chicah

The national park thing, SimPark or whatever it was, was one of my favourite games when I was a kid. You were in charge of a vast area of land, you had to plant, put out some stuff for the visiting humans (swingset, toilet, bins) and place the animals. Some animals would starve if what they ate wasn't available, some would kill other animals, etc. Of course you also had to manage stuff ("janitor" and so forth) and manage finances, you couldn't go crazy and buy plants and animals, it all cost money. You had to save up for some of them, and if they were killed it was a bad investment. It was all about balance. I learnt so much about all kinds of animals from that game! Not to mention the concept of an ecosystem in itself and how it relies on each element in it. Have great memories of that game.

I have a tendency to binge watch shows while I start, so I usually stick to a show if I like it. Currently I'm watching: Dr. Who Stargate SG-1 (yes, I know, ancient show! Still good though) Criminal Minds Bones The 100 (to be a teen show it's surprisingly good and refreshingly not focused on romance) I love watching Game of Thrones (and reading the Song of Ice and Fire-series) but it's on hiatus now, so not so relevant. Shows I followed for several reasons but never finished watching are How I Met Your Mother, CSI: New York (it never was the same after Stella quit, still watched it a bit though but it sort of ended on an abrupt note), Law & Order: SVU (the best of the franchise without a doubt). I tried to watch hit shows like Breaking Bad and The Wire but they really weren't my thing. Watched three or four episodes of Breaking Bad and I stll thought it was uninteresting, plus I hated the main character so I didn't really get involved at all. When I comes to recommendations though, I have a few for other crime buffs out there: The Killing (both the original Danish version and the American remake) Top of the Lake Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch <3) The Bridge/Broen (NOT the American/Mexican remake, but the Swedish/Danish original)

Right now, I am listening to the greatest song ever written about making love: "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. (And, dude, Jeff Buckley ain't got NOTHING on good old Cohen!)

Right now, I am eating nothing and drinking Italian red wine.

Well, clearly no one should drink too much. But people do. It's a part of growing up, making your own mistakes. I don't think we should judge people too harshly for excessive drinking, especially not when peer pressure is put into the mix.

I should be able to walk wasted and naked down the main street and still not have to fear getting raped (not that I have a habit of doing that). Because, as Lexus said, it is simply unfair that I need to hold back. And, "she was drunk" IS actually used as an excuse. Not just amongst friends, it is frequently used in court - and a lot of times, it works. We still blame the woman for "putting herself in that position", that you too are hinting about, especially if she was flirty aswell. Then she "should've realize this could happen". A friend of mine once said he didn't understand how girls felt every time they went to a party with strangers or why they were afraid to walk home alone before someone tried to rob him on his way home (and no one ever hinted afterwards that he shouldn't have gotten that drunk and be an easy prey). And, he said, "in my case they would've just taken my cell phone and my wallet, I'd still be in control of myself". It's bad that it takes something like that for him to understand (although he's been almost annoyingly protective afterwards), but it is like Lexus said - unfortunately our society isnt very "female friendly". And I don't blame guys for not thinking about those things, I wouldn't if I didn't have to. But, the point I am trying to make is that this isn't just about "there will always be bad people". This is about CULTURE and ATTITUDES. The reason that some kids, even, take that chance when it presents itself is because somewhere inside they don't realize why it's wrong, or they think they're entitled. They're not all psychopaths, some of them are just ordinary high school kids. And that's the problem here: we have a society where kids of all sexes think that if you as a woman get so drunk you pass out then you are up for grabs, sort of as a "lesson" or a "punishment". In all those cases, people just say "oh well, she was drunk" afterwards. And THAT attitude is the problem. Society's attitutes towards others has changed time and time again - look at slavery, or the place women used to be given in the society, or how we used to look at children, for instance. It's possible to change those attitudes, there just has to be a will to do it and we all need to do our best to change people's minds.

This is, sadly, very relevant! http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/sexting-shame-and-suicide-20130917

Six dead, has been confirmed now.

