This is One Kick-Butt Granny

Tina Fey: The Human Bra

5 Perspectives on the Recent Birth Control Ruling

Imagine how happy I was to find this message sitting in my inbox Monday morning:

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it will require all new insurance plans to cover birth control without co-pays under the new health reform law. This is one of the biggest victories for women’s health in a generation.

It feels like we're part of history here, doesn't it? This ruling is a huge, exciting deal, and it's been fun to see the feminist community alive with celebration these past few days. The fight for women's rights is a long, brutal one, but victories like these make it all worth it.

Since the "birth control conversation" is often restricted to the twenties-and-older sphere, I wanted to get some younger perspectives on this momentous ruling. Naturally, I turned to my feminist blogger friends!

Perspective #1: Talia P. (Star of Davida)

I don’t think I have to tell any American how much medical insurance stinks nowadays. Between the poor economy, unemployment rate, and increasingly expensive cost of living, among all the other blechy, costly stuff we have to deal with, most people are forced to view medication as a luxury. One of my mom’s doctors told her that he had prescribed Lipitor for another patient, and the patient told him that it was a choice between buying food and paying for the prescription. Thankfully, women will no longer have to make the Hobson’s choice between necessary items and birth control.

Birth control is an absolute staple of a truly feminist society. If women don’t have easy access to birth control (whether in the form of a diaphragm, pill, or whatever else), then they aren’t able to effectively control their bodies, the ultimate feminist goal. So if a woman has to pay some ridiculous co-pay for it (one of my mom’s meds is $180), that sort of defeats the whole purpose. That’s why this ruling is absolutely awesome — women now have a real choice. I know a lot of people think the term “birth control” is a euphemism, but I really think it’s a great description of what it really is: controlling if/when you want to try to have a child with your significant other.

No co-pay birth control is also important for women who need the Pill to treat cramps during their periods. I’m lucky, since all I need are a couple of Advils and I’m a happy camper, but a number of my friends would be climbing up the walls in pain if they weren’t on the Pill. I’m sure that it’s a relief for them, and all the other dysmenorrheal women out there, not to have to pay co-pays for it anymore.

So, I think it’s absolutely awesome that there are no longer any co-pays for birth control. Even if I didn’t, it would be too bad — the ruling was already made!

Perspective #2: Randi S. (The Radical Idea)

This ruling has truly been an amazing victory, reaffirming a woman's right to control her own fertility, something that has been battled over for 50 years. The United States, as a leader in global family planning programs, has set an important example with this decision by the Dept. of Health and Human Services. They have also struck an incredible blow against opponents of Planned Parenthood by reaffirming the immense importance that women have access to preventative healthcare.  

But moreover, this is an important step in ensuring that women all over our country continue to have access to birth control, even as the battle over the organizations that distribute the Pill are waged. Because this announcement comes from the federal level, it sends a message to the states that they need to look out for women and protect women's health.  Especially at a time when it seems like there is constant fighting over Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations, it is reassuring to know that at least some parts of our government (HHS, the Dept of Justice) are still looking out, not for their political careers, but for the American people.

Randi is doing a similar post on her blog, The Radical Idea. If you'd like to submit your opinion about the HHS birth control ruling or the recent victory for Planned Parenthood in Kansas, please email her at radicalbutlogical@gmail.com!

Perspective #3: Becka W. (Becka Tells It All)

So the Department of Health recently announced that all insurance providers in new plans must completely cover birth control — which means that the Department of Health (and the Obama Administration) is an advocate for women’s health and freedom. Here’s why:

• Birth Control isn’t just for pregnancy prevention. Birth Control also helps regulate a woman’s period, ease crippling cramps, and prevent diseases like ovarian cancer and anemia. 
• This enables all women to feel free to live their lives the way they choose. It’s no secret that birth control can get expensive. Many women pay $50+ a month for birth control. That’s $600 a year — minimum. 
• More than half of women in the U.S. ages 18-34 say that these high costs make it difficult for them to use birth control consistently. And it’s no secret that birth control access, like health care, is unequal. Nearly 60% of young adult Latinas and more than half of African-American women have struggled to pay for prescription birth control. 
• Even abortion can carry a huge price tag or be difficult to obtain in many states thanks to changing laws, and women with unintended pregnancies may end up with less education, earn less, and their children are less likely to graduate high school. 
• It’s actually going to help balance the Federal Budget! Accidental pregnancy costs taxpayers $11 billion a year — and that’s a conservative estimate.  
• The new law doesn’t only require birth control coverage — it also covers co-pays for cervical cancer/HPV screenings, counseling/screening for HIV and STDs, and other important care. 
• This is a huge deal, and one of the biggest successes in women’s sexual health and freedom since Roe v. Wade (which has been challenged by conservative opponents more often than not in the past 30 years). Making health care for women a priority is a definite victory for us for years to come.

But — the fight isn’t over yet. The HHS is considering the inclusion of a clause that allows some religious employers to deny women access to this care. They are taking comments on the ruling for 60 days, and now is your chance to speak out and tell them you support ALL women receiving the care they need! 

