Monday, April 30, 2007
Moving from Myspace
I'm finally taking my blogging one step further and moving all my old posts from Myspace to this blog site...so look here in the future for new posts :)
Logos: brief timeline of sexism in the 21st century
For those of you who don't know, I graduated in 2003 from Logos Christian School in Moscow. I entered the school in 5th grade, and very shortly after began to have problems with it, even at such a young age.
Logos, while not explicitly funded/run by Christ Church in Moscow, is heavily influenced by their archaic and close minded view of society, due to the fact a large percentage of the faculty, and the Superintendent himself, are members of the church. The school's main founder is none other than the pastor/pope of Christ Church, Douglas Wilson.
It is easy to argue that Christianity in itself, is a patriarchial, sexist religion. However, Christ Church's "brand" of Christianity takes sexism a step farther, and their heinous and ancient view of women (i.e. women's place is in the home (unless they're nurses or teachers), women are not allowed to speak in church. ever. a woman's main objective in her marriage is to "serve her husband" and be "at all times submissive to his will." the list could go on much longer) has infiltrated Logos School to an alarming degree.
Even when I began school there, Logos was becoming more and more conservative and preaching fundamental Christianity as the only way of life. Things have only gotten worse through the years, and the girls at the school are the ones to suffer for it.
2000: Mr. Harken, my history teacher, during a tangent on elections and voting, informed the class that it would have been better if women had never gotten the right to vote. In his opinion the "head of the household" (meaning, the husband) should be the only one to vote and his vote should count for as many people as lived in his house.
2002: At a student council meeting, one of the sons of a school board member put forth the idea that in future years only males should be able to run for ASB President and Vice President since men have the duty to lead women.
2002: The school board/principal does away with our traditional "Spirit Week" and impliments "Knights Festival." The boys and girls are given separate contests to enter. The boys get to fashion fake swords and shields and duel in front of the school in hopes of winning an old fashioned replica sword. The girls get to compete in a "pie baking contest" and the winner wins a gift certificate to Williams/Sonoma.
* And although I don't have a set year that it was put into practice, Logos now functions in such a way, that beginning in kindergarten boys must at all times show preferance to the girls i.e. opening, closing doors, pulling out chairs, letting them go first etc. In itself, I don't have a problem with the idea of teaching boys to be gentlemen. However, when boys are taught to do things for girls because girls are too weak to do them for themselves, I have a problem. Logos/Christ Church seems to have a preoccupation with producing weak men who want even weaker women.
And finally. 2007. The reason I started this rant in the first place.
Today I got home to find the latest copy of The Knight's Page (quarterly student newspaper) in my mailbox. I can never read through it without being appalled at some new social limitation they are placing on their students in the name of "serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Today was no exception.
Logos High School will no longer have a girl's basketball team. Its not that there's not enough players, coaches, support. Oh no. Nothing that mundane and reasonable.
" There were two broad reasons for the decision, the first being philosophical which Mr. Garfield [Superintendent] deemed as the more important. He said that he and others have had growing concerns for the nature of girl's basketball. It has undergone a radical shift towards a very masculine approach. However, God made it very clear in His Word that He created man and woman distinct from one another. "The girls on many teams are coached like guys, and our girls are in danger because of how the other girls are coached," Mr. Garfield said."
It never ceases to amaze me how weak the school board thinks women are; (did I mention, btw, there are no women on the school board??) how completely incapable of handling adversity and pressure we can be.
But then it occured to me, horrible thought, that perhaps Mr. Garfield was right on a certain level I couldn't understand. Could it be that Logos had so adequately produced weak minded and over emotional girls that they honestly couldn't handle basketball? Did my fear of what would become of the future classes of Logos girls come true? That after being told daily, for years, they were weaker and inferior, they had come to believe it?
Either way, I'm even more disapointed and disgusted in the place I graduated from. It pains me to know that Logos has been able to scrape by for 30 years, paying their teachers SO little to mis-shape the minds of so many. If they only knew how many Logos graduates were out there, continuing "the Lord's work" and using their "Classical and Christ-centered Education" to binge drink, load a bong, and pop birth control before rampant pre-marital sex, they'd be amazed, and possibly reconsider sharing more of the real world with their students before they were thrust out into it, wide eyed and unprepared.
