i don’t want to achieve equality by sinking to men’s level, i want them to get on ours! why should i have to unlearn the conversational art of waiting my turn, unlearn sexual self-restraint, unlearn trust in others’ good intentions, unlearn the impulse to cater to others’ needs, just to have a chance at success among savages? why can’t the men learn some fucking manners so we can all conduct our affairs in a civilized manner? i shouldn’t have to stop saying sorry, you say sorry!
In the 80s when I was in my freshman year in college, they still had entirely separate mens and women’s dorms. I was in class waiting for a final to start and one of the guys was telling someone about how he had had to go into a women’s dorm to drop something off, and he was startled to see posters on the walls, flowers, curtains, etc. He said his men’s dorm had holes in the walls, things on fire, fights, guys walking around with open wounds and he just didn’t understand why they had to live like this. He said, “I want to live with the women, in civilization.”
Am reading Sisterhood of Spies, about women working for the OSS during WWII. One of the stories mentions that the women in London had a male visitor who would eat in their mess hall once a month. He was married and wasn’t interested in hitting on any of the women; he just wanted to eat in an atmosphere where people said “Please pass the butter,” instead of “PASS THE GODDAMNED GREASE”
I dated a guy who brought me along on group activities (movies, video game night, etc.) with four or five other male friends. Once I mentioned to one of the other guys that I hoped I wasn’t intruding on their “guy time” or some such. He got this sort of rueful look and said, “The truth is, I really like it when you’re here because it gives us a reason to act better. When it’s just guys, we all have to try to outdo each other with how vile we are.”
So the moral of these stories are men don’t even treat each other like human beings.
I’m tired of girls trying to invalidate their own feelings during times of pain, especially to their friends. Your break up meant something. That friendship you lost was a hard blow. I understand why you feel tired this semester. Sometimes this “modern woman” stereotype is patriarchy’s last attempt; patriarchy disguised as feminism. You don’t have to be “wise beyond your years”; your pain and crying does not mean you are not intelligent. If you feel your friends demand justification for your pain and ordeals, they’re not friends. You’re strong but human. Remind yourself emotional space is part of liberation.
Hey Tumblr, if you are still mad about the Library of Alexandria, Stop! You can SAVE one ancient library right now. The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, Some nearly 2000 carbonized scrolls were discovered along with the villa in the 1700s. Over the past couple centuries the scrolls have been a major source of study and today we are finally reaching ways of reading their contents without destroying the scrolls in the process.
The villa itself is largely underground and was explored via tunneling and as such it’s full extent still hasn’t been made clear, and it has long been suspected that additional libraries could exist within the site, not to mention other as of yet undiscovered villas. However, Italy as with many European countries simply has so many archaeological sites and new things being found all the time and not enough money to go around. Additionally the Villa of the Papyri is threatened with constant flooding issues. Library aside Sites like Herculaneum and Pompeii and all Archaeological sites around the world tell us so much about ancient peoples and cultures where we don’t have their literature to call on.
So how can you save the last ancient library? Donate to various archaeological and conservation/preservation groups, or even volunteer!
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