Merry Christmas (babies make awesome Christmases)

This is Ezra all dressed up in his little suit that his grandparents McCuistion gave him for Christmas.  He got to have this early because he grows like a crazy man and we wanted him to get the most use he could out of it.  Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Jason and Ezra snoozing during the Village Christmas Party

We really sunk into the Christmas Holiday for the Village Christmas Party.  What village, you ask?  On my side of the family, we belief in saying, it takes a village to raise a child.  The "Village" is our adopted family.  At the party, we had a white elephant exchange and many other fun activities.

At the Holiday Festival of Lights-  Lindsay let us borrow her mobi-wrap.
Ezra had a great time facing forward as we walked around.  

After the party, the village decided to go to the Holiday Festival of Lights (it's one of the top ten light displays in the country!)  over on James Island.  We drove and walked around for hours with the dogs and babies.  There will be more to come on the Christmas Season once I get my mom's camera disk.  Hold tight!

This is both Alex and Ezra's first carousel ride.  They both enjoyed it tremendously (as did both sets of parents).

8 rights for which feminists fight

When I wrote my prior article, Gender and Politics, I was asked by many exactly what rights feminists are seeking.  Yes, many refuted the wage gap, and one even sarcastically referred to his handy copy of the US Constitution.  Well, my dears, sit back and enjoy because sometimes what is more important are the things that go unmentioned.  This is a list I have compiled of some of the rights for which feminists fight. 

1.  The right for females to have any job males can have (including in the military- yay women on submarines!).

2.  The right to not be sexually harassed at the place of employment (because while this is not exclusively done to females, the VAST majority of sexually based harassment is done to a female).

3.  The right to not be a victim of domestic violence.  Did you know in the state of South Carolina that in the same year that cock fighting became a felony, a bill to make domestic violence a felony was as well on the table and it didn't pass?  And again, I know this is not only a female problem, but 95% of domestic violence is against women.  Feel free to research this topic in Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti. 

4.  The right to informed decisions about birth control (this is an issue for both men and women).  Also, on that note, many women are fighting to keep their pro-choice option as this seems to be constantly on the table for question.  Worth mentioning is that I am actually pro life, and while most feminists would denounce me as a true feminist, many would not.  There are many breeds of feminism. 

5.  The right to not be put on certain tracks in school due to age, sex, race, ethnicity, etc.  Tracking women in specific classes (avoiding STEM subjects) creates job segregation.  Jobs that are comprised of mainly women are generally paid less.  Feel free to take a closer look at this in Understanding Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality: A Conceptual Framework by Lyn Weber.

6.  The right to not be devalued with age.  While ageism is real for both men and women later in life, it begins VERY early for women.  Women are constantly infantilized because younger and more innocent is better.  Take one look at any magazine and advertisement, and I think you'll see what I mean. 

7.  The right to not be stigmatized for being pregnant and unwed.  Men don't have that problem and neither should women.  Being pregnant and single should not keep a woman from any government job- because men aren't asked about their kids and spousal relationships prior to employment.

8.  The right to not be revictimized for being raped.  One will often here that she was asking for it by her manner of dress, the neighborhood she was in, the late hour she was out, or the mental state she was in.   I call BS (for all you LDS out there, I mean Bologna Sandwich :).  If someone says no the answer is no regardless of ANY other conditions of the event.  The conviction rate of rape is in the single digits (~6%)-  please check out this and other rape statistics here.

Crawling (or Diving)

Big News this week-  Ezra crawled for the first time.  Okay, so it was more like diving, but, hey, it was still moving intentionally forward!  He moves his feet forward and then falls forward.  He hasn't gotten the hands part down, but he generally loves the fact that he can go somewhere. 

Gender and Politics (as promised)

After posting this on a primarily conservative website, I have come to realize I am not as thick-skinned as I would have like to think.  Here is a more cited version.  Also, I need a break from writing after fighting that political uphill battle.   Hopefully a sabbatical and some much needed reading of other feminists will bring me back rejuvenated and in full force. 

Gender and Politics

For some it’s abortion. For others, it’s taxes. For others still, it’s same-sex marriage.

Here’s the thing- Everyone has an issue.

My issue? Women’s Rights.

I support this by participating in multiple forms of activism and…
By not voting people into office that hate me.

