[cranky] CFF manifesto (in progress)

CFF began as a way for me to post images and articles that spoke to me, without the anger of friend’s parents, or friends, or my parents and relatives, or any other jackasses. It was a way to share the new blog I had started, to contemplate my understanding of the feminist classes I was taking in college. I also needed to reflect on my recent return from Africa, and how feminism related to my trip.

CFF became a place for me to understand that there is more than fat shaming -- there is skinny shaming too, and that I’ve participated in it. Today, I do post mostly about fat shaming, but I make a point of never skinny shaming.


I’ve also reflected a lot on how I’ve felt fat since probably the age of 9 or 10. I hit puberty early (period came at age 10) so I was extra tall and hairy early. I’ve always had wide shoulders, and by 6th grade I was a 36C. I was always bigger than every other girl, and most of the guys. I told myself constantly that I was fat. Middle school (the years of self hate, mean girls, exploring make up, leg shaving, girl on girl hate…) only made my fat feel fatter.

 

[cranky] periods and porta potties, and bullshit at work

A month ago, four hours from home, I arrive at this new work site, 6:45am, bleary-eyed and desperately clutching my nearly empty coffee cup. Turns out we were called in early just for the sake of being early and sorting paperwork, which really only took 20 minutes. By 7:45 my bladder is full of coffee and I have to ask where the restrooms are… only to find out that we had access to porta potties. Perhaps if I walked half a mile up the road to this fancy arena people would be there and let me in to use a real restroom. But that was perhaps. After tucking a just in case tampon into the shorts I’m wearing (which are really my new boyfriend’s extra pair of work shorts) I hand my helmet to one of my female coworkers and head to the row of porta potties. My hands have already touched the gross “community box” of hard hats, borrowed someone’s pen to sign paperwork, and had just touched the door of the porta potty. While trying to keep the bottoms of my shorts from touching the pool of water around my boots, I discover that I have indeed started my period. And I have no where to wash my hands before I use the tampon. Surely comical if anyone had been watching, I managed to keep the shorts out of the puddle and put in the tampon. About to walk out I remember, I still have no where to wash my hands. I clean my hands to the best of my ability with the one-ply, but have no choice but to walk out, grab my hard hat, and get ready to work.

[feminist] review: #Orgasm, Inc

No one truly knows where Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) comes from, as a medical term and disease. The pharmaceutical industry (the third largest industry in the United States) is promoting FSD as a disease with a potential monetary and medical fix. Drug companies are in a race to be the first company to be FDA approved for their magic libido-boosting drug. Everything in our capitalist world can be commodified, even your orgasms. Because “orgasms should happen and feel this one particular way… therefore your way is wrong.” So we’re going to help you have the perfect orgasm, if you can fork over the money.

Why are we so gullible? The vast majority of Americans did not receive proper sex ed in school. The joke “if you have sex, you will get pregnant, and you will die” is unfortunately not really a joke. Many of us learned that “lesson” in school instead of facts. If we can’t learn about our reproductive anatomy, and the purpose of our anatomy, then we are doomed to learn about sex and sexuality from society-- our parents, our friends, the tv, the horrible things anyone can find online…

[cranky] gynotician activism/harassment

Information for the "gynoticians" who need to receive pads, tampons, VAGINA postcards, and/or wire hangers in the mail, along with a phone call, email, or tweet about scheduling your next ob/gyn annual:

ALABAMA, for TRAP laws identical to Mississippi

GOVERNOR: Robert Julian Bentley
PHONE NO: 334-242-7100
FAX NO: 334-353-0004
EMAIL form: http://governor.alabama.gov/contact/contact_form.aspx
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/governorbentley
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/bentley2010
ADDRESS: 600 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36130

LT. GOVERNOR: Kay E. Ivey
PHONE NO: 334-242-7900
FAX NO: 334-242-4661
EMAIL: http://ltgov.alabama.gov/contact.aspx
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/LtGovIvey
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KayIveyAL
ADDRESS: 11 South Union Street, Suite 725, Montgomery, AL 36130

ARKANSAS, for trying to implement a 12 week abortion ban

Governor Mike Beebe
Phone: 501-682-2345
Email form: http://governor.arkansas.gov/contact/index.php
Twitter: GovBeebeMedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Office-of-Arkansas-Governor-Mike-Beebe/177813702279256?sk=wall

