Midnight Rant

It is exactly 12:17 AM right now, New Year's Eve. I'm here in my bed thinking about the world like the little aspiring activist I am, instead of a) sleeping like the normal people out there, or b) posting stupid sentimental junk on facebook like the other girls/women/female things my age: #Newyear #2014yolo and all that beautiful rubbish. So now that I'm here, and I've began typing, and my brain is in full writing-mode, I might as well grace you all with insight into what I'm thinking about.
As a young girl/woman/female thing who's in high school  I have begun thinking more seriously about where I stand, and what I believe in. I've always had I set standing on the bigger things such as religion and not touching anything conservative with a ten foot pole (sorry Sarah Palin),  but I'm just coming into the realization that I can actually identify as something besides "teenage girl". I'm not sure who's reading this, but if you are older and don't remember what it's like- it's exciting to be able to identify as this and that, and to say "I believe this" and stand by it. Some of us teens identify with clothing, some of us begin identifying with political and social ideals (though I knew mine by the time I was 6, and was advocating gay rights and picketing for better education funding like any other first grader), some identify through music, and for me, I've started identifying with my inner-roar of feminist power. Yes. I am a feminist.
What saddens me greatly is that we live in a society where the word "feminist" is thrown around like a dirty insult.
"Ugh, look at her. She's a feminist. With her unshaved armpits and legs, and lack of femininity, eew."  
All of a sudden, girls/women/female things who dare to speak up and demand equality of the sexes are stone age hippies with no personal hygiene. Also, the wide misconception that feminism is the belief that women are greater than men, rather than the truth that is the demand for equality really ticks me off.

Beyoncé knows. 

Anyways, women are stronger then men, so even if feminism was about that, it wouldn't be wrong. How dare she say such things? Yes, I'm so horrible for saying that women are stronger then men. But look at us! We may have less muscle mass, and not be able to grow immense amounts of facial hair, or sing bass in a choir, but we do have our own superpowers (I'm Not implying that growing facial hair is a super power...). Throughout history, we women have been treated like such dirt. I don't think I have to remind you all that women were considered to be, as a whole, less intelligent then men, less capable, and much more helpless well into the 1900s. Seriously people, that wasn't that long ago. We cooked and cleaned and popped out babies like the good wives we were. And have you seen the clothes women wore back then? carry 20 pound of clothes around everyday, while also being sewn into a tight corset squeezing everything into doll-like proportions in itself shows our resilience and strength. Obviously we didn't take the discrimination quietly, or else women wouldn't even be able to vote or wear pants or drive or do anything of that manly nature. Women work hard. We do. We fought hard for our rights, and still are.  Just dealing with the ignorance of men in our society should be a full time job. Kidding (or not). 

We have successfully remained an irresistible fascination to the male species, and while we can use our feminine allure as an advantage, often times it does seem to distract men from our mental abilities. Just the fact that "Dumb Blonde" is a statement proves me right. I will not stereotype men, because that would be awfully hypocritical, and I strive not to be that, but I will say generally, men do like to think that women are somehow inferior because then they can step in with their lumberjack arms and husky voice, and protect us from the dark and confusing world. Well my attempt at not stereotyping just failed, but you get my point. It's not one sided though, and that makes it worse. Women like the attention. I think we sometimes settle for less, or make ourselves seem vulnerable and defenseless so that a man will swoop into our lives and say something like

"Now don't hurt yourself, little miss. Let me take care of that" in a deep, peanut-butter smooth voice while we bat our eyelashes and say thank you. God, I need to stop with these horrible gender stereotypes. But my point is being delivered, is it not? regardless of my slightly hyperbolic scenarios, the message is the same. Women, you need to stop settling for less just because men have been getting a better cut for the past forever.  And stop hating on the feminists people. We aren't wild yetis roaming the streets, shouting crazed propaganda and burning our bras. 