Perspective #4: Sophie R. (Grrrl Beat) 

Though obviously a very happy victory, the news of the HHS’s requirement for insurance companies to provide no co-pay birth control was a surprise. From Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics closing across the country, to the much less serious premier of a pro-life horror film called The Life Zone, this year has not been so good for women’s reproductive health rights.

The HHS’s decision is a huge step forward for women’s reproductive health, and an equally huge blow to the Republicans' “War on Women." In addition to birth control, the no co-pay coverage will also include yearly preventative-care visits; STI, HPV, and HIV screenings; gestational diabetes testing; and more. Yes, women will still have to pay for insurance (unlike some countries that distribute birth control completely free of charge), but even so, this decision is a huge improvement for women’s healthcare in the U.S.

As with anything that acknowledges a woman’s right to have control over her body (god forbid!), there has been a lot of criticism. Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said in response: “Many women who get pregnant are blasted out of their minds when they have sex, they’re not going to use birth control anyways.” Beyond being completely offensive, this statement ignores the fact that insurance companies will be providing birth control pills, not just immediate-effect contraceptives like the ones O’Reilly refers to. Fox News political commentator Dana Perino added: “If you can afford a $5 frappuccino at Starbucks, you can pay your $5 co-pay.”

I don’t think that one is worth refuting.

What these misguided (and quite amusing) critics don’t acknowledge (along with facts and common sense) is that the question of no co-pay birth control is one of equality. When women are forced to pay hundreds of dollars for reproductive health care a year that men don’t have to pay, that tips the already unbalanced scale even further against women. With the HHS’s decision, that scale tips a little closer to equilibrium.

Perspective #5: Catelyn B. (Throw Back Rag)

I think this is great! every woman should have access to birth control no matter what! "It's our birth control and we want it now!"

Further Reading:

Want to know more about the HHS ruling or contraception in general? These resources were provided to me by a representative of the National Women's Law Center!

• NWLC Hails Dept. of Health And Human Services Decision On Women’s Preventive Health Care

• Big News For Women's Health: Birth Control Without Co-Pays Now A Reality (By Judy Waxman)

• Good Day for Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding Expenses Get Covered Without Co-Pay (By Melanie Ross Levin)

• "We've Got You Covered" Birth Control Blog Carnival

• Contraception Coverage (Resources from the NWLC)

I Wish They'd "Take It All Off" the Internet

I found this gem whilst randomly site-surfing the other day. The composition was just too perfect; I had to take a screen-shot. I like to call it: "The Left is What I Saw, The Right is What I Thought." I'm just so tired of exploitative internet ads. It doesn't matter if you're doing research for a paper or looking up lyrics to a Wiggles song — you can't escape the misogyny!

"Because You Think Being A Girl Is Degrading"

(Above) Do androgynous models catch flack for rocking the very concept of
gender binary to its core? Well, if they do, they're probably too
busy making snow angels in piles of cash to notice.

When I was in 8th grade, my teacher wanted to liven things up by giving us a debate topic that was a tad more risqué than usual, at least by middle-school standards. The topic was: Is it better to be a girl or a boy? Not "which sex is better?", but literally "which sex has the better end of the deal?"

I remember being excited by this question. As a little feminist-in-the-making (which at that age probably translated to "Woo! Girls rule!"), I had my answer perfectly formulated before anybody else had time to blink: 

Obviously, girls have it better because we have more freedom when it comes to doing the things we want. Girls can play sports and do other "guy stuff" and people think it's cool. But poor boys, if they want to knit, or bake, or do stereotypical "girl stuff" people make fun of them for it.

I was confident with this answer. It felt rock-solid, and I didn't think anybody would be able to come up with a good counter-argument when it came time to duke things out in the classroom. Truth be told, I can't remember what words were exchanged that day, but I do remember feeling utterly betrayed when my friend — a Korean chick who, to this day, is still one of the coolest and funniest people I know — sat on the boys' side of the argument. I just couldn't understand why she thought boys had a better deal in life. What happened to sisterhood?

Looking back, I realize now that my friend (who I'll call Ki-Jyeong Mung for legal reasons) was smarter than all of us. While the rest of us girls sat in smug satisfaction that we had a pretty good set-up in life (We could choose to be tomboys or girly-girls! How liberating!), we didn't understand the deeper implications of our opinion. When a girl is admired for kicking tail on the basketball court but a boy is called every number of degrading names for wearing a holiday sweater that's too "feminine," what is that really saying about the female gender?

After all these years, I finally get it. And I think this picture (which quotes a Madonna song) sums "it" up perfectly.

Life Lesson: Always Love Yourself First (By Natalia K.)

This article was submitted by Natalia K., a Drama major with serious passions for "theatre, acting, films, feminism, food, traveling, and Starbucks." Check her out at This is Natalia!

Whether we like it or not, we all have to go through a long list of  "firsts" in life: first kiss, first date, first "serious" relationship, first time you have sex, and the first serious breakup (which is never, ever, an easy thing to go through). But being a feminist definitely made it easier for me to make the dreaded and life-altering decision. 

I had my first serious boyfriend right at the end of high school when I was 18. I was young, naive, sheltered, and completely confused about what I wanted in life. He was an amazing first boyfriend though; he respected me, we were very compatible, and most importantly, he was always supportive of the changes I went through (the best boyfriend a feminist could ask for). 

