Feminism is Highly Misunderstood

When you hear the word "feminism", what image and emotion come to mind? When you hear the word, does it make you think of only pro-choice, or abortion? Does the word make you think of radicalism? Does it make you think of anti-male thoughts and/or male-bashing? What else does this word make you think of? The word to this author has multiple connotations. First, feminism, in its purest form, is derived from "female." It is a consciousness-raising term denoting all things pertaining to females. It is a celebration of the many varied forms of femininity expressed. Feminism is a term also that expresses the unity of women worldwide. The term separates females from males, and identifies the social, political, spiritual, emotional, cultural, and physical differences women have, and must face everyday. Feminism also acknowledges from the previous sentence that we have struggles in the arenas mentioned. Freedom, liberty, equality, fairness, proper parity, sound education, good job pay, and sound political representation as women are still a distance away from us, even in the United States, and more so outside this country. We are reminded that gender discrimination, rights to make our own informed choices on various issues (and we don't even have to discuss abortion here), sexual harrassment, sexual predators, and violence against women are far from solved. We also have too many women in poverty. Just last week, here in the United States this author learned of the tragic and horrible conditions/treatment women deal with when living in polygamist communities where teenage girls and young women become a man's property and subject to his abuses. Learning about this tells us that our fight for women's dignity is not over. Making sure that all women obtain excellent, unbiased, competent medical diagnoses with top-notch health care is part of our struggle. Making sure that women and girls worldwide are not denied equal and fair school education is paramount for us feminists. The focus of this posting shows that you can be a feminist by fighting all the human rights denial that we face daily, and our sisters worldwide have had stolen from them. Please remember that feminism should never be about one facet of women's issues. Getting involved to stop hunger, poverty, disease, providing jobs for women, education, and health care does mean you are a feminist--a practical feminist. We cannot discriminate and blame men for all the problems--we have to get after women who look the other way, who do cause other women harm. We must get involved! Being a feminist is NOT a bad thing--it benefits all of us. Being a feminist means being a leader for helpless, impoverished, under-educated, and abused women who don't get a voice for themselves in many parts of the world. Take action, not a seat; take a role, not an excuse; take heart, not hopelessness--we can and we will make a better, safer world for all our sisters--only if YOU do YOUR part in the sisterhood.

The Scourge of Violence Against Women

Any day, any time, anywhere, there are news pieces all over the world that covers a new assault, whether it be physical or sexual assault, against a woman. Even more tragically and horribly, the numbers of murders of women, particularly pregnant women, are increasing. It seems that the value of the human person that any female is, no matter her age, is ignored by the men who vilelessly and violently harm them. There is this awful assumption by men that we are "open-season" to them for abuse, rape, attack, violence, molestation, and homicide. It would be better to have the men who put us on pedestals than the men who wouldn't think twice about putting us into a grave. It is far from acceptable to disgrace any human's dignity or violate their most intimate sacred space--their bodies. We are not property, nor are we doormats, nor are we punching bags. Perpetrators need to be brought to the strictest justice, and if the laws are not strict enough, then we have to make them so. There must be a change in the restraining order laws to be amended so they read that any one who harms another person violently must be detained until the trial. There must be better education for boys and men how to communicate with females. Most women acknowledge that restraining orders do nothing to keep the attacker-on-bail away from them who have been hurt. This has happened to 2 girlfriends of mine. Violent crimes against women need to be spotlighted and exposed to demonstrate that protections must be improved. How many more women have to die before the safety of women is improved? How many more crimes do we have to hear happening to women before we get involved? This author's perspective is that the men who commit the crimes are misogynistic to begin--we pose some threat to them personally. There is way too much domestic violence occurring worldwide--even in the U.S. every day. Please don't wait until you have to bury a girlfriend who was murdered by her boyfriend/husband/father/male friend to get involved. Learn about domestic violence--help out in a battered women's shelter, a homeless shelter for women, etc. Educate the boys and men in your lives that help is available for them if they have the tendencies to be violent against women. It is preventable and treatable. We must work diligently to stop the violence--It's time to...your own life, your sister's , your mother, and your best girlfriend's lives all depend on us fighting back.

