International Women’s Day
Posted in fyi, personal, politics on March 8th, 2010 by V.E.Today is International Women’s Day, as March 8th has been every year since 1975. This year’s theme is: “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all”, something about which I’m not sure what to write. Women still don’t have equal rights or equal opportunities, even in supposedly great nations such as the United States and other first-world countries like Japan, Germany, England, Spain, Italy, and France. 
And yes, I’m being specifically Eurocentric because it’s European and North American countries that have made the most progress—as far as I can see, at least—in women’s rights, much less other countries that still have honor killings and female genital mutilation of all things.
I’m somewhat conflicted about having an International Women’s Day (IWD) at all. If IWD is on March 8th, what does that make all the other days of the year, by default? Yeah, I thought so.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in my night class, “Women, the Earth, and the Divine”, when we were asked to come up with a personal and then group definition of “feminism”. According to Wikipedia, feminism is
a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women. Feminism involves political, cultural and sociological theories, as well as philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference. It is also a movement that advocates gender equality for women and campaigns for women’s rights and interests.
While that’s accurate, I decided to go for something simpler. I wrote, Feminism is the radical idea that women are human. It’s not an original idea (Cheris Kramarae said it first), but it seemed to me the simplest way I could say something that’s so apparently controversial that calling someone a “feminist” is (or, at least, can be) like calling them a bitch or worse—insulting. Feminists are not man-haters, for example.
Anyway, my group liked the definition so much that they decided to forgo theirs completely and use mine as the group definition. I was flattered but anxious about that because the teacher didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would really understand the sentiment (or appreciate my sense of humor, for that matter). I was right; she didn’t. When she got to my group’s definition, she read it aloud and then sat there, appalled, for a good half minute before saying something like, ” Well, that’s completely insulting.” I ducked my head, flushing, even though she didn’t know who’s definition it had originally been. What a bad idea that had had been, right?
Well, she brushed over it after the class finished laughing, we moved on to other groups’ definitions, and the moment passed. But I think it would have been prudent for her to have actually addressed what she thought was insulting. I mean, my definition is true. Feminism is the radical idea that women are human. For centuries, women (and children) have been recognized only as a part of a man—daughter to a father, wife to a husband, or mother to a son. It’s been the man who’s been important, and the woman has been an extension of him.
The day women stop being considered in terms of men and start being considered in terms of their own merits is the day feminism will have served its purpose. Until then, though, we’ll just have to keep working toward equity.
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Also, on an unrelated note: today is B—’s birthday. I find it to be completely ironic that he and IWD share a day; he’s certainly done his part to maintain the white male privilege status quo.
On another unrelated note: today is also A—’s brithday. Since she wrote me that note a while ago about not wanting to be my friend anymore, she’s sent me numerous Facebook invites, etc., which I find to be totally faux pas. Are you my friend, or not? Just pick one and let’s be done with it. (I’m leaning toward not, though I guess etiquette is complicated when I’m Facebook friends with someone who isn’t really a real friend.)
Today via Twitter 2010-03-05
Posted in twitter on March 5th, 2010 by V.E.- oh good. I found some VK fiction. haha. and I thought there was none left. silly me, doubting the internets. #anime #
- @Dredgly yeah, I had to think about it for like… well, a long time. lol in reply to Dredgly #
- #FF today is Follow Friday again! I'm going to go with @WGItweets because they rock the colorguard (winterguard!) world. #
- having one hand with long fingernails and the other without is… somewhat disconcerting. #
- Prostitution is the world's oldest profession, and I, dear Madam, am a professional. #
- soon to be hanging out with Dave. hopefully. we'll see. #
Today via Twitter 2010-03-04
Posted in twitter on March 4th, 2010 by V.E.- hello, people. how's life? #
- How would you describe your life so far in a six-word sentence?: "I've wasted a lot of time." #
- In six words, how would you describe what you *want* for your life?: "Leap and the net will appear." #
- omg. I think I'm out of Gundam Wing and Vampire Knight fics to read. /dies #anime #
Today via Twitter 2010-03-03
Posted in twitter on March 3rd, 2010 by V.E.- yay! my Twitter experiment worked. thanks, @maymaym! #
- @corybrin what happened? you okay? in reply to corybrin #
- @Dredgly @Zekor I thought the same thing she thought. in reply to Dredgly #
- @justicewrites I haven't received a diploma order form yet, either. >_> in reply to justicewrites #
- there's got to be a better way than just reading twitter conversations backwards. #
- CANAAN ep.4 http://bit.ly/ac9zVT screencap heavy fyi #anime #
- @ktone52 It totally IS cool. in reply to ktone52 #
- RT @TheEllenShow Same-sex marriage was legalized this morning in Washington DC – hopefully other parts of the country will follow… #
- @Dredgly [sending you vibes] <3 what are you studying for? in reply to Dredgly #
- damn. I just realized how hungry I am. #
- rereading some of my entries from 2001 and 2002 just makes me cringe. I had *no idea* what I was doing. #
- did I write a review of Ouran Koukou Host Club?? I have this urge to watch it again. I should really buy it. #anime #
- @blackbluesock what's this about Endless Waltz? I loved that movie, too. in reply to blackbluesock #
- Oh. My. GOD. there's a BLEACH musical. I'm so serious. http://bit.ly/9HzRNc #anime #
- Shaenon Garrity says, "I mean, seriously. Bleach?" http://tinyurl.com/yejgj6z #
- screw it. I'm giving up on my site HTML/style for now. it's just going to have to stay the way it is. I should really just take a class. #
