Feminsim: Let's all go cray-cray!!!

I will admit that women's studies is not my favorite class.

I am all for women's rights.

I understand that the differing opinions that come up in class might not be what I agree with but that they are opinions that need to be said none-the-less.

I am aware that women's studies is such a broad topic that a professor can't limit the readings without limiting the knowledge of his or her students.

It's fine, no really, it's perfectly alright to include anecdotal evidence.  In fact, anecdotal evidence is absolutely necessary to start the process of gaining interest and doing research.

But what pisses me off is that what often comes across as advocating for the rights of women is really just a man-bashing/ tradition-smashing session.  Women say the same things over and over, that we need change, that maternity leave is too short, that the rights to a woman's body should not just include whether or not she has an abortion approved by the government but that if she does have children there should be adequate resources and care provided by the government to raise her child appropriately.  And it's all true.  But we need to cut the crap and start being honest with the men about it.

The simplest explanation is that we are scared.  We, as women, are afraid to jump out of our comfort zones. We, as men, are afraid that confrontations will lead to resentment.  We, as an American people, are afraid that change is going to cost us more in taxes.  We, as human beings, are afraid to admit that we are doing things wrong and that we can't wait for people to change the world. We have to change the world ourselves.

So back to feminism.  Feminism has to include men.  There is no possible to way to exclude 50% of the population just because the other 50% thinks they're doing things wrong.  The real world is not a work of fiction.  We can't just edit, delete, and re-write history and the present.  Hell, it's going to take at least 8 more chapters and about 1000 more blog posts from me before societal opinions really begin to change (and we all know I don't post unless I've really got something to rant about. Oh well. It's not like I'm super dooper important or anything...because...you know...I'm..not.              Damn.  .  .)

So ladies! Let the men in! Welcome them! Form meaningful relationships with them! Stop perpetuating stereotypes about them being clueless fathers and sexist behemoths. Believe in them, in the change that can occur in them.  They might surprise you.

And gentlemen. Stop being chauvinistic pigs!  Stop running away when women feel close enough to you to talk about their struggles with anxiety!  Share your knowledge about fixing cars, wrangling cattle, and writing poetry!  Believe in us, and the potential we have to make a partnership with you great! We might surprise you.

And in reality, it's not about the little things, like saying "hey guys!" or using the word 'he' in a sexually ambiguous sentence.  It's about the mutual respect, tolerance, and equality of mockery in today's television that we're after.

And I still don't like Women's Studies.

http://www.savvysugar.com/Japans-Employees-Working-Together-Living-Together-1875222

Cheers!

Change

Nobody likes it.
Not when the waitress tells you that your bill is 3.45 and so just to make it even you give her a 55 cent tip.
Not when your publisher says, hell no. That's crap. Re-write this completely.
Not when your own consciousness says, hey! You're going the wrong way! If you don't change now, you're headed for emptiness and self-loathing! You don't want that, do you?
But it is absolutely necessary.  We must change. As soon as we get comfortable, we must change.  Change is the spice of life. It is that ingredient that always seems to be missing until you realize that something different needs to happen and you act upon it.  Attitude changes, personality changes, routine changes. If you become comfortable, then you are living life wrong. There are hundreds of billions of things in the world you have left to try! Why do you stick to the same 5? Because you're good at them? No! Because you want improve upon them? No! Because you're scared to try something new.
I'm scared.  The start of this semester was great. I was doing new things, I was seeking new challenges. I was actually living. Now, I'm going through the motions. It has become a drag just to keep doing the same things I've been doing this whole semester.  I need spontaneity.  I need change.
So when things got too stifled up in my dorm room and meeting rooms and class rooms, I pulled on a coat and my feet stuffed into faux-leather black flats, I froze on a walk in the dark to a nearby creek.  There, in the complete blackness, I stumbled down a hill. I took a road in between some hills, twitching at every sound, my imagination (I must admit) getting the better of me.  And I cried. I cried for a long time.
I am not ashamed to admit, that I am a daughter of God, a sister of Christ Jesus.  And so I am also not ashamed to admit that I cried and prayed and told God that I was absolutely not satisfied with the way my life was, that I felt the need to be validated, that I was not content with the same old thing day after day.
The message is not that we need to pray to God every time we get too comfortable (although it often helps, especially if you haven't prayed like that in a while) but that every time we get comfortable, we need to change our path so that it better suits us and those around us.  We need to find a way to rejuvenate, to reinvigorate, to re-inspire our souls and are hearts.  We need to find ways to change boring rituals into new traditions.  We need to find the fire in our bellies, the spring in our legs, the tensing muscles in our lungs and jaws that are all the signals that our soul is still young and ready to explode from our bodies and spread its message and love and vision of hope throughout the world.  We need to reconquer our own minds and bodies before we can conquer the world.
The method to our madness is...Change.

Cheers!

http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/on-being-an-agent-of-change/