Do You Know What Today Is?

Today is my new favorite holiday. Did you even know today was a holiday?

Today - August 26, 2010 - is Women's Equality Day. It is lesser known and minimally celebrated across the nation. I felt sure that at least my women's calendar full of quotes from influential women would boldly mark today as a holiday but, alas, even it did not mention Women's Equality Day :(

Why do we have a Women's Equality Day? According to the National Women's History Project,

The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.

The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. Workplaces, libraries, organizations, and public facilities now participate with Women’s Equality Day programs, displays, video showings, or other activities.

If you think this holiday is unnecessary and we already know enough about women's equality, I invite you to spare approximately 2 and 1/2 minutes of your time to take this quiz.

How did you do? I am embarrassed to say I did not make a 100. There is still so much we don't know about women's issues. Even more discouraging, there is a lot that is already forgotten by most. Yesterday the New York Times ran an article entitled A Forgotten Fight for Suffrage.

In it, author Christine Stansell laments over how the women's right to vote conflict is "now largely lost to memory." This seems strange to me as she pointed out some states only approved the legislation in the latter half of the 20th century:

In 1923 Delaware ratified belatedly to join the rest of the country, but the Southern states waited decades: Maryland in 1941, Virginia in 1952, Alabama in 1953. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina came along from 1969 to 1971, years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had passed. Mississippi brought up the rear, not condoning the right of women to vote until 1984.

Not until 1984!?! That was 64 years AFTER the legislation passed in Congress. We're not talking about anything too radical here... just women's right to vote. Today marks the 90th year since all American women finally got the right to vote.

And since 1971, that has been commemorated with an official US holiday. Bella Abzug, a Democratic Representative from New York brought forth a resolution that was passed by Congress. The resolution read as follows:

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and

WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.  (Information taken from NWHP)

 We must remember this. In another New York Times article from back in 1999, Naomi wolf wrote:

Standing at the turn of the millennium, how odd it seems that women, the majority of the human species, have not, over the course of so many centuries, intervened successfully once and for all on their own behalf. That is, until you consider that women have been trained to see themselves as having no relationship to history, and no claim upon it. Feminism can be defined as women's ability to think about their subjugated role in history, and then to do something about it. The 21st century will see the End of Inequality -- but only if women absorb the habit of historical self-awareness, becoming a mass of people who, rather than do it all, decide at last to change it all. The future is ours to lose.

We must be aware of our past so as not to repeat it. The future IS ours to lose.

Don't let that happen. Remember, hold tightly to, and celebrate how far women have come.

Keep pushing forward!

Happy Women's Equality Day :)

Beyond Awkward Boy Update

It was not even 9am and already pushing 90 degrees, the sun out shining in full force. I was starting to sweat, lacking any makeup and wearing an old tank-top with some over-sized gym shorts. Needless to say, I was not dressed to impress.

I was dressed for a raft race. My Daddy's company participates in this community raft race every year and they take it very seriously, having won their division and even the whole competition in the past. He was not about to have me showing up with my nails and hair done. No. We were in it to win it.

Sadly, several people at my Daddy's office procrastinate. As a result, 20 minutes til our first race, we were still down about 3 people - aka we would forfeit without enough bodies in the boat. 

I was dutifully saying a prayer for their quick arrival and casually chatting with 2 guys: one was an older man and recent heart attack victim that worked for my Daddy and the second was a younger friend of his.

I barely glanced at them as we spoke but instead was scoping out the competition in the river in front of us. Absentmindedly, I had gathered that this younger guy had a goatee, an earring and was wearing a hat... of even greater interest to me, though, was the fact that he worked stage crew for the concert I was going to see later that night. This focused most of our conversation around the concert and its main act.

I wandered off only to be greeted by him upon my return with his offer to paddle in our boat if we needed him. I told him thanks and assured him if it came down between him and the older man who worked for my Daddy, we would definitely enlist his help so as not to induce another heart attack for the older guy.

Knowing he might be needed, he hung around initiating more small talk until the last 3 guys from my Daddy's company showed up just in time for our first race. Then, he quickly disappeared.