For example, in a local election, Senator Jim DeMint ran against Candidate Alvin Greene. DeMint’s credentials far exceeded Greene’s, however DeMint had been cited several times with sexist commentary. Retracting statements after discussing it with your campaign manager is too little too late. Guess who got my support? That’s right, the guy with no experience and no credentials.

I know there are many other issues out there to be dealt with and that this nation is in peril, but I can’t vote for someone who does not see me as an equal due to my race, religion, or sex. It’s a deal breaker. I am not a big President Obama fan for many reasons and believe that our country needs a new leader. Being a non-platform voter, all options are on the table, so I dug in to the republican front runners for the upcoming primary. First things first, I compare their views on women.
From my research, Candidate Romney is said to be “evolving” in his tolerance of women. What does that mean? It says he’s not there yet and needs to be told that women are through being merely tolerated. We are equals.

Gingrich wants to inject religion back into schools. As far as women’s interests go, religion is almost always a stumbling block as most religions are patriarchal. This may be suitable in your religious establishment, but it has no place in running a country where over half of the population is female. Patriarchy holds women back by teaching that women should always be in the role of support. This country already runs on the patriarchal model- why should we exacerbate this by pumping religion into the mix.

Romney, Candidate Paul, and Candidate Gingrich have spoken out against Planned Parenthood, claiming that abortions should not be supported with taxpayer dollars. Planned Parenthood is not all about handing out abortions, in fact just the opposite could be said. They are pro-avoiding abortions with options like birth control. In point of fact, on the Planed Parenthood website it states that it is an educator to the community of responsible human sexuality.

Paul's desire to sign a Ban on Planned Parenthood isn’t the biggest feminist beef. Paul states on his campaign website outright that he doesn’t believe in equal pay for equal jobs. I say let’s give all women a forty percent raise and men and thirty percent demotion and see how fired up about equal pay we can get. While this sounds very 1950s, the truth of the matter is when comparing full time working women with full time working men the wage gap is very real.

Candidate Bachmann is avoiding the subject all together. I've tried to find her stance on anything gender related, but have come up empty-handed. When I first began volunteering as a court advocate, I wore pants and always had my hair pulled back to be as “business-like” as possible so I would be more easily taken seriously. It turns out that what I considered “business-like” and “serious” was also what I considered to be less feminine and more masculine. I have to wonder if that is Bachmann’s approach here. Is she just ignoring women’s issues because that will take away from the seriousness of her campaign? If so, that seems pretty bogus. Women have been ignored with our many WASP males in office, they don’t need to be ignored with a woman in office.

And a big thank you to Herman Cain for suspending his candidacy. "Allegations” are when it can’t be proven that you sexually harassed two women who won’t actually speak out about it. Guilty is when four women come forward and a thirteen year mistress.

Back to President Obama. He seems to care more than any other present candidate about “Women’s Issues” ( I use quotes because I think of them as regular issues because they affect over half of the population). I particularly like the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (Equal pay for equal jobs), the Affordable Care Act (insurance companies cannot discriminate against women), and his involvement in to increase women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects.

It goes back to everyone having their issues; one particular hurtle that a representative, whether in White House or other office, has to clear to get support, with all other hurtles being secondary. As a woman, I won't stand to simply be tolerated by male leaders, ignored by female leaders or tracked into a low ceiling, supporting role by an outdated traditionalist system. What I need- what women need- is a true advocate. 

Holiday Cheer (everyone needs to laugh)



Ezra loves being tickled, especially on his belly!




Santa Marla



December brings shopping (& hockey)

December is quickly bringing our first Christmas as parents!  We're super excited.  I have always loved Christmas shopping, but it is even better with a Little Man for which to shop. We are also very excited that due to Jason's day staff position, he will have Christmas off of work-  Yay!!

We took Ezra to his first Stingrays hockey game last week.  He charmed everyone around us, and didn't seem to mind all the noise except once when the END PERIOD buzzer went off. 










We also got to see the Debbie's Kids' Teddy Bear Toss.  This is when the Stingrays score their first goal and everyone throws stuffed animals on the ice for underprivileged children.  It was incredibly moving the amount of teddy bears thrown.  I am still blaming my current softness on left over pregger hormones, but I choked a bit.  This is a video from a year ago at the teddy bear toss.  This year, even more were collected-  they filled two giant truck beds, and two large receptacles.  It was an awesome reminder of the spirit of Christmas

Quote of the day (1)

"It's about the consciousness behind your decisions."
-Jessica Valenti

Do what you want as long as it's intentional and your decision.

