Posts by Danielle
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Firstly, we are conditioned to not make a fuss.
I am so much more bolshy online than in person and it's mainly because of this. "Oh goodness, if I get snotty about this then I am going to seem really impolite."
-
Up Front: The Missing Stair and the…, in reply to Marcus Turner,
Was the argument awkward because of what you thought they might think of you?
No, it was awkward because a) I was in their house, eating their food; b) they are older; c) one of them was going to be the MC at my grandfather's funeral the next day, at which I was also speaking, and I wasn't sure if they were going to be snotty about it forever or let it lie. Context is everything. :)
-
In April, when we were in Invercargill for my grandfather's funeral, I ended up having kind of an awkward argument about marriage equality while at dinner at some relatives' house. (Spoiler alert: they were not for it.) And what kills me is that earlier that day, while I was searching for their address, I found their names attached to the protect marriage petition, so I *knew* they weren't on my side, and I made brave noises about how I wasn't going to bring it up at all, and I planned to make normal conversation over my mashed potatoes, and then THEY bloody well brought it up and I was forced against my will to say my piece (with, oddly, the vocal support of my 59-year-old heterosexual blokey builder uncle) and it was, generally, a bit awful.
The thing is, this is not uncommon. And there are a lot of people in my family that I really do, honestly, like very much except sometimes they say the WORST things. What if practically your entire family on both sides has moments of Missing Stairness? Or is that a different phenomenon altogether?
-
Parental instructions issued from a lavatory are difficult to enforce; unnecessary lingering almost always leads to disaster.
What amazes me is that you were ever left alone at all to... do your business. I often have an in-room audience of a preschooler, a toddler and a dog. The only advantage is that now the older one is in the process of toilet training, I will usually get a round of applause from him. "Good peeing, Mama! HOORAY!" It can feel quite validating.
-
Up Front: Everyone is Wrong. And Right. Whatever., in reply to Chris Waugh,
2: The links down the righthand sidebar seem to do a very good job of helping perpetuate the sexism.
And yet somehow, despite the sexist culture in which we are steeped, most of us manage not to send rape threats to feminists.
-
Muse: How (Not) To Be Incredibly Racist…, in reply to a Denhem,
PS there are real race and gender problems out there. This is just reaching - with some very short stubby limbs.
Yeah Craig, how dare you use your platform as a blogger about the arts to, like, blog about the arts? I am SHOCKED.
-
Up Front: Everyone is Wrong. And Right. Whatever., in reply to Bart Janssen,
the corporate culture of Twitter is … um … lacking
Isn't it more that the culture of the internet in general (with a few exceptions) is lacking? I mean, any comments section anywhere (I know, I know, never read the comments) is absolutely rife with "I'd hit that" and "feminazi" and yadda yadda yadda. It's all one big continuum of Shut Up Ladies, Or If You Must Speak, Do It At Essential Mums.
-
Up Front: Everyone is Wrong. And Right. Whatever., in reply to Emma Hart,
That’s not a staffing problem, it’s an attitude problem.
Basically, every time this sort of thing happens and responses both official and unofficial are variants on a shrug and a "whaddahyagonnado", it sends the message that it's not possible to change things and that being regularly threatened with rape and violence is kinda sorta acceptable. BLAH.
-
Hard News: It's worse than you think, in reply to Brent Jackson,
the few National supporters that I have ever encountered
The rarefied real-life bubble in which I exist is never more obvious to me than when I read the poll numbers. I cannot think of one single person I see regularly who is a National supporter. And yet they are apparently all over the place!
-
I was babbling inanely about this on Twitter last night and I found myself mostly in your position, Emma. Which was: I get why you're doing this, but I think it would be pointless for me to take part because I aspire to be a Lindy West type, not a silent protest type. Yet I'm not going to be angry or judgey about the pointlessness, because why be that way? People do what they can to deal with Being a Woman on the Internet. (To quote Lindy, linked up there, "I'm sick of being told that I'm navigating my own abuse wrong.")