Taken from a report on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn trial.
“His lawyer, Henri Leclerc, said at the time: “In these circumstances one isn’t always clothed, and I challenge you to tell the difference between a prostitute naked and any other woman naked.”
Now maybe I’m a bit slow here but hasn’t one lot of these women normally emptied your wallet before getting naked?
And before my husband makes any smart-assed comment on this,
“What’s yours is mine darling…or was anyway”
I am actually loathe to comment on this for fear of giving the oxygen of publicity to these women but I’m so mad I have to sound off.
So “Femen” have demonstrated as Dominique Strauss-Kahn goes into court on charges of “aggravated pimping.” And how did they do this? By putting forward a well thought out press release? Highlighting other examples of this kind of behaviour or similar abuses of women?
No!! They got their tits out!!! Oh, sorry, I nearly forgot; with flowers in their hair!
I went on to their website in a useless attempt to find ANY kind of reasoning behind this but as far as I can see this is a bloody ego trip for a bunch of stupid……TITS!
They claim as their goal ” Complete victory over patriarchy.” Really?
Well put your kit on again, look at what is really going on out there and stop taking the easy option!
I am the first to say I don’t go for this type of thing, but honestly, this is so worth watching. Actually it gets off to a shaky start and Amy seems to be suffering from dry mouth( stress perhaps), which I found odd as the message was about confidence and how we communicate that to others. But stay with it.
Amy goes on to share a very personal experience, something I found very moving and I judged her to be completely sincere in everything she said. The audience believed her too and responded very positively to her generosity of spirit.
I have heard parts of this discussion before and agree that the act of smiling is one of the most simple and effective things we can do to relieve stress and lift our mood. And completely free! That’s the kind of therapy I like.
Be careful when you practice this though. I was in a real stinker of a mood one morning on my way into work, getting worse by the minute as I sat, stuck in traffic. I remembered about the ” Just Smile” idea and wanted to shift my mood before affecting anyone else so, with a great deal of effort, I put on my favourite “happy” music and pulled my mouth up from my boots, into my biggest, bestest smile….. And scared seven shades of daylight out of the guy in the car beside me! I think he reckoned I had lost the plot and was about to carry out some kind of mayhem. Oh well, you can’t win them all.
Anyway, like I say, I really think this is worth your time and I would love to know if you agree.
I have been watching with interest the controversy over the response from the western world to the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The idea of Louise Mensch tweeting that Cameron should “Fuck off” initially made me laugh, but then rankled, going back again to the knee jerk reaction that benefits no-one and just gets people’s names in the headlines once more.
I agree Saudi Arabia has a very long way to go on equal rights for women, but 2015 is the first time women there will not only be able to vote, but to stand for election as well. It’s not everything, but it is a start. The recently deceased King Abdullah paved the way for this back in 2011.
Changing the ideology and way of life of centuries will not happen overnight in Saudi Arabia; any more than it did here. We are very quick to condemn the speed of change in other countries, but I would love to understand the reason behind the still howling gaps in career opportunities between men and women right here, right now.
In the past I have backed off from ever considering myself a “feminist”; being so sick of some of the nonsense associated with it. However I looked up the definition of the word earlier and realise it is a completely morally decent aspiration and one I am happy to identify with.
“Quel surprise” to all of you that know me! ( I don’t think).
I was watching two people review the papers this morning on TV, as I got ready for work, and my heart sank.
The woman, calling herself a “feminist”, started discussing an article from one of the tabloids with a reference to sexism and, as she became more and more annoyed by the topic, she turned on the man beside her, who was actually agreeing with the sentiment of her argument. Her rants and rhetoric did absolutely nothing to advance the cause of “Equality for Women”; a very noble and just cause that a lot of people (women AND men) have worked so hard for over the years.
I appreciate this is a deeply emotive subject, but I do not find it any more acceptable to listen to a woman berate a man for all the ills of the world, as if he were personally responsible, than if the “Louboutin” were on the other foot.(Am I being sexist there??)
