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Whenever I come across an easy opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women around the world, Amplify is my first stop. The online blogging community represents a powerful force in the dissemination of awareness about global health concerns, and can play an equally significant role in the current of funding toward supporting people in developing countries, promoting universal health systems, and encouraging health programs.
Girl2Woman, a project of Pathfinder International, launched an initiative yesterday called 200 Thousand for 200 Million. According to their website, their goal is to achieve 200,000 video shares of the videos on their website by International Women’s Day (this coming Monday, March 8) “to raise critical awareness about the more than 200 million women around the world who lack access to modern contraceptives.” For each time the video is “shared,” a generous donor will contribute $1 to Pathfinder International programs.
Pathfinder International, a non-profit organization that seeks to “ensure that people everywhere have the right and opportunity to live a healthy life,” has provided reproductive health care to men and women in over 120 countries worldwide. Its programs stem from the belief that women’s reproductive health care affects every aspect of their lives; the ability to make reproductive choices, the knowledge and resources to protect oneself against sexually transmitted infections, and the support to actively engage in family planning, lead to higher education levels, larger earning potentials, and a greater abundance of opportunities. On a larger scale, women’s empowerment and self-possession raise developing countries’ economic profiles, as women achieve more in the classroom and, eventually, in the workforce.
Pathfinder International develops local partnerships and engages with communities in developing countries to effect positive change for reproductive health care in its many forms: providing family planning services, birth control access, prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, AIDS response, maternal and newborn care, abortion services, delaying childbearing, and promoting safe sex. The long term benefits of ensuring universal reproductive rights and investing in sexual and reproductive health could alleviate poverty, empower women, and save lives.
As a college student, I often struggle to reconcile my desire to contribute to important efforts like Pathfinder International’s project, and my lack of a steady income. I frequently receive emails from the different organizations that I belong to asking me to contribute to their cause, and a feeling of heavy guilt settles over me as I press “delete” on my keyboard. The Girl2Woman project presents an ideal way to involve youth and educate others regarding the fundamental need for global reproductive health care access. Two hundred thousand views is a lot to accomplish in a week, but this video is well worth the effort. Take advantage of this opportunity to make a difference from your computer screen, and not your credit card: please share this video as much as you can, and let’s push Girl2Woman to 200 Thousand for 200 Million!
Leah627A recent editorial in the Daily Princetonian, Princeton University’s official daily newspaper, indicates that, although rape-apologist discourse is perhaps not pervasive on most campuses (or even at Princeton, necessarily), support for victim blaming still exists. Let’s take a look.
This Monday, Iulia Neagu, a freshman at Princeton, wrote a bold opinion piece questioning the legitimacy behind a friend’s recent charge of sexual assault against another student. Neagu’s public treatise on the legitimacy of rape accusations likely puts the aforementioned “friend” and victim in an uncomfortable space of public recognition. And if I had just experienced an encounter that I had perceived as sexual assault, regardless of its “legitimacy,” no real friend of mine would question my honesty, sobriety, or culpability in a public setting, if at all. But beyond Neagu’s qualities as a friend, let’s examine her reasoning. Why would a female freshman student call out one of her “friends” as a perpetrator or complacent participant in her traumatic sexual encounter, when she could instead act to support her?
Leah627This week, I’m performing in The Vagina Monologues. As robocoko has written on Amplify, The Vagina Monologues are composed of performances expressing individual women’s stories about their vaginas, and asks how we might collectively change the negative social discourse around women’s bodies.
Leah627- Scott Brown ran a solid campaign. The former nude model and “eligible bachelor” for Cosmo made good use of his charisma and vitality, as well as his constituents’ frustration with the lack of results emanating from the Democratic party, to win votes.
- The health care bill has spiraled into a series of concessions and disappointments, many of which have selfish Democratic congressmen to blame (Representative Stupak of Michigan, Senator Nelson of Nebraska, and Senator Lieberman of Connecticut—although he’s no longer a Democrat).
- Had the Republican candidate for the Senate seat been a woman who had posed nude for a Cosmo centerfold, would the GOP have given her as enthusiastic an endorsement?
