They come on to your site, tell you you're wrong, and in so many words to shut the eff up??
I just saw Back to the Future again where Marty's fatal flaw was being called chicken...it would totally goad him into doing something stupid to prove he wasn't.
Mine is a man telling me I can't speak.
And whenever I stick up for myself after being attacked and told to shut down, it's always the same reaction: shock that I have an opinion, and hurt that I wasn't thrilled to be talked down to and set straight by his kingly wisdom.
Usually by someone whose opinion I don't respect. Someone who doesn't have the education and life experience I seek out in a person whose advice I'm actually asking for. Certainly not the type of person who sees the world in such black and white terms they would have the lack of boundaries to come into your world and tell you you're an idiot and only they are right. Wow. Just...wow. Must be nice living in Candyland.
I have so many friends with differing opinions, and I would DIE for their right to have them. I love them for it. But I respect them by not telling them they're wrong, or by telling them what they should think. And this blog is just where I say what I think. You can read or not read, agree or disagree...it's my space for my opinion.
I can't figure out where they're coming from. What do they want to achieve by telling me I don't have a right to free speech? Do they care about me and want to protect me from my own opinion? Do they really think only they are right and no one else can think for themselves, particularly women with their little bird brains? What do they think they're going to accomplish with their patronizing speeches to me?
Because what happens is: I see fucking flames! After all we've been through as women to get the ability to vote, to sit at the same table, to speak our minds... a guy telling me I can't say what I want to, especially in my own hard-earned webspace I've built is such a horrible, threatening personal attack it's just, just arrrrrrgh!!!....
It totally invalidates my core values I believe no human can live without...self-expression, partnership, empowerment, love, fun, enthusiasm...
Then there's the whole I'm the youngest child thing, so my opinion has already been invalidated most my life...and there's the public head injury thing, so you can SEE how I would find it utterly charming and winning to be told by a man that my brain doesn't work. Sign me up for more of that!!
Finally getting this. And now I need to stop falling for it. And just let it slide by.
Delete comment. Delete "friendship." Boundaries up!
8 comments:
Eff 'em!!
Oh my god.
This comment is all the more precious coming from you.
Love your friendship, mister! See you and J tomorrow!!!!
Yeah, I second Todd. That's f---ed up. Particularly since it's YOUR BLOG.
John Scalzi, who blogs at "Whatever," is, like you, adamant about the fact that it's his blog & he can blog about whatever the heck he wants. Likewise you.
There's a great political blogger online named digby, whom most people assumed was male; when she identified herself as a woman, she blogged about how the tenor of some of the negative comments got significantly harsher. To paraphrase the New Yorker: on the internet, no one knows you're a mysogynist.
Oh wow, thanks Greg! Great points.
Yeah, if I ever find any spare time, I've often thought I should start another blog with a male avatar and post the exact same posts...do a little social experiment.
Greg!!! How cool was it to meet you last night!!!! Thanks for coming to the premiere!
I enjoyed the premiere and your passion for film making. I really enjoyed how you speak your mind...I must admit though I was a little shocked at first about your comments on religion, but I totally agree about all the hypocrites out there. You said something about ancient greek religions, if I am not mistaken, being the root of the Jewish and Christian religions.Could you give me some of the names of those greek religions. I would love to do a little research on them. I think assumption is right up there with hypocrisy. So rather than take another's word for it, I need to do some investing of my own. Do you have any suggestions on authors, books, webites?
Thanks...and I wish you much success in the future.
No problem, thanks for asking and good for you!
What amazes me is how much of this I was taught in Catholic school 25 years ago!
First, read anything by Joseph Campbell. Particularly The Hero With A Thousand Faces and Myth, Religion & the Mythic Imagination.
Babylon is the cradle of civilization. Mesopotamia is where civilization was born, and where all our written word, myths and religions come from. There are uncanny similarities, as you will read!
I recommend Myths From Mesopotamiahttp://www.amazon.com/Myths-Mesopotamia-Creation-Gilgamesh-Classics/dp/0199538360/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244372008&sr=8-15
And check out the comments section!
Oh, and the other books that those customers bought.
Here's a free start that lists some great books, and the syllabus weekly titles give you great topics to explore.
http://www.philipharland.com/Courses/RE207MesopotamianReligions.html
In particular, compare how Inanana, Ishtar, then Isis in Egypt and Rhea in Greece http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_(mythology) are all described with the same terms Mary later is in the Bible ("Queen of Heaven", "Mother of God").
And how all of these religions use the holy trinity. The trinity of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia http://www.theflagbearer.com/trinity-babylonian_myth.htm In Sumeria it was Ninki/Enki/Marduk. In Egypt it's Ra the father - Osiris the son - and Mut (aka ‘Nut’) mother to Osiris - and wife to Ra. (hello my movie!) In Christianity it's the father/son/holy ghost. But there's also Burma's holy trinity, Sudan's holy trinity, Rome's Minerva/Jupiter/Juno. China, Japan, and Pakistan ALSO have holy trinities with familial connections.
Virgin birth, resurrection, and miracles are all also in all these religions. Pretty crazy pattern, yes?
Sorry to be so geeky, I just LOVE religion and myth...it's literally in our DNA, and I think it's beautiful how much we all agree on over thousands of years in dozens of different cultures.
If you end up getting into this subject, you will absolutely geekasm at the British Museeum of History. It was one of the best moments of my life. I was absolutely overcome with emotion by actually SEEING all these universal myths carved in stone. For a storyteller like me who believes our cultural stories are sacred, it was nirvana.
Awesome! The journey begins today. And no worries about the "geekism". I love it. I am somewhat of a geek myself. The "pithier" the better.
Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.
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