Age and "hood" status

No, I'm not referring to being all good in dah hood, dawg.

Racist slurs aside, what I'm really talking about is the difference between childhood, adulthood, and what I like to oh so cleverly call "in-between-hood."

Let's break this down a bit. Generally speaking, birth through age 17 is called childhood, and age 18 till death is broadly considered adulthood. That is the legal definition, anyway. But when you turn 18, do you suddenly feel like an adult in that split second your birthday passes?

"Adulthood" as a label can depend on a number of things. For some, it's a biological step that happens around puberty. How many girls remember their mother telling them when they first got their periods, "you're a woman now." For others, it's a socioeconomic status. I won't feel more like an adult until I move out and start earning my own living.

But as much as teenagers prance around waving their new adult flags, adulthood really boils down to experience. It could take 10-20 years following the legal definition of an adult until you actually feel like one.

But in the few years following your big initiation into adulthood, what do you start to refer to yourself as? This has been bothering me lately, because at the age of 22, I no longer think of myself as a girl. When referring to myself, I have not said the phrase "I'm a girl that likes blah blah" in a very long time. But at the same time, it's hard to think of myself as an adult yet, and I certainly have never said "I'm a woman that blah blah."

So basically... I can't refer to myself as much, because women really just have these two roles to play.

Men are different. We live in this era of "guyhood," where males between childhood and adulthood have this middle role they can take on. I would not call my 20-something male friends boys, but I can not also picture them as men yet. So it's nice that they have an in-between-hood. Somewhere in the middle of their teens all the way through their late 20's, they're just guys.

But what's a woman's in-between-hood? Lady? That's a little outdated. Young woman? No, that still sounds a bit like a teenager. Young adult? That takes the female aspect out of it, plus it's a bit awkward in conversation. Gal? What are we, in Texas?

Men have always had names for us as in-between-ers... chicks, babes, skirts. And we also have many names that we give to each other. But we have yet to take an on a real, society-wide, in-between label for ourselves.

I guess we can just call ourselves what we really are... beautiful, intelligent, independent, successful females. Well, that might be a tad long in conversation...

Mighty Morphin Power... Sandwich Maker?

Anyone else see the obvious gender stereotype here? Anyone, anyone?

Well in case you lived under a rock during the 90's and know nothing about the MMPR, there is a clear difference between one of these characters and the other five... the pink ranger is a female.

Couldn't you tell by the very feminine pose that no other character in this shot is using? Her legs are together femininely, and even her hands are poised a bit differently, higher up on her waist rather than her hips, and fingers flared outward.

Now, in the story of the show itself, there wasn't too much of a gender bias. The female rangers weren't ever necessarily the leaders of the group, but they got just as much screen time and fighting action as, say, the blue ranger.

No, just the fact that the one girl of the group was given the color pink was enough of an obnoxious stereotype for one television show to dish out. And not shown in the picture above (and again, in case you never saw the show), in other seasons of Power Rangers, another woman was included in the group, given the color yellow. Another feminine color. And while we're on the subject of stereotypes, for a long time, the yellow ranger character was Asian. Asian, yellow... really? And mind you, this couldn't even have been misconstrued as the color gold, because a gold member came along later... a male, of course.

So we have a blonde, white-skinned pink ranger, and a quite racially insensitive Asian yellow ranger. And when the yellow ranger wasn't played by an Asian woman, she was played by a black woman. Why couldn't we give the black actress the pink color?

This is how blatantly easy it was to be sexist, let alone racist. And worst of all, I totally bought into it. I remember as a child fighting with my best friend about who got to play the pink ranger. No girl wanted to be yellow, let alone a male oriented color such as red or green.

So have the Power Rangers gotten their act together in the past 20 years? Well let's see...


Power Rangers Jungle Fury (2008)

Okay, the yellow is still a woman, but they replaced the pink with a purple ranger. But it's not really purple, it's "violet" and its animal is the wolf, so it's okay for a guy...


Power Rangers RPM (2009)

The pink is gone entirely now, I guess because who has ever heard of a pink racing car? But the woman is still yellow, of course.


And the most recent,
Power Rangers Samurai (2011)

Okay well, the pink ranger is back, but both pink and yellow are still women, and now they're shoved to the back of the picture...

But hey, at least the blonde white chick is stuck playing the yellow ranger now, and the indistinguishable minority woman is allowed to be pink. If that's not a huge step forward in women's rights everywhere, I don't know what is.

And the abortion war wages once again...

On November 8th, Mississippi voters will be faced with deciding on Initiative 26, which if passed, will create a state-wide law banning abortions, on the basis that "personhood" starts as soon as an egg is fertilized.

