My 'friend' Danny, (I put it in quotes and will explain in the next paragraph,) put together a blog recently and sent the link through an email group I'm in. BTW, Danny, I think it's your fault I've started opening my big trap in blogs. Thanks for unleashing me on the world! LOL
Anyway, I put the term friend in quotes above because I haven't as yet met Danny. We live in the same city. We're part of some of the same religious organizations. We both are even on the Yahoo Group and avid readers of the same local GLBT magazine. And still we have not met though we read emails from each other all the time. Funny how that happens.
When I read his August 19 2004 post (from The Fight For Women's Lives), I was overwhelmed. He had forwarded it through one of the pagan lists. I responded with the following:
I want to thank you for forwarding this. I've been trying to find the words to say these exact same things for years, ever since I realized there was more than Christianity, even though the tenements of the faith still speak to me.
From the very moment I realized what sex and childbirth was, I thought I was pro-life. That is what my parents and my church were, so wasn't I the same? (Then again they're also conservative Christian Republicans and would probably have heart attacks if they knew the truth of all the events in my life the past 6 years.) But then I was faced with being a mother myself. And for all my Christian upbringing and for all my respect of life and unborn children's right to live... I thought about abortion. And then spent months hating myself.
4 years later and I still don't know where I stand, even though I have 2 beautiful girls and another child due for an appearance the first weekend of November. When I realized I was pregnant with my second daughter, I once again thought about abortion. And honestly, before my first trimester was over this year, I thought about abortion again because of personal issues in my life and with my former partner. I'm still not sure having this baby is a good thing, but it's too late to change my mind, now isn't it?
But this Patriot Gal says everything so succinctly, and she does have a 'pagan' attitude towards her own Christianity, and in my mind she is a truly spiritual and patriotic person.
Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have become more pro-choice this past year. Growing up I thought that 'pro-choice' meant 'pro-abortion'. Boy was I wrong. I also thought that 'pro-life' was strictly 'anti-abortion'. It's not. Patriot Gal's statements brought that naivete into utter clarity for me. If I was pro-life, that meant I also couldn't be for the death penalty in certain circumstances. Well, I am. Mass murderers, serial killers, serial rapists, and the rest of them... While I believe that death is too good for them (my vengeance streak being a mile long), I also believe that our society, our children, are safer without them in this world.
My ex had a t-shirt that displayed a skeleton head with a turban on it that read, 'Kill 'em all, Let Allah sort 'em out!" I thought the shirt, the sentiment, and him for wearing/believing it were all very bigoted and racist, but it does make a point. When it comes to these criminals, they have to meet their maker someday. Shouldn't we be able to keep our families safe, even if it speeds that up?
While I'm not a fan of Dubya, I'm not a huge fan of Kerry either, so voting this year might be a bit difficult. (Maybe I can get away with the excuse that I'm due to give BIRTH that week. lol) In any event, I still don't like the idea of abortion, though it's only for one reason. I can see the medical reasons for mother and baby. I can see the victim reasons for victims of rape and sexual abuse. But I cannot and will not ever be able to see the reasons behind, "Oh no! I had sex and wasn't being careful and got knocked up! Guess I'll just go get rid of it." I hate that reason. Hey, girlie: If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Or at least don't get 'caught'! Use some protection and some common sense. (And condoms aren't enough protection, btw. Please see the September 2004 F6 Article posted in Guest Submissions on my Mask of Laughter website for reasons why!) (now defunct website)
So therefore, I'm pro-choice. I've decided to have my children. Even the one who was fathered by that ex of mine. Not everyone would. And I can't fault them for doing what they feel is right in their hearts.
One of the various pictures Danny has posted on his blog portal is of Dubya as Uncle Sam in one of those 'I Want You' posters. The fine print reads: "I Want You... to look the other way... while I take away your power to make decisions about your body. My friends in congress and I won't stop at anti-choice judges. We want to deny you access to birth control. And we'll keep going until we take away a woman's right to choose." This has gone too far!
At the point of reading various places on the web, in various newspapers and magazines, and hearing on the news of the Bush administration's attempts to take away birth control, I became livid. I've never been on a strict regimen of birth control though I have taken it before. After I have my son, I want to start taking it regularly. I'm extremely fertile, and my body needs a rest from having kids every two years. How dare he take that right away from me.
I have plenty of female friends who are on birth control for medical reasons, and not as an anti-pregnancy tool. That is a secondary side effect. These women need the birth control to tone down their menstrual cramps so they can function in every day life. These women need the birth control to regulate their cycles; some were having cycles every other week!
Our bodies are our domain; we do not belong to the government and their desires to have more people to screw over, lie to, brainwash, and control.
Politicians for the most part have gotten out of control. They think they rule us. They forget that we voted them to their positions so that they could work for us. We are not to submit to their will; they are to submit to ours.
If people of the gay community want to get married, adopt and have families, that is their right. They are Americans too.
If women want to prevent pregnancy or end one, that is their right. They are Americans too.
If people want to have a different religion other than Christianity, that is their right. They are Americans too.
This is NOT a Christian Theocracy like Bush wants it to be. Our constitution gives us rights. These rights allow us freedoms that don't exist in other countries. These freedoms are a privilege and they are being slowly stripped away.
Women: It is your body, your choice. You are not property of any man. No boyfriend, fiance, husband, father, brother, uncle, or ugly looking monkey in an oval office can tell you when you can and cannot have children. Fight for your rights to control your own body and your own destiny. We earned that right after years of fighting for it. Let's exercise it. Even if it's a write-in vote for Homer Simpson or Mickey Mouse! We need to let this male dominated government know that they cannot and will not control us.
Besides, if it weren't for a woman, they wouldn't be alive, now would they?
31 August 2004
The Rich Celebrity
On the radio this morning, I heard someone having the same bitch I've had for years. Celebrities and their free gifts.
These people make gobs of money, but rarely spend any of it on clothes, jewelry, or gadgets. They go to award shows or celebrity parties and find these things handed to them. Yet we, the little people, have to scrimp and save up for these things. We have to watch the price tag and never get anything free.
Will Smith, while I love his music and acting, recently was heard saying, "If someone wants me to wear it, I'll just wait until they give it to me." Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs was handed a diamond encrusted iPod at a recent event. These are just two examples.
These people can afford these luxuries! Haven't you seen what they have done to their vehicles? I was in Meijer at the magazine/book aisle sometime last year, and read in a car magazine about all the tricked out things Adrian Brody (star of The Pianist) had done to his new Hummer. These celebrities have no control. And we let them get away with it.
When will we step up and take a stand and say "NO!" Name brand companies charge us higher and higher prices while our employers give us measly raises that barely cover groceries and diapers each month. The name brand companies charge us higher prices because of all the free gifts they give the celebrities. The employers give us measly wages to keep their costs down so they can provide more free gifts to the celebrities.
They make us work long hours and we never get to see our kids, all for measly money to be able to spend on our families. All the while, they give free things to celebrities and tell us, 'so-and-so can't live without his such-and-such, how can you?'
Oh I don't know. I just look at the empty checkbook and the empty cupboards and tell my kids, nieces, nephews, and younger cousins, 'Sorry babe. There's no money to get you that flashy new mp3 player you wanted for your birthday unless you go without clothes to school.'
Speaking of celebrities... I was in Meijer last night picking up some needed groceries (thanks to food stamps) and saw a magazine screaming in bold letters, "Mary-Kate: Before at 80-something pounds. Now at 91 and rising!"
Now a long time ago, before their 18th birthday, I saw the twins on one of those day shows where they were complaining about how they can't find any clothes small enough for them because of how short they are. Mary-Kate and Ashley are my height. I think there may be only an inch difference and I don't remember who is taller. These two girls 'have to have clothes custom made'. How do they think us short poor folk survive?
And did anyone care when I was 17, 5'0", and weighed only 87 pounds? Did they splash my starving plight across tabloids? Did they care that I was slowly starving myself to death because I wasn't as beautiful as the guys wanted me to be? Do they even care that their focus on beauty is destroying our youth? Do they care that these same youth feel sorry for Miss Mary-Kate? I don't feel sorry for her one bit. I dealt and got over it, she will too.
When I was in high school, there were two types of teens. Those who were fit and athletic and those who were obese or fat because they weren't like the popular people so they ate themselves into oblivion and size 22.
Now I see the teens, every last one obsessed with being thin, and I weep. I don't see as many athletic or fit bodies anymore. I see anorexic and still the obese. Many may say, "Then they should stop eating so much!" The sad thing is that these overweight teenage girls aren't eating like they were 6+ years ago when I was in school. They are starving themselves and the stress of trying to get thin just puts more weight on. Their bodies are retaining water and they are growing larger... and dying.
My cousin Vanessa, thin as a rail, but with the wide hips our family is cursed with, lounges on the couch, never doing anything, and poking her belly complaining about getting fat. She's 15. I only just met her a year ago and already I want to shake some sense into her.
Yes I am thin compared to many. I'm 30 weeks pregnant with my third child, and I only weigh 140-something. And when I start losing the weight from the baby, I'll manage to get back to 120 or so. But I'm the rarity who can eat whatever she wants and still keep my weight down. It's called genetically inherited high metabolism. My father is skin, bone, and slightly toned muscle. We are the skinny ones of the family.
In fact, I just cracked open a tub of Fannie May Mint Meltaway ice cream. Yes, I know you are all screaming that you hate me. I hate me too. Why am I so lucky that I can eat all this fattening food and still be so skinny, while everyone else has to work their butts off to look this thin... just like the celebrities.
The truth of the matter is that beyond getting things for free constantly, and getting paid gobs of money for the jetsetting and acting and singing on stage and recording albums that they do, they have quite a lot of free time because of all that money they make. Which means... They can afford the pricey trainers and pricey gyms.
They work out days and days and days, work for a couple months straight, and then back to the gym they go. Remember those long hours we have to work for measly money that doesn't cut a dent in the expenses and debt? How do they expect us to work out to get those bodies when we have no time and even when we do have the time, we're too tired.
For the rising hike in poor health habits of our teens, I blame the rich celebrities and fashion mags. For the rising materialism of our kids, I blame the rich celebrities and the companies who pamper them.
For not keeping them in check, I blame ourselves.
These people make gobs of money, but rarely spend any of it on clothes, jewelry, or gadgets. They go to award shows or celebrity parties and find these things handed to them. Yet we, the little people, have to scrimp and save up for these things. We have to watch the price tag and never get anything free.
Will Smith, while I love his music and acting, recently was heard saying, "If someone wants me to wear it, I'll just wait until they give it to me." Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs was handed a diamond encrusted iPod at a recent event. These are just two examples.
These people can afford these luxuries! Haven't you seen what they have done to their vehicles? I was in Meijer at the magazine/book aisle sometime last year, and read in a car magazine about all the tricked out things Adrian Brody (star of The Pianist) had done to his new Hummer. These celebrities have no control. And we let them get away with it.
When will we step up and take a stand and say "NO!" Name brand companies charge us higher and higher prices while our employers give us measly raises that barely cover groceries and diapers each month. The name brand companies charge us higher prices because of all the free gifts they give the celebrities. The employers give us measly wages to keep their costs down so they can provide more free gifts to the celebrities.
They make us work long hours and we never get to see our kids, all for measly money to be able to spend on our families. All the while, they give free things to celebrities and tell us, 'so-and-so can't live without his such-and-such, how can you?'
Oh I don't know. I just look at the empty checkbook and the empty cupboards and tell my kids, nieces, nephews, and younger cousins, 'Sorry babe. There's no money to get you that flashy new mp3 player you wanted for your birthday unless you go without clothes to school.'
Speaking of celebrities... I was in Meijer last night picking up some needed groceries (thanks to food stamps) and saw a magazine screaming in bold letters, "Mary-Kate: Before at 80-something pounds. Now at 91 and rising!"
Now a long time ago, before their 18th birthday, I saw the twins on one of those day shows where they were complaining about how they can't find any clothes small enough for them because of how short they are. Mary-Kate and Ashley are my height. I think there may be only an inch difference and I don't remember who is taller. These two girls 'have to have clothes custom made'. How do they think us short poor folk survive?
And did anyone care when I was 17, 5'0", and weighed only 87 pounds? Did they splash my starving plight across tabloids? Did they care that I was slowly starving myself to death because I wasn't as beautiful as the guys wanted me to be? Do they even care that their focus on beauty is destroying our youth? Do they care that these same youth feel sorry for Miss Mary-Kate? I don't feel sorry for her one bit. I dealt and got over it, she will too.
When I was in high school, there were two types of teens. Those who were fit and athletic and those who were obese or fat because they weren't like the popular people so they ate themselves into oblivion and size 22.
Now I see the teens, every last one obsessed with being thin, and I weep. I don't see as many athletic or fit bodies anymore. I see anorexic and still the obese. Many may say, "Then they should stop eating so much!" The sad thing is that these overweight teenage girls aren't eating like they were 6+ years ago when I was in school. They are starving themselves and the stress of trying to get thin just puts more weight on. Their bodies are retaining water and they are growing larger... and dying.
