information addict

"The journalist wanted to know if perhaps menstruation was kept hidden just because it’s private,..."

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:50:58 -0600

“The journalist wanted to know if perhaps menstruation was kept hidden just because it’s private, rather than shameful. I asked her to think about the ways our society structures work that compel us to keep it private and secret. For instance, how easily can you find menstrual products in your school or workplace when you need them? (There’s a tampon dispenser in the women’s room in my campus building, but the sign has read EMTY for the all the years I’ve worked there.) I also spoke with her about a terrific study by Tomi-Ann Roberts and her colleagues about attitudes toward menstruation, in which a research confederate dropped a hair clip in one scenario and a tampon in another. Dropping the tampon led the research participants to offer lower evaluations of the confederate’s competence and decreased liking for her; they even displayed a mild tendency to avoid sitting close to her. This suggests that women conceal menstruation for good reason – to avoid appearing disabled.”

- Is Menstruation a Disability? | Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

"In many industrialized countries, including Canada and the United States, life and work have been..."

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:47:06 -0600

“In many industrialized countries, including Canada and the United States, life and work have been structured as though no one of any importance in the public world, and certainly no one who works outside the home for wages, has to breast-feed a baby or look after a sick child. Common colds can be acknowledged publicly, and allowances are made for them, but menstruation cannot be be acknowledged and allowances are not made for it. Much of the public world is also structured as though everyone were physically strong, as though all bodies were shaped the same, as though everyone could walk, hear, and see well, as though everyone could work and play at a pace that is not compatible with any kind of illness or pain, as though no one were ever dizzy or incontinent or simply needed to sit or lie down.”

- Is Menstruation a Disability? | Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:32:00 -0600

Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos:

ieatcatlitter: notemily: ieatcatlitter:

[snip]

It’s not really the smiling in a picture, it’s the leaving the house and going out to do fun activities. In general, most who are depressed will put on a “happy face” to fool everyone or be a good sport.

And you don’t think that maybe leaving the house and going out to do fun activities might be… treatment for depression?

I hate the whole “if you’re too sick to work, you have to be too sick to have fun” argument. Working often takes way more energy and effort than having fun. I get this a lot in my own life. Just because I have the energy for something I choose to do, doesn’t mean I have the energy for whatever you think I should be doing at the time. I will say this once: you can’t tell how healthy someone is by looking. There is no way.

Anyway, I was wondering how long it’d take before someone started attacking the woman in the photos. Turns out it didn’t take long at all!

First off, I haven’t attacked anyone. Second, I agree with you, to a point. Anyone that knows anything about depression knows that it essentially debilitates your want and urge to participate in recreation and social activities. You lose your yearning for it. If she was so depressed to the point of receiving money and benefits, she sure wasn’t showing it by going out and having a good ole time. Since there isn’t much in the article attached regarding any details, it’s hard to say how depressed she actually was and what she was receiving from her insurance. I was denied SSDI because they didn’t seem to think I was disabled enough mentally to receive it. I disagree with their decision but I have to live with it. I know how it feels, do you?

No, I don’t know how being denied benefits feels, but I do know how depression feels. Regardless, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s impossible to know how healthy someone is by looking at them. No matter what they are doing, or how happy they look. You don’t know what’s going on in this woman’s brain. Only she does, and only a doctor can diagnose depression. And they don’t do it by looking at photos.

I’m sorry that you were denied benefits, but just because you have to live with it doesn’t mean it’s right, or that anyone else should be denied the benefits they need.

"But this is everywhere. We’re used to it. It’s part of the accepted context of straight male desire..."

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:14:20 -0600

“But this is everywhere. We’re used to it. It’s part of the accepted context of straight male desire – it’s tacky as all hell, aesthetically, and that’s just how they do – and so criticizing it, in an aesthetic way, seems pointless. Congratulations, you went looking for art in a product intended to provide boners and came up empty. Surprise! But when girls do the exact same thing – when they prove themselves capable of the exact same sort of objectification, and the exact same goofiness or tackiness or unrealistic fantasy in the name of getting off – well, it freaks people out. It’s weird. Why are they acting like this? Don’t they know that Robert Pattinson is a person? Why are they treating him like a big chunk of meat? Why doesn’t Edward Cullen act like a real guy would? Etcetera!”

- Tiger Beatdown (via gauntlet) (via amberlrhea)

Awesome.

amberlrhea: katoleary: feminismisforlovers: Why this project exists. emptythoughts: I have never...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:08:06 -0600

amberlrhea: katoleary: feminismisforlovers:

Why this project exists.

emptythoughts:

I have never told this story in its entirety. Now, 5 years later I still cannot actually TALK about it, but I have to get it out somehow. Its clawing at my insides and making me feel like a coward. This is already coming out all wrong, like a shitty high school livejournal entry, but I have to do this, I promised myself I would.

