Welcome to Tilting at Windmills

Blogging can be a prison of sorts.  Me, I get sucked in.  If people say they want me to explain something to them, I believe them.  Rarely is that the case, however.  You see, I deal with people on line the way I would in person.  For many, though, the net is an excuse to act out, express hostility, be a jerk.  I don’t get that, but that’s just me.

I get too caught up in the nonsense.  From now on, I’ll post what I want.  I may turn off comments, too.  Or only publish comments from people I know, regardless of content.

Michael Jackson….sorry, I don’t get it

I’m all for innocent until proven guilty.  All that democratic, justice ideal-driven stuff, I’m there.  But as far as I’m concerned the evidence against Michael Jackson was compelling enough to convince me he was a child molester.  And that means that while I do feel sorry for his family, I can’t mourn his passing.

Has everyone forgotten what he did?  Does the fact that he could sing wipe out all the pain and misery he caused?
Not for me.

I don’t get it.

Life Goes On, Some Grow Up, Some Don’t

I know a lot of people, and I’m a bit of a student of human nature, as it were. Everyone has difficult times in their lives. Everyone has gifts as well as shortcomings. Everyone screws up. Screwing up is not what separates the adults from the children, though. It’s what one does with that experience. Children, regardless of age, will look for someone to blame, make it someone else’s fault. Adults will take responsibility, say “Yup, I messed up,” and learn from it.

As I tell my own children, there is a difference between explanations and excuses. Excuses make the behavior ok. Explanations give some insight into why it happened, hopefully leading to a changes and choices that lessen the likelihood of it happening again. For my part, explanations are welcome. Excuses are never acceptable.

I messed up? Ok, I did it. Deeply sorry for any wrongs I may have perpetrated. No excuse. None accepted.

Some grow up; some don’t.

What Does One Do?

What does one do when people one loves spew nonsense? When women one loves get seduced into a nutso mindset? We are all vulnerable to pressure by peers whom we want to impress, with whom we want to feel connected, by groups we admire and to which we want to belong.

But what does one do when one sees loved ones going too far? And one knows they CAN NOT see reality, listen to reason? WHAT can one do?

Life and Other Trivialities

 

Different aspects of one’s life assume different priorities at different times. Three things are currently at the top of my priority list: My children, my “art,” and my writing. I am still a crusader; I still cannot pass by a windmill without at least a cursory tilt. But my own personal enrichment is currently a greater focus than it has been in the past. Sometimes one must let the world fend for itself. Sometimes one must take care of one’s own needs.

Still, that doesn’t change one’s values or commitments. I may be spending less time overtly fighting for the rights of women, people of color, gays, and other discriminated against groups. Still, I am quietly fighting the fight every day. I do so by how I live my life. I try to teach by example. I teach my children the right values.

We are who we are and that will not change IF we have integrity and a basic sense of ethics and morals.

 

So, that’s today’s blog entry. It’s kind of all about nothing and everything.

Liberal Feminist Space…Liberal Feminist Friendly

This is MY space. I am a liberal feminist. Only those comments accepting of/supportive of liberal feminists will see the light of day here. Period.

 

MY space. My rules. Got it?

Blogging…why do we do it?

Likely, there are as many reasons people blog as there are people who blog. And there are a number of people who are fed up with it. The “blogosphere” can be a wonderful communication tool and a nasty little pool of quicksand.

A study out of UC Irvine listed “five major motivations for blogging: documenting the author’s life, providing commentary and opinions, expressing deeply felt emotions, working out ideas through writing, and forming and maintaining communities or forums. These motivations are by no means mutually exclusive, and can come into play simultaneously” (emphases mine).

    

Many people, it would seem, comb through politically oriented blogs looking for excuses to attack. Some may not even realize they are doing it. They may think they are being reasonable, “discussing,” and/or “debating.” The truth is that the vast majority of these people have their minds made up, will not budge no matter what, and are a type of troll. They think they’ll “show” whomever they attempt to engage how right their views are and how wrong are the views of the opponent. This is where I get sucked in. If someone suggests they want “to understand,” “to learn,” I take them at face value. They steal my time and energy under false pretenses. I’m gullible, I admit. I expect honorable behavior from others.

