Christian Feminist

Culture Change 101

2008-11-10T19:57:00.002-07:00

This sort of training should be mandatory at every college (and high school, for that matter) in America.

Instead of teaching women not to walk alone at night or to carry Mace, some colleges are trying something much harder -- changing college men.

"The fact of the matter is that prevention comes down to, largely, males. Because males are primarily the ones perpetrating these crimes," said Lauren Pilnick, sexual violence education coordinator at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Amen, sistah.

Jay Walker's Library

2008-10-12T16:50:00.001-07:00

Oh my God, I would move in there and frakking live.

Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice

2008-08-27T20:41:00.004-07:00

Pete Townsend must have had a time machine when he wrote this song, because it so perfectly describes the state of this country.

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they were all flown in the last war

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now a parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

I think this will apply no matter who gets elected. (And I would double-dog-dare the Obama campaign to used this song as their theme, heh heh. Especially the part about being "hypnotized.")

Sarah Haskins Does It Again

2008-08-04T10:58:00.003-07:00

How have I missed this?

I hardly ever watch TV, so I'm not up on the current state of commercials at all. However, Sarah's depiction of birth control ads as sanitized and sexless does not surprise me a bit.

I just wonder (although the answer should be obvious) how many female producers/directors said commercials have. 10-15 percent? Maybe? This should account for a sin of omission so great the viewer's lips shake and shimmy to shout it out.

Why do (most) women use birth control?

Not to control painful periods, but to AVOID PREGNANCY!!!

This is a "duh" moment if I ever heard one. However, any mention of pregnancy would confirm that women are indeed HAVING TEH SEX, and we can't have that. No matter whether women are single or married, the fact of their being sexually active must be swept under the rug...at least in teevee-land.

One wonders how all the children who watch said ads, and who advertisers are mortally afraid of offending (and/or educating) got there in the first place.

"My Five Inch Spike Heel"

2008-08-02T20:21:00.006-07:00

I've just discovered an Australian blog written by some guy named Sam de Brito, and while he hardly qualifies as a feminist (indeed, if any man can be such a thing), he does seem to be an entertaining and occasionally insightful writer.

Take, for instance, this post.

High Heels: What Are They Good For?

So why the hell do women wear them? Feminist scholars such Jeffreys contend that, like many other harmful beauty practices, it is because "high heel wearing fulfills the dictates of male dominant culture and gives satisfaction to men".

"Woman are immediately recognizable as they walk with difficulty on their toes in public places. Thus high heels enable women to complement the male sex role of masculinity, in which men look sturdy and have both feet on the ground, with clear evidence of female fragility," she says.

Women, as they teeter around on their stilts look vulnerable, they can't run from danger, and, also, they're sending an unambiguous signal to men that they care enough about male sexual satisfaction to wear them.

I used to wear high heels when I was younger, although I never went in for spikes (or pumps--I could never see the sense of putting on a triangular shoe that bears no resemblance to the shape of an actual foot, unless you're a participant in the Chinese foot-binding fetish). Now I wouldn't be caught dead in anything but flats, because it gradually dawned on me that bearing my entire hundred-plus pounds on the balls of my feet couldn't be healthy for them, or my legs and back, for that matter.

Yet many women still wear the stupid things, and sometimes pay outrageous prices for them. Why? I can't see any possible use for a spike heel, other than (if you're lucky) to put an assailant's eye out. Yeah, just call 'em Manolo Blinders, instead of Manolo Blah-whatevers.

I asked the question of a successful female investment banker last month and, showing an incredible gift for analysis, she replied "It's just what we do" before admitting she wouldn't be seen dead in her office without heels.

Yet, Jeffreys says, "eight out of 10 women who replied to a global shoe survey carried out by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons said their feet hurt mainly because of high heels", while a BBC study in 2001 "found that over 80 per cent of women would not change the type of shoes they wore solely to alleviate a foot problem", estimating that "three out of four women may have a serious foot problem by the time they reach their 60s."

