This is Feminism

I didn’t post anything yesterday for Blog Against Sexism Day, mainly due to the fact that I was feeling uninspired and couldn’t think of anything to write about. Besides, most of what I post about here is about sexism anyway.

 Laura from I’m Not A Feminist, But sums up rather well the impact feminism has had on her personally:

“Although the feminist gaze can bring a lot of grief as you begin to see the reality of the world around you and realise that we still have a long, long way to go towards achieving equality, it is also truly empowering. Never before in my life have I been happy and proud to be a woman, and never have I felt so confident in my own skin and with who I am. I hope that I can share what I have learnt and am continuing to learn with other women so that they too can feel as wonderful as I do now and join us in the fight for respect and equality.”

Stating that you are a feminist truly is empowering. The moment that you stop shying away from the term amidst fears of its negative connotations, a huge burden feels as though it has been lifted from your shoulders. I’ve always felt feminist, but up until about four years ago I would never claimed to have been one. But, of course, with that burden being lifted from you, your eyes are then opened to the disgusting truth about the place of the female in the modern world.

I’ve been told “Why do you bother getting angry about it? There’s nothing you can do and you only end up upsetting yourself”. But to those comments I say “NO” - there is something I can do about it. I can be vocal, I can confront people with the truth, I can prove that saying “that’s just the way it is” and shrugging your shoulders is utter bullshit, I can say louldy and proudly that “I am a feminist!” and refuse to stereotyped or belittled or offended for simply stating the truth.

And everytime I hear someone say “You’re right. I never looked at it that way before”, I feel and I hope and I wish for change.

Just a few links

I was going to continue my new trend of bitching adverts, but found this and then this f-word article, which both get the point across quite nicely.

 Also, if you would like to vomit in your cup of tea, please let me direct you to BeautifulPeople.net. Apparently, ‘beautiful’ now means “up-your-own-arse”. And, dare I wonder, if you really are so astoundingly beautiful and such a catch, why exactly do you need to be on a dating site….? Surely you have people queuing up outside your front door! Alas, it is amazing what you can do with a digital camera and Photoshop these days… I want to rant about the fact that “beauty” is a purely subjective term, and that the current (READ: western and patriarchal) version of “beauty” is merely one that the media has dreamt up in order for us to ultimately part with more of our hard-earned cash to feed the greed of the multi-nationals…. But, I can’t be bothered anymore. Just read The Beauty Myth instead.

NO more trolls

Right. I really didn’t want to have to do his, but I’m now only allowing comments that I approve of to appear.

This blog is MINE. I do not have time nor inclination to control it like some sort of playground. If you are offended by what I say, then you can very kindly fuck off.

If that upsets you, then get over it.

I’m not happy that I’m having to do this, as I do appreciate healthy debates, but “that’s all you were made for, cooking, cleaning and sex you sluts” is neither healthy nor a debate point.

So, Ms Violet’s Musings is now officially a troll free zone.

A shameless plug

My boyfriend keeps pestering me to put up a link here.

He’s doing a sponsored walk along the Great Wall Of China in October and his latest fundraising scheme involves this on eBay. All money raised goes to Concern, a charity working to improve the lives of those living in absolute poverty.

I was thinking the message could be something regarding China’s human rights situation… “Free Tibet” or someting… But I suppose that could result in the locking up of el boyfriendo by Chinese officials. Perhaps “Patriarchy : fuck off!” would do the job.

Gah, the Affleck/Lynx madness

It appears the fat-cats at Lynx have decided that men just can’t live without one if those fantastic clicker-thingies from the advert and so - brace yourselves - are marketing them at the masses.

Lovely.

I really hope it killed your erection

Well, the inevitable has happened. Sick fuckers searching for disgusting pornography have come across my blog.

