Once again I have been angered by a news article found on news.com.au (I really don’t know why I read that damn website, it send me into a furious rage almost every time I do). Today it’s about the loss of “female” skills within Gen Y. I started typing this massive rant but when it started getting a bit tl;dr I decided to cut it down as much as possible. So without further ado, here is why I think the idea of Gen Y losing these so called “female skills” is a bit of bollocks.
Yes, a lot of Gen Y females do not know how to properly hem a skirt, whip up a roast or a batch of lamingtons and aren’t probably as good at ironing and scrubbing floors as their grandmothers were. In case you missed the memo, times have changed dramatically in the last couple of decades. Women aren’t expected to stay at home and watch the kids and do all the tedious house work while hubby brings home the bacon. In fact a lot of women, even those who have kids, have to go out and work to support their families. Suddenly the typical woman doesn’t have all this “free” time on her hands because she’s out working every day, just like her partner, in order to provide a comfortable life for herself and her family.
If you want to be good at anything, you need practice, and the life of the average female these days doesn’t allow for what this article seems to think are basic female skills. Sure, it’d be nice to not have to spend $30 on getting a hem done up by a tailor and it’d be great to be able to whip up a fancy dinner every night, but most women don’t have the time for that sort of thing any more. Not every woman has the need to grow plants from cuttings and because of how cars are these days, having a manual license is not that important any more. Even if we’re shown how to do this stuff (from parents or in high school Home Economics), our lack of need to utilise these skills means we soon forget how to do them. I mean, if you live in a unit in the City, why would you need to know how to operate a whipper snipper?
Look, I think everyone, not just female, should know a lot of these basic skills. Sewing and cooking will always be invaluable, knowing how to check the car if it’s low on oil or being able to start a mower are also equally good to know. But clearly the parents of these apparently “hopeless” Gen Y’s decided these skills weren’t important enough to hand down to many of the people of my generation and so a lot of this knowledge has disappeared. As a result there are plenty of ways we can overcome the fact we lack these skills and our lives really aren’t that badly affected by it.
As it turns out, the article itself wasn’t what angered me the most, but the comments by the douchebag chauvinists commenting on it. All I’m going to say is, if you expect your girlfriend/wife to come home after a long day at work and iron your goddamn shirts then you are a pig and deserve to have that iron shoved somewhere nasty. Women shouldn’t be confined to these old-fashioned chores if they don’t want to. If a women is happy to work all day then come home to cook dinner, do the laundry and clean the house then that’s her choice. But if you expect her to do it just because it’s a “female skill” then you need to check the date and realise it’s 2011, not 1955. Likewise, if you don’t like how your wife is a stay-at-home mum and doesn’t have the house spic and span when you come home from work, perhaps you should stay home and change shitty nappies and entertain your screaming, messy whirlwinds of destruction for once and see how you feel like doing the dishes or ironing!
Personally I was brought up to learn all of these skills, and my mum still teaches me new things constantly. I have a new sewing machine which she’s giving me lessons on, I mow her lawn all the time and have fixed her mower a couple of times and thanks to her teachings I am an OK cook, even though I don’t like cooking much at all. But that’s me, and given the fact I live where I live and have an extremely busy life, I don’t need to know these things. I just choose to and that’s my right, as it is to anyone who chooses not to learn these sometimes old-fashioned and unnecessary skills.
And to conclude this rant, here is Beyonce being the damn finest housewife ever (but not being very happy about it, which is damn well fair enough):
About Ruby
My name is Cara (but you can call me Ruby) and I like the colour pink, swearing, fist shaking, daggy dancing and 90s RnB music. Often all at once. I live in Brisbane which is always warm and is famous for its zombies.
I've been listening to cheesy RnB jamz lately, like they're going out of fashion. HA! We all know that'll never happen!about 2 days agofrom webReplyRetweetFavorite
I am such a suburban cliché. Mowing the lawn and washing my car in a bikini. Whatever, prudes, it's bloody hot outside!about 3 days agofrom webReplyRetweetFavorite
I thought it would be a bit of a laugh to tell you about the random stuff that am scared of. We all have those irrational fears that seem ridiculous to just about anyone else. Not like clowns (man, am I the only person who’s not scared of clowns?) or public speaking. I mean the fears you have that are completely unfounded and very unlikely to happen. Like those freaks on Maury who are scared of rubber chickens and cotton balls or whatever. I have a few good ones which I thought I would share in the pitiful hope you will also share and help me feel like less of a wuss.
