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MayThese stories explain why we need late-term abortions to be available everywhere and why we need more men like Dr. George Tiller.
On Sunday May 30th, a man walked into a church in Wichita, Kansas and shot to death Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was volunteering as an usher that Sunday, so he was standing in the lobby of the church when the gunman entered. Unfortunately, Dr. Tiller’s death didn’t really come as a surprise; his medical practice centered on performing abortions, particularly late term abortions, and he’d been attacked before. Regardless of the near constant threats and harassment he received, Dr. Tiller was committed to his work. Why? Because he believed that “abortion is a matter of survival for women.”
It was for me. In October of 2004, I was pregnant with my sons Nicholas and Zachary. With great joy and expectation, my husband, my best friend, and I visited my doctor for a normal growth ultrasound. I was nearly 23 weeks pregnant, hovering at the start of the third trimester. Within moments it was clear something was wrong; one of the boys was still and had no heartbeat. When I met with my doctor, routine screening revealed the worst: the symptoms I’d been experiencing that I thought were normal with a twin pregnancy were actually evidence that I was sick — very, very sick. I was immediately admitted to the hospital with severe preeclampsia, and though my doctors tried mightily to slow the progression of the disease, by the morning of October 27, 2004 a group of doctors stood at my bedside and delivered the worst news I’d ever received.
I was in advanced kidney failure. My blood pressure was skyrocketing, and it could not be controlled with medications. My liver was beginning to decline. The horrific headache I was experiencing could no longer be treated with pain medications because they were afraid it would depress my ability to breathe when I began to have the seizures they expected at any moment. I would soon likely suffer a stroke or a heart attack. In other words, I was going to die unless the pregnancy was terminated. Immediately.
(via rabbleprochoice)
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Angry birds are what happens when muppets get it on.
and it’s brilliant.
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Mar"
Financially, we’re screwed. We all know women suffer from a wage gap, but that gap widens once women become mothers — even more if they have the audacity to be single mothers, or non-white. A Cornell University study showed that a child-free woman is twice as likely to be hired as a mother with an identical resume, and is offered about $11,000 more in starting salary. We’re the only industrialized nation without paid maternity leave, and national child care costs are through the roof. At home, it’s not much better. According to a 2008 study from the University of Michigan, when you get a husband, you also get seven extra hours of housework a week (whereas when men get married, they lose an hour of housework), and mothers do on average of 18 more hours a week of housework than fathers.
Then, of course, there’s the social pressure: Are you breastfeeding? Co-sleeping? Baby-wearing? (Though so long as you’re not Tiger Mothering, you may be safe.)
"-Jessica Valenti, Why Mom Is Miserable (2011)
Yet another reason why feminists are SEXIEST.
Oh shut the fuck up. Women without kids are hired because they aren’t taking time off all the time because their brat is sick, or leaving early because Susie has a recital or Jimmy has soccer. And don’t tell me how YOU work 90 hours a week, or YOU and YOUR friends work two jobs and never take days off. There is enough evidence to show that you are the exception.
You wanted the spawn, and if you didn’t, abortions are 500 bucks. So don’t complain to those of us with our priorities in order about your inability to get a job that works around your reproductive choices. That’s not how business works.
(via hugparty)
Really? Really? Women don’t deserve to have a job and be paid the same as everyone else just because they’re mothers? Women take off work for their kids mostly for reasons due to institutionalized sexism.
- It’s implicit that your husband’s job is more important. He probably earns more (for reasons including, but not limited to, the fact that he’s a man and not a mother)
- Women are expected to be the caregivers, whether they like it or not
- Workplaces generally don’t offer childcare and the government keeps defunding programs for reduced-cost childcare
And you don’t even address the housework thing. Eighteen more hours a week picking up after everyone else is kind of a big deal. And why is the woman doing so much more housework, even when her and her husband both have jobs? Hint: institutionalized sexism.
So don’t dismiss this entire problem as “Pshh, women and their fucking kids.” People are allowed to become parents. It may not be the choice you make, but saying “You’ll be less likely to get a job, and if you do get it, you’ll be paid less, so DEAL WITH IT, guess you should have thought of that before BREEDING” is pretty hurtful to the many, many women out there who dare to dream of a world where they can have children AND a job. Crazy, I know!
(via stfuconservatives)
How am I sexist if I happen to be a child-free woman who gets the extra hours (and extra income) due to filling in for PARENTS who are on maternity leave, home with sick kids, off work due to lack of babysitter, etc.
