I'm a woman who knows what she wants. And i want justice. i want poetry. I want our society to grow to a point where the potentiality of women is appreciated. I want my cat to live forever. And right now, i would kill for a cup of tea.
last exam to go! History: revolutions.
Its funny, learning about communism in Russia and China and how brutal the society was that came out of it. But despite this, especially in China, they were way ahead of Western society in terms of womens rights. Really interesting. Mao caused so much death and pain, and suppression, but he granted women all these fundamental rights. I find it kind weird to learn about. How did a society so full of destruction and restriction deem to give women rights like this? it shoudnt make sense. I guess it might just be lost in translation somewhere between East and West. hmmm…..
Also, our history teacher who is a fabulous man, pointed out something. The very spelling of Histoty. His(story.) it so is too. the only time you hear about women is when they;re married to revolutionaries or famous men. Its frustrating. And the ones you do hear about are written so unforgivingly (for all i know they could have been aweful) but it seems odd. Dowager Empress Cixi and Jung Qing, Mao’s wife. maybe a bit backward, but the way historians write about them is so unforgiving.
Hmmm anyway! back to the books! ill be a free woman by Wednesday!
I have my Literature Exam in two hours. I am rather nervous. BUT im fairly certain that i will get to spend at least half of it writing about one of the coolest Feminist poets ever: Gwen Harwood. (by the way, if anyone knows any feminist poets, message me! I want more!)
Anyway, Gwen Harwood is an Australian poet who wrote the bulk of her work in the 1950’s. as a housewife, her life was very much devoted to her children, but also to her poetry. She was critical of the institution of marriage and in particular the implications of theman ‘owning’ the woman. She also looked at religion, subverting the assumption that man was at the center of creation, placing instead mothers and their role of nurture. Her work is beautiful to read, even if you’re not into poetry. i wasnt until we studied her.
Feminist Poems to reccommend:
Wish me luck!
Why is it that whenever I open my mouth and make an intelligent comment about sexism/gender roles I get attacked? I mean seriously. Its like there’s this knee jerk rection from every guy on facebook to just ‘retalliate’ against this oh-so-threatening feminist who is insulting their gender. Yeah never mind the fact that I just pointed out to you how damaging sexism is to guys AS WELL as girls. Never mind that I’m educating you about something that could potentially make you a better person. Yeah, casue what the fuck would I know, being a feminist and all.
What the fuck would I know.
I have now officially joined the realm of optically challenged people. now i look even more like “that pretentious fucking feminist who thinks she’s better than us.” Well. Then so be it. Cause the truth is all those dickwads who feel the need to hate on me, are just threatened by me. I realise that now.
So I’m cool with it. And if it means I’m “pretentious” then alrighty. I very much doubt the person who used that word even knows what it means anyway, so uh…idk. And just personally, I think i look quite dapper (if i do say so myself.)
had my very first exhibition last night! (granted, it was the VCE arts week show, but an exhibition nonetheless.) remember all those photos i showed you of me and my friends with signs saying feminist and slut and such? yeah it was that installation. I was so nervous, hovering around and listening to what people said, and comments were really positive! (the ones i heard anyway) it was really nice. encouraging. :)
after a shitty day, the last thing I need is to be shut down by the person whose blog ive been following for ages.
She didn’t even get where I was coming from, or quite frankly give a shit, and now all i feel like doing is curling up in bed and sleeping. This is why Tumblr annoys me, its so combative. People make these feminist blogs and then feel the need to shout down everyone who questions their philosophy. It’s not constructive, polite, or intelligent, and I’m over it. By all means debate, but why be so immature about it? If you’re going to opperate a proper blog then at least BE NICE or even a bit PROFESSIONAL about it. Thanks to you, un named feminist blogger, I am now slightly teary after a shitty day at school, I’ve got a hell of a lot on my mind and your irrelevant shut-down has just put the cherry on the cake. I will never ask questions, post or discuss on someone else’s wall again.
You dissapoint me. :( I really liked your blog, but i guess you just cant listen to people on an equal level.
So *unfollow*
The End.
the other day one of my male teachers (a great guy, really interesting) asked me what i though about men calling themselves feminists. He said a few of his male friends had issues with the title, although they support womens rights and gender equity. It is a bit of a tricky issue…but my personal belief is that yes, a man can call himself a feminist. The thing is, in my mind feminism is as much about men as it is about women. Its a male problem too, in a weird way. i believe that a society (thats men and woman) can be seriously held back by gender bias, and that men would greatly benefit from raising the infuence of women.
I dont have a problem with men calling themselves ‘feminist,’ but I think the position is obviously a little different,. They’re just male feminists. It is more a sympathetic standpoint than an empathetic one. But just as valid, and i feel, really important. Afterall, if both man and woman care about gender equity then yeah, why not call yourself a feminist? afterall, we’re fighting for the same cause. My Dad’s a feminist (even though he’s got issues with the label) And this teacher, yeah he’s a feminist too. I will also say that he’s been an amazing help while ive been at school at helping me sort out all my feminism-y angst regarding the behavior of other students.So lets not get posessive of the term, let everyone in! We all want the same thing.
Anyway, summing up, i think its fine for men to call themselves Feminists. It makes the term less scary to other men, and includes everyone in this push for equality, and i think thats a great thing. !
Oh Bill, you wonderful wonderful man.
My installation has been up for 24 hours, and i come to school today to find three of the photos face down on thegallery floor, ripped from thier places. There is no way they could have just fallen. I reenforced the shit outta those photos. They were hung right.
Someone would have had to yank them off the fishing wire to actually get the off the wall. And so they have. Two are badly scratched, but no major loss. It’s kind ainteresting really. What these anonymous areseholes dont realise is that they’re proving my point entirely. They’ve got no logical nor intelligent arguement against my work or feminism, so they do something destructive. My folio is due in under a week, if got two SACS next week ( really important tests that go towards our final score) and now, ive got a killer of a headache. I guess thats the price you pay when you do something political….theres always going to be someone trying to undermine you. I dont know who did it. i dont even think it was the group of guys who have been giving me shit all year. i honestly have no clue who would do it.
But right now its just another thing i dont wanna have to deal with. Exams are soon. My head is throbbing. Im going to go make a cup of tea and watch Bridesmaids. maybe that’ll cheer me up.
ciao tumblr ladies xx
My installation begins to take shape. This is just a preliminary setup, i will play around with placement and ordering and suchness. But it is a huge weight off my chest to get all my photographs printed, mounted and up. The mirror introduces the idea of the viewer reflecting in their reaction to feminsim and words like ‘slut.’ It effectively places them inside the installation, whether they like it or now. people are naturally drawn to their own reflection, so i thought this was a nice little way to lure them in. Anyway I’ll post more photos over the next two weeks. Folio is due in a WEEK. EEEEEP! ( should get my arse off tumblr and do some work.)