Papandreou & The epic of Greece

 Some things need to be blogged, in the most feverous, overwrought fashion - and one of them happens to be the socio-economical situation in Greece. Many a clever bird may have immersed themselves in the folly that the average Greek has to, through the news. Much to their dismay, the news try to display the situation as viewed through the censored lens of journalists, which are then in turn censored by a series of democracy-intimidated schmucks. And so, the vicious cycle continues, and what is delivered to you through cable TV is rarely ever objective.

 One thing that irritates me in this whole media perception of the issue, is the response the thought of a referendum brought. Once the people of Greece were given a choice - euro or drachma - foreign intervention deemed it unacceptable that democracy could ever be put to use. Greece is but an imperfect mirror image of what it looked like 2 millenniums ago (Plato and Aristotle were never advocates of trusting people - and democracy was overlooked) - yet, everybody is reluctant of letting go of the romanticised picture of white-marble temples.

 I do not receive Greek education, so I am not as knowledgable in the wonders of the Ancient Greek civilisation as many of my peers. However, I've experienced the idolatric situation of all things Ancient Greek present in Greek society, and I don't find it resonant. At all. Instead of trying to become a successfully globalised country, with a reliable frugal system and whatnot, we oppose all things modern society, and passively marvel the miracles of a civilsiation that is of very little genetical relation to modern Greece. While enlightening a country on historical matters is rarely ever a counterproductive thing, solely focusing on history much removed from today's world, and rejecting any globalised, modern ideas is a dangerous attitude.

 The referendum has now been called-off, after a plethora of meetings with pioneering European countries to settle the matter. And so I stand, contemplating the matter. What is worse; a self-prided "civilised" community's fear of democracy, or the change of currency to obsolete drachma? In order for both issues to be resolved, Greek society needs a wake up call about Westernised ideals, and the Eurozone shall stop this contradictive anti-democracy attitude it carries.

No, this blog is not forsaken...

 Why have I not posted in such a long time? I'd like to pretend such questions are rhetoric - a minor turbulence in the road of high school academic success. I even pretend that this blog is something I can turn my back to and permanently forsake - yet, I always come running back to its dusty domain.

 I have a physics test on monday. And I am insecure. Trembling also, despite being located on a chair. I should be studying, one may postulate - but I've covered all of the material, and know all formulae by heart. Once again, I am captured by a more deeply rooted perturbation. That of being insufficient.

 Unlovable almost. Hell, insufficient is only a euphemism when compared to the lolling thoughts patrolling my mind. I am facing an ever-demanding society - and I am scant. Not clad, but skepticsm-associated paltry. Take back the first sentence of the paragraph - I am unlovable.

 I make a fool of myself at every chance I am given to talk. Like an army of demeanoured vengeance maniacs, the thorns that surround my path to glee grow prickled on my skin - picking on every imperfection, every thing that makes me human. Mutilated, annihilated - torn! - my only shroud is lifted off my frail remaining physique, marking me bare and vulnerable.

 A quick look at the mirror further validates the point presented above - I am shunned here. Shunned by friends, family, fellows and foes alike. Unlovable. Don't be brainwashed by what cosmetic-selling corporate companies tell you - irresonant exclamations of " everyone being beautiful" - because, here lies a person who is nothing but a messed up bundle of thorns. And it's all society's fault.

The Higgs Boson; a triumph?

 Summer,summer, glorious summer! As if I needed another excuse to drink lemonade straight out of the bottle - frequent sips distressing the previous lack of fluctuation in my body's mass. Anyway, since my thoughts on lemonade are rarely of any cultural significance, it might be better if they end right here.
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 The Large Hadron Collider seems to have been put to good use, since it has provided some clues concerning the existence of an until-now hypothetical particle ; the Higgs Boson.  The H⁰ exerts a field which affects different particles by different drags, and so gives them a distinct mass. The Higgs Boson rightfully claimed its title as one of the yet-to-be-solved issues of modern physics, since it is predicted in the Standard Model but has never been detected outside theoretical practices.

 Why am I so seemingly excited? Not one, but 60 plus Higgs collisions have been illustrated in recent Cern images (above). And whilst it is still too early to be certain of those particles' status, we're close to discovering whether their postulated-status will be ridded of - or whether cosmology's array of technology will prove they're nothing but a theoretical flaw. Either way, both outcomes would be equally valuable.


 What may I say? My blog is genreless, and on the eve of any further discovery concerning this elusive matter I will not abstain from informing each and every reader - physics-centred or steering towards the opposite - of how close we are to claiming full comprehension of even more physical processes.


