I Am A Feminist.

I am a Feminist. I will put my hand up and shout loudly that I AM A FEMINIST. I am getting more and more pissed off with the continual attempt to make Feminism out to be something it isn't, and that any one who considers themselves to be Feminist is somehow a misandric sociopath.


WHY I AM A FEMINIST:

 * I have automatic and autonomous rights to my own reproductive system and sexual behaviour.

 * I have the same right to work, earn money, save money, spend money as any other individual, irrespective of their gender. If I am have the same experience and qualification, am doing the same work at the same level of competence, then I have the right to the same pay.

 *I also have the right to choose a more traditionally viewed way of life, to stay at home and raise my children. However, this right is also not dependent on my gender and is a role that any parent should be able to choose, rather than have to make a decision purely based on economics.

 * I believe that sex is a natural part of healthy life, that has been trivialised and demeaned to a state where it is used a commodity to subjugate society into behaving in particular ways.

 * I believe that raising healthy, independent children is one of the most important things that human beings can achieve, but there is no BEST way of doing this, and the hetero-normative view of Married, Female Mother and Male Father is not always the best way of achieving this.

 * I believe that all people are equal, and this equality is not defined by gender, sexuality, religion, race or any other such definition. I do also accept that equality does not mean that every one is the same, and should be treated as such. Every person will have different needs or have different limitations, just that no one person is worth more than someone else.

I could elaborate more on these points, and add more, but I think at this time, this encompasses the most salient points of my Feminism.

More Links to my Feminism:
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-would-you-call-it-then.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2009/03/froyw.html http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/10/pro-choice-does-not-equal-pro-abortion.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/09/quick-simple-post.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/09/fertility-at-any-cost.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/09/feminism-for-all.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2009/03/patriarchy-hurts-men-too.html

101/1001 Days Countdown.

It ends on Saturday 28th April 2012.

I have done 25% of the list. Not entirely sure whether I feel like a failure or not. I am quite pleased I have at least got some of it done.

I have three months and three days left to get the rest done. Perhaps will be making a new list soon with some of the same stuff on it again.

Identity

What defines a person's identity? Is identity a social construct or self-defined boxes that we create for ourselves?

Is it what other people think of you? Is it the image that you have in your head about yourself? A mixture of the two, or something entirely different?

We think we have a certain amount of control over our identities, but really are we just constrained with what society expects of us, or what our family and friends want from us?

When you meet people for the first time can you ever be truly authentic in how you put yourself across, or do you just be yourself, warts and all? Do you put yourself forward as something that you aren't and then revert to true type after a certain amount of time?

I will admit identity is something that I think about a lot. Possibly because I am aware that I perhaps have more than one identity and will only let certain trusted friends into what might be considered to be the real me. Does that mean that the me that goes around on a daily basis is false, or just a more subdued version of me? Hopefully it is just a more subdued version of me. Diluted for generic public consumption.

However is holding back being authentic and genuine? Can aspects of a subdued personality actually do you a disservice when people take you at face value and make no attempt to get to know you any further than that? However if that is the case, then surely that is the issue of the person making the assumptions rather than the person who withholds some of themselves?

What reasons could there be for withholding the real you from whomever you met?
The simplest reasons I can imagine would be shyness and self-preservation. True friendship is earnt and while you can see the potential for possible true friends quite early in a relationship, I think we all have had experience of someone showing their not so pleasant true colours later on, and getting our fingers burnt (or hearts broken).

I think at the end of the day, I can't really be anyone that I am not, and although I might show different facets of myself to different people in different situations, they are still only parts of the one whole. And it takes a very special person who I will allow to see the whole Me.

Empty Head by Owen (age 10yrs and 4 months)

Empty Head

An idea came
Flew into my head
So huge
So terrifying
An idea came
Its emerald green eyes paralysing its prey
Its thrashing wings creating whirlwinds in the sky
Its roar echoes through the planet
Its burning scarlet scales
Contrast with its golden glistening horns
A silver tipped tail slashes the air
Poisonous bloodstained fangs sink into the earth
Static claws illuminate the clouds
An idea came
I wanted it to stay
Its fiery breath burns me
Its icy spit freezes me
It flew away to oblivion
It was gone.

Whoops.

Umm, yeah. No excuse really for ignoring the blog, just haven't really thought about it much to update here.

Not sure where I want to take this blog. Personal updates of "I took the kids to school, did housework, blah blah blah" don't make for a particularly interesting read (or that great for me to write either.)

However I don't want to stop writing about stuff that I feel passionately about, angry about or just generally WTF about. Do I use prompts to help me get the creative juices following? Do I pimp myself out on other blogs I read to try and get more inspiration there? (If you are following me, then ideas of what to write about would be greatly appreciated.)

It isn't like I don't have enough time to get on here, but that may be part of the problem. Too much free time. Often it is when I am busy that I think of wicked things to write about, but by the time I sit down to write about it, I forget what I thought of.

So, do I write about politics? Our fucked up society? The state of the planet? Sex? Religion? Steps reforming?

Universe! Send me some ideas!!

Quiet of late...

but I do think I have a bloody good excuse, what with moving to the bottom of the planet and all that! :D

Yep, we are in the Back of Beyond now, and it's rather windy, chilly and not many penguins yet. Other than that, all is pretty good (other than the missing people like crazy part).

There is a blog of our adventures out there if you can be bothered. Twinned With Whitby if you fancy a read. I shall be keeping this blog though for my normal ramblings and musings.

So hope you stick around.

Generation X,Y and Z. The End Of Days...

Society has become obsessed with Consuming. Your own personal worth is dictated by the things that you have. Not what you know, or what you do, but what you have. We must all Live to Work, to create money to get the stuff we want, and to make ever increasing profit. If you don't have things, or show off the things that you have, then you have no social status or standing amongst your peers.

If you have children, you must give them stuff to show them how much you love them and how important they are. The more expensive the better. It doesn't matter that you may put yourself in debt, your children will just see that as a sign of how important and loved they are. Things equal attention, affection and love.

We are told on a daily basis that we must consume more, have more, we need more, we are lacking without, in fact we are worse than that, we are somehow less, meaningless, not worthy if we do not have the things we are told we want.

We watch governments, professional politicians taking money away from us, with no return. We see big business evading taxes, putting prices up and making profit off of us. We see the banks, taking money from us, then us again through the government bailouts and then again through government taxes with no return.

We live in a society based on Greed. So why are we surprised when people who see these big businesses, government, banks and professional politicians taking from us indiscriminately, start to do it themselves?

Why is it right for them and wrong for the others? The answer is that it isn't right for ANYONE to take from others. Whether it be a politician fiddling his/her expenses, big business evading taxes and profiteering from us, or masked looters smashing in windows of JD Sports. IT IS ALL FUCKING WRONG!!!


TO BE CONTINUED...