Laying all snark aside, it seems to me that this is a very subtle form of brainwashing, and most of it can be laid squarely at the feet (pardon the pun) of the fashion and entertainment industry. Supermodels and nearly all of the female characters on TV and in the moves are shown tottering around in those male-gaze fantasies (since, after all, most television and movie producers, as well as fashion photographers, are male, and thus insist on dressing their female stars to their manly expectations). As do so many things with the patriarchy, this creates a vicious circle: since women are constantly being bombarded with such sexist images, they think it is the Thing To Do, even if it negatively affects their health.

This isn't to say that anyone wearing heels is stupid, only that if you never see anything else, you don't think anything of it; you just go along with the crowd. And I'm sure there are a lot of people who actually like wearing the things. Nevertheless, I think it behooves us to question ourselves and our reasons for doing so, on this as well as many other topics which mainly affect women (for instance, dyeing hair and wearing makeup).

It doesn't take long to ask ourselves: Why? Why am I doing this? Do I actually like my heels, and feel empowered when I put them on? Or am I merely kowtowing to societal expectations, and perhaps to a partner who thinks heels are sexy? If it is the latter, who are they sexy for? My significant other or me? If they're only sexy in the eyes of my significant other--and again, why does s/he think they're sexy? For the frankly bullshit reasons mentioned above?--maybe I should rethink wearing them.

This little bit of self-examination doesn't take long, and might just improve your life.

(Addendum: This is a lovely poem written by Scriber's Web, on the possible other use of a spike heel.

and my five inch spike heel
rammed
into his groin
at first I saw a flash of surprise
then pain
and more pain as he doubled over
i smiled and said
life is short
get over it
and walked out
slamming the door behind me.

Heh heh.)

The Sheep and the Goats

2008-07-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Part of a letter in Annie's Mailbox caught my attention. It's the second letter down, in reply to some jackass complaining about paying for his dates unless they looked like supermodels.

I am in my late 50s, very attractive and used to be a model. I am college educated, well read and was complimented the other day on my sense of humor. All my hard-earned money goes for Botox, liposuction, the gym, hairdressers and expensive clothing, just so one of these cheap old goats will give me a second look.

The first thought that came to my mind when I read it: In what universe is a "cheap old goat" (or any age goat) worth all that?

If the reply is, "Men won't look at me otherwise," my next question is: Why are you so concerned about men who are addicted to such superficialities?

Look, I exercise. I don't go to the gym because I don't think it's necessary. I walk. Usually for an hour or more at a time, up as many hills as I can find. I do it because (a) I like to walk; (b) I want to stave off heart disease and osteoporosis as long as possible; and (c) I don't have the money to revamp my wardrobe into a bigger size. (Or a smaller one, for that matter.) I haven't been on a scale in years; I gauge my need for exercise and weight control--at least, that's how it works for me; I know it's not the same for everyone--strictly by how my clothes fit. If it's suddenly hard to pull on my favorite pair of jeans, I know it's time to head for the hills more often.

Men looking or not looking at me don't have anything to do with it. My thighs and hips aren't supermodel skinny. So what? They do quite well to get me around on my hikes, and they hold up my skirts, so I'm satisfied. I've never done Botox; I figure judicious use of sunscreen and moisturizer works almost as well. Liposuction is way too icky for me, especially after working with a plastic surgeon's daughter and hearing all about how he took the lipo wand, jammed it under the skin, and rammed and wiggled it around to break up the fat, which is why his patients ended up bruised from hip to ankle. I don't know if that's the proper way of doing it, but it was certainly enough to turn me off.

As far as compliments go, the ones I remember are offered because of my attributes, i.e. "You're smart" or "You're funny" (which the Annie's Mailbox writer admitted to have gotten). Compliments such as those are of far greater worth than anything to do with looks. That's why this woman's response is so sad; she's been snookered into society's obsession with youth, beauty, and thinness--an obsession fueled in large part by the "cheap old goats" she is working so hard to attract.

