During my sophomore and junior years of high school, my Spanish teacher, Ms.
Carstens, would show us a funny video every Thursday- provided that we were good
all week. The reasoning behind this was quite simple: Thursdays suck and
everyone likes to laugh (except for, like, sociopaths)- therefore why not
improve Thursdays with some laughter? I really liked the idea of this, so I
decided to incorporate it into my blog. So without further adieu, I present you
with this week's giggle.
I forgot to post this week's Thursday Giggle! Here it is... only a day late!
I wrote this post in response to my Facebook newsfeed. I have "liked" many political and feminist pages- therefore, the Stuebenville rape trial and verdict have been blowing up my newsfeed. The pages I "like" have been posting a multitude of statements condemning the media's portrayal of the rapists- to sum up, the media was basically pitying the girl's attackers.
On top of this, the victim has been getting threats. Wow. Just wow.
Freaking imbeciles.
My interest in feminism started about half way through my junior year of high school, when I read Full Frontal Feminism- an excellent, powerfully-written book by my now-idol Jessica Valenti. Up until that point, I didn't think of feminism very often at all, nor did the thought cross my mind that I am (and always have been) a feminist. Though Valenti's book introduced a variety of topics- from the wage gap to the virgin-whore dichotomy, today I am going to focus on a phenomenon so common and repugnant it makes me physically ill. That phenomenon, dear reader, is rape culture.
Simply put, rape culture is a society giving women a list of to-do's that boil down to, "make sure he rapes the other girl".* We live in a world where rape is condoned and victim-shaming is commonplace. Take a moment and think about it. If a prostitute is raped, she is told that it is all her fault and that it is to be expected; a work hazard or, perhaps worst of all, it wasn't rape. If a woman who had been drinking is raped, she is told that she was asking for it; she shouldn't have drunk so much, she shouldn't have worn such revealing clothing, she shouldn't have flirted with her soon-to-be-rapist. Society says that date rape isn't rape, GHB rape isn't rape, if you don't fight back tooth and nail it was not rape. Society says you had better be bloody, bruised, and hanging on to life by a thread in order to be a rape victim.
No. Fuck that. No one "asks for it". I don't give a shit if the victim was naked and so drunk she passed out in the middle of Times Square. She STILL has the right to not get raped. A woman's profession does not excuse rape. The victim's sexual history is irrelevant. If a woman is drugged, guess what? IT IS RAPE. Why do none of the above scenarios blame the woman's attacker? If I were a man, I would be incredibly offended. Patriarchy tells us that men are so base and Neanderthal-like that women must be the ones to prevent rape; because men just can't help themselves. What a pile of crap. Feminism holds men to a higher standard, and finds them mentally competent.
It is high time we change the world's view of rape. We must make everyone see rape is an inexcusable offense- that it is NOT O.K.
*not my own statement- I took it from someone on Facebook.
So evidently my blog is fairly popular in Germany (if you call 19 views popular... which I do). This is so awesome! I have been thinking about this a lot... things like "Who in Germany is reading my blog?", "How many people in Germany have seen it?", "How did they find this page?", and "I hope that it isn't just a bunch of people accidentally clicking on my blog and moving on in disgust once they see it isn't the page they are looking for!"
So I guess what I am trying to say is; if you are from Germany, and are reading my blog, please comment on this posting (or any other posting, if you want) and let me know a little about yourself and try to answer some of those questions!! Danke Schoen!
(My German sucks... I hope I just said thank you.)
I have refrained from posting anything too political in nature during my first week because I wanted to gain somewhat of a viewership before becoming "that left-wing-hippie freak" so many others view me as. I am still going to wait a while before posting any subjects that are particularly touchy- ease into the water, as it were.
You have probably seen the terms "Feminism" and "Feminist" on this post already. Perhaps this has caused you to make assumptions- assumptions that would be based on the patriarchal world in which we live. This system would have you believe that feminists are man hating, ball breaking, hairy legged women, but that is simply not true. Please enjoy this quote... from the dictionary-
Or, perhaps one of my favorite quotes; one that has to do with the bad rap we feminists get sometimes (like being called a Feminazi):
So without further adieu, here are my thoughts on a certain word that I am not a fan of (again, look at my dictionary quote)
bitch
[ bich ]
female dog: a female dog, or the female of another related animal such as a fox, or of another carnivore such as a ferret
taboo term: a highly offensive term for a woman that deliberately insults her temperament
something difficult: a difficult thing or situation
Today, we will focus on the dictionary's second meaning to the word "bitch"; this is is a word I find deplorable, yet somehow, use often. I have been getting better at finding different words to use, and here's why.
