The State of Being Hu(wo)man.

May 15, 1991, I made my debut to life. I was destined to grow a womb, weight on my chest, curvy hips, and a bit more body fat than my best friend. I was to be the object of eyes instead of ears; of superficial worth instead of intellectual savvy. By birth, my head was shadowed by a sheet of glass, which, day by day, inched closer to me. I never noticed it as I grew up, because I never cared for female company. Legos, Hot Wheels, and toy guns graced by toy box, and I spend my days being an elite spy for the CIA (a better one, in fact, than my friend Lucas).

It wasn’t until high school when I felt the first stings of male chauvinism. As puberty progressed, people often remarked on my decent physical appearance. I had a Filipino mother, a White father, and had been an athlete for my whole life, so naturally, my face was unique and my body was sculpted relatively well. But perhaps what hurt more was that I was never called “smart,” “witty,” or “funny.” I sort of was, in grammar school, when I had brightly colored braces, unflattering glasses, and no shape to my prepubescent body. I tried to rationalize it, to say that it was just McNair’s effect on me, that I was absorbed in a highly competitive atmosphere and though I may have been bright, I seemed duller when placed in the same room as a genius. I still do try to rationalize it as so. But I know that once I’m out of 123 Coles, I’m going to see exactly the same thing, and I won’t have a competitive atmosphere to use as an excuse for it.

It was also high school when I set my mind on not having children. Why? Sorry, I have no intelligible excuse for this except “Kids suck.” To be truly honest, I don’t believe I’d successfully raise them, I’d probably neglect them like I neglect everything else, and I don’t want to deal with the responsibility of ensuring a human being’s future. It was my grandmother who told me that “Menstruating is a little monthly sacrifice for the privilege to make life.” Though this is a cute way to look at bleeding out of a vagina, I’ll have to be blunt. It effing sucks that I still have to endure a painful week (instead of three days), every three weeks (instead of four). I won’t get detailed, don’t worry. It’s not only an annoyance, it’s another force (working in cohorts with friends, family, and other adults) pressuring me to have a child. I don’t want one, but to think that every month I have to sit out and sometimes even call out of school because of the pain I feel, and that the pain is for nothing… well, you reconsider.

But let’s talk about things that matter right now: I’m a junior in high school, I’m looking at colleges and I’m going to be applying in a few months. The number of women in college (and in the overall population) exceeds that of men, so the odds are highly against us (unless we’re interested in West Point or some other rare colleges). A woman is running for the Democratic primaries. Maybe it’s a step forward. Really, I don’t see the step, because the discrimination is still full-throttle, we still judge her ability to be president just based on her femininity. (I’m even guilty of it.)

To even simply accept the social (and unrealistic) expectations of being perfectly beautiful is hard. Look at our movies. All the ones that have women as the protagonist heroines are the ones with women (Sorry Ms. Jolie) like Angelina playing Lara Croft, with voluptuous breasts, curvacious hips, and amazingly strong arms and abs. Or it fails like Ultraviolet (I hated that movie so much..) where the plot FAILS. The only way women ever look appealing is if they’re attractive, badass, or GOD you’re lucky if you’re both. The meaning of sexy is almost unattainable by most average ordinary women.

So all in all, there’s mounting pressure to be a mother, a wife, to be just an attractive sidekick to the all-powerful male boss, to battle the millions of other women trying to surpass that expectation and attain CEO status, and even worse: we need to look perfect. It’s no wonder more women than men report a history of attempted suicide, with a gender ratio of 3:1. (Yes, it’s that bad.)

I also notice that no one likes women writers because of the expectation that all we’ll ever write is sappy love novels. I must strongly disagree with that, just look at Nora Roberts. Or JK Rowling. You know you love their books. I prefer writing horror/occult fiction. =D But yeah, y’all suck.

I don’t know why I wrote this. I guess I was just PMSing. (I must admit, I do have a point.)

That’s all for now. Peace homes.

-Therese

Anti-Piracy PSA with some washed-up actor who once played a character named McLovin.

funnier than you think

“Piracy PSA” with Christopher Mintz-Plasse on FunnyOrDie.com

Janina San Miguel – Miss Philippines World 2008 – WITH SUBS

Atleast shes pretty.

“If” They Walk Away…

After staring at that for about a good ten minutes, I came to the conclusion that if they were worth fighting for, you would never let them go.

Hell, a thousand reasons could be present for why they walked away…
- they could have loved you so much, that they believe that they will hold you back
- they could have cared for you so much, that they want you to be free to do whatever you desire
- they could have thought, “there is no way, I could get someone that great.”
- they could have cherished you so much, that they wanted you to have a great life and that you are the only mistake in it at the moment
- they could have adored you so much, that the only thing they wanted you to do was live a life where you could find the guy/girl of your dreams because they “think” that they aren’t your one and only

I could have came up with a hundred more reasons… but like they said…

“If you love someone, just tell them… before the moment passes by.“
and
“Don’t wait for the one you can live with, wait for the one you can’t live without.“

I’ll leave you with that…

- Jed

obama has no dirt on his shoulders.

word.

-julian

Just a thought (about greatness).

We’re always taught to aspire to greatness. And that’s what we do: aspire to greatness.

And maybe it’s because we’re not being motivated by such a phrase, although that’s its purpose of existing.

Truth is, we’re probably being hindered by the idea more than encouraged.

No one has yet told us to “Achieve greatness.”

Then again, it wouldn’t be greatness if everyone did it.

Just a thought.

- Therese