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~Stuff I pinned at my TIAW and Wisdom boards.
~”What is the most important thing you hope is taken away from a talk or appearance that you make?” “One more person will let go of their unnecessary sexual guilt about enjoying masturbation.” <--From a cool interview with Betty Dodson.
~This goes along with a lot of what the HAES movement is about. Where most of society expects one result from everyone (specifically I am referring to the idea that eating healthy and exercising alone will be enough to make everyone a healthy weight), this is an example of promoting healthy ideas to everyone, including those who can’t participate. People who need elevators cannot participate in a campaign to use the stairs instead. And you know what? I hate stairs. (I hate them slightly less now that my kids are old enough not to fall down entire flights of them, but I still hate them.) I’d rather get my exercise in any of a million other ways. And yet I always – always – feel guilty when I take the elevator in the Whole Foods parking lot. I feel like everyone know I’m killing Mother Earth as I’m killing myself. *sigh*
~A Hollywood trainer publicly shames former Disney child stars. You know, as horrible as the title of the article is – and as horrible as the beginning of it is – I have to say his apology impresses me. I have tried having this conversation with people before who refuse to concede that judging someone based on body size is wrong. They either keep harping on the same points, or they simply drop out of the conversation. If more people were open to listening to others, how much better could this world be? Here’s hoping this guy uses this information to change who he is even just a little bit.
~I sometimes scroll through Rebecca’s blog because holy heck she’s cute and I wish she’d buy all my clothes and tell me what to wear every morning. Here’s a list she’s put together of a bunch of size 24+ fashion bloggers. For those who wear larger sizes and need fashion inspiration, this is the jackpot.
~Rachel Dratch, Martha Plimpton, Amy Sohn, Elna Baker and Junot Diaz do a reader’s theatre version of Deenie. DEENIE, you guys. DEENIE. You’re welcome.
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~Stuff I pinned at my TIAW and Wisdom boards.
~Years ago (six, apparently – HOW DOES TIME FLY LIKE THAT?) Kathryn, a mom of triplets, shared her story on SOAM. One of those triplets is transgendered. Yesterday Kathryn, her husband, and their daughter Coy, were on Katie Couric’s show to talk about this, and about how Coy’s school won’t allow her to use the girl’s bathroom anymore. Their local station also did a story on their family. I’m always in awe of what an accepting and loving mama Kathryn is, and how hard she fights for her babies, and I wanted to share this story in the hopes that it helps spread positive information about transgendered people and how that relates to us as women, and friends, and mothers.
~Five ways to not be a dick to your fat friends. And you know what’s more? We can all learn how to treat all of humanity from taking this list to heart. Basically: Be careful with your words. Actually think about them before they fall out of your mouth.
~There was a lot of sexist bullshit fallout from the Oscars over the weekend, but the part that kills me more than any of it, really, is the part where people keep refusing to call Quvenzhané Wallis by her actual name. More than one media person decided to just give her a nickname or call her something that’s not even related to her name. I know – her name looks hard to pronounce. But it’s actually not, and if they’d taken half a second to learn that, or even to ask her how to pronounce it (novel idea, that) they’d have been able to handle the whole situation with so much more grace. But they didn’t bother. Why? Because she’s just a kid? Because she’s just a woman? Because she’s not white? It’s probably a little bit of all of those things. My friend Claire shared this article last night about why taking someone’s name from them is really about control and punishing people who don’t fit.
~But you know what else the Oscars brought us? A deeper love for Jennifer Lawrence. I’m willing to bet that she’s the most authentic person in Hollywood. Thank god for her.
Interestingly, these next two both came across my Facebook feed today:
~On why being single can be AWESOME and shouldn’t have the stigma it has today. (Also includes the phrase “blanket of cats” and I am pretty sure I need a blanket of cats.)
~Ten things that aren’t as awkward to do alone as you might think they are. (I actually have done nearly all of these things alone and I LOVE it.)
~This one didn’t come across my feed today, but it’s an old favorite of mine. I may have shared it before, but, based on the previous two articles, it seems to me that The Universe wants me to share it again: How to Be Alone.
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Sorry for my absence last week, I was struck with a stupid flu which kept me in bed for days with a fever. But I’m finally almost human again so here’s today’s Awesome.
Also, I know that most of what I post here is shared with me, but I don’t always remember who shares what, especially with the articles I hold on to for awhile. I should be more organized or something, and I’m sorry I don’t often credit those who share things with me, but I am always grateful to those who point out awesome stuff to me. If you have something you think belongs here you can share it with me on Facebook or email it to me at bonnie@thisisawoman.com
~Stuff I pinned at my TIAW and Wisdom boards.
~Here’s a story about an awesome little boy who found imbalance on a Disney cruise and decided to let them know. He’s got a point, there *should* be more character options than just princesses. In the words of Crush the sea turtle, Little Dude, you so totally rock.
~On a much darker note, this story is about year’s worth of untested, unprosecuted rape kits that were found in a Detroit police storage warehouse. According to the article, they’ve found evidence now of 21 serial rapists (TWENTY-ONE. SERIAL rapists. FUCK, people). In another instance, they found a man who, had her been prosecuted for the rapes he committed in a timely fashion, may not have gone on to commit the murders that eventually wound him in jail. 11,000 rape kits sit, ignored, for years, and there are people in the world who still claim women are equal to men. *sigh*
~But you know what? There are awesome people in the world, too. Casey is a woman, but she models as a man. In this video, she talks about gender stereotypes and how we could benefit from widening our idea of what defines a gender. Love it.
~Karen Walrond, who is an entirely awesome person, wrote this piece on how to accept compliments.
~Lastly, I’m going to be on a radio show today and you can tune in. More info here.