Logos, while not explicitly funded/run by Christ Church in Moscow, is heavily influenced by their archaic and close minded view of society, due to the fact a large percentage of the faculty, and the Superintendent himself, are members of the church. The school's main founder is none other than the pastor/pope of Christ Church, Douglas Wilson.
It is easy to argue that Christianity in itself, is a patriarchial, sexist religion. However, Christ Church's "brand" of Christianity takes sexism a step farther, and their heinous and ancient view of women (i.e. women's place is in the home (unless they're nurses or teachers), women are not allowed to speak in church. ever. a woman's main objective in her marriage is to "serve her husband" and be "at all times submissive to his will." the list could go on much longer) has infiltrated Logos School to an alarming degree.
Even when I began school there, Logos was becoming more and more conservative and preaching fundamental Christianity as the only way of life. Things have only gotten worse through the years, and the girls at the school are the ones to suffer for it.
2000: Mr. Harken, my history teacher, during a tangent on elections and voting, informed the class that it would have been better if women had never gotten the right to vote. In his opinion the "head of the household" (meaning, the husband) should be the only one to vote and his vote should count for as many people as lived in his house.
2002: At a student council meeting, one of the sons of a school board member put forth the idea that in future years only males should be able to run for ASB President and Vice President since men have the duty to lead women.
2002: The school board/principal does away with our traditional "Spirit Week" and impliments "Knights Festival." The boys and girls are given separate contests to enter. The boys get to fashion fake swords and shields and duel in front of the school in hopes of winning an old fashioned replica sword. The girls get to compete in a "pie baking contest" and the winner wins a gift certificate to Williams/Sonoma.
* And although I don't have a set year that it was put into practice, Logos now functions in such a way, that beginning in kindergarten boys must at all times show preferance to the girls i.e. opening, closing doors, pulling out chairs, letting them go first etc. In itself, I don't have a problem with the idea of teaching boys to be gentlemen. However, when boys are taught to do things for girls because girls are too weak to do them for themselves, I have a problem. Logos/Christ Church seems to have a preoccupation with producing weak men who want even weaker women.
And finally. 2007. The reason I started this rant in the first place.
Today I got home to find the latest copy of The Knight's Page (quarterly student newspaper) in my mailbox. I can never read through it without being appalled at some new social limitation they are placing on their students in the name of "serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Today was no exception.
Logos High School will no longer have a girl's basketball team. Its not that there's not enough players, coaches, support. Oh no. Nothing that mundane and reasonable.
" There were two broad reasons for the decision, the first being philosophical which Mr. Garfield [Superintendent] deemed as the more important. He said that he and others have had growing concerns for the nature of girl's basketball. It has undergone a radical shift towards a very masculine approach. However, God made it very clear in His Word that He created man and woman distinct from one another. "The girls on many teams are coached like guys, and our girls are in danger because of how the other girls are coached," Mr. Garfield said."
It never ceases to amaze me how weak the school board thinks women are; (did I mention, btw, there are no women on the school board??) how completely incapable of handling adversity and pressure we can be.
But then it occured to me, horrible thought, that perhaps Mr. Garfield was right on a certain level I couldn't understand. Could it be that Logos had so adequately produced weak minded and over emotional girls that they honestly couldn't handle basketball? Did my fear of what would become of the future classes of Logos girls come true? That after being told daily, for years, they were weaker and inferior, they had come to believe it?
Either way, I'm even more disapointed and disgusted in the place I graduated from. It pains me to know that Logos has been able to scrape by for 30 years, paying their teachers SO little to mis-shape the minds of so many. If they only knew how many Logos graduates were out there, continuing "the Lord's work" and using their "Classical and Christ-centered Education" to binge drink, load a bong, and pop birth control before rampant pre-marital sex, they'd be amazed, and possibly reconsider sharing more of the real world with their students before they were thrust out into it, wide eyed and unprepared.
