I found a Lovelyish entry that asked if one was feminist or not, and why or why not. I was appalled at the number of women who flat out said hell no! Do people even know what feminism is? It's a huge shame that women have no idea what they're objecting to, because it goes to make their own lives that much worse. What would we women be without the ability to vote? To work? To escape the confines of subservience to men, as in being lesser beings of existence. Feminists want a level playing field, not one that slopes towards either sex being better and of more worth than another.
Feminism is NOT:
- bra burning
- man-hating
- male subservience
- dominatrix-style relationships

Feminism IS:
- the belief of equal rights
- equal wages for men and women
- equal opportunities

Compliments of ShimmerBodyCream/common sense, basic knowledge/a dictionary:
"A social theory or political movement supporting the equality of both genders in all aspects of public and private life; specifically, a theory or movement that argues that legal and social restrictions on females must be removed in order to bring about such equality."

Feminists are not "extremists". We're realistic and we demand what we deserve - that being, anything any other human being with external genitals deserves. It's the above, what I said was not feminism that gives normal feminists who just want their fair share such a terrible name.

My head spins when I see women say they hate feminism and think it's horrible, that they could never be one.
If that's the case, get thee in the kitchen and pop out children post haste! You'd damn well better get the stove burning for dinner, and cleaning the house so he doesn't have to lie around in a sty of a home. Feel fortunate you're allowed to do that much!

All of that said, HELL YES, I'M A FEMINIST.

Maybe I'm seriously uptight, or maybe I'm an obsessive compulsive overachieving academic, but regardless of what I am, I believe the point still stands: school is important, and not just because mommy and daddy told me so. School gives you education, and education provides you a future. I was reading around just now and saw this, which I admit was a little infuriating. That it got featured makes even less sense! Is Xanga composed of masses of spoiled North American 12 year olds? Not bashing, of course, just asking.

School is not a torture chamber. Take yourself to any third world country where school costs money out of your own parents' pockets and see where you get without an education. Your only use is for backbreaking labour that others can afford not to do - you make mere peanuts, if even that much. It's a serious shame that only when everything is taken away from you that you realize how great you have it. Just having the option of going to school is a huge privilege that so many take for granted.

Schools aren't *perfect*, and I doubt they ever will be, but they teach you the basics for what you'll need later. I have plenty of complaints about what my high school lacked, but I'm glad I was there - it provided me some great experiences, great friends, and great education that, no matter who or where you are, could have been better. I write this from the point of view of being a visual and musical artist - I am majoring in a field that uses no science, no physical grudge work, almost no math, and history that has yet to be significantly documented (digital media).

English? Creative writing skills can be expressed in many types of papers, and not just in English class. It seems like this is a narrow view that what is learned in one class can only be put to use in that class. Look towards later options. Chances are if you're in grade 9 or 10, grades 11 and 12 are looming over you with several electives. My school included a Writer's Craft class, but even if they didn't, look into Writer's Club, school anthologies, join the yearbook team, express your creative outlets on your own. Just because the school doesn't facilitate something, doesn't mean you can't take extra time out of your own life to ask for advice and help, and to pursue things on your own. In my experience, all of my teachers have been extremely receptive of my extracurricular interests and you'll never know otherwise unless you try. I would like to add that the five paragraph structure is utter crap - try writing a 20 page academic article based on that model. Chances are you will never use that after high school because you'll be penalized for using such a painfully rudimentary style of writing. If you start a new point, or need to extend your argument, start a new paragraph. No one wants to read a three-page paragraph; it's unprofessional at best. That is one thing I would definitely change. (And honestly, job applications are really straight forward - if you fill one out incorrectly, I'd less be assessing your writing skills but your reading comprehension in that... can you read? kind of thing.)

Math is math. It's problem solving, and believe it or not, it will be useful. It's also not mandatory after grade 10, but useful and seriously considered by colleges and universities. Maybe the quadratic equation and solving for the roots of parabolas isn't your thing, that's fine. You might just have to suck up the things you'll never use, but you never know when you'll change what you want in life. Neglecting math is just closing yet another door. Just like in English, there are options later on to take different paths of math - some based on university learning, some based on college, some based on everyday life that have nothing to do with post-secondary institutions, or you can totally not take it. Besides, there are plenty of equations that come in useful in building and creating - want to own a home? Want to construct, create, and draft your own images and sculptures? You learn more than you think when performing mundane tasks that make you want to rip your hair out. I never thought I would use my grade 12 calculus ever again, and it frustrated me to tears, but now in third year university (going back and taking a first year course), it's actually of use.

You really think history is insignificant? How would you put yourself and your world into context? If we don't document what we've done, how will we realize our mistakes to not make them again? I mean, I read that and find it akin to pretending the Holocaust or Rwanda genocide didn't actually happen. "I won't be a historian, why do I need to know it?" It just comes off as incredibly disrespectful - what of the soldiers who fought, died, and survived in war? Do you realize we're facing a war right now, too? If your parent, sibling, or other relative went to fight and your children went to school and forgot they even existed, how would you feel? Is it really that useless to realize why your culture is your culture, and how it got to be such a way? What about other cultures? Hate crimes, in my opinion, stem from ignorance and ill-educated people who have nothing else to do with their fear of other people, other cultures, and disrespect for the history they, their country, and their own country have been through. History is massively important!!

I am by no means a science person, and it's not required after grade 10 where I am, but what I learned, I don't discount. Things like animal and human biology, even the basics, are pretty significant... since you know, we're human and it would be nice to know something about ourselves. Whether we're going to be chemists or not, we should know some of the elements as well as the basics of WHMIS so you can't get hurt by your own ignorance. You never know what kind of chemicals you're going to be dealing with. Also, there are chemicals that can be your friend - save time, money, effort, and skin knowing which ones and how they can help.

