Intro:
I have been wanting to start writing in a diary, but my hands get tired way faster than my mind. I decided an online journal (i.e. blog) would suffice. This way, you get to read it and I can add stupid pictures too! This is going to be a place I can keep up with my life, vent about things that are unacceptable (except politics, there will be no politics here!) and post anything cute, pretty or interesting enough that is worthy of documenting. I don't plan to become successful or start a multi-million dollar blog. I just want to write things and get them off my chest. If you want to read them, well that's your business. Let's start this out like any good piece of literature should, by posting a picture of one of my stupid cat's poses. He always does stupid cat things, and I like to document them. See below: |
| Willy doing something stupid |
Now on to something a little more bloggy...
Today's subject is going to be a bit feminist. As I get older, I have become more and more of a feminist. It amazes me that there are still grown women sitting around me today that say things like "yes, a woman cleans the house and the man makes the money... that is how it's supposed to be." If you are saying to yourself, "Achem, huh? No women ACTUALLY say this out loud, do they?" Well maybe you don't live in Louisiana, Georgia or Tennessee (I'm sure these ladies are everywhere, but this is just where I've lived to see them). How is this still a thought going on in people's minds? It leaves me utterly speechless. Belief systems such as this are the reason women are still to this day making significantly less money doing the EXACT same jobs that men are doing.Ladies, wake up. We are not defined by our genders, but instead by what we do in our lives and who we are as a person, regardless of our sexual orientation. We are defined as people by how we treat other people, our goals and aspirations, and what we accomplish in our lifetime, whether it be raising a caring and compassionate child of your own or becoming the CEO of Target. It doesn't have to be laid out for you on a silver platter. "Here is your brand new broom made of gold. Now, go do your duty!" Come on, ladies. You don't really BELIEVE that you were born to keep a house clean while your husband gets to ride glittery unicorns all day, do you? If that makes your life easier, then by all means go about doing what makes you happy. But please, please from all the other women out there who are trying to make progress, do not voice this. Women have fought too hard and suffered too much to get us to where we are now, only for you to take us 50 steps back with one ignorant comment.
Okay, rant over. Would you like to know where this is coming from? After a couple of weeks of regular harassment, I've been documenting in my mind the harassment young women such as myself receive on a daily basis. Whether it be whistles from the street while I'm riding my bike to work, or straight out "hey sexy" comments while I'm walking down the street. Every woman knows what it's like to feel their eyes burning into your flesh as you walk by. If you're a woman, you have more than likely experienced this at least one time in your life. I was reading an awesome article the other day about cat-calling, and it inspired me to post this to Facebook after a guy thought it was important for him to comment on me when I walked by like I was an object to discuss rather than a person grabbing lunch.
"So today I got called a 'sexy librarian' while grabbing lunch at the local Rouses on my lunch break. I'm wearing a dress that buttons to my neck and comes past my knees. This just goes to show that all those that still say women are "asking for it" when we get cat-called can shove it deep, because it's total bullshit. We aren't asking for anything, except for you to keep your mindless comments to yourself. Good day."
-me
Many women, such as myself, just keep on walking when this happens and take it as something we are supposed to put up with. Like, "oh well, they are just guys being guys." I used to do the same thing. But something about hitting my mid-twenties has changed my mind. I am tired of just taking it. I regretted not stopping, turning to him and saying exactly how I felt about his stupid little comment. So... when I got the opportunity to make up for it this week, I decided to stand up for myself. Would you like to hear the story? See below:
A construction worker by my firm's building thought it would be funny (or sexy?) to whip out his little flaccid Johnson and swing it around and around at me like a f***ed up carousel ride. After screaming a few french words at him I came into my work infuriated and ready to take him down. The building manager (who happens to be a male) simply responded, "well, what do you want me to do about it." So I went a step up and found my operations director (who happens to be a lady). Her response was more on par with how I was feeling. She immediately stomped over to the site, I identified the perpetrator and he was fired in less than 30 minutes.
You do not have to sit back and take harassment, ladies. You can and should do something about it. So take a lesson from my mid-20's self, change only happens when you stand up for yourself. Let the creeps of the world know that we will not take it anymore, that it isn't acceptable and that we are ready to do something about it.
To end on a happy note, here is another picture of my stupid cat doing stupid things:
