Why I'm Not in the Fashion Industry

     When I moved to Seattle a little over six months ago, I applied just about everywhere in hopes of landing a job, even jobs I knew would be fools to hire me. One such company was Urban Outfitters (yes, I know now that they are quite literally the devil, but I had forgotten in my panic over being unemployed). They somehow made the mistake of brining me in for an interview. They told me to wear something I would wear to work and I wore jeans (I KNOW. I hired people at my last job and I know wearing jeans was the stupidest idea ever) and a cute black top. When I walk in, the three other girls being interviewed looked like they had just stepped out of a magazine. I knew then that I didn't have the job.
     It got worse when the interview started. One of the girls had studied fashion design in Paris. She was interviewing because she wanted to work her way into fashion design from the bottom. Then the interviewer asked us who our style icon was. Everyone went into such depth and immediately had someone that came to mind. The cute girl in the polka dot dress said Zooey Deschanel. I have no idea who the other people were. I bullshitted my way through by claiming I got style tips from friends, which the amateur fashion designer used to save my ass by marveling over how helpful "street fashion" is. Obviously, I didn't get the job.
     Anyway, I told that story because I was thinking today about my strange fashion choices and how much I honestly amuse myself with how I dress. Because, generally speaking, I don't give a flying fuck what I wear. So I tweeted about it:

Just in case anyone's wondering why I'm not in the fashion industry, my favorite "fall fashion" is wearing sweatshirts as shirts. #prostatus
— Kirsten Erin (@KirssyRen) September 29, 2014

It got me thinking about other silly reasons I'm not in fashion design and I decided to make a list of a few of them here. Without further ado, here are the top five reasons I'm not in fashion design:

1. Sweatshirt Shirts
     Obviously, I already talked about this, but it has to make the list nonetheless. I love wearing sweatshirts as shirts. They're so damn comfy and warm! I'm currently wearing my "Books Turn Muggles Into Wizards" Harry Potter Alliance sweatshirt as a shirt (which are sold by DFTBA Records). If I owned more sweatshirts, this would be a main staple of my wardrobe. Unfortunately, I only have about four, so I can't. Maybe I should add more sweatshirts to my Christmas Wish List . . .

2. Shoes
     I horrify my best friend on a daily basis (who is a manager at an Old Navy in Texas) on a daily basis by my sheer disregard for footwear. I've never been much of a shoe person, even when I tried. At this point, I have five pairs of shoes: 1 pair of DC Comics Flash Converse high tops, 1 pair of DC Comics Batman & Robin Converse high tops, 1 pair of light brown boots from Target that have crochet flowers on the side, 1 pair of sandals (also from Target), and a pair of grey and pink tennis shoes I bought at Ross.  I find shoes irritating and generally ill-fitting. When giving the option, I will generally always choose the sandals, because they're the fastest to put on. This includes rainy days like today, in which I'm wearing a sweatshirt, jeans, and sandals . . . like a crazy person.

3. Nerd Merch
     I am a firm believer in the fact that if you have to purchase something, you should always try to get it in the nerdiest version possible. I like repping the things I'm into. I'm a pretty nerdy person, which means I will try to get nearly everything to represent one of the various fandoms I'm a part of. Obviously, this easily translates into what I'm wearing. Thus, two out of five of my shoes are DC Comics-related. Two of my four sweatshirts are the Harry Potter one I'm wearing and a Flash one. My two phone cases are a Batman & Robin one and a Wonder Woman one. Even my tattoos are nerdy: one is a paraphrase of a Dumbledore quote and the other is Tolkien's original illustration of the Doors of Durin from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

4. Priorities
     Honestly a huge part of why I'm not a part of the fashion industry is the fact that I have more pressing interests, particularly in where I choose to invest my money. Ask anyone who knows me where I spend most of my money and the first thing everyone will say is BOOKS. It's my passion and it means the world to me. Every time I'm forced to buy clothing, my immediate thought is, "I could buy, like, five books with this same amount of money."

5. I Just Don't Care
     The final reason I'm not in the fashion industry, is that I just don't care. It's not my cup of tea. I tend to have a pretty big problem with anyone or anything that presumes to dictate what I should or shouldn't look like or wear or be doing. Maybe that's just me being rebellious, but I couldn't care less if you like my outfit. If I like it, that's all that matters. Like I always tell anyone who will listen, confidence is 90% of looking good in pretty much anything. That's why hipsters can wear such weird clothes and still look so goddamn attractive.

