AskTrish: Man Inquires About “the Woman Behind the Blog” & What I Do in My Spare Time
Dear Trish,
That was random I know, but you share so much about your life and experiences that I wondered how you were doing in the areas that you don’t speak about. You have every right to say nothing. I just enjoy getting a better understanding of the woman behind the blog.
What do you like to do in your spare time, when you’re not being a sex guru or a mom? What do you hope to achieve in the next year, 5 years or 10 years? What is something that no matter how upset or angry you are always manages to make you smile or at least smirk? If knowledge is power, when it comes to the content of your Aroused Woman blog, how powerful do you feel?
All hail Queen Vagina!
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
You’re sweet! 
A few posts back, I announced that I was branching out with ArousedWoman(TM), re-focusing on “Awakening Sexuality Through Mind, Body, & Spirit.” So I’ll be posting lots of new topics and crazy wack-a-doo posts that I feel are relevant to my growth and that I hope are interesting to my readers.
As you can see from my “random post” on astral travel, that experience had a profound effect on me — not just my perception of what’s on the Other Side, but experiencing what actually is and is NOT on the Other Side confirmed for me many “beliefs” in regard to humanity, religion, society, etc. My beliefs-turned-knowledge affect me sexually (i.e., there’s no hell and certainly no “sin” as classified by controlling religious dogma), the experience of pure love (I know what I’m looking for when it comes to love, I won’t settle for anything less, and love has to be felt — it can’t be intellectualized or rationalized, i.e., If I love him enough, he’ll change, so I’ll love him really hard and work to change him into the person I want him to be.), and other concepts I’m still integrating even after the 9 or 10 years since the experience.
Which brings me to my “spare time”… Just yesterday, in fact, my daughter asked me, “Just what do you do during the day?” And I had to tell her the truth. Not much. I’m a Libra, a mind-candy person. I’m a creator. It’s difficult for me to actually finish anything because once it’s complete, it’s over — I can’t mind-candy it anymore. But my creative works have to be completed if I’m gonna earn a paycheck and feed my child.
I spend most of my time reading, learning, experimenting, walking, cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, meditating, pondering, writing, tweeting, doing laundry, working, walking, composing music, looking at the trees, studying leaves, watching squirrels and birds interact, more reading, more research, more questing, listening to the wind, being witchy, brewing concoctions, making cool witchy stuff, doing web design for new clients, creating different workshops, textile design, writing, writing, writing, tweeting…
I don’t have “spare time” in that I do what I love for a living (theatre), and I’m currently working on 2 new training certifications, after which, I’ll go for 2 more. (I’m already certified in yoga and Pilates.) Because I do what I love, I don’t earn a lot of money — I live simply and have found that to be rather wonderful. I go to bed every night thoroughly happy with my life. I wish there were more time in the day, but I know I used the time I had to enrich my life, provide for my daughter, and enjoy being in this meat-suit while being amazed at the beauty that is around me.
It can be surreal sometimes. I’ve had people say, “Wow, you lucked out writing for a living.” No, I was in the performing arts for 36 years, I’m an award-winning composer, I hosted a radio show that had 27,000 listeners worldwide (that I put on hold to start ArousedWoman and fight the idiocy of the GOP during the 2012 POTUS election), and I have something to say. I created my “luck” by working my ass off and paying my “dues.” I earned my right to write for a living.
Currently, I’m creating an online course on Musical Theatre training topics, I’m starting a new project (a magazine), and I will get back to my theatre radio show soon. I’m also going to teach some health workshops in my local area to help supplement my income. I’m also working on the ArousedWoman cookbook, and I’m creating my orgasm training method (which will be in beta testing soon for anyone who wants to contact me to participate in it).
I’m still trying to get the AW Forum going and still raising money for ArousedWoman Radio, to interview guests and answer people’s question in real time. But that is slow-going. It will happen in its own time, I guess.
Most of my time is spent on personal growth, getting healthy, and growing my experiences sexually, sensually, tantrically. I want to be a complete human, not a shell of a human in the rat race of society, as so many people are. I want to help others get out of that kind of life — to help them make a better life for themselves, get healthier, find some kind of peace in this crazy world — to see that happiness in self and happiness in life are connected. I want to help people overcome their PTSD with sexual trauma. I want to help others see beyond the hypocrisy of religion, politics, and government — that all that bullshit doesn’t really matter — and if it does matter to you, then don’t just complain, actually get off your ass and do something about it.