Think about the biggest "bitch" you know. Chances are, this person is a woman in a position of authority (you mother, boss, aunt, politician, whatever) with a voice and opinion- and not afraid to use either. Now, I want you to picture somone you would call a "little bitch". In most cases, the person you picture is a man you find inferior to yourself- usually one who is sensitive or posesses feminine qualities (whether it be sensitivity, appearance, or his values).
So this means that even the least significant man is still superior to the the most significant woman? That is how it sounds to me. This ideaology also makes it sound like being a woman is so horrible, so degrading, that calling a man a woman is the highest insult that can be given.
Take a moment to look at the following pictures (and accompanying captions).
A woman in a position of authority is a bitch.
When we say a woman is "bitching", we insinuate that she is nagging.
"Bitches" is the plural form of bitch, but is also used to reference women who are viewed as property.
When we call a man a bitch, we are insulting his "manhood" (a cardinal sin among men, I guess... because being a woman is so horrible, you know), and saying that we find him inferior.
When we say a man is bitching, we are insinuating that he is complaining about something (because, apparently, complaining is unmanly)
The word "bitches" is usually used by men to reference "their women" (women they view as their personal property)
One form of the word "bitch" that I am okay with, and actually like is the word "bitchin'", as defined here:
During my sophomore and junior years of high school, my Spanish teacher, Ms. Carstens, would show us a funny video every Thursday- provided that we were good all week. The reasoning behind this was quite simple: Thursdays suck and everyone likes to laugh (except for, like, sociopaths)- therefore why not improve Thursdays with some laughter? I really liked the idea of this, so I decided to incorporate it into my blog. So without further adieu, I present you with this week's giggle.
You know, I think Gollum (a.k.a. Smeagol) is the most misunderstood LOTR character. Everyone seems to think he is just this crazy guy obsessed with a ring, but I happen to think that he suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder (or MPD) brought on by a traumatic experience (hundreds of years of isolation; I will explain this further later on).
It all started with Smeagol and his best friend fishing on Smeagol's birthday- roughly 500 years ago. His friend caught a great big huge fish, which pulled him into the water. Whilst being towed across the river floor, this dude saw something gold and resplendent- causing him to let go of the fishing pole. The object, as it turns out, was the Ring of Power.
By this point in time, Smeagol was getting a bit worried, and began walking the shores in search of his buddy. He came across his friend just as he was crawling out of the river, ring in tow. They both marvelled at the Ring, and Smeagol tried to take it from his friend. It was his birthday after all. Anywho, they fought over it, and Smeagol ended up strangling the other guy.
The Ring drove Smeagol mad (and rather paranoid, might I add), and he went into isolation in the mountains. There, the ring kept him alive for 500 years.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
The Ring changed this:
Into this:
Pretty intense, eh?
You should know, Riverfolk (Hobbit-like creatures who lived on the river shores) are similar to humans in the sense that we are both social animals. We know from research that isolation for humans can cause everything from anxiety and hallucinations to death. So it is fair to assume that it would have pretty much the same effect on Riverfolk.
Smeagol's alter's (an alter is an alternate personality in persons with MPD- some people can have 15 or more!) name is Gollum- he got that name from the sound he makes sometimes. Alters have a completely seperate view of the world, different personalities from the actual person, and in men the alters are usually violent. That explains a lot.
So, moral of the story is: it wasn't Smeagol's fault he acted the way he did. Perhaps if there had been psychaitric help available (and the Ring was disposed of, of course), he could have been a model citizen of Middle Earth.
Here is a video displaying a conversation between Smeagol and his alter, Gollum:
Some friends of mine recently returned from a 10-day vacation to Disney World. Yesterday, Dawn came by my apartment with the COOLEST. COFFEE MUG. EVER.
She spent the longest time at the store checking out every mug for the coolest design the perfect one. The mug with the best lid, the best design, and void of any imperfections. She actually buffed each mug with her fleece jacket sleve and tested out all the lids. I guess her mom and daughter just left her at the store because she was taking so long, and later on Haley (her daughter) told Chris (her husband), "You would have been so proud of Mom at the store today". Evidently he is a very particular shopper as well. I never would have guessed that. When Dawn showed Chris the mug, he pointed out this white spot:
Turns out that every mug with this design had the minor imperfection (if she hadn't pointed it out, I would never have noticed it).
Naturally, Dawn was much better at telling the story; I laughed my ass off.
I was just scrolling through Pinterest, minding my own business, when BAM!! I saw the coolest infographic ever. You should know, I LOVE coffee. It's the best drink in the whole wide world. In fact, I am drinking some right now. So here it is- the coolest infographic ever made:
ən
