Tuesday, January 16, 2007

So crisp it feels like it could break

I just got home and finished dinner. The air outside is so crisp it feels like it could break. The city lights are sparkling clear. The north wind bites into my skin, and I was three quarters of the way home before I started to warm up. By the time I rolled up to my door, I could have gone for miles more.

Today I woke up at four fucking thirty in the morning after five goddamn hours of sleep. I couldn't fall asleep. I was actually just getting comfortable in my bed when the alarm went off at 5:30. I still didn't want to get up, since the bed was warm and the apartment was not. Despite that, and several very boring stretches, today was a good day. I feel good, despite the snot guyser that my left nostril has become and the exhaustion inching its way forward from the back of my skull.

Cracklings and toast for dinner tonight. Surprisingly fulfilling. I think I'll have some chamomile with honey when I'm done here. Last night with Liv and Les I ended up having french toast and bacon at the Pick Wick. The waitress commented on the comfort food aspect of my order, and all I could do was laugh.

Check what Laura G. wrote about Noon O Kabab. I told her it's hard to believe she got all that from our meal. I really don't have good justification for my insecurities. I really want to get to know her better and better. Liv, I think it was, made me the good wish that she hopes it takes a long time. I know it sounds kinda pessimistic, but think harder...

To respond to Laura W.'s (fuck, this is starting to get confusing) comment about feminism: it's hard to escape that there are certain physiological differences between men and women. In some respects, women are a separate group with separate concerns than men, on a purely physical level as well as a class of people that has historically been discriminated against.

This isn't a justification for prejudice or discrimination, and doesn't - and shouldn't - mean anything like one is better or worse than the other. It does, however, mean there are some basic natural inequalities which, in a just society, should be accepted or even celebrated as an expression of our humanity - that of both men and women. Regardless, until something like gender equality becomes entrenched in our society, equality is a "women's issue." The other point I'd like to make is that "women's issues" don't just belong to women, they belong to all of us.

I'd love to live in a world where feminism was unnecessary and humanism as a philosophy explicitly and adequately accounted for the human condition of everyone, male and female. Until that happens, though, I'll proudly call myself a feminist.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, it was me who said that I hope it takes you a long time to get to know her.

But getting back to feminism--I maintain that there is no way for men and women to be equal so long as we continue to see them as separate groups. Yes, while I have a vagina and you have a penis, that is no more natural a category than hair colour or nose size to distinguish people. It seems like it is because we've always known it to be a distinction. But if you look at the history of sexuality, you'll find that at one point, there was a single sex conception whereby women's sex organs were just men's organs inside the body. The point being that people's conception of sex and gender is not fixed; it has changed over time and will continue to change until, hopefully, sex inequality will disappear altogether. Yeow.