An article I ran into on Autostraddle- it's one person's perspective on polyamory. I realized that my fav tv shows make a lot less sense when I don't assume that monogamy is the most ethical configuration...
READ HERE
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Great porn video! ;-)
Video about ladies watching porn here.
This is very relevant to last week's discussion.
This is very relevant to last week's discussion.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Definitions
Legal Definitions of:
Consent
Sexual Assault
Sexual Battery
Unlawful sexual intercourse
Sexual Harassment
Rape
CLICK HERE
Consent
Sexual Assault
Sexual Battery
Unlawful sexual intercourse
Sexual Harassment
Rape
CLICK HERE
A Sick Society
A sick society
turns women's bodies into problemns to be solved
cuz anorexia ain't sexier
and bulimia ain't dreamier
therefore, next time you count calories, don't forget
to count the thousands of years that women's suitors
have thought that cellulite was quite allright and
were ready to embrace abundance- Aya de Leon
turns women's bodies into problemns to be solved
cuz anorexia ain't sexier
and bulimia ain't dreamier
therefore, next time you count calories, don't forget
to count the thousands of years that women's suitors
have thought that cellulite was quite allright and
were ready to embrace abundance- Aya de Leon
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Old Video
This is from the Daily Show about congress trying to redefine rape so that it makes it harder for women to seek assistance. Sarcasm Alert.
Monday, April 11, 2011
funny article about periods...
Living in India made me understand that a white minority of the world has spent centuries conning us into thinking a white skin makes people superior, even though the only thing it really does is make them more subject to ultraviolet rays and wrinkles.
Reading Freud made me just as skeptical about penis envy. The power of giving birth makes "womb envy" more logical, and an organ as external and unprotected as the penis makes men very vulnerable indeed.
But listening recently to a woman describe the unexpected arrival of her menstrual period (a red stain had spread on her dress as she argued heatedly on the public stage) still made me cringe with embarrassment. That is, until she explained that, when finally informed in whispers of the obvious event, she said to the all-male audience, "and you should be proudto have a menstruating woman on your stage. It's probably the first real thing that's happened to this group in years."
Laughter. Relief. She had turned a negative into a positive. Somehow her story merged with India and Freud to make me finally understand the power of positive thinking. Whatever a "superior" group has will be used to justify its superiority, and whatever and "inferior" group has will be used to justify its plight. Black me were given poorly paid jobs because they were said to be "stronger" than white men, while all women were relegated to poorly paid jobs because they were said to be "weaker." As the little boy said when asked if he wanted to be a lawyer like his mother, "Oh no, that's women's work." Logic has nothing to do with oppression.
So what would happen if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?
Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much.
Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day.
To prevent monthly work loss among the powerful, Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea. Doctors would research little about heart attacks, from which men would be hormonally protected, but everything about cramps.
Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of such commercial brands as Paul Newman Tampons, Muhammad Ali's Rope-a-Dope Pads, John Wayne Maxi Pads, and Joe Namath Jock Shields- "For Those Light Bachelor Days."
Statistical surveys would show that men did better in sports and won more Olympic medals during their periods.
Generals, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation ("men-struation") as proof that only men could serve God and country in combat ("You have to give blood to take blood"), occupy high political office ("Can women be properly fierce without a monthly cycle governed by the planet Mars?"), be priests, ministers, God Himself ("He gave this blood for our sins"), or rabbis ("Without a monthly purge of impurities, women are unclean").
Male liberals and radicals, however, would insist that women are equal, just different; and that any woman could join their ranks if only she were willing to recognize the primacy of menstrual rights ("Everything else is a single issue") or self-inflict a major wound every month ("You must give blood for the revolution").
Street guys would invent slang ("He's a three-pad man") and "give fives" on the corner with some exchenge like, "Man you lookin' good!"
"Yeah, man, I'm on the rag!"
TV shows would treat the subject openly. (Happy Days: Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz," though he has missed two periods in a row. Hill Street Blues: The whole precinct hits the same cycle.) So would newspapers. (Summer Shark Scare Threatens Menstruating Men. Judge Cites Monthlies In Pardoning Rapist.) And so would movies. (Newman and Redford in Blood Brothers!)
