Am barely coherent, but...

[flyingskull]

So lots and lots and LOTS more work and lots and lots of physiotherapy for stressed knee and stressed fingers; the latter to explain absence from LJ.

Have been reading good books, la creme de la creme of which is Diana Wynne Jones: Children's Literature and the Fantastic Tradition by Farah Mendlesohn. Wonderful book, intelligent in-depth analysis of DWJ's opus and a lovely witty style that makes reading it a positive pleasure. Am actually re-reading it because it's such a lovely book to read. Also love DWJ, of course, but I think even those who have a superficial knoweledge of her should read it. It says a lot about Fantasy and Sci-Fi and makes one want to read the books, a far from mean feat in a lit crit book, BTW.

As for the rest: it's hot almost everywhere I was forced to go, humid torrid jungle hot, a thing I don't like at all. Why is it that travel agency disaster NEVER happen in Iceland? *sigh*

I onther news I got SO pissed off at LJ - wanted to remove a 'friend' (hate that name) and required button has mysteriously disappeared from 'manage friends' page, so I ask LJ admin and - after much faffing and fapping - they demand to know the username of the 'friend' I want to remove. I am forced to give it and get my instructions in the form of a 'go to' page in MY FUCKING LJ MANAGE ACCOUNTS IN MY FUCKING ACCOUNT. I want to kill 'em all. *deep breath* So I made two mirror blogs at JournalFen and GreatestJournal as a prequel to abandoning LJ altogether. baeraad, I think I may be able to get you a free LJ at JournalFen if you want to have one. The way I feel right now I may not be on LJ much longer.

HUGZ to all and sorry for absence. Unavoidable, I fear. I hope the worst is past, because I'm really tired.

P.S. Oh, apparently G. R. R. Martin forbids fanfic about his Earth-shaking saga. Who'd have thunk it? He didn't seem to be like Ann Rice and the other stupidies...

Comments

[baeraad.livejournal.com]

That's because I'm the female of the species and have absolutely NO quarrel with my body. :P :P :P

I am very happy for you. I'm the male of the species, and I have LOTS of quarrels with my body! Does that mean that I hate myself, or that I wish I was female? No, it just means that I acknowledge the drawbacks of my situation along with the benefits.

That said, of course you are entitled to feel the way you do. But so is everyone else. Women who hate their periods are not traitors to womanhood. :P

Men and women are the same species, of course what we have in common is more than what we don't have, but there are some differences and those are all in the 'feeling and thinking' area

And this is the part where I must strongly disagree. What are these supposed differences? I can't say I've ever found any, not of any importance. For every attribute I could find in one gender, I always realised that there was an equivalent attribute in the other.

Yes, yes, there are some statistical differences, caused by different hormones. But that's a difference of degree, not of kind. Women get angry and aggressive even without testosterone, men have tender feelings even with low estrogen. And for every tendency you might note, there's a million exceptions. Between you and me, who would you say is the more feminine and the more masculine one? ;)

And manly virtues? What on earth is that? If you mean that solving problems by beating people over the head is not traditionally a female habit, then I'd agree - if only because women are usually less physically able to beat people over the head, and so will be more efficient if they employ more cerebral methods. =] But there's plenty of women in ASOIAF who are strong but peaceful (in the first book, Catelyn comes to mind, and Dany near the end), or who are willing to fight but whose foremost strengths are practicality and people skills (I'm thinking of Asha Greyjoy here, but you haven't met her yet).

Perhaps I should ask, just what would a strong, feminine woman be like, in your opinion?

moreover culture assigns each gender a role and that colours thing as well.

Well, yes, and this is constantly discussed in these books. In the first book there would be, as far as warlike women goes... Osha, and that Moon Clan woman, whatever her name was. They're both from cultures where killing things is considered very much a possible role for women. Who else? Arya. She's a tomboy - those aren't exactly rare. She's supposed to have "manly virtues" and feel lost in her culture because of it. Samwell, by comparison, is a man with "womanly virtues," and he's no better off. Those two are examples of, ahem, what happens when you live in a culture that insists that you should want and like things that you just can't find it in you to want and like. :P

*sigh* Alas, I'm resting today but my brain is still exhausted, I can't find the words. Hope you can muddle through my badly-expressed argument.

I think I understand, yes, and it's not the first time I've heard arguments of this sort. I think I'd understand better with some examples, though, and with an answer to my "what would a strong womanly woman look like, then?" question. =]