Abortion

as i'm sure you have already seen/heard/read how different states in the USA are trying to control people who can have babies (women/non-binary/transgender) by having their constitutional right of having an abortion taken away. this is a bunch of crap.

ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE.

it doesn't matter why you are getting the abortion. it doesn't matter if you are getting your 5th abortion or your 1st. abortion is healthcare and no one can tell you how to take care of your body. you can think of abortion however you want, but don't you dare tell me or anyone else how we should take care of our body.

this is completely about control and not about 'life'. if it was about taking care of life then what about undocumented immigrants, people killed in interactions with the police, school children that are shot, addicts who overdose, death row inmates, people who need health insurance - all of these people have lives also. but the same people who cry 'it's about stopping murder, and life is so special', don't care about those people. all they care about is controlling the people who can have children.

how this is about control, sadly there are many examples of this. 1)by making abortion a federal crime, any person who has an abortion and/or the doctor who preforms the abortion get convicted of the crime, when they are out of jail, they will not be able to vote. 2)when the law is written that the people who rapes me goes to jail shorter then the doctor who does the abortion. 3)by having the laws written that not only is it against the law for me to have an abortion, it's also against the law to have birth control. 4)when the law is written that there aren't any exceptions even for the life of the person who is pregnant. so if i'm pregnant and i'm dying (for whatever reason: cancer, pregnancy its self), i cannot have an abortion. these are just a small sample of the laws that have been passed by different states in the USA.

my feeling for all of this is just rage. who do these people think they are to tell me and other people how they can take care of their body. its my body not theirs. so in my rage i found an image and just knew i had to embroider it. it expresses everything i think about these laws that are getting passed. stop telling me what to do with my body. i won't tell you what to do with your body.

Stitch for Syria

So the other day i was looking at my twitter time line and found a post by Mr X Stitch (if you don't know who he is, please check him out! a totally awesome cross stitcher!) about stitching for Syria. so i checked out the link and this is what i found:

From Concerned Worldwide: "In Lebanon, Concern helps Syrian refugees learn embroidery. these sessions give women a vital income and bring them hope and friendship. now you can support these women and get creative too! Sign up to this challenge and we'll email you one of their beautiful patterns. stitch and share it to show you care." here is the link for the challenge.

so i signed up for the challenge and got a pattern that Mr. X stitch created for the challenge. my finished cross stitch, i posted it on twitter, but i also mailed it back to Concerned Worldwide to show my support of the women who are learning embroidery. i know it's small and it's not money in the end. but knowing how much support means to me in my life, i wanted to show these women that they have support also. and if you you mail the cross stitch you've made, Concerned Worldwide will use it to make a special art project to show every's support for these women.

here is a picture of what i made for the challenge:

Mayweather didn't get my money

so on saturday was the big mayweather vs pacquiao fight (which i did not watch. i went and saw the new avengers movie [it was great. love me some avengers and captain america]). i was reading my twitter account on sunday and the great sarah spain did a movement that instead of spending the $100 for the pay-per-view to see the boxing fight, spend the $100 on donating to domestic violence charities. this is because mayweather has multiple offenses of domestic violence against women - here's a story about it on deadspin. so sarah spain started a campaign on twitter suggesting to everyone that instead of spending the money to watch the big fight, that people should spend that money on domestic violence charities. and people responded in kind. some people spent the $100 and some just spent what they could. either way a message was put out there. people will not support a sports figure if they do things that are horrible to other human beings. and it was a good message to send. here's a story that SI wrote about sarah spain's campaign. sadly i didn't have the money to donate. i'm currently very strapped for cash (see comic convention). but i retweeted it and sent the message out. even if it was a day late, it's still a good message to send out. so i didn't mind sending the tweet out a day late.

a womans fault?

-so i was on twitter reading my feed and sarah spain (@sarahspain) posted an article by jezebel. the article was about another article posted by The Hype Weekly, the self-described "sexiest alt weekly newspaper" in Manhattan, Kansas. and in this article it talks about how if a woman behaves herself she won't get raped. no i'm not kidding. i guess in manhattan kansas there is a Fake Patty's Day (FPD), the college town's annual and very drunken St. Patrick's Day celebration. and during this celebration it is known for woman to get attacked. in 2011 the author stated that he witnessed a woman being beaten in the head and then dragged off - screaming - by a male to his car (though the author doesn't say that he helped this woman).

the hype weekly article stated (in the author's opinion) that it was the woman's fault that these things happen "women have even greater power than men to stop that part of FPD which is only rampant mayhem." here's what the author had to say:

We need to remember the ageless drive in men to desire and seek after the affection of women. For the attention of a woman, a man can rise up to surpassing nobility. For the possession of a woman, a boy can descend into a pit of abuse. But a woman can flip the switch. A woman of good character will inspire a man to reach for that nobility, while a woman who imitates the behavior of boys in order to get their attention can direct the very abuse that injures them. This does not except the victimization of a woman that can happen when she is lured in by a boy pretending to be a man until he thinks no one can stop him. A woman of character must take extra care to be sure of a man's character before being vulnerable to him.