Thanksgiving (and a gathering of Wootens)



Two years ago at our reception

 In our little family, we kicked off the Thanksgiving week by celebrating two years of being happily married and sealed for time and eternity.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  Among other events, Jason and I went out for sushi-  you got it, ladies and gents, I have officially converted Jason into a lover of sushi. 



Aunt Court love



Courtney and Mom were very awesome to babysit Ezra while Jason and I went out for our anniversary.  Court went ahead and made the rule that since she doesn't get to see Ezra very much that during the next few days, if she wanted him, she got him. 



Ezra loves the ladies



Courtney brought her pup, Johnny, came into town.  We had a great time taking Johnny and Ezra out to the beach and downtown for Andolini's pizza.



Transitioning



Clif was very good at getting Ezra to go down for naps.  We had some trouble transitioning from the rocking chair with Clif to the Pack & Play, but Clif did not seem to mind more Ezra snuggles. 



We all got to play a lot of Spades, a family favorite.  Jason taught us a new way of scoring that made it even more fun. 

Random Ezra Updates

Ezra has started reaching for things-  this is a video of him and his favorite toy which Jason and I have named The Happy Giraffe because it makes him happy where ever, whenever.

Ezra also had his official first food after Thanksgiving.  I had originally intended on waiting until he was six months, but I had heard that some babies take longer than other s to get the swallowing motion down with the rice cereal.  So, in other words, oh well.  His first food was bananas, and he loved it.  I have to admit, I loved it as well, so we pretty much split the container :)

 



Thoughts on Abstinence-Only Education

My disclaimer is that I know that my ideas are controversial.

I respectfully say this: Get. Over. It.  

Abstinence Only education is a big thing down here in the south.  The big argument I have heard is "How can you teach kids not to have sex while handing them a condom?"  I have also heard arguments that say schools don't have the time and funding to teach sex education.  Again, cut that garbage out.

Here is my stance:  I think family values are a great thing.  I support not having sex until you are married.  Yay being chaste.  However, family values are just that:  values within a particular family.  NOT society.  Not everyone has the ideal family where sex can be discussed safely.  My aunt is a school nurse, and the other day we had a laugh riot discussing the names given to different sex organs by parents of children.   

All joking aside, it is incredibly important for children starting at a young age to learn the proper names of their anatomy.  Child molestation is real, okay?  I understand you don't want your four-year-old to understand exactly how your marriage bed works, but she needs to be able to tell you exactly how she might have been innappropriately touched. 

I have heard the idea that "If my child needs to know it, I'll teach it."  Well, guess what.  Not all parents will.

In one article I read recently, four types of sex education were described:

1.  No mention of abstinence

2.  Including abstinence in a comprehensive education

3.  Promoting abstinence as the best option

4.  Abstinence until marriage as the only option

You may want to cover your eyes and put your fingers in your ears for what I have to say next.

People (teenagers included) who want to have sex are going to find a way to have sex unless they are taught different values at home.  That is a fact.  I think of sex education as harm reduction.  If you are unfamiliar with the idea of harm reduction, check it out here.

To deny teenagers sex education about how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies is a lot like not teaching someone how to properly use an oven and then getting angry because they got burned. 

Education does not mean that teenagers must go have sex.  In my Organic Chemistry class I learned how to make some deadly compounds, but I haven't set up a lab in my kitchen. 

Often times the same people I hear ranting about not having a comprehensive sex education in schools are usually the same ones ranting about how they don't want to pay for other people's children with welfare.  My solution?  Give them a condom and teach them how to use it.  

Statistics very clearly show that Abstinence-Only education produces the highest percentage of unwanted teen pregnancies.  Wow.  Surprised? 

The lowest percentage of unwanted teen pregnancies are through the education that promotes abstinence as the best option, but not the only option.

I think the disconnect we face is that many people have no tolerance for others who believe differently from themselves.  We must accept that different families have different values.  Maybe chastity is one family's biggest belief.  Maybe not doing heroin is another family's biggest belief. 

