Why isn't 'Batgirl' a valid career choice?

I was tagged by Bree.

1. You post your top 10 fantasy guys/girls
2. You tag 10 people.
3. You CANNOT tag someone who has already been tagged.
4. You have to let the people you tagged know that they've been tagged.
5. These are the rules they must be repeated every time.
6. THERE MUST BE PHOTOS! AT ALL TIMES!

Here we go:

10.  Johnny Depp


9.Michelle Rodriguez


8. Brendon Urie (even if it makes me feel like such a dirty old woman :P)


7. Amy Dumas


6. Apolo Anton Ohno


5. Patrick Stump


4. Pete Wentz


3. Frank Iero



2. Milo Ventimiglia


1. Gerard fucking Way


I'm being a rebel and not tagging anybody :P.  Do it if you like.

November marks my 25th birthday and my next tattoo.  I was going to get a Queen of Hearts one, but have decided to hold off on that until I can get it designed exactly how I want it (it also feels strangely appropriate to save that one for my pilgramage to High Voltage Tattoo in LA.  Might have to save that one for my 30th...or for my engagement tattoo.  Who knows?

Current front runner is this:

I don't just want the straight up symbol, and this totally continues the tribal theme I started with my armband.  Placement would probably be on my hip.  I want it somewhere around that area because that's a traditional "Scorpio" thing...association with sexuality and sensuality.

Thoughts?  Feelings?

Over vacation I finished reading Blood and Chocolate.  I had initially picked it up because I started watching the movie and nearly gagged from how bad it was.  Internet consensus was that the book was better, so I checked it out and read it.




Ugh.

The writing isn't terrible.  It's standard young adult fiction, which is all I could expect from a young adult novel.  I'm not going to bitch about that.  And the novel actually deals better with the realities of being a teenager (underaged drinking and sex) than I remember YA novels doing when I was a teenager.

However, the book has such a horrific running theme of internalized misogyny that I thought I was going to be sick.

This post contains spoilers for the novel.  Ye be warned!

Vivian, the main character, starts out pretty cool.  She's not the poor pathetic picked on teenage girl, she doesn't spend tons of time weeping about why she can't be normal like everyone else, she doesn't treat her lycanthropy as a curse, but instead sees it as a blessing and something amazing and special about her.  Which is a great way for a character to start, she already embraces what's special about her.  Later, she pursues her own love interest out of her desire, she's confident, poised, and clever when she deals with him.  And she never really pretends to be someone other than who she really is, with the exception of her never mentioning she's a werewolf.  But she tells Aiden, the boy, that she's special and she wants him to love her for all of what she is, including her wolf side.

And that's about as strong as a woman is allowed to get.

The main villain in the novel is Astrid, one of the unmated female wolves.  During the leadership challenge she is the only woman to stand up and demand that the females of the pack be put on equal footing with the males.  The rest of the females scoff and scorn her for this, and the males all react as if it's a joke.  When she's finally allowed to participate she lasts all of thirty seconds before Gabriel, the one we're supposed to be rooting for, "puts her in her place" and eliminates her.

Along with this is the fact that the men's challenge is given great fanfare and a ceremony to open it.  Whereas the women's challenge (where unmated females fight for the "right to mate" the new leader) begins with Astrid jumping at Vivian's widowed mother Esme, without announcement or fanfare.  So the idea is that whoever leads the pack is important enough to herald, but whoever fucks him isn't.

By the end of the novel, Vivian has given in to pack convention and accepted Gabriel as her mate, largely because the sweet natured Aiden POINTS A GUN AT HER after he finds out she's a werewolf.  Vivian manages to save his life, but for her trouble ends up having Aiden shoot her in the stomach anyway.  Vivian is convinced by Gabriel that he loves her for who she truly is (let's ignore the fact that she's a 17  year old high school student and he's 25, because that bothered me more than a little).  Direct quote:




Right.  No thank you.