I want to help people get off the lie that is the insensitive Western medical system which is being undermined by the pharmacological industry. I want to inspire others to get back to the “beauty way,” back to Mother Earth because the livestock and dairy industries are killing our planet and our bodies. We are not separate from the earth — the earth isn’t just the thing under the sidewalks and asphalt — the earth is our food, our air, our water, our home, our reason for incarnating to this physical plane. If the living biosphere of the earth weren’t so important to us, we would have incarnated on Mars or somewhere else. Duh.
I want people to take back their power to heal themselves without fear of criminalization from the oppressive forces in control of our society.
I want women to take back our rightful place as healers, warriors, judges, peacemakers — as we were before patriarchal misogyny made women property, whores, and household slaves.
Where do I want to be in 5 years? Hopefully, I will have finished my Bachelor’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology from Sofia University and will be nearly finished with my Master’s in Women’s Spirituality. After that, I may take 2 years to study Sanskrit at St. John’s University in Arizona. And of course, 6 years from now, I hope to have completed my work to be an official teacher of Tantra. Essentially, I want to be able to keep a roof over my head while helping others.
I used to think this life was too long. In the past century, we have tripled our life expectancy. Why? Wasn’t 35 years of war, struggle, famine, disease, and natural disasters enough? Now, we have to endure this for 72, or 85, or 105 years?! Now, I see that even that long is not enough. This is a great time to be in a meat-suit on the physical plane. It is a truly wondrous time of change, and we’re a part of it. The past century — this past year! — has seen the rise of women and the awareness of human rights that is 2,000 years overdue.
I just want to do my part to “Be the change.” In my own particular brand of “random,” witchy, artistic, holistic, bohemian, awakening, loudmouth IrishLava. But understand, we really can’t change other people; we can only change ourselves and be the example of change we hope to inspire in others.
trish
Links:
- Follow @AnArousedWoman on Twitter | ArousedWoman on Facebook
- ArousedWoman Forum
- Trish’s DailyOJ posts
- AskTrish posts
- ArousedWoman Tumblr
AskTrish: Woman Who Got STD From Cheating Partner Wants to Find Love
Dear Trish,
I don’t even know why I am writing to you, you just seem to give sound understanding advice. I am a sexual woman, but have only been with one man my entire life, and a couple years ago he had an affair/cheated. Not only did he break my heart, but gave me a life long STD (no not HIV), the other. 
Ever since, I am scared that I’m broken/ damaged goods. How could any man be able to look past what I have and have a healthy sexual relationship with me without the stigma? The rejection would kill me inside.
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
I’m so sorry to hear that you were betrayed on several levels. While a committed relationship is not for me personally, I do take loyalty very seriously and hate having my trust violated.
Since you’ve read my blog, I’m going to be blunt. I’m not going to guess what “the other” sexually transmitted disease is that you contracted from him. Is getting a sexually transmitted disease the end of your world? No. Is it a pain in the ass? Has your life changed irrevocably? Yes. Will you find love again? Only if you really want to.
The affair, and I’m assuming the contraction of the STD, was a couple of years ago, but you sound as if you’re still in denial or depression about it. I would highly suggest you reach out to a support group and talk with a counselor about your options for safe sex and long-term care for yourself to support your immune system and keep you healthy otherwise. Note, this counselor or therapist serves a different purpose than your doctor that you may see every few months to get prescriptions. A counselor will be interested in your well-being on a personal level, not just the numbers on your blood panels.
It is understandable if you are still in denial or even anger about the affair, the STD, the “what now?” you have had to deal with. It can be overwhelming. You might consider getting Adina Nack’s book that seems to resonate exactly with your worst fear, Damaged Goods?: Women Living With Incurable Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Once you get into a support group or have access to help via a support system, I think you should ask if there is a dating group there as well. Yes, I said it. Ask them if there is a group they know about (with people who have your same STD) that you can start to hang out with, mingle with, and just get to know as friends so you don’t feel so alone in this. After all, you’re not the first person with an STD who has wanted to find love again! So don’t be afraid to ask them!! Your fear is that another man won’t accept you because of the STD. And I’m sensing you would feel a huge dose of gratefulness or indebtedness for him “overlooking” the disease and accepting you regardless. But if you meet a guy who has the same disease, then that part of the awkwardness is nullified, and now you two can move on to figuring out who picks up the check on the first date.
I’m not trying to sound glib about your situation, but I want you to see that there is hope for you — in body and spirit. Each of us makes choices about how we live each day of our lives. I’m glad to see that you want to live and be happy!