- Was Coakley the best Democratic candidate? Would, say, Alan Khazei (an earnest underdog from the Democratic primary), have run a more effective and ultimately more successful campaign?
- Was Massachusetts afraid to elect a female Senator? Why does the gender gap still pervade Congress? Had Martha Coakley won, the Senate would have reached 18 female members, its highest ever number.
- Did Coakley’s admirable and unwavering pro-choice stance, and her unwillingness to compromise women’s reproductive rights in the health care bill have a significant impact on her candidacy?
- Why didn’t Coakley do more to campaign and raise money from the outset of her candidacy? Her campaign professed that it didn’t have enough money to poll voters until Brown had already surged ahead.
- Did the general disappointment in Obama’s failure to deliver “real change” affect voter turnout? How did democrats let Scott Brown appropriate the mantra of “real change”?
- Is there any hope that a health care bill might be passed that would include real reproductive health care coverage for women?
Leah627 The Congress could run over women's right to choose in the upcoming health care bill negotiations. Will you get stuck under the bus?
Not Under The Bus, a campaign for Women's Health Care sponsored by the Women's Media Center, has taken the Stop Stupak movement by storm. Their website, in addition to offering compelling graphics and multimedia efforts to inspire action, compiles a list of every petition, blog, and movement aimed at passing comprehensive health care in the Congress. And by comprehensive, I mean health care that fully covers women in addition to the male congressional majority, that doesn't ask women to plan for unplanned pregnancies, and that values reproductive health care as an integral and normal part of the medical world.
Not Under The Bus presents would-be activists and health care reform aficionados alike with a concrete plan of action: Get Informed. Send Your Message. Be a Voice in the Media. Connect. Tell Your Friends.
Tomorrow, Thursday January 13th, is the official day of action sponsored by Not Under The Bus, but it is never too late or too early to stand up for women's health. I encourage you to visit their website, sign their petition to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, or better yet, to sign all of the petitions floating around online. Not Under The Bus provides a user-friendly compilation of efforts from the ACLU, NARAL, and NOW, among others, and is trying to reach 1000 signatures on its own petition by tomorrow.
Tomorrow, spread the word: follow Not Under The Bus on twitter, or post an action alert on facebook.
Will you let Congress run you over? Or will you stop the bus, get on, and drive it toward fair, safe, coverage for women?
Leah627When I was little, my mom had a few signature phrases. She served us foods that were “good and good for you,” she relished hearing “you were right and I was wrong” when we realized that, yes, Mother does know best, and she reprimanded my brother and me for roughhousing, because “it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” This last warning may well have stopped the facebook fan page for “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” before it spiraled out of control; before a memorable element from a so-so episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” became a potpourri of frightening, violent, and misogynistic acronyms posing as “jokes.”
Yes, I know, the page is meant as an Internet troll—an empty provocation meant to amuse its 85,000 fans, and provoke gullible Internet roamers. One of the group’s photos pictures a sign labeled “Don’t Feed the Trolls!” and maybe my reaction is the one they were hoping to elicit.
But, even if it started out as “fun and games” as my mother would say, its disgustingly threatening wall posts reveal that the troll has surpassed any reasonable level and merits concern. The original D.E.N.N.I.S. system outlines a “tried and true” method for men who want to take advantage of as many women as possible. It instructs men to Demonstrate value, Engage physically, Nurture dependence, Neglect Emotionally, Inspire hope, and then Separate entirely. While this system may bother, offend, or annoy many women (including myself, to be honest), it’s a fairly pedestrian, if idiotic, method that many men seem to employ, whether consciously as a “system” or otherwise. It may be misogynistic, but not necessarily a cause for outrage—Dennis, the character from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and the creator of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system is just that: a character, and, whether for good or for bad, a pretty realistic one.
The acronyms littering the wall of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system fan page, however, paint violent images of date rape, sexual and emotional violence, and physical threats. Let’s take a look:
Leah627Here comes the next generation of leaders.
