A Little Lesson About History

I heard somewhere one time that the reason we study our past is to make sure we know ourselves as a race so well, we stop making the same mistakes over and over. However in reality that is not the case, no, in reality history just keeps repeating itself. Our legacy as a race so far is a never-ending vicious cycle. All the wars, conflicts, acts of terrorism, it’s all the same in its core. Time only changes the people involved and maybe, sometimes, the circumstances, but the rest stays still. Whatever the time period or the place in the world, the situation is the same: Those in power use it to stay that way, and chase and discard of whatever threatens it or doesn’t serve their purpose, and of course, those who think differently won’t give up that easily. And yes, I realize I sound a lot like Karl Marx, but I do believe he had a point in his conflict theory. I find amazing how, despite all the evidence and people that have stated the same thing, we still keep on tripping over the same stone. Talk about not recognizing something even if it’s staring at us in the face, because believe me… It’s staring, for some time now.

Twisted Origins of International Women’s Day

Yesterday we celebrated International Women’s Day, key word: Celebrated.

Social Networks were filled with congratulatory messages towards “the best thing God ever created”, thanking them for “everything they do”. Women tirelessly posted how appreciated they felt when they found a flower or some kind of gift left for them.

However, I think that before indulging in all kinds of self-rewards just one day out of the year, we should take a moment to remember the real meaning behind this day: The struggle millions of women all over the world went through to fight for the rights we easily take for granted today.

This internationally observed day had its origins in the United States of America, back in 1820. Little strikes of working women started happening in the New England area in Massachusetts. However it wasn’t until march 8th, 1857, that larger strikes took place and caught the attention of men and larger masses. Garment workers marched in New York City to demand an improvement in their working conditions, a ten hour day (To think that we’re now complaining about our 8 hour day jobs, sitting in an office!), and equal rights for women. The police intervened and shut down the whole thing.

That time when I (accidentally) realized that I was proud of myself

There was nothing different about that day, nothing at all. I woke up as sleepy as any other day, dealt with misbehaving kids at work like always, and sat at home to write in an common cold afternoon in the middle of winter. I was writing an article about the story of How I Became a Feminist. It dragged me back to moments of personal struggle and, even though I didn’t quite understand it yet, growth.

By the time I made the decision of pulling myself together, I was feeling like I had wasted several relevant years of my life, the time when I should be building the foundations of “my empire” or whatever powerful person I should be becoming. Theoretically I knew I was young and had hopefully many decades of life ahead of me, but being surrounded in college by 19 year old seniors and entrepreneurs who knew exactly what they wanted and weren’t going to sleep until they had it, I felt that by not doing the same, and not being even close to it, I wouldn’t become anything for myself.

In the article I went chronologically, starting from my childhood and explaining all the events that led to me becoming the person that I am today. By the end of it, I stated that simple things that I took care of myself, and that can seem little to most people, “helped [greatly] to shape the person that I am today”. If I’m being completely honest, I chose to say that because it seemed like the right thing to say, but as I typed those words I realized the powerful truth they held.

In that moment I understood that the person I’ve become is strong, funny, confident, and smart. She isn’t afraid anymore of saying what she thinks and beliefs in, and is willing to fight for them. She doesn’t hide behind a shield of false safety (Mostly), and she isn’t afraid of making mistakes, because she’s learned that they are the proof of the fact that she is trying and not simply giving up.

I wish I had the words to describe exactly how empowering that feeling is, to be proud of yourself and how far you’ve come. I might have found what I’m passionate about a little later than a lot of people, but I have the satisfaction that even in those foggy times, I knew myself enough to not settle for things that didn’t feel right. I might not have been sure of a lot of things, and I mean a lot, but I did know with every fiber of my being that choosing something I didn’t absolutely love just for the sake of finishing college in a time frame that was considered acceptable, wasn’t worth my happiness and becoming a bitter and grumpy adult.