Attempting to ban abortions is nothing new. It was a debate well before Roe v Wade, and has continued to be ever since. But this new bill is a step above just simple abortion banning... actually more like 10 steps.

Pro-lifers look at this bill as a blessing, a way to stop irresponsibly throwing away life, or to maybe stop the amount of pre-marital sex that our society has become so comfortable with (yeah right). To religious conservatives, we are saving an unborn child's soul.

This fetus has some terrific grammar skills

But giving a fetus, or even just a small clump of cells, the same rights that you and I have today, will cause a whole host of legislative issues.

Abortions, of course, will be banned, no matter the cause of conception or possible health ramifications to the mother. Doctors will be faced with the even tougher decision of who to save during a problematic pregnancy, the mother or the child, if we declare unborn children "persons." Will doctors be questioned every time they can't save a fetus?

Birth control methods will have to be reconsidered, to make sure they don't violate the new bill. Needless to say, Plan B, aka the "morning after pill" will be the first to go.

Another huge issue Initiative 26 will cause is problems to in-vetro fertilization. Currently, doctors will artificially fertilize a woman's eggs, usually 10-20, and will implant only 2 or 3 at a time to attempt pregnancy. Implanting all 10-20 may result in 10 successful fetuses... which, come on, I don't even need to say the problems that would cause. Look at how society criticized the "Octo-mom."

So if a doctor has 10 fertilized eggs ready to go, and egg number 1 is successful, the other 9 are disposed of. Not any more in Mississippi, if the new bill is passed. Disposing of artificially fertilized eggs sitting in a petri dish will be considered "murder" of "persons."

You murderers

So women desperately trying to get pregnant will have their success rates drastically dropped, as they must go through the IVF process one egg at a time. Sort of ironic that a bill trying to save the life of unborn children will actually prevent more life from being created.

Pro-lifers call these ramifications "scare tactics" made by Planned Parenthood and other women's rights groups. But not only will controlling a woman's body cause her physical strain, but emotional as well.

In a society where unborn children are separate beings from their mother, and have just as many rights as her, every miscarriage or still birth will start to look suspicious. A woman who drinks one glass of wine while pregnant, then 4 months later has a miscarriage, could and very well may be questioned for her part in her unborn person's death.

A woman who is in a custody battle for her children from a divorced husband may have a prior miscarriage come up as evidence of neglect and proof of unfit motherhood.

Women who are already in a very low state from a tragedy such as those, will only be made to feel worse when an investigation ensues about her "fault" in the event.

What this abortion battle boils down to is politics versus morality. If this bill gets passed, and abortions and birth control and IVF in Mississippi are all suddenly illegal or altered, will that stop women from still having them? Of course not. There will still be illegal abortions, illegal disposal of fertilized eggs, illegal use of birth control.

Weed and crack isn't this colorful

And this new law could very well be enforced as much as jaywalking. Illegal pregnancy terminations could very well go unpunished. But if someone really wants to, they can use Initiative 26 to attack a woman they particularly want to look bad. And the media won't report on the everyday illegal use of abortions or birth control - the average 2 week pregnant middle class woman who refuses to carry it. We'll start hearing stories on the evening news about the 8 and a half month pregnant African American who would rather do drugs than have her child.

Ridiculous as it sounds, you know it's true. It's the kind of media gate-keeping we see all the time. Why is it we only hear about pit-bull attacks, when chihuahuas are more likely than most any breed to be aggressive and bite people?

Now THAT'S a dog to be terrified of

So here is the society we have become. A place where a woman is basically a slave to her body, not to mention her slaughterhouse of a uterus, and where our rights are decided by politicians (men) who will never even fully understand what it is we go through. Wait, what's the year again? 1826?

No matter what your position is on the government legislation of it all, I guess this issue does boil down to one basic question, one that only you can decide for yourself: can a clump of cells really be considered a person?

One guess on what my answer is...

New day, new direction

Well it has certainly been a while since I last posted. But as I have been considering how to make my comeback, I was trying to come up with a new approach to blogging. A new, more meaningful direction.

And while browsing through some of my favorite blogs (listed in my new blog roll to the side), it hit me.

As much as I love to discuss (and rant) about certain issues in our society, especially those involving race, class, and gender, I figured I should write my own blog dedicated to these topics. Half of my previous posts involved these topics anyway, but now I can officially put a label on this place! It's a soci blog!

-takes a moment to celebrate-

Okay then. Now that the party is over, let's get down to business. Expect my first official soci post hopefully within the next day. Just have to wait for inspiration to hit me.

Till then, in honor of Halloween last monday, here are just a few examples of what our society has come to in terms of our children:

And the best (worst?) of all....

People of the future will be looking back on old records of our history, and think we may have taken population control to a bit of extremes...

