Hello, lovelies. I'm not a sadist; I won't keep you waiting any longer. I know what you're all dying to hear: a list of everything I ate today. Calm yourselves. I'll deliver.
Breakfast was the same old orange juice and Kashi cereal with soy milk, lunch was a salad, banana, a handful of walnuts/pecans, and (surprisingly vegan!) tator tots. Dinner was an experiment with milk-free frozen meals, this time Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas. They looked disgusting but didn't taste half bad. Salted popcorn and dark chocolate made another appearance as an evening snack. I made my first sacrifice today, in the form of fighting a craving for peanut M&Ms-- even the dark chocolate versions contain several milk ingredients, the bastards-- but I miraculously survived. Also, I'm really getting the hang of distributing my fat and protein intake so I don't end up starving after a plate of raw vegetables, and I have to say, I feel good. Even an entire bag of popcorn doesn't cause the same hungover feeling I used to get from a single piece of pie. I mean, I'm not signing myself up for a lifetime of raw veganism, but in the past four days, I've barely noticed the absence of dairy products. Here's hoping that continues!
You're welcome, internet. I do you such a valuable service; I totally understand why you keep coming back every day.
The rest of today was slow, but thanks to warm thunderstorms outside, pretty. One of my English professors left the windows open during class so that little bits of rain floated in past the whipping curtains and it felt just amazing. Something about rain always makes me feel extraordinarily peaceful, even when going through the motions of an average weekday. I spent today discussing Chaucer, speaking horrible French, analyzing Michelle Tea poems, and posting a silly video on my new second channel whose comments have me laughing out loud. You guys are my type of people. Genuinely awesome company.
Sorry for running short tonight, but it's nearly bedtime and a pile of homework still lurks in my future. OH! Speaking of homework, I need your help with something! For Women and Gender Studies, I have to keep a log over the next week of all the times I'm "reminded of my gender." All I can think to write is, "8am. Wake up. Have vagina." Do you guys have any ideas to help me fill three pages? Anyway, mon vagin et moi allons aller écrivons en français. Goodnight!
Chipotle burritos this year: 4
Subscribers: 48,227
Nail color: "Onyx Rush," Maybelline
Miles run today: 3.5
62 comments:
For your class, while you're off to an excellent start :), maybe you could talk about how doing things like doing nails, choosing outfits remind you that you're female. I know this is awfully superficial (not that I don't love nail polish and clothes), but a lot of what our society thinks of as feminine is pretty superficial. But what do I know about college classes? I'm a high school freshman!
Hayley,
I've given up Youtube for lent (it is killing me), so I haven't seen your 2nd channel yet, but I'm very excited to!
First idea that comes to mind for your project: male/female bathroom lines. It just isn't fair.
it's easy to find gendered stuff in your daily life. getting dressed has tons of gendered choices. Watch 30 minutes of TV and see how much fucking yogurt it tries to force feed you ladies. Look at your bathroom walls and wonder why you don't have urinals. Walk alone around campus at 3am... okay don't do that... stay safe!
This gender issue is really interesting. Until I started studying it seriously this year, I didn't notice how often patriarchal and demeaning language is used all the time. Even by myself.
The expression "Man up!" or "Grow a pair," which frequent my everyday speech, imply that being strong and resilient are specifically masculine qualities, and being a woman is somehow, well, less, AND serves a reminder that I am not male.
I suggest you examine how often people use language like this, anything that denotes the difference between genders. It's super interesting once you get started!
I love your blog! And I love that it's BEDA and I get to read it every day :)
1. Being in the girl's locker room.
2. Having to cross my legs when I sit.
3. Nail polish
4. Looking down and seeing a. short shorts and b. ballet flats
5. Spending time on my hair in the morning
6. Being in the shower. Nuff said.
You can comment on the way society and media portray your gender. If you hear a sexist comment what is your thought process? How do you feel about the clothes in windows of stores that are geared toward women? Do you have to walk home alone in the dark, because you are a women what is your reaction?
We had to do the same assignment for my Human Behavior class. Television commercials are great gender notifications, as they try to advertise all of the fixes to the many female imperfections of society. :)
Oops, just so your teacher won't comment on it, it should be "mon vagin et moi allons aller écrire en français". :) #frenchcanadianfanofhayleyghoover
I am reminded of being a woman when guys in my church group expect me to do the baking for the bake sale and that they can just distribute them.
