Maybe I sometimes get a bit too picky over the use of language, and the unintentional meanings that come out of a flippant or occasionally even well-meant phrase. This morning, a friend posted on the book-of-face an article entitled '8 Things my father taught me about respecting women'. Now while I appreciated the sentiments behind the article, I did have a problem with the title of the first point: 'That's Someone's Daughter'.
I do have several questions and concerns about this statement. Firstly, it places a woman's worth in her relationships, rather than in herself. This value of women's relationships over women's value in and of herself is an unhealthy bent of our society. It does beg the question - what if that woman isn't someone's daughter? What if she lost her parents, either through death or other circumstances? Does this mean that she is not worthy of respect?
The same value of a woman's relationship over a woman herself can sometimes be seen in dating and hookup culture. If I want to reject a man's advances, I usually do so with a polite yet firm "I'm not interested." Funnily enough, this doesn't always work (not even in my best teacher voice!) If I feel threatened by the situation, I will lie and say that I have a boyfriend. There are unfortunately many men in the world who respect the 'ownership' of my absent, non-existent partner over and above the respect offered to the wishes of a woman who is actually there.
So while I acknowledge the sentiment behind the "That's Someone's Daughter" argument, a much more positive turn of phrase would be "Remember that women are people too'. A woman's personhood is what gives her worth, rather than her relationships. Men of the world - continue to follow the advice in the article (pay for her dinner, walk her to the door, etc.) but do so while remembering rule number one: Remember that women are people too. Sometimes a woman will prefer to pay for her own dinner, or drive herself home after an evening out. If that is the case, listen to her, respect her wishes, remember that she is a person too.
I think this may well be the golden rule of feminism - Remember that women are people too!
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Breakfast
You know what I love? I really like eating breakfast. It is the thing that motivates me to get out of bed in the morning. It is always so tasty and delicious and happifying. See how much I love breakfast? I even need to make up words to describe my love for it.
The only bad thing I can think of concerning this rather wonderful meal is the sheer variety. On any given morning, I will want to eat multiple things, but my stomach just can't handle that much food all at once.
So you want a list of my favourite breakfast foods? I'm so glad you asked. Well, I suppose I could do so for you...
1) Cereal: My go-to cereal is plain old weetbix, but I do occasionally like to shake things up with cornflakes (best served with banana and honey) or the really yummy cranberry cereal, the official name of which I can't currently remember. Muesli is another delicious one. A few years ago, I stayed with a family that made their own muesli with oats, almonds, cranberries, dried apricots, pepitas and finely grated fresh ginger.
2) Overnight Oats: I suppose this is technically part of the cereal family. I love putting oats and chopped apple and milk in the fridge overnight and finding them perfect in the morning.
3) Toast/bread: My parents have recently given me a breadmaker - best invention ever. Some evenings I put the bread mix in the machine and set the timer for the bread to be perfectly baked as soon as I wake up in the morning. Butter is the best thing to spread on freshly made bread, but I will be slightly more adventurous with my toast condiments. Favourites include peanut butter, honey and home made jams.
4) Yoghurt: Nothing beats a good old-fashioned pot set yoghurt. This will usually be served with my cereal.
5) Pancakes: These are definitely not an everyday thing in my house, but are a great weekend breakfast. I have discovered that it is possible to cook pancakes in my sandwich press, which saves on washing up. Winner!
6) Smoothies: A fairly recent acquisition to my breakfast repertoire. All my smoothie recipes (I use the term 'recipe' very loosely) start with milk and banana, but will often include the addition of spices, frozen berries, chia seeds and leafy green things.
7) Eggs Benedict: I used to be the kind of girl who would order pancakes when eating out at breakfast time, but I have now seen the light of a good eggs benedict. Definitely a café food though, far too fiddly for me to bother with at home.
8) Tea or Coffee: Yes, I need some caffeine to start my day. Sorry blogosphere, I'm not one of those food writers. I love gluten, dairy, refined sugar and meat. I will also occasionally eat things that come out of a packet
Now if you'll excuse me, I have discovered a rather large collection of granola recipes that are begging to be cooked this afternoon so I can enjoy them for breakfast tomorrow...
The only bad thing I can think of concerning this rather wonderful meal is the sheer variety. On any given morning, I will want to eat multiple things, but my stomach just can't handle that much food all at once.
So you want a list of my favourite breakfast foods? I'm so glad you asked. Well, I suppose I could do so for you...