As you can imagine, I went through major life changes when I started university. My relationship with theatre (my life-long passion and university major) drastically changed for the better, my feminist identity became much stronger (and louder!), and I simply just became an adult. However, somewhere in the past three years, I no longer felt a strong connection to my boyfriend. I knew I had to end the relationship because I was no longer madly in love with him and I had the desperate need to be on my own and live my life with my new identity. The last time I was single I was 18 and I was a completely different person back then. 

It's been a month since I broke up with him and it hasn't been easy. At times I feel guilty because he was a great guy and an amazing boyfriend, and somehow I feel that I'm causing him suffering that he does not deserve. This is a major reason why many women don't have the courage to end a relationship, because we feel that the person we share our life with does not deserve to be broken up with. As usual, women put someone else's happiness ahead of their own because that is simply the way we are conditioned. Although I really wish there was a way I could minimize his pain, I simply can't, and I cannot get back together with him for that reason either. I know too well that I am entitled to go out there and live my life. To meet new people and keep rediscovering myself in new ways because I am only 21. 

My friends have praised me for my choice because I found the courage to end the relationship. I know that many of my friends and women in general have trouble finding this courage. Well here's my advice: this is your life and you have to do what's best for you. It is sad when a relationship comes to an end but just be thankful that you got the privilege to spend a part of your life with that person. And most importantly, you may think you're doing that person a favor by staying with them, but you are actually harming them just as much as you're harming youself. Because everyone in life deserves to be loved and be happy.

I'd like to end this post with a very wise quote from Sex and the City (I know this is kind of ironic because a lot of feminists dislike this show. I personally think that this quote is amazing).

"I'm gonna say the one thing you aren't supposed to say. I love you . . .

 but I love me more." - Samantha Jones

Words of Wisdom From Tina Fey

For Teens: Why Talking About Birth Control Matters

This post is for a blog carnival called "Birth Control: We've Got You Covered," which is being sponsored by the National Women's Law Center. Soon the Web is going to light up with who-knows-how-many bloggers, each giving their own two cents on no-cost birth control and other related issues. Personally, I want to speak to teens and younger girls about why birth control is so dang important (even if it doesn't figure into all of our lives just yet).

Those ain't no Sweet Tarts!

If you're a relatively new feminist like I am (my glorious "click" moment only came about a year ago), it's easy to get sucked up into the feminist agenda — everything from equal pay to reproductive rights — without thinking too deeply about these issues or considering why they're so pivotal to the women's liberation movement.

New feminists, especially us young'uns, seem to go through a crazed, sugar-rushed phase where we're just so excited to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We start calling out sexist jokes in the produce department, we start doodling feminist-y things in our school notebooks, and we can't help but pose like Rosie the Riveter each time we catch ourselves in a mirror.
(Tip: Don't do this in public. People will stare.)

Don't get me wrong, this "feminist awakening" phase is zealous and incredibly life-affirming, but it can also hurt us if we begin nodding our heads to every single thing our feminist role models say just for the sake of proving our "feminist-ness." (I was guilty of that when I started calling myself pro-choice just because "all the feminists were doing it." I still call myself pro-choice, but now I've got the understanding to back it up. Yea-yuh.)

Support for birth control is one of those feminist ideals that "comes with the job description," but how many times, as teens, do we sit down and actually talk about it, or think about the implications it will have for our futures?

*cricket chirps*

That's what I thought.

Support for birth control has been synonymous with the feminist movement for decades, but when many of our older feminist allies (and I don't mean "older" in a bad way, just literally "older" than those of us born in the Era of Classic Nicktoons) talk about birth control and contraception, the focus automatically shifts to women in their 20's and 30's. Like birth control doesn't also affect our lives.

If you're a young person today, you know about sex. 

Say NO to virgin-whore dichotomy.

Sex saturates every ounce of media that we soak up: it's in books, movies, video games, steamy vampire dramas, the list goes on and on. Parents need to realize that if we're not getting our information from them (via one of those mythical "sex talks"), we're getting our information from less reliable sources — and many times this misinformation is coupled with ridiculous virgin-whore dichotomy (i.e. "good girls don't do that") which makes us even more confused about what the hell is going on with our bodies, about what's acceptable and what's not.

We get it, parents.

It's weird to think about your "babies" as sexual beings (it's weird for us, too, believe me), but that's no excuse to keep us from the realities of sex, contraception, STDs, and pregnancy. And just because we're not on The Pill now, doesn't mean that someday we won't be. As feminists, teens, girls: we need to know that contraception matters.

Right now, the Department of Health and Human Services is deciding "whether or not prescription contraceptives should be available under new healthcare plans without co-pay or other out-of-pocket costs." If the DHHS comes out with a favorable opinion, that could mean no-cost birth control for countless women nationwide. Considering birth control can cost upward of $100 per month (depending on one's method), many women in today's economy have had to choose between contraception and cancer screenings, between contraception and groceries.

In the 50's and 60's, many women were hearing about their
reproductive options for the first time. (Shock!)