Another way you can feel fuller is to eat a lot of fiber. The reason why is because fiber (and protein as well) take longer to digest. It has helped me fight off snaking cravings a lot!
So I clicked your like that took me to La Vie Boheme, and now I want to watch Rent!
I can totally help with your class. Focus on anytime you watch tv and see commercials selling you makeup or cleaning supplies or shows in which only pretty women are regulars. Other examples are all over the place. Just try and think of anytime you feel pressure to do something in order to impress others (such as dress nicely) or are told you can't do something because of your gender (like manual labor.) Can't wait for tomorrow's blog. :)
1) Putting on a bra
2) Opening backpack to fetch binder, find tampon rolling around at the bottom
3) Being told to "stop walking like a girl and start marching like a soldier" at Seussical rehearsal.
I realize #3 isn't really geared to females as a whole, but it's just very prevalent in my life these days.
Having to sit down when you pee - SEXISM! That's all I can come up with right now.
Give me some of your tots!
I was reminded of my gender when my communications teacher told us fervently that she had an agreement with her husband to never do laundry, just because she had different organs doesn't make her the best at doing chores. Also, when doing my spring cleaning I noticed alot of dresses which make me happy.
Shaving and other maintence that men don't have to do might remind you of your sex. And going to the women's bathroom instead of the men's although at one of my friend's colleges, I think they only have unisex bathrooms.
If you happen to be on your period, that should be a pretty constant reminder.
*Uh, not that women HAVE to shave if they don't want to.
Tator tots are made up of potatoes, oil, and salt, no? I'd be surprised if they weren't vegan.
I'm reminded of my gender whenever I have to adjust my bra. Which is often.
I've just remembered that I have this problem where if I'm sitting next to a guy on a couch/bench, I am very much reminded of my sex because they tend to spread their legs, taking up as much space as possible, when I... well don't do that.
Anythingsarcastic had a [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjwo1PpB0SI] rant on the subject[/url] in case you're interested.
Another idea about gender would be to document how you find yourself relating to a tv character or book character because of their gender.
Can we discuss how in French vagina is a masculine noun for a moment?
"Times I'm reminded of my gender":
when I tell two boys not to comment on how much a mutual friend, who is a girl, is eating, and they ask me in a snarky voice if I'm "sensitive" about these things.
#impliedvagina
I have a question. I have recently decided to try out vegetarianism, the only problem is I eat every meal in my college caf and the vegetarian options are limited to basically salad, pasta, grilled cheese, cereal, or bagels. As a result I am always hungry and my diet has become very bland. How did you get around the limited options in the caf? Also I told my roommate today that I was trying out vegetarianism and she looked at me like she thought I was a self-righteous hippie. Do you have people who look at you like that and how do you explain it to them?
I haven't read all the other comments as there were many to say the least. But I have to say - How I'm reminded of MY gender? Blow-drying my god damned hair! Pisses me off! How long does hair take to dry!? :P
I think you should be like "Struggled to put on bra. Damn you boobs!" Or "Straightened hair. The trial of being a girl" And just write down every single thing you do, and somehow tie it into your gender. I had to do something similar for a Women in Canadian Society Class my first year, and I took a real sarcastic approach and my prof loved it.
I'm usually reminded of how female I am when I'm hanging out with my boyfriend, picking out clothes, getting (creepily) stared down by that random lurking guy who always seems to spot you on your walk across campus, buying tampons, buying clothes or hair accessories, or talking about myself in the third person when I have to use feminine pronouns. :)
http://abbie-turned-normal.blogspot.com
Ideas....
have to pee= have to use the women's restroom
have to put on a bra= woman
certain TV shows/commercials= geared towards women
notice the tone and pitch of your own voice vs. a man's
observing social gatherings and interactions= certain conversations/ways people relate can be gender specific
I always look at the contors of male and female faces...if I caught that person's face at a glance or from this angle or that, would I know they were male and female? Looking in the mirror what makes my face feminine?
And then of course the usual- makeup, nail polish, shaving, doing your hair all can be gender specific.
Best of luck!!
Aside from all the suggestions you got from the other commenters, I feel like if you keep the assignment in the back of your head for the next couple of days, you probably will actually notice your gender when certain situations arise. I studied Simone de Beauvoir at school recently, and since then I've definitely been noticing my gender more often. Examples for me have been when a male friend said, "yeah, I don't think there will be a female Prime Minister for a hundred years or so...it's just a weird societal thing" as if it didn't really matter anyway, building a set for a play with power tools and being aware that guys are expected to know how to use them and girls aren't, and certain social situations when you're the only girl around (definitely changes the dynamic).
