egalitarianism
i took today off to catch my breath. around 12.30am last night i realized that i needed to stop running from here to there, from this person to that, and not slow down, but stop, and have a glass of water. just for a few hours. so i did not do much today, no nothing at all. in about 40 minutes meredith is going to pick me up and we are going to talk about our apartment plans (brooklyn in '06!), as well as life. then, perhaps, i will come home and before colbert report, read some more heart of darkness and email some professionals.
last night i was at a womyn of action meeting and the topic of anti-feminism came up. because i was raised by a self-identified feminist to be a feminist, i have no idea what anti-feminism is, or why other people dig it. is it because it is easier to get boys/girls to like you if you are incapable of standing up for yourself? is it cool to not be allowed to make decisions? i know that sounds harsh, but so does unequal pay for equal work and someone else having control over my decisions/body. for the first time in about a year i heard the term "feminazi" and it almost made me violently hurl. i just can't understand why someone with a vagina, or someone who self-identifies as having a vagina would say something (and this is a direct quote) like: "yeah, i am not really into that whole women's rights thing" WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!?! go ahead, oppress me. i love it when you treat me like a slave.
i am not in any way demanding or even asking that all womyn identify themselves as feminists. i am just wishfully thinking (out loud) that womyn would stop putting each other down. hairy legs or no hairy legs. queers and straights. housewives and doctors. certainly there are things we should all be able to agree on, like equal pay (women STILL earn 76cents to the dollar, in case you were wondering), universal health/childcare, and maybe feel safe walking alone at night?
to quote myself (this is an excerpt from the essay i read at Hofstra's Day of Dialogue):
"My friends and I have, on several occasions, found ourselves in a car, listening to some hairy-legged girl sing about lost causes and anti-capitalist strategies. While she belts out what we wish we could say and write as clearly, we gulp down forty ounce beers and plot our next move, all the while questioning our own volitions. The night always seems young, young enough for us at least. And we make sure to make the most of it, whatever that entails. The next day we might find ourselves in delicate circumstances, in petty arguments, still losing the struggle, or even behind bars. We count on our solidarity. And the things we relish in, the things that we of course hardly understand ourselves, are usually the tangible and intangible examples of youth that we can still rely on, pulverized with those naughty, arrogant, absurd adult particles that cause us to cringe when we admit that they exist: Having a job but hating the system. Buying unnecessary shit but hating capitalism. Being frivolous, but paying the utmost attention. Pretending you are being lighthearted, but you take your lightheartedness very seriously."
i am hoping this weekend, filled with joe and girls and jake's birthday, and reading and subways will end this apocalyptic lull i have slumped into.
must.drink.a.smoothie.
last night i was at a womyn of action meeting and the topic of anti-feminism came up. because i was raised by a self-identified feminist to be a feminist, i have no idea what anti-feminism is, or why other people dig it. is it because it is easier to get boys/girls to like you if you are incapable of standing up for yourself? is it cool to not be allowed to make decisions? i know that sounds harsh, but so does unequal pay for equal work and someone else having control over my decisions/body. for the first time in about a year i heard the term "feminazi" and it almost made me violently hurl. i just can't understand why someone with a vagina, or someone who self-identifies as having a vagina would say something (and this is a direct quote) like: "yeah, i am not really into that whole women's rights thing" WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!?! go ahead, oppress me. i love it when you treat me like a slave.
i am not in any way demanding or even asking that all womyn identify themselves as feminists. i am just wishfully thinking (out loud) that womyn would stop putting each other down. hairy legs or no hairy legs. queers and straights. housewives and doctors. certainly there are things we should all be able to agree on, like equal pay (women STILL earn 76cents to the dollar, in case you were wondering), universal health/childcare, and maybe feel safe walking alone at night?
to quote myself (this is an excerpt from the essay i read at Hofstra's Day of Dialogue):
"My friends and I have, on several occasions, found ourselves in a car, listening to some hairy-legged girl sing about lost causes and anti-capitalist strategies. While she belts out what we wish we could say and write as clearly, we gulp down forty ounce beers and plot our next move, all the while questioning our own volitions. The night always seems young, young enough for us at least. And we make sure to make the most of it, whatever that entails. The next day we might find ourselves in delicate circumstances, in petty arguments, still losing the struggle, or even behind bars. We count on our solidarity. And the things we relish in, the things that we of course hardly understand ourselves, are usually the tangible and intangible examples of youth that we can still rely on, pulverized with those naughty, arrogant, absurd adult particles that cause us to cringe when we admit that they exist: Having a job but hating the system. Buying unnecessary shit but hating capitalism. Being frivolous, but paying the utmost attention. Pretending you are being lighthearted, but you take your lightheartedness very seriously."
i am hoping this weekend, filled with joe and girls and jake's birthday, and reading and subways will end this apocalyptic lull i have slumped into.
must.drink.a.smoothie.
posted by everydaycaitlin at 5:48 PM
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