Ever since the Stupak amendment forced students nationwide to wake up from their complacency surrounding the fight for choice and comprehensive women’s health care, there has been a reinvigoration of student passion, verve, and drive to act. Two weeks ago, I wrote about the first Students Stop Stupak rally that we planned here at Harvard University. That event proved a success: upwards of a hundred people, undergraduates, graduate students, and engaged passersby, joined in to protest. Shouting, “Health Care YES, Stupak NO” and “Stop Stupak Now!” we forced Cambridge residents, Harvard students, and local and national media to listen to us.
As we are now discovering, this is not just a one shot deal or a one-time success. Students Stop Stupak is flourishing, not shriveling: it has quickly grown from a singular event to a movement of its own, both at Harvard and at campuses across the country. On our campus, Students for Choice membership has exploded, with membership increasing over 800% (ok, maybe we only had five to begin with, but still…). Harvard’s Stop Stupak activism has grown exponentially within the past two weeks alone (our facebook group, composed only of Harvard students already boasts over 250 members), and now we’re joining in with the national current. This week, in conjunction with action events around the country, student representatives from 72 different campuses (including Harvard) are storming the capitol to lobby Senators to stand up for women’s choice and to oppose Stupak.
Leah627I am a freshman at Harvard University, where, despite the presence of enormous individual student ambition and drive, it’s pretty much impossible to incite enthusiasm from any large-ish group about anything besides the upcoming exam in Social Analysis 10. When only about twenty people show up to watch candidates debate for the Massachusetts Senate seat left vacant by Ted Kennedy, it’s hard to imagine mobilizing students to spend time and energy making their voices and anger heard over the recent Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the House healthcare bill (or even provoking their anger in the first place). Don’t get me wrong, students here are certainly engaged beyond their academics in just about every extracurricular pursuit imaginable, but because of the student body’s diversity of passions, it’s hard to pique broad interest for one cause.
So, you can imagine my surprise when, after receiving an email message from Gina Glantz and Kim Gandy (two fellows at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics and experienced political and advocacy aficionados), I showed up to a “Stop Stupak Emergency Planning Meeting” to find a room packed with students: law students, humanities graduate students, graduate government school students, college students, and, notably, a large contingent of freshmen. “Yes!” I thought. “Students care about reproductive health care, women’s right to choose, and the knowledge that women’s health care is health care. We understand that no one plans an unplanned pregnancy, something that both private and public insurance plans will be forced to cast aside if the Stupak amendment makes it into the final version of the healthcare bill. “
As Gina Glantz, Chair of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and longtime field organizer, gave an introduction and set up the meeting’s format, the bodies in the room and the energy buzzing in the air increased. Kim Gandy, former president of NOW, sat beside her, having postponed a trip in order to help organize a powerful student movement that will pressure Congress to protect coverage for comprehensive health care.
The first steps in any advocacy movement are to understand the problem, decide what needs to be change, and establish goals to best effect that change. We reviewed Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s thorough and accessible run-down of the Stupak amendment and what it does to women’s health care coverage, and went over the implications the amendment might have as the healthcare bill progresses to the Senate. Gandy emphasized that the Stupak amendment goes beyond the compromise that CAPP established, which was to prohibit federal funding for abortion. The Stupak amendment would, in addition, restrict women's access to PRIVATE abortion coverage, affecting how we spend our own money out of our own pockets.
We established two primary goals in our advocacy:
Next, Glantz presented an acronym for urgent organization and planning: UNLOCK (Urgency, Need to plan quickly, Lead and leverage, Organize organize organize, Count real numbers, Kill Stupak Victory). Gandy then briefed us on the Senate, emphasizing that we must focus pressure on states with an anti-choice democrat or a pro-choice democrat in a state that’s pro-life (Louisiana, for example). These states (Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maine, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Missouri) are essential in the fight to stop Stupak.
Leah627“I am strong. This happened to me. I didn’t cause this. I didn’t do it. This happened to me and it could happen to anybody.”
