FAILURE IS IMMINENT.
We're on the abortion unit of my philosophy class. And it is filled with fail, as expected.
The unit centers around a group of readings we have to do. None of the writers are 100% pro-choice; there are two pro-lifers and two pro-choice-buts. The first of the latter group is "pro-choice-unless-I-deem-your-reasons-stupid", and the second is all about time restrictions. Our assignment for tonight is to read the other pro-lifer's essay and critique her characteristics of what makes something a person. I'll have fun shredding her argument, but all the same (and I will sound sooo narrow-minded when I say this, but believe me, I've heard it all) I do not want to have to slog through pro-life drivel that is all about the fetus. It's bad enough that our class discussions only mention the woman as an after thought, as though she were barely relevant, and that the entire discussion is made in terms of the fetus. I would almost call it a pro-life slant, as not only are all of our readings pro-life in some way, shape or form, but pro-lifers also center the discussion around the fetus, while the pro-choice side tends to center it around the woman. I'm sure almost all you know my position on the issue, and though I've piped up a LOT during this whole debacle (the only person who has said more than me is the teacher himself), it isn't doing much good. There are still a bunch of stupid freshmen who continue to say things like, "since she made the decision to get pregnant" when we are not discussing a situation in which a woman has sex with a man in order to get pregnant, and they do not listen to me (or any of the other menstruating people in the class) when I tell them that conception is not voluntary, nor is ovulation. It doesn't matter that PIV sex can lead to pregnancy, becoming pregnant is NOT something you consciously do. It happens outside of your control if you have had PIV sex. FUCKING DUH, PLEASE GO BACK TO FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE. I've managed to kick their ass, though. It's very rewarding, once they shut up. But it's extremely frustrating.
Also, do you know what else is frustrating? Straight people who think they have a gaydar. Assfriend said today in forum that he thought Katy Perry's song "Ur So Gay" was funny, and I told him it wasn't funny, it was offensive. So then he starts on this whole spiel about gay men who are in the closet but you can tell they're gay because they exhibit something that he didn't say because I cut him off (knowing he would say "effeminate tendencies" or something to that effect, because that's what I was pointing out to him was wrong with the song) and told him that straight people do not have gaydars. No, sorry, they don't. When a straight person says they have a gaydar, it means they can see gay stereotypes. People who are actually queer are better at spotting people who are also actually queer because we are able to see behavior that we exhibited as well as closeted or out people. It's like a sixth sense. We have the experiences and we can see them in other people. Straight people do not have the experiences and therefore cannot see them in other people.
ETA: And, because most of my recent posts have been negative, I thought I should add that the weather today was spectacular. IT IS 67 DEGREES, AAAAAAAAAAH. Two months ago I had a "You know you live in Michigan when..." moment when I walked out into 20 degree weather and my first thought was, "It's so warm!" -___-
The unit centers around a group of readings we have to do. None of the writers are 100% pro-choice; there are two pro-lifers and two pro-choice-buts. The first of the latter group is "pro-choice-unless-I-deem-your-reasons-stupid", and the second is all about time restrictions. Our assignment for tonight is to read the other pro-lifer's essay and critique her characteristics of what makes something a person. I'll have fun shredding her argument, but all the same (and I will sound sooo narrow-minded when I say this, but believe me, I've heard it all) I do not want to have to slog through pro-life drivel that is all about the fetus. It's bad enough that our class discussions only mention the woman as an after thought, as though she were barely relevant, and that the entire discussion is made in terms of the fetus. I would almost call it a pro-life slant, as not only are all of our readings pro-life in some way, shape or form, but pro-lifers also center the discussion around the fetus, while the pro-choice side tends to center it around the woman. I'm sure almost all you know my position on the issue, and though I've piped up a LOT during this whole debacle (the only person who has said more than me is the teacher himself), it isn't doing much good. There are still a bunch of stupid freshmen who continue to say things like, "since she made the decision to get pregnant" when we are not discussing a situation in which a woman has sex with a man in order to get pregnant, and they do not listen to me (or any of the other menstruating people in the class) when I tell them that conception is not voluntary, nor is ovulation. It doesn't matter that PIV sex can lead to pregnancy, becoming pregnant is NOT something you consciously do. It happens outside of your control if you have had PIV sex. FUCKING DUH, PLEASE GO BACK TO FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE. I've managed to kick their ass, though. It's very rewarding, once they shut up. But it's extremely frustrating.
Also, do you know what else is frustrating? Straight people who think they have a gaydar. Assfriend said today in forum that he thought Katy Perry's song "Ur So Gay" was funny, and I told him it wasn't funny, it was offensive. So then he starts on this whole spiel about gay men who are in the closet but you can tell they're gay because they exhibit something that he didn't say because I cut him off (knowing he would say "effeminate tendencies" or something to that effect, because that's what I was pointing out to him was wrong with the song) and told him that straight people do not have gaydars. No, sorry, they don't. When a straight person says they have a gaydar, it means they can see gay stereotypes. People who are actually queer are better at spotting people who are also actually queer because we are able to see behavior that we exhibited as well as closeted or out people. It's like a sixth sense. We have the experiences and we can see them in other people. Straight people do not have the experiences and therefore cannot see them in other people.
ETA: And, because most of my recent posts have been negative, I thought I should add that the weather today was spectacular. IT IS 67 DEGREES, AAAAAAAAAAH. Two months ago I had a "You know you live in Michigan when..." moment when I walked out into 20 degree weather and my first thought was, "It's so warm!" -___-