In 2 days, North Carolina citizens will vote on an amendment that seeks to ban same-sex marriages. Sadly, a lot of people are happy about this, probably because it always feels good to have the government enforce your bigotry (gay marriage is already illegal here in NC; this amendment would bar all unions except straight marriage, even civil unions for straight couples).
I've been blasting as much as I can about this amendment on my facebook, where I have many "friends" that are religious, and that I used to attend church and Christian school with. Some of my FB friends are more liberal Christians, and a few of them are even openly opposing the amendment, which is amazing and much appreciated. I have a suspicion that most of the more conservative ones have my updates hidden, and might never see or venture onto this blog no matter how much I try to entice them.
I've been trying to reach the religious anyway, because my non-religious friends aren't generally the types who think it's ok to infringe on the rights of citizens. If this amendment passes, it's because religious people were able to successfully prod enough voters to the polls who think it's absolutely their right to tell consenting adults who they can or can't marry.
Rape Jokes
I've been wanting to write about this for a while, but it's touchy, and so many times I know exactly how I feel about something but can't spit out the right words. So.
Rape jokes. So many times on various social networks, I have to grit my teeth when I run across a very ill-conceived rape joke almost every single day. Seriously. I know, I should probably get new friends. My personal opinion is that if these same people were standing in front of someone they knew to be a rape victim., they would never utter these "jokes."
Let me clarify right off the bat: I am not saying that rape is off limits when it comes to humor. I think that nothing is truly off limits as far as funny is concerned. I really mean that. I certainly joke about things that other people think I have no business joking about, and I tell them to get over it. I have also made rape jokes.
Rape jokes. So many times on various social networks, I have to grit my teeth when I run across a very ill-conceived rape joke almost every single day. Seriously. I know, I should probably get new friends. My personal opinion is that if these same people were standing in front of someone they knew to be a rape victim., they would never utter these "jokes."
Let me clarify right off the bat: I am not saying that rape is off limits when it comes to humor. I think that nothing is truly off limits as far as funny is concerned. I really mean that. I certainly joke about things that other people think I have no business joking about, and I tell them to get over it. I have also made rape jokes.
Beauty Influences-Continued
Anime Women
My parents were friends with a family who owned a small video rental store, and when they went out of business, we were given boxes upon boxes of VHS tapes. We aquired a lot of crap, but we also got some really great gems, among them a fairly decent if small collection of strange anime videos. I probably watched these the most of any others.
I didn't discover how truly perverted and awesome anime/manga/etc. was until I was a bit older, so for me, anime chicks meant one thing: amazing hair.
Beauty Influences
Ever since I was a wee lass living out in the middle of Bumfuckiville, I remember being obsessed with fashion and beauty despite the general lack of interest in the subject for most residents. Throughout my adolescence, I would put together all kinds of crazy outfits, and experiment with many different styles of makeup and hair. I loved the feeling of being a chameleon, of being able to change my appearance to whatever I felt like. Taking control of my appearance was something that gave me a lot of confidence growing up, and as well as a creative outlet.
My beauty influences were mostly drawn from the world of movies; it's not at all that there weren't attractive women in the small southern town I grew up in, but at least in the circles I ran in, there weren't many fashion risk takers. There were pretty women here and there that I admired. And there were a few odd characters as well. I remember having an art teacher in elementary school who had orange hair, wore very bright makeup including heinous blue eyeshadow and crazy lipstick, and brightly colored, child-like dresses and striped stockings. She gave the effect of a Raggedy Anne doll grown old and senile. She was wonderful. But unfortunately, people like her were few and far between. Hence, I looked to the movies.
My beauty influences were mostly drawn from the world of movies; it's not at all that there weren't attractive women in the small southern town I grew up in, but at least in the circles I ran in, there weren't many fashion risk takers. There were pretty women here and there that I admired. And there were a few odd characters as well. I remember having an art teacher in elementary school who had orange hair, wore very bright makeup including heinous blue eyeshadow and crazy lipstick, and brightly colored, child-like dresses and striped stockings. She gave the effect of a Raggedy Anne doll grown old and senile. She was wonderful. But unfortunately, people like her were few and far between. Hence, I looked to the movies.
Adventures in Vaginal Physical Therapy
Today I went to my first session of physical therapy to help rid myself of recurring lower abdominal pain. Last year, I had a hysterectomy after years of terrible periods and months of pain and nausea. Since then, along with having surgery to remove kidney stones two times this year, I've had a constant, low-grade pain in my lower pelvic area, that just never goes away.
I ended up with a diagnosis of tightened pelvic floor muscles, or tight pussy disorder, as I like to call it. It may have been caused by my hysterectomy, but whatever made it tight, it needs to be more relaxed. The tightness is causing pain which causes nausea and fatigue. So! My doctor had prescribed muscle relaxers and physical therapy. I hadn't participated in the physical therapy before because I had no insurance, and I'm about to not have it again, so I don't know what I'm going to do yet about continuing therapy. Anywho.
I ended up with a diagnosis of tightened pelvic floor muscles, or tight pussy disorder, as I like to call it. It may have been caused by my hysterectomy, but whatever made it tight, it needs to be more relaxed. The tightness is causing pain which causes nausea and fatigue. So! My doctor had prescribed muscle relaxers and physical therapy. I hadn't participated in the physical therapy before because I had no insurance, and I'm about to not have it again, so I don't know what I'm going to do yet about continuing therapy. Anywho.
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| These are the pelvic floor muscles! |
Feminism: Good for Men, Too
These days, nobody wants to be called a feminist anymore, and I hear the term "masculist" thrown around constantly, as if it even needs to be used. The women's movement has been around for longer than I've been alive and yet there's still confusion about what it means to be a feminist.
From Webster's Dictionary:
Definition of FEMINISM
From Webster's Dictionary:
Definition of FEMINISM
Do you believe that men and women should be treated equally (and don't give me any of that "But they're different!" bullshit, I'm talking about real equality the way people of all races should be treated equally)? That's a feminist belief. Do you believe that gender is mostly a social construct, and that men and women should feel free to be whoever they are, whether masculine, feminine, or a combination of the two? That's a feminist belief.1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes2: organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interest
Horror Weekend in Tennessee
Last weekend, we journeyed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the first edition of Horror Weekend. I had never been to Gatlinburg, and we had never previously been to a horror convention (have been to: comic cons, the big sci-fi/fantasy/comic con in Atlanta: DragonCon).
So this is my little write-up. We did have a good time; the hotel we stayed at (Glenstone Lodge) was a five-minute walk from the main strip, and had a gorgeous 2-level indoor heated pool, so, yeah, nothing wrong there. We could have stayed in that pool all weekend and still had an awesome time.
Being that this was Horror Weekend's first showing, I think the organizers did a pretty good job. Everything seemed to run well, and I thought there was a reasonably bustling amount of people without it being super-crowded. There were a lot of guest cancellations, and the person I was most excited about meeting and possibly getting an autograph (Bill Moseley), was one of them, so that was a bummer.
So this is my little write-up. We did have a good time; the hotel we stayed at (Glenstone Lodge) was a five-minute walk from the main strip, and had a gorgeous 2-level indoor heated pool, so, yeah, nothing wrong there. We could have stayed in that pool all weekend and still had an awesome time.
Being that this was Horror Weekend's first showing, I think the organizers did a pretty good job. Everything seemed to run well, and I thought there was a reasonably bustling amount of people without it being super-crowded. There were a lot of guest cancellations, and the person I was most excited about meeting and possibly getting an autograph (Bill Moseley), was one of them, so that was a bummer.
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