Deliver Me From Misogyny

Las Vegas is my feminist nightmare from hell. Tonight my brothers checked in to the Monte Carlo, then we all had dinner at Cantina Diablo, a "Mexican" restaurant that didn't have corn tortillas, only white flour--boo. Instead, they spent their money on installing TVs in every corner, much to the delight of my little bros. However, with the amount of collective screaming that was going on at the bar, I felt like March Madness was trying to kill me.

My mom and I walked down to the Bellagio to watch the fountain which shoots every 15 minutes. We had passed it many times in the car and my mom and aunt described the dancing water as "erotic". Nothing says sexy to me like water ejaculating to the tune of "Viva Las Vegas!"

The strip is like Times Square meets L.A. and by that I mean, it's a sensory overloading consumeristic playland with West Coast sensibility (more rock-a-billy tattoos and a little blonder). Every 20 feet there are men wearing t-shirts that read "GIRLS! Delivered to you in 20 min!" passing out tiny cards. The cards have pictures of naked women on them with stars strategically placed over their nipples and lower region orfices. No one offered me a card, but they were littered all over the ground and hard to miss.

I challenged myself to consider the 12 step motto, "No better and no worse than anyone else" my mantra for the night. I don't think I am better than the men who pass out the cards, they all seemed to be Latino immigrants and I'm sure they are not getting health insurance working those jobs, but it was really hard for me not to go on rants in my head about the trafficking of women, emotionally stunted men, the intersections of capitalism and sexism and many other topics I could potentially write my Women's Studies PhD dissertation on.

The most disturbing part was that my little brother, Matty, loves Vegas. He thinks it's the absolute best. I would be seriously concerned if I didn't feel like my crazy girl power ways had rubbed off on him and he has somewhat of an analysis as a result. As it is, I think he maybe just likes to gamble a wee bit too much.

I am so thankful we are leaving tomorrow for Zion National Park in Utah. I feel like I never need to come back to Vegas again.