Monthly Archives: February 2012

Why I watch

A really smart person surprised me by asking about my last posting.  Why do I care what people say about my rights?  After all, this is America.  It’s 2012!

I care because I’m a student of history. Ninety-two years ago, women in the United States were still fighting for the right to vote. We didn’t achieve that until ratification by three-fourths of the states of the Nineteenth Amendment, August 18, 1920, when women finally gained the right to vote in a federal election. 


Mississippi did not ratify the Nineteenth Amendment until 1984.

Not until 1965 (Griswold v. Connecticut) was it legal in every U.S. state for a married couple to use birth control. 

Most people know that extremist factions in Afghanistan prohibited women from attending school, working, driving, going out in public without a male relative, or even appearing in public without being covered, head-to-toe. But it wasn’t always like that.

“Before 1996… nearly half the doctors, university students and teachers in Kabul were women.” (see citations 1 and 2, below*)

Did you know that? Extremism can happen.  Even in America. After all, a lawmaker in our country recently had this to say: 

NPR article – “Girl Scouts destroying ‘American Family Values’.”

I have no printable words to sufficiently express my thoughts on his comments, except: are you #&@! kidding me?!?**  This person was elected to make laws in our country.

I have a niece in third grade. I watch. I care. I also laugh:

Big Train (satirical) Sexism Debate

*1: Read more: Time on Women in Afghanistan

*2:  PBS on Women in Afghanistan
** Standard disclaimer: Swearing like…? I am, literally, a sailor.  😀 





Quote of the Day

Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).
~ Ayn Rand


That’s all that needs to be said on this subject 🙂



Rights

Today’s posting isn’t about things that make me laugh.  This time it’s about things that make me pay attention. That’s what I did when I saw the photo of the panel in this House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on the contraceptive coverage rule. –> All male panel at Congressional hearing. Where are the women?



Here’s my nomination:

CONGRESSIONAL PANEL TO DETERMINE 
CONTRACEPTION COVERAGE
AND VIAGRA FUNDING POLICY:
click here to read about these qualified ladies

My family tree includes roots of Pilgrims, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Quakers, and branches of Jews, Unitarians, Methodists, etc. It makes for a great Thanksgiving table! This is one country where we all have the right to practice any religion we choose, (even none), with none endorsed by the state and none imposing its beliefs on the other. But this Congressional hearings group, and the actions behind it, makes me feel like I’m looking at the Taliban! 


I’m blessed to have a loving, ethical, responsible dad, husband, brother, and sons. Would they make good choices for my religion or my body? Probably. Will I permit them to make my choices? No. I may consult them, and consider their input, but in the end, decisions about my faith and my body are mine. I may choose to have as many children as my body allows.  Blessed with 19 children  Or I may choose to have none, or just one, and be thankful for that blessing. Birth control is a personal choice, as is religion. 


If do not permit my own beloved men, whom I trust, to make determinations about my body, I certainly will not permit politicians to do so. There are, sadly, men, fathers, brothers, politicians, and even religious leaders in this world who’ve proven appallingly dangerous to women. Just see the links at the bottom of the page 🙁  


Why shouldn’t men be able to make choices about women’s bodies?  Well, first, these bodies belong to us, and no-one else. We women will choose differently from each other for our bodies.  But we have the ability, right, responsibility, and power to make our own choices about them.  


Therein lies the problem, for some: power.

Ah, power. Birth control allowed it to shift. And that makes some people very uncomfortable; some, abroad and at home, are willing to to anything to change it. Gender and anatomy no longer determine what a woman might choose to do with her life, or how long she has to accomplish her goals. Stepping into a time machine – “It’s all dudes.” 

A paternalistic society enables some to believe that men have the right to use power over women, (see links below) and may even cause some women to believe it, too. In the long run, this isn’t healthy for women, or for men. Our sons and daughters all deserve to live a life of kindness, compassion, and respect, as do we.

When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.~ Pearl S. Buck

So, where’s today’s silver lining?  It’s in literacy – I just read multiple sources on this issue, from all different points of view, in order to be informed. 

And the silver lining is drawn with a pen; as a start, I wrote to my Congressional representative.

I’m grateful that I saw this sight today~

 



Links on why women must preserve their right to self-determination:

Sara Robinson’s analysis of social change : “anatomy really was destiny — and all of the world’s societies were organized around that central fact. Women were born to bear children; they had no other life options…Our biology reduced us to a kind of chattel, subject to strictures that owed more to property law than the more rights-based laws that applied to men…”






Being a Mindful Writer

Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.
~Thomas Berger, playwright, and author of Little Big Man, Neighbors, and others.

You  know how there are times when your mind is so full of all the things you need to juggle that you forget something important?  So weighted with schedules and tasks that you feel like you did a lot, but nothing well, or completely?  It’s hard to feel creative, and particularly, to write well, when your mind is full of distractions.  That’s one difficulty that mindfulness helps overcome.

