Archives for 2009

Or maybe it’s just me cackling. For I find these women funny. First they get all puffy about feminism, then they advise women on the proper care and feeding of husbands (if you’ll forgive the expression – thanks, Dr. Laura), which apparently includes picking up their socks and making them coffee. Which perhaps goes a touch far the other way. Still, this feminist has finally realized one thing worth realizing:

Asked if she thinks feminism has destroyed women, the author of The Lives and Loves of a She Devil and Puffball claimed that there are fundamental differences between the sexes.

She added that men should not be given such a hard time by career-minded women.

‘Life is much better, because you are not dependent on the goodwill of men,’ she continued, referring to the growth of women in the workplace.

But the trouble is, the battle became too fierce, and the whole culture encouraged women to believe that men are stupid, useless creatures who are the enemy.

‘But men nowadays aren’t s***. They’re actually much nicer.

‘They just don’t want to commit to you, and why would they when you are a busy working woman who can look after yourself and probably goes to bed easily with them?’

[h/t Kathy Shaidle]

You know what we need? We need a group dedicated to reminding people that access to maternity services are incomplete and threatened. Hey, if it works for abortion…

Thousands of women are having to give birth outside maternity wards because of a lack of midwives and hospital beds.

The lives of mothers and babies are being put at risk as births in locations ranging from lifts to toilets – even a caravan – went up 15 per cent last year to almost 4,000.

Health chiefs admit a lack of maternity beds is partly to blame for the crisis, with hundreds of women in labour being turned away from hospitals because they are full.

There will always be “born-in-the-taxi-on-the-way-over” cases, because I’m told that sometimes babies make their appearance quite suddenly. But golly, 4,000 a year in Britain is A LOT.

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley, who obtained the figures, said Labour had cut maternity beds by 2,340, or 22 per cent, since 1997. At the same time birth rates have been rising sharply – up 20 per cent in some areas.

Mr Lansley said: ‘New mothers should not be being put through the trauma of having to give birth in such inappropriate places.

Indeed.

This item from yesterday’s National Post asks if bullied children should be able to fight back.

Thankfully, none of my children have ever been the victim of bullying. But from I can understand of it, it is (a) a learned behavior; and (b) a spectator sport. In these circumstances, I understand how difficult it can be for schools to eradicate bullying when the bully’s behavior is reinforced both at home and in the schoolyard by silent bystanders. But if a school is not solving the problem and providing a safe environment for all children, can it then blame parents for taking the matter into their own hands?

It’s funny though that when speaking about kickboxing and martial arts, the school boards association’s risk manager would say: “The kid is going into those courses for all the wrong reasons.” Isn’t learning to fight and defend yourself one of the basic reason to take martial arts, and improved self-esteem, physical fitness and coordination welcomed collateral effects? Has our society gone so mushy that learning to defend yourself is now a big no-no?

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Brigitte nods emphatically: Yes, and yes! Getting into martial arts so you can learn to beat people up is wrong. No, gratuitous violence is not good. But learning to defend yourself, and using those skills when forced to, even if it means kicking the snot out of a tenacious bully? You betcha.

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Andrea adds: I got into martial arts because I was scared of Brigitte.

I’m jealous…

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UMWhJsd0JE&feature=player_embedded]

[h/t]

Folks, I am cleaning my place with Edith Piaf on very loud repeat. Swiffering will never be the