sexgenderbody

silentlydrawn:

stfuconservatives:

leeleeleelee submitted: “This is the reality of Texas’ ultrasound for abortion bill.  A 30 year old Texas woman’s fetus’ heart stopped beating after 12 weeks.  The options given were to wait until miscarriage, give birth to it, or to abort it (the preferred, safest option).  She has to look at an ultrasound of her already dead fetus and if she looks away, she will have to listen to the Doctor describe it.”

—-

I don’t have anything snarky to say about this. This is heartbreaking. These ultrasound laws are cruel, invasive, and do nothing to lower abortion rates.

-Jess

This isn’t just heartbreaking, it’s inhumane. 

the-womanifesto:

ereyes312:

The seven women below are just a small representation of the countless women who have died because they did not have access to safe and legal abortions. Most of these women died before Roe v. Wade offered them a safe alternative. However, women continue to die and suffer injury due to current restrictions that particularly affect young women and poor women.

Our government is now controlled by conservative leaders who are extremely hostile to women’s reproductive rights. If more retsictions on abortion are enacted, and especially if Roe v. Wade is overturned, this list of lives cut short could grow to include our daughters, sisters, mothers, best friends, wives, partners, granddaughters and other special women and girls…

Clara Bell Duvall
Dec. 23, 1896 - March 27, 1929
Clara Duvall, her husband and five children (ages 6 months to 12 years) were living in Pittsburgh, Pa., with her parents due to limited financial resources when she learned she was pregnant again. Clara attempted a self-abortion with a knitting needle. Her doctor, knowing she was seriously ill and in severe pain, delayed sending her to a hospital for several weeks. The Catholic hospital where she died chose to list the cause of death as “pneumonia.”

Ruth Irene Friedl
Aug. 24, 1901 - Aug. 21, 1929
Denied a legal abortion though her pregnancy was diagnosed as life-threatening, Ruth Friedl attempted to self-abort by drinking a plant poison, ergot apiol. That night at the dinner table of their home in Denver, Colo., with her husband and two small children present, she collapsed and died.

Pauline Roberson Shirley
June 22, 1910 - August 22, 1940
Pauline Shirley and her six children were living with her mother in Arizona while her husband sought work in California. After an illegal abortion, she began to hemorrhage and was hospitalized. She needed massive transfusions. While Pauline’s mother searched the community for donors, Pauline bled to death.

Vivian Campbell
December 12, 1925 - May 6, 1950
Vivian Campbell was the mother of two children ages five and three. She was newly separated from her husband when she realized she was pregnant. Sending her children to stay with her parents, she sought and obtained an illegal abortion. She sent for her husband, but by the time he arrived at the hospital it was too late. She died in agony of peritonitis.

Geraldine Santoro
August 16, 1935 - June 8, 1964
The photo of Geraldine Santoro dead on a hotel room floor has become a symbol for the horror of illegal abortion. Gerri, as she was known, lived on her family farm in Coventry, Conn., with her two daughters. At the age of 28, separated from her abusive husband, she became pregnant by another man, Clyde Dixon. Afraid that her husband would kill her if he found out, she and Dixon looked for ways to terminate her pregnancy. With no other options, they attempted to perform the procedure themselves. When the operation went awry, Dixon fled, leaving Santoro behind where she bled to death. A chambermaid found her body the next morning.

Rosie Jimenez
1950 - Oct. 3, 1977
A single mother with a 5-year-old daughter, Rosie Jimenez of McAllen, Texas, was a scholarship student six months away from her teaching credential. She was the first known victim of the Hyde Amendment, which cut off Medicaid funding for abortion to women on public assistance — women who by the government’s own definition cannot afford health care. Too poor to pay for the procedure at a private clinic, she died in agony from a botched illegal abortion.

Becky Bell
August 24, 1971 - Sept. 16, 1988
At 17, Becky became a victim of an Indiana state law requiring parental consent for a minor to obtain an abortion. Unable to bring herself to disappoint her parents by telling them she was pregnant — or go before a judge to bypass the law — Becky sought an illegal abortion. When she became seriously ill, her parents rushed her to the hospital. In severe pain from a massive infection, Becky still could not tell them, and despite the efforts of the doctors, she died.

Sandy Rapp’s song, “Remember Rose: A Song For Choice”, recalls the story of Rosie Jimenez. It’s a fitting soundtrack on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This version features vocals by feminist Congressmember Bella Abzug. Listen to “Remember Rose”.

Legal Abortions Save Lives

fuckyeahbinders:

Hi Alice,

I identify as transgender (ftm) and have recently begun binding my breasts using a commercially-available breast binder. I bind more or less all the time, except for when I’m sleeping. Although I know that the breast tissue will eventually break down some, what are other things that I should expect to happen? What should I watch out for? Are there any health problems that I’m more prone to as a result of binding?

Thanks!

Dear Reader,

As you probably know, binding, or the process of flattening one’s breasts in order to create a male-appearing chest, can be done a number of ways. Depending on variables like the size of one’s breasts as well as the materials and methods used, there are different effects on breast health to watch out for.

According to FORGE (For Ourselves: Reworking Gender Expression), many FTMs over-compress their chests, for fear of not “passing.” But binding too tightly can inhibit the amount of air you take into your lungs, resulting in difficulty catching the breath or dizziness. Binding that is too tight can also cut and irritate the skin and can cause back pain and distort spinal alignment. Many people also adopt a slumped posture, hoping to further hide their chests, but bad posture can inhibit the ability to breathe easily and fully, and can also result in headaches and back pain.

Long-term compression of the breasts can result in permanent tissue changes — breast tissue may become elongated and more malleable, actually making binding easier, but it’s unclear if this type of change in breast tissue may be dangerous over time. While there is no substantial evidence that breast binding leads to breast cancer, it might be a good idea to periodically refrain from binding (like you said you do when you sleep) to let the skin breathe and the lungs and spine have a break from the compression. Another thing to keep in mind is that even for folks who don’t identify with their breasts, it’s still important to keep up with breast health, including performing monthly self-examinations and talking with a health care provider about any changes you notice, or any concerns you have regarding breast health and binding.

When choosing a binding method it’s good to keep in mind that the material used should wick away sweat. If it doesn’t, skin may be prone to sores and irritations from a buildup of sweat. For example, neoprene is a very effective binding material, but because the material does not “breathe” it can cause acne, rashes, cuts and chafing. To minimize irritation, some wear a T-shirt under the binder or use talc or other powder to help keep the skin drier and less irritated. Keep in mind that ace bandages are usually not recommended, as safer methods exist. If wrapped too tightly, ace bandages may be very uncomfortable and cause injury. If using ace bandages, choose one that is wide and be sure not to wrap too tight as to allow for free movement and easy breathing.

For those with smaller breasts, methods like wearing the top portion of control-top pantyhose over the chest or wearing several layers of sports bras or shirts can be effective and inexpensive. Those with larger breasts may be better off purchasing commercially made breast binders like you have (FYI: For larger chests, compressing breast tissue down and out towards the armpits can help keep a flatter appearance. Certain types of loose clothing and button-down shirts can also help hide feminine qualities like wide hips and narrow shoulders. Hudson’s Guide: FTM Binding provides an excellent review of commercially available breast binders, additional tips for do-it-yourself binders, and health consequences to take into consideration.

It seems you have a green light in terms of safety if binding is done properly, just remember to use a material that will let your skin breathe, and not bind so tightly that you can’t breathe fully yourself. Keep asking the questions and know that you have lots of resources available to you!

~ Alice

beautifulbrwn:

“On Saturday, February 18, 2012, the Frederick Douglass Foundation of New York presented the first Spirit of Freedom award to Jada Williams, a 13-year old city of Rochester student.  Miss Williams wrote an essay on her impressions of Frederick Douglass’ first autobiography the Narrative of the Life.  This was part of an essay contest, but her essay was never entered.  It offended her teachers so much that, after harassment from teachers and school administrators at School #3, Miss Williams was forced to leave the school.

We at the Frederick Douglass Foundation honored her because her essay actually demonstrates that she understood the autobiography, even though it might seem a bit esoteric to most 13-year olds.  In her essay, she quotes part of the scene where Douglass’ slave master catches his wife teaching then slave Frederick to read.  During a speech about how he would be useless as a slave if he were able to read, Mr. Auld, the slave master, castigated his wife.

Miss Williams quoted Douglass quoting Mr. Auld:  “If you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there will be no keeping him. It will forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master.”

