may is national maturbation month

sent:

reasoning:

May is the month of many things: flowers, Asian Pacific American Heritage, Jewish American Heritage, Mental Health Awareness, Bike-to-Work Day, Better Sleep Month, Date Your Mate Month, National Waitresses/Waiters Day, National Hamburger Month,  Mother’s Day, Memorial Day… and now to add to the list National Masturbation Month. this is something i can actively support. everybody can use more loving, even especially self-loving.

to help you get inspired, if you aren’t already….

more about “May is National Masturbation Month“, posted with vodpod

Yes We Cran

recipient:

Office Max/ 2480 Briarcliff Road, Suite #13/ Atlanta, GA 30329

sent:

‘Yes We Cran’

mixed by Marcus of the Hilton Garden Inn- Downtown Atlanta

- vodka

- cranberry juice

- splash of pineapple

add ice. suck the goodness down

reasoning:

tonight, at the opening reception for the annual meeting of the Abortion CareNetwork, Marcus (our bartender) put his own spin on the vodka cranberries so many of the women were ordering. it’s a simple spin -> splash of pineapplejuice/ but it got rave reviews for not being too tropically sweet, but tasty enough that you cannot taste the alcohol. people in this reception (many OB/GYNs, medical clinic staff) joked that because having cranberry juice is an additional health benefit, that’s an excuse to drink more. however, they did not have a name for this drink that was basically just vodka-cran+pineapple. what did they come up with? yes we Cran, because Obama’s slogan has been catching on, and ‘yes we can’ also works for the reproductive justice movement. either way, invented by a hotel bartender named marcus and second-wave feminists who run abortion clinics who aren’t entirely sure of all the facebook capabilities, but have have heard of twitter – here’s a drink that’s so girly delicious, you can’t taste the alcohol but it’s not over the top sweet, either.

freedom of choice = abortion donuts?

recipient:

Radar Magazine/ Subscription Dept/ PO Box 21942/ Palm Coast, FL 32142-7557

sent:

Miami The New Times blog: Pro-Life Group up in Arms over Krispy Kreme abortion doughnuts

reasoning:

should have posted this awhile ago, sometime around inauguration day may be more fitting. but it’s still an interesting story now. working at the Abortion Care Network, and doing more research on the reproductive justice movement, it almost seems like it’s a divisive and moot battle. yeah, that’s a pessimisticviewpoint from one who’s fighting for reproductive rights -> many critics and pro-lifers are even incredulous of the concept. without both sides on the same page, and with the religious morality ties muddying up the discourse, i find it difficult to see where a consensus on the issue can be made. with that said, and knowing that i stand strongly on the progressive side, lately the pro-life side seems to be grasping at straws. freedom of choice = abortion donuts? The American Life League’s press release that choice is synonymous with abortion is a huge stretch. perhaps not the best choice of words, maybe Krispy Kreme could have said celebrating ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’ or ‘america’. they gave out free donuts to those who wore “i voted” stickers on election day, so continuing the giveaway makes sense. i can’t find anything about the political leaning of the Krispy Kreme board or president, maybe it’s not that they’re so much pro-Obama, as just an American/pro-America company?  though i guess i couldn’t see Match.com doing any similar online promotion election or inauguration day. nonetheless, it’s always fascinating to me the ties between contemporary culture and social movement discourse.

yes means yes: visions of female sexual power & a world without rape

recipient:

National Geographic Society/ PO Box 64112/ Tampa, FL 3366-4112

sent:

Google Books preview of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape

reasoning:

tonight in the crowded backroom of busboys & poets on 14th & U, the editors and several contributors for the new book yes means yes: visions of female sexual power & a world without rape read excerpts of their new work. Miriam Zoila Perez of Radical Doula read from her “When Sexual Autonomy Isn’t Enough:SexualViolence Against Immigrant Women in the United States”.  Latoya Peterson of Racialicious read “The Not-Rape Epidemic”. and among others, Jaclyn Friedman “In Defense of Going Wild or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Pleasure (and How You Can, Too). it was inspiring to hear from writers so coherently and intelligently talk about this powerful conception of rape culture. there’s so many intersecting points of gender, race, sexuality, media, and class that have created this complex culture.  particularly thought-provoking was Miriam Perez’s piece that for immigrant women crossing the border, rape is almost an accepted part of their reality (their price of admission to pay the smugglers). after listening to their readings, i was convinced that a rape culture does exist. it’s a serious crime, and treated as so, but then on the other side, it’s also blamed on the victim, there’s the conception that it only happens to women, and that it’s something that will always exist. these women all talked about getting rid of the culture of rape – not just the action of it but the connotations and dangers surrounding it. this has moved up to the top of my ‘must-buy’ book list once i have the funds to do so.

