Semi-coherent ranting

Ah Facebook, giver of so many dubious joys and supplier of stalking tools galore, how you annoy me. Well, not Facebook per se, but perhaps the people on Facebook. Last year I recieved a message from my aunt about raising breast cancer 'awareness.' Enough has been said about the topic of 'awareness' and how little it translates into anything meaningful, so I will leave that alone. The message was as follows:

Hi Girls.....for the Breast Cancer awareness campaign this year we are doing a FB rally again. We did one last year where we posted the color of the bra we were wearing. It was so successful that it made the news. This time we are asked to put our shoe size, followed by inches (e.g. if you wear a five, you'd write "five inches"). Do not invite your guy friends! It gets everyone talking and gets the issue out there.

Something along these lines gets sent out every year, and so far I have been fairly tolerant of the whole thing, even participating. However this year has finally gone too far. (Warning: I may get my girl club membership revoked for showing this to boys. The horror.)

It has been proposed that us GIRLS, did something special in Facebook to help gain consciousness of Breast Cancer. It's so easy that I'd like you to join us to make it spread!

Last year it was about writing the color of the bra you were wearing in your FB status... and it left men wondering for days why did the girls have colors (apparently random) in our status.

This year it has to do with our love relationships, in other words, for the moment you are going through with your relationships.

What do you drink?
tequila: I'm a single woman
rum: I'm a touch and go woman
champagne: I'm an engaged woman
redbull: I'm a woman in a relationship
beer: I'm a married woman
vodka: I'm the "other one"
sprite: I'm a woman that can't find the right man
whisky: I'm a single woman but with friends that won't stop partying
liquor: I'm a woman that wishes she was single.
gin: I'm a woman that wants to get married
Now all you need to do is write down the answer for your situation in
your FB status (don't reply this email, just put it in your status).
Also, cut and paste this message and send it to all your girl-friends
as a message.

The Bra game reached the news. Let's make this one make it too and see
how powerful women are!!!!!

PS: NEVER reveal to the men.

Leaving aside the fact that I got this message asking me, an underage person, to post that I drink alcoholic beverages as my status and leaving aside the fact that who in the name of sweet raptor jebus would write down that they drink liquor ("wants to be single") or vodka ("the 'other one'"), there is a good deal that grinds my gears about this post.

Mostly it is the tone. I hate the 'us girls' attitude. The way it implies that a woman's life is defined by the men in her life. A participator's status is based around her relationships. How dare she define herself in ways that have nothing to do with how other people deal with her?

What really gets me is how much this entire set up is a desperate plea for male attention. Trying to intrigue 'the boys' and keep 'the men' from knowing what 'us GIRLS' are doing. The only way, obviously, to help the breast cancer cause is to make it clear to the big strong men how important it is. Then it will get fixed.

Its times like this when I thank my stars that the people I interact with, by definition, don't have this attitude. Thank God for Engineers.