LOGOSOPHICAL - Logos+Philosophical

A Letter To My Younger Self

Lulu / 6 June, 2018

Hi you, It’s me, and I am you. Weird, I know. You probably don’t recognise me with all this weight I’ve put on, but I really am you, and sigh, we are working on that other bit. About that though, maybe stop eating a lot of fries? Okay that’s bad advice. I’m clearly starting this off really bad. I take that back, don’t do that – eat fries baby, EAT. FRIES. Because confession: as I write this I’m sipping on some hot water and lemon and planning an all vegetable dinner because I’m “trying” to diet. Yeah, we do that…

‘FEMINISM IS’ BOOK REVIEW, PT. II

Gugu / 30 May, 2018

[CONT’D FROM PREVIOUS POST. CLICK HERE FOR PART I] EXCLUSIONARY OR INTERSECTIONAL? I find this perhaps the most relevant discussion of feminism to contemporary South Africa. The socio-political public discourse in our country has reached a stage where it has become clear that the chasm (economic and mental) between white and black South Africans is only widening. This has often been showcased through persisting racist attitudes and perturbing incidents. Beyond superfluous window-dressing, it doesn’t seem that bridges have been built in the time since the heralding of the democratic dispensation. Instead, resentment and indignation has deepened on both sides. Ours is…

‘FEMINISM IS’ BOOK REVIEW, PT. I

Gugu / 30 May, 2018

What an astounding book! I am thrilled by it and the depth of thinking of the people whose essays comprise it. The majority of the essays are by people who identify as women. A really interesting dialogue and exchange is also captured in the book, where one of the contributors turns things upside down, so to speak, and forces the reader to think deeply about the usefulness of gender and gendering and the attendant power structures. Through their essay, we are compelled to question whether feminism applies outside of the bounds of gender binarism and if so on what grounds? Altogether, this collection…

When Is It Okay To Give Up?

Lulu / 23 May, 2018

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day in which she was telling me about something she is (I hope was now) struggling with. As she finished and waited at the other end of the line for me to give some real deep solid advice (you know the “just hold on, you’re so much stronger than you think, you’re not alone and this too shall pass” kind of advice), I suddenly felt I had two choices. 1) to just go with that, tell her what she needed to hear, I mean all of it is so true.…

How Do We Define and Articulate Gender and Roles in the 21st Century?

Gugu / 16 May, 2018

I make it a point to create my best culinary items for my son. One, because I know he loves food and secondly because his appreciation of my efforts makes me happy. Very happy. Recently, I cooked a dish whose recipe I’d recently discovered and had intended to make soon enough. I think I’m pretty mean in the kitchen but I can also easily admit that I’m probably as lazy as they get in that department. Pretty paradoxical, right? Honestly, during the December/festive period downtime, which is when this incident occurred, my laziness trumps most other life activities & I’m…

The ‘Angry Black Woman’ Needs To End

Lulu / 9 May, 2018

I recently watched Tyler Perry’s Acrimony and I won’t go into too many details because I’m not one for spoilers and I firmly believe everyone just needs to see this movie for themselves because guys…it’s A LOT. Whoever has seen it I’m sure can co-sign. I mean I knew going in (simply from the trailer) that it was going to get a little crazy. Also, I knew this because it’s Tyler Perry. If it’s not a this-is-to-make-you-laugh kinda film, it’s a this-will-likely-stress-you-out kinda film, and it sure stressed me out. Mostly because I’ve never felt so many things all at…

Do You Know Where You’re Going To?

Gugu / 2 May, 2018

People stay in places for all the wrong reasons. People settle. People rationalise their fear-fuelled decisions by factoring in things like earnings and comfortability (familiar places, faces spaces and routines). Money can weigh you down. The fear of unemployment or not enough money can lead people to forsake their dreams and even numb their ability to dream. Needing to maintain an already “established” lifestyle can make you debilitatingly cautious. Our fears can make those who take incredible and awe-inspiring risks to see their dreams come true seem un-human or “special”, as though they were endowed with some special ability by…

Messy Kind of Beautiful

Lulu / 25 April, 2018

When I was thinking about how to start our journey here together a few possibilities came to mind – but none felt quite right. I didn’t really want to begin writing about who I am and why I am here, because you can see a bit about that on the Who We Are page, (also, I didn’t want to bore you your first day here). I also know that my lovely cousin, Gugu, wrote a beautiful introduction to this blog, the inspiration behind it, how we came about and where we seek to go – read it here, – and so…

Logos+Philosophical

Gugu / 25 April, 2018

Starting a blog. Wow. The technical aspects of it definitely present a steep learning curve if you do not have any basic website building or coding skills. If you go the route of buying/registering a domain, it is DEFINITELY a steep learning curve. I had to familiarise myself with acquiring and activating SSL certification, double-check that the URL to this site was pointing to the correct domain servers AND set up a branded email and configure it to ACTUALLY deliver mail (because even though I THOUGHT I’d set it up all right initially, a series of test emails were just…