The average woman spends three quarters of her reproductive life trying to prevent pregnancy, so yeah, birth control is a big deal. The National Women's Law Center is hopeful that the DHHS will "see the light" on this issue, and ultimately heed the recommendations given by a non-partisan, independent panel of scientific and medical experts at the Institute of Medicine (the panel's recommendations range from providing "yearly well-woman preventative care visits" to "screening and counseling to detect and prevent interpersonal and domestic violence").

For the millions of women who rely on birth control to keep their options open, and for your future and mine, I really hope the DHHS is able to reach a favorable consensus. In teen lingo: I hope they don't screw the heck up.

But until then, let's place our hands on our chins, act cool, and ponder some random facts birth control . . .

• About the time your grandparents were growing up (assuming they were born in the 50's or earlier), birth control was taboo. Many states had laws (i.e. the Comstock Laws) that not only banned people from using contraception, but from distributing any shred of information about it whatsoever. Also in those days, women were often expected to marry at a young age and have large families, regardless of any plans they had for the future.
• Unintended pregnancies can be harmful to women who have preexisting health conditions such as hypertension or coronary artery disease. A true testament to "it's better to be safe than sorry."
• Data shows that between 1990 and 2004, U.S. pregnancy rates declined almost 40 percent among 15- to 19-year-old women. One study attributed 86 percent of the long-term decline in teen pregnancies to increased contraceptive use.
• Planned pregnancies (which, as the NWLC points out, usually require contraception) allow women time to make certain lifestyle changes that will promote healthy babies.
• When it comes to HIV, sex is 10,000 times safer with a condom than without one.
• Birth control allows women to choose whether they want to start families earlier in life, hold off to pursue other endeavors (like, you know, kicking ass in college and the working world), or not have kids at all.

Birth control gives "power to the people," or rather, it gives women the opportunity to make choices that are right for their personal, individual lives. We're all different, life is short, and we should all be given the choice of how we spend our time — raising a family, going to work, or maybe even both. 

Nothing should be off-limits to us.

Sage Adderley (Sweet Candy Distro) Interview

Andrew Jacobs is a writer for Stuck In The Past, a "90's hardcore webzine" dedicated to reviving (or, at least, blogging about) music that has since faded from the limelight. Recently, Jacobs had an interview with Sage Adderley, a self-made businesswoman, former tattoo artist, and mother. Feeling that this interview didn't quite fit in with his own webzine's theme, Jacobs suggested that the readers of this blog might find it interesting!

I'm of the opinion that women owning and running businesses is one of the many pinnacles of the feminist movement. As the owner and operator of Sweet Candy Distro since 2004, Sage Adderley is a fine addition to that lofty peak. Ms. Adderley is also a 13 year accomplished tattoo artist and she puts her extensive tattooing expertise to good use as the National Tattoo Art writer for Examiner.com. I hope that you enjoy this interview with this extraordinary woman. — Andrew Jacobs

Jacobs: When and why did you start doing zines?

Adderley: I made my first personal zine in 2004. At the time, I was taking creative writing courses at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and I thought it would be wonderful to create an indie publication featuring a variety of literary and visual arts. I began searching online for groups to post submission calls and I found a zine community. I was intrigued by some of the zine descriptions, so I ordered a zine from a writer in Florida. I popped a dollar and a stamp in the mail with a handwritten note requesting her zine. When the zine arrived, it was love at first sight.

J: Who were some of your influences when you first started doing zines?

A: My first zine was centered around my childhood, basically what it was like to grow up with heavily tattooed parents (one of them a tattoo artist) in the '80s and in the Bible Belt. I would have to say I was greatly influenced by my family and my mom's tattoo studio.

J: You own and operate Sweet Candy Distro. For those people reading this who don't know what a distro is, please provide a layperson's description.

A: A distro is a distributor of independent media. Some distros solely carry music, while others carry zines and often you'll find distros that carry a mixture of both. I carry a variety of items at Sweet Candy. The majority of items are zines, but I also stock CDs, DVDs, pins, handmade items, books, and magazines. My mission is to support zine writers and do-it-yourself creators by making their goods available to a wider audience. Some distros do mail order, I prefer to have my distro online but I do receive some mail orders.

J: Are paper zines and distros still viable in the digital/internet age? Why or why not?

A: Most definitely. There is something completely special and magical about paper zines that the internet would never be able to replicate. It's like comparing a book to an audiobook. It's two totally different experiences. For me, the beauty behind the zine is the process in which it was created, by hand!

J: You may have already answered this but just in case you didn't, because you come from the paper zine world, what are your views on digital only zines and the blogosphere in general?

A: I love reading blogs. I follow quite a few but I think there is a huge difference between a blog and a digital zine. I truly don't have an opinion about digital zines because I don't read them. I don't mean to sound like a jerk but digital zines just don't interest me.

J: You were a tattoo artist from the mid '90s until 2010. Do you recall doing very many Straight Edge, vegetarian and/or vegan tattoos during that time? If so, what sorts of those types of tattoos did you do?

A: I tattooed in a small, southern town so it was very rare to get people in the tattoo shop who lived these types of lifestyles. I'm not saying they weren't out there, I just never saw them getting tattooed during that time. I probably tattooed the triple X symbol a handful of times.

J: Was there anything that you refused to tattoo on people? If so, what and why?

A: No, I never felt like it was my place to judge what others wanted to get tattooed on their bodies but I think if someone had come in for a homophobic or racist themed tattoo, then I would have turned them down. Luckily, I never encountered anything of the sort.

J: If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to stop tattooing?

A: I took a break from tattooing in 2009 when my son was born. I tattooed almost my entire pregnancy with him. It's tough to raise a family in this industry. The hours aren't 9-5, you know? My husband tattoos full time, so I decided to take a break to stay home with my son. I also have two daughters, my hands are pretty full. Whether it is a temporary or permanent break is yet to be determined.

Right now, I am having a blast writing about the tattoo industry and tattoo info articles. I had an interview published in Urban Ink Magazine and I am the National Tattoo Art writer for Examiner.com. It feels great to be able to offer guidance to tattoo clients through my writing. I receive quite a few emails from people who read my articles and ask for tattoo advice or opinions on tattoo artists and studios. I am still a part of the tattoo industry, just in a different way now.

J: Feel free to shamelessly plug any of your other endeavors here.

A: I'm looking forward to releasing my new issue of Tattooed Memoirs zine at the Portland Zine Symposium the weekend of August 5th. I'll be tabling Sweet Candy there! Locals should come out and say hello.

Friends, Romans, feminists . . . lend me your faces!

Show the world (or maybe just a
few hundred people) what a
feminist looks like!

I hope you've all had a chance to check out my Faces of Feminism project. On November 24th (yep, Thanksgiving) I'll be publishing a special post to showcase as many  supermegafoxyawesomehot* feminists as possible! 

I want to shatter any stereotype that erroneously assumes feminists are all cranky, hairy white women with cacti shoved up their backsides (no offense to my cranky, hairy white women friends). 

Feminists come in every shape, size, color, age, nationality, gender — I shouldn't have to list anymore classifiers to make that point. Just take a look in a mirror and you'll see how truly unique and awesome a feminist can be . . .

Now that I've (hopefully) buttered you up, I desperately need your help! My goal is to collect at least 100 feminist photographs by November 17th, so I need you all to send in your most epic, badass pictures to include in the post!

You can send your pictures to teenagefeminist@gmail.com (make sure to title them "This Is What A Feminist Looks Like"). To show my thanks, I will be more than happy to link your picture to your blog/website, just make sure to include the link in your email!

If you're looking to climb up a few more rungs on my I-love-you ladder, you can help me by spreading the word about this project to all of your "feministy" friends. Feel free to re-post (and tweak) any of the following:

Facebook:

Society is stuck on a very narrow-minded image of what a feminist "should" look like, but in November Danielle B. from Experimentations of a Teenage Feminist will be publishing a special post titled "The Faces of Feminism" to show just how diverse the feminist community really is! Feminists, please help Danielle by submitting a picture of yourself for her to post! Photos can be sent to: teenagefeminist@gmail.com!

Twitter:

Attentions feminists! Submit your photos to this 

blogger's "Faces of Feminism" project! 

http://teenage-feminist.blogspot.com/p/

faces-of-feminism-submit-photo.html

Tumbler (post stolen from this cool chick):

Danielle Burch, who runs the lovely blog Experimentations of a Teenage Feminist is doing a blog post this November featuring The Faces of Feminism. To be a part of this, all you have to do is email her at teenagefeminist@gmail.com with a picture of yourself and if you’d like, a link to your blog. Go to her blog for more information! I submitted this photo [link "this photo" to a photo of yourself!] the other day because it’s basically the most badass picture of me ever. Please let all your feministy friends know!

____________________________ 

*Any A Very Potter Musical fans out there? 

Pro-Choice is Pro-Life (By Amelia G.)

This article was written by Amelia G., a woman who describes herself as "an undergraduate, feminist, seafood enthusiast, bookworm (and, more recently, blogworm)." She writes for Plenty of Otherwise!

"If you can't trust a woman with a choice,
how can you trust her with a baby?"

The other day I came across an article in the Michigan Messenger about how Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican running for president in 2012, signed a "Pro-life leadership pledge." This means that if elected, he'll "nominate pro-life judges, select pro-life cabinet members, de-fund Planned Parenthood and support legislation that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy."

That news didn't exactly surprise me, but it still pissed me off, especially given the fresh batch of anti-choice news that has popped up in the U.S. this week. The Executive Council in New Hampshire just voted to de-fund Planned Parenthood. And yesterday, a federal judge blocked a law that would have required Crisis Pregnancy Centers, or CPCs, to disclose particular information about themselves, such as whether they employ licensed medical personnel.

CPCs pose as abortion clinics, but do not provide abortion or contraceptives (nor do they refer women to organizations that do). As the Ms. article points out, CPCs are notorious for providing false medical information about abortion in order to scare women out of considering it as a viable option that might work for them.

I'm really uncomfortable knowing that I live in a country whose government damn near shut down over an argument about whether to de-fund an organization that does as much good as Planned Parenthood. And it hurts even more to learn that people are actively working to ensure that the nation's laws are on the side of CPCs that flat-out lie to women who come to them for help and comprehensive information.

