It's none of your business...

So, basically, girls need to stop calling girls names because of their sexuality. Do you know how many names there are for a "promiscuous" girl that are used with a negative connotation? Slut, whore, ho, trick, etc.--- the list goes on and on. Women need to stop hating on other women. Yeah, that girl in your bio class may be known as "easy"--but calling her a slut is not cool. We get angry about the double standards about sex in our culture. Society tells us that girls who have premarital sex are dirty, bad, easy, etc. On the other hand, they tell us that boys who have premarital sex are experimenting, becoming men, just being boys, etc. So, sexuality is made into a male phenomenon that women are excluded from. If women are sexual, something is wrong and they aren't "good."

Obviously, as feminists, we know that this is a skewed view, one that we are working vigilantly to tear down. But every time a woman says of another woman, "Oh, she's a slut," it reinforces the idea that a woman's sexuality is bad. So, if I wanna take a guy home with me tonight--it's none of your business. And if you wanna take a guy home with you tonight--it's none of my business. Stop perpetuating the double standards, ladies!!

<3--Heather

Not married, Not engaged. Not dating. No prospects... Oh Noes!

So, after I sent my grandma this awesome picture of my first time voting for president, she sent me this lovely message:

Well now.....I wonder who in the world my sweet granddaughter voted for.......ha Sure a nice picture of you...had a call from your cousin Christy today.....her Navy boy named Jesse had taken her to DeShas on Friday night ( they were all dressed up) and during dessert he had them bring out a delicious chocolate treat....plus a plate with words in chocolate saying 'Will you marry me" The whole restaurant was laughing and clapping......haha Of course she said yes...but will not marry until after they both are out of school in three years.....Looking forward to your visit home.....

So, is it just me, or is it kind of silly that my cousin Christy, a sophomore in college, is engaged? Actually, I think a lot of people would agree. I'm not sure a lot of people would feel the dig at my single-ness that I felt when I read this. I have so many friends who are in serious relationships, engaged, or married... and here I am, very single. In fact, my current single-streak has been the longest I've had since before high school. And for some reason, even though I'm not even 20 and there's no real threat of my ovaries drying up in the next couple of years or my face to develop hag-like wrinkles, I'm starting to have that Sleepless in Seattle fear. "It's easier to be killed by a terrorist than it is to find a husband over the age of 40! "

Why am I afraid of this? I mean, 40 is a whole other lifetime for me, but girls are constantly bombarded with this idea that they must get a man early before all the "good ones" are taken. And, as if that weren't enough, not only do we need to find a guy to date, but we need to find one who we also want to marry. As Erica puts it, junior year at state schools in the Bible belt = "ring by spring." Well, it is October of my junior year, and I probably won't even have gone on an actual date with a guy by spring.

Oh noes! If I don't get married right out of college whatever shall I do? I'm a woman, so it's not like I could get a job and have my own life. I'm made to be connected to a man and take care of him. And my biological clock is ticking and after college all I really want to do is put on an apron and have babies!! Now that I can't do that, my life is ruined! /sarcastic rant

Basically, even though I know that a lot of my friends from home will be married by the time or right after we graduate from college, I'm very glad that I won't be. I'm kind of excited about the fact that my life belongs solely to me, and I can be selfish in my decisions after I graduate. If I want to do Teach for America and live in a low income neighborhood and teach in a low income school, I don't have to worry about where my boyfriend/fiance/husband will work. If I want to spend 2 years in the peace corps. "hugging the world a little tighter," I don't have to worry about what my boyfriend/fiance/husband will think. I won't have to decide not to do these things because I need to stay with him. I know that there are lots of people who get married out of college and make it work, and more power to you. BUT, I know that I enjoy my independence.

If for some reason I get engaged in the next two years, it will be because I believe that is the right decision for my life at that point. But from where I am right now, I don't think that I will be at that point in my life any time soon. I have a lot that I want to do and see in this world, and although I would enjoy having a close friend/ boyfriend to share some of my experiences with, I don't want to be tied down. I know that marriage isn't all about being tied down, but I also know that marriage is a full time job by itself--especially if you're young. And I really don't have time for that now or the summer after graduation... I have jobs to look for. I have books to write. I have a world to see. Marriage isn't high on my list of priorities, and if I can't pencil it in, then I really should just say no.

Not engaged. Hooray! Not dating. Okay. No prospects. I don't have time for them any way...

Sarah Palin is not a Feminist!

I've been watching Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin sporadically over the past few days, and each new tidbit worries me a little bit more. Take a look.



Sarah Palin is not a feminist. She may be a woman, but she is not a woman's candidate. Her policies will do nothing to help women, and her running mate John McCain actually voted against a fair pay act that would insure that women receive equal pay for equal work. So, the equal rights and opportunities she touts at the beginning of this video are a bunch of bologna! She also has choice completely wrong. Women have a choice when it comes to their bodies. Sarah Palin's friend didn't "choose" to be gay any more than I chose to be straight. The American Psychological Association says "most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation." Sarah Palin just doesn't understand decisions... which is probably why she can't make one in this next clip. Then again, she might just not know the names of any other major Supreme Court cases...

Sarah Palin wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and make it a state decision. Really, Sarah? Kind of like how charging women for rape kits was your decision as mayor of Wasilla? Or how the religious right has added anti-choice initiatives to the ballots of South Dakota and Colorado. These initiatives will not just prevent a woman from choosing to have an abortion, but include measures that could ban birth control such as the Pill or IUDs! This is scary stuff! If Sarah Palin were a woman's candidate, she would be aware of these initiatives and be speaking out against them. Instead, she fails to look out for women's rights.

Sarah Palin's Feminist Points: 0