The-Goddess.org

I received this today. Show 'em some love, y'all!

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Please forward this on to every Gale fan you know:
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Folks, a good friend of mine, Pat Roberts, has had a lot of contact
over the last few months with Fay Lee, director/writer/ star of
Gale's movie `East Broadway' and they've been discussing
distribution ideas.

Fay isn`t wanting to go to DVD at this time. She still wants to get
the film into theaters for more exposure and one of the questions
they`ve been asked on several occasions from film people is "Is
there a fan base or interest out there for this movie?" Fay was not
truly aware (Pat has since enlightened her!) that Gale has such a
huge following.

Fay has asked Pat to get the word out to the fans to do the
following so we can get the right people interested in getting this
movie distributed in to the theaters. To do this we need to show
that there is an interested audience.

Therefore, she is asking everyone she knows to email all of our
Gale/QAF friends and ask them to do the following:

Go to www.eastbroadwaythe movie.com then go to SPECIAL FEATURES and
click on Contact. Put in your email address to get future updates
then email to eastbroadwaymovie@ gmail.com Say in your email that you
would love to see this movie in theaters etc. etc and make sure you
put in the email somewhere that you were either referred or emailed
or contacted or talked to by or on behalf of Pat Roberts. The reason
for putting Pat's name in the email is because Fay has 3 people that
will be going through the emails and these people will be alerted to
these emails first as true Gale Fans. Fay has Pat's name on her
email to alert her when she sends an email to her. That way she gets
the email and reads it and answers it quickly. She gets many emails
everyday, that is why she has 3 people helping her go through them
but Pat's name in the email will alert them to make sure she gets
them first.

It would be good for this movie to get out into the theatres and not
go straight to DVD, even though for those of us living outside the
U.S. this would probably mean a delay to when we actually get to see
it. But if it helps promote Gale, then that can only be good for him
and all his fans in the long run.

Many thanks. Julia

The Swazi Observer

Let that number sink in for a minute.

250,000,000

Someone on one of my groups pointed out that there are 2 Billion children in the world so this would be roughly 10 per cent. Knowing the state of women and girls in most of the world, I'd say that number is really low. It also makes me sick, as does the fact that most of these children are victimized by someone in their own families, or people they know. Also:

• corporal punishment such as caning and beating was still standard practice in schools in a number of countries, and often results in school drop-outs.
• between 20 and 65 percent of school age children claim to have been verbally or physically bullied in a 30-day period.
• 126 million children are involved in hazardous work, often enduring beatings, humiliation and sexual violence by employers
• institutionalised children [whether in orphanages or detention facilities] are at a particular risk of violence from the staff responsible for their care including torture, beatings, isolation, restraints, rape and harassment.
• violence in the family in the form of harsh punishment is common in both industrialised and developing countries.
• Children in all regions have reported the physical and psychological hurt they suffer at the hands of their parents and care-givers.
• over 500 000 children a year die from homicide
• between one and two million treated for violence-related injuries

"The majority of violent acts against children are said to be perpetrated by people who are part of their lives such as parents, teachers, schoolmates, employers and care-givers. In only 16 States has all violence against children been prohibited, leaving the vast majority of the world’s child population without adequate legal protection from violence."

This United Nations report, prepared by Secretary General Kofi Annan’s independent expert, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, goes on to make recommendations that will address these problems, but it doesn't mention the real source of this barbarous behavior - patriarchy.

==BIG RAMBLING RANT COMING UP==

Matriarchal cultures don't view children or their mothers as property. That's a really important concept that we really need to get down under and comprehend its effects. We have to root it out of our psyches. Sexual abuse is not common in undisturbed indigenous cultures. James DeMeo has traced the source of sexual and physical violence against children to a region he calls Saharasia, beginning around 4000 b.c.e. It has spread through modern cultures as patriarchy moved throughout the world. Its origins lie in sexual and somatic repression coupled with violent treatment of infants and children. It's a remnant of a time when dominant cultures reacted to starvation with violence, greed, theft, slavery and genocide overrunning peaceful, agrarian matrifocal societies. Over the millenia, these abberant human behaviors have become institutionalized. We've been taught from infancy that these are natural tendencies that civilization must overcome. We've been taught to admire warriors, robber barons, slave traders - the Stanley Kowalski's and Gordon Gekko's of the world. There is nothing normal or human about this behavior.

Get that. It's not normal. Healthy humans don't wage war, rape, steal, kill one another for any reason. It isn't natural - it's sickness. Hurting each other is sickness. Taking more than you need, taking from one another that which is not freely given is sick. Humans are social, cooperative beings. We have the capacity for empathy - all mammals do. The natural instinct of the human animal is to protect babies. Even other species will protect babies from different animals - I've seen huge dogs lie quietly while kittens nap on their backs, and I've seen more than one pet dog or cat intervene when a parent attempted to "discipline" a child. The irony is that physical "discipline" does just the opposite - violence, aggression, and delinquent behavior in youngsters is a direct result of violent and oppressive treatment.

I know I'm repeating myself. I feel as if I'm shouting in the wind. What will it take to make us wake up to the fact that human beings are naturally peaceful and cooperative? What is going to bring us back to that natural instinct to protect children. To feed them if they're hungry, to soothe them if they're frightened, to allow them to grow strong and unbroken by anger or intimidation? To stop the multi-generational cycle of sexual abuse of children?

