Feminism Fa la la la la la la la la

Tags

equality, feminism, gender equality, holidays, togetherness, women

Happy Holiday Season 2012 everyone! This is a repost from last year, but thought I’d post it again in the holiday spirit. Blessings to you all. Thanks for reading my blog!

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la-la.

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Sing we joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

The old year is passing quickly. We’re almost to the new. There are going to be obstacles and things that make us want to stay indoors, like wind and rain, but we can’t let anything stand in our way. A new year is coming- Let’s make change!

Some women say, “we have equal rights. I don’t want to be the same as men.”

I have also read stuff on the internet that promotes that same idea- that women having equal rights, opportunities, and same pay as men means women want to be the same as men. For everyone (men and women) who believes that: We don’t want to be the same as men- we’re pretty awesome as we are!

Women have a lot of amazing ideas, skills, talents, and drive. We should be able to be liked, promoted, recognized when we do something great because we do something great, not because of our looks or because we show our bodies or because we hate-on other women.

We all view women with a different lens than the lens we use to view men. For example: men are seen as strong if they speak up or call somebody out on something, women are seen as bitches. Another example: men’s sports are way more popular than women’s.

Men are seen in a different way. Again, we’re different, so that’s fine- until different means better. Essentially that’s what it is, men are seen as better. Why? Because the system gives them power and as part of the system, we all continue to give them power. But power is not always bad, you say.

It’s power-over others. Power-over others in a society doesn’t allow all people to think and act for themselves.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to convince men we don’t hate them and we think they’re okay. The system of patriarchy that’s in place also makes men believe that women standing up for themselves means they are “man-haters.” That’s not true. So, men, just trust it, we don’t hate you.

The system set up has everyone stop and listen when men speak, but to ignore women. It’s set up so that men aren’t seen as people who have feelings, so when they express some kind of feeling they have, everyone drops everything to cater to him because it must be real and important. It has been more acceptable for women to show emotion, so often when women express our feelings, we are seen as hysterical and emotional. When men have new ideas, everyone pays attention to them and considers them. When women have new ideas, they might not be heard or they might be dismissed. Men are seen as in charge- top of the rung would be wealthy white men. That’s not to say that wealthy white men are bad necessarily, it’s to say they have the most power in the society.

With a system change, all people can be seen as important, valuable, and needed rather than a burden.

First things first with the system change. What I’m talking about leaves women more able to make decisions in the society, for our lives, and for our bodies. That stops violence against women, children, and men. That allows both men and women to be as great as we can be, rather than holding us back because of stereotypes or gender roles.

Feminism is a movement that has been in response to the oppression of women. It also calls for a change in the system. Call this whatever you want. I’m talking a complete remodel. What we have now is outdated. So, let’s update.

I happened upon a great quote from a novel I was referencing the other day. It speaks to power and oppression.

“The narrower a man’s intellectual grasp, the more power he is able to grab in this country.” -From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

People who can’t open their minds, who are unwilling to imagine a different system that celebrates women and men equally, one that respects women, one that encourages us all to participate in life and have a voice about what we need, want, and can do in this world, don’t see the true value in others and therefore will take what they want only for themselves.

The narrower your view, the less you can see others as valuable and the more power you will grab for yourself. If you can see the possibilities and the good stuff within each person, you’ll want them to also be able to speak and you won’t hog the mic the whole time.

This world can be a better place, with more love, more peace, more creativity if women and men have equal rights and women are respected. There are so many people battling this patriarchy right now. It’s going to mean men stand up and respect women. It also means, and perhaps most importantly, women stand up for themselves and each other. We have to be on one another’s side. We are strong when we are united!

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses
Sing we joyous, all together
Heedless of the wind and weather
We can change this

Fa la la la la, la la la- la

Happy Holidays!

Malala Yousafzai: The 14 year old the Taliban fears

Tags

girls education, Malala Yousafzai, politics, women, women's rights

If you haven’t heard of Malala yet, please listen up because she’s a fourteen year old hero. She is a Pakistani young woman who was intentionally shot and critically wounded last week by the Taliban as she headed home from school in the north-west Swat Valley. She was airlifted to Britain for medical treatment where they removed a bullet from her skull and where she is still recovering.

