Bugs and snakes are awesome. [lol] I've got a neighbor at the moment who has a ton of pet snakes...takes them out on walks every time he goes out and they're how everyone recognizes him. I want to keep pet snakes someday...but it might be really weird since I also plan on keeping rabbits and rats and maybe mice. Maybe I can find one that just stays small enough to eat mealworms...

The problem is that men are still conditioned to see women as objects. But we know sexism is bad, so we don't have open dialogues about it, because, well, everyone should know not to be a sexist by default!

Except that doesn't happen. No one knows how to think by default. No one teaches critical thinking until optional classes in college. And we're surrounded by ads showing women as frames for products, many times only showing their bodies and never their faces, always being all flirty and whatnot...basically to make us think about buying their product so we can put our dicks in the models. They become just as much a product as the beer or car or whatever in our minds.

And no one ever talks about the fact that we're encouraged to think that way because we get all pissy when we're accused of it. No, we can't be sexists! We're good people! It probably doesn't help that a lot of the people who do want to create an open dialogue about it are loud annoying jackasses who go about everything the wrong way and insist that we ARE in fact terrible people just because we were born with dicks and don't want to lop them off, but the main problem is that we think in black and white. We don't want to admit to ourselves that we have been encouraged by society to develop unfair and poisonous thought patterns because that would mean saying that we're terrible people.

But it doesn't. Good and bad are not absolutes. Good people do bad things. Bad people do good things. Everyone makes mistakes. Most importantly, acknowledging the problem is the first step to correcting it.

But people don't acknowledge the problem, and this is why it's seen as a laughing matter when I'd rather wear a shirt from the women's section than some graphic tee from the men's section with the same old recycled winged cross design that everyone has done just very slightly different (I am an agnostic humanist and prefer to have religious symbols nowhere on my body, thank you very much). As far as most men see I might as well put on a sheet or a tablecloth, because that shirt isn't for people, it's for things. That's why trans women are the butt of everyone's jokes - because they might as well be trying to become a chair or a lamp, according to most men. But I'll be damned if anyone ever finds a man willing to admit he thinks that way. No, I can't think that way, even though I've been told to all my life! I'm a good person!

But I think the saddest part is that these messages are so pervasive, we have women who think that way too, and no shortage of them. We have women who wear makeup and fancy clothes, not because it's what they WANT to do, but because it's what they think they HAVE to do. We have women who look down on other women in male-dominated fields because how is she ever going to get a man that way? That's all that matters in life, after all, we're just vacuous ninnies who need nothing more than someone to be subservient to! Oh gee I hope he's rich!

Obviously I know not all women think like that, I mean, see my rant up above this. I just find it incredibly depressing to realize that we have managed to convince a small section of the population that they're not people at all, just objects to be won that are legally considered honorary people or something.

Originally, a wedding was a ceremony of property exchange. This is why we're so douchey about same-gender relationships. Women should be property, but they can't own other women! Do you get your pet a pet!? And men can't be owned! That's just wrong!

Except, a relationship isn't about owning someone. And I feel sorry for anyone who still believes it is. People aren't something you can own. We, as living, breathing individual beings, will always own ourselves and no one else.

We know everyone's equal, we're always told that, and that it's terrible to deny that...and that's why we're afraid to acknowledge that we're sure as hell not treated that way until we're on the ass end, or sometimes not even then.

Hm... I read the recent posts and I'll say this, I was called 'white' girl by this jerk-face football player back in 10th grade. I kept telling him I wasn't 'white' and to leave me alone (I'm Bi-racial/Multi-Ethnic). Well the rest is history now. Also what defines race for that matter? It's just sociological. [;)]

The whole -insert race or ethic- history month might have a whole other story to it. I'm not saying not to have it, it empowers people, but there should be a Euro-History month or something of that sort. After a while it does get a bit unfair and people can be cruel.

