"Her" Depot

So apparently Home Depot has decided that women prefer "neat and clean" stores without lumber or power tools.  So they're opening a spin-off store in Concord that caters to women ... complete with the non-warehouse look and flower-print storage bins.

Wow, can this be any more offensive?  As a woman, I LIKE the warehouse environment. It offers me exactly what I need for home improvement and other projects.  I need lumber and heavy power tools.  I do not need flower-print storage bins!  If I wanted "girlie", I'd shop at Target.  Believe it or not, but those of us that do not have dangling equipment between our legs understand that the middle of a project will not be "neat and clean".  There will be sawdust on the floor and racks of paints and an assortment of tools.  AND THAT'S OK!

No, let's set back the women's movement by a hundred years by telling her that she does not belong in a warehouse with heavy-duty equipment.  She belongs in a neat, pretty, shiny store where all the REAL work has been done and what's left for her to do is light decorating.

http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2007/10/putting-man-back-in-handyman.html
http://www.dollymix.tv/2007/10/her_depot_new_home_depot_aims.html
 http://coedmagazine.com/sex/Guys-Room/3021
http://xnerg.blogspot.com/2007/10/you-can-do-it-we-can-condescend.html

I absolutely love the comment in the xnerg.blogspot link:

"see, being one of the "hers" in question, i know that i can't put up my pretty pink curtains without scary man-tools, so home depot is still my fucking depot, too"

So far, every article I've encountered about it is rage from women.  I hope this experiment fails miserably.

Purity Balls Not Just For Girls

http://feministing.com/archives/006375.html

  Well, technically, they still are, but there is a boy-version too, called the Integrity Ball.  I kid you not.  It's equally detestable but for the opposite reasons:

( Dating Your Parents - Not Just For Girls Anymore )

An Atheist Rages

Just when I think maybe I'm spending too much time being angry, too much time beating my head against a brick wall, I read something that gives me a reason to continue.

Thanks to datan0defor passing this on.

This is a blog from an angry atheist.  She says everything I always wanted to say, some of which I have, some of which I haven't said quite so clearly.  I'm going to repost it in full here behind a cut, but I highly recommend going directly to her blog so she knows people are reading her words.

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html

( An Angry Athiest's Rant )

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To those who know me only online, it seems as though I spend a lot of time being angry.  Those who know me in real life know that I'm not actually pissed off all the time.  I'm quite happy with life overall and spend a great deal of time enjoying life.  But I do have anger that needs to be expressed and the internet is my current outlet for it.  These are concepts that need to be let out and people need to hear them.  Fortunately, other people are better at expressing my ideas than I am, so often I can just refer to someone else's words to explain what I'm feeling.