Something by way of an introduction

There's something great about the idea of a blog. "Look at me. Listen to me. Pay attention to what I'm thinking, feeling, wearing." It feels strange, as a woman, to put it that bluntly, since we're so often expected to step back into the shadows, to make ourselves small, to keep quiet. When we talk about women who demand attention, either by action or appearance, the terms used are rarely flattering. Attention whore. Trashy. Shameless. Diva. Slut. It's all the same thing - women who don't know their "proper" place.
I love that women's voices are being heard more and more frequently in the world, both in positions of power and in venues like this one. Looking back at the historical record, by and large the only voices we have left are those of the dominant powers of the time: mostly wealthy, mostly male. The records that we have of women's lives and experiences come almost exclusively from things like letters and diaries, things kept close and private often until long after the women who penned them had died. Now, there are millions of people from every race, class, and gender telling the world, in real time, about what they think and feel and experience. That's amazing, when you think about it. Our descendants will know so much more about us than we know about our ancestors.
But hey, enough with the thesis. I mean, yes, blog, awesome, and I'm really looking forward to joining the larger network of feminist bloggers out there, but you know what else is awesome? Going to a SlutWalk and feeling totally empowered. Baking a cake from scratch and feeling like a genius because it actually turned out exactly how you imagined it. Having a vision in your head about how you want to present yourself to the world, and then making that happen. Going into a movie feeling slightly worried about the quality because frankly, the reviews haven't been that great, and leaving feeling elated because fuck the critics, that was amazing. Those are the kinds of things that I'm interested in talking about, and plenty more besides.