All 4 entries tagged General, SoundRich MkII

February 17, 2006

Has Feminism Hurt Women?

Writing about web page http://my.opera.com/khankrumthebulgar/blog/show.dml/129036

Linked to is an interesting article, by a career woman, on how feminism has hurt her.

Here are a few interesting quotes

Far too often, it seems to me, the unwitting price of female emancipation has been heartache, stress and a life spent chasing false promises

That’s what happens when we start to stray from the truth of the universe, as created by God. Men and Women are different, have different roles, think differently and have different biology. We can’t say that men and women are equal in all aspects, when this just isn’t true

Sandra admitted that the divorce settlements at the top of the league were having a trickle-down effect. "I think that it has created a groundswell of anxiety in men, and it is certainly in my experience putting men off getting married at all". So, by supporting and perpetuating an increasingly unfair divorce system, we are in effect putting men off marriage – the institution most women still believe makes them happier and more secure than any other. How sad.

I would personally say that this doesn’t apply to me. I (as a man) don’t currently feel put off by the divorce culture that exists, but maybe that’s because of my faith. Put simply I’m expecting marriage to be for life, with only a few reasons for divorce permitted (aldultery being one). I also desire to (eventually) marry a women who believes the same. Also I’ve not experienced divorce in my close family, so I think that I have less fear of it happening to me.

And so my journey had brought me full circle, from the past generation to the future one, and the thread running through it all was a startling realisation that women are covertly contributing to our own unhappiness. So why had we put up with it for so long? Because to tell the truth felt like a betrayal of the core promise of feminism, an admission of failure. But women haven't failed: it's just that our expectations were unrealistic. We set the bar too high and so have spent our lives crashing into it. The simple truth is that we can't have it all. We can't have everything we want, when we want. (emphasis added)

I think the last quote is the most pointient. We can’t have everything we want when we want. In fact, many of the things we really want are the most damaging to us. We want to rule our own lives, but this is the most damaging thing we can ever do.

From a student’s point of view, we want to live the student life now, living for now, living to excess and partying hard. But this is so very damaging to us. We end up with large amounts of debt, that sometimes we just cannot service. We want something for nothing (as evidenced by the anti-fees campaign that essentially says “I don’t want to pay for my time at university, so someone else must”).So often I think that a more sober mind in students would save so much heartache in latter life.
I’ve seen so many throw-away relationships in my time at university that I am saddened. People in relationships for the here and now, with little thought of the future. Not to say that I’ve been perfect in this and other regards, but I’m in my 5th year of watching the folly of students, and I’ve seen much.

We want to define for ourselves our sexuality, without realizing that god designed us to work a certain way, and that when we go our own way it damages us. We drink and smoke and party hard, neglecting the temple that is our bodies.

Maybe a much more sober mind among students is needed.

That’s it for now.

: 17 Feb 2006 17:39 | Tags: Feminism General | Comments (5) | Close comments | Report a problem

February 15, 2006

Post Valentine's Day Rant (not what you think)

After the “festivities” yesterday of Valentine’s Day I felt a rant coming on. So here we go.

This isn’t your standard commercialisation rant or a singleness rant but something subtly different.

I’m a Christian. A Christian with a very lovely girlfriend. As such I wanted to get her something for Valentine’s Day. Having done this, I of course, wanted a card to go with it. As my artistic skills are a little lacking, I thought I’d buy one. And here in lay my mistake

However, I hadn’t reckoned on the minds of those who come up with these cards, because, I was, quite frankly, shocked by what they showed.

Being a Christian, I’m a no sex before marriage kinda guy.

So, given that unmarried Christain men (and women) must form a significant market out there, is it so difficult to find a Valentine’s Day card that doesn’t outright talk about sex between the card giver and receiver or isn’t either dripping in sexual innuendo, or so horribly mushy that it makes you sick to read it. Why is it so damm difficult, and presumably non-financially viable, to sell a clean, simple card, with minimal messages inside for us to add our own messages. I really don’t want a card that suggests new sexual positions for us (me and my girlfriend) to try.

Come on card makers, there’s a market out there for such cards, both men and women who would like to send a clean card to which they can add their own personal messages.
Well next time I’m making my own card, no matter how rubbish it looks compared to a well drawn and printed shop one, at least I won’t be saddened by the other cards on display and put off getting any card for someone else by the rather sad and pathetic cards on sale.

At least the thought will count.

Bar-humbug

: 15 Feb 2006 15:46 | Tags: General Rant | Comments (4) | Close comments | Report a problem

January 13, 2006

Playing the “What If?” Game

This is a topic I absolutely love to muse on. Take a historical event e.g. D-day, and ask “what if” it had gone very differently. Of course this gets more and more complex the longer ago the event. Here’s an idea to begin with.

What if the Magna Carta wasn't signed

Ok, if the Magna Carta is not signed, this means trouble in England.
The barons essentially forced the first Magna Carta on king John and forced him to sign it (mainly by taking London). It seems obvious to me that should the king not sign we would have Civil War between the barons and the king. Given king john’s record to this point I think it’s likely he’d lose the kingdom and probably his life. The question however is what next? I’d imagine that once John was dead history would unfold mostly as it did. Prince Henry becomes king, signs a cut down Magna Carta to end the civil war. However as he is likely to be much younger he is probably more influenced by the barons and the king might end up with even less power that he had. Essentially nothing changes much, except the English king is a little more restricted.

The more restricted king might provoke other civil wars however, particularly against Henry VIII and might bring forward the English Civil War by a few years.

What other scenarios can people come up with?

: 13 Jan 2006 14:53 | Tags: General History What-If | Comments (0) | Close comments | Report a problem