Let's just dive right in.

Breaking the ice with the big issue - feminism and women's rights! Let's start by stating some facts here. First - I am a feminist. I'm not a man-hater or a lesbian, I do shave, I'm fairly attractive, and I enjoy cooking, sewing, and other traditionally "girly" things. But yes, I consider myself a feminist. Second - we live in a culture that accepts gender roles as the norm, accepts rape and abuse as something that is inevitable, and thinks it's okay to make sexist jokes or innuendos. Newsflash! These are bad things.

The more movies, television, and music promote the idea that women are sexual objects, meant to serve men, or less intelligent or able than men, the more people will start to believe it. We are all people. Women do deserve equal pay, equal rights, and all of that, but the REAL issue in my opinion is the mindset some men have that women are for sex and are meant to serve them.

Rape is NOT OKAY. I'm just going to throw that out there. It is NOT your RIGHT to have sex with me whenever you feel like it. It's NOT your RIGHT to attack me and force yourself on me. It's NOT your RIGHT to make me do humiliating things for your pleasure. I am a PERSON, with rights and feelings and freedoms of my own, and you should NOT be able to take that away. It is disgusting and repulsive that so many people in the world feel that they are entitled to another person's body. And the crap about the woman "asking for it"? Dressing provocatively and drinking in public are NOT an invitation for some stranger to attack me in a dark alley, kidnap me, rape me, and kill me. If I want to wear a slutty dress, that is my choice. How come it's always like, "Oh well, men can't control themselves and women should know better," when that statement SAYS it's the man's fault? If men can't control themselves when they see a woman in a short skirt, we need to take some action here. Invent a pill, make a device, do SOMETHING to keep our children, teenagers, mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, daughters, ALL women safe.

I know, I know, men aren't the only ones who rape/molest/attack, but they do the bulk of it. And I know, not all men are like that, but ENOUGH OF THEM ARE. One in SIX women has been raped, and that means either there's a few very busy rapists, or there are a lot of them out there. One is too many. It's preposterous, especially in America, that this is happening. I for one am 100% for the Rape-aXe device (a latex sheath embedded with shafts of sharp, inward-facing barbs worn by a woman in her vagina. The attacker's penis would enter the condom and be snagged by the barbs, causing excruciating pain and (ideally) giving the victim time to escape. The device could only be removed surgically, alerting hospital staff and police. Also prevents pregnancy, HIV, and STDs. [from Wikipedia]). I firmly believe these should be mass-produced, if they're not already, and handed out freely at clinics and sex ed classes, or anywhere else condoms are handed out for free. This is the greatest thing I've heard in terms of preventing rape. I promise you, after a couple of these stories hit the media, rapists might think twice before attempting anything.

Anyway. This is just one feminism-related issue that I'm going to write about, but I feel it's the most important. I despise the rape culture we live in. I don't think rape jokes are funny and I refuse to watch rape scenes in movies. If a movie makes rape jokes or has a rape scene, my opinion of it goes WAY down. People need to realize that rape and sexual abuse are not acceptable, not funny, and not things that should be ignored.

I will probably have more to say about this later, but for now, that's my two cents.