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Monday, February 9, 2015

Quintessential Smithie

Hello world! I realize that my presence in the blogging scene varies a lot and that’s because I’ve felt that not much was happening in my life. We have so much information just blasted at us and I don’t want my blog to devolve into a series of meaningless posts just because I feel the need to keep it fresh. However, as of late, I do have some feelings and updates about my life. This is going to be a long post, so brace yourselves.

I go to women’s college. I’ve gotten a lot of eyebrow raises about this statement that just seem to prod why. Why are you at a women’s college in such a progressive era where women are basically men and social issues are a thing of the past? Women can do whatever they want, do you just hate men? Don’t you think #menism is a legitimate movement? You killed chivalry. Let me just get this straight. If you live under a rock and missed the outrage of Mike Brown in Ferguson and all over the world, as well as Eric Garner, social issues do not just disappear because time moves on. Questioning things, being curious, and continuing to keep an open mind are just a few ways to become aware and change the way the world thinks one social movement at a time.

Smith has such a large population of people who are aware of social issues and the underlying problems set up by the construct of the world we live in today. I’m too exhausted to just list everything wrong with the world. I just want to quickly talk about 50 Shades of Gray before calling it a night.

50 Shades of Gray has a female director and screenplay writer, and the original work was written by a woman. This is probably the film with the most female involvement, and in an age where feminism hasn’t touched Hollywood, that is an amazing feat. This movie will also probably be the largest blockbuster of the year and has such a wide audience and pop culture presence. I haven’t personally read the book but I’ve read enough of the Wikipedia page as well as outraged blogs. Perhaps that is the problem with this book. Not enough people are aware that this book is a nicely packaged bundle of abuse and misogyny. It frustrates me so much that this group of women have the power to make a real impact on Hollywood, to show what a team of women can accomplish, and yet they’re making maybe the most misogynistic movie yet. Furthermore, they think they’re making a feminist film. I can’t handle this. We wonder why domestic violence and rape are so common in today’s world and it’s things like this that promote the idea that hurting women is okay if the man is attractive enough and how “romantic” the idea of a man having all the power in a relationship.

I don’t know. Maybe this is why I don’t have a boyfriend. I went on an Ok Cupid date... and that was such an interesting experience. I’m just going to list one example of what it’s like to date a Smith girl.

Me: Wow, it’s really cold. I can’t believe it’s been snowing for so long.
*guy references the Christmas song Baby, It’s Cold Outside*
Me: That song is problematic.
Silence ensues.

He didn’t message me since our . . . date so I’m guessing he’s realized I’m not a naive 18 year old girl who will sleep with him just because.

So moral of the story. Don’t watch 50 Shades of Gray. Don’t give your money to a franchise that gives people the false sense that abuse is the same as romance.