As someone who cares deeply about reproductive justice and people in general, I'd like to take this opportunity to explain — to Representative McCotter, Judge Pauley, and everyone else behind all of the legislation that has come up since the last election — that pro-choice is pro-life.

A lot of people will be surprised to hear this, but I didn't always identify as pro-choice.

Yeah, really. Because let's face it: the rhetoric sounds great. Don't kill babies. That's something I could totally get behind, you know?

Neither of my parents are U.S. citizens, so they can't vote. Therefore, politics just weren't discussed in our house when I was growing up. I've read that statistically, parents have a great deal of influence over their children's political views. That wasn't really the case for me. I had a few opinions, but those were based shallowly on what I felt to be common sense.

So, when asked for my views on abortion, I would proudly declare that I was pro-life and thought abortion was wrong.

But once I got to high school, I noticed that a lot of people I really respected were especially passionate about their pro-choice views. And important things were going on at the time that forced me to seriously reevaluate my stance. In 2006, when I was a junior, my school district considered adopting an abstinence-only sex education program, to replace the comprehensive one that was in place.

People went apeshit. Friends of mine spoke out against the proposal at school board meetings. Medical professionals came in from out of town to voice their opinion, too. And in the end, we stuck with a comprehensive program.

I was pleased with the school board's decision not to adopt an abstinence only program (even though I didn't believe in abortion, I wasn't quite that conservative; I've always fully supported birth control). But I still could not understand how or why my friends felt so strongly about the abortion issue in particular. And because I knew my friends to be intelligent, compassionate people, I wanted to understand their point of view, so I started researching the topic.

I don't remember a specific moment when I "became pro-choice." I do know, though, that I kept finding instances where I could see myself agreeing that abortion was an acceptable option: rape, incest, poverty, etc.

But what won me over fully in the end were the personal anecdotes. By reading tons of stories about women's experiences with pregnancy, I discovered that it was impossible to put them into boxes marked with the aforementioned labels. It hit me that I couldn't call myself pro-life without taking women's lives and diverse experiences into consideration.

The Supreme Court's upholding of the "partial birth abortion" ban in 2007 (the year I graduated from high school) is the event that both tested and solidified my new pro-choice views. I was furious with the decision, even though when George W. Bush had signed the bill four years prior, I hadn't had a problem with it. That's because on the surface, "partial birth abortion" sounds awful; it evokes images of selfish women who, after 35 weeks of pregnancy, suddenly freak out and realize that they don't want to carry the pregnancy to term. So they go out and have an abortion.

But for one thing, "partial birth abortion" is not a medical term; it was coined by right-wing politicians. And secondly, come on, there have to be reasons for women to get an abortion that late in the game.

And damn good ones, at that.

One woman's story has really stuck with me over the years. It appears on page 14 of  The War on Choice by Gloria Feldt:

We were awaiting the arrival of a son. I'm diabetic, so I had more prenatal testing than most women. At twenty-five weeks I had an ultrasound and the doctor's exact words were, "Vick, you are disgustingly normal and so is the baby." At thirty-two weeks I went in for another ultrasound and my world came crashing down. They discovered that [the fetus] had not grown past twenty-five weeks, and further testing revealed that he had nine major anomalies, including a fluid-filled cranium with no brain tissue at all. He could never have survived outside my womb. My body was the only thing keeping him alive, and I chose to remove my son from life support. I'm a mom. I had three beautiful children, and in fact I have a new baby boy who's here with me now. Who are the people on the anti-choice side to judge me? They've never been in my shoes. I never in my wildest dreams thought something like this could happen, but it happened to me.

The abortion she had in 1996 was made illegal under the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. Her experience reminds me of the woman in NE who, earlier this year, was denied an abortion and forced to watch her baby die in her arms shortly after giving birth.

So this is why I feel so strongly that lawmakers should not get between a woman and her doctor. As NARAL's Speak Out for Choice Award recipient Katie Stack said earlier this year during her acceptance speech: "Women's experiences with abortion are nuanced and complicated. But . . . if [we are] given the opportunity to share these diverse realities, we can begin to challenge the stereotypes and falsehoods that are promoted by the anti-choice movement."

Pro-choice is pro-life. That's something I firmly believe and discovered simply by being curious and open. By reading. By trusting/caring about people, and respecting their personal opinions and choices.

I don't think that's too much to ask of humanity.

From the Curious Depths of My Backpack #3

If you haven't been following this post series, this is where I pull random crap from my backpack and post it (yay)! I wrote this particular piece for my AP Language and Composition class. We were given a list of "wacky laws" and told to write a fictional story about one of them. I chose a law that says women in Corvallis, Oregon can't drink coffee after 6pm. (I apologize, there's one typo near the end.)

Written February 8th, 2011

Other posts in this series:

• From the Curious Depths of My Backpack #1: Where I'm From
• From the Curious Depths of My Backpack #2: My Life in Six Words

Women From Around the World, Who've Changed the World

Susan B. Anthony reeks of awesome.

