I went to the lobby of my new favorite hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in Larkspur, and glanced at the television. What was on television? Well there were two – one focused on Hurricane Porn and the other was a Miss America contest. I thought I would have apoplexy right on the spot. I ranted.
Me: What is that? Do they still do that? Has not the women’s movement made any difference whatsoever??
German Business Men in Lobby: Speechless
Me: And look at them, they are not even pretty and they all look alike.
Eventually, the ever polite staff member turned it off and I breathed a vast sight of relief. My views on feminism are changing. They have evolved since I left California in 2014. I am increasingly becoming appalled by people of my own gender. If you do ‘water aerobics’ in the search engine you will see my views on women in (so called) Great Britain. But it is not just that country – it is Canada as well and I must have had my head in the sand because it is horrible here in Marin County as well.
I sent a man an email from Vancouver. Here is the interchange. It was entitled: Sometimes I Wonder.
Me: What you ‘see’ in me and then I eavesdrop on women and THEN I know! Boring, banal, petty, critical, simplistic, gossipy, cruel, bad accents, bad hair, treat wait staff rudely, are vulgar, bad laughs. Please remember I am a feminist but not for this crew. Me.
He: Yes there are lots of those, but there are a lot of good people too.
Me: You optimist!
This is my evolved viewpoint. Women should have the right to earn respect and not be denied that status simply because they are women. But women do not deserve respect just because they are women (or mothers for that matter). So there, So there, So there. Some guy said to me in a recent email: “ I laugh when you keep saying: So there. So there.” It was one of the sweetest things he ever said to me, but just one of many.
I went to San Francisco yesterday on the Larkspur ferry and met two wonderful chaps from London. They were amazing young men and you will hear much more about them later. But at the ferry building I went to Book Passage and somewhat accidentally picked up the September 2017 edition of The Atlantic. There is an amazing article written by Jean M. Twenge, Has The Smartphone Destroyed A Generation? You MUST get it and read it. I will paraphrase from it later in another blog but, unlike the generation of which Jean speaks, I have got to get up and get going.
The photograph attached is the Equinox in San Francisco. Equinox? Yes, the gym that employs Hottie.The one in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
An interaction at Perry’s in San Francisco.
Me: Do not seat me at the bar because guys keep trying to pick me up.
Cole: Who can blame them?
Me: Can I blog that? Can I say your name?
Cole: of course.