Desperate House Lives

Forget the bubble bath commercial that "takes you away" from all your day's hassles, troubles, foibles, and faux pas! We lead wild, wonderful, wacky, lives, don't we, Ladies? How many roles do you juggle with, struggle with, and still manage to get it all done? Sleep????? Never heard of it or experienced it... Here are some state-of-the-art inventions we need: First, a self-cleaning house: Like its' counterpart, the self-cleaning oven, it cleans away dirt, dust, mold, mildew, lazy helpmates, etc. Second - computerized makeup machine: You sit, stare at a special computer screen, press the start button and it sprays your face with perfect makeup in the right places--right down to the eyeliner!!! Third -- The Clone Machine: The machine allows you to make many copies of yourself so you can be the soccer mom, the ballet mom, the cleaning mom, and still go get your nails done, pedicure done, and work your job -- ALL at the same time!!! Fourth -- Portable Spa Room -- Push a button--- a little box expands to the size of a room, complete with sauna, attendants, a masseuse, oils, and all you need for a full-size body treatment....when done, step back, push the button and it folds neatly into the size of a compact makeup container. Did you get to laugh a little? Don't we all daydream what we'd like to have that would make it easier? But then, if we had it all handed to us, we would never experience the miracles of how we do so many things as women so wonderfully well, right? Take a moment, admire what you do, what your girlfriends do, and thank your mother--she was your starting point and first mentor in successful womanhood.

What Are You Doing to Get Involved with Women's Rights?

We are all busy women--needing roller skates, organizers, even a clone of ourselves to get everything done we have to do daily. We also are still seeking parity, respect, equality, honor, respect, equal representation, and justice. We want changes that bring equal pay for women to every man's dollar earned; we want all child support paid on time and fairly; we want women's rights throughout the world to be treated as critical human rights issues. We want all women to enjoy liberty, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom to play sports, and freedom of life as females...Right? We also don't want us to be property of men or their objects, right? Sadly, this is far from resolved. Too many women in many parts of the world cannot drive, cannot work, cannot get an education, cannot get fair justice for perpetrators who commit horrific acts of violence against them--simply for being female! For the majority of readers on this blog, you are all champions in this cause that we need to do legwork, make phone calls, write letters, etc. to get the message that women are NOT there yet.... We have come a long way, but still have an even longer way to go. We cannot sit yet on our laurels. Our sisters globally need us to remind the powers-that-be that they want the same freedoms we now enjoy. Today on the main blog page here are listed many influential women's groups and feminist causes you can write, contact, and help out. These groups are important to us; setting aside abortion -- even the feminist organizations need help with OTHER women's issues that impact our lives. They need us. This notion that being a feminist means being an abortionist automatially is a myth. You can disagree with abortion and still be a feminist. We are not here to malign men, bash them, hate them--we are here to promote our cries for freedom, justice, and for the voices of our sisters who cannot speak out without retaliation. We may live in a male-dominated world-but we don't have to operate as they do. We need to reshape the world to function from a woman's point of view--and be fearless, strong, helpful, creative, and celebrate the joys and blessings that femininity brings to this earth. Being feminine is never a weakness--rather an undiscovered strength and asset yet to be mined. It is a diamond to be worn proudly; it is a priceless picture of nurturance, birthing, children, family, unity among sisters globally, and we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder via the internet. For years the letters on the internet "WWW" stood for "World Wide Web". Today let us reclaim the anacronism and change it to mean "Wonderful Womens' Web"!!!!! Read as many links provided on the blog, and connect on to other links at the sites provided. Become empowered, educated, informed, and respond. You want change? It has to begin at the grassroots with us. If we don't ask, demand, and expose, how can we see results? We are NOT a group of pretty faces--we are a group of brilliant, dyanamic, creative, wonderful women--don't forget that!!! Today, call your best girlfriend, email her, whatever you do--tell her you are committed to improving women's and girl's lives even if it is only sending an email, writing a letter, joining a group online devoted to causes--and ask her to do the same. Together we can feminize the world to achieve peace.