Is it so much to ask for a YA novel that ends with the heroine looking at her two love interests and then saying "What am I thinking?  I'm 17 years old, I've got plenty of time to worry about true love.  Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more important things to do with my life."

Yes, I know, it is.  Can't blame a girl for trying.

WILL BLOG FOR FOOD!

No, really, I mean it.  I need to find something other than this fucking job to pay my bills.  I'm not making enough money, my boss is a total asshole who only likes to point out everything I do wrong, the work environment sucks, and I can't even ask for a raise because all I hear about is how I fucked up something two weeks ago and that's why I'm not worth at least $20K a year.

But I need something that will offer health benefits or will pay me enough to take care of my own insurance(because Effexor withdrawal is not fun in the slightest).  At this point I'm getting desperate, but I'd rather not make another lateral move.

Comments?  Suggestions?  Job offers?  Beuler?

Still, there's no place like home :)

My journey into the south has left me broke, tanned and tired.  So all in all it's been good. 

Savannah was gorgeous, River Street was fucking AWESOME and we ended up going on a ghost trolley tour our last night there.  The tour ended with a tour of the Sorrel Weed house, which was just freaky.  I got some great pictures, including one with several orbs in it!

Florida was nice and relaxing.  No parks, but we did end up at Citywalk and Downtown Disney.  I got some really cute Pirates of the Carribean swag and lots of great pictures.  All of those will be uploaded at some point soon.

Now, I'm just tired and looking to catch up on life. 

But I do NOT want to go back to work tomorrow.

Dear Real Life:

The weather is here.  Wish you were beautiful.

-Amazon

“Padre, these are subtleties. We’re not concerned with motives, with the higher ethics. We are concerned only with cutting down crime--and. . .with relieving the ghastly congestion in our prisons. He will be your true Christian: ready to turn the other cheek, ready to be crucified rather than crucify, sick to the very heart at the thought even of killing a fly! Reclamation! Joy before the angels of God! The point is that it works.”

-Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

Read this and see how that's not truly fiction.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to look healthy.  There's nothing wrong with you and a group of friends either in real life or online deciding to help and support each other as you attempt to make lifestyle changes that will benefit you physically and mentally.

There is, however, something very very wrong with people encouraging each other to starve themselves.

(Please note that in this rant I'm going to mostly use feminine pro-nouns, as this is an issue mostly plaguing women.  That is not to suggest there are not men who suffer from eating disorders or that it is less of a problem when a man is anorexic/bulimic than a woman.  Just so there's no nasty gender related accusations.)

The idea of pro-anorexia or "pro-ana" websites, communities and message boards makes me physically ill.  I'm not linking to any of them from this blog because I will not help their hit count increase like that.  As I've said before, yes it is your body and you have a right to do to it what you want.  But for fuck's sake, when you are talking about, or worse BRAGGING ABOUT consuming less than 500 calories a day, loosing 12 pounds in a week, or begging people to tell you not to keep eating?  That's not healthy.  It's not even a "might be bad for you" situation.  It's just STUPID.

For those of you who skipped health class and/or are apparently brain dead, here's the deal: your body needs food.  It's not a situation of "I can teach it not to need it."  No.  Scientifically your body NEEDS food.  Yes, you might be able to make yourself ignore your hunger pains, but you cannot make your body not need energy, vitamins, or minerals.  And whether you like it or not, science trumps your desire to be ridiculously skinny ANY DAY.

What's worse is your ideas of "thinspiration."  Now, there's nothing wrong with having a celebrity body you idolize or want to emmulate.  For example, mine:


Is this a largely unattainable body for someone in my situation?  Probably.  I don't have the money or the time to devote to the diet and exercise really required to have a Hollywood body.  Trust me, I've tried in the past, don't even ASK about the liver flush experiment.

Thinspiration, however, is a little different:




Please note: when you look like your hair is going to crush your body?  You're too skinny.  Also, it might just be me, but I don't think "sexy" when I look at these women, I think of those grey aliens with the giant heads and eyes.

