Reacting to my old FB posts

Since a few years ago Facebook has introduced this algorithm that reminds you of what you posted on the same day years back. I keep seeing some really cringeworthy shit pop up so I thought- why not compile a whole blog entry worth of cringeworthy posts from the past and react to them? So here we go.

My FB account was (re)created in 2014, so sad to say all the dumb things I posted from before that are permanently gone into the abyss of the Internet. I'm glad, because I'm not sure I'm keen to see the kind of dumb quizzes/memes I used to create and tag my JC friends in.

So here goes!

Now, it's very obvious who this post was targetted at- a member from a group module in uni who didn't pull his weight. Clearly, my issues with this guy ran way deeper than the sexist comments that initially triggered this post. However., I'm curious with the first quote- I somehow don't recall him EVER saying that. I give him the benefit of the doubt that English isn't his first language and something sensible could have been lost in translation. The only other reason is essentially if he is trying to be a dick on PURPOSE. It's got to be on purpose, nobody is that obtuse.

I think it's so funny that I found this because just a week ago, while on night duty, I dreamed that I was in a police car (looking out from the cage thing) and a toddler ran up to the car and pounded on the window smiling and laughing at me, while cops had to drag her away so they could drive off. I don't know if she was my daughter, or if I was going to jail because of her, either way I still don't know who any of my imaginary babies' fathers are till today.

As of 1 Apr 2020 I am still drinking a mandatory two cups of coffee a day.

I'm really glad I no longer have exams to worry about. Granted, adult responsibilities like taxes, insurance and your job (you aren't really free from it off your shift because Telegram and Whatsapp exist) sounded worse initially but at least i) an entity files my taxes for me ii) With insurance I just need to remember to buy and renew my premium, which the insurance company is glad to remind me about every year. I just want to play 极品明皇帝 and promote my virtual husbandu (that's what they call a male waifu right?) to become 皇后 (Empress) instead of dying a slow death from term start till the exams end.

WTF this one talking about who sia? I had been prepositioned by so many shitty guys in the past that it is hard to keep track. 

Nice

I think it's funny how we were all so replused by Trump thinking it was the end of the world when he got elected, yet here we are, still alive and breathing. (Granted we have a new problem that is COVID-19)

I suppose what we (as in millenial Singaporeans) were really afraid of then is facing the fact that a sizeable population of humans do hate globalisation, they hate our definition of progress and they want their old world order back. They want to return to the days of tradition, where they were regarded as the Original People of whichever country they are in now, and the rest be treated like guests. To us millenial Singaporeans, them getting their way would mean the end of the world as we know it. We would be segregated yet again by racial, sexual and religious identities and have doors shut in our faces for not being the right race/nationality. I know THAT was what I feared.

Yet looking back at things now in 2020, Covid-19 has thus far been the biggest enabler of racism since the year started. Trump is not Singaporean yet Singaporean universities are making headlines month after month over voyeurism acts and sexual harrassment/assault. Trump is a symptom, not a cause, and even if Hilary had won elections then, bigots are just going to find another role model to justify their hatred. So I guess I should thank fuck he's not my President and focus on things I can control.

This post truly aged well because I really did screw up my second year.

"I believe Mr Trudeu will be a good Prime Minister"? WTF he is not even my PM, and I am confused as to why I was talking as if I lived on the inside of his head and was familiar with his foreign, security and economic policies to be able to make that statement.

I think if anything, posts like these (I made plenty of them in my early-twenties apparently, as I was scrolling my Facebook history to create this post) show the naviete of college-aged students. We are desperate to make our impact on the world, we are influenced by our peers as we search for causes to be passionate about, so we automatically look to someone who reinforces that view we have on a particular subject specifically and immediately label them as good people.

Now that's not wrong per se. As an adult now, I would still encourage young adults to follow the path I did. After all, young people need to start somewhere, and the fact that youth like Greta Thunberg have found something they care about outside of themselves in the first place is a pretty good start. But one still needs to be able to appreciate nuance, know that there are always two sides to every argument (there are counter-arguments that are incredibly shitty, but don't shut yourself off to valid criticism) and most importantly, don't put people on a pedestal, especially people who have vested interest in telling you what you want to hear.

Here's what I feel about feminism (or specifically, labelling oneself as feminist) today. Honestly, despite how I act on social media, I actually know close to nothing about most socio-political issues, let alone knowledgable about them to a academic level. I don't even know what the hell third-wave feminism is. I only know that when people act and speak a certain way that creates a culture that potentially instigates violence against women and girls, I'm against it and I speak out. Full stop. End of story.

For people who have followed me for years on social media, you'll realise though I have posted about a wide-range of issues related to women, the overwhelming majority of the time I am talking about sexual violence or replying to some nutjob trying to justify rape and pedophillia on FB. I'm not as interested in feminism as a subject as I am interested in self-preservation- I want to be safe in society and I want the same for other women and girls.

As for people who refuse to call themselves feminists- as a college-aged young adult I would have thought there was something wrong with these people for not wanting men to have the same rights as women.

But I think people need to understand one thing- "feminism" is a very broad and bastardised term. It in itself has many branches, wings, schools of thought, that no two feminists will have exactly the same opinions about the same topic. Even within their community there are so many issues specific to their little sub-community (like Black Feminism, Trans-feminism etc). Of course, you also have the crazies who paint pictures in period blood, or the morbidly obese fat-acceptance influencers who convince women that obesity is not a health risk.

There are extremists in every movement, religion, community, and sadly it's always the extremists that get the brightest feature on the press because that gets viewers. To us, feminism simply means equal rights, to someone else, feminism is whatever extreme act that somehow made it into the news that day. Whatever it is, I don't really care what someone wants to label (or not label) themselves, as long as they fundamentally recognise the harm of rigid gender roles and try not to force them on others. And of course not try to justify or advocate harrassment, rape or pedophillia.

10/10 would do it again

Mid-twenties, heck even late twenties isn't some scary number which you experience some massive functional decline the moment you hit. For some reason I actually gymmed a ton in uni and had a pretty good diet, a regime that I maintained when I started work so my body isn't really taking a hit at 28 despite irregular work shifts and sleeping hours. I'd say it's 20% genetics and 80% lifestyle, I had peers my age that let themselves go super early and they are stubbly, rotund and balding by now. Make the right choices today.