People always ask, “Why are you a feminist?” I give the standard “I believe in equality regardless of sex, gender, object choice, race, class…” When in truth, I’m a feminist because I need to understand why. I need to know it wasn’t my fault. I need to know why he thought it was acceptable for him to do it. I need to know why I didn’t tell anyone, why I questioned myself. Its stupid, I know it is, but honestly, that’s why I started reading feminist theory.

It was the 4th of July and I was one of my best friend’s parent’s lake house with his sister, her boyfriend, and his friend. I had just turned 18. The friend was cute. He was a football player, one of the positions that required more running than tackling I guess because he was tall and lean. I can’t help but feel that I sealed my own doom one night when we were talking about relationships and he asked how I felt about one-night stands. I said I didn’t have any problem with them, sometimes that’s all you want and there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe this made me seem “easy” I don’t know. Look at me, still trying to figure out where I screwed up.

Two nights later, it was Sunday and we would be leaving in the morning, everyone got super drunk, because it only seemed logical that we had to finish off all the booze we brought, ya know, less packing. This is when he started hitting on me. He kept trying to talk to me, convince me to go on a walk. I didn’t want to. I had just wanted someone to flirt with, I wasn’t interested in anything else. My friend used to be straight-edge and could not handle his liquor for shit and I tried and tried to get him to come to our room with me. I didn’t want to be alone with the other guy. I knew he was going to try something and I didn’t feel like trying to maneuver turning him down, I was too drunk and too tired for that shit. My friend wouldn’t budge and passed out on the couch, I left him and went to our room.

Of course the other guy followed me and I began the “Oh man, I am so tired, I just want to hit the stack and sleep.” Attempting to say “get out, I don’t want to do anything but sleep.” He said, “Okay, I get it. Just a good-night kiss?” I conceded, trying to take the path of least resistance. The room was spinning and I needed to lie down. I just wanted him to go. He left. I laid down still in my clothes and passed out. When I woke up he was on top of me, in me. I had no idea how long it had been going on. At first I thought maybe I had just been really drunk and agreed, but then I remembered. It hit me what was happening as I lay there still taking it all in. Finally, a wave of disgust and violation swept over me and I pulled my legs back, then I knew I had been correct in my assumption that I hadn’t been awake when it started, he faltered, he knew I was awake now, but he didn’t stop.

I kicked. I kicked out with everything I had, knocking him off me onto the floor. He got up and started in, “You fucking crazy cock-teasing bitch!” His nose was bleeding.

I told my friend and his sister what happened, her boyfriend beat the guy up and that was that. I never reported it. Even then I knew that if it wasn’t my fault, everyone would think it was. Another reason is everyone acted like it was no big deal, like only a minor party foul had occurred and if I said anything, I would be the one that was overreacting, that was out of line. Plus, I had no proof. I had flirted with him, I had gotten drunk around him. I knew.

But why? I’m starting to understand why. The patterns of his behavior and mine and how they weren’t really just our own. They were part of this whole god damn system. Neither of us is really that rare of a case, unfortunately, we’re probably the norm. I could care less about reporting him, all that would happen is he would do a couple of months AT MOST. That is if anything at all happened to him. He was just a goddamned symptom of a much deeper rooted societal ill. I want to take down the whole fucking system that allowed me and so many other people to feel guilty and weak. I want to raise awareness that this shit is not rare, its just so hard to talk about, to admit to. Rape is still shameful. The burden of proof is on a victim who may not even know that what they just experienced is rape. So, I’m speaking, er writing out to deal with my own sense of shame and confusion about what happened to me and how I handled it. But also because I’ve realized that until this type of thing is talked about, its going nowhere.

This is why I’m a feminist.

The War on Soy: Why the 'Miracle Food' May Be a Health Risk and Environmental Nightmare

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:59:48 -0600

The War on Soy: Why the 'Miracle Food' May Be a Health Risk and Environmental Nightmare:

Well, shit. Between this and the plastics thing, I’m doomed.

Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:53:09 -0600

Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos:

ieatcatlitter:

skinaybetty:

ieatcatlitter:

[snip]

Well I can see the point of each argument but without more details, it’s hard to chose who to stand behind. Did she get these benefits based on her inability to work and enjoy life? If she’s going out to Chippendales and such, she’s not depressed to the point of needing to receive money or benefits. If the pictures are old then the insurance company has no merit. I understand perfectly what she’s going through and I know how hard it is to get the motivation to participate in social and recreational activities. I can see the merit in both arguments.

~~I’ve been depressed before~~ I suffer from depression and at times my depression has been so bad, that in pictures I’ll be smiling but that doesn’t mean that I’m happy. It just means that I’m smiling in a picture.