History is history, it's important to learn about it that way we don't 'repeat' history per se. I use to be offended by the Confederate flag, but it doesn't phase me much because I know the history. Although it still hurts some of the community though. :S

Anyways how is everyone doing right now? I hadn't been posting here in a while.

But ____ History Month is, sadly, what balances the racial equivalent of what's up there for now:

Racism is bad.
I am a good person.
Therefore, even though I clutch my valuables like I'd die if I dropped them if I see a black man on the street, or believe everyone who looks Mexican is a lazy illegal immigrant, or always try to cheat off Asians in math class whenever possible, I can't be racist.

But, again, good and bad are not absolutes. We're still surrounded by stereotypes on TV, in movies, in games, in music, and YES they're going to sink in! That doesn't make us bad people, but it means we - as in all of us, as both individuals and a society - have some issues to work out.

And when it's not ____ History Month, we're viewing history that was recorded by white men. Which mostly features white men. This does not mean that white men are the primary contributors to history, but it sure as hell makes them look like it.

But I feel that _____ History Month is absolutely the wrong way to go about fixing this. It's still an act of segregation. Instead of that, why don't we share information about historical figures' lives - where they came from and WHY they did what they did, instead of just their names and the dates that they did it? Why don't we merge everything from _____ History Month into, you know, just...history? Because that's what it is. But please, stop letting us assume they're white men. Tell us who and what they were, where they came from!

Not only will it help take care of racism, but it'll make history class a whole hell of a lot more interesting. I never liked "Name, date, name, date, date, date, name, date, make sure you have all this memorized!" class.

This said, I am mixed race - Irish/Japanese/Native American of uncertain origin (...assimilation is a bitch, really do want to take more time to learn about my origin though).

And, besides being extra cynical and serious today, I'm doing well!

Well said. I hope your day was all right. I didn't get up for my first class this morning. [:(]

Anyways... What's new with the thread? Any new discoveries or anything?

Neil... Why do you always say it better than I ever could?

Because I've spent way too much time practicing and rolling my eyes at idiots who think it's a good idea to try and make these points by telling people that they're terrible evil awful people and deserve to die because of how they were born LOL BUT THE SYSTEM FAVORS YOU SO IT'S OKAY IF I SAY THAT!!11

But it's mostly the practice.

I agree that having a "z people only history month" is still wrong because it creates a divide. You're still reinforcing differences.

Reinforcing differences, even with good intentions, is still racism. Even the whole "Womens history month". Yes, women have been under-rated for their contributions. Change that in elementary textbooks and make it a part of childrens lives to love men and women and their achievements equally, not try to force it down someone's throat.

I feel like there are several systems that have to be changed that are far deeper than that before the hate will stop. Unfortunately, the only time this country seems to unit is in crisis...

Yes. This. Exactly this. Put the women who worked under assumed names in the regular textbooks, too. And tell us about historical figures' origins - including race. Tell us all about what they had to get through to make the contributions they did!

Frankly, it makes the whole thing worse that the history of anyone but straight white men can be relegated to a month. Wow, anyone else really must not have done that much, huh? Except we should all know that's a load of bull.

Not only will merging history, but still telling us WHO everyone was highlight how utterly ridiculous the divides are - because this way they're ALL historical figures, not "special cases" - but like I said, it'll make history class a hell of a lot more interesting. No more falling asleep in history class!

I agree. I had a lot of trouble paying attention in history because quite frankly I wasn't too keen on it being about 90% about rich white men. Tell me about people who really did something please. Yes, I am fully aware that moderately rich white men had a lot to do with our currently laws and government systems but I want to know about that woman who risked her life to take a kid out of a bad home, the people who helped slaves, the Germans who hid the Jews. I want to know about those people. The ordinary heroes who impact one two maybe 50 lives. That is truly extraordinary. Why can't we cover them too?

I have to agree with the above. In high school history classes, I got so incredibly sick of learning about war "heroes" and how GREAT our presidents have all been except for Nixon only because everyone still remembers him being a snake in the grass. In reality, they were still corrupt politicians and other probable dickweeds.

