Happy Halloween!

Since today is Halloween I thought I give you an alternate universe. I'm giving homage to Gloria Steinem! Enjoy!

If Men Could Menstruate A Political Fantasy by Gloria Steinem (First published in the October 1978 issue of Ms. Magazine, this has become a cult classic among feminists.) Steinem is using both satire and hyperbole to make a point (highlighted in yellow) which is substantiated by a large body of research. -Dr. Sefkow (my psych of women professor)

A white minority of the world has spent centuries conning us into thinking that white skin makes people superior - even though the only thing it really does is make them more subject to ultraviolet rays and to wrinkles. Male human beings have built whole cultures around the idea that penis-envy is "natural" to women - though having such an unprotected organ might be said to make men vulnerable, and the power to give birth makes womb-envy at least as logical.

In short, the characteristics of the powerful, whatever they may be, are thought to be better than the characteristics of the powerless - and logic has nothing to do with it.

What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?

The answer is clear - menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:

Men would brag about how long and how much.

Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.

Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts.

Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne Tampons, Muhammad Ali's Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shields - "For Those Light Bachelor Days," and Robert "Baretta" Blake Maxi-Pads.)

Military men, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation ("men-struation") as proof that only men could serve in the Army ("you have to give blood to take blood"), occupy political office ("can women be aggressive without that steadfast cycle governed by the planet Mars?"), be priest and ministers ("how could a woman give her blood for our sins?") or rabbis("without the monthly loss of impurities, women remain unclean").

Male radicals, left-wing politicians, mystics, however, would insist that women are equal, just different, and that any woman could enter their ranks if she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month ("you MUST give blood for the revolution"), recognize the preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in their Cycle of Enlightenment.

Street guys would brag ("I'm a three pad man") or answer praise from a buddy ("Man, you lookin' good!") by giving fives and saying, "Yeah, man, I'm on the rag!" TV shows would treat the subject at length. ("Happy Days": Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz," though he has missed two periods in a row.) So would newspapers.(SHARK SCARE THREATENS MENSTRUATING MEN. JUDGE CITES MONTHLY STRESS IN PARDONING RAPIST.) And movies. (Newman and Redford in "Blood Brothers"!)

Men would convince women that intercourse was more pleasurable at "that time of the month." Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself - though probably only because they needed a good menstruating man.

Of course, male intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguments. How could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space, mathematics, or measurement, for instance, without that in-built gift for measuring the cycles of the moon and planets - and thus for measuring anything at all? In the rarefied fields of philosophy and religion, could women compensate for missing the rhythm of the universe? Or for their lack of symbolic death-and-resurrection every month?

Liberal males in every field would try to be kind: the fact that "these people" have no gift for measuring life or connecting to the universe, the liberals would explain, should be punishment enough.

And how would women be trained to react? One can imagine traditional women agreeing to all arguments with a staunch and smiling masochism. ("The ERA would force housewives to wound themselves every month": Phyllis Schlafly. "Your husband's blood is as sacred as that of Jesus - and so sexy, too!": Marabel Morgan.) Reformers and Queen Bees would try to imitate men, and pretend to have a monthly cycle. All feminists would explain endlessly that men, too, needed to be liberated from the false idea of Martian aggressiveness, just as women needed to escape the bonds of menses-envy. Radical feminist would add that the oppression of the nonmenstrual was the pattern for all other oppressions ("Vampires were our first freedom fighters!") Cultural feminists would develop a bloodless imagery in art and literature. Socialist feminists would insist that only under capitalism would men be able to monopolize menstrual blood...

In fact, if men could menstruate, the power justifications could probably go on forever.

If we let them.

It's been a while

Okay folks, it's been a long time since my last post. To make up for this, I plan to post a new blog every day this week. I've been crazy busy lately. I'm co-leading a retreat at St. Mary's University which is really cool, but a ton of work. I have to give a talk on commitment which has proven itself to be a hard task. I'm talking about having a learning disability and how I've overcome it to be successful in my life. I never really realized how angry I was before I accepted the fact that I had this disability. I was angry at myself because there wasn't anything I could do to fix it, and I was angry at God for giving me this obstacle in my life. I was also angry at my family for trying to help me. I'm an independent person who likes to figure things out on my own. I know that I need other people to help me, but view it as a personal accomplishment when I can figure out something without any help from someone. I've worked through this anger, and finally come to accept that I have this learning disability. I'm still smart and capable, and gosh darn it, I will be successful in my life! It's hard to share my commitments and how I came to have them because I don't really talk about my commitments that much. I know what they are and I committ to them. It's hard to express how committed I am to certain things, because from an outsider's view I don't look that committed. Being committed to something does not always have a physical representation, I know in my heart that I am fully and completely committed. If you would like a preview of my talk, I really need to practice, so give me a call.

