Where I'm At

A Rape By Any Other Name...

Sometimes I have these little fantasies about buying some huge plot of land somewhere where land is cheap, like the midwest, then I read shit like this...

http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/07/16/News/Judge.Restricts.Use.Of.Words.rape.sexual.Assault.In.Bowen.Trial-2923771.shtml?refsource=collegeheadlines

Have you heard about this? This judge ruled that the witness (the victim) cannot use the word "rape" in court. Not only that, victims of rape cannot use the words "sexual assault" or even "sexual assault kit". This is sooooooo fucked up. Free speech is dying folks and women's rights are going right down the tubes with it.

To help the victims in Nebraska describe their rapes without using the word rape or sexual assault, I give you the following...

-He used his penis as a weapon and violently entered my body without permission.

-He violently used his penis against me without my permission

-He violated my body with his penis

-He robbed my body violently

-He is a sick fucking pig who used his penis to brutally attack me

Well, that's better than calling it what it is, right?

They Shoot Blonde Women In Los Angeles, Don't They?

Al Sharpton recently met with the Los Angeles County Sheriff to discuss his concerns that Paris Hilton is getting special treatment in jail. Of course she is getting special treatment in jail--she is a celebrity and this is Hollywood, baby. This is not about race, it's about class, wealth, privilege, and the power of celebrity. In this town, every male celebrity is allowed one murder--it's the rules. And we are worried about the special treatment Paris gets? Wow, I wonder how the families of these women feel:

Back in the seventies, the son of sam killer had fearful brown-haired women of NY changing their hair color to avoid being a target. So my suggestion, my fellow Los Angeles blondies, next time any one of us dates a celebrity--we must dye our hair brown before strapping on the Manolo's and heading out the door. We need to look out for each other because the law certainly won't.

The Breakup

My doctor broke up with me. Actually, from what I can gather she broke up with my health insurance who then notified me through a letter. So I'm like the kid of the parent who got dumped--through a letter. And I'm heartbroken because I really liked my doctor. She was great. She always had time for me. She returned my phone calls promptly. She was professional and thorough.

I sensed bad things ahead when my employer switched to a new health care provider (from Healthnet to PacifiCare) last year and I had to do a lot of investigative work to even keep her as my doctor. But I prevailed, found out her number through covert means and got to keep her. And all was well. I've had several sucky not to mention embarrassing health experiences this year so I was all happy that I had been able to keep my doctor.

And then I got this horrible letter from this crappy new health care company beginning: RE: Physician Termination. It goes on to say that my doctor is no longer contracted with them. At the bottom it gives a number to call if I have any questions or concerns. So I called with some questions and concerns and was told they could not answer any of my questions or concerns!!!!!???????

On top of that they selected a new doctor for me. I'd gone to this doctor before when my doctor was out of town. This was because I had a wicked sinus infection and needed to see anybody. He prescribed antibiotics which killed the infection but left me with a number of issues down south that I would not want to go to a male doctor to discuss--particularly a male doctor with a moustache. It's not that I have anything against male doctors, I just don't want one for my primary care doctor because most of my issues are freakish female issues that I prefer to talk about with a female.

Anyway, it just sucks to be dumped.

Challenge

It may seem as though I have been swallowed into the vortex of negativity lately...but I have been up to a few cool things. The most important and most pressing at the moment is this...

http://www.mymschallenge.com/amelala

I am walking in the MS Challenge Walk this September 7-9. It's a fifty mile walk from Carlsbad to San Diego and the mission is to raise money for MS research. My goal is to raise $2500. The reason I am doing this walk is that my sister has this awful degenerative disease. She was diagnosed when she was fifteen and is now 31. Her entire adult life has been spent dealing with this debilitating illness and the frustrating array of symptoms that it brings...you name it...muscle weakness, numbness, memory loss, blindness, and the list goes on. She'll often say to me, "Hey you know smart people, can you ask them to find a cure for this?" It breaks my heart because the smart people I know write screenplays, edit reality shows, and teach rich kids. And so when she asks me this I feel like a total blowhard inept loser. Here she is struggling every day just to get out of bed, fold clothes, do her hair, not be in a wheelchair, and I am depressed?

Anyway, this is something I can do. Well, the walking part at least. The fundraising part is my personal challenge. I have a hard time asking for help so this has been a new experience for me and as much as I hope to raise a few bucks for MS and show my support and commitment to my sis, I have a feeling I will learn a few things about myself along the way.

Temples and Guns

I work at a school. I live near a school. I spent most of my life in school. My opinion of school is this...schools should be considered the temples of our society and the ground around them should be considered sacred. It seems, at least in Los Angeles, that living near a school is considered a detriment, the bad part of town. My boss's neighbor was recently robbed. When I said, "but you live in such a nice neighborhood" she responded, "Yeah but we are close to (name withheld) high school" to which I responded, "oh".

I am not sure exactly how this connects to the massacre at Virginia Tech only to say that my heart hurts for the families, for the school, for everyone who works or lives near this school.

My sister's husband is a Virginia Tech alumnus. She said he knew those buildings and he said "it was such a peaceful place."

You Can Call Me A Whore...

...just don't preface it with a racial slur cause then it's not acceptable. I can bet you, oh, say my house, that CBS would not have fired Don Imus from his radio show if he had merely called the Rutgers Basketball Team "ho's", a term I hear from radio, TV, and movies on a daily basis. That is because there is no women's issue leader ala Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, to invoke public outrage on behalf of women that can sway the likes of Procter & Gamble to pull advertising from the likes of Imus, Leykis, etc.


This could be because we as women are ambivalent about the use of derogatory terms used in the mainstream media to describe women. In fact the overt misogyny in mainstream media may have something to do with female appropriation of the language of the oppressor--an ideology that become very popular in the 90's. Perhaps as we became more comfortable as women referring to ourselves as dirty whores, bitches, pussy posses, and even cunts (I have to admit it felt pretty powerful to deflate these words through usage) we also became more comfortable hearing them from the media to describe us--now are we doubly bruised?

Furthermore, women's groups tend to be, like I am, intensely pro freedom of speech. Having fought so hard for our voices to be heard and accounted for, it is antithetical to the women's movement to squelch others. However, public opinion does have the power to dictate public discourse and I often wonder, where is our Al Sharpton, our Jesse Jackson...would anyone have heard this Imus comment or cared if he had said "viking ho's" or "giant bitches"?

CODEPINK: Toy Soldiers

http://www.codepink4peace.org/