Miss Williams personalized this to her own situation.  She reflected on how the “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students in Rochester.  While she herself is more literate than most, due to her own perseverance and diligence, she sees the fact that so many of the other “so-called ‘unteachable’” students aren’t learning to read as a form of modern-day slavery.  Their illiteracy holds them back in society.

Her call to action was then in her summary: “A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.”

This offended her English teacher so much…”

jhameia:

ardhra:

O hai! I finally finished writing this! After starting it more than two years ago {facepalm}. There is more to come that I’ve worked on & researched. Hopefully responses to this won’t be so faily that I’m unmotivated to finish the rest.

Excerpt:

There are a number of issues around cultural appropriation which I see continuously bog down discussion. I think they revolve around some crucial issues undergirding the whole concept of cultural appropriation, so I think we need to “get back to basics” somewhat.

Before I go on, I’d like to acknowledge the work of Andrea Smith, particularly her article ‘Spiritual Appropriation as Sexual Violence’, printed in her book Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide as being very influential to my thinking about these issues.

I disagree with a lot of the common definitions of cultural appropriation around. Cultural appropriation isn’t simply the “taking or borrowing of some aspects of another culture from someone outside that culture”. Cultures throughout time have traded, adapted, and borrowed artefacts, symbols, technologies and narratives from one another. The issue isn’t the aesthetic and material mingling of cultures, hybridity, or that human creativity crosses cultural boundaries. Those are aesthetic and perhaps moral issues, separate from the real political issue of cultural appropriation.

A lot of the time cultural appropriation is also called ‘cultural theft’. But cultures aren’t tangible things that can only be possessed by one person. Culture is made up of shared ideas, skills, traditions, styles, images, that circulate through a particular society. Cultures are heterogeneous — people who are part of the same society can be part of different cultures, which influence each other — and they change over time.

The problem isn’t that cultures intermingle, it’s the terms on which they do so and the part that plays in the power relations between cultures. The problem isn’t “taking” or “borrowing”, the problem is racism, imperialism, white supremacy, and colonialism. The problem is how elements of culture get taken up in disempowering, unequal ways that deny oppressed people autonomy and dignity. Cultural appropriation only occurs in the context of the domination of one society over another, otherwise known as imperialism. Cultural appropriation is an act of domination, which is distinct from ‘borrowing’, syncretism, hybrid cultures, the cultures of assimilated/integrated populations, and the reappropriation of dominant cultures by oppressed peoples.

What’s being appropriated in *cultural appropriation* isn’t the things themselves — the images, stories, artefacts, themes, etc. — it’s the capacity of people of oppressed groups to determine the meaning, scope, usage, and future of those things. Cultural appropriation involves taking over peoples’ control over representations of themselves. Cultural appropriation is an attack on cultural autonomy and self-determination, backed up by historically constructed domination.

Look, it’s ardhra being awesome.

Back in 2010 Ireland passed the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, which granted same-sex partners rights and responsibilities similar, but not equal to, civil marriage.  For instance, civil partners have to wait at least two years before dissolving their partnership, cannot be judicially separated, may not enter into joint adoption or have joint guardianship over children.  Oh…and it didn’t apply to transpeople.

That last may seem strange but Ireland has not yet seen fit to recognize the gender of transpeople legally.  So “same sex” was deemed not to apply to us.

Since 2002, the European Convention on Human Rights has guaranteed the rights of transsexual people to have their gender recognised and to marry someone of a different gender. To date, Ireland has not reformed its laws that fail to recognise gender change and permit marriage.

—Link

Now maybe some people understand why I insist the wording be marriage equality and not same-sex marriage or gay marriage.

One transwoman found a way to get married in Ireland anyway. Known only as Maria in the media, she won the right to enter into a civil partnership with her partner, who happens to be another woman and also not an Irish national.  Had she been Irish, the legal joining would not have occurred.  But she is a citizen of a country which does recognize her gender, having issued her a corrected birth certificate and identity papers declaring her to be female.  Under EU law on free movement of workers, Ireland was forced to accept that documentation…not that they didn’t try to interfere.  Maria was represented by Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC).

FLAC has published details of the civil partnership registration in order to highlight the legal anomaly which does not currently allow transpeople to enter into marriages or civil partnerships, a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has pledged to publish legislation this year to provide for recognition of the new acquired gender of transgender people, but it hasn’t happened yet.  FLAC has promised further legal challenges until the law is amended.