So what I'm saying here is that even if you believe anorexia is a lifestyle choice, not a disease, it boggles my mind how you can not realize how fucking UNHEALTHY it is.  And don't tell me I don't understand.  Been there, done that.  Still don't get it.

I leave you all with a preview of the television series I really think Fox should pick up this fall.
 

So my vacation doesn't start until Thursday evening, but my brain has already gone bye-bye.

It's not that I can't concentrate, I just don't totally see a point.  In three days I'm on my way to a week of sitting poolside and drinking things with little umbrellas stuck in them.

Sadly, during my vacation I will be taking a self-imposed hiatus from the internet.  Mostly just to really isolate myself and make myself feel a little more like a celebrity ("I just need to get away from it all," newageamazon said to reporters upon her return.  "Sometimes a girl just needs to escape the rigors of internet semi-but-not-quite-what do you mean you don't know who I am?-notoriety.").  So I'd like to give you my projection of important gossip happenings during my vacation:

- Nicole Richie will continue to be skinny and pregnant.

- Angelina Jolie will continue to become less and less awesome as each day goes by (really Ang, what happened to the wonderful crazy bitch from your "Hackers" days?)

- Jennifer Aniston will continue to try and make people care about her post-Friends career

- Perez Hilton will accuse everyone in Hollywood of being gay.

- Amy Whinehouse and Lily Allen will both continue to sell more tabloids than albums and I will still have issues telling them apart in photos.

- Gwen Stefani will continue to be the coolest and best dressed celebrity mom in the world at the moment.

- Numerous incriminating pictures will be released of Christian Bale acting as my personal "cabana boy."

How many of these will turn out to be true?  ONLY THE FUTURE KNOWS!

I'd like to congratulate Gerard Way on his 3 year sobriety anniversary.

Proof that you CAN overcome your demons and addictions.

So, self-harm.

WTF?

Not why do you do it.  I mean, hell, scary confession time, I used to.  I'd cut my upper left arm because a teeshirt would cover things.  More than you needed to know.  But that's basically thrown out there so you can't tell me that I don't understand the mentality that drives people to do something like that.  I do, totally. 

Which is why I can't understand why people continue to do it, revel in it even.  I remember my self-harm days as being utterly miserable, hating myself and the world and even more than that being SCARED to deal with things.  I was a totally different person than I am now and I wasn't a person that I liked.  Why the hell would you want to live like that, continue to do that to yourself?

The world is not pain, despite what you may think.  You might be in a bad situation, you might have a shitty hand dealt to you, but you know what?  There are ways to fix those things without hurting yourself.

Oh, right, but many of you believe medication is cheating and is forcing you into society's "happy box."  You know what?  Fuck you.  I'm medicated.  And if you can't tell from things in my blog?  I'm not "always happy."  I don't do whatever it takes to fit in with society.  In fact, I don't see where you get the idea that anti-depressants and anti-aniexty meds are some sort of fucked up mind control pills.  Medication is not the ultimate solution to your problem, no matter what.  It helps you deal with things, you still need to face life on your own.

But I can understand being afraid of that.  I can understand how scary that is.  And yes, it is your body and your choice what to do with your body, I won't debate that.  I will debate that as a way of expressing your emotions it ranks pretty low on the list.

It's not about wanting you to fit in.  It's about feeling very sad for you, that you have to continue to hurt yourselves when there are other roads available.  I am a big fan of seeing people get help (medication, talk therapy or both) for their despression and anxiety issues.  Because I waited too fucking long to get help with mine.

I guess this is where I should announce this, then:

I am starting a campaign.

I am declaring February 26th as a day to encourage the fight against depression.  As a day to help educate others about it's realities.  And a day for those of us who have fallen into a spiral to celebrate that we are pulling ourselves out of it.  I'm sure there are many other days like this, but I want something special done on February 26th.

I want you to write, somewhere on your body (doesn't even have to be visible), in eyeliner, sharpie, whatever, the words "VERY MUCH ALIVE."  If you'd like, upload a picture to buzznet with the tag "very much alive."  That way when it's searchable it's apparent how many people have survived or how many people are willing to help you through your issues.

