I feel like RevRun writing a blog while relaxing in the evening- luckily I'm not in the tub. Anyway it's been a crazy few weeks but things are finally calming down a little. We found a beautiful apt to move to, I'm done with stufent teaching, working on FAME- it's all good. I actually saw our Iris at Fairway today- she's a nice kid. Pierre and I took a walk today- it was so nice out- it's neat how sometimes the smallest things can make you feel better. I'm a lucky girl. I have a wonderful support systemai a loving husband, amazing family and friends, and a career to be proud of. Sometimes the good times don't kick in til later in life- but its really all worth it.
I wish I had a witty send off- you can insert one here...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Saturday, October 3, 2009
GIRLhood
When did little girls grow up so much, so quickly?
I'm sitting here and this girl who must be all of ten is strutting down the street in white knee-high boots, with pointy heels sharp enough to kill a man. She is wearing a black, off the shoulder top, modeled after one meant for women twenty years her senior. She's wearing the miniature version of high fashion skinny jeans and has super ironed, uber-highlighted hair.
And the girl is ten. Did I mention that?
What have we done, as a culture, to little girls?
Smart little girls are seen as geeks, and creative ones are seen as freaks. I was reading, the other day, about a twelve year old blogger who makes her own outfits. Someone from the press found out about her blog and now she's getting to be a pseudo-celebrity. She even got photographed at fashion week in NY!
It must be this girl's dream, but at what cost? What's gonna happen to her childhood, her GIRLhood? GIRLhood is a precious time, when you are just starting to realize things about the world, and no one expects you to be a woman yet.
So many girls see these hyper-sexualized, overly made-up teens and tweens on TV and on the internet. What are they supposed to think? I remember when I was in tweendom and thinking Melissa Joan Hart in "Clarissa Explains It All" was the real deal, the coolest ever. I remember really liking and wanting to emulate that independent spirit and creative energy.
I don't think I've seen a character on TV her age like her, since. I mean, each generation has its icons, i.e. Marcia Brady. I remember wishing I could be smart and popular like Jessie Spano on "Saved by the Bell".
We often project an image that we want to see in the mirror onto ourselves. I am definitely guilty of that. But to tell a little girl that it's normal to wear shoes that make her feet hurt, and to spend hours on her hair, and to wear only designer labels is cruel. Where's the rush to grow up? When do we slow down and actually enjoy the spot we're on, revel in the now,, be content with just this moment? Time goes by so fast. Let a girl enjoy being a girl.
I'm sitting here and this girl who must be all of ten is strutting down the street in white knee-high boots, with pointy heels sharp enough to kill a man. She is wearing a black, off the shoulder top, modeled after one meant for women twenty years her senior. She's wearing the miniature version of high fashion skinny jeans and has super ironed, uber-highlighted hair.
And the girl is ten. Did I mention that?
What have we done, as a culture, to little girls?
Smart little girls are seen as geeks, and creative ones are seen as freaks. I was reading, the other day, about a twelve year old blogger who makes her own outfits. Someone from the press found out about her blog and now she's getting to be a pseudo-celebrity. She even got photographed at fashion week in NY!
It must be this girl's dream, but at what cost? What's gonna happen to her childhood, her GIRLhood? GIRLhood is a precious time, when you are just starting to realize things about the world, and no one expects you to be a woman yet.
So many girls see these hyper-sexualized, overly made-up teens and tweens on TV and on the internet. What are they supposed to think? I remember when I was in tweendom and thinking Melissa Joan Hart in "Clarissa Explains It All" was the real deal, the coolest ever. I remember really liking and wanting to emulate that independent spirit and creative energy.
I don't think I've seen a character on TV her age like her, since. I mean, each generation has its icons, i.e. Marcia Brady. I remember wishing I could be smart and popular like Jessie Spano on "Saved by the Bell".
We often project an image that we want to see in the mirror onto ourselves. I am definitely guilty of that. But to tell a little girl that it's normal to wear shoes that make her feet hurt, and to spend hours on her hair, and to wear only designer labels is cruel. Where's the rush to grow up? When do we slow down and actually enjoy the spot we're on, revel in the now,, be content with just this moment? Time goes by so fast. Let a girl enjoy being a girl.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Use It or Lose It
"You gotta use what you got, to get what you want, before what you got is gone."-"the life"
I think this song was written about being a hooker. That's not the angle I'm going for. I suppose the message is still similar, though. We all have different skill sets and abilities. Sometimes the thing that I lack in, you can make up for and vice versa. But, what do you do when that is not a factor? What i someone is unable to see your strengths because of his or her own blinders and prejudice?
I was in a situation last week, where I could've been a scholar straight out of Harvard and the woman still would not have acknowledged me. She saw only one thing, what she wanted to see, which was a young, heavyset woman, and she was disgusted. The look of pure disdain on her face was almost overpowering.
What I really don't understand is how prejudice can be so blinding that it interferes in every aspect of life, from work to home and back. This woman had a job to do, and neglected it completely because she couldn't deal with having a fat person around. This makes me sad. Not just for me, but for people with anything at all that makes them different.
And it's not like it would've been socially accepted for me to make fun of the fact that she's a runner and super-skinny, but she can hate on my fat all she wants because we live in a country that accepts fat prejudice as legitimate. Prejudice stems from a nasty place of ignorance and hate. I'm not saying that the woman should've given me a huge hug and thrown a fat acceptance ball in her backyard, I'm just saying that she could've been cordial. She could've allowed us to have a working relationship.
Sometimes, you have to protect yourself from a person who is really toxic. Prejudiced people are toxic and I have no respect for people who think that they can adequately judge character based solely on outer appearance. I wish I did not live amongst such people, but I have no choice. I can't change their blind hatred and ignorance. I can ignore it or rise above it. Those sound like two good options to me.
I think this song was written about being a hooker. That's not the angle I'm going for. I suppose the message is still similar, though. We all have different skill sets and abilities. Sometimes the thing that I lack in, you can make up for and vice versa. But, what do you do when that is not a factor? What i someone is unable to see your strengths because of his or her own blinders and prejudice?
I was in a situation last week, where I could've been a scholar straight out of Harvard and the woman still would not have acknowledged me. She saw only one thing, what she wanted to see, which was a young, heavyset woman, and she was disgusted. The look of pure disdain on her face was almost overpowering.
What I really don't understand is how prejudice can be so blinding that it interferes in every aspect of life, from work to home and back. This woman had a job to do, and neglected it completely because she couldn't deal with having a fat person around. This makes me sad. Not just for me, but for people with anything at all that makes them different.
And it's not like it would've been socially accepted for me to make fun of the fact that she's a runner and super-skinny, but she can hate on my fat all she wants because we live in a country that accepts fat prejudice as legitimate. Prejudice stems from a nasty place of ignorance and hate. I'm not saying that the woman should've given me a huge hug and thrown a fat acceptance ball in her backyard, I'm just saying that she could've been cordial. She could've allowed us to have a working relationship.
Sometimes, you have to protect yourself from a person who is really toxic. Prejudiced people are toxic and I have no respect for people who think that they can adequately judge character based solely on outer appearance. I wish I did not live amongst such people, but I have no choice. I can't change their blind hatred and ignorance. I can ignore it or rise above it. Those sound like two good options to me.
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