Lt. Gov. Mark A. Darr
Phone: 501-682-2144
Fax: 501-682-2894
Email link: http://ltgovernor.arkansas.gov/contact-us/
Twitter: @ltgovmarkdarr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ltgovmarkdarr

ARIZONA, for new clinic laws

Gov Jan Brewer
Phoenix Office: (602) 542-4331
Tucson Office: (520) 628-6580
Fax Number: (602) 542-1381
In-State Toll Free: 1-800-253-0883 (outside Maricopa County only)
@teambrewer
https://www.facebook.com/GovJanBrewer?fref=ts
The Honorable Janice K. Brewer
Arizona Governor
Executive Tower
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007

KENTUCKY

Senator Mitch McConnell:
Phone: (202) 224-2541
Fax: (202) 224-2499
Email Form: http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mitchmcconnellcan send a message this way

Senator Rand Paul:
Phone: Phone: 202-224-4343
Email form: http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=contact
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorRandPaul
Twitter: @SenRandPaul

Governor Steve Beshear
Phone: (502) 564-2611
Fax: (502) 564-2517
Email form: http://governor.ky.gov/Pages/contact.aspx
Twitter: @GovSteveBeshear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govstevebeshear

Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson
Phone: (502) 564-2611
Fax: (502) 564-2849
Email form: http://ltgovernor.ky.gov/Pages/contact.aspx
Twitter: @LtGovAbramson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ltgovjerryabramson/timeline?filter=3

MICHIGAN, for new clinic laws

Governor Rick Snyder
(517) 335-7858
Email form: https://somgovweb.state.mi.us/GovRelations/ShareOpinion.aspx
Twitter: @onetoughnerd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RickForMichigan

Lt. Governor Brian Calley
(517) 373-6800
Twitter: @BrianCalley
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briancalley

MISSISSIPPI, for trying to become the first state with no abortion clinic

Governor Phil Bryant
Email form: http://www.governorbryant.com/contact/
Twitter: @PhilBryantMS
Phone: 601.359.3150
Fax: 601.359.3741
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/im4phil

Lt. Governor Tate Reeves
ltgov@senate.ms.gov
Twitter: @TateReeves
Phone: (601) 359-3200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tatereeves

OHIO, for redefining pregnancy, passing TRAP laws, and defunding PP in favor of CPCs

Gov John R. Kasich
Phone: (614) 466-3555
@johnkasich FB John R Kasich
Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Phone: (614) 466-3555

Lt Gov Mary Taylor
Phone: (614) 466-3555
@MaryTaylorOH
Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117

NORTH CAROLINA, for #motorcyclevagina, lying, and TRAP laws

Governor Pat McCrory
Phone: (919) 814-2000
Fax: (919) 733-2120
Email: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/contact/email-pat
Twitter: @PatMcCroryNC
Address:
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

Lt. Governor Dan Forest
Phone: (919) 733-7350
Fax: (919) 733-6595
Email: lt.gov@nc.gov
Twitter: @DanForestNC
Address:
Office of the Lt. Governor
20401 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0401

Chris Whitmire: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=H&nUserID=660 Twitter: https://twitter.com/RepWhitmire

George Cleveland: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=H&nUserID=476

Jacqueline Schaffer: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=H&nUserID=647 Twitter: https://twitter.com/SchafferJM

Larry Pitman: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=H&nUserID=633

NORTH DAKOTA, home of the fetal heartbeat ban trying to go into effect any day now

GOVERNOR: Jack Dalrymple
PHONE NO: (701)328-2200
FAX NO: (701)328-2205
EMAIL-DIRECT LINK: http://www.governor.nd.gov/contact-us
EMAIL: governor@state.nd.us
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/NDGovDalrymple
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DalrympleforGov
ADDRESS: State Capitol, 600 E. Boulevard Ave, Bismarck, ND 58505-0001


LT. GOVERNOR: Drew Wrigley
PHONE NO: (701)328-2200
FAX NO: (701)328-2205
EMAIL: http://governor.nd.gov/contact-us
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DrewWrigley
ADDRESS: State Capitol,600 E. Boulevard Ave, Bismarck, ND 58505-0001

