random musings
Something scary happened yesterday! Due to my really lousy immunology scores last CA (like really lousy, rock-bottom-viva-style lousy), my mentor actually sent me and email to ask if things were okay and if I needed help! Was totally shocked+scared after that email haha, although its nice to know that he's actually making an effort to email me, a measly year 2 :p But he was pretty nice about it, and said only my immuno scores were worrying and the rest of my CAs were "better than his ever were" XD
Second thing:- I stumbled upon a random discussion online in some forum about feminism, the question being whether (and I quote) "feminists are real or whether they just can't get a date". Of course given the gender-challenging nature of the topic, the discussion was quite fiery, with amusing biased opinions from uninformed (and i'm saying this politely) guys and girls alike.
But there were a few interesting opinions that I thought encapsulated the idea of feminism quite completely. One of them's pretty long, so run under the cut below if you're interested to read more.
"I find it hard to believe that apparently none of you know a thing about the feminist movement.
If you young women are interested in careers in areas other than teaching, nursing, clerical and retail sales than you can thank your feminist sisters for giving you that opportunity.
If any of you young women intend to have a career AND be married then you can thank your feminist sisters for making it possible for you to do both.
We used to have a choice, teacher, nurse, secretary, retail sales or wife and mother. That was it.
IF you plan on having a baby and taking maternity leave from work you can thank us. Fathers if you are going to take advantage of paternity leave, you can thank us too.
If you want to have legal representation in court and have community property laws when it comes to divorce you can also thank us.
In fact if you want to vote in any elections, you can thank us.
If you want to own property and get a mortgage without having man sign for you, you can - yup - once more thank us.
If you want equal pay for equal work you can thank us, same goes for when people are being considered for management positions at work.
If you want to be able to work and not have to sleep with the boss to keep your job - yup you guessed it, thank us.
If you want to be able to maitain custody of your children if you ever get divorced - yup, once agian, thank us. They used to just automatically go to the father, mothers had NO rights.
If you want the right to use birth control then once more - thank us.
If you dont want to open the newspaper and see classified that say "men wanted" and "women wanted" then - again - its us you thank. Be happy you warent classified as "pink collar" workers anymore.
If you want to attend medical school, law school, fly a plane, become a captain in the navy, , even be allowed on board a ship, become a police officer, a fireman, a school principal - thank us.
If you want to walk into a marketing or business course at college and not be asked if you are sitting in for your husband, then you can thank us.
And if you men dont want a wife who sees you as a "pay cheque" and stays at home even when there are no children and spends all her time shopping and spending the money you earn, and doesnt contribute as an equal partner, financially to the marriage, you can thank us for that too.
Its interesting "Tonny" is complaining about women "using" men as a "relationship of convenience" when this is EXACTLY what those horrible "feminists" have been striving for - the right to be an equal partner, and recognized as such - and not just a housekeeper and mommy, while "the man" brings it all home and the women spends it all.
I dont hate men, I have a wonderful son, I dont have trouble "getting a man" or keeping one, I have no problem "landing a husband" either.
I wish that everyone would educate themselves before spouting off tired ignorant comments they have heard from some hard-core women haters out there who cant stand that women dont believe men are superior to them.
As one man said to me once "women should not be allowed to drive semi trucks" and I said "oh really why is that, what's the difference between men and women that makes you a better driver?" to which he said "Honey if you dont know the difference between men and women I can show you -"
"Really? and how does that help you when you are driving your semi? Do you shirt gears with it? Is that why being a man makes you a better driver than a woman?"
I DONT think so. Feminism is about EQUALITY. Do YOU want to be the one to tell your daughters they arent equal to their brothers and dont deserve the same opportunities, rights or pay for the work they do?
Are you going to tell your daughter the ONLY role she has in life is to find and please a man so she will have a roof over her head and something to feed her children?
Think about it. I dont think so."
Very, very true comment above about feminism, but I think at the end of the day, feminism is still an ideal, and as with all ideals, the theory is always more rose-coloured and peachy than the Real Thing. As much as we want to have gender equality, do we really practice it? It's not about things like voting, or getting a position at work, and things like that. Although we want all that, sometimes (at least I feel) women still demand to be treated like, well, women. The more cliched examples are how alot of women want men to be "gentlemanly" and open doors for them, how men should give in when they cry (but men cannot cry, because ! it is not masculine), how they want guys to pay for their meal because - they have an XY chromosome, etc. Of course I'm not saying everyone does that - but there are some who do all the same.
