Leap Day Sexism

So there was a "Leap Day" this year, as there is every four years, but for some weird reason it seemed to be a bigger deal this time.  I don't know why, but it seemed every TV show and media outlet had a "Leap Day Special" episode and the internet was full of polls with questions like "what are you doing for Leap Day?" etc.  What are you doing for Leap Day?  It's not a holiday or even a weekend!  I'm going to work, duh.

30 Rock very effectively managed to satirize this craze, although I don't know if that was even their intention in writing the episode because I'm not sure how easy to foresee all the Leap Day hype would have been, but I appreciated it.  Parks and Recreation was awesome as always, Leap Day or not, but one of my favourites, Modern Family, really disappointed me.

It wasn't the Leap Day theming of the episode that bothered me (although still, I was weirded out by how the Leap Day tradition is to take the day off work/school for all characters, as if it's some holiday) but the blatantly offensive sexism.  Modern Family, I always thought you were better than that.

If you don't watch Modern Family or didn't see the episode (and don't want to read the linked recap), one of the major storylines involved all three Dunphy women landing on the same menstrual cycle, and turning into crazed, emotional wrecks ("Satan's trifecta" - actual episode quote), while the Dunphy men cower in fear and try to come up with a plan to ditch these hysterical females so they wouldn't ruin Leap Day.

Huh?  This is considered to be quality comedy on a show I actually consider to be quite progressive, in terms of portraying "modern families" in a healthy way, not just for cheap laughs?  Who okayed this script?

I hate having to always feel like I need to defend my comments as not overreacting or being oversensitive (things a woman would do, especially if she's on her period) when I am offended by things like this, but here's why I'm not okay with this episode and you shouldn't be either.

The attitude that menstruating women are incapable of leading their lives normally because of the inevitably accompanying "hysterics" is a totally backwards, misogynistic viewpoint, and it's STILL used today by backwards, misogynistic people to dismiss the opinions of women (check out this incredible spoof on that viewpoint for some major laughs).  Your female co-worker was offended by something you said?  Probably on her period.  Your girlfriend is mad at you for treating her disrespectfully?  Probably just overemotional from it being her time of month - it'll blow over, you did nothing wrong.  Women can't be trusted to have real opinions because they have all these HORMONES and EMOTIONS getting in the way!

Obviously I realize that Modern Family wasn't intending to make an anti-woman statement with this episode - the writers just got lazy and were like "WHAT IF all the girls get their periods and all the guys are scared of them!  LOLOLOL".  But my point here is that when a smart, funny show like Modern Family runs an episode that degrades women with the menstruation thing, it's reinforcing the message that woman+hormones=crazypantz, contributing indirectly to the above described attitude - that women are less capable of contributing to society because they can't control their emotions.  And there are still many, MANY people out there who seriously believe that.

With all the attacks on women by the American media lately, I'm especially disappointed in Modern Family for running this episode.

Plus, men who are scared of periods are weird.  Seriously dudes: get over it.

Bonus Thursday Post!

I don't usually post on Thursdays but WHY NOT amiright.  The Tim Hortons Brier is in Saskatoon right now.  My mom sent me these texts when I was at work:

Mom:  The bri err is on do You watch it up there it interesting on do
Mom:  Maybe next week when you are home you may want to take gramma to the bri e err some afternoon she is going with lynd a this evening she like
Mom:  I think thats why all the flights were full out toronto when you were coming back fr montreal players trying to get to saskatoon for the bri

Desk Job

Hey.  Here is something that you shouldn't say to people, because it can come across as kind of insulting and make you seem like you think you're better than everyone.  People say it a lot.  The thing that people say is "I don't know HOW you can stand having a job where you're stuck behind a desk all day.  I could NEVER do something like that - I need to be involved in all the action" or something along those lines.

It sounds harmless enough but sometimes when people say it you can tell that their implication is "Your job is so BORING and my job is so EXCITING" or worse "What do you even do, just sit on Facebook all day?"  A lot of the time, I get this comment (from the first paragraph) from people who I doubt have any idea of what it is I actually do.