Sounds like an interesting assignment! I would love to hear how it turns out.
Oh- and when writing essays in the third person and noticing that the default is usually to say something like "The individual is responsible for HIS own choices", because we have no non gendered singular pronoun in English. Once I noticed that I started using "her" and "she" in certain essays.
Just a quick note without wanting to sound like a smart ass.
"mon vagin et moi allons aller écrivons en français" should be "mon vagin et moi allons aller écrire en français" or "mon vagin et moi écrivons en français".
I contacted you thru a YouTube comment on one of your videos.
Im a french native speaker living in France.I studied english/french and french/english translation in college.So if you need any help with your homework or whatnot let me know.I would be more than happy to help my favorite YouTuber/Blogger.
Let me know in your blog if you need any help and I will leave you my email adress.
Boooooooobs! I'm on my way to school so I can't think of suggestions for your gender assignment at the moment...but if I come across anything helpful I'll be sure to leave a less obnoxious comment. Good luck!
I think for your class, even using simple things is good (like using the bathroom- if it's a public restroom, you go into the girls' room.)
Maybe even write down the use of the words woman and female, since the only thing that makes those words feminine rather than masculine are the first two letters.
I'm a vegan, and I highly recommend Amy's bean burritos <3 I think I will go eat one now xD
If you want a good edge when you come round to discussing it in class, have a read around ''queer theory'', it's an area of Sociology I took a module in back in uni and would really help put this into an academic perspective (and score points with your proff!). It's basically a discipline about how discourses are socially constructed around gender.
Think about a child born with both male and female genitalia...at a very early age the parents are pressured to align the child to one or the other gender(sometimes via extreme surgery) but what about a child of both genders makes us so uncomfortable? Do we need to KNOW it's a he or a she in order for it to fit into society as we've made it? It's a good starting point when considering queer theory I think.
Queer theory also looks at everything we do from the way we talk, dress, act, walk as an ACT that we put on to display to the outside world who we are...this includes what gender we are.
Foucault is great too! -''The History of Sexuality'' is a really useful tool to be able to draw from in discussions.
I'm reminded of my gender when people tell sexist jokes, when I see tv ads about women being ecstatic about an epilator. When men look at my boobs. In my bathroom,when I see all the products I feel compelled to use because I'm a woman. When people say "you'll see when you grow older, you'll want a baby too".
ps: You'd write: Mon vagin et moi allons écrire en français" (I know, people who correct your grammar are annoying ;p). I'm French btw,so you can totally correct my mistakes in english..because you're gonna find a lot of those :p
You've already got some really great suggestions, but I will ad my two cents anyways. When you walk around campus or ride the bus think about how you feel in certain situations, like if you are on a bus with just women versus being on it with just men. Also think about what sorts of activities you and your (girl) friends do compared to what a boy and his (boy) friends might do.
I notice I am female when I go out drinking with my friends. I watch boys repeatedly get black out drunk and wander home by themselves. If a girl did that I would go as far as to say that it would be likely that they got assaulted, and even worse many people would believe that the girl was asking for it with her behaviour. I notice I am female every time I am in public alone at night and I feel compelled to hold my keys as a weapon in case i get attacked. Especially because the men I know do not possess the fear that I do.
Man, everytime I read your entries I feel so hungry haha. I'm glad your doing well on your vegan diet. I don't really know what'd I say reminds me of my femininity. Probably how sometimes I feel like it's necessary to wear makeup or if I put in a little extra time on a outfit. I don't really know. Jealous of your profs opening the windows because it wasn't until recently that I noticed that even though all the buildings on my campus have loads of windows, NONE of the lecture halls I'm in have any so it probably contributes to the feeling of sleepiness with all that artificial light. Well, I think I've rambled on enough now but I'm really enjoying your BEDA posts!
Paper:
Something about emotional differences? I always notice when I talk to guys the huge difference in the way we process emotions or even just the different ways we think, the different ways we're socialized, etc.
I'm always reminded that I'm a girl when I hug another girl. Boobs bumping against each other is an uncomfortable reminder of my being female.
Your entry for your assignment made me laugh.
I'm reminded of my femininity when I have to explain other girls' actions/motives/thought processes to my guy-friends, and when I find that the neckline of my shirt is slightly lower than I thought it was and "hm, how do I go about getting that thing off the floor while bearing that in mind?"
