Raising Children.

I am the oldest of two girls. My parents are relatively strict, and they became more strict the older I got. My father has admitted to me that if I were born a boy he would not be so strict, I would not have a curfew, and he would not check up on me as much. When he told me this I was really upset, and his answer was "I know how young boys are." It really made me mad because it was like a boy's judgment would outweigh my judgment
Most of my male friends do not have curfews, and a few of them have been arrested for underage drinking or drugs and they still do not have a curfew. It is frustrating because most of my friends are boys and I hang out with boys on a regular basis, and I always have and I have always been the first one to have to go home, because I was the only one with a curfew.
I know this sounds ridiculous, but even my male friends with female siblings have less strict rules than their female siblings. It has always been hard for me, and often I've wondered why I couldn't have been a boy, so I would be given more freedom and privilege in my own home.

What is a slut?

I know that this is a topic that is often discussed, but I would like to know what a slut is, and what defines a slut, and why are females more apt to be considered sluts than males? If a girl sleeps around, or has a relatively large number, say around 5, then she is considered a slut and people talk about her like she is a bad person. Even her friends whose number is less will talk about her behind her back and make rash judgments about her character as a person. However, if a male has sex with about 5 people that isn't that much and he gets judged for having such a small number. The more women a man has sex with, the better and the cooler he is as a person. If a woman has the same number as a man she will looked down on more so than the male, because it is inappropriate behavior for a female to behave in such a manner.
It is a double standard, and a double standard that has been around for a while. It is really hard to break it because sex is praised more in the male world than the female world. It is hard for women to enjoy having sex without being branded a slut. If she does want to have sex she should only have sex with one person whom she is in a serious relationship with. It is not fair and aggravating to hear my male friends get praised for their "conquests", but my female friends get insulted and judged for having random sex.

Cheating.

Tonight, while I was babysitting, I was watching Larry King Live on CNN. The topic was cheating, and who was more susceptible to cheating: women or men. There was a panel of two men, and one woman. One of the men was a doctor, the other was a married man, and the women was a women who had been cheated on. I was a little upset that a man who had been cheated on, or one who had cheated, was not represented on the show.
However, according to Larry King Live, it is scientifically proven that men are more likely to cheat than men. The higher the level of testosterone, the more likely an individual is to cheat. I just kept getting upset with the mention that women always looked like the victim, or the reason a marriage broke up. Either she did something wrong to make her husband cheat, or she seduced a man into cheating on her, and a man would never cheat if the offer from a woman never occurred. Although I wish no one cheated, because I find it vile, selfish, and inconsiderate, I do know of women who have cheated by their own free will, and are just as deceiving as their husbands.
The men on the panel kept saying that men do not go out to look for women to cheat on their wives with, but rather wait until the opportunity from a woman arises. I feel that this may be the case part of the time, but it most certainly cannot be the case the majority of the time. Not all affairs start because a woman seduces a man. Women are always blamed for being the root of all, rooting all the way back from the story of Adam and Eve. Men who cheat on their wives need to take responsibility for their actions, whether they started the cheating or not. It doesn't matter who started it, the point is that it happened and a person got hurt in the end. Not only should men who cheat take responsibility for their actions, women who cheat should also. Cheating is unacceptable under any circumstances, no matter who is doing the cheating.

Kathryn Bigelow

At the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, Kathryn Bigelow became the first female ever to win an Academy Award for best director! She won for her film The Hurt Locker. Aside from the fact that Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director, her film also portrayed a masculine message. It took place in Iraq, during the current war, and it was about some bomb technicians who struggled to survive, even though they are not well known- and are not considered fighters or heroes.
This is a huge deal for women in the film industry. Women have always won awards for their performances, but never for actually directing a performance, and espeically a performance as powerful as The Hurt Locker is supposed to be. I love war films, and they are always extremely masculine, and I heard The Hurt Locker does not lack any masculinity just because it was directed by a woman. I cannot wait to see it! : )

Darfur

Since I was a senior in high school I have been very involved in the genocide in Darfur. The situation is extremely complex, and many people, both male and female, are treated extremely poorly. However, women are Darfur are raped, and it is used as a weapon. I find it very disturbing. Women who are "in the way" are raped by any man in the janjaweed that feels it is "necessary" to keep a woman hushed, or scared of the military.
Rape is not only a sexual act, but a violent act, it is hard to imagine a whole country's military raping any woman that crosses the path of a military man. Although, in many similar situations, such as the one in Darfur, women are spared from the violence and killings, but in Darfur they are not spared violence or killings. Many women have been killed, and more women than men have been displaced in Internal Displacement Camps. Many women are left raising their children by themselves, and are responsible for feeding them and fetching water. In Darfur, there is no running water or electricity, so one must go to a well and get the water, and then carry it back to their home, or their tent, or wherever they may be staying due to the conflict in Darfur. It is a very difficult situation, and it is important for women all around the world to educate themselves in what is happening to women in thrid world countries around the world.

What if Women Ruled the World?

What if women did the rule the world? Would things be any different than they are in a male dominated society? According to Rosemary Roberts in an article entitled "What if Women Ruled the World?", in the News and Record on January 22, 2010 things would be drastically different. I think that Rosemary Roberts has a great point. "Women leaders might be less inclined to invade countries." I know that many women might be less likely to go to war, although there are many women who would be more than happy to go to war if they felt that their country, family, or values were being threatened. Since women have not held that many leadership offices, especially in the United States, it is hard to tell, based on facts and statistics, whether having women in office would bring about a great deal of change.
I would like to think that women are capable of bringing about change. I know that I personally voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential election for many reasons. For one, it was because she was a woman. Also, I agreed with her political ideologies more than I did Obama's and/or McCain's. As a woman, I felt that Hillary Clinton held a different perspective on issues that I think are very important. I am a strong advocate for pro-choice, and the talk about making abortion illegal, and attempting to reverse Roe v. Wade (although I am well aware that would be a very difficult process) scares me. I feel that women should be responsible for their bodies, and that men do not understand the severity of this, because they will never have to make the decisions that a woman has to make in regards to her own body. However, many women are not pro-choice, so putting just any woman in office would not protect my rights to control my own body.
Rosemary Robert's praises both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin for their roles in the 2008 presidential election. Although it was a huge deal that there were women running on both sides of the political spectrum. It really upset me when people I knew admitted that they took Hillary Clinton more seriously because she was a less attractive woman than Sarah Palin. It is possible to be attractive, intelligent, and a woman. I feel that women still have a lot to prove, and it is going to take a long time before we realize whether or not the world would be a better place if women ruled the world.