Teaching Children About Gender Roles

Gotta love me some Married to the Sea!

So, here's the deal..

I had two separate, but related, experiences this week that made me realize something quite sad.

I'm currently in a Middle East class. It has been pretty interesting, to say the least. Also, reading about other countries just makes me "want to go to there" despite the, I don't know, centuries of conflict. Anyhow, our last book was Understanding Arabs a book that describes in detail the history and cultural aspects of the people. Loved it. Seriously! What was remarkable to me was how many women are still denied equal rights. I knew (obvi the semest is almost ova) there was a historic Islamic and Jewish culture that caused women to be forced into the homes, killed for wearing jeans, or working. However, I didn't know the extent and how bad it was until now. It was so sad to me that in some countries women only make up 15% of the workforce, and how some are just begging to get a decent education. BECAUSE HEAVEN FORBID THOSE FEMALES LEARN!

Also last week, I had not one! but two! girls tell me they were no longer going to finish their undergraduate degree because they needed to work and support their husband while he finishes school. By the second girl I wanted to just grab her arms and scream:

"DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW FREAKING LUCKY YOU ARE?!"

There are women that would do just about anything to even have the opportunity to learn. Not even for a degree! And these girls are dropping out of school to support their husbands?! I cannot understand it.

I must say, this has nothing to do with women who choose to not work after college. This also has nothing to do with marrying young. This, lastly, has nothing to do with women who don't pursue graduate degrees. I have nothing wrong with any of those. To me, it is totally your call. If you don't want to go to more school, work, or get married young, I honestly couldn't care less. I'm being serious. This isn't the issue at hand.

The issue is that they are giving up an opportunity to learn, to earn a degree, to give yourself some type of support and backing for the future. Heaven forbid something happens to your husband, or you have to support yourself, what then?

Also money is the worst excuse on the planet.

JSYK YOU ARE MARRIED AND POOR THE GOVERNMENT WILL BASICALLY THROW FEDERAL GRANTS AT YOU!!! Us single people would kill for the financial aid you can get.

Not to mention, the chances of you going back to school are extremely slim, and if you do, it will be MUCH harder. Returning adult students have a really difficult time transitioning back into college life.

To end my tirade, I have been hearing about girls dropping out of school for years, but it wasn't until I realized how blessed the women in America are that I understood how sad it is. I just ask you smart, talented, freaking rad women to keep at it. Don't settle for a 8-5 min wager when you have the chance to earn something FOR YOURSELF.

That's all.

Frown face. :(

From Zelda Lily:

So, the blogosphere’s debating whether she’ll stick to her word, I’m hoping she won’t, and CNN’s implying she’s too old. In any case, Clinton told NBC this week she’s planning to retire after serving as Secretary of State, ruling out any future presidency. From CNN:

If Clinton changes her mind — she would either have to run against President Obama in the Democratic primaries in 2012… or she would have to wait until 2016. She turns 62 this month.

Hillary Clinton is also denying that her voice isn’t being heard in the Obama administration… calling that “absurd.” She says that it’s not her style to try to be the center of attention… and that she believes in delegating power.

Clinton says she wants to be a positive force in enacting the changes that the Obama administration believes in: “But that doesn’t mean it all has to be me, me, me all the time.”

For lots of readers out there, any discussion of Clinton’s future elicits hatred and derogatory comments. These readers are mostly not checking out Zelda, but it still amazes me how much they despise this woman. They take the characteristics shared by most politicians — spinning the truth, evading questions, keeping up appearances — and try to present these as evidence of her personal character, not her chosen profession.

Of course, this is a strategy everyone uses to criticize the politicians they don’t like.

But what’s troubling when it comes to Clinton, or her decision not to run, is that we don’t have another woman out there who receives that kind of attention. We didn’t bother with character assassination of Sarah Palin. She was hot, so she was a sex object, so we didn’t have to take her seriously. With Clinton, she’s intelligent, she keeps climbing political ladders, and she could pose a real threat to the that patriarchal White House.

Who will replace Clinton as a strong woman in the political arena? We, unfortunately, can’t count on Palin. I’m not discounting her in the way that most of America did — by calling her the sexy librarian type, focusing on the makeover she received before the Republican National Convention, or generally trivializing her by excess focus on her appearance.

I’m discounting her because, aside from personal political aspirations, she’s not a feminist to hang our hopes on. I’m discounting her because I actually listened to her message, and it is not one of hope for the women of America.

Which brings us back to my sadness about Clinton. As long as she’s in the political arena, we have a powerful public figure who is female. People don’t, in general, objectify her. We listen to what she says. And this week, we’re listening to her say her time in politics is limited.

God Bless Brandi Carlile

Today.

Sometimes I wonder whether George H.W. Bush, president “41,” will be remembered as our last “legitimate” president. The right impeached Bill Clinton and hounded him from Day 1 with the bogus Whitewater “scandal.” George W. Bush was elected under a cloud because of the Florida voting mess, and his critics on the left never let him forget it.

And Mr. Obama is now having his legitimacy attacked by a concerted campaign from the right fringe. They are using everything from smears that he is a closet “socialist” to calling him a “liar” in the middle of a joint session of Congress to fabricating doubts about his birth in America and whether he is even a citizen. And these attacks are not just coming from the fringe. Now they come from Lou Dobbs on CNN and from members of the House of Representatives.

Again, hack away at the man’s policies and even his character all you want. I know politics is a tough business. But if we destroy the legitimacy of another president to lead or to pull the country together for what most Americans want most right now — nation-building at home — we are in serious trouble. We can’t go 24 years without a legitimate president — not without being swamped by the problems that we will end up postponing because we can’t address them rationally.

-Thomas L. Friedman
NYTimes, Sept. 29, 209

Dos.

Two great things already happened this morning:

1. I found out they make Aggie gear for Eva. She will look so good this homecoming weekend!

and

2.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Happy Wednesday y'all.

SU-IGH

I would put this night on repeat. For days. Great friends, AMAZING MUSIC, perfect.

This video does no justice, but it'll do.

I have FINALLY gotten some great new tunes to pump through my new A-P-T and it makes me super happy.

Two new additions to my collection are Ingrid and Regina's new CD's. I was introduced to both singers at the same time, so it was only appropriate for them to both come out with a new CD at the same time. THE WORLD IS GREAT.

Anyway, last night a few peeps were over making some yummy grub and I went to play a Ingrid/Regina playlist I had created a few days ago with their new CD's.

iTunes - Music - Playlists - "REGINGR" - Play

Moments after I press play I realized it was one of Ingrid's old songs. I thought, "Strange, she put this on the new one too." (I'm sure you get where this is going...)

ANYWAY, turns out I have, literally, two playlists on my iTunes that are quite similar:

- REGINGR (old CD's)

and,

-REGING (new CD's)

Years later, I'm still making the same playlists, listening to the same artists, and this really struck me. Mostly because SO EFFING MUCH has changed. It was a moment in my life when I thought, people, locations, weather, all change. Yet, there are things about ME, about who I am, that won't ever go away. This isn't only my love for "quirky-folk-pop" as Ingrid would describe her music, but the core of who I am. What I love. What makes me happy.

That's deep enough for today.

Speaking of stuff that makes me happy, this song is like totally-wicked-awesome, yeaaaaaah:

Bumpit Update.

Hair down Bumpit:

Bumps aren't just for Utah...

I just got an email from my sister Angela:

Subject: Amanda and I just bought Bumpits.

Attachment:



Incredible.

If you don't know what Bumpits are, 1. Where have you been? And 2. Watch this video: