The fire has been lit...

  I've been taking this philosophy in film class this summer. It's probably one of the most challenging classes I've ever taken, but one of my favorites. I looked forward to it every day. The class ended with a succession of presentations done by us classmates. There were seven of us. I was the only girl. Not only was I the only girl, I was the last to present.
  Most of the boys did religious-esque films. Life of Brian, Apocalypto. One boy did the film "Juice" starring Tupac, which for whatever reason brought out the gangster in all of the boys in the class. I ended up doing the film "All I wanna do!" which is a feminist film, set in 1963. It was between that, or Boondock Saints. I could tell my professor wanted me to do the feminist film, so I went ahead and presented feminism to a group of boys.
  It went better than expected, I got some of the expected questions "why do girls dress slutty, knowing men are visual creatures?" "Aren't women basically oppressing themselves and each other at this point?" But one remark killed me. Made me stop the film and get into a direct confrontation with a boy. (who is actually going for a philosophy major. He better check himself.)
  There is a scene in the film where the headmistress has a monologue discussing the years of oppression she has faced, urging a female student to go forth and lead. To promote change. It ends with the headmistress shaking the girl's hand with a firm handshake. The boy in my class commented "wow, that woman has such masculine hands." with a chuckle at the end.
  I quickly considered my options. Should I let it go? Treat it as a passing remark and leave it at that? I was seething, but I contemplated staying quiet. Then I realized that's exactly what women have been doing since the beginning. Staying quiet. If I wanted to be like the strong women I've seen and I look up to, I need to learn how to speak up.
  I paused the movie and said "That. that right there is the proof I needed to lecture feminism to a classroom full of boys. This woman just poured her heart out about the oppression she faces, and you degraded it down to the size of her hands. This is why we still need feminism." He came back with, "if I were to dress up, have my eyebrows and fingernails meticulously pampered, and went to shake hands with another man, he would look the other way. Judge me like you think I judged her. It's the same thing."
  The argument went on for a few more minutes between myself and him. My professor joined in as well, trying to let him know that it wasn't the same thing. This is why the world needs feminism and feminists. No matter what positions women hold, we will still be reduced to what we look like. We witnessed this in the 2008 election, when Sarah Palin's pantsuit budget was a hot topic of discussion. We witnessed it a week or so ago when people dogged on senator Wendy Davis for her outfit not matching. Above rape culture, above slut shaming, above fat and thin shaming, we need feminism because women need to stop being reduced to what we look like and start being held accountable for what we are able to achieve. And we are able to achieve great things.
  I know these boys went home thinking they are right and that women are just whiny bitches. Little did they know, that they fanned a spark into a huge flame, and I'll be damned if I don't add my voice to the millions of other women's voices that demand to be heard. I am that radical liberal "feminazi" I used to make fun of, and you have every reason to be afraid.

My first week at college!

  Everyone keeps asking me how my first week of college went. Instead of trying to remember everything, I'm going to give you legitimate excerpts from my own personal journal. All dated (between the first week and second week of school), and all labeled by class. If I had to stop journaling in that class, I just stopped. I didn't pick back up at that thought.

1-7-13 (first day of school, Monday/Wednesday classes. Apparently I didn't write anything in English on the first day.)
Human Biology
  90% of the quiz I knew, I just second guessed myself. I'm staying in this course. He's scary, but I know this shit.

Algebra
  This dude is monotone and everything is so SLOW. STOP RAMBLING. Just let us go. Shoot me in the face if this website is broken. Oh my gosh this is why you don't trust technology!! FUCK. I wish I would have skipped. Mother fucker. Ridiculous. Straight up ridiculous. Waste of my time. Just let us leave we'll figure it out. We're not TOTAL idiots. Just release us! Oh man I want to run away. OH MY GOSH. HE CAN'T EVEN DO HIS OWN PROBLEMS. HE CAN'T EVEN DO MATH WHY AM I HERE?!?! Run away!

1-8-13
Philosophy
  I already love this woman.

World Civilizations
  All these dudes are trying to impress her. It's fantastic. No one will sit next to me. I'm the smelly kid.


1-9-13
English
  It's 8:25am and 75% of the class is missing. I thought I was going to be late. Ha. I sprinted up four flights of stairs for no reason. Should have known I'd be one of the early ones. I always am. I seriously need to quit biting my nails, it'd be nice to have pretty hands. Should have brought in my coffee. It's so quiet in here. Too quiet. As much as I'd like to to think people would talk to me if I talked to them, I know that's not true. I'm the token white girl. In their eyes, my ancestors kicked the front door in. I can tell by how they roll their eyes at just my name. Whenever my name gets called they just glare at me...

Human Biology
  I hate the way science labs smell, like dead rodents shoved up Fat Bastard's ass in the middle of the Sahara Desert. In a way, it kind of reminds me of my mom's lean cuisines. Blech. I am deathly afraid of this professor. He reminds me of a meaner Mr. Ruth. Where Mr. Ruth had humor and a fantastic subject of study on his side, this guy does not. I also don't believe his philosophy that biology is just applied chemistry. He's 5 minutes late to his own class. How rude. He needs to re-dye his hair as well.

Algebra
  It's clear that Monday/Wednesdays will be my least favorite days. Biology is boring and my math teacher is a joke. At least English is awesome, as usual. The same kids are in most of my classes, and I think they all hate me. I try hard to think its just the first week and people will warm up to me but I honestly don't think they will. I desperately want to make friends. I miss the small town mentality because everyone talked to everyone and everyone knew each other. Crap my stomach is about to growl. FUCK I don't want people to hear it! I wonder if people read this over my shoulder. Someone just walked in that smells like pot...

1-10-13
World Civilization
  Let me backtrack to last class. I more than love Philosophy. I can tell it's going to be my favorite class. Here I am in world civ as the smelly white girl. Blarg. I need to start lying out again.

1-14-13
Human Biology
  Excuse me, did I sign up chemistry? NO. I registered for HUMAN BIOLOGY. I really want to make friends with the girl next to me. She has great style. I want to shop where she shops. ...He just said to wash our hands with paint thinner. NOPE. HA he stutters on his "WH" sounds like Stewie Griffin. "WH-hite blood cells" haha. He keeps telling us "this isn't chemistry" but then keeps teaching us chemistry. These stools are crazy uncomfortable. I think the woman in front of me is hot for him. Gross.

1-16-13
Algebra
  Backtrack, Biology is actually becoming biology! Canola oil is Canadian rape oil as it turns out. Back to Algebra now, instead of this room smelling like pot, it smells like jager bombs. Not better.

Now no one has to ask anymore! hooray! Enjoy.