I am woman, hear me roar! (*meow*)

My questions concerning feminism are as follows:

• Why is femininity considered a weakness?


• Why is it hard to accept that men and women are simply different?


• Why do women have to (theoretically) act like men in order to succeed?


• Why are women who choose a home life, or choose femininity, often ridiculed by feminists?

I don't believe I can answer these questions. I wonder if others often have the same feelings?

Femininity as Weakness

For many years, women were viewed as the "weaker sex". Weaker in every way - mind, body, and soul. I take a firm stance against this idea. I will concede that looking straightforwardly at strength, women are generally weaker than men. We just cannot naturally build up the same amount of muscle mass as men. Okay, that's fine.

In other ways, women are naturally stronger than men - time and time again, women have been shown to have more natural endurance than men (both in terms of physical endurance and pain endurance) - can we say, childbirth?

I believe women are also naturally prone to empathy and intuition in terms of feelings, thus giving women the edge in many interactions, both in personal and professional settings.

In essence, there is no reason to equate women with weakness. We are simply in balance with men - each of us having a set of strengths.

Men and Women are Different

It seems that, stereotypically, feminists want to be the same as men. They want to do the same things as men, and be treated like men [would treat other men] (personally, I say "screw that", but that's just me).

I can't see why it's a bad thing that women are different than men. Should women be discriminated against because of that difference? No. Should women have to act like men to get ahead? No.

As stated earlier, men and women each have their own strengths (as each individual has their own strengths), many of which can be used in conjunction in a team environment to benefit the whole even better.

To say that there is no fundamental difference between men and women is to ignore what our bodies show us - our bodies are made very differently (I'd like to see someone say they are the same!), so why shouldn't our minds be made differently (not inferior, but different)? I see no objection to that. In fact (and I wish I had time to search on the web), there has been controversial research exploring just what those differences are; although, often, the research is ridiculed in light of Political Correctness.

Now, I'm not saying that women should think "oh, I'm a women, I'm good at empathy, I shouldn't go into science" - not at all. I believe that in terms of knowledge and learning, men and women are on an equal footing. Also, please understand that I know these are sweeping generalizations, and as with all generalizations, there are extremes that are not taken into consideration.

Barefoot and Pregnant

Gloria Ironbachs

Peter tells me you don't have a career of your own.

Lois Griffin

No. Life outside my kitchen is so bright and scary. I'm just here because you caught me between pregnancies.

Gloria Ironbachs

I'm sorry you're so hostile toward someone who's fighting so a woman like you can become more than just a housewife.

Lois Griffin

Oh, just a housewife? Look, I'm all for equality but if you ask me, feminism is about choice. I choose to be a wife and mother. And now I'm choosing to end this conversation.

Thank you Lois, of the Family Guy. I have always loved this quote, because I think it rings true with my own thoughts. Men and Women, both, should feel open to choose to stay at home with their children if they feel it is right for their situation. Because some women choose to stay at home and perform some of the traditional "womanly" duties, does not mean that she is in any way less of a woman than the one who goes and becomes the first CEO of a fortune 500 company. I do believe that all women should feel empowered in their choices - One woman chooses to work because she loves her job and it fits her family, the other woman chooses to stay at home because she feels time spent with her family is more valuable than a job (and neither is "better").

In the end, feminism should be about choice and freedom to be what you are happy with. And the world should be nondiscriminitory, offering equal choices for everyone, no matter what sex, race, religion, or sexual preference.

A theory to life

I feel that when coming off the elevator (when you know everyone is exiting, i.e. the ground floor), a certain protocol should be followed:

1. Older Women


2. Younger Women


3. Older Men


4. Younger Men

A theory to extend to your life.

In other news, today is the Day of Drunken Irish Debauchery (DoDID). Have fun and be safe. Convenient that it's on a Friday this year!

Taking care of business

I am working on my thoughts on feminism/femininity.

I am working on some thoughts relating to childhood/development.

My perfectionism just gets in the way - I wish I had a naturally elegant writing style. Instead, I have a rambling, stream-of-consciousness-but-way-too-much-random-info-to-be-interesting, writing style.

So, I'm trying to make it somewhat interesting and worthwhile to read, just for my own edification.

In other news, I have been thinking about my problems with keeping my home in order (and keeping myself on track). The big thing is to create habits. I had a lightbulb moment the other day - I realized, that although I want to create these habits, and that I know they're good for me, I still have to make myself do them. I have to literally force myself to get things done, for at least a month, before it becomes habit.

This sounds really overwhelming and negative, but it's actually freeing and positive to finally know this. It's okay that it's hard - it's supposed to be hard. It will be hard. But only for a month. A month! That's it!

I have also tried to pare back on the things I'm doing - there's so much that I would like to get done, but I can't force myself to do all of them at once; that's when it gets overwhelming.

Baby steps.

In that light, I've been working on putting my work clothes away when I take them off. This is actually pretty easy, because I'm generally not as tired as when I'm going to bed - and it is cutting down on the clothes piles that I have around, at least.

I'm working to brush teeth/listerine every day. I will add in flossing again after that becomes habit.

Keeping the dirty dishes under control -- I really don't have too big of a problem with this. I do have issues when Jon makes dinner for me, because he doesn't have the same clean-up habits that I do. It's frustrating, but I just need to stop having "stinking thinking" about that, and stop "martyring" myself. That's also something I have to force myself to do. But, with the dishes, I've just been so tired lately that it hasn't been very easy.

I'm trying to become a better person, and I think I can do it. I want to do it. I will do it.

A life of craft

I have been hit by the crafting bug lately. I can't get enough of witty little projects that are beautiful and still functional.

I binged on Martha's site over the course of the past couple of weeks. I don't care what anyone says, Martha has some awesome ideas! I think her job would be my ideal one. Just sitting around, on top of your crafting/cooking/homekeeping empire, coming up with new ideas (as if it's that simple). Granted, I know it came by for her with a lot of work (which is another reason not to knock her).

(Ah, parenthetical notation, how I love thee.)

In any case, I seriously want to spend all of my time making things. Fun things, pretty things, useful things. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that I am making my own Wedding Invites. 50 invites - no problem! My only problem is perfectionism.

(note to self - photo corners)

I am excited though, because I'm making cupcakes for Phi Mu Founder's Day, with cute little quatrefoils on top. Should be cute. I was going to make my own (I figured I probably had enough ingredients for a basic white cake), but then they had Pillsbury cake mix on sale at Safeway ($1!), so I just got two boxes. Plus, I didn't find the cake-to-cupcake conversion in my BH&G cookbook until after I bought the mixes.

I'm not sure what kind of icing to do, though. I want to use a nice white icing, so I am thinking a powdered sugar one, but with very little milk to make it more spreadable. Who knows?! I think it will be a trial-and-error thing.

In any case, I feel stuck sometimes. How many times have I wished that I could be a housewife/homemaker? I wish I could spend time at home and take pride in the way it looks, in the meals that I cook. I wish I could work part-time (at most!). All-in-all, I wish I could revert to a '50s-era housewife.

Poufy skirts, aprons, and roasts, oh my!

"Dressing up" (hats to gloves!) to go out on errands.

I yearn for a feeling of simplicity and basic pleasures. Alas - not in the near future. I have to fit house-time in on evenings and weekends, and errands can only be done on the weekends, at which time I can leave Amelie alone without feeling guilty (poor thing!).

This post has stimulated my thoughts surrounding femininity and feminism, perhaps I'll organize some ideas on the subject.