HAPPY THURSDAY.

did you know that Thursday is a social construct? let's go down that rabbit hole and explore what a social construct means.

you, sobbing: please, vagina museum, stop calling everything a social construct
us, pointing at thursday: social construct

a social construct is an idea or concept, created or maintained by a society. lots of things are social constructs - in our exhibition, we talk about virginity and gender as social constructs, but since it's Thursday, let's focus on the social construct of Thursdays.

social constructs are a means by which we see and understand the world. Thursday is the name we give to a way of splitting time into seven days, and is either the fourth or fifth day of the week, depending when you're starting the week.

days of the week are, in general, a useful social construct. if you're practicing religious observances such as Shabbat, you need to be able to name which day of the week it is.

in the industrial world, Thursdays are also useful, as much of business and commerce uses a five day week

and so, we have a world where Thursdays are a thing which are generally helpful to have, but like all social constructs, Thursday isn't a universal experience.

hello to our friends in New Zealand, where it's already Friday. please, no spoilers.

and hello to the pacific islands in the GMT -12 time zone, where it's still Wednesday

and a shout-out to the ambiguity which sometimes crops up when you say "next Thursday" - does that mean the Thursday this week, or the Thursday next week?

also worth noting, during lockdowns and with a move towards working from home, sometimes it's hard to remember which day of the week it is, and working hours may become more flexible, creeping away from the five day week

that's the thing with social constructs - they're a broad brush with which to understand the world, and can shift over time to reflect the views of a society.

none of this is to say Thursday, a social construct, isn't real. it's Thursday, after all.

but nevertheless, we can examine Thursday, evaluate how useful Thursdays are to us, look at the history and context of a Thursday

when you start to examine the world, you realise that almost everything is, in fact, a social construct.