My Literary Blog

So I started a separate blog for my book project. I'll be posting all the book reviews and such on that one, and still post over here as well. :) http://aliterarymind.blogspot.com/. :) That said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!!!! :)

True Femininity

I'm sitting in class right now, listening to my *favorite* English teacher talking about feminism. Again. For the....5th class in a row. Today she started talking about an article grabber in the News and Observer. I don't agree with News and Observer all the time, or as my old debate teacher calls it, the News and Disturber, but this time I found them rather catchy. They were talking about Hillary Clinton's trips, and mentioned that she was sporting the pantsuits. Dr. D. took a MAJOR offense to this phrase, and even wrote in an editorial. Well, in order to curb my slight anger and frustration, I began writing out a list. A list of what true femininity is. Now, I don't typically share things out of my notebook, but I figured I'd post this here for the benefit of others. I can't promise that it entirely makes sense or is accurate...but it expresses my feelings on femininity.

What is True Femininity?

1) Not being ashamed about being called a lady, girl, or otherwise.
2) Knowing that wearing skirts or dresses are a mark of femininity and not being ashamed to wear them.
3) Allowing men to be gentlemen, and not assuming they are doing it because we are weak.
4) Being soft-spoken
5) Knowing how to serve
6) Not being "one of the guys" all the time.
7) Having a pure vocabulary.
8) Realizing that the beauty of a woman is her spirit and heart.
9) Being Trustworthy
10) Having good manners.
11) Being strong, yet not self-assuming
12) Taking Care of Children
13) Teaching others
14) Knowing that a career comes AFTER her family...not the other way around.
15) Listening to others, not just talking
16) Cooking.
17) Treating guys with respect, not because they are better but because they are a God-given head.
18) Having a belief in God.
19) Being Classy.
20) Not flirting with guys
21) Knowing the balance between making her own decisions, yet still relying on the advice of her spouse, significant other, or father.
22) Being graceful, and not just the way a woman walks, but her spirit.
23) Keeping her innocence
24) Having a great sense of humor
25) Knowing how to do things that most feminist women can't, because it is deemed "below them."

Book Blogging project: suggestions?

So Jess, part of this post is your fault. :P After a discussion with jessica yesterday, I decided to go through my old journals and notebooks to see what I could discover. In the middle of one that I had back during my sophomore year in highschool, which was 4 years ago, I found a list. I think I had been inspired by Walk to Remember, and it was a list of life goals. About halfway down, there was one that made me think. It said "read 1000 books in a year." Well, I decided that for this "blogging project" of mine, I would read 365 books in a year, since that seems a TAD bit more realistic than 1000. Thus this post: Do any of you have any suggestions? I already know I want to read through all of C.S. Lewis's works and C.J. Mahaney's books. I'd like for these books to fall under books that I should read, not just books that are completely enjoyable reads. I want some of those, but I'd like the majority to be things that will be beneficial, if you catch my drift. I plan on beginning this project on October 8th, which is the day we begin our fall break. Granted, I am aware that I won't have a completely formulated list of books by then, but I'd like to at least have my first 50 books or so listed out. I'll probably start a separate blog for this project, but for now i'm posting this on my main one. And for my Facebook friends who are curious, my blog is http://princessforhim90.blogspot.com. :)

Virtual Worlds: Good or Bad?

Today's English 200 class was probably the most...interesting English class I've been in. It started off normal enough, well, normal for OUR English class. You see, it was "bring in your barbie" day. Apparently Barbie dolls were the start of feminism and are the picture of true feminists because you can dress your barbie's up as career women.

But that's not what this is about. Somehow this class took a downhill spiral when we started talking about conventions. This turned into an intense conversation about the online virtual world. Apparently, there is this website called Second Life. And it allows you to, well, live a second life virtually. There was a guy on campus this morning that talked to the teaching fellows. He is very, very much into this second life thing. He talked about how great it was for teachers, since they could basically life both lives. And, if that weren't enough, we found out our entire history and English faculty have second life accounts, and use them.

This started an intense discussion about the ethics of virtual lives. There is one girl (who shall remain nameless) who has apparently had a virtual life since she was 13. We all found that disturbing to put it mildly. it shows as well, because she lacks an ability to socialize in a normal situation. The question on how safe this was was raised as well. As an actress, I've seen how hard it can be to break out of the separate character traits you have to pick up. The other girl argued that it was perfectly fine to have a separate life, because you can separate the virtual from the real world.

I, however, have a huge issue with how virtual all our lives are becoming. Every person has a facebook, twitter, email, myspace, and other online forums they use. I bet every one of us spends about 5 hours of our day online. I feel like our entire culture is becoming revolved around computers and virtual lives. We can create our own identity online.

When I was a kid, I can remember spending HOURS outside per day. Now, I rarely see any kids in my neighborhood outside playing and having fun. The life we used to live was that of simplicity and fun...now the life we all live revolves around technology and virtuality. There's even studies out about how teenagers are having a hard time communicating when they don't talk through an artificial form....face to face conversation is becoming a lost art. And I am in this group, because I do spend wayy too much time online. And yet, to be a part of this culture, it's required.