Writing the first post on a new blog is pretty intimidating. I originally decided I wanted to take up internet writing again after Wendy Shalit visited my college to give a talk. While agreeing with most of my classmates that the modern abstinence/modesty movement makes dangerous claims about gender roles (i.e. men are sexual aggressors, while women are sexual objects; men ask for sex, and women refuse sex; men want sex, women want stability), I also came away from conversations with my classmates feeling deeply hurt and alienated. I actually channeled a conservative pundit and accused a friend of, essentially, being an elitist liberal. You see, I'm also a Kansan with no-sex-before-marriage friends whom I respect deeply. And, as someone who doesn't tend to show a lot of skin and who doesn't "hook up" (see? I can't even use the word non-ironically), I've personally felt the pressure and judgement of the sex-positive crowd (though that's a label I tend to use for myself, as well). My original first post was to be a break-down of Shalit's message and my feelings on it from my rather uneasy place in the culture wars, but I couldn't write anything that didn't sound hopelessly self-indulgent, and, frankly, I don't have the time right now. I am finishing up the last of my honors exams in the coming week. So I am starting out slowly. A short post here and there. Inspired by the blogs I've been reading recently (see the side bar!), I mostly want to use this space to talk about feminism, religion, and the Academy, but life updates will probably seep through, as well.
For now, sleep, followed by work (sigh)