Take home message:  Your children are not the only ones who need an education.  All children need a proper education of how their bodies work.  We need to make that available in public schools because we cannot assume it is being taught in private homes. 

Good Food Comes to Those Who Wait (Practicing with Rice Cereal)

This week, Ezra had his first rice cereal.  It was kind of messy and definitely not his favorite, but I explained to him that in order to eventually eat all of the amazing food life has to offer (like Chilean Sea Bass and fresh aparagus) that he has to learn to swallow using rice cereal.   After the meal, Ezra was a mess....  this is the first time we have really gotten full use of a bib.

In other news, I am determined to be a cool mom who has all kinds of seasonal, fun activities for the kids, so I jogged my memory of being a Brownie in Girl Scouts.  This oldie but goodie idea was a lot of fun.  Jason and I have a hard time setting up appointments with people we visit/home teach, especially during the holidays, so we took our tray full of candy turkeys and Turkey Bombed some houses :)  It was a fun activity, and hopefully, by the time Ezra is able to help, I will have some other projects up my sleeve as well. 

Not quite Beyonce

Came across this is another blogger group.  I think I am in love.  Check out more of her videos on youtube : Nineteenpercent

My hubby and I were out the other day discussing some of  the online mo-fem groups I am in.  Since I frequently talk about the controversy I find in them with him, he asked, "What do you get out of them?" 

First off, I become aware of gold like this video.  Secondly, I have been more inspired to keep up with my feminist ideas.   I also feel not so trapped in a super conservative Mormon box.

It's not all bad, it's not all good.  But that's life.

Baby it's cold outside (or maybe not quite)

Baby, I wish it were cold outside.  The weather cannot seem to make up its mind.  We have used both the heat (it got down to 60 degrees inside our house) and the a/c (it reached 80) this week.  Gah, that has got to stop.  Ezra does not understand.

This past week while doing baby laundry, we had no clean, warm clothes for Ezra, so we pretended it was Halloween again and put on one of his warm costumes.  A good lesson in making hay while the sun is shining....  Wash baby clothes while the sun is making it 80 degrees, so that when it's 60, the baby isn't cold.

Ezra has started playing with toys that don't hang above his head, so Jason and I decided to get a few.  You can see him doing a little light reading in this picture.

We had both sets of missionaries over for dinner this week.  It was a real treat because the new Mission President has limited missionary dinners to once a month per family.  I may not be amazing at making dinner for six, but I am darn good at ordering Dominos.  I think theywere happy because they slickly left this little gift in our picture of the Columbia Temple.  I found it the next day :)

This is from tonight when there is absolutely no air flowing through our house.  I am trying desperately to not turn on the A/C in November, but I am roasting.  I didn't even bother putting clothes on the baby.  We're all sweating. 

And that's really it for this week.  We're getting excited for Ezra's first Thanksgiving.  With the exception of Courtney's fiance, Gary, my entire side of the family will be in town.  Yay!

Blogic relief in the form of more Target Women

More current Sarah Haskins.

Because I love Sarah Haskins. 

And I need some posts that are a little less serious...and broody.

My favorite line?

"Milk will also bring sunshine to a land devastated by your period tears."

"Because diamonds are forever..just like roaches."

Blogic relief complete.

As Promised (Gobble Gobble)

Thanksgiving pajamas :)  I realize that so many of the pictures I put up are of Ezra in  his swing, but it's so hard to get him at a good angle anywhere else. 

 

A Bell Hooks Approach to Feminist Parenting

My son is four months old, but since that won't last forever, I have been researching how to raise a feminist child.  Some people will tell you that raising a feminist boy is different from raising a feminist girl.  I haven't made up my mind on the subject just yet.  This is the first of many posts that I will write giving varied perspectives of feminist parenting.  I do not necessarily hold the same opinions.  I am simply sharing what I find. 

