Fri 26 Feb 2010
In the midst of doing my thesis and all that fun stuff, I’ve also been trying to apply for jobs and look at grad schools. My plan for now is to work for two years, then go to grad school. But I also have another option that I’ve been thinking about: starting my own business, namely, a feminist sex toy shop.
That would obviously be a huge investment, and I doubt it would be an option for a very long time. But it’s something I definitely want to do in the future. I even have a name picked out–The Dew-Dropped Orchid–and I have images in my mind of exactly how it will look. I’m not sure where I’d want it to be… if I were to stay in Connecticut, I’d pick someplace like Hartford or maybe even Norwich. I would want my sex toy shop to be affordable and also highly geared towards women and their pleasure, not necessarily how women can give men more pleasure. It would have a variety of toys and accessories, ranging from lingerie (and a good variety of it) to organic toys and lotions, to toys made by local or small-scale artists (rather than buying stock from big corporations), to feminist porn films rather than the typical, hetero-male-oriented stuff, to lots and lots of books… there would be a lot of awesome stuff for people.
The most important thing I’d want to do with my sex toy shop is have educational workshops and presentations for people. Women could come, learn some cool stuff about sexuality for FREE, have their questions answered by professionals, etc. It wouldn’t JUST be a sex toy shop, it’d be a little bit of a learning center. It would promote sexual health and learning alongside sexual pleasure and exploration. It would also encourage women to enjoy their sexuality and discover their own pleasure for themselves.
I’m not sure if that kind of thing is allowed anywhere (can those kinds of businesses also provide education, according to zoning laws and whatever? I don’t know!) but that’s definitely something I’d want to do in the future. If I could do that when I graduate… well, that would be awesome! Maybe I’ll find a way… :P
Tue 23 Feb 2010
Posted by Siobahn under philosophies
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Men give women a lot of shit for talking a lot. As OMGfacts pointed out a couple weeks ago, women speak something like 7000 words a day, while men only say about 2000. And then people think this is a good thing!?
I think a lot of men are socially, emotionally, and intellectually stunted as a result of the gender norm to be stoic and emotionless. Men don’t know how to relate to people half the time. And I feel kinda bad for them.
In a lot of cultures (generally not western ones), communication between everyone was important. In Algonquian societies, for example, men would communicate at length so that everyone could come to a consensus about the issue at hand. Talking a lot was a good thing because it made sure everyone was more or less happy.
Now, talking a lot is a Bad Thing, because it’s something that women do. But I think that when men allow themselves to be pressured into their gender role, their relationships with other people suffer. Men supposedly can’t get close to other men because they would risk giving off the impression of homosexual attraction. Men supposedly can’t get close to women because women are just so needy and crazy and over-emotional. So what do men do for emotional support!?
This is actually becoming an issue, since men are so opposed to going to see therapists and just generally talking about their problems. But men have problems too, and I feel sad that they don’t think it’s okay to talk about them. Everyone has problems and issues, and talking about them, working them out with a friend or therapist is a GOOD thing to do. Why would you sacrifice your emotional health just to seem like the manliest man around?
Oh, because that’s what being a man is.
…Poor guys :(
Sun 21 Feb 2010
Posted by Siobahn under school
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On Friday, I submitted the first draft of my final thesis chapter to my advisor. Hurray!
I now have to write the introduction and conclusion, then start editing.
This process, so far, has honestly been awesome. I see a lot of other thesis-writers around me totally freaking out, not knowing where they are going, what they are doing, whatever… and I wonder if this kind of thing is just easy for me, or if I’m just better at balancing my time. Not to say that writing a thesis is easy… I just haven’t been freaking out about it. I find it to be enjoyable, really. I’m writing about a topic I love and I’m having a lot of fun. I’m doing something rewarding for myself, so working on my thesis, at times, isn’t really even work. It’s just writing about something awesome.
My advisor is pretty happy with most of it so far. I am waiting to see what she has to say about the third chapter. I feel like it is strong at some points, and perhaps weak at other points. I definitely had a great time writing about masturbation, though ;)
So anyway, I am taking a little break for now, then getting back into the grind. I need to start working on some things for my other two classes, just upcoming paper assignments and stuff. I think in the meantime, I will make some Pearl Jam wallpapers… :P
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