Lets Limp Along

I’m trying to find something, some piece of resistance that I can do consistently without going crazy. Because feeling like I’m accomplishing something makes me feel good, but feeling like I’m clawing my way uphill certainly does not.

I donate monthly to the organizations listed here. That helped when I signed up for them. And it helps me sleep on days where I feel like I contributed nothing to society. I was sick and drank tea all day, I didn’t go to any meetings, call any senators or even go exercise.

I bought a stack of postcards to send to my congressmen. It actually made me feel better. I ignored the scripts I found online and spoke from the heart, using my best guilting-jewish-grandmother tone.

Senator, I was really disappointed to hear that you voted yes on that bill. I hope that you can be more representative of your constituents in the future so that I can be proud to vote for you next time around.

Affixing a superwoman stamp to each one.

But reading the updates, what’s coming up for a vote, what’s on the chopping block, what I should be reacting to and writing about, it’s more than I can do once a week. And the phone calls, I’m not sure I can do the phone calls.

It’s a disheartening time to be young and passionate in America. It makes me long to be young and passionate somewhere else. It’s a tough time for values that wouldn’t be classified as “religious right.” Or alt-right.

Dust Yourself Off And Try Again

I’m not feeling so well lately, emotionally, when I look at the world outside myself.

I’m trying to do more self-care, more yoga, more cooking, more making beautiful things for my friends, donating.

The Planned Parenthood tumblr page is really helping keep my head straight.

My initial reaction in November was automatic self-care. I cried in public when I needed it, I shrunk from situations that felt daunting. Since then I’ve taken to reading articles and beautiful words about it.

But now it feels like it’s time to brush ourselves off and get back up.

See you there friends!

Where Do We Go From Here?

This week’s episode of John Oliver was the cure for exactly what ails me.

I’ve been feeling really helpless since the election and the best remedy I’ve found so far is supporting organizations that are in line with my beliefs.

I’ve been a monthly supporter of Planned Parenthood for a while now but on Wednesday I signed up for a monthly donation to the ACLU.

John recommends:

Planned Parenthood

Center for Reproductive Rights

Natural Resources Defense Council

The International Refugee Assistance Project

NAACP Legal Defense Fund

The Trevor Project

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Pick one, pick a few, pick all of them. Send $5/month if that’s all you can afford.

Yes, it did take this drastic moment in our history to make me realize how important it is to donate. But here we are. I can’t wait for my umbrella stand to be as full of full of emblems as the one I grew up with.

What Hasn’t Killed You Yet

So this whole Trump, sexual assault thing:

The problem isn’t that a crazy, entitled, abusive shit bag is running for president.

I mean, that’s a true statement. He is.

But I’m sure other shitty people have run for office before.

Surely at least one of them abused someone down the line. Life is long and just because a job is respected doesn’t mean that the people who take it are perfect. They cheat on their spouses, they sneak cigarettes, they own slaves. They’re humans and impacted by their time and place and society just like the rest of us.

The problem (but also maybe the opportunity) in the fact that a crazy, entitled, abusive shit bag is running for president is that we get to see people do the mental aerobics of re-defining sexual assault to suit their needs.

RUSH LIMBAUGH: You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing. You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent. If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.

[x]

I loathe Donald Trump but I’m not really worried he’s going to grab me by the genitals. This is due largely to proximity, and the fact that I’ve never had a problem with the fact that a penis can suffer a lot of pain without irreparable damage.

TWS: But beyond the language, would you characterize the behavior described in that as sexual assault if that behavior actually took place?

JEFF SESSIONS: I don’t characterize that as sexual assault. I think that’s a stretch.

[x]

What does scare me is that a significant portion of the population agrees with him.

I’m not worried that DJ Trump himself is going to grope me on the train. I’m worried that he’s broadcasting the inner monologue of someone I’m on a date with, or getting a ride from, or working an overnight with.

[Donald Trump Jr.] went on to say that if women feel harassed by the comments men want to make, they should just leave their jobs. “I’m of the mindset, and I’ll get in trouble… If you can’t handle some of the basic stuff that’s become a problem in the workforce today, you don’t belong in the workforce,” he said. “You should go maybe teach Kindergarten. I think it’s a respectable position. You can’t be negotiating billion-dollar deals if you can’t handle, like you know.” He didn’t elaborate on what he meant by “like you know.”

[x]

Someone who now feels additionally justified in their sense of entitlement to my body.

And that’s a valid fear.

It’s something that could actually kill me. Unlike moths.

Makeup Tutorials For All Your Needs

I love this trend of political statement ‘makeup tutorials.’

Megan MacKay has a few really good ones like this one about cultural appropriator extraordinaire Urban Outfitters.

This one about the slut shaming Hobby Lobby decision.

I want to be her friend.

Michelle Fan has also been doing great ones for a while, like this one about religious insanitist Michele Bachmann.

And this one about abuse ignoring Joe Paterno.

And of course, one of my favorites, Anna Akana’s ‘daily’ routine.

Rock The Vote

Happy election day everyone!  Happy voting!

They Found Us Out!

Anyone want to hide me?  I’ll teach you how to fly on a broomstick.

“Visionary feminism is a wise and loving politics. It is rooted in the love of male and female being, refusing to privilege one over the other. The soul of feminist politics is the commitment to ending patriarchal domination of women and men, girls and boys. Love cannot exist in any relationship that is based on domination and coercion. Males cannot love themselves in patriarchal culture if their very self-definition relies on submission to patriarchal rules. When men embrace feminist thinking and preactice, which emphasizes the value of mutual growth and self-actualization in all relationships, their emotional well-being will be enhanced. A genuine feminist politics always brings us from bondage to freedom, from lovelessness to loving.”

– bell hooks (via thechocolatebrigade) [x]