFULNESS
"Right now," notes Barbara Ehrenreich, "America is in the grip of a cult of cheerfulness, which I first became aware of five years ago when I was being treated for breast cancer. I was launched into this pink-riven culture back then. There is this sense that if you just have a positive attitude you can control your circumstances entirely, which is an idea that has no scientific basis at all: there is no evidence that positive people are more likely to survive cancer, for instance. And, in this culture, you can never be angry. Even if something terrible has happened, you have to put on a smiley face."
Got no job, no prospects? Your injury is not getting better? Don't worry, be happy...
Okay- and never ever ever let on that you are pissed at the hand life dealt you, because otherwise you are doomed. Doomed I say.
Buck up, and think of a few of your favorite things.
Let a smile be your umbrella, on a rainy rainy day...
Yeah- Fuck off!! I love these songs, I even sing them to the kids, but sometimes, I just say screw it and start sining Run To The Hills, before I go into meltdown phase.
But the Big E says it way better than I do. So here goes...
THE CULT OF CHEERFULNESS
"Right now," notes Barbara Ehrenreich, "America is in the grip of a cult of cheerfulness, which I first became aware of five years ago when I was being treated for breast cancer. I was launched into this pink-riven culture back then. There is this sense that if you just have a positive attitude you can control your circumstances entirely, which is an idea that has no scientific basis at all: there is no evidence that positive people are more likely to survive cancer, for instance. And, in this culture, you can never be angry. Even if something terrible has happened, you have to put on a smiley face."
posted by Impatient Patient at Tuesday, March 28, 2006
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