Prepare yourself for some Fresh! Manly! Wisdom!

The very idea of devoting one’s life to the enhancement of a particular genders welfare, obviously at the expense of the other gender or genders, is sexist. Why obviously? Because as human beings we ought to be concerned with universal suffrage, not merely with the plight of women.

When Susan Anthony decided to give up the support for black emancipation merely because she wasn’t convinced that the newly liberated slaves would support women’s voting rights, she embraced a sexist & a racist archetype.

Susan B. Anthony had it partly right, it ought to have been: “people, their rights and nothing more”.

Unfortunately, for so many feminist women, their idea of what it means to be female is intrinsically linked to being misandrist — their very identity is so bound up with the notion that they must view men as oppressors. Pity.

This comment was initially trashed, but it does such a good job of displaying a common misconception that I decided to publish it (with the guilty party remaining nameless, because I’m feeling unusually nice).

I’m not going to equivocate here, men ARE oppressors. I’m not going to sugarcoat that one for you, and I’m not even going to go into providing the long list of evidence in support of that because if you’re reading this post, you probably have access to a search engine. Fighting for women’s equality is a noble cause on that basis alone, even if it did mean that men somehow “lost” in the final OMGWe’veFINALLYachievedEquality scenario.  Fortunately, there is no evidence that the fight for justice and equality is a zero-sum game with winners and losers. Women represent a huge amount of untapped potential, and as soon as that potential is unleashed, the entire community benefits (a good example of this can be found in Banker to the Poor by Mohammad Yunus).

So, as far as I can tell, unless your version of men’s rights involves men being able to oppress and abuse women with impunity you have absolutely no reason to be wasting my time with blog comments about misandry.

Well, I did get lost a lot in Italy, but only for short periods of time. I’m in America at the moment and will be flitting from America to Australia for the next four years after being accepted to an (awesome!) American university.

The usual suspects appear as to why I haven’t been blogging lately (I’ve been incredibly busy with family and getting ready for uni, and my online life has suffered as a result). However, the main reason that I’m not blogging is I’m a very different person than I was when I started, and blogging under this name almost feels like lying to my readers. So I honestly don’t know if I’ll stay online at this point.

Anyway, enough of the me! me! me! I just wanted to let y’all know I’m not dead. And FYI, in the mid-west there are billboards with babies swaddled in the American flag to promote the anti-choice movement. *lolsob*

(excerpts from the diary of HHL)

Day 4- Florence

Went to the Uffizi (one of the big galleries in Florence, has Boticelli’s Venus). Amazing statues, but some of the Medici sponsored art was ostentatious lolsob. I wonder how much gold in total is on the wall. So many marble pieces that are thousands of years old. Squee! Also interesting to see how gender markers have changed over time. Shows how artificial the gender binary is.

Wandered around Florence for a few hours and bought souvenirs and a bag for university. It’s amazingly picturesque, with interesting museums, buildings and statues seemingly around every corner.

Day 3- Rome

If you do nothing else, do the Colosseum. It is incredibly impressive, and it is well worth it to research the historical context to get a feel for the place. The Vatican was amazing,but pretty much the definition of overkill. The Pantheon was wonderful on the outside, but the Christianised interior was kind of sad.

Day 4- Florence

I don’t know why people don’t like American tourists. They’re generally friendly and tip well. Me and my Fellow Spawn talked to an American couple on the train, and they were really nice, even if they were Republicans. It seems that American tourists support each other, like helping with directions and taking photos for each other. Doesn’t seem like objectionable behavior…

In lieu on the drafts posts I lost while messing around with my laptop, here are excerpts from my travel journal.

Day 1- Hong Kong Airport

Deviant Spawn, Fellow Spawn 1 and Fellow Spawn 2 have been unleashed on Europe. In the hours since we’ve left our home and reached the Hong Kong airport we’ve been warned about Italian men multiple times. “Don’t let them pinch your arses” and the like. The boys will be boys attitude displayed in some of these warnings is worrisome. As always, the travel has been a nightmare (I get airsick) and the airports chaotic. I am struck by the fear that I’ve forgotten something vital. I’m currently reading the Italian phrasebook. I have everyday pleasantries (yes, no, thank you, hello etc) and the first ten numbers down.

Day 3- In Rome

I’ve updated my mental definition of Rome to the city that gave straight roads to the world, yet has hopelessly convoluted streets. My legs ache after walking down most of them. Bells are ringing at the moment, as they appear to do at regular intervals. I’m trying to crack the code without cheating by using google or the guidebook.

I am in a really happy zone right now. The trip has been amazing. The palpable air of history around the area has been incredibly interesting and fulfilling. The food is just as good as everyone said, and there are many beautiful places that photograph well. I was very impressed by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and absolutely squeeing over the public fountains, big and small, that are everywhere.

(Day 3- In Rome to be continued.)

 

As I type this thousands of people all over (the eastern side) of Australia are enjoying a midnight screening of New Moon. May we celebrate sparkly super-powered stalkers with squeals of joy.

From TwiLOL (click for link)

(Forget the retrograde gender politics. I’m still not over the vampires having no weaknesses and x-men super powers. Pshhhh, kids these days have no appreciation of what constitutes a REAL vampire.)

So I’ve finished high school/ the dreaded HSC. All I have to do now is sort out American application stuff and prepare for a holiday. I’ve been catching up on the feminist blogosphere, and if you haven’t gone already, check out Feminists with Disabilities. Contributors include the always awesome Chally and Lauredhel.

In other news Democrats threw women under the bus in the health care plan (Quelle surprise!). As an American citizen I can register to vote, but I have to fill out many forms and deal with state income tax if I do so. Democrat cowardice leaves me with little inclination to put in the effort, despite the family tradition of being politically active and agitating in favour of the Democrats.

On the other side of the fence, the Republican party remains the party of incompetence and hatred. If they had any real interest in governing, and not just posturing and politicing, they would be supporting the health care bill to improve the lives of their constituents, including the military veterans who are live in poverty as a direct result of America’s failing health care system. If we can’t support our troops by not sending them into pointless wars, the least we can do is making sure they receive adequate medical treatment for the issues that arise from their service.

In short, the American political system is still as screwed up as it was when I started this blog. Grrr.

I’m in panic/stress/ omg/ study/ screw up mode, and thus haven’t posted in forever. I have no intention of retiring from blogging permanently, I’m just taking an extended break. Thanks all for the well wishes.

Hope y’all have a  Halloween sans obnoxious children and pornified witches!

HHL

The real world has caught up with me, so I’m not going to be posting much (if at all) for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, look to my blogroll for feminist goodness.

Click for image source, Girl from the Ghetto