"A woman is like a teabag, you don't know her strength until she gets in hot water"

Nancy Reagan

Every day 1,871 women are raped in America. The average is: One in three women will be raped in her lifetime. It could be your mother, wife, sister, cousin or daughter. The sad thing is...she will most probably never tell anyone about it. Rape continues to be the fastest growing crime in America with a women being raped every two minutes. Less than one out of every three rapes is ever reported, and the conviction rate is about 3%. Contrary to myth, most victims know their attacker, and many are hesitant to prosecute because the courts are obscenly lenient with attackers. Some states give lesser sentences if the attacker wore a condom, or if he will consent to an AIDS test. This is like giving a mugger a lesser sentence if he only "Pushed" the victim instead of shattering the victims life. Most cases are dismissed before they get to court, many because the defendant (victim) will have her entire life dissected, torn, and tossed up for public scrutiny: and she cannot handle being raped again by the court system. We cannot allow anything in court cases except for what crime is being tried, yet in a women's rape case...she is the criminal, and it is HER past life that comes under scrutiny. We don't condemn assult victims, so why are rape victims different? What does what she wear or how she acts have to do with it? There is a pervasive feeling in society that "she asked for it" or "well, she shouldn't have been there in the first place" or "she should have known better". Whatever happened to "no is NO!" and "if you commit the crime, do the time" and "being held accountable for your actions"? Some women do cry wolf, but the truth is...rape is the most underreported crime in America. Rape almost NEVER has anything to do with sex. It is a POWER issue. A big man terrorizing a smaller woman. Yes, it is possible for a man to be raped, but almost all victims are women. Victims of rape are 9 times more likely to commit suicide than a non-rape victim, and most will suffer from post-traumatic-stress for the rest of their lives. How many time must they pay for their attackers crime????? I fully expect to be assaulted in my lifetime. Male associations look at me strangely when I say that. I ask them..."are you afraid to walk alone at night?" "Do you lock your doors when home alone?" "When you go on a date, do you worry about your date slipping you a 'micky', or taking advantage of your drinking?" "Do you have to worry if you are not in a public place?" "Do you look over your shoulder when walking at night?" NO? I didn't think so. I am not even a victim yet, but have all the symptoms of one. Maybe I am already a victim. How about you? Mad yet?

Everyday, between one and four women will be murdered by a man who professes to love her. Did you know that in some states, beating your wife is only a misdimeaner while beating a cat is a felony? NO ONE DESERVES TO BE BEATEN!!! Some men think women need to be "put" in their place. Women need to be "taught" a lesson. Women need to "jump" when a man says so, and then ask "how high". Women don't ask to be beaten (contrary to what SOME men think), but how does a 130 pound woman defend herself against the stronger sex? How does she stop a 260 pound man from pounding her head into the floor or beating her into a bloody pulp? How does she hide the black eyes, bruises, fat lips? Society demands that these abused women leave...but...Where would they go? Women's shelters are overcrowded and have to turn people away, most of the women have no jobs (MY woman can't work) or if they do have a job, the man terrorizes her at her employment, and in almost all cases...the women is not allowed access to marital funds. So...what CAN she do? A restraint order is only a piece of paper, and by the time the police show up...the man is smart enough to have already left. Go to court? Don't make me laugh. Most of the men would make sure the wife was dead (see first sentence of paragraph) or all the assets destroyed. And what about the kids? They were probably beaten too. Child care is too expensive as it is...now try to afford it on a low paying job. And that is what happens. Many women on welfare are escaping spousal abuse, but welfare cuts are cutting into the money they need for their families to survive. Many women stay because at least they have a roof over the head of their children, but at such a horrible price. Battered Womens Syndrome is very real, akin to Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, but too few women go to therapy to help recover. This is one truly tragic social crime.

My daughter is Nine years old. One day she tells me.."Mom, I'm too fat. I need to lose weight." I was horrified. She has an athletic build (boy, is she STRONG!), and will never be a willowy small girl. I asked her why she thinks she had to be thiner. She was looking at a fashion magazine. Now, don't get me wrong. I really like fashion. I think it is fascinating from an artistic perspective and sometimes good for a laugh, but I also recognize the harm it is doing to our young girls. Nine year olds should not be worrying about their weight. All the women in the magazine were about as big around as pencils. They were all at least six feet tall. No glasses. No handicaped women. No blemishes. Mostly white. No braces. Wow! Later that day we were watching a boob-toob show that had a beauty pagent. Ah Ha! I asked my daughter to look at all the girls, and tell me what they all had in common. She didn't know. So I prompted her. Do they have glasses? Are any overweight? Are any in a wheelchair or have braces? All the answers were...NO. So we talked about it, and I hope she remembers what I said. It is not what we look like on the outside that matters, it is what we look like on the inside. She went her way...happy as a clam, and I sat down and pondered a few things. An article in a women's magazine came to mind. There are only 9 supermodels in the world and 2 billion women who want to look like them. Did you know that the average dress size of American women is 14, but in fashion that size is considered "plus size"? And why in the heck are there so many different sizes of 14, anyway??? So many times a women is judged by first impressions...why do we women in the **ahem** 30year bracket have to be painfully reminded of our middle aged bulges by little sixteen year olds who don't have to wear a bra? Men don't worry about their weight. I don't see men checking out their reflections in a mirror, or telling their buddies they put on five pounds. So why do we do it? This issue is directed more at us women for allowing ourselves to be subjected to this, than the men who just oggle.

