Ourselves

Hands up. Who remembers her (or his) first encounter with 'Our Bodies, Ourselves'?

It is 40 years old this year. (Eeek.)

It was described by evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell as "obscene trash."

High schools and public libraries banned it, while teenagers -- male and female -- hid it under their beds like a dirty magazine.

Women across the country passed it to their friends, their sisters, their neighbors. They read chapters about rape in closets with flashlights. They gaped in dorm rooms at the photos of childbirth.

The landmark women's health handbook was filled with sometimes graphic information about the most intimate aspects of women's lives. It was revolutionary in its candid discussions -- and depictions -- of the specifics of sex, birth control, childbirth, lesbianism and other formerly taboo topics.

In 1971, the first "Our Bodies, Ourselves" book sold 250,000 copies. Today, it is available in 25 languages and has sold more than 4 million copies.

It's hard to believe it all began in Boston with just 12 women.

The CNN piece continues with an interview with Judy Norsigian, one of the founders and now executive director of 'Our Bodies, Ourselves'.

What I remember most vividly were the anatomy drawings. Who knew there were so many varieties of vagina?

I referred to it often over the years. The information was always clear, direct, and helpful. I imagine it still is.

Hard to imagine the women's movement without it.

Congrats again to the Boston Women's Health Book Collective.

Image source.

Fetus Lobby® Poster-Boy

With yet another fetus fetishist bunfest going on -- called 40 Days of Harassment -- Luna has written a thoughtful post from a Christian perspective at Dr Dawg's. It's sparked a lively debate -- 147 comments when I last looked.

She calls the clinic harassers 'a bunch of old white jerks'.

Which, of course, immediately brought this video of the 2009 March for Lies in Ottawa to mind.

Here it is again.




Hateful misogynists? Nah, loving, peaceful Xianists.

BONUS: Read The Mound of Sound's The Older I Get, the Less I Like Old People. To which I say, amen.

Seriously, Andrea?

I just saw a bunch of posters in my nabe featuring this image:



I think we got that, Andrea. You're a chick. ^NOT a suit.

But really, in the 21st century, we're going to promote female politicians with fuck-me shoes?

Image source

Jackpot, Fishy Poopypants

Found this at Andrew Sullivan's.

Dunno about poopy-pants, but I almost peed mine.

Creekside: Steve plugs for Harper Hudak Ford TeaCon trifecta

Go read Alison at Creekside: Steve plugs for Harper Hudak Ford TeaCon trifecta.

You can watch Stevie Spiteful's jolly little screed against the NDP that was posted on YouTube immediately after it was recorded and which Harper's Contempt Party and his Politburo have tried repeatedly to suppress.

The mystery has been solved.

Answer to the often asked question: Why are there so many cat pictures on the Internet?

From Twitter.

Is there anything more despicable than pimping your own kid?

Apparently, Tim Hudork doesn't think so. He thinks it will win him an election.

Here he is using his daughter's recent serious illness (and some ringer nurses) to talk about healthcare.

Here he is using a ginormous photo of wifey and adorable daughter as bus-wrapping.

Here he is again using daughter's illness to try desperately to connect with someone, anyone. (Warning: major glurge-fest.)

And how about this one this past weekend? Adorable daughter has a birthday party and a CP vidographer just happens to catch the candle-blowing out part.

Awwwww.

But really, I wonder how he can top today's kid-pimping effort.

Defending a homophobic flyer sent out by his party -- a flyer that spouts a bunch of lies about that sensible sex-ed program that the Liberals scampered away from when Foghorn McVety stamped his widdle foot -- he trots out adorable daughter again today.

“My little girl Miller – it’s her birthday today – is just four and she has started JK,” he said. “The notion that Dalton McGuinty thinks a priority in education is sex-education curriculum starting at Grade 1 when they should be learning their ABCs and how to tie their shoes is another example of how Dalton McGuinty has lost touch with mainstream Ontario.”

How low can a pol possibly go?

Well, there are three days of desperation left. We may find out there is yet a lower sinkhole in pandering pimpitude.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Surely, in a Theo-Neo-Con's mindset, teaching a child to tie her shoes is a PARENT'S responsibility.

Women are punished for rapists' crimes.

Thanks to the Contempt Party government Obnibulating Crime Bill, female victims of crime can expect to be treated like this.

Kainat Soomro is a 17-year-old Pakistani girl who has become a local celebrity of sorts in her battle for justice in the Pakistani courts, a daring move for a woman of any age in this country, let alone a teenager.

She is fighting to get justice for a gang rape that she insists happened four years ago in Mehar, a small town in Pakistan.

We first met her in the office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A colorful traditional Pakistani shawl covered her head. Her father sat next to her as she recounted the 2007 incident.

"I was walking home from my school and I went to the store to buy a toy for my niece," she said, staring at the floor of the office. "While I was looking at things a guy pressed a handkerchief on my nose. I fainted and was kidnapped. Then four men gang raped me."

As she shared details of her days in captivity and multiple rapes, she kept repeating, "I want justice, I will not stop until I get justice."

After all the Con bluster and clusterf***ing Hard-On Crime subsides, the privatized penitentiaries built and operated by Friends of the Contempt Party will fill to the rafters with pot-growers while child rapists get to spend a few days in the comfort of provincial jails.

In Your Face!

Under assault from Operation Scumbag, Whole Women's Health, a women's clinic in Austin, Texas, is fighting back.

According to this blogger, that banner is the work of artist and activist Heather Ault. Visit her webpage, some good stuff there.