speaking of...
I think my left arm will be sore tomorrow. I babysat Jack tonight, and he's one heavy baby. At 5 months, he's "above the 100th percentile," according to his mom. Maybe that's not true, but he's pretty big. Add to the fact that he's teething and easily bored, and that he loves to be walked around outside... and I held him for about 2 of the 3 hours.
My roommate woke me up this morning. I went to bed pretty late, and I planned to sleep in until about 10. At 8 am, my roommate arrived in our dorm. At 8:20, she began studying for a test... by reading her notes. Out loud. She did this for a full 40 minutes before I finally just gave up and got up, and then did it another 30 minutes. Based on conversations and class discussions, I think upper-class Mexicans of our generation (especially girls) have a different understanding of courtesy than we do. It's a good lesson in patience for me, and I'm learning about the culture. That's good.
Speaking of interesting class discussions, I said the most obscene (well, an innuendo of obscenity, at least)and most hilarious thing I have ever said to anyone over the age of 30 today. We were discussing pick-up lines in Mexico, and I shared the funniest one that any of my friends told me. My (female) teacher laughed out loud for a solid 30 seconds, attempted to move on, and then looked at me and laughed another 20 seconds. It was awesome.
Speaking of this discussion in class, we talked about something interesting. Our teacher told us that in Mexico, there is absolutely no concept of "sexual harassment." In fact, any advances made by a man are considered either flattering, prompted by the woman's behavior, dress, etc., or some combination of the two. Entirely different than the States, in many ways. It makes me wonder... are we ENTIRELY right? The women's rights/general support of people being treated in a humane loving way side of me tells me that a woman is never at fault for unwanted advances. But... there's this huge gray area. Don't get me wrong: in no way, shape, or form am I condoning or EVER excusing rape. I'm just wondering... are all of the people filing sexual harassment lawsuits genuinely hurt by actions? Were any of those actions prompted by the behavior of the person filing the complaint? I don't think our culture is wrong... but it's just weird to see another country's drastically different point of view.
I'm exhausted. Time for bed.
posted by Audrey @ 12:42 AM
3 Comments:
You're not going to say what the line was?
Sexual harassment is a really tricky subject. I've heard a lot of people suggest that many harassment suits aren't valid, for just the reason you mentioned. I don't know if I agree with that, though. I do think it's wrong to put all the blame on the attacker all the time. Sometimes the survivor does seem to encourage it by dressing provocatively, etc, at least superficially. I can see why Mexicans would view it as flattering, but I think it's important to remember that harassment, especially sexual harassment, leaves scars that don't fade.
Sorry for rambling, and basically repeating what you said. :)
Okay, here's the line. (And remember... you asked for it, and a friend provided it to me originally, and I'm aware that it's awful. You're not allowed to think less of me because of this. Find a better reason to think less of me. =) )
"I would like to be the mayonnaise spread between your buns."
Oh, man. That is really bad. Hilarious, though; I laughed for 30 seconds, too.
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