Chairwomen of ALEC: Bette Grande
TWITTER: @bettegrande

TEXAS, for its 20 week ban, TRAP laws, and all-around unlawful bullshit

Governor Rick Perry
PHONE: (512) 463-2000
MAILING ADDRESS: Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, Texas 78711-2428
DELIVERY ADDRESS: Office of the Governor, State Insurance Building, 1100 San Jacinto, Austin, Texas 78701

WISCONSIN, for trying to be the newest vag-probe state

Governor Scott Walker
PHONE NO: 608-266-1212
FAX NO. 608-267-8983
EMAIL: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/Contact-Us
EMAIL: govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/GovWalker
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/governorscottwalker
ADDRESS: 115 East State Capitol, Madison, WI 53707

 LT. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch
PHONE NO: (608) 266-3516
FAX NO: (608) 267-3571
EMAIL: ltgov@wisconsin.gov
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ltgovkleefisch
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ltgovkleefisch
ADDRESS: 19 East, State Capitol, P.O. Box 2043, Madison, WI 53702

VIRGINIA, for new clinic laws

Governor Bob McDonnell
Phone: (804) 786-2211
Fax: (804) 371-6351
Email form: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
Twitter: @GovernorVA

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
Phone: 703-766-0635
Email form: http://www.ag.virginia.gov/ContactUsForm/ContactForm.aspx
Twitter: @KenCuccinelli
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KenCuccinelli

[feminist] abortion stories

Its time to end the shame and stigmas associated with abortions. To add your story, email me or message me on Facebook.

Emily
I was 18 years old and a senior in high school. I had recently lost a lot of weight within the past year and a half and I started getting attention for a lot of different boys. I met a boy that was in the military. He became my very first boyfriend. We had a very fast relationship. We dated for a month but since he was my first boyfriend I was completely delusionally in love with him. Even though we broke up I'd still travel hours up to his duty station to spend time with him and we continued to sleep together. We saw each other last around the end of December. We remained to talk over the phone. I found out that I was pregnant in February. I told him about it and he immediately demanded that I have an abortion because it would ruin his future career. Funny enough, his family is very conservative and very catholic and yet he was telling me to get an abortion. I knew it was the right thing to do. He offered me no support in the process though, so I kept completely quiet about the situation. At around 14 weeks I decided to cut off contact with him and had an abortion. Was it a hard decision? Yes. Was it the right one? For me yes. I was a senior in high school and I would be a single mom. There was no need to try to raise a child in hostility. It was pretty much painless and I went along my life. To this day he's never said a word about it and continues to be a shitty person but that's on him. Today, I'm a strong woman that is married and has a beautiful little girl. I know for a fact I wouldn't be married, be as happy as I am nor be the person I am today if I hadn't had an abortion. I volunteer with various women's rights groups. I have counter protested 'pro-life' groups outside Planned Parenthoods by myself that have tried to shame me in my decision. But I am not ashamed, not a bit.

[feminist advocacy] Letter to the Editior

Letter to the Editor of the Mount Gilead Ohio local paper. In response to a previously published letter in which the author clearly had his facts about Sandra Fluke, religion, Obama Care, and the Constitution confused. (to say the least)

Dear Editors,

I am a 21 year old college student, and I am on birth control. I am not ashamed that I am on birth control, because I have endometriosis and ovarian cysts. I was put on the pill at the age 15 so that my reproductive organs would remain viable for later in life when I chose to have children, and I would not have a high risk of an ectopic pregnancy. At the age of 19 I had a fast-growing cyst rupture after reaching the size of a tennis ball in just over one month. I could not go into work for three weeks, and laid in bed in excruciating pain when I was not at the doctor’s office. I was given a new birth control pill and told that if I stopped taking it, I might have to have my left ovary removed. Clearly, being on the birth control pill is a matter of my health, my quality of life, and my ability to be a productive member of society.

Sandra Fluke testified that as equal citizens in America, women should be able to access affordable birth control, meaning that insurance companies should be required to provide birth control coverage in their insurance policies. The birth control pill that I am on right now, which is the ONLY pill that I can be on for endometriosis and ovarian cysts without interfering with my hypothyroidism or pre-diabetes (the pre-diabetes was brought on after a 40 pound weight gain from my previous birth control pill trying to control the endometriosis), costs $30 a month because it is non-generic. It costs $120 a month without insurance. This means that, without required coverage for birth control, someone like myself might have to pay $120 x 12 months x 4 years = $5,760. Instead, after insurance I pay $1,440.

