My day...

Well, March 9th is the fated day... Not only will Mary turn a year older, but I will get my wisdom teeth out that day... Not fun at all, but it has to be done. Until then, I will just have to survive on ibuprofen.


Oh, I forgot to tell mom about this, but today for IS (Inquiry Studies) we had to read this article called "What does a Woman Need to Know?" by Adrienne Rich. It was a commencement speech she wrote for Smith College in 1979. Wow. It's been a very long time since I've read something that physically made me angry. In fact, I can't even recall the last thing I read that upset me this much. Stupid radical feminists... What's the opposite of a feminist? Chivalrous??? I don't know exactly, but if someone has any ideas, let me know.

~First of all, before I go on this rant, I want to state that I believe that women, if they are qualified, deserve to be paid equally to men for the same jobs. I also want to state that I am not going to let myself be pushed around, or manipulated by men. I am independent to an extent.~

Okay.

*deep breath*

I have never wanted to loudly proclaim something so full of crap using swear words before, as I have after reading this article. Reading it just want me to rip out my hair. The whole article is about the "liberation" of women. How ALL women need to work to break standards and stereotypes. They must strive to "surpass" the inadequacy of men to succeed in the workplace. Apparently it is only when all women are childless and rich CEO's that true liberty and equality can be achieved.

WHA-ATEVER!!!!

The article talks about how "seemingly natural states of being, like heterosexuality, like motherhood, have been enforced and institutionalized to deprive her of her power." (direct quote) I would like to stress the word "seemingly". (FYI the author is lesbian. I looked up her bio on the web) I don't know about you, but heterosexuality looks pretty natural to me! The paragraph goes on to say that without a "correct education" women will continue to be "plagued" by ignorance, and be vulnerable to the "projections of men's fantasies as they appear in art, literature" etc., and as long as these views continue, women will remain "powerless".

I strongly dislike how the article makes the brash assumption that all women should feel this way. That heterosexuality and motherhood are "burdens" and "impediments" that hinder women from achieving their "true worth".

Gag me with a spoon. Someone. Please!

Well, I don't feel that way!

I also do not like how it talks about the "oppression of mothers" relieved by the Women's Cooperative Guild in England. So now having children makes women oppressed? How does that work? Am I missing something?

And then there's this quote: "No woman is liberated until we all are liberated"

What are you trying to liberate me from? Motherhood???

What if I don't want to be liberated? I guess your "ideal" world of femininity couldn't be achieved then, huh?

HAH! So there! :-P

And then she talks about being worthy of our "foresisters" and the heritage of our "ancestresses".

THOSE AREN'T EVEN REAL WORDS! The English language, which is a Romantic language, (meaning it's based off of Latin) just doesn't work that way. You learn this in English. Some words are feminine, some are masculine and some just don't have a gender. No one really knows why. They just are. It's some rule long ago that the Romans made up, that no one knows anymore... In Spanish pen is feminine... Pencil is masculine... It's just the way it is. And substituting the opposite gender in words like "forefathers" and "ancestors" is not how it works. It's just silly!!!!! It really degrades my opinion of your intelligence.

On that note, I would like to state that it greatly amuses me when she uses a word that is masculine: narcissism. Narcissus was a Greek man who was so vain, he fell in love with his own reflection in a pond. He stood there and stood there admiring himself, until he finally fell into the pond and drowned. This is where we get the word "narcissism." *eye roll*

Okay, so having to discuss this article in class just really rubbed me the wrong way. And then we were discussing whether education is a "privilege" and why. Then Dr. Olson talked about how there is a law where you have to "go" to school until you are 16. And because I was feeling confrontational, I raised my hand and said that it would be more accurate to say that the law says you must be "educated" until you are 16, because I was homeschooled and I didn't "go" to school.

fine

Yeah, so that was my long rant. And FYI, if a guy wants to hold a door for me, walk on the side of the pavemeant closest to the street, or pay for dinner I'm not going to complain. I may not expect it, but I'm not going to chew him out for "thinking I can't hold my own in the world".

Stupid feminists...