Men would convince women that sex was more pleasurable at "that time of the month." Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself, though all they needed was a good menstruating man.
Medical schools would limit women's entry ("they might faint at the sight of blood").
Of course, intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguements. Without the biological gift for measuring the cycles of the moon and planets, how could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space, mathematics-- or the ability to measure anything at all? In philosophy and religion, how could women compensate for being disconnected from the rhythm of the universe? Or for their lack of symbolic death and resurrection every month?
Menopause would be celebrated as a positive event, the symbol that men had accumulated enough years of cyclical wisdom to need no more.
Liberal males in every field would try to be kind. The fact that "these people" have no gift for measuring life, the liberals would explain, should be punishment enough.
And how would women be trained to react? One can imagine right-wing women agreeing to all these arguements with a staunch and smiling masochism. ("The ERA would force housewives to wound themselves every month": Phyllis Schlafly)
In short, we would discover, as we should already, that logic is in the eye of the logician. (For instance, here's an idea for theorists and logicians: if women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long? I leave further improvisation up to you.)
The truth is that, if men could menstruate, the power justifications would go on and on.
If we let them.
Reading Freud made me just as skeptical about penis envy. The power of giving birth makes "womb envy" more logical, and an organ as external and unprotected as the penis makes men very vulnerable indeed.
But listening recently to a woman describe the unexpected arrival of her menstrual period (a red stain had spread on her dress as she argued heatedly on the public stage) still made me cringe with embarrassment. That is, until she explained that, when finally informed in whispers of the obvious event, she said to the all-male audience, "and you should be proudto have a menstruating woman on your stage. It's probably the first real thing that's happened to this group in years."
Laughter. Relief. She had turned a negative into a positive. Somehow her story merged with India and Freud to make me finally understand the power of positive thinking. Whatever a "superior" group has will be used to justify its superiority, and whatever and "inferior" group has will be used to justify its plight. Black me were given poorly paid jobs because they were said to be "stronger" than white men, while all women were relegated to poorly paid jobs because they were said to be "weaker." As the little boy said when asked if he wanted to be a lawyer like his mother, "Oh no, that's women's work." Logic has nothing to do with oppression.
So what would happen if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?
Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much.
Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day.
To prevent monthly work loss among the powerful, Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea. Doctors would research little about heart attacks, from which men would be hormonally protected, but everything about cramps.
Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of such commercial brands as Paul Newman Tampons, Muhammad Ali's Rope-a-Dope Pads, John Wayne Maxi Pads, and Joe Namath Jock Shields- "For Those Light Bachelor Days."
Statistical surveys would show that men did better in sports and won more Olympic medals during their periods.
Generals, right-wing politicians, and religious fundamentalists would cite menstruation ("men-struation") as proof that only men could serve God and country in combat ("You have to give blood to take blood"), occupy high political office ("Can women be properly fierce without a monthly cycle governed by the planet Mars?"), be priests, ministers, God Himself ("He gave this blood for our sins"), or rabbis ("Without a monthly purge of impurities, women are unclean").
Male liberals and radicals, however, would insist that women are equal, just different; and that any woman could join their ranks if only she were willing to recognize the primacy of menstrual rights ("Everything else is a single issue") or self-inflict a major wound every month ("You must give blood for the revolution").
Street guys would invent slang ("He's a three-pad man") and "give fives" on the corner with some exchenge like, "Man you lookin' good!"
"Yeah, man, I'm on the rag!"
TV shows would treat the subject openly. (Happy Days: Richie and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz," though he has missed two periods in a row. Hill Street Blues: The whole precinct hits the same cycle.) So would newspapers. (Summer Shark Scare Threatens Menstruating Men. Judge Cites Monthlies In Pardoning Rapist.) And so would movies. (Newman and Redford in Blood Brothers!)
Men would convince women that sex was more pleasurable at "that time of the month." Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself, though all they needed was a good menstruating man.
Medical schools would limit women's entry ("they might faint at the sight of blood").
Of course, intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguements. Without the biological gift for measuring the cycles of the moon and planets, how could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space, mathematics-- or the ability to measure anything at all? In philosophy and religion, how could women compensate for being disconnected from the rhythm of the universe? Or for their lack of symbolic death and resurrection every month?
