Hi,
Everyone is talking about Emma Watsons He for She campaign speech at the UN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-xqeTvD3as
Celebrities are getting involved with people like David Tennant tweeting and campaigning. And I think that's great.
One thing that stood out to me in Emma Watsons speech was the fact she said that feminism is an unpopular word, and it is something I have thought about for a while. I thought humanism would be a better word or simply equality. They both mean the same thing as feminism. The word feminism implies that it is all about being female but it really isn't. Women fought for the right to be equal to men because they were (and in some cases still are) considered less than men for a long time. But feminism has never just been about women, it is about gender equality, and that means the freedom to be whatever you want and not be restricted by your gender.
I am a feminist!
it is a hard thing for anyone, women or men, to say. But it is true for so many people who didn't even know it yet. Caitlin Moran talks about feminism in her book 'How To Be A Woman'.
“We need to reclaim the word 'feminism'. We need the word 'feminism' back real bad. When statistics come in saying that only 29% of American women would describe themselves as feminist - and only 42% of British women - I used to think, What do you think feminism IS, ladies? What part of 'liberation for women' is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? 'Vogue' by Madonna? Jeans? Did all that good shit GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY?”
So as you can see being a feminist literally means that you want women to be able to own their own bodies.
The most important part of the speech was of course the part about men being feminists.
The person who taught me most about feminism and also the person who probably made me a feminist, is my Dad. He is the most passionate feminist I know. My Mum is also a feminist but for some reason he was the one I talked to about this. I learned from both of them from a very young age that girls and boys are pretty much the same apart from some anatomy and I believed it until I went to school.
Much as I would like to quote 'How To Be A Woman' in it's entirety right now I won't, but I recommend it to anyone who isn't sure if they are a feminist or not. Also anything written by Gloria Steinem.
If you look back over this blog you will see that I have written a lot of posts about feminism and I have mentioned that I am one a lot. I don't know what people think when I say that but I know that everyone's reaction seems to be big. Either you hate it or you love it or you passionately disagree with commenting. Whatever it is everyone has an opinion and no one wants to go unheard.
I started this blog because I felt like just another voice in a large crowd but as I get older I start to see more and more voices saying what I want to say, and sometimes, you just have to support them. Sometimes just one voice can make the biggest difference. Emma Watson has just proved that.
So I am asking all three of the people who will probably actually ever see this blog to support Emma Watson and her speech, and her campaign. Write a post like this or just tweet #HeForShe because support is what this cause needs and every voice in this crowd is important, every new feminist and everyone who cares plays a part.
It could be just a passing comment or just one random tweet that changes the world, but the more random tweets and passing comments there are, the more likely the world is to get changed.
Bye.
Monday, 29 September 2014
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Decisions
Hi,
I always start by saying hi, I think it is just polite. It is quite important to start off well I think. I write a lot, it is a good way to vent frustration and express things, by things I mean feelings and by feelings I mean everything that's going on in my mind. Thoughts and feelings and things. Expressing yourself is important and people do it all the time. The art you like, the music you listen to, the wallpaper on your phone and what you wear. People personalise everything, because they can. Because it gives them the illusion of control.
I have a very small bedroom, actually my bedroom is half a room I share with my two sister with a curtain (an old tie dyed double sheet) across the middle to separate me and give me my own space. So privacy is very important to me and I keep the curtain closed a lot. I think it all boils down to this.
'If you take away a man's important decisions, he will render important, the decisions he is able to make.'
I don't know who said this and apart from the slightly sexist fact that it is about 'men' not 'people' it is a great quote. Words of wisdom!
The decisions most people I know render important really aren't, so what does that say about the decisions we are able to make. Maybe people are obsessed with personalising everything because what colour their phone is, is the most important decision they can make. What if we could make more important decisions? What then?
A child who complains because they want to eat something different for dinner, they do it because they don't have a choice and they want one. Children don't get a lot of choices, the adults do everything for them. So if you offer that same child three different foods that they like, they will be happy with their choice usually.
So if you take a child who wants to play football all day, or draw all day. But instead they have to go to school. That child could become difficult because the little control they have has been taken away. So they kick up a fuss about their homework, or their lunchbox, or anything.
Someone with a personalised pair of trainers is no better. They can't control anything in their life so they control the exact shade of red they want or the 'Game Of Thrones' themed pictures on their shoes.
What if people were given choices? If they were aloud to have a say in the running of the country of the work schedule or anything. If they had control of the important decisions they wouldn't care so much about their shoes.
And maybe, it works the other way too. If they weren't distracted by trivial decisions like what wallpaper they wanted on their phone, maybe they would notice that they don't have control over anything important. That we don't have control over anything important.
Bye.
I always start by saying hi, I think it is just polite. It is quite important to start off well I think. I write a lot, it is a good way to vent frustration and express things, by things I mean feelings and by feelings I mean everything that's going on in my mind. Thoughts and feelings and things. Expressing yourself is important and people do it all the time. The art you like, the music you listen to, the wallpaper on your phone and what you wear. People personalise everything, because they can. Because it gives them the illusion of control.
I have a very small bedroom, actually my bedroom is half a room I share with my two sister with a curtain (an old tie dyed double sheet) across the middle to separate me and give me my own space. So privacy is very important to me and I keep the curtain closed a lot. I think it all boils down to this.
'If you take away a man's important decisions, he will render important, the decisions he is able to make.'
I don't know who said this and apart from the slightly sexist fact that it is about 'men' not 'people' it is a great quote. Words of wisdom!
The decisions most people I know render important really aren't, so what does that say about the decisions we are able to make. Maybe people are obsessed with personalising everything because what colour their phone is, is the most important decision they can make. What if we could make more important decisions? What then?
A child who complains because they want to eat something different for dinner, they do it because they don't have a choice and they want one. Children don't get a lot of choices, the adults do everything for them. So if you offer that same child three different foods that they like, they will be happy with their choice usually.
So if you take a child who wants to play football all day, or draw all day. But instead they have to go to school. That child could become difficult because the little control they have has been taken away. So they kick up a fuss about their homework, or their lunchbox, or anything.
Someone with a personalised pair of trainers is no better. They can't control anything in their life so they control the exact shade of red they want or the 'Game Of Thrones' themed pictures on their shoes.
What if people were given choices? If they were aloud to have a say in the running of the country of the work schedule or anything. If they had control of the important decisions they wouldn't care so much about their shoes.
And maybe, it works the other way too. If they weren't distracted by trivial decisions like what wallpaper they wanted on their phone, maybe they would notice that they don't have control over anything important. That we don't have control over anything important.
Bye.
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