Oh, and I work/switch days on the family-type holidays voluntarily because 1.) double-time HELLO, and 2.) I don’t celebrate Christmas OR Easter, so why should *I* be the one to stay home and the parent co-worker be away from their family? I don’t find that to be very fair and I usually approach THEM with the switch so no one feels like they’re imposing on the single, child-free gal. I have to admit that seeing my co-worker’s face light up when she knows she’ll be home for her baby’s first Christmas… that’s an awesome thing. So is the double-time for me. It’s a lovely quid pro pro and we all benefit.
Sure, I can get aggravated because sometimes it feels like I have to cover for everyone’s choice to have kids and it’s not acceptable for me to expect people to cover for my choices as a single adult (ie: too tired because I got in late from a road trip, the occasional brown-bottle flu)… but I don’t feel people should be penalized in the workplace for being a parent. I don’t want kids, but it’s not because of YAY FEMINISTS and shunning tradition, it’s just because… I simply never wanted to have a baby and raise a child and because of YAY FEMINISTS I know that’s OK.
If anything… I don’t know HOW the women do it when they work, raise kids, and go to school. I can’t even get the swing of the work-and-school thing down pat despite being at it non-stop since 2004.
Feminists should support women to be the woman they want to be, the mother they want to be, and give their sisters the unconditional support in their drive to have it all.
(Source: , via stfuconservatives)
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FebNew Blog to follow
My new blog is up at http://girlgonefishing.tumblr.com ! Please follow!!
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Dec*Insert Snarky Title Here about Family and Politics*
One night a conundrum was presented to me: How can any middle-class person not like Obama?
I did not have a catchy, witty reply at the time with which to adequately answer such a question and last night gave me just the chance I needed to find the answer to this question. It eventually turned into a (sarcasm) nice, fun (/sarcasm) discussion between myself, a cousin, a cousin-in-law (CIL), and my future brother-in-law (FBIL) which the FBIL and I turned into an impromptu sociology project.
Let’s just say it was… interesting.
The summary is: The people who do not like Obama have always had decent healthcare, decent jobs, or their needs provided for… they’ve always had it relatively easy and have never really had to actually struggle. Also, the people who don’t like Obama aren’t highly educated and feel that listening to some hateful, bigoted Reich-wing talk show host keeps them “informed”.
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NovI’m still alive!
Hmmm… I know, it’s been a while!!
If any of you have Live Journal (I know, I know… it’s so passe, but I’ve had mine since 2004 and so do most of my real-life friends I care about) and want to keep up with my antics, email me at thedollgirl@gmail.com or feel free to add me to Facebook.
Still… what’s new….
- I graduate with my Masters on August 1, 2011. It can’t come soon enough!
- I fully intend to start my PsyD in September
- My job is great, but also demanding with ass-kicking hours… hence my virtual disappearance from here
- I still do custom artwork and have a massive order with a deadline rushing up on me.
- Love life… heh. I would be here all day if I had to put stuff into words. Best way to sum things up… Conflicted.
- Fate’s being a real bitch to me lately about him but …. she may be preparing me for the big reveal of what she’s been up to
- My friends rule and I’m so glad I’ve been able to see them as much as I have this past month!
- On Halloween, I went to see Obama and Biden speak in Cleveland and was 20 ft away from them!!! I never imagined I’d be so close to them and the Presidential History fangirl in me is still having SQUEEE moments from it!
With that said… off to write in my off-line, paper journal. I have to sort out my thoughts on things somehow… and there’s been a lot going on.
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SepSome of the scariest parts of this:
Oklahoma has seen no less than eight attempts to block women’s access to abortion care in that state during the state’s 2010 legislative session. From a bill that would require physicians to “grill women” by asking them no less than 37 questions, forcing women seeking an abortion “to report their ‘marital status, age, race, education, number of live births, number of miscarriages, number of induced abortions, type of abortion and reason for the abortion,’” to a bill prohibiting any claims for damages “on the basis of wrongful life or wrongful birth,” Oklahoma has been relentless in their quest to criminalize women’s health care. Though Oklahoma’s ultrasound bill has a restraining order against it, in place, until 2011, women face a mountain of challenges when attempting to access abortion in that state still.
…
States from Arizona to Virginia, however, have also enacted abortion restrictions some with far-reaching consequences. In Utah, for example, a law was enacted which “imposes severe criminal penalties on pregnant women who cause the termination of their own pregnancies.” Yes, you read that right. It is now potentially illegal, in that state, for women to miscarry.
What is wrong with these people?
WOW, and here I thought the GOP wanted to keep big government OUT of our lives and personal choices and here they are, sticking their nose where they don’t belong!