This section is in memory of all the women of the world who have suffered genital mutilation. What is this you ask? I have a friend who will do a much better job than myself of explaining this.

Please keep in mind, Female Genital Mutilation is torture at the most subhuman level. Even in our country, women who flee this horrible act are denied asylum. Women can stay in detention for years, stripped of all belongings and denied legal recourse (since they are not "citizens" they don't qualify for legal protection). Many of these women will be shipped back to their country and families who tried to inflict this upon them in the first place. Most of these will be killed for fleeing these so-called religious and family obligations. Please write your local congressperson and demand protection and asylum for these women.

Soooooo. Has anybody been keeping up on what those wacky Southern Baptists are doing now? Did you see that they now want/require wives to "submit graciously" to their husbands requests? There was an opinon poll in a local fax service here about this. Here is what I faxed them.

"How ironic that we are of equal worth before God Almighty, but not the male run Church. This brings to mind a passage from George Orwells' Animal Farm: "All are equal, but some are more equal than others". Heck. I think we should go ahead and submit. That'll teach 'em! They want to provide...they can grocery shop, cook, clean, and raise the children all by themselves. They want to protect...what from? Last I saw...tigers, lions, and bears were at the local zoo, unless they mean from the other males in society that think like they do. And if they want to lead...they can just quit asking us to give our advice and quit asking us to solve their problems, and quit asking us to clean up their messes. This whole thing reminds me of another saying: "The last time religion ruled the world, it was called the Dark Ages".

Pretty nifty response, yes? I think it about sums it all up. Like I said in my first paragraph...any religion that promotes the unequality and submission of ANYONE (male, female, or any population), is the closest thing to an evil religion that I can think of.

Hey Hey! On to something more cheerful! Women's earnings are up 3 whole cents!! Whoo Hoo! We now make 76 cents on the dollar compared to men! Yes! We are victorious!!!! Oh. I'm sorry. Was my sarcasm showing again?

This was written by a woman who must have finally had enough. I wish I could have written it, but my heart aches at what had to have been experienced to create such a soul-wrenching poem.

I had an interesting conversation the other day regarding the inequalities in perscription coverage for women as opposed to men. I was watching a baldness commercial, and made the comment that medical insurance companies will cover baldness treatments for men but not birth control for women. My husband looked at me like I had two heads and was going to perform like the Excercist child (that head-spinning thing...), and made the comment, "I'll tell you why. Because there is nothing that can be done to stop baldness, but other ways to stop getting pregnant." Well, you coulda knocked me over with a feather! So I started thinking about this...I told him it was an interesting thought and that I didn't buy it for one second. Let's think about this...men's vanity vs. women's health. Well, men can buy a toupee, women can abstain (of course husbands and boyfriends will scream bloody murder but the X-tians will be estatic). Men are accepted as is, women with menstrual pain can just "suck it up" (we could take it like a man, but that would involve whinning and pouting). I fail to see why a vanity issue is so damn more important than a women receiving basic health care! Did you know many insurance companies only cover one gynocological check-up every two to five years? I guess we just have to tell that cervical cancer to wait until then. They don't even cover mamograms until after 45 and sometimes 50! Better tell that Breast cancer to wait as well! Why is it that the insurance will cover Viagra and not give women a way to protect themselves? Why would they rather pay thousands to force a women have an unwanted baby and not pay only a couple hundred so she won't if she doesn't want to? Don't even tell me it is because of money. How is unwanted hospitalization more cost effective than preventive medicine? So many times I had to do without so I could afford those stupid little pills. What about those women who have no choice but to pay rent and not get the pills? Is it vanity to not want to get pregnant or reduce the pain every month? So, after thinking about it, I came to the conclusion...Women's needs are second rated. I have a solution to this...National Absinence Awareness Months...no nookie until we get equal medical coverage. That oughta hit everybody in power! We will be equally covered yet!

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