the continued torture of women

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female genital cutting in Egypt

September 20, 2007 in feminism, feminist rage, misogynistic bullshit, rants, the continued torture of women | 3 comments

i’ve been debating all day whether to write about this article i read in the New York Times today or not.  i guess i decided to write about it.  but i still feel conflicted. 

here’s the problem, i’m a smart girl, i’m no genius but smart enough most days and while i’m more informed about worldly events than the average American (and apparently more educated considering i can point to not only North America but several other continents – not to mention actual countries too – on a map) i have been doing a piss poor job of keeping involved in current events, politics, world issues, etc.  i get my news mostly from the internet, clicking on stories that interest me.  i don’t regularly read any newspapers and i refuse to watch American news reports which we all know are really entertaiment news programs anyway.  as such i feel like my information is a bit limited and part of this is deliberate.   like many educated people i suffer from a strong desire to know these things and be involved, but also like many people i feel overwhelmed quickly.  i can only read about a war that i have no interest in (and if it were up to me we would not have ever gotten involved in) so many times before i give up in frustration. 

i think it’s a combination of things, but mostly there are not enough hours in the day for me to work my job, submit (and write) short fiction, submit my novel, re-write my novel, re-draw and re-tool my graphic novel, work out (which always seems to get lost in the shuffle), engage in my relationship, and also both care about and do something about things like female genital mutilation in Egypt (or anywhere else for that matter).  so all i end up feeling is frustration. 

on one hand it is my choice to not do anything about it, to instead focus my energy on becoming a “successful” writer.  on the other hand if people like me don’t care (there seem to be so few of us out there) then who will do anything?  *sigh*  it’s depressing.  in my mind there is always going to be ample time to care about such things when i quit my full time job and become a “full time writer” because then i will have all this magical free time that used to be used up on writing…but we all know that is a myth.  there will never be any extra time.  maybe this is why i get mad when people tell me they are bored.  please, give me your extra time that you have to be bored, because there are plenty of things i’d like to do with your “i’m bored” time.

okay, enough of the rant.  please read the article below, and if you’re a better person than me (i hope you are) consider getting involved.  there must be something that can be done.

these men are cowards.  they are afraid of change and more importantly they are afraid of the power of women.  they hide behind religion because it is hard to attack religion without being called all sorts of things, but what they are too cowardly to realize is that they are hiding behind man’s interpretation of God’s word and man gets things wrong all the time, this is no exception.

and speaking of getting things wrong…how is female genital mutilation the same as circumcision?  it’s not female circumcision it is female castration.  

it is female castration and it has to stop. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/world/africa/20girls.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

19571577.jpg

this is a picture from the NY Times article of some of the men who defend the tradition of genital cutting with the words, “we support circumcision!”  you are cowards.  you are all cowards.   

the bra from hell

August 14, 2007 in breasts, misogynistic bullshit, the continued torture of women | 2 comments

surgical-bra.jpg 

 http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/08/cupup_to_uplift_breasts.html

apparently there is some new surgical option for women who can have a permanent “bra” surgically implanted into their bodies (see the link above for the full story). 

i’m sure there are plenty of good reasons why logical women would want support without a bra, i know i often fantasize about skipping bra-less through open fields (and in these fantasies my breasts are not only fully supported and comfortable but they look awesome) however, i can’t help but think that this is mostly more misogynistic bullshit of men torturing us with their idea of what the fuck we should look like with more painful expensive and oh so creative surgeries. 

who in their right mind actually thinks this is a good idea?

ironically this makes me think of a bit in Consider The Lobster, by David Foster Wallace (which i have still not finished).  the first essay in the Consider The Lobster collection is a brilliant engaging piece about the porn industry (no sarcasm – it really is brilliant).  at one point in the essay, published originally in the early 1990’s i believe, Wallace is talking to a wannabe starlet that is hoping to get her big break in porn soon, and she is showing off her new breast implants, which are literally inflatable, meaning she can change their size by small valves under her arms.  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?  i mean why don’t you just lay yourself on a lab table and ask to be turned into a full on sexbot?

…what a leap into the future! 

unfortunately i think this is all too similar to things like the permanent make-up craze, and all the nuttiness that goes with that, i have to admit that i too briefly fantasized about a permanent toenail pedicure/paint job because i just really really hate painting my toenails, but in about two seconds of thinking about this a logical person can see that it is just not a good idea.  jesus. 

the only reason for any kind of hope when i was reading Wallace’s piece was that i realized that the article was written in the early/mid 1990’s and i had never heard of such a ridiculous thing as inflatable fake breasts in the years since, therefore we women must be smarter than we’re usually given credit for, because we saw what a sham this idea was and moved on from the ridiculousness that is flexi-adjustable-inflatable-fake breasts, but then i saw this article:

 http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/04/in_progressadjustable_breast_augmentation_circumvents_implant_remorse.html

curses.  foiled again.

adjustable_implant.jpg

let me be honest here.  i have large breasts.  i also wear a push up bra every single day and i am inclined towards low cut clothing to show off what i’ve got going on.  perhaps because of this fact i have never been “anti-breast implants” because who the hell am i to tell a small breasted woman that she shouldn’t get to have what i already have (that said where is the fucking surgery that gives me the tiny little wrists and feet i’ve always wanted?!).  anyway, i guess my point is only to say that i understand the desire and the myriad of different reasons that many women use to justify cosmetic surgery in their lives and i am the last to judge.  but i think we’ve also got to wake up here.  some of this is just ridiculous, and not good for us, and put upon us by an innane society, and idiot men, and even each other, as we tend to be the harshest critics of the female figure, and we are just setting ourselves back…so far back. 

let’s wake up here ladies.