In the past two days I’ve recieved visits from people searching for the following terms:

• rape scenes
• Kittens with wool
• lynx advert ben affleck
• the ben affleck advert
• high heels and lipstick
• Ben affleck advert
• fuck rape violet fuck sex
• ben affleck lynx advert
• rape scenes

I feel pretty sickened… But I hope that perhaps one of those people read my blog and it made them feel disgusted and guilty about their behaviour. Perhaps not, but we can hope.

The amount of people searching for that god damn Lynx advert is also pretty worrying…

But whoever was searching for “kittens with wool” - hooray for you not being a pervert! Sadly, you probably didn’t find anything actually about kittens with wool here, so here’s a gift… My beautiful cat Maggie looking very sleepy on my lap. Enjoy it, perverts!

Do you call this equality?

Reading news articles like this one, make me absolutely sick to me stomach.

And then I find this one. Then this one.

But, if reading them was not enough, I then go on to think that these are simply the tip of the iceberg. These convictions are just five or so percent of rapes going on in this country.

And, on top of all that injustice, we are told it is our fault. We deserve it. Wear a short skirt, have a little drink, walk to the cornershop alone, flirt with men, enjoy sex… and - quite frankly ladies! - you are asking for it!

A young girl even said to the me the other day that she didn’t ‘realise’ it was still rape if a husband forces his wife to have sex.

I would like to know how this is the 21st Century.

What a stud.

I get pissed off with the majority of advertising as it is, but the latest TV advert for men’s deoderant Lynx is really getting on my nerves.

If you haven’t seen it, it comprises of “Hollywood hunk” (allegedly) Ben Affleck out and about town and keeping a record of the numbers of young women who ‘give him the eye’. At the end, he shows off his tally of female admirers to Average Nerdy Joe in an elevator, who - it turns out - actually has many more counts than Mr Affleck. Average Nerdy Joe has been using Lynx, obviously.

Now, Lynx adverts are pretty awful most of the time and so, frankly, this is just one in a long line of adverts by Lynx demeaning to women. But what really gets to me about this one is the way that female attraction is used as a game to find out who is the “biggest man”. Women are merely given the role of objects to boost the egos of men. We are offered the obligatory tits and legs shots, as the female extras are regarded simply as pieces of meat.

Some might say that the advert is just Ben Affleck mocking himself and his ’stud’ persona… BUT if that were true, then why have the Average Nerdy Joe also clicking his counter for each female who expresses interest?

I think it is the little clicky-device that really gets on my nerves with this one. The very idea that it is all a game, a competition; something that the biggest and best man will win. That a woman finding a man attractive has NOTHING to do with herself and her making herself happy, and everything to do with boosting the ego of males.

Not to mention the fact that Lynx smells bloody awful and I am yet to meet a women attracted by its odour.

When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Crazy Cat Woman

I think this is quite possible the cutest thing, ever.

 And this is ridiculous, but strangely entertaining. For my cat. Not me. I’m not that easily amused…

Moved.

And I’m here. Hooray.

I tried to fiddle about with a different theme, but found myself getting increasingly frustrated by it all. I’ll probably come back to it at another point, and - anyway - I like the grass for the time being.

Dave Nice-But-Dim

Well, what a shock this one is.

David “I’m not like the others! Honest!” Cameron’s attempts to convince the country that he is, in fact, a ‘nice-guy’ Tory have been thwarted already. After claiming to care about the environment, his cronies have subsequently announced Conservative Party intentions to build on Green belt land. I am interested to see just how long this bizarre charade continues… and how long it will take before this happens.

Although, the prospect of this happening does make me feel a little warm inside:

party mascot Boris “B-Jo” Johnson was said to be “thoroughly excited” by the new plans and looked forward to having “a jolly good chuckle” over the coming months. B-Jo’s new album “Straight Outa Trumpton” is due to be released in January 2006.

Time For A Change

I have decided that, in an attempt to make me blog more, I will open this place up to be about all sorts of issues and not just primarily feminist ones. This does not mean that this isn’t a feminist blog anymore, I just want to feel I can include posts on a variety of topics.

One day I will also change the layout here. I am fed up of this bloody pink.