A Quickie

I just bought my first issue of Bust magazine which proclaims itself as being "For women with something to get off their chests." So far it looks pretty good (as does Jermaine of Flight of the Conchords on the cover hubba hubba) but the website is www.bust.com if you want to cruise its philosophy and ideas before spending the somewhat pricey $6.99 on it.

A little side-note is that there is a video on the website about the "This is what a feminist looks like" campaign. I am not sure if I am a huge fan of the idea to create an image of a feminist by using primarily good-looking celebrity figures, but whatever helps the movement! Also there is a point made by a woman who says that "Acknowledging you're a feminist is an act of gratitude for the people who went before you and fought for the rights that you're now enjoying." I think that about sums up my ideas in the previous post, and is a good way to define one of the aspects of feminism that most pass over.

Freedom Torches

Lately I have been constantly thinking about cigarettes. About the way they look, how they smell, what they signify and their contribution to our society as a whole throughout history and presently. In theory, it is a really lovely practice. You get to go outside, away from everyone else, have a little moment to yourself to think about what's happened so far throughout your day or night. If you happen to find another smoker, you get to share that personal moment with them, have a splendid chat, and just escape the world you had been a part of just a second ago. If you are interested in that person, smoking can be a very sensual thing, as the constant bringing of the cigarette to your mouth encourages a little oral fixation, especially if you two are sharing one cigarette. Plus, thanks to sexy movie scenes, the smoke surrounding your faces creates a dream-like aesthetic to your shared experience.

I don't want to go into the negative effects of smoking because I know them and I know you know them and I am not a smoker whatsoever so that is not even an issue. However, what is at the center of my thoughts is the history of cigarette-smoking and its associations (or lack their of) with modern feminism.

During the 1920s, it was illegal for women to smoke outside, and one women in 1922 was even arrested in New York for lighting up on the street. As more women protested, smoking became a form of liberation and a sign of a new, free woman. Cigarettes had been seen as something for men only, and women were once again confined to the home in order to enjoy this cultural tradition. Because of its phallic symbolism, smoking embodied a sign of new feminine power as women started to take on roles traditionally thought of to be men's. At the time, the ability to smoke went alongside the freedom and power associated with the vote women had just achieved, taking on men's jobs, and overall public recognition.

I am not advocating smoking three packs a day. I am not even sure if I want to advocate smoking at all. What I do want to bring attention to are the aspects of society previous to us that contemporary feminism forgets, simply because of their somewhat controversial nature. Cigarettes meant power for women of the 1920s, and who are we to judge what they deemed as influential to gaining that power in their lives. Perhaps the medical world was ignorant to how bad cigarettes were for your health at the time, but for us to be ignorant to the importance smoking held for women of the past is no better. So, next time you light up outside the bar, try to take a second of your little personal moment and think about the women who worked to spark the flame that you were able to ignite...

My "Don't Fuckit Up" List

Inspired by a fellow female follower, here is a little list of things I want to accomplish throughout my time left, otherwise known as The Bucket List, otherwise known as my Life To-Do List since The Bucket List was such a shitty movie:

1. Learn Italian
2. Write my own version of Alanis' ex-relationship museum song "Unsent"
3. Be in the same city as the Olympics (other than my own city)
4. Exhibit a collection of my art
5. Shave my head
6. French kiss someone not 4 years younger than me in Paris
7. Get in a physical fight
8. Publish something
9. Get married in Vegas
10. Have naked pictures displayed of me in public
11. Be on a reality TV show
12. Live in Montreal for a summer
13. Learn how to drive standard but only if I own a red convertible
14. Name one of my kids Dylan
15. Write a letter to a fan-club and receive one in return (Rosie never wrote back)
16. Get arrested
17. Be thanked in an acceptance speech
18. Swim on the side of Canada I haven't yet
19. Try LSD
20. Give blood
21. Graduate university

If all goes according to plan, I will be able to knock at least one thing off my list every year before my birthday, and then each birthday replace those things and add one more for each year of my life. That way, my goals will only increase with age!

PS I may edit these later, I am kind of just writing off the top of my head and I know will think about about 56 better ones in my next class.