Malala wrote a blog about girls education being banned by the Taliban and sticking up for the rights of girls and women to have education. The Taliban has threatened to target her again until she is killed. They are doing everything they can to make her look like she was a bad seed and against Pakistan and the Muslim faith. Women in Pakistan and worldwide stand behind Malala, but they are being shut down. Malala and those who support her stand for truth and the rights of women.

Does female education matter? Yes!

When women are educated they are more able to ask questions and to make decisions about their health and fertility. They are more likely to stand up against violence being perpetrated against them and more able to assert their legal rights.

Where so many young women and men take education for granted, they drop out of school or don’t want to go or don’t take it seriously, it’s hard to imagine a world where the right is taken away. But it’s real.

This is about girls and women being able to live full lives.

Malala stands up for a world of people who are scared by the big bullies who believe women should not have rights. Malala will be safer and stronger, we all will, when anyone who wants women and girls to be second class citizens is stopped.

The situation is extreme in Pakistan but it is going in a similar direction in the rest of the world as well. Women must have equal rights to men, over their bodies, healthcare, equal pay, right to education, and right to their lives.

Stand with Malala. The more who are for her, the sooner women will be given equal rights to education, opportunities, and life.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Uses Rosie To Sell Out Women!

Tags

beer, equality, feminism, Pabst Blue Ribbon, politics, rosie the riveter, women

Pabst Blue Ribbon Art billboard on 1-35 in Austin, Texas

Rosie the Riveter drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. There are so many things wrong with this I just have to post about it. I don’t often drive up and down I-35 here in Austin because it’s a congested highway and there are alternate routes I prefer, but the past weekend the Austin International Poetry Festival has been going on and I have driven by this billboard numerous times to access events about town.

Every time I see it, it annoys me. Why?

It takes Rosie the Riveter, who was originally used as government propaganda to “get the girls into the war effort” until the troops came home back in WWII and uses her for selling beer. It takes Rosie who has been used more recently as a feminist icon and reduces the issue of women’s equality to beer drinking.

Women of color and working class women had always worked, but even there, the division of labor and difference in pay between men and women was noticeable. Rosie was a fictional character, created to promote the idea that women would be loyal, patriotic workers who could do men’s work until those men came home from the war.

Many of the women who took those jobs were already in the workforce, but moved to these higher paying factory jobs. Patriotism encouraged women, but ultimately the pay and experience were the ultimate influences. This movement into the labor force was something that never went back to how it had been. Sure, when the war was over, many women went back to being homemakers and society pushed that. Many others were moved back into their lower paying jobs, but still the world was different because of women having been in those jobs. Essentially Rosie pushed women into the workforce in a different way, one that proved women’s ability and worth, paving the way for equal pay and labor duties.

Rosie has been used by feminists over the years as a symbol for equality. Her image represents the hope and possibility for equal pay in the workplace, something that still is not happening in our world today. It represents the need for a woman’s right to work in the same jobs as men if they wish to do so. Women still are not able to do certain jobs in the military and in other realms societally deemed fit only for men, regardless of ability.

Rosie represents women having equal rights, women being equally represented in government, and women being able to participate fully in society in equal standing with men. This equality inevitably leads to the eradication of gender based violence.

So to have Rosie the Riveter on a Pabst Blue Ribbon billboard is insulting to an entire movement- it works perfectly reducing the fight for women’s equality to the right to drink beer. And bad beer, but that’s beside the point.

This is not art, it is misogyny. I’m sure Austin isn’t the only place this billboard is up and it’s not the only offensive billboard I’ve ever seen, it’s just one I have to pass in the middle of my city. Stop trying to reframe the issue of women’s equality as trivial. Take it down Pabst!

A Newer Women’s Resource Center- Check Out UC Denver

Tags

feminism, politics, student leadership development, universities, women, women's empowerment, women's resource centers, Women's Studies

The Women’s Resource Center at the University of Colorado at Denver is about a year old, but going strong. Women’s resource centers are foundations of support and empowerment to students of all genders around the country! At a time when women’s rights are in jeopardy and women are at greater risk of violence because of it, women’s resource centers like the one in Denver are beacons for all of us living under patriarchy.

This is a written interview with Carisa Weaver, Coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center at University of Colorado at Denver. Communicating by email, I sent her a list of questions and she answered them and sent them back. Her answers offer a glimpse into the support centers like UC Denver’s can offer as well as how feminism can be a motivating source of empowerment. Enjoy the read, check out their blog, and visit them or a women’s resource center near you!

