1. Is it to late to drop out and join the circus? I’d be happy to set up the trapeze. No one pisses off the person who sets up the trapeze; it’s too dangerous.
2. Why yes, I can eat my weight in Chipotle.
3. SLEEP.
4. Well, this *insert paper/ exam/ project here* is either going to be an A or an F. Not sure which.
5. Fuck all of this.
6. Did that person just say that reading 16 pages a week was too hard? Well then. Maybe I will do really well on this exam, I mean, comparatively.
7. Did that person just say that they read 500 pages a week per class? I’m in trouble, comparatively, I mean.
8. I have issues with patriarchal norms and find the idea of total dependency on others frustrating, but maybe being a trophy wife wouldn’t be too bad...
9. Was that an A? PRAISE BE TO THE MAYAN GODS.
10. No matter what happens, I can sleep at night knowing that I never voted for George W. Bush, Rick Perry, or “legitimate rape” Todd Akin. I think I can be happy.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Conversations About Clothes with My Dad and Mom
******Disclaimer- the best part of my stories is that my clothes are barely even "slutty" by traditional standards.********
*Walks into hotel room and looks for a black bra while announcing "I need a black bra so it isn't obviously showing a bit over the top of my dress"*
Dad looks annoyed but refuses to make a comment. Picks at his hat for a moment before finally asking- "Why does your bra show anyways? Don't you have anything less slutty?"
You just don't understand, Dad.
This would be the dress, by the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am not buying you those shorts" Mom sighs.
"Fine. I will get them myself. It's pretty much the same money anyways. But, out of curiosity- why is the bikini ok when the shorts aren't?"I annoyingly ask loudly while in line.
"Oh. I didn't even see the bikini. I'm not getting that either." Mom replies.
I chuckle. Yep- 20 year old girl chuckling.
"I think they are cute! If I was your age and looked like you, I would wear them all the time!" Chimes in a lady, who looks to be about 10 years older than my mother, who was standing behind us in line.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, MOM. Take that!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can look like a whore of Babylon if I want to!" -me, at least once a week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Telling my parents about my semester- "And because the room was so hot, I got to the point where I just walked around in my underwear. Then I got to the point when I didn't bother to put on a shirt or pants when my friends came over. Then I got to the point when I answered the door for the FedEx guy in my underwear."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're going to your cousin's bar mitzvah at a conservative synagogue. So, don't wear any of your clothes."- Dad
*Walks into hotel room and looks for a black bra while announcing "I need a black bra so it isn't obviously showing a bit over the top of my dress"*
Dad looks annoyed but refuses to make a comment. Picks at his hat for a moment before finally asking- "Why does your bra show anyways? Don't you have anything less slutty?"
You just don't understand, Dad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am not buying you those shorts" Mom sighs.
"Fine. I will get them myself. It's pretty much the same money anyways. But, out of curiosity- why is the bikini ok when the shorts aren't?"I annoyingly ask loudly while in line.
"Oh. I didn't even see the bikini. I'm not getting that either." Mom replies.
I chuckle. Yep- 20 year old girl chuckling.
"I think they are cute! If I was your age and looked like you, I would wear them all the time!" Chimes in a lady, who looks to be about 10 years older than my mother, who was standing behind us in line.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, MOM. Take that!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can look like a whore of Babylon if I want to!" -me, at least once a week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Telling my parents about my semester- "And because the room was so hot, I got to the point where I just walked around in my underwear. Then I got to the point when I didn't bother to put on a shirt or pants when my friends came over. Then I got to the point when I answered the door for the FedEx guy in my underwear."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We're going to your cousin's bar mitzvah at a conservative synagogue. So, don't wear any of your clothes."- Dad
Sunday, April 7, 2013
My Issue with Purity Series
*** Disclaimer*** These are my opinions based on my experiences.
Alright, here goes:
I used to be a Christian. Long story, but I'm not anymore. I'm on hiatus from religion in general and plan to go back to my Jewish roots in a few years after I have taken some time off. HOWEVER, I was a Christian (born again, Evangelical believer and all) for 6 or so years. I have been going to church since birth, unless you count being a fetus in embryonic fluid while mom was at church, in which I guess you could make that claim.
My opinion now: If you want to save sex until marriage? Great. If not? Great. It's up to you. It's your body. However, I grew up in the church, and, as such, there was a lot of pressure to remain 'sexually pure' meaning no sex until marriage. If you have a religious reason to do so, or just want to for you, that's perfect. What I have a problem with is any institution that makes teenagers feel that their sexuality is wrong and that waiting until marriage is the only correct course of action.
In my own case, when I was twelve (7th grade) I did a purity series with my church middle school youth group. I wasn't a Christian at this point anyways, but I did the series for a few reasons:
1. All of my church friends were.
2. I wanted to feel involved.
3. At the age of 12, I had no idea what pledging 'purity' meant.
4. There was a ceremony at the end in which people got to dress up. I wanted to wear a pretty dress and homecoming dances weren't for a few more years.