My friend Catelyn, owner of a 60's-themed blog called Throw Back Rag and a Facebook addict, suggested that I share an article called Women Who Changed the World, which was originally posted on an online biography website. If you've got a spare minute (or two!), you should check it out — it covers spectacular women from present day all the way back to 570 BC.

If you're really into this sort of thing, you can also check out a database I stumbled across called 300 Women Who Changed the World. It covers all the major names that glorify the pages of history books (i.e. Eleanor Roosevelt, Catherine the Great, Joan of Arc), plus plenty more that I guarantee you've never heard of!

While I was sifting through the site, it was extremely exciting to come across names I've never seen before or otherwise couldn't pronounce (i.e. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sofya Kovalevskaya, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal, to name a few). I feel like we — Americans, anyway — have been programmed to associate "women in history" with American suffragettes or English queens, and fail to give women of color and other nationalities proper attention and credit. So for this post, let's check out some women from around the globe who've made an impact! 

Go ahead, click on a picture:

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

Life According to Google (Men vs. Women)

Is Google an elusive window into the complex minds of internetizens, 

or just an annoying friend who likes to finish all your sentences?

Interview With A Cult Member

And today's Dumbass Award goes to . . .

Since mentioning them in my post about SlutWalk Seattle a few weeks ago, I promised myself that I wouldn't write about the Westboro Baptist Church ever, ever again. They're America's most infamous hate-mongers, using the bible and Christianity (at least, their brand of Christianity) to justify savage and hateful messages targeted at almost every group imaginable: homosexuals, abortionists, Muslims, Jews, Roman Catholics, even the United States military.

There's a 99.999% chance that WBC hates you, too.

Free speech is one of many things that makes our nation — well, to be quite frank — pretty damn awesome, but this insane, hate-filled cult abuses that right to personally attack the aforementioned groups and their families. When they're not stomping the American flag with soccer cleats or posting hateful parodies of popular songs on their website (the homophobic buggers even had the nerve to parody an Elton John song), they travel thousands of miles from their cozy coven in Topeka, Kansas to picket military funerals, gay pride events, Jewish community centers, etc.

They even went so far as to picket the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man who was murdered in 1998 for no other reason than the fact that he was gay. In response, WBC posted this on their website:

WBC picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, to inject a little truth and sanity into the irrational orgy of lies consuming this world. WBC does not support the murder of Matthew Shepard . . . However, the truth about Matthew Shepard needs to be known. He lived a Satanic lifestyle. He got himself killed trolling for anonymous homosexual sex in a bar at midnight. Unless he repented in the final hours of his life, he is in hell. He will be in hell for all eternity,

Have you bashed in your screen yet? No? Okay, let's keep going.

Don't get me wrong, I know what these people are doing. Let's just say it's no coincidence that WBC has so many lawyers in the family. They're media-hounds. They picked the most controversial subjects in existence — homosexuality, religion, patriotism, the government — and have blown them into crazy proportions in order to get people to fire back at them. If somebody so much as lays a finger on one of these "peaceful protesters" BAM! They're slapped with a billion dollar lawsuit and consecutive life sentences. You gotta hand it to these guys. They've got a sweet little operation set up.

Here's a documentary about WBC called "The Most Hated Family in America." It's interesting, but watch it at your own risk! These people are very, very, very, very, very, very (did I say very?) offensive.

Back to the topic at hand, I had a crazy whim to get in contact with WBC yesterday. I wanted to  know what it was like to talk to somebody who has such blatant disregard for compassion, humanity — and since WBC's website mockingly claims that they lose 0 nanoseconds of sleep over other people's "thoughts and feeeeellllliiiiiiings," I knew any member of the church would be a perfect match.

It took about an hour and twenty failed call attempts to reach anybody from the church. Clever Netizens have posted the personal phone numbers of all WBC leaders online, but the poor saps can probably only take so many prank calls before they have to acquire new numbers, rendering their old numbers invalid. After hearing The number you have dialed is no longer in service for the twentieth time, finally, I succeeded.

This is a transcript of my interview with a member of the Westboro Baptist Cult — I mean Church. For privacy's sake (and the fact that I can't afford to get sued), I've changed the interviewee's name:

*Phone ringing* 

Schmoopie: This is Schmoopie, may I help you? 

Danielle: Hi, are you affiliated with the Westboro Baptist Church? 

S: I am. 

D: Um, I actually have a few questions. 

S: You have a few questions? 

D: Yeah, I was actually wondering how you guys felt— 

S: Is this kind of a personal inquiry or is this a media inquiry? 

D: More personal. It's just one question . . .  

S: Go ahead. 

D: What is your church's view on feminism, women's rights, that kind of thing? 

S: On, on what now? 

D: Feminism, women's rights? 

S: Oh well, uh, God — there's nothin' wrong with women. *laughs* God didn't say it was an abomination to be a woman. Uh, yeah, so women are cool. 

*audible laughter in the background* 

D: Oh, okay. So what about feminism in general? Do you—

S: You, you mean — well if by feminism you mean, uh, women, uh, trying to be all that and a bag of chips? 

D: Uh, no, I mean women who are fighting for equal pay, equal treatment under the law, that kind of thing? 