It's a vicious, self-defeating circle, and unless we as women learn to take a step back and see it for what it is, unfortunately it will continue.

Cleaning Out the Cobwebs

2008-07-30T22:27:00.003-07:00

I've been doing some housekeeping, as you can see. A nice shiny new template and rearranged link lists, among other things. (I downloaded several templates, so if I ever get tired of this one, I can just switch them out.) I added some new blogs and removed those I don't read so much anymore. But don't be offended if your blog isn't on the roll--I hate blogrolls that trail off into cybernetic eternity, so the ones here are the "Best of the Best." Rest assured, your feed is still in my Google Reader, even if there isn't a link on this page.

"They Shall Have Their Reward in Full"

2008-07-29T13:46:00.004-07:00

I get so tired of nonsense like this. No wonder people think Christians are wackos.

Activists Keep the Faith, If Not Their Money

The price of regular at a Shell gas station in Petworth gleamed defiantly in the midday sun: $3.91 a gallon.

But unlike the customers rolling up to the station's pumps this week, resigned to the fact that their wallets were about to take a beating, Rocky Twyman and company had a plan to bring that number tumbling down.

They would ask God to do it.

"Our pockets are empty, but we're going to hold on to God!" Twyman, a community organizer from Rockville, said as he and seven other people formed a semicircle, held hands and sang, pleading for divine intervention to lower fuel prices.

It was the latest demonstration by Twyman's movement, Pray at the Pump, which began in April. Since then, he has held group prayers at gas stations as far away as San Francisco, garnering international media attention and even claiming success in at least a couple of cases.

Pray at the Pump? Honestly, how ridiculous can you get? I don't think God is concerned with the price of gas. It has nothing to do with Zie, after all; humanity's shortsightedness and greed got itself in this mess. Even if God was so inclined to do something about it, I rather think Zie would start with the Netherlands, where gas is $10 per gallon (scroll to bottom of page).

But the biggest reason not to pull such a self-aggrandizing stunt is this.

"And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you." (Matthew 6: 5,6; The Living Bible)

Really, when you see a professed Christian disregarding Christ's direction in this way, you wonder how much of a Christian they really are.

Chess Quiz

2008-07-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

Your result for Which Chess Piece are You Test?...

The Rook's Hawk

Congrats! Only 12-16% of the population score this!

Heh. I'm surprised at this, since I haven't played chess in years.

If this was a bridge hand, I might have a little more idea of what it's talking about.

Bingo!

2008-07-04T09:12:00.003-07:00

Here's a wonderful article on Feministe about feminists and religion. It's a few years old, but it's just as resonant today.

“You’re just brainwashed because you believe in God” sounds a lot like, “You’re just hysterical because you’re a woman” or “You’re just lazy because you’re Mexican” to me. Despite the fact that these are different types of discrimination, they all result in discrimination, barriers, and disunity. Yes, there are people who don’t question their belief system and may aptly be described as brainwashed. I don’t advocate this, but dismissing faith (and those of us with a faith) is exclusionary.

For many religious feminists, belief in a higher power and a religious lifestyle is a choice. But it’s also part of someone; it’s the way we look at things, the way we respond to situations, the way we deal with events and people in our lives. It’s part of our psychological make-up. Feminism, as I learned it, is about respect and dignity for all people. I think that should include feminists who have faith.

Get thee hence and read.

UPDATE: Oops, sorry, it's not a "few years old"....evidently the novelty of not working on Friday has messed with my reading comprehension.

Now Read This!

2008-07-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Great article in the Guardian about the feminist backlash.

Stupid Is...

2008-06-30T21:13:00.003-07:00

When I went for my walk this morning, I wondered where the smoke haze lying over town had come from. I could hardly see any of the familiar landmarks around our small community because of the smoke. It was enough to make me speculate about all the wildfires burning in Northern California sending the haze our way, although I couldn't imagine that smoke lasting so long.

When I got back and looked at this morning's paper, the tale was told. This article is not the same as I read, but the basic facts--and the basic idiocy of the perpetuator--are the same.

