I know I have been doing a lot of talking and less "fluffy" lately, but I am just having an epiphany at the moment.
Or not really an epiphany. I am just so sick of how men and women treat women in our society.
Every single day I am confronted with sexist and misogynistic behaviour, born in both male and female brains. It strikes me that so much of it goes completely unidentified by both genders. It's just a way of living. To call a woman a bitch, because she's slept with more guys than you have or because she refuses to stop and smile, when a seedy as guy yells out something stupid like "Baby, can I have your number". I am fed up and I will not stop talking about. Ever.
I walked into your favourite fast food restaurant after my late shift yesterday, when I got yelled at by a 4WD-load of pubescent boys. They were driving past me, yelling out "I would fuck that".
That.
Leaving aside the fact that this is an absolute moronic thing to do and say to ANY human being, it really hit me how I wasn't even referred to as a person. I was referred to as THAT. An object.
I don't know if these boys are aware of what they are doing or how they are disrespecting me as a woman, as a person, as a human being. I don't think they are. In fact, these days I think people have become very insensitive to discrimination against women.
And to be honest, it's quite easy to loose track of what is discrimination and what isn't. Walk into a newsagent and you see misogyny everywhere. And yet it people greedily consume it like free french fries.
My fifteen year old self probably would have taken the above statement as a compliment, no doubt about that. And I can't blame her. After all, according to media and our wrecked society beauty and attractiveness are the most desirable attributes of female existence. Adored by men, feared by women. The punchlines are infinite.
And as a fragile teenager you hoard this information and feed off it, because you are so damn confused about how to be ok the whole time. I read women's magazines (in fact, I consumed a lot of different trashy media), I tried to be like the women in the magazines and I didn't EVER think that any of this was wrong. In fact, I thought that was the key to being normal....
............
Dan and I watched Puberty Blues the other night. There was a scene where this absolute loser of a teenage boy wants to have sex with a girl he calls "his girlfriend", but who he refuses to speak to or be nice or to stimulate her in any way. Besides "get your gear off", there isn't much conversation going on and he tries hard to get it on, but even with the help of Vaseline (OMG WHAT? MORON!!!) he can't enter and of course blames it on the frigid girlfriend. After I had made several comments on how disgusted I am with how little self-worth this girl has, Dan commented as follows "Why don't you eat some pussy you fucking loser!".
That's why I am married, I am part of a seemingly patriarchal institution and I can still call myself a feminist, because, frankly, my husband isn't a disrespectful moron. He's a real man.
Tomorrow: A post about jewellery! YAY! NO MORE READING :)
