#1
I saw this photo this afternoon, and started grinning from ear to ear. For multiple reasons, really. It got me thinking about the word "feminist" and its place in today's world. I don't know if this is just my own personal experience, but I believe there has been a shift happening, even within the past couple of years. I recall in my first year sociology class, about 4 or 5 years ago now, when we had to go around the classroom and explain whether we thought of ourselves as a feminist. I remember most responses being along the lines of "I wouldn't call myself a feminist per se, but I definitely believe in equality".
I saw this photo this afternoon, and started grinning from ear to ear. For multiple reasons, really. It got me thinking about the word "feminist" and its place in today's world. I don't know if this is just my own personal experience, but I believe there has been a shift happening, even within the past couple of years. I recall in my first year sociology class, about 4 or 5 years ago now, when we had to go around the classroom and explain whether we thought of ourselves as a feminist. I remember most responses being along the lines of "I wouldn't call myself a feminist per se, but I definitely believe in equality".
For a few decades now, I think we have been made to believe that "feminist" is a dirty world - something excessively confronting, aggressive, extreme, and wildly unattractive. A person could believe in all that feminist ideology stood for, whatever branch of feminism that may be, but still feel uncomfortable with claiming the feminist title. But I think there has been some sort of change in the attitudes towards the word within the past couple of years. I think feminism is not only starting to become more accepted, but also encouraged. Even (dare I say it?)cool.
Just little things, like Beyonce's statement, are working to shake off the stereotypes. Beyonce is sensual, feminine, straight, a leg-shaver, intelligent, polite and a feminist. You can be any type of woman, or person, and still be a feminist. I only hope that it doesn't stay at a superficial level - where it's simply cool to say "I'm a feminist". Because we all know that trends don't last long.
#2
Fruit for breakfast, yeh? Notice the tick of approval for "No Artificial Flavours"... how lenient are these claims, exactly? And for $2? That shit should be illegal. Does anyone else suffer from grocery shopping anxiety? This has only been a recent development for me, but since learning more about what actually goes into our food, I simply don't trust anything (neurotic much?). I basically ignore all the claims on the front of the packages now, and look for the ingredients list... it's actually quite scary how many "healthy" things have lots of little nasties in them. And then you think, OK, I'll just stick mainly to the fruits and veg.. but we're also quickly learning more about what these fruits and veggies are being sprayed and poked with. It's all a little overwhelming.
#3
I've been doing Sex and the City marathons over the past week or so. I did a long one back in my early uni days, and for some strange reason I've decided to re-watch them all. I don't even particularly like the show, I think it's just easy and relatively pleasant to watch. But it's simply amazing how quickly technology has changed even since this show was made, which really doesn't feel like that long ago. They talk about getting "the email" for the first time, whether they would ever do "online shopping", and when no one shows up at Carrie's birthday dinner, they can't reach her to tell her why because SHE DOESN'T HAVE A MOBILE PHONE. I was also thinking, if they made the show today, Carrie would totally be a blogger, not a column-writer. The way she writes belongs in the blogging world, as opposed to the newspaper world - it's way too personal for print publication.
