I'm totally on Facebook!

What should I do now?

Sal on Facebook

Imagine

Imagine if we made jokes about being speculumed as much as men make jokes about the "turn your head and cough" thing, or whatever the hell it was.

What kind of jokes can we make about women's unique experience at the doctor? Because men get to make those jokes, so I want to make them about my experience too.

Hit Me Baby One More Time

No matter how you interpret this song, it is about an abusive relations. "Tell me how you want it to be", abusive.

Blog for Choice Day!

................... phew - sometimes it is nice to live on the late edge of the world. I don't follow 'the blogophere' - I read Alternet and skim their blog section daily, but I just don't frequent a lot of blogs.

When I was a freshman, I saw a poster for a group called 'Size Oppression Support' and I just had to go. I theorized yelling at skinny women complaining about being small, but as it happened, there was only one other person there, and we really bonded over our mutual size issues. But she was Christian and I was agnostic. In 2000, after the election, she revealed that she voted for Bush because of his stance on abortion. It didn't matter to me though, because Gore won Minnesota.

College continued on and some time in our senior year, the issue of abortion came up again. This time, she defined her opinion as 'personally pro-life, but pro-choice for everyone else,' and wasn't about to support Bush's re-election bid. I was really proud of her.

Why is there no prostate cancer movement?

For over a year now, my dad has been a one man army, educating other rural men in central Wisconsin about prostate cancer. When I was home for Christmas, my mother told me that both she and my father wonder why there is such a campaign against breast cancer but no such campaign for men. Both cancers have deeply touched his family. His mom had a single mastectomy and three of his sisters had double mastectomies, all due to breast cancer. As I explained in this post, my grandfather on that side also had prostate cancer that went unchecked and spread to his testicles.

The breast cancer movement is so big because more women die from breast cancer than men die from prostate cancer, but it is a little odd that there is almost no grassroots prostate cancer movement at all.

At first, I didn't know why there was no prostate cancer movement. After a little bit of thinking, though, it hit me. The breast cancer movement works well because women identify with the victims of breast cancer and realize that it could be them next. Men have been trained not to identify with victims because men are not supposed to be victims.

Thankfully, my dad grew up in the closest thing to a matriarchal family one might be able to have in our patriarchal society. Not only did he have 9 sisters, but his mother was the dominant parent in the house. His father was there, of course, he just wasn't as talkative or as visible a presence next to my grandmother. Because of that, my dad doesn't have a lot of the stupid perceptions that a lot of American [rural, white, christian] men have. I was 20 years old before I ever thought that my dad might have wanted a son and it doesn't seem to phase my dad that my mother is more educated and makes more money than he does.

So, obviously, when my dad got prostate cancer and learned that a lot of old men like himself were in the dark about their own health, he started talking.

Black Men vs. White Women, part 1

A while ago, I saw a comment on an Alternet piece about sexism that stated that racism was more important than sexism. I think it went even further and said something like "how dare you compare the experience of being a black man to being a woman, its much harder to be a black man." and "racism is more of a problem because it affects men AND women."

Needless to say, it pissed me off. It sounded like the guy felt like he was being degraded by being compared to a woman.

But as a white person, its hard for me to argue about racism. But men of any race obviously see no problem in arguing with me about sexism.

Yesterday, there was yet another "I have it harder" comment on an article about sexism by a black man. Today, I had to take a break for an hour and write out all the thoughts that had been fermenting in my brain all day. I'll type that up later, and possibly in a different location because I think it is that good.

But could you imagine a comment on an article about racism that said "how dare you compare women to stupid black people"? No, of course not, because sexism is more entrenched in society than racism. They are not the same thing but they intersect. Sometimes, it strikes me that misogynists use racism as a cover for their terrible mindset.

Money where my mouth is, part 2

Dunkin' Donuts has an ad with people singing a song that goes "Doin' things is what I like to do." It is about "everyday people" in their normal lives who go to Dunkin' Donuts regularly. I noticed that it had a large ratio of men to women, so I counted. There are a few women in the background, but only one woman participates in the singing.

Maybe only two women's faces appear in the ad. So I contacted Dunkin Donuts and asked them about it. I asked if they only intend to market to men, because if that is the case, I'd like to know so I don't bother to buy from a store that doesn't want my money.

Never say Never

A ridiculous caper movie. Three people that work shredding old money decide to take a little of their own. Ridiculousness ensues. Starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes. I'm annoyed that the IMDB page plot synopsis says "Three female Federal Reserve Employees..." because I know if they weren't female, the line would read "Three Federal Reserve Employees," because, as we all know, being female is an aberration from the norm.

That aside, thank GOD we have some female protagonists. I swear, if I have to sit though another penis party of previews again, I'll stab someone, ugh.

Why I like them

In the article "20 Annoying Things about 2007," Stephen Pizzo declares that he is sick of "TV ads with American Indians telling me that their casinos are making life better for everyone, not just the ten members of their tribe." Well, I disagree, and I want to explain why.

I think I saw that same ad and I liked it, a lot. Not because I have any "white guilt," but because it is good news for the American Indian community. I'm not Native American - I didn't even meet any Native Americans until I got to college. But I've studied and give a shit about American Indian communities. Furthermore, I know that the American Indian Movement/Fight/Life/Experience is not mine. My role is to listen, understand, and support. Using anything, even casinos, to fund education and development by, for, and of American Indians is good news, period.

In a broader sense, it gives me hope for society. Maybe the improvements there will influence the rest of us, but mostly, it reminds me that some societies, somewhere, are doing something right. Hope is not lost, things can get better. That's what I feel when I see those ads, even if they are ripping us off in casinos. I know, and we all have to realize that American Indians see casinos as a means to more. More development, leading to a real thriving economy.

Also, I hardly expect American Indians to give a damn about white people. Centuries of manipulation, discrimination, and depopulation are hardly forgotten in less than a generation, especially when white people are still so ignorant of American Indians. I am encouraged when I hear Native Americans on radio and tv ads in Wisconsin tell everyone about the possibility and danger of gambling addiction. It means they give a shit, and I feel really good to hear that.