I don't even want to talk about this because it was so embarrassing what I first wrote. I wasn't too far from the truth, but I still wasn't close enough. And that alone was enough to make me shake my head at everything I wrote the firs time the questions were asked. Like many people, I thought feminism was solely a movement for the rights of women. I had no idea what intersectionality was. In fact, I had never heard of the word before. I think it's really interesting though, because most people who haven't been informed about feminism wouldn't that all these issues would intersect with feminism because they haven't been told what feminism is in the first place. Which is kind of sad, to be honest, because I feel like feminism is something that needs to be shared with people, especially the closed minded.
My thoughts about the country's state of inequality (inequity?) are the same as they were at the beginning of the semester, but now I have substancial information about why it is, and how it is, and what we can do to change it. I can say with confidence how this country is screwed up and why we don't live in a post-feminist, post-racist, society and why there is such a lack of disconnect between peoples of all kind in the United States. I'm just a lot more passionate about feminism and equality than I was before I took this class. I just want to stand in front of a bunch of people and tell them to get their heads out of their butts and realize that they ideology they have come to know as ~the norm~ is not something that should be believed in because it's straight up horse crap.
BUT ANYWAY. I just think the change I underwent in three months so huge that it's interesting to look at how little knowledge I had about social justice I had. Also a little embarrassing.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Event #2
For my second event, I decided to live life on the wild side and attend Deirdre's event Dirty Deeds with D. And whoa, it was probably one of the most eye opening experiences I've had in a while. When we did sex positivity in class, I felt more comfortable about the topic, but after attending D's event I feel as though I no longer have to hide under the prudish curtain that sex seems to place right in front of us. Not only do I feel more comfortable talking about sex, but I feel as though I gained some experience out of the event (without it being hands on); plus the whole me being able to not look at sex as this giant taboo feels pretty awesome too.
Not too long after I attended the event, I found myself informing my cousins and my brother about everything I had learned. I shared with my sister not too long ago that Kotex or many (all?) mainstream pads can cause toxic shock syndrome because they have bleach. I get that it's supposed to be hygienic but there's a clear line drawn where things are healthy or just plain messed up. To my cousins, who are quite the sexually active young adults, I told about the tips D gave us on how to perform better cunnilingus (if you want to be technical). They were both impressed by my knowledge and by how much I knew about vaginas (which, I also learned is not a good word to use because the vaginal canal is not outside or in clear view. Like D said, it would be like calling your face a nose).
One of the questions that I absolutely had to ask, because it was something I had heard about, and often wondered about, was whether or not the taste of someone's genitalia depended on their diet. And as it turns out, it wasn't exactly true. I guess it didn't make sense to begin with, but it wasn't something that I exactly gave much thought to until it was cleared up for me. It's nice to give that question a rest though.
(I really wish I had taken better notes, but I didn't even know how to take notes of this to begin with).
The whole event was just interesting for me because, unlike before, I felt completely comfortable being with a group of people I have just met -- before, I wouldn't even talk to my friends about this because I found it to be such a weird topic. In fact, I rarely shared with a friend the details of my relationship with my ex. Not because it was ~inappropriate, but because it felt really...weird (for lack of a better word). Now? I couldn't care less about telling someone about what I did with who (with some limits, obviously. I know not everyone is as comfortable as me talking about this stuff. Which sucks, because it's such a weight put on our shoulders. A weight we shouldn't have to carry.)
I don't know, I just feel as though I have learned so much, and I can actually fully consider myself to be sex positive way down to the things I can use to make sex feel better. Not only that, but my eyes have been opened about consent during sex. It was something I never knew before, and now I am glad I do because it makes everything kind of clear and a lot less stressful in a strange way.
Also, apparently lube is good something I haven't considered because I hate it.
The end.
Not too long after I attended the event, I found myself informing my cousins and my brother about everything I had learned. I shared with my sister not too long ago that Kotex or many (all?) mainstream pads can cause toxic shock syndrome because they have bleach. I get that it's supposed to be hygienic but there's a clear line drawn where things are healthy or just plain messed up. To my cousins, who are quite the sexually active young adults, I told about the tips D gave us on how to perform better cunnilingus (if you want to be technical). They were both impressed by my knowledge and by how much I knew about vaginas (which, I also learned is not a good word to use because the vaginal canal is not outside or in clear view. Like D said, it would be like calling your face a nose).
One of the questions that I absolutely had to ask, because it was something I had heard about, and often wondered about, was whether or not the taste of someone's genitalia depended on their diet. And as it turns out, it wasn't exactly true. I guess it didn't make sense to begin with, but it wasn't something that I exactly gave much thought to until it was cleared up for me. It's nice to give that question a rest though.
(I really wish I had taken better notes, but I didn't even know how to take notes of this to begin with).
The whole event was just interesting for me because, unlike before, I felt completely comfortable being with a group of people I have just met -- before, I wouldn't even talk to my friends about this because I found it to be such a weird topic. In fact, I rarely shared with a friend the details of my relationship with my ex. Not because it was ~inappropriate, but because it felt really...weird (for lack of a better word). Now? I couldn't care less about telling someone about what I did with who (with some limits, obviously. I know not everyone is as comfortable as me talking about this stuff. Which sucks, because it's such a weight put on our shoulders. A weight we shouldn't have to carry.)
I don't know, I just feel as though I have learned so much, and I can actually fully consider myself to be sex positive way down to the things I can use to make sex feel better. Not only that, but my eyes have been opened about consent during sex. It was something I never knew before, and now I am glad I do because it makes everything kind of clear and a lot less stressful in a strange way.
Also, apparently lube is good something I haven't considered because I hate it.
The end.
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