Introductory post

So. I’m a Canadian eighteen-year-old and I have decided to start a blog. I decided I should do an introductory post to explain what this blog is going to be about.

I swear that most of my writing will not be nearly as awkward as those two sentences.

For a while now, I have been following a lot of blogs throughout the feminist blogosphere. As a feminist, I find it difficult to find an outlet for my frustrations when I see sexist messages everywhere, and I know I’ll be dismissed if I comment on them. Not that I don’t comment on them in real life, but finding feminist blogs was a welcome relief to me, making me realize I was not the only one who saw things wrong with the world.

Not that I’ve never received these messages before, being a liberal arts student at university. I don’t really know what I want to do afterwards, beyond a vague idea that I can’t be satisfied unless I know that my career is really making a positive difference in the world. Other facts about me that colour the way I see the world, and will therefore affect the content of this blog… I’m Caucasian, middle class, a socialist with an affinity for hippie culture, a Christian (yes, I am also pro-gay, pro-choice, pro-science, believe in evolution and seperation of church and state, etc... I hope to blog about how I put these views alongside my faith), an athlete, a geek, bisexual, in a relationship with a male (it’s been 20 months and unlikely to end soon), and a lover of reading, writing, music and Sarah Haskins (I just re-watched her superspecial – http://current.com/items/89771812_sarah-haskins-in-target-women-super-special.htm – and felt she had to be mentioned).

My doctors cannot agree on exactly which disorder or combination of disorders I have, but I have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, avoidant personality disorder, mild Asperger’s syndrome (in childhood only), depression, a non-verbal learning disability and generalized anxiety disorder. I suffer from panic attacks and insomnia off and on, among various symptoms of the above disorders. I’m going to assume that I don’t actually have every single one of them, and to be honest I don’t know exactly which I have. Because I have chosen to avoid medication or therapy, however, I don’t really care. I am completely able-bodied, and those are my only mental… issues. I don’t really know what to call them.

In terms of the gender with which I identify… I don’t quite know. Somewhere between cisgendered and transsexual, somewhere under the giant umbrella of “transgendered” when it’s used in the loosest possible sense, I identify as however I feel that day. Since I’ve basically ruled out sex reassignment surgery or legally changing my name, I’ve figured there’s no sense in worrying about it too much. I will, however, usually refer to myself as female. For the record I certainly don’t claim to not benefit from cis privilege, any more than I would claim not to benefit from white privilege. I would never suggest that I know what it’s like to be transsexual.

I do absolutely consider the internet, including blogging, to be a source of serious journalism. However, I would not like to mislead my readers (and I realize that using the term makes the rather presumptuous leap of faith that I may someday have readers) by claiming this blog is that type of source. I created this blog because I read feminist blogs and strongly agree with many of the points they make, and feel I have similar things to say. I am going to write about my beliefs and ideas in the context of my experiences and society at large. If, by some chance, someone actually reads this, I would to thank them (you?) for taking the time to do so.