Okay, I'll confess where the inspiration for that came from:

This does not mean this is just for MCR fans.  Hell, you can hate the band and participate if you'd like.  The idea is simply that you've survived through depression, which is something that doesn't get enough respect.

Weigh in with your opinions, your support, your jeers, whatever.  I'll drop it if it's really not a popular idea.  But it's something worth celebrating in this world.

There's more to living than only surviving, maybe I'm not there, but I'm still trying.
-The Offspring, "Staring at the Sun"

1) Only list 8 facts.
2) You must then list 8 TAGS at the end of the post. This means you must name 8 people on Buzznet who now must do the same blog.
3) Go comment on their profile and tell them to come read yours! Mark (and Steena and Myself) demand participation.

1. I am absolutely, completely and utterly terrified of balloons. It's a phobia I've had since I was a young child and I have issues being around them without having a major panic attack. I CAN control it, as people will attest to, but there are also times when I become completely an utterly unable to function around them.

2. I crack my knuckles all the fucking time. It's a bad habit I picked up back when I did Judo.

3. I have an utterly inappropriate love for Jimmy Buffett.

4. In my junior and senior years of high school I used to free climb for fun. At one point I free climbed to the highest point in Pennsylvania. I have always kicked myself for not having the guts to learn how to skateboard as well.

5. Favorite foods include avocados, sushi, and medium rare hamburgers.

6. I can fit my entire fist in my mouth. I also once proved I could fit roughly 25 marshmallows in my mouth and still be able to say "Happy Halloween."

7. I have only ever been to one concert in my life, and it was Black 47 during my freshman year of college.

8. One of my goals in life is to learn to speak Hawaiian.

TAGS:

abstractfuries, fueledbycoffee, peterismyplaymate, xantieverything, workthatguyliner, fixatedononestar, hiddentrack and (lol longshot) theoneandonlyjoetrohman

So, the X-Games are awesome.  Really, I love them, as if my updates this weekend didn't clue you into that.  But that doesn't mean I don't have my gripes with them.

Look, the X-Games was started as a money making venture, but also a way to help legitimize extreme athletes as, well, athletes.  To recognize that those crazy kids who were doing stupid things on skateboards needed strength, stamina, balance and skill to perform.  That they were just as much athletes as other professional sports figures.

Which is why I can't figure out how the X-Games can be so fucking SEXIST.

Look, I know, they have women's events unlike the Dew Action Sports Tour, but that's not enough.  The women receive significantly less television coverage (only highlights of the women's vert and street competitions were shown, and women's surfing was treated as something remarkable because this was the first year it was featured as a competition).  And unlike other events, the women's skateboarding competitions were not viewable online. 

Even worse is the discrepancy in the prize money.  It's gotten better in recent years, but back in 2005 Cara-Beth Burnside earned $2,000 for a first place finish.  The men's first place prize was $50,000 (source).  It's absolutely ridiculous that an event that prides itself on being in touch with youth and forward thinking is that BACKWARDS when it comes to women.

Winter X isn't any better.  All you have to do is listen to the announcers when they're calling the women's snowboard pipe event.  All they talked about last year was how amazing it was that WOMEN were doing those tricks that only MEN used to do and how they were like the MEN but not as good.  It was like listening to someone call a minor-league competition if such a thing existed.  It was like constantly being gob-smacked with the idea of "Women aren't as good at this as men."

BULLSHIT.  Women have their own strengths and weaknesses, they have a different center of gravity and physical build.  But that does not, does not, DOES NOT mean they are "not as good" as the guys. 

For more information on the fight for women's equality in action sports, check out the Action Sports Alliance.  They helped to found a "Girl's Day" at X-Games 13 and succeeded in fighting for more prize money for women in the X-Games.  But like so much else in this world, it's not enough until it's EQUALITY.

Last year I spent the summer working at the Pittsburgh Camera Exchange in their internet sales department.  And it was here that I became completely spoiled by my experiences with digital cameras.