Menopause would be celebrated as a positive event, the symbol that men had accumulated enough years of cyclical wisdom to need no more.
Liberal males in every field would try to be kind. The fact that "these people" have no gift for measuring life, the liberals would explain, should be punishment enough.
And how would women be trained to react? One can imagine right-wing women agreeing to all these arguements with a staunch and smiling masochism. ("The ERA would force housewives to wound themselves every month": Phyllis Schlafly)
In short, we would discover, as we should already, that logic is in the eye of the logician. (For instance, here's an idea for theorists and logicians: if women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long? I leave further improvisation up to you.)
The truth is that, if men could menstruate, the power justifications would go on and on.
If we let them.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
To be or not to be...
gay, that is here the question ;) Hi ladies! Based on our last discussion I am posting this article. I am taking developmental psychology and was therefore interested how early do we know when we are gay and what's the process like. I hope you enjoy! :) http://www.avert.org/being-gay.htm
Poem
I read the poem below this week. It really stood out to me and reminded me of my childhood
Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde
I am fourteen
and my skin has betrayed me
the boy I cannot live without
still sucks his tumb
in secret
how come my knees are
always so ashy
what if I die
before the morning comes
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
I have to learn how to dance
in time for the next party
my room is too small for me
suppose I de before graduation
they will sing sad melodies
but finally
tell the truth aout me
There is nothing I want to do
and too much
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
Nobody even stops to think
about my side of it
I should have been on Math Team
my marks were better than his
why do I have to be
the one
wearing braces
I have nothing to wear tomorrow
will I live long enough
to grow up
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
and my skin has betrayed me
the boy I cannot live without
still sucks his tumb
in secret
how come my knees are
always so ashy
what if I die
before the morning comes
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
I have to learn how to dance
in time for the next party
my room is too small for me
suppose I de before graduation
they will sing sad melodies
but finally
tell the truth aout me
There is nothing I want to do
and too much
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
Nobody even stops to think
about my side of it
I should have been on Math Team
my marks were better than his
why do I have to be
the one
wearing braces
I have nothing to wear tomorrow
will I live long enough
to grow up
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
More more more
First of all, I am so totally in love with Tuesday nights.
Want to offer another resource on birth: an interview from 2006 with Ina May Gaskin, one of the pioneers of the childbirth movement who has attended over 1200 births and founded the Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee.
Also, have you all seen this site FCKH8? Most of my gay friends love it and we share T-shirts, but the video is rather over the top and some aren't fans. Thoughts?
Want to offer another resource on birth: an interview from 2006 with Ina May Gaskin, one of the pioneers of the childbirth movement who has attended over 1200 births and founded the Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee.
Also, have you all seen this site FCKH8? Most of my gay friends love it and we share T-shirts, but the video is rather over the top and some aren't fans. Thoughts?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Teen Moms
MTV shows are my guilty pleasure. However, there's something about watching 16 and Pregnant that makes me uneasy. I hope the show accomplishes scaring teens out of getting preggers, but at the same time the show encourages this kind of behavior and pays these teens a heavy sum of money to exploit their children.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
COMEDIVA!!!!!!!!
Hello ladies: since i wont be able to make it tonight due to the prolonged continuation of my midterms... but i wanted to share with you this great website that just launched called COMEDIVA it's a space for female comedy as they state "high and low brow shit" so take some time and ENJOY!!!! i also have a link from comediva of Adeliana Anthony one of the foremost Xicana/Indigena/Lesbian/Feminist artist (i know there are a lot of //// but she is really great)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Genderconstruction
HI ladies,
here is my article concerning the topic of last week.
See you all tomorrow. :)
Antje
http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/gender.html
here is my article concerning the topic of last week.
See you all tomorrow. :)
Antje
http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/gender.html
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Male supremacy
“Why is it that many contemporary male thinkers, especially men of color, repudiate the imperialist legacy of Columbus but affirm dimensions of that legacy by their refusal to repudiate patriarchy?”- Bell Hooks
Last summer, while I did outreach for the organization I interned at, POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), for a campaign against unfair transit policies and immigrant rights, I came across a day laborer who talked to me for about 5-10 minutes.
