The Addition of Tumblr

I feel I should catch up with the times. I was recently coerced into creating a personal tumblr account, and the really nice thing about it is that people really do search by tag, unlike on most other types of blogging services. Don't worry, this will still be the main blog, but I have created a tumblr add-on as an informal version of this blog. I'll most likely post excerpts of my posts, with the (exclusive!) addition of personal quips, as brought to you by my terrible humor. FIND IT HERE!

Powerful Video About Racism

BREAKING NEWS: Paine Not Pained By Classmates!

I've had a terrible shortage of topics lately, and for that, I apologize. I haven't had a real post in a month, and the only way that could not be just sad is if I actually stopped encountering sexism, which is obviously not the case. What is the case is that being a senior (which means a huge transition at my mysterious school), I've avoided (for the most part) terribly shocking sexist comments, so I have not had much to write about on that front. Nor have I been reading much on feminist theory lately...sigh. Anyway, this blog was started so I could talk about high school specifically!

So, I will. Sort of.

I'm taking a class on the depressing philosophy of the 20th century, and I absolutely adore it. The topic is really interesting, it's kind of hilarious the stupid views some people hold, and I've learned quite a bit already. For the class, I read Sigmund Freud's Civilization and It's Discontents.


I can't believe I'm saying this, but Freud does make some valid points when it comes to guilt (excluding his theory that everyone has an Oedipus/Electra complex...). But, perhaps most important is when he contemplates a connection between the sexual "pleasure principle" and power.

Obviously there's a huge connection there. After all, upon what is the main characteristic of all cultures, patriarchy, founded? Sex and power.

It sound cliché, I know. But it is truly undeniable. Patriarchy defines worth based on a person's assigned sex at birth, and men sometimes legally and sometimes "just" implicitly, own their sexual partners (i.e. their wives). The key word there is "own": men are the power creatures simply based on their sex.

Super proud of myself, I made this point in class. Yes, people rolled their eyes (conspicuously, I might add!), and, yet, no one denied it! This may seem like a small feat to some, this recognition of a fundamental fact, but it meant the world to me, and for that I am grateful.

Random fact of the day: Did you know that some widows are even now killed when their husbands die? 

500 Pageviews!

Self-explanatory. I promise I will post more once I get through these college apps. :)

Internet's Back!

As you may have guessed, my internet has been freshly installed (literally five minutes ago!). Feel special--after where homework is posted...and Facebook...this was the first page I visited!

In honor of my internet, here's a link to an awesome hack. Prepare yourself for "masculine" (i.e. confident & human) Barbie and feminine G.I. Joe...

Paid Sick Days and Assertiveness

I don't have internet at my house, and won't for the next two weeks due to the Verizon strike. I refused to sign up for Verizon after our move what with the corporate big-wigs obliterating paid sick days for low-level workers. In fact, I participated in some of the protests for Paid Sick Days and against Verizon. As I'm writing this, the strike is over and they're back in negotiation, and I kind of do need internet, but they're so backed up that they won't be able to install anything for two whole weeks.

I actually have quite a bit to say at the moment. First off, a story. I was recently talking to an old friend who lives in North Carolina, and who is quite the perfectly sweet girl. Perfect in a patriarchal sense, that is. Some friends took it upon themselves to attempt to make her more assertive, and with that, they stole her lip gloss, stating she must demand for it back, no "please, pretty please"s. Of course, demanding for it back would not even be genuinely assertive, as they told her she must act as such, and so she consciously must have known she wouldn't offend. However, she was still not able to demand it back, simply going about her old sweet, feminine ways, asking for it back politely even when they had snatched it away and did not deserve politeness, and attempting to use "puppy-dog eyes" on them. Eventually they gave in and handed it back, but without her demanding it. She simply couldn't.

Personally, I would have said something along the lines of "Give me my $@#%ing gloss back", while holding out a hand expectantly, but I gave up the sweet thing a long time ago. I'll be sugary when need be, but having the ability to be assertive when one must, or when one knows one won't offend is an important quality if one is going to compete with men in society. One can be kind without being sugar sweet. Screw hyper-femininity!

I wrote about five more paragraphs on gender which Blogger deleted, and I can't bring myself to write them again. Maybe some other time. Paine out.

Gender Expression & Old-Fashioned Values

I sincerely hope this is supposed to be making fun of the mother and her uptight, old fashioned ways, because if this is what you really think about women, Tide, you've got another think coming. Bring it on.