Things I Love Thursday: Seventy degree weather

Current mood: Sunny
Current song: The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost

My life has been so fun and eventful lately, that I've had very little time to sit down and write out a full blog post. I do have about 3 drafts that are halfway done, and will be posted soon. But I'm currently sitting outside enjoying this gorgeous 75 and sunny day, listening to my new favorite song (listed above), and I'm feeling so freakin cheery that I feel the need to list all the things that are currently making me happy.

I've had 3 different people ask me if I'm in love, thanks to the beaming smile that's been plastered on my face for the past few weeks. And the answer is no, I'm afraid. Not with a person, anyway. But I am in love with life right now, so I guess it amounts to the same thing.

Anyhoo, here are some of the things I've greatly loved over the past few weeks since I've posted a TILT:

• Sunny and cooler weather! 
• Laying in my hammock and staring at the sky (which today looks a lot like my TILT picture)
• My next door neighbor kids
• Swimming for the first time at Foster Pool
• Weekly cheap movies with Markos
• Signing up for a Regal Crown Club card finally, and immediately getting awesome discounts every time I go to the theater
• Starting weekly karaoke every tuesday night - it's a blast!
• Making a bunch of new friends at said karaoke bar
• Swimming in a friend's pool at 4am
• Staying out till dawn (it was really fun, but I could only handle it once in a blue moon)
• Getting an ice cream cake for no other reason but to indulge
• Falling in love with a new book series
• Finding a silver lining in the sad news of Borders shutting down: discounted books
• Buying 2 new bookshelves in great condition at a garage sale, for 6 bucks
• Getting Matt hooked on the Song of Ice and Fire series! He knows a good book when he sees one
• Finalizing everything for the upcoming semester of school, and finding out that I was preparing on going in a whole week early - thanks Matt, for a) making me feel like a moron, but b) giving me an extra week of vacation!
• Buying $430 worth of books for only $190
• Having all the baby animals from spring stay with us all summer, including a bunny, a blue jay, and a praying mantis
• Our pond fish having babies of their own - we started out with 5 fish, and now we have 10
• Couponing, which has really started to pay off
• Going in to get my hair cut and colored finally this coming saturday! (pictures when it's done)
• Finding really cute new hair accessories on Etsy to wear with my new short hair style, such as:

• Rediscovering an old love for feathers (thanks to aforementioned Etsy shopping)
• Pretty and sparkley things in general
• Butterflies
• The wonderful colors in nature
• Hearing a new self-esteem montra that I love: "It's my body.. if you like it, great.. if you don't, don't look at me" - so simple and so true
• New clothes
• School supplies in all the stores, sparking that wonderfully refreshing feeling of autumn
• Deadliest Warrior (the tv show)
• The new fall line-up of tv shows looking promising
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - it's a book (that's all the hint you get).. go read it
• Getting my official invitation to Julia and John's wedding!! I'm so excited! October can't get here soon enough!
• "Watching my 3 sisters get in trouble... and hockey" - this is a guest post by Douglas Doren (9 years old)

Okay, now I'm exhausted from writing all the recent activity. It could honestly go on further, but I'll leave it at that for now. I'm off to get some lunch, then onto a long bike ride. Enjoy your week, kinzies! <3

Sunny saturdays are great for blogging

Current mood: Peaceful
Current song: Woodkid - Iron (if you haven't heard it yet, go do so immediately)

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote a new blog post. It's amazing how fast time can pass you by. As the title suggests, I'm sitting out on the porch right now, as I do almost every morning, and was suddenly inspired to write again. This won't be my usual witty commentary on life, nor a TILT or SDS (though those will be coming soon). But I'll just give a little update on my life, for those who I haven't spoken to in a while *coughJencough*.

The saying is definitely true that time flies while you're having fun. This will probably go down as one of the best summers I've ever had, and I didn't even need to go on any fancy, expensive vacation.

My Clevelander readers (and the majority of America, really) can attest to how hot it has been the past couple of weeks. But surprisingly, I have never spent more time outside since back when I was a kid. It's partly thanks to the fact that I officially have 2 strong and healthy knees, and I'm enjoying getting out and using them! And my new knees go hand in hand with my new healthier life choices; aka, becoming a vegetarian and adopting much better eating habits, and routinely going to the gym every other day. Plus with my brand new (and completely gorgeous) bicycle, I've been riding through the metropark every evening. Just me, my headphones, and nature.

So I have been much healthier both body and mind, and my mood has greatly reflected this. Spending time with my amazing friends at least 5 times a week has helped, of course. There have been times in my life where I've felt lonely and friendless, but this is one of those lengths of time where the opposite is the case, and I feel truly blessed by the sheer number of close people I have in my life, and how often they ask to spend time with me.