PS: On the 2nd of August I will depart for Chicago, and I'll make sure to keep you informed about my trip - which translates to images, updates of the places I've visited and an even wider array of issues-faced analysed.  Please do not abandon the blog until then, but rather await raw reviews.

...Censored

 I'm sorry for the hiatus my beloved readers had to experience, but by keeping a loose eye to my twitter feed you may have understood the true core of the problem ; writer's block. However, fear not, because another 'sensitive' topic has reached my ears and, relatively expectedly, agitated me in more than one way. As the post title may hypothesise, the censorship of press,publications & music, done so to "help" defenseless,folly teenagers is not what I consider the most rightful way to educate anyone, regardless of underage status or not.

"recurring beep sounds"

  The notion just discussed certainly came back to haunt me when I was reminded, in an other-wise respectable conversation, how inappropriate the things I read are. Before you presume that I read pervert-infused Japanese manga, I may have to inform you otherwise; what this vivid imagination deemed as not age-appropriate were the novels Lolita, The Catcher in the Rye and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Maybe my choice of literary companions do not deal with daisies, true love and weak,submissive heroines - and since when does a dose of reality beyond YA Fiction prove to be unrewarding?

 My showcase of teenage angst did not draw near and dear at that moment. I was , even further, disgusted by guides, all made by self-titled "responsible parents" that revolved around censoring what their children read. Popular choices of censorship included even the slightest of violence, sexual subject, homosexuality and skepticism over topics acknowledged as "truthful" by our tainted society. By typing "censoring teenagers" on my google bar-line I was overwhelmed with results, the first one to make its appearance being a report on teenagers' sentiments over censorship. My eyes scanned through the research, and initially focused on a set of lines that seem ultimately ironic;

  "although there are age classifications on videos but not on books, a number of teenagers said they had found staff in bookshops exercised more censorship than many video stores where staff often did not seem concerned about age restrictions. One teenager (approximately 13) had tried to buy a copy of Sugar Rush, but a shop assistant had refused to sell it to her: “the lady at the counter told me it wasn’t suitable for me”. Another (approximately 15) had not been allowed to buy a Stephen King novel."

 Is our society content with 10 year old boys purchasing endless copies of Call of Duty, and indulging in a pastime as uncreative as shooting off zombies, and so deeply-rootedly distorted that it glamourises war, yet somehow unable to contemplate , maybe due to fear,  that a 13 year old girl may want to expand her horizons on topics other than the ones handed to her as "proper"?

 I still have not presented the main reason why censorship is deemed as so restrictive in my opinion - and that is, because such an action is so reminiscent of dictatorship - and important ideas are constantly suppressed in order to banish any material thought of as heinous, blasphemous or too liberal - while simultaneously leaving the victims of such an action (teenagers in our case) uneducated, ignorant and roaming in a postulated utopia. I see this breed of censorship in the same light as the British Government's reluctance when it comes to supporting liberal & scientific studies - resulting to the largest percentage of university students studying something as blatantly useless as business - and thus creating citisens without an academic opinion on their government. (Listen up; In a, probably good-intentioned, attempt to "protect" your children from reality, you do not only protect them, but also separate their notions from their surroundings and create uncultivated, society-operated, narrow-minded little schmucks)

"Zut's whut daddy told me two buhliv. "

 Because I am aware of the human nature's adoration of examples, I am going to use myself as one, in an attempt to be convenient. The lack of censorship has made me who I am - and my parents' lack of begrudge when it comes to reading books provided me with a gateway to Ancient Greek Philosophy, Shakespeare, Feminist Studies, The God Delusion, Politics and so on, while still keeping my beloved physics on a priority seat. I've been acknowledged as quite a broad-minded, unprejudiced, knowledgable teenager , so I'd deem it quite safe to say that I've not been traumatised by severe subject matter. And probably, neither will you be.

An Indisputable Issue ; Anti-Seventeen

 My choice to not read magazines catered for a teenage audience has proven refreshingly rewarding those past 6 months ; not only was I able to break away from this dictated , stereotypical, anti-feministic image of femininity, but I also attempted to find comfort in more educated publications, dealing with issues of a much more significant spectrum. Whilst I encourage every reader of approximately my age to abstain from Teenager Magazines too, I find it essential to criticise the lightweight content, lack of diversity, and unequal distribution of topics in those much-purchased publications.


