A Modern World

[madimpossibledreamer]

This kind of issue somewhat bugs me, but then Xander just kind of took it and ran with it.  And said muse kind of had some good, quotable points, so I thought I'd share it.  This could probably be a thing anywhere there's a mature, self-aware Xander, though it was written by the Shadowed Suspicion version in mind.  (This was prompted by the 'yell at McGee' thing, which.  Yes, actually, Kate, if you're working on a computer placed under the desk, you kind of have to be under the desk, and okay, maybe I'm super paranoid, but I would super notice if someone was under my desk before anyone even had the opportunity to see up my skirt.  Well, not that I'd be wearing a skirt, but if I did, I'd wear it proud and point is I'd super notice that someone was under my desk before I sat down.)
One of my favorite sane feminists was a girl in our class who brings in her knitting to her gender studies class.  It apparently drives the rabid feminists insane, and the statement is just 'well, if I want to go do archery, I'll do that, but right now, I want to knit, and nothing will stop me'.  People should be able to do what they want (within, well, sane limits, like murder's out of the question and stuff) without being judged.
Cut because it's somewhat long, and, well, you kind of can't talk about feminism stuff without talking about some stuff that might require a trigger warning.  It's brief, but I thought I'd give a head's up.

“What’s up with this ‘men are from Mars, women are from Venus’ stuff?  Last thing I checked, all humans were from Earth.”

              This is the twenty-first century, and we still haven’t moved on from this stuff.  The reason why the feminist movement isn’t helping anything is because it’s just emphasizing the differences between men and women.  Judging entire groups by the actions of a few individuals (who are probably shown FAR more on TV, in the newspaper, wherever else you hear about stuff, than is proportional because it’s shocking and actually gets you to watch/read/whatever) is ignorant.  And yeah, there’s institutional/structure/society things that are wrong, and that should probably be fixed, but it’s not just women who have that problem.  Anyone can be forced to have sex against their will.  Anyone can be told that they’re not a ‘real guy’ or a ‘real girl’, whatever that even means.  That typical stereotype of the ‘real guy’ or the ‘real girl’ that you see?  That’s not realistic.  I’ve met people that fit a lot of the criteria or nearly none, but I’ve never met anyone that’s fit them all.  If there’s even really a consensus about what that means.  Which I doubt.

                Anyone can be bullied, whether this means more traditional bullying or plain ostracism.  Anyone can be discriminated against or judged simply by a group they happen to belong to.  If people tell you that it’s not possible, that’s just because it’s not being published.

                It’s not ‘good news’.  It’s not ‘realistic’.  A lot of victims don’t want to speak up.  They’ll be blamed, told it’s their fault for someone else’s actions.  That they’re less of a person.  They’ll be called a liar.  The system is against them.

                This is true for everyone.  We’re placing people in boxes and making sure they can’t speak up, because they’re trapped in a box.  If they step out of it, act how they want, they’ll be judged.

                Willow liked to wander off and explore, and to ask a lot of questions.  Too many.  She got yelled at because women were supposed to be better at following directions and ‘not being disruptive’.  (Excuse me?  It’s a kid’s—and a reporter’s—job to ask questions.  How else are you going to learn anything?  Textbooks that you fall asleep while reading certainly aren’t going to do the trick.)  And me, well.  You’ve probably seen enough of my issues with the ones who thought I was too ‘nerdy’ or geeky.  Will’s the nerdy one, though.  Math.  *shudder*

                I would’ve declared myself a feminist before running into a couple people that make me rethink that decision.  Not way back, you know, at the very beginning.  I was a jerk, but then, I guess, most teenagers are.  Now I’m simply for gender equality.  Let’s stop telling girls who kick butt or ask questions that they’d be better off not doing martial arts or out of the sciences.  Let’s stop telling guys who are great, empathetic listeners that they should stop showing their feelings and be deaf to others, or that would rather paint that they need to join the athletics team.  Let’s celebrate people for just being people and stop comparing them to this stupid conception of what it means to be in a specific ‘category’.  Let's stop thinking of all the ways we're different and see that we're all human, we all have similarities.