I thought for good.

Having finished the first race, now sweaty, salty from the river water (and possibly smelly), getting hit on was the last thing I was expecting. Much to my surprise, he came up from behind and handed me a folded up piece of paper. I saw it had information about the concert typed on it (i.e. gate entry info and check-in times, etc.) so I had a glimmer of excitement that he might be giving me a backstage pass or something.

Nope : (

As I turned over the paper I saw the following note: "If you want to hang out later tonight, that would be great! If you're single that is," followed by his name and number.

That is right folks, I was hit on via note. So elementary school AND worthy of a quick listen to George Strait's "Check Yes or No" song ;) .

Upon finishing up the raft races (we made it to the 4th heat), I mentioned the bizarre incident to my Daddy. He, of course, freaked out a bit which included calling the older guy who knew the guy who wanted to hang out with me. My Daddy's conversation went something like this: "Hey, who was that guy you were talking to earlier? What's his deal? How old is he? Where's he from? What's he do?" You know, he practically got every detail - down to his credit score - on this poor guy!

Here are the results from his interrogation... I mean investigation ;)

The younger guy was actually almost 30 (nearly 10 years older than me), divorced, and he had a little boy.

Yes: a divorced dad hit on me using a note... maybe he was taking tips from his son?

Believe it or not, it gets worse.

Later that night at the concert, my friend asked me if it was him on stage. I told her I really wasn't certain because I hadn't gotten a great look at him earlier; in casually chatting with him, I didn't thoroughly check him out because I never EVER would have imagined an hour later he would give me his number!?!

Well once she pointed him out to me, realizing he had the same build, facial hair and earring he seemed to be the same guy. The only thing that looked different from earlier in the morning was that he was no longer wearing his baseball cap. This, my friends, revealed that he was balding.

So, to sum this up for y'all, I was hit on by a balding, divorced dad via a note. How is that for a confidence booster ;) At the very least, I felt certain it would make an entertaining blog post!
 

The Freedom Riders - forgotten heroes

1) If you haven't seen the movie Freedom Writers, then watch it; it is phenomenal.

2) Watching that movie led me to another one: Freedom Riders - a Stanley Nelson film. In the Freedom Writers movie, they mention freedom riders. I hadn't heard of them and was intrigued. After a little research I came across the second movie, a documentary from the Sundance Film Festival. I haven't seen it yet but it debuts on PBS in May of 2011.

3) If, like me, you couldn't wait to find out more about the forgotten freedom riders, check this out below:

Freedom Riders

Who They Were: Initially 13 men and women (7 blacks and 6 whites) but eventually hundreds. They were supported by the group CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and also SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee).

What They Did: They attempted to ride public buses across the south; the catch was they mixed up society's racial expectations having some whites use the colored only seats, lines, diners, etc. and black people sit in the seats designated for the whites, stand in the white lines, and eat in the white diners.

Why They Did It: They were encouraged by the success of the non-violent sit-ins in the South (most notably Woolworth's in Greensboro, NC) and also wanted to test the Supreme Court ruling in Boynton vs. Virginia which declared that segregated public transportation was unconstitutional.

Where They Traveled: They left from Washington, DC with the intent of ending in New Orleans, LA. However, after several beatings and riots, the ride stopped short in Jackson, MS.

What Happened: The Freedom Riders were yelled at, beaten with baseball bats and iron pipes, kicked and punched (with a heightened aggression towards the white freedom riders who were helping the blacks), arrested, trapped on their bus as it was set on fire, hospitalized, asked to write letters to their loved ones (in case they didn't finish the trip alive), surrounded by mobs, and much, much more.

When They Did It: May 4-17, 1961... that was not even 50 years ago!?! Blacks and whites were beating each other nearly to death to simply ride a bus side by side; fortunately, we have come a long way BUT if you watch the first movie (Freedom Writers), you will see we still have a long way to go.

The Results:  After the violence really elevated in Alabama (specifically Anniston and Montgomery) peaking at a riot outside of a church, President Kennedy stepped in and national guardsmen were sent in to break up the scene. More freedom rides happened throughout the south and shortly thereafter segregation (seating on buses, separate lines, bathrooms and diners at bus stops, etc.) for public transportation ended.