I know this - we are doing just the opposite right now. I don't know the answer, but I know it isn't to sit them in front of a flashing screen that overstimulates their synapses as they compete to see who can commit more murders. It isn't to let them watch movies where people are mutilated and tortured. We can't continue to inure them to the sight of blood and desensitize them to the suffering of others. One of the most disturbing things I've seen recently is a segment on 60 Minutes about teenaged boys who go out and beat homeless people to death for the fun of it. I can't get the picture of this young man, now incarcerated, responding to the question of why he did it. "I don't know" he said with a souless, unaffected tone "It was fun.. you know, exciting." He showed no emotion - no remorse for what he had done, no understanding that this man he and his friends had tortured and blugdeoned to death, stopping only to laugh at his cries for help, for no particular reason, was a human being that deserved respect or kindness. Killing to avenge is wrong; killing to steal abominable; killling for no reason is horrific. I bought a book recently called The Sociopath Next Door which states that 1 in 10 people has no conscience. Look around your office or classroom or even your dinner table - which one is it? One of those people could murder you for no real reason and be more upset about breaking a nail as they did it.

There's a meme going around Live Journal these days that begins with the following quote:

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Ernest Gaines

My question is Why is it, as a culture, we find it more necessary to spank a child than to hug it? Both questions have the same answer - patriarchal dominance and erotophobia.

***

More later. The frustration is making me sick. I'm in that endless loop between anger and ennui.

X-posted everywhere.

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Ernest Gaines

We would like to know who really believes in gay rights on livejournal. There is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in gay rights, then repost this and title the post as "Gay Rights". If you don't believe in gay rights, then just ignore this. Thanks.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

I was going to add a line about how I hope for human rights, to bond over what unites us so that one day we won't be all about what makes us different, but I am having too much fun watching the fandom have a reasoned dialogue with a certain network.****


Passing this on - Peace.

My pal ParticlesofGale tagged me with this one = except, I'm not posting pics and I don't know 5 LJers so I'll just invite anyone who want to join in. Here goes:


[01] List your top ten celebrity crushes
[02] Put them all in the ORDER of your lust for them
[03] Say which movie/show it was that hooked you
[04] Supply photos for the said stars
[05] Tag five people!

The Lusting part is pretty much limited to #1, but here's the list...

10. Olivier Martinez-- Unfaithful,
9. Kevin Costner -- Bull Durham
8. Brad Pitt -- Thelma & Louise, Fight Club
7. Heath Ledger -- 10 Things I Hate about You
6. Matt Damon -- The Talented Mr. Ripley
5. Scott Lowell -- QAF
4. Vincent D'Onofrio -- Steal This Movie
3. Christian Bale -- Equilibrium
2. Scott Speedman -- Underworld
1. Gale Harold -- "... unless you're Brian Kinney" Queer as Folk

My dear friend Particles of Gale tagged me to participate in the following Meme:

Once tagged by this entry, the assignment is to write a blog entry of some kind
with six random facts about yourself. Then, pick six of your friends and tag them;
no tag backs. This explanation should be included.

Nothing good can come of this - hee.

1) I've had a bizarre array of jobs - research assistant, cook in a truck stop, mortgage processor, purchasing agent for the government, professional psychic, magazine editor/publisher, manager of rock bands, concert promoter, sales assistant, teacher, counselor, healer, telephone surveyor, writer, union rep. and EEOC rep. and sort of a massage therapist for a day. A friend of mine tried to get me to go into business with her - running a dungeon. I admit nothing. But that takes me to number

2.I'm obsessed with The Story of O. I have it in paperback, hardback, illustrated with drawings, illustrated with photos, but for some reason I don't own the DVD's. Weird, huh?

3.I've remembered one of my past lives since I was less than 2 years old.

4. The best 10 minutes of my life were spent talking to Gale Harold.

5. My favorite romantic movie is Bull Durham. They say it's about baseball - it's really about sex. I'm Annie Savoy. I've had my Nuke LaLush - several of them, in fact - now where the hell is my Crash Davis?!

6. I have a food aversion - an irrational hatred - to bananas. Even typing that made me woozy. The smell of them can make me pass out. I don't even like the color, and I can't swallow anything with even a hint of banana flavor.

I'm tagging Marketa, FierceDiva, and since I don't know too many on LJ I'll leave it open to anyone else who wants to do it. If you decide to answer the questions, let me know!

I was just reading an earlier post and found typos - ugh. I am completely unable to proofread my own work unless I put it aside for so long that it seems as if someone else wrote it. I can't figure out how to edit a post here, either.

Frustrating, isn't it?

QUOTE:


Scott will be performing as Scoop Rosenbaum in Wendy Wasserstein's play The Heidi Chronicles at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in August. Visit the website for information on dates, times and tickets.

Scott would also like to encourage anyone in the Los Angeles and NYC areas to see the opening of Peter Paige's movie Say Uncle. In LA the movie will be opening June 23 at Laemmles Sunset 5 and in NYC it will be opening June 30 at Quad Cinema. It's important for as many people as possible to see it on those weekends as those numbers will help determine if it gets a longer run and wider distribution. You can view a poster of the movie here and visit the official movie website for more release dates, a trailer, and other information.

ETA: I am not on any QAF or Peter Paige-related communities anymore, so if anyone on my flist wants to repost the news about Peter's movie so that it reaches as wide an audience as possible, that would be great. Thanks! :)
***********

If anyone is in that area, you should definitely check out Scott's play. He's a great actor and more importantly, a really nice guy.