Of course, you should be up front and honest with a potential partner — NEVER leave the info about an STD till “after.” But I feel you have A LOT of healing to do on yourself before you even think about bringing a partner into your life. If you think a partner will give you acceptance, then if that partner leaves, that acceptance goes out the door with them. You have to develop acceptance for yourself from within your self, or any sense of self-worth will last only as long as the relationship. Heal yourself first.
Find a local group, a national hotline, or activist group that helps people with your STD. Be honest with them. Their job is to help you see that life isn’t over once you’ve contracted an STD, just as life isn’t over once a person gets a cancer diagnosis. It’s just a diagnosis. You are in the driver’s seat as to how your life plays out from that moment onward. You are in control. And that can make all the difference in the world for your outlook on the situation, on love, and your life as a whole.
Let me know how it goes. I can’t wait to hear what happens!!
trish
Recommended Products:
Links:
- Follow @AnArousedWoman on Twitter | ArousedWoman on Facebook
- Contact Trish for a Consult
- ArousedWoman Forum
- Trish’s Daily OJ posts
NEWS: New Mexico Takes #GOP’s Stupid Pills to Usurp Rape Victims’ Reproductive Rights
As if the NEWS in 2012 were not horrible enough in the GOP’s effort to completely thwart women’s bodily autonomy, New Mexico legislators are bringing the GOP’s misogynist KoolAid to the forefront in 2013.
State Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R) (<– of course!) introduced New Mexico House Bill 206 that would require law enforcement to charge a rape victim with a third-degree felony for “tampering with evidence,” if she terminated a pregnancy conceived through rape or incest.
According to the language in New Mexico House Bill 206:
“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime.”
Brown offered this as justification:
“New Mexico needs to strengthen its laws to deter sex offenders. By adding this law in New Mexico, we can help to protect women across our state.
After a shit-storm of negative response by pro-choice activists and Democrat legislators, Brown explained the bill’s idiotic thinking:
“Its intent is solely to deter rape and cases of incest. The rapist — not the victim — would be charged with tampering of evidence. I am submitting a substitute draft to make the intent of the legislation abundantly clear.”
A petition has been started on Change.org to let these women-hating, rape-condoning legislators know women will not stand for such abuse of their bodies.
trish
Recommended Reading:
NEWS: Rep. Todd Akin Defines ‘Legitimate Rape’ for All of Us Pretend Rape Victims
Just when you think the Grand Ol’ Party can’t sink any lower in its blatant misogyny of women, women’s rights, and their outlook on women’s bodies, Rep. Todd Akin reveals a whole new abyss of as yet unexplored hatred of the female sex.
It wasn’t long ago that men were the only ones on the House panel on birth control, that 31 Senators voted against the Violence Against Women Act, and the GOP in Michigan censored a female state representative, violating her First Amendment right to free speech. Now, the GOP creeps us out further.
In a TV interview, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) had this to say about his views on abortion, even if conception is due to rape:
“From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist.”
Wow.
So Akin is now a medical expert as well as a judge-and-jury on “Legitimate Rape?” So all of us who have been raped now need to measure our own horrible experience with sexual abuse by his and the GOP’s standard? A standard which has no medical basis? Because, according to Akin, every woman who has ever said she got pregnant from being raped was lying?!
The GOP RWNJ Republicans rape women on a daily basis! Oh, wait that’s “Legislative Rape” as they are systematically removing laws and undoing decades of work women have literally fought and died for in the battle for equality. And that kind of rape of women, our rights, and our bodies is just hunky-dorey.
This is a blatant sign of the ensuing institutionalized brainwashing against women that we can expect if the GOP continues to buy its power via elections in the United States.
What’s worse than our rape experiences being de-valued by the patriarchal, misogynist GOP is that this makes men look bad as well. The men who love women and support women’s rights will be lumped into either the GOP misogynist corner or the corner of “all men” who are abusers.
By the way, Akin’s thoughts on the morning-after pill are pretty clear as well:
“[T]he morning-after pill is a form of abortion, and I think we just shouldn’t have abortion in this country.”
Maybe we should not have misogyny in this country?! The elections this year are paramount to blocking the GOP’s persistent #WarOnWomen!
Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below!
trish
NEWS: What If Men’s Reproductive Rights Got Snipped?
With all the vaginal hooplah in Michigan over a proposed bill that limits reproductive rights for women, mainstream media did not make as big a fuss over men’s reproductive rights being put on the chopping block.
