The Pink Pants Are Back!

I have been absolutely SEARCHING for a nautical stripe, boat neck, half sleeve shirt for the past month. I happened to be in North Carolina on vacation, shopping at some outlets, when low and behold I found the exact shirt I wanted at the Gap Outlet. Along with the half sleeve, it's also got a cute little 3-button detail on the sleeve. So cute! 

Not going to lie, I have fallen in love with Gap. It used to be the butt of jokes in middle school, but their clothes are classy, preppy-lite and totally my style.

It's been a little chilly in Cleveland this past week, so I decided I would wear my new shirt to work on my first day back. Paired with my pink pants, metallic gold flats, and my new tan, I got exactly the look  I was going for. 

Nautical Stripe Shirt: Gap Outlet, Pink Dress Pants: Express, Menswear Watch: NYC vendor

Metallic Gold Flats: American Eagle

Missing Wooster

Lately, I've been missing my alma mater, my nurturing mother, The College of Wooster. I decided to make a little bullet list of my most prevalent reasons for missing it, now that I've been in the "real world" for over a year. 

• Opinions: At Wooster, I had the ability to present my opinion to a class, a professor, a stranger, and  my friends. I was able to have a conversation about it, with good counter opinions and amazing educated insight. I was enlightened by these conversations, I was entertained by them, and most importantly, I was never judged. We could discuss topics and events current and past, and never would a foul word or a degrading name be strewn. Now that I'm out in the real world, it feels like I have no one to talk to about my opinions. No one is accepting, no one has the drive to educate or to be educated. It feels like evangelizing. Everyone already "knows everything."
• Cohabitation: Living with people is always fun. When those people are your parents, meh. I miss the cohabitation at Wooster because you were always with someone you didn't mind seeing or being with. If you lived in a dorm, you could run down the stairs, down the hall, and knock on their door at the oddest of hours. If you lived in a house, you could have everyone you wanted all in one place. There is an open door policy. "Stop by whenever you want," "Why didn't I see you last night, Wes?" And the conversations and dance parties are always endless. Plus, my boyfriend lived a 4 minute walk away, instead of a 4 (going on 9) hour drive away. Living with my immediate family back in the real world, I feel kind of lonely; yes, I like to spend time with my family, but they're not who I crave.
• Campus: Living in the 7th largest city in Ohio does not make it any more fun than a small town. Yes, we have the Metroparks, but they're not within walking distance. At Wooster, if I wanted to get out and experience nature, it was right outside of my door, and it was is beautiful. Trees, flowers, brick paths, gorgeous architecture, and I always felt safe, no matter what hour of the day I happened to be strolling. There was always somewhere to go at the end of my walk. Old Main for some pound cake, Lowry Cafe for some coffee and chatting, or the library for some studying and writing. In Parma, I feel like I have no journey, and no destination, so I sit here and blog instead. 
• Learning: I've always known that I love to learn. When I was at Wooster, there were so many other things to do, that I often took learning for granted. I was taking classes specializing in something that I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing, yet I only put half of my effort into them because I was co-occupied with other things going on in my busy college lifestyle. I don't regret doing extra-curricular activities, but I do regret not appreciating my classes and building better relationships with my professors. I'm bored when I'm not learning. I miss taking notes in a fresh notebook with my favorite pen. And as weird as this sounds, I miss writing papers. I try to go about learning things on my own, but when there's no structured syllabus or deadlines, it just falls through. For that reason, I am so anxious to get in to grad school and start doing what I love again. This time, I'm all in.
• Music: I've been playing music since I was in 5th grade. Ever since then, I have been in a school band, which was always in my life's schedule. At Wooster, music was also a part of my schedule, and from which most of my friends arose. Lately I've been feeling like something is missing in my life, and I finally pinpointed it on playing music. I'm not the greatest flute player, and I can't just pull it out and jam, but I do enjoy playing. I miss playing in a group of people that I adore. I miss wearing the kilts, and I miss the bagpipes. I've thought about joining a community band, but my wavering work schedule just pulls me farther from the idea. 