My cousin Vanessa, thin as a rail, but with the wide hips our family is cursed with, lounges on the couch, never doing anything, and poking her belly complaining about getting fat. She's 15. I only just met her a year ago and already I want to shake some sense into her.
Yes I am thin compared to many. I'm 30 weeks pregnant with my third child, and I only weigh 140-something. And when I start losing the weight from the baby, I'll manage to get back to 120 or so. But I'm the rarity who can eat whatever she wants and still keep my weight down. It's called genetically inherited high metabolism. My father is skin, bone, and slightly toned muscle. We are the skinny ones of the family.
In fact, I just cracked open a tub of Fannie May Mint Meltaway ice cream. Yes, I know you are all screaming that you hate me. I hate me too. Why am I so lucky that I can eat all this fattening food and still be so skinny, while everyone else has to work their butts off to look this thin... just like the celebrities.
The truth of the matter is that beyond getting things for free constantly, and getting paid gobs of money for the jetsetting and acting and singing on stage and recording albums that they do, they have quite a lot of free time because of all that money they make. Which means... They can afford the pricey trainers and pricey gyms.
They work out days and days and days, work for a couple months straight, and then back to the gym they go. Remember those long hours we have to work for measly money that doesn't cut a dent in the expenses and debt? How do they expect us to work out to get those bodies when we have no time and even when we do have the time, we're too tired.
For the rising hike in poor health habits of our teens, I blame the rich celebrities and fashion mags. For the rising materialism of our kids, I blame the rich celebrities and the companies who pamper them.
For not keeping them in check, I blame ourselves.
30 August 2004
Pink?
"Pink? PINK? But Elizabeth... You HATE Pink!"
Yes, I know I do. Therefore I used it! I'm being really ornery today.
So a rant about the color pink, the very color in this blog... Pink is about the most ridiculous color ever invented. I have two daughters, and everyone gave me tons of pink clothes for them. I'm sorry, but my oldest has red hair. Bright red hair! You don't put hot pink on a little girl with that bright of red-orange hair!
Baby Pink and Baby Blue. What is up with that? We are forcing our children to think of things in black and white standards, when the world is all shades of gray!
Take my younger brother Jarrod for instance. I wanted Mom to buy me Micro Machines instead of the standard Barbies and My Little Ponies. Jarrod wanted the 'girl toys' apparently, because every time I asked to play with his 'boy toys', he'd give his consent, but only if I'd let him play with my Barbies. My friends' brothers did the same thing, but ripped the heads off and tore their clothes off. Not Jarrod... No siree. He color coordinated their clothes and fashioned their hair in rather becoming styles.
The idea of gender-orientated colors and toys should be eliminated from our society. All it has managed to do is confuse the hell out of some very sweet and caring people. I suppose I should say more on this, but it irritates me so much, that right now I can barely see straight.
So I'll leave it with, yes, I'm using pink for this blog. But I'm also a rights activist, one of the main ones I fight for being the rights of the homosexual community. I don't feel like messing with the html of this template, otherwise the color scheme would be rainbow! So I think Pink will just have to do.
Yes, I know I do. Therefore I used it! I'm being really ornery today.
So a rant about the color pink, the very color in this blog... Pink is about the most ridiculous color ever invented. I have two daughters, and everyone gave me tons of pink clothes for them. I'm sorry, but my oldest has red hair. Bright red hair! You don't put hot pink on a little girl with that bright of red-orange hair!
Baby Pink and Baby Blue. What is up with that? We are forcing our children to think of things in black and white standards, when the world is all shades of gray!
Take my younger brother Jarrod for instance. I wanted Mom to buy me Micro Machines instead of the standard Barbies and My Little Ponies. Jarrod wanted the 'girl toys' apparently, because every time I asked to play with his 'boy toys', he'd give his consent, but only if I'd let him play with my Barbies. My friends' brothers did the same thing, but ripped the heads off and tore their clothes off. Not Jarrod... No siree. He color coordinated their clothes and fashioned their hair in rather becoming styles.
The idea of gender-orientated colors and toys should be eliminated from our society. All it has managed to do is confuse the hell out of some very sweet and caring people. I suppose I should say more on this, but it irritates me so much, that right now I can barely see straight.
So I'll leave it with, yes, I'm using pink for this blog. But I'm also a rights activist, one of the main ones I fight for being the rights of the homosexual community. I don't feel like messing with the html of this template, otherwise the color scheme would be rainbow! So I think Pink will just have to do.
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