One thing that did jump out at me in my reading for the evening was a piece on feminist parenting by Bell Hooks, a personal hero of mine.  She was describing how the physical discipline of children can influence their ideas of battered women.  This may seem like a stretch-  it seemed that way to me at first.  In her book Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, Bell Hooks writes,

I often tell the story of being at a fancy dinner party where a woman is describing the way she disciplines her young son by pinching him hard, clamping down on his little flesh for as long as it takes to control him.  And how everyone applauded her willingness to be a disciplinarian.  I shared the awareness that her behavior was abusive, that she was potentially planting the seed for this male child to grow up and be abusive to women.  Significantly, I told the audience of listeners that if we had heard a man telling us how he just clamps down on a woman's flesh, pinching her hard to control her behavior it would have been immediately acknowledge as abusive.  Yet when a child is being hurt this form of negative domination is condoned.  

 She goes on to say that children have no civil liberties and are often viewed as property of the parent.  This physical power that a parent can exert over a child translates into a person who can physically dominate another will/should do so to maintain control.  Honestly, the two were apples and oranges to me until reading this book, and perhaps they still are.  It's an interesting perspective.

Hubby and I were discussing this in the car.  He's my skeptic on all things that go against cultural inertia, so I like to get his opinion on such things.  He said he understood what Bell Hooks was saying, but it is a parent's job to teach a child how to behave whereas that is not the case of a spouse.

I would have to say my current thoughts are that discipline is a not multiple choice where all answers are mutually exclusive, but rather a continuum where generally the parent knows the child best.  I was a recipient of the occassional spanking and I will absolutely, 100% not stand for violence against women. 

But then I look again, and maybe there is something to what Bell Hooks has to offer....

How does this sit with you?

**On a side note, this is not to say that either of us agree with the idea of using physical punishment to correct behavior but rather for argument's sake.  We have yet to get to a place in our parenting where discipline plays a role at all, but we had discussed the need for a pop on the bum to get a clear understanding to a child who isn't listening and the consequence could be dangerous (such as touching a hot stove).  However, I will not assume a position on that or presume anyone else has it right or wrong until I have hit that place in my parenting. **



Four Month Update (And other random tirades)

After almost two years of marriage, I am proud to announce that we are finally falling into a rhythm-  I blame the delay on Jason's crazy rotating shift work.  Jason is officially on day staff, which means he holds normal people hours, which means we have regular dinners and weekends, which furthur means solid routines in our home.  Yay! 

Little man peeking through his playmat

Ezra update:  We had his four month appointment a couple weeks ago.  Our Little Man is actually our big Little Man weighing in at eighteen pounds and almost twenty-seven inches.  He's still over the 95th percentile, with which I am just fine-  I love a chunky baby!  We were told by the nurse that we should go ahead and start him on rice cereal, but we honestly weren't thinking about food until six months.  When I expressed this sentiment, our nurse asserted that, no, this was indeed the time to begin rice cereal.  I spoke to the doctor who said that it was absolutely fine to wait until six months to begin real food.  I love our doctor;  she really supports our parenting style, which many in our American culture find too soft.  However, if it's one thing I have learned from studying sociology, it's that normalcy in one culture is completely odd in another.  Therefore, I am not hugely worried about what people in this culture find weird because if we end up happy, who cares?



Our adventure at the fair-  Ezra has started
loving stuffed animals- this one in particular. 



On another note, Ezra loves music.  Before he was born, Jason and I went back and forth between what was more important:  music or sports.  Now, if I know most of my readers of this blog, I can assume you're thinking music, but hear my case out.  Sports promote hand-eye coordination (especially useful in a home free of video games), teamwork, social skills, problemsolving, commitment, etc.  Team sports also have a positive corelation with school work. 

All that being said, I think that is one discussion Jason will win, at least until we have another little one, because Ezra is a music baby.  Singing (especially showtunes), any instrument, and most recently Pandora.com get him calm.  In church, Ezra sits very sweetly through the music and then WAILS when it stops.  Grr.  Looks like I'll have to persuade another child to be a sports kid...  unless Ezra can do both....  or be brainwashed.  Kidding...kind of.  We'll see. 

Ezra has become a pro at rolling from his back to his tummy, but not so much from his tummy to his back.  That's exciting.  Another random, yet exciting thing is that since Halloween is over, it is officially Thanksgiving season, which can only mean one thing.  That's right, you guessed it, Thanksgiving pajamas.  When I was growing up, my mom always got us new pajamas for special times like vacation and holidays.  I have decided that is a tradition I would like to carry on.  It can be my thing.  I don't have a picture of Ezra in his Thanksgiving pajamas yet, but be on the look out.  It's coming. 