Postsecret.com
So, this is going to be a completely random post, but lately I've been thinking alot about secrets because I'm totally enamored with the site www.postsecret.com. Secrets can be the best thing in the world - or the worst. I guess it just depends on the time and place. When I moved to Moscow, I was 10 years old, miserable, and completely lonely. The thing I wanted MOST in the world was for the cool girls in class to share one of their numerous secrets with me. They were always leaning across our cheap wooden desks with construction paper name tags, and sharing whispered words that brought either laughter or raised eyebrows and knowing looks.
Eventually, I wormed my way into these girls' affections because I had a basement which I transformed into a clubhouse - complete with a meeting table, and private "voting closet" or "conference room." Our friendships were shallow and catty and the back biting between us was vicious (like many teen and pre-teen friendships are) - but they were friends. Secret sharers. And all the hurt and tears they caused over the years always seemed worth it. Those secrets, petty and stupid, gave me a sense of meaning and power. I knew something other people didn't. I was special. I realized recently, secrets haven't made me feel that way in a long time. I think that as we grow - the severity of secrets grow as well. Whispered secrets that once only contained the names and feelings of crushes and puppy love morph into tear soaked secrets of regret, hatred, or abuse. I used to anticipate phonecalls from girlfriends when I was a teenager - expecting the daily drama or occasional juicy dirt about a classmate or someone from church. Now I've learned to brace myself when I hear a friend's voice on the other end of the line say, "I need to tell you something I haven't told anyone else. Promise it will stay between us." Of course, secrets aren't all malicious - the ones that make all the others worth keeping are secrets you know you will eventually be able to share. If we felt we could never have an outlet for secrets, I doubt we'd ever agree to listen to them. But interestingly enough - what changes the least over a span of years - is how often people don't want to carry a secret alone. This is why I was so fascinated when I learned about the site postsecret.com. This site gives people the unique opportunity to share their most intimate (or bizarre) secrets with thousands of people online - with absolute anonymity.
Every Sunday a new batch of secrets, clearly printed on handmade postcards is released to the internet for consumption and comment. Ever since I found out about the site, I've visited it almost every week. The only way I can describe my urge to read all these stranger's secrets is to relate it to the human instinct that compels people to rubberneck when passing a car accident. People are spreading their most personal (and often seriously messed up) lives out for the world to see, and reading the short lines of wreckage that describe their lives is completely fascinating (even though I realize it sounds totally morbid to say it.)
I've also realized that whenever I'm having a really shitty day - or just in a bad mood - my mouse drifts over to "Favorites" and clicks on this site. Besides being interesting and really funny at times, there's nothing like reading about other people's issues to make you feel like you're 1.) not alone or 2.) not nearly as crazy/messed up as you thought you were.
Anyways, there's my random thoughts of the day. Check out postsecret.com if you have time or are bored. (Plus it can be "educational" site as well...who knew there is a real psychological condition where people fantasize about being an amputee??)
Eventually, I wormed my way into these girls' affections because I had a basement which I transformed into a clubhouse - complete with a meeting table, and private "voting closet" or "conference room." Our friendships were shallow and catty and the back biting between us was vicious (like many teen and pre-teen friendships are) - but they were friends. Secret sharers. And all the hurt and tears they caused over the years always seemed worth it. Those secrets, petty and stupid, gave me a sense of meaning and power. I knew something other people didn't. I was special. I realized recently, secrets haven't made me feel that way in a long time. I think that as we grow - the severity of secrets grow as well. Whispered secrets that once only contained the names and feelings of crushes and puppy love morph into tear soaked secrets of regret, hatred, or abuse. I used to anticipate phonecalls from girlfriends when I was a teenager - expecting the daily drama or occasional juicy dirt about a classmate or someone from church. Now I've learned to brace myself when I hear a friend's voice on the other end of the line say, "I need to tell you something I haven't told anyone else. Promise it will stay between us." Of course, secrets aren't all malicious - the ones that make all the others worth keeping are secrets you know you will eventually be able to share. If we felt we could never have an outlet for secrets, I doubt we'd ever agree to listen to them. But interestingly enough - what changes the least over a span of years - is how often people don't want to carry a secret alone. This is why I was so fascinated when I learned about the site postsecret.com. This site gives people the unique opportunity to share their most intimate (or bizarre) secrets with thousands of people online - with absolute anonymity.