I never meant for this blog post to be depressing, or a woe-is-me. I meant for it to show how much I miss an academic, independent life at a beautiful institution. While I will continue to miss the campus and the experience, probably until I die, I'm so motivated for my future, and thankful for what Wooster has given me.

I know I'm not the only one who misses Wooster, so if you want, feel free to share what you miss in the comments!

 

 

My Views on Objectification

So, this blogger over at The Honest Badger has this kind of beef with Robin Thicke regarding his new song and music video "Blurred Lines." The lyrics are suggestive in a college frat boy kind of way, and the women are scantily clad in the video (and in the unrated version, topless and wearing nude thongs). She describes it as a "disgusting display of misogynism" (I'm getting the squiggly red line, so is misogyny the proper term?). While I agree that it's not the best representation of women, here's why I'm not going to throw stones in my glass house.

1. Robin Thicke is known for his sex mantra. Ever since he changed his stage name from just "Thicke," Robin's been all about the ladies. I'm pretty sure on most of his albums, a majority of the songs revolve around sex, pleasuring women, and crooning beautiful sexy things. He's got a theme, and it works for his beautiful self. Just like Taylor Swift is known for writing songs about being a young woman, while also playfully bashing her ex-boyfriends, it works for her and she sticks to it. You go girl!

2. As you can see from that previous bullet-number-point, I objectify him. Robin's got beautiful blue eyes, great style, and a sexy voice. I also objectify many celebrity males (and females), mainly Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake. I've never had an intelligent conversation with either of them, and I don't know their personalities in real life, but I definitely have topless photos of them on my laptop wallpaper, my phone, and maybe taped to the wall inside of my closet. And I would totally bang either, or both, of them if the opportunity presented itself (at least in my mind, I would).

Most, if not all, of the women I know, self-declared feminists and non-declared feminists alike, have objectified both celebrities and non-celebrities (male and female) based on their looks alone. Now, I know that we as women aren't equally represented in society and are often objectified and expected to be sexy and look our best, and therefore it's so degrading; but my argument is, do we not do the same?! Do we not ogle at Ryan Gosling's six pack abs, beautiful arms, and great style while making disgusted faces at Kevin Federline's beer gut and wife beater tank tops? I am in no way saying that it is more acceptable for men to objectify women, but what I am saying is that both sexes do it. Men just do it more publicly and sometimes to their advantage (like making hit songs of the summer). Therefore, it's time for the women to take note and do the same! Unless you're looking to shift the focus of the entertainment business from sex to smarts, which realistically would just be too big of a battle, and honestly, ain't nobody (me) got time for that.

The Big Bang Theory has both!

To some people. I probably sound ignorant, anti-feminist, and all for a male driven society in which the women stay home and the men provide; my views are quite the contrary, but this is how my mind works. It's the entertainment business; with every Playboy magazine out there, there's also Playgirl. For every "Blurred Lines," there's a "How Many Licks?" by Lil Kim. "Blurred Lines" doesn't and shouldn't compromise my, or any other woman's, personal drive and ability to be a strong independent woman out in society, so I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. That's not to say I don't care, but I kind of....don't care.

If there's anything my liberal arts education has taught me, it's to think independently. Yes, I think women and men should be represented equally. Yes, I think women are more objectified in media than men. No, I don't think there's anything I can personally do about it. Heterosexual men think women are sexy, and heterosexual women think men are sexy; it's a fact of life. And because I believe that, I live my life as a confident woman who respects herself and enjoys the entertainment business for its face value. I wouldn't call it ignorant or idiotic, just a lifestyle choice that I feel works for me.

Now, feel free to objectify, without judgement, the men whom I also objectify on the daily (but it's your choice):

Ryan!

Justin!

Adam!

Zac!

Francisco!