My week

Busy busy. I'm currently writing an essay so I don't have any classes. *tired* byeeee *graceface*

Considering Men's Rights vs. Feminism.

After a minor debate with a person who "hates feminists because they don't work for equality" I found this:

A List of “Men’s Rights” Issues That Feminism Is Already Working On

Feminists do not want you to lose custody of your children. The assumption that women are naturally better caregivers is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not like commercials in which bumbling dads mess up the laundry and competent wives have to bustle in and fix it. The assumption that women are naturally better housekeepers is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to have to make alimony payments. Alimony is set up to combat the fact that women have been historically expected to prioritize domestic duties over professional goals, thus minimizing their earning potential if their “traditional” marriages end. The assumption that wives should make babies instead of money is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want anyone to get raped in prison. Permissiveness and jokes about prison rape are part of rape culture, which is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want anyone to be falsely accused of rape. False rape accusations discredit rape victims, which reinforces rape culture, which is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be lonely and we do not hate “nice guys.” The idea that certain people are inherently more valuable than other people because of superficial physical attributes is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to have to pay for dinner. We want the opportunity to achieve financial success on par with men in any field we choose (and are qualified for), and the fact that we currently don’t is part of patriarchy. The idea that men should coddle and provide for women, and/or purchase their affections in romantic contexts, is condescending and damaging and part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be maimed or killed in industrial accidents, or toil in coal mines while we do cushy secretarial work and various yarn-themed activities. The fact that women have long been shut out of dangerous industrial jobs (by men, by the way) is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to commit suicide. Any pressures and expectations that lower the quality of life of any gender are part of patriarchy. The fact that depression is characterized as an effeminate weakness, making men less likely to seek treatment, is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be viewed with suspicion when you take your child to the park (men frequently insist that this is a serious issue, so I will take them at their word). The assumption that men are insatiable sexual animals, combined with the idea that it’s unnatural for men to care for children, is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want you to be drafted and then die in a war while we stay home and iron stuff. The idea that women are too weak to fight or too delicate to function in a military setting is part of patriarchy.

Feminists do not want women to escape prosecution on legitimate domestic violence charges, nor do we want men to be ridiculed for being raped or abused. The idea that women are naturally gentle and compliant and that victimhood is inherently feminine is part of patriarchy.

Feminists hate patriarchy. We do not hate you.

If you really care about those issues as passionately as you say you do, you should be thanking feminists, because feminism is a social movement actively dedicated to dismantling every single one of them. The fact that you blame feminists—your allies—for problems against which they have been struggling for decades suggests that supporting men isn’t nearly as important to you as resenting women. We care about your problems a lot. Could you try caring about ours?

Excerpt from If I Admit That Hating Men is a Thing, Will You Stop Turning it Into a Self-fulfilling Prophecy?, by Lindy West (vialullabysounds)

Point is, patriarchy hurts everyone. Patriarchy dictates how we, as humans, are supposed to be. And contrary to what people in general seems to believe, feminism and feminists do not want you to be anything other than yourself. If you want to be a lorry driver and identify as a man, go ahead. If you want to be a nurse and identify as a woman, go ahead. It's when someone say that because I identify as a woman then I cannot drive a lorry (because I'm too weak, because women cannot drive, because reasons), or someone who identifies as a man cannot become a kindergarten teacher (because he's probably a paedophile, because he doesn't have a mother's instincts, because reasons) - then there is a problem, according to me, according to feminists, according to feminism. There is also a problem when there is a medial uproar over a woman, in an audience on a popular TV-show, who haven't shaved her armpits. I. Wha. What? I just.. Wha? Why does ANYONE care about another person's armpits? *le sigh*. These things extend beyond everything that is obvious, patriarchal structures are woven into society, to the relations between people regardless of gender identity, to the relations between adults and children. And patriarchy hurts. It hurts everyone.

Oh god I feel so busy!

I'm not though, I think I'm just combining the art of procrastinating with my current inability to start writing an essay... (edit; I've started! Yay me!)
From September up until now, I use Dodopad inserts. I'm not terribly happy with them though, it feels cramped! If I would have had an a5 I'd definitely use the dodoinserts, but in a personal it just feels useless... I'm not a very doodly (that is a word now) person and I like to have dedicated areas for my things because I'm easily overwhelmed - my current state of mind - and it's easier for me to just go with the inserts. I don't like how it feels like I'm wasting a loot of space, which I am.

The reason why I chose the dodoinserts at all is because I want colour and decoration in my filo. Right now I'm contemplating getting LimeTreeFruits inserts for next fall, but I may end up buying them sooner. I like the LTF-inserts because they are fun, don't waste much space on the pages, really pretty and I support an independent artist. Nothing can go wrong with that combination! I don't really have a clue on what the pages will look like, but I can say that the small thumbnail I've seen for the week per view lay out is purrty. I liked the month pages for this year that she made, and now she's improved them by putting mon-fri on the same page - loved it!

