I am currently reading an interesting book called "Princess: A True Story of Life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia" by Jean Sasson. In this book, the narrator, a nameless Saudi princess (and a true story by the way), talks about how women are seen and are viewed as property by men. Very fascinating, as well as highly disturbing....

However, I can look at my own life and some of my other friends and see that in many ways, we can be viewed as "property" and "objects" by men. The way we dress, the way we act are still promoting objectification of women by men. For instance, why should I care about my weight or how I look like in my jeans? Shouldn't I be dressing up for myself and not for others?

However, I find from my own experience, as well as from others, that we still depend and value some type of affection or wanting from men. Some women I know would stay in horrible/subservient relationships because they feel that "he is the right one" or "he's not that bad." We are crushed when we are rejected by men.

Is it just me, but what happened to the femnist movement? Weren't we supposed to be liberated and seen as equals, and be autonomous/independent women? Why is there still some pressure to be pleasing to men?

For the men out there, do you find yourselves under the same pressures to be/act a certain way for your girlfriend/partner/spouse, or has this become an increasingly focused problem among women?

Yes, at last, I finally started my own blog. I cannot believe it.
However, I think that ultimately, this blog will be good for me. I have a lot of things to say, and I don't think I usually express myself enough to share it. So, I will try to use this blog as a way to think out loud and get my frustrations out in the open.
I hope you will enjoy this if you are reading it...
Some topics in the future that I may talk about:
1. Race/class-obviously, hurricane Katrina has made us think about these issues, and how will we address these issues in the future
2. Gender
3. International human rights
4. Politics
5. What I will be doing for the rest of my life :) (Any suggestions will be nice!)
6. Everyday observations!
Enjoy!