Heyley, I'm curious whether you could write a more in-depth blog post about the details of your experimental, dairy-free diet? Or maybe just point us to some good resources for research? I don't eat much dairy anyway, but I'd like to learn more about it.
The moment when you realize you're the only one in the house to know the difference between "wash" and "rinse". You're surprised who does the dishes...?
And Heather, your resolution to give up YouTube for lent is amazing. I wish I could have so much will power!
First, you're amazing.
Second, interesting assignment. My entries would look like this:
"Sees oh-so-attractive guy in cafeteria this morning. Wonders if he's single."
"Walks into guy's dorm. The smell reminds me I like to shower."
Also, girls tend to be more sensitive than guys. I don't know how that would fit in thought. Good luck!
I feel like your professor is probably looking for things like when a guy offers to carry something for you because he assumes you're a weak girl. Or when someone assumes you like high heels and the color pink. Stuff like that. Maybe? I know I think about my gender every time I'm stereotyped.
Oh! Or any time a male person mentions a girl's period. They're idiots.
I hate to break it to you... vagina is sex, not gender. Gender is your attitude, sort of. So, when you put on make up or do hair, or other "girly" things, that would work.
I didn't read every comment, so I apologize if I repeat anything that's already been said.
Just to give a little background, I'm a high school junior who runs distance for track & field. I'm reminded of my "gender" when I go running. While my boyfriend can go running anywhere at any time of the day, I only feel safe in public places during daylight hours, and only if I have my cell phone. And while the boys on track take their shirts of without a second thought, I'm always nervous about running in just my sports bra, lest I attract unwanted attention. I hate sweating in cotton t-shirts while the boys run free.
In addition, I am heavily involved with the mathematic/scientific community at my school - science olympiad team, science bowl team, Science National Honor Society, math team, Mu Alpha Theta, AP Chemistry, etc. I find that in these activities, many people assume the boys to be smarter. Despite being in the Top 10 for my grade with various academic awards, I consistently find myself on "B Team" at competitions. It's hurtful to be overlooked, even by teachers, for less-prepared boys.
Think about how many curse words have feminine connotations. We think of boy parts as having positive attributes ("you've got balls" means you're gutsy, a good thing) and girl parts as having negative attributes ("Stop being such a pussy" means you're a wimp, a bad thing). There are lots more. :)
I'm a biblical studies major at a Christian college and I've been to several conferences this year where I was one of maybe three girls in every session I went to. It was the most uncomfortable and awkward experience of my life. And it made me hyper-aware of my skirts and breasts. :p
Sexist YouTube trolls?
I'm sure someone already commented on this (I lazily didn't want to go through 50+ comments to find out), but using the women's bathroom is definitely a reminder of your gender, including the experience of the ladies' toilet: waiting in a longer line, seeing girls fixing their hair or makeup or something in front of the mirrors, etc.
Just look harder at the little things,
like if a guys holds the door open for you cause thats the gentlemanly thing to do.
or if you are standing in line for the girls bathroom. there is never a line for the mens room...
or just whenever you see a makeup commercial honestly...
I'm a high school senior and I'm taking Women's Voices. it's opened my eyes so much about the female image.
btw, I just started to read your blog daily. A lot of the issues you are going through and you're beliefs are quite similar to mine. I shared the list of things you don't have to be from your Presence blog to my womens voices class and they loved it. I just wanted to say i really look up to you :)
I'm especially reminded of my gender when I really really have to pee and I wish I had a penis so I could hide behind something and just do it :( frustrating.
A possibility for something that reminds you of your gender is door-holding. I have a guy friend who always holds the door for girls, even if they're really far away. (It actually pisses me off a bit.)
One thing that always happened when I was in younger grades was that female teachers would say, "Oh, I need all the boys out here in the hallway to carry these superheavyboxes that I can't lift myself! Please carry them outside." Not once did they ask a girl to do so, and all the strong girls would glance at each other and murmur about the sexism of it.
Why is it that whenever anyone mentions gender, it simply turns into bash-on-men-time?
I realize that this comment is exceptionally late, but I felt the need to comment. Anything to do with your physical body (like, oh vagina, for instance) or period, or boobs doesn't have anything to do with reminding you of your gender. Your gender has everything to do with what you identify as, not your sex. So therefore - not boobs or vagina at all.
Sorry if that sounded bitchy, I didn't mean it to be. O_O it was also mostly aimed at the comments.
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