"Get Down"

Y'all...here comes another recommendation from your already slightly stir-crazy professor. Have you heard of Six, the musical that re-imagines the lives of Henry VIII's six wives? One of my podcasts (of course) was just talking about it and recommended this number in particular, from the perspective of Anne of Cleves.

Your (Lutheran*) professor has been dancing in her chair with this on repeat...

*Give it a listen and you'll see why I am pointing this out.

Podcast Recommendation/Corona Virus

So, in the midst of all of this Corona Virus Panic and possible quarantine, I've been listening to a lot of podcasts (as one does, also please feel free to leave your recommendations below!). One of my very favorite comedians, Chris D'elia, recently released a new episode of his Congratulations podcast where, for a segment of it, he talks about the virus and the overall public response, as well as Trump's televised response. I'd like to preface this video by saying that he does curse, and he does make fun of Trump, though he makes fun of Biden directly after (this is to say that his mockery has no political preference). Chris D'elia has labelled his podcast as just having a "silly-goose time" every episode, which I understand many people are not into (I like to laugh at silly voices and faces and lots of dumb jokes, so if you prefer a more serious podcast, this one may not be for you).

Chris starts talking about this at around 17:10 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20cMsi8C21E&t=3423s

If anyone has any response to this segment, this episode, or any of his episodes/comedy specials (some of them are on Netflix), please comment!

Podcast recommendation: FANTI

Y'all know I love podcasts. And I am going to be relying on them more than ever to get through this whole social distancing thing. Anyway, finally started listening to FANTI, which some of my other favorite podcasters recommended. Hosted by two queer, black men, the podcast is about our "problematic favorites." Here's how they describe it: "Sometimes the people, places, and things we love don’t love us back. We’re fans, but we also have some ANTI- feelings toward them. Every week on FANTI, journalists Tre’vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill bring their pop culture and political expertise to things we must stan and stand up against."

It's smart and funny and touches on some of the issues we've discussed in class.

(I plan to keep the recommendations coming if I come across anything worth sharing with you all.)

Oh, Those Are the Feronys?

            I am in love with my mother. You know Freud with his Oedipus complex nonsense? Well, he got it at least in my case. My mother is the most beautiful, kindhearted woman on this planet (which is a bold thing to say especially in this class). However, despite my undying love for my mother and my father’s relentless push for me to succeed, providing help whenever necessary, the people I am most excited to see when I go home are my three younger brothers.

            I have told people in my life before that, for whatever reason, the thing I look forward to most when it comes to marriage planning is picking my groomsmen. My lineup when it comes time will be that of the New York Yankees in the 1920s, including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Matt is my Lou Gehrig, my rock that I can count on whenever I need a friend and he will be my best man. Adam is my Babe Ruth. He is a powerful force to be reckoned with and will put one to the fences if you just ask him nicely. He will be my second-in-command. Jason is my faithful first baseman. His job isn’t the hardest, but it is absolutely necessary. He will put all his effort into any job you give him, and he’ll do it with passion because he’s always wanted to please his older brothers. He will be my third. There are other great men in my life who I am excited to notify of the honor of being part of this army of tried and true men, but none compare when facing the Ferony boys.

            David Sedaris wrote about his brother who referred to himself as The Rooster. His brother is perfectly eccentric and loving, exactly the way you’d want a sit-com character to be. My brothers are collectively The Rooster. Matt is my best friend. He’s twenty months younger than me so, in my opinion, there wasn’t enough time for sibling rivalry to set in. At that time, I was still trying to grasp the idea that I could pick up practically anything with my thumb and forefingers, never noticing the person who had begun living with us. Adam was different. Adam is more like that scar a lot of people have right next to their eye. They hated it when they were younger, but it’s been around for so long that you’ve grown to love it. He messed up the awesome two peas in a pod dynamic that Matt and I had going for almost four years then, so it took a while for us to account for his presence. Adam and I are movie fanatics and he is perhaps the most excited when I return from college (giving Kelly, the doggo, a run for her money). Jason is the youngest and he was more of a surprise than anything else. He is eight years younger than me so, while my mom was pregnant, I got to take part in the naming conversations. At this point, I think my parents were running out of ideas. They hadn’t picked a name until they brought Jason home from the hospital. I still don’t love the name, but I love him, so everything worked out. I also began to call him simply “J” and my family followed suit.

