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Was I not being obvious enough about the whole affair?
Lily pad nation, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
We’ll my simple male mind readily picked up on it.
Auphelia, Lily pad nation, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
^^^ please considering joining, y'all! The SPSF does the noble work of defending democracy and regional sovereignty across the world!
Beepee, SPSF Tidal Force, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
Goodness, I was being obvious then!
It's a pity about that mind of yours. Wouldn't you much rather have the mind of a woman?
Drystar, Proctethia, Steampunk engineers, and Costa iswi
Auphelia, Lily pad nation, Proctethia, Steampunk engineers, and 1 otherIym winterless
I have many opinions.
Why?
Because women are inferior, and therefore things associated with us are inferior.
I find it interesting how there is no way for a woman to just be, as we're always a type. Meanwhile, men can luxuriate in their anonymity, not having to define themselves in every decision they make. Women can never be ourselves, but rather the sum total of the opinions people have of us based on our choices. Nothing a woman does can be unmarked, because male is the baseline upon which everything is judged. Of course, this all is not to say that men cannot be marked, but rather that they constantly have the option to be unmarked, comfortable in anonymity, someone who can define themselves as them rather than having assumptions made about them.
Mr conveys nothing except that someone is male. Miss or Mrs defines a woman by her marital status, and about the level of conservative values she may harbour. A Ms declines to answer the question (though a Mr declines nothing, as nothing was asked of him), marking a woman as rebellious or liberated, depending on how someone interpreting her preferred title views the world.
A woman can do nothing with her hair without being judged. Even to do nothing marks us as unkempt, untidy. To have short hair we seen as unfeminine and "butch", probably lesbians. To have long hair holds a whole host of other ways to be marked, with the various styles and colours that are expected of us. A man can simply have short hair and be fine, with little attention called to it and thus is unmarked.
A woman with makeup on is defined by that. A bold red lipstick, heavy eyeliner and lots of eye shadow may be seen as garish and overtly sexual (as anything feminine is), conveying a lack of class and intelligence (as anything feminine does). A hint of blush and a tinted lip gloss is subtle but conveys class, just enough to conform to her femininity, good for a place of business where appearance might be important, given it is also not overtly feminine. Having no makeup at all for a woman is a sign of not caring about her appearance. On the other hand, a man with no makeup is a man unmarked. Men can wear makeup, and therefore be marked, but he has the choice not to be. He is able to choose, which is something denied to women.
I've often been called "_____ for a woman", typically belligerent, loud, or fun. On the other hand, I have never heard the same said about men. Men are given more freedom to express themselves in their behaviours, and thus have more ability to express their personalities while remaining unmarked. They are not "that" kind of man; they are simply who they are. A problem of this is also that women are often minorities in fields of power. When that happens, we become representatives of our gender as a whole, which does not serve to make us an unmarked hegemony, but rather make every woman to be who you now are. If you fail, you fail for every woman in the eyes of those around you. If you succeed, you succeed for yourself. This also puts more pressure on women to perform, which leads to more markers, like "driven" and "career oriented", which can be seen as "too aggressive", something relatively unmarked when applied to a man.
Now, some may say that women have it worse in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, so why do women in countries like France and Canada complain? Comments like those are problematic, mainly because they distract from the existence of this oppression, the being othered that occurs at every level of society. Oppression that is more blatant in one area does not negate oppression to a lesser degree elsewhere; it is not a zero-sum game that can be won -- rather, when anyone is oppressed, everyone loses. Many who do not see this otherness, or distract from it by pointing to history or across the globe, and insist that women truly are equal . . . are men. This is not an opinion, but simply a fact. The reason many men do not see this largely silent oppression is because men are the ones who benefit from the patriarchal structures that make this othering of women possible, treating us as inferior in subtle ways, eroding our confidence in ourselves and our ability to succeed. When confronted with the fact that your privilege comes at the expense of others, or even that you have privilege at all, can be hard to accept. Society largely reinforces the idea that men are strong and capable; taking that to heart only to have it revealed that they might not have gotten to where they are on their own can be disheartening, something they might want to reject.
