Save your dignity and ignore this

 

As a woman and as a vegetarian, this makes me sick. First of all, let's look at just the text. I think Peta really was trying to make a literal "save the whales" statement, but if so, they've failed. "Lose the blubber: go vegetarian." Vegetarianism does not make you thin or even healthy in some cases. And I can't say I know a lot of people who eat meat and go fishing for whales to satisfy their protein needs. Setting aside the Peta and animal aspect, just the message of "lose the blubber" is offensive. It's another weight loss advertisement, pure and simple. That's why I say Peta failed if they were actually trying to make a political statement. Now, add in the image to the mix. Err.. what blubber? That could be any woman. That could be a painting of me. So, not only is there a giant billboard telling women that they are fat because of their diet of choice, there is a giant painting that is distorted so that it doesn't even attempt to be realistic telling women that they should be self-conscious in a bikini because they look like a whale. I could go on and on about how badly I want to punch everyone associated with this advertisement in their necks, but I will stop. I'm appalled.

feminist politics: a response to bell hooks's definition of feminism

 

 "Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression... I liked this definition because it did not imply that men were the enemy."

Here, here! Something that's always driven me nuts about a girl I went to high school with was her insistence on dropping the f-bomb at any given opportunity and her sheer lack of understanding on what in the world she was talking about. She once told me that I was not a feminist because I wore make-up and didn't hate men. No, I did not punch her in the nose, but yes, I did want to.

I prefer the bell hooks definition of feminism above all others because it is simple and does not have the word "woman" in it anywhere. Woman are not necessarily the good guys, just as men are not the enemy. I don't know why this is so hard for so many people to understand. Equal opportunity, the breakdown of gender and sexual stereotypes and hierarchies, of oppressive institutions and privilege power structures - that's what we want, right?
"Concurrently, there can be no such thing as 'power feminism' if the vision of power evoked is power gained through the exploitation and oppression of others."

gender branding

We had a sale on Celestial Seasonings tea at my place of work that resulted in several of us buying several boxes of tea each. I got one called "Tension Tamer" and I was showing one of my co-workers/friends the box, which features a saucy woman in red sitting atop a beautiful dragon, their castle in the background. He immediately said, "Tension Tamer? Like for menstruation problems?" I hadn't thought about that, but suddenly the hot lady's deep red dress and her place perched on top of the dragon all seemed to scream "MENSTRUATION SYMBOLISM!" Disgusted, I said, "eww, I got the period tea!" We then proceeded to have a discussion about whether or not I should keep the "period tea." My co-worker Alex said, "yeah but it's not like it TASTES like period..." That clenched my decision and when my shift was over, I switched out the Tension Tamer/period tea for a nice box of Madagascar Vanilla, featuring a jovial looking lion drinking tea while his jungle minions graze in the jungle scene behind him.

Funny story from a friend of mine. I'm kind of disappointed that she switched out the "period tea." Especially since the tea she replaced it with had male symbolism of the lion and his minions (the dominant male and his underlings). Still, a story of the way we blindly accept the genderization of commodities, and the commodification of gender.

You sure you think that?

 

This picture made me happy at first glance. I love "I am beautiful" statements. It didn't take long before I just got pissed off, though. If you believe that you are beautiful, then why are you crunched up on a little ball on the floor covering your face? Why does your body language say, "I want to curl into myself and hide from the world"? Why are you in a child's pose? Are you crying? Do you really think you are beautiful?
Maybe that's the point - we feel one way but show something different. Maybe she's trying to convince herself that she really is beautiful but still doesn't think so. Maybe this is just a really dumb picture trying to be artsy and original and failing miserably.

Unfortunately, I think it is true of a lot of young women that we do not feel beautiful, or we do not feel beautiful enough. We hear it outwardly, but to internalize it and truly believe it brings us to our knees in a heap of confusion and tears.

Privilege and Marginalization: Intersectionality

I am an able bodied white woman. I come from a two-parent household. I had a sister. We grew up in the suburbs. I'm pretty, well educated, spoiled, privileged in every sense. I'm also a troubled individual. I stumbled my way through my teen years, in and out of doctors' offices and hospitals. I dropped out of high school twice. I've been diagnosed with clinical depression, ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder, substance abuse and dependence, EDNOS. I've been labeled a slut, stupid, a whore, fat, ugly, a junkie, a drunk, a bitch, a waste of space. I've never really been able to determine how I can be so privileged and so outcast simultaneously. There are many inner struggles, but the all encompassing one is just that: where do I fall in society? I am a woman which marginalizes me to an extent. I am mentally unstable at times - stigmatized. I dropped in and out of school, leaving me behind my peers - uneducated marginalization. I have a criminal record - marginalized. I think I feel guilty for the troubles I've had in my life. I wasn't supposed to struggle; I'm a thin, pretty, heterosexual white girl from the 'burbs, boo-freaking-hoo. This is my biggest insecurity. I should be, and I very much am, grateful for the privilege I was born with and born into. So why do I feel like a freak?