After I talked to him about the campaign he seemed to be really interested in the work that I was doing. With teary eyes he told me about his experience as an undocumented day laborer. “I’m tired and sick of this broken immigration system. I have been here for 30 years and I am still forced to live in the shadows” he said.
“But I am glad I have become more involved with the _________ Program. You should go talk to us one of these days!
I am so grateful that there are people like you in this world. Thank you for the work that you do.
For your information I am a macho! but I respect the work that you, women, are doing. I am a man, I have *****, I am proud of being a man but I really have to say that women are really steppin’ it up” he added later on.
and he kept on repeating the word “masculine” and “macho” over and over…
Saturday, March 12, 2011
11 year old Gang Raped: How Our Society Plays the Blame Game
An 11 year old girl was gang raped in a small Texas town and the first few news reports of the vicious attack included local observations that the girl dressed older than her age, wore a lot of makeup, and hung out with teenage boys on the playground. A hospital worker fretted, since she knew several of the defendants (including a couple of star basketball players for the town's high school), that it was horrible that these men would have to live with this for the rest of their lives. Another man thought both parties needed to pray and turn to God. Excuse me, but where is the concern for the victim? Why portray her as someone who was asking to be raped? Jezebel and CafeMom question why the media and the town's inhabitants are treating this devastating story in absolutely the wrong way. Nobody asks to get raped. Having women dress less provocatively is not the solution to rape.
http://jezebel.com/#!5780022/media-blows-it-with-pathetic-gang-rape-coverage
http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/117293/who_cares_what_an_11
http://jezebel.com/#!5780022/media-blows-it-with-pathetic-gang-rape-coverage
http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/117293/who_cares_what_an_11
Friday, March 11, 2011
result of Million Woman March
Evening all,
i just wanted to share with you the result of the Million Woman March that took place in Egypt on International Women's Day. while the revolution has succeeded women are still being left out of the debate I think it is important to stay aware of what is going on with our sisters in other countries...
Million Woman March
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Gendered cooking toys
I recently wrote two papers focusing on how toys create gender roles in children, specifically cooking and housekeeping toys. After researching online stores for hours, it is still shocking to realize the extent to which a gender binary is ingrained in play time. It's no surprise that 80% of the cooking toys were marketed to girls, covered in pink and disney princesses. But for me, the worst part of it was that when marketers did decide to include toys for boys, those toys were blatantly in a power position.
The most striking example: a line of aprons called "Cute Sayings"
Boy apron
Girl apron
If colors are any indication of gender, then girls should wear the pink apron labeled "Super cute assistant" while boys get the blue apron that reads "I'm the boss."
Uhhh, no thank you. I think not...
The most striking example: a line of aprons called "Cute Sayings"
Boy apron
Girl apron
If colors are any indication of gender, then girls should wear the pink apron labeled "Super cute assistant" while boys get the blue apron that reads "I'm the boss."
Uhhh, no thank you. I think not...
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Happy International Women's Day
Hello ladies... in honor of International Women's Day i just wanted to share this with you so we can all appreciate the women who have come before us and continue to inspire us...
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Two things: One, I love Lucy Lawless as Xena. Two, this poem is amazing (and it's by Maya Angelou, which makes me like it even more).
Phenomenal WomanPretty women wonder where my secret lies. Maya Angelou
|
Living Diversely
I grew up in the Bay. And because this wonderful place is so ethnically diverse, I grew up around a lot of people of different color, different backgrounds, and from different walks of life. I went to a Thai restaurant with my mom the other day and we saw a college couple. I'm so used to seeing interracial couples that I didn't even notice that the man was Chinese and the woman was Indian. My mom did. I try to be as politically correct mentally as possible, but it was nice to realize that I really am blind to race when it comes to judging a person.
Communication: Gender and Intercultural
I hadn't explored intercultural communication, but it is very interesting as well as complex. I knew that people of different cultures communicate differently, but the subject matter is more diversified than that. Some important points: language is subjective, men and women have different linguistic patterns, communication is value-laden. Makes you think before you speak.
http://feminism.eserver.org/gender/cyberspace/gender-differences.txt
Body Image and Adolescents
This research article is based on an experiment conducted among hundreds of adolescent girls AND boys. Striving to look your best becomes a subculture, the "appearance culture". Body image is also dependent on peer appreciation/acceptance and peer criticism. The full pdf is a free download.
http://jar.sagepub.com/content/19/3/323.abstract
Monday, March 7, 2011
Every day we are getting closer and closer to...
Shout out to rockin' "mature" ladies... check out Annie Levy's beautiful portraits of strong, happy, fierce women.
Friday, March 4, 2011
March is Women's HERstory Month
Hey lovelies,
I meant to tell everyone on Tuesday, but I forgot. Anyway this is OUR month!
Check it out
Love, Kim
I meant to tell everyone on Tuesday, but I forgot. Anyway this is OUR month!
Check it out
Love, Kim
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Bleaching in Jamaika
I actually learnt in my "peace and conflict" studies lecture that "Aloha" means, I greet the good within you. Just a fun fact :)
All jokes aside, the video last night made me really sad, so I did some research and posted another article about this phenomenon.
Enjoy!
http://www.jamaicans.com/articles/primecomments/0902_bleaching.shtml ladies!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Body image and impact on self-esteem
Hello ladies!
I found this very interesting posting which relates to the topic of last week.
Much love, Antje
Friday, February 25, 2011
Miscarriage punishable by death?
A Georgia lawmaker proposes a new classification of miscarriage as murder.
See the short article here.
I don't understand this sudden violent wave of abortion legislation. Don't we have other more important things to worry about (war, economy, health care, global warming anyone??) than insisting on stripping women of their rights?
See the short article here.
I don't understand this sudden violent wave of abortion legislation. Don't we have other more important things to worry about (war, economy, health care, global warming anyone??) than insisting on stripping women of their rights?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Given our wonderful last class, I want to share this with you all. I absolutely adore this poem, introduced to me by my mom who knows the author. She is amazing and this writing is reminiscent of Cunt by Inga Muscio. I highly recommend and respect both authors and hope this can feed the empowerment we left with last class.
Love Rudi
Tampons
by Ellen Bass
My periods have changed. It is years
since I have swallowed ping and gray darvons, round
chalky midols from the bottle with the smiling girl.
Now I plan a quiet space,
protect myself those first few days when my uterus lets
go and I am an open anemone. I know
when my flow will come. I watch my mucous pace
changes like a dancer, follow the fall
and rise of my body heat. All this
and yet I never questioned them, those slim white handies.
It took me years to learn to use them
starting with Pursettes and a jar of vaseline.
I didn't even know where the hole was.
I didn't even know enough
to try to find one. I pushed until
only a little stuck out and hoped
that was far enough.
I tried every month through high school.
And now that I can change it in a moving car --
like Audrey Hepburn changing dresses in the taxi
in the last scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's --
I've got to give them up.
Tampons, I read, are
bleached, are
chemically treated to
compress better,
contain asbestos.
Good old asbestos. Once we learned not to shake it --
Johnson & Johnson's -- on our babies or diaphragms,
we thought we had it licked.
So what do we do? They're universal.
Even macrobiotics and lesbian separatists are hooked on them.
Go back to sanitary napkins?
Junior high, double napkins
on the heavy days, walking home damp underpants
chafing thighs. It's been a full twelve years
since I have worn one, since Spain when Marjorie pierced
my ears
and I unloaded half a suitcase of the big gauze pads in the
hotel trash.
Someone in my workshop suggested Tassaways, little
cups that catch the flow.
They've stopped making them,
we're told. Women found they could reuse them
and the company couldn't make enough
money that way. Besides,
the suction pulled the cervix out of shape.
Then diaphragms
It presses on me, one woman says.
So swollen these days. Too tender.
Menstrual extraction, a young woman says.
I heard about that. Ten minutes
and it's done.
But I do not trust putting tubes into my uterus each month.
We're told everything is safe
in the beginning.
Mosses.
the Indians used mosses.
I live in Aptos. We grow
succulents and pine.
I will buy mosses
when they sell them at the co-op.
Okay. It's like the whole birth control schmeer.
There just isn't a good way. Women bleed.
We bleed.
The blood flows out of us. We will bleed.