I've been feeling so uplifted and at peace lately, that I've even started being friendly to and accepting of someone who I used to truly hate. In the past, just thinking about this person would get me upset and angry, let alone having any contact with them. But I'm tired of fighting and feeling angry and letting myself get so low. Life is too short to hold grudges and be upset with people. It's time to let the past be past and just live in the moment with people. Treat every interaction like it's a clean slate.

...Okay, so much for no life commentary. Back to my updates.

So I'm done with physical therapy after this week, and I'm feeling great. I can bend my knee, put weight on it while bent, climb and descend stairs, get down and up off the floor, walk long distances, ride a bike, and even jog a tiny bit. Soon I'll be able to start my top 3 knee shoulds:

• Become a runner - Not really the professional marathon type, but just being able to run a distance longer than 10 feet. Ever since middle school, I haven't been able to run much at all for constant fear of a dislocation. Well now that's all a thing of the past. As soon as I'm strong enough, I'm going to start building my running endurance.
• Become a yoga-fanatic - I love everything about yoga.. from the calm meditation, to the positive mental effects, to the increased body elasticity, to the colorful mats. But again, thanks to my old lady knees, it was never much of an option. So, as soon as my scar is healed enough to kneel on, I'm signing up for my first class.
• Become the next Sasha Cohen - Okay, maybe not quite at her level.. but gosh darnit, I'm going to finally learn how to ice skate. My mom is terrified for me, which basically just gives me more motivation. This should will be accomplished this coming winter!

Aside from new knees and a healthier body, I've also gotten a ton more things accomplished this summer. I'm officially enrolled back at school, with all my classes scheduled, and my major finally declared. I'm actually really excited to start back up this fall. I also did some major cleaning in the house this summer, involving hands and knees scrubbing, and throwing a ton of useless things away. Between my mom and I, our house is looking spectacular. Which was why we decided to have a party this summer - another accomplishment since we'd been wanting to have one for a while - and that turned out fabulously. And on top of all this, I signed up to start some great volunteering around Cleveland again. All in all, I've gotten a lot done the past couple months, all while just staying at home.

The summer is already nearing an end, and as much fun as it has been, I'm not sad to see it go. With my new knees and my new start at school, this autumn is certainly going to be a fresh change of seasons, and a new beginning.

Things I Love Thursday: Obsessions over books

Current mood: Excited!!
Current song: Game of Thrones theme

It's been 2 weeks since my last TILT, so one would assume I'd have a LOT to put down in this post. But thanks to my limited memory bank, since it has been 2 weeks, I've pretty much forgotten everything. However, there were several large events that happened since last time, so here there are.

This week's TILT picture involves one of my current weekly loves. It hasn't happened just yet, but will within this next week: the 5th installment of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance with Dragons, will be released on Tuesday. I am freaking out with excitement, so even though this should really belong in next week's TILT, it has given me so much joy in the past few days that of course I'm listing it as something I love this week!

But here is the official Things I Love Thursday list:

• My love and passion of books, and the endless joy and entertainment they bring me
• Our party on June 25th being a smashing success!
• Spending the entire 4th of July weekend with friends, family, and neighbors alike
• Citronella candles
• Napoleon's disinterest of barking at fireworks - he just barks at everything else
• The Cleveland Metroparks system
• Starting physical therapy fiiiiinally! And the wonderful therapists I have
• Being diligent about doing the work outside of therapy, to guarantee I recover as fast as possible
• Fitness 19 - the gym responsible for helping me keep this goal, at very reasonable prices
• Making an unexpected but awesome friend out of Mark, and finding out all the things in common that we love
• Re-obsessing over Final Fantasy music thanks to the aforementioned new friendship
• The Great Northern Mall
• Discovering that I actually had extra money this month after all my bills were paid
• Birthday shopping for my mom and finding exactly what she's been wanting (second time in a row, first time being for Mother's Day)
• Spoiling myself with the new Sims Medieval game, since I had money leftover after mom's bday shopping
• Coming across yet another cute, chic cafe to sit and read in
• Ordering a new bicycle! It will be here in 2 weeks!
• Looking up all kinds of fun accessories to put on said bike
• My new love for omelettes
• Finding out I can help the always awesome Jen out in some way <3
• Paypal, and modern postal services
• Successfully completing my 3rd day as a vegetarian - it's not as hard as I originally thought
• Krissy (one of my cats) looking healthier and actually acting nice for a change
• The free pre-screening movie tickets I get every couple of weeks
• Meeting and talking with strangers
• Mom and I being fight free for a long while now
• All the time I've gotten to spend lately with my amazing friends
• Stress free living (for now)
• Being healthy and waking up genuinely happy every single morning

That's all I've got for the past 2 weeks. But they were an amazing couple of weeks. <3 What have you loved recently?