*Tell me a little about the Women’s Resource Center at UC Denver.
The Women’s Resource Center has been around for a little under a year and is founded on three pillars of action. Educating faculty and staff, providing programming for the entire community, and one on one intervention. We practice a model of radical inclusion and student leadership development.

*How do women who use the Resource Center see other students’ perceptions of the Center?
I think our center is too new to have a group perception that is applied to the people who use it.  I know the perception of our actual center is that we connect people to resources when they are having trouble meeting their financial demands, and people have fairly large rates of success with that.

*How do you think the presence of the Women’s Resource Center helps the school and the larger Denver community?
I think the WRC’s presence is great for the UCD campus because it provides a safe place for students—of any gender, ethnicity, orientation, whatever—to get help for any kind of problem. We provide resources for a variety of issues, from healthcare to housing to discrimination and more, but maybe more importantly we provide a place for students to come when they need support. Sometimes you just need someone to talk to; sometimes you need more. Either way, we’re here.

*Do you believe there are women who use or might go to the Women’s Resource Center but would not call themselves feminists?
Sure. Lots of women believe in gender equality but still neglect to call themselves feminists because of its widespread negative connotation. I don’t think someone has to identify as a feminist to use our resources—of course not! However, I would like to hope that spending time in the WRC would lead them to reevaluate their opinion of the word “feminist.”

*What are some ways feminism has helped you?
How has feminism NOT helped me? Feminism is such a part of who I am that I can hardly begin to answer this question. Feminism has led me to my best friends, my favorite music and my intended career path. If I didn’t believe in the struggle for women’s rights—and human rights in general—I don’t know who I would be or what I would care about.

*Does examining the system we live under as a patriarchal system help you? How? In what ways?
Thinking about the patriarchal system reminds me on a daily basis to blame the system, not the perpetrator. Calling out individuals isn’t the most effective way of instigating social change—we need to understand the greater system in which this behavior is taught, condoned and encouraged. By analyzing the patriarchal system as the big picture, I am reminded that patriarchy is SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED. That gives me hope because we can inspire social change!

*Do you believe the more women’s rights are taken away, the more violence against women there will be?
I think there are very strong correlations between societies in which women’s rights are limited and rates of violence against women. Anthropological research has found that societies in which gender roles are most fluid have the lowest rates of violence. Michael Kimmel’s book The Gendered Societyis a really great read that touches on this subject—I highly recommend it.

*In this political climate, what do you think your role is as a woman?
I’ve been following access to birth control issues in the news quite closely lately. It’s scary that women are, once again, having to fight for their right to affordable contraceptives. So it’s important for women to stand together on issues like these—so called “women’s issues”—that are being ignored or overlooked by male-centric political system. Letting your representatives know that you support pro-women policies is something that all women should be doing; we can’t expect to have our interests represented in politics if we don’t first make them known!

*How can women support women?
Women can support other women in infinite ways. Most importantly, I would say: don’t hate on other women! Society really sets us up to be our own worst enemies, but we have the power to stop it. Jealous of the new girl in town because she’s super cute? Don’t be! Tell her you like her look and befriend her. Keeping women from standing together is one of the most powerful tools patriarchy has for keeping the status quo. Don’t fall for it! (On this topic, I would invite readers to look into the issue of slut-shaming—particularly this awesome video made by a 13-year old girl who knows what’s up: http://youtu.be/SXH2K7OC37s)

Thank you Carisa and everyone at the University of Colorado at Denver’s Women’s Resource Center! You all are where it’s at! Keep going strong and happy anniversary coming up on October 15th!

“Liberal Women Hate Conservative Women” my mom says

Tags

#p2, conservative, feminism, liberal, women

Sweet Home Alabama– For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you may have caught a couple of my #roadtrip tweets from my drive out here to Alabama from Austin. I’m here visiting my family in conservative Alabama where Santorum won out. Just to give you some background-

My parents are very religious (Christian), conservative, and vote Republican. With all of the crazy things going on these days, I’m not too keen on any of the politicians’ corporate greed Capitalism promoting policies, BUT I am a woman and I vote the best way I can to preserve women’s interests in the world and to prevent our progress from going backwards. For further background: my mother would never call herself a feminist.