What We Can Learn: Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. These relative nobodies, just average citizens, banded together and ACTED on something they believed in; it changed their lives and our country, for the better.

This last clip isn't part of the second movie; it is a video made by Vanderbilt University when they re-traveled the 1961 route with some of the original Freedom Riders. It is long but worth the watch.

Additional source: http://www.tahg.org/module_display.php?mod_id=58&review=yes#1994

Correcting Our Language - Round 3

Do you know what that is? Yea, it is a douchebag. BUT, outside of perhaps my 8th grade health class, I haven't really ever heard that word used in association with the image above.

Instead, you've likely heard it used like this: "Don't be such a douchebag," or "Sweetie, don't worry about that douchbag; you can do better than him anyways," etc. etc. etc.

Generally it is used to mean:

• "An individual who has an over-inflated sense of self worth, compounded by a low level of intellegence, behaving ridiculously in front of colleagues with no sense of how moronic he appears"
• or "The name of the guy dating the girl of your dreams"
• or "Someone with a myspace that has more friends than the population of their hometown"
• or a whole list (179 other options) of examples found at urbandictionary.com

One thing's for certain: it has a negative connotation.

But, why?

According to Merriam-Webster online, the official definition is " 1 a : a jet or current of liquid (as a cleansing solution) directed against or into a bodily part or cavity (as the vagina)." It isn't even an item exclusively for vaginas, though that is often assumed.

Now how in the heck did that definition of a cleaning product come to be a dirty word?


Several sources point to the Oxford English Dictionary stating that in 1967 college students began using the word negatively to mean "an unattractive co-ed." Over the years, it has just progressed into being a derogative word, more or less meaning a jerk.

Frankly, that is just odd. And incorrect.

I say we should leave the word "douchebag" to the health class books and get a little more creative and descriptive, i.e. this final urban dictionary example that I feel much more adequately and accurately describes such people beyond simply copping out using the single word "douchebag."

Enjoy ;)

"The term "douchbag" generally refers to a male with any number of characteristics not associated with one particular region or age demographic. Douchebag is a combination of attitude qualities, social ability, and attire.

"In terms of geography douchebags can be found nearly anywhere. For instance, douchebags can be seen in New Jersey where fake diamond earrings, frosted spiked hair, Razor phones, half a can of Axe, unbuttoned collared shirts, Fossil watches, overly groomed chinstraps, backwards colored Yankee hats with the sticker still attached and 2002 Mustangs are considered "tight." At the same time douchebags are also plentiful in the Southwest where on any given Wednesday night on frat row in Tempe you can find males who find it "sweet shit" to wear pink collared shirts, while donning the following attire: pukka-shelled necklaces, fake skater shoes, have some variation of an Asian symbol tattoo on their shoulder or back, wear a Hurley hat that sits cockeyed on their head, throw various fake gang signs during pictures and drive their dad's old white 1997 convertible M3 BMW. They also generally find the length of time one drinks while doing a "keg-stand" directly correlates with the amount of pussy one can get.

"As mentioned douchebags transcend not only various geographical locations, but age demographics as well. For instance, douchebags are quite often seen just south of Sarasota, FL as evidenced by 45 year old men who still wear Oakley's, shave their chests, wear shirts that read "ride" on the front and "me" on the back, and think its cool to wear white K-Swiss'. They are usually on first name basis with the girls at Hooters, and think white T-shirt contests with 1/2 half-off Margaritas are better than a baseball game with $1 beers. At the same time, we can see young 21 year old douchebags in West L.A. who still think that Dolce Gabana belt buckles, and fo-hawks are "pimp shit."

"In terms of behavior douchebags have an over-inflated sense of self worth, lack the social ability to interact with non-douchebags, and have tricked their minds into thinking that they "get mad pussy." The irony is that they very rarely get pussy, but amazingly have the amazing propensity to talk quite often about allegedly getting it.

"Real life doucebags: Keven Federline, Nick Lachey, any dude on The Hills, most of New Jersey."