Tag Archives: health

A New Feminist Movement? Will You Help?

I am calling for a new feminist movement and men, we really need your help.

Rush Limbaugh’s comments from last week still has people outraged. Though there are many men who despise him and his views on women, the fact that he is so forthright in the public eye suggests that many more of them are in agreement with his opinions. It is men like Rush who have given “feminists” a bad name and created the stereotype: that feminists are angry “man-haters.” Though he would probably deny it, it is obvious by his loose usage of the term “feminazi” that he has helped to perpetuate this hateful and outrageous stereotype. As a feminist, I have never been a man-hater nor met any feminists who were. It has been made clear by the public’s reaction to Rush’s recent rhetoric that both men and women are fed up with these unfair gender stereotypes and shamefully ignorant accusations.

I used to wonder how the public’s perception of the word “feminist” became so skewed from it’s actual definition “a person who advocates equal rights for women.” Instead of being viewed as courageous, people who dare to challenge the status quo in a country where women are still paid 20% less than what men earn in comparable positions, we are viewed with public disdain and branded man-hating rabble-rousers merely for daring to vocalize these glaring gender inequalities. Publicly, those with clout, like Rush, talk about and regard us with the same type of annoyance and irritation that they also reserve for the brave participants of the Occupy Movement.

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Rush Thinks We’re All Sluts

After Rush Limbaugh’s recent explosion over birth control it is clear that Rush Limbaugh thinks we’re all sluts. The controversy that caused the explosion: law student, Sarah Fluke’s testimony on behalf of women. Yes, women. She argued that birth control should be covered by insurance even if you are working or attending some sort of religious institution. The vast majority of Republicans are going after birth control coverage in the same way they bullied some insurance companies into removing abortion coverage. Rush responded to Sarah Fluke’s testimony with the following statement.

“So Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal: If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

It is interesting to note that Fluke’s argument was not based on the birth control’s contraceptive properties- but the health issues the pill is used to treat.

This is war: war on women. This last move, an attempt to remove birth control coverage from major insurance plans, proves it. They want us to be barefoot and pregnant or just plain poor from having to buy birth control without insurance coverage. Men can walk into a gas station to buy condoms. Condoms are $1 each. Women have to first make an appointment with an OBGYN (which without insurance is $250 before tests are added to the bill) and then they must get a prescription, bring it to a pharmacy and get it filled. Even with insurance, the copay for birth control is often $20 or even $40 for a one month supply!

I just called my local Rite Aid Pharmacy to get some prices. One of the safest birth control pills to take (safe because it has less hormones in it than the other ones) is $114.99 per month! That is without insurance. With insurance it is probably still expensive, as we know each year copays go up not down.

There are other options like Planned Parenthood, which will provide you with affordable birth control for $35, however, their selection of pills are limited and they do not carry the low hormone brands. Ladies, you better get your affordable birth control at Planned Parenthood quick, because the Republicans in power are trying to defund them too.

 

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Residual Pain

Last night, I volunteered at the animal shelter. I always loved animals but started volunteering around the time I began attending rape counseling. Those memories had long been suppressed and by the time I finally got around to speaking to someone about them, I was in bad shape. I was definitely suffering from some sort of PTSD and was terrified of people as well as the most benign circumstances. In counseling, I talked about being date raped. I felt better after talking to someone and being validated. You see, I blamed myself for being raped, because I willingly entered the situation: I went over my “friends” house to watch the Superbowl and have a few beers. That was twelve Superbowls ago. A night that started off fun ended with a lot of memory loss, inability to determine sequence of events, physical pain, and then a loss of said friends -but not before an inquisition from said friends in which they slyly tried to determine what I remembered of the night, if anything at all.

For the next decade I did what I wanted to do fearlessly. I did not worry about consequences. I did not care. It wasn’t until after rape counseling that I developed a new and unsightly complex. Though I expected the counseling to make things better it did and it didn’t. Though I now felt validated, receiving formal counseling and talking about what happened opened up a can of worms. After going on a date or hanging out with a man alone, I would go home and scrutinize the night’s events, piecing them together again and again worrying to myself about whether or not something happened. The basis for this fear was a fear that during the date, I had some sort of memory loss, though I was fully conscious and sober the entire time. I would agree with most people, that this is pretty nutty, however, the fear was very real and debilitating. Once the anxiety began it took off like a speeding train. It could go on and on for hours and sometimes days. God bless the people around me who patiently listened to me and reassured me that it was unlikely that anything happened, and reassured me that I would remember it.

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Filed under Animal Rights, Domestic Violence, Healing, Sexual Assault

What’s New This Week on The Veggie Stand?

Meet Kya our first Rescue Animal of the Week An inspirational short story detailing how one little yorkie went from puppy mill to pent house

Enter your pet to be our next Rescue Animal of the WeekDid you or one of your friends rescue an animal? Enter your animal here and maybe you will see him featured soon on The Veggie Stand

Does Eating Soy Cause Breast Cancer? There’s been lots of controversy on this topic lately. I did some research and dug deep- take a look at what I found.

Recipe Wednesday: Buffalofu! This week on Recipe Wednesday, we’re featuring one of my favorites, Buffalofu, my meet-free take on boneless buffalo wings- YUM!

 
 


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Surviving Sexual Assault by Conquering the World

"Pearl in Shell" via Blue Eyed Ennis

I recently had an anniversary. About a year ago, I was unable to sleep and up late at night calling anonymous help lines. To even admit this, I am bashful. Who wants to represent the image of a person who has reached the point in their life when calling anonymous help lines in the middle of the is nothing out of the ordinary? I did this for about a week until one night I was connected to a local hotline, not one of those 24-hour hotlines that have someone sitting by the phone around the clock. Nope, the person I spoke to on this particular night had been sleeping and was woken up because it was their night to watch the hotline. For the next few days this counselor, the one I had awoken, relentlessly called me until I agreed to go to the Rape Crisis Center in my area.

Not long after that, I reluctantly showed up at the doorstep of this old house turned office building in the middle of the city ready to talk about what happened to me ten years ago. As I rang the doorbell and waited for security to let me in, I figured that talking to a counselor couldn’t possibly make me feel worse than I already did.

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Filed under Healing, Inspirational, Sexual Assault