And I think this amusing quote that I found from somewhere else awhile ago summarises the above situation quite nicely.
"Disabled people want equality, but still want their own parking."
Quite tongue-in-cheek, but nevertheless makes a valid point I think.
Second thing:- I stumbled upon a random discussion online in some forum about feminism, the question being whether (and I quote) "feminists are real or whether they just can't get a date". Of course given the gender-challenging nature of the topic, the discussion was quite fiery, with amusing biased opinions from uninformed (and i'm saying this politely) guys and girls alike.
But there were a few interesting opinions that I thought encapsulated the idea of feminism quite completely. One of them's pretty long, so run under the cut below if you're interested to read more.
"I find it hard to believe that apparently none of you know a thing about the feminist movement.
If you young women are interested in careers in areas other than teaching, nursing, clerical and retail sales than you can thank your feminist sisters for giving you that opportunity.
If any of you young women intend to have a career AND be married then you can thank your feminist sisters for making it possible for you to do both.
We used to have a choice, teacher, nurse, secretary, retail sales or wife and mother. That was it.
IF you plan on having a baby and taking maternity leave from work you can thank us. Fathers if you are going to take advantage of paternity leave, you can thank us too.
If you want to have legal representation in court and have community property laws when it comes to divorce you can also thank us.
In fact if you want to vote in any elections, you can thank us.
If you want to own property and get a mortgage without having man sign for you, you can - yup - once more thank us.
If you want equal pay for equal work you can thank us, same goes for when people are being considered for management positions at work.
If you want to be able to work and not have to sleep with the boss to keep your job - yup you guessed it, thank us.
If you want to be able to maitain custody of your children if you ever get divorced - yup, once agian, thank us. They used to just automatically go to the father, mothers had NO rights.
If you want the right to use birth control then once more - thank us.
If you dont want to open the newspaper and see classified that say "men wanted" and "women wanted" then - again - its us you thank. Be happy you warent classified as "pink collar" workers anymore.
If you want to attend medical school, law school, fly a plane, become a captain in the navy, , even be allowed on board a ship, become a police officer, a fireman, a school principal - thank us.
If you want to walk into a marketing or business course at college and not be asked if you are sitting in for your husband, then you can thank us.
And if you men dont want a wife who sees you as a "pay cheque" and stays at home even when there are no children and spends all her time shopping and spending the money you earn, and doesnt contribute as an equal partner, financially to the marriage, you can thank us for that too.
Its interesting "Tonny" is complaining about women "using" men as a "relationship of convenience" when this is EXACTLY what those horrible "feminists" have been striving for - the right to be an equal partner, and recognized as such - and not just a housekeeper and mommy, while "the man" brings it all home and the women spends it all.
I dont hate men, I have a wonderful son, I dont have trouble "getting a man" or keeping one, I have no problem "landing a husband" either.
I wish that everyone would educate themselves before spouting off tired ignorant comments they have heard from some hard-core women haters out there who cant stand that women dont believe men are superior to them.
As one man said to me once "women should not be allowed to drive semi trucks" and I said "oh really why is that, what's the difference between men and women that makes you a better driver?" to which he said "Honey if you dont know the difference between men and women I can show you -"
"Really? and how does that help you when you are driving your semi? Do you shirt gears with it? Is that why being a man makes you a better driver than a woman?"
I DONT think so. Feminism is about EQUALITY. Do YOU want to be the one to tell your daughters they arent equal to their brothers and dont deserve the same opportunities, rights or pay for the work they do?
Are you going to tell your daughter the ONLY role she has in life is to find and please a man so she will have a roof over her head and something to feed her children?
Think about it. I dont think so."
Very, very true comment above about feminism, but I think at the end of the day, feminism is still an ideal, and as with all ideals, the theory is always more rose-coloured and peachy than the Real Thing. As much as we want to have gender equality, do we really practice it? It's not about things like voting, or getting a position at work, and things like that. Although we want all that, sometimes (at least I feel) women still demand to be treated like, well, women. The more cliched examples are how alot of women want men to be "gentlemanly" and open doors for them, how men should give in when they cry (but men cannot cry, because ! it is not masculine), how they want guys to pay for their meal because - they have an XY chromosome, etc. Of course I'm not saying everyone does that - but there are some who do all the same.
And I think this amusing quote that I found from somewhere else awhile ago summarises the above situation quite nicely.
"Disabled people want equality, but still want their own parking."
Quite tongue-in-cheek, but nevertheless makes a valid point I think.