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I've been burning some time reading the xkcd fora lately, I love them dearly. I learn a lot and think a lot when I'm there, and there's lots of good fodder for humor as well. There's a lot of high-quality moderation there, with good maintenance results, and they apply the rule to keep posts named accurately, and that generally works to catch my attention. So I just noticed a thread about feminism, split from the confessions thread, which piqued my interest as I saw no logical connection between the two. Reading it, I still don't, just seeing a guy who claims he hates "feminism" but what he really means is anti-male sexism. You know, femmenazis; the people who call them feminists but who really are not equal-rights but "women are better than men" craziness.
Basically, I'm concerned that a lot of girls/women I know are willing to say "I'm not a feminist" because what they mean is "I'm not a femmenazi". FEMINISM IS A GOOD THING, PEOPLE. It should not have such a bad stigma.
Also I was bitching to my mom about what a crock the advertising industry is [what can I say, I'm an engineer... pragmatism is the name of the game] along with other industries and just a few minutes later I heard this total shit commercial for James Free Jewelers, and as you know, the diamond market is one of my biggest rant-triggers. Why? Because they take advantage of people through a completely bullshit market, and sort of prey on uninformed women in that regard, and any time I hear a diamond commercial it pisses me the fuck off. First of all, what is this bullshit about making diamonds a memorial-marker, or buying ones all the time for different occasions? Contrary to popular belief, they do not last forever. Entropy affects everyone. Secondly, this "waiting all her life for this moment" [here, engagement] bullshit? Women do not (or SHOULD not) define their lives by their wedding, and pisses me off that people advertise that and have enough long enough that women actually believe it. Thirdly, diamonds are a fake market created by DeBeers to sell more of them; additionally by making them seem rare they bump up the price exponentially. You might get 10% of what you paid at a pawn shop. Not to mention the whole "blood diamond" market. DISGUSTING.
Ugh, I could go on and on. I'm not trying to rain on someone's parade, I mean if you like diamonds, fine, they are pretty. Just try to be responsible about it? And antiques/heirlooms, those have more value simply because of the emotional attachment. But I'm tired of guy's pockets getting ripped off because they feel they have to buy a diamond (or MANY) for their girl for it to be "true love," and I really don't understand even owning lots of diamonds...? They are shiny but not that interesting. And I'm kind of surprised people who've been dating for only a few years (or LESS depending on how rich and/or ignorant you are) buy eachother some serious bling.
BUT the point of that mini-rant was that a diamond commercial was what led me to make a comment (I try to inform, always, especially in a SORORITY HOUSE, by god) about how the market was anti-feminist and then a few roomies were around and were all like "what? you're a feminist?" and now I have TWO THINGS to rant about. Granted this was like two weeks ago or more, BUT STILL. Bull. Shit.
Additionally I've realized that with blog-collection sites (Livejournal, Google Reader) and forums (IndyGear COW, xkcd) I do a lot less web "surfing" as I stick to a certain number of sites and don't google around for new sites to read as often. But then again, since 1999 the number of down-home small personal webpages seems to have decreased (or at least are harder to find) as it meant there was a lot of obscure and weird knowledge out there. *sigh*
Basically, I'm concerned that a lot of girls/women I know are willing to say "I'm not a feminist" because what they mean is "I'm not a femmenazi". FEMINISM IS A GOOD THING, PEOPLE. It should not have such a bad stigma.
Also I was bitching to my mom about what a crock the advertising industry is [what can I say, I'm an engineer... pragmatism is the name of the game] along with other industries and just a few minutes later I heard this total shit commercial for James Free Jewelers, and as you know, the diamond market is one of my biggest rant-triggers. Why? Because they take advantage of people through a completely bullshit market, and sort of prey on uninformed women in that regard, and any time I hear a diamond commercial it pisses me the fuck off. First of all, what is this bullshit about making diamonds a memorial-marker, or buying ones all the time for different occasions? Contrary to popular belief, they do not last forever. Entropy affects everyone. Secondly, this "waiting all her life for this moment" [here, engagement] bullshit? Women do not (or SHOULD not) define their lives by their wedding, and pisses me off that people advertise that and have enough long enough that women actually believe it. Thirdly, diamonds are a fake market created by DeBeers to sell more of them; additionally by making them seem rare they bump up the price exponentially. You might get 10% of what you paid at a pawn shop. Not to mention the whole "blood diamond" market. DISGUSTING.
Ugh, I could go on and on. I'm not trying to rain on someone's parade, I mean if you like diamonds, fine, they are pretty. Just try to be responsible about it? And antiques/heirlooms, those have more value simply because of the emotional attachment. But I'm tired of guy's pockets getting ripped off because they feel they have to buy a diamond (or MANY) for their girl for it to be "true love," and I really don't understand even owning lots of diamonds...? They are shiny but not that interesting. And I'm kind of surprised people who've been dating for only a few years (or LESS depending on how rich and/or ignorant you are) buy eachother some serious bling.
BUT the point of that mini-rant was that a diamond commercial was what led me to make a comment (I try to inform, always, especially in a SORORITY HOUSE, by god) about how the market was anti-feminist and then a few roomies were around and were all like "what? you're a feminist?" and now I have TWO THINGS to rant about. Granted this was like two weeks ago or more, BUT STILL. Bull. Shit.
Additionally I've realized that with blog-collection sites (Livejournal, Google Reader) and forums (IndyGear COW, xkcd) I do a lot less web "surfing" as I stick to a certain number of sites and don't google around for new sites to read as often. But then again, since 1999 the number of down-home small personal webpages seems to have decreased (or at least are harder to find) as it meant there was a lot of obscure and weird knowledge out there. *sigh*