Hey, y'all.

I know I haven't posted here in forever, but it looks like I have to dust the cobwebs off this thing since Gale Harold is going to be starring in VANISHED this fall. I have to say, though, certain parts of Live Journal confuse me. For example, see the title of this page? I want to change it from TG.org to my name, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it. I keep going through the customization pages, but I'm in some kind of continuous loop that doesn't include the magic option. Can anyone help me out?

Peace,
Morgaine

Via WildHunt Blog

Carl McColman is a Pagan-turned-Catholic author who still muses about the nature of Spirit. His questions are in bold type, my answers in normal. These are my opinions. I could be wrong. Also, I retained his original spelling of “magic” but use the traditional “magick” in my answers because that has a very specific meaning for me.

• What is the difference between magic and science? Can such a distinction be measured or otherwise quantified?

The only difference is time. Yesterday it was magick; today it is technology; eventually, it will be Quantum Physics. It’s all different way’s of saying that you recognize natural principles and work with nature to create a desired result. It’s the result that counts. The label I put on it will vary according to whom I am speaking to.

Can it be quantified? Not now, but perhaps in the future. I don’t think it’s important, but someone will and s/he will find a way to do it. I don’t have to be an electrician to flip a light switch.

• How does magic make a person's life better?

The more a person understands magick, the less they feel the need to do it. It is a part of being in the flow of energy that is the universe. We learn magick initially to understand that we are a part of it, and that we have the ability to influence it. As we grow, we understand that everything is connected, and we can create unintended consequences by being imprecise in our work. Finally, we understand that everything happens in perfect time, and there is rarely a real need to work magick if we are in harmony with our Mother.

• How does magic create a saner, healthier, better society?

By making us aware of our connection to each other. By making us know that everything we do comes back to us. By keeping us in touch with the divine in ourselves and each other. By giving spirit and energy to intangibles like poetry and art, making them palpable and real.

• How does magic benefit squibs and muggles— that is to say, people who lack magical ability, or who don't want anything to do with magic?

It doesn’t, but their lack of magick makes their experience of life poorer, and their unintended misuse of their own energies creates numerous problems that the rest of us have to clean up. To be attuned to one’s own energy is to be fully alive. To neglect or ignore that energy creates discord, illness, conflict. Magick is the most necessary thing in the world right now. A person empowered cannot be enslaved or exploited.

• Is there a viable form of Paganism that does not include magic?

None that I know of, but I suppose it’s possible. I don’t think it’s desirable, though. The whole point is to honor and direct our own connection to the Life Force. Why would I choose to live without that? I know that magick is discouraged in monotheism, but that’s so that power is reserved to priests and kings - I have no intention of being a slave to any favored ruling class. There’s a reason slavery is mentioned specifically in the Charge of the Goddess. “A Witch bows to no man.”

• Chaos magic is the most "postmodern" form of magic. Its creed is "nothing is true, everything is permitted." I see this is nihilistic libertarianism. Am I on to something, or am I missing something? I also think it is ethically dangerous. Thoughts anyone, pro or con?

Chaos is a power in and of itself. I think it is unwise for people to dabble in it as a practice, and I think it is foolish to think that you can act without consequence. We are in a vast sea of energy - what we send out will always splash back on us. People who think this way need to spend more time in the water, and think about energy that way. No one exists in a vacuum.

• Why should we believe the claims of Witches who say they hold a longstanding lineage, especially in the light of scholars like Ronald Hutton whose work strongly suggests that many so called Witches are frauds?

There wouldn’t be scholarly evidence in most cases of true lineage. One should approach everyone with a healthy mix of skepticism and respect. I will take a person’s claims at face value, but I will evaluate that claim by my experience with them and my knowledge of them. People will always claim we are frauds, and that we do not exist. There have been vast movements that have attempted to erase our Herstory. It is a waste of energy to try and “prove” ourselves to those who have a professional or personal interest in conflict with our own. I know who I am - whether someone approves of my pedigree or not is of no importance to me.

• What is the difference between secrets and mysteries?

I’m sure someone has vastly detailed and conflicting definitions of both, but who cares? Those who want to invest time in such semantics are welcome to do so. They’re missing the point, but that’s on them.

• Why are oaths of secrecy so important to initiation?

To keep us alive. There have always been people who are jealous of any strength or power we might have, or that they imagine we might have, and some of them will do us harm. When we are out numbered and feared, secrecy is a necessity. In times of relative openness, we have an obligation to educate as many muggles and cowans as we can in hopes of being driven back underground with violence.


• Christianity teaches that those who do not receive Christian initiation (i.e. baptism, being "saved", the Eucharist, etc.) are at greater risk of not receiving the Beatific Vision. What do Pagans and ceremonial magicians believe is at stake with their initiations? In other words, what do those who don't get initiated miss out on?

Nothing. It is simply a declaration of your intent to follow a particular path. A promise you make to yourself and your concept of the divine. I do believe an initiation is forever, though. I don’t believe it is possible to renounce. Once you take your oath, you are Witch and always will be in all of your lifetimes.

• Does objective truth exist? Objective right and wrong? If the answer is yes, then how do we find it? If the answer is no, then what holds society together?

Probably. The process of getting there is the whole point. What holds society together is the fact that we are not separate. We are parts of a unified whole that works best when all of us are in harmony. Conflict among us is an illness in the larger body. We are social animals that function best cooperatively.

• What is the relationship between myth and truth (if truth can be said to exist)?