 

I’ll not respond to these folks anymore. Nor will I feel compelled to publish their baiting on my blog.

 

I am woman hear me roar!
All you sexists, there’s the door!

Unanswerable Questions

Why cannot anyone design a stylish, comfortable pair of evening shoes suitable for March weather?   huh?

Yeah….What SHE Said!

Professor, What If has been one of my favorite blogs since I first discovered it last summer. I was idly perusing old threads when I came across the blog statement. I quote here, emphases mine.

 

The tone and content of Professor What If is likely to offend some. Those unable to appreciate sarcasm, irony, and tongue-in-cheekedness may want to feed their brains elsewhere.

If you are already hip to anti-racism, feminism, activism, pacifism, humanitarianism and all the other good -isms, I hope you enjoy my what if musings and will become part of the conversation. Please email your ideas for what if posts to nkwc at cox dot net.

Those who don’t believe in true equality and opportunity for everyone on the planet may find themselves getting all hotheaded over the analysis offered in these posts. So, if you think having a penis makes you better or insist white privilege doesn’t exist while blithely reaping the benefits of it each day, you may find yourself shouting at the computer screen while reading this blog. However, the claims that bother us most are often the ones we need to examine – so, I encourage you (if your mind is at least a smidgen open) to keep reading and questioning this blog.

Professor What If seeks to ask: What if the world was different? What if we lived on a planet not governed by a white supremacist, corporatist, militarist patriarchy? What if we lived in a society that truly valued diversity and was not addicted to power, wealth, and image? What if we admitted we do not have the answers, that we are woefully inadequate at shaping a globe in which all people have access to clean water, to education, to reproductive justice, to health care, to the pursuit of happiness that comes not at the expense of others or the imposition of power?

Via a focus on popular culture, politics, intersectional -isms, language, theory, and academia/education this blog seeks to explore pertinent questions about social justice and equity. The questioning format of the posts is intended to reveal that the many interlocking systems of privilege and oppression that shape our world do not have easy answers.

The what if stance also is predicated on the belief that our world is socially constructed and that each of us are profoundly shaped by the world in which we live, the people with which we interact, and the geo-political frame we inhabit. We may resist these socio-cultural mappings, but we nevertheless are shaped by a world that values men over women, whites over non-whites, the heterosexual over the non-heterosexual, the person who fits into gender norms over the person who does not, the able-bodied over the disabled, ill, or aging. We inhabit a world that values the wealth over ethics, the so-called ‘first-world’ over the rest of the world, the religious over the secular, power over cooperation, militarization over peace, the individual over the collective, and corporatism over the environment. While many people do not agree with and actively resist these hierarchies, the global agenda is profoundly shaped by these paradigms. I encourage my readers to ask: What if this were not the case?!?

 

 

 

So, yeah….what she said!

Bravo! Hear, hear! Well Said!

There are a lot of unheard voices saying important things. THIS post makes some vitally important points and should be required reading! BRAVO!

Want A Challenge?

Are you willing to have your comfortable existence shaken up a bit?  Your most cherished beliefs challenged and another perspective presented?  Try following one of these five blogs.  I don’t agree with everything they say and that’s good.  They make me think.  Are you willing?

Womanist Musings by Renee will likely turn your world upside down.  She’s direct, she’s confrontational, and she speaks for the viewpoint of a WOC.

Chicks Dig Me is hard to classify.  This blogger does not fall cleanly into any category.  She’s part radfem, part apostate, insightful and articulate.

Professor What If is in a class by herself (apololgies…I couldn’t resist).

Renegade Evolution is like a glass of cold water flung in the face.  You may love her, you may hate her, but you’ll not be indifferent to her.

Writhe Safely is about mental illness, oppression, and life in general.  Flawed Plan is one of the smartest, most difficult people I know.  And I adore her.

Want to think?  Here you go.