Every Sunday a new batch of secrets, clearly printed on handmade postcards is released to the internet for consumption and comment. Ever since I found out about the site, I've visited it almost every week. The only way I can describe my urge to read all these stranger's secrets is to relate it to the human instinct that compels people to rubberneck when passing a car accident. People are spreading their most personal (and often seriously messed up) lives out for the world to see, and reading the short lines of wreckage that describe their lives is completely fascinating (even though I realize it sounds totally morbid to say it.)
I've also realized that whenever I'm having a really shitty day - or just in a bad mood - my mouse drifts over to "Favorites" and clicks on this site. Besides being interesting and really funny at times, there's nothing like reading about other people's issues to make you feel like you're 1.) not alone or 2.) not nearly as crazy/messed up as you thought you were.
Anyways, there's my random thoughts of the day. Check out postsecret.com if you have time or are bored. (Plus it can be "educational" site as well...who knew there is a real psychological condition where people fantasize about being an amputee??)
Who eats veal?
My first expirience with thoughts of vegetarianism came when I was seven years old. I have vague memories of my dad reading a red book with a big cow on the front and then anouncing to the family he had decided to become a vegetarian. During the next several years my mom, brother, and I were the unwilling audience to countless diatribes about the evils of pesticides, the meat industry, etc etc.
Like most normal kids, I loved hot dogs when I was little (or so my mom tells me.) This stopped abruptly the year my dad turned vegetarian and he calmly told me at the dinner table how they were made. I don't remember the specifics, only the resounding words "SPARE PARTS" and visions of chickens' gizards and pigs' hooves shoved into a tube. Since then, I have eaten a total of 3 hotdogs in 15 years.
I also went through a phase in high school were I didn't eat red meat for almost four years, but that eventually phased itself into the occasional hamburger or helping of roast beef that I eat now. By no means have I ever been a vegetarian, and I never thought I'd get to the point where I could say no to chicken, turkey, or salmon.
But several months ago I became very interested in Zen Buddhism, and while there are no set rules that Buddhists must be vegetarians, the ideal that there is a universal shared life energy/force in every living creature has really started to wear away at me to the point where I have trouble justifying (to myself) eating anything that had to be killed for me to enjoy.
I've thought hunting was a cruel and vicious sport since I was little because most Americans don't need to kill to eat, and although many hunters do eat what they kill, the food is just a bonus. The thrill of the hunt and adrenaline rush of the perfect target is what keeps them coming back. Humans like knowing they are on top of the food chain, and "the food chain" is what most people use to defend the fact they eat meat.
But the food chain doesn't exist in America anymore. Survival of the fittest doesn't even apply since the Meat Industry makes entirely sure they provide millions of pounds of meat everyday for consumers to eat or waste. Although its not completely implausible, I have a hard time imagining a time when Americans would be so destitute and in need of food they would actually NEED to kill half of what we do currently to satisfy their hunger (i.e. legitimizing the food chain)
I don't think I could ever be a completely loyal vegetarian, but when we go out for dinner soon, don't be surprised if I ask for a vegetarian dish :) This was kind of a random post...but this is what happens when I don't realize the tea I'm drinking to put me to sleep actually is the caffeinated stuff
If you have a few minutes, check out this video from current.tv. It gives a little insight into the Veal and Poultry industry and the effects America's vast meat consumption has on the environment. It's pretty interesting...
http://www.current.tv./watch/21723214?s1=topVids&list=topVidsByAssignmentGroup&filterone=0&filtertwo=0&sid=21723214&fr=17
Like most normal kids, I loved hot dogs when I was little (or so my mom tells me.) This stopped abruptly the year my dad turned vegetarian and he calmly told me at the dinner table how they were made. I don't remember the specifics, only the resounding words "SPARE PARTS" and visions of chickens' gizards and pigs' hooves shoved into a tube. Since then, I have eaten a total of 3 hotdogs in 15 years.
I also went through a phase in high school were I didn't eat red meat for almost four years, but that eventually phased itself into the occasional hamburger or helping of roast beef that I eat now. By no means have I ever been a vegetarian, and I never thought I'd get to the point where I could say no to chicken, turkey, or salmon.