S: Well I think that, uh, everybody ought to be treated equal under the law, and I think that women have every right in the world to make as much money as a man does to do the same job.  

D: Okay. 

S: Yeah, that's all groovy-gravy right there. 

D: So, you don't believe that if a woman, or even a man, defines themself as a feminist that they would go to hell? 

S: Well, I think that anybody who defines themself as a feminist, uh, probably isn't interested in the bible. 

D: Oh, why is that? There are plenty of women who mesh— 

S: Did you just, did you ask me a question? Do you want me to answer it? 

D: Yes. Sorry. 

S: Alright, cool. So anybody who defines themself as a feminist probably doesn't have the, um, a proper fear of the lord. I'm not trying to throw a big blanket over the whole thing, but what I'm saying is, the kinds of things that you've talked about, the kinds of aspects of feminism that you've already talked about — equal pay, equal treatment under the law — that doesn't have anything to do with feminism. And certainly we're not opposed to anything like that, but I will tell you that some aspects of quote-on-quote feminism is, I think the Westboro Baptist Church absolutely has a problem with. And that is, that would be stuff like this: Um, the bible says "I suffer not a woman to teach," so the idea of a woma— of female preachers in the pulpits in the churches . . . 

D: Mhmm? 

S: Is an absolute no-no by scriptural standards. Furthermore, uh, uh, the wife is subject to the husband in all things in that marriage covenant. So in other words, you know the husband or the father in the house is the authority in the house. He's the final say in the house. So, those aspects of things, that the feminist movement has tried, has tried for a long time now to usurp and to reject. Uh, w-we, we absolutely — look — if man says one thing, and God says another, you know, vis a vis the bible, we're gonna go with the bible.  

D: Okay. 

S: But we don't have, we don't have any problem with the stuff, huh, the [unintelligible] equal treatment under the law, and the equal pay, and those kinds of things. Who the heck would want to pay a woman and a man a different wage for doing the same job? 

D: Exactly. Um, actually feminism as I know it is exactly what you said: it's fighting for equal rights, equal pay, equal political opportunities, so I was just curious — what is your definition of a feminist?  

Directions:

1. Look up book on Amazon

2. Read synopsis

3. Commence punching yourself

    in the face

S: Well that's a little bit, you know look, I have my definition of feminism . . . You know used to, I used to study, uh, philosophy at the Department — at the, the University of Kansas. I worked on a piece there for a while, so I have a philosophical definition of feminism, but then you— feminism is one of those kinda murky, uh, there really isn't a tightly-wound, uh, you know, disposition there, it's kinda like nailing jello to a tree. 

If you ask five different people what feminism is you're proba— you're bound to get five different answers. But, so, like I said, those aspects of, of feminism that have to do with equal treatment under the law, we're all for. But when you usurp the bible's authority on some aspects of feminism like, say, putting women in the pulpits, and, and having women— and there's a really good book for you to read on this. I can't think of the author's name, but I can tell you what the, the name of the book is. You'll really like this. It's called, uh, Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives, and Women Preachers. And that's, that's got kind of a bible view of how a true church of the lord Jesus Christ oughta take a look at the roles of women. 

Well, I like women though. I got daughters and I got friends, sisters in Christ, and I have a wife. Cool? 

D: Okay. Thank you very much. 

S: Alright. 

D: 'Kay, bye.

Would I have liked a more substantial interview, one where I was actually given the time to sputter out more than "okay" and "mhmm"? Absolutely.

Analyze that conversation as you will, but I just think it proves that the members of WBC are incredibly closed-minded. Schmoopie may have pretended to be progressive and enlightened by oh-so-intelligently proclaiming his love and appreciation for the female sex (and I quote: "women are cool"), but he's obviously no different than the author of the horrendous book he suggested to me:

• Someone who doesn't think women are fit to teach anyone with a male appendage, 
• someone who thinks wives should keep their mouths shut rather than have opinions of their own, and 
• someone who thinks women shouldn't even be allowed to cut their freaking hair.

I've thought a lot about this since yesterday. I've stewed over it. Rued over it. And as drunkenly ridiculous as this may sound, I think America needs groups like the Westboro Baptist Church. Why? Because they show us the wrong way to live. They show us what hate really looks like, thereby solidifying many of our beliefs in true justice, love, tolerance, and equality. 

So thank you, WBC, for being such major jackasses!

And remember kiddies, if the Westboro Baptist Church hates you, that must mean you're doing something right!

____________________________

Recommended Videos:

• Shirley Phelps (WBC) Gets Bashed by Julie Banderas on Fox News
• Shirley Phelps (WBC) on Tyra Banks' Show
• Shirley Phelps Thinks that the Amish Girls Deserved to Die
• Michael Moore vs. Westboro Baptist Church
• Anonymous Hacks Westboro Baptist Church Website
• Westboro Baptist Church Family Disowns Daughter

____________________________

Contact Information:

If you would like to email WBC, possibly give 'em a piece of your mind, go here.

If you'd like to personally call one of the members of WBC like I did, go here. Scroll down until you see the second phone number given by a person called "C." I heard WBC likes phone calls at 3 am.