It's the Economy, Girlfriend!

I'm not a radical feminist. I believe in a woman's choice, in pretty much all sense of the word. I used to get into heated arguments where I'd subconsciously grab the hair and smack the bitches who suggested that any woman who didn't work for a living was going against everything feminists fought for. Um, I'm sorry, I thought they fought for equity and the right to be treated the same as everyone else, my bad. If a woman truly wants to stay home and raise her family, I say it's an important job like any other, and a decision that should be supported.

The thing that makes me angry is when any woman (or man for that matter, really) gets the whole entitlement attitude about them. This is precisely why this article made my blood boil. Sure enough, I probably should have let it go and not clicked on the blog. But I did. For the same reason that I continued going to my Feminist Philosphy classes. For some reason, I really like to be pissed off. I was hoping that there'd be some kind element to the girls that I could relate to, or even understand, but nope.

I can't stand the one who married a finance guy saying, "his friend told me that I need to support him and let him know I love him so he's not dead by 35... this is not what I signed up for". I can't stand the one from the conversation below, whining that her boyfriend won't take her on expensive trips because his wife is checking the finances.

Suddenly, I found myself being taken out less and less frequently. A recent argument went along these lines:
Me *pouting*: You haven’t taken me on a trip since we went to Bermuda in September. What’s going on?
Charles: Honey, finances are tight right now so my wife has taken it upon herself to check up on all of our accounts. She will notice any big expenditures.
Me *cute voice*: Wellllllllllllll, what are you going to do to make it up to me?
Charles: Can we talk later sweetheart? I’m really busy right now.
Me: No. Give me an answer NOW. Don’t you realize what you have? I’m way too hot to be treated like this.
Charles *yelling for the first time in our almost two-year relationship*: I’VE GOT TO FIRE TWENTY PEOPLE BY THE END OF THE WEEK. Z has four kids, X just had a baby girl, Y just sent his son to college and I’ve got to get rid of two of those guys… and you’re complaining about vacations and dinner? God, you are so 24! GROW UP!
Me *stunned*: Okie dokie, let’s talk later lover.

Girls who have this kind of "I'm so pretty, I deserve to be spoiled!" mentality make steam come out my ears. Really, that's the only reason why you're in this relationship or this marriage? And actually, in the marriage vows there's usually some kind of "for better or worse, for richer or poorer" line. Did you not mean them? It shows such a lack of compassion and lack of understanding on the part of these girls, who care more about bottle service and Bergdorfs than about the men who they're in the relationships with. Both the Boy and I have had our respective organizations talk about cutting jobs, and really, I'll be there for him no matter what happens, as I know he'd be there for me. I'm with him because of who he is, not because of his paycheque. I'm with him because of the qualities he has, the ones that wouldn't let him allow a situation like that to ruin him. The whole point of relationships is for them to be supportive, to love someone through good times and tough times.

These DABA girls, and the women who wrote in to them in support of their lifestyles and incessant whining, make all women look bad.

Read this...

...an absolutely incredible article by the LA Times' Megan Stack.

I just can't imagine living like this. We do have a lot of rights in this country, and on this continent, that we take for granted. Yes, there are still things to work towards but what we encounter is nothing like what Stack encountered in Saudi Arabia.

Keep your drink, just give me the money

Ah, I haven't always been a huge Pink-pusher, but I think this song is brilliant.

I like that her songs tend to be more focused on empowerment. Good for her. This video particularly appeals to me because when my friends and I go out we go out to dance and have fun with the girls. Not to have some boy grind up against us whispering the same tired lines in our ear, in attempts to have us swooning and running off into the night with him.

Though, I must admit, some of her songs seem as though they are hurting feminism just as much as she's helping it. I mean, the "Stupid Girls" song basically makes fun of bimbo-big-breasted-blondes... and while yes, girls should know they don't have to be like that... it's pretty demeaning too. In one scene there's this big-breasted girl on a treadmill running and so she's getting a lot more attention than Pink is. This is not necessarily her fault and I say this as someone who does have a brain and who knows plenty other brainy women who just happen to have breasts. We can have the best sportsbra money can buy and we're still going to get attention merely for these strategically placed slabs of fat bouncing on our chests. It is possible to be smart and sexy. The point is just that you don't have to pretend to act a certain way, or manipulate your body in a certain way, to get some male attention. Maybe attacking each other is not the best strategy for equality, hrm?

I have a vagina! Vote for me!

Ah those women from my undergrad Feminist Philosophy courses would be at my throat if they knew how I was feeling right now.

I am frustrated with all the talk of women in politics and people scandalizing the number of women in the Stelmach cabinet. There are two women in cabinet. Two very capable women. I know little of Janis Tarchuk but I do know that Iris Evans is an absolutely astounding, very high energy, very smart woman. However, I hate the fact that these women are generally not seen for the things that they have done or that they have the ability to do... but rather, some people are more interested in anatomy. Yes, it is good that women are participating more in the political sphere but the reality is that there are still far more men. More men have experience in politics, more men run for office. Anatomy is simply not a reason to vote (or not vote) for someone.

I watched the Liberal leadership convention. Early on in the race, Martha Hall Findley was doing very well. Though not as experienced as the others, she has fresh ideas and is incredibly smart and charismatic. However, at the convention, she made me angry when she called on women to vote for her because it's time for a woman leader of the Liberal party. Because it's time for an [elected] woman Prime Minister. Personally, I wanted to hear about her great ideas for the country and the direction in which she would take us if she was elected. Not that she should be elected because she's a woman.

Maybe it's my own idealism speaking, but I agree heavily with John Stuart Mill. He wrote in The Subjection of Women that women should be allowed to do anything that men are allowed to do and society benefits when the disenfranchised are able to share their talents with others without constraint. In any job, society benefits when the best person for the job is hired. People should not be thought good for a position due to race, gender or creed but due to their qualifications and what they have the ability to do in that role. We shouldn't hold people back due to their race or gender, but we shouldn't promote them solely for those reasons either. To me, it seems hippocritical. Old white men shouldn't get elected because they are old white men, but women and minority groups should get elected because they are women and minorities? I fail to see the logic.

I know that women are underrepresented in politics. However, I believe that no one benefits when we elect a woman merely for the sake of her being woman, just as no one benefits from a man being hired because he is a man. Women should be encouraged to participate in this sphere if that is what they wish to do. My main problem is that if any of the other candidates at the leadership convention stood up and said, "vote for me, because I am a man!" there would have been an uproar. And yet, no one thinks anything of it when a woman does the same thing? Honestly!

For the record, I'm all for women in politics. I am just very against the direction feminism has taken.

On a different note, an analysis/defence of the cabinet shuffle which I quite agree with can be found on the Enlightened Savage's page under his entry entitled Introducing Ed Stelmach as "Fallout Boy".