That’s for each of us to decide for ourselves. Myth can express truth, or it can express fear or hope. Does truth exist - of course, but we may or may not be able to know what that is while incarnate. We find good things by looking for it, though, and harm ourselves and others when we ignore it.

• What is the relationship between power and responsibility? Is there a place for noblesse oblige in the world of magical ethics? On what grounds?

I’m a great believer in Noblesse Oblige. If you can do better, you have an obligation to do so. If you have more than you need, it is on you to share what you have. This is part of being human - the best part. Selfishness, greed, jealousy are all illnesses caused by the delusion/illusion of separateness. We function best in cooperative matriarchies that honor our connection to the Goddess.

• Postmodern philosophy suggests that the only truth that exists is the truth found within; i.e., subjective truth. What kind of society can we truly expect to build in a world where only subjective truth is real?

A fine one if we honor each other’s subjective truths as we do our own. It’s not for me to judge your connection, nor you, mine.

• What is the difference between magic and mysticism? Hint: I think the answer to this question lies in the difference between Iamblichus and Pseudo-Dionysius.

This is the kind of semantic game I expect to find among ceremonial magicians. It doesn’t mean anything in terms of energy. It’s an intellectual exercise at best.

• Many spiritually minded people in our post-modern world are karmic reincarnationists, which is to say, they believe in past/future lives, with an ethical component that suggests our choices (for good or ill) will have consequences for us at some point in the future. Where do reincarnation and karma lead us, ultimately? Is there some form of eternal paradise? Is death ultimately final (say, when the universe implodes)? Or will the cycle simply repeat indefinitely, eternally?

Ultimately, we return to She who gave us life. Does it continue? Does it matter? When we live well, we make Her stronger. The quality of our lives becomes the quality of Hers, so I suppose it’s up to us how long it lasts.

• Is there only one soul, and all beings are refracted manifestations of that essential one? Or are there infinite discrete beings? Or a finite number of discrete beings, who live cyclical lives over the course of time?

All of the above. Now, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? All Gods are Goddesses and All Goddesses are one Goddess and we are all a part of Her. Divide it up any way you want and She’ll take the form you’ve chosen - but you chose it. We try to give form to the formless and know the unknowable, then we forget that the map is not the territory.

• Does free will exist? If so, what difference does it make in terms of how we understand the cosmos? Magic? Right and wrong? Community ethics?

Absolutely. It’s the reason we’re here. The difference it makes is that we can do better if we choose to. We can make life better, the world stronger, and be strengthened in return. Or not.

Magic, right and wrong and community ethics are all the same. We can only do to ourselves. Everything we do comes back. What do we want? What do we send out and then receive?

• Life seems to require balance: for example, we all have to find the right balance between self-gratification and self-denial for the sake of our relationships, community, and long-term benefits. Many other examples of the importance of balance could be shown. How do we go about determining the best, most rational, most magical "balance point"?

The love of balance is a patriarchal concept that doesn’t occur in the natural world. Balance can also be stasis, stagnation. It implies even numbers and nice neat equations. Life is more complicated than that. Think of it as harmony, each part fulfilling an individual purpose that contributes to the gestalt that is life. Reason has little to do with it - this is an intuitive process that will flow naturally if we get the ego out of the way. We know when we are in harmony, we know when we aren’t. Just be still and listen.

• Who created the gods? Does it make any difference how we answer this question (in other words, is there "truth" regarding the gods)? Why or why not?

Those dancing angels again...

• Should I honor a god or gods whose values or moral choices I reject? Why or why not?

No. You should do what feels right to you, and allow me to do the same.

• Should I fear the gods? Why or why not?

Should you fear gravity?

• Paganism and magic are disciplines of experience rather than faith. Would you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

Paganism and magick are the natural functions of a healthy human being. They’re a combination of intuition, reason and ecstatic revelry. They celebrate potential, rather than put faith in dead dogma, so yes, they are experiential, but discipline is only a part of the equation. Wildness is essential, too.


• I've had people close to me tell me that it was a good thing I became a Catholic, since I was a "bad" Pagan. But does it make sense to draw distinctions between "good" and "bad" practitioners of Pagan spirituality? If we draw this distinction, what separates the two?

These are value judgments. The only distinction is in a person’s head. If you abuse magick, you get a nice kick in the ass from the Universe. If I am true to myself, it doesn’t matter if others label me a good Witch or a bad Witch. I lose myself when I start to care what others think of me.


• We live in a society that idolizes egalitarianism. I believe this is why so many of the people who achieve greatness in our society are actually quite mediocre: George W. Bush is a mediocre president; Bill Gates is a mediocre computer scientist who sells mediocre products; Britney Spears and Ashley Simpson are mediocre entertainers, and the list could go on and on. Meanwhile, we settle for a mediocre quality of life, filled with mind-numbing commutes, mediocre food, mediocre religion, mediocre work experiences, mediocre entertainment. Is there a place for true greatness in the world of magic and paganism? What does it look like? How do we encourage it among the few who are truly gifted, without "putting down" everyone else?

First, we eliminate that either/or thinking of patriarchy. You can encourage talent in individuals without diminishing anyone else. Think inclusively, rather than exclusively. This culture teaches us to defer to mediocre leaders because of money or position. We don’t have to do that if we stop valuing money and position. If we value peace, cooperation, beauty, art, then those who practice them are the people we empower.