The book this time is:
Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

Not Fair!

I got kicked out of a bar last night. The thing is I wasn't even that drunk. I wasn't being obnoxious. I wasn't falling over drunk or anything. I'm not the type of person to get kicked out of a bar or any place. I really think the bartender was asserting his manliness and kicked us out because we were women. I think that if I was a man in the same situation that we wouldn't have been kicked out. I didn't put up a fight. I started tearing up because that's what I do in an unfair situation. I wanted another drink and the bartender cut me off. I didnt yell or scream or anything. I just let it go. Then he told me I was intoxicated and I needed to leave. A girl across the bar told me that I had been annoying the bartender all night and I should just leave. My friend Amanda stood up for mr and then the bartender told her to leave as well. I just gave in and walked out the door. I can't believe it's my last semester in Winona and I got kicked out of a bar. It makes it worse because I think I would feel better about the situation if there were really reasons that I should have been kicked out. I really think the bartender was being a sexist pig and just asserting his manliness in front of the people that were there. I'm going to call the manager because it's not fair. I obviously wasn't that drunk if I can remember everything that happened. Soooo never going back there again!

The book this time is
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
I love it and it's a classic!

Ignorant Americans

Today I went to Rushford to help with Flood Relief, yes these people still need help even though it's been 2 months, and we cleaned a big field of dirt/mud. It was hot and muggy outside, and we had to pick up the garbage because this area had become a dumping ground for the things in people's homes that was ruined in the flood. Anyways, to make a long story short, it was hot and sweaty, but we pretty much cleared the field. After we finsished cleaning we went inside the flood relief center to process and talk about our work day, and a man and his wife that was working on relief was there to talk to us. We compared this flood to the floods caused by hurricanes, and then he asked us if any of us had experienced a natural disaster. One girl raised her hand and started talking about a tornado and suddenly the conversation was switched to talking about a hurricane. He was just not listening. One of the student volunteers was from Kenya and the guy asked her to compare the floods here to some things that are going on in Kenya, and then he made this huge arogant assumption that I wanted to slap him for. The girl was talking about the bombings in 1998 to the US Embassy in Kenya, and then he asked about the homes in the small villges in Kenya. He asked if people in Kenya even had their own rooms. He was assuming that because she was from Kenya she lived in a small village and did not have her own room. He assumed the fact that she did not have her own room that if a flood happened in Kenya the people would be more devastated there, than the people are here, because they lived in a small village? Um Hello sir! Just because this girl is from Kenya does not automatically mean that she lives in a small village and doesn't have a room of her own! He would ask her questions and then didn't even listen to her answer, he just answered them himself. If you want to learn about someone from another culture, you have to actually listen to their repsonses on the questions that you ask them. I was so frustrated that he just assumed she was from a small village. He was pretty much saying that all Kenyans are from small villages and there is no cilvilzation there. I know that I'm assuming, but if you had heard the way he was talking to her and then answering his own questions......argh!!! Don't be a stupid arogant American. Just because this girl is not from the US does not mean that she is less fortunate that you. I hate when people on campus assume that the International students are stupid and can't speak English. Um....hello! They wouldn't be able to go to school here is they couldn't speak English. Anyways, I had a good time helping with the flood relief, even though I was tired and dirty.

This is a picture from the floods that happened in Minnesota in August. This is what Rushford looked like during the flood.

I'm recommending an essay this time because it applies to the theme from this blog. Here it is!
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)

How can you be mad at the world?

I'm kind of mad at the world right now. Things are not going my way. I'm too busy to enjoy my last semester of college. I feel like I can't get a leg up on my life. I'm graduating and I don't know what the next step is. I know what I like to do, but how do I make that into a career? I really enjoy public speaking. I like sharing the things that I've learned in life with other people, and seeing the look on their faces when I've made something click in their brains. I love making people laugh, the thing is, I don't know how I do it half the time. I want to make a mark on the world, but I dont know how big that mark is going to be. I want people to believe in me and me to believe in the power of myself. I'm a good person, who really cares about the world. Not only the planet, but the quality of life people are living on it. It's not good enough for us to stop global warming, or get rid of our reliance on oil, we have to think about the number of people that are living lives of despair. The world is not only for one person, it's for everyone to share, and if we keep going in the direction we are, the world will be no more. That's how you can be mad at the world. The world and I are trying to work out our issues. I can make this work, and I will make the world a better place, even if it is only for one person!

The book this time is:
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) It makes me feel better when I'm sad! All of them!