For the upcoming weeks I will regress to the cotton cream week on 2 pages from Filofax. I have more appointments than I thought I had since I have two jobs without a fixed schedule, as well as studying full time. It will be easier for me to have a W2P and use a to do-list on the side. I will give you an update next week on how I have set it up (have not decided yet which format, video or pictures).

Have a great week!

My week and what I made.

I crocheted a shawl for my cousin's cristmas present.
Busy week, I have two exams this week and one exam next week. I feel swamped..

My week!

Less busy than usual, still quite busy. I need to write stuff up more often!!

EMERGENCY!

I just received an invitation to celebrate J's cousin's son's second birthday! (Wow, that is a lot of genitive S:s... So much sss). Panic. No birthday present. And no holiday gift either. Ouch. So where do you turn? To Ravelry of course!
I will get some yarn on Monday and start this hat as well as these mittens for the birthday party. I can make those in two weeks, no problem! Right! Right? Please tell me I can! *panic!*
For Christmas though, I will make this sweater. A little more time, hopefully I can finish it.
I am going to bed now.

Quick recap of the week

Oh gosh, this week has been terrible. I was afflicted by a cold from HELL! (Yes, the logic works. Read the Divine comedy if you do not believe me ;) ) I still have a few symptoms and it is my tenth day ill. Sucks. This means that I am behind on my studying, which is never a good thing, but it is a really interesting course (history of the Swedish language) so thankfully it does not matter that much because I will not have a problem with studying a couple of hours extra per day to catch up.
I did go to Uni this Thursday because I had an exam that day. Or so I thought. Turned out that I had written the wrong date in my calendar, the exam was actually on Wednesday... That kinda sucked too. You know, had it been written down on Tuesday it would just be funny, now I will have to wait a month to do the exam. I can say that I am extremely thankful for the Swedish universities' system, if you fail you can always take the test again (and if you write it up to two years after the course, you can still use the old literature).
Knittingwise I have started a pair of socks for S which she will get for Christmas. I use Järbo Raggi Multi which is a woolen blend yarn in a purple/grey/black/white colour mix. I like knitting with it, it is a little rough but it gives just the right amount of friction on the needles for me to be able to watch TV at the same time. The pattern (see link) is an awesome pattern, I have a pair of my own which I love. I have designated the living room sofa for this project - I felt since I have carpal tunnel syndrome that I need to have a few projects of different methods to switch between (I also have a crocheting project, a skull shawl for my cousin, to work with "on the go").
My boyfriend J is a very practical man and have an extreme love for hardware and tools of different sorts, unfortunately, he is organizationally challenged. I have, over the years we have lived together, bought him plenty of tool cases and alike to give him the resources he needs to not have all the tools in the living room. Finally he got the hint and managed to have one case extra. I stole it. It now holds knitting tools. :3

In that yellow tube I have all my aluminium jumper needles. I inherited most of them from J's grandmother who passed away. I got a whole moving box of yarn as well, but sadly I found fur beetle larvae in the bottom so we burnt it all. I did not even want to try to keep some of the yarn after that because I have a lot of woolen LARP-clothes that I do not want to be afflicted by those yucky animals (most of the yarn was acrylic though so I did not regret it that much, not a huge fan of acrylic). In the black pen case I hold my Knitpro (is it the same company as Knitpicks? It's the European version anyway..) interchangeable circular needles, cable needles, crocheting hooks, needle size/ruler/stitchmeasure-thingamabob etcetera.

Underneath the grey lift-out part, I have my stash. Not very much, but it keeps my knitting-need in check. I will probably not buy any yarn until new years when I will start (two, lol) afghan-projects. I will make a birthday present for S (by the way, my bestest friendsis in the whole world :3 ) and one for myself. I am going to use this pattern because we both love Harry Potter. Very much. Oh so much. Love. (Did I say I love Harry Potter?).
My Filofax has been an issue for me for a couple of weeks. I use Dodopad's Acadpad in personal size in my personal spring green Chameleon. Love the Dodo-designs, but... It doesn't give me enough room in the right places. Sort of buying an off-the-rack suit. I thought that I did not have to have that much space for the days, and more for the week, but it turns out that I was a little mistaken. Right now, and a month ahead, I would have done well with a day per page insert, preferably an Franklin Covey type. I think I will roll with the Acadpad until the academic year is up and use my Paperblank notebook/journal to help out when it it too crowded in the Filo. I've been thinking about having a to-do section as well, as a master list or something, but I am a little scared about it... Tried it before and it did not really work... I do not know. I may try it again just because I have to.
During the upcoming week I will have a couple of detailed posts on my current projects as well as a round up post for my beret. (love it!). I will also have a post which will hopefully be featured in Husmorsskolans "symöte", a collection of Swedish blogposts on the bloggers' current projects. We will see if I can make that happen, in that case, that post will be in Swedish.
Have a beautiful weekend everyone!