I don’t settle for mediocre religion, work experiences, entertainment, food or anything else, and I have much more limited choices than most people. I choose to have wonderful, visionary friends. If that means I spend a lot of time alone, so be it. I seek out wonderful experiences when I can, create wonderful meals for myself, surround myself with things that I love. A mind-numbing commute can be a chance to meditate - I met a spirit guide on a bus ride one day, quietly, discretely, and it/they have been with me since. We have so many avenues to enrich our experiences now - it’s completely possible to live a glorious, hedonistic life if you insist on quality. I have to have inspiration - I have no patience with mediocrity. People accept less because they’ve been conditioned to accept it. They can step out of their cages the minute they realize - or someone helps them see - that they are in one.

Is there a place for true greatness in the world of magic and Paganism? I can’t think of any place more suited for it or conducive to it. The whole point of being Pagan is to step out of the “herd mentality” and reject the “sklav moral” of the masses. We honor ourselves as divine. We dare, we demand, we trip, we fuck, we breathe, we live as “One with the Goddess, in glory and power forever, so mote it be.”


--
Posted by Morgaine to The-Goddess <http://the-goddess.org/blog/2005/08/responses-to-carl-mccolmans-nagging.html> at 8/14/2005 07:19:22 AM

The-Goddess <http://the-goddess.org/blog/2005/08/pseudo-adrienne-has-it-exactly-right.html> :

" I want to stand for the rights of all people, not just women, but certainly I believe in rights for women everywhere. "


I bumped this up from comments, not to pick on anyone, but because as a feminist, I hear this line from Progressive men all the time. I understand that you want rights to apply to everyone - so do I. What men don't seem to get is that the state of women is the state of the species.

Women are 53% of the population. The primary care of children falls almost universally on the Mother. Most of the people who live in poverty are women, and therefore so do their children. 80% of the people hurt in a war are women and their children. This is not an exaggeration, not an accident and it is not inconsequential. Women do not start wars.

We don't represent a majority vote in the decision-making body of any major power on the planet. We have least access to power, and control least of the money, in spite of doing most of the grueling, repetitive and filthy work in the world for little or no pay. If there's shit or vomit to be cleaned, food to be raised or prepared, a child, an invalid or an elder to be cared for, 99% of the time, it is a woman that does it.

This image we have of Big Daddy going to work and bring home the bacon is bullshit in most of the world. Men in Africa lose weight when the crops need tending because they won't prepare food for themselves while the women are tending the fields 16 hours a day. That rice you had with your Chinese take-out was almost certainly farmed by a woman's hand, and she was probably paid little or nothing for doing it. Your clothes were likely sewn in a sweatshop where women are forced to have abortion, work as prostitutes, sew as slaves and their "masters" receive awards from the likes of Tom Delay. Go to a bar, or a gathering place in any town or village, and you will find men socializing while the women are at work.

Yes, women in America and Western Europe don't have it quite so bad. We deal with issues like equal pay for equal work, and being held back from success in our chosen fields in spite of ability and accomplishments solely because of our gender. We should be grateful that we are allowed to earn more than men in the two professions where it's permitted: Prostitution and Modeling. 2 out of every 3 of us will be sexually violated or beaten in our lives by men unlikely ever to face prosecution, and we aren't safe being out alone at night, and we'll have trouble even getting a job if we're old or fat or not very attractive, but that's better than being systematically raped by soldiers, our genitalia carved by broken glass and our virginity sold to the highest bidder before we've even reached puberty. Some great deal.

Patriarchy is a vile institution. Patriarchal, monotheistic religions support the brutalization of women around the globe. The wars being fought right now can ALL be traced to greed and patriarchy. The rights of men are assumed in all but a very few, tiny cultures. When a man says "I'm in favor of all human rights, not just the rights of women" I hear him saying that my rights still don't matter as much as his - that he won't for a second allow me to have an iota of attention or concern that does not include him. He thinks he's being "fair" - I think he's being egotistical and presumptuous.

I don't know most of the people who will read these words, but I know one thing about every one of you. You came from a woman's womb. You had a mother. These rights were are talking about are the rights she did or didn't have. They're the rights your lover, wife, sister, daughter will or will not have. Will it really diminish you NOT to be first, once in your life? Are you so dependent on your male privilege that I can't have a problem that doesn't touch YOU and still have it matter? Doesn't the phrase "if one of us is not free, then none of us is free" include me, too?

When we talk about Women's Rights, those rights are inclusive. They include the welfare of children - YOUR children - and they directly impact the quality of your life. Men's privilege has traditionally not affected the lot of women. The wife of the richest, most powerful man may still be a raped, beaten, starved slave. A family with a free, well-paid, respected mother is a happy, strong family.

I know that some men work very hard. I know I will never know what it is like to be a man. I also know that women have experiences that will never touch men. A man may talk about abortion, but he will never be pried open and vacuumed or scraped, nor will he be ripped apart by an exiting baby. He has the option, most times, as to how involved he will be in the care of that child. Only the rarest of women has any choice in that matter, and she will be punished socially, professionally or financially in ways that will never affect a man, in spite of her lack of options.

There's nothing "fair" in this situation. The genders don't start from equal positions in any aspect of their lives. Don't expect me to bend over backward to be fair to you. Life already bends me to breaking. It may not be fair, but that's the way it is - fairness is just an idea to you. This is my body and my life we're talking about. Considering that you have all the advantage in the situation, I'd think you ought to be able to be a "man" about it, and understand that sometimes it just isn't about you, and that's o.k., too. The minute you try to put me "back in line", champion what's "fair" or consider the disposition of my uterus as a subject of barter, even in an election (are you listening, Kos?), you have joined the ranks of my oppressors.

