Not only am I not able to get over the steaming anger from Bill Gates and his minions destroying my beautiful blog post, I also have other (much shorter) thoughts to share with you instead.
I've never considered myself to be a feminist but lately my feminist button has been getting the hell pushed out of it. I worked in a male dominated world and I'm used to the "sweetie" and "honey" and being passed over because I'm not "tough enough" for a job and I've been able to swallow that and put my head down and move forward without much complaint. But let me tell you something....two things have happened lately that make me want to strangle the hell out of a man with my feminist rage. First is this Palin business. Rick says he still can't figure out what it is that I'm so mad about so hopefully I can successfully articulate it here. Some of you have seen my new T-shirts that say "A woman candidate is not the same thing as a woman's candidate" and "I vote with my brain not my gender" (which I purchased in a feminine rage) and they pretty well sum up what I'm so pissed about. How DARE you GOP, my former friends and political allies. HOW DARE you pick some random woman that you can push around and stick her up on a stage and think that because I have a vagina I will magically vote for you. Kiss my ass. That insults not only my gender but my intelligence as well. And then women fall for it. Oh my god. I can hardly stand to think about it. Hearing Palin going on and on about the glass ceiling pisses me off too. The only glass ceiling she has ever seen was in Alaskan politics. Does she have even the slightest inkling of what it's going to be like for a woman in the whitehouse? I doubt it. There are women in the Republican party who DO know about the glass ceiling and are infinitely more qualified but god forbid we pick someone as a running mate who has enough clout (an information) to think for herself. Screw you GOP.
The second thing that pushed my button happened today and it is somewhat more personal in nature although I'm sure I'm not the first woman to experience it. I decided today that I was going to buy a small handgun. We keep two guns in the house but one is too large for me to confidently handle and the other is a shotgun which I do not yet know how to use. Now I didn't just wake up today and decide "I need a gun" nor am I planning to kill Richard upon his return from Houston. There have been several home invasions and car break ins and a rape in our area recently. Also, someone attempted to let themselves in my front door Thursday morning and I have felt pretty uneasy ever since. Plus I figured "when in Texas....buy a gun". So I go to Cabelas and I first stop and visit with my buddy in the fishing department and for purposes of this blog will be called "Pal". I tell Pal about Rick being in Houston and how I don't get to fish now and about the person trying to come in the door and my decision to purchase a firearm. Well wait. First I tell him about Rick and the fish and then I say "I'm going to buy a handgun" to which he replies "WHAT IN THE WORLD do you need a handgun for??" and then I tell him about the person coming in the door....after which I realized that I don't need to justify to anyone what I want a damn handgun for. So Hal tells me that I don't need a handgun I need a shotgun because I won't ever have to actually use a shotgun, I can just pump it and the intruder will run away screaming like a girl when he hears that sound(not his exact words). I explain that I'm seriously not in the market for a shotgun and he replies "well we will get you a junior sized one". I stare at him blankly. Pal then gets very serious and says "Now listen, if you're going to buy a gun you need to be prepared to use it to kill someone". (No shit) "Plus you need to realize that when you start shooting a gun in the house you'll have bullets in the walls and in the neighbors walls..." I cut Pal off. "Listen, if there is a guy in my house the last thing I care about is bullets in my walls ok?". "Well I'm just telling you" he says. Pal then leads me over to the gun dept and introduces me to a guy working there who is a former police officer and for purposes of this blog we will call "Officer P". Pal has a private conversation with Officer P while I stand there staring at the two of them and then goes back to the fishing department, leaving me in Officer P's good care. "So you absolutely don't want to buy a shotgun? You know you'll never actually need to use it?"."NO I want a handgun" I tell him. "Well if you absolutely won't consider it then what you need is a revolver" he tells me. "I was thinking a .38 I reply" and I tell him about the 9mm we have and how it is too big for me. So he gets a small smith and wesson .38 out of the glass case and puts it on the counter to show me. "You know" he says, "if you're going to buy a gun you better be prepared to kill someone with it". It is at this point that something in my brain lights on fire. If Ted Smith came in to Cabelas to buy a handgun for home defense do you think he would have gotten two lectures on "being prepared to shoot and kill someone"? I bite my lip for a second so I can collect my thoughts and remain nice "I completely understand" I say. I stop short of telling him that there is almost nothing I would rather do than shoot a rapist right square in the chest and that sometimes I daydream about it. I also decide not to mention that there are women in the military and that lots of women know how to handle a weapon. Needless to say that I was starting to get pissed and I decided I was not going to buy the .38 from Officer P on this day...although I'm sure I'll get the same reaction wherever I head next. Just one time I would like to stand in the kitchenware section at walmart and chastise every man that comes in there to buy pots and pans by saying "Now you realize that taking care of cookware is a pretty big responsibility right?"
When it comes down to it maybe the problem isn't that I'm a woman, it's that I just cannot stand being patronized for any reason...particularly because I have a va jay jay.
Girl power (and whatnot)!
5 comments:
We think alike for sure! Luv it!
On time at TWU, I was being recruited to join a feminist group, which is active on the campus. They had a big sign, which read something like:
Think you're not a feminist? Do you enjoy your right to vote? to own property? to receive a formal education? Then, you're a feminist.
People think you have to be an out-of-control, madwoman to be a feminist, which is not the case.
I also think women have been and remain a minority in the working field. We continue to hold each other back in the work force, because we are afraid of the younger, prettier, better model taking our jobs. I wish women could get behind each other and be more supportive. And I don't mean by voting for just anyone with a va-jay-jay.
Well I was never really worried about other women taking my job. In fact the other women really didn't threaten me at all...I just ignored them because they wanted to bitch and cat fight each other more than work. That's probably not the best possible reaction though. I definitely see your point.
Working with mostly all women is going to be my least favorite thing about teaching elem school! Those other teachers are mean!
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