            To everyone on the outside, we are the troublemaking boys that must be making our poor mother’s life a living hell. We do. But I think she thought we were so cute when were young that she couldn’t get rid of us opting for our far less rambunctious female counterparts. I am almost twenty-one years old and I will never say that I hate any of my siblings (which is a good thing). One thing I do hate is the way sibling relationships are portrayed in the media. Siblings always hate each other. If siblings are expected to hate each other, then, of course, they are going to learn to hate each other. I am very excited to see my brothers again over the course of the spring break. I miss them, almost as much as I’ll miss you my girls in HNRS 389.

A Late Post About International Women’s Day 2020

First off, I just want to thank all you ladies (and Nick) for being amazing classmates and peers this semester. I know we aren’t finished yet but I’ve been having a great time talking and laughing with all of you. Today I want to share a story of something that happened to me on International Women’s Day this year (so Wednesday). I check Snapchat stories like the morning paper. So I wake up Wednesday morning and I’m doing my thing, and I come across a story from a dude I had matched with on Tinder at some point in time. There was a featured filter that day from Bumble that said, “Empowered Women Empower Women,” cute! I love it! The man in question had used the filter, but crossed out the “wo” to make it read, “Empowered Men Empower Men.” I could’ve puked. Like... my jaw literally dropped when I saw it. What did you gain from this??!? I responded to his story and I said, “we really can’t have one day.” He replied something disrespectful I don’t even remember what but it was uncalled for, much like his edit to this filter. YOU DID THIS TOMFOOLERY ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY AND EXPECTED NOTHING TO BE SAID?!!? NICK WOULD NEVER DO THIS! Men really are so fragile to the point that women can’t be appreciated for one measly day. Ridonkulous! I know y’all understand how stupid this is I just needed to get it off my mental.

I want to wrap this up by emphasizing something we talk about a lot, but will always matter. Stories from women, members of the LGBTQ+, non-white people, basically everyone that isn’t a straight white man are SO IMPORTANT. We all have so much to offer each other and society as a whole. I’ve loved hearing all of your stories, and the ones of those we’ve studied in class. I hope everyone has a great and safe break, and that you never stop sharing your stories.

Shane Dawson!!!

One of the week’s post I introduced YouTuber Liza Koshy and all of her glory. This week I want to “introduce” a YouTube Icon who has been on the site ever since the Stone Ages. Ladies and Gent, I introduce you to the one and only… Shane Dawson. I decided to do this again because one, I couldn’t think of anything else to be honest, and two why not he is so awesome! Lets start!

If you haven’t watched YouTube or just don’t pay attention to the world then let me help you out. Shane Lee Yaw aka Dawson was born on July 19, 1988 and is identified as bi-sexual. He did use to do date Lisa Schwartz but now is currently engaged to Ryland Adams. He is an OG when it comes to YouTube, but he is not just known for his YouTube channel. He has done so many things and is considered to be all of the above: YouTuber personality, author, actor, sketch comedian, film director, musician and now make-up artist. In the beginning of his YouTube career, he started off doing skits with family (sometimes) and other YouTube friends along the road. He would play original characters that he created, impersonate celebrities and make light of pop culture. Not only did our boy Shane did YouTube and considered as one of the first, but he also did music. He had a short pop career, but then launched his podcast Shane and Friends ever since 2013. 2015 was the year I started looking into him because this was when he started the series Conspiracy Theories.

Side note: I can say that he is the reason why I started to love conspiracy theories because he will tell us some crazy stuff right, and then his reaction is just priceless. There are times when I get scared when he shares the theory, but I get scared for him because some of the things that he talks about (the government, 9/11, men in black, etc.) sounds very confidential and he might get kidnapped or adultnapped all because he said too much to the people and made them woke.

Anyways, he started off with him sitting on his couch having errie music in the background, giving you creepy vibes. Now, he turned it up! He has a whole intro that looks like some X-Files type ish and Jesus these theories get worse. Not only does he do conspiracy theories, but he goes on scary trips with his friends/Youtubers/family Ryland Adams (fiancé), sister-to-be Morgan Adams, and two friends Garrett and Andrew (camera man) like Queen Mary, Stanley Hotel, etc. There are videos that he makes as a docu-series, for instance TanaCon, Jefferre Star, Jefferre Star and himself for their make-up line and Jake Paul. To this day, he continues to do more and more for his fans and I just love it. Also, don’t get me wrong, all of his stuff is not scary, most of his channel contains happiness along with different adventures, eating challenges, burning things, he is just all over and I freaking love it!