One of my regular duties was to shoot photographs of our items for the website and E-bay.  The camera I got to use was a Canon Digital SLR.  And I LOVED that thing.  I don't know much about photography, but I was learning slowly, and took great care when doing my pictures.

I'm currently using a Kodak point and shoot camera for the stuff I'm posting here and it wasn't until I tried to get a decent moonscape last week that I realized how much I miss access to a good SLR.  I have my old Nikon film SLR, but that's not doing me much good right now, since it's film and I'm short a decent scanner.

Not really a point to this entry other than to whine about how I don't have $1,000 or more for a halfway decent camera.

EDIT: Oh, no, wait, there was something else.

So, I have a good friend who does photography.  He does a lot of tasteful nudes.

And he's been trying to get me to pose for him for years. 

When he started on me about it I was over 200 pounds (he hadn't seen me since high school and didn't know how much weight I'd put on) but now he's seen pictures of me and is apparently still interested.

I'm sort of torn.  Like I want to do it because I think it would be fun and kind of interesting (and I could maybe talk him into doing a few non-nudes for me as a favor) but at the same time I'm worried about:

1) how this makes me feel about the objectification of women

and

2) my body issues.

(quick interjection: Just because I'm a secretary does NOT mean people should talk to me on the phone as if I had an I.Q. of 45.  Just sayin'.)

#2 is actually the bigger problem.  Like, I think doing this could help me get over some of my issues.  But at the same time it could also make me see what I really look like and I'd lose that wonderful sense of self delusion where I'm not chubby. 

We'll see what happens.  No matter what those pictures will NOT be appearing here.  Just something I'm thinking about.

Does anyone have any pictures and/or video from yesterday's Projekt Revolution date?  Mostly I'm looking for pictures of Frank's new ink.  However, video of Gerard touching himself inappropriately in public is ALSO highly desirable.

Okay, so Chris Cole ROCKED Men's Skateboard Street.  Just about everything he threw was so fucking SMOOTH.

But can we talk about something more important?  Silver medalist Greg Luzka's hat:

I'm sorry, I would award a gold medal to anyone who could pull off the shit was was doing WHILE KEEPING THE FEDORA ON!  But this is probably why I am not one of the X-Games judges.

Ryan Sheckler didn't medal.  Part of me wants to hate the kid if only because of the ads I have to deal with every time I log into Photobucket, but he always seems so sweet in interviews.  I kinda want to pinch his cheeks and bake him a pie.

Also?  After bailing on runs 1 and 2, Shaun White decimiated his 3rd run in Skateboard Vert and took home his first Summer X medal.  His 95.75 score passed Silver Medalist Pierre Luc Gagnon at pretty much the very last second.

It's been one hell of a weekend.

Just watched an interview with Jake Brown.  Sal Masekela was interviwing him via phone on the X-Games coverage today.

Right now he's got a fractured rib, bruised kidney, bruised lung, and a fractured vertebre.  Considering the fall he took that's pretty fucking amazing.

The interview was very short, and Jake sounded like he was still on a whole lot of painkillers.  Not that I'd blame him.  Mmmmm...painkillers.

He also said he'd definitely hit the Big Air ramp again next year.

I'm amost sure it's the Vegemite at this point.

In the past 24 hours I have seen some very horrible and hateful comments made towards people who have done nothing wrong.  This is nothing new, but it's something I want to rant about here a bit anyway.

Let me preface this with a story: my parents got divorced a few years ago.  It was messy, it's over now, whatever.  Anyway, they both started dating again, and my mother ended up meeting someone absolutely wonderful about two years ago.  And for the past two years she has constantly asked me if I'm sure I'm okay with her being with this guy.  My truthful answer to her was AND STILL IS, "Mom, he makes you happy, and you deserve that.  THAT'S what is important to me." 

(As it turns out, this guy is awesome anyway.  I mean really, really fucking awesome.)

So I cannot comprehend people who get pissed off about the girlfriends of our favorite band boys.