These empowering and resonant words spoken by Rihanna, the 21-year-old international pop superstar in her first television interview since her brutal beating by her then-boyfriend and R&B heartthrob Chris Brown, struck a necessary and long overdue chord in the mire of public discourse following one of the most public acts of relationship violence to date.
Although only a clip of the interview has been aired (a teaser of sorts, I suppose: the full interview will appear on 20/20 tomorrow night, Friday November 6th), it’s clear that Rihanna is no longer playing the part of voiceless victim. In this conversation with Diane Sawyer, Rihanna assumes the role of well-spoken advocate for domestic violence victims, especially young girls. Rihanna’s ordeal has made her realize “how much of an impact” she has on them.
After the attack, some people, among them many Chris Brown fans, sought to fault Rihanna for the violence she suffered, and to absolve Chris Brown of the blame he was rightly due (more on that below). Rihanna strongly and calmly refuted any doubts regarding domestic violence victims’ strengths or supposed culpability. When Sawyer questioned the relationship between her “strong” image and her abuse, Rihanna responded by insisting on her strength and the unfortunate universality of what took place. “I am strong. This happened to me. I didn’t cause this. I didn’t do it. This happened to me and it could happen to anyone.”
Leah627Scared of how you smell “down there?” Not satisfied with your oral sex life or foreplay? The makers of Linger, “Internal Feminine Flavoring,” have found a “solution” for this problem: Linger Internal Feminine Flavor, according to their website, flavors the secretions of a woman when she is sexually aroused. What? Flavored secretions?
Let’s pause for a moment and think about the name of the product itself: INTERNAL FEMININE FLAVORING.
Ok, let’s get real: Linger isn’t feminine flavor. IT’S MINT.
In describing the origins of their new “sweet tasting sex mint,” the Linger website weaves a tantalizing, exoticized, eroticized, and semi-pornographic tale of desire and what they paint as a ubiquitous fear of cunnilingus. When the woman in the story (presumably the creator of Linger), expresses fear when her lover with “skin the color of caramel” starts to go down on her, Linger Internal Feminine Flavoring comes to the rescue. She writes,
“He kissed me with a smile, entering me again with his finger. In the next second he pulled his finger from me and sucked it into his mouth. I was caught off guard when he kissed me deeply tasting of sweet mint... delicious! He looked into my eyes then and said softly, "Now, let me Linger!" That was the beginning of a long-lasting love affair.”So she brought the mints back to the USA, and the rest is history. Or so Linger manufacturers would like us to believe. In fact, women who buy into the vaginal candy trap may get more than they bargained for. As it turns out, the makers of the vaginal mints are a far cry from seductive exotic men. Linger, made in New Jersey, is manufactured by Admints, the same company that makes those little mint tins that you might get at a bar-mitzvah or as a prom party favor, and “just happen to have the exact same shape, taste, and ingredients as Admint’s sample mints,” according to Jen Phillips from motherjones.com. Despite the single sentence disclaimer on the “Instructions” page of the website that “this product is for novelty use only and not recommended for women prone to yeast or other types of infections,” Linger clearly intends for women to use its product seriously as a sensuality booster, urging its website visitors to "learn to linger." I would argue that the promotion of Linger Internal Feminine Flavoring is unethical: when sugar, the main ingredient of both breath mints and Linger (because they’re the same thing!) gets into the vagina, it affects its pH which can lead to a painful yeast infection. That doesn’t sound so tasty, does it?
Although the testimonials on the website offer unabashed endorsement of the product, I’m more than skeptical that Linger offers couples the flavor of love. Sadly, women’s embarrassment by their vaginas’ natural appearance and scent creates real demand for ludicrous products like Linger, or even for more mainstream and invasive services like cosmetic labiaplasty. Women don’t need more products and corporations telling them what’s wrong with their bodies and how to fix themselves-- women need affirmation and empowerment to embrace their bodies and to find partners who want their natural flavor, not just an imitation-Altoid to lick.