Another Adventure

 Friday Fictioneers: “Every Friday authors from around the world gather here to share their 100-words and offer constructive crit and encouragement to each other. “

Host: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Photo prompt: Copyright© Dawn Q. Landau

He had always been with me, but I think this was too much for him now. After exploring Europe, The Himalayas, and working in a real safari, I wasn’t ready to let him go. Getting that tip about the amazons seemed like a miracle.

The railroad was ending soon, and then the wilderness of the jungle would be too dense for him to walk by himself. But I wasn’t giving up, he stood with me when I blew off college and through every adventure.

I’ll find that Fountain of Youth in time.

“C’mon boy, we gotta catch up with the group”

Word count: 100

Top 9 ways to NOT get raped

We live in a world were losing your phone is a bigger deal than losing your virginity, were women are taught it is their responsibility not to get themselves in a situation were someone might hurt them, and were campaigns like #ItAintRape exists.

So naturally, we need to “be smart” and know how to protect ourselves. In that spirit, Farrah Khan teamed up with Sasha Elford, and Shannon Giannitsopolou to come up with the BEST safety tips to NOT get raped, the smart way.  

“The miracle part of love is not just about finding someone that inspires such pure, passionate and unconditional feelings in you, but for you to inspire the same in them. The fact that amid 7 billion people that are alive right now, you found each other, that right there, is the miracle.”

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“La parte milagrosa del amor no es solamente el encontrar a alguien que inspire esa clase de sentimientos puros, apasionados e incondicionales en ti, sino que tu también los inspires en esa persona. El hecho de que entre 7 billlones de seres humanos que están vivos ahora mismo, ustedes se hayan encontrado mutuamente, esa coincidencia, es el milagro.” 

Tu derecho se termina donde empieza el de los demás

I know this is a controversial topic, so I’d appreciate if everyone respects my opinion the same way I do others. And please, ready everything before making any assumptions.

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Yes, I am a Feminist. I believe in gender equality, that women have the right to earn the same amount of pay for an amount of work as men do. I think that society gender roles are stupid, and we all can pitch in with expenses and house chores regardless of sex.

I am also against abortion.

Being a feminist I’ve struggled for years feeling that it meant I needed to be pro-choice… Except I’m not.

Self Portrait

With a cup of coffee in my hand a cautious step, I approached the full-length mirror that morning. I wondered how she would look this time, would our troubled roots be so deep down we’d need more time to reconcile?

Normal is just an illusion.

“Normal is just an illusion, what is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” — Morticia Addams.

Half of the people wants to be normal, the other half claims to be different. But truth is that we all have things in common, and things that differ from each other… And if that’s the case, we can’t be completely normal or completely different, can we?

So, to my understanding, what we really are is unique.

Now, think about it for a second. If we are all unique, wouldn’t that mean that we are all different, and at same time, the same, and by that, normal? So we are indeed normal, since being unique is what is common among human beings. 

We could go on and on, but does it truly matter?  

Sports Illustrated first “Plus-size” Model.

I have been seeing this “breakthrough” from Sports Illustrated (A magazine marketed for men) EVERYWHERE this past few days, even in one of my favorite blogs, Hello Giggles. And I really, really need to take a moment and know I’m not going crazy here. Is it just me, or this beautiful woman is not a plus-size AT ALL?

I mean, I guess that if we take in count the magazine’s history with the type of models they feature, this is actually a good thing. But still, I can’t help but worry about the point where our perceptions about what plus-size actually is.

Here is what I picture when I think of a plus-size woman:

Or, even this:

All beautiful women. But this:

Is just a normal, every day, common size. This is Robyn Lawley,  the woman the magazine is featuring as a plus-size model.

We’ve been bombarded from media about perfect models and beachy bodies so much, that we’ve grown into the seeing a real and normal size women as plus size.

And that is just not okay.

Does this have to do with the fact that this magazine is directed to a male audience, and they need to keep on feeding their unrealistic fantasies in order to get the expected profit? I don’t know, probably. But it doesn’t change the fact that at the same time they feed insecurities to young women minds, and this just goes unnoticed like a thousand other things in the media.