This marking of women conveys itself into even places where one would think these physical traits and external features wouldn't matter, like the internet. The very language we use, aside from marking marital status, reinforces the idea of a woman being lesser or extra to the baseline that is manhood. Markers like ess and ette make a word feminine, and therefore lesser. An actor is someone serious about their role and dedicated to their craft. An actress is a ditsy starlet who obsesses over her looks. Serious professions, like doctors or lawyers, do not use these markers to denote women, because the professions are serious, and therefore have no place for the lesser denotation of womanhood. A doctorette or a lawyeress has no place safeguarding your health or ensuring the law is maintained.
When we make women the other and mark the other as inferior, while men can choose to remain unmarked, we do no favours to either gender. Why is masculinity fine, but femininity something to be afraid of? Why are serious, more masculine (though not too masculine) women considered serious, while a bright, cheery woman in a dress considered less so? It baffles me, and is something society as a whole should consider every time they make assumptions based on external factors. What is driving this train of thought? Why do I consider this person this way? Should I penalise someone because of how they appear to me, or realise my own internal biases and experiences have shaped what I consider good or appropriate?
Asking these questions won't solve the problem, but it might just help each of us make things a little bit better.
Drystar, Linguiniland, Lily pad nation, Proctethia, and 1 otherSteampunk engineers
Auphelia, Beepee, Linguiniland, Lily pad nation, and 2 othersProctethia, and Steampunk engineers
No thanks I’m quite fine the way I am. I’m less of a threat to the Okapi guard and get to doze in Quiescents blanket fort. It also allows me to argue with Volaworand and Drystar about the greatness of Debbie Gibson over lesser 80’s pop divas.
Drystar, Quiescent, Auphelia, Volaworand, and 3 othersLily pad nation, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
I get into trouble whenever I get caught with a woman’s mind. After that whole Frankenstein affair, they keep tabs on my location.
And lord knows you like to regale me with them on those long morning office meetings. It’s a toss up what’s going to kill me, the doughnuts or you telling that Norway story one more time.
Auphelia, Beepee, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
I love this person. thank you for this.
Auphelia, Linguiniland, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
Oh no! Jumping out the window wasn’t enough of an escape!
*buries self in a small bunker underground*
Auphelia and Proctethia
Well you won't let me tell you the Lhasa, Havana, Bogota, Dakar, Jakarta, Karachi, Adelaide, or Capetown stories anymore.
Also, if anything was going to kill you, it would be the wolverine I put in your bag.
Honestly, I don't know what has happened to this region.
Cute.
Drystar, Siyania, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
*takes this as a threat and hides in the woods*
Drystar, Auphelia, Siyania, and Proctethia
Oh would you like to know more about our goddess and tormenter savior?
*Sticks a marshmallow in your mouth and a cannoli in your hand*
(1)In the beginning there was only the great Auphelia and she looked out upon the nothingness and thought to herself well this is boring. (2)The great Auphelia uncurled her tentacles and from within them sprang forth three beings for her to torment: (3)The Fox, The Dragon, and The Dog. (4)Auphelia saw these three play things and smiled as she began to devour her creations because it was fun, and she was hungry. (5)The Dog sensing his imminent destruction begged his creator not to devour him because he was small and instead to devour the large scaly thing that would surely challenge the Goddess for power.
(6)The Dragon unaware of the destruction that was about to befall her had set about wrapping her coils around The Fox, because he was small and frail, yet she was so large and strong. (7)Seeing the gaping maw of the great Auphelia blot out all of existence the Fox, yelped in terror that he and the Dragon not be devoured by the goddess for they would give her heart burn and get fur and scales stuck between her many rows of teeth. (8)Enraged that her creations would not do her bidding the great Auphelia stretched her tentacles wide and flung the Fox, the Dragon, and the Dog far from her. (9)Everywhere her many tentacles stretched existence sprung forth until the entirety of The South Pacific blossomed under her form. (10)Annoyed by her playthings the goddess slumbered.