Michigan state legislator Barbara Byrum had proposed an amendment to the same House bill that would severely hinder a women’s pro-choice rights in Michigan. However, her amendment was devised to make a point about the sexist misogyny overtaking American politics. She proposed that men would have to provide proof of a medical emergency or that a man’s life was in imminent danger in order for a doctor to perform a vasectomy.
The floor leader gaveled her out of order and refused to let her speak. Apparently, limiting women’s choice to reproduce is okay, but men should not have similar choice restrictions put on their genitals.
Byrum wanted to make a point about the over-reaching legislation of the bill in question. She protested being censored and released this statement:
“I was ignored by the majority floor leader and not allowed to speak on my amendment which would have held the same standards for men and women when it comes to legal, voluntary procedures in reproductive health and now I am being silenced for standing up for women. This is yet another example of this Republican majority’s misogynistic and cowardly tactics.”
The sad truth is that the narrow-minded GOP in Michigan is only one faction of misogynist oppressors wanting to prohibit female human beings from making basic choices about their lives and their bodies. 2012 is shaping up to be a very important year indeed.
The War On Women wages on…
trish
For more of my personal orgasm journey, read Trish’s Daily O.J.
Visit the AW site: Aroused Woman
NEWS: Michigan Lawmaker Reprimanded for Saying “Vagina”
Continuing with the GOP’s #WarOnWomen, the Speaker of the Michigan State Representatives and fellow right-wing conservatives got their knickers in a twist yesterday when Democratic Representative Lisa Brown used the word “vagina” while talking about her proposed amendment to an abortion bill.
After mentioning some controversial points of fact in the Jewish religion that actually support abortion when the life of the mother is affected, Brown went on to say the following:
“I have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adopt yours? And finally Mr. Speaker, I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’”
Apparently, the GOP reps didn’t cotton to vile, dirty talk such as the Latin, scientific term, “vagina.” One RWNJ commented, “It was so offensive, I don’t even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company.”
Brown was banned from speaking in the following discussion or the following day. Notice, this is now a First Amendment issue — an American citizen’s Freedoms of Speech and Expression are being directly assaulted and prohibited by the government!
At a press conference, Brown said, “If I can’t say the word vagina, why are we legislating vaginas?”
Currently, a protest of this ridiculous GOP tactic his appening on Twitter. If you have a Twitter account, hashtag the word vagina, so we can get it to trend: #vagina.
My response was this:
@AnArousedWoman: @LisaBrown39 Allow me 2 say…
#VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VULVA LABIA CLITORIS. The female body is beautiful, u#GOP#waronwomen h8rs!#sheparty
Another Tweep summed it up perfectly:
@wakeUpchat: A grown man who is offended by the word Vagina, is not qualified to govern his constituents who have one.
#VAGINA
Lisa Brown’s Twitter handle is @LisaBrown39, if you want to follow her. (And of course, mine is @AnArousedWoman. ).
Here’s the video of Brown’s speech on the House floor:
trish
NEWS: The War on Women
With the current political climate in the United States, tensions are running higher than ever in the battle for women’s rights. In fact, the GOP’s consistent disregard for a woman’s sovereignty over her own body has been dubbed the “War on Women.”
In the world of social networking, the hashtagged terms #waronwomen and #wherearethewomen have hundreds of thousands of women following the Twitterverse updates on their phones as well as articles and editorials in the online blogosphere. This unity of women extends beyond the borders of the U.S., as women around the world are beginning to #occupy their bodies and the legislatures to end the #waronwomen and our bodies.
Whether the topic is birth control, pregnancy, body piercing, or genital mutilation, or forced sterilization, women must be in control of what happens to and in out bodies.
The Republicans in Congress are leading the charge against women. Congress has repealed the Violence Against Women Act, which changes the legal deifnition of rape. As if the the Susan G. Komen kerfuffle and the attempt to de-fund Planned Parenthood wasn’t bad enough. Sandra Fluke became a household name when the all-male committee on the women’s birth control panel had no women on its team and refused to hear Fluke’s testimony.
And it’s only April. Presidential elections aren’t until November. This will be a long year, kids.
I recently posted the following as my status update on Facebook and Twitter:
Hey, #GOP! I’m ovulating. Would u like 2 come over 2 catch my egg b4 it’s flushed down the toilet when I go 2 the bathroom? #waronwomen #fem2 #women
Aside from a few snickers from men, my point was made, and I am just one woman who is speaking out against the tide of oppression powered by the GOP’s medieval mentality.
