I’m always taking personality tests in the hope that I will learn something new that will solve every life problem I have ever had. Article: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mmdi/questionnaire/%20%20/ Alas, it seems we all know ourselves as well as we possibly can.
Do you ever analyze your personality to figure out why you do what you do? It seems, most of the time that knowing doesn’t help with the doing.
Sometimes reading the news feels like deja vu. Since we’re not old enough to have heard it all before, this leads us to believe that only a few things are assumed to fascinate humans. Scandal, money, health, woe… is this really all they think we care about? Petty lives and petty people with silly problems. There’s so much more and they won’t even let us know.
This has been floating around for a little bit and amused me. I realize it’s not the most exciting topic in the world but, it deserves a chuckle.
Sugarmamas are on the rise!
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/alpha-wives-the-trend-and-the-truth/?th&emc=th
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/opinion/24tsingloh.html?th&emc=th
Apparently, men are doing more of the gold-digging by marrying women with more education and earning power than themselves. My opinion is similar to most articles I have read 1) women are finally getting paid a little more equal to men in the same position 2) men are no longer threatened by the concept of marrying a working woman 3) men are underachieving due to years of stoning on ADD medication, and being beat out by girls since grade school.
I would like to concentrate on the last point since it intrigues me. First, in grade school, boys tend to be shorter and taller than girls. Often this stretches well into adolescence. Second, girls tend to get better grades due to their ability to hold pencils, tie shoes and sit still. There are obviously exceptions to these rules and I realizing that these are unscientific generalizations. Thus, boys separate themselves into rock bands and sports teams while girls are running everything from science fair to class politics. In fact, if you ever sit through a (always too dull for comfort) highschool graduation, you will notice that more girls know what they want to do when they graduate than guys. Look at highschool yearbooks and you will see girls listing colleges and majors while the boys tend to put something like “college” or “enlist”.
Do you think women will eventually surpass men in earning power or will the trend reverse itself?
eh… I agree that the church picking on the church is getting boring and definitely no longer endearing the way that the first movie that you watch with hugh grant seems clever and the last convinces you that he is a professional pig. Blog about hating on Xtians: http://www.bedeviant.com/7-reasons-i-dont-like-most-christians
A few years ago when a bunch of Xtian thinktanks got together and decided to change their image (think skateparks instead of Sunday school or OMG! Let’s wear jeans because they’re sooo casual), the words relevant and emerging/emergent fire-stormed their way through the brittle chaff of Americana Protestantism. Of course like any cool kid (bully) knows the only way to make sure people know you’re better is to knock down anyone else who isn’t keeping up. Team playing? Pshaw! Point out everything about the guy next to you that is old-fashioned, and unique. Polarize the situation so that your acceptance becomes non-acceptance and ideals become unattainable and indistinguishable. Stealing sheep (trying to take congregants from smaller churches) works really well with this concept as does breeding discontentment under the guise of genuineness.
Do you think this hurts, helps or doesn’t matter?
Sure, babies have been glamorized in the past (for-like-ever) years but that hardly makes it a trend. Maybe people are just less and less ok with the concept of a 14 year old giving birth in a locker room. Most of the role models for this are startling because they started off likeable and ended as a queasy nymph with raccoon eyes and way too much baggage at such a young age. Teen Preggo article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27teen.html?th&emc=th
For the most part, I think young people know when to say when, meaning that no one is tricking these kids into making babies. They know the STD risks and they understand that birth control isn’t 100% effective. Yet, do it anyways. Young people get pregnant out of wedlock for the same reason that 30 or 40 somethings get pregnant outside of wedlock. 1) They want a kid. 2) They want to control the other person. 3) They feel like they are living life to the fullest when they disregard the consequences.
The only reason adults like to think there is a difference between the teen mentality and their own is because they would like to assume that they are more mature in their decision making.
1) They want a kid
Adult women and men sometimes just want a little person in their life. Personally, I have been combating this urge by babysitting (all the fun and none of the fuss). However, life gets lonely and you want to see a legacy. You want someone to need you and love you unconditionally. Teens feel the same way. It’s like the imaginary friend from elementary school merged with that puppy that your parent’s never got you and…. You get to name it.
2) They want to control the other person
Ah…if there is a part of life from which all reality TV, drama, plays, magazines and books can mine volumes of material from, it would be dysfunctional relationships and the lengths we will go to maintain them. Adult programming would suggest that If you are the adulterous mistress, just stop taking your birth control and get pregnant and the man will have to divorce his wife and fall in love with you. Teen programming would suggest that if you are the (little-too) friendly girl, just stop taking your birth control and get pregnant and the boy will have to dump his girlfriend and will fall in love with you. What have we learned here? People control people, and age is no distinction.
3) They feel like they are living life to the fullest when they disregard the consequences.
Some people just get pregnant to do it. It may seem a little laizze-fare to responsible people who feel that bringing a life into this world should not be a boredom buster (myself included). Still, adults looking for a change of pace may think that a baby would make things more interesting (definitely an understatement). Also, a teen looking to add a little action while drawing a bit of attention could easily conclude that yes, a baby would make things more interesting.
Obviously, these are all terrible reasons for an irresponsible person to just “have a kid” but just because it’s a bad mentality doesn’t mean that it’s not reality.
What reason do you think your peers decide to have a child?
you won’t have to suffer the silence…