It should be enough to demand that the boys grow up and act like men, and many are demanding that, but we cannot control each others' decisions. Each must choose for himself. The appeal to women is that, if there are some boys who refuse to be admirable, then women can remove the boys' opportunity for mayhem simply by refusing to get anywhere near it.

the author then goes on to say a plea for women on how they should behave so that men will not be brought to do these things. (i don't know why it won't indent the next two paragraphs below. but the next two are quotes from hype weekly.)

..please don't go to the house, frat and dorm parties. Please don't drink until you can feel the effects. Please don't cavort with boys you would not be proud to introduce to your parents and grandparents. Please don't imitate boys in their behavior, laugh at their jokes that degrade you, or keep their company when they stop behaving themselves. If you work for an employer that expects you to use your femininity to intoxicate men, reconsider keeping that job. Please do encourage yourselves and each other to seek out the company of real men and, if there aren't enough this FPD, then keep company with each other apart from the boys.
 ...It would be far less damaging, rather than douse the flames with water, if we can remove the oxygen from the fire. Boys don't have that much fun and are far less destructive if there are no women around to "impress" or take with them into their revelry. Drunk boys will fight each other and you in order to dominate you or your attention if you appear willing, but if there is no fun to be had, the fight tends to fizzle.

jezebel made this comment after that quote from the article: Good women, if you follow the above advice — stay sober, keep silent, quit your job, never talk to men ever again, resist cavorting at all costs, etc. — and sexual assault doesn't disappear, you should try disappearing yourself. Women won't be raped if they're not around to egg rapists on. Problem solved! Good talk.

-i just couldn't believe the article from hype weekly. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! it's the woman's fault. what bullshit! i don't even have any words to say how horrendous this is. how about men learn to control their actions. how about men aren't just some animal and don't know anything except sex when they see boobs.
-as a friend of mine put it, "it's been 2000 years since man walked out of the cave with fire, but mans mind is still in the dark." and this is for jeff koenig who wrote the article. his mind is still in the dark.

all information that i used to write this is from jezebel/the hype weekly article.
here's the hype weekly article.

i am a princess

so i don't have tv and so i never really see commercials (hurray!) but when i was in AZ for christmas i got to watch some tv and see some commercials. because there were kids in the house disney was one of the channels on. and i got to see the 'i am a princess' commercial that disney has. and i have to say, that is one awesome commercial. the feminist inside of me just loves it.

now i know some people who have said that they wouldn't have their daughter be a 'pretty pretty princess'. that she is going to be strong and independent and be able to stand up for herself. but this commercial points out that it is ok to be both a pretty princess and strong/independent. this commercial says it's ok to be just who you are and no matter what: you are a princess. you are someone who is special, important and can rock the world - no matter what you do. this commercial is a strong statement saying be who you are and you are awesome. and while being who you are you can still think of yourself as a princess - if that's what you want.

here is a list of the types of girls the commercial shows:
girls in dresses
girls driving race cars/fixing race cars
girls swimming
girls rocking out in a band
girls of all colors
girls doing sports: gymnastics and serf boarding
girls sitting in a library and reading
and just so many more...

and while showing all these strong images the words that go with the commercial are strong also. saying that these girls are smart, strong, brave, kind and loving. that these girls are human. that these girls can step up to a challenge and own it.

even though this commercial comes from the corporate machine of disney, this is a strong statement for girls and for women. be who you want. do what you want. and if you still want to think of yourself as a princess, then you go ahead and do that.

international pipe smoking day

today is international pipe smoking day. i didn't know this until r.k. milholland sent me a link to this website that is all for women smoking pipes. milholland is the creator of something positive comic (awesome). i follow him on twitter and we tweeted back and forth and he eventually sent me the link to this website (i know this sounds like i know him personally, i don't. hehe). so the website is pipe lovin' ladies. and on there it informed me it was international pipe smoking day. which is a very good thing to know! hehe. also i saw that you can submit a picture of a female smoking a pipe, and so i submitted a picture of me smoking a meerschaum pipe. and awesomely they posted it right away! sweet! so everyone should go and check this website out and celebrate women smoking pipes!

update- on the pipe lovin' ladies website a woman posted how disney world use to make it's own pipes and tobacco. she posted a picture of her with the pipe and then a close up for the disney stamp on the pipe. i couldn't believe it and knew i had to share with everyone. here it is.