My sister is younger than me and is conservative, mostly because she doesn’t believe in “big government,” though I have been saying I don’t really understand that when the Republicans seem pretty big with their laws all over my body these days, but anyways…

Yesterday, I was sitting around with my mother and my sister when my sister began to complain about Santorum, who she dislikes. I said something about the Republican candidates making campaign promises that hurt women and put our human rights at stake.

My mother said, “Well the liberal women hate conservative women.”

My sister has been the one in the family who tries to smooth things over, make them right, and to avoid conflict, so she says something to the effect of ‘let’s not go there’ and then changes the subject immediately back to Santorum. I let her change it. I let it go, but I didn’t forget it.

Later this evening, long after my sister had gone home, I was in the kitchen with my mom talking and I asked her what she meant. This is what she said:

When women like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman are around at all or say anything, the liberals say really horrible things to them and the liberal women don’t stick up for them. And I’m not saying Sarah Palin should be president or anything, but people are horrible to them, people who say they are feminists and are fighting for women. People even go after their children and that’s just not fair. None of the politicians’ teenagers asked their parents to be in politics. It’s not right for the media to go after the kids. No one is doing that to Obama’s kids. Women talk about this a lot, about how liberal women hate Conservative women.

Huh. So, what did I say?

I said, I think she’s right, but that I think people don’t like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman’s politics and believe that they are working against women as a whole and setting women back with their politics so they end up being hateful to them.

I have thought that before, that women shouldn’t be so down on Sarah Palin and make it only about her beliefs, but since she said that, I have actually been pretty alarmed.

My mother talks with a lot of people, in general in her life, probably mostly Conservative white women, with some exceptions. She says Conservative (white) women talk about how liberal women hate Conservative women. Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t. But, you know what? I bet it is true. I bet Conservative women of color also talk about it. The divide between Liberals and Conservatives has grown and for all women this means greater division.

Women throughout the world are being oppressed. Feminists are standing up to say NO to the misogyny that oppresses women. Many feminists have studied oppression based on gender or have at least an understanding of it that I would venture to say, most American women and most women of the larger world do not have. I would also venture to say that most women in the world do not think women and our status in society is fine, okay, there’s no problem here. We can’t have women working against women.

A super goal and strategy of Patriarchy is to divide women and to have women hate other women. So, point to Patriarchy, but not match.

Liberal women, feminist women, cannot continue to tolerate hate toward, promote hate toward, or bash anyone who is a woman. It is not working in the overall fight. Do you have to like Sarah Palin’s thoughts, beliefs, what she says or want her to be president- No, but we must respect her and assure she is respected as a woman.

Women are becoming more and more divided over the issue of abortion. That has been the divide and conquer issue of feminism. Personally, I believe it’s about choice and whether I am human enough under the laws of a society to make choices for myself and for my body. I worry that when those choices are taken away, it’s the start down an easy path to take away my rights as a fully participating person in society. Conservative women don’t see it that way. Many Christians don’t see it that way. So where do we go from here?

There are no simple answers, but I believe women need to join forces and come together to discuss these matters. Conservative women, liberal women, and all the women in between. What do women want, what do women need? Feminists, supporters of women’s rights, can continue to fight for women, but when a good number of women (the Conservative ones) feel hated by feminists and other women, it’s a problem.

Grrl Code: STOP WOMEN HATE AND GIRL HATE.  

Patriarchal Exploitation- Getting Over The Hopeless Feeling

Tags

activism, feminism, patriarchal exploitation, patriarchy, women, women's rights

Because the mainstream patriarchal outlook is a privileged outlook, it is seen as superior and the way to be. In reality, it oppresses half the population by trying to control women’s bodies, what women do, and the beliefs women have about themselves. It does this by setting up  laws to hate us, by perpetuating stereotypes and strict gender roles, and ultimately by condoning violence against us.

And yet, most people just see things as ‘that’s the way they are. They don’t see the truth: that women are treated in a way to keep us beneath men and that this encourages violence against us as an acceptable method of control. The good new is: it doesn’t have to be like this.

When I was younger, I went to Rock City, Atop Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, TN where you can see seven states from a single point. There, they had, and may still have, one lookout point where you could look through different colored glass and see the view through those colors. When you look through a different color of glass, at first it looks different and then after a short time, it’s just the way it is.

