But it's the only thing that I know
When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive.
We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Our hearts were never broken
Where our eyes are never closing.
And time's forever frozen still."
-Ed Sheeran, Photograph
Oh Ed. You clever man. I adore you, the new album and this song.
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Here's a little something:
In the midst of thunderstorms and pine trees my tranquil moments were disrupted by lines of sexism.
One of my new favorite shows is Naked and Afraid. Yeah. I know. But it snaps you up in its survival lessons, outdoor-guru-ness and awkward bug bites in places there shouldn't be bug bites. I had to find something to temporarily replace Game of Thrones.
OK, so basically, one man...one woman...naked (and presumably afraid) in the middle of a swamp/jungle/etc try to survive for 21 days with nothing but one item they were able to bring from home (typically a knife or fire starter). After the awkward encounter of initially seeing their bare partner wraps up they get to work on figuring out how to build a shelter, find a water source and find food.
While tuning in on Sunday I was quickly reminded that any interaction with the world typically involves some instance of covert or overt sexism/racism/homophobia/insert-any -ism-here.
So there went my inner peace and in came my frustration, anger and audible "ugh".
Incident #1: This guy upset me immediately as his intro was like an ode to killing animals. He presented as barbaric and enjoyed slaughtering animals way too much. But it was his interaction with his female partner that showed his true colors. It began when she used her own knife to capture and kill a snake. While preparing to cook the snake he told her "you know what, I am going to let you cut the snake to cook it". She responded sarcastically with "oh wow, you're going to let me cut the snake with my knife that I caught and killed with my own knife." Then it cut to him rolling his eyes and telling the camera how much he hates feminists.
Excuse me, what?
He then decided to not listen to her when she said the snake was done cooking and continued to cook the food until it was eventually ruined.
While I definitely despise him for this entire episode, I know I need to take a step back and remind myself that this is a societal norm....a system. It isn't this one guy, it is every guy and how they've been socialized to believe they are in the right and women are not to be listened to/trusted.
Incident #2: This episode featured a kick-ass woman who knew her stuff. She is a survivalist to the extreme. She was making clothes out of the foliage on the island (to protect themselves from the sun), supplied a water source and temporary food source and built a shelter all while her male partner was incapable of contributing due to a sunburn. He remained in the trees barely able to move but made sure his complaints were heard regarding his opinions on the work she had completed for them both. He mocked her, was extremely condescending and put her down for her decision making. When she asked what survival skills he has he responded with "none, I'm a city boy" while she had grown up in the wilderness and spent her entire life experiencing various cultures and living off the land.
His lack of trust and non-existent support toward his partner actually made me laugh. Solely because I just cannot comprehend how so many people believe we are good to go...equal...free...fair as a society. I laugh as a defense mechanism to the extreme sadness I feel for this reality. I laugh as it helps ease the insanity that is this cyclical cyclone aimed at the destruction and lowering of females.
I can't go a day without feeling oppressed as a woman. I hear stories all day from friends or see scenes of inequity while at Starbucks or Target. It is everywhere. We cannot escape it.
The benefit to this show is I hope viewers are seeing how incredible the women are. They are capable and extremely skilled in survival and it makes me happy to watch that. It is empowering to watch them build a fire, walk through snake-filled swamps and endure the elements.
So I leave you with a quote I recently encountered:
