These D-Cups are all I have room for on my chest, so let me unload some shit…

There are a few current events that have been bugging the shit out of me & since I’ve been occupied with the whole moving & schooling things, I haven’t had a chance to speak on them. Now that I’m bored & suffering from a bout of insomnia, I’ll do just that.

First, this broad with the 14 kids that the media is all up in arms about? Yeah, it’s actually none of our fucking business. I personally believe that Nadya Suleman is a masochistic nut job for carrying & delivering octuplets, not to mention the fact that this enormous super-birth brought her total number of offspring to fourteen (a wholly unmanageable number of rug rats, in my opinion) and she is doing the parental thing solo, which is tough for women with only one child to rear. BUT… just as my reproductive decisions are mine to make, her crazy-ass reproductive marathon is her own business. Anyone concerned about the kids draining public resources because Mommy isn’t wealthy enough to pay their entire way through life can chill the fuck out – since I’m not gonna’ have any, we’ll just say I gave her my Right To Bear A Working Class Kid Passes. It all will even out in the end. For more insightful discussion on this topic, see the following bloggers posts.

  Bitch Magazine’s Blog: The War on Choice: When Life is Chosen (Eight Times) and Update on Mother of Fourteen: Nadya Suleman

Bitch Ph.D. : Punching Bags (this one has some pretty interesting links to still more discussion of Suleman’s uterine abuse)

 

Second, to all my fellow Starving Students, there is a really good piece up on Easily Distracted about soaring textbook prices that might make your ass blow a gasket. Fucking over priced, god damned…

Third, I was very intrigued by a post over at Progressive Historians entitled White Washing History-No Queers Please. I was intrigued because I’m a nerd like that, but you non-history buffs may be interested in the subject, so I thought I’d mention it. Basically, the gist of the piece is that conservative folks hell bent on censoring higher education are using the economic crisis as an excuse to eliminate courses they deem unnecessary or inappropriate or morally bankrupt. As if being broke means you also have to be ignorant…

Finally, I think it’s beneficial for everybody to take a second & read Maritzia’s Thoughts post entitled Claim Your Privilege, People.  We all have to be aware of the place we each come & how our perception of reality effects our world view before we toss out judgment on others, y’know? I, for one, was born white in a culture that assumes white skin is the default setting. I may have crappy parents, but I was born into a family that values education & that certainly gave me a heads-up. Think about it for a second &, possibly, reconsider some of the preconceived notions or unfounded opinions you maybe lugging around… Hmmm…

Tequila is like kryptonite to Ms Maryjane Foxie

For whatever reason, I conveniently forget this fact when presented with an opportunity to drink the devil booze. I then re-learn the lesson, without fail, by the end of the evening. Yesterday’s foray into Drunk-ville ended quite early, since my alcohol consumption started earlier than usual, and the homies were left to fend for themselves while I got reacquainted with my toilet bowl. My bad.

Now that I’ve regained consciousness, I’m ready to start the day’s complaints with a new found sense of irritation.

* According to the New York Times article HERE, American hospitals nationwide have been snitching to the INS about injured or ill illegal immigrants seeking medical care. Since they lack insurance & most nursing homes won’t accept these patients, the hospitals will assist in their deportation to avoid the financial responsibility of treating them. I can’t help but think how fucked up it would be to get hurt or sick and seek treatment, only to be deported by people uninvolved with immigration matters. That would be like catching an STD and when you went to the clinic, your ass got fired from your job. Unrelated & unnecessary double Fuck You’s for folks already in a screwed up position.

* The House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would require employers to disclose employee salaries so that women will know sooner if they are being paid less for equal work. This Act was written in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear. The Ledbetter ruling stated that employees have to file discrimination charges within 180 days of the initial unlawful employment practice, meaning a female employee getting shitty wages must sue within 180 days of her first unequal paycheck…even if she isn’t aware of what her contemporaries are making. You have to sue before you know your being screwed? Sounds fucked, huh? The Paycheck Fairness Act intends on rectifying the problem, but Bush has vowed to veto the legislation if it makes it through the Senate. What a dick…

* This headline made me puke in my mouth: “More Rapes Linked To Young Women on Drinking Binges”. WHAT!?! Obviously, the editors of San Diego News don’t realize that rapists commit sexual assault, therefore are at fault, and the alcohol consumption of their victims doesn’t change that fact. Women have a right to exist in the public sphere, intoxicated or not, without being subjected to sexual violence. Our police forces are supposed to protect the community, drunk or not, and arrest the rapists without blaming the victimized women in the media. This isn’t 1956, after all.

Goodbye, Jesse Helms, and Good Riddance

Former Senator Jesse Helms (R, North Carolina) died yesterday and the nation won't be worse off without him. Helms was as far-right as you get in American politics & his 21 years in the Senate (ending in 2001) were full of completely asinine bullshit that should embarrass anyone identifying as a Republican. Known as Senator No, because he was so fond of opposing Democratic legislation & presidential appointments, Helms wasn't exactly a progressive figure and was considered one of the last Old South politicians in Washington. News outlets are quick to remember the man as a "champion of Conservative values" and a "controversial political figure", but these phrases suggest the guy was a misunderstood political underdog instead of a homophobic, racist, sexist, cold-hearted prick that used his power to fuck over slews of people. The White House called him a "great public servant and a true patriot," but I think it's best if we take a second to recall the "high points" of his political career, before doling out such accolades:

* He was behind the move to stop paying dues to the United Nations in 1994, because the Senator thought the organization was too vocal about U.S. foreign policy. As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was able to implement anti-UN policies with ease and cut funding to Third World nations by 30%. He refused to ratify the Kyoto treaty, the international land mine treaty, and several other international accords plus he opposed the international criminal court making him a prime example of American isolationism.

* He co-sponsored the Helms-Burton bill that tried to levy U.S. sanctions on non-American companies that did business with Fidel Castro's Cuba & successfully started the current embargo.

* He was the tobacco industry's biggest advocate in Congress (since N. Carolina's agricultural economy is heavily reliant on tobacco production & Big Tobacco kept Helms political coffers full of campaign donations). He chaired the Agriculture Committee & used the position to advance Big Tobacco agendas.

* He opposed the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. day in 1983, citing two associates of King's that had communist ties as a reason. He led the opposition to the bill in Congress & openly dissed the civil rights leader for his alleged infidelity.

* He supported El Salvador's ruthless military leader, Major Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta, who's Death Squads killed thousands of Salvadorians between 1980 & 1985. After evidence that the Death Squads committed thousands of civilian murders became public, Helms said "[a]ll I know, is that D'Aubuisson is a free enterprise man and deeply religious". Helms never revoked his support for D'Aubuisson or condemned his actions.

* He was an ardent supporter of Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet. After visiting Chile in 1986, Helms returned to Washington and assured the American people that it was a "myth that human rights is a major problem in Chile," even though his visit corresponded with one of the grisliest milestones of Chile's struggle against dictatorship, an incident that came to be known as The Burned Ones. A Chilean army squadron had attacked two pro-democracy teens in Santiago with rifle butts, the female teen was sodomized by a soldier, then the pair was doused in gasoline & lit on fire with the help of a Molotov cocktail. One of the kids survived & plenty of witnesses backed up her version of events. Pinochet attempted to pin the fault for the burnings on the teens themselves and the day that he announced his accusations to the nation, he met with Jesse Helms for a two-hour pow-wow. Helms pushed Pinochet's version of what happened whenever possible & berated an American ambassador for attending the murdered teen's funeral. Read more HERE. 

* He supported Haiti's military dictator Raoul Cedras during his bloody reign between 1991 and 1994 & helped to pen the agreement that convinced Cedras to step down in exchange for $1 million in American tax dollars.

* He was a supporter of South Africa's apartheid government & was unsurprisingly one of the biggest segregationists in our own country. Originally a Democrat, Helms abandoned the party with other Dixie-crats over it's support for civil rights legislation. When Nelson Mandela addressed Congress in 1990, Helms stayed away in protest.

* Helms opposed funding AIDS research or treatment programs ever since the idea was first discussed in the Senate. He claimed "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy" (as if that meant that people deserved to die!). He failed to block the 1990 passage of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Care (CARE) act, but tried to block it's refunding in 1995 by once again blaming AIDS patients for their condition. He said their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct" brought on the disease.

* Anti-gay rhetoric was a Jesse Helms specialty & he actually referred to homosexuality as "degenerate" and homosexuals as "weak, morally sick wretches". He opposed Clinton's nomination of Roberta Achtenberg to the Housing & Urban Development department "because she is a damn lesbian".

* Helm's had the balls to make the following comment about President Clinton in 1994 (on the anniversary of JFK's assassination, no less): "[he] better not show up around here [Fort Bragg] without a bodyguard". In his own defense, the Senator insisted that Clinton was too unpopular to inspire an assassination attempt, so the statement shouldn't be considered a threat.

* Introduced the bill that would have eliminated all affirmative action programs because he believed them to be "reverse discrimination at the hands of ruthless bureaucrats."

* He created the North Carolina Congressional Club, a political action committee that quickly became the nation's most successful moneymaking machine, and used the PAC to fund his campaigns. In 1986, the PAC was penalized $10,000 for illegally subsidizing his 1984 re-election campaign. In 1994, the Federal Election Commission levied a fine of $25,000 against Helms & his PAC for accepting $700,000 in illegal contributions. Even more jaw-dropping, in 1992, the Helms campaign and the Congressional Club settled a Justice Department complaint over a pre-election mailing of postcards falsely threatening 125,000 black voters with jail if they went to the polls. Eventually, Helms was forced to cut off ties with the Club after '94, because it endangered his chance at re-election.

* He got into hot water when he offended the shit out of Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, by whistling "Dixie" while standing next to her in an elevator in 1993. He then bragged his aides & staff: "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries."

* Helms would win an election against black opponent Harvey Gantt with an ad playing to racist white fear-- the so-called "white hands" ad, in which a white man's hands crumple a rejected job application while a voiceover intones, "You needed that job…but they had to give it to a minority."

* Helms got away with saying some seriously offensive shit on the Senate floor. According to the late Senator, The University of North Carolina was "the University of Negroes and Communists" and black civil rights activists were "Communists and sex perverts". When 10 female members of the House of Representatives interrupted a Senate committee hearing to demand support for the UN's treaty against gender discrimination, Helms responded by telling them to "act like ladies" & had Capitol police remove them from the hearing. When talking about civil rights protests in 1963, Helms had this to say: "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights."

* In 1995, Helms was a guest on CNN's Larry King Show & a caller praised Helms for "everything you've done to help keep down the niggers," and the Senator responded with a salute to the camera and saying "Well, thank you, I think."

* He opposed abortion rights and school bussing, funding for art or historical preservation, feminism, communism, and just about any other -ism you'd expect a backwoods redneck to disagree with. Helms supported the flag burning amendment & was all gung-ho on the Terri Schaivo situation, was pro-gun and until public use of the N-word became completely unacceptable, Helms threw the term about willy-nilly.

"I've been portrayed as a caveman by some. That's not true. I'm a conservative progressive, and that means I think all men are equal, be they slants, beaners, or niggers."     -Quoted in the North Carolina Progressive on 2/6/1985

 

"I’m so old-fashioned I believe in horse whipping"    - quoted in The News & Observer from a debate in 1991 about AIDS funding

"To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing." — Helms responding in 1956 to criticism that a fictional black character in his newspaper column was offensive.

                                       

President Bush calls Helms a "great public servant and true patriot", but it seems pretty clear to me that he was a relic of the Cold War era mind set that believed the only "public" worth serving was the Christian, heterosexual, male, white, U.S. natives that agree with American colonialism and cultural hegemony. R.I.P., mother-fucker.

When I was in school, we made friendship bracelets

The scandal-icious story about a supposed “pregnancy pact” between 18 teenaged girls attending Gloucester High School in Massachusetts has been all over the media lately. As you know, the mainstream media is selective about the stories they regurgitate & the chosen few stories they do tell us are usually told to shape public opinion on a specific issue or idea. So, when a story like this is so widely discussed I can’t help but wonder what I’m expected to take from it. Initially, I figured the story was another one of those convenient election year tales of teen girl promiscuity intended to scare the be-jesus out of parents & turn their attentions toward candidates that preach about Family Values and the evils of premarital sex (A.K.A. the politicians that still blame Eve for society’s ills). Upon closer inspection, I sensed the underlying message of the story was that teen pregnancy rates, which had been on the decline for fourteen years prior to Bush’s ascension to the throne, were increasing because pregnancy had gained a sort of “cool” status among underage girls. Instead of blaming the government policies that fund ineffective abstinence-only sex education, at the expense comprehensive sex ed programs that actually work, we were supposed to be pointing the finger at irresponsible teen’s that find procreation “trendy”. Now, I realize that a story about sexually active teen girls can be used as an all-purpose parable to justify any ridiculous assumptions you have about young women, teens, pregnancy, pre-marital sex, etc. etc. etc. For example, TIME magazine ran an article penned by Nancy Gibbs that uses the Gloucester girl’s story to gush about Crisis Pregnancy Centers (or CPCs).

CPCs are notorious for their use of misinformation and intimidation to keep women from seeking abortion services and the scary thing is, they out number actual clinics 2 to 1. They are not usually staffed by medical professionals. They are designed to look like clinics inside (waiting room, white lab coats, etc.), are often located near actual clinics, and use deceptive names to imply that they are full-fledged health care facilities. CPCs do not offer women referrals for abortion services or birth control. They have been known to pull fucked up shit to force women to continue their pregnancies, like extending the waiting period for pregnancy test results so that the women have time to take in all the anti-choice or religious propaganda CPC staffers can throw at them. Flat out lies about emergency contraception are common and women are told ridiculous shit like abortions cause breast cancer & infertility. In a nut shell, Crisis Pregnancy Centers pretend to offer assistance and help to pregnant women, only to confuse, lie, and guilt-trip ladies into adhering to their own moral dogma.

Now, the TIME magazine article suggests that the knocked-up teens of Gloucester were not planning pregnancies as much as they were rejecting abortion. None of the gals in question utilized the services of a CPC, as far as I can tell, but Gibbs uses the final paragraph of her story to bring them up anyhow. She writes:

This has been the mission of the crisis-pregnancy-center movement, the more than 4,000 centers and hotlines and support groups around the country that aim to talk women out of having abortions and offer whatever support they can. If not in Hollywood, then certainly in Gloucester, teen parents and their babies face long odds against success in life. Surely they deserve more sympathy and support than shame and derision, if the trend that they reflect is not a typical teenager's inclination to have sex but rather a willingness to take responsibility for the consequences.

Hmm… because a bunch of under-aged girls trying to get pregnant despite their lack of income, housing, a complete high school education, life experience, or legal sovereignty is CLEARLY a case of being responsible. Clearly.

Sarah Haskins

The feminist blogosphere has fallen head over heels in love with Sarah Haskins and I must confess that I, too, am crushing on the lady behind those clever Target Women segments from infomania. Lately, it seems like every time I start to question some ridiculous aspect of our media culture, Haskins has already called it out in her segment (Yogurt, I’m talking to you)! Thank you, Sarah, for delivering our weekly dose of media insanity just how we prefer it – dry, sarcastic, and relevant. Here’s a few of my favorites…

This segment, titled “Suffrage”, addresses how the media & our Presidential candidates are approaching American women in the post-Hillary world.  The Hit-The-Nail-On-The-Head statement: “You know what makes me angry? Watching you talk about how angry I am.”

The infamous “Yogurt” edition of Target Women brought up a slew of good points regarding the way yogurt is advertised to women (THINK: those annoying Yoplait ads where the two chicks one-up each other’s declarations about how good the shit is - “This is like not catching the bouquet good!”).

A much needed Rude Awakening about the ridiculousness that is Botox.

Title IX: The amendment that changed our world

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance”    -Start of the original Title IX law

The story of Title IX sounds like it was made up as a leftist-feminist conspiracy tale, intended to prove just how fucked up gender discrimination was (is) in America. But, I kid you not, this is how it happened:

In 1965, presidential Executive Order 11246 prohibited federal contractors from discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, or national origin. President Johnson later amended the Executive Order to include discrimination based on sex in 1968. Soon there after, Bernice Sandler of the University of Maryland realized that, as federal contractors, most universities and colleges were subject to the Order and her efforts to bring this to light caught the attention of Rep. Martha Griffiths (D-Michigan), who then gave the first Congressional speech about discrimination against women in education on March 9, 1970. The conversation that the speech started inspired Rep. Edith Green (D-Ohio) to draft anti-discrimination legislation and hold the first congressional hearings on discrimination against women in education and employment during June and July of 1970. Senators Birch Bayh (D-Indiana) and George McGovern (D-South Dakota) managed the bill in the Senate and after several months of debate and compromise, the Education Amendments of 1972, including Title IX, were signed into law by President Nixon without much fanfare. Supporters of Title IX intentionally kept mum on it’s benefits & relied heavily on the ignorance of it’s would-be opponents. What they didn’t notice, wouldn’t piss them off until it’s too late! Sorta’ like the strategy used to pass the Patriot Act, except instead of circumventing the freedoms of Americans, Title IX expanded them. It is a common misperception that Title IX only applies to women’s participation in sports programs. It did open the Wide World of Sports to the fairer sex, but it also prohibited the common practice of steering girls away from science or math programs and into Home Economics courses against their will. It did forcibly open up the Debate Teams, the student government, and all those extra-curricular programs that colleges look for on student applications. Educational institutions receiving federal money were no longer allowed to keep women from receiving higher education, less they jeopardize their grant funding. It did de-gender scholastic subjects making it easier for American girls to become Mathematicians, Scientists, Engineers, and Intellectuals in traditionally male-dominated fields. It is difficult for me, a girl born into the post-Title IX era, to imagine what the educational system looked like prior to 1972. We certainly didn’t have to attend our Mamma’s high school! That maybe why I can’t hem a skirt, but that’s another story!

The wording of the Education Amendments was intentionally vague, since any specifications in the initial bill would jeopardize it’s passage, and it took three more years before the specific regulations of Title IX were signed into law by President Ford on May 27, 1975. These specific regulations/ protections required school districts (or other such systems) to appoint at least one Title IX coordinator, who’s name & contact information is available to all students / parents / staff members, to oversee compliance efforts and investigate any sex discrimination claims. Districts were also required to make grievance procedures and discrimination policies public. After these regulations were announced, districts (and the like) were allowed to undertake a one-time self evaluation of discriminatory policies and were given the opportunity to layout plans to rectify bias, this way the schools weren’t slammed by a wave of lawsuits they were unprepared to face. Title IX went largely ignored and under enforced during the politically conservative Reagan and Bush Sr. Administrations, but since the 1990’s it has become an indispensable piece of gender-equality legislation.

Title IX has since been renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of the late Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii), the co-author of the original bill. Thirty-six years after Rep. Mink and Rep. Edith Green watched their historic legislation signed into law, we are still reaping the benefits of their hard work. The drop-out rate for pregnant teens and young women with children has dropped 30% since the 1970’s, largely because Title IX prohibited the automatic expulsion of mothers or would be- mothers. In the 1970’s, only 18% of American women completed four or more years of higher education. But, for the first time in American history, women now outnumber men in undergraduate programs & women receive 55% of all Bachelor’s Degrees. Women went from earning only 7% of all law degrees (in 1972) to a whopping 43% (as of 1994); they formerly held only 9% of all medical and 1% of dental degrees, but as of the early nineties women have received 38% of the degrees in both fields. There has been a four-fold increase in women’s participation in athletics since 1971, undeniably a result of Title IX’s protections. Probably more important than any tangible statistical comparison is the change in social beliefs about women and education. Many modern American families want their sons AND daughters to participate in sports programs, successfully complete high school, and go on to an institution of higher learning to earn their degrees. Prior to the ‘70s, this was necessarily the case in households across America. There isn’t exactly a study or bar graph I can cite to prove the change in American attitude toward women & education, but the proof is unnecessary if your mother, your grandmother, your aunts, or other ladies educated in prior generations are available to talk about the subject. This month marks the 36th anniversary of Title IX’s passage and I suggest we take a moment to reflect on how we have benefited from it’s existence. Devote a minute, an hour, an afternoon to thinking about how education has impacted your life and consider the not-so-distant past when women, just like you, were denied the opportunity to learn. Threats to equality never cease to exist, so peep yourself up on game about the campaign to Save Title IX at the EXercise My Rights webpage.

 

Facts and information cited in the above post was gathered from the following sites: Historical info found in the WEEA Digest from August 1997 located HERE, progress statistics were found in an archived progress report from the U.S. Department of Education dated June 1997 located HERE. Sorry, I couldn’t find more recent information on the subject.

The Scarlet Letter

The evangelical, right-wing, conservative Pro-Lifers in this country would have you believe that these days the scarlet letter is still an “A”, but instead of standing for “adulteress” it now vilifies those ladies that undergo abortion procedures. Contrary to popular belief (and according to statistics from The Guttmacher Institute), 4 in 10 unplanned pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion. If the current rate of unintended pregnancy termination continues, 1/3 of America’s women will have had an abortion by the age of 45. 61% of women seeking abortions already have one or more children, which implies that their concern for the welfare of their current offspring plays into their decision to terminate. 78% of the women having abortions in the U.S. report having a religious affiliation but only 33% report ever having been married, which indicates that although most of these ladies got knocked up out-of-wedlock they aren’t the Godless heathens evangelicals would have you believe. Anyhow, my point is that many American women seek out abortion procedures and they aren’t primarily irresponsible atheist ho-bags trying to skirt the repercussions of pre-marital sex. For some reason, anti-choice douche-bag politicians ignore these facts and keep perpetuating the stereotype of ignorant  pregnant women being mislead into aborting by evil clinic workers and left-wing commie bastards, since the women obviously lack the ability to make such a grave decision on their own. When will they learn?

Honestly, once a woman discovers she is knocked up, there is little else you can think about even if you tried. This idea that women don’t (or can’t) weigh the pros and cons of termination before getting an abortion is not only wrong, it is damned right insulting. When I ended up preggo at the age of eighteen, I was fucking scared. I was confused. I was emotionally distraught. This is all true & I am sure that many chicks facing an unintended pregnancy at such a young age have rode a similar emotional roller coaster. Even though I was experiencing the gamut of human emotion, my brain remained fixated on the fate of the pregnancy. I could hardly focus on any other subject, because deciding what I was going to do about my fertilized state was my all-consuming task. I called the Planned Parenthood information hotline 15 or 20 times a day to listen to  pre-recorded statements telling me what to expect if I choose to terminate the pregnancy, what to prepare for if I decided to go through with it, and how I could prevent such a situation in the future. I come from a hilariously dysfunctional family and this was my version of talking things over with an informed trustworthy adult. I spent nearly six weeks as a pregnant teen. Back in the day, when a zygote couldn’t be located on a sonogram, they assumed that you were too early in the pregnancy to terminate & they sent you back home until you were approximately 6-12 weeks along, and this is precisely what happened in my case. I spent the entire six weeks thinking about my decision, possible side effects, unwanted repercussions, and the like. I still believe I made the best decision & that I made it on my own, independent from the input and opinions others made have had on the subject. These days advances in sonogram & hormone detection technology, not to mention the legalization of RU-486 (used for medicinal abortions), has sped up the process a bit, but in this modern age I have witnessed a couple gals grapple with their decision & undergo an abortion. These women spent most of their waking hours thinking about their options, their decisions, their situations just as I did years before. They sought out information and advice, as needed, and eventually made a sound and informed choice to end their pregnancies, just as women have throughout human history. This is why it is so insulting and condescending, personally offensive and down-right ridiculous, when anti-choice legislation is based on the premise that women aren’t able to make judgement calls in the reproductive department without help from the State, their male caretakers, or some other outside moral figure. It just pisses me the fuck off.

The current spark that lit my reproductive freedom flame came out of South Dakota (no surprise there!). Since the failed attempt to criminalize all abortions in the state, anti-choicer's have been on a mission to push their morality down the throats of S.D.’s women, like it or not. They included the same anti-choice proposition on the very next election’s ballot. They drafted & introduced all manner of regulatory legislation. Grassroots opposition has managed to keep most of the bullshit at bay, but unfortunately the moral crusaders managed to get an “informed consent” law on the books in 2005. This nifty piece of legislation requires that doctors performing abortions inform their perspective patients that "abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being” and "that the pregnant woman has an existing relationship with that unborn human being and that the relationship enjoys protection under the United States Constitution and under the laws of South Dakota." The doctor is also required to certify in writing that (S)he "believes she [the pregnant woman] understands the information imparted." The “informed consent” legislation has been tried up in the state’s judicial system since it’s passage and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals began hearing the arguments in the case since Wednesday. Today, the Appeals Court ruled to uphold South Dakota’s informed consent regulations and was entirely responsible for pissing me off this afternoon. Essentially, South Dakota’s legislature is under the impression that pregnant women are unaware of the gravity of their situation (what pregnancy entails and all that) and are unable to attest to their own understanding of such information. Until a doctor vouches that a woman understands what pregnancy and abortion is, she is unable to make decisions about her own reproductive future. WTF? Haven’t we come far enough to acknowledge the fact that women are capable and competent enough to make their own decisions and govern their own lives, just as we allow men to do? There will always be those friend-of-a-friend girls that are rumored to use abortion as a method of birth control. There will always be a few women that allow boyfriends or parents decide to terminate a pregnancy they may have wanted to continue. There will always be a few exceptions, just as there are dudes that refused or didn’t think to use a condom or guys that didn’t fully understand the birds and the bees before jumping in the sheets. There will always be these exceptions, but most people can (and should) be The Decider in their lives. Politicians & the Powers That Be really need to start respecting our sovereignty and our right to self-determination. They are not elected to office because we need Mommies and Daddies in the Capitol dictating our daily activities. They are there to protect us from the tyranny of State enforced morality and to uphold the Constitution of the United States, which protects our privacy and our independence on such matters as determined by the Supreme Court in Roe vs. Wade nearly 35 f**cking years ago.

In conclusion, here’s a “Fuck That Shit” Award for South Dakota, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and backwards misogynistic politicians that continue to insist women are all fucking child-like morons. Honorable mentions go to the other southern states with similar “informed consent” legislation – Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Further reading on the subject can be found in the following locations:

- Consenting Adults: An article for The American Prospect by Sarah Blustain explores the legal aspects of the case and what they translate to in laymen’s terms.

- The Guttmacher Institute has an interesting (and informative) policy review, penned by Rachel Benson Gold and Elizabeth Nash, about the principles of informed consent laws.

- Feministing.com had a post back in April, when Oklahoma’s law was passed, that makes some very good points. Read the reader comments for a wider perspective on the matter.

Today’s Happenings

** R.I.P. George Carlin. Thanks for all the genius-cloaked-in-humor you dispensed throughout the years.

** Now that Hill’s out of the running, I suppose it’s back to tired & shallow reporting on the feminist front. This op-ed piece on the media’s 180 with regard to female’s in the political realm is thought provoking.

** Pro-lifer’s that fail to live up to their own dogmatic values make me sick. And inspire laughter at their hypocracy. Follow the link HERE & read the story.

Employment is apparently a male occupation

The boob tube is awash in “reality” programming and has been for sometime. The genre’s newest products – those day-to-day chronicles of blue collar jobs – annoy and bore me more than any of the previous incarnations involving elimination rounds, confessionals, and/or tokens of faux affection in the form of roses or oversized clocks. These new shows are specifically male-oriented, diluted in testosterone, and DULL AS ALL HELL. The culprits include:

* Ice Road Truckers: Another of The History Channel’s non-history programs, this one documents the trials & tribulations of truckers driving Canada’s Dempster Highway. The Male-centricity of the show is underscored by the confessions of the trucker’s wives – worried & proud of their men! The fact that the truckers are blowing through untold amounts of fossil fuels to service the DeBeer’s diamond mines and the show gives no lip service to the environmental or human rights aspects of the industry doesn’t surprise me, but it does annoy me. Unless someone finally dies on that God Damned ice road, I don’t give a fuck what those boys are up to.

* Ax Men: Apparently, the History Channel thinks this type of show is quality programming, because they’ve hit us with another version of Ice Road. This time the show details the daily activities of loggers in the Pacific Northwest. Once again, women are non-existent in the Ax Men world, unless they are expressing concern for the logger’s safety (like a good wife or mother). Also, the environmental aspect of logging goes un-disclosed which makes me wary of the political motivations behind this show. “How dare you question the noble & historic profession of logging! People can die, you know!”

* Tougher in Alaska: Also the fault of The History Channel. This show chronicles various professions & aspects of life in Alaska, but still remains the realm of the Penis. *Yawn*

* Deadliest Catch: The God-Father of this kind of reality show, aired on The Discovery Channel, and probably the one that I have the least amount of beef with. Crab fishermen tend to be men & it actually is semi-entertaining.

* Black Gold: Tru TV has entered the fray with their own Man Job epic, this time the industry in question is the PR-needy purveyors of fossil fuels. Seriously? They aren’t even trying to hide their motivations anymore? See my issues with Ax Men since the problem with Black Gold is the same.

Dudes need shows too, I know, and obviously someone is watching these programs, but is it too much to ask for a little more equality in representation? Women do make up 46% of the American workforce, after all. I bet I’ll regret saying this when some network launches Secretaries! or The Secret Lives of Nurses, but whatever.

Vag-tastic News: Rage Against the Pussy Edition

• As of this morning, the UN Security Council classifies rape as a war tactic and the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the “unspeakable proportion” of violence against women in war-torn regions. Historically, war ravaged populations have been subjected to rape and sexual abuse from occupying powers and, until now, this was rarely talked about as a war crime. The UN resolution, that passed with a unanimous vote, describes sexual violence as "a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group". Speakers in favor of the resolution’s passage identified the former Yugoslavia, Sudan's Darfur region, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Liberia as regions where deliberate sexual violence had occurred on a mass scale. Our own forces in Iraq have been convicted of disgusting sexual violence as well. This resolution will allow rape and sexual battery charges to be tried in a war crimes tribunal (along with crimes like genocide, using child soldiers, and unlawful deportation). We’ll eventually see how this effects the U.S. war efforts in the Middle East if a war crimes tribunal ever hears a case against the American occupation. Highly unlikely, but possible, I guess.
• A BBC report on the new enforcement policy in Iran that is cracking down on dress code violations was posted on their site earlier today. The article claims that police are arresting women if their headscarves do not fully cover their hair or their clothes show their figures too clearly and men with “inappropriate hairstyles”. The dress code originated with the Islamic Revolution of 1979 but is widely ignored, especially in urban centers, even though the penalties include public lashing, imprisonment, or hefty fines. The article says that raids like the current one are usually conducted during the hot summer months, since they tend to net more women in less clothes & are therefore more effective. Can you even imagine getting arrested for donning a sun dress or a pair of shorts in 110+ degree weather? The whole idea that God demands women cover every inch of their person to avoid being raped is wholly ridiculous to me & it baffles me that entire nations legislate such menial bullshit. I am totally sympathetic to the Iranian ladies being bullied into wardrobe submission over there. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to those of us able to decide on our daily wardrobe, but it’s serious business elsewhere & we shouldn’t take our freedoms for granted. Thank goddess for our clothes sovereignty, eh?
• In the wake of R. Kelly’s acquittal, the Duke rape debacle, and a recent HBO documentary on Roman Polaski that glossed over his infamous statutory rape case, it is pretty clear that our society is due for an honest discussion about rape, sexual violence, and the like. Just reading the posts over at Jezebel about the aforementioned documentary is enough to make my stomach turn. A thirteen year old girl is capable of making many decisions, but is it so hard to believe that she is also in danger of being victimized by grown-ass men? I know that I am smarter than most thirteen year old boys I meet & I probably could push the young bucks into any situation I wanted, whether or not they thought it was a good idea, because I am a bit more intelligent and capable of manipulation, right? People really have to start being a lot-tle more empathetic in these situations & remember just how easily they were manipulated in their early teens, before they pass judgement on others.

John Mc Cunt…er…

This video is political-comedy gold.

Sing it, Sister

Kick ass! Lisa Simpson is a feminist icon! Right up there with Daria, Ms Pac Man, and Jem! Peep the video of her best moments HERE. Are you still under the impression that such icons are unnessasary? If so, you've been totally mislead, Doll Face. In this day and age, we ain't above cheap sexist bullshit (as documented in this video).

Relationship Advice from a Spinster

Something is very wrong with a large portion of the male population. Maybe it's in the way we raise our boys, maybe it's because society breeds them with an undeserved sense of entitlement and self importance. Maybe it's a side effect from the fluoride in the water supply or because the Cold War's nuclear weapon testing permanently mutated the male genetic code. What ever the reason that so many men suffer from Boy Disease, the effects are clear... most of us straight gals are convinced that Boys Suck. Clearly, homosexuality is not a choice because so many of us would have jumped ship that the future of the human race would be imperiled if it were. On that note, here's a list of behaviors & beliefs that are symptomatic of Boy Disease so that you, Dear Reader, might be able to diagnose it before it's too late. In no way is this list comprehensive, so feel free to chime in!

1. Men that continually blame their misdeeds as resulting from their experiences with former girlfriends that did them wrong, weak minded mothers (or mother figures), or the general nastiness of most women. He constantly says that ALL women are psycho. A healthy specimen may bring up these previous events, but does not rationalize the present by reviving old ghosts.

2. Men that expect forgiveness just because they have uttered the phrase "I'm Sorry". They grow impatient when everything is not forgiven & forgotten as quickly as they like, completely ignoring the fact that forgiveness is a process that cannot be rushed or coerced. Healthy males respect this.

3. Men that don't even bother to produce new excuses for habitual behavior. They dole out the same excuse that worked before, which is boring as well as bullshit. He never apologizes, or he apologizes, but in an oily way that implies that he won't make a commitment to not do it again, or in some way implies that YOU were the cause of the bad behavior - that you "triggered" him or "pushed his dysfunctional buttons".

4. Men that pick fights with their significant others so that they are free to do something that they know she will not approve of. Healthy men won't stoop to such chicken-shit ploys to do what they want & usually wouldn't have to, since their mates aren't paranoid about what they do without supervision.

5. Men that don't acknowledge their equal responsibility to their children, their lease agreements, their relationships, or other mutual engagements.

6. Men that appear allergic to honesty. At least when speaking to women.

7. Men that are selfish lovers, despite the fact that you give kick-ass BJs.

8. Men that expect your understanding of every emotional defect he may process, but disregards your emotional trauma as a Female Thing that you need to Get Over.The only thing he EVER says when you are in need of empathy/support is, "I'm sorry you feel that way." Or, in his true narcissistic fashion, he will mention how he has felt, or feels, the EXACT same way; hence; bringing the spotlight back over to him. AGAIN.

9. Men that suffer from Dangling Carrot Syndrome. This person throws money around to hook you, and make you believe that he is a generous person. Watch closely and you will see his attitude about money change over the months and years that you know him. The moment you are "hooked" either by moving in together or getting married, all of a sudden he is concerned about expenses and you'll find yourself nickel-and-dimed at every turn.

10. Everyone hates him - your friends, your parents, your siblings, people you randomly meet on the street, etc. This is a great indicator of Boy Disease, because people that love you wouldn't be likely to mislead you in this respect (if they are the type to do that, you might want to rethink your choice in homies too).

Learn it, know it, live it, People. You can thank me later (or remind me later, because I'm no less prone to picking up bastards than anyone else. Probably more so, in some cases.).

I’d like to introduce myself…

I am always annoyed by the implication that sexism is no longer a threat to women's equality. Just because Women's Lib reached it's peak in the '70s, businesswomen entered the boardroom (shoulder pads and all) in the '80s, and "Girl Power!" gained popularity in the '90s, it does not mean that modern women are free from the misogyny that plagued generations before us! The Spice Girls don't make for a revolution, God Damn It. Millennia of oppression can't exactly be undone with 30+ years of progressive activism! Shit, most people my age (late 20's) still can't self-identify as feminists without explaining that they Do Shave, they Are Straight, and they Want To Have Children. As if "feminist" was synonymous with "hairy, ugly, barren lesbian". At this point in human history, those of us willing to let go of cultural norms and traditional gender roles have realized that not all women are the Mommy-type, a penis does not automatically make a person superior, and just about the only skill that men possess but women do not is the ability to write their names in the snow.

That being said, studies and reports that aim to decode the reasons behind our current social shortcomings had better come up with something better than our lack of ambition, our biological inadequacies, or our Mother-ing instinct because (in case the researchers didn't notice) women are allowed to be literate these days. The study that lit my fuse on the subject is discussed HERE 

and is supposed to shine some light on the subject of women & political representation. According to Richard L. Fox of Loyola Marymount University and Jennifer L. Lawless of Brown University, the fundamental reason that women are under-represented in American political institutions is because (*drum roll, please*) women don't run for office since they lack the political ambition that men have!

This cop-out conclusion is just about disproved by the "factors" they attribute the gender gap in "ambition" to! According to the study, women have less political ambition because of the following five factors (my commentary is confined to the parentheses):

1. Women are less likely to be willing to endure the rigors of a political campaign. ("rigors" of political campaigning? Like what? Surviving slanderous attacks? Being constantly on display & subject to the opinions of the public? Sounds like A Day In The Life, to me)

2. Women are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. (I'm unsure how this effects "ambition". This factor suggests to me that women are blocked from political positions because of sexism within the political parties. Right?)

3. Women are less likely than men to have the freedom to reconcile work and family obligations with a political career. (Once again, how is this "ambition" and not circumstance related to gender roles?)

4. Women are less likely than men to think they are "qualified" to run for office. (Here is an adequate reason for why women might lack political ambition! But it also suggests that women internalize the message that they are inferior, which would be a product of society's sexism)

5. Women are less likely than men to perceive a fair political environment. (See 2. Gee, I wonder why they would perceive things that way?)

Anyhow, the definition of the word "ambition" is 'an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power' & (aside from 4) none of these factors would necessarily effect the Desire to hold political office, as much as it would impact the belief that such a feat was possible. 

Poor Little Rich Girl & Korea’s beef with Beef

- Un-fucking-believable. Hillary actually suggested that sexism is the "single biggest problem we have politically and socially in the world". She was implying that the sexism faced by her candidacy was a greater problem than the racism faced by Obama's campaign. Honestly, Hill? I am all for acknowledging the issue of sexism & I believe it's repercussions are greatly underestimated, BUT to assume that sexism is a greater problem than racism is ridiculous, not to mention arrogant coming from a relatively privileged woman! The issue of Class is much broader than that of gender discrimination and the Holy Trinity of Oppression (class, gender, and race) is so interwoven that accurate analysis of one is not possible without the others. It is clear to me that Hillary is trying to get some guilt-trip female votes in the last days of her campaign. That is why so many of us won't vote for her - She obviously is banking on her popularity with "She's Got A Vagina Too!" voters.

- 3000+ South Korean protesters in Seoul demonstrated against the recent relaxation of beef import regulations earlier today. Fear of U.S. beef being tainted with Mad Cow Disease (or BSE) prompted the protest. Since 2003, American beef has been banned in S. Korea (after a rash of Mad Cow cases), but during negotiations between the U.S. and S. Korea regarding a free trade agreement, American lawmakers made it clear that the agreement was No Go until concessions were made on beef exports. I sure am glad that American politicians have the time & energy to negotiate trade deals on behalf of the beef industry! Too bad they can't use that time to regulate the industry to protect U.S. consumers! Doing so might improve Korean attitudes towards U.S. beef imports as well, but common sense ain't so common & apparently politicians give a fuck less about the common good.

Bitches ain't shit, but Hoes & Tricks

Really, Dude? Sexism didn't play a role in the anti-Hillary campaign because deserves to be labeled a bitch since she's "tough", "aggressive", and "abrasive"? This guy is for real? Somebody needs to define "sexism" for the guy before they allow him to speak on it.

Women Hating Women (and the University that loves them)

- Phyllis Schlafly sucks. Here's a CNN piece on the Washington University hoopla.

Trans Toddlers, Bratty Babies, and my Sexist Self Image

This NPR piece about youngsters whose biological sex is at odds with their gender identities & the "treatment" sought by their parentals is terribly interesting. In the case of Bradley (the biological male that identified as female by age 3), I found it worth pondering that the mother was only compelled to seek "treatment" when she realized how dangerous such gender non-conformity would be for Bradley (other boys would surely beat him up & torment him for being a Barbie-loving, girly-boy!). This is very similar to the way parents come down on their daughter's behavior to protect them from the boys that might victimize them (teaching us to 'act like a girl', be quiet & let the boys lead, how to avoid dressing like a slut, run to Daddy for help rather than handle your own business, etc.). Poor kid! Identifying with us females wins him the same oppressive bullshit every teen girl is well aware of! He's better off getting used to the privilege that comes with a penis, if you ask me! Seriously though, I started thinking about how I would approach such a situation if I were the parent of a transgendered toddler & I would like to think that I would be all balls-out (pun intended) like the parents of Jonah/Jona, but I doubt that would be the case. I can empathize with the concerns of Bradley's parents & I remember how fucking mean kids can be to each other. Can you imagine how scary it must be to fear for your kid's safety because who he or she is, how he or she chooses to act or play or dress, how your kid chooses to express their identity is so offensive to other people that violence is an ever-present danger? The stress must be overwhelming. The parents want their kid to be happy, but on the other hand they want their kid safe. That is a fucking quandary. Thoughts?

Speaking of kids, I fucking hate breeders that bring their spawn to restaurants & allow the lil' bastards to trash the place (Cheerios all over the floor & shit...), then ditch the server with the mess & a shitty tip. I understand that toddlers are quick & in to everything so cups will be knocked over, food will be left in the booths, and whining (sometimes downright tantrums) will occur from time to time. BUT the parent is responsible for the kid, therefore the parent is also responsible for the inconvenience they may cause. If you expect the wait staff to deal with Hurricane Baby, tip them accordingly & apologize profusely. It's only common decency, people!

A study of 600 racially & socio-economically diverse teen girls from California & Georgia suggests that how a girl perceives sexism & sexual harassment is largely influenced by cultural factors. According to the researchers; Asst. Professor of Psychology Christia Brown from the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences and Psychology Professor Campbell Leaper of the University of California Santa Cruz; exposure to feminist ideas and less pressure from family members to conform to gender stereotypes resulted in teens that were more likely to identify & report sexual harassment or sexism. Girls brought up without such exposure were more likely to attribute negative sexual attention as the product of their own shortcomings. I can totally buy into this line of reasoning, based on my own girlhood experience. I was the first of three daughters that my Dad, in all his sexist glory, was unprepared to raise. He had very set ideas about what a "girl" was & my vocal aggressive manner was not what he had in mind. I was indirectly taught that my loudmouth & the fact that I refused to be a wilting violet was the reason boys harassed me about my boobs, why they made sexual advances I didn't want, and why they treated me the way they did. As a youngster, I thought that boys harassed me because I brought the attention on myself. Never did it occur to me that they were wrong for grabbing my boobs! I was at fault for wearing too tight of a T-shirt! Fucking sexist parental units are suckier than I thought!

Along the same vein, here's a retarded article about street harassment entitled:Catcalling: creepy or a compliment? Gee, I'll bet the reason gals, myself included, see the absence of cat-callers as an indication that they look bad has more than a little bit to do with the above mentioned cultural conditioning!

Dark Days & Drunken Nights

I've not been in the best of moods lately, as some of y'all may have noticed. Being sad is not one of my strong suits (I think it makes my ass look fat). I've managed to get past the worst of it (I think) & have found my way back to the happy medium I prefer (the "angry" place, as I call it). My goals for the next week, include: turning my phone back on, staying out of the bottom of a bottle, attending my scheduled work shifts, and getting around to cleaning up the scattered shards from my birthday (when I said "scattered shards", I wasn't talking in the figurative "my life sucks" way, I literally mean that my basement is carpeted with glass shards & I gotta' deal with that shit!). Until then, here's my commentary and/or complaints:

*** Phyllis "Gender Traitor" Schlafly got dissed in a big way at Washington University's commencement ceremony, where the Evil One was scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate on Friday. According to a WU professor, approximately 75% of the 2800 graduates and 2/3 of the remaining audience (est. 14,000) turned their backs on Schlafly during her introduction & speech in protest. A few faculty members even left the stage to join the in the show of disapproval. Schlafly's response? The dissenters were "bitter women" and "a bunch of losers" that had been mislead by women's studies courses and the protest was "juvenile". According to the Ultimate Hypocrite, the protesters had little respect for the stay-at-home wife/homemaker, female ideal she champions as a mold for us all. Funny how the lady thinks you & I should be prepping for our future Donna Reed roles (or should be already living the "dream" in my case), but she has made a career traveling the nation on speaking tours, writing books, & heading up organizations in complete opposition to that very ideal... I promise as soon as she shuts the fuck up & abides by her own advice, I will stop referring to her as my own personal Anti Christ! Anyhow, here's the link to a video of the event, courtesy of FOX. Can we stop calling her "conservative" and just start calling her "crazy"?

*** The latest issue to arise relating to the stupid fence that Homeland Security is building along the Mexican border has spawned a class-action lawsuit, filed yesterday in Texas. According to The Record, Texas mayors and business owners have filed the suit alleging that HLS Secretary Michael Chertoff cheated landowners out of their due compensation & failed to adequately inform them of their property rights. The suit seeks to suspend work on the fence & force Homeland Security to renegotiate all contracts with landowners. Of course, HLS mouthpieces called the suit a "delaying tactic" & refused to comment on the validity of it's charges.

*** The ladies at feministing.com (whom I admire & have much respect for) recently posted a bit dissing Obama for calling a reporter "sweetie". While I get the point that his comment is, by definition, sexist, I can't entirely agree that it was wrong. As a waitress that barely holds it together when folks bark orders & requests at me from all directions, I find myself referring to customers as "hon", "dear", "doll", etc. as a way to show them that I mean no disrespect when I ignore them because I'm busy. I'll fly by a table a few times on an errand or what not, but when I finally do get around to taking their order, I say things like "what can I do for you, hon?" just to prove that it wasn't anything personal. Watching the video of Barack's faux pas (below), I found myself relating to his usage of the word "sweetie". It seems to me that he is trying to get through the throng of reporters & isn't trying to ignore the woman's question, so he throws out the term of endearment to let her know heard her but can't respond just yet. Thoughts?