5. At the end of the series, kids who completed it got a ring or something to symbolize there promise. Like the dress, I wanted a ring. Hey, free ring!
Once again, I was twelve. How could I have known what I was signing up for?
If people want to go through a purity series, great for them. But, as I said, I take issue with institutions making boys and girls feel bad for deciding to be 'impure'. Honestly, I don't think that sex and purity have anything to do with each other, but many people do.
And, in retrospect, the pact that I made when I was twelve was broken not too many years later. I guess that's what I get for making my promise so specific!
Alright, here goes:
I used to be a Christian. Long story, but I'm not anymore. I'm on hiatus from religion in general and plan to go back to my Jewish roots in a few years after I have taken some time off. HOWEVER, I was a Christian (born again, Evangelical believer and all) for 6 or so years. I have been going to church since birth, unless you count being a fetus in embryonic fluid while mom was at church, in which I guess you could make that claim.
My opinion now: If you want to save sex until marriage? Great. If not? Great. It's up to you. It's your body. However, I grew up in the church, and, as such, there was a lot of pressure to remain 'sexually pure' meaning no sex until marriage. If you have a religious reason to do so, or just want to for you, that's perfect. What I have a problem with is any institution that makes teenagers feel that their sexuality is wrong and that waiting until marriage is the only correct course of action.
In my own case, when I was twelve (7th grade) I did a purity series with my church middle school youth group. I wasn't a Christian at this point anyways, but I did the series for a few reasons:
1. All of my church friends were.
2. I wanted to feel involved.
3. At the age of 12, I had no idea what pledging 'purity' meant.
4. There was a ceremony at the end in which people got to dress up. I wanted to wear a pretty dress and homecoming dances weren't for a few more years.
5. At the end of the series, kids who completed it got a ring or something to symbolize there promise. Like the dress, I wanted a ring. Hey, free ring!
Once again, I was twelve. How could I have known what I was signing up for?
If people want to go through a purity series, great for them. But, as I said, I take issue with institutions making boys and girls feel bad for deciding to be 'impure'. Honestly, I don't think that sex and purity have anything to do with each other, but many people do.
And, in retrospect, the pact that I made when I was twelve was broken not too many years later. I guess that's what I get for making my promise so specific!
Here is a picture of me and my parents at the purity ceremony. I love my face- it clearly portrays the "this is unnecessary" mentality that I adopted a while later. I think I was about to say my vow at this point. I got the ring, and, as you can see, the blue-green dress. I still have the ring sitting in my room at my parents' house. I take it out every once in a while just to laugh.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Gay Marriage. Or, as I call it, Marriage.
I think it might be just a little bit obvious that I am a liberal, politically. Very liberal for a USA citizen. Off the charts liberal. Abortion? Should be a woman´s choice. Birth control? Sooooo necessary. Sex education? The USA sucks at it, let´s fix that.
But something particularly important recently in American society, a "hot button" issue: gay marriagge. Or, as I like to call it: marriage.
Ellen Degeneres posted a picture of her and her wife, Portia, smiling in Sydney, Australia after 4 happy years of marriage. Knowing what I would find, I decided to look at the comments made by regular facebook users. Here are my thoughts:
1. Why can´t bigots spell? Seriously, I am awful at spelling, but at least I know the word is "sick" not "sik".
2. Many people are apposed to gay marriage because it is "gross". That word represents how truly feeling-based such opinions are and highlights the riddiculousness of someone who argues that others need to change their ways of life because someone finds it "gross". I find smoking gross. That doesn´t mean I boycot your ability to buy cigarettes.
3. In particular, some Catholic and Evangelical Christians use the argument that the Bible is against gay marriage. While the interpretation of such Bible versus is up for debate (I´m not getting into that now), the Constitution is clear. The USA allows freedom of religion, which means that no religion can mandate laws or rules for the country at large. Separation of church and state was a founding principle, and is still followed today in most cases. To me, that means that a church should get to decide whether or not gay couples can get married within the church, but that religious views should have no affect on USA law. In other words, the churh should get no say in whether or not gay marriage is legalized.
Confronted with this opinion on Ellen´s facebook, these particularly fierce Christians (not all Christians are like this. In fact, few are) argued that the USA should honor the Christian god. While they have the right to think that, it is hard to dispute that the USA was created with separation of church and state in mind, for a reason. In fact, initial settlers came to the New World in the hopes of escaping religious views being imposed upon them.
4. The aforementioned people who said gay marriage was "gross" also compared it to murder and incest. There is no connetion there; and any connection made was intended to get a rise out of people who are pro gay marriage.
5. Final thought: I think we should just call it marriage. That´s what it is, after all.
But something particularly important recently in American society, a "hot button" issue: gay marriagge. Or, as I like to call it: marriage.