But several months ago I became very interested in Zen Buddhism, and while there are no set rules that Buddhists must be vegetarians, the ideal that there is a universal shared life energy/force in every living creature has really started to wear away at me to the point where I have trouble justifying (to myself) eating anything that had to be killed for me to enjoy.
I've thought hunting was a cruel and vicious sport since I was little because most Americans don't need to kill to eat, and although many hunters do eat what they kill, the food is just a bonus. The thrill of the hunt and adrenaline rush of the perfect target is what keeps them coming back. Humans like knowing they are on top of the food chain, and "the food chain" is what most people use to defend the fact they eat meat.
But the food chain doesn't exist in America anymore. Survival of the fittest doesn't even apply since the Meat Industry makes entirely sure they provide millions of pounds of meat everyday for consumers to eat or waste. Although its not completely implausible, I have a hard time imagining a time when Americans would be so destitute and in need of food they would actually NEED to kill half of what we do currently to satisfy their hunger (i.e. legitimizing the food chain)
I don't think I could ever be a completely loyal vegetarian, but when we go out for dinner soon, don't be surprised if I ask for a vegetarian dish :) This was kind of a random post...but this is what happens when I don't realize the tea I'm drinking to put me to sleep actually is the caffeinated stuff
If you have a few minutes, check out this video from current.tv. It gives a little insight into the Veal and Poultry industry and the effects America's vast meat consumption has on the environment. It's pretty interesting...
http://www.current.tv./watch/21723214?s1=topVids&list=topVidsByAssignmentGroup&filterone=0&filtertwo=0&sid=21723214&fr=17
Unlimited Ignorance
HPV, or the Human Papillomavirus, is the number one cause of cervical cancer in women – a disease that kills almost 250,000 women a year worldwide. Over half the American population – both men and women – have HPV at some point in their life. (1) In most cases it clears up on its own, and for men, the effects are minimal and curable. But for women, my lucky gender, it can lead to cancer.
Growing up in Christ Church, I remember praying for the end of a lot of different things – world hunger, political strife, feminism (well…not literally, but might have well since it was preached as "evil" from the pulpit), child abuse, Islam, AIDS (oh wait, didn't pray for a cure for that since it was God's judgment on "the Sodomites"), and finally cancer. However, it would seem that some Christians are never satisfied unless answer to prayer comes on their terms.
A couple years ago I heard rumblings about a shot that would prevent HPV and got extremely excited (as I figured everyone would be) that a prevention for this destructive virus was on the way. The FDA approved the vaccine in 2006, and Guardasil is now offered to females between the ages of 9 – 26. How wonderful – there's no reason (given the shot works like its supposed to, with a 95-100% success rate) families and friends should lose another mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, cousin, niece, granddaughter, or friend to cervical cancer caused by HPV. (2)
But some are not so excited about this cancer preventing vaccine. Since I didn't make it clear before, one important thing to know about HPV is that it is a sexually transmitted disease, and this is the reason various Christian organizations are not happy about it.
"Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," the FRC's Bridget Maher reportedly told New Scientist. "Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex." (3)
How interesting – it didn't even occur to me that preventing cancer and saving girl's lives could be a negative or "harmful" thing – for any reason.
"We're going to be sending a message to a lot of kids, I think, that you just take this shot and you can be as sexually promiscuous as you want and it's not going to be a problem, and that's just not true," Dr. Hal Wallace, who heads the Physicians Consortium, said in a Focus on the Family news release. (4)
Call me crazy, but Guardasil is only known to prevent 2 kinds of STDs (HPV and Genital warts) and with proper sex ed (or common sense), I trust the American youth to understand that they CAN'T be "as sexually promiscuous as [they] want" just because of one shot.
I'll be reasonable though, I can understand parents not wanting their teens or pre-teens having sex (protected or not). I don't think most teens appreciate or completely understand sex, and I'm not going to be the kind of parent who encourages my kids to have rampant premarital sex. However, I am going to be a realistic parent who loves their child enough to 1) educate them about sex and their options and 2) do everything humanly possible to protect them from some of the ramifications of their choices (i.e. birth control, vaccines etc.)
