1) I really like it when someone is able to make me see a different side of an issue, especially a side I hadn't even realized was there. For instance, I'm not exactly a big fan of Paris Hilton, but this post made me think. When I take part in bashing another female - even a vacuous, useless, please stop wasting my oxygen - female, what kind of message is that sending? Sure, I don't want my niece to grow up to be Paris but I also don't want her growing up thinking that if she does the exact same thing that a male "celebrity" does she'll be called a slut and villified by the masses. To be a truly good feminist, I have to practice what I preach and not make the misogynists' arguement for them.
2) I am now an age that I can remember my mother being. I was 6 when she was my age so I've got some memories. I can't imagine having her life. She had two kids at that point, 4 and 6. N and I had a conversation over dinner tonight about what we'd do if right this moment we became pregnant. We both were pretty clearly in the abortion camp. I tried to think about what would happen if I was in a serious, committed relationship. If it was serious it would mean we'd already discussed the fact that I do not want to have kids and he'd concurred. I wouldn't want to get into a serious relationship with someone who wants them. That would just be stupid. But faced with an actual pregnancy in that situation what would I do? First I'd be pissed. As I was talking to N, I thought the answer would depend on my partners response. But then I realized, no it wouldn't. Just the thought of my partner suggesting we keep it raised my hackles. The word I kept coming up with was resentment. I would resent the hell out of my partner if I was put in a position where he said, "Let's go for it." No! Let's not "go for it." A baby should be a happy thing and even if accidental shouldn't be something to resent. But I would. Not the baby itself but everything that had to do with it - birth control, society for making me and everyone else think this a natural step, genetics for making me a girl, my partner, the thought that I should be happy about such a joyous occasion. I'd be a bitter little troll and that ain't good. On the upside, I heard back from my insurance company and they cover Essure.
3) I put up my "sexual totem" today - a nude sketch of me from when I posed last year. It's in my bedroom near my full legth mirror. Everytime I look at it I'm supposed to be reminded of sex and that I am a sexual creature, a "bad girl" if you will. We'll see how it goes.
2) I am now an age that I can remember my mother being. I was 6 when she was my age so I've got some memories. I can't imagine having her life. She had two kids at that point, 4 and 6. N and I had a conversation over dinner tonight about what we'd do if right this moment we became pregnant. We both were pretty clearly in the abortion camp. I tried to think about what would happen if I was in a serious, committed relationship. If it was serious it would mean we'd already discussed the fact that I do not want to have kids and he'd concurred. I wouldn't want to get into a serious relationship with someone who wants them. That would just be stupid. But faced with an actual pregnancy in that situation what would I do? First I'd be pissed. As I was talking to N, I thought the answer would depend on my partners response. But then I realized, no it wouldn't. Just the thought of my partner suggesting we keep it raised my hackles. The word I kept coming up with was resentment. I would resent the hell out of my partner if I was put in a position where he said, "Let's go for it." No! Let's not "go for it." A baby should be a happy thing and even if accidental shouldn't be something to resent. But I would. Not the baby itself but everything that had to do with it - birth control, society for making me and everyone else think this a natural step, genetics for making me a girl, my partner, the thought that I should be happy about such a joyous occasion. I'd be a bitter little troll and that ain't good. On the upside, I heard back from my insurance company and they cover Essure.
3) I put up my "sexual totem" today - a nude sketch of me from when I posed last year. It's in my bedroom near my full legth mirror. Everytime I look at it I'm supposed to be reminded of sex and that I am a sexual creature, a "bad girl" if you will. We'll see how it goes.
Comments
just so long as being a feminist doesn't mean you have to do things that you wouldn't normally do that affect a lot of people.
the feminist in me would love to see hillary clinton running for president in 2008 -- but the rest of me knows she supports the war in iraq, is weak on the economy, and unconvincing on civil rights, not to mention the environment. i can't vote for only a health care plan to have a woman in office.
where's the line to be drawn, then, between not bashing paris and our obligation to, say, electing a woman as president?