--
Posted by Morgaine to The-Goddess <http://the-goddess.org/blog/2005/08/why-womens-rights-are-human-rights.html> at 8/14/2005 12:09:00 AM

Most of my work is on my blogs:

The-Goddess.org– A Republican’s Worst Nightmare...

The next time some guy asks you where the women bloggers are, tell him What She Said!

Women’s Autonomy and Sexual Sovereignty Movements


I also post pretty frequently at MediaGirl.org. I'll post over here when I have something that LJ people might want easy access to. Peace!

Please put on your imagination caps. You have been granted the position of editor for a new feminist magazine. Your budget is not a problem, allowing you to be picky about writers and advertising. What would this magazine look like? Who would be your target audience and why? What types of articles would you have and who would write for them? What would be featured on the cover? To follow up on the question from last week, if popular culture figures such as Christina and Britney (or pink, jessica simpson, avril l. and so on) wanted to be on the cover, what would you cite as your standards and would they be featured?
I'm hoping this hasn't been covered - the topic I was going to post was done last summer. If it has, I apologize!

This week's topic would be a dream come true for me - to be able to build a Feminist 'zine from the ground up. Physically, it would be made of materials used on Yes! Magazine - recycled paper, soya based inks, nothing glossy. It would be of normal size, so it fits in a tote bag, and there would be a paperless edition available on the 'net in both ebook and pdf form offered at a drastically reduced subscription price. Covers would go to people who had accomplished something of interest and benefit to women and the world. Angelina Jolie's work as a good will ambassador for the UN would make the cut. Nothing Britney or Christina has done would be worth killing a tree. I'd rather choose people like Starhawk for the cover though, someone who works tirelessly and get sneered at by the press if she gets mentioned at all.

There would be a legal section covering Constitutional, and civil concerns, and I'd beg top female attorneys to contribute - Gloria Allred would be thoroughly sick of my calls until she agreed to work with us. I'd also look for retired Female Judges. There would be a section for issues affecting women in the third world, another for women of color, one for very young womenand another for Women and Religion which would include all religions, and there would be something about Women's Religion in every issue. I'd ask Marija Gimbutas, Margot Adler, Diane Stein, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Robin Morgan, Naomi Wolfe, Toni Morrison, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Mavis Leno to contribute. I'd also make it as easy as possible for emerging writers to participate. I'd feature a High School and a college student activist and/or writer in every issue. There would be a section highlighting women running for public office, as well as women running movements like Code Pink and the V Day campaign. I'd want it to be a sort of clearinghouse for Pro-Women social and political movements. We would put a lot less emphasis on being PC than a Ms. does, but be a little more grounded than some of the younger 'zines. Representations of women in the media would be a major focus, as would women's sexuality.

And then, sadly, I woke up.

From WHB:

christina v. britney
March 24, 2004 10:25 PM posted by april : track it (0)

Ms. Roni mailed me her topic to post this week. It's a funny one. ;)

Last week I saw a Pepsi commerical with Britney in it and then her discussing the making of it. In it, her, Beyonce & Pink are dressed up in Gladiator-ware singing "We Will Rock You." She was waxing on about the "Girl Power" she felt out there with the other strong women.

Last year I started to hear Christina talk openly about being a feminist. She wears feminist logos on her t-shirts, she gives money to women's shelters, and her mom has said offered Christina's services to some large feminist organizations.

So my question to my fave bunch of blogging feminists is this: Are either of them feminists to you? Is Christina too much of a skanky hoe [April's editorial note - can anyone really be too skanky to be a feminist? Enquiring minds want to know!] to be a feminist? Is Britney not taking a strong enough stand? What would it take for you to consider either of them a feminist icon? Take into account sexual politics, the whoring of pop stars, and your own personal feminism. What would you think if one of them were to be featured on the cover of Ms.? Bitch? Bust?

Ahhh - the gruesome twosome. Not really - Christina's kind of cute. If we were going to get on the topic of hot blondes, though, Shakira is more my type.

Can you be too skanky to be a feminist? No, I say. You can, however, think yourself a feminist and yet hurt the cause of feminism. I wouldn't consider either a feminist icon, but Christina could grow into one. Britney is a non-entity as far as I'm concerned. She has never done anything to convince me that there's a brain in there. She's completely manufactured, a polyester would-be diva with limited talent and limited appeal. The Vegas marriage fiasco was typical - she falls apart when left to her own devices, then her handlers take over and try to clean up the mess. At least Christina can actually sing.

Christina's work has begun to take on political overtones - her song "Beautiful" has become a gay anthem, and if she is taking on feminist issues, then more power to her. We need pop icons that aren't afraid of the word. Being sexy is a plus as well. I've said before that one of the biggest mistakes feminists made was not distinguishing "sexism" from "sexuality". A whole, healthy woman has a whole, healthy sex life. As long as she isn't portrayed as a victim, Christina hasn't hurt the image of women in any way. I wouldn't start putting her on the cover of feminist rags yet, but she's got potential.

Did you know that if you type the phrase "I'm so depressed" into Google, you get 11 pages of links... Should that make me feel better?