On Saturday, five hikers got lost and one of them left the group and started a signal fire to get attention, Skurja said. The sheriff's office began a search and rescue effort and saw the fire in the distance but because of rough terrain decided to wait until morning. Winds the next morning spread the fire, Skurja said.

COME ON, people. This is the height of stupidity. Everyone knows--or bloody well should know--how tinder dry our forests are right now. It is seriously irresponsible, to say the least, to light any kind of fire. The search and rescue effort had already begun--all the idiots had to do was wait it out and they would have been found.

As of today, the fire has grown to 5300 acres, and is still threatening the tiny mountain community of Crown King. Three homes have burned, and the town has been evacuated.

All because some jackass didn't have the sense God gave a goose.

If this sounds callous, so be it. I would no more light a fire even if I was lost than I would fly. I figure the forest, not to mention the people who live in it, is MORE IMPORTANT than saving my sorry stupid ass. The twit(s) who did this should be (a) slapped with a huge fine and (b) serve some jail time--30 days would be nice.

On second thought, no, it's not callous. Four pages of commenters agree with me.

It's None of Your Damn Business

2008-06-01T20:49:00.002-07:00

What is this crapola about stores requiring a telephone number on checks? I've run into this at Wal-Mart, and each time I tell the cashier, "My number is unlisted and I don't give it out." (Actually it isn't--my initials and number are in the phone book--but you know what? I don't think it's any of their beeswax.)

Today I went to Albertson's to pick up a few items, and lo and behold, I ran into the Phone Number Privacy Invasion yet again. True, it's been a long time since I bought anything there (they're usually too pricey) so my checking account and driver's license undoubtedly weren't on file. So I went through my usual spiel.

"My phone number is unlisted; I don't give it out."

Lather, Rinse, Repeat for cashiers who apparently can't comprehend.

This time the supervisor was called over (or at least I assume she was the supervisor; she didn't look old enough to be a senior in high school) and I repeated myself, adding, "My phone number is none of your business."

To which she rattled off some nonsense about the check cashing company needing it. "No one will ever use it; we'll just punch it into the computer, or you can do it yourself"--indicating the little keypad where you swipe a debit card.

"Fine," I said, "I'll make one up then."

Which is what I did. The number I punched in bears no resemblance to my actual phone number. The only reason I can think of for any company wanting my phone number is if the check bounces, they'll want to get in touch with me--but hey, my bank can do that, thank you.

Nevertheless, my position remains the same. Maybe it's due to my working in a medical field and having to adhere to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), but I always figure no store needs to know this information, and they won't if I have anything to say about it.

There's precious little privacy in today's society, and I think it behooves each of us to guard what we have left.

(I also think this marks my Officially Becoming a Curmudgeon. Oh. My. God.)

Good Listenin'

2008-05-11T21:10:00.005-07:00

Bob Dylan and bluegrass.

It's a combination you wouldn't think could work, but in Tim O'Brien's capable hands, it meshes splendidly.

The major problem I have with Dylan, one that renders him virtually unlistenable, is the fact that he's such a rotten singer you can't understand what he's frakking saying. He may be the best songwriter to grace the planet (indeed, these songs make something of a case for that), but if you can't comprehend those lyrics in the first place, his genius isn't going to do anybody any good.

Tim's covering these songs eliminates that barrier and lets the intelligent, sardonic wit of the songwriter shine through. These are lyrics you need to listen to three or four times to get their full import. The bluegrass instrumentation works very well indeed--especially since I love me some banjo, and there's plenty here. (There's also a hilarious "bluegrass rap" version of "Subterranean Homesick Blues.") I've thoroughly enjoyed all of Tim O'Brien's music, but this is a standout. I wish he'd go back to Dylan's well again.

(Oh, and this week's "Battlestar Galactica" episode--Oh. My. God. The best FRAKKING show on television.)

