Grrrrr!

Missed this week.  It might be that I have too much going on to participate in this challenge. Hmmmmm. 

Why do(n't) I write?

So, as part of the Start-A-Blog Challenge, Scott Dinsmore is sending each participant a writing prompt everyday to get the creative juices flowing. I have not been checking my email, sooooooo I’m way behind. Let’s see if I can incorporate all of them into one super-post, all while writing for the purpose to discover what I want to do with this whole blog thing. (which is part of the challenge too)

I feel like I’ve struggled in the past to keep up a blog for a couple reasons: 1. I can never stick with a topic. Hell, I can’t stick with a medium. I really want to be making YouTube videos instead of writing a blog. But that involves writing, and shooting, and editing! Ugh! With a blog I just write and I’m done. Much better for a lazy-ass like me.

The vloggers I follow on YouTube cover a variety of topics. Some are specific like Crash Course (I follow the history ones) and Film Riot (they cover filmmaking) But others are just guys who speak into their camera on a variety of subjects. Like The1Janitor and Connor Manning. Each episode is just their thoughts on topics, usually ones in the news at the time.

This really appeals to me and kinda leads to the second reason I struggle to keep up a blog. 2. I have strong opinions and am passionate about topics that make people uncomfortable. I want to write about racism, politics, religion, human rights, etc. And my opinions usually don’t fall neatly into a standard paradigm. I’m certainly not conservative but I don’t pay lip service to Liberal causes either. Let me give you a couple examples.

I think the jury delivered the right verdict in the George Zimmerman case. Not that I think Zimms is a swell guy just doing his duty. I think he’s a racist who murdered Trayvon Martin. That’s what I assume happened. But there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him, let alone convict.

See, Conservatives want to prop him up as a good guy with a gun, while smearing Martin. Liberals see the rampant racism both in Zimmerman and the world and want to convict. But being racist isn’t a crime. I can’t get my feelings on this to line up with either side. So I end up pissing off everyone. And that’s fine. But who wants to read that blog?

Here’s a more recent example. Ray Rice, the NFL and domestic violence. Everyone is talking about domestic violence right now. Of course the Libs are taking up the mantle, “It’s never right to hit a woman.” And that feels so equal rights. The old way of thinking is that women are owned by their man and he can do as he pleases to her. So this seems like the opposite of that. Women are not to be punching bags. They are people too and you should treat them with respect.

The problem I have with this thinking is that there is a lot of evidence that shows domestic violence is hardly a women-only issue. Many men are victims of violence from their wife or girlfriend. I’ve seen some studies that indicate it’s nearly a 50/50 issue. There are just as many men who are victims as there are women.

The numbers can be debated but the issue is far from one sided.

Furthermore, to make it a women’s issue is rather misogynistic. It assumes that women are fundamentally weaker than men. And some feminists are ok with this description when we’re talking about abuse. (But not when talking about career choices, equal work for equal pay or anywhere else that it’s detrimental instead of beneficial)

I’ve met some pretty tough women in my life. I was in the military, I’ve been a victim of domestic abuse (sort of, she was a friend who liked to “playfully” punch me, hard, left bruises) and I know a certain lady, under 5’, who spent the night in jail for pummeling a bar bouncer (I’ll let her remain anonymous, since she’s a mother now.) I’ve known a lot of tough ladies, and plenty of wimpy men as well. I don’t believe men are physically superior to women.

I do believe that on average men are slightly stronger than women. But not in a cat and mouse dynamic. Not in a predator-prey dynamic. More like cats and dogs. It doesn’t take a large cat to mess up a dog, even a dog that is much bigger.

I also believe that many men THINK men are much more powerful than women. I believe that many women share this belief. When encountering a physical confrontation these women fail to heed Sun Tzu’s advice: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” In other words, if you believe you will be defeated you certainly will be. Because they believe they are physically inferior, they don’t fight back. Fight back, you’ll be surprised how tough you are.

So, I don’t like the slogan, “It’s never right to hit a woman.” I much prefer, “It’s never right to hit.” But because I don’t take up the Liberal side of this issue and fight for the rights of women, I’m part of the patriarchy and I support rape culture. The truth is, I think women are strong and tough, as strong and tough as men. I believe they are equals and if we could convince men AND women of that, there would probably be less domestic violence. In the meantime, stop hitting each other!

So there you go, I have strong opinions and no matter whom I’m talking to, Lib or Con I’m usually arguing with them. So who wants to read that? But what do I know? I’m just one man talking.

So this entry was supposed to answer the writing prompts Scott gave out, and hopefully reach 250 words. As of the end of this sentence this entry contains 1005 words. So I’m going to call it a night. I’ll try to tie in the writing prompts into my next entry.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! Let me know in the comments what you think about the dusty old topic of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, or racism in America. (Both still important issues.) I’d also love to hear what you think about domestic violence. Is it misogynistic or empowering to say, “Don’t hit women”?

Also, sign up in the upper right to receive an email when a new post goes up. Until we talk again, live well!

New Leaf?

I've decided to participate in Scott Dinsmore's Start-A-Blog Challenge. (Restarting is permitted.) I'm hoping the accountability and writing prompts will help keep me going. Also I'm going to try to incorporate YouTube videos in this challenge. So here's hoping for good things!