Re: Metaquoting, etc.
Yesterday, I posted about an incident at my local mall, and how I called a salesman on his use of The Neg. If I'd been by myself, I would've probably ended up sharply informing the guy I wasn't interested and moved on with my life.
Let me tell you a little story, because it tells you a lot about who I am and why I do what I do.
When I was a kid, my mom was sexually harassed at the grocery store. This creepy guy was following us up and down the aisles, and my mother sharply told him to GO AWAY several times. He then exposed himself and began to masturbate, leering at my mother. High heels and all, my mom charged the guy. He took off at a good clip, but my mom was undeterred. She nailed him in the back of the head with a can of green beans, knocking him unconscious. She had a great arm.
He was arrested. My mother's outrage, indignation and her ability to be her own white knight overshadowed any distress or trauma I could have incurred. Women came up to her and told her he'd done it to them, too, but they'd been too ________ to say anything. I came out of the experience with a clear idea that my mother and green beans were awesome.
I haven't had a decade of day-in, day-out interaction with my sister. She moved in over the summer, and to make a very long story short, I've become a parental figure out of necessity. Sometimes, it's overwhelming: I feel like every move I make has to be weighed and calibrated to minimize damage while simultaneously maximizing learning and care. The gravity of everything my husband and I have tackled in the last five months is ego-crushing and soul-forging. Our life's axis has shifted.
When the douchey kiosk guy approached us, I couldn't just march past him. If I'd let that go unchecked, his behavior becomes an example to the girls of "acceptable behavior." I don't believe a can of green beans can or should solve every problem, but I do think that our everyday actions provide examples to kids and peers alike. I'd like my sister to be inoculated against as much negative body talk as humanly possible, and to speak out against it.
I've been on the Internet since 1995. I'm female and work in the tech industry. I'm used to folks calling me a bitch or bitchy because I have a strong writing voice and a direct manner of speaking. That doesn't get my goat anymore: I see it as a sort of social filter. There are people who will take my opinions at face value, and there are people who will dismiss anything I say because I'm a woman.
What boggles my brain: the folks who say my account must be fabricated.
I am a serious nerd. I eclipse my dorkiness on a weekly basis. I made a government retention schedule joke yesterday. I'm a bit of a caricature, honestly. I'm also a ferocious public speaker. Ask anyone who's really known me for years, and they can easily recount an incident where I've done something bombastic like this. I really don't care what people think about it, although kindly people have warmed up a very hard November. I just think it's weird that people don't find it plausible.
Let me tell you a little story, because it tells you a lot about who I am and why I do what I do.
When I was a kid, my mom was sexually harassed at the grocery store. This creepy guy was following us up and down the aisles, and my mother sharply told him to GO AWAY several times. He then exposed himself and began to masturbate, leering at my mother. High heels and all, my mom charged the guy. He took off at a good clip, but my mom was undeterred. She nailed him in the back of the head with a can of green beans, knocking him unconscious. She had a great arm.
He was arrested. My mother's outrage, indignation and her ability to be her own white knight overshadowed any distress or trauma I could have incurred. Women came up to her and told her he'd done it to them, too, but they'd been too ________ to say anything. I came out of the experience with a clear idea that my mother and green beans were awesome.
I haven't had a decade of day-in, day-out interaction with my sister. She moved in over the summer, and to make a very long story short, I've become a parental figure out of necessity. Sometimes, it's overwhelming: I feel like every move I make has to be weighed and calibrated to minimize damage while simultaneously maximizing learning and care. The gravity of everything my husband and I have tackled in the last five months is ego-crushing and soul-forging. Our life's axis has shifted.
When the douchey kiosk guy approached us, I couldn't just march past him. If I'd let that go unchecked, his behavior becomes an example to the girls of "acceptable behavior." I don't believe a can of green beans can or should solve every problem, but I do think that our everyday actions provide examples to kids and peers alike. I'd like my sister to be inoculated against as much negative body talk as humanly possible, and to speak out against it.
I've been on the Internet since 1995. I'm female and work in the tech industry. I'm used to folks calling me a bitch or bitchy because I have a strong writing voice and a direct manner of speaking. That doesn't get my goat anymore: I see it as a sort of social filter. There are people who will take my opinions at face value, and there are people who will dismiss anything I say because I'm a woman.
What boggles my brain: the folks who say my account must be fabricated.
I am a serious nerd. I eclipse my dorkiness on a weekly basis. I made a government retention schedule joke yesterday. I'm a bit of a caricature, honestly. I'm also a ferocious public speaker. Ask anyone who's really known me for years, and they can easily recount an incident where I've done something bombastic like this. I really don't care what people think about it, although kindly people have warmed up a very hard November. I just think it's weird that people don't find it plausible.