 To illustrate my point, allow me to annotate an issue of one of the most well-known magazines, aimed at a female teenage audience, Seventeen:

 The (rather) significant issues that Seventeen Magazine has chosen to appear on its frontpage:

•  Make him want to be your boyfriend! (by dressing scantily-clad in order to attract his aggressive male instict...)
• 885 ways to look HOT! ( previous speculation validated )
• Get noticed at parties (since how physically noticed you get affects your personality)
• LOVE Horoscope inside! (Pseudo Science at its best...)
• 1 minute makeovers - SO easy, SO pretty! (the zenith of your existence,gurrrls!)
• Save $$$ on sneakers (that some underage girl in India sew together, for the mere daily salary of 1$)

 Nowhere on this issue has a topic that is not aimed at feeding young girl's grandeur-personalities been addressed. By the look of the body-conscious vibe that the most important subjects' headers give me, Seventeen is trying to send its readers a message , even if unconsciously, which I do highly doubt, that unless they are physically attractive they cannot achieve much in their lives (which "much" is defined as getting a boyfriend) and thus must try to make themselves appealing. 

 Brace yourself, for irony-embodied is crawling along the hastily-written paragraphs of this post;

 

  

 I suspect that Seventeen received some well-targeted criticism concerning its inane prioritisation of subject-matter in its issues and decided to create "The Seventeen Body Peace Treaty". The statement would've been justifiable under the pretense that the editors had taken the brave, much appreciated decision to alter the publication's structure to something more earnest and meaningful...

  The last issue of seventeen published, indicates otherwise.  "The #1 Move to A Cute Butt - it hurts but it works" seems to have dominated the cover, once again. I am deeply confused over Seventeen Magazine's motives - are they good-willingly trying to make girls feel comfortable in their skin, or are they attempting to conceal their wish of further promoting the Make Up & Plastic Surgery industry under  a thin veil? It may sound far-fetched but I am drawn to think that the second is fact.

 Again, I am disgusted at Seventeen's new school year motto "Look Prettier than Ever! - for your first day of school). Instead of encouraging girls to obtain a good educational foundation, and become academic achievers on their first day of school, they are senselessly promoting looking pretty - which is, in our desentisised world, a functioning marketing technique. 

An "OMG!" nation in the making

 Unfortunately, Seventeen Magazine (stupidly dubbed "The Teen Bible") is not the only magazine that prefers to give weight to nonchalant issues, and reluctantly abstain from teaching the next generation about real issues that the world is facing. Since Seventeen seems to be enjoying commercial success, more magazines struggle in order to fit the same formula - and so, it seems that beauty monopolises the sought-after pubescent consumer-base.

 Why do I find this a plausible issue? The images presented by those highly-purchased magazines affect a large percentage of the teenager population, and their illogical perception of the world soon becomes the norm. Teenagers - girls, especially - are soon plunged into a world where beauty becomes currency, and are scraped away from their dreams. Even worse, they have no alternative when looking for a magazine to read, which is catered at their audience - and so, a whole society accepts what has befallen upon them. It affects me, and soon I cannot find a gateway to escape this close-knit hell that is paved by distorted beauty standards, discouraging messages and feelings of worthlessness. It affects you, him, her, since we all grow to accept this double-standard, undeniably sexist hell.  

 

 What do I deem as a feasible solution? As elementary as my argument sounds and seems, stop buying brainless pubescent publications of the form. If they appeal to consumers, they continue to develop their magazine contents in the same sense, since commercial success is the most desired component for such companies. Lowering the frugal desire for such issues in the market directly lowers the magazine's earnings, and thus forces the publications to seek success elsewhere, by possibly incorporating different subjects in their monthly base. 

 

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 If looking for a more throughout documentary on the downright absurdity of teenage magazines, and how realistic the "advice" they present is visit The Seventeen Magazine Project. It is well-researched, intellectually sound, and more educational in the field of the teenage magazine business than one would postulate...

A Story of Immigration : Greece's academic crisis

 Unlike misled popular opinion, the view from my window does not look like this:

 In fact, it rather resembles something of that form:

 "But Greece needs every young talent it can find...stand by its side" are words commonly mumbled, mainly by 40-year old suited businessmen, 65-and-a-fraction aged ladies with a profound interest in cats and a whole generation in waiting. If only the people's fates did not strike me as incompetent with what they could've achieved outside this boundary-infected country, I would have considered the statement as legitimate. No such luck is to be seen on the descending horizon.

 I've not even reached the moment that marks the middle of my teenage years. One would think that I'm only being hyperbolic ; potentially trying to declare a riot against my country because it is fashionable to do so. The later may be true, but my dislike towards what the land I've smiled my first smile and shed my first tears in has become is not affiliated with that fact. I do wish for the fiscal situation to stop deteriorating, at least stagnate, but my rational mind cannot envision such an event taking place in a minimum of 10 years from this very date. Even though the crisis is what has affected the majority of Greeks, it is not, surprisingly enough, the reason I wish to abandon my motherland. Education - or rather the lack of interest in it expressed by the Greek government - is the driving force.