With the Republicans claiming they know best in all matters of a woman’s body, incensed women around the country have bombarded the Facebook accounts of religious, conservative Republican legislators. Women have been leaving messages about their periods, bloating, cramps, ovulating, hormonal fluctuations, mood swings, what kind of bra to buy, the best cure for a vaginal yeast infection, soothing tender breasts, requesting breastfeeding tips, and so much more.
Interestingly, I don’t think any of these male right-wing nut-jobs was able to offer any advice. On another forum, I’ve recently had my own run-in with men who think they know the female body and female orgasm better than women do. And this guy wasn’t even American. So clearly, the problem exists everywhere, which means the #waronwomen is far from over.
The bad news is that this is just the middle of the war, each week brings a new battle, it seems. The great news is that women in America are not sitting idly by and hoping for the best. Women are taking to the streets to protest the right-wing’s agenda and networking online and via social media to connect and get the word out. We don’t need an imaginary warrior princess to save us from the bad guy. And the war won’t end with the elections in November.
Every woman has the capacity to be a Warrior Queen, fighting for her right and all of our rights to have control over our bodies.
trish
Back to Work & Activism for Women’s Rights
So after a 10-day hiatus due to my daughter’s Spring Break, I’m back at work, writing, creating, and generally trying to get my steam back after being so darn lazy.
My daughter and I spent every day together swimming in the pool, biking around town, and walking to our favorite shops. All of this was a welcome breather from the usual schedule of alarms, deadlines, and having to be up way too early every morning to get her on the school bus.
During this time, I wasn’t able to have my usual orgasmic pursuits which I generally enjoy in the early afternoons. Interestingly, I tried out a new technique with outstanding results that I’ll write up tomorrow or the next day. Also, this time gave me a chance to do hands-only O’s, getting me back in touch with my innermost recesses and their individual responses to different kinds of touch and stimulation. Sometimes jarring, sometimes nuanced, but always enlightening and delicious.
I’ve also been switching my blog to here on WordPress. So make sure you update your RSS feed and/or sign up to follow my posts via email (use the Follow option on the right side of this page) . WP is much easier for me to use and share my posts, and I think you’ll like it better as well. So be sure to make the switch so you can follow my updates as well as my (almost) DailyOJ (Orgasm Journal) which will have brand NEW posts about NEW experiences.
The current political climate has (finally) put the spotlight on women’s healthcare, women’s right to choice over their bodies, LGBT issues, and the Republicans’ #WarOnWomen. I’ll be super busy relaying News pieces on the fight for Women’s Rights in America and around the world, as well as nifty tidbits on my journey promoting Women’s Sexuality. I will also get caught up on all my book reviews, music CD reviews, product reviews, and film/video reviews that I’ve been meaning to get posted.
I’m also starting a new radio show, branched off from my Activists’ Voice show, that I’m now devoting solely to Aroused Woman Radio. Lots to come — now that I’m no longer on vacation (sigh). Yes, I have indeed been lazy (and it’s been wonderful!). But the world doesn’t get better by staying bed… well, some things get better by staying in bed.
Take care!
Aroused and back to work,
trish
For more of my personal orgasm journey, read Trish’s Daily O.J.
Visit the AW site: Aroused Woman
NEWS: Sex Education in Middle School Still Includes Abstinence-Only Program
After the disgusting male chauvinism displayed by the Republicans in the United States Congress recently, the Puritanical hammer hit home (again) this morning.
I received a recorded phone message from my daughter’s middle school, explaining that the new state law requiring sex education in our public schools is going into effect. Parents and educators are being asked to answer a survey to see what “kind” of sex-education program would be administered to the little darlings.
Trying to do my duty as a mother, I went to the website to take this “survey” and was shocked at what I saw. It was not a survey so much as an either-or choice that clearly shows you’re either a religious Southern Republican or a leftist heathen Democrat (living in the South). Our choices for the survey were: Abstinence-ONLY or
Abstinence-Plus-Education.
After lifting my jaw off the floor, I could only exclaim, “REALLY??!! Those are the options?! Either way, abstinence is still a major part of the curriculum?!”
I remember seeing a study since the Bush regime’s Abstinence-Only sex-education programs went into effect that showed teen pregnancies skyrocketed as has sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers. A friend of mine who is studying to be a nurse told me that in one of his STD courses, he learned that the group in which HIV is spreading the fastest is among teenage girls aged 13-18.
My daughter is 13. Oh, goddess, help me.