Leah627Sexiling. We all talk about it, joke about it, and some of us are even victims of it. Now, at Tufts University in Massachusetts, having sex while your roommate is present is officially off limits. Apparently, there were enough student complaints that the Tufts administration deemed it necessary to regulate students’ sex lives. The new regulation posits that students may not have sex while their roommate is in the room, and may not interfere with their roommate’s studies or sleeping patterns by “sexiling them” (the practice of exiling your roommate in order to have sex in private). While most of us probably agree that having sex with your roommate present is gross, exhibitionist, unnecessary, etc, shouldn’t it just be common courtesy to hold back until your roommate can reasonably leave the room? Isn’t it a little ridiculous that Tufts feels the need to dictate this to their students, most of whom graduated in the top 10% of their high school class? And how can the administration enforce their new rule? Maybe it’s just me, but it’s hard to imagine many college students tattle-tailing to the administration about their roommates’ sex lives.
As a college freshman, my friends from high school have scattered across the country to various colleges and universities. Since practices and college cultures vary according to region and geography, I sent out a mass text message to my friends, from California to Colorado to North Carolina to Maine, asking them about sexiling:
“Hey, I’m writing a blog about Tufts’ new policy that you can’t have sex with someone while your roommate is in the room. What are your thoughts?”My friends couldn’t come to a consensus in evaluating this policy. Some gave it a thumbs up:
“I think that’s a good idea. Cause if ur roommate is there that’s sooo weird. I think having a policy about telling ur roommate when u need the room and agreeing that you can’t have someone in there at certain times like during the week and what not is a good policy.”Others gave it a thumbs down, pointing out the impracticality of creating one rule for all roommate situations.
“I think it’s a very good rule because I feel like sex is something that should be more private.”
“I think it’s absolutely necessary to communicate with the roommate prior to ‘activities’…and under no circumstance should the roommate ever EVER have sex while the person is there.”
“I think it’s ridiculous that rules like that have to be made. Can we study in the library naked? No! There are just some personal things that you don’t do around others.”
“I can see how they’re trying to do something good but it entirely depends on the roommates’ relationship…which is something they can’t enforce/monitor.”
“I don’t really think that you can put rules on college students having sex. It’s just common courtesy to keep it in your pants when your roommate is around…that’s actually a hilarious rule…”
Leah627Talks around public health care legislation have stalled around one divisive issue: abortion. Despite what Senate majority leader Harry Reid calls “good progress” in the health care debate, our country currently faces a dangerous possibility. Abortion access is dangling at the edge of a precipice, and faces the risk of being dropped at a moment’s notice, from both private and public health insurance plans. Thanks to the anti-choice republicans and democrats who have come out against abortion coverage, a woman’s right to health care, including full reproductive options, is no longer a guarantee. This possible lack of coverage does a disservice to women’s rights, compromises women’s health, and especially harms the lives and futures of low-income women (including young women), who may struggle to obtain affordable “normal” health care (physicals, check-ups, etc), not to mention reproductive health care and abortion.
Health care reform is crucial and long overdue. Surely, some compromise will be necessary in order to achieve real change; however, abortion is not the place to make these compromises. In fact, no single-issue compromise will satisfy the conservative block, many of whom are opposed to health care reform point blank. Rather, the conservatives are using abortion as a means to unbalance and derail the quest for any health care reform.
Act now to stand up for full women’s health care coverage. It takes one minute to call your senator and can make a difference.
For more information check out these sites:
The current status of health care reform in the Senate: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/health/policy/01health.html?hp
Excellent commentary on health care reform and abortion from Sylvia Law for The Nation:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091012/law
Leah627
Leah627Not what you expected from an alcohol commercial? After having seen this commercial two weeks ago, I’m still undecided about whether or not it’s a step forward for the gender-queer movement. The commercial intrigued me at first; most alcohol companies use sex to sell their product (shocker, I know), but never have I seen one that shakes up traditional gender roles and expectations to such a degree. Most liquor and beer commercials tend toward the “manly man objectifies and seduces diminutive, sexy woman” track, not toward the subversion of gender assumptions. So why would Campari employ this method to sell its Red Passion? Well, a couple of reasons: first of all, the video is eye-catching to say the least, and definitely a memorable advertising scheme. And second, it implies something deeper about liquor and its revelatory effects—it tells us that Campari Red Passion will allow us to reveal our true selves and find our true loves (or at least engage in true passion).