Okay, in the case of Ashlee Simpson MAYBE.  I admit, I have had issues with her in the past regarding the SNL lip synching and the Marie Claire mess, but those issues were pre-existing from before she and Pete hooked up.  And since then I've become okay with her, because she and Pete genuinely look happy together. 

But in cases like Keltie Colleen (Ryan Ross's girlfriend) and Alicia Way (Mikey Way's wife) I don't understand it in the least.  I see so much hating on these girls going on, accusations that they are "sluts" or "starfuckers."  That they're using the guys to get famous.  That they're two faced and horrible.

Where is this COMING from?

It's more of women hating on other women and WHY do we do it? 

What pushed me over the edge was finding THIS bulletin on buzznet today:

For all of you reading this: NEVER EVER EVER send anything like this to me again.  If it means you have to drop me as a friend and stop linking to me, FINE.  DO IT.  I don't want to see hating on these women, and I hope I never see the insult "Eliza Cunts" used again.  And don't hand me shit about "She broke Gerard's heart."  We don't KNOW the story, we don't even know if that's who he was engaged to.  And we might never know and WE REALLY SHOULDN'T CARE.

I have to add this as well: girls?  Get over the jealousy.  These guys are not going to dump their girlfriends/wives for you.  It's not going to happen.

They are also probably not going to dump their girlfriends/wives to hook up with a bandmate, as hot and awesome as that would be in most cases.  Not going to happen.  Deal with it.

Oh, and to the girl who wrote that original rant?  Spell check exists in Microsoft Word.  If you don't feel like cutting and pasting, consider switching to Firefox as your internet browser.  It comes with a spellcheck feature for text fields.  Really quite useful when you're trying to make yourself look intelligent on the internet.

BMX Big Air was awesome.  Robinson's winning run was fucking amazing.  And how fucking HIGH were those guys getting?  21 feet above that ramp?  I'm just impressed we were seeing so much shit like that considering Jake Brown's wipe out yesterday.  I'm also kind of upset that Brown's wipe out video looks to be this year's double backflip shot: by Sunday evening we'll all be sick of it.

Step Up is always a let down to me, considering the first year I watched a guy only quit the competition after the SECOND TIME he dislocated his shoulder.  I was a little upset to see McGrath elimited so early, but Step Up will do that to you.  Bring all the technique you want, in the end it's one little slip that'll put you down.

I'd write more, but I'm more than a little drunk and still have to sit up for X-Center and the Best Trick competition.  I might expand on this tomorrow.  When I'm sober.

Jake Brown, you are ONE LUCKY SON OF A BITCH.

10:56 PM: And Murray couldn't even take his second run because his bike was trashed.  Fuck.  Poor kid.

So, yeah, two posts in one day.  Sorry about that.

Anyway, if you haven't seen the new Maroon 5 Video for "Wake Up" you should head over to Bree's post and check it out.  I have a sick love for cinematic videoes: ones that are either fake trailers or hint at more story behind them that could be expanded in movie form.

Some other examples:

Dizzy by the Goo Goo Dolls (possibly my favorite song from that album.  Though "Broadway" was awesome too.)

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) (2nd version) by My Chemical Romance (Anything that involves the severe beating of a high school mascot is thumbs up with me.  Well, unless the person in the costume happens to be a friend.  Don't laugh, this happened in high school.)

A Little Less 16 Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me' by Fall Out Boy (supposedly there was a ton of footage shot for this and never used.  I think Pete Wentz said something about enough for a twenty minute long movie.  If this is not included on "Release the Bats 2" I will hunt someone down and...do something forceful!)

If you've got anymore, let me know!  I love stuff like this!

And because I feel like I should include it: this video scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, but could explain part of my Alice in Wonderland fixation in my adult life.

