God’s Gifts Should Come With Gift Receipts

There have been many things I’ve seen in the past month or two that made me think, “I should write about that,” but I knew it would just take one really provocative headline to piss me off enough to help me break this silence and get back to blogging. Well people of the web – here’s the headline that pushed me over the edge:

“Rick  Santorum On Opposition To Abortion In Cases of Rape: ‘Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation.'”

At first, I thought maybe this was a joke headline, a sort of Onion type piece. As soon as I started reading it I realized that I was sadly mistaken.

This man is in a position where he could possibly be the next President of the United States and he has the audacity to say that if a woman who was raped becomes pregnant as a result of that rape, that the fetus is a “gift from God.” Where the heck was god when she was getting raped? Where was he while this man was using and abusing her body against her will? This is a major issue I have with religion, God seems to never be held accountable for the tragic things that happen. Or if he is – he’s said to have some great plan and that our terrible tragedy is  just a part of the puzzle. Forgive me father, but I call bullshit. 

What does Rick Santorum not understand about the sick nature of being raped, then forced against your will to carry and give birth to your rapist’s offspring? He then says,

“it was still a gift from God, even if given in a broken way.”

Calling it “broken” is just a very nice way of saying raped.

Santorum also goes on to say that Obama’s support of women’s reproductive rights are “radical and extreme.” This came in response to the following statement released from President Obama on the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade:

“As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right.

While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue — no matter what our views, we must stay united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant woman and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption. And as we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”

Radical and Extreme? Really? What scares me the most is that people are actually buying this crap that Santorum is spewing (no pun intended).

Any woman who votes for Rick Santorum is directly voting against her own interests. How is it possible, that in 2012, there are still women out there who don’t realize this?

To any woman out there who votes for Rick Santorum, make sure you start carrying a condom on the same keychain as your pepper spray or your rape whistle. In the event that you are ever raped, it can’t hurt to ask your rapist to put it on. Oh wait, I forgot . . . Santorum doesn’t believe in contraception either. Damn, looks like you better just cross your fingers and hope that God doesn’t pick that moment to give you one of his wonderful gifts.

It’s getting to the point where I can’t even look at Rick Santorum without getting sick to my stomach. Ugh.

Bubba The Love Sponge & Spice are Feminists at Heart

[this is a cross post from SlutWalkTampa.com]

Just got back from an incredible radio interview on the Bubba The Love Sponge show on 102.5. I was slightly nervous at first because I know of their reputation for being jokers. This is such a serious cause and I didn’t want it portrayed in any kind of bad light. I felt like I had the weight of the whole movement on my shoulders and I didn’t want to let everyone down.

Come to find out, I had absolutely NO reason to worry. They were fantastic! 

I’d like to point out that they are the ONLY radio show that has invited us on and offered to promote the cause, let alone make a HUGE and crucial $500 donation! So, yes, they may be just like high school boys, full of testosterone and ready to go “6 to midnight” at the drop of a hat, but they are a group of men who deserve the utmost respect for their generosity and ability to bring serious issues to the table in a way that makes them fun and titillating. THEN – to add even more excitement, Shawn M. from Friends and Family Support Center called in and donated an additional $500! I was on cloud nine!

If you didn’t hear the interview you can listen to it below!

Thank you again to Bubba the Love Sponge, Spice and the rest of their crew. There’s now a whole bunch of SlutWalk love that’s been soaked up in the Bubba sponge!

Click HERE to Listen to the SlutWalk on Bubba The Love Sponge Interview!

Since When Are Pedophile Rape Jokes Funny?

I ref men’s league hockey games at a few of the nearby rinks. I’ve heard some pretty shitty stuff on the ice. Everything from insulting me because I’m a female official – to sexist jokes about players skills on the ice. Last night what I heard was, by far, the worst, most disturbing and disgusting thing I’ve ever heard – not just while officiating either. It pretty much takes the cake for one of the sickest comments ever.

This guy (who’s lucky that I don’t know his name and that he can only be identified by his jersey that read HPPB in bright pink letters. He told me it stood for Hot Pink Panda Bears) skates over to the bench in between plays. Behind their bench were two little girls, one maybe 6 the other about 10. The younger one was sleeping in the bleachers, wrapped up from head to toe in a blanket. I said to the guys on the bench, “Well, someone’s kids are out past their bedtime!” It was an 11:15pm game.

The guy in the HPPB jersey says, “Oh those are my kids.”

He was really young – like maybe 25 so I replied, “No they’re not – are they really?”

He says, “Yea, I have 6 kids.” I don’t believe him, and he offers to show me pictures.

Now I can tell he’s full of shit and making all this up cause him and his teammates are all starting to giggle like little boys. I jokingly said to him, “Haven’t you heard of birth control?” At this point, play was going the other direction so I had to skate away.

He waits till the next face-off and skates over to tell me this story. This is where it goes from funny to sick REAL fast.

He goes, “Let me tell you what happened. So, I took my 7 year old daughter to the doctor. Everything was great – the doctor said she was fine. And I asked him, ‘Hey doc, do you think I can get her some birth control?’ and the doctor said ‘What?! For you daughter? She’s only 7 years old, you mean to tell me she’s already sexually active?’ and I looked at the doctor and said, ‘No way, are you kidding? She just lays there . . . just like her mother does.'”