 As every self-respecting teenager of the 21st Century my thoughts are subject to my many dreams. Albeit finite, those dreams are of almost infinite significance to my personality and future. It is an acknowledged fact that most of these dreams revolve around cultivating matters ; getting a degree in the subject I love the most, pursuing a career, living my life without a constant burden on my shoulders. I've tried to find ways in which Greece could provide me a sound education in my field of choice and found none ; the situation is nothing short of hopeless.I do not expect life in the country of my choice to be vastly different, or profoundly easy, however as much as I'd like to declare my like for the country I've been raised in, I try to prioritise in my life and I am aware that my education is what most directly affects the core of my existence, and thus something I cannot ,under any circumstances, dismiss. It also happens to be something feasible to shower yourself in, in this postulated country of my choice.

 On a separate point concerning the issue presented, I am not the only one who does not wish to tolerate more of Greece's corruption.

 As much as I've attempted to keep my ears and eyes shut, and through utopia-esque dreams convince myself otherwise ,I've not succeeded. In a few years I'll have to wave the only land I've known well a perhaps-permanent goodbye. A tear will surface in my eye - though it won't be for the poor government but rather for the beauty of this exploited country.


 Do you deem my reasons for wishing to pursue my future in another country as reasonable? Leave your perspective right below!

Fourth-Wave Feminism,Political Dynasties & and other painful notions

     Ew, God forgive, that ever is true!

 Ask me if I'm a feminist, and I'll briskly exclaim a celebrated "Yes!". Indeed, I am an advocate of giving women all over the world a choice ; the ability to be independent bread-earners, whom are not stigmatised by the narrow perceptions of femininity imprinted on most people's minds. Yes, you can wear make up, dress is short skirts, and consume cocktails in a heartbeat if that is how you find comfort - that does not, under any circumstances, make you any less or more of a feminist. Certainly, feminists have always tried to provide a not-broad-enough definition for what makes you one of them and that is one of the reasons why such untruthful,  *profanity* idiotic notions were conceived.

 But, if what you're looking for is equality, why are you a feminist? a question that plagues my ears, for it perfectly indicates little understanding of the subject. Feminism, whose name only aims to raise consciousness about the fact that this is an attempt at ridding the female gender of any prejudice present, is about gender equality. Gender equality has come a long way since the first installment of feminism , which is a cause for glee, if anything else, but it still has a long way to come. Females are not a second gender, only born to serve men and assist them in their day-to-day issues, but humans on their own who deserve rights, and equality. Sexism is the form of discrimination that affects the largest percentage of humanity - 49.76% of it.

 Long way to come? Why is your post entitled "Fourth Wave Feminism"? I fear that all those waves of feminism are unnecessary. They only help in categorising feminists by their very particular beliefs of what feminism is, and that does not help when they all take part in a mutual cause. For me, Fourth Wave Feminism, a slightly sardonic title, is about making feminism about choice, and the individual female's perception of what she wants in her life, once again. It is about empowering the belief that who we are is more important than how we look. We've all changed society immensely, and when faced with new endeavors concerning our place in the workforce, the only way to cope is by being united. That translates to no spiritful debates over Lipstick Feminism (third-wave feminism) and whether it has objectified women or not,  because thus we miss the point. We could undeniably spend more time encouraging powerful women, who have chosen their lifestyles and have achieved a great political,economic,scientific or whatever-career status, as the norm and dismiss debating about a topic that will never settle - who the "truest" feminist is. 
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 On another point, I'm happy to be born in the first generation that has seen women have real political influence. More than ever before, sisters, daughters, wives, and any-remaning female relatives of political leaders are claiming top political jobs.

Click on the image for higher resolution.

 Source: The Economist


 While, all the women listed above got into political power due to their family members of the male gender, there certainly is an undertone of victory in the sense that those politically-oriented females have claimed the dynasty - not some other male relative. As stated above, I can't quite contemplate a recent-time period when I've observed such a thing. This newfound female political face does not only give hope to girls and women all around the globe that equality in the political workforce - and any other workforce - is finally rising, but also allows optimistic thoughts concerning better, different political regimes. I'll be honest, since my view seems romantisised at a first glance. I'm pretty certain most of them will not be better than previous political leaders, but some, if elected, can unavoidably broaden a tainted society's horizons. If that's not a great step for feminism, what is?

 Finally, and quite expectedly, the above chart gives me hope for a reformed society where I can pursue my life unaffected by notions invented before I was even born. It gives me , a self-claimed pessimist, a small assurance that maybe things will be alright, maybe I can hope for a future where I don't have to face discrimination on a daily basis. Maybe, just maybe, I can afford to smile at this sample of prosperity.