Washington, We have a Problem!!!

This day is a sad in human rights in the United States. The major news media are reporting that the National Security Agency has been secretly recording domestic state-to-state telephone calls of millions of Americans for several years. This news, following adamant denials that such a program was being used, is chilling. Doesn't this smack of the same behavior that totalitarian regimes the U.S. criticized for many years? And do you feel your privacy has stripped naked too at the same time? Didn't you think that we WERE a democracy, who considered itself the champion of liberty, justice, and voters having rights? And yet, it appears our very federal government is lying to us, concealing its illegal activities, and stripping our rights through the Patriot Act. All these actions make the U.S. Constitution worthless--we are losing our voice, rights, privileges, and personal privacy. Not only that, we have lost many jobs and companies to other countries. Who does this country truly belong to, and what does it really stand for? What good is it to fight to bring democracy to other countries, when, for example, the U.S. Congress for 200 years has denied a population the size of Vermont--the city of Washington D.C.--their voting rights and representation in the U.S. Congress--500,000 without voting rights? Or how the U.S. Government could care less for women's rights or minority rights. We have to clean up our own house before we clean up someone else's! Please ask yourself this: How can we feel good about our freedoms when even in our Nation's Capital a half-million cannot vote for equal representation in the U.S. Congress, yet establish and push for a new Iraqi government, replete with full voting privilieges? How can we feel good that only 5 percent of our current representation in the U.S. Congress is female? How can we feel good that our government will provide medical help to other countries, yet refuses to create a low-cost medical support system to aid the poorest of our own nation who cannot afford to pay for even the most basic treatment? How can we feel good about fighting a war, and when these fine soldiers return and retire, that they won't have a decent veteran's medical system to support them. It is in danger of being cut by the President drastically. Why did 25 million Americans have to resort to getting their food from charitable food banks in 2005? Why have 23 million American jobs been shipped overseas? Who really cares about us or you? You can say it is not your problem--until it happens to you. Domestic issues are being swept under the rug in favor of giving the money to the wealthiest. How can we feel good about that? Call your Congressional representative--tell them America's priorities are misguided, and we must deal with the homefront issues now....too many years of ignoring them is enough!

Need Health Benefits? Your Life and Your Family's Will Depend on Them!