Escalators
I find myself filled with dread whenever I ride an escalator. Particularly when they’re going down. This dreadful mental image of me falling down them replays over and over in my mind and I picture my teeth kitting one of those terrifying, jagged edges and all my teeth being knocked in and my face being busted up. I also feel the same way, though to a lesser extent, about stairs. I think I am just worried about my face being ruined forever :(
Opening Garage Doors at Night
Now this is a very unique one! If every I open a garage door at night, I fear that there are wild dogs (wolves?) on the other side who will maul my legs off. I think this EVERY TIME I open a garage door at night and have done so for as long as I remember. The funny thing is, I once told this to my sister as we were opening the garage door when we were younger and she freaked out. Aw yeah, spreading those irrational fears to all I know and love!
Getting Caught in a Bus Door
We’ve all heard those horror stories where a kid’s jacket is caught in the doors of a bus and they’re dragged along the road until they are DEAD. Well I think about that every single time I’m on a bus. Not with trains though, strangely enough. Though I do worry about dropping valued possessions on train tracks and going down to fetch them when a train comes and fucks me up. I was stoked when I saw a sign in Japan indicating they had long pincer things to retrieve dropped possessions from the tracks so that I didn’t have to risk death.
Ladders
I don’t know if this means I have vertigo or not but I am terrified of climbing down ladders. Getting up them is OK but getting down from the top of a ladder is an absolutely terrifying experience for me. And if I’ve gone from a ladder to get on top of something high, then have to climb down onto the ladder… well just forget about it! I cry and feel sick and just can’t do it. The rare few times I have found myself stuck on something with a ladder waiting to get me down, I have had to have someone gently coax me down and tell me exactly what to do so I don’t fall and die/wig out. I wonder if this fear has a name? And if anyone else is terrified of climbing down ladders?
The Dark
I am shit scared of the dark. No matter how much I try to tell myself there’s no one there and I’m being an idiot, I can’t help but think the Blair Witch is going to come and get me (seeing that film allowed me to finally explain to people why I refuse to ever go camping because as far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what will happen to me if I ever do). It’s not just outside darkness that scares me either, inside I am scared I will trip on something, step on spiders or get abducted by the serial killer hiding behind the kitchen counter. The dark is a mean and scary place.
Getting stuck in clothing forever
I suffer from mild claustrophobia, small spaces do scare me a little but nothing like how I feel when I think I am stuck in a piece of clothing. Have you ever tried something on that was either too tight or just really confusing and you thought for a second you were stuck? Well that is a fucking nightmare to me. As soon as I start to feel stuck in a a top or dress or whatever, I start to panic which only makes it worse (like a finger trap). The same applies to being stuck under bed sheets forever and especially sleeping bags. If it takes me more than two seconds to free myself I might as well just die then and there.
Goats
I wouldn’t say I’m terrified of them, but the big ones scare me because I have a very traumatic memory of being headbutted against a wall by an angry one as a kid. I don’t recall doing anything to it or even going near it for that matter, but that goat got me good. I’m sure if I got headbutted by one again I’d probably react the exact same way I did when I was 6 – scream and cry until my dad scares it off :(
EDIT: I have just thought of another one! James Bond’s invisible car at intersections. I’m not kidding, when I am merging or at a busy intersection, I always have this dreaded feeling that James Bond’s car from “Die Another Day” is there an will result in a horrific car crash. As a result I always heck for a shimmer in the air just in case the most improbable scene from a James Bond film ever has became a reality.
Submarines and moths
OK not really but I I’ve known people who are scared of both and it helps me not feel so dumb about mine :D
So now it’s your time to share. Do you have an irrational fear that you know is completely ridiculous but still find yourself crippled with terror when faced with said fear? If so, I wanna hear ALLLL about it!
I learned a very valuable lesson this week. While her suburb was flooded, my best friend had me look after her cat Seiko. Admittedly I was thrilled as she’s such a sweet little cat who I was very keen to cuddle as much as possible, plus I was helping out a friend in need. Getting her to my unit was tough as the nearest lift was broken so we had to go the long way to the other lifts, so by the time we got to my unit Seiko was petrified and managed to escape, which meant 10 minutes of chasing her around the building. OK so not a great start, but as my work was closed due to the floods, I had the chance to bond with the dear kitty. Except she refused to come out from under the TV cabinet until late that night when I manged to convince her to come out for a few pats. But she was back under the cabinet the whole next day and then under my bed for a bit too. Yup, definitely not off to a good start.