Today I found someone who’s addressing the interaction between mindfulness and writing!  Here’s the link: Mindful Writer  I don’t know this writer, and this isn’t a commercial for him. But I’ve read some of his writing, and it’s proof that he’s onto something.

Mindfulness is pretty simple. It’s quieting your mind, and being both relaxed and focused at the same time. Practice helps you focus completely on the present moment, noticing all the little details. You can concentrate on something beautiful, or the way that grape tastes and feels on your tongue. It clears your mind of distraction, creating relaxation, concentration, and creativity. A great state of mind for writing. (Or pretty much anything.)

Here’s a moment of beauty for us both.  And by the way, Happy Valentine’s Day!

When you miss your doggie…

A dog is the greatest gift a parent can give a child.  Ok, a good education, then a dog. ~ John Grogan

Do you know how sometimes, just out of habit, you turn to look for someone who’s not there? Usually at this point in the evening our beautiful snow princess, aka, the big white dog, would be snuggled next to me, even across my lap, pretending to weigh less than sixty pounds.  But she’s not here in California. She’s back home on the other coast, holding down the fort. Seeing her was just a trick of the eyes, like the image that remains after you’ve looked directly at a bright light.

By this time in the evening she’d hope I wouldn’t mind the way I have to hold my laptop off to the side, or the fact that, in warm weather, she somehow radiates extra heat to those nearby to cool herself. I know she’s happy there, but now I have to cheer myself up.  I flip on the television and get back to writing.

Ah, perfect! The Westminster Dog Show! You might think that would make me sad.  After all, the snow princess loved this show! She’d place her chin on her two front paws and carefully watch the show dogs trot around the arena like it was the red carpet of the Academy Awards, and none measured up to her own winter ermine attire. Now I’m smiling.

Ha! The miniature poodle!  She has a huge fluffy cape trimmed around her shoulders,  and her hair style is a cross between Grace Jones’ and the Roman helmet of Minerva. Her fur is trimmed with fuzzy little black pom-poms on her four ankles, two hips, and the end of the tail.  The announcer is explaining how this is supposed to protect the dog’s joints when hunting.  Kind of the way six-inch heels protect the feet when strolling Seventh Avenue in New York?

OK, I’m laughing now. I hope she’s watching.

Random Acts of Kindness

Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. 
~ Anne Herbert

When I lived in Evergreen, Colorado a friend who had recently moved to Boulder came to visit.  She showed me, on her car, Boulder’s “unofficial official” bumper sticker: “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty“.  She said everyone in Boulder had one.

The next time we met, I drove “down the hill” to Boulder. Of course, I checked out the other cars in town while I was there. Sure enough, nearly every car that had a bumper sticker said “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty“.  Excellent. 🙂

Random Acts of Kindness Week is the second full week of February each year, corresponding, appropriately, with Valentine’s Day.  The Foundation’s website offers great Random Acts of Kindness Ideas.  (click this link for a few, or bookmark it if you like heartwarming stories all year long.)

Since arriving in Sacramento, I started keeping foil packs of tuna fish, chicken, Vienna Sausages, granola bars, bags of prepackaged trail mix, etc. in whatever vehicle I’m using.  There are a lot of hungry people in this town.

I don’t know if it’s a constant for this area, or a sign of recent times. I don’t give cash to people with those signs by the side of the road or at the entrance to the Post Office. I wouldn’t want to support an unhealthy habit or make them, or me, a robbery victim. I give them food.  I’ve been handing out a lot more lately.  And smiles. Always smiles.

Well, you know it had to happen.  One day I saw this: “Practice Random Sarcasm and Senseless Acts of Irony“.  Ok, it was pretty funny. Probably done by a writer.

But you know what?  Seeing that bumper sticker in traffic made me laugh.  How ironic.  For me, it was a random act of kindness.   🙂

Randy Pausch – The Last Lecture

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
~ Randy Pausch

I just left a meeting with some great folks discussing the book The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch.  (Did I mention earlier that I like to read?)

I found this book heartwarming, heartbreaking, and instructive.  Our group leader sent me the link to a video by the author, for those who are interested.   I recommend the book – it’s wonderful.  And in the meantime, make yourself comfortable and watch Randy’s lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.  Randy’s lecture on YouTube

It’s probably better than anything on tv right now.  Hmmm – reality television, or real life learning?

😀

Melinda Bennington’s Poetry

Life In Me - anthology of love poems             LPR Social Justice Cover

I’m honored to have my work, Losing Words, included as one of the love poems, above, and to have Charly’s Shoes, Returning, in the Social Justice issue of the Little Patuxent Review.  Click the tab for more information on these Published Works!