I imagine that suddenly seeing patriarchy is like going along in your life and thinking things are as they are and then you look through the blue glass and see them as different and from that point on, you can’t see them any differently. It becomes how the view is.

The world is not as it seems.

Days when I look at committees of all men making decisions about my body or when I see my country pass laws forcing rape of women in order to get abortions, when I see perpetrators of sexual assault walk away free while their victims are blamed, days when I see pop-star men who have been violent against a woman be rewarded, when I turn on the news and one woman after another has been killed and a thirteen year old raped, these are days I feel hopeless.

These are days I want to go back through Rock City and not ever look through the blue glass. I want to just believe I’m happy with life and that it doesn’t matter that my rights and choices are restricted and that I have fewer options for what I do with my life. I want to go back to the time when I believed I could do anything I wanted to do and not be concerned more rights will be taken away. But, I can’t. And actually, that’s a good thing.

Those privileged by Patriarchy don’t usually see the ills of the system because they don’t have a restriction of their rights and they can do everything they want to do. The world is how it is. The crazy thing about Patriarchy is that it doesn’t give women that privilege and yet, many women think things are fine.

Patriarchy has certain places for women: homemaker, wife, mother. There is nothing wrong with these three roles, but they are the only roles allowed for women under Patriarchy. Women can only be these three things and to want anything outside of these three roles is to be subversive and a rebel. Because of feminism and the fight for women’s rights, the changing economies, and the consumer culture where we always want more, women have been able to work outside the home and hold jobs in almost every field around, but under patriarchy, there are still certain jobs designated for women, like teachers, social workers, and nurses. They are all paid little, though they are some of the hardest and most important jobs to do.

If you are a woman and are happy with the world as it is right now, know that not all women feel like that. I want women to have more rights because with more rights all of us are more valued and are more protected from violence. I want to live in a world where opportunities are equal because it gives us all more possibilities. Your daughters may want more than what women have the right to now and the rights we have now are at risk. Your daughter-in-laws may want more. When your children are grown, you may want more. Your grandchildren may want more.

If you believe women should be happy with how the world is for women right now, consider this:

Being given the message that you are smart, makes you feel better about yourself and your ability to make things happen in your life. If you are a girl or a woman, those are not the messages you are given and you do not feel as good about yourself as you could.

If you can dream about doing something in the world that would be like a dream job for you, maybe that’s president, or a doctor, or a writer. If those dreams are really attainable, you feel excited about your life and empowered to be strong in yourself. Again, you feel better about yourself.

If you feel good about yourself, you are more likely to choose a partner to be with who will respect you and treat you well, a partner who is less likely to devalue you and less likely to be violent against you verbally, physically, sexually. If someone does treat you in an abusive manner, you will be more likely to kick them to the curb and move on.

We have been exploited by patriarchy for a long time. We have been working to change this and now many men (not all) are shaking in their boots. They’re unsure about what the world will look like if they have equal power to women and are afraid that who they are will be challenged, devalued, and lost.

“It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine” -R.E.M.

But it’s not the end of the world. It is just the beginning and it is the beginning of the rest of our lives. Which view will we take and how will it all go down? It’s easy to look around and wonder if hopeless is what we should feel. Then we get geared up again for the fight and BAM, we’re hit by an oncoming train.

Patriarchy is huge. It’s not going down easily. But this is all the more reason to Stand UP!

I am not hopeless about Patriarchal Exploitation because I know this is a long fight and that the fight is necessary in order for women to continue to be alive in this world. That is worth fighting for!

Grrl Code: Once you look through the blue glass, it is your responsibility to speak out against oppression against women. If you are not the ‘speak out’ type, speak to your friends and partners, challenge gender stereotypes with children, vote for candidates who support women’s rights. Remind yourself that the patriarchal outlook is a privileged outlook and therefore seen as the best way to see things, then remind yourself that this is a lie. Begin to uncover the lies we have learned about women and to reject them and confront them.

P.S. Tune in this tomorrow for the Weekender with an exclusive interview with one of Slam Poetry’s most radical women, Jessica Helen Lopez, who rocks the mic, our hearts, and our minds.