Things are going better for me than they have in a long time, but I'm trapped in my internal dialog/diatribe/monaural monorail whirlwind swirling down to implode in my own paranoia. Symptoms are rarely pleasant, but there are few so pervasive as that feeling that there's a man behind that curtain and he's not too crazy about me. Not that his opinion matters, necessarily, but it's the idea that he can do things behind the scene and I won't even know I need a defense. That drip-drip-drip that whispers for hours on end that something.just.isn't.right. No one thing is wrong, exactly. Something just feels off-center. What do you do with that? I send out little shoots and roots and try to connect and when they hit dead air it's one more loose end that's unraveled. As it grows from frayed to fully fringed, I try to see myself again, but there's no reflection without a future. The subject's moot here. It had a point in time once upon a frame, but I had a name then.

Anybody know what I'm trying to say?

I found the following statistics on The Feminist Majority Foundation site today

On this planet, right now:
• 1,500 women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every day
• A woman's risk of dying in childbirth: 1 in 25 to 40 in developing countries,
1 in 3,000 in developed countries.

Source: 1994 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development

• 75% of refugees and displaced persons are women and children.
Source: Wistat, 1994 & UNHCR

• Out of 1.3 billion people living in absolute poverty, 70% are women.
• More than one million babies die each year from malnutrition, neglect and abuse
who would not have died if they had not been born girls
Source: Education Working Group, UNICEF


In America today:
• One woman is physically abused every eight seconds
• One woman is raped every six minutes .
Source: National Center on Women and Family Law, USA, 1988/New York Times, 19 October 1994

• Domestic violence is the number one cause of serious injury to women ages 18-49.
• At the current rate of progress, it would take 475 years for women to reach equality with men as senior managers.
Source: 1994 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, United Nations 1995

US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
• Women constitute almost 47 percent of this country’s labor force,
• There are only six Fortune 500 women CEOs

According to statistics released by the US Census Bureau on September 25, 2001

For every 1 Dollar earned by White men:
• White women working full-time earn only 73 cents
• African-American women earn only 65 cents
• Latina women earn only 53 cents

So on today, Women's Equality Day, I'd like to make a modest proposal. Since our society can't protect us - 1 in 3 women will be victims of sexual abuse in their lives; and won't promote us; and most of all isn't paying us for the work we do, why not cut to the chase. Instead of proclamations and pats on the head and the kind of placating that Bill Maher calls "making women nod", how about one simple concrete solution. I want reparations.

Now, the African-American community has talked about reparations for a while. The problem with paying reparations for slavery is that the people who were enslaved are no longer alive, so even if we all agree that reparations are in order, there's a very real difficulty in figuring out how much to pay and to whom. Not so with Gender Gap Reparations.

I propose a two step plan. First, take all of the Social Security records for every living woman in the United States and get her total lifetime earnings. If she's white, add 27%; Black, 35%, Hispanic, 47% and for those of us who don't fit into any of those categories - Native Americans, Asians, etc - we'll take the Latina rate of 47%.
Take the money out of the bloated, bullshit defense budget, and pay us . I mean send my check right now. I've worked with defense contracts, and believe me, there's more fat than fight in that budget. You could do twice the work for half the money with a bit of common sense and some basic good business practices. Tighten your belts, boys - we've been doing it for years.

Ok, so Step One is done and no one is the poorer for it. Step Two is going to be a little harder. Well, not really harder - just unpopular. Step Two is simply give every woman currently employed a raise in the percentage already discussed for each group. Business is not going to like this idea, so let's put it into perspective:

If the minimum wage had risen at the same level pace as executive pay since 1990, it would be $25.50 an hour, not $5.15.
http://www.raisethefloor.org/press_bostonglobe.html


So you can pay our girls the $6.67, 6.96, and 7.58 (based on $5.15 minimum wage) and yes, for Goddess' sake round up or you can pay us all the 25.50 an hour we'd be making if you corporate raiders weren't skimming off the top. We're willing to be reasonable, and frankly, it's more than you deserve.

So what do you think?
Peace.

A recent news teaser announced "ladies, you can increase his sexual pleasure with a little nip and tuck 'down there'". So now we're supposed to be so concerned with "his pleasure" that we'll undergo surgery on our vagina??? Whatever happned to exercising the pc muscles? I've seen several fashion magazines in recent years run stories about women choosing to have plastic surgery on their labia to make them more attractive. Am I the only one that finds this horrifying? Are we now under such a microscope that even our most intimate and unique features aren't good enough just as they are? The culture of beauty has finally gone too far and I have had enough.

I've always had a love for make-up and glamour. I used to subscribe to every magazine out there and devoured each issue. I have a consuming passion for anything Chanel, and I don't expect that will change. if you've read my article called "Gwyneth", though, you know that I am changing. In that essay, I asked myself why I expended energy reading about people I wouldn't hang with if I could, and parties I'll never be invited to, knowing full well I'd hate them anyway. My question now is why have I supported an industry - the fashion industry - that does not include me and continually tells me that everything about me is wrong.

If I want to see women of average proportion, I have to buy a magazine for plus-size women. Emme, one of the top plus size models, is a size 12. I read recently that the average size of the American woman is 14. So the women in the 'zines for fat chicks are smaller than average. What does that tell me? It tells me that the fashion industry doesn't want to know I exist. It tells me that they aren't going to make clothing that makes me look good. It tells me I'm wasting my money.