I have this book called Lies My Teacher Told Me that tells you so many things that are wrong with the way we teach history - convenient omissions and excellent analyses of them, for instance. If you can find a copy of it, I really recommend reading it. Some of what it complains about has been...somewhat fixed since it was written, but other things are only getting worse. In Texas, a few years back if I recall correctly, they were talking about calling slavery a job that people willingly signed up for and a lot of people actually liked! Because there are a handful of stories of slave owners being good to their slaves in the flood of ones about unspeakable cruelty, that's TOTALLY enough to mean that it was a wonderful job that everyone was happy in and people actually wanted, right?

And the only reason our government and legal system was formed largely by wealthy white straight Christian cis men is because they were manipulative, racist, sexist, classist bastards.

Speaking of things that really irk me... I really am tired of religion and politics mixing. I saw an ad on TV at work this week that really annoyed me. What the hell is it to the Catholic church what people of other denominations do with their body and who they marry? Marriage was invented before Christianity, Judaism and many other modern religions. It's not a decree handed down by a puppet master in the sky. It was created by societies. >.<

Also, I want to respond to that commercial with a huge WTF. How are allowing gay marriage, polymarriage, abortion and a whole host of other things that do not involve them if they do not wish to participate taking away their rights? They still have the right to marry, procreate and whine about what other people do.

Sorry, ranting... I know...

Well, it's stripping them of their right to be comfortable with knowing that everyone HAS to live their life exactly the way they want! THAT'S true freedom right there! That's the kind of freedom this country was founded on!

...I am seriously considering making a blog as a Colbert-esque parody persona focusing on social issues. Responding to bullshittery with sarcasm is fun.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Well actually no. It's forcing them to pay for it that they disagree with. I don't think they should be forced to pay for something they disagree with. That's just as wrong as them preventing someone from doing it on their own.

If the government wanted to force you to pay for Westboro baptist's flights to go be pricks to people, would that be fair? No.

Except no one is paying for my wedding but me. The amount of any individual's tax burden that is spent on benefits for married couples is negligible - probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a fraction of a penny. I see it exactly nowhere when I look at the breakdown of where my tax money went.

However, the largest chunk of my tax money - something along the lines of 30% of it - goes to pay for wars that I disagree with.

Your move.

Actually, I was talking about the abortions which you seem to ant others to pay for.

Regardless, "Legalizing gay marriage" shouldn't be a thing, because marriage licenses in and of themselves are inherently discriminatory. They were invented to inhibit and prevent interracial marriages in the days of Jim Crow. They should have been removed, but because of idiotic tax incentives they were allowed to continue existing. Income taxes being another stupid thing that shouldn't exist, since anyone with basic knowledge of economic theory will tell you that a consumption tax (sales tax) works much better, and actually improves an economy greatly. Not only that it actually hits the rich much harder, because regardless of where they get their money, they buy much more crap than the rest of us.

Now if you really wanna start an argument with me feel free, but I'd prefer not. I'm not having the best week, and using my powers for evil isn't always something that makes my weeks better.

Uh...nobody actually mentioned government-sponsored abortions? Thanks for bringing up an entirely different subject. :/

Actually Kosuke mentioned it and you agreed.

And it doesn't have to be government sponsored for them to be forced to pay for it. Under certain new laws the Catholic church as well as other organizations which dislike abortions and are avidly against the practice, are forced to pay for health care plans which cover them. They don't want to pay for those plans, and thus are being forced against their will to pay for them, by the federal government.

Now I realize that the Catholic church may not be your favorite group of people, but no one should be forced to do something against their will, and they certainly shouldn't be forced to pay for something they are against.

In my case I have no problem with the practice in certain situations, but I'd never force someone who is against it to pay for it.