(11)Fearful that the great Auphelia would seek to wreak havoc upon them the Dragon, grasped a small piece of the goddess in her claws as she fell and set it ablaze with her fire so that she may keep watch for the goddess in case of her return. (12)Sensing the warmth of the miniscule light, the great Auphelia increased it in glorious size so that it would keep her warm. (13)Knowing that the Dragon wanted the light badly, the great Auphelia cast the light far above her out of the Dragons reach.
(14)Seeing the Dragon cry in terror that the light she had made was taken from her the Fox, began to bind some of his fur together, and with a tear from the Dragon, he created a smaller silver ball that reflected some of the warmth from the great light upon the Dragon. (15)Seeing the joy that this caused the Dragon the great Auphelia took the silver ball and cast it too into the sky far above but in the opposite direction of the great light. (16)The great Auphelia then stretched out with her tentacles and grasped the Fox and the Dragon and with such force cast them into their own creations. (17)Banishing them to be forever apart. (18)The Dog seeing the Dragon and The Fox crying in desperation at their sudden abandonment and imminent solitary confinement set about a plan. (19)Catching the large ball of light in its mouth the Dog flung it over his shoulder so that it would travel around the great Auphelia and the land she had created below her. (20)The Dog then retrieved the smaller silver ball and tossed it over his other shoulder with an even greater force so that it would travel around the great Auphelia in the opposite direction. (21)This guaranteed that the Fox and the Dragon, though separated, would still be able to meet at least twice a day as they traveled around the great Auphelia.
(22)Seeing that her fun had been interrupted by the Dog the great Auphelia said Bad Doggie as her tentacle smashed into the Dog and he fractured the land upon which he landed. (23)Pain overcame the Dog and he began to cry tear of heart felt hurt. (24)His tears filled up the cracks between the lands and formed the great seas and oceans that separate the great lands of The South Pacific. (25)When the great Auphelia looked over what was created with the land and seas below and the sun and moon above, she smiled that it was good. (26)Content in her grandeur and creation the great Auphelia retracted her tentacles and slumbered once again.
Drystar, Auphelia, Beepee, Siyania, and 3 othersProctethia, Steampunk engineers, and Costa iswi
slowly killing my disposable income stat...
Auphelia, Beepee, Proctethia, Steampunk engineers, and 1 otherCosta iswi
We have a wood chipper for a reason, you do realize?
Auphelia, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
*changes direction, taking a boat out to sea*
Drystar, Auphelia, and Proctethia
Did you get the keys from TSSS?
Drystar, Auphelia, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
Issues tend to do that. Some of the options to remove legislation and oversight even increase taxes, contrary to reason.
Just wait for the issue that lets you hack away at all government departments, and take a chainsaw to them. Soon after there's a panicked "the economy has collapsed???" issue, but don't be fooled; don't restore anything, and let your future issues slowly bring everything back how you like.
Here's what my strategy looks like in action: nation=delthorensdale/detail=trend?censusid=85
Siyania, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
Ooh, plenty of water. How lovely.
Drystar, fetch my board, will you?
Ooh, and get the wood chipper on a boat.
Drystar, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
*jumps out the boat and hides in undersea cavern*
Drystar, Auphelia, and Proctethia
Who needs a key, I’ve been hot wiring this since we rented it for Home Depot.
Btw, Tiffany is better then Debbie
Auphelia, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
You do realize that you are trying to hide from a chuthlu like goddess that makes anything the either Lovecraft or Geiger could dream up look cute and cuddly by comparison.
Auphelia, Proctethia, and Steampunk engineers
*passes out from fear*
Drystar, Auphelia, and Proctethia
Oh, you're too kind.
. . .
Keep going.
Oh, it's not fun if they're unconscious.
I'm no Cosby.
Drystar, Linguiniland, Lily pad nation, Proctethia, and 1 otherSteampunk engineers
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