president repeals global gag rule

recipient:

Banc of America Insurance Services, Inc/ Plan Administrator/ 6301 Owensmouth Ave Suite 700/ Woodland Hills, CA 9136-9663

sent: 

White House Blog: “Statement released after the President rescinds “Mexico City Policy“

reasoning:

the Mexico City Policy has been the political football that has dictated the direction of various presidential administrations in regard to international family planning and women’s health issues. it was one of the first things President Bush reinstated once in office, and it’s one of the first things President Obama has repealed. themain component of the policy was US funding for organizations that promote or provide abortions overseas.

Reinstating the Global Gag Rule was a prime example of Christian Right morality dictating much of US policy during the Bush administration – the thinking against the Mexico City Policy was that supporting family planning and abortions would mean women, young girls would be having sex all over the place. the ABC rule of abstinence, being faithful, and condoms sounds good in theory, but it’s completely unrealistic – people are going to have sex for the sake of having sex, not always for baby-making -> it’s human nature. and to take away access to family planning and birth control is more harmful to the poor than it is helpful.

Gardasil: One Less

recipient:

Real Simple/ PO Box 64523/ Tampa, FL 33664-4523

sent:

BBC “Gay Men Seek ‘Female Cancer’ Jab” article

reasoning:

i just got my 3rd and last shot of Gardasil. i am now protected against certain types of HPV, particularly the strains that have been shown to cause cervical cancer. woo. i didn’t actively seek out the vaccine, it was one i had definitely heard of, these “one less” commercials are on constant play if you turn on the TV, but it was something i didn’t think i needed. and while vaccines have done a lot of good, i’m wary that soonwe’ll be vaccinating ourselves against everything in the world, and simply start a new series of bacteria, germs and illnesses. i went in to get a physical in january, and my doctor immediately advised that i should start on the gardasil track. i knew that SL had done it and she said it was painful and expensive. but dr. madden assured me that it was now covered by insurance – it was a huge fight that doctors took on against the insurance companies, “how can you deny people something that could potentially save their lives?” i was still a bit hesitant, but the doctor was insistent. i was also somewhat convinced when she said, “how amazing is it that we’ve developed a vaccine against a cancer? think about the implications that soon we’ll have something for every cancer, and no one will have to suffer.” unfortunately, the first shot hurt like hell, and committed me for 6 months to this new health and scientific experiment that i wasn’t necessarily ready for or on board with.

babies are inevitable

- we might as well provide and ensure they have proper healthcare.

Recipient:

Domino Magazine/PO Box 37759/Boone, IA 50037-2759

Sent:

Jobs with Justice ”Healthcare for All” sticker

also, the dialogue i had with a NH gentleman regarding healthcare, and children [see below]

Reasoning:

With Michael Moore’s SiCKO documentary and John Edwards’ populist campaign the possibility of universal healthcare in America has entered into the public sphere and been given legitimate consideration by politicians/legislators, healthcare providers, and mainstream media.

while clinton and obama’s healthcare plans (<-respectively linked) are not anywhere near a conception of universality, the question has been posed to them in debates, and they have responded in standard presidential candidate fashion how and what their plans will do to start closing in on the healthcare inequality gap in America. 

while canvassing in New Hampshire this summer, one of our target issues was “accessible healthcare” which everyone we talked to immediately concluded we were implying universal healthcare.  which we were, but the libertarians in NH were not so receptive to that, so we changed our tune to “affordable healthcare, so those who work can have it”.  

but perhaps reasoning for why social services in the US are considerably lacking in comparison to the ones in Europe can be the intense inclination towards individualism, a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps to achieve the American Dream” mentality, that can be why our taxes are comparably lower b/c most Americans are unwilling to have their money go towards helping others, especially people that do not resemble themselves.  

After going door-to-door, i started to get that most people do not want to pay for other people to have healthcare, enter in “the welfare queens”, “the illegal immigrants”, etc.  we began to construct our words in terms of “universal healthcare for children”.  that’s hard to argue against, children should not be “punished” for the behavior/socio-economic status of their parents, they are our future, let them lead the way, but we got to make sure they are healthy and protected first.

here’s a conversation i had with a most polite guy, very much the blue-collar family man.

Man: I don’t believe in universal healthcare

Me: Ok, but what about healthcare for all the children, at least?

Man: That’s the parents’ responsibility.

Me: Yeah, definitely, but sometimes the parents can’t provide for their children, their job doesn’t pay enough, or they can’t work…

Man: Then they should have thought about that before they had children.

-I was dumbstruck.  that people would consider first if they can afford to provide their children with healthcare before they start making babies, that it’s one of the first thoughts any couple has sex before they have sex was just inane to me. i walked away in a daze.  The gentleman was incredibly polite, so i didn’t brush him off as the typical ignorant NH “Libertarian”, but the lack of acknowledgment that people are sexual beings, and will have kids whether or not they are socially, and economically prepared for them is thinking that is doomed to fail from the beginning, much like the fundamentalist Christian Right’s reinstatement of the “Global Gag Rule“.  we are so far from achieving any sort or form of equality.  

the person in IA receiving this sticker, and conversation about healthcare may be ambivalent, it might go the way of the trash as i’m sure much of what i send does.  maybe i’ll become the notorious crazy radical from MA who keeps sending in everything except for the applications and money they need to do business, but for now, the nopostagerequired envelopes – they are my own soapbox.

pro-choice love?

recipient:

Lucky Magazine/ PO Box 37650/Boone, IA 50037-2650

sent:

“I Love Pro-Choice Boys” and “I Love Pro-Choice Girls” stickers from NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading advocacy group for privacy and a woman’s right to choose, who conduct their work by helping to elect pro-choice candidates, organizing local communities, lobbying Congress, and conducting research & analysis on the federal, but also state and local levels as well.

reasoning:

a magazine like Lucky with its focus upon shopping, clothes, and other goods, and its primary target being women would most likely be pro-choice or female reproductive freedom-friendly, so these stickers should seemingly be right in line. perhaps they’ll even look up the website, and the merchandise, and feature it in the back pages of ads as something you can buy online.

it’s interesting to note that these “I love pro-choice boys” and “i love pro-choice girls” sticker seem cute, laughable, and irreverent at first glance, and something most progressive, liberal-minded folk would gladly wear or display. but as my housemate, charactersketch, pointed out, would it be ok for a boy to wear an “I love pro-choice girls” sticker, with perhaps an implication that he could do whatever he wanted with them, and sleep around, and they may or may not exercise their choice in possibly aborting the baby that may result from one of their late-night trysts? and if i a girl were to wear an “i love pro-choice boys” sticker, to mean that she is attracted to like-minded boys who wouldn’t mind if she chose to get an abortion. this speaks only of heterosexual relationships, what about homosexual, queer, or uncategorized acts of love, what does one person wearing this possibly signify to the other?

it may seem that we’re both reading too much into the words and first glance meaning of the sticker, but these sayings on stickers, pins, and t-shirts are becoming ever-popular. people are adopting them to say the things they feel but do not want to necessarily constantly verbally express. so while the purpose behind “i love pro-choice boys” and “i love pro-choice girls” may be a seemingly superficial attempt to tell people one’s own political views, and to hopefully attract looks or chuckles from seemingly like-minded people, there’s a power behind words, languages, and clothing as a form of expression. i’d be cautious because the implications of this saying reach far deeper into the pro-choice/pro-life debate to being whether or not the act of an abortion is allowed, acceptable as a form of birth control, or excusable, and also the need to commodify every movement, feeling, and expression in our consumerist culture today.