I had absolutely NO idea what to say to him. I think what came out of my mouth was something like, “Your fucking sick. I should give you a penalty just for telling that joke.” (Which was a totally lame response, but come on I was shocked.)

He actively sought me out, half way across the ice, to come tell me a sick joke about him having sex with his 7 year old daughter. He honestly thought I would think it was funny!

I do have to give the guys on his team credit though, the ones that heard him tell it all made remarks about how they thought it was sick. A few minutes later in the game my partner called a penalty on him and as I skated by him in the box I told him it was karma for telling sick pedophile rape jokes. Then I told him he needed to change the HPPB on his jersey to HPDB for douche-bag.

I guess maybe I’m less offended by sexist or racist jokes, because we hear them so much more often. And I guess I should be just as offended by those too. But what could possibly make ANYONE think a joke about having sex with your 7 year old daughter is even the slightest bit funny. I don’t understand that.

He told that joke to the wrong feminist . . .

Her Dress is Not a Yes

I’ve been spearheading the SlutWalk Tampa coordinating the last few weeks and haven’t had too much time for blogging and writing over here, but there’s been a lot of cool stuff going on over at SlutWalkTampa.com. 

When I offered to organize the SlutWalk here, I knew it was a HUGE undertaking, but I also knew that there’d be many other women who’d want to get involved and I just had to trust that people would come out and offer to help. Over the past month or so I have received so many emails from people who want to get involved. The support has been incredible and I can only imagine it will continue to grow.

One girl in particular, Teagan, emailed me and said she was a rape survivor and that she wanted to get involved. I can’t tell you why, but for some reason I felt like I needed to ask her to get more involved. She told me she was a writer and that she’d love to help with the website. Her first post, Rape: Not a Casual Word was beautiful, powerful and inspiring. Then, I asked her if she’d be interested in doing a response to an article from Daily Mail Online, where celebrity lawyer, Nick Freeman, said, “girls who wear ‘racy’ underwear and skimpy tops made it clear they had one thing on their minds: sex.” He goes on to say about the SlutWalk movement,

“Those taking part claimed women should be able to wear whatever they like in public – including racy red underwear – without being judged and their motives questioned. But, as a red-blooded alpha male, let me state unequivocally that I believe how a woman dresses (and behaves in that dress) tells a man what’s on her mind.”

I wasn’t expecting Teagan’s response to be so incredible! She posted the video below and I love it! You can read the original post here. I love that she’s a young confident woman, with the courage to speak out and be so honest about her experience. I hope that she inspires many other women because I know she has inspired me. Keep it up Teagan!

For more about SlutWalk Tampa visit www.SlutWalkTampa.com or ‘like’ us on facebook at www.Facebook.com/SlutWalkTampa

Feminism Worth a Thousand Words

Slutwalk London - No means no by RenderDonkey on Flickr.

Turning Women into Meat . . . Literally

I realize that this HUSTLER cover is really outdated (June 1978), but I think it’s important to talk about. This was the cover of a HUSTLER magazine form 32 years ago. Yet, I still feel like it’s relevant to how women are viewed in the gentleman’s magazines of today.

Yesterday started reading the book Pornland: How porn has hijacked our sexuality. So far I’m loving the book! I’ll be sure to post some updates about it!

Any thoughts on this image? 

Take Back The Night: End Sexual Violence

Here is a short video I made from a collection of street interviews about rape and victim blaming. Feel free to share it and spread the word! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Take Back The Night Part I

The teal butterfly is the international symbol for rape survivors.

I spent all day Saturday at the Take Back The Night event in Tampa. It was inspiring, powerful, emotional, beautiful, and life changing. I got the chance to do some random street interviews with people that were walking around. The interviews came out amazing and I will be putting them into a short video in the very near future. The event ended with a Survivor Speak-out. It was unbelievable. I’ve never been witness to such a powerful gust of intimate emotion on such a public platform. The women and men who spoke about their stories had an amazing sense of heart and strength. They were all such beautiful people. One young girl, in particular, broke right through my wall of armor and brought me to tears. Her story landed right inside my heart. Her courage and will to fight will stay with me forever. As she was leaving the stage after she told her heart wrenching stories of being sexually abused by a former boyfriend, her dad hurried over to her and enveloped her in this hug that radiated love and support. This was a tipping point for me  – I went from tearing up to full on, lip quivering, crying.

One of my favorite parts of the event was the Clothesline Project. Throughout Hyde Park Village were clotheslines of hundreds of t-shirts. Each t-shirt was decorated by a survivor of sexual or domestic abuse. White t-shirts represented women who died because of violence. Red, pink, and orange were for survivors of rape and sexual assault. Yellow or beige represented battered women. Blue and green t-shirts were for survivors of incest and sexual abuse. Purple or lavender for women who were attacked because of sexual orientation and black shirts for women who were attacked for political reasons. Reading the messages on each shirt was incredible. Out of hundreds of shirts here are my favorites.