It’s not really the smiling in a picture, it’s the leaving the house and going out to do fun activities. In general, most who are depressed will put on a “happy face” to fool everyone or be a good sport.

And you don’t think that maybe leaving the house and going out to do fun activities might be… treatment for depression?

I hate the whole “if you’re too sick to work, you have to be too sick to have fun” argument. Working often takes way more energy and effort than having fun. I get this a lot in my own life. Just because I have the energy for something I choose to do, doesn’t mean I have the energy for whatever you think I should be doing at the time. I will say this once: you can’t tell how healthy someone is by looking. There is no way.

Anyway, I was wondering how long it’d take before someone started attacking the woman in the photos. Turns out it didn’t take long at all!

My Regretsy submission

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:34:14 -0600

My Regretsy submission:

librarianpirate:

I especially love the Canadian flair

That’s ricockulous.

"Later in the interview, Palin said that President Obama’s economic plans were ‘back-asswards.’ Then..."

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:22:42 -0600

“Later in the interview, Palin said that President Obama’s economic plans were ‘back-asswards.’ Then Obama said that Sarah Palin is ucking funqualified to be talking about it.”

- Jimmy Fallon (via savingpaper) (via virtualephemera) (via apsies)

apsies: notthatkindagay: You Call Yourself Pro Life?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:22:26 -0600

apsies: notthatkindagay: You Call Yourself Pro Life?

Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:10:00 -0600

Depressed Lady Loses Benefits Because Of Her Facebook Photos:

A depressed woman has lost her benefits because her insurance agent found Facebook photos where she appears to be having fun.

CBC reports:

A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her benefits reinstated after her employer’s insurance company cut them, she says, because of photos posted on Facebook…She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on the popular social networking site, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday - evidence that she is no longer depressed, Manulife said.

I can’t even describe how angry this makes me. And in the comments, some people are actually defending the insurance company. RAGE.

Christmas Creep: Nordstrom Continues To Oppose Christmas Creep

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:55:46 -0600

Christmas Creep: Nordstrom Continues To Oppose Christmas Creep

thoughts in progress

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:33:12 -0600

thoughts in progress

"Same sex marriage should not be put on the ballot for a vote. Just like abortion should not be on..."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:32:34 -0600

“Same sex marriage should not be put on the ballot for a vote. Just like abortion should not be on the ballot for a vote. Just like protections for trans people should not be on the ballot for a vote. Because the majority is going to vote to protect its interests, for the most part, and that means that these measures are going to fail. And once a vote has gone through, it’s going to be harder to repeal, because of this whole “will of the people” argument that will get hauled out to defend inequality.”

- this ain’t livin’ » We’re Doing This Wrong

(via *lalalaurie) BATHROOM TIEM

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:36:35 -0600

(via *lalalaurie)

BATHROOM TIEM

(via *lalalaurie) nom nom

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:35:07 -0600

(via *lalalaurie)

nom nom

"A woman is six times more likely to be separated or divorced soon after a diagnosis of cancer or..."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:27:43 -0600

“A woman is six times more likely to be separated or divorced soon after a diagnosis of cancer or multiple sclerosis than if a man in the relationship is the patient. Researchers were surprised by the difference in separation and divorce rates by gender. The rate when the woman was the patient was 20.8 percent compared to 2.9 percent when the man was the patient. “Female gender was the strongest predictor of separation or divorce in each of the patient groups we studied,” said Marc Chamberlain, M.D., a co-corresponding author and director of the neuro-oncology program at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA).”

- FWD/Forward » This is something I avoid thinking about

"I meet with the gays here and there. They were in my house two weeks ago. I don’t mind gays. But I..."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:51 -0600

“I meet with the gays here and there. They were in my house two weeks ago. I don’t mind gays. But I don’t want ‘em stuffing it down my throat all the time. Certainly not in my kid’s face.”

- Utah Lawmaker: I Don’t Mind “the Gays,” but “I Don’t Want ‘Em Stuffing it Down My Throat all the Time” | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet

*snerk*

Cheesiest Book Covers

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:00 -0600

Cheesiest Book Covers

"You can’t tell by looking at my friend with the mental health condition that she tried to climb out..."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:28:05 -0600

“You can’t tell by looking at my friend with the mental health condition that she tried to climb out a third floor window and jump because she couldn’t take the idea of another day at her job, but you can probably tell she isn’t working right now while she recovers from the experience. You can’t tell by looking at my friend that she was bullied so badly at work that she has panic attacks whenever she thinks of stepping foot in the neighbourhood of her former workplace. Until Don got his cane, and then his wheelchair, lots of people wanted to know why he wasn’t working – aren’t people who have mobility issues always in wheelchairs?”

- FWD/Forward » “Bad Cripple”