I Feel Like A Woman

    I'm not a feminist. Let's start off with that straight away. I hate the flack ladies get when they admit they want to be a stay at home mom. I don't like the guilt trip given to those who like to work outside the home. I feel like we've come to a place in time in which women have the freedom to make choices like that without judgements from strangers.
    However I have recently been introduced to the gross underbelly of gender inequality and it makes me want to toss my razor and start burning bras. I'm talking about the cat calls when a girl walks down the street. When guys honk as they drive by. When girls are told how to dress. When the rape victim is blamed.
     It's absurd that we've come to live in a society in which a girl wearing a dress (of any kind) is an invitation for strangers to gawk and whistle at her. We shouldn't be told to hold our keys between our fingers when walking to our cars at night. We shouldn't be told not to sit in our cars alone at night. We shouldn't be told that what we wear will either invite or repel unwanted attention. Body shaming and victim blaming are so incredibly wrong! Why instead aren't we teaching the boys to stop attacking, harassing, and raping girls?
     I was just talking to Sharaya about starting a program that teaches self defense to young ladies during their sex education course - during my own class the genders were separated which would be the ideal situation in this instance. It really did sound like a grand idea before I considered the alternative: teach the boys that the female gender is equal to them and is to be respected as such. A very obvious option isn't it? I am so tired of being nervous to enter a parking lot at night, or wearing a skirt or dress in public by myself. And you know what? Most of the time those feelings are completely warranted. Some scumbag will gawk at me while I stand in line at the grocery store, or give me the elevator eyes when I sit down in a movie theater. This behavior is disgusted and exhausting and it needs to be stopped.

I encourage you to check out Everyday Sexism

B@T

In Breakfast At Tiffanys by Truman Capote, Holly explains,

"I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like."

     I don't think I've found this place of mine. I thought it was London, but in December I found myself disenchanted with the city. Maybe it was the grey skies or my aching feet. Something in it was lost. Maybe this place is in Cape Town, or Thailand or Florida. Maybe it's in Edmonds. I don't know where to look but I guess I better start.