Thanks, Bush! Your legacy will live on via unwanted teen pregnancies that will either be aborted, put up for adoption, or force many teenage girls to go on Medicaid, WIC, and even Welfare, as well as a generation of teens who will spend the next 80 years of their lives with sexually transmitted diseases — assuming they live that long. Bush, you’ve done a bang-up job of perpetuating the Republican agenda — “no” to accurate information on sex and women’s rights, but “yes” to guns, corporate greed, war, and the death penalty. Considering Republicans hate the cost of social programs like Medicaid and Welfare, you’d think they would see the correlation between abstinence-only sex education and the rising numbers of people receiving tax-payer paid services and monthly government checks ON these social programs.
If bullying is the new evil, then why are our legislators bullying us and our children into the vacuum of religious and political brainwashing? I’m damn sure not drinking this Kool-aid!
Back to the survey I was taking, there was a third choice of “Other” with a little box to accommodate a comment. Of course, I chose that option. Here’s my response to
their ridiculous sex-ed program proposal:
“ABSTINENCE is NOT a realistic option. The human body is biologically ready for sex at the onset of puberty at age 11 or 12, and a hundred years ago, girls were married and having kids at 16. Humans are supposed to be sexual. To push a Republican agenda on our kids is WRONG. Kids need to know about sex, safe-sex practices INCLUDING birth control and condoms, as well as the consequences of sex, including pregnancy, STDs, and other infections that cause health problems (HPV, pelvic inflammation issues, etc.). I VOTE FOR EDUCATION not Puritanical religious bullshit. Feel free to email me at (my personal email).”
WOMEN OF THE UNITED STATES: If we don’t consistently stand up for our rights as human beings, as women, and as American citizens, we will find ourselves BACK in the status of second-class citizens, with no voice in the government, merely existing as the property of our father or our husband, and spending our lives barefoot and pregnant while serving the family as the maid, cook, laundress, teacher, and general slave, and serving the husband as his personal whore — a life with no rights to our bodies and no rights to our self-determination as human beings.
Sex-Education is NOT just about the penis and the vagina, or birth control or STDs. Sex-Education is about educating the WHOLE PERSON on their rights to be sexual and sensual, to choose what happens to his or her body, to know the consequences of being sexual, and know the options for dealing with the consequences.
Wake up, America. Turn off the reality TV and other cultural mind-numbing devices, and see the brainwashing that is going on around us and to our children.
Aroused and angry,
trish
For more of my personal orgasm journey, read Trish’s Daily O.J.
Visit the AW site: Aroused Woman
NEWS: Susan G. Komen Finally Shows Its True Colors – And It’s NOT Pink!
Anyone who was within tweet-shot of a social media gizmo last week could not escape the public’s coverage of Susan G. Komen’s latest turn against women and the pursuit of a cure for cancer… (of course, the cure for cancer already exists, but that would mean growing certain herbs the FDA deems illegal and that Big Pharma couldn’t make billions of dollars from our ability to heal ourselves by going back to earth… but I digress…)
Why people were outraged at Susan G. Komen foundation pulling current and future funding from Planned Parenthood is a mystery to me. In 2010, the Komen branding nazis began suing smaller charities that were using the phrase “for the cure” in their mottoes. Smaller local or regional groups that raise money to support breast cancer research and women in their local areas suddenly had to give up use of the words “for the cure” or spend their hard-raised funds on lawyers to stand up for their rights to maintain their mottoes. Clearly, Komen had become too big for its britches… or just filled with neo-con bitches?
A few days in the hot-seat, and Komen finally came around to pretending to make amends. Komen issued a statement:
While Komen and right-wingers were trying to sneak money away from Planned Parenthood under the pretense of not giving money to organizations under “investigation,” no one was speaking up for Planned Parenthood and why it is being attacked by Congress and their “investigation” in the first place.
Komen’s press release consisted of a banal “apology” and “explanation”:
“The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.
Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.
Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.
… We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.”
Yeah, right.
Susan G. Komen’s public image is officially tarnished. But better than that, women around the United States spoke out and spoke UP for women’s access to healthcare, women’s access to choice about their bodies, and women’s refusal to be a pawn in the political machine of Republican conservatives who will try to rip away the last of our basic freedoms should they win the Presidency and/or control of Congress in 2012.
Last week was a beautiful week for democracy, activism, and showing the world the vagina revolution didn’t end in the 1970′s!
OpEd: FUCKING CHEROKEE MEN (AND OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR)
OpEd: THE FACE OF ORGASM: IS YOUR WOMAN FAKING ORGASMS OR NOT?
DailyOJ: ALLOWING AND RECEIVING
