I had a biopsy today. I may have a benign fibroid, or a cancerous growth. They also took some blood to do a lab test on my hormone levels, but I hadn't eaten breakfast before, so I felt faint afterward. I had to sit down quickly and hold my head for a little while. When I faint or almost faint, I get nauseous and have a hot flash. I recovered enough to go get some food, my favorite comfort food chao (rice porridge). But I am still achy and tired.
In other news, I read this Wonkette article about tradwives and the manosphere. There's an interesting passage about two types of sexism:
For those of you who don’t remember your women’s studies classes, Ambivalent Sexism Theory is the idea that there are two primary forms of sexism — hostile sexism, which the study defines as being “characterized by overtly negative feelings and attributions toward women as well as beliefs that women seek to humiliate men and undermine men’s power by using sexuality” and benevolent sexism, which the study explained “is a more subtle and patronizing form of sexism that expresses adoration, paternalism, and reverence toward women who conform to gender-role norms.” There are three main facets of benevolent sexism — protective paternalism (men have to take care of women because we are delicate flowers), complementary gender differentiation (belief in distinct gender roles), and heterosexual intimacy (the idea that a man is incomplete without a romantic relationship with a woman).
So yeah, that's definitely the kind of benevolent sexism that Victorian men like Watson have. Holmes feels similarly, though he does not feel incomplete without a woman himself. He'll sometimes make some comments like "if I had ever loved" or "if I had been murdered, I would want my wife to insist on seeing my body" but these remain hypotheticals. Holmes does distrust women, but is capable of respecting them like Irene Adler and Violet Hunter. Also he does look approvingly on couples in love, like Mary Fraser and her sailor from Abbey Grange. So, no I don't think he's really that hostile.
Meanwhile, I also have been adding to my Grand Gift of Silence fic again. The world is terrible, but you gotta find joy in life.
