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First, it looks like the Senate doesn't have the votes some Republicans want to pass the constitutional amendment regarding "defining marriage". Which is good, because if we looked back to the definition at the time of the Founding Fathers regarding marriage, it would clearly have stated something along the lines of "marriage is between one male and one female, where said female had little to no rights to hold property, vote, tell her husband no or raise her children if her husband decided to leave her, and where said female could, after marriage, noot sue or be sued, draft or sign contracts, make wills or independently buy or sell property."
Aren't we glad that definition wasn't placed in the Constitution itself! It took far too long to remove other restrictions on personhood, and amend the constitution so that all *people* could be considered *people*, so why on earth would people now want to write something into the constitution to remove rights?
Did everyone see Jon Stewart interview Bill Bennett on TDS last night? Crooks and Liars has the video, and I gacked a minitrascript from them:
Which leads me to discuss something else that is a part of the human condition, and, in certain states, a civil right: the right to breastfeed a baby, wherever you are.
I'm not going to mince words - but I am going to admit that I am probably taking things personally that aren't meant as Personally Directed At Heidi As An Individual. But it really hurts me when I read posts by people who I consider friends, saying things like:
I've seen posts castigating "boob nazies" from people who would *never* call someone a "feminazi" and would be very offended if someone, say, deemed a woman who, say, attended a pro-choice rally a "feminzai". So, what's the difference between one pejorative and the other?
I've seen people slam on Boob Nazis as (to paraphrase) women who are ademant that "breast is best", and who pressure other women into trying nursing, and who criticize women who don't nurse.
Guess what?
While I completely understand that there are some women who do not succeed in nursing and that they shouldn't be made to feel that their bottlefeeding is damning their children, unless the physical and/or mental health of the mother makes nursing dangerous for mom and/or baby, I do believe that there is no justifiable reason for a woman to not try to nurse her newborn.
I told my cousin she was silly for not even nursing for a week when her second child was born, because she wanted to lose the twenty pounds she'd put on in that pregnancy so she could wear a sheath to a gala eight weeks later, and didn't want to be prevented from taking diet pills.
I've nursed in public, on airplanes, in restaurants, on cruise ships, in parks and bookstores, and in the middle of bloody Disney World.
And I think that it is very important to give women confidence about nursing, to make them feel that it's something that they should feel comfortable doing whenever their baby needs it. And things like the words I read on many of your LJs - well, if you had a friend with a newborn, would you ask her not to nurse in front of you? Would you tell her it makes you feel oogy to see a baby nursing? If she nursed in front of you, in a private home or a public space, would you tell her that she was shoving her breastfeeding, or her breasts, into other people's faces?
Please, for the sake of the baby, even if you really don't like kids, please, do not tell a nursing mother that. If you work with someone who pumps milk, support her. Help her if you can. If you employ a woman who's pregnant, let her know that if she does want to pump when she comes back to work, you'll make it possible, and easy for her to do so.
The opinion of other people impacts whether a woman will continue nursing for a month, for three months, for six months, for a year, or even beyond.
It doesn't matter for me anymore. I'm done. Done nursing Catie as of last month, and done with having kids. But I am *sure* that the comments on all sorts of LJs this week have impacted the thinking of women who will have kids someday, and the partners of women who will have kids someday, and it makes me ill to think that after all the fighting for women's rights - and yes, breastfeeding is one of many women's rights - and getting legislatures to realise the importance of breastfeeding, and the importance of workplace support (as well as support from friends and family) there are so damned many people out there who still think that breastfeeding is something to hide.
Remember, if you attended Nimbus, then you've been in the company of a nursing woman - me. Jon was seven weeks old then, and I nursed him in the middle of the MWPP welcome event, and at the Draco and Slash panels, and during the movies for hours. I didn't do it to make people feel uncomfortable - but if someone had told me that my nursing in public made them uncomfortable, I might've turned or moved to another chair, but I would not have left wherever I was. Should I have? Do you really think I should have?
Think of the words you use, and support the women you know.
And now, for a completely random thing, commentary on Wired on what might happen if Google actually did get into the market for evil.
Aren't we glad that definition wasn't placed in the Constitution itself! It took far too long to remove other restrictions on personhood, and amend the constitution so that all *people* could be considered *people*, so why on earth would people now want to write something into the constitution to remove rights?