Modern Day Mikey

2008-04-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Man, what has happened to Maureen Dowd? I used to like her writing (sort of--I couldn't finish her last book, Are Men Necessary? Thank goodness I got it at the library's used book sale). But in her latest column, she has transformed herself into a whiny, misogynistic fourth-grader, the journalistic equivalent of that cereal-scarfing brat from the old Life commercials. Remember Mikey? In her case, we could change the tag line to, "Let Mikey write it. Mikey hates everybody."

I don't know what Hillary Clinton has done to bother Moe so much other than simply existing--maybe daring to set herself in opposition to the Democrats' golden child, Barack Obama? The impression I'm getting is that Clinton should shuffle off to one side, just like a proper old hag, and let the shiny new person have the spotlight. Her time is over, after all, while his has just begun. However, why should it make any difference to Ms. Dowd if Hillary stays in the race? I presume she's not spending any of Moe's money.

Yeah, I know, columnists have to write about something. But I think Maureen Dowd is a columnist of sufficient stature and experience to produce work with a little more depth and a little less snark. This is an opinion piece, after all. As it is, it doesn't do much except prove that Moe likes to take equally inept potshots at everyone. No reasoning, no analysis, just pithy "commentary," paid handsomely by the column inch. At least I hope it was handsome--the final two paragraphs of this mess are just plain embarrassing and childish.

If Hillary Clinton doesn't win the nomination, I hope to heck she writes a book detailing all the sexist bullcrap of this campaign, and rakes her detractors over the coals. That would be one tome I would be quite willing to pay the hardback price for.

The Whiners Come Out of the Woodwork

2008-04-20T21:32:00.002-07:00

Jeez. I cannot believe this idjit wrote such an ignorant, asinine column. (My comment is the third one down, and rest assured I'm a lot politer there than I'm going to be here.) Clearly it's time to call the Entitlement Waaaambulance; this jackass actually believes White males are being discriminated against. This, of course, is double-blind-sexist-speak for Loss of Male Privilege.

Of course, this doesn't hold water when you have statistics such as these.

In 44 years, we have had a string (but knock on wood for this election) of White male Presidents.

In 44 years, Nancy Pelosi is the first and only woman to hold the title of Speaker of the House.

In 44 years, there have been only two female Supreme Court justices (hardly a representative sample, since there are 9 justices total). Now there is only one.

Congress is nowhere near proportional representation, especially in the Senate, which has 95% White and 86% Male members. The House of Representatives is hardly any better, with 84% Male and 84% White members.

There are only 10 Fortune 500 companies run by women, and 20 Fortune 1000 companies have female CEOs (a miniscule percentage by any standard).

There are only four African-Americans running Fortune 500 companies. (Quote from this article: "The indicia of power in corporate America is still white and male," said an author who has studied the stats.)

Tell you what, Steve: when Congress is 50% female, when we have a woman President (not necessarily Hillary Clinton, although I would love to see that), and when there are 250 female and 60 African-American Fortune 500 CEOs, then you can come whining to me.

Until then, shut the frak up.

Working for Women

2008-04-12T19:31:00.003-07:00

I've just placed a widget on my sidebar from BlogHer. The goal of this widget is for women bloggers to work together in improving other womens' lives around the world. From the BlogHer newsletter:

Our goal is to find out how many women's lives we can save by blogging to raise small donations -- $10, $15, $25, $50 --for critical clinics and educational programs for women, children and girls specifically in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Darfur, Nepal and South Africa. Denise and Erin chose these programs in partnership with the terrific team at GlobalGiving because GlobalGiving guarantees that your money will get where they say it's going. They research their programs carefully, and send your money to a well-defined project instead of to funding general operating expenses. And -- this is my favorite part -- if you're not happy, you can get your money back. More here.

This is a worthy cause, I think. I know I'm far more inclined to give to something if it's just a small amount--and yet those $5 and $10 donations add up.

So, if you're so inclined, please click to give.

Snowflakes, Conscience and Contraception

2008-03-16T11:13:00.004-07:00

You learn some interesting things when you're a pharmacy technician having to take 20 credits of Continuing Education every two years to maintain your certification. The last CE I had to take, which I finished today, was entitled: "Emergency Contraception: A Guide to Over-the-Counter Availability."