This week, my hair is too curly. Last week, it was too straight. The sun is bad, so I need a self-tanner to look healthy. I'm not eating the right foods - this week, I'm supposed to eat a low-carb diet. Last week, high carb ruled. Neither ever made a difference in my weight. Heroin Chic has given way to a look more common to concentration camps, and I don't want to look like that, but guys are programmed to love it. My pores are too big, I have acne scars, skin tags, brittle nails and skimpy lashes. No wonder I have agoraphbia - how can I even consider leaving the house?! And now I'm supposed to obsess about my labia. Thank you, Glamour mag! Thank you, Sex in the City! Welcome to my toilet.

I understand women having re-constructive surgery if they've been injured in some way. Complications of childbirth or damage resulting from an assault can be devastating. Obviously, in such cases, a woman would want to have both function and appearance restored as much as possible. I'm talking about supposedly educated, supposedly enlightened women who have a choice. And after what I would assume is a great deal of thought, these women choose the pain and considerable expense of having plastic surgery on their genitals.

We live in a world where women in many countries are forced to undergo brutal genital mutilation. Our government does not recognize this horror as a human rights violation, but rather refers to it as a cultural practice, and therefore, basically none of our business. As a woman, I think it is my business, and I don't want my government doing business with or giving aid to a government that allows this practice. I can't imagine a Western woman seeking to have herself mutilated even under the pristine conditions of a hospital - a luxury not afforded victims of this violent practice, which is often performed under squalid conditions with nothing more than a piece of broken glass.

Our priorities are fucked, people. I mentioned Sex in the City because those shallow, vain women represent everything I hate about women in our culture. Their only interest in a man is based on the size of his physical and financial endowments. ( Yeah, I know cock size figures prominently in the dialog of Queer As Folk, too, but I don't expect anything from men. A woman ought to have more going for her.) Intelligence, kindness, compassion, vision all appear to have no place in a world based on appearances.

As much as I love sitcoms, they illustrate my point. Remember Elaine Benes on Seinfeld dumping a guy because he was poor? How about Grace Adler's (Will and Grace) reaction when her boyfriend tried to tell her he had an extra toe. That might be an extreme case, but remember that she said 'what, you probably have a patch of dry skin somewhere?" What if he had had psoriasis? Or cancer?

Now I know I spend a lot of time talking about pretty boys. We are all pre-wired to be attracted to beauty. It's the narrow definition of beauty that I object to - the inability to see beauty in the totality of a person. Having never dated a guy with a job and a car, I can hardly be called a gold-digger. I might give a guy grief over the length he chooses for his hair, but never for losing it. I'd never denigrate a person for something s/he can't control. The willingness to reduce, or to be reduced, to a collection of parts that are examined and judged as to whether they must be surgically altered to be acceptable is demoralizing and frightening. How will we ever accept diversity among races and nations when we can't accept diversity from individual to individual?

It's natural to admire beauty. It's barbarous to demand it, and imply that a less attractive person has nothing else to offer. Remember Joan River's diatribes against Elizabeth Taylor? One of the most beautiful women in history was vilified for gaining weight. Hey, we're all getting old. Are we going to make ourselves miserable over it? It's our choice.

Personally, I think judging a person by the size or appearance of their genitalia shows 1) a lack of imagination 2) a lack of sexual skill and 3) a lack of compassion. I can state categorically that skill as a lover has nothing to do with cock size. Responsiveness in a woman has nothing to do with the size of her breasts, the flatness of her abs or the shape of her labia. Sensuality trumps physical perfection any day of the week.

I once heard a really cute guy talking about his fiance: "one girl is as good as another." What an insult, not just to her but to women everywhere. What an unimaginative idiot. If they are still married 10 years later, I guarantee they've never had a conversation about art, religion, poetry or politics. It wouldn't surprise me if she's never had an orgasm. (At least not with him. Shallow and vapid often include unfaithful as part of the package.)

I've seen the antithesis of this during the course of my mother's illness. In an age when men divorce their wives for gaining weight, my dad loves my mom, no matter what. She's been ill all of her adult life. She's scarred and battered from multiple surgeries; she's heavy from having to take insulin; most of her head is shaved from two recent neurosurgeries. She's been in some very unattractive states between her seizures and the resulting (though, hopefully, temporary) disabilities. He still looks at her with love. She still can do no wrong in his eyes. He's gentle and loving and affectionate with her. He's optimistic when the rest of us don't see any hope. My prayer is that we all find that kind of acceptance somewhere - it's the most beautiful aspect of the human condition. It's the very best we have to give.

If a woman is considering labial or vaginal plastic surgery, I hope she'll reconsider. Take half the money for the surgery, and donate it to an organization that fights the practice of genital mutilation. Take the rest and find a good therapist who can help you learn to love yourself as you are. Don't give your money to a doctor who makes his living off your insecurities. For my part, I'll still have to have a Chanel lipstick now and then, but I won't be subscribing to any more fashion magazines. I'll be spending my time and money on things that make me a better person in my own eyes, instead of trying to meet some fictional and impossible standard of perfection. I'm blessed with amazing, unique, visionary friends who already think I'm beautiful. What else really matters?

Hey, everyone-

I've been out of touch because of my mother's illness, and I'm feeling a little disoriented. I'm experimenting with different blog forms and a new forum. I hope y'all will check them out and let me know which you prefer. I need to decide between this and blogger, and whether to keep the forum. You can reply to my entries here, which I like. Then again, you could discuss my regular blog on the forum.

So many options...

The forum is at:
http://pub161.ezboard.com/bthegoddess47132

you'll need an EZboard account, but I hope you'll take a minute to register and check it out.


Peace!