Monthly Archives: January 2014

Politeness = Anti-feminist?

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Okay, just to let y’all know, this year I am taking a Women and Gender Studies course.  Surprisingly, I actually enjoy it.  I know, I know: feminists are bra-burning, man-hating, lesbians.  Well actually, they’re not (not all of them anyway).  Feminism is and feminists are – in my opinion- often misunderstood and misinterpreted.  For example, when I told my boyfriend that I thought I was a feminist after taking this course, one of the first things he said to me was, “But you can’t be.  You don’t hate men.”  Way to believe the stereotypes, Michael.

Anyway, there are some people that perpetuate the whole “feminists are bad” mentality, or turn simple things that really are not about feminism into big debates full of big words and foul language.  

There are a few people on campus who insist on turning Facebook posts into heated discussions about feminism and how girls aren’t entitled to say thank you after a man holds the door for them and how the man didn’t have to hold the door open anyway, because we are strong, independent women who can open our own door damn it! *takes a deep breath* of course that’s a purely… mostly hypothetical example… yeah.

Honestly, even if I am a feminist, people holding the door open for you is NICE.  It is so nice, especially in this day and age where people are too wired into their iPods and/or phones to pay any attention to other people.  Maybe it just goes to show that chivalry isn’t dead, which is a-okay with me!  And actually, I feel like those girls should say thank you, what were they raised in, a barn?  Most people are raised to say thank you from such an early age, it was practically their first word.

There’s a difference between standing up for equality for everyone, and holding the door open for people and saying thank you when someone else does it.  I hold the door open for people all the time!  Men, women, disabled, ethnic, you name it.  Couldn’t you say I’m treating the people I open the door for equally?  I’m sure the men that open doors for women open them for other people too; I’ve seen a few of them do it actually.

I think it’s silly to imply that holding the door for a women is anti-feminist, it’s called being polite.  Try it sometime?  It actually feels pretty good.

What a Champ.

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Disclaimer: I personally do not like Justin Bieber in the slightest – never have, never will – but this article isn’t about my personal dislike (hate is a strong word) for the kid.

As I’m sure you have all heard, Justin Bieber was arrested early yesterday morning in Miami, Florida for DUI and drag racing and has since been released.  It dominated the social media world all day as news of the events unfolded, and started more than one trend on Twitter.  

This whole thing boggles my mind for a few reasons.  

1) Justin Bieber is considered a “role-model” for a lot of his fans (for reasons currently unknown).  I understand that stars are humans too and they have a right to make mistakes just like everybody else, but this dude is known around the WORLD.  He must realize that there are young people out there who look up to him and who might start copying his behaviour, as young fans are apt to do.  Should he not act a bit more responsibly instead of like the selfish, arrogant, spoiled man-child he is acting like currently?

B) Um, he was arrested for DUI… that’s a serious offence.  He could have seriously hurt himself and/or others – or much worse.  So many people are affected by drunk drivers EACH DAY; people die from this all the time.  And yet, #WeWillAlwaysSupportYouJustin is currently trending on Twitter.  I get it, this guy is your idol (for some crazy reason), you support your idols!  I mean, I completely support Tom Hiddleston, but he is – to my knowledge – actually a DECENT human being, who didn’t get arrested for DUI (and remember, Bieber is technically underage in the States at age 19).  If this was Bieber smoking weed again, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.  Smoking weed didn’t kill an estimated 1,082 people in Canada in 2010.  I don’t think Bieber’s fans fully understand the severity of his actions and the consequences they could have had.

3) Did this guy even feel a little bit of regret?  Judging by his mug shot, my guess is no (although some of the tweets from other stars are pretty comical to read…).  My personal opinion is that Bieber couldn’t care less about his actions yesterday.  After all, he is world famous, rich, has thousands of groupies, and is – in his mind – untouchable.  

So!  There you have it.  My opinion on this whole debacle.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that he’s Canadian?  Yup, he’s from the True North, Strong and Free.  At least he got attention of Rob Ford for a little bit… way to look out for your fellow Canadians Bieber, you’re a peach.

An Update after the Break

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Well, this ones gonna be a long one, considering so much has happened since I last wrote.

 

I had exams in December, only three but still.  My first ever university exams… yikes.  Honestly, it’s pretty much exactly like what you see in the movies and hear about from older kids.  People stumble around the halls, hyped up on Redbull and coffee after not sleeping the night before.  They openly walk around in their pajamas, and no one judges because they’re doing the same thing.  Kids are crammed into every available study space on campus, more kids on campus at one time than you’ve ever seen before.  And the exam room?  Well it actually is a huge room with hundreds of desks to accommodate all the kids who will be writing their exams in there all at once.  I had kids next to me writing engineering exams while I was writing history.

Overall, I did really well on my exams.  I got a 78 on my Canadian Studies exam, a B+ for Canadian History, and a 92.5 on my European History exam (highest in the class, NBD).  They’re pretty scary, but as long as you study and know what you’re talking about, you’ll come out on top.

 

I got back home on December 19th (thanks daddy!) and had a joyous reunion with family and dogs.  We had Christmas on the 20th in order for my dad to be present, because he had to return to work on the 22nd.  As usual, my parents insisted we weren’t going to get much for Christmas this year and yet I got about the same as I always do.  We’re spoiled we are!  A big shout-out to Michael’s family for welcoming me into their home once again for Christmas, I had a great time, as always.  

The break as a whole was lovely, relaxing, not having to worry too much about school, catching up with friends, eating alllll the bad food… yum.  New Year’s Eve I got to see some friends I haven’t seen in a while and it was so much fun.  Oh, and I got a long overdue haircut, thank God!

 

Time soon came however for me and my fellow students to return to Carleton (thanks for driving us mom!) and the grind.  So far so good though!  Hopefully this semester turns out to be just as good as last.  Fingers crossed!