Here are THE FACTS about emergency contraception, folks. (Quoted from the CE. There are 29 references/studies to back this up, and I will be happy to provide the entire list on request.)

"Oral emergency contraceptives, somtimes referred to as the 'morning after pill,' use the same hormones found in birth control pills to prevent pregnancy after intercourse. Plan B is a safe and effective produce for preventing pregnancy when a contraceptive method has failed or was not used during intercourse. In the US, approximately one-half of all pregnancies occurring each year are unintended and more than 50% of these pregnancies are terminated by elective abortion. When taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, Plan B reduces the risk of pregnancy by 89%. It has been estimated that the use of emergency contraception could reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy in the US by as much as 50%."

In other words, less unintended pregnancy = less abortions. This seems like such an obvious statement, I can't imagine why anyone would have trouble comprehending it. Unless you're some religious nut who's hard-wired into the ridiculous and woman-shaming mentality of "damned sluts need to keep their legs closed." (Notice that these people never explore the possibility of buying chastity belts for men. The way they talk, and the absence of any mention of the male, you would think all these pregnancies are in fact immaculate conceptions.)

Look, if you're genuinely into abstince and/or celibacy, more power to you. However, the fact of the matter is that people do have sex, either before marriage or (hopefully) after. Whether you think that's right or wrong doesn't matter--that's what's happening in the real world. If you really want to reduce the abortion rate (and not just slut-shame) you gotta increase contraceptive use. Period.

The mechanism of emergency contraception is as follows.

"Levonorgestral, the only active ingredient in Plan B, is a common progestin found in a variety of hormonal contraceptives. The mechanisms by which Plan B prevents pregnancy are thought to be similar to those of other hormonal contraceptives. All currently available hormonal methods of contraception have been shown to act by the following mechanisms: altering the endometrial lining, altering the cervical mucous, interfering with fertilization or transport of an egg, or preventing implantation. There is good evidence that Plan B prevents or delays ovulation as a primary mechanism of action; however, the product works when taken throughout the menstrual cycle, which means that additional mechanisms may be involved. The contraceptive activity of Plan B can be fully explained by mechanisms of action that do not involve postfertilization effects.

"Studies of Plan B's effects on endometrial function have not shown changes that would prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum. Women who have used Plan B to prevent a pregnancy early in their menstrual cycle are at risk for pregnancy later in the same cycle if contraception is not used or fails again. This indicated that the endometrium is still intact and capable of implanting a fertilized ovum.

"Plan B does not cause abortion or interfere with an established pregnancy. If Plan B is inadvertently taken by women who are pregnant, the pregnancies will not be affected."

So any pharmacist who refuses to dispense Plan B (or regular birth control pills, for that matter) using the excuse that it'll abort the poor little snowflake is quite simply a douchebag who doesn't have a scientific leg to stand on. They must hate women an awful lot to condemn them to reproductive slavery, all to salve the pharmacist's distorted little conscience. But in their pathetic world, it's easy to ignore the fact that more unintended pregnancies = more abortions; therefore, pharmacists who pull these stunts have a fifty-fifty chance of causing the little snowflake's death, all because they refused to do their frakking jobs.

There's also a nice chart showing how regular birth-control pills can be substituted for Plan B in a pinch, thus underscoring that it's no more than ramped-up oral contraception. For instance, 10 Alesse tablets, taken in two doses twelve hours apart, will do the same thing (with slightly less effectiveness). Ditto eight Triphasil tablets. I think this list should be available at every doctor's office and women's clinic in the country, since it neatly bypasses the twisted consciences of some tyrannical pharmacists.

To sum up: "Emergency contraception is a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancy." If this is what people truly want to do--you don't have to worry about aborting the snowflake if it never existed, after all--they should get off their high horse and get with the program.

