Thursday, November 17, 2011

Concern about Dress

Taken from this article at Brainmind.com

As based on popular literature, the mass media, advertisements, experience in general, as well as from a perusal of the above responses, there certainly seems to be sound reasons for at least suspecting that many women do not like each other. However, it seems that a primary motive is competitive. Thus, many women express their dislike by finding fault with "other" women so as to presumably bolster their own self-image.


This is something I have always found quite peculiar because I have see women size each other up much more often than men do. It seems as a gender, women are far more critical of the way others dress and look than the people we imagine these rituals of beauty are carried for are. The article offers up somewhat of a plausible explanation for it. Quite honestly, it baffled me for some time. I couldn't understand what deep interest another person would have in the sneakers that I am wearing, or the bra that I did not decide to put on, or the fact that I may not be wearing a belt when you think I should. How on Earth do these things become someone else's business. Well, if that individual perceives other women as competition for the sights of men in general, what you are wearing or not wearing will almost certainly become a part of their agenda.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

RIP Mr D

This is one of my favourite jams from the 90's

Good White People?

For a race that seems to hold most of the social and economic power in the world, Sistah Souljah asked a very pertinent question here. If you really believe and stand for a cause, you will raise you arms and fight for it no matter the cost.

Monday, November 14, 2011

AWKWARD BLACK GIRL



I just discovered this web-based series and am already in love with it! We need more shows like this on TV to break down the stereotypes. As a black girl with slightly different and what some may define as quirky tendencies, I have largely been misunderstood by ignorant people who fail to understand that people are far more complex than stereotyped images show for. This just reminded me that I am not alone.

This Poem was So Good

I had to re-post some lines from it on my blog
The rest of the poem is found here

i am self-conscious of the image i see in the mirror facing me.

a seeming fraud, a scam artist

a black girl docta

holding all these damn credentials

in my hands

& a ringless second finger

pushing away doubt and doubters because I can do this, be this

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Very Cute Commercial

I only saw this now. Very sweet.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Looking Forward not Behind


Striving harder and being better.
Not settling for a mediocrity that my environment has dictated to me.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Bonne Anniversaire Marie!!

This day marks the birth of one of the greatest minds that ever lived. Marie Curie was the only woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, the only woman to receive these honours on two occasions. She remains an inspiration to all the female scientists the world over.
When doubt begins to seep in, ladies, just think of Marie Curie. Let her allow you to know that it is possible to work hard and excel in your own right whether you are receive accolades or not. Your gender says nothing of your intellectual ability.

The Grade Factor: the figures that DO matter

Ever since I caught-up call this semester and started to realise that grades are not the meaningless digits I used to think they were, I have taken a different perspective toward my academic life. Earlier on in my life, these figures were as important as the food I ate and would work in all my power to obtain the straight A's I wanted to achieve.

This year, I took a rebellious approach and decided to experiment with the idea of not thinking too highly of grades. Of course, the direct result was somewhat of a slack-off which led to undesirable test grades and a whole lot of terrible other things that had to do with the...grades and started to notice that although one should not stress themselves out too far, it is essential to take some care when it comes to school work. Neither extreme is good for a person's health but a middle ground, where one is able to have the discipline needed to complete all tasks as well as they possibly can while still taking the time out to relax and have time for enjoyable activities.

Denzel Washington has a word of advice that he gave to his children and that is "Do the things you have to do so that you can do the things you want to do." It's all about sacrificing what is enjoyable to you for the time being so that you can get the essentials done because it's obvious that pleasurable activities keep you occupied for hours on end leaving no time left over for what really needs to be done and that is the work that more often than not has a deadline of some sort.


Mr Washington kind of reminds me of my parents, mother especially who instilled a great deal of discipline and a great work ethic. By forcing us to keep the kitchen and our rooms and bathrooms spotless and neat, she was conditioning us into having a sense of responsibility for the state of our surroundings i.e. what goes on in our lives. That what we get out of life is a direct result of the work that we put into it and that we are victims to nothing but carve out our own existences based on the choices that we make. A "You made your bed, now lay in it" approach to the repercussions of things.


