Just so you know, I do post more than once every two months. It's just that my journal is mostly friends only. But I like friends, and don't really care whether I know you already or not, so add me if you like. I'll add you back—promise—as long as you comment on this post. Say anything!

While simultaneously talking about dimples on butts and fitted vs. flat sheets:

Erin: LOL DIMPLES
They come off easier.
Me: ...the dimples?
Erin: ...the flat sheets.

( More shiny pictures!!! )

I started seaming them...and it's going to take a lot longer than I'd originally planned, ack! But still, I'm so freaking happy that I finally finished knitting something!

Just finished knitting the last square for my blanket. Going to bed...pictures when I wake up. And after that, the joy of sewing ninety-six squares together; oh goody.

Today when I was looking through one of the forums I frequent, I came across a thread that asked the question, "Does your husband or boyfriend 'let you' or 'not let you' do things?" And I read through like ten pages of replies, and almost everyone's answer was some sort of emphatic NO, and not one single person actually came out and said, "Yeah, my boyfriend/husband 'lets' me do things." Some quotes from the thread...

"The whole idea sort of pisses me off."

"I don’t have a husband, because I’m afraid he’d offer to “let” me do something and I’d have to slap the snot out of him."

"No. I am not subservient to anyone, especially to men."

"If mine ever tried, he’d be sleeping outside on the porch alone and eating catfood. I get ladies in my store all the time that will like something, but won’t buy it because “he” wouldn’t like it or wouldn’t let them. I tell them, that would be the day my husband has the smallest say in what I wear or buy for clothes."

This kind of confounds me. If I had a husband or a boyfriend, there would almost definitely be some things he would "let" or "not let" me do, and there'd also be things I would "let" or "not let" him do. Everyone seems to make it this big feminist issue, but I think it's more an issue about whether you really care about the other person or not. If you really love someone, sometimes you have to set rules and boundaries for them. For example, I care a lot about my friends, and if one of them were drunk or high, I would definitely not let them drive home. That doesn't mean I'm oppressing them, does it? In the same way, if I got drunk at a party with my husband or something, I'd expect him to not let me drive home. If I got depressed and wanted to kill myself, I'd expect him not to let me do that. Even non-life-threatening things, but things where my judgment is impaired/impartial, like if I saw a magnificent, frilly, girly, fluffy pink armchair that cost $2000, I would expect my husband to not let me buy that gorgeous thing, no matter how much I begged and pleaded, because in the long run, I would probably value eating more than sitting in my amazing chair.

And regarding the last quote out of the ones above: when a woman says she can't buy something because her husband "won't let them," 1) it's just an expression - it's (probably) not like he'll beat her up or demand a divorce if she actually does buy it; and 2) if the woman really loves her husband, it's probably more of that she knows he would prefer that she spend her money on other things, and since she cares about him, she respects his wishes enough to refrain from buying it.

Obviously, there are cases where a husband oppresses his wife by not letting her do anything, but I don't think that means you can say that just because your husband "lets" or "doesn't let" you do some things, he is abusive/oppressive/implying that you are subservient to him. I think that a lot of feminists get so offended as soon as they see "my husband doesn't let me..." that they don't stop to think about this little thing called real life, in which people use the phrase "don't let" as just an expression, and also to stop your loved ones from dying or hurting themselves.

Another (sort of off-topic) thing that is funny to me is how women argue that they're equal to men and therefore should have an equal chance of getting high-paying jobs like doctors, lawyers, etc. but you never hear a woman say, "Yeah, since we're equal to men, there should be more female garbage-people/construction workers/pizza delivery people/janitors."