When is White Men's History Month?

Yesterday was the last day of February, and thus the last day of Black History Month. Today begins Women's History Month, and then in April, we can finally return to discussing who really matters in America:

White men.

I realize I'm painting with a broad brush, but the fact remains that schools still teach white male narratives as Normal, but stories of people of color (POC) or women as Other.

Even Google has problems representing historic figures who aren't white men.

via Spark Movement

When we do remember the stories of black Americans, we confine their history to the abolition of slavery in the 1860s and the Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s. Absolutely we should study Frederick Douglass, and Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman. We should all know the names of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. 

But the history of black Americans is greater than two decades worth of accomplishments. 


In school, we learn about Joseph Smith, who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830. But do our teachers mention Richard Allen, who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816?

We read Emily Dickinson's poetry in English class, after skipping over Phillis Wheatley.

Everyone knows about Amelia Earhart's accomplishments, but what about Bessie Coleman's aviation record?

Until the history of black Americans, and the history of women, are fully integrated into our classrooms, we will continue to have a need for two months dedicated to their history.

This month, I encourage you to research not only women's history, but specifically the history of women of color (WOC). Found at the intersection of both racism and sexism, they are the most underrepresented. 

For bonus points, go beyond the history of famous people. Discover the lives of everyday women in different time periods and different geographic regions. American history is much richer than a list of presidents and wars!

What was your K-12 education like?

Did you escape the male white narrative?

Let me know in the comments!

*Disclaimer: My degree is in history, and I also minored in Women's and Gender Studies. My points on who is and is not studied in school are based on my public school classes, not counting my AP US History class. I certainly don't expect the average person to have the same sort of historical knowledge I acquired with my college degree!

Belle, the Disney Princess

You know who you remind me of, Belle? 

A Disney princess.

This is hands-down the best compliment I’ve ever received.

I know this might seem unusual coming from such an outspoken feminist, but I can’t help it. I love all things Disney, and all things princessy. Disney princesses are the best.

With my tiara and fan in Toronto

I’m obviously aware that the earlier Disney princesses aren’t the best of role models for little girls, and most critiques of my favorite princess (Belle, duh) suggest she suffers from Stockholm syndrome. The earlier Disney princesses are very passive, and even the later Disney princesses mostly end up married… to men, of course. Disney is very heteronormative.

via pink-martini on tumblr, created prior to Tangled or Brave

 

But does that mean there isn’t a place for Disney princesses in little girls’ and even grown women’s lives?

To Thine Own Self Be True

I'm almost done writing Saturday's post. I jumped ahead, because it looks like a nice and easy short prompt. But then I got stuck trying to make it pretty, and gargh, I'm so frustrated. This whole blogging every day is HARD, y'all.

I have so much advice, y'all. Like learn a second language. Try new things. Only engage in consensual sexual behavior. Visit Paris.

But I want to offer more general advice, for all people, at any age, in any stage of life.

What's so cool about literature is how open to interpretation it is. Shakespeare wrote "To thine own self be true" in Hamlet, through the voice of Polonius, speaking to his son Laertes. (Yes, I googled all of this).

My interpretation is this:

Be honest with yourself. Saving coitus for marriage is an arbitrary line along a sexual spectrum, but saving a sexual experience for only my husband is important to me.

Do your own thing. I blog about virginity.

Listen to the counsel of others, but then make your own decisions. My youth pastor in undergrad said masturbation is a sexual sin. I prayed about it. I disagree.

Don't compare yourself to others. Everyone has so many more readers than I do... It's hard to follow my own advice sometimes.

Celebrate your uniqueness. I haven't found another blog that focuses on sexy virginity.

Acknowledge your sameness. We all just want to change the world and connect with other people through our writing.

Never lose sight of who you are. According to Beau, I'm perfect. ♥

What advice do you have for me?

New Year, New Apartment, New Belle

Wow, it's 2013 already. When did that happen?

2012 was crazy. Just like 2011. And 2010.

In 2012, I lived in New York for the first two months, then Toronto for four months, home in the South for three weeks, and finally in the Midwest for five months, with a whole week of that being in my new apartment.

I went from being a live-in au pair to doing social media and assorted IT stuff for a start-up company. Yeah, I'm still confused about that too.

The boyfriend and I went from very long-distance (an airplane) to long-distance (a six-hour drive) to medium-distance (driving two hours!).

My twin brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor that miraculously went away with surgery.

My car died. I became an emotional wreck. The boyfriend gave me a car for Christmas. I finally figured out humility. 

Both my twitter followers and blog readers grew by leaps and bounds. I expanded my blog posts a little bit. I don't always talk about only virginity. I write about books, and feminism, and family, and sex, and politics, and fun stuff like that. 

I even GULP participated in a giveaway.* You know, one of those shameless promotions to gain followers who sometimes keep following you, but often unfollow you when the giveaway is over? You know, one of those fun things where you can be generous to other people?

Awesome giveaway hosted by Bonnie!

I even survived the Apocalypse!

I live a crazy life. It's how I roll. I'm pretty sure 2013 will be just as up and down as my previous years. Some changes I can anticipate. Others will be unexpected challenges.

For my readers, you'll notice a few changes. I'm not going to focus as much on only blogging about sex/virginity. I did expand some this past year, but I feel more comfortable now writing like a real blogger, and not just some funny academic essayist. Of course, this is partly because I will be writing a column for HI! Magazine. A funny academic essayist column on virginity. So... there's that.

As much as I will strive to keep up my 3-7 posts a month range I've got going on, I can't make any promises. See, another change I'm (hopefully) making is getting a second part-time job for a little extra spending money... plus health insurance. This will eat into my writing time. 

That, and my only New Year's resolution is to read Les Misérables. En français. Also, my non-resolution, just regular goal of reading 53 books this year. I read 51 last year, with a goal of 52. Reading is important.

Edit: I totally forgot to mention one of the biggest changes. I didn't just move into a new apartment--I moved into my first apartment without a roommate. Turning it into my own little home will also be totally time-consuming.

All that said, big changes are in store for Belle and Beau** in 2013. Who knows, we might even experience coitus for the first time.***

Whatever happens, I'll be here, blogging away. This is, after all...

Confessions of a Virgin. 

*When the boyfriend donated to How to Lose Your Virginity, our prize packages included two cherry pendants. I gave one away. I briefly reached 51 blog followers by participating--I'm down to 48 now. But. I'm following one young woman who followed me and gave me crazy-awesome compliments on my blog. Genna's super-cool.
**If you're new here, that's me and the boyfriend.
***Kidding. Mostly. 

Book Club Friday: The Hunger Games (eek!)

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably at least heard about the cultural phenomenon The Hunger Games, first a best-selling trilogy and now a box office hit. I first read the trilogy back in the fall, and I recently reread all three books in anticipation of the midnight showing last week. It only seems appropriate to dedicate this week's Book Club Friday to the first (and best) of the three.

Confession: When it comes to books, I can be a bit of a snob. The more popular a novel, series, or author is with a mainstream audience, the more I resist reading. After years of my favorite librarians telling me to try Harry Potter, I finally acquiesced one Christmas Eve while visiting my mom's family. I was 12 1/2 years old, and my aunt & uncle had just given my family the first three Harry Potter novels. Having already finished the 25 books I'd brought with me for our two-week vacation, I reluctantly started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My life has never been the same. I only read Twilight because I had to work the midnight release party for Breaking Dawn--and because bookstore employees could "check out" books from the bookstore like a library.

This fall, I gave in to all my friends who were encouraging me to try Suzanne Collins's trilogy.

I will be eternally grateful for all their harassment.