In the past 6 years, health benefits have evaporated for millions more Americans, bringing the estimated total without health benefits to nearly 46 million. You and I know people who need medical care, dental care, emotional care, but are delayed, put off, and denied simply for being uninsured. Too many stories of people in ambulances shuttled from one hospital to another hospital simply for lacking a health plan. I know of several people like this--one woman has been to the emergency room for a foot injury, only to be given a few kind words, examined, given a pain prescription she cannot afford, and referred to a doctor she calls during the week--only to be told that if she has the magic several-hundred-dollar fee payable at the time of service, can she receive treatment. She cannot sleep at night, she hobbles on her foot in grimacing pain--all because she is not in the elite who have good jobs that provide benefits. It only takes one medical crisis to wreck affluent families. For families that are in poverty, forget it! They won't get good care. In the case of the woman I mentioned, she went to a county's community medical clinic--only to be told she has to wait 4 months!!!! Don't people care about others in need, in pain, or have people become a nuisance, a bother, and a liablity? The decision-makers who arbitrarily decide who qualify for services obviously have not had medical crises themselves. And If they have, shame on them for being hippocritcal. I am not a physician, but does not the first rule in the Hippocratic Oath state "First, do no harm"? If we cannot get treatment, are the doctors promoting harm and further injury? Our government is looking the other way--saying it's not their problem. What happens if it it was your child, your husband, your boyfriend, your significant other--and you witnessed first-hand their denial of service--you would hurt inside and angst for them. My friend is one example--you can fill in all the other examples with other people. Something needs to be done--and not take forever to get reformed. The problem is, managed care is big business. Your coverage or lack-of--is decided by people who never stepped foot on a medical university--you are a business decision--never mind how sick you may be. They don't care about YOU--they care about getting their money. They have executives to pay, staff to keep on their payrolls--your medical problems are a big risk to their success. They won't care about your outcome--if they can prevent payment, or paying at all--they gladly will do it. It's their job to find the right excuse/justification/reason you don't qualify for care--even if you are able to pay high co-pays and monthly premiums. And the U.S. Congress refuses to help us--they can send billions to every other country, yet strip every dollar needed to help the poor and destitute in need of medical care. What does it matter to them? They are filthy-rich--and they don't care about us anyway. As long as they put up a fake appearance of caring, and hide the votes that they don't care to fund medical care for the millions who need it. Why is it necessary to do this? The poorest among us cannot function healthfully or safely without antibiotics; the illnesses they can get can cause great harm. For example, drug-resistant tuberculosis is prevalent within the homeless population. What about the poorest children who cannot get routine immunizations. Why did Iowa have over 240 cases of Mumps this year, when in years' past, only 5 cases average annually? Please don't tell me money is the reason we cannot care--if we are the richest country on the earth, then we have the ample resources to keep all our own people safe--it's called "taxpayer dollars" that need to be used on our own. If we can funnel billions of dollars to every other country, then we can take care of citizens here too. There is absolutely no excuse for this happening. Before you criticize this posting-be careful--it only takes ONE medical crisis or job loss to put YOU in the same boat as the 46 million. We don't need a band-aid solution--we need surgery on the whole system--and it's in critical condition.

Human Beings Must Never Be Treated This Way!!!

In the past several years news features, both written and visual, have exposed the horrible tragedy of children being used for unmentionable sexual activity by adults. In the United States there are so many convicted sexual predators on parole and in communities that it is clear the most vulnerable, our children, are under attack from these individuals. Convictions and time served does not change the mind of these people. We do everything we can to keep them safe from inappropriate images, movies, television shows, and we seek to protect them from all things they are not mentally mature to handle given their young, naive ages, yet.... Too many solicit these children on the internet through reviling conversations that even a mature adult would find offensive. Treatment options do not work; permanent incarceration does. Our children need to grow up to enjoy their innocence, to be kids, to not become someone's perverted pleasure source. These delicate, treasured, little children must be guarded at all costs. Keeping the computer(s) they use in full view of your supervision, observing their activities, discussing with them the proper rules of computer usage, as well as teaching them it is not only okay, but necessary to report any and all strange conversations they have. Parents should be able to contact the internet provider who provides the chat room services and request printouts of conversations your children have had with people online. Their safety depends on your vigilance, discipline, and love. Talking with them about any words, phrases, and images they receive not only keeps you firmly involved, but you can use these moments to teach them how NOT to respond on the computer, and how to report it. Help them report these incidents without fear of punishment by you--otherwise they will keep the conversations secret. Too many children have been harmed, and worse killed by these perpetrators. It is clearly time for stronger legislation that for a first-offense to solicit a minor for illicit sexual purposes should be a minimum of 25 years in prison with no parole. Push your legislators to enact these laws. Also, those currently free on parole need to be strongly forced to register as a sex offender, and they be kept from all children. You may think this writing is harsh, but sadly the statistics demonstrate they are more likely to be repeat offenders. And now, for us women: We must push for an end to plea bargains that convicted rapists receive in many states for probation or short-term prison sentences. This loophole must be tightened--they are a high-risk repeat offender. We cannot afford to put them on the streets again, knowing they violated a woman once, and very well, would do it again, given the chance. Children and women are not objects to be used illicitly; they are who the Creator made for a specific dignified purpose and for that purpose only. No other human being has the right to steal away their purity, dignity, and their self-esteem. Stopping this violence cold in its tracks with stiff prison sentences is the only way to protect people. It is our civic and moral duty.