Eleven Eleven Tag

Here is my eleven eleven tag. Eleven facts about me and the answers to eleven questions.

1. I just bought a dress for under $5.00.

2. I am a mockingbird. I love to sing other people's songs and learn from the way they sing.

3. I have two birthmarks. One long oval on my leg that no one can figure out what is and one on my butt that hides and doesn't cause any comment or confusion.

4. I love clothes, fashion and all things related to style.

5. I have never been out of the United States and it kills me.

6. People tend to use the word "elegant" to describe me.

7. I once pulled a key out of an electric socket. It was a very shocking experience.

8. I can roll my r's, my tongue, my belly, and my eyes.

9.  I have a really hard time thinking of facts about myself.

10. I kinda sorta really wanna dye my hair black and pierce my nose in a very ungothic way.

1. How is living in an apartment vs. living in a dorm?
It is wonderful! There's so much more space and you feel less like a sardine in a can. I love all the windows. But my favorite part is having my own kitchen. Least favorite part is that it's on the fringes of campus and all uphill. Yay stairs! It's different, but it would be even more different if the apartment was off campus.


2. Icicles are falling all around the awning you are under but there is free cake across the street... what do you do?
You grab the top of a trash can, hold it over your head and race to the free goodness.

4.What is your dream career?
My dream career is to be a high school English teacher. It's why I'm here at an institution of higher learning. I have always been very career oriented and in my junior year of high school, I made an exhuastive list of every career that was even remotely interesting to me. This included everything from correctional officer, journalist, and psychologist. I pictured myself doing all of those things every day or years and years and years. And I decided the one that I could wake up in the morning for, the one I was most suited toward, the one that I could not get bored of, the one that I could really make a difference with, was teaching.

5. What grade did you get on your last essay?
I got an X. Which means I passed the pass or fail assignment. Boom.

6. Favorite kind of cake?
My favorite kind of cake is actually cake. Who needs to be picky about the details surrounding the estacy of your tastebuds? I do really like chocolate cake with thick chocolate frosting, though. So. So. Delicious.

7. Preferred bedtime?
I feel really awesome when I make it bed by midnight. Eleven, and I probably feel like I had something else to do, but I'm just too tired or done with the day to care.

8. Red or nude lipstick?
Here's the deal kids, red lipstick is hard for me to pull off and I swear to you, nude lipstick does not last. I have a red gloss that will stain and fade into a really nice, bright, complementary color that draws attention, but doesn't make you look like a clown. At least it lasts. A nude lip rubs off unevenly half the time. Worst thing ever- having the edges of your lips be pink and the middle be a flakey, wavering nude. Gross.

9. Heels, flats, or wedges?
This, of course depends on the occasion and the outfit. In order, my preference is flats, heels and then wedges. Flats someone look so sophisticated with everything. Heels make you feel sexy as hell. Wedges... wedges are like a cute, flirty, casual thing I'm just not that into.

10. If someone random told you their name, would you tell them yours?
Absolutely! If someone walked over to me in the airport, on the bus, on the street, in Walmart or any which where and said "Hi. I'm Steve." I would almost without exception reply, "Hello, Steve. I'm Anna."


11. Trip to Europe or Jamacia?
Europe. Always Europe. Jamacia would be heaps of fun though!

And I have no one to tag... awkward. But I thought I owed this to Meg of True Story.

I Am a Feminist

I didn’t think I was a feminist. I said so in a paper I wrote for my Freshman English class. I turned in a research proposal saying as much and my professor returned my paper having circled and underlined that particular sentence with a comment all in capital letters “WHAT?!?” Her reaction shocked me. How was not being a feminist any worse than not being a democrat? It was all a matter of personal and political inclination.

It wasn’t until I took a sociology course that I truly understood feminism. Feminism, in my mind, had always been portrayed by unfeminine woman and a far left political position. However, that is not feminism. It exists within feminism, to be sure, but those individuals do not encompass the whole idea. Feminism, in its essence is about equality. While some use feminism to campaign their right not to shave their armpits, original feminists used it to campaign for their right to political, social and economic equality. They wanted to vote, go to college, be doctors and lawyers, run for public office, take out loans, and own property. They wanted to be treated as equal to men.

When you’re treated as an equal, you are treated as having the same level of dignity, yet at least for me, the argument as to whether or not men and woman are the same is irrelevant. We have obvious biological differences. However, what role these biological differences actually play in our behavior has been far too long connected to socially constructed gender roles. Having a vagina does not make me more capable of cooking, cleaning and nurturing than someone with a penis.

Gender roles make the world go round and we learn them from a very young age. We learn that girls  and boys wear different things. That boys and girls play with different toys. That they are expected to be gifted at and interested in different things. Yet it is not a matter of biology that I wear skirts and make up. Gender roles and gender are not the same, yet they are so often tangled up in the conversation of feminism, which as you will recall is about equality. Can I have the same dignity as a man and wear mascara? Absolutely.

In short, I am a feminist because I think that woman are equal in dignity and rights to men. But I am also a feminist because I think that woman should not make about 75 cents for every male dollar. Because I think it should not be a social norm for woman to have work the second shift. Because the average male says it would  “bother him” to have a female boss. Because when a woman can’t run for public office without her gender being considered her most defining characteristic. Because woman are subject to a level of objectification in the media that men are not. Because I don’t think a woman should have to choose between her career and having a family. Our society places woman at a disadvantage, and I don’t think that’s okay. So to set the record straight: female is a matter of biology. Feminine is a set of culturally defined characteristics. Feminist is a political position. I happen to be all three.

*A lot of ideas are vauguely plagarized in this reflection. I caution readers to take wording and exact numbers with a grain of salt. If you have any questions about my sources or reasoning, I would be happy to do my best to dig up a credible source that reflects my claims.

People Say the Darnedest Things I

People say the darnedest things when they have to give speeches or presentations. I recognize not everyone has the grasp on the English language that I was taught/blessed with...but still. Some of this is so bad I have to stifle a snicker. Public speaking is hard. Everyone is inarticulate at times, myself definitely included. Yet in what I assure you is good humor, I would like to share some of the most amusing errors I have witnessed in my final weeks of group and research presentations.

"The author died of a very popular disease."

This one I almost laughed at loud. The plague was so popular at the time, everyone just had to get their hands on it!!

"In researching this topic, I found many findings."

Did you now? Can you say redundant??

"He then contacted malaria."

By phone or e-mail?

"X muchly affects Y in that..."

I muchly imagine so.

I have to say listening to this is both painful and hysterical. So at some point I decided I needed to start collecting these to share with the world. So when I look like I'm studiously taking notes, I'm actually noting your creative and incorrect use of the English language. Yeah. I'm just that kind of person.