Feminism is not an ideology

Feminism is not just about challenging door-opening etiquette or getting more women into male-dominated professions. Not only is it not a narrowly specialized and/or outdated ideology, but it is a part of the larger movement for the promotion of human rights. Why is feminism not just important, but also VITAL to any society wishing to right its wrongs? Here's what feminism tries to address and fight, among other things:

honour murders
rape - as means of control, as a war tool, as means of subjugation, as a cure for AIDS, as a homophobic tool
domestic violence
bride burning
forced marriage, including child marriages
sexual slavery
female infanticide
abortion of female fetuses
genital mutilation
sexual harassment

Women are half of humanity. Feminism is not a minority issue.

Fuck you very much

The power of the visual, especially harnessed in art, stuns me. I've thought long and diligently about having children and have come to the fairly stable conclusion that I don't want them. And then if a single image can change that with one crisp stroke... art has some freakishly powerful tools at its disposal. Many thanks to Beni for linking to this amazing blog: Fuck you very much

Pet Peeves

Pretentiousness ("Screw popularity, that annoys me..." Yeah, if you think you picked an uber underground band in becoming an obsessed fan of Depeche Mode, you're an ill-read idiot in addition to being embarrassingly pretentious)

Rudeness.

Moronic sense of humour.

Moronic sense of humour coupled with homophobia/sexism/racism and idiotism.

Cliches. God, do I hate those. Having an original thought seems like a rare gem.

Stereotypes - see above.

People who have an unwavering faith in stereotypes but question every study or actual evidence you provide.

Explaining everything with "that's just the way things are". Ditto the original thought thing.

The inability to respect a well-mannered, peacefully presented opposing opinion.

Christians who support the death penalty. How does that work?

People who fiercely oppose abortion and extramarital sex and believe they're sins, but support the death penalty.

People who support the death penalty. Nothing justifies that.

Randomness

Всички изречения започват с यह तो। Така ми се струва понякога и това ми показва колко малко знам, а и то се свива постоянно. Нямам време да поддържам всичко, което съм научила,колкото и нищожно да е, а и се подтискам, когато се опитам, защото вече е извън контекст, а контекстът ми липсва.

След хората, най-хубавото нещо на света е свободата. Сладка, свежа, прохладна, просторна, гладка, обширна свобода, като гледката на морето през лятото без строежите. Като строежите много неща отнемат пространството и те притискат назад, отделят те от възможностите на свободата. Факт е, житейски факт, е предписаната мантра, може би помага понякога, но според мен всеки знае, дори да не осъзнава, че това не стига.

Awesome Cities

Suddenly felt like another list today.

I've found it repeatedly impossible to decide which is awesomer than the other. So the list is not bound by any particular hierarchy. They've all had me either gaping or hyped or instantly welcome, or reluctant to leave, or a thousand other states of mind and understanding which don't allow me to transform them into pure memory.

Mumbai
Berlin
Budapest
St. Petersburg
Tallinn
Boston
Panaji
Prague
Riga
Kolkata
Delhi
Jyvaskyla
Istanbul
Orchha
New York
Provincetown
Vienna
Basel

My Joy?

Why do people want to have children so badly?

From what I see in parks and relative's homes, and for the past week, in my own home too, children aren't as revered by their parents after they're born as they are before that, while they still dwell in the realm of dreams and imaginings.

These past days a family of twp grandparents, a set of parents and two-year-old boy have been living with us. What I noticed was that, though the parents obviously enjoy the company of their son, they leave his care to the grandparents - he even sleeps with them. Then the grandparents left town for a day trip. The child was left to the parents. Then the mother went out to the beach for a couple of hours. The child was left to the father. The father put him to sleep (at 10 a.m.) and watched a football game on TV. When the mother returned and the child woke up, they spent some time with him and then the father went to their bedroom and the mother went to have a shower. The child was left to a friend who may or may not have had other things to do, like a social life or errands to run. The parents were absent for over an hour, maybe two.

So I wonder, what's with the rabid desire to become parents if the job bores you... If you leave your child to be raised by grandparents and the TV set. And then, I'm the irresponsible one for not wanting to have children at all!

Sex, literally

Удивително е как човешката сексуалност е конструирана в историята като мъжка сексуланост. Тя се изследва, тя се разглежда, за нея се проектират помощни средства. Женската сексуалност все още е на митологично ниво, обвита от мистерии - кореспондираща с общоприетия "факт", че жените са сложни създания и никой не знае какво искат. "Никой" предполагам е в мъжки род в тоя случай. Защото ако тези, в чиито ръце са големите научни играчки, бяха посикали да разберат какво искат жените или как са устроени те (най-общо казано), можеше и да открият това-онова.

