The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Feminism: "noun, the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes." The right to work. That's feminism. The right to vote. That's feminism. Equal education and employment opportunities. That's feminism. Equal pay. That's feminism. Reproductive rights. That's feminism. Feminism is about equality. It's about women being treated as equals in and out of the home, in and out of the school, in and out of the workplace, in and out of any place where they step foot. In accordance with the law, all men and women should be treated as equals.  Here's what feminism isn't: feminism isn't seeking vengeance against innocent parties, due to the abuses and inequalities of the past. Feminism isn't seeking privilege over peers. Feminism isn't about power and control just for the sake of power and control. I'm an old-school feminist. I think it's wrong young women are often discouraged from taking an interest in cert...

Stand-up comedian Hannah Gadsby sparked headlines with her recent speech at the Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment event. Before I add my two cents, here's her speech in its entirety: "I want to speak about the very big problem I have with the good men, especially the good men who take it upon themselves to talk about the bad men. I find good men talking about bad men incredibly irritating, and this is something the good men are doing a lot of at the moment. Not this moment, not this minute, because the good men don’t have to wake up early for their opportunity to monologue their hot take on misogyny. They get prime-time TV and the late shows. I’ll tell you what, I’m sick of turning my television on at the end of the day to find anywhere up to 12 Jimmys giving me their hot take. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the Jimmys and the Davids and the other Jimmys — good guys, great guys. Some of my best friends are Jimmy. But the last thing I need right now ...

It seems that often times when one is feeling overwhelmed in life and he or she is confronted on a mistake they made, an all too common resort is for them to say, "I can't do anything right, can I?" or "I'm always wrong, aren't I?" I've heard several people resort to this and I'm just curious on how common it actually is. I can understand why people would resort to these phrases. It comes across to me as a person reaching their breaking point and temporarily raising the white flag through vocal means as perhaps somewhat of a defense mechanism or an outward cry for sympathy. I think most everyone reaches such a point at least once in their lives, so this kind of thinking and response is quite understandable. However, I also feel it's kind of counterproductive, for when one raises the white flag like that, the issue they were confronted about likely won't get discussed, and what prompted the confrontation in the first place is more likely...