Yesterday I discovered that the myth that women are mostly/only raped by strangers outside of the home first appeared in the eighteenth century. Turns out the emergence of the middle class in Britain and the way in which families began to change led to all this thinking that it was "natural" for women to stay at home while men went out working - and this also led to the removal of servants from the notion of the 'family' and the development of the idea of the 'housewife', which made marriage an employment contract whereby women did the work the servants would have done, except they weren't paid. So obviously it was desirable that women did not leave the physical confines of the home, and rape lies were a good way of ensuring this happened.
It's amazing to me that this myth flourishes so today when it's so OLD. Also (obviously this makes a lot of sense, but I'd never considered it this way before) it came out of a(nother) totally misogynistic and reductive imposed theory of social practice. Essentially, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH EVERYTHING slash this is quite interesting.
Sunday 25 April 2010
Sunday 18 April 2010
One mindless automaton coming up
HI. I'm a bit overwrought this afternoon because Sof and I just watched the season five finale of Buffy and it just reopened all the wounds and made me remember that there is a part of me that will always be broken whether I am aware of it or not. GOD. Buffyupset makes me so emo. Oh, well. A friend just told Sof and me that, when season five ended, she sat in the bath knocking back vodka in a Buffy shotglass sobbing. She is my new hero.
Speaking of which, I just discovered this blog and it is literally the best thing I have ever read. Peals of laughter at every entry. Buffyfanfriendwhoshallremainnameless may be my new hero, but Allie is my new god. AWE-SOME.
In Other News, I did not read as much over the holidays as I intended to so I'm in a bit of a pickle at the moment. So far this weekend I have read some inane eighteenth-century poetry by Thomas Gray and a canto and a half of Don Juan, which I'm actually really enjoying, such that I may now fancy Byron a little bit. Oh, dear. On the plus side, this means that I will read it more quickly than I thought I would. I've also inched a little more along Caleb Williams (WHEN WILL IT END) but to be honest I don't see the end being that nigh. I will be examined on it on the 26th of May. I hope I will have read it by then? And Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. And Lyrical Ballads. Not that that should take too long. Ugh. Obviously all my posts for some time will have at least a section of obligatory workspaz. #hahaWOO
Oh, finally, I have decided to be a vegan again. Sadly this decision came literally the day after I bought a load of Quorn products, so I'm going to have a transitional period until they're eaten, and then next time I buy food it will be non-animal orientated. Most of this is all because I weighed myself the other day and was 10kg heavier than I assumed I was, which kind of led me to face up to the fact that I do not eat as healthily as I could and although I walk everywhere it isn't really enough walking to constitute regular exercise, and cutting out dairy is an excellent way of losing weight, not to mention that moral responsibility and the spectre of guilt and shame are very good ways, if not the best, of keeping me from straying back into gorging myself on eggs. Mother, if you're reading this and worrying, rest assured that I will only be a vegetarian (a very healthy vegetarian, but a vegetarian nonetheless) when I am in Bristol. Good, well. I am going to read some more Byron then read as much Hyperbole and a Half as I can.
Speaking of which, I just discovered this blog and it is literally the best thing I have ever read. Peals of laughter at every entry. Buffyfanfriendwhoshallremainnameless may be my new hero, but Allie is my new god. AWE-SOME.
In Other News, I did not read as much over the holidays as I intended to so I'm in a bit of a pickle at the moment. So far this weekend I have read some inane eighteenth-century poetry by Thomas Gray and a canto and a half of Don Juan, which I'm actually really enjoying, such that I may now fancy Byron a little bit. Oh, dear. On the plus side, this means that I will read it more quickly than I thought I would. I've also inched a little more along Caleb Williams (WHEN WILL IT END) but to be honest I don't see the end being that nigh. I will be examined on it on the 26th of May. I hope I will have read it by then? And Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. And Lyrical Ballads. Not that that should take too long. Ugh. Obviously all my posts for some time will have at least a section of obligatory workspaz. #hahaWOO
Oh, finally, I have decided to be a vegan again. Sadly this decision came literally the day after I bought a load of Quorn products, so I'm going to have a transitional period until they're eaten, and then next time I buy food it will be non-animal orientated. Most of this is all because I weighed myself the other day and was 10kg heavier than I assumed I was, which kind of led me to face up to the fact that I do not eat as healthily as I could and although I walk everywhere it isn't really enough walking to constitute regular exercise, and cutting out dairy is an excellent way of losing weight, not to mention that moral responsibility and the spectre of guilt and shame are very good ways, if not the best, of keeping me from straying back into gorging myself on eggs. Mother, if you're reading this and worrying, rest assured that I will only be a vegetarian (a very healthy vegetarian, but a vegetarian nonetheless) when I am in Bristol. Good, well. I am going to read some more Byron then read as much Hyperbole and a Half as I can.
Thursday 15 April 2010
Something that has been annoying me of late
Sorry - how can the Conservatives seriously have 'vote for change' as their tagline? Aside from the obvious Obama comparison ridiculousness, they're called the CONSERVATIVES. Clue in the name? Kind of doublethinky? Ridic.
In Other (but related) News my friend Nat Guest has started an awesome project where she rounds up the day's news in verse. It's hilar, and here.
Also, I am back in Leeds now. I should be reading Caleb Williams (it has taken me so very long; I am somewhere towards the end of volume two) but instead I am endlessly clicking on my iTunes icon and wondering why it won't load so I can listen to Evelyn Evelyn. I came home to my EE package; it's very exciting. Exciting exciting, even. (Exciting exciting, even even.) (Sorry.) It includes a really cool sticker with a picture of the twins and 'WHAT EVS', which has led me to decide that I am going to lift the ban on multiple acoustic guitar stickers and cover the thing with awesomeness. One of these stickers will be of Scream Club, because part of awesomeness is understanding that what you value won't necessarily always be there, and that you have a responsibility to be part of what continues it in the world. Also, I still fancy Cindy Wonderful, so.
In Other (but related) News my friend Nat Guest has started an awesome project where she rounds up the day's news in verse. It's hilar, and here.
Also, I am back in Leeds now. I should be reading Caleb Williams (it has taken me so very long; I am somewhere towards the end of volume two) but instead I am endlessly clicking on my iTunes icon and wondering why it won't load so I can listen to Evelyn Evelyn. I came home to my EE package; it's very exciting. Exciting exciting, even. (Exciting exciting, even even.) (Sorry.) It includes a really cool sticker with a picture of the twins and 'WHAT EVS', which has led me to decide that I am going to lift the ban on multiple acoustic guitar stickers and cover the thing with awesomeness. One of these stickers will be of Scream Club, because part of awesomeness is understanding that what you value won't necessarily always be there, and that you have a responsibility to be part of what continues it in the world. Also, I still fancy Cindy Wonderful, so.
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