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By surfin3rdwave • 13 years ago

Sexism Meets Ableism

My local newspaper aired a short article (or a long obituary?) today about a mentally handicapped 25-year-old woman who wandered into the highway and was hit by a car. I found the whole situation very upsetting, but I was even more troubled by the way my newspaper reported it.

The journalist repeatedly refers to the deceased woman as a “girl”, while all other news articles and obituaries clearly call people over 18 “men” and “women”. I understand that someone with significant cognitive delays may seem childlike to her family and caregivers, but I think it’s really inappropriate to write about disabled women as if they are children. Even if her intellectual capacity was limited, that isn’t a reason to posthumously insult her by insinuating that she isn’t an adult.

Even more annoying– I dug through the newspaper’s online archives and found at least one article where they refer to a mentally handicapped 19-year-old as a man, rather than a boy.

Methinks a letter to the editor is in order.
By surfin3rdwave • 13 years ago

Feminism and Cosmetic Surgery… aka I hate my boobs.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the feminist implications of cosmetic surgery.

I’m a feminist, and I am opposed to the oppressive, ageist, sexist beauty standard that stipulates that only large, perky breasts are beautiful.

That said, I can’t stand my breasts. I’m only in my mid-twenties, but I’ve got the worst of both worlds… small AND droopy. I only wear an A-cup, but they point straight down. I know it’s going to get even worse as I get older.

While I wish that I could learn to love my body and reject the patriarchy’s beauty standards, I am seriously considering cosmetic surgery. I honestly think that I would feel better about my body if my breasts were larger ...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the feminist implications of cosmetic surgery.

I’m a feminist, and I am opposed to the oppressive, ageist, sexist beauty standard that stipulates that only large, perky breasts are beautiful.

That ...
By surfin3rdwave • 13 years ago

We Need Feminist Crisis Pregnancy Centers

When you hear “crisis pregnancy center”, you probably think “anti-choice.” That’s an accurate assumption– from my experience dealing with an unplanned but wanted pregnancy, I’ve seen that crisis pregnancy centers exist only to perpetuate the anti-choice agenda– not to help pregnant women.

As pro-CHOICE feminists, I think that we need to provide more resources to women who have “crisis” or unplanned pregnancies, but do not personally want to go through an abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers shouldn’t try to convince women to carry unwanted pregnancies, but they should provide needed help to underprivileged women who do want to give birth.

What would a feminist crisis pregnancy center look like?

When you hear “crisis pregnancy center”, you probably think “anti-choice.” That’s an accurate assumption– from my experience dealing with an unplanned but wanted pregnancy, I’ve seen that crisis pregnancy centers exist only to perpetuate the anti-choice agenda– ...
By surfin3rdwave • 13 years ago

Love your Body- Value Your Health

As feminists, part of our goal is to encourage women to be proud of their bodies, regardless of how they are built or how much “extra” weight they carry. I think that, too often, we actually disempower women by telling them to love their overweight bodies or accept the “fact” that they will never be thin.

All women SHOULD love their bodies, but it’s unwise to love your body at the expense of your health.

I personally became victim to this in my early adulthood. When I was eighteen, I weight 180 pounds at 5’6″. While this is not morbidly overweight, it was far too much for my own build. I was tired a lot, I couldn’t bike or walk very far, ...

As feminists, part of our goal is to encourage women to be proud of their bodies, regardless of how they are built or how much “extra” weight they carry. I think that, too often, we actually disempower ...
By surfin3rdwave • 13 years ago

Defining Whiteness

I’m sure we’ve all noticed the trend over recent decades– predominantly-white people who are 99.999% white identifying themselves as Amerindian because its’ trendy. I think it’s largely an attempt to escape feelings of white guilt– but it amuses (and saddens) me that most of those people will deny any traces of African ancestry.

I’ve struggled to define my own racial identity. My mother is Italian. My father is 1/8 Amerindian (Muscogee), 1/4 black and 5/8 Euro-mutt.  So this makes me 1/16th Muscogee and 1/8th black, and the rest– the vast majority– could be vaguely classified as “white-ish”.

My gut instinct is to call myself non-white, or to self-identify as a woman of color. Although I’m olive-skinned and black-haired, most people interpret me ...

I’m sure we’ve all noticed the trend over recent decades– predominantly-white people who are 99.999% white identifying themselves as Amerindian because its’ trendy. I think it’s largely an attempt to escape feelings of white guilt– but it ...
By surfin3rdwave • 13 years ago

Mothers Shouldn’t ____.

My friend, a single mother of two children, celebrated her 21st birthday last weekend. After she tucked her two kids into bed, her trusted neighbor came over to babysit, and she and I went out for drinks.

We got absolutely blasted– I think we each had about five drinks. We stayed out until nearly two in the morning, laughing and cutting up, until the booze wore off. Then, stone-cold sober, she returned home to her kids, paid the babysitter, and returned to her remarkably responsible life as a young, single mother.

I had been recounting our evening out to a mutual friend, and he interrupted me to say that he can’t believe she– my friend– would do that. He said that mothers ...

My friend, a single mother of two children, celebrated her 21st birthday last weekend. After she tucked her two kids into bed, her trusted neighbor came over to babysit, and she and I went out for drinks.

We ...
By surfin3rdwave • 14 years ago

My Abortion and Why I Regret It

I am pro-choice. I will always be pro-choice. None of my experiences will ever change that.

My problem? My abortion wasn’t a choice. I was forced into it by socioeconomic hardship. It’s been four years, and I still struggle with the emotional pain.

My partner has extremely low sperm count and very low testosterone levels; he had been told years before we met that he could not “naturally” conceive. We weren’t using birth control because we didn’t anticipate an unplanned pregnancy. It happened anyway.

We were coping with extreme poverty– both of us were under-employed; working for minimum wage ($5.95 per hour at the time) for a total of 15 hours a week each. We were seeking full-time work every day but couldn’t ...

I am pro-choice. I will always be pro-choice. None of my experiences will ever change that.

My problem? My abortion wasn’t a choice. I was forced into it by socioeconomic hardship. It’s been four years, and I still ...