I will admit this. I hate PE. I've hated PE since we started having to take it in elementary school, and would scrape by with 60s because I never participated. In something as simple as dodgeball, I would stand in the corner as if I was already out, or get out on purpose because I am not an overtly competitive person. If I lost at sports, I'd be fine with that. I think that bitterness ended when we no longer did co-ed things - in high school, only grade 9 gym was required and only because it was where health was taught. Health was very useful (although it could have been better), and the sports and exercises themselves weren't strenuous or difficult, and I actually had fun. While I'm not a fan, I don't see any problems with it. It emphasizes teamwork, expands our abilities by what we can play, teaches us structure in physical and competitive circumstances, and in an age where people of all ages are becoming more and more sedentary and eating total junk, I think we and all coming generations need that physical stimulation.

High school isn't the be-all end-all of education. You've probably got a lot of life ahead of you, and high school is setting the basics for everything you experience to build onto. It's a foundation that may be broken and rebuilt several times, but I promise you this: you will not regret learning the so-called useless things you did when you can put your life and your education into perspective.

I wasn't shocked just by the original poster, but the responses that agreed so wholeheartedly really made me scratch my head. I might just be insane, but I love school. I adore the experiences within school, and I revel in learning. I love knowing more and being immersed in such an intelligent environment and I will forever be a lifelong student, whether it's in a structured environment or not and whether it's wholly practical or not. The day I stop learning will be the day I die.

You are the worst product in the world. I loathe you with my every follicle and seethe at the idea of your presence in my household.

Besides being so thickly and killingly concentrated that a few whiffs of you would cause the average person to pass out, our sink is still clogged. We gave you your half an hour and you did nothing. We did a whole lot though.

Let's see, my dad got a whole face full of you, and then some. My mom got a face full of you. My birds got a face full of you to the point where I propped open the back door, and then eventually took them outside the back door. Have I mentioned I live in Canada, where it's cold? It's 7PM, the house smells of Draino in almost every room. I'm sitting outside with the birds in my night gown and bath robe in the cold wind, the bird cages are lightly blanketed, although they also now smell like Draino.

After about half an hour, my mom sees me pacing at the back door and asks if I'm cold and need to come in and get a sweater. Okay, I'm wearing a gown and a bath robe that barely reach my knees, and sandals. No, I'll survive without a sweater but pants would have been great. Regardless, I couldn't leave my birds. I live in an area that used to be a forest, it's off of a busy street, and people are fucking idiots and let their cats roam outside. (Yeah, you read right: busy streets + past forest + small roaming animals - bonus: our busy roads come right off the major highways!)

An hour after that, I decided I was taking the birds inside. It's cold, it's 8:00, it still stinks of Draino everywhere. So I ran upstairs as fast as I could, sniffed my upstairs bedroom, unlocked the deck door, and started hauling one cage at a time up 19 stairs + a landing, which is at least 16 feet off the ground and the stairs have no backings so I was kind of petrified. I also experienced a pain I get whenever I hold something heavy awkwardly, and it usually is a bird cage. It's in my right shoulder and it's short little pangs like someone is sticking me with a needle. Anyway, as I'm hauling my second cage up to the landing, I see my neighbours two doors down turn on their lights, and what do I see? A little cat! All I could think was "are you shitting me?" They sent their little cat outside and it went darting towards the back. So as you can assume, having four small birds at anything's mercy out there, I booted it up those stairs, lost all the blankets, and rushed them all into my room and set them on the floor. Spilled their water everywhere, they were pretty scared. I felt terrible.

Opened the window in my room, changed their water bowls, turned off the light, and shut the door. I hope the Draino didn't do too much damage to my chickens. :(

Also, my dad when he got a face full of it, he was unscrewing part of the pipe and ALL the Draino shit spewed out into the bucket underneath. This shit is so potent and so strong, he got up and ran because I don't think he was expecting it to spill out so quickly. I honestly thought he was going to run and vomit, but he came running back in! My mom and I were just dumbstruck that he kept going back. My mom heard him coughing and told him to go upstairs and breathe some fresh air through open windows, but he kept going back to the sink. He's still coughing now. I say if his cough persists into tomorrow, I'm making him go to the clinic and I'll pay for it and everything to make sure he isn't fucking killing himself with that shit. Before they resorted to Draino, they used another commercial mix that my dad would just stick his hand right into. Seriously? Come the hell on.

They tried snaking it with a small snake and plunging it, but it's still clogged. My dad says tomorrow, he's going to get a bigger snake and try that, and if that doesn't work, he's going to call that guy who always comes and works on our house but never makes a difference anyway. I hate useless people. If anyone is going to be stepping foot on my property, they damn well better be of some sort of worth - so help me God if he comes to my house, walks into my kitchen, toys with some pipes, and says he can't do anything about it. He does that ALL the time and I have no idea why my parents still have faith in this guy. He didn't fix my leak or check for mold or fix my ceiling - my family had to do that.

Complete and utter bullshit. I can taste the Draino in my mouth. I can't even finish my dinner, I didn't get half way through before I smelled the Draino and went running to open the windows and door and turn on the fan. Like I'd feel like eating now anyway. When I first came downstairs, I was still shaking - not in cold, but I think in fear, weakness, and anger that I had to go through that and put my birds through that and that my parents would put themselves through that.

This guy keeps trying to say hi to me and after the 7th or 8th time of me not responding, he's still coming and saying it. Don't people get it? Christ.