Okay, just to clarify a few things. I didn't try to say that all men are bad, most aren't. And I don't think objectification necessarily LEADS to rape, I agree that it is mostly about power (there are different kind of rapists though, with different triggers). But to some extent I think objectification legitimates it, whether we are aware of it or not. We still judge women who dress "slutty" or sleep around. Even here, in Norway, where I'm from, a recent study showed that almost half of Norwegian men thought women were partly to blame if they had been flirting with the rapist earlier. A large amount thought the same way if the woman was drunk or known for having many sex partners. It is again as though someone loses their right to decide over their own bodies if they "give it away" to strangers. There was also a case here with a girl who was raped where the court considering it "redeeming" that the girl was known for sleeping with strangers, and this clearly told the rapists she might be open for sleeping with them aswell. It's weird this is still acceptable thinking, especially in COURT. When it comes to India, disregard for women is a factor, but I think there's something more to it. And this has always happened, we just notice it more now. In addition, they have also started raping foreigners, which is sure to get media attention. A French woman and an English woman if I remember correctly were also gang-raped while visiting the country. Maybe this is some sort of a daring sport, who knows. And this probably has some sort of a "chain effect" like you see with suicides - if some people do it, it inspires others.

Okay, a couple of cents. First of all, I agree with Lexus on this. And as a woman I find it sad that every time a bunch of guys discuss rape, they end up talking about sadistic punishments etc., instead of discussing the real issue: What on earth is it that makes some men able to commit these acts? And, if men are the "problem" here, are they also the solution? There is a rape culture, not only in India, where women are property (even visiting as a westerner was pretty uncomfortable at times, unless I was with a man), but also here, in our countries. Cases like the Steubenville case show it. Even in our "civilized" cultures there are lots of rapes happening, thousands and thousands, every year, and a lot of the rapists are never caught. A lot of the rapists are not even considered rapists. After all, if I drink too much I evidently lose ownership my own body and therefore, others can do with it as they please. It's a twisted way of thinking, and I think there is a core to it: The core is that women, still very much to this day, are considered first and foremost as sexual objects. We all might disagree to this, or claim we don't view women that way. And in a lot of settings, we don't. But still, it's true. Just think about it: How many sexually posing, half-naked women do you see every day? In shoes commercials, coffee commercials, music videos, you name it. It is so common we don't think about it anymore. The woman's body is used as a tool to sell something, that has nothing to do with it in any way. Okay, to get this back on track. The reason I'm saying this is because it seems that, somewhere, somehow, we lost the ability to connect a woman's body with her self, her individuality, her personality, her brain. We're so used to seeing half-naked women, we barely think of them as people. We don't see that billboard and wonder who the person behind it is. And this abuse of the female body for marketing purposes is a part of the problem. If you're, whether you know it or now, constantly shown imagery (be it in music videos or whatever) of women as objects, of women whose purpose in the video or whatever they're in is to please one or more men sexually, then I think that does something to you. I think that if you see a scantily clad woman then, you unknowingly connect the dots and think she is offering herself, as the half-naked women in the videos or whatever. But as long as she is talking to you, you are reminded that she is another person. Clearly, that reminder disappears out the window the moment someone falls unconscious. Then she is just one of those bodies again. I could be stretching here, but I can't for the life of me understand why I am entitled to my own body sober but NOT entitled to it if I get really drunk. It is as though my body was never really mine, but I'm holding on to it desperately until I lose control of myself and then it's not mine anymore. And not just men think this way, women do too. A lot of the people supporting the Steubenville rapists were young girls their own age, classmates of the victim. Because they felt that she had been stupid, she had been drinking too much, and then you can't expect anything else. This mentality is a HUGE problem. And I think guys need to talk about THAT, and what to do about it, and talk with their mates about it, and stop laughing at jokes about it, to change something. Because, hard as it might be to fathom for most of us, ordinary people can be rapists if they get the chance. That's scary. Everyone aren't monsters like the Indian guys, some people are just really drunk high-schoolers who are too full of themselves and drunk, too. I think Cpt. Johnny said some of it - I mean, imagine Joffrey Baratheon. His mother basically teaches him he's a self-righteous God from the day he's a little kid, than the world is his playground and he can do whatever he wants. So he does. This is probably the same. They said the same thing about the Steubenville rapists aswell - that their football team was treated like heroes, by everyone (their coach was "strict" and gave them a one-match quarantine when he heard about the rape, before it exploded in the news). And so are a lot of men in India. That is probably part of the problem. I think you need to look at yourself as superior to be able to do stuff like this. We know humans can be cruel, hundreds of thousands of years of wars, killings, torture has proven that to us. I don't even know what I'm trying to say with this post - probably that discussing punishment doesnt do anything any good. Discussing WHY people rape and if there is anything we can do, contribute, be it raising our daughters to know that they are ALWAYS entitled to their own bodies, that no form of harassment is okay, while teaching our sons the same, be it just TALKING about this as something other than just something happening in a faraway country, is the only thing that will do any good.

This. AND I CAN'T STOP WONDERING ABOUT IT. I hate those guys. (they're also the ones who made "The Fox" video everyone is going crazy about)