Every now and then I’d get her to come out and hang with me, I’d brush her lovely long fur and she’s talk to me with her squeaky little meow’s and would follow me around the kitchen begging for tasty treats. But as soon as one of the boy’s walked in she’s go and hide again. Two days later I had to go back to work and from then on I was so busy, I was barely home, which meant Seiko basically spent the whole time under my bed. She’d only ever really venture out at night and then would drive me mad meowing and following me around the place as I got ready for bed. One morning she was meowing so much I decided I’d sleep on the couch to keep her company (admittedly this was because I knew it’d take about 45 minutes to clear the clothes off my bed and I was way too tired for that crap). But she decided my face and chest were great places to curl up which didn’t suit me very well, so I was forced to clear my bed at 5am on a Saturday morning to give us both room to sleep, but she ended up going back under my bed anyway! Thanks Seiko, thanks a lot.
So after a week with a cat, I had to come to the sad conclusion that cat’s are not for me. I have grown up with dogs all my life and the last time my family had a cat was when I was about 7 years old. My lifestyle doesn’t suit that of a affection-hungry kitty and I just felt cruel for not being able to look after her properly when she’s such a dear little thing. Also, I could not get used to all the fur, I was constantly gagging and felt like I had a nose full of it, which really sucks when you just so happen to have a cold. Plus the fact she’s white and I wear mostly black was not a very attractive combination.
If you’re thinking of getting a pet of any kind (let alone a cat), please do your research and if possible, spend some hardcore one-on-one time with the animal type you want to get. As Seiko had been adopted and I had been very close to adopting her myself until my friend stepped in, I would have been stuck with an adorable but totally inappropriate pet. Don’t take pet ownership lightly, that’s a little life you’re taking into custody and they deserve all the love they can get. Plus there’s the vet bills, the grooming and/or exercise, the feeding and let’s not forget the pooping! I see people haphazardly getting new pets all the time and I wonder if they considered how big a deal it is to own a pet. That’s why I don’t have one, I love animals too much and know I am not yet ready to commit to one properly (also I rent a unit in the Valley which is no place for puppies to live). Please make sure you are full prepared when the time comes to get yourself a furry little family member.
Well the worst is now over and it’s now time for Brisbane to start cleaning up the areas affected by the floods. I’ve registered as a volunteer but have been told by a few sources that there have been so many volunteers there may not be enough work to delegate to everyone. I can’t even imagine that, too many volunteers? That’s just fantastic and I send hi-5′s to all thsoe who have donated their time and energy to getting Brisbane back to normal. I’m hoping I can go help out my friends who were affected tomorrow.
I have to admit I have been a bit disappointed in how little attention this has been given from people in other parts of Australia and the world. I wasn’t expecting everyone in the world to collapse to the ground yelling “WHY???” to the sky and donating all of their saving to the disaster relief fund. But I kind of expected a little more attention than what I’ve seen mentioned online. Of all of the blogs I read every day, only one mentioned the floods at all (Gala Darling, and she’s a kiwi living in NY) while everyone else has seemingly ignored the matter. Is it because there wasn’t a significant loss of life? Because Queenslanders have the “it’ll be alright” kind of attitude so people don’t realise how big a disaster it was? Or is this how it always is, and I’m only noticing because I saw the impact these floods had first hand? I don’t recall how much attention the fires in Victoria got in 2009 as I didn’t read a lot of blogs or use Twitter back then. And come to think of it, I’m not sure how much attention Haiti got during it’s earthquake disaster last year and I’m wondering if it was also largely ignored by bloggers and non-affected people like I feel the Brisbane floods have been. Not to say people don’t care about them of course. I just don’t know why it’s not being mentioned more to raise awareness, particularly by people other Aussies.
I guess all I’m saying is, if you know someone who may have been affected the the brisbane floods, make sure you contact them and find out if they are OK. And if you have a blog that has a significant number of readers, let them know what’s going on and encourage them to make a donation if they can. It won’t turn people off and it’s only going to do good, so start making some sort of fuss. We got smashed pretty badly and it’s going to take a lot of money and time to get things back to normal and every cent will help. Plus the floods are continuing around the country and things may only get worse still.
OK, that’s my rant for the day. If you want to get a good perspective of how Queensland has been affected, check out these great interactive before/after photos as well as the gallery on news.com.au. Please note my mum lives in Ipswich so those first few photos in the gallery are pretty shocking for me. Thank god my mum lives on a hill, as many of her neighbors (many elderly) lost everything.
I know every blogger has done this before, but usually they’re boring and full of lame advice about wearing sunscreen and drinking lots of water which you should already know. I thought I’d mix it up a bit by explaining the Dos and DON’Ts through my recent experience at Summafieldayze which took place at the Gold Coast on January 2nd.
DO: Dress appropriately
Basically you can’t wear skinny jeans to a music festival in the middle of summer. I went to my first Summafieldayze in tight jeans and Chucks and almost died from overheating/sand in my shoes. I quickly learned you need to dress light and comfortably, though don’t be a massive dag about it if you can avoid it. As tacky as they are, those fluro kids had it right with their singlets and shorts and slip on shoes. Also, don’t wear thongs when you know there’s a good chance of rain/mud. You will lose them and have to risk walking through pee later in the evening.
DON’T: Wear new shoes
My friend did this and while they looked comfortable, they gave her such bad blisters she couldn’t walk for days afterwards. Wear shoes that are well-worn and comfortable while also being disposable should you lose them in a massive mud pit. If you know it will be raining and therefore muddy, gum boots are great but make sure they fit as those suckers can cause nasty blisters.
DO: Medicate Yourself
If you suffer from any medical conditions, take what you need with you in a safe compartment of your bag and don’t rely on the ambo’s there to help you. I get migraines and only took some weak-ass pain killers with me which did bugger all when I was hit with a killer migraine of doom at the end of the night. Sitting on a bus with drunk/high festival-goers when you have a migraine blows big time, so assume the worst and take extra precautions (especially if you have a life-threatening condition, naturally).
DON’T: Forget to plan
It seems obvious, but I made this mistake very mistake the other day at Sumamfieldayze. For some reason we couldn’t find the timetable on the website so didn’t know who was on when until we got a timetable from someone else on the bus on our way there. As a result we missed one of the main acts we wanted to see because we assumed they’d be on a lot later than they actually were. We also left an hour later than we originally wanted to, and because the Gold Coast is just hopeless with organising festivals 90% of the time, it took us THREE hours to get from Surfers Paradise to the Spit, which is really only a 5-10 minute drive on a regular day. If we’d spent more time working out the plan instead of buying and consuming booze, we would have made it there a lot earlier and not had to hang around screeching morons for three too may hours. On the upside though, we managed to find someone willing to take us to the festival gates by jetski which was hilariously awesome.
DO: Drink before you get there
If you’re planning to drink at a music festival like this one, make sure you have saved your pennies. For a crazy $10.50 you can get a can of a premixed drink that is only mid-strength. Oh yes. I suggest having a few drinks before hand to get the day started and then go easy at the festival because you will send yourself broke if you try and get wasted there. Other options included getting into the VIP area which usually sells full strength drinks for less or just take drugs. Seriously, anything over $8 for a mid-strength drink is highway robbery and only encourages people to take drugs. I’m not saying I am condoning drug use, I’m just saying that for a lot of people it’s more economical to have a pill for around $30 than try and get drunk at a festival. For another perspective on this, check out this article by Sam Cleveland on The Punch.
DON’T: Rely on your phone too much
By the end of the night it’s likely you won’t be able to get reception, or like me your phone will go flat because you used it to take photos/update Facebook. If you’re worried about losing your friends, agree on a meeting point and wait there at the end of the night, or else just make your own way home. I have notoriously poor luck with mobiles at festivals, namely because friends give me their to hold which is a right pain in the butt when you end up losing them!
DO: make sure you have the next day off
I have tried to go to work the day after a big festival and it sucks. If you can do it, take the next day off work and recuperate. No one likes a hungover asshole in the office so get over your misery in the privacy of your own home and then get back to your routine the day after.
DONT: Go to a festival if it’s not your thing
I’ve gone to festivals with friends who were only going for one artist, and generally hate the style of music that dominates the day. Man it’s a massive downer. They either end up getting watsed and acting like a crazy fool and missing that one artist they came to see anyway. Or they bitch and moan about all the “losers” there, how shit the music is and what a terrible day it’s been. Nip this in the bud with a friend who’s looking at going to the next festival because they like whoever’s headlining. Remind them of all of the other acts who they hate and show them photos of patrons from previous years. Or even better, tell ‘em to get a life and stop hating so much. Both are good.
Well I had a light-hearted and entertaining post lined up for my big 2011 debut but after the series of events unfolding in Queensland (that’s the state I live in, for those who didn’t know) I thought I’d leave it for now.
I admit I was a bit blase about the floods happening up North but now they’ve demolished Toowoomba, a City that’s about two hours from Brisbane and where a lot of friends are from, I am extremely worried. There are flood warning out for the CDB and Valley (where I live) in the next few days so it’s no longer just bad news for other people, it could be bad news for me and my friends and family too.
Unfortunately I don’t have the funds available right now to make a donation, but if you do then I implore you to make a donation to help those affected by the floods. Unfortunately for most people, flood damage isn’t included in a lot of home insurance policies so these poor people will have lost everything and won’t get any compensation. Please donate whatever you can and hope that this ends soon.