Perhaps an approach such as "I'm glad we have smart people like you doing the behind-the-scenes work" or just asking about what the person is currently working on would be more appropriate, if you feel like the situation is something you want to comment on.  Personally I am always happy to tell people what I'm working on if they pop into my office and want to know, but I just get annoyed when they pop in and say "Don't you get tired of sitting at this desk all day?  I could NEVER do that - I need to be out in the field or I'd go crazy" (which happens more often than the former).

The fact is, some people enjoy desk jobs.  Sure, my day is usually a bit more exciting when I get to go out in the field for a bit, but when it comes down to it I like number crunching and spreadsheet making and writing documents.  This does not make me boring, just like having a field job does not automatically make a person interesting.

The moral of the story:  if you're not even going to try to find out what a person does, don't go around telling them how much their job sucks compared to yours.

Sleep Earplug Removal

I don't talk in my sleep, and I don't sleepwalk.  Basically what I'm saying is when I'm sleeping, I just sleep.  I think I roll around a bit, but I generally do not do anything that might indicate I'm actually awake.

However, I have discovered a weird thing that I will occasionally do in my sleep:  take out earplugs.

I rarely sleep with earplugs in, and it doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes I need earplugs to sleep if my surroundings are too noisy, or if I'm sharing a room with someone who snores, etc.  It's super weird, and it's definitely not a case of my earplugs falling out in the night from moving around. 

The first time I remember it happening (and there may be a few more times that I've forgotten about) was when I went to Prague for a field class a couple years ago.  I was sharing a room with a couple other people so I was sleeping in earplugs, and one morning I woke up and they were not in my ears.  I figured they fell out in the night until I discovered them neatly paired up under my pillow.

The second time happened last weekend in Montreal.  Brahm's apartment is on a busy corner with garbage trucks picking up stuff and taxis honking all night long, not to mention rowdy university students banging around the hallways in the middle of the night, so I put in earplugs.  I woke up in the night with one earplug missing, but figured it fell out and was too tired to look for it in the dark.  In the morning, I discovered it had been placed neatly beside me (standing up) on the edge of the bed.  What?  How did I do that in the dark in my sleep?

It's so bizarre.  Sleepwalking and sleeptalking kind of freak me out so I'm glad that this is all I do, and I hope I just stick to sleep earplug removal (from my own ears) in the future too.

OH I guess I am lying a bit because I have sleepwalked ONCE:  after my high school grad.  I got home with my friend Meghan at about 7 am, drove her to the bus station at 8 am, then went home again and fell asleep.  At 10 am I started walking out the front door with my car keys - LUCKILY my sisters were in the living room watching TV and asked where I was going.  "I have to take Meghan to the bus station!" I slurred.  "You already took her.  Go back to sleep."  "Oh, okay."

A very good reason for not staying up all night and getting a healthy amount of sleep.

Lime Yogurt: The Saga

You might remember this vague post, in which I celebrated the return of lime yogurt to the shelves of Canadian grocery stores.  But here's the thing about that lime yogurt that I found:  it wasn't the lime yogurt I was looking for.

When I was a kid and we got our dairy products delivered by the milkman (I'm not that old but we did have a milkman who drove a milk truck and delivered Co-Op brand milk products door to door), I always begged my mom to buy some lime yogurt.  It was my favourite, a thick, "set" yogurt that tasted so much like some sort of delicious ice cream that I couldn't believe it was healthy (who knows if it was).  I still remember being sad the day they changed the consistency and added bits of pineapple or lemon or something, because it was never the same after that and I just kind of stopped eating it.

Then on a few trips to the US growing up, I discovered an American version of lime yogurt that tasted just like the lime yogurt of my childhood, without bits of miscellaneous citrus fruit swimming around in it ruining the ice cream-like texture.  I always brought some back to Canada when I could, but lime yogurt was now a treat I only enjoyed every few years.

In my first year or so of university, I discovered that Astro was making lime yogurt!  Yesss!  And once again, it tasted just like the lime yogurt I remembered.  I got into the habit of buying a carton almost every week for a month or so until... THEY DISCONTINUED IT.  Right after I discovered it.  Sadness once more.

