I Wanna Be a Kitchen Magician!

Have you ever had a craving for something but were too lazy to make it because it’ll take a long
time and you are reaaaalyy hungry? Yes? I thought so. Here’s a quick and easy way to adequately satiate
your taste buds.

I call this the “kitchen magician” method...with the magician being your very own microwave.
I bet you didn’t know about the cornucopia of meals that could be produced from your simple ol’
microwave! Hmm, what should we make first? I say omelets! Follow these easy steps to culinary
satisfaction:

1. Cut up the types of vegetables and peppers that you would like and take out other things
like cheese and such that you want in your eggs (try to stay away from raw meats as they
will not be fully cooked in the microwave).
2. Obtain a bowl large enough to make the amount of eggs you want but small enough to fit
into the microwave.
3. Spray the inside of the bowl with cooking oil spray (if you don’t have oil spray, you can rub
normal cooking oil on the inside…this creates a non-stick surface).
4. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl.
5. Add the veggies and things into the scrambled bowl of eggs(don’t add the cheese just yet).
6. Pour all of this into the oil-sprayed bowl.
7. Place a cover over the bowl ,place into the microwave, and set the time for 2 minutes.
8. Depending on the microwave, the omelet may need more time so check it it’s fully cooked.
9. Now, add the cheese and set the time for 25-35 seconds or as much time as the cheese
needs to melt.
10. Take it out of the microwave and enjoy!

Viola! You’ve just magically made a delicious little meal. Some things in life really are that easy!
**Results may vary

Banging, screwing, nailing? We must be in a construction zone.

I don’t know about you ladies (and fellas) out there but personally, I do not want to be nailed, screwed, banged, railed, hit, or slapped. Simple right? Well, not really. These are just some commonly used euphemisms that men and women alike use to refer to having sex. How many times have we heard of some saying “yea, I __(insert one of the above words here)__ that last night”? While at the awesome presentation on Sexual Violence made by Becca and Kelly at Sexversations last Thursday, this notion was really made apparent to me through their talk about words and tones we use to refer to social situations. Before we continue, I would like to make a note that I am specifically referring to heterosexual relationships and straight female sexuality in this blog.

With that said, the sheer violence alone that is seeping from each individual word is in itself astonishing. Sex is supposed to be a positive experience for both parties involved…not one that involves one partner being treated like a building construction material. The harshness that these words imply can and will negatively contribute to our society’s collective awareness of what sex should be. By using a word such as “banged,” elements of forcefulness, pain, and fear are present. This also implies that there is someone doing the banging and there is someone being banged. In other words, one person is inflicting the force, pain, or fear and the other has to receive it.

This is not in any way empowering to female sexuality. The language automatically and implicitly places the partner not as an equal, but in a subordinate sexual role. Furthermore, in this situation we are presented with a power dynamic. One can infer who has the power or is in control of the act and who has little to no power and control. Women shouldn’t have to be screwed or railed in order to participate and enjoy sex.

I wonder how society can be impacted if we were to simply change the way we spoke about sex; if the words became less of a violent nature and more to that of an inclusive and positive event. After all, the languages of a people help dictate their attitudes. Perhaps we should start to think of alternatives to the way we casually talk about sex amongst friends and partners. Understanding how our words immensely affect our attitudes and actions will further help us see where the issues lie and allow us begin effectively and appropriately fixing them.

I am a female engineer.

It’s astonishing that people are always amazed when they find out that my major is civil engineering. I’m usually met with a naïve remark about how uncommon it is for women to go into careers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) or with a comment that I must be a genius to attempt such a prestigious goal. I’m not a genius -- I just like science. Is it really that difficult to believe?

Luckily, Lehigh has a generous amount of female engineering students and is fortunate enough to have our own chapter of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) for support. Before college, I had been one of the only girls in science and math programs and in advanced science and math classes. I grew tired of having my achievements sensationalized, as opposed to being held to the same standard of excellence as were many of my male peers. Why weren’t girls being pushed to strive for the highest in these subjects, too?

