That "time of the month" again? Consider this...

I’ve never been much of a "ranter," nor do I typically choose to affiliate with one company over the next. Still, I’m not afraid to admit that I am a huge fan of the menstrual cup or, more specifically, the Diva Cup. This must seem so stereotypically feminist…trying to love my body by using safer products, but I can’t help it. Diva Cup manufactures a great product that is female-friendly, environmentally savvy, and economically viable (approx. $30-$35 each). "It is latex-free, BPA-free, plastic-free, and contains no dyes, colors or additives," reports Luna Pads. What’s more, the Diva Cup can be worn for up to 12 hours and can hold approximately 10 pads or tampons worth of blood. One of the other nice perks is that is there is no string to hold back when you are relieving yourself. I could honestly go on and on about how great the Diva Cup is, but it might be more effective to refer to FAQs or testimonials. I’m not kidding, it is a mind-blowing product, and, believe it or not, I’m not even paid to speak well about the company! They are THAT wonderful. If you don’t trust the FDA of America, trust Canada. Diva Cup is the only menstrual cup they will market and sell.

Still, if you don’t like the idea of inserting something (not a tampon fan?), consider trying the equally environmentally friendly Luna Pad. They are "reusable" pads that can be purchased in mass quantity so you have multiple options for each day of your menstrual cycle. Sure, it might be a bit of an adjustment to use reusable pads; however, after they are presoaked, they can be thrown in the washer. Moreover, they are softer and come in a variety of aesthetically pleasing colors and patterns. They also make panty liners that nicely compliment the Diva Cup…fancy that. The Luna Pad website also provides lots of other interesting and fun products, such as (but not limited to) pStyle and postpartum liners. Luna Pad is a great company that has a mission of providing women with safer "alternatives" to typical sanitary products (I feel they should be primary and pads/tampons should be the alternative). Their mission is to "help women have healthier and more positive experiences of their menstrual cycles, and by extension, their bodies overall."

Not convinced yet? Conduct your own research. The last straw that convinced me to switch to the Diva Cup was a list of "Pros" and "Cons." The only con? You have to be intimate with yourself. Really? It was almost like a challenge. I wanted to challenge all those who taught me that menstruating is something you should be ashamed of, something that should be as quick and painless as possible. Adopting the Diva Cup has been an overall learning experience that has taught me a lot about myself as a person. Thus, here is my challenge to you: Do your research. Question the products you are exposing your body to, feminine hygiene or otherwise. You deserve the best and so does your body. I give you the "Diva Cup Challenge." Good luck and happy searching!

As If I Needed Another Reason to Boycott A&F

When I was in high school, music and clothing trends defined the norm. I was never one to jump on the Dave Matthews “Band-wagon”. I hated Britney Spears and the entire boy-band phenomenon. I never shopped at Hollister or Aeropostale. I was the weirdo who made tablecloths into skirts and proudly wore my homemade denim arm cuffs. I scoured the Salvation Army for sweet deals, and wore men’s ties long before anyone ever hear Avril’s “music.” And I most definitely never wore Abercrombie and Fitch clothing, which was extremely popular at my mostly white small town high school.

My well-intentioned mother once bought me several Abercrombie articles of clothing one year for Christmas. I snuck up to my room under the premise of trying them on. I remember sitting on my bed and thinking how it would be easier to just wear the damn clothes. I’d spare my mother’s feelings, and would “fit in” better at school. They didn’t have that telltale thrift store smell, and they were the correct size for my body. They didn’t have any strange patterns or look out of the ordinary, like my usual outfits. I quickly snapped out of my self-betraying thoughts and ran back downstairs. I told my mother they didn’t fit, and she returned them to the store.

I’m especially proud that I have still never worn a piece of Abercrombie and Fitch clothing. They have developed a nasty reputation. They are most recently in the news for banishing a girl with a prosthetic arm to the stock room because she didn’t meet their ideal “look.” They paid 40 million dollars to black, Asian, and Latino employees and job applicants to settle a 2004 lawsuit that “accused the clothing retailer of promoting whites at the expense of minorities,” according to a USA Today article.

My personal style has definitely become tamer as I’ve gotten older. I still like finding funny T-shirts at thrift stores, but I’m definitely less creative than I used to be. But I’m glad I’ve never contributed to the coffers of a company like Abecrombie and Fitch.

Source:
http://jezebel.com/5289492/abercrombie-banishes-girl-with-prosthetic-arm-to-storeroom-because-she-doesnt-fit-the-look-policy

Somebody's Daughter?