Here are a couple of links to his videos if anyone is interested. They all contain scary trips, conspiracy theories, them just goofing around and so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCPDcIQstr8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZcOGPj8C1U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-sW4PfSxwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48p-Gjh0L5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHLBaOASC74

Week 9: Memento mulier

In David Sedaris' "Memento Mori," he describes the odd “relationship” and one-sided conversations he has with the skeleton he gifted his husband. This skeleton constantly reminds him, "'You are going to die,'" and effectively creeps him out (Sedaris 155). Although Sedaris does not explicitly explain the connection to this chapter's title, "memento mori” is the idea that this skeleton reminds him of his inevitable death. "Memento mori" is Latin for "remember you must die" and describes objects in artwork or everyday life that remind people of their mortality ("Memento mori"). I was going to attempt to discuss some things in my life that are memento mori, but I came up empty. Of course, I get the occasional existential thought that I am going to die one day, much like anyone else. However, I am not reminded of that fact or worry about it often enough to have objects in my life that serve as memento mori. With that being said, I thought about how I could still discuss this idea. After some brainstorming, I came up with "memento mulier," which is loose Latin, courtesy of Google Translate, for "remember you are a woman." There are a number of objects and experiences in my day-to-day life that remind me that I am female, or the "lesser sex." Thus, with this blog post, I would like to share a short list of "memento mulier," or things that tell me I am a woman. 

My Memento mulier 

1. The expensive feminine hygiene products I buy every month 

This memento has to do a bit with nature and the biology of being a woman, but it also deals with inequality. On International Women's Day, I saw an Instagram post titled "If men had to pay for toilet paper." This video included a very interesting experiment in which men had to pay for toilet paper in a restroom, much like women have to pay for tampons (if they are even available). If the men did not have any quarters, they had to post about period rights for women (Okamoto). Here is a link to the video if you would like to watch it. I absolutely loved it! 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9eTfD9nDZA/  

2. I am told to smile while minding my own business. 

Being told to smile is a near exclusive thing that happens to women. (I honestly doubt any guy has been asked to smile by another man or a woman in this way.) It does not discriminate where you are or what you are doing either. I was even asked to smile while completely zoned out around 10pm at Food Lion with no customers. This old man walked by me and told me to smile, in a very sassy way too, even though I was extremely tired and also not even paying attention out of sheer boredom due to how slow it was that evening. As I am typing all of this out, trying to defend why I was not already smiling, I realize that there is something else that reminds me I am a woman... 

3. I constantly feel the need to explain myself, especially if I am doing something "unladylike." 

Just like I was defending why I was not smiling for this creep, I am often explaining myself as a woman. If I am ever in a position of power, which is a feat in itself, I am apologetic or constantly explaining why I am "being bossy." Similarly, I am so afraid of appearing unladylike, that I overcompensate by always adding explanation points to my sentences to seem happy or refraining from vulgar language to seem sweet and virginal. 

4. The fad diet coffee I bought for an outrageous price 

I once bought an embarrassing number of bags of "Keto coffee" in an effort to lose weight. The stress of college and life in general made me gain weight, and I am currently very unhappy with my body.  Society grooms us women to hate our bodies anyway, weight fluctuation or not. Instagram accounts that make money off of vulnerable young women preyed on me, and I ended up buying this weight loss product from one of them. The coffee did not help and was a giant waste of money. FYI this keto coffee tastes disgusting on a whole new level and is basically like drinking liquified butter and dirt. It is great. 

5. Sexist pigs in general 

The sexist pigs I have to deal with, especially at work, remind me the most that I am a woman. I would not have to listen to rude misogynistic comments or marriage proposals from COMs (creepy old men) if I was male. Similarly, I would not have to worry about my safety when certain older men come into the store that have a history with sexual harassment. These kinds of men remind me daily that I will always be treated as a sexual object and a sounding board for their hideously out-of-date viewpoints and ideals. 

In addition to these main "memento mulier," there are littler objects that remind me of being a woman that include but are not limited to: my pepper spray, my spanx, demeaning social media posts, articles, magazines, and other forms of entertainment, my future pay check that will most likely be less than my male coworkers, and catcalls. There are so many more, and I encourage you to share some of yours in the comments. The strongest thing we have as women is solidarity, and I believe that our unity can beat any of the constant reminders that we are not enough. Together we are everything. 

Works Cited 

“Memento mori– Art Term.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1997, www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/memento-mori. 

Okamoto, Nadya. "If men had to pay for toilet paper." Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/B9eTfD9nDZA/. 

Sedaris, David. "Memento Mori." When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Little, Brown and Company, 2008, p. 155.