Blood paintings on our thighs; patterns
like river beds, blood on the chairs in
insurance offices, blood on Greyhound buses
and 747s, blood blots, flower forms
on the blue skirts of the stewardesses.
Blood on restaurant floors, supermarket aisles,
the steps of government buildings. Sidewalks will have blood trails,
like Gretel's bread crumbs. We can always find our way.
We will ease into rhythm together, it happens
when women live closely -- African tribes, college sororities --
our blood flowing on the same days. The first day
of our heaviest flow we will gather in Palmer, Massachusetts,
on the steps of Tampax, Inc. We'll have a bleed-in.
We'll smear blood on our faces. Max Factor
will join OB in bankruptcy. The perfume industry
will collapse, who needs
whale sperm, turtle oil, when we have free blood?
For a little while cleaning products will boom,
409, Lysol, Windex. But
the executives will give up. The cleaning woman is leaving a
red wet rivulet, as she scrubs down the previous stains.
It's no use. The men would have to
do it themselves, and that will never come up
for a vote at the Board. Women's clothing manufacturers, fancy
furniture, plush carpet, all will phase out. It's just not
practical. We will live the old ways.
Simple floors, dirt or concrete, can be hosed down
or straw can be cycled through the compost.
Simple clothes, none in summer. No more swimming pools.
Dogs will fall in love with us.
Swim in the river. Yes, swim in the river.
We'll feed the fish with our blood. Our blood
will neutralize the chemicals and dissolve the old car parts.
Our blood will detoxify the phosphates and the
PCBs. Our blood will feed the depleted soils.
Our blood will water the dry, tired surface of the earth.
We will bleed. We will bleed. We will
bleed until we bathe her in our blood and she turns
slippery new like a baby birthing.
Love Rudi
Tampons
by Ellen Bass
My periods have changed. It is years
since I have swallowed ping and gray darvons, round
chalky midols from the bottle with the smiling girl.
Now I plan a quiet space,
protect myself those first few days when my uterus lets
go and I am an open anemone. I know
when my flow will come. I watch my mucous pace
changes like a dancer, follow the fall
and rise of my body heat. All this
and yet I never questioned them, those slim white handies.
It took me years to learn to use them
starting with Pursettes and a jar of vaseline.
I didn't even know where the hole was.
I didn't even know enough
to try to find one. I pushed until
only a little stuck out and hoped
that was far enough.
I tried every month through high school.
And now that I can change it in a moving car --
like Audrey Hepburn changing dresses in the taxi
in the last scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's --
I've got to give them up.
Tampons, I read, are
bleached, are
chemically treated to
compress better,
contain asbestos.
Good old asbestos. Once we learned not to shake it --
Johnson & Johnson's -- on our babies or diaphragms,
we thought we had it licked.
So what do we do? They're universal.
Even macrobiotics and lesbian separatists are hooked on them.
Go back to sanitary napkins?
Junior high, double napkins
on the heavy days, walking home damp underpants
chafing thighs. It's been a full twelve years
since I have worn one, since Spain when Marjorie pierced
my ears
and I unloaded half a suitcase of the big gauze pads in the
hotel trash.
Someone in my workshop suggested Tassaways, little
cups that catch the flow.
They've stopped making them,
we're told. Women found they could reuse them
and the company couldn't make enough
money that way. Besides,
the suction pulled the cervix out of shape.
Then diaphragms
It presses on me, one woman says.
So swollen these days. Too tender.
Menstrual extraction, a young woman says.
I heard about that. Ten minutes
and it's done.
But I do not trust putting tubes into my uterus each month.
We're told everything is safe
in the beginning.
Mosses.
the Indians used mosses.
I live in Aptos. We grow
succulents and pine.
I will buy mosses
when they sell them at the co-op.
Okay. It's like the whole birth control schmeer.
There just isn't a good way. Women bleed.
We bleed.
The blood flows out of us. We will bleed.
Blood paintings on our thighs; patterns
like river beds, blood on the chairs in
insurance offices, blood on Greyhound buses
and 747s, blood blots, flower forms
on the blue skirts of the stewardesses.
Blood on restaurant floors, supermarket aisles,
the steps of government buildings. Sidewalks will have blood trails,
like Gretel's bread crumbs. We can always find our way.