So, through my internet surfing I stumbled upon this video that was linked to the Bitch Magazine website. After watching it, I could not help but go to the Somebody's Daughter website advertized at the bottom.

The video and website are clearly products of the male religious right perspective on the sex industry, so it makes sense that they would juxtapose women with family ownership. The tagline of the video is “somebody’s daughter.” The viewer watches a series of young women going through different life events (i.e. graduation) and the video and tagline imply that her value is dependent upon her connection to her family, rather than her identity as an individual. She is “somebody’s daughter,” conveying the message that you should not exploit someone’s property. This song strips (pun intended – I know I’m clever) women of their autonomy, and gives control to a woman’s parents. The song (besides being completely sappy) could have been more empowering for the man who drives through the rain, and also the women that the song is geared toward, if the song focused on the woman’s rights, empowerment and/or struggles.

The website attached to this song is even worse. The most concerning part about the site were the rape and divorce calculators. The tickers appeared to jump without any scientific method. I am unaware of how many rapes or divorces are a product of porn (if any truly can be traced back), but I am pretty sure that the makers of this site are just as unaware. I think it is irresponsible for people to make up their own numbers considering the severity of the situation. I am not trying to argue for or against the sex industry. Regardless of my positions on the matter, I feel that this particular organization forgets and even dismisses those affected most by the industry, the women.

Japanese Rape Video Game An Affront to Female Gender

Sex is a wonderful part of the human experience. But sex without consent, or rape, is a traumatic event that has devastating effects on both a psychological and physical level. It is the stuff of nightmares. Now, thanks to a Japanese company called Illusion, rape is the stuff of video games. In 2006, Illusion released a game called RapeLay in Japan. According to a Carnal Nation article, the point of the game is to stalk and rape a woman and her 2 daughters, with “the ultimate goal of ‘rape-training’ them to enjoy and even crave the assaults. The game offers a selection of sexual positions to choose from; if the mother or one of the daughters gets pregnant, the player has to force them to get an abortion.” The main character “teaches” the females in the game to be his devoted sex slaves by raping them repeatedly. Also, the game keeps track of how many times the rapist ejaculates inside his victims. In the beginning of RapeLay, the character, controlled by the player, molests and gropes a young girl on a subway. This is especially shocking considering that 64% of Tokyo women surveyed in 2004 had been groped on a train.* The Japanese even have a name for subway gropers; they are called chikan.

The game recently garnered attention in the US because it was found for sale on Amazon by a third-party reseller. It was quickly pulled from the website, and is not available in any stores in the US. However, an English-language version is only a few mouse-clicks away on the internet.

Unfortunately, this game is not an “isolated incident”; instead, it is part of a growing underground genre of erotic video games known as “eroge.” The Illusion company has released additional titles in eroge style, such as the “Battle Raper” two-part series.

What kind of a world are we living in where rape is fodder for entertainment?

Some feel that RapeLay is a Japanese problem, as it is banned in the United States. But this game is an affront to the female gender; it is a HUMAN problem, not a geographic one. We cannot condone the exploitation and denigration of women for the sake of entertainment. Sexual assault is a very serious and traumatic affair which has long-lasting and detrimental effects on its victims. We cannot allow these very real and horrific events to be the plot of a video game. It is disgusting and dangerous. The normalization and trivialization of such a serious and distressing event is detrimental to women everywhere.

Sources:
*statistic from this ABC news article: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/International/story?id=803965&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
http://carnalnation.com/content/6263/10/human-rights-group-urges-censorship-rape-simulator-video-game
http://www.slate.com/id/2213073/pagenum/all/

Can feminists be hilarious? You bet.

Jessica Valenti, you are like the funny, feminist best friend I never knew I was missing. Your book, Full Frontal Feminism, has been a much needed breath of fresh air that caught me off guard with its ability to make me laugh out loud, reconsider my identification as a feminist, and question (as promised) "where do I start?" The last time a book captured this much of my undivided attention, I was in junior high. The book? Harry Potter, of course (I’m just a sucker like that).