Leah627 Leah627FAQ: “Why “feminism” and not just “humanism”? Or “equalism?” Isn’t “feminism” exclusionary?
This question implies that one must be either one or the other. People and philosophies are far more complicated than that. A feminist may also be both a humanist and an equalist.
There’s no law that says only one box can be ticked here, and it’s hugely important not to get sucked into thinking that one choice excludes the others. A major reason that most populist debate in the corporate media (and in online forums too) is a pitiful sham is that way too many questions are argued on an either/or basis, instead of acknowledging the probability of a both/and stance. The either/or method of framing a debate is technically referred to as a “false dilemma” and is one example of a logical fallacy.
As to why feminism requires a distinct agenda within the equalist movements? The special and distinct problem of misogyny both oppressing and directly harming women, pure and simple. Unless misogyny is directly addressed and acted against, general equalist activism will not be enough.
Leah627 Leah627According to Guy Trebay, a fashion writer for the New York Times, the new “coolster” look comes arrayed with standard apparel: a Hanes t-shirt, classic sneakers, knickers, and…a potbelly? Awesome! Should I shred my work-out plans, grab a six- pack and inhale a box of doughnuts? Well, not quite. This new “coolster fashion trend” only applies to men who are sick of the “prissy” obsession with six-packs (abs, that is).
This makes me angry for a couple of reasons. First of all, a widely circulated newspaper would never advocate this “fashion” for women. Women are expected to remain sleek, trim, and toned-- and they better be if they want to fit into any of the mainstream or high-end clothes touted in the New York Times Style Section. If they don’t preserve their lean look, they’ve drunk one too many cocktails, or are “still losing the baby-weight.” Men, however, are perhaps simply acting “contrarian,” in the hipster tradition. Their potbellies surely indicate rebellion against the ever-fit President Obama. Dan Peres, the editor of Details, suggests that were, say, Howard Taft in office, the streets of gentrified Brooklyn would be full of Ralph Lauren model look-alikes. Yeah, right.
Today’s New York Times article notes the supposed increase (or increased flaunting of) potbellies among men, and perhaps rightly so. But why is this publicized as a “cool trend” as opposed to, for example, a decline in gym memberships due to the recession? Why not an article on the increasing consumption of cheap beer or the relationship between excessive eating and unemployment? The article, in fact, suggests the opposite: that the volume of a man’s wallet often parallels and makes up for the volume of his belly. Professional women don’t receive the same allowances as their male colleagues; women in the workplace usually have a hard time getting promoted if they aren’t deemed fit or attractive.
Thank goodness for Robert Merea, a fitness-trainer quoted in the NYT article who points out that “women have almost never gotten a pass on the need to maintain their bodies, while men always have.” The same physical standards should apply to both sexes. True, men are expected to build more muscle mass than women, but women do naturally have less capacity to build muscle than men. Do women have less ability to gain a few pounds? I don’t think so. In fact, women have more fat pouches on their stomachs that serve as natural baby-insulation.
I don’t want a potbelly, and I’m not urging anyone, male or female, to get fat for fashion. I’ll be satisfied when women’s fashion consists of more than bulimia and when it’s ok for women, like men, to “rock a gut” if they please.
Leah627
Leah627Since graduating from high school last month, one thing has dominated my mind: college. It’s been a struggle lately to write blogs and drag my mind away from roommates, classes, and dorm supplies in favor of sexual health and reproductive rights issues. So I came up with a perfect solution: a blog about sexual health questions that might help me, my friends, and all of the awesome Amplify readers, prepare for college!
As I said, I haven’t started college yet, so I don’t really know all of the things that might come up, and my answers might not be ideal. This isn’t meant as a comprehensive guide, so for all you college students or graduates please comment and leave your own input or suggestions.
Here we go.
1) Birth Control.