Since then, and I kid you not, every time I go to a grocery store I scour the yogurt shelves, hoping that someone has brought back lime yogurt.  Seriously, you might think I'm nuts, but I did this for years.  And that fateful day in October, I thought my searching had finally paid off.

But this new yogurt, made again by Astro, fell a little flat.  I think it might have been because it was just "lime" not "key lime" as have been all the best lime yogurts I've enjoyed in the past.  It only slightly satisfied my lime yogurt craving, and after a couple weeks of buying it, I just stopped.  It wasn't the same.  Would lime yogurt and I ever find happiness again?

BUT THEN!!!  As destiny would have it, I spent last weekend in Montreal visiting Brahm.  As he was making breakfast one morning, he mentioned that he had a craving for juice (which is not normal for him) and being really nice, I offered to run down to the grocery store (in his apartment building, hello dream life) and grab some.  While at the store I wandered down the dairy aisle because he was also low on butter, and that's when I spotted it: Oikos key lime yogurt!  (Yes, that is a strange commercial starring Uncle Jesse.)

It was the key lime yogurt I've been waiting for.  It doesn't even appear on the website (it was a 4-pack of not quite 0%) so it must be new... or possibly just a discontinued experiment that they're using up in Montreal.  I hope not.  It was delicious and I hope it sticks around for a while, because I'll be buying a lot of it.

YAY!

A Sensible Coat

We've had a pretty nice winter in Saskatchewan this year - only a few short spells where the weather dipped less than -20, which is insane, being used to what seems like months of sub -30.  We still had a few days of -50 windchill though, and super cold weather always brings about a major frustration for me:  people who don't wear sensible jackets.

I don't understand these people.  I get the people who wear t-shirts and shorts when it's -30 out - they're just in it for the attention (which is super dumb).  But the people who wear windbreakers in -40, or lightly lined denim jackets in -25 - COME ON.  If you have 10 dollars, you can go to any mall in Saskatchewan and find a reasonably warm jacket on sale that is more suited to extremely cold weather.

Am I a weirdo if I want to ask people what they're thinking when they don't wear sensible jackets?  Am I a weirdo that this bothers me so much?  Many of the people I work with don't wear sensible jackets, and we work up north where it's even colder than Saskatoon most of the time.  And the people I work with all make comfortable salaries and are not allowed to say they can't afford a sensible coat.

One example that sticks out in my mind is a guy I went to school with a few years ago.  I guess his deal was that he would store his winter clothes at his parents' house in a different city during the summer, and this particular year he had forgot his winter coat at his parents' house when he went home for Thanksgiving, so was planning to wait until he went home for Christmas to pick it up.

The problem was, it was an extremely cold fall (hovering around -30 on average) and not only did this guy not have his warm winter coat, he had NO coat in Saskatoon.  Every morning he walked from his apartment to the university (about 2 km - not exaggerating) in what he insisted was the warmest "sweater" he owned - essentially, a long-sleeved t-shirt with a hood on it.  I guess to him the hood meant that it was a jacket, but it was seriously a t-shirt with a hood, made out of light cotton.  Also he did not have mitts, so he put his hands in the pockets of his t-shirt with a hood.  I think he did eventually find a toque somewhere.

To this day I don't know why it bothered me so much - perhaps I was annoyed at him for other reasons as well - but every day, I'd bundle up in ski pants and long johns to walk less than a km to school, and he'd walk over in a t-shirt with a hood and say "It wasn't that cold" but his face stayed bright red long after it should have after being flushed with the cold.  A friend and I kept offering him alternatives to frostbite - down filled jackets are on sale at the mall for 15 bucks, get your parents to ship your coat on the bus, but he wouldn't let up, insisting that -40 wasn't too bad still but he did pull out his toque that day.

Maybe I'm the crazy one, for caring so passionately about people not wearing sensible coats in cold weather when it's clearly none of my business, but for whatever reason it always frustrates me.  Who are you impressing by not wearing a sensible coat?  No one.  Who is freezing because of it?  You. You live in Saskatchewan - you owe it to yourself to own a sensible coat.