Това е една чудесна статия относно докъде е стигнало изследването на женската сексуалност. Според нея женската сексуалност е подчертано по-слабо проучвана от мъжката, а една от причините, които са изтъкнати, е че специалистите от мъжки пол не желаят или не смятат, че могат, да се занимават с това: She told me that when she asked Kurt Freund, a scientist on that floor who had developed a type of penile plethysmograph and who had been studying male homosexuality and pedophilia since the 1950s, why he never turned his attention to women, he replied: “How am I to know what it is to be a woman? Who am I to study women, when I am a man?”

Като знаем колко дълъг е пътят от науката към широката публичност и приемането на някаква представа, е трудно човек да бъде оптимистичен по този въпрос. Как стоят нещата към момента за обикновеия, неизкушен от научните посоки човек? Вземете химена, например. За какво мислите, че служи? Маркер за девственост? Хименът е там предимно за да предпазва ненапълно развитото влагалище и репродуктивните органина подрастващото момиче. Колко известен е този факт? И от друга страна, колко аксиомно е схващането, че хименът е там единствено като някакъв указващ етикет за мъжа, който позлва съответното тяло? Всичко се върти около мъжа.

Само да погледнем кога е открита G точката, кога е открита функцията на клитора и колко много хора по света все още, в наше време, го отстраняват оперативно? Напредък от Средновековието, когато е бил смятан за дяволски инструмент? Ей с такава скорост вървим към равнопоставеност, дори в сексуално отношение.

Rainbow Friendship, Sofia

Утре в 16 часа на моста зад НДК. Ако не можете или по някакви причини не искате да бъдете част от шествието, посетете Червената къща между 18 и 22 часа същия ден - там завършва Rainbow Friendship и предполагам ще бъде интересно да се участва в дебата.

Основната дума в утрешния замисъл е "friendship", така че, моля, направете усилие за дружелюбност или поне безпристрастие. :-)

little kindness

How difficult is it to not be rude, really? Or am I more annoying and unbearable than I realise?...

It astonishes me each time that people actually don't know, or don't care to know, that what and how they do and say matters and can hurt, can hurt another person, can make them cry and doubt themselves, and lose their cheer, and end their day in gloom. Please, before you turn to someone to say sometyhing to them or just look at them expressively, think about that.

You're The One, Kate Bush

It's alright, I'll come back when you're not in
And I'll pick up all of my things
Everything I have I bought with you
But that's alright too
It's just, everything I do
We did together
And there's a little piece of you
In whatever

I've got everything I need,
I've got petrol in the car,
I've got some money with me
There's just one problem

You're the only one I want
You're the only one I want

...

It's alright, I know where I'm going
I'm going to stay with my friend
Ooh yes, he's very good looking
The only trouble is,
He's not you
He can't do what you do
He can't make me laugh
And cry
At the same time
"Let's change things,
Let's danger it up,
We're crazy enough"
...I just can't take it

You're the only one I want
You're the only one I want

A little kindness can go a long way.
I'd pick mercy over justice anyday. It feels fiercely right to me.

Исландия отново първа

След като Исландия даде първата жена-президент на Европа през 1980 година, 29 години по-късно пак оттам получаваме и първия открито хомосексуален премиер в Европа (и отново жена!) Освен това новият кабинет, за пръв път в историята на Исландия (бас държа, че и на Европа а може би и в света), е съставен от еднакъв брой мъже и жени. Подробности тук.

Lyrics of the [unspecified time unit]

I get along without you very well
Of course I do
Except when soft rains fall
And drip from leaves, then I recall
The thrill of being sheltered in your arms...

***

There will be many other nights like this
And I'll be standing here with someone new
There will be other songs to sing
Another fall, another spring
But there will never be another you

Yes, I may dream a million dreams
But how can they come true,
If there will never ever be
Another you

state of

It used to be enough to enjoy "the little things" in life 10 years ago. Now a constant sense of urgency has nestled into my head or heart or some other metaphorical cavity in me and won't let me feel much more than constantly buzzing worry that something is running out before my eyes and I'm missing it. (And it weighs me down like a thick, unbeatable swamp.) What am I supposed to have accomplished by now anyway?

Multiple Intelligences Test

Странно. И въобще не съм съгласна с The Dreamer!