Frak You Up

2008-02-23T22:39:00.003-07:00

I usually don't like to drop the f-bomb (I think "frak" from Battlestar Galactica works just as well, and sounds way cooler) but this poem was just too good to pass up.

Philip Larkin - This Be The Verse

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

Oooh, the common sssenssse. It grabbs usss by the throat, precioussss.

"Sand and Water"

2008-02-17T15:34:00.001-07:00

This is the saddest, most beautiful song I have ever heard. Beth Nielsen Chapman wrote it after the death of her husband. If you watch it, be warned: it's a three-hankie, at least.

God, I wish I could write like that.

My Ledger Says: "You Need To Die Childless."

2008-02-16T21:36:00.003-07:00

Seeing as this putrescent trainwreck has already been derailed here, here and here, I don't have much more to add.

I believe that reading such things, as nauseating as it may be, does serve a useful purpose, however. Hopefully, it serves to put you on guard against such attitudes and the hateful pricks who espouse them. If a potential significant other, man or woman, displays such, it is best to run, not walk, to the nearest exit.

Maybe by denying these idiots the chance to pass their warped ways of thinking on to the next generation, we will breed them out of existence.

Yes, I Am a Feminist

2008-02-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is a great column by Leonard Pitts about how the meaning of "feminism" has been twisted beyond recognition--and how we should be working to reclaim it.

A Liberal Defense of the F-Word

Some spot-on observations:

"Feminist," it seems, has ended up in the same syntactical purgatory as another once-useful, now-reviled term: liberal. Most people endorse what that word has historically stood for - integration, child labor laws, product safety - yet they treat the word itself like anthrax. Similarly, while it's hard to imagine any young woman really wants to return to the days of barefoot, pregnant and making meatloaf, many now disdain the banner under which their gender fought for freedom. They scorn feminism even as they feast at a table feminism prepared.

We have, I think, lost collective memory of how things were before the F-word. Of the casual beatings. Of casual rape. Of words like "old maid" and "spinster." Of abortion by coat hanger. Of going to school to find a man. Of getting an allowance and needing a husband's permission. Of taking all your spirit, all your dreams, all your ambition, aspiration, creativity, and pounding them down until they fit a space no larger than a casserole dish.

"I'm not a feminist, but...?" That's a fraud. It's intellectually dishonest. And it's a slap to the feminists who prepared the table at which today's young women sup.

That phrase is not only fraudulent, it's a wee bit hypocritical. I wonder what would happen if the next person who said it was met with, "Okay, you can give me back your right to vote, your birth control, any car or home loans you may have gotten in your own name, and your college degree, since obviously you're going to marry some schlup and have his kids and won't have any use for any of it."

This is what feminism has earned for us. The right to think beyond the box and--if one wishes--pursue it. The right to be taken seriously in said career and not be harassed for daring to compete with men. The right to live free of a man if one wishes, beholden to no one, and not be reviled. The right to be treated as a complete human being, gender be damned.

Not that this feminist world (and it's not "post-feminist"; that's just another ridiculous hypocritical phrase designed to hide how much more work we have to do) is perfect; I hardly think we've gotten past the prevalence of "casual rape" at all. (If that were true, the rate of rape convictions wouldn't be so low, and there wouldn't be crappy articles about ridiculous concepts like "gray rape.")

But we've certainly progressed beyond the blatant discrimination of my mother's time, when she had to give up a welding job she'd trained for because, y'know, the GI's are coming back from Europe, and they're guys, and they need the work. She was just expected to marry somebody and get over it.

Do the "not-feminists" really want to go back to that?

If this sounds perilously close to "if you're not for us you're against us", well, so be it. I don't think you can straddle the freaking fence. At the very least, it would be nice to acknowledge all the mountains the women who came before you have climbed, and appreciate all the barriers they knocked down. Because of their efforts, you can go to college, delay childbirth until you feel ready, get school and home loans in your own name...and, just maybe, be elected President.

Considering this, saying "yes, I am a feminist" seems a small price to pay.