Doubt versus Questions: What is okay?

Contributions also made by my love <3

Recently, I have introduced myself into some circles of feminist Latter-day Saints through blogs, facebook groups, etc.  This is my attempt at finding others like me.  Often times I find my feminist ideologies are met with uncomfortable expressions and resistant minds, so I took to the internet-  Even if a small 10-30 percent of Mormons consider themselves moderate to liberal, that's a whole lot of people who have un-Mormon-mainstreamed ideas that could be somewhat similar to mine.  I found a few blog circles that I really enjoyed.  I loved the ones that did not allow destructive comments-  different points of view are always welcome, but the comments that were nasty, angry, and downright mean were deleted. 
However, I was surprised by some of the material I found in other circles.  Often the subject matter included criticism of the prophets and apostles and the way conference talks were given.  Many topics were thrown into the arena that made me quite uncomfortable.  I thought my feminism was cause for discomfort in some  more conservative members, but the comments and ideas of some of the feminist circles were almost anti-doctrinal. 
One particular example I can think of is the Visiting Teaching message for October about the Stripling Warriors.  The idea behind the lesson (October 2011 Visiting Teaching message) is building a strong testimony of the gospel and not doubting our faith or the Lord.  This caused a lot of ruckus in many of the feminist circles because simply believing what one is told goes against feminist intuition.  The reviews of the message I have been reading in the feminist blogosphere are very unsettling to me due to the intensity of open criticism for our church leaders.  I fear that when we turn to criticizing Church Leaders, we are leaving the gospel behind. 
I began to think about how many times I have said to myself that some piece of doctrine does not make sense to me and then investigated the topic either in scripture, through others in my church community, and most often, my Bishop.  I am a feminist who is FULL of questions.  From there, I began to differentiate between having questions and doubting.  In my opinion, doubting is unbelief, whereas questions involve trying to fill in gaps of knowledge.  (I would love to hear other opinions on this!)
Doubting is discouraged by Christ in John 20 when Thomas does not believe the other ten apostles when they tell him that they have seen the resurrected Savior.  Thomas states that he will not believe unless he sees for himself.  The Savior later tells Thomas to be not faithless but believing. 
Questions in and of themselves are great and testimony building.  In Alma 32, Alma teaches that faith is not having a perfect knowledge, and that one must exercise a particle of faith to be able to give place to some of the words he preaches.  In Moroni 10, it is encouraged for each individual to ask of the Father if the gospel (and pieces thereof) are true.  Questions seem to me to be a staple in building a strong testimony.  Questioning with a "sincere heart" is promised to be met with answers, not disciplinary action. 
I think that we could all benefit from seeking more answers rather than discarding truths due to misinterpretations or a distaste for their presentation. 

Bath Time (otherwise known as The Splash Zone)

Ezra's bath time has become one of his favorite times of the day.  We are currently experimenting with using it to help get in the bedtime mood.  So far, it seems to work really well.  He loves playing in the warm water.  He has just recently gotten too big for the newborn sling that usually sits in his little tub, so he has more space to play.  Ezra has decided that the thing to do with all the extra space is to splash around so that everyone in the room gets to enjoy his bath as much as he does.



Ezra's first Halloween (sort of)

Happy Halloween!



Alex is an Ewok and Ezra is a bull



 Tonight was the annual church Trunk-or-Treat where everyone decorates their cars and the children go around for candy.  It's a neat alternative to Trick-or-Treating because the community is tighter nit than most neighbors.   We combined with our extended family, Lindsay and Alex, and had a really cool evening.  We decorated with spider garland and a lighted pumkin on top of the car.  Alex helped us pass out the candy, and he was really good at making sure everyone got at least a couple pieces, sometimes more :) 



Moo.



Marla is a hotdog with mustard. 



Ezra dressed in his bull costume (I've been told I cannot call him a cow), and Marla dressed as a hotdog.  Marla was very gentle with all the kiddos that wanted to come play with her, and she remarkably kept her costume on all night long, even though we were pretty sure she would lose it in the first five minutes.   

All in all, my favorite Halloween ever has been the first one I had a kid.  I would never have imagined.  :)



Ezra had a great time, but he was done before the night was over. 