Ellen Degeneres posted a picture of her and her wife, Portia, smiling in Sydney, Australia after 4 happy years of marriage. Knowing what I would find, I decided to look at the comments made by regular facebook users. Here are my thoughts:
1. Why can´t bigots spell? Seriously, I am awful at spelling, but at least I know the word is "sick" not "sik".
2. Many people are apposed to gay marriage because it is "gross". That word represents how truly feeling-based such opinions are and highlights the riddiculousness of someone who argues that others need to change their ways of life because someone finds it "gross". I find smoking gross. That doesn´t mean I boycot your ability to buy cigarettes.
3. In particular, some Catholic and Evangelical Christians use the argument that the Bible is against gay marriage. While the interpretation of such Bible versus is up for debate (I´m not getting into that now), the Constitution is clear. The USA allows freedom of religion, which means that no religion can mandate laws or rules for the country at large. Separation of church and state was a founding principle, and is still followed today in most cases. To me, that means that a church should get to decide whether or not gay couples can get married within the church, but that religious views should have no affect on USA law. In other words, the churh should get no say in whether or not gay marriage is legalized.
Confronted with this opinion on Ellen´s facebook, these particularly fierce Christians (not all Christians are like this. In fact, few are) argued that the USA should honor the Christian god. While they have the right to think that, it is hard to dispute that the USA was created with separation of church and state in mind, for a reason. In fact, initial settlers came to the New World in the hopes of escaping religious views being imposed upon them.
4. The aforementioned people who said gay marriage was "gross" also compared it to murder and incest. There is no connetion there; and any connection made was intended to get a rise out of people who are pro gay marriage.
5. Final thought: I think we should just call it marriage. That´s what it is, after all.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Mexicans Look at Me Like I Am Weird When I Say
* This pill? Oh, it's birth control.
* I think I want to adopt kids instead of having one.
* 72 degrees fahrenheit isn't cold.
* I stayed up until 3am doing homework.
* I don't really drink.
* I think I want to adopt kids instead of having one.
* 72 degrees fahrenheit isn't cold.
* I stayed up until 3am doing homework.
* I don't really drink.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Downside of Modesty
When I was growing up, the religious institution I attended taught me to dress modestly in order to better please god and not cause men to 'stumble' into any unnecessary temptation. Ignoring the religious reasons associated with modesty, I find one major flaw in the idea of telling girls to dress modestly. If someone chooses to dress that way, great; good for them! But telling people, often young girls, that they need to dress modestly for others' sake makes for one big issue:
Girls are taught to feel that they are dressing 'wrong'. That they need to hide their body for other people's sake. In a culture in which many teenage girls are unhappy about how they look, it seems dangerous to tell girls through yet another venue that they are not dressing correctly. Bodies become something shameful, something to hide. While there are many great personal reasons for choosing to dress in such a way, telling a twelve year old girl that wearing a short skirt is wrong because a fourteen year old boy might stare at her seems absurd. Fourteen year old boys are going to stare no matter what; just like twelve year old girls. Forcing modesty on girls, even if it is just by telling them that it is "the right thing to do" causes girls to focus on their physical appearance and the way they dress more than they already would be, creating anxiety.
If I wear this skirt will it make boys uncomfortable?
What's the rule about how low-cut my shirt can be again?
Is wearing a bikini wrong?
Are my shorts too short?
I both heard and thought some of these questions during my earlier teenage years. I wish someone had told me, when I was twelve, that dressing to keep someone from looking at you really just creates issues that would not have been there otherwise. I applaud girls who choose to dress in the manner that they dress (modestly, sexy, or in a full feather bird costume) for themselves. I just have a problem with continually telling young girls that modesty is something that they should be concerned about. I would prefer that our time be spent teaching young teens that their bodies are normal and don't necessarily need to be hidden from the world.
Girls are taught to feel that they are dressing 'wrong'. That they need to hide their body for other people's sake. In a culture in which many teenage girls are unhappy about how they look, it seems dangerous to tell girls through yet another venue that they are not dressing correctly. Bodies become something shameful, something to hide. While there are many great personal reasons for choosing to dress in such a way, telling a twelve year old girl that wearing a short skirt is wrong because a fourteen year old boy might stare at her seems absurd. Fourteen year old boys are going to stare no matter what; just like twelve year old girls. Forcing modesty on girls, even if it is just by telling them that it is "the right thing to do" causes girls to focus on their physical appearance and the way they dress more than they already would be, creating anxiety.
If I wear this skirt will it make boys uncomfortable?
What's the rule about how low-cut my shirt can be again?
Is wearing a bikini wrong?
Are my shorts too short?
I both heard and thought some of these questions during my earlier teenage years. I wish someone had told me, when I was twelve, that dressing to keep someone from looking at you really just creates issues that would not have been there otherwise. I applaud girls who choose to dress in the manner that they dress (modestly, sexy, or in a full feather bird costume) for themselves. I just have a problem with continually telling young girls that modesty is something that they should be concerned about. I would prefer that our time be spent teaching young teens that their bodies are normal and don't necessarily need to be hidden from the world.
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