the fight for marriage equality

I consider myself to be one of the odder people on campus in terms of political beliefs. I was raised in a highly conservative household when it came to policy and fiscal matters, but social ones were treated with relative indifference. Gay marriage and abortion were no big deal, and I've never understood why so many people become so vehemently opposed to either.

I totally support gay marriage, or whatever it is. I understand marriage is traditionally defined as occurring between a man and a woman, but when that definition was formed, a woman could be killed for being raped or disobeying her husband. If we are to keep these laws, then the one in three women facing rape or sexual abuse in their lifetime would be gone. Now imagine if that was your wife or girlfriend, mother or sister, niece or daughter.

That's a lot of women whose lives would be adversely affected by maintaining this traditional rule. Why are we so hellbent on keeping an archaic structure which is maladapted to our current society? A union is a union regardless of the sex or gender of the people involved. Every spouse should have equal rights to their significant other's estate, protection and benefits. If tables were turned and gay marriage was suddenly the dominating influence in a society, would you as a heterosexual person feel outraged? Disgusted? Rebellious?

A little empathy goes a long way.

work sucks

I really don't like my job.

I know a lot of people say that, but I think my situation is a little unique.

For one, I have three female bosses, and everyone in my office is female. I'm a girl, too, so the amount of estrogen floating around is astonishing.

In order of appearance, we have: Flutterby, the big boss, who controls the entire office and such.
Kookles, one of two minor bosses, who is rather insane
and, finally, Beezy. Her name speaks for itself.

Part of my job is to write 1-2 articles a week for this organization, which appear in a local newspaper. Everyone has their own opinions, which is fine, but I have to have a 45-minute meeting with Kookles before she is satisfied, a 10-minute meeting with Beezy before she is satisfied, and then another meeting with Flutterby where she dismisses all the changes made by the other two. This is also the case for e-newsletters or anything else that involves communications. And it can't be something simple like changing a word, it has to be "I don't like how this looks now, change it."

I have to say, Kookles is really kooky because of a semi-recent surgery and the amount of drugs she's taking.

But these women are never satisfied! Something is always wrong, something always needs changing.

I suppose that's how the world works, though.

eyes wide open

All this weekend and on Monday, there will be an event called Eyes Wide Open, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and a few other organizations. In the main quad, there will be over 400 pairs of army boots, each representing a soldier from California who died. Some boots are from far away (Oceanside) while others are close to home (Salinas). Along with soldier boots, take a look for civilian baby and women's shoes, who represent just a few of the Iraqi casualties in the war.

Personally, I think this is a great way to give people a concept of the shear number of deaths. We wear our shoes every day, just like the brave men and women protecting our country. As I was talking with some of the organizers of the exhibit, they told me they used to travel the country and would receive boots from family members of those who have fallen, but due to the shear number of total casualties and the amount of care required to preserve the personal effects, they were all given back.

American soldiers who have died: 4264
(source http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/)