Goodnight kiddos

Panteha

So Shopping. Some love it, Some hate it. Not to push myself into the position of the archetypal teenage girl, but I love clothing shopping. It is an admitted addiction I have. As a girl/woman/female in this society, I enjoy looking... good. I suppose that's the plainest way to put it. And I don't just strive to look good for others, but I really do feel that when I look good on the outside, I feel good on the inside. Now some of you may relate, but others might say all that stuff about "it doesn't matter what's on the outside" "Don't judge a book by it's cover" yada yada. As much as I'd like to say that's completely true, it's so evident in out society that it's really not. Humans are beautiful things. And it's nice that we accept that, but physical appearance is really overly examined and used to judge people by. We've really accustomed ourselves to the human figure, or I suppose I should say the Ideal human figure. Nudity is more commonly seen on TV, retailers use it to their advantage in advertisement, and the like between "Sexy" and "Scandalous" is getting so much harder to distinguish. "Sexy" is skinny, and fair skinned. She's disproportionate, but that's ok because she's so "beautiful". I will proudly quote Tina Fey: "Now every girl is expected to have: caucasian blue eyes, full spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine year-old-boy,  the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits". Every girl wants to be the human equivalent to the Barbie doll, and then some. And that's how you end up with women like Niki Minaj, who started out as a Jamaican rapper and successfully transformed into a human Barbie with a tan.

 So back to shopping, and yes, that immense tangent was intentional. Stores like Forever 21, H&M, Hollister and Abercrombie are the most commonly shopped at stores for girls from 14 to 26( And then there are those women who just don't know when they're too old to be wearing crop tops that say "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It"). So these teens, like myself, saunter on into one of said stores (except Abercrombie, eew.) and start rifling thought clothes, looking for something they like, that will also be accepted by the people around them.

 Now I am of the belief that all sizes are beautiful, and I really don't understand how anyone could think differently. And these stores claim they also do (except Abercrombie, eew.) but if you look on their website, and in the stores, it's very clear that they don't. This isn't some conspiracy theory I have in hopes that I can tear down the clothing industry and right the wrongs of society (I wish). But take a look. The models are all tall, and skinny. and gorgeous  really, but that's besides the point. They're genrally curveless, and all wear 00, XS, teeny tiny, "is this made for a doll?" sized clothing. That alone, I suppose, is all good and well, but in the stores, finding sizes above medium and sometimes even that size is as impossible as finding a straight guy working at Forever 21. So picture this: A girl, who is not a size small, or even medium, goes into Forever 21 looking for clothes like any other person. she looks through shirts on display, and the pants hanging over decorative display racks. Not only does she realize there is hardly anything in her size, but also that everything is S or XS. It is my belief that the retailers intentionally put less of the M and up sizes on the floor. When a girl/woman/female thing sees that there are only smaller sizes, what is there for her to think besides 

"if there are mostly smaller sizes that mine, then everyone else wears smaller sizes than me, so there must be something wrong with me". This is how girls start developing anorexia, bulimia and other body-issue induced disorders. So can we please stop trying to make everyone the same? I mean, if everyone fit the description of the perfect woman, what fun would that be? Variety is what makes us such beautiful creatures. Do we really want to end up like ants where everyone looks the same, but everyone looks "great"? Do we really want to loose the beauty that is the differnece in every girl/woman/female thing? No. the answer is No. If you were thinking anything besides "No", then I think you'd better find a different blog to read.

Ciao for now

Panteha

Makeshift introduction?

Hello big world,
welcome to a blog- my blog. I want you all to know that this is a (relatively) safe haven for fellow ranters, and anyone really (but mostly just hippies and radical thinkers). You can come here, and read what I write on the screen of your Mac, while sipping your Chukka Root tea infused with the milk of virgin Yaks from you up-cycled jar. Feel free to make connections and agreements to my writing, or hate it. either way, I'm sure that bond between our two computers will be a long, lasting one.
 I will tell you this now: I am not some famed writer who snootily corrects people's grammer, who's writing this blog as a pastime between my novels. No. I'm a highschooler who has a lot to say, and not enough people around me to say it to. thank god for the cyberwebs. So prepare to embark on a wild adventure of feminism, contradicting statements and attempts at philosophy (which will probably result in a confusing heap of jargon for your enjoyment). Buckle you seat belts, kids. Here we go.
By the way, I have no idea what "Chukka Root" is.