"Consequence is no co-incidence," one of my favourite quotes from Lauryn Hill.

Wisdom begins when you understand that you are a factor, a fundamental one to the events of your life. For a while, I may have forgotten this when I was slacking off and blaming fatigue. Hell, coffee was made for a reason right and there is no better motivation than imagining the good results of your perseverance tomorrow today.

As a true scientist, I ran an experiment, testing a hypothesis and the result was quite close to what I expected. A lax attitude yields mediocrity. It is only a winning, focused and serious attitude that yields excellence. If you're reading this, at whatever level you are in your academic life, know that although grades are not a reflection of your intelligence what they do display is commitment, loyalty, hard-work and determination. And these are all attributes that will make you a pleasure to work with.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

This Messed-Up World

Now, this dude seriously needs some religion in his life. What kind of messed-up head concocts this modicum of death, sex and violence.

http://www.tylershields.com/portfolio/portraits/

But on a topic akin to this:

he concept of Sixth Sense appeals to the shutting down of intellectual and cognitive functions to “surrender” to the mesmerizing effect of lust in mass media. It is during this somewhat hypnotized and slightly aroused state that messages can effectively reach the viewer’s brains with maximum effectiveness.

Taken from an article on Vigilant Citizen website

Major Overhaul

When I started writing this blog in 2008, I was a young woman trying desperately to grapple onto a sense of her place in society. I was fresh out of high-school - a very enclosed and sheltered world where the staff members were predominantly female and most of those who accomplished academic success were females. I lived in a world where women ruled and women were on top and that was a comfort to my identity as a woman. In my own family, women were strong opinionated, working for their own and making it on their own without any need for a man. This inspired me to dream of an independent life and thing first about my career aspirations above my romantic pursuits, which I did until the world held me by the chin and slapped me in the face with some news.

The world does not take kindly to the idea of female strength nor does it take kindly to the notion of an independent woman trying to make it on her own. This woman is not liked, may be perceived as an ice-cold, heartless and conniving b**** and is criticized for her character and sometimes her looks. Women, in the real world are objects upon which the male gaze is projected, they are made to be looked at and worse yet f***ed only. They are not meant to have thoughts of their own, aspirations, dreams and goals. They are viewed as strange or crazy when they pursue artistic, intellectual, political goals because a go-getting woman is violating the fundamental premise of the feminine by not being a passive, weak and fragile thing that seeks the protection and validation of a man.

I was taught these concepts by males who are essentially insecure about their own manhood and seek to conceal these flaws by suppressing and oppressing women into neat, predictable little corners where they can be monitored so as not to let them get out of hand you know, by having too much influence and power.

The limiting roles, the chauvinistic gender binary caused me to become a radical feminist at 19 and much of my blog at the time was filled with rants about the experiences and encounters with sexist-minded females and males and how I always knew that if I were a male, none of this grief would be handed to me.

So, as an undergraduate astrophysics student caught in the middle of a male-dominated career field, I have much experience in the league of dealing with chauvinists and therefore plenty of wisdom to hand down to young women who, like most of us, have normalized these inhibiting ideas and absorbed them to the point of dumbing themselves down for the sake of being socially acceptable. Truly gifted young women are wasting their minds on frivolous and trivial garbage all because they are afraid to cross the line on what society makes clear is the right way to be a woman. It's a tremendous waste and I am on a mission to do my bit in reducing this phenomenon in my direct vicinity.

The lack of female scientific pursuit is more a case of discouragement than it is a factor of men being more gifted at these fields. We are told and therefore we believe. If there were more female scientists in the world or had many of the great scientific breakthroughs been made by women, the converse would be true. So, we can easily conclude that this is more of a psychological issue than it is a result of genetic predisposition.

Or perhaps, for those chauvinists that believe women have no place in science, it could very easily be more a matter of genetics than just the odd Napoleon Complex which bears no physical justification. Know what I mean... ;)