(banner made by alannaknightess, thanks, Aly! )

After some time of thinking, I've decided to make my journal friends mostly, there will be a few open posts, but they'll probably be random and not very interesting. As I may have mentioned before, I'm a more than slighty paranoid about leaving information about myself on the web. So...it shouldn't affect anyone really, because I doubt anyone who hasn't already friended me really wants to read my posts, but this friends mostly thing is just for my own peace of mind. Anyone who wants to friend me should leave a comment. Anyone who doesn't, I doubt you'll be missing much as I really don't post much of quality anyway. *sigh* I need to meet some interesting people to write about. Anway...signing out.

 

The reason I am blogging against sexism is that I feel, contrary to comfortable popular belief, that sexism is not dead. Many people disregard sexism as something that everyone recognizes as wrong and that has already been eradicated. I, however, believe that it is alive, kicking, and hurting. True, it may not be as obvious to an unconcerned observer as many other -isms, but to many who are alert, sexism can be found in almost everywhere you look. Even in schools, sexism is present; you see little boys trying not to cry because it's not considered "manly", you see young girls striving to look casually disinterested in math and science because those are "masculine" subjects. Gender roles such as these are just some examples of the subtle ways in which sexism is present in everyday lives. Sports and after school activities are largely thought of as "for boys" or "for girls". Often times certain activities will be frowned upon by one gender or another because of being unmasculine or unfeminine or "just for the other gender and gays" (which brings us to the issue of homophobia, which is for another blogging). Gender roles are still sexism, despite how widely accepted they may be. Many times girls are afraid of coming out with strong opinions or of being assertive for fear of being called a bitch. Boys who have strong opinions are, in turn, told to go into law. (I am not saying that this is true in all situations, but that it is true in many.) Boys are often allowed to fool around and fluff off of working more frequently than girls are, and both boys and girls sometimes do so or don't read as complex literature to avoid being thought of as a nerd or a geek.

When you look in the supermarket, what do you see? Magazine after magazine with pictures of scantily clad men and women. The headlines of these magazines? "Sex Secrets, things he's thinking about during the deed that you really need to know" or "How long should you wait until you sleep with a man? Finally a straight answer". I see this as sexist against both men and women, though more noticeably in the examples I've cited, sexist against women. It personifies an attractive, sucessful woman or man as someone who wears revealing garments and thinks about and is good for nothing but sex.

Sexism is a vice of society that needs to be brought into the open. It has been part of society for so long that many people don't recognize it when they see it, and when they do recognize it, they ignore it. The examples I cited are only a few of the shameful ways in which sexism is present in our society. I am basing my closing thoughts off one placed forth in Mona Lisa Smile. What will future generations think of us? And how is it that we want our society to be seen? Are we really comfortable in a society that accepts sexism so obediently or do we want to make changes but are too afraid to do so?

Well, I didn't get to see Tammy, as most of you probably know. It turned out that there would be three other authors there, 2 I'd never heard of, and 1 I can't stand, doing talks which would cost 25 dollars to see. The only free part was standing in line to get your book signed. So we didn't do that. Instead, my friend came over to my house, we went out for tea, went to the bookstore (where I got Terrier), and came home to splurge on fanfiction. I seriously scarred her for life with some of the fics I went to for comfort. 

Halloween was fun. I went with said friend to trick-or-treat and we got to go all alone with no parental supervision. She went as Daine as a Queen (she ships Daine/Jon as a married couple) and I went as Thayet who eventually turned into Kalasin because she couldn't stop calling me Kally. My costume consisted of a green embroidered Chinese skirt, white shirt, light vest, necklace-turned-head piece/circlet, and red cloak. Not amazing, but I used what I had and felt really cool, plus, the necklace-turned-head piece made me feel elegant. (Originally I was going to be Buri, but my costume looked more Thayet-ish, as of LR when she was fleeing Sarain.) Anyway, we got a lot of candy, half of which Mom threw out because it was too unhealthy. :(

I have discovered that I am useless at keeping up with everything I've committed myself to, which depresses me greatly. For example, here, I may read updates, but somehow I almost never comment/post new posts. *sigh* And on the Dove, I seem to be chat haunt and lurker supreme. I manage to comment on fics and fan art, but rarely find time participate in discussion. I never feel like I have anything interesting to add. I'm completely lost on Trickster's Lands Role-play. It was overrun by newbies a while back who were amazingly enthusiastic and then posts and characters began to breed like bunnies. Now, I can't follow anything. :(  Greater Circle Roleplay, I feel behind with my application checking and guilty, now that Lady Fencer left. (Lady Fencer, if you're reading this, (which I doubt) please know that I feel guilty about you leaving.) 

In happier news, I got a new Enchantment Passing Through drabble up. Thanks to Lally, Gem, and Mary who've left me reviews. They made my day. And many thanks to Ali for reviewing, beta-ing, and typing it for me. I really appreciate the help. (Any chance you'll do it again?) I find it amusing that Lally's the only one who left me a review on FF.n with so many readers there who read anything. I mean seriously, I'm far from over-confident in my writing abilities, but I've see some things there which I'm pretty sure are not as good as mine yet get dozens of reviews. Ah well. I shall not dwell on that. Let's see...anything else ficcage related? I'm hoping to get more fics written/typed up soon. Especially, I know I keep saying this, Evin/Fal. Seriously, I'm never going to enter a contest/anything with a deadline. And I did dig out my Sarai/Zaimid 50_themes and have been working on typing that. Maybe I'll finish it before New Years....

I'm so very excited. My birthday is coming up! *dances* I already know that Mom got me a Queen's Riders shirt from Cafe Press, and that one of my friends is going to get me either the film Rent or the Original Cast Recording of Aida. Normally I don't like knowing what people are planning for my birthady, but if I only know a few things it only serves to add to my excitement. 

Today I'm going to a friend's Bar Mitzvah party. The ceremony was yesterday, which I went to, and the party is this evening. I'm hoping more people come that I know. Yesterday I only knew three guests besides Ali. My friends have an odd habit of coming only to the party and not to the ceremony...Anyway, I'm hoping more people come because I want to be able to socialize with more than 5 people. And besides, last time I got a chance to...Ali's looking over my shoulder, ah well. I don't care....slow dance with one of my friends, which was fun. The school dances are no good. Everyone at school is scared of me. :(   Not to mention that they're just weird. 

gah! Got to go. Time's running short and I have to finish my homework, which I should have been doing now. oops!