We will ease into rhythm together, it happens
when women live closely -- African tribes, college sororities --
our blood flowing on the same days. The first day
of our heaviest flow we will gather in Palmer, Massachusetts,
on the steps of Tampax, Inc. We'll have a bleed-in.
We'll smear blood on our faces. Max Factor
will join OB in bankruptcy. The perfume industry
will collapse, who needs
whale sperm, turtle oil, when we have free blood?
For a little while cleaning products will boom,
409, Lysol, Windex. But
the executives will give up. The cleaning woman is leaving a
red wet rivulet, as she scrubs down the previous stains.
It's no use. The men would have to
do it themselves, and that will never come up
for a vote at the Board. Women's clothing manufacturers, fancy
furniture, plush carpet, all will phase out. It's just not
practical. We will live the old ways.
Simple floors, dirt or concrete, can be hosed down
or straw can be cycled through the compost.
Simple clothes, none in summer. No more swimming pools.
Dogs will fall in love with us.
Swim in the river. Yes, swim in the river.
We'll feed the fish with our blood. Our blood
will neutralize the chemicals and dissolve the old car parts.
Our blood will detoxify the phosphates and the
PCBs. Our blood will feed the depleted soils.
Our blood will water the dry, tired surface of the earth.
We will bleed. We will bleed. We will
bleed until we bathe her in our blood and she turns
slippery new like a baby birthing.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
issues effecting women in Egypt
Hello all,
i wanted to share with you these two links regarding the attacks in Egypt... As i am sure most of you have heard about Laura Logan. The first post is about the dangers to women reporters overseas and the second link is about the Laura Logan case and what a reporter said about her attack and the consequences he is faced with.
For the follow up on Laura Logan please click here
For the discussion on the dangers to women reporters please click here
This Weekend!
We've all been invited to this amazing oppourtunity, so check this out if your interested!
Empowering Women of Color Conference 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Eileen Myles on the New York Times Book Review Stats
Author Eileen Myles responds to the disparity between male and female authors reviewed by the New York Times Book Review in 2010:
READ ME I AM SO GREAT
(the last few two paragraphs are my fav)
READ ME I AM SO GREAT
(the last few two paragraphs are my fav)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Lesbians in the media
Found this a great example of the intersection of gender roles and sexuality and how the media plays a part in our societal expectations.
http://www.alternet.org/story/149667/on_tv,_the_lesbians_are_all_right..._as_long_as_they%27re_pregnant/?page=1
http://www.alternet.org/story/149667/on_tv,_the_lesbians_are_all_right..._as_long_as_they%27re_pregnant/?page=1
"Zahara Jolie-Pitt Ask Your Mama To Buy A Comb "
http://www.womanist-musings.com/2009/10/zahara-jolie-pitt-ask-your-mama-to-buy.html
Interesting post found in "Womanist Musings" on October 13, 2009. The writer stresses the importance of cultural competence (or lack thereof) in cross-racial parenting and adoption. This is a sticky subject because, on one hand, I believe that every child who would otherwise be filtered through the fostercare system *deserves* a loving family, regardless of race, ethnicity, or, ahem, sexual orientation of the parents. On the other hand, I completely acknowledge that for a child of color to be raised by white parents, there will be a disconnect in culture and life experiences. This writer references her mother as the person who would tend to her hair every week, something that was clearly a memorable part of her childhood. In this blog, Angelina (rather than Brad) is the main culprit for not treating Zahara's hair as it should be treated. Interesting.
Interesting post found in "Womanist Musings" on October 13, 2009. The writer stresses the importance of cultural competence (or lack thereof) in cross-racial parenting and adoption. This is a sticky subject because, on one hand, I believe that every child who would otherwise be filtered through the fostercare system *deserves* a loving family, regardless of race, ethnicity, or, ahem, sexual orientation of the parents. On the other hand, I completely acknowledge that for a child of color to be raised by white parents, there will be a disconnect in culture and life experiences. This writer references her mother as the person who would tend to her hair every week, something that was clearly a memorable part of her childhood. In this blog, Angelina (rather than Brad) is the main culprit for not treating Zahara's hair as it should be treated. Interesting.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Offbeat Mama
In addition to Jezebel and Feministing, I frequent the blog Offbeat Mama. I really consider motherhood to be a part of my identity, even though I am years, if not a decade away from having kids. This is because I know that I will find a way to have children, whether they are of my own biology or not. Anyway, because this is already strongly held in my identity, why wouldn't a blog for feminist mothers be extremely interesting to me?