Did everyone see Jon Stewart interview Bill Bennett on TDS last night? Crooks and Liars has the video, and I gacked a minitrascript from them:
Stewart: So why not encourage gay people to join in in that family arrangement if that is what provides stability to a society?Bennett: Well I think if gay..gay people are already members of families...
Stewart: What? (almost spitting out his drink)
Bennett: They're sons and they're daughters..
Stewart: So that's where the buck stops, that's the gay ceiling.
Bennett Look, it's a debate about whether you think marriage is between a man and a women.
Stewart:I disagree, I think it's a debate about whether you think gay people are part of the human condition or just a random fetish.
Which leads me to discuss something else that is a part of the human condition, and, in certain states, a civil right: the right to breastfeed a baby, wherever you are.
I'm not going to mince words - but I am going to admit that I am probably taking things personally that aren't meant as Personally Directed At Heidi As An Individual. But it really hurts me when I read posts by people who I consider friends, saying things like:
I wouldn't want to look at someone while she's breastfeedingBullshit. Of course it's acceptable to do it in public.
If I wanted to see someone eat, I'd stare at people in restaurants
Women shouldn't shove nursing into other people's faces
Breastfeeding isn't a symbol of someone's agenda and I don't respect women who use their babies for their own gratification that way
It isn't acceptable to do it in public
I've seen posts castigating "boob nazies" from people who would *never* call someone a "feminazi" and would be very offended if someone, say, deemed a woman who, say, attended a pro-choice rally a "feminzai". So, what's the difference between one pejorative and the other?
I've seen people slam on Boob Nazis as (to paraphrase) women who are ademant that "breast is best", and who pressure other women into trying nursing, and who criticize women who don't nurse.
Guess what?
While I completely understand that there are some women who do not succeed in nursing and that they shouldn't be made to feel that their bottlefeeding is damning their children, unless the physical and/or mental health of the mother makes nursing dangerous for mom and/or baby, I do believe that there is no justifiable reason for a woman to not try to nurse her newborn.
I told my cousin she was silly for not even nursing for a week when her second child was born, because she wanted to lose the twenty pounds she'd put on in that pregnancy so she could wear a sheath to a gala eight weeks later, and didn't want to be prevented from taking diet pills.
I've nursed in public, on airplanes, in restaurants, on cruise ships, in parks and bookstores, and in the middle of bloody Disney World.
And I think that it is very important to give women confidence about nursing, to make them feel that it's something that they should feel comfortable doing whenever their baby needs it. And things like the words I read on many of your LJs - well, if you had a friend with a newborn, would you ask her not to nurse in front of you? Would you tell her it makes you feel oogy to see a baby nursing? If she nursed in front of you, in a private home or a public space, would you tell her that she was shoving her breastfeeding, or her breasts, into other people's faces?
Please, for the sake of the baby, even if you really don't like kids, please, do not tell a nursing mother that. If you work with someone who pumps milk, support her. Help her if you can. If you employ a woman who's pregnant, let her know that if she does want to pump when she comes back to work, you'll make it possible, and easy for her to do so.
The opinion of other people impacts whether a woman will continue nursing for a month, for three months, for six months, for a year, or even beyond.
It doesn't matter for me anymore. I'm done. Done nursing Catie as of last month, and done with having kids. But I am *sure* that the comments on all sorts of LJs this week have impacted the thinking of women who will have kids someday, and the partners of women who will have kids someday, and it makes me ill to think that after all the fighting for women's rights - and yes, breastfeeding is one of many women's rights - and getting legislatures to realise the importance of breastfeeding, and the importance of workplace support (as well as support from friends and family) there are so damned many people out there who still think that breastfeeding is something to hide.
Remember, if you attended Nimbus, then you've been in the company of a nursing woman - me. Jon was seven weeks old then, and I nursed him in the middle of the MWPP welcome event, and at the Draco and Slash panels, and during the movies for hours. I didn't do it to make people feel uncomfortable - but if someone had told me that my nursing in public made them uncomfortable, I might've turned or moved to another chair, but I would not have left wherever I was. Should I have? Do you really think I should have?
Think of the words you use, and support the women you know.
And now, for a completely random thing, commentary on Wired on what might happen if Google actually did get into the market for evil.
The worldwide market for evil is stratospheric, and Google is uniquely positioned to take advantage of it. They've made some halting inroads in China, but economists -- many of whom are themselves evil -- estimate that if Google abandoned its inefficient policy completely, it could capture 38 percent of the evil market. That's more than Microsoft and Lindsey Lohan combined.