I am a Christian, I was raised a Southern Baptist. My NEED for birth control coverage has absolutely nothing to do with religion or sexual promiscuity or taking anything away from religious institutions. Put simply, I believe that birth control is part of my health care, and that if I have health insurance it should be covered. If a woman feels that it is against her religious beliefs to take birth control, then she has every right to never ever take or use any form of birth control. I do not think that an outsider, or any legislator, should decide my fate when they do not know me and my body.

Thank you for taking the time to hear my story and opinion.

[feminist] why I need birth control

This video should be watched by every voter in America. The idea that all women should have access to affordable birth control shouldn't be shocking, and it shouldn't be up for debate. What a person does with their body is their own business, and the way that they take care of their body is their own business, not the government's.

congressional birth control hearing-- the woman on the panel gets to speak

I was put on the pill when I was 15 because the doctor was afraid I had endometriosis, just like my mother. (Who had a terrible painful and extra complicated hysterectomy eventually because of this). I was told if I'm not on some form of birth control, its quite possible that my fallopian tubes will become blocked by endometrium growth-- meaning that I could be sterile, and also that I would have an increased risk of an ectopic pregnancy.

At 19 my pill had to be switched-- I'm over the weight limit for the low dose pill I was taking and I was still ovulating. (period control-- not birth control!, which was what I needed) I had terrible pain in my hip, and an MRI showed a golf ball size cyst on my left ovary. Less than a month later after other tests (before the MRI results came back) I had another test which showed that the cyst had grown to the size of a tennis ball. Also, I didn't get that test result back before I was walking across my apartment one evening and collapsed onto the floor in excruciating pain. The cyst had ruptured, and its contents coated my insides. It took about a month before that pain went away. I was told that if I had another, it could mean the end of that ovary through a necessary surgery. My bc pill now keeps me from ovulating. With insurance its $30 a month. When I had to have the annual beg-and-plead with the insurance company to reauthorize it, I had to go without for a month because it was $120.

The thought of not having insurance truly scares me. The idea of having insurance one day that doesn't cover all of my medical needs is disgusting and even scarier. Access to contraceptives is not just about unwanted pregnancy through promiscuous sex, its about basic healthcare for the well being of all women.

We have to stand together, call the men and women representing us in Washington, call the people representing us in our state capitals, and let them know that this is absolutely ridiculous and that their time is better spent on other things. Then, come November, we have to show all of America that we have the power to get rid of the idiots who are sponsoring these bills against women's health. Standing by and doing nothing is just a form of siding with the oppressors. I refused to be oppressed in the land of the free.

[feminist] mass produced bras and my breast reduction surgery

In response to:

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. “Breast Buds and the ‘Training’ Bra.” 1977. Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings, 4^th edition. 249-254.

Before reading this I had no idea that the first bra was created in 1913, “designed simply to flatten,” and that the more current/modern bra came about in the 1930’s (Brumberg 250). The concept of the bra is so new yet so universal now. Mass production and mass media are so influential in society, and the bra is a prime example. With mass production came sizing—A, B, C, D, the infamous DD, and the realm of un-tamed breasts even larger. (As a person who once wore the “more than a DD,” I know firsthand the impossibility of buying a bra in a department store that will be the correct size.) I was still in middle school when I made the transition to “larger than my mother” and up to DD, and had to face the realization that I wasn’t just larger than normal, larger than my peers, but I was freakishly, abnormally larger than society as a whole. For years I wore two minimizer bras at a time in an effort to “tame” my breasts even more, as they continued to grow. I was known as “jugs” for years in high school before I had breast reduction surgery, after which I spent my final year in baggy shirts so that no one would I know that I had “gotten my tits cut off.”  (which to this day people perceive as a “tragedy” despite the fact that it was practically a medical necessity)

The physical pain I had from wearing underwire bras aimed at “taming” my breasts has always led me to wonder why anyone would wear a AAA or AA (or even an A) bra when to me they so obviously don’t need one. But with stores and brands like Victoria’s Secret a AAA girl can wear a bra that makes her look like she has real B-size breasts. (I’ve always wondered how disappointed the boyfriend is once the bra comes off?)