A Prayer from Alice Walker

WOMAN

TO STOP THE VIOLENCE
AGAINST
WOMAN,
WOMAN
MUST STOP THE VIOLENCE
AGAINST HERSELF

WE CAN BEGIN TO DO THIS
NOW, NOW THAT WE SEE
A SKY
AND NOT A ROCK
A STICK
OR A FIST
ABOVE ALL
OUR HEADS

WOMAN

TO STOP THE VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMAN,
STOP THE VIOLENCE
THAT YOU
PERPETUATE
AGAINST
YOUR OWN
SISTER
WHO IS
A WOMAN, YOUR OWN
DAUGHTER
WHO IS
A WOMAN,
YOU OWN
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
WHO IS
A WOMAN
YOUR OWN
MOTHER
WHO IS A WOMEN

WOMAN

TO STOP THE VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMAN.
STOP THE VIOLENCE
THAT LIVES
IN OPPOSITION
TO YOUR LIFE,
DEEP IN YOUR
OWN TERRORIZED AND
UNCHERISHED HEART

WOMAN

REMEMBER WHO WE ARE:
NOT 'GUYS'
BUT
THE MOTHER
OF ALL
LIVING
WE CREATE OUT OF OUR OWN BLOOD
AND MILK
EVEN
THE CREATURES
WHO OPPRESS
US;
WHETHER THEY ARE MEN
OR
OURSELVES

WOMEN

AWAKE!ARISE!
STAND UP!

WOMAN

TO STOP THE VIOLENCE
AGAINST
WOMAN,
GET UP
ON YOUR PERFECTLY
UNBOUND FEET
WE HAVE LOST THE EARTH
LIVING ON OUR KNEES

http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/alicemain.html
http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/

Are some of the many web pages on Alice Walker, a person who has changed the women's movement not just for women by black women.
The first feminist movement was mostly middle class white women, Alice Waker, completely changes that around. She showed race issues and sexism through her book, "The Color Purple."

She continues to inspire me today so I wanted to dedicate an entry to her.

Ant-Feminist Websites

http://freewebs.com/antifeminist 

I debated showing the link, then i saw how little people went to this website. Basically its a ridiculous way for men to put down women. It's almost laughable.

These websites were few and far between.  They warn not to donate money to women's groups as and under the link, "what can i do?" it states on the page that men are, "Forced to commit a violent act" against women. Not women who threaten them or mock them, just women who think they are as good as men.

Thankfully after research, it was easy to find out what pig wrote this, a hick, a male hick, I imagine he has a confederate flag and wears overalls and is missing his teeth. I suppose he thinks African Americans aren't equal to whites either. 

Yet how many men walk around with these ideas? This is why feminism still exists. 

Whenever I tell a male I'm a feminist i either get a "good for you" or a "why you're so pretty!" 

I don't think these men are the norm, in fact, they just get angrier and angrier because days of the "good old boy" are long gone and they cant change with the times. Male chauvinists are a dieing breed and I can't wait till they are extinct. 

Beauty Pagents

Why do we really care if Ms. Puerto Rico was pepper sprayed? I clicked onto the MSN home page and low and behold she was on the front cover. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22111394?GT1=10645

Who cares whether or not she was pepper sprayed. There are child slaves and girls getting their clitorises chopped off in female mutilation and this, this is what we care about?

Beauty competitions such as Ms. Universe only started, as well as cheerleaders because women weren't allowed to play organized sports. So thus, they started an organization devoted to beauty. So what is their role now? To inspire young girls to fit into the "norm." Big breasted skinny girls with overly made up hair and pancaked makeup and brushed and poised within a inch of their lives?

I just can't see how this woman, whether she cheated to win or not, deserves any PR at all. She didn't cure cancer, she didn't stop world hunger. She's just a pretty girl with a big sexy scandal surrounding her so the media pays attention.

In Honor of Victoria Secret Fasion Show

Do me a favor? Know when the "fashion show" (or skank show) airs on CBS you realize what you're looking at is silicone and makeup. These images are what hurts us as females. Walking through the mall, I couldn't help but noticed what the media has done to us as women. We have been made to look like sexual objects, to always look sexually available.
The truth is, most women don't know what they want or their purpose because they are to busy trying to be what men want (I'm speaking about girls my age, 18-30) , sexual objects. In the book, "Transforming A Rape Culture," on page 213 it state's
(THIS IS MY FAVORITE QUOTE SO READ IT CAREFULLY),

"What a girl wants, what a women wants, is what Freud knew is held precious by every MAN: self-determination, autonomy within reason, life without undue fear, liberty without causing harm to others, and the ability to pursue one's happiness. None of those desires can be fulfilled for women so long as we live in a rape culture. A general recognition is dawning that our culture will need both women and men who are strong, wise and generous if the future is to be better then the present."

I can't help but think we could have all this as women if we can start to understand we aren't billboards for sex. We don't have to play stupid and we can assert what we want without bringing sex into it. That women can still have worth if we are not walking sex.

The Introduction, a Little Late

It was noted to me by a friend, that I never discussed what feminism was. So I suppose, I'll give you a rough definition from the good people at wikipedia.com ;

"Feminism comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women .In the United States, according to some, the history of feminism consists of three waves.^[1][2] The first wave in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the second in the 1960s and 1970s and the third from the 1990s to the present.^[3] Feminist Theory developed from the feminist movement.^[4][5] It takes a number of forms in a variety of disciplines such as feminist geography, feminist history and feminist literary criticism. Feminism has changed aspects of Western society. Feminist political activists have been concerned with issues such as a woman's right of contract and property, a woman's right to bodily integrity and autonomy (especially on matters such as reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, access to contraception and quality prenatal care); for protection from domestic violence; against sexual harassment and rape;^[6][7] for workplace rights, including maternity leave and equal pay; and against other forms of discrimination"

That I suppose in a nut shell is feminism but so much more. Many people don't understand the three waves of feminism, which is really very important and a key issue. So F-ing look it up. I'm kidding, here is a very basic explanation. First wave feminism, was simple basic human rights women were lacking, very early 19 century. Second wave was more radical from 1960-1980. The third wave is present day, trying to further the rights that second wave failed at.
I know many don't understand the feminist geography and feminist history aspects. Which is a bit more complicated to understand and I get asked about it a lot. Women aren't traced as individuals through history, they are traced through men. Many very important women are left out of the history books or simply understated as individuals. Why? Simple, men write 90% of school history books. In the early 90's this was called to the attention of makers of high school scholastic books, they did nothing to change it. It wasn't until I got to college that I learned how many women in history were left out or simple abandoned all together by historians.
For those interested in read the "The Feminine Mystic," can further explain all these points.