Thursday, August 2nd
Skateboard Big Air, Moto X Best Trick 9:00-11:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN

Friday, August 3rd
Skateboard Street Men's 12:30-2:00 p.m. (ET) EXPN.com
BMX Big Air, Moto X Step Up 9:00-11:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN
X Center: Live Skateboard Street Best Trick Sat. 8/4: 1:00-2:00 a.m. (ET) ESPN2

Saturday, August 4th
BMX Park, Men's Surfing, SuperMoto 3:00-6:00 p.m. (ET) ABC
Moto X Freestyle Elimination, BMX Vert, Moto X Racing 7:00-9:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN2
Moto X Racing, Women's Surfing, Moto X Freestyle 9:00-11:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN

Sunday, August 5th
Skateboard Vert, Skateboard Street Men's, Rally 3:00-6:00 p.m. (ET) ABC

And yes, this year I will be sitting up to watch Best Trick on the off chance that someone finally lands the 1080 this year (and if it's my boy Shaun White, even better!). 

I will also possibly be playing my patented "X-Games Drinking Game."  Basically, every time someone brings up Travis Pastrana's name you drink.  Every time his name is mentioned in conjunction with his double backflips from last year, you take two drinks.  Every time they show the clip of the double backflips, you chug through the entire clip, including his celebration dance. 

To tell the truth this is more just a way to get myself through having to hear about/watch Travis Pastrana than it is an actual drinking game.  I play something similar during Winter X only then I use Gretchen Bleiler and clips of her falling.

And make sure you check out the charity auction designer decks.

What is wrong with women?

I mean wrong. Physically. Spiritually. Something unnatural, something destructive, something that needs to be corrected.

How did more than half the people in the world come out incorrectly? I have spent a good part of my life trying to do that math, and I’m no closer to a viable equation. And I have yet to find a culture that doesn’t buy into it. Women’s inferiority – in fact, their malevolence -- is as ingrained in American popular culture as it is anywhere they’re sporting burkhas. I find it in movies, I hear it in the jokes of colleagues, I see it plastered on billboards, and not just the ones for horror movies. Women are weak. Women are manipulative. Women are somehow morally unfinished. (Objectification: another tangential rant avoided.) And the logical extension of this line of thinking is that women are, at the very least, expendable.

-Joss Whedon, in this blog entry

EDIT: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE READ THE REST OF WHEDON'S BLOG ENTRY BEFORE COMMENTING ON IT.

You see Joss, this is why it's a fucking shame that Buffy had to end, and the Faith spin off never began.

For those of you who aren't aware, Joss Whedon is one of my heroes.  Not just the sort of guy I want to meet, the sort of guy I want to work with.  If there were one man in the comic/entertainment industry today I could get to evaluate my writing, it would be him.  Because Joss Whedon saved me in high school.

No, really, he did.  He did it with a ridiculously named show about a blonde girl with superpowers who fought everything that went bump in the night.  But she wasn't unbelievable, she was sometimes weak, sometimes scared, she grew, she learned, she changed.  She made mistakes and watched herself and people around her pay for them.

(Please note: Season 6 doesn't count.  Season 6 was Marti Noxon deciding she couldn't keep her LOL PROJECTING onto Buffy in fanfic like everyone else had to.  And yeah, I'm still a little bitter that Buffy, a character who stood for women not being afraid to fight, not thinking it was bad to be strong, not only nearly being raped, but allowing her SOULLESS RAPIST to get away and then later TRUSTING HIM with her younger sister.  The worst part about Buffy's season 6 was that Buffy wasn't really in it.)

And I'm wondering who girls look to now?  Who are they being given to follow?  Is anyone out there teaching them that they can be strong and still be women, that there's nothing unfeminine about fighting?  Or is it all Paris and Lindsey and the girls from Laguna Beach?  I don't know, I'm so far removed from it and that scares me.

The world needs a new Buffy.  The rule of slayers is supposed to be that when one dies another is called.  So, who's been called?  Who's been tapped?  I'm praying so hard that it's not me because I don't think I'm cut out for the job.

But is anybody?

So I say we change the rule. I say my power... should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer... will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power... will have the power... can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?

-Buffy Summers, "Chosen"