 

Don’t Believe The Komen Hype: Komen Joined The War Against Women

Tags

abortion, Don't believe Komen, feminism, Komen Foundation defunds Planned Parenthood, pro-choice, right to life, women, women's health

I’ve had a couple of days to think about the betrayal of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to women and of the importance of Planned Parenthood. I think people are quick to buy into the idea that supporters of Planned Parenthood and women’s rights won the battle. It makes me sad that there is one organization who has done a lot for women’s breast health pitted against another organization that is committed to women’s health overall.

First- this is a larger war going on over women’s right to make choices for their bodies than just the Komen Foundation versus Planned Parenthood.

Second- the battle for Planned Parenthood was not won. I don’t believe the Komen Foundation will continue to fund Planned Parenthood.

On my first point, I am not being dramatic when I say a war has been waged on women’s health and women’s rights. We have worked so hard to make gains for women to be considered equal citizens to men, but because that threatens the entire system of patriarchy (which gives men certain benefits and privilege), some people have been fighting against it.

Right now, the extreme right wing has organized using the internet and social media networks around reproductive freedom issues like abortion to get men and women alike to protest women having choice about their own bodies. Back in the day, women and children were considered property just as were animals and things were considered property. As property, we did not have rights. We could not own property. We could not vote. We could not participate in government. We had no say so for our bodies or our lives. Right now we are headed that way again as we have a movement to take away the rights of women.

The U.S. has been really good at pointing fingers at extreme Muslim countries where women cannot decide what to wear, whether they want to work, who to marry, if they can drive and generally have very little say-so about their lives. Unfortunately, we aren’t that far away from the American version of that kind of life. This is a war against women being free and participating members of the society.

Some people were claiming victory for Planned Parenthood. Many media sources reported that the Komen Foundation apologized and reversed their decision. I don’t think so. Don’t believe the hype!

What I heard Nancy Brinker say in an interview with Andrea Mitchell when she was backtracking on what had been previously said, was this: the Planned Parenthoods won’t be defunded all at once because their grant cycles have to run their course. When those grants run out, Planned Parenthood can apply again, but if there are other places the Komen Foundation feels will serve people better, those Planned Parenthoods won’t be funded.

I have been trying to find the full interview to watch again and link to this blog, but somehow, it’s hard to find the whole thing. I found a piece of it and a transcript. But, from the transcript, I cut and paste the pieces of the interview

Nancy Brinker: “We are not de-funding Planned Parenthood.  We have three grants that will go on this year and they will probably be eligible for the next grant cycle.

and a little later in the interview:

Brinker:  . . .  Many of the grants we were doing with Planned Parenthood do not meet new standards of criteria for how we can measure our reults and effectiveness in communities.  That is not to say that if they did meet those criteria they would not be welcome to submit it . . . 

Well, you always have to reapply for grants, but if you have served women well, given hundreds of thousands of breast exams in that grant cycle and provided information about breast health and cancer risk and you have gotten the grants every time until now, there is no need to think you wouldn’t get them again. Until now.
*Komen says they’ll preserve Planned Parenthood’s “eligibility to apply”- Hello, keeping them “eligible to apply” isn’t the same as funding them for the work they have been doing. I don’t necessarily think this is a WIN, I think it’s a twist of the original message: we’re defunding you. They’re saying it to not lose people’s support and money, as well as to make this issue go away.

This is a sad turn for the movement to fight breast cancer, the fight for women’s rights, and for women’s health care. It is absolutely about politics and money. I understand they might not want to be in the midst of an abortion debate the right wing insists on using to take away women’s rights, but this is about women’s health, women’s healthcare, and women’s right to be human and make our own choices for our bodies. An organization supposedly fighting for women, can’t simultaneously be against us. It’s doesn’t work, so ultimately they are fighting against women. And obviously it’s suspicious that Karen Handle is a huge advocate for anti-choice. Komen’s political agenda is questionable when the Foundation says they support women’s health.

YO- It’s not healthy for me to Not be able to make choices for myself!

Grrl Code: Women need to be able to make choices for our bodies or we are further classified as second-class citizens who can’t make any decisions for ourselves. If we don’t want to have an abortion, we need to be able to say we don’t want to, but if we want to, for whatever reason, we also need to be able to say we do. This is about keeping women human so we can do things we want in this world, so we can make all kinds of choices for our lives and so we are not seen as property who can be treated inhumanely and consequently treated violently. Help women understand this. It’s not just about abortion, it’s about women making decisions for ourselves.