(Source: ryking, via jonathan-cunningham)
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Sep"Favorite slut shaming argument of woman haters? “Close your legs until you’re ready for kids.” I don’t want kids. I have never wanted kids. Tiny feet don’t make my heart go pitter patter, I don’t like holding babies, they aren’t for me. And if I were a man saying that, no one would give me shit for it. But because I’m a woman, suddenly MY sex is all about procreating, and damn me to hell if I’m not okay with that."
-STFU, Sexists.: Slut-shaming of Epic Proportions (via blackenedbutterfly)
AMEN! I don’t like babies. Truth be told? I lack anything resembling a maternal instinct. Hearing a baby cry doesn’t make me go “Awww”, it disgusts me. I hate when a baby stares at me. I don’t go “Aww, hewwo widdle babeeee!” I turn away.
Strangely enough babies of relatives and friends are exempt from this disgust, but it doesn’t mean I’m falling over everyone to hold them or feed them or change diapers. In fact, my life’s goal is to never change a diaper. People who know me know that. They know I’m happy for them when they find out they’re pregnant with a much-longed-for baby, they know I’m thrilled when their babies are born, and they also understand that what works for them won’t necessarily work for me…. just like what works for me doesn’t mean it works for them
Granted, as children get older and in my mind, more interesting, I LOVE spending time with my younger cousins and my friends’ kids. Overall, I like kids. I just don’t want kids of my own. I don’t like kids being at places they don’t belong…like adult-only wedding receptions, or a fucking baby crying during my friends’ vows during their wedding and no one could hear them but they heard that baby…why the fuck would anyone bring a baby to a wedding ceremony?! It smacks of “I’m a MOM and I can bring my baby anywhere and who cares about your special day I have a BABY!!!”
Anyone who says not wanting kids makes me a bad person should try my job for 5 minutes and rethink that opinion. I work with children who have social and behavioral issues. Those kids know I’d do about anything for them. They know they can cuss me out and call me names, and no way will I give up on them or hold it against them. I’m taking care of children already here who actually NEED someone to care for them. I don’t see those critics of my choice doing what I do, or even desiring to do what I do.
Close my legs until I’m ready to have kids? Hmph. Yea right. I’m the last person who should have kids, but I’ll be darned if I’ll allow myself to be held to a higher standard than men.
Oh, and I’m also tired of people thinking because I’m child-free that I have a ton of free time. I don’t. It’s Halloween season for me and I have work to do in addition to my job. I should be working on drafting a pattern for one thing while the plaster from something else dries, but I needed a break.
(via greaterthanlapsed)
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Aug"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
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JulHey! I’m still alive (and well!)
Hello everyone, I know it’s been a while, so let’s sum up the past few months in a nutshell:
- I LOVE my job. It keeps me very busy. I have days where I’d love to freak out and blow stuff up, but for every one of those, I have at least 10 where I am thankful I’m able to do what I do.
- Grad school. Um. Yea. It’s kicking my ass and keeping me busy as all get-out. Good news is I have a 4.0. Bad news is I feel as if I have no life.
- Personal life: You honestly think I have TIME for one of those? LOL!
- Art life: I’ve made some. Could make more. But I also need to shower.
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This is relevant to my current employment situation.
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JunSo Colorado wants to ban the use of basically all contraception products except for condoms because a certain religious group believes that an egg, even unfertilized is a person.
So what do we have here?
Utah and Kenucky want to charge women with criminal charges for having miscarriages, Colorado wants to ban contraceptive use…when is someone going to show up on my doorstep with a shotgun to puish me for having my period cause it looks like that’s the fucking direction this is going in.
Love,
Rabble
W…T….F…. and the same people passing these laws are bitching that the country’s too “liberal”?! This just makes me sick.
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JunI’ll miss having Jesus participate in renditions of YMCA off of I-75. Anyhow, goes to show churches…spend your money helping people with REAL stuff that can help them and now showy shit like this. The person who proposed this financed it for $250K. Imagine how many children could get life-saving immunizations with that kind of money?
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Jun"I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf. A month ago, I was meeting with the fishermen down there, standing in the rain, talking about what a potential crisis this could be. And I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."
-President BARACK OBAMA, in an NBC news interview to air tomorrow on The Today Show.
Matt Drudge calls it “street.”. The New York Times calls it “off-color language.” No, you assholes. It’s a President who, 50 days after British Petroleum fucked up the Gulf of Mexico, is pissed the fuck off.
(via inothernews)
What they said.
(via notthatkindagay)
(via apsies)
(via think4yourself)
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the liberals who infiltrate the tea party are my shining stars.
LAWL, teabaggers
BTW, you may see stuff from me show up as FrayedEdges. That's my default name and my art-related blog on here!!! :-)