I think I’ve probably gotten asked this question from friends and acquaintances about a trillion times. “I’m breaking up with my boyfriend before college. Should I stay on birth control?” The answer varies depending on circumstance, but I almost always say yes, for a few reasons. First of all, even if you don’t plan on having sex during your first year of college, it sometimes happens anyway. Better safe than sorry. Second, starting college is a stressful time. Going off the pill and sending your hormones and your menstrual cycle on a rollercoaster ride might not be the best idea as you adjust to a new environment. If you’re having intense side effects from your current birth control, talk to a doctor. If you’re starting or choosing a new hormonal birth control method, I recommend seeking one with a low hormonal dose and with minimal side effects.
2) Don’t Get Sexiled.
We’ve all heard the roommate-from-hell stories, and believe me, I’m praying for a non-lunatic roomie. However, there are steps that you can take beyond leaving your fate up to divine power. From what I’ve heard, it all boils down to communication and mutual respect: think about what could go wrong, talk about it, and make a set of rules (ex: no sex while your roommate is also in the room). Don’t violate your rules under any circumstance. And if you do have a crazy, party-animal, sex-addict roommate, find a friend with a comfortable floor ASAP. That way, you won’t be forced to awkwardly curl up on a common room chair the night before a big final exam.
Leah627 Leah627Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign have been working to pass a hate crimes bill, also referred to as the Matthew Shephard Act (in remembrance of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shephard in Laramie, WY). This legislation would let the U.S. Justice Department help to prosecute hate crimes committed against LGBT people that result in serious injury or death. The timing is certainly right: hate crimes against both the LGBTQ community and minority communities, particularly Latinos, are on the rise. As I listened to a radio broadcast of Latino USA discussing hate crimes on my way home from work the other day, my head and my heart pulled in two separate directions. With murmurs of immigration reform from the White House and nearly unprecedented unemployment rates, anti-immigrant/anti-Latino groups have become more violent. This seems to call for increased vigilance and prosecution against hate. But, my head asked me, aren’t most crimes hateful, whether or not they target a specific group? And would hate crime legislation effectively deter bigots and hate groups from acting with violence?
After a lot of consideration and conversation, I came to a conclusion: hate crime legislation is necessary and should be passed. Crime, and especially violent crime, is prosecuted because it is a violation of society’s rules, an act of contempt for humanity. Hate crimes are worse—they defy the tolerance for pluralism that has been central to American principles for centuries. While the ultimate effectiveness of hate crime legislation is debatable (who knows if a threat of greater prosecution would deter perpetrators of hate crimes), any bill aimed at providing safety for vulnerable groups, which is a basic American right, should be encouraged.
Leah627 I was asked to write an "Ask" for Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon's upcoming Garden Party benefit event, which entails giving a ten minute (or less) speech to persuade benefactors to donate beyond their ticket price. Props to PPSO for giving youth the mic, especially at an adult-oriented event like this one. Below is my speech that explains, among other things, how I've gotten involved in the reproductive health movement, and why giving to Planned Parenthood should remain a priority even during an economic crisis:
I first got involved with Planned Parenthood two years ago, at the end of my sophomore year of high school. When my mom saw an ad in the paper for new members of REVolution, Planned Parenthood’s Youth Action Council, I thought it sounded interesting. I had always enjoyed sex ed class and the Planned Parenthood educators who came into my health classes, and so volunteering there seemed like it could be an easy, interesting way to get community service and build up a college resume.
More than two years later, my work with Planned Parenthood has become a defining and central part of myself. As a first year member of REVolution, I attended biweekly meetings to plan events, give staff our input on organizational decisions, and complete other tasks as they arose. As my junior year of high school progressed, my commitment to REVolution, or REV, as we call it, grew. I watched more of my friends decide to have sex, both safely and unsafely, work their way through healthy and unhealthy relationships, and struggle to find their own sexual identity and to identify their limits and boundaries. My work with my fellow REV members and our advisor gave me resources that I applied to my life as well as my friends’ questions as they were presented to me.
Leah627 Leah627