Why LYB Day is so important to me

This is what inspired me to celebrate Love Your Body Day each year.  Jean Kilbourne is amazing.  I will say that this material is not rated G.  It is, however, nothing that isn't seen in any magazine you pick up in a grocery store. 

What are  your thoughts?

Love Your Body Day 2011

Supporting what you believe in is important, otherwise you're just a spectator rooting for the good team.  Why not join the team?  Since last year's Dating Violence Seminar, I have decided that at least once a year I will do some sort of feminist activism.  This year my activism was to throw a party for Love Your Body Day. 

Awesome Publix cake, as promised

The party began with food and good company.  In the invitation I definitely promised cake and door prizes.  I ordered the cake from Publix and ask that the words "Love Your Body Day" be iced on the cake.  My request was met with a hushed tone and the reply, "I'm sorry-  we can't do that."  Confused, I assumed it was because they did not have a stencil for it.  But, non, entertainingly enough, putting the word "Body" on a cake is a no-no.  It was explained to me that "body" on the cake could insinuate perverse ideas.  I had to laugh to myself a bit on that one.  After a long think about what could convey the message of the day and not include the word "body," I called back the Publix bakery and had them put "Celebrate You" on the cake, with which they were much more comfortable.  The cake was delicious.

Packets full of recipes

Next, there was a station for nutritious eating that was based upon health rather than skinny figures.  There were packets of recipes given out as well discussing antioxidants and omega fatty acids.  This was something I was excited to have because rarely in the media do we hear about diets for health.  Often we here about our "girlish figures," "Bikini bodies," and becoming "high school skinny."  The entire focus for the eating presentation was on health rather than calories.  Included in this display was a storyboard that showed beautiful women of all different shapes and sizes. 



Beautiful bodied women



I especially love Dove's campaign for real beauty.  This set up worked really well next to a slideshow made by NOW for Love Your Body day that discusses women presented in advertising.  To view that presentation, please visit NOW's Sex Stereotypes Beauty Page. 

Lastly, I prepared a craft (because who doesn't love a craft?!).  On one side of a small bag I painted a hear or a star and LYB.  The other side was to be decorated with things we love about our body or things we love doing with our bodies. 

Front of the bags

Decorated back of the bags

I would definitely say the night was a success.  As my activism for the year I hope I was able to help put a better perspective on female bodies and how to both appreciate them and not take cues from the media on what they should be. 

Happy Love Your Body Day!

This year had certainly been a busy one for our little family.  We have welcomed lots of new family through marriages, but we have also increased our numbers with our little Ezra and Marla, our dachshund.  Ezra is the fourth grandchild on Jason's side and the first on Blythe's side.  We have love seeing his firsts so far such as rolling over, reaching for things, smiles, laughter, etc. 

Right now, Ezra is working on rolling over consistently.  He almost has it-  his arms tend to be his biggest hurtle.  He is also trying to crawl (though we must admit it looks more like swimming on land).  He loves looking around and doing baby push-ups.

Currently, we are looking forward to the holidays.  Kick starting the holidays is halloween.  Although Jason and Blythe have yet to figure out their costumes, Ezra is going to the Church's Trunk or Treat as a cow and Marla is going as a hotdog with mustard. 

<------- Here is Ezra getting ready for Halloween with his scary bat vampire pajamas.

Hopefully, we will keep up with this blog pretty regularly, as we have many family and loved ones we can't see day-to-day.  This is for ya'll :)

June 27th, 2011 (The epic arrival of Ezra Jason McCuistion)

At eight months pregnant, Ezra arrived via a cesarian section at Trident Hospital.  He weighed six pounds eight ounces and was nineteen inches long. 

Ezra's first picture

All cleaned up and ready for snuggling

Brand new beautiful boy

Mommy and Ezra naptime. 

**yawn**



Today's message brought to you by TARGET WOMEN

Props to Sarah Haskins.  Today's material may be a little...  not G rated.  So viewer discretion advised.  Topics covered and made fun of include but are not limited to periods, sex, and strong language.  These are not my videos, but I thought I would post for all to enjoy.  Sarah Haskins has a regular show that is updated via youtube.

This video is about cleaning and its womanly joys.

This is probably my favorite video by Sarah Haskins-  birth control is never advertised as not wanting babies.  It's about period control.  Yay!