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Thursday, February 01, 2007
Is the Eternal Feminine at Bay?
Yesterday I came across another online magazine for women. I browsed through it, as I usually do with such magazines, and then I never return. Unless I am really bored and there is nothing else to do.
Their attitude does annoy me. Even if they are aimed at career women, the attitude is a bit wrong. They still promote diets. None focuses more on careers, on experiences, on real accounts on everything. They still all make a purpose of discovering what’s behind the masculine mind. Well I don’t care about that when reading such a magazine. I want to read about women. How they handle stuff. Not a psychologist’s opinion on how men think.
Anyway, back to the respective magazine. I loved the slogan: for women who successfully combine their career and family life. Great! I need some advice on that. Then I saw the sections. Career is fourth, after Home, Family and Beauty??? And the square in front of it has the ugliest, least attractive colors of all: a gray of some sort.
Then I read this article in the Lifestyle section. About successful business women in a man’s world. OK, enough of that. I am tired of people talking about how women become more and more like men when they handle important affairs. How the eternal feminine might be lost on the way to prove their independence, their leadership abilities etc.
Just because women want to do what men do does not mean they won’t bring in their own style. Yes, they might experience lack of time and everything, but as Cris said at a certain point, they still have similar issues when it comes to relationships andlife in general. They won’t turn into copies of men in their field. Not all of them anyway. Some might!
So maybe a HowTo on how to stay a woman when doing a man’s job? That would be an interesting subject for me. Or maybe an extensive article about day care (or the lack of it) in Romanian companies? Or more statistics or employed women vs housewives. Or women’s salaries vs men’s salaries. Or Queen Bees in Romania. Do they exist? Single women and single mothers. How to handle all life’s responsibility on your own when clearly the stay at home option is not available? Maybe we should focus on that more and less on pathological fights within a relationship.
Well you know for sure this is one of my favorite topics. More so recently. Magazines aside, since all they're trying to do is make money, and will do it at the cost of social ignorace. I strongly believe there are no such things as sex roles. Not in the general, not at home or in the work place. There are an extraordinarily few circumstances where a woman cant 'perform' as well as a man. And in those few instances, it really doesnt matter. (Getting stuff from a high shelf comes to mind.)
Anyway, i think the idea of sex roles is promoted by those who are freaked out by the idea of a woman doing anything she damn well pleases. Also, I personally love the commercials that tell men you have to drink this, drive that, watch this sport and scratch here to be MAN!!
In the end there is no such thing as a man's job or a womans duty. All are equal in my opinion.
(Of course men can drive better) JUST KIDDING!! =P
Fyurien, there are no roles, there are only people who assume such roles. Women and men can usually do the same things, job wise. There are some exceptions in men's case, see "The Next Survivor Series" on Girls' Blogosphere Club to understand what I mean :P
I know magazines seek profit. But there is a huge niche of women that would pay for magazines with more relevant topics. Yes, we would take the commercials, the perfume adds,etc. But also give us the content :P
Just the other day Japan's Minister of Health called women "birth-giving machines". It seems that for some people (mostly men, I suspect), women still don't have many career choices.
As to Fyurien's joke, yes, men can drive better because they started driving long time before women did. With all the practice they got, I'd be surprised if they didn't. ;)
But speaking of magazines, another thing that used to annoy me was the cooking/recipes section. I don't know how things are now, but when I was still in Romania, many of the ingredients you were supposed to use for the recipe were not available in stores (I'm talking about the more "exotic" vegies or spices, etc). Or if they were, they were too expensive for your purse. So who were those recipes for?
Loloma, that is really a bad thing to say about women. And I am amazed there are no protests, as it is from an official source.
Better drivers? Yes, when it comes to better parking and getting by skills. But when it comes to safety and being in less crashes, women are better. So it's something like pluses and minuses on both sides.
The recipes are for snobs I guess. And to make the one who wrote them look good and knowledgeable in what cuisine is concerned.
Many people protested, most of whom were, understandably, women. They even asked for his resignation. PM Abe went on TV, apologized for the minister's comment, and then said he would not ask him to resign. So much for apologizing...
I was joking about men drivers. I don't actually think men drive better than women, I think it depends on every individual's ability, not on their sex. But I still remember how back at home most men were extremely skeptical about women drivers.
I feel better now that I know there have been protests :) I also protest against such a stupid attitude of an official! I doubt it counts, but still.
Yes, it is all a joke. And the attitude is still the same here. What I don't like about women drivers is that some (which in my case happened to be too many) are less kind when it comes to "making room" for other cars. It sounds bad, but in such cases, in Bucharest, it helps to be a woman and smile nicely to a man driver :P
About 3 years ago I dropped into a black hole – four months of absolute terror. I wanted to end my life, but somehow [Holy Spirit], I reached out to a friend who took me to hospital. I had three visits [hospital] in four months – I actually thought I was in hell. I imagine I was going through some sort of metamorphosis [mental, physical & spiritual]. I had been seeing a therapist [1994] on a regular basis, up until this point in time. I actually thought I would be locked away – but the hospital staff was very supportive [I had no control over my process]. I was released from hospital 16th September 1994, but my fear, pain & shame had only subsided a little. I remember this particular morning waking up [home] & my process would start up again [fear, pain, & shame]. No one could help me, not even my therapist [I was terrified]. I asked Jesus Christ to have mercy on me & forgive me my sins. Slowly, all my fear has dissipated & I believe Jesus delivered me from my “psychological prison.” I am a practicing Catholic & the Holy Spirit is my friend & strength; every day since then has been a joy & blessing. I deserve to go to hell for the life I have led, but Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross, delivered me from my inequities. John 3: 8, John 15: 26, are verses I can relate to, organically. He’s a real person who is with me all the time. I have so much joy & peace in my life, today, after a childhood spent in orphanages [England & Australia]. God LOVES me so much. Fear, pain, & shame, are no longer my constant companions. I just wanted to share my experience with you [Luke 8: 16 – 17].
Name: Alina Home: Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania About Me: "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts". It's also where I feel free and my preferred means of expression. See my complete profile
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Happy Friday,
Well you know for sure this is one of my favorite topics. More so recently. Magazines aside, since all they're trying to do is make money, and will do it at the cost of social ignorace. I strongly believe there are no such things as sex roles. Not in the general, not at home or in the work place. There are an extraordinarily few circumstances where a woman cant 'perform' as well as a man. And in those few instances, it really doesnt matter. (Getting stuff from a high shelf comes to mind.)
Anyway, i think the idea of sex roles is promoted by those who are freaked out by the idea of a woman doing anything she damn well pleases. Also, I personally love the commercials that tell men you have to drink this, drive that, watch this sport and scratch here to be MAN!!
In the end there is no such thing as a man's job or a womans duty. All are equal in my opinion.
(Of course men can drive better) JUST KIDDING!! =P