Celebrating the Right to Choose

Seeing Alice's recent post about a young lady's positive experience with abortion, I decided to post a website that I have been a fan of for awhile.

I'm not sorry.

It's a pro-choice website where users are free to post their experience with abortions.  There are many listed on there, and one for every situation you can imagine.

Happy reading! 

-Stef

Why, God? Why?

Oh my god.  I really didn't want to ever have a ranting post but I have to... okay..

what the hell.. is up with TWILIGHT?!  I don't even know where to begin!  In normal circumstances, I read a book I don't like and move on.  But this shit keeps slapping me in the face everywhere I look!  Only cool people have Twilight STATIONARY?!  Obviously my curiosity got the better of me and I actually read Twilight.  All. Four. Books.

To briefly explain, Twilight is censored vampire erotica for pre-teens as told by a Mormon.  Not kidding.  She writes about as good as a preteen too.  And let me tell you, I have never read anything more blatantly sexist.. it even trumps books that are supposed to take place when women weren't allowed to vote.  It's about two lovebirds: Edward the 100 year old vampire virgin and Bella the 17 year old bane of my existence.  They have no interests, no hobbies, no friends.. they just love each other because he likes the smell of her blood and she is the most insecure woman to ever exist.  She validates her life by his presence.  She has no goals for herself other than to become a vampire so they can love each other for their entire immortal existence (!!!!!)

What pisses me off the most is that this is what most girls reading it (ages 13-18) think love is.  They traded in mutual respect, commitment, friendship and attraction for the less used model of OBSESSIVE CRAZY. 

The only thing Edward says (paraphrased, though sadly not by much) : "I love you.. I love you.. I'm so angry at myself for putting you in danger.. I must flee forever into the abyss to hide my shame.  You're better off without my chiseled features and controlling existence.  Allow me to protect you from afar, feeble minded female mortal."

The only thing Bella says:  "I love you so much it hurts my weak mind.  I feel dizzy and my woman legs can't carry me.  Lift me, oh strong protector of the night."
AND A DIRECT QUOTE: "Maybe my brain will never work right, at least I'm pretty now" -Bella, on becoming a vampire. I just don't understand this bizarro feminism with mormon undertones. She lets this vampire walk all over her and control her life, but then when he knocks her up and the baby will 99% KILL HER.. he respects her choice to have a risky pregnancy? WHAT?!

And the movie was just close-ups of their faces for two hours in various intense expressions.

EFF MINUS! (F-)

Furiously yours,
Stef

Abstinence is not the only option!

Being raised in a religious household, sexual education was never a topic of discussion at the dinner table. Turning to my teachers to inform me proved to be just as pointless. My public school decided that it would be a good idea to have a program called "Teen Talk." A supposed comprehensive sexual education program for girls only. The underlying implication was that young boys do not need to be concerned about these issues. Teen Talk turned out to be a smear campaign towards sex and definitely instilled fear into all girls involved. While we certainly learned about STIs and pregnancy, we did not learn how to prevent it.. should we decide that abstinence is not for us.

Abstinence is definitely a choice, but it is not the only choice. Kids and teens enrolled in school have the right to know all of their options when it comes to sex and reproductive health.

The supporters of abstinence argue that it is the best way to prevent young people from contracting a sexually transmitted infection or falling pregnant. However, statistics show that this is absolutely not the case. It is reported by the Guttmacher institute that over half of 17 year olds are sexually active in some form. In addition to this, a sexual active teenage girl having sex without contraception has a 90% chance of getting pregnant within the year. So, even if you want your daughter to abstain, statistics show she probably won't.. and if she is not informed about her choice than chances are good she will either fall pregant or contract an STI.

Parents.. your child's abstinence is not your choice!

Kids.. if you're not being informed about sexual health, inform yourself!

You can start by getting our brand new zine! The first issue is on birth control options. Available for reading at the zine library at Brunswick and Bloor (Toronto.) As well as Heartbeat 960 (960 Queen Street West)

Until our international "Give-A-Kid-A-Condom Day!" becomes a reality.. keep reading here! Yaaaay!

-Stef

Lyndon's Large Ladies

A couple weeks ago I had the great pleasure of meeting Lyndon Andrews, a Toronto based artist.

His current subject matter consists almost entirely of full bodied women. Lyndon's inspiration comes from his distaste towards the negative connotation associated with being overweight. In his own words, he finds it "very upsetting that an overweight woman cannot be perceived as both beautiful AND full bodied at the same time." His apartment has absolutely stunning paintings of intelligent and gorgeous women.

I'm sure all of you out there know healthy women who consider themself "fat" and thus ugly. It's definitely heartbreaking.

If you want to see more of Lyndon's work, comment on this entry with your e-mail and I will send you his info. His stuff is amazing, definitely worth seeing!

Start loving your body =)

-Stef