     So there you have it: the top five reasons I am not in the fashion industry. The point of this post, besides laughing at myself, is essentially to say this:

     Wear what you like. Do what you like. Be who you like. Don't let others dictate the way you live your life, because life is too short to live like that. Who cares if that bitch in your Math class or at work thinks your outfit looks odd? If you like it, keep wearing it.
     And if you see me sitting at your local Starbucks with my brown and purple hair in braided pigtails, wearing a "Books Turn Muggles Into Wizards" sweatshirt as a shirt, over jeans and sandals, even though it's in the fifties outside and has been raining since dawn; feel free to judge my outfit. Because who I am and what I do doesn't have anything to do with you. I feel good like this. It makes me happy. And that's what matters in the end.

Feminist And Proud!

I used to be one of those women who claimed that I was not a feminist. It used to drive my deeply feminist best friend up a wall.

"Do you believe that women should have the right to vote?" she would ask me.
"Yes"

"Do you think that women and men should be paid the same for doing the same job?"
"Of course."

"Do you believe that women are any less important than men?"
"No."

"You're a feminist."

Yet I would still go on claiming that I was most definitely not a feminist and that feminism was just this grasping attempt for certain militant women to do their best to overrun all the males in the country.

Then I had some sense knocked into me. I'm not really sure what convinced me that I'm a feminist. It was probably the combined efforts of my best friend and how much time I spend reading and, therefore, coming across literature that explains the things I don't really understand. (Also, Youtube. There are some pretty kick-ass feminists on there that have helped me straighten out a thing or two in the way I think. ie. Laci Green, HayleyGHoover, etc.)

If you look up "feminism" in the dictionary, this is what you'll find:

It is "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, societal, and economic equality to men."

It's not trying to be better than men. It's not trying to dominate the world, become lesbians, and burn our bras. (I happen to like my bras. I don't intend to get rid of them while they still have use to me.) It's about being treated like we are also human. Feminism is about being respected as fellow human beings, and not as objects. 

This is why I'm so confused when I meet someone who claims they're not a feminist. Or, at least, I would be confused if I hadn't gone through the same thing a few years ago. The problem we're facing here can be narrowed down to this:

People haven't been educated in what it means to be a feminist. The things that they have been told are wrong and it's extremely difficult to refute the things that are so fully ingrained in our minds from birth.

It's strange and sad to me when I have conversations with other women about women's rights or dealing with a particular misogynistic asshole who has shown his deep disrespect for women very clear. These women are always on the same page all the way until I drop the word "feminist." It's like I've just called them a terrorist!

"That's not even feminism! That's just respecting women!" they tell me. Or, "Actually, I'm not a feminist, but I agree with everything else you said."

And when I explain that women's rights/respecting women as equal humans IS WHAT FEMINISM IS ALL ABOUT, I get that blank expression that tells me they're not even really sure what I'm talking about anymore. I just have to shrug and walk away, hoping that seed I just left will take root and they'll eventually look back and say, "Oh! That's what she was talking about!"

I'm a feminist and I'm proud to call myself that. Feminism isn't a dirty word. It isn't an insult. In fact, it ought to be a compliment. It means I'm not afraid to state that I will fight for the rights of women. It means I respect my own gender as well as the opposite sex. And there's nothing wrong with that.

What is a Nerd?

Celebrate your nerdiness!

I'm currently reading American Nerd: The Story of My People and finding it insanely interesting. It  is, as expected, a very nerdy book that explains the history and dynamics behind what is commonly considered a nerd.

In the beginning of the book, Benjamin Nugent, the author of the book, gives his opinion of what exactly a nerd is. I agreed with him on some points and disagreed on others.

I, having been classified as a nerd by myself and many others, thought it would be an interesting exercise to write a post on what my definition of a nerd would be.

So here we go:

1) A nerd is almost always an enthusiastic learner. We enjoy learning new things and knowing that we're storing away knowledge. This doesn't, however, mean we're great at everything or enjoy learning about everything. We all have specific interests that we love amassing information on. For example, my brother is more of a tech nerd, so he's more interested in learning about javascript, html, and css. While I've dabbled in html, tech is not my expertise. I'm an avid reader and comic bird nerd that knows more about the technicalities behind tattooing, sociology, and DC Comics trivia than your average girl.

2) Nerds generally enjoy a good cosplay. I honestly haven't ever met a nerd who doesn't enjoy dressing up as their favorite character from a book, movie, or graphic novel. I've met a few who are more shy about it, but never one that thought the idea was stupid.