Here's the post I enjoyed most this week about deaf parenting. Enjoy!
http://offbeatmama.com/2011/02/deaf-parent
Here's the post I enjoyed most this week about deaf parenting. Enjoy!
http://offbeatmama.com/2011/02/deaf-parent
Friday, February 11, 2011
Canceling Title X - More Abortion Issues
There has been a lot of talk about abortion lately, from changing the definition of it to the health resources that provide it. How is it that we have this progressive president and yet we are still fighting overseas and bickering at home about a woman's rights to her own body instead of fixing all the other broken parts of our society and economy. Here is another piece by "Maya" on Feministing:
Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee released a draft list of 70 proposed spending cuts to be included in an upcoming Continuing Resolution bill.
That $327M for family planning? That would be the entire Title X program–which gives clinics, such as Planned Parenthood, federal funds to provide basic health care like contraception, STD treatment, and cancer screenings. Funds that are explicitly prohibited from going towards abortion care. Funds that help prevent many unintended pregnancies each year. Funds that save the taxpayers $4 down the road for every $1 spent. Funds that provide much-need primary and preventive to millions of women and men in a health care system riddled with gaps.
Of course, while slashing family planning funds with one hand, anti-choice members of the House are continuing their all-out assault on abortion access with the other. And if there was still any doubt that they don’t actually give a shit about babies once they’re actually born, well, think again.
Making it harder for women to avoid unintended pregnancies? Check. Making it harder for women to end pregnancies when they need to? Check. Making it harder for women to raise children when they choose to? Check. Gosh, it’s almost as if they’re just playing political football–at the expense of women’s lives, their families’ well-being, and the greater societal good. And they simply do not care.
I think Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, said all there is to say: “The House leadership’s proposal to eliminate the Title X program is bad policy, bad politics, and flat out immoral.”
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Reproductive Rights
A story about the new members of the House of Representatives and their recent focus on anti-abortion legislation. I have been a supporter of reproductive rights for a long time now. I believe it is the individuals responsibility to deal with the morality of the act and not the role of government to impose legislation based on religious doctrine, the basis for arguments regarding abortion made by social conservatives.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqLH1kjtsImkIq2kGxahONQ9XWvg?docId=CNG.b52a4404d74c4dd16459e5190c7894de.3f1
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Mannequins Wear a Message for Iraq’s Women
Jumping off the conversation we had today about body images i felt this article gives a stark international contrast wherein women's bodies being shown is seen as something demonic...read..enjoy (or perhaps that is not the correct sentiment)... and ponder...
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Our Community Agreements!
- Confidentiality
- Don't argue with feelings
- Using "I" statements
- One diva, one mic
- Positive affirmations (snaps, prayer hands)
- Limit use of disclaimers
- Constructive advice/Positive reinforcement
- Eye contact
- Active listening
- Silent phones
- Respect
- Ouch/Oops
- Assume good intentions
- Check body language and facial expressions
- Don't yuck other people's yums
- Acknowledge diverse biases and backgrounds
- No put-downs (self and others)
- Ride the silence
Monday, January 24, 2011
Welcome!
Hello beautiful people,
Welcome to the blog for the Women's Consciousness Raising Group. On this blog, we will post links to other feminist blogs as well as use this as a forum to comment about anything that sparks your interest.
Below are links to both Jezebel and Feministing, two of our favorite blogs. Enjoy!
Jezebel
Feministing
With love love love,
Danielle, Maya, Audrey & Kyla
Welcome to the blog for the Women's Consciousness Raising Group. On this blog, we will post links to other feminist blogs as well as use this as a forum to comment about anything that sparks your interest.
Below are links to both Jezebel and Feministing, two of our favorite blogs. Enjoy!
Jezebel
Feministing
With love love love,
Danielle, Maya, Audrey & Kyla
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