edit: oh, by the way, i'm done =) yes, time to release me back into society! hm. should probably get a haircut first.

Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant. To come with a well-informed mind is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. A woman especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.

ah, jane austen. if only i had her talent for delicate sarcastic wit. finally found some time to read through Northanger Abbey--i literally chuckled out loud multiple times. [complete digression, but the verb "chuckle" is just ridiculous. i feel really stupid whenever i say it, but i don't want to "giggle" and didn't really "laugh"...so what can you do?] such biting, perfect irony about prissy english society. haha.

okay, so in defense of males (sort of), austen allows this:

The advantages of natural folly in a beautiful girl have been already set forth by the capital pen of a sister author; and to her treatment of the subject I will only add, in justice to men, that though to the larger and more trifling part of the sex, imbecility in females is a great enhancement of their personal charms, there is a portion of them too reasonable and too well informed themselves to desire anything more in women than ignorance.

since i think myself incapable of being labeled a complete imbecile, i suppose i can only aspire to ignorance ;)

so reading that passage brought to mind the current state of gender dynamics and gender roles in our generation. i'd like to believe that times have changed and men would like to find partners they can respect and with whom they can share things fairly equally, but i realize that's only in the happy world in my head. although there are more guys out there who don't want just pretty idiots for girlfriends, you have to admit that there are definitely many males who feel threatened by females who possess traits that are traditionally "masculine": intelligence, strength, height, financial stability, etc. so instead of finding someone stimulating out of bed too, they find a comfortable cute little thing they can control. and then they wonder why they get bored. although i have guy friends i care for and whose intelligence i respect, i can't really respect certain habits in pursuing stupid girl after stupid girl. c'mon, don't you want to be challenged at all?

maybe not. well, male superiority can suck my dick. ah, so many problems with that statement. haha...you get my sentiment though, right?

"Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths." -Lois Wyse

* * *
"Not a Pretty Girl" -Ani DiFranco

i am not a pretty girl
that is not what i do
i ain't no damsel in distress
and i don't need to be rescued
so put me down, punk
maybe you'd prefer a maiden fair
isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?

i am not an angry girl
but it seems like i've got everyone fooled
every time i say something they find hard to hear
they chalk it up to my anger
and never to their own fear
and imagine you're a girl
just trying to finally come clean
knowing full well they'd prefer you
were dirty and smiling

and i am sorry
i am not a maiden fair
and i am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

and generally my generation
wouldn't be caught dead working for the man
and generally i agree with them
trouble is you gotta have yourself an alternate plan
and i have earned my disillusionment
i have been working all of my life
and i am a patriot
i have been fighting the good fight
and what if there are no damsels in distress?
what if i knew that and i called your bluff?
don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down
whether or not you ever show up?

i am not a pretty girl
i don't really want to be a pretty girl
no, i want to be more than a pretty girl