Certified Nonsense

2008-02-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am a Certified Pharmacy Technician. To retain my certification, every two years I have to amass twenty units of Continuing Education. I've started working on this--my certification comes due in a couple of months--and so far, this is what I have gathered up.

Newer Insights Into the Prevention of the Common Cold
The Practical and Regulatory Perspective of Bioequivalence
Contact Lens Solutions and Issues for Soft Contact Lenses
The Constipation Conundrum: What Now in Chronic Constipation and IBS-C?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Update on Medical Management and the Use of Probiotics

All well and good, and useful for maintaining a slightly higher salary. There's just one problem:

NONE OF THIS CRAP HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH MY ACTUAL FREAKING JOB.

Here's what I will be doing tomorrow when I go to work.

Gather up refill orders and enter them into computer

Deal with complications from said refill orders: reordered too soon; insurance won't pay; insurance won't cover; insurance will make you stand on your head and/or dance a jig for a prior authorization

Hunt down delivery receipts from over the weekend for orders the nurses said didn't arrive, all the while knowing the orders bloody well DID GET THERE and they're brain-dead morons who can't actually be BOTHERED TO LOOK

Try to run someone's obscure insurance through the computer and make it pay; it won't; spend an hour on the telephone attempting to come up with the proper combination of letters and numbers that will make the claim go, all the while the customer is staring at you with beady fuming eyes

(Actually, there's a way out of this. Simply say you don't take their insurance and/or don't carry that drug--this is especially useful when someone calls up wanting 360 tablets of hydromorphone [a narcotic, and a suspicious-sounding number, to say the least]--and send them on their way. They don't know the difference, and you can get them out of your hair.)

Place a daily drug order, some for narcotics, some not. This is complicated by the fact that your parent company wants to save every penny it can--the CEO really needs his $17 million bonus, after all--therefore us peons have to order from the company's own distributor so it can get its kickba--er, rebates.

Price and put away earlier orders, and attempt to write up expired drugs from six months ago (since the cheap-ass parent company wants to keep its hub-and-spoke operations so lean and mean there's no employees to actually do anything).

Now. Does any of this have ANYTHING to do with the "Constipation Conundrum"?

I'm beginning to think the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board is the biggest scam going. Folks, I am NOT A FREAKING PHARMACIST. I do not counsel patients, monitor drug interactions, destroy outdated drugs, make patient-specific compounds, and give presentations to nursing homes. The pharmacists do all that--that's why they make the six-figure salaries. In my everyday working life, I do not need to know all the garbage the PTCB made me study to pass their test.

At the most, I need to read and write well, count to thirty without taking my shoes off, learn a particular company's computer program, know the shapes and colors of popular drugs, and decipher doctors' chicken-scratch handwriting (and usually the pharmacists and I brainstorm to figure out what it really means). Even if I'm one of the few who has to mix IVs, most of the time there are clear instructions on the bottle.

But I paid $120 to pass the PTCB test (and studied on my own for months beforehand--there are classes you can take to pass it, which is nothing more than additional money-wasting uselessness) and I have to pay $40 every two years to keep my certification. Jeez, I needed to get in on that pyramid scheme from the start. There is nothing I can do now that I couldn't have learned on the job, with no test at all.

But as long as state Boards of Pharmacy are blinded by the idea of C*E*R*T*I*F*I*C*A*T*I*O*N, this idiocy will continue.

There Shouldn't Be Any Such Word as "Girly"

2008-01-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

You Are 8% Girly

Um... you're a guy, right? If not, you're the most boyish girl in the world.
And for you, that's probably the ultimate compliment.

How Girly Are You?

What's amazing about this is the sheer number of cliches whoever wrote it unearthed. Talk about perpetuating stereotypes.

And for the record, no, I have no desire to be a "guy."

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Now playing: Kansas - Play the Game Tonight
via FoxyTunes

Blogghorhea

2007-12-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

Note to Blogger:

YOU NEED SOME MORE TEMPLATES, PEOPLE!!

Look at LiveJournal. They've got dozens of the little suckers.