1) Cereal: My go-to cereal is plain old weetbix, but I do occasionally like to shake things up with cornflakes (best served with banana and honey) or the really yummy cranberry cereal, the official name of which I can't currently remember. Muesli is another delicious one. A few years ago, I stayed with a family that made their own muesli with oats, almonds, cranberries, dried apricots, pepitas and finely grated fresh ginger.
2) Overnight Oats: I suppose this is technically part of the cereal family. I love putting oats and chopped apple and milk in the fridge overnight and finding them perfect in the morning.
3) Toast/bread: My parents have recently given me a breadmaker - best invention ever. Some evenings I put the bread mix in the machine and set the timer for the bread to be perfectly baked as soon as I wake up in the morning. Butter is the best thing to spread on freshly made bread, but I will be slightly more adventurous with my toast condiments. Favourites include peanut butter, honey and home made jams.
4) Yoghurt: Nothing beats a good old-fashioned pot set yoghurt. This will usually be served with my cereal.
5) Pancakes: These are definitely not an everyday thing in my house, but are a great weekend breakfast. I have discovered that it is possible to cook pancakes in my sandwich press, which saves on washing up. Winner!
6) Smoothies: A fairly recent acquisition to my breakfast repertoire. All my smoothie recipes (I use the term 'recipe' very loosely) start with milk and banana, but will often include the addition of spices, frozen berries, chia seeds and leafy green things.
7) Eggs Benedict: I used to be the kind of girl who would order pancakes when eating out at breakfast time, but I have now seen the light of a good eggs benedict. Definitely a café food though, far too fiddly for me to bother with at home.
8) Tea or Coffee: Yes, I need some caffeine to start my day. Sorry blogosphere, I'm not one of those food writers. I love gluten, dairy, refined sugar and meat. I will also occasionally eat things that come out of a packet
Now if you'll excuse me, I have discovered a rather large collection of granola recipes that are begging to be cooked this afternoon so I can enjoy them for breakfast tomorrow...
Monday, November 10, 2014
My collection of awesome
Inspired by a number of friends who have been blogging more regularly over the immediate past days and weeks (including one who posts a picture of almost every cup of tea he drinks), I have resolved to post more often. Today's post, creatively entitled "My Collection of Awesome", is just that: A list of things that happened today that received the ranking 'Awesome'.
1) A good drive - Last night I visited a good friend in Northam. Today I had the long drive home. Most long drives I do are along the same stretch of highway. This time, I took a different route home, through the back blocks of the Central Wheatbelt. The wheat was ripe on both sides of the road, the scenery was quite different from that I was used to, I visited quite a few tiny little out of the way towns, including the town where my parents met. I spent the drive time in prayer (it was so nice to have the uninterrupted time!) and singing along to Tori Amos albums and the Wicked soundtrack (Original cast recording, of course). Overall opinion - Awesome!
2) A Physio Appointment - I have been very slowly working my way through the Couch to 5K running programme, in order to punch my family history of heart disease in the face! A couple of weeks ago, I was on one of my tri-weekly runs and noticed a niggle in my right knee. Since it hadn't fixed itself after a couple of rest weeks, I booked an appointment with the physio (who happened to be my housemate's sister). After acupuncture and crazy strong massages in muscles that I didn't even realise were tense, the knee-niggle is all gone! And now I have some exercises to do to stop it coming back. On a scale of one to ten, I rate the physio appointment as: Awesome!
I do realise that the blog of awesome is already a thing, so maybe I should come up with a new word for next time.
1) A good drive - Last night I visited a good friend in Northam. Today I had the long drive home. Most long drives I do are along the same stretch of highway. This time, I took a different route home, through the back blocks of the Central Wheatbelt. The wheat was ripe on both sides of the road, the scenery was quite different from that I was used to, I visited quite a few tiny little out of the way towns, including the town where my parents met. I spent the drive time in prayer (it was so nice to have the uninterrupted time!) and singing along to Tori Amos albums and the Wicked soundtrack (Original cast recording, of course). Overall opinion - Awesome!
2) A Physio Appointment - I have been very slowly working my way through the Couch to 5K running programme, in order to punch my family history of heart disease in the face! A couple of weeks ago, I was on one of my tri-weekly runs and noticed a niggle in my right knee. Since it hadn't fixed itself after a couple of rest weeks, I booked an appointment with the physio (who happened to be my housemate's sister). After acupuncture and crazy strong massages in muscles that I didn't even realise were tense, the knee-niggle is all gone! And now I have some exercises to do to stop it coming back. On a scale of one to ten, I rate the physio appointment as: Awesome!
I do realise that the blog of awesome is already a thing, so maybe I should come up with a new word for next time.
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