The problem I have with these parents is that they are so concerned with their "Christian moral values" they are potentially harming their children. These parents need to face it that they can tell their kids to abstain until they're blue in the face, but in the end, when their teen has sex, it's a decision they'll make without their parents. I do not understand the type of parent that wouldn't want the safety net of a vaccine that would protect their child from the possibly unhealthy ramifications of their "mistake/sin." There's a lot to be said about having a personal set of ethics and morals – but to impose that on your children to such an extent you put them at risk…to me that's the real "sin."
I'll wrap this up with a quote that made me laugh and want to throw up at the same time. This is from Janet Parshall, a staff member of the Family Research Council in 1999:
"Either have sex before marriage and get an STD and HIV, HPV or an unplanned pregnancy, or you save it until marriage and you live happily ever after."(5)
There is no limitation to ignorance.
Referenced Websites:
1) http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/default.htm
2) http://www.fda.gov/womens/getthefacts/hpv.html
3-5) http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=6587
Growing up in Christ Church, I remember praying for the end of a lot of different things – world hunger, political strife, feminism (well…not literally, but might have well since it was preached as "evil" from the pulpit), child abuse, Islam, AIDS (oh wait, didn't pray for a cure for that since it was God's judgment on "the Sodomites"), and finally cancer. However, it would seem that some Christians are never satisfied unless answer to prayer comes on their terms.
A couple years ago I heard rumblings about a shot that would prevent HPV and got extremely excited (as I figured everyone would be) that a prevention for this destructive virus was on the way. The FDA approved the vaccine in 2006, and Guardasil is now offered to females between the ages of 9 – 26. How wonderful – there's no reason (given the shot works like its supposed to, with a 95-100% success rate) families and friends should lose another mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, cousin, niece, granddaughter, or friend to cervical cancer caused by HPV. (2)
But some are not so excited about this cancer preventing vaccine. Since I didn't make it clear before, one important thing to know about HPV is that it is a sexually transmitted disease, and this is the reason various Christian organizations are not happy about it.
"Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," the FRC's Bridget Maher reportedly told New Scientist. "Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex." (3)
How interesting – it didn't even occur to me that preventing cancer and saving girl's lives could be a negative or "harmful" thing – for any reason.
"We're going to be sending a message to a lot of kids, I think, that you just take this shot and you can be as sexually promiscuous as you want and it's not going to be a problem, and that's just not true," Dr. Hal Wallace, who heads the Physicians Consortium, said in a Focus on the Family news release. (4)
Call me crazy, but Guardasil is only known to prevent 2 kinds of STDs (HPV and Genital warts) and with proper sex ed (or common sense), I trust the American youth to understand that they CAN'T be "as sexually promiscuous as [they] want" just because of one shot.
I'll be reasonable though, I can understand parents not wanting their teens or pre-teens having sex (protected or not). I don't think most teens appreciate or completely understand sex, and I'm not going to be the kind of parent who encourages my kids to have rampant premarital sex. However, I am going to be a realistic parent who loves their child enough to 1) educate them about sex and their options and 2) do everything humanly possible to protect them from some of the ramifications of their choices (i.e. birth control, vaccines etc.)
The problem I have with these parents is that they are so concerned with their "Christian moral values" they are potentially harming their children. These parents need to face it that they can tell their kids to abstain until they're blue in the face, but in the end, when their teen has sex, it's a decision they'll make without their parents. I do not understand the type of parent that wouldn't want the safety net of a vaccine that would protect their child from the possibly unhealthy ramifications of their "mistake/sin." There's a lot to be said about having a personal set of ethics and morals – but to impose that on your children to such an extent you put them at risk…to me that's the real "sin."
I'll wrap this up with a quote that made me laugh and want to throw up at the same time. This is from Janet Parshall, a staff member of the Family Research Council in 1999:
"Either have sex before marriage and get an STD and HIV, HPV or an unplanned pregnancy, or you save it until marriage and you live happily ever after."(5)
There is no limitation to ignorance.
Referenced Websites:
1) http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/default.htm
2) http://www.fda.gov/womens/getthefacts/hpv.html
3-5) http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=6587
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