Wednesday, August 14, 2013

poor me, i am so awesome

GoldieBlox

H.A.L.T. 
Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired

F.E.A.R. => negative
False Evidence Appearing Real
False Expectations Appearing Real
Future Events Already Ruined
Failure Expected And Received
Fighting Ego Against Reality
Forever Escaping And Retreating
Frustration, Ego, Anxiety, Resentment
Forgetting Everything About Reality
Future Events Already Ruined

F.E.A.R. => positive
Face Everything and Recover
Feelings Expressed Allows Relief
Forgetting Everything's All Right
Face Everything And Rejoice
Forget Everything and Relax

H.E.R.
Hip-hop in its Essence is Real
human estrogen receptor 
Hydrogen Evolution Reaction 
Carmen Rupe (1936–2011)
hydroxyethyl radical 
Health Empowerment Resource 
Higher Education and Research 
Hercules
Hero

C.U.N.T.
Cunning, Uniqueness, Nerve, Talent
Cheerleaders Understanding And Nurturing Together

B. I. T. C. H. 
Basically In The Clear Honey 
Beautiful Individual That Causes Hardons 
Beautiful Intelligent Talented Creative Honest 
Being In Total Control of Herself 

I've been thinking a lot about Disney, see prev post, and about the notion of princesses and waiting on a prince for rescue. I've also been thinking about the history books, which feature story after story about male Conquistadors.  How men discovered, explored, and took credit for our modern understanding of the universe.  Why does there have to be a separate class in Women's history or in the history of minorities?  In my classroom, I strive to present photos of women scientists and I wish textbooks would apply Title IX to their curriculum.  When are females the protagonist?  When they're the object of a man's goal.
babies-on-the-brain Cinderella trying-to-concieve
I was walking the mall and passed the Disney store.  I am not a terrorist but I wanted to plant an IED there for some reason.  The ideas propagated by the princesses of lore teach women to wait, to look pretty, and to believe that everything will work out if we try hard enough.  There's no shortage of amazing women who took their own lives by the reins, but these stories are not told often enough, loud enough, or sincerely enough to penetrate through all the other messages in our society. My applause to Debbie Sterling, a female engineer from Stanford University, who created a toy for girls that has real action potential. My hat is off to writer Rebecca Skloot, who decided to write about the women behind the stories in science. I have recently found KeriLynn Engel, who has devoted herself to blogging the stories of scores of amazing women in history. Last, but certainly not least, thanks to Dina Goldstein for her series of 'Fallen Princesses.'  It made me feel a little less crazy for hating on Disney characters and their general helplessness.  It helped me see that even princesses have a human side and can fall on hard times.

I've been told that the word "bitch" is associated with unpleasant behavior.  I'm still not sure why that is.  I'm caught up in acronyms these days.  I've written about INBD and FUBAR in previous posts.  Today I'm treating you to some other choice phrases that have been stuck in my head lately (see above).  I've always wondered about men who dress like women, why would they do that when society disempowers women?  But there's something I love about drag queens, how they identify with the female form and embrace all its curves.  I love RuPaul's reimagining of cunning, uniqueness, nerve and talent.  A friend of mine and I were talking about words we use to describe our friends.  He said "dawgs" is not OK but "bitches" is.  So this one goes out to all my bitches!  These days I am trying to appreciate the power of words and apply the technique of turning a negative thought into a positive.