Persisting stereotypes about men being more capable than women in STEM careers can discourage young girls from trying to reach their full potential in these subjects. This is unfortunate because researchers are finding that these stereotypes are lacking evidentiary substance, yet have been lurking around for years causing some girls to doubt their abilities and their potential.

Hopefully this idea can be swayed by a national trend of local programs designed to empower young women in science and math. There are several of these programs in the Lehigh Valley area. Each spring and summer, Lehigh University’s College of Engineering and Applied Science and its SWE Chapter work together to put on the CHOICES camp for girls in middle school who are interested in studying engineering. Students work on engineering projects by identifying a large problem and developing a specific solution that will improve it as a whole. Bethlehem’s YWCA has a similar afterschool club called TechGYRLS for girls in elementary and middle school to explore and develop their knowledge of computer programs, robots, and other technologies. Programs like these are designed to stimulate curiosity in technical subjects in an all-female environment. Teaching girls to be confident in themselves can be one of the best lessons they will learn.

As women, we can help change this stereotype by first changing ourselves – by taking pride in our work and by having confidence in our abilities, we can set the standard for what people can expect from female engineers, and therefore, what they can expect from women in the future.

Have you reached the peak of your physique?

Much like the roads of Pennsylvania, it seems as if the body of the woman, according to the beholder, (whose identity I will get to later in another post) is never quite complete. This thought occurred to me as I read a section of the 1993 Barnard/Columbia Women’s handbook. Even as old as the chapter was, the same issues of economics/society dictating standards of beauty coupled with the struggle between being wife, mother, career woman still remain as some of the most prominent issues facing women today almost a decade later.

The excerpt continued on to talk about the image that is often portrayed as that of beauty which should unequivocally be aspired to. This image is usually the successful, thin, white woman gracefully and effortlessly clad in expensive clothing. This make me wonder...exactly how much has that changed today?

Furthermore, let's all think for a second and ask ourselves, are we, as contemporary and "enlightened" woman still envying her? In some sense, this proverbial "her" is always what we have all at some point wanted or have been told to see as the ideal of ourselves; the person we ought to be if we just had a little more time to work out, got up a little earlier to straighten or perm our hair, or refrained from eating that last piece of cake. Classic case of what I call the shoulda, shoulda, shoulda.You shoulda done this, that these, and those so you too could look like her cause what you're doing now is obviously not working.

With this, I do have to say that I would be absolutely remiss if I failed to mention the progress that has been made in media and popular culture. Such victories would include the rise of magazines that uplift the life, body, and style of minority women like Essence, Latina Magazine, etc. or the slight increase we saw in the 2000's of minority models. Observable progress can in someways equate observable success...I'll give ya that. But, at the same time, how much more are the places where progression has failed further deflating positive self-esteem? Are we then putting that self-esteem and our bodily aspirations into the hands of cosmetic companies and "fix-it" doctors?

The truth is...the more the media make us feel worse about our bodies, the more women sometimes respond to this type of pressure. By doing this, we run out to buy weight loss shakes, new running shoes, cute exercise outfit, an ipod to listen to music (gotta have the music), a home gym and are still unsatisfied by what the scale is saying. Before you know it, big business has cashed in on our insecurities.

Its time to ask, is our body done being picked apart, put down, and shoved aside? What do you think? Please feel free to join in.

To 'feminize' or not to 'feminize' THAT is the question...

Ok, new verb folks. Say it with me now: 'fe-min-ize.' As in the action that a feminist performs when said feminist is speaking "ex femina" - not on behalf of all women or instead of other women but to the credit of womankind.

So, in this our first blog EVER! I've gotta give a shout-out to all of my sisters (& brothers - "male allies" are AWESOME!!!) and ask:

Are YOU a "Feminist?"

...Tell me why.