Things That Should Not Be Said

*steps onto soapbox*

1. "After all, this is the 21st century!" and variations thereof, when used as a reason for doing, well, anything. For example, "I can't believe that people are still questioning the theory of evolution! After all, this is the 21st century!" or, "How can you still believe in that (moral code, Bible, Koran, Zoarastrianism, absolute truth, hell, right and wrong...whatever)? This is the 21st century!"

What does being in the 21st century have to do with anything? The fact that we live at a certain time in the history of the Earth has no bearing on whether or not something should or shouldn't be done. It has no influence on morals, character, right and wrong, or truth. You may as well say, "After all, this is Tuesday morning!" or "After all, this is 1066 B.C.!"

This does not include, of course, things that actually have to do with time. "After all, this is the 21st century and we have computers to do what they did by hand in 1066 B.C." is acceptable.

2. "But don't all girls...?" Ok. I have heard this from many people of the male persuasion. It usually ends with something like, "...love to shop?" or, "...hoard stuffed animals?" or, "adore cats?" The people who say this are genuinely surprised that all girls do not, in fact, do all of the above.

I admit to having said, for example, "Oh, yeah, guys are so like that!" or, "They all totally do that!" and making sweeping generalizations...but REALLY. Do you really think that ALL girls in the WHOLE WORLD are the same?

This goes for everyone: "But don't all children like cotton candy?" "But aren't all Indians good at math?"

Continued:

3. General petty male-bashing in the vein of, "God made all men the same but gave them different faces so we could tell them apart." Does this need to be said? Do you really believe that? Then don't say it.

...I just don't get it. Just because males have traits that we females don't get doesn't give us the right to put them all down. And it's not like we don't have traits that they don't get. Are their bad traits so much worse than ours?

And even if you DO believe that women are somehow superior to men, men do make up half the human population and are sort of critical members of society. I don't get them either, but name-calling doesn't help.

Plus, usually the females who are doing the male-bashing would be incested to hear a man bashing females in the same way. Equality, people. Calm down. Start behaving like grown-ups. Feminism and women's liberation should be about more than the right to verbally attack the other sex.

4. And a grammar comment: you learned this in elementary school. Subjects and verbs are supposed to agree. "There's many reasons," IS NOT CORRECT. "There are many reasons," IS CORRECT. This is not that hard. Now you try: "There _____ two cookies in the fridge." Good. Now.

5. "Health food," as in, "Ooh, you're into health food," when at the grocery store buying fruits, vegetables, and whole wheat bread and not chips, soda, and frozen dinners.

Fruits, vegetables, etc, are normal food. Normal. From the earth. Given to us by God. This is what people have been eating for millenia. Processed food is a relatively new addition to the human diet. Not all processed food is "junk" and not all normal food is "healthy" and too much of anything is bad, but my point remains: food that comes from the earth is normal food. It happens to be healthier than most, or possibly all, manufactured food, but that doesn't negate my point: it doesn't deserve a new name. I mainly dislike it because it is often said with awe and/or disdain, as in, "Whoa, dude, you're eating carrots, that's so...healthy..." or "Do you really LIKE that stuff?" It bothers me that normal food is suddenly considered special.

Thank you. I am done for the day.

*steps off soapbox*