So I was indeed back Wednesday at my roughly scheduled time and our foray into a mosquito-ridden, vinyl-draped environment went pretty smoothly. However, given the insufferable, mind-draining heat and the nagging work hours I wasn’t really feeling The Writer, as such.
And now to dial down the excuses, I’ll just dive right into something with ever so slightly more substance than my defence of blathering about giddy exhortations of shiny movie love (speaking of which, why in hell have I not seen The Dark Knight yet?). Gender issues are a touchy fucking subject – the kerfuffle begins first with declaring whether or not these are indeed issues which require mental or verbal wrangling. In recalling a headache of a pub visit with some naturally quarrelsome friends earlier this year, I know just how much of a thing that shit stirs in people. Whether it’s the seemingly unavoidable associations with insane radical bullshit or the fact that the slant of “gender issues” seems to fall inevitably toward women – it’s not something we’re going to agree on anytime soon.
I’ve always taken issue with the double standard that seems to so often emerge when looking at, for instance, gender-heavy court cases or day-to-day criticisms – often in a way where I want to investigate the embedded assumptions of men in a similar light. However at the same time, I appreciate and love the kickass woman image , especially having recently been engaged in a lot of bloggery, articles and interviews which purport that very image and are determined not to stand for anything less. And of course I hate the inane radicals. I think the point is… who doesn’t? As the Guardian article stressed – there are still serious issues to be dealt with. I know this doesn’t make me hypocritical one freaking bit, perhaps it just makes me an open-minded girl. I’m a hesitant labeller and ‘feminist’ is one I keep changing my mind about. Ultimately, I’m fairly sure it doesn’t matter but there are those positive that it does. Is attaching a quick, overloaded term to an issue really the only way to be heard these days?
Boys and girls, please be civil.