What the frack

No time for a good blog today because I'm in Montreal BUT did you ever hear about the time where Brahm and I met some of the STARS OF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!!!

No big deal.

Etsy I love you

I just want to profess my massive love for Etsy.  If you don't know what Etsy is, it's basically a giant online craft fair/farmers' market.  And it's AWESOME. 

I discovered Etsy's seed section a while ago and it was basically the best day of my life.  I also got super excited about ordering a terrarium or some air plants but then realized that all the sellers of these items are American and can't ship living things to Canada - sad.

My engagement ring came from Etsy (check out the seller's shop, she's awesome!).  I was SO happy to discover Etsy shortly before we started ring shopping because the ring I got was basically my dream ring, and nothing I've seen on any other website or jewelery catalogue even comes close to it.  And according to Brahm, the seller was amazing to work with, suggested purchasing a moissanite stone (which we are both still super happy about), and worked with him to make sure the ring was delivered before our Iceland trip.  I've found the same with all the Etsy sellers I've worked with too - always fast, friendly, and helpful communication!

We're probably going to be ordering our wedding favours through Etsy as well, which is super awesome because we can still completely customize them but just pay someone a small amount to make them and do the assembly.  While I am into the idea of having customized favours I'm not into the idea of assembling 100+ little packets of stuff (too boring), so thank you Etsy.

Etsy is my go-to site now if I'm looking for a unique gift for someone (or myself, haha).  I love supporting handmade, and Etsy makes it so easy!

These are awesome

I know these have been on the internet for a while but if you haven't seen them, enjoy.  If you have, be reminded of how awesome they are.

SPEAK ENGLISH

I recently re-watched the Simpsons episode "Much Apu About Nothing" (the episode where it turns out Apu is an illegal immigrant) and kind of can't get over how brilliant of a social commentary there was in that episode.  How quickly the vast majority of North Americans forget that our ancestors were the immigrants we now complain about.

The end of that episode made me remember a joke I heard as a kid that has stuck with me:  A Native American got onto a tour bus in Washington DC.  "Hey, how do you like our city?" asked the tour guide.  "How do you like our country?" replied the Native American.

Saskatoon itself has seen massive multicultural growth over the past few years.  I think it's super cool, and I'm excited that my future children will be exposed to people from so many different backgrounds as they grow up, because my friends have always been white, white, and more white.  It's unfortunate that the education system was not prepared to deal with the huge influx of kids into the system who can't speak English though, and especially unfortunate that the government doesn't seem to recognize this problem and instead is cutting back on education funding that could help these kids.

There's my long intro to explain that I'm not the kind of redneck who goes around saying stuff like "You want to live in OUR country, SPEAK ENGLISH" because I understand the issues surrounding immigration and language and reasons for moving your family across the world are often more complicated than we think, not to mention that there are a ton of languages that existed, and STILL exist, in Canada before English.  So I don't go around saying things like that, and I get offended when people do.

But there's one thing that people say, and when they say it my inner redneck wants to scream "SPEAK ENGLISH!"  That thing is "haricots verts."

If you understand a little bit of French, you'll be able to translate right away that haricots verts are green beans.  Yet in the culinary world, they are never called green beans.  They are always called haricots verts. 

How many recipes have I seen that call for haricots verts?  Too many.  I do realize that perhaps the term haricots verts is meant to distinguish fresh green beans from the chopped and frozen variety, but can you please just SPEAK ENGLISH and call them fresh green beans?  How many poor suckers have gone to the store because they're trying to cook a fancy dinner and asked the pimply teens where the "haricots verts" are?

Trying to class up a simple vegetable (okay legume - you know what I mean) by calling it by its French name is straight-up pretentious.  Unless the food doesn't HAVE an English name, like baguette or croissant or even creme fraiche, if the rest of your sentence or recipe is spoken or written in English, use the freaking English name for the ingredient.  You're not fooling anyone with your fancy "haricots verts."  We all know they're still just green beans.