3) Nerds are passionate about at least one thing that isn't a social norm. I've noticed this just recently: there are some things it's socially acceptable to be passionate about (ie. sports, your occupation/future occupation, mainstream television shows, or even academics to an extent) and other things that aren't okay because it's not what everyone else is passionate about (ie. superheroes, sci-fi, too much reading, or video games). 

4) Nerds rarely enjoy massive amounts of physical activity. This one is more relative because I've seen a few exceptions to this, one being my younger brother. Generally, however, we tend to participate in activities that require little to no physical exertion. Common exceptions to this, however, are any activities that have an obvious nerd factor or make us feel more like the fictional characters we admire. Sword play/Fencing, other fighting techniques (ie. Tae Kwon Do or kick boxing), and fictional games (ie. Quidditch or water-bending wars) are the major categories of these exceptions. Generally these at least appeal to the majority of nerds, whether they pursue them or not.

5) Nerds have a large variety of different personalities. Unlike the generalized model one is often acquainted with, we come in many shapes and sizes. We can be arrogant or humble, introverted or extroverted, confrontational or non-confrontational. We aren't all cookie-cutter copies and we have a plethora of interests that span a wide variety of topics. In fact, I'm quite certain I've never met a nerd who didn't want to be a Renaissance man/woman (aka. someone who would like to be skilled in many differing areas, see Leonardo DaVinci). 

So that's a rough list of what a nerd looks like to me. You may agree or you may disagree. If you have something to add/comment on, feel free to leave it in the comments!

In Defense of Fan Fiction

My niece doesn't actually write fan fiction . . . yet.

 As a proudly nerdy girl, I'm into a lot of things that aren't generally considered cool. I collect comic books, read obsessively, and would rather stay home writing half the time than go to the bar with my friends. (Don't worry, I generally go and socialize anyway.) 

I'm also really into fan fiction. Don't cringe! It's not that bad. Don't you think you're overreacting a little bit? No? Well, let me explain why you're wrong.

Now, I realize that the term "fan fiction" can make even the nerdiest of people suppress a shudder. I've taken flack for being an FF (abbreviation for fan fiction) author from some of my closest friends. It's not entirely unwarranted, I can admit that much. I can attest to the fact that I've read my fair share of cringe-worthy, terribly written stories. There have been times that I've logged into Fanfiction.net only to sift through an hours worth of bland, unintelligent stories that leave me discouraged. 

But please, don't base your opinions of FF solely on those stories. While there are some pretty crappy stories out there, there are also some pretty amazing ones too. There are quite a few writers out there who have quite a talent for what they do. It's not all about people inserting themselves into fandoms so they can play out their fantasies of dating the hero. Some of us actually write the characters well, creating interesting stories that pull you in and leaving you wanting more when the story ends.

Fan fiction can also be a wonderful way of honing one's writing skills. When I first joined Fanfiction.net, I was sixteen years old. Description was my weakest ability when it came to writing and one of the first stories I wrote had so many plot holes in it that I eventually took it off and have since been rewriting it. (I'm referring to a work I titled, "Eyes of Purple" which was in the Chronicles of Narnia section. It's currently on hiatus, but I will get back to it eventually -- I promise!)

Since then my writing skill has improved immensely and I'm prouder of my recent stories (written in the Newsies section) than I have been of almost anything I've ever written before. As an aspiring author, I've learned so much about description, character development, and writing in general through experience than I have through any other avenue I've come across. I have so many stories to tell, rattling around in my brain, and it's great to have a way to express them.

I still write my own stuff on the side (even if my current story, "How the World Turns" seems to be taking over my life at this point). I don't plan on writing on FF for the rest of my life. I'd like to publish some books entirely my own in the future. But in the meantime, I love that I get to write to my heart's content and there are people who enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing them.

So my point here is this: Don't write of fan fiction as one of those things that only creepy fangirls and horny fanboys read and write. There are some fantastic fan fiction writers out there who will probably be writing novels of their own in just a few short years. Don't count them out. They're pretty amazing. 

When, one day, I have published books of my own -- I hope there are kids out there writing fan fiction for it. There is always so much to be explored in each "universe" an author creates. There are always more adventures for the main characters to take. Don't limit yourself to just that one story, because there could be another out there that you like just as much or even more than the original. 

P.S.I guess this post isn't complete without me unashamedly pimping out my FanFiction profile, even though it's in the sidebar.