Perhaps the most captivating idea presented in Full Frontal Feminism is based upon the concept of "consciousness behind your decisions." Valenti relates the concept to the Girls Gone Wild empire. Valenti states that although the actions popularized within the Girls Gone Wild realm are viewed negatively by many, in some cases, such actions may act as a step in the development in one's sexuality. Why are you flashing your breasts? Is it a result of your own personal desires or the culturally constructed desire to get the attention of a man? It's also interesting to apply consciousness to seemingly non-feminist topics. For example, tattoos can be judged with consciousness as a criterion. Why did you get the tattoo? For whom? What’s your story? Furthermore, I feel this idea is not only relevant, but also quite useful for relating to and viewing others through a non-judgmental lens.

Still, while reading, it is important to keep in mind the overarching theme of the book: feminism can be a bomb. I have come to discover this on a personal level after attending a party or two and dropping the "F" word. Turns out, feminism has the ability to abolish friendships if not prescribed correctly. Yet, Jessica Valenti has found a way to approach feminism in a way that defuses the stigma, establishes legitimacy, and challenges the reader to spread the word. I can only hope that I’m not the only one who knows about this.

For more on Valenti and Full Frontal Feminism, read this:
http://www.alternet.org/story/50843/

Male Contraceptive Injection Offers More Choices and Equal Responsibility

The quest for alternative forms of male contraception has been a long one. Experts in China are close to developing a reliable and “potent” male contraception injection. Fertility doctors in Beijing completed an extensive study consisting of 1,045 males aged 20-45 years. All of the men who participated in the study were fertile, and had fathered at least 1 child. During the 1.5 year study, the male participants were injected with a 500mg testosterone formulation each month. There were no serious side effects reported by the participants. The shot proved to be 98.9 % effective throughout the duration of the study. Obviously, this rate isn’t as high as one would like; however, it is a good start.

With a male contraceptive shot close to becoming a reality, certain questions need to be asked. Who is responsible for preventing unwanted pregnancy? The female pill, invented in 1960, has put the brunt of contraceptive responsibility on women. And some maintain that because only women can become pregnant, it is up to them to prevent it. However, in a true egalitarian relationship, both partners would take responsibility to prevent pregnancy.

In some relationships, there is a lack of conversation regarding sex, with even less discussion devoted to conception prevention. The creation of a male injection opens the door for more dialogue, and provides couples with more options. Plus, having more ways to prevent pregnancies could eventually mean fewer abortions and fewer children up for adoption.

The concept of “choice” in reproductive health is a beautiful thing, as is having more contraceptive choices and the diffusion of responsibility.

Terrorism on American Soil?

http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/140387

This past Sunday, a prominent supporting doctor of the “abortion wars” was gunned down and killed in his church. His name was George Tiller. He performed late-term abortions for women who had life or health threatening pregnancies, but also for women who had fetuses with severe abnormalities. As a result, his life was constantly threatened; he was once shot, his clinic was bombed, and most importantly, he became a common target on anti-choice websites. Such websites published information related to the specifics of his family, where he conducted business, and his everyday whereabouts. He took precautionary measures, including bullet-proof vests, armored cars, and advanced home security systems, to protect himself and his family.

In the article published on AlterNet, Jill Filipovic draws comparisons between this act of violence (as well as many others over the years) and terrorism. She writes that “since 1977, there have been at least 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery and three kidnappings committed against abortion providers in North America.”

Anti-Choice groups don’t claim direct responsibility for the murder, but do allude to the idea that “abortion is murder” and that Tiller himself was a “mass murderer.” The individual believed to be responsible for his death was closely affiliated with Operation Rescue, which maintains the mission of ending abortion in America. That said, I believe it is important to consider how it is possible for an organization that prides itself on “saving life” to enable and encourage an individual to murder a doctor who was performing legal and potentially life-saving procedures. “Far from a random extremist, he appears to have been fairly entrenched in the anti-choice movement,” writes Filipovic.

Furthermore, anti-choice groups openly celebrated Tiller’s death with blog headlines ranging from “George Tiller has killed his last baby” to “Tiller the Killer Killed.” Filipovic argues that although the responsibility for his death is upon the individual who pulled the trigger, the pro-life groups who provided the assailant with the resources necessary to locate Tiller hardly have “clean hands.”

Overall, Tiller’s death illustrates but one instance of a larger looming movement, fueled by radical anti-choice supporters, that promotes violence. The common discrepancy between pro-life and pro-choice supporters is their definition of life and their supposed “valuing” of life. The high prevalence of support for war and death penalty by pro-life supporters would suggest that abortion is about much more than the value placed on a single life (unborn or otherwise). Do war and death penalty not cause death? With this in mind, I have to question the true motivations of the pro-life movement.