Then again, health insurance as a whole drives up the cost of care to the point where anyone without it can't afford a simple examination so, I'm on the fence about whether it should exist at all. :/ I have found clinics that don't take insurance and their prices are maybe 3% of the price you find in major hospitals, and they receive no alternative funding.


Have you ever noticed that insurance functions on the same principles as a Ponzi scheme? I find that irksome.

Kosuke mentioned allowing abortion. Nothing to do with "making other people pay for it".

And for the record, the patient pays just as much as anyone else who might disagree with what they do with their coverage. Just putting that out there.

The two main purposes of insurance are:

1.) To be able to pay for your own healthcare in small payments to a negotiator over time instead of getting a massive bill every time you need to see a doctor, and
2.) To get health care for cheaper. It's true! The insurance companies deal in getting huge discounts. I've seen my bills. My insurance company has negotiated lab work to 10% of its price to the uninsured.

Now, I think this is a real damn problem - why are the doctors and hospitals price gouging the people who can afford it the least? Someone really ought to investigate that. How much did that lab work really cost to do? If it's between the two prices, then why are the people who CAN'T AFFORD insurance subsidizing the insurance companies? If it's less than what the insurance company paid, why don't they give the same price to everybody?

But that's a dilemma for another day. I doubt getting pissed about it on a small forum on the internet will change it.

Frankly, I think that as long as insurance tries to weasel out of paying for someone's liver transplant, then they shouldn't approve an abortion EXCEPT as medically necessary to save the mother's life or prevent severe complications, but that's just me. Even so, compared to other medical procedures, abortion is cheap. You can tell your sob story on tumblr and you'll have the money for it in no time. There are charities you can turn to funded ENTIRELY by people who agree that you should be allowed to choose whether or not you want to use your body as an incubator! There are options outside of insurance.

And for that matter, as long as they're denying birth control for any reason, ESPECIALLY if they're denying it to people who need it to keep their ovaries from exploding, they shouldn't be paying for Viagra. But that's another debate for another day.

I don't think viagra should be covered, nor should any other drug like it. Birth control (For either sex, and yes there's a male pill now) should be if it's for medical purposes, butt otherwise it can be incredibly cheap, or free depending on who you get it from. Planned parenthood will give it to you free in a lot of cases, or for a very small price. And of course then there's always condoms. lol.

The doctors aren't so much price gouging, as they are trying to make up the difference for the giant discounts they're giving insurance companies for funneling them patients. That's the trade off. Your insurance might only be good at certain hospitals, or doctors offices, and thus, you go to those, and they get your business. I'm sure drug companies are involved somehow, but I don't feel like doing the research at this hour. (Almost 2 a.m.)

This makes me feel sick: Well you did dare to speak in public so I guess you deserve this

Hm... I also saw something on 'What Would You Do?' on ABC that kind of relates to this thread.

The boy (age 8 or something like that) wanted to be a Disney Princess for Halloween, while the girl (around the same age) wanted to be Spiderman for Halloween.

It was sad most parents sided with the mom about the issue, while the kid wanted to be said character. Only one couple or person sided with the kid. They said something about we should be more open minded and such. [:)]

@Lizzy: See, I don't understand the issue, if a kid wants to dress as whatever they want for halloween. Even if you're dynamically opposed to someone being trans, or anything like that, it's a costume. The point is to dress as a character you like, why care about the gender of the character? It's idiotic.

@Crow: I'll agree that the attack was cowardice, but that site is incredibly biased, and frankly broken. I found about four blatant inconsistencies in that one short article.

See, I don't get why anyone could be opposed to someone else being trans*. I mean...it's not your life. No one's trying to strap you down and make you get a sex reassignment. And "protecting people from themselves" is just bullshit. No, you're not concerned about this total stranger who's done nothing harmful to anyone, you're just a dick.

And especially to throw a fit about a COSTUME just because you don't like what it implies? No. One of these years I'm going out for Halloween as Black Widow. And I'm going to a convention someday as Oerba Dia Vanille. JUST to make these jerks uncomfortable. And no one will stop me.