Please, please stop distracting from the fundamental objective of “Equality”, not tokenism, not quotas of “Female Board Members”, and certainly not blaming every man to-day for an environment that has come about over thousands of years.
I fear for the ” Women’s Movement” of yesteryear. The waters seem so muddied with a myriad of confusing messages and images for young women now; their focus and energy taken up with silly side issues and a lot of guff, while the same old injustices still go on, unchecked.
We still have a very long way to go to achieve true equality, where we are ALL judged on our ability to do the job and not on whether we have a penis or a vagina.
Don’t wait until you are the perfect weight, the perfect age, in fact, the perfect anything, to be happy with who you are. The who you are now is good enough.
Enjoy the journey to a better you by all means, taking in all that happens on the way, but try not to place limitations such as time or even where that journey will take you.
I recommend everyone find their own version of my “Red Lipstick” moment. Last week I decided I am NOT too old, NOT too fat and certainly NOT too unworthy to wear red lipstick and every time I smooth the glorious colour across my lips I feel an affirmation of the who I am right now; I’m good enough.
Just went for a walk, a mile and a half, and it was 9.45 pm when I started, and guess what….my head and heart were in sync!
My head knew it was good for me and now that I’m home again, my heart is singing.
It’s all good.
x
Maybe I should be singing this line? Mmmmm, maybe not as I couldn’t carry a note in a bucket !
Anyway, I am feeling sooooooo good. Took positive steps to do something to lose a bit of weight, had a catch up with a good friend I have not seen in a while and bought a lovely new RED lipstick when I was out shopping with one of my lovely daughters. What more could a girlie (okay middle aged woman) ask for?
Oh, except the ladies at the make-up counter were absolutely brilliant and we had a real hoot while spending some( not too much) money. And, also had a lot of laughs with some lovely people at the slimming club. And, found some common ground with the lady in the coffee shop…………..You getting the picture?
I wanted to have a good day to-day and I DID. It could have gone the other way at several of points throughout the day, but I chose the positive and the calm. I am writing this down as much for my benefit as anyone else. Hopefully the next time my shoulders slump due to the weight of the world pressing down on me I will think of this lovely day and cast the blackness aside.
Choose your mood.
Mmmmmm, so many options; lose weight, spend more time with my family, spend more time with my friends, spend less money.
The New Year gives us a chance to wipe the slate clean, start afresh and leave the failed resolutions of 2014 far behind. But why deal with life’s challenges in yearly chunks? Why hang on to our “failures” for even a moment longer than we need to process what it is we need to take from them to learn and move on?
I want to wake up each day with a determination to do the best I am capable of for that day; not a week, a fortnight or a month, just that day.
I want to give no energy whatsoever to the toxic, joy-sapping individuals that have occupied too much valuable head-space in the past, but concentrate instead on people and events that lighten my soul and reinforce how truly beautiful life can be. Even writing this down is helping me lose weight; the awful, all-consuming weight of a heavy heart.
See, I’m smiling now.
If you have read my previous post, ” To Have and Have Not”, you may have noticed the topic was one I feel very, very strongly about.
As far as I can see this constant crying for more and more unreasonable and, for small to medium businesses, crippling demands, actually detracts from the key and all too pervasive problem that still exists to-day of sex discrimination.
Those brave women who fought for sexual equality may as well have held on to their bras. The young women of to-day are allowing themselves to be distracted from the “Big Picture”; allowing themselves to seem ridiculous, spoiled and incapable of holding down positions of responsibility and trust. We are helping the dinosaurs of industry and business keep us where they reckon we belong, still bare-foot, still pregnant and still in the kitchen ( figuratively speaking).
Oh yes, we are helping pay for those lovely kitchens we now have by working at a level that poses no threat, but don’t look up ladies; don’t aspire to go where “No woman has gone before”( sorry Captain Kirk, I’m stealing/adjusting your best lines). If you dare you will most probably find we have not traveled far down the path of true equality to our male colleagues.
thefellowshipofthevagina 