The article below was taken from here.
Written by: Sojourner Truth
Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio
Ain't I A Woman?
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of
kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North,
all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's
all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted
over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into
carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman?
Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into
barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and
eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And
ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to
slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me!
And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member
of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with
women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours
holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure
full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as
men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did
your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down
all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it
right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to
say.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
10 Things Men Can Do To End Sexism And Male Violence Against Women
The article below was taken from here.
10 Things Men Can Do To End Sexism And Male Violence Against Women
1.) Read about yourself. Read articles, essays, books about masculinity, gender inequality, and the root causes of sexual violence. Educate yourself and others about the connections between larger social forces and the conflicts between individual women and men. Resources: R. W. Connell, Gender and Power; D. Gilmore, Manhood in She Making; M. Messner, D. Sabo, eds., Sport, Men and the Gender Order; J. Stoltenberg, Reusing to Be a Man.
2.) Understand how your own attitudes and actions perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them. Examples of typical sexist/abusive behavior:
Pressuring a woman to have sex (includes Rape, Date Rape).
-Taunting or whistling at women, following women around,
embarrassing women in public (Sexual Harassment).
-Controlling women by using threatening gestures, by outshouting
women, blocking doorways, driving recklessly (Intimidation).
-Verbally assaulting women by name calling, swearing, mocking, ridiculing, criticizing, accusing, trivializing (Psychological Abuse).
3.) Confront sexist, racist, homophobic and all other bigoted remarks or jokes. Boycott comedians such as Andrew Dice Clay who verbally assault women in their acts. Boo in comedy clubs when male comedians tell sexist jokes.
4.) Recognize homophobia and speak out against gay-bashing. Discrimination against lesbians and gays is a key way in which we're all confined in restrictive gender roles. See: Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, by W. Blumenfeld; Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, by S. Pharr.
5.) Don't fund sexism. Don't purchase any magazine, rent any video or buy any piece of music that portrays women in a sexually degrading or violent manner. Protest sexism in the media.
6.) Support candidates for political office who are committed to the full social, economic and political equality of women. Actively oppose candidates who are not.
7.) Support and fight for increased state and federal funding for battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers. Volunteer where men are needed in public schools, youth outreach centers and political lobby groups.
8.) Support or propose curriculum changes, at every level of the educational system, which mandate courses and programs dealing with sexism and sexual violence. Urge coaches of boys' and men's athletic teams to require their players to attend workshops and seminars on sexism and male violence against women.
9.) Organize or join a group of men, in school, at your workplace or among friends, to work against sexism and violence.
10.) Support feminists. Commit yourself to ending oppression in all its forms.
10 Things Men Can Do To End Sexism And Male Violence Against Women
1.) Read about yourself. Read articles, essays, books about masculinity, gender inequality, and the root causes of sexual violence. Educate yourself and others about the connections between larger social forces and the conflicts between individual women and men. Resources: R. W. Connell, Gender and Power; D. Gilmore, Manhood in She Making; M. Messner, D. Sabo, eds., Sport, Men and the Gender Order; J. Stoltenberg, Reusing to Be a Man.
2.) Understand how your own attitudes and actions perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them. Examples of typical sexist/abusive behavior:
Pressuring a woman to have sex (includes Rape, Date Rape).
-Taunting or whistling at women, following women around,
embarrassing women in public (Sexual Harassment).
-Controlling women by using threatening gestures, by outshouting
women, blocking doorways, driving recklessly (Intimidation).
-Verbally assaulting women by name calling, swearing, mocking, ridiculing, criticizing, accusing, trivializing (Psychological Abuse).
3.) Confront sexist, racist, homophobic and all other bigoted remarks or jokes. Boycott comedians such as Andrew Dice Clay who verbally assault women in their acts. Boo in comedy clubs when male comedians tell sexist jokes.
4.) Recognize homophobia and speak out against gay-bashing. Discrimination against lesbians and gays is a key way in which we're all confined in restrictive gender roles. See: Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, by W. Blumenfeld; Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, by S. Pharr.
5.) Don't fund sexism. Don't purchase any magazine, rent any video or buy any piece of music that portrays women in a sexually degrading or violent manner. Protest sexism in the media.
6.) Support candidates for political office who are committed to the full social, economic and political equality of women. Actively oppose candidates who are not.
7.) Support and fight for increased state and federal funding for battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers. Volunteer where men are needed in public schools, youth outreach centers and political lobby groups.
8.) Support or propose curriculum changes, at every level of the educational system, which mandate courses and programs dealing with sexism and sexual violence. Urge coaches of boys' and men's athletic teams to require their players to attend workshops and seminars on sexism and male violence against women.
9.) Organize or join a group of men, in school, at your workplace or among friends, to work against sexism and violence.
10.) Support feminists. Commit yourself to ending oppression in all its forms.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
What Is Activism And How Can I Be An Activist?
The following information was written by me and is posted on the "Activism" page on my Riot Grrrl Online website.
What Is Activism?
Activism is any intentional action to bring political or social change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an argument. The word "activism" is often associated with "protest" or "dissent". Activism can take a wide range of forms, from writing letters to newspapers, protesting, boycotting, blogging, and a number of other tactics. Activism means getting involved in causes or issues that affect you as a person. Activism can be considered DIY or do it yourself as well. There are many ways to get involved in activism.
35 Ways You Can Get Involved In Activism
1.) Make a zine...online or in real life. (DIY as well)
2.) Make a zine distro...online or in real life. (DIY as well)
3.) Submit articles, submissions, classifieds, etc. for a zine.
4.) Create a Ladyfest in your area. (DIY as well)
5.) Support and join ladyfests
6.) Help organize a ladyfest. (DIY as well)
7.) Make a blog, start up a journal, message board, or website. (DIY as well)
8.) Participate in websites, message boards, blogs, etc.
9.) Protest about something you are for or against. (DIY as well)
10.) Sign or start petitions...online or in real life. (DIY as well)
11.) Vote in elections. (DIY as well)
12.) Start a journal...in real life. (DIY only)
13.) Make an online group, such as on yahoo, msn, myspace, etc. (DIY as well)
14.) Write a book. (DIY as well)
15.) Make your own recipes. Don't go traditional, try to make your own food and desserts. (DIY only)
16.) Start your own non-profit organization. (DIY only)
17.) Start a band, write songs, and/or play an instrument. (DIY as well)
18.) Visit websites of important causes/issues and visit click-to-donate websites.
19.) Make art and be an artist. (DIY as well)
20.) Make pins, patches, shirts, clothing, jewelry, stickers, and/or buttons (DIY as well)
21.) Donate blood to the Red Cross and donate an organ to somebody that needs it. You can also donate organs when you die, to be used for research. This involves signing a paper and leaving the request in a will.
22.) Visit a hospital and/or a nursing home. You could be making someone's day.
23.) Donate money to charity or to a non-profit organization.
24.) Write the government or elected officials a letter.
25.) Start your own record label. (DIY as well)
26.) Make and hand out flyers. (DIY as well)
27.) Start your own riot grrrl chapter or join a riot grrrl chapter. Hold riot grrrl conventions. (DIY as well)
28.) Make posters. (DIY as well)
29.) Start a support group, such as for survivors of cancer, abuse, etc. (DIY as well)
30.) Share your stories with others. Others stories can inspire us and can remind us that we are not alone in what we are going through.
31.) Write about causes or issues that are important to you. This is also called ranting, if you share your opinions about the cause or issue. You can also write essays on a cause or issue.
32.) Find your passion. There are lots of causes and issues out there that could inspire you and be your passion. I can't make a list because it would be never ending. You can find some causes and issues on dmoz.org, under "Society". It is a web directory. You can even do a search for "causes", "issues", "get involved", "list of causes", and "list of issues".
33.) Volunteer at a shelter.
34.) Create and/or Organize a fundraiser. (DIY as well)
35.) Advocate for a general cause or issue.
What Is Activism?
Activism is any intentional action to bring political or social change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an argument. The word "activism" is often associated with "protest" or "dissent". Activism can take a wide range of forms, from writing letters to newspapers, protesting, boycotting, blogging, and a number of other tactics. Activism means getting involved in causes or issues that affect you as a person. Activism can be considered DIY or do it yourself as well. There are many ways to get involved in activism.
35 Ways You Can Get Involved In Activism
1.) Make a zine...online or in real life. (DIY as well)
2.) Make a zine distro...online or in real life. (DIY as well)
3.) Submit articles, submissions, classifieds, etc. for a zine.
4.) Create a Ladyfest in your area. (DIY as well)
5.) Support and join ladyfests
6.) Help organize a ladyfest. (DIY as well)
7.) Make a blog, start up a journal, message board, or website. (DIY as well)
8.) Participate in websites, message boards, blogs, etc.
9.) Protest about something you are for or against. (DIY as well)
10.) Sign or start petitions...online or in real life. (DIY as well)
11.) Vote in elections. (DIY as well)
12.) Start a journal...in real life. (DIY only)
13.) Make an online group, such as on yahoo, msn, myspace, etc. (DIY as well)
14.) Write a book. (DIY as well)
15.) Make your own recipes. Don't go traditional, try to make your own food and desserts. (DIY only)
16.) Start your own non-profit organization. (DIY only)
17.) Start a band, write songs, and/or play an instrument. (DIY as well)
18.) Visit websites of important causes/issues and visit click-to-donate websites.
19.) Make art and be an artist. (DIY as well)
20.) Make pins, patches, shirts, clothing, jewelry, stickers, and/or buttons (DIY as well)
21.) Donate blood to the Red Cross and donate an organ to somebody that needs it. You can also donate organs when you die, to be used for research. This involves signing a paper and leaving the request in a will.
22.) Visit a hospital and/or a nursing home. You could be making someone's day.
23.) Donate money to charity or to a non-profit organization.
24.) Write the government or elected officials a letter.
25.) Start your own record label. (DIY as well)
26.) Make and hand out flyers. (DIY as well)
27.) Start your own riot grrrl chapter or join a riot grrrl chapter. Hold riot grrrl conventions. (DIY as well)
28.) Make posters. (DIY as well)
29.) Start a support group, such as for survivors of cancer, abuse, etc. (DIY as well)
30.) Share your stories with others. Others stories can inspire us and can remind us that we are not alone in what we are going through.
31.) Write about causes or issues that are important to you. This is also called ranting, if you share your opinions about the cause or issue. You can also write essays on a cause or issue.
32.) Find your passion. There are lots of causes and issues out there that could inspire you and be your passion. I can't make a list because it would be never ending. You can find some causes and issues on dmoz.org, under "Society". It is a web directory. You can even do a search for "causes", "issues", "get involved", "list of causes", and "list of issues".
33.) Volunteer at a shelter.
34.) Create and/or Organize a fundraiser. (DIY as well)
35.) Advocate for a general cause or issue.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
I'm Sorry....No I'm Not
Written by: Kathleen Hanna for a zine in the early 1990's
I'm Sorry....No I'm Not
I'm sorry I don't believe it.
I'm sorry that I care.
no i'm not.
I'm not sorry that i still believe we are capable of creating something. that i don't think punk is just a big joke and that we should be little and make fun of ourselves for still believing that everything we do makes a difference
i don't care that it's no longer punk to have fun anymore. that it's no longer punk to criticize the society we live in.
so
what if i keep talking about abolishing wage-slavery while i keep working. it fucking beats the hell out of writing songs or zines about how we are all hypocrites and all our actions are worthless.
we are all hypocritical superwimps (?). we are never (?)
SO IF YOU'RE BEING ALL PUNK AS FUCK AND TALKING SHIT ABOUT PEOPLE AT LEAST TRY TO DO SOMETHING THAN I'M (NOT) SORRY BUT I GUESS THAT MEANS I'M NOT PUNK ANYMORE AND IF THAT'S WHAT PUNK IS I'M FUCKIN GLAD I'M NOT AS PUNK AS YOU
[Kathleen]
I am a fucking idiot. I still think we can change the world.
I'm Sorry....No I'm Not
I'm sorry I don't believe it.
I'm sorry that I care.
no i'm not.
I'm not sorry that i still believe we are capable of creating something. that i don't think punk is just a big joke and that we should be little and make fun of ourselves for still believing that everything we do makes a difference
i don't care that it's no longer punk to have fun anymore. that it's no longer punk to criticize the society we live in.
so
what if i keep talking about abolishing wage-slavery while i keep working. it fucking beats the hell out of writing songs or zines about how we are all hypocrites and all our actions are worthless.
we are all hypocritical superwimps (?). we are never (?)
SO IF YOU'RE BEING ALL PUNK AS FUCK AND TALKING SHIT ABOUT PEOPLE AT LEAST TRY TO DO SOMETHING THAN I'M (NOT) SORRY BUT I GUESS THAT MEANS I'M NOT PUNK ANYMORE AND IF THAT'S WHAT PUNK IS I'M FUCKIN GLAD I'M NOT AS PUNK AS YOU
[Kathleen]
I am a fucking idiot. I still think we can change the world.
Friday, May 15, 2009
DIY: How To Defend Pro-Choice Beliefs
How to Defend Pro-Choice Beliefs
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
When a woman becomes pregnant, sometimes, for some reason or another, she wants to abort the pregnancy. This action has become a "hot topic" for discussion over the past few years, with almost everyone choosing one side or another on the abortion issue. There is the Pro Life side, which argues abortion is wrong, and the Pro Choice side, which argues that, while abortion isn't a wonderful thing, it isn't wrong. Here is how to defend your choice if you choose to agree with the Pro Choice side of the abortion issue.
Steps
- Explain that even if abortion was illegal, it would be impossible to enforce such laws. The procedure used in performing abortions is identical to the procedure used to investigate bad pap smears. This is how abortions were covered up in the past.
- Explain that abortion laws, such as the one mentioned in Roe vs. Wade, were not about the moral implications of abortion. They were about safety.
- Modern Medicine and Sanitation practices are relatively new medical concepts. Doctors were literally using medical instruments to remove infected tissue and then using the same equipment to perform abortions. Women were dying more frequently from physician performed abortions than from self-induced abortions. The law overturned in Roe vs. Wade did not outlaw abortions, only doctors performing them. The Supreme Court ruled that the reasoning behind the law was no longer valid (The law was written before sanitary practices were instituted.)
- Modern Medicine and Sanitation practices are relatively new medical concepts. Doctors were literally using medical instruments to remove infected tissue and then using the same equipment to perform abortions. Women were dying more frequently from physician performed abortions than from self-induced abortions. The law overturned in Roe vs. Wade did not outlaw abortions, only doctors performing them. The Supreme Court ruled that the reasoning behind the law was no longer valid (The law was written before sanitary practices were instituted.)
- Try and find a middle ground with the other person. If they say abortion is wrong in all cases, try and find a case in which they agree it would not be wrong. Cases of rape, incest, and cases in which a birth of the child would kill the mother are often good middle grounds.
- Try and stretch the middle ground. If they agree that cases of, say, rape, would be fine for an abortion, ask if it would be okay if the woman received an abortion if the fetus was not going to live after birth, and she knew. Generally, just try and find more ways in which they agree abortion should be allowed.
- Continue to push different cases. The person with whom you are debating should realize, after they've agreed to a few scenarios in which abortion would be allowed, that maybe abortion isn't as horrible - after all, it deals with legal, emotional, and physically traumatizing events. If they don't realize this, mention it, but only after they've agreed on a few cases in which abortion should be allowed. If they think war can justify murder of adults as the lesser of two evils then why not abortion?
- Try and stretch the middle ground. If they agree that cases of, say, rape, would be fine for an abortion, ask if it would be okay if the woman received an abortion if the fetus was not going to live after birth, and she knew. Generally, just try and find more ways in which they agree abortion should be allowed.
- Mention the mother's well-being. Ask if they believe the birth of an unwanted child to a young, promising woman would hinder her life. They will agree that it will; it is obvious. They might mention, at this point, that if the woman didn't want to have a child, she shouldn't have had sex. Mention cases of rape, leave it at that.
- Ask about cases in which the mother could be seriously harmed by the birth of the child, or even killed. This is also something good to mention when you are trying to find a middle ground with whomever you are discussing abortion with - even the most die-hard Pro Life supporter normally will agree that abortion should be allowed in cases in which the mother will be killed by giving birth.
- Ask about cases in which the mother could be seriously harmed by the birth of the child, or even killed. This is also something good to mention when you are trying to find a middle ground with whomever you are discussing abortion with - even the most die-hard Pro Life supporter normally will agree that abortion should be allowed in cases in which the mother will be killed by giving birth.
- Emphasize the magnitude of damage to children of being born to unwanting parents.
- If they mention giving up the child for adoption, simply counter with the fact that orphanariums worldwide are overflowing with too many children, and it would very possibly be even more damaging to the child to be left in an orphanarium for eighteen years, which happens to a very large portion of children given up for adoption.
- Dropping a mention of the homeless rate is also a good idea for defending abortion. There are too many people in the world to force parents to have children when they are nowhere near ready, or when there is only a mother.
- If they mention giving up the child for adoption, simply counter with the fact that orphanariums worldwide are overflowing with too many children, and it would very possibly be even more damaging to the child to be left in an orphanarium for eighteen years, which happens to a very large portion of children given up for adoption.
- Ask them to consider the following question: if we cannot decide at what point life actually begins, can we decide at what point life ends? If they cannot answer, talk about brain death, and how doctors pronounce a patient dead when the brain stops sending pulse signals to the body. Ask them if they know when the brain actually begins to send signals. The answer is eight weeks into pregnancy. Use this argument to show that since life ends when the brain stops, shouldn't life begin when the brain starts?
- If they insist that life begins at fertilisation, point out that up to two weeks after fertilisation, that clump of cells could split up into identical twins. Where did the second life come from?
- If they insist that life begins at fertilisation, ask what they think about cloning? Assuming that human cloning takes place - probably a matter of time - no fertilisation takes place at all, the new person has the exact same genetic information as the "donor", yet they are clearly distinct individuals.
- Remind the person that pro-choice people are not "pro-abortion" - they understand the gravity of the decision and none of them think abortion is all sunshine and puppies. But they also realize that legal or not, there have always been unwanted pregnancies and a demand for abortion, and when abortion is not legal it does not stop happening, it just becomes a lot more dangerous and even deadly. Being pro-choice means wanting to keep abortion safe, legal and rare.
- Ask them to consider societies where abortion was illegal such as Communist Romania and watch the film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The same rate of women attempted to have an abortion, but maternal mortality rates and child abandonment rates soared.
- Ask them to consider societies where abortion was illegal such as Communist Romania and watch the film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The same rate of women attempted to have an abortion, but maternal mortality rates and child abandonment rates soared.
Tips
- Make sure your arguments can be supported by logic and/or scientific evidence.
- Be polite. Just because you disagree with the other person's opinion on abortion, don't interrupt and shout at them. Calmly explain your point, and allow them to do the same.
Warnings
- If you mention religion too much, be prepared as this may turn in to a never-ending argument.
- Understand that this is a very touchy issue for most people, and that it can break friendships, and cause grudges. Stay away from "hot button" issues such as abortion if you feel it may cause a fight or create a rift between two people.
- Don't expect to change anyone's mind in five minutes. If you feel very strongly about this, then they probably feel just as strongly about their own opinions. Allow them time to think about it, and never push too hard. Pushing will only cause the other person to feel antagonized, and you will get nowhere.
- Pro-lifers use extremely graphic images usually of late term abortions which are a tiny proportion of all abortions.
Sources and Citations
- http://www.elroy.net/ehr/abortionanswers.html
- http://www.elroy.net/ehr/abortion.html
- http://www.naral.org/
- http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/
- http://www.childrenbychoice.org.au/nwww/myth.htm
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Defend Pro Choice Beliefs. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
She Is My Best Friend
The article below was written for the "Riot Boy" section of my Riot Grrrl Online website. The article was written by Deshawn and he lives in the United States.
She Is My Best Friend
he was never my first love, she was and her name was riot grrrl. she entered my life as a 15 year-old boy still lost in his emotions and still learning what it was to live. out of this desire to be "different" from the "different" kids at school grew the love of a "different" way of life among the "different", a movement called riot grrrl. of course, at the time i was just beginning to experience and appericate this new found way of life, the media had already did their job of mislabeling and fucking up something so meaningful just a few years before. but, i knew if i still had felt what i felt at that time, so did others and i assumed correctly.
after feeding my new addiction daily, the internet, i would spend days on end reading about bands like bikini kill, building my vocabulary with new words such as feminism, and falling in love with such radical women like kathleen hanna. it wasn't until i was 16 when i first got my hands on a real bikini kill cd, the cd version of the first two records. at first listen, it was very intense, nothing like anything i was listening to at the time. bikini kill's sound was raw and jagged and their words blunt, very blunt. i began to take in the literature that i was reading online and the words in the cd booklet itself to heart.
at that time in my life i was experiencing, almost on a daily basis, domestic violence (physcially and emotionally), witnessing my mother being degraded in such a manner by someone who they had the god given right (literally) to do so because he was a "man". battling and coming to terms with my sexuality. straight? bisexual? gay? gay and that face that stared back at me in the mirror. yes, enough to drive anyone crazy in this openly image crazed society called america. instead, i learned to accept myself for who i was, learned that i do have rights as a human being, and somehow keep on livin'.
almost five years have passed since my discovery of riot grrrl and what an impact to this very day that it has shaped me into this black, queer, survior of abuse, pro-choice, feminist, activist, d.i.y., artist, aka ME, that i am today.
She Is My Best Friend
he was never my first love, she was and her name was riot grrrl. she entered my life as a 15 year-old boy still lost in his emotions and still learning what it was to live. out of this desire to be "different" from the "different" kids at school grew the love of a "different" way of life among the "different", a movement called riot grrrl. of course, at the time i was just beginning to experience and appericate this new found way of life, the media had already did their job of mislabeling and fucking up something so meaningful just a few years before. but, i knew if i still had felt what i felt at that time, so did others and i assumed correctly.
after feeding my new addiction daily, the internet, i would spend days on end reading about bands like bikini kill, building my vocabulary with new words such as feminism, and falling in love with such radical women like kathleen hanna. it wasn't until i was 16 when i first got my hands on a real bikini kill cd, the cd version of the first two records. at first listen, it was very intense, nothing like anything i was listening to at the time. bikini kill's sound was raw and jagged and their words blunt, very blunt. i began to take in the literature that i was reading online and the words in the cd booklet itself to heart.
at that time in my life i was experiencing, almost on a daily basis, domestic violence (physcially and emotionally), witnessing my mother being degraded in such a manner by someone who they had the god given right (literally) to do so because he was a "man". battling and coming to terms with my sexuality. straight? bisexual? gay? gay and that face that stared back at me in the mirror. yes, enough to drive anyone crazy in this openly image crazed society called america. instead, i learned to accept myself for who i was, learned that i do have rights as a human being, and somehow keep on livin'.
almost five years have passed since my discovery of riot grrrl and what an impact to this very day that it has shaped me into this black, queer, survior of abuse, pro-choice, feminist, activist, d.i.y., artist, aka ME, that i am today.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tobi Vail's Words On Bikini Kill
The article below was written by Tobi Vail from an old riot grrrl zine in the early 1990's, when Bikini Kill was still together. I got the article from my Riot Grrrl Online website.
Tobi Vail's Words On Bikini Kill
BIKINI KILL IS A BAND MADE UP OF FOUR INDIVIDUALS, Kathi, Tobi, Billy, and Kathleen...
We have been written about a lot by big magazines who have never talked to us or seen our shows. They write about us authoritively, as if they understand us better than we understand our own ideas, tactics and significance. They largely miss the point of everything about us because they have no idea what our context is/has been. Their idea of punk rock is not based on anything they have ever experienced directly or even sought an understanding of by talking to those who have, yet they continue to write about it as if their stereotypical suraface level view of it is all there is. A lot of times we have been asked why we don't do interviews very often if we are so concerned with being misrepresented. To us this seems obvious... it is mostly based on our experiences. As a rule we don't do interviews with mainstream newspapers or magazines. In the few cases where we did do them we feel like we were totally fucked over by the way our words were framed to back up ideas that weren't our own. Quotes were taken out of context, we were made to look like we were dissing other women in bands when that wasn't our intention and in the worst case scenerious our confidence was totally violated by having stuff we told the individual writers NOT to focus on exploitatively (abuse histories, where we work/have worked, etc.) turned into the main focus of the article. We have constantly told writers to leave out personal information about us (our last names, who we go out with/used to date) out of articles and they always are sure to include it if we tell them not to. We always try to include perspectives of different band members but often times the writer only puts in quotes by Kathleen, our singer. When she has done interviews by herself as an indivudual it is often seen as an interview with the whole band even tho she continually says she is only speaking as an individual member of Bikini Kill whose opinions do not necessarily refelct those of the whole band. When we have granted these sources interviews it made us look like everything they said about us was done with our co-operation. The times when we have asked to see articles or edit them before they come out it has never really worked out. One time in particular we were told by N.M.E. in the U.K. that we could write our own articles and they would not in anyway comment on it or edit it. When the articles came out Kathi's was not included, but was rather taken out of context and cited to back up their ideas about us in the introduction they wrote to my article (something that to our understanding they weren't going to do). They laid it out in a way that included catty remarks bigger than our own words and put in a bunch of dumb pictures that we didn't send them. This was the last time we ever tried to co-operate with a big magazine but they have continued to write stuff about us. This is really frustrating but what is even more frustrating is when people who should know better, other punks for instance, believe these takes on who we are as being based on reality rather than on conjecture and in most cases on ill intentions of the writer/magazine. (when you refuse to grant interviews people get really insulted and make a point of going out of their way to use their influences to elaborately dis you--usually this is to the point of spreading deliberate lies or saying really naive sexist things in an effort to provoke a response from you) I want to make it cleat that we do not give a shit what people think of us, that is not what we object to in all of this, it is not about us being pissed off because of a bad review... it is about feeling like no matter what we say or do there continues to be this media created idea of 'Bikini Kill/Riot Girl' that has little or nothing to do with our own ideas and efforts... we want to be an underground band, we don't want to be featured in Newsweek magazine... maybe this sounds like a weak complaint to some of you who have worked really hard to get people to hear about your band, projects, record label, ideas, etc. and would appreciate any kind of publicity... we recognize that different strategies are totally valid for different situations... we are not trying to set any kind of 'correct' standard, we are just trying to present our views on what our experiences with the media has been in order to start to comment on how it has affected us as a band... we stopped doing interviews altogther for while mainly because we felt that we didn't need any mroe publicity but also because these experiences led us to not feeling like talking about our ideas atall... sometimes not even to each other, but fuck that you know and right now we are making Nu fanzine(s) about this whole weird machine media spectaclization process we have been going thru and so you should look forward to that ...
IN THE MEANTIME WE ASK YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT US AND THINK ABOUT HOW YOU GOT THAT INFORMATION, CUZ IN MOST CASES IT PROBABLY ISN'T TOO ACCURATE...
SEND US PICTURES, VIDEO TAPES, AUDIO TAPES OF OUR SHOWS, INTERVIEWS, RADIO SHOWS AND COPIES OF OR XEROXES OF MAGAZINE ARTICLES CUZ WE WANNA DOCUMENT THE SOUND OF THE SPECTACLE AND OFTEN TIMES DON'T GET SENT COPIES OF STUFF.
Oh yeah and please address all correspondence to Bikini Kill c/o kill rock stars (120 N.E. State Ave. #418/Olympia, WA 98501).
One huge misconception for instance that has been repeated over and over again in magazines we have never spoken to and also by those who beleive these sources without checking things out themselves is that Bikini Kill is the definitive 'riot girl band'... We are not in any way "leaders of" or authorities on the 'Riot Girl' movement. In fact, as individuals, we have each had different experiences with, feelings on, opinions of and varying degrees of involvement with 'Riot Girl' and tho we totally respect those who still feel that the label is important and maningful to them, we have never used that term to describe ourselves AS A BAND. As, individuals we respect and utilize and subscribe to a variety of different aesthetics, strategies and beliefs, both political and punk-wise, some of which are probably considered 'riot girl' . . .
You can get back issues of Bikini Kill fanzines (issues #1 and #2) from riot girl press for $2 each. They are a girl run girl fanzine distribution network, write to them and send them $1 for their catalog which contains brief descriptions of stuff available thru them as well as info on how to get involved in what they're doing. Please note that these fanzines are way outdated--both were made in 1991 and also that although both have contributions by other band members most of the stuff in them was written by our singer, Kathleen, this is not to say they aren't informative but rather to make an effort to posit them more exactly with regards to the factors of history and subjectivity . . . R.G.P. P.O. Box 73308/Washington, D.C.20009
Tobi Vail's Words On Bikini Kill
BIKINI KILL IS A BAND MADE UP OF FOUR INDIVIDUALS, Kathi, Tobi, Billy, and Kathleen...
We have been written about a lot by big magazines who have never talked to us or seen our shows. They write about us authoritively, as if they understand us better than we understand our own ideas, tactics and significance. They largely miss the point of everything about us because they have no idea what our context is/has been. Their idea of punk rock is not based on anything they have ever experienced directly or even sought an understanding of by talking to those who have, yet they continue to write about it as if their stereotypical suraface level view of it is all there is. A lot of times we have been asked why we don't do interviews very often if we are so concerned with being misrepresented. To us this seems obvious... it is mostly based on our experiences. As a rule we don't do interviews with mainstream newspapers or magazines. In the few cases where we did do them we feel like we were totally fucked over by the way our words were framed to back up ideas that weren't our own. Quotes were taken out of context, we were made to look like we were dissing other women in bands when that wasn't our intention and in the worst case scenerious our confidence was totally violated by having stuff we told the individual writers NOT to focus on exploitatively (abuse histories, where we work/have worked, etc.) turned into the main focus of the article. We have constantly told writers to leave out personal information about us (our last names, who we go out with/used to date) out of articles and they always are sure to include it if we tell them not to. We always try to include perspectives of different band members but often times the writer only puts in quotes by Kathleen, our singer. When she has done interviews by herself as an indivudual it is often seen as an interview with the whole band even tho she continually says she is only speaking as an individual member of Bikini Kill whose opinions do not necessarily refelct those of the whole band. When we have granted these sources interviews it made us look like everything they said about us was done with our co-operation. The times when we have asked to see articles or edit them before they come out it has never really worked out. One time in particular we were told by N.M.E. in the U.K. that we could write our own articles and they would not in anyway comment on it or edit it. When the articles came out Kathi's was not included, but was rather taken out of context and cited to back up their ideas about us in the introduction they wrote to my article (something that to our understanding they weren't going to do). They laid it out in a way that included catty remarks bigger than our own words and put in a bunch of dumb pictures that we didn't send them. This was the last time we ever tried to co-operate with a big magazine but they have continued to write stuff about us. This is really frustrating but what is even more frustrating is when people who should know better, other punks for instance, believe these takes on who we are as being based on reality rather than on conjecture and in most cases on ill intentions of the writer/magazine. (when you refuse to grant interviews people get really insulted and make a point of going out of their way to use their influences to elaborately dis you--usually this is to the point of spreading deliberate lies or saying really naive sexist things in an effort to provoke a response from you) I want to make it cleat that we do not give a shit what people think of us, that is not what we object to in all of this, it is not about us being pissed off because of a bad review... it is about feeling like no matter what we say or do there continues to be this media created idea of 'Bikini Kill/Riot Girl' that has little or nothing to do with our own ideas and efforts... we want to be an underground band, we don't want to be featured in Newsweek magazine... maybe this sounds like a weak complaint to some of you who have worked really hard to get people to hear about your band, projects, record label, ideas, etc. and would appreciate any kind of publicity... we recognize that different strategies are totally valid for different situations... we are not trying to set any kind of 'correct' standard, we are just trying to present our views on what our experiences with the media has been in order to start to comment on how it has affected us as a band... we stopped doing interviews altogther for while mainly because we felt that we didn't need any mroe publicity but also because these experiences led us to not feeling like talking about our ideas atall... sometimes not even to each other, but fuck that you know and right now we are making Nu fanzine(s) about this whole weird machine media spectaclization process we have been going thru and so you should look forward to that ...
IN THE MEANTIME WE ASK YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT US AND THINK ABOUT HOW YOU GOT THAT INFORMATION, CUZ IN MOST CASES IT PROBABLY ISN'T TOO ACCURATE...
SEND US PICTURES, VIDEO TAPES, AUDIO TAPES OF OUR SHOWS, INTERVIEWS, RADIO SHOWS AND COPIES OF OR XEROXES OF MAGAZINE ARTICLES CUZ WE WANNA DOCUMENT THE SOUND OF THE SPECTACLE AND OFTEN TIMES DON'T GET SENT COPIES OF STUFF.
Oh yeah and please address all correspondence to Bikini Kill c/o kill rock stars (120 N.E. State Ave. #418/Olympia, WA 98501).
One huge misconception for instance that has been repeated over and over again in magazines we have never spoken to and also by those who beleive these sources without checking things out themselves is that Bikini Kill is the definitive 'riot girl band'... We are not in any way "leaders of" or authorities on the 'Riot Girl' movement. In fact, as individuals, we have each had different experiences with, feelings on, opinions of and varying degrees of involvement with 'Riot Girl' and tho we totally respect those who still feel that the label is important and maningful to them, we have never used that term to describe ourselves AS A BAND. As, individuals we respect and utilize and subscribe to a variety of different aesthetics, strategies and beliefs, both political and punk-wise, some of which are probably considered 'riot girl' . . .
You can get back issues of Bikini Kill fanzines (issues #1 and #2) from riot girl press for $2 each. They are a girl run girl fanzine distribution network, write to them and send them $1 for their catalog which contains brief descriptions of stuff available thru them as well as info on how to get involved in what they're doing. Please note that these fanzines are way outdated--both were made in 1991 and also that although both have contributions by other band members most of the stuff in them was written by our singer, Kathleen, this is not to say they aren't informative but rather to make an effort to posit them more exactly with regards to the factors of history and subjectivity . . . R.G.P. P.O. Box 73308/Washington, D.C.20009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What If Men Could Menstruate?
Gloria Steinem wrote the article below. I got the article from archive.org
Written by: Gloria Steinem, 1978
If Men Could Menstruate
A White minority of the world has spent centuries conning us into
thinking that a white skin makes people superior-even though the only
thing it really does is make them more subject to ultraviolet rays and
to wrinkles. Male human beings have built whole cultures around the idea
that penis-envy is "natural" to women-though to have such an unprotected
organ might be said to make men vulnerable, and the power to give birth
makes womb-envy at least as logical.
In short, the characteristics of the powerful, whatever they may be, are
thought to be better than the characteristics of the powerless- and logic
has nothing to do with it.
What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate
and women could not?
The answer is clear-menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy
masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much.
Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood,
with religious ritual and stag parties.
Congress would fun a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp
out monthly discomforts.
Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some
men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne
Tampons, Muhammed Ali's Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shileds - "For
Those Light Bachelor Days," and Robert "Baretta" Blake Maxi-Pads.)
Military men, right-wing politicians and religious fundamentalists would cite
menstruation (MEN-struation) as proof that only men could serve in the Army
("you have to give blood to take blood"), occupy political office ("Can women
be aggressive without that steadfast cycle governed by the planet Mars?"), be
priests or ministers ("How could a woman give her blood for our sins?"), or
rabbis ("Without the monthly loss of impurities, women remain unclean.")
Male radicals, left-wing politicians, and mystics, however, would insist that
women are equal, just different; and that any woman could enter the ranks if
only she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month, recognize the
preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in
their cycle of enlightenment.
Street guys would brag ("I'm a three-pad man") or answer praise from a buddy
("Man, you're looking GOOD!") by giving fives and saying, "Yeah, man, I'm on
the rag!". TV shows would treat the subject at length ("Happy Days": Richie
and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz," though he has
missed two periods in a row.) So would newspapers. (SHARK SCARE THREATENS
MENSTRUATING MEN. JUDGE CITES MONTHLY STRESS IN PARDONING RAPIST.) And movies.
(Newman and Redford in "Blood Brothers").
Men would convince women that intercourse was MORE pleasureable at "that time
of the month." Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself-
though probably only because they needed a good menstruating man.
Of course, male intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguments.
How could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space,
mathematics, or measurement, for instance, without that in-built gift for
measuring the cycles of the moon and planets-and thus for measuring anything
at all? In the rarefied fields of philosophy and religion, could women
compensate for missing the rhythm of the universe? Or for their lack of
symbolic death-and-resurrection every month?
And how would women be trained to react? One can imagine traditional women
agreeing to all these arguments with a staunch and smiling masochism.
("The ERA would force housewives to wound themselves every month?" Phyllis
Schlafly. "Your husbands blood is as sacred as that of Jesus - and so sexy
too!" Marabel Morgan.) Reformers and Queen Bees would try to imitiate men
and PRETEND to have a monthly cycle. All feminists would explain endlessly
that men too needed to be liberated from the false idea of Martian
aggressiveness,just as women needed to escape the bonds of menses-envy. Radical
feminists would add that the oppression of the nonmenstrual was a pattern for
all other oppressions. (Vampires were our first freedom fighters!). Cultural
feminists would develop a bloodless imagery in art and literature. Socialist
feminists would insist that only under capitalism would men be able to
monopolize menstrual blood...
In fact, if men could menstruate, the power justifications could probably go
on for ever.
Written by: Gloria Steinem, 1978
If Men Could Menstruate
A White minority of the world has spent centuries conning us into
thinking that a white skin makes people superior-even though the only
thing it really does is make them more subject to ultraviolet rays and
to wrinkles. Male human beings have built whole cultures around the idea
that penis-envy is "natural" to women-though to have such an unprotected
organ might be said to make men vulnerable, and the power to give birth
makes womb-envy at least as logical.
In short, the characteristics of the powerful, whatever they may be, are
thought to be better than the characteristics of the powerless- and logic
has nothing to do with it.
What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate
and women could not?
The answer is clear-menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy
masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much.
Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood,
with religious ritual and stag parties.
Congress would fun a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp
out monthly discomforts.
Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some
men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne
Tampons, Muhammed Ali's Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shileds - "For
Those Light Bachelor Days," and Robert "Baretta" Blake Maxi-Pads.)
Military men, right-wing politicians and religious fundamentalists would cite
menstruation (MEN-struation) as proof that only men could serve in the Army
("you have to give blood to take blood"), occupy political office ("Can women
be aggressive without that steadfast cycle governed by the planet Mars?"), be
priests or ministers ("How could a woman give her blood for our sins?"), or
rabbis ("Without the monthly loss of impurities, women remain unclean.")
Male radicals, left-wing politicians, and mystics, however, would insist that
women are equal, just different; and that any woman could enter the ranks if
only she were willing to self-inflict a major wound every month, recognize the
preeminence of menstrual issues, or subordinate her selfness to all men in
their cycle of enlightenment.
Street guys would brag ("I'm a three-pad man") or answer praise from a buddy
("Man, you're looking GOOD!") by giving fives and saying, "Yeah, man, I'm on
the rag!". TV shows would treat the subject at length ("Happy Days": Richie
and Potsie try to convince Fonzie that he is still "The Fonz," though he has
missed two periods in a row.) So would newspapers. (SHARK SCARE THREATENS
MENSTRUATING MEN. JUDGE CITES MONTHLY STRESS IN PARDONING RAPIST.) And movies.
(Newman and Redford in "Blood Brothers").
Men would convince women that intercourse was MORE pleasureable at "that time
of the month." Lesbians would be said to fear blood and therefore life itself-
though probably only because they needed a good menstruating man.
Of course, male intellectuals would offer the most moral and logical arguments.
How could a woman master any discipline that demanded a sense of time, space,
mathematics, or measurement, for instance, without that in-built gift for
measuring the cycles of the moon and planets-and thus for measuring anything
at all? In the rarefied fields of philosophy and religion, could women
compensate for missing the rhythm of the universe? Or for their lack of
symbolic death-and-resurrection every month?
And how would women be trained to react? One can imagine traditional women
agreeing to all these arguments with a staunch and smiling masochism.
("The ERA would force housewives to wound themselves every month?" Phyllis
Schlafly. "Your husbands blood is as sacred as that of Jesus - and so sexy
too!" Marabel Morgan.) Reformers and Queen Bees would try to imitiate men
and PRETEND to have a monthly cycle. All feminists would explain endlessly
that men too needed to be liberated from the false idea of Martian
aggressiveness,just as women needed to escape the bonds of menses-envy. Radical
feminists would add that the oppression of the nonmenstrual was a pattern for
all other oppressions. (Vampires were our first freedom fighters!). Cultural
feminists would develop a bloodless imagery in art and literature. Socialist
feminists would insist that only under capitalism would men be able to
monopolize menstrual blood...
In fact, if men could menstruate, the power justifications could probably go
on for ever.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Girl Love Is...
The following is from the zine Tennis and Violins and it was written by Kristy Chan. It is taken from here: http://web.archive.org/web/20011020035444/www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/3685/girllove.html
Girl Love Is…
* treating all girls with respect
* hugging your girlfriends and being there for them
* protecting each other and providing a feeling of safety when we walk down the street or go out
* making space where women/girls feel unthreatened and unintimidated
* talking about abuse and rape when no one else will listen
* making other girls feel unafraid to eat in public or around others
* making other girls feel comfortable in their bodies
* being kind to your mom and not expecting her to wait on you
* not judging women/girls on their looks and/or hating them for being pretty
* not competing for boys’ attention
* not looking/acting dumb on purpose so boys will like you
* not picking your new boyfriend over your old girlfriends
* calling people on their shit, including your girlfriends because it helps us to stay aware of things we do that are fucked up and things we need to change
* not feeling homophobic around your girlfriends and refusing to touch them
* learning and teaching each other how to do stuff and be active
* screaming in public
* knowing that girls can do anything boys can do
* stopping jealousy
* realizing that girls who have sex aren’t “sluts” or bad and respecting their sexual choices as something that you might not understand of have any business speculating on
* being pro-choice
* knowing that you are connected to all girls and the way you view yourself is related to their self-image as well
* sharing resources with other girls
* helping each other see our beauty and build our own culture around what we see
* wearing make-up and tight clothes because we want to
* being sexy and powerful
* being honest and straight-forward with your girlfriends because mind games suck and keep us divided
* talking about our feelings
* holding hands
* feeling okay about being naked around each other * having sex and making out (if you want to) and liking it
* understanding that girls that we may not like are people, too and are affected by the same institutions that affect all of us
* not letting the words “feminist”, “slut”, “whore”, “bitch”, etc. be used as insults against us
* refusing to let companies prey on our insecurities in order to get our money (how many times have you bought some low-fat diet shit because you feel insecure about your body or bought make-up to hide your face that you think isn’t pretty?)
* trying to understand how oppression and the status quo work and how we fit into it
* reclaiming our customs and rituals (hanging out in the bathroom, slumber parties, shopping, the color pink, whatever we fucking want)
* self-love
Girl Love Is…
* treating all girls with respect
* hugging your girlfriends and being there for them
* protecting each other and providing a feeling of safety when we walk down the street or go out
* making space where women/girls feel unthreatened and unintimidated
* talking about abuse and rape when no one else will listen
* making other girls feel unafraid to eat in public or around others
* making other girls feel comfortable in their bodies
* being kind to your mom and not expecting her to wait on you
* not judging women/girls on their looks and/or hating them for being pretty
* not competing for boys’ attention
* not looking/acting dumb on purpose so boys will like you
* not picking your new boyfriend over your old girlfriends
* calling people on their shit, including your girlfriends because it helps us to stay aware of things we do that are fucked up and things we need to change
* not feeling homophobic around your girlfriends and refusing to touch them
* learning and teaching each other how to do stuff and be active
* screaming in public
* knowing that girls can do anything boys can do
* stopping jealousy
* realizing that girls who have sex aren’t “sluts” or bad and respecting their sexual choices as something that you might not understand of have any business speculating on
* being pro-choice
* knowing that you are connected to all girls and the way you view yourself is related to their self-image as well
* sharing resources with other girls
* helping each other see our beauty and build our own culture around what we see
* wearing make-up and tight clothes because we want to
* being sexy and powerful
* being honest and straight-forward with your girlfriends because mind games suck and keep us divided
* talking about our feelings
* holding hands
* feeling okay about being naked around each other * having sex and making out (if you want to) and liking it
* understanding that girls that we may not like are people, too and are affected by the same institutions that affect all of us
* not letting the words “feminist”, “slut”, “whore”, “bitch”, etc. be used as insults against us
* refusing to let companies prey on our insecurities in order to get our money (how many times have you bought some low-fat diet shit because you feel insecure about your body or bought make-up to hide your face that you think isn’t pretty?)
* trying to understand how oppression and the status quo work and how we fit into it
* reclaiming our customs and rituals (hanging out in the bathroom, slumber parties, shopping, the color pink, whatever we fucking want)
* self-love
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Herstory Of Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!
Here is some history of Mother's Day. After you read the article below, you will find my commentary about the article.
I found this article here: http://www.holidays.net/mother/story.htm.
The History (AKA Herstory) Of Mother’s Day
Celebrating motherhood is a historical tradition dating back almost as far as mothers themselves. A number of ancient cultures paid tribute to mothers as goddesses, including the ancient Greeks, who celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods. The ancient Romans also honored their mother goddess, Cybele, in a notoriously rowdy springtime celebration and the Celtic Pagans marked the coming of spring with a fertility celebration linking their goddess Brigid together with the first milk of the ewes.
During the 17th century, those living on the British isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the forth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers and their children, separated when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday’s popularity faded in the 19th century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration American counterpart.
In the United States, Mother’s Day experienced a series of false starts before eventually transitioning into the “Hallmark” holiday that we celebrate today. In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis was the first woman to hold an official celebration of mothers, when in her home state of West Virginia, she instituted Mothers’ Work Day to raise awareness about local sanitation issues. During the Civil War, she expanded the scope of Mothers’ Work Day to include sanitary conditions on both sides of the battlefield.
Meanwhile Julia Ward Howe, author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” attempted to institute a national celebration of mothers that honored women’s inclinations toward peace (rather than cleanliness). In 1872, she initiated and promoted a Mother’s Day for Peace, to be held on June 2, which was celebrated the following year by women in 18 cities across America. The holiday continued to be honored by Bostonian women for another decade, but eventually phased out after Howe stopped underwriting the cost of the celebrations.
Then in 1905, Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took up her mother’s torch. Anna swore on her mother’s gravesite that she would realize her lifelong dream of creating a national day to honor mothers. In 1907, Anna launched her campaign by handing out white carnations to congregants at her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1908, her mother’s church acquiesced to Anna’s request to hold a special Sunday service in honor of mothers – a tradition that spread the very next year to churches in 46 states. In 1909, Anna left her job and dedicated herself to a full-time letter-writing campaign, imploring politicians, clergymen and civic leaders to institute a national day for mothers.
In 1912, Jarvis’ efforts met with success: Her home state of West Virginia adopted an official Mother’s Day; two years later, the U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution, signed by President Wilson, establishing a national Mother’s Day emphasizing the role of women in their families – and not, like Julia Ward Howe’s campaign, in the public arena. Ever since, Mother’s Day has been celebrated by Americans on the second Sunday in May.
Perhaps the country’s greatest proponent of motherhood, Anna Jarvis ironically never had children of her own. Yet that didn’t stop her from making the celebration of Mother’s Day her lifelong mission. In fact, as the holiday took on a life of its own, Jarvis expressed frequent dismay over its growing commercialization. “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit,” she is quoted as saying.
My Comments: I have to say that like Anna Jarvis, I do not have any children either. I am not a mother. I agree with Jarvis that mother’s day is now commercialized and about profit, thanks to the media. I do celebrate mother’s day to an extent. I celebrate my mom for mothering me, but I do not go overboard about it. I think that everyone should have their own way of celebrating mother’s day.
Here are a few ways you can show appreciation of your mother: buy your mother a card, take your mother out to eat, buy your mother something, or tell your mother how much you love and appreciate her. Remember, Simple gestures go a long way and the message gets across.
Here is some history of Mother's Day. After you read the article below, you will find my commentary about the article.
I found this article here: http://www.holidays.net/mother/story.htm.
The History (AKA Herstory) Of Mother’s Day
Celebrating motherhood is a historical tradition dating back almost as far as mothers themselves. A number of ancient cultures paid tribute to mothers as goddesses, including the ancient Greeks, who celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods. The ancient Romans also honored their mother goddess, Cybele, in a notoriously rowdy springtime celebration and the Celtic Pagans marked the coming of spring with a fertility celebration linking their goddess Brigid together with the first milk of the ewes.
During the 17th century, those living on the British isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the forth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers and their children, separated when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday’s popularity faded in the 19th century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration American counterpart.
In the United States, Mother’s Day experienced a series of false starts before eventually transitioning into the “Hallmark” holiday that we celebrate today. In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis was the first woman to hold an official celebration of mothers, when in her home state of West Virginia, she instituted Mothers’ Work Day to raise awareness about local sanitation issues. During the Civil War, she expanded the scope of Mothers’ Work Day to include sanitary conditions on both sides of the battlefield.
Meanwhile Julia Ward Howe, author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” attempted to institute a national celebration of mothers that honored women’s inclinations toward peace (rather than cleanliness). In 1872, she initiated and promoted a Mother’s Day for Peace, to be held on June 2, which was celebrated the following year by women in 18 cities across America. The holiday continued to be honored by Bostonian women for another decade, but eventually phased out after Howe stopped underwriting the cost of the celebrations.
Then in 1905, Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took up her mother’s torch. Anna swore on her mother’s gravesite that she would realize her lifelong dream of creating a national day to honor mothers. In 1907, Anna launched her campaign by handing out white carnations to congregants at her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1908, her mother’s church acquiesced to Anna’s request to hold a special Sunday service in honor of mothers – a tradition that spread the very next year to churches in 46 states. In 1909, Anna left her job and dedicated herself to a full-time letter-writing campaign, imploring politicians, clergymen and civic leaders to institute a national day for mothers.
In 1912, Jarvis’ efforts met with success: Her home state of West Virginia adopted an official Mother’s Day; two years later, the U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution, signed by President Wilson, establishing a national Mother’s Day emphasizing the role of women in their families – and not, like Julia Ward Howe’s campaign, in the public arena. Ever since, Mother’s Day has been celebrated by Americans on the second Sunday in May.
Perhaps the country’s greatest proponent of motherhood, Anna Jarvis ironically never had children of her own. Yet that didn’t stop her from making the celebration of Mother’s Day her lifelong mission. In fact, as the holiday took on a life of its own, Jarvis expressed frequent dismay over its growing commercialization. “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit,” she is quoted as saying.
My Comments: I have to say that like Anna Jarvis, I do not have any children either. I am not a mother. I agree with Jarvis that mother’s day is now commercialized and about profit, thanks to the media. I do celebrate mother’s day to an extent. I celebrate my mom for mothering me, but I do not go overboard about it. I think that everyone should have their own way of celebrating mother’s day.
Here are a few ways you can show appreciation of your mother: buy your mother a card, take your mother out to eat, buy your mother something, or tell your mother how much you love and appreciate her. Remember, Simple gestures go a long way and the message gets across.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
What Is Riot Grrrl, Anyway?
The article below was taken from: http://web.archive.org/web/19990117024141/www.columbia.edu/~rli3/music_html/bikini_kill/girl.html at archive.org. The article was written by a girl named Spirit and the article was written in 1995.
1-6-95
By Spirit
What Is A Riot Grrrl Anyway?
I was fourteen when I first heard about riot grrrl. By that time it had been all over MTV, fashion and news magazines and newspapers yet this was the first time I had heard of it – in a small local entertainment newspaper. I don’t know how long riot grrrl had existed before the media got its slimy hands all over it but I know, from experience, how much it changed afterward.
I was attracted to the idea of riot grrrl initially because the beliefs I thought riot grrrl was about were ones I had always had myself. The San Jose punk scene isn’t very political or issue oriented (not to say that it should or shouldn’t be) so I often felt alienated and isolated in my beliefs which were all generally anarchistic, anti-fascist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic. Most of the time I was the only girl around, when there were others everyone knew they wouldn’t stay long – they were always just fucking one of the guys in the scene and they were never punx. I was surrounded by “punks” to whom punk had no meaning and my motivation was suppressed. My impression of riot grrrl as conveyed by that small article was: punk rock girls having the beliefs fore-mentioned, creating a scene alternative to the one that they found themselves rejected by. It was that simple. Who can argue with that? The early riot grrrl scene was inclusive of boys and girls, preserved D.I.Y. punk rock methods and morals, and wasn’t threatening to any other groups, people, or interests. Riot grrrl -the idea, the movement, the non-localized group, whatever -inspired literally hundreds of girls to do zines, start bands, collectives, distributions, have meetings etc. The uprising of riot grrrl has been the only activity in the scene most of us have seen in years, yet most of you probably don’t know what a riot grrrrl is and does, why we face so much opposition or who started it.
I won't offer a definition because it wouldn’t be fair to other grrrls to whom riot grrrl may mean something totally different. I will however offer my insight on what I have seen happen… After the height of mainstream media coverage, many of the more productive and popular chapters such as Olympia and D.C. decided to sort of “close up shop”. Refusing to answer most of their mail, rejecting interview requests, changing meeting locations or canceling them all together seemed like the only way to stop further exploitation, misquoting, and such. If a barrette wearing, magic markered, thirteen year old looking 20 year old was what the words “riot grrrl” would be translated as, they didn’t want it. The mainstream media-what seemed like the best medium for communication, the best way to spread “girl love” – had failed us. In fact, it had come close to destroying us. In some ways I think it did. Lots of girls have been inspired by the idea of riot grrrl after having heard about it through some magazine or TV show. They’ve begun to question, challenge, create, demand…others have learned nothing more than a hot, new, cute way to dress.
The most destructive and inaccurate image of a riot grrrl portrayed by the media was that of a lesbian, man-hating, ignorant, violent, bitter, bitch, an image that has followed feminism before it was feminism. Unfortunately, some girls, imitated the most negative aspects of this image blindly, giving riot grrrl a bad name. I disapprove of all violence outside of self-defense and am hurt when I hear stories of riot grrrls beating up boys “for no reason” or “because they are boys”. Usually these stories are bunk by the time they get back to us but I know this sometimes (rarely but sometimes) happens and it’s embarrassing. Does this scenario sound familiar? It should… to each and every one of you. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, turn on MTV right now. Chances are there’ s a Green Day, Rancid, Nirvana, or clone of one of those three bands on. Is a rich, homophobic, sexist, jock with a wallet chain and Doc’s a fair representation of a punk rocker? Is Sid Vicious even a realistic punker? What’s happening to punk right now and what happened to it in the early 80’s is exactly what’s happened to riot grrrl. For those of you who have had bad experiences with girls who call themselves riot grrrls, please remember that we are all fucking different! In every class, race, scene, etc. there are pollutant people – people who just want to get a piece of the action or feel like they belong
How can we fight the patriarchal, corporate, racist system when we’re fighting each other? When punks are rejecting riot grrrl for not being punk enough, when riot grrrls are rejecting punks for not being conscious enough, it is apparent that all of us have let the media’s image of us affect our behavior and treatment of each other. Riot grrrls – the strongest, the truest of us will outlast the trendiness. Our networking through mail, the internet, through music, through zines and through the punk scene keeps us closely knit and strong. Just as the punk scene itself does the same – no matter how many records Offspring sells or how many cheerleaders wear Doc Martens with 100 dollar outfits.
So where’s the riot? The riot can happen inside each of us, male and female. The riot is something that happens everyday. we are changing the rules, the codes, the fucking standards.
Think of Crass, Vice Squad, The Avengers, Blondie, Naked Aggression, Spitboy….think of Emma Goldman, Valerie Solonas… riot grrrl didn’t invent punk rock feminism. We are simply reclaiming our place/voice in punk rock- a voice we’ve always had that’s been trampled on.
The following quote is from Jennifer Miro of the old punk band, “The Nuns”. She is commenting on what she saw happening towards the end of 1977. *”Later it became this macho hardcore thrasher punk scene and that was not what it was about at first. There were a lot of women in the beginning. It was women doing things. Then it became this whole macho, anti-women thing. Then women didn’t go to see punk bands anymore because they were afraid of getting killed. I didn’t even go because it was so violent and so macho that it was repulsive. Women just got squeezed out”. I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen to me or any grrrl I know again.
DISCLAIMER: I don’t consider myself a spokesperson for riot grrrl, only for myself and I happen to consider myself a riot grrrl. My word is no more than my word of experience and indirect knowledge (reading, stories I’ve been told, etc..). Therefore what i say about riot grrrl should be considered only one girls p.o.v.
* Quote by Jennifer Miro from Punk “77 by James Stark.
1-6-95
By Spirit
What Is A Riot Grrrl Anyway?
I was fourteen when I first heard about riot grrrl. By that time it had been all over MTV, fashion and news magazines and newspapers yet this was the first time I had heard of it – in a small local entertainment newspaper. I don’t know how long riot grrrl had existed before the media got its slimy hands all over it but I know, from experience, how much it changed afterward.
I was attracted to the idea of riot grrrl initially because the beliefs I thought riot grrrl was about were ones I had always had myself. The San Jose punk scene isn’t very political or issue oriented (not to say that it should or shouldn’t be) so I often felt alienated and isolated in my beliefs which were all generally anarchistic, anti-fascist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic. Most of the time I was the only girl around, when there were others everyone knew they wouldn’t stay long – they were always just fucking one of the guys in the scene and they were never punx. I was surrounded by “punks” to whom punk had no meaning and my motivation was suppressed. My impression of riot grrrl as conveyed by that small article was: punk rock girls having the beliefs fore-mentioned, creating a scene alternative to the one that they found themselves rejected by. It was that simple. Who can argue with that? The early riot grrrl scene was inclusive of boys and girls, preserved D.I.Y. punk rock methods and morals, and wasn’t threatening to any other groups, people, or interests. Riot grrrl -the idea, the movement, the non-localized group, whatever -inspired literally hundreds of girls to do zines, start bands, collectives, distributions, have meetings etc. The uprising of riot grrrl has been the only activity in the scene most of us have seen in years, yet most of you probably don’t know what a riot grrrrl is and does, why we face so much opposition or who started it.
I won't offer a definition because it wouldn’t be fair to other grrrls to whom riot grrrl may mean something totally different. I will however offer my insight on what I have seen happen… After the height of mainstream media coverage, many of the more productive and popular chapters such as Olympia and D.C. decided to sort of “close up shop”. Refusing to answer most of their mail, rejecting interview requests, changing meeting locations or canceling them all together seemed like the only way to stop further exploitation, misquoting, and such. If a barrette wearing, magic markered, thirteen year old looking 20 year old was what the words “riot grrrl” would be translated as, they didn’t want it. The mainstream media-what seemed like the best medium for communication, the best way to spread “girl love” – had failed us. In fact, it had come close to destroying us. In some ways I think it did. Lots of girls have been inspired by the idea of riot grrrl after having heard about it through some magazine or TV show. They’ve begun to question, challenge, create, demand…others have learned nothing more than a hot, new, cute way to dress.
The most destructive and inaccurate image of a riot grrrl portrayed by the media was that of a lesbian, man-hating, ignorant, violent, bitter, bitch, an image that has followed feminism before it was feminism. Unfortunately, some girls, imitated the most negative aspects of this image blindly, giving riot grrrl a bad name. I disapprove of all violence outside of self-defense and am hurt when I hear stories of riot grrrls beating up boys “for no reason” or “because they are boys”. Usually these stories are bunk by the time they get back to us but I know this sometimes (rarely but sometimes) happens and it’s embarrassing. Does this scenario sound familiar? It should… to each and every one of you. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, turn on MTV right now. Chances are there’ s a Green Day, Rancid, Nirvana, or clone of one of those three bands on. Is a rich, homophobic, sexist, jock with a wallet chain and Doc’s a fair representation of a punk rocker? Is Sid Vicious even a realistic punker? What’s happening to punk right now and what happened to it in the early 80’s is exactly what’s happened to riot grrrl. For those of you who have had bad experiences with girls who call themselves riot grrrls, please remember that we are all fucking different! In every class, race, scene, etc. there are pollutant people – people who just want to get a piece of the action or feel like they belong
How can we fight the patriarchal, corporate, racist system when we’re fighting each other? When punks are rejecting riot grrrl for not being punk enough, when riot grrrls are rejecting punks for not being conscious enough, it is apparent that all of us have let the media’s image of us affect our behavior and treatment of each other. Riot grrrls – the strongest, the truest of us will outlast the trendiness. Our networking through mail, the internet, through music, through zines and through the punk scene keeps us closely knit and strong. Just as the punk scene itself does the same – no matter how many records Offspring sells or how many cheerleaders wear Doc Martens with 100 dollar outfits.
So where’s the riot? The riot can happen inside each of us, male and female. The riot is something that happens everyday. we are changing the rules, the codes, the fucking standards.
Think of Crass, Vice Squad, The Avengers, Blondie, Naked Aggression, Spitboy….think of Emma Goldman, Valerie Solonas… riot grrrl didn’t invent punk rock feminism. We are simply reclaiming our place/voice in punk rock- a voice we’ve always had that’s been trampled on.
The following quote is from Jennifer Miro of the old punk band, “The Nuns”. She is commenting on what she saw happening towards the end of 1977. *”Later it became this macho hardcore thrasher punk scene and that was not what it was about at first. There were a lot of women in the beginning. It was women doing things. Then it became this whole macho, anti-women thing. Then women didn’t go to see punk bands anymore because they were afraid of getting killed. I didn’t even go because it was so violent and so macho that it was repulsive. Women just got squeezed out”. I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen to me or any grrrl I know again.
DISCLAIMER: I don’t consider myself a spokesperson for riot grrrl, only for myself and I happen to consider myself a riot grrrl. My word is no more than my word of experience and indirect knowledge (reading, stories I’ve been told, etc..). Therefore what i say about riot grrrl should be considered only one girls p.o.v.
* Quote by Jennifer Miro from Punk “77 by James Stark.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Riot Boi Manifesto
If you have read some of the previous entries of this blog, You will see the "Riot Grrrl Manifesto". The article below was written by Joey Van Houten that lives in the United States. He submitted this article to the old Riot Grrrl Online website on girlsvomitcandy.com and ever since then, It has been up on the Riot Grrrl Online website. He got the idea for writing this article from reading the “riot grrrl manifesto” on a website. So, he decided to write his own "riot boi manifesto".
Some riot guys have asked, “Why is this manifesto directed at gay riot boys? There are straight riot boys out there too.” If your a straight riot boy, Feel free to send me your version of a riot boy manifesto, by emailing me. I have not received a riot boy manifesto from a straight guy yet and I hope to receive one, so I can post it on my Riot Grrrl Online website. Let me make this clear: Like the riot grrrls, Riot boys can be of any race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Riot Boi Manifesto
We desire music, literature, and zines, but most of all a way of
life that calls out to us, one that us boysinthebackoftheclub group can
feel apart of. We’re the types that don’t fit into the stereotypical
queer lifestyle.
We are artists and musicians, but most of all creative and
intelligent human beings that are fed up and desire a society in which we can
see/hear each others work, so that we can share ideas and
criticize-applaud each other.
We seek to create revolution in our lives everyday by finding new
ways around, and also ideas on how to rise above the bullshit Christian
right wing way of life.
We are unwilling to assimilate to someone else’s ways of conducting
their lives. As if life as we know it is nothing more than the premise
of some big wig television network program only showing the downside
of OUR culture. It seems most of us try to live up to this way of
thinking, and the rest of us simply can’t find the remote!
We are interested in creating non-hierarchical way of being AND making
music, friends, and scenes based on communications + understanding,
instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.
Because doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and
challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we
need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism,able-bodieism,
ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-Semitism and
heterosexism figure in our own lives.
We know that life is much more that physical survival and are patently
aware that the punk rock “you can do anything” idea is crucial to
the coming angry queer rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic
and cultural lives of gays and lesbians everywhere, according to their
own terms, not ours.
We recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical
lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming dreams. And
thus must take over the means of production in order to create our own
moanings!
We are angry at a society that tells us Gay=Moraless, Gay=Wrong,
Gay=Weak!
We are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or
turned against us via the internalization of hate as witnessed in gay/gay
jelousism and self defeating gay type behaviors.
We live in a society that tells us we must pick a way of life and act
this way or that, have such and such morals because we have picked this
way of life and if not than we face social disgrace!
Jigsaw Youth, seeing the world as misshaped pieces that form a big
picture. My life has always been full of contradictions; male feminist,
misanthropic social butterfly. Life doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t
have to.
To go from a manic depressive burnout to the writer of a manifesto
about accepting the not always glamorous, angry, not hormonally oversexed
underbelly of the gay lifestyle says a lot.
It’s all about rising above people’s expectations of your
life/lifestyle and showing them not everything is AS SEEN ON TV.
I believe with my wholeheartbodymind that us boysinthebackoftheclub
constitute a revolutionary soul force that can and will change the world
FOR REAL
Some riot guys have asked, “Why is this manifesto directed at gay riot boys? There are straight riot boys out there too.” If your a straight riot boy, Feel free to send me your version of a riot boy manifesto, by emailing me. I have not received a riot boy manifesto from a straight guy yet and I hope to receive one, so I can post it on my Riot Grrrl Online website. Let me make this clear: Like the riot grrrls, Riot boys can be of any race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Riot Boi Manifesto
We desire music, literature, and zines, but most of all a way of
life that calls out to us, one that us boysinthebackoftheclub group can
feel apart of. We’re the types that don’t fit into the stereotypical
queer lifestyle.
We are artists and musicians, but most of all creative and
intelligent human beings that are fed up and desire a society in which we can
see/hear each others work, so that we can share ideas and
criticize-applaud each other.
We seek to create revolution in our lives everyday by finding new
ways around, and also ideas on how to rise above the bullshit Christian
right wing way of life.
We are unwilling to assimilate to someone else’s ways of conducting
their lives. As if life as we know it is nothing more than the premise
of some big wig television network program only showing the downside
of OUR culture. It seems most of us try to live up to this way of
thinking, and the rest of us simply can’t find the remote!
We are interested in creating non-hierarchical way of being AND making
music, friends, and scenes based on communications + understanding,
instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.
Because doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and
challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we
need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism,able-bodieism,
ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-Semitism and
heterosexism figure in our own lives.
We know that life is much more that physical survival and are patently
aware that the punk rock “you can do anything” idea is crucial to
the coming angry queer rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic
and cultural lives of gays and lesbians everywhere, according to their
own terms, not ours.
We recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical
lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming dreams. And
thus must take over the means of production in order to create our own
moanings!
We are angry at a society that tells us Gay=Moraless, Gay=Wrong,
Gay=Weak!
We are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or
turned against us via the internalization of hate as witnessed in gay/gay
jelousism and self defeating gay type behaviors.
We live in a society that tells us we must pick a way of life and act
this way or that, have such and such morals because we have picked this
way of life and if not than we face social disgrace!
Jigsaw Youth, seeing the world as misshaped pieces that form a big
picture. My life has always been full of contradictions; male feminist,
misanthropic social butterfly. Life doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t
have to.
To go from a manic depressive burnout to the writer of a manifesto
about accepting the not always glamorous, angry, not hormonally oversexed
underbelly of the gay lifestyle says a lot.
It’s all about rising above people’s expectations of your
life/lifestyle and showing them not everything is AS SEEN ON TV.
I believe with my wholeheartbodymind that us boysinthebackoftheclub
constitute a revolutionary soul force that can and will change the world
FOR REAL
Thursday, May 7, 2009
DIY: How To Do A Breast Self Examination
How to Do a Breast Self Examination
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Breast cancer is the most common disease and the second leading cause of cancer death among women. This year more than 211,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected in the United States. Of this number, 1,600 will be men, and 400 are predicted to die from the disease. Seventy percent of all breast cancers are found through breast self-examination. When breast cancer is detected early the five-year survival rate is 96%. By performing the following self-examination steps, you may detect any changes in your breasts early.
Steps
In The Shower
- Fingers flat, move gently over every part of each breast. Use your right hand to examine left breast, and left hand for right breast.
- Check for any lump, hard knot or thickening.
- Carefully observe any changes in your breasts.
In Front of a Mirror
- Inspect your breasts with arms at your sides.
- Raise your arms high over your head. Look for any changes in the contour of each breast, such as a swelling, a dimpling of skin or changes in the nipple.
- Place your palms on your hips and press firmly to flex your chest muscles. Your left and right breasts will not exactly match - few women's breasts do.
Lying Down
- Place a pillow under your right shoulder, place your right arm behind your head.
- With fingers of left hand flat, press right breast gently in small circular motions, moving vertically or in a circular pattern covering the entire breast. Use light, medium and firm pressure.
- Squeeze nipple; check for discharge and lumps. Repeat these steps for your left breast.
Tips
- Breast tissue is found all the way from the nipple to under the armpit. Be sure not to neglect checking along the side of your chest, as well, as it is still, technically, part of your breast.
- If you are wondering what to include in an early detection plan, here are some tips.
- Do monthly breast self-exams starting at age 20.
- Have a breast exam at a medical facility every three years from age 20 to 39 and every year from age 40.
- Have a baseline mammogram by age 40.
- Depending on the results of the mammogram, women 40 to 49 should have one every 1 -2 years.
- Women 50 and older should have a mammogram every year.
- Keep a record of your self examinations, mammograms and doctor visits.
- Do monthly breast self-exams starting at age 20.
Other checks for women
- The other part of the body women must check is their outer genital area. It is as just as easy as examining the breasts. This area is called the vulva and there is a such thing called vulvar cancer and to report any lumps, sores or anything which aren't feeling normal or right, to the doctor no matter how little it is. Another word for the vulva is the labia.
Treatments for vulvar cancer
- Biopsy
- Surgery to remove part/all of the vulva - This is called vulvectomy. Vulvectomy comes in different types, shown below
- Skinning vulvectomy - Removal of the top layers of the vulva only.
- Simple vulvectomy - Removal of the whole vulva only.
- Radical vulvectomy - Removal of the whole vulva, plus the lymph nodes on both sides of the groin
- Partial vulvectomy - Removal of part of the vulva/one side of the vulva only.
- Radiotherapy
- Chemotherapy
- Extensive female surgeries e.g. pelvic exenteration can sometimes include vulvectomy (vulva removal)
Warnings
- Breast cancer risk is higher among women who have a mother, aunt, sister or grandmother who was diagnosed before age 50.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Do a Breast Self Examination. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Rape: To Seize And Take Away By Force...Despoil
The following is a poem contributed by Tabitha to this blog. Check out Tabitha's blog, Mad Babe Zine and its Ning Site. She wrote this after realizing that she had been raped. The title is called "rape: to seize and take away by force . . despoil". Thanks for the poem, Tabitha! :)
What Tabitha says about this poem: "The following is a poem I wrote after realizing what had happened to me, and what keeps happening to so many other young girls."
"rape: to seize and take away by force . . despoil"
positive poetry in and out of ear
wandering aimlessly, in and out of fear.
timeless, unbuttoned. smooth over folds.
screams inside, shut in, fingers are cold.
my words they are numb, from things i don't know.
i stand upright, broken plateau
mindlessly grunting, words are unkept.
powerfully hunting, I'm already dead.
What Tabitha says about this poem: "The following is a poem I wrote after realizing what had happened to me, and what keeps happening to so many other young girls."
"rape: to seize and take away by force . . despoil"
positive poetry in and out of ear
wandering aimlessly, in and out of fear.
timeless, unbuttoned. smooth over folds.
screams inside, shut in, fingers are cold.
my words they are numb, from things i don't know.
i stand upright, broken plateau
mindlessly grunting, words are unkept.
powerfully hunting, I'm already dead.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Color Activity Book Intro
This article was written by: Kathleen Hanna in the early 1990's, when Bikini Kill was still around and this was posted in a riot grrrl zine in the 1990's.
Color Activity Book Intro
Bikini Kill is a band and this is our little thing to give out at shows, etc... AND THEN THERE'S THE REVOLUTION.
Bikini Kill is more than just a band or a zine or an idea, it's a part of the revolution. The revolution is about going to the playground with your best girlfriends. You are hanging upside down on the bars and all the blood is rushing to your head. it's a euphoric feeling. the boys can see our underwear and we don't care.
I'm so sure that lots of girls are also in revolution and we want to find them. Sure our revolution has a lot to do with making ourselves important enough to start a revolution, but we also don't care about this... Because what makes us feel good without hurting others IS good. This society isn't my society cuz this society hates women and I don't. This society doesn't want us girls to feel happy or powerful in any way.
My girlfriends help me stop crying and start looking towards whats important (revolution) my girlfriends know the revolution (sex) my girlfriends aren't owned by me BUT have cringing and choking on boy cum in common (revolution) MY GIRLFRIENDS WANT REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW.
Being sexy and powerful female is one of the most subversive projects of all. (We are the priestesses of a new kind of power oh yeah.)
We know we are not like this due to any weird gene formation or luck or trick. We are how we are from working together with our eyes open and having experience and getting help from out Moms and friends. We vow to struggle against the "j" word (jealousy) the killer of GIRL LOVE. We are not special, anyone can do it. ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE FACE OF INSECURITY is a slogan of the revolution.
Color Activity Book Intro
Bikini Kill is a band and this is our little thing to give out at shows, etc... AND THEN THERE'S THE REVOLUTION.
Bikini Kill is more than just a band or a zine or an idea, it's a part of the revolution. The revolution is about going to the playground with your best girlfriends. You are hanging upside down on the bars and all the blood is rushing to your head. it's a euphoric feeling. the boys can see our underwear and we don't care.
I'm so sure that lots of girls are also in revolution and we want to find them. Sure our revolution has a lot to do with making ourselves important enough to start a revolution, but we also don't care about this... Because what makes us feel good without hurting others IS good. This society isn't my society cuz this society hates women and I don't. This society doesn't want us girls to feel happy or powerful in any way.
My girlfriends help me stop crying and start looking towards whats important (revolution) my girlfriends know the revolution (sex) my girlfriends aren't owned by me BUT have cringing and choking on boy cum in common (revolution) MY GIRLFRIENDS WANT REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW.
Being sexy and powerful female is one of the most subversive projects of all. (We are the priestesses of a new kind of power oh yeah.)
We know we are not like this due to any weird gene formation or luck or trick. We are how we are from working together with our eyes open and having experience and getting help from out Moms and friends. We vow to struggle against the "j" word (jealousy) the killer of GIRL LOVE. We are not special, anyone can do it. ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE FACE OF INSECURITY is a slogan of the revolution.
Monday, May 4, 2009
A Guide To Being A Feminist
This article was taken from Associated Content.
Forget the stereotypes, being a feminist isn’t about having short hair, or refusing to wear dresses. It’s not about trash-talking, bashing or otherwise hating men. Feminism isn’t based on any kinds of strict, crazy principles like refusing to use a razor blade or protesting pornography. Anyone can deem herself a feminist without giving up her love of makeup, her super long locks or throwing out her favorite pair of stilettos.
Love Yourself. First things first, a feminist believes that all people, male or female, should be treated equally. This includes you, you savvy college miss! It’s easy to believe that women as a whole need fair treatment, but that starts with each of you individually. So take a look in the mirror. Embrace your womanly curves, your precious derr’iere, your overabundance of freckles, your pale skin—whatever! Forget about making fitting into that brand new pair of skinny jeans your top priority. Learn to love yourself, regardless of your flaws, because it’s those little things that make you unique as a woman.
Love Your Sisters. Women are all in the fight for equality together, from your too-smart-for-her-own-good English professor to that girl you love to hate in your Sociology class. It’s easy to let nasty words (think “slut”, “whore”, etc.) slip into your daily conversations when speaking about other women. If women talk about their own gender this way, what progress is really being made? Make an effort to stop gabbing and tearing down other women with unnecessary gossip.
Forget the stereotypes, being a feminist isn’t about having short hair, or refusing to wear dresses. It’s not about trash-talking, bashing or otherwise hating men. Feminism isn’t based on any kinds of strict, crazy principles like refusing to use a razor blade or protesting pornography. Anyone can deem herself a feminist without giving up her love of makeup, her super long locks or throwing out her favorite pair of stilettos.
Love Yourself. First things first, a feminist believes that all people, male or female, should be treated equally. This includes you, you savvy college miss! It’s easy to believe that women as a whole need fair treatment, but that starts with each of you individually. So take a look in the mirror. Embrace your womanly curves, your precious derr’iere, your overabundance of freckles, your pale skin—whatever! Forget about making fitting into that brand new pair of skinny jeans your top priority. Learn to love yourself, regardless of your flaws, because it’s those little things that make you unique as a woman.
Love Your Sisters. Women are all in the fight for equality together, from your too-smart-for-her-own-good English professor to that girl you love to hate in your Sociology class. It’s easy to let nasty words (think “slut”, “whore”, etc.) slip into your daily conversations when speaking about other women. If women talk about their own gender this way, what progress is really being made? Make an effort to stop gabbing and tearing down other women with unnecessary gossip.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Riding The Wave Of French Feminism
The following is a contribution written by: Colette Davidson. The same post is also posted on her blog, Kolet ink*. Colette lives in France and decided to write about feminism in her country. Thanks for the article, Colette! :)
Riding The Wave Of French Feminism
I have a bone to pick with Alain Soral, French sociologist and ex-Front National party member. It’s not his pretension or even his manipulation of his “followers” that bothers me, but instead his definition and loathing of modern feminism.
Soral claims there are two types of feminists: the “freaked out” feminist like Simone de Beauvoir, and the “bitches” such as Elisabeth Badinter. He claims that the modern feminist model only pertains to the plight of upper middle-class white women. At his debate in Bordeaux last Saturday, he openly admitted to detesting the “American neo-feminist.” I hate to break it to Alain, but being an American female today - or any female at all - means being a feminist. After all, what sort of gender would we be if we didn’t fight for our equal rights within a world run by men?
French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, circa 1955
In a televised program I watched recently, Soral claimed that the reason fewer homeless women were on the street than men was because they liberally took advantage of their ability to get government aid - and subsequently housing - by having a child. Do you mean to tell me that if I shoot myself up with drugs, run away from my family or lose my job and home, that I can simply have a baby and everything will turn out okay?
The idea in itself is ridiculous. This goes right along with those (mostly men or the religious right) who believe that birth control or the morning-after pill actually condone having unprotected, careless sex. Only a handful of women are dumb to the fact that having a baby is a lifetime commitment, not one to be taken lightly and certainly not a way to get out of a sticky situation. The fact is, having a baby usually is the most sticky situation a woman can find herself in. No matter how involved a man is in a pregnancy, those 9 months can only be fully experienced by the woman herself.
I’m not alone in opposing Soral’s views on the French homeless woman of the 21st century. On France Inter today, reporters announced the completion of a study as to the greatest risks of a woman on the street. Far and above was the issue of rape and sexual assault. So when Soral says that the reason we don’t see as many homeless women out there is because they are living comfortably in their government-owned apartments with their new babies, I have to disagree. Because the risks of being a woman and on the street are so high, most find shelter elsewhere - be that with friends, a boyfriend (even if he is abusive, this may be the more likable option) or at a homeless shelter. Being homeless is scary enough without bringing a child into the mix.
I think before anyone talks about feminism in France, the French language must change with the times. France has come a long way in terms of women’s rights, and soars high above U.S. legislation on the subject. French women get maternity leave for up to 16 weeks. If a French woman so chooses, she can take up to three years off (unpaid) from her job and come back to it afterwards with total job security. And she can ask for a one-month vacation from her job within three years of having her child, and be paid approximately 500 euros by the government-run CAF.
Gloria Steinem has been the face of American feminism for decades
So, then why are we still using terms such as “Husband and woman (mari et femme)” or “My woman (ma nana)” to refer to a man’s female counterpart? Of course these are but few feeble examples. But France has long explored ways to remove the sexism from its language and come up dry. In 1993, the University of California at Berkeley actually studied the relationship between the French language and gender in a course entitled, “Sexual Difference, Gender and the French Language.” As the course outlines:
“Though there is no necessary correlation between gender, as a grammatical category and sexism in language, for a variety of reasons, cultural as well as linguistic, it has been difficult for French, particularly in France (in contrast to francophone communities outside the Hexagon), to comfortably institute nonsexist usage.”
It seems, since 1993, that not much as been resolved. And Alain Soral’s sexist rhetoric certainly isn’t helping things. While Americans are already onto “third-wave feminism” (a movement led by Rebecca Walker, which challenges second-wave feminism and focuses on the rights of the non-white, wealthy female), the F-word is still a gros mot in France today and linked largely to homosexuality. It rests heavily in literary theory and philosophy instead of practice. As the scholar Elizabeth Wright points out, “none of these [well-known] French feminists align themselves with the feminist movement as it appeared in the Anglophone world.”
Feminism in France needs to start with women themselves. I wouldn’t say the situation here is grave, but it’s certainly urgent.
Riding The Wave Of French Feminism
I have a bone to pick with Alain Soral, French sociologist and ex-Front National party member. It’s not his pretension or even his manipulation of his “followers” that bothers me, but instead his definition and loathing of modern feminism.
Soral claims there are two types of feminists: the “freaked out” feminist like Simone de Beauvoir, and the “bitches” such as Elisabeth Badinter. He claims that the modern feminist model only pertains to the plight of upper middle-class white women. At his debate in Bordeaux last Saturday, he openly admitted to detesting the “American neo-feminist.” I hate to break it to Alain, but being an American female today - or any female at all - means being a feminist. After all, what sort of gender would we be if we didn’t fight for our equal rights within a world run by men?
French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, circa 1955
In a televised program I watched recently, Soral claimed that the reason fewer homeless women were on the street than men was because they liberally took advantage of their ability to get government aid - and subsequently housing - by having a child. Do you mean to tell me that if I shoot myself up with drugs, run away from my family or lose my job and home, that I can simply have a baby and everything will turn out okay?
The idea in itself is ridiculous. This goes right along with those (mostly men or the religious right) who believe that birth control or the morning-after pill actually condone having unprotected, careless sex. Only a handful of women are dumb to the fact that having a baby is a lifetime commitment, not one to be taken lightly and certainly not a way to get out of a sticky situation. The fact is, having a baby usually is the most sticky situation a woman can find herself in. No matter how involved a man is in a pregnancy, those 9 months can only be fully experienced by the woman herself.
I’m not alone in opposing Soral’s views on the French homeless woman of the 21st century. On France Inter today, reporters announced the completion of a study as to the greatest risks of a woman on the street. Far and above was the issue of rape and sexual assault. So when Soral says that the reason we don’t see as many homeless women out there is because they are living comfortably in their government-owned apartments with their new babies, I have to disagree. Because the risks of being a woman and on the street are so high, most find shelter elsewhere - be that with friends, a boyfriend (even if he is abusive, this may be the more likable option) or at a homeless shelter. Being homeless is scary enough without bringing a child into the mix.
I think before anyone talks about feminism in France, the French language must change with the times. France has come a long way in terms of women’s rights, and soars high above U.S. legislation on the subject. French women get maternity leave for up to 16 weeks. If a French woman so chooses, she can take up to three years off (unpaid) from her job and come back to it afterwards with total job security. And she can ask for a one-month vacation from her job within three years of having her child, and be paid approximately 500 euros by the government-run CAF.
Gloria Steinem has been the face of American feminism for decades
So, then why are we still using terms such as “Husband and woman (mari et femme)” or “My woman (ma nana)” to refer to a man’s female counterpart? Of course these are but few feeble examples. But France has long explored ways to remove the sexism from its language and come up dry. In 1993, the University of California at Berkeley actually studied the relationship between the French language and gender in a course entitled, “Sexual Difference, Gender and the French Language.” As the course outlines:
“Though there is no necessary correlation between gender, as a grammatical category and sexism in language, for a variety of reasons, cultural as well as linguistic, it has been difficult for French, particularly in France (in contrast to francophone communities outside the Hexagon), to comfortably institute nonsexist usage.”
It seems, since 1993, that not much as been resolved. And Alain Soral’s sexist rhetoric certainly isn’t helping things. While Americans are already onto “third-wave feminism” (a movement led by Rebecca Walker, which challenges second-wave feminism and focuses on the rights of the non-white, wealthy female), the F-word is still a gros mot in France today and linked largely to homosexuality. It rests heavily in literary theory and philosophy instead of practice. As the scholar Elizabeth Wright points out, “none of these [well-known] French feminists align themselves with the feminist movement as it appeared in the Anglophone world.”
Feminism in France needs to start with women themselves. I wouldn’t say the situation here is grave, but it’s certainly urgent.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
I'm Your Period
The following poem below was written on my myspace page. I thought it was a cute poem, so I thought I'd share it.
I'm Your Period
Calling to you when you're on the rag,
to light up another fag
In the candy store of the mall,
begging you to eat a red fire ball
See me sparkle like rubies leaked onto your floor,
at all the wrong times like when you're man's at the door
I'm your period! I'm your period!
Feel me making my way through your interior,
like an elephant riding a big old roller coaster
When you get strange urges keeping you up and feeling tight,
Mickey Rourke's entire cinematic career you watch in just one night
I'm your period, honey, your period!
Cause girl, you're a woman now and you sure know how
to a make a period proud!!
And oh how proud I am of you...
HAPPY PERIODING!
Love, your period
I'm Your Period
Calling to you when you're on the rag,
to light up another fag
In the candy store of the mall,
begging you to eat a red fire ball
See me sparkle like rubies leaked onto your floor,
at all the wrong times like when you're man's at the door
I'm your period! I'm your period!
Feel me making my way through your interior,
like an elephant riding a big old roller coaster
When you get strange urges keeping you up and feeling tight,
Mickey Rourke's entire cinematic career you watch in just one night
I'm your period, honey, your period!
Cause girl, you're a woman now and you sure know how
to a make a period proud!!
And oh how proud I am of you...
HAPPY PERIODING!
Love, your period
Friday, May 1, 2009
How To Change The World In 10 Ways
How to Change the World in 10 Ways
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
The world today is definately not a paradise. Hunger, abuse, poverty, pollution and other dangers are all too common. Granted, the world never has and probably never will be perfect, but that is no excuse to not try. YOU can help to create a better world for the future. And it's not as hard as you think...
Steps
- Volunteer - It's not just about working in a soup kitchen or visiting the old folks' home. Today anyone can volunteer to do anything! Contact the local volunteer organisations in your area.
- Get Passionate - Start a petition, donate money, support a charity, fundraise, be an advocate. Choose a cause and get passionate about it! Visit Google and search for your cause. Or check out common causes like:
- Recycle - It's not something only hippies do! Anyone can recycle, and these days just about anything can be recycled—from newspapers and plastic, to computers and old mobile (cell) phones. Encourage your school or workplace to recycle and to use recycled products.
- Pay It Forward - Seen the movie? Well, just like Haley Joel Osment, you can help others by "paying it forward." Simply do something nice for 3 people (or, preferably, more and with no limit), without being asked, and in return, tell them to do the same to 3 more people. And so on and so on. Imagine if everyone followed through with this and what kind of world it would be!
- Do not harm the individual - Imagine a society where every single person did not look to harm another individual. You wouldn't have to lock your doors at night and self-defense would be a thing of the past. You may think one person cannot make a difference. The whole world is just six billion individuals. Just think, you may inspire someone to be like you and start a chain reaction!
- Donate Blood - Many countries (especially Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States) frequently experience record lows of blood stores and desperately need more people to donate. It only takes about half an hour and doesn't hurt (much!). Visit Red Cross for more info.
- Buy a Wristband - They are all the rage in Hollywood, with lots of celebs sporting the most recent fashion accessory—a charity wristband. Not only do they look cool, they're cheap and they're a great way to do your bit for your favourite cause.
- Support animal welfare - After all, animals are God's creations, too, and they should not have to suffer! Donate to the ASPCA!
- Be an Advocate - Speak up about injustices in the world and get your friends involved, too. Organise fundraisers to help raise money for your chosen charity or cause. And if you can't raise money, just add your voice to those already campaigning to end poverty, war, injustice, sexism, racism, or corruption in the world.
- Become an Organ Donor - You won't need your organs when you are dead, so why not give them to someone who can make good use of them? Save the lives of up to eight people by placing yourself on the organ donors' register in your country. Talk about the decision with your family and let them know your wishes.
- Laugh and Smile - Many believe that laughter is the best medicine you can get. Not only that, but people who are happy are often more healthy and are lots more fun to be around! Sharing a smile and a laugh with someone is easy, completely free, and may just make somebody's day!
Tips
- Anyone can change the world; all it takes is a little time, effort and dedication!
- The Internet is a great place to find information about charities and causes to sponsor/support.
- Spread the word. Get your friends involved. The more the better!
- Find exciting and fun ways to change the world. Volunteering is not only a great way to help those less fortunate but you might also make some great new friends!
- Even if you are broke, there are lots of ways you can help to make the world a better place.
- If at first you don't succeed. Try, try, and try again (and again!)
Warnings
- People will say you are beating a dead horse. They will tell you that you are wasting your time, that you're an idiot for trying. Don't listen to them. It's because of people like that that the world needs to be changed in the first place!
- Use caution when following laws; recent (and not-so-recent) history has shown certain governing bodies to be somewhat untrustworthy. Instead of rigidly following laws set by politicians, cautiously develop your own "laws" on what moral behavior truly is, following a few guidelines:
- -It is never acceptable to hurt anybody.
- -The action which results in the greatest good is the one which is truly "lawful."
- -Never impose your laws on anybody until they fully understand them. If their understanding is complete, the law will be superfluous anyway.
Things You'll Need
- Passion
- Drive
- Motivation
- Commitment
- Inspiration
- A desire to help others
- A desire to change the world
- Money (if you wish to financially support a charity or cause)
Sources and Citations
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Change the World in 10 Ways. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Feminism Quotes From Wisdomquotes.com
Below are some quotes that relate to feminism and I find them inspiring, so I thought I would share them. I found these quotes here: http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_feminism.html.
Abigail Adams:
If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.
Anna Quindlen:
It’s important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of organizations or leaders. It’s the expectations that parents have for their daughters, and their sons, too. It’s the way we talk about and treat one another. It’s who makes the money and who makes the compromises and who makes the dinner. It’s a state of mind. It’s the way we live now.
Barbara Strickland:
What I am proud of, what seems so simply clear, is that feminism is a way to fight for justice, always in short supply.
Betty Friedan:
It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
The Feminine Mystique, 1963
Betty Friedan:
If divorce has increased by one thousand percent, don’t blame the women’s movement. Blame the obsolete sex roles on which our marriages were based.
speech, New York City, January 20, 1974
Elaine Heffner:
Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women’s opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.
Erma Bombeck:
We’ve got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don’t know how it was before, so they think, this isn’t too bad. We’re working. We have our attache’ cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don’t realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
Faith Whittlesey:
Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.
Gloria Steinem:
This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour in which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.
Lya Sorano:
When we talk about equal pay for equal work, women in the workplace are beginning to catch up. If we keep going at this current rate, we will achieve full equality in about 475 years. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait that long.
Margaret Atwood:
Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who’ll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it’s the latter, so I sign up.
Mary Wollstonecraft:
Women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions which men think it manly to pay to the sex, when, in fact, men are insultingly supporting their own superiority.
Maureen Reagan:
I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there.
Michele Le Doeuff:
A feminist is a woman who does not allow anyone to think in her place.
Nancy Astor:
No one sex can govern alone. I believe that one of the reasons why civilization has failed so lamentably is that is had one-sided government.
Pearl S. Buck:
The basic discovery about any people is the discovery of the relationship between its men and its women.
Rebecca West:
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.
1913
Rita Mae Brown:
Any woman whose I.Q. hovers above her body temperature must be a feminist.
Susan B. Anthony:
Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.
Susan B. Anthony:
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.
Abigail Adams:
If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.
Anna Quindlen:
It’s important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of organizations or leaders. It’s the expectations that parents have for their daughters, and their sons, too. It’s the way we talk about and treat one another. It’s who makes the money and who makes the compromises and who makes the dinner. It’s a state of mind. It’s the way we live now.
Barbara Strickland:
What I am proud of, what seems so simply clear, is that feminism is a way to fight for justice, always in short supply.
Betty Friedan:
It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself.
The Feminine Mystique, 1963
Betty Friedan:
If divorce has increased by one thousand percent, don’t blame the women’s movement. Blame the obsolete sex roles on which our marriages were based.
speech, New York City, January 20, 1974
Elaine Heffner:
Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women’s opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.
Erma Bombeck:
We’ve got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don’t know how it was before, so they think, this isn’t too bad. We’re working. We have our attache’ cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don’t realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
Faith Whittlesey:
Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.
Gloria Steinem:
This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour in which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.
Lya Sorano:
When we talk about equal pay for equal work, women in the workplace are beginning to catch up. If we keep going at this current rate, we will achieve full equality in about 475 years. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait that long.
Margaret Atwood:
Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who’ll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it’s the latter, so I sign up.
Mary Wollstonecraft:
Women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions which men think it manly to pay to the sex, when, in fact, men are insultingly supporting their own superiority.
Maureen Reagan:
I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there.
Michele Le Doeuff:
A feminist is a woman who does not allow anyone to think in her place.
Nancy Astor:
No one sex can govern alone. I believe that one of the reasons why civilization has failed so lamentably is that is had one-sided government.
Pearl S. Buck:
The basic discovery about any people is the discovery of the relationship between its men and its women.
Rebecca West:
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.
1913
Rita Mae Brown:
Any woman whose I.Q. hovers above her body temperature must be a feminist.
Susan B. Anthony:
Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.
Susan B. Anthony:
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.
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