On Luminous Geckos

M ost of the time when I am on my soapboxes online -- here, Facebook, Pintrest -- I am on them because they are fun places to be.  Not that I see the problems as fun, but I like a good fight.  Sometimes, however, the problem part hits home, and I remember I am not passionate about these things because it is a good fight.  I am passionate because this is real.  It's the difference between a midnight bathroom debate about abortion with a hallmate who is swiftly becoming a best friend and standing outside a abortion facility praying for the scared women and the men who don't know another way to love them.

The abortion soapbox is made real every week in that way.  Today, I want to make the feminist soapbox real.  I have two quick reads to do so -- two of the best reads I've stumbled across (one through Julia and one by following links from Unequally Yoked) on this subject.

The first piece is an anecdote about a Luminuously Beautiful Woman and an Awkward Dude.  The second is a parable about a dog and a gecko to explain the concept of "male privilege."  Read these first -- they are good reads, I promise (though you will have to excuse the profanity).  All educated?  Good!

I have to admit, when I read the Luminous story, I stopped to try to figure out The Question, and I couldn't.  It bothered me for a bit until I fully processed the story and The Question -- and then I realized that I hadn't been able to figure out The Question, because I assumed the answer.  It didn't need to be asked.  As soon as Luminous started placing physical barriers (such as Dr. Glass) between herself and Awkward Dude, I realized that this guy was a serious threat to her safety.  We use emotional and social barriers to deal with awkward; we use physical barriers to deal with danger.

Hopefully you can see the connection between Luminous and the gecko.  I like both these pieces because they put into words what I had previously grasped intuitively and brought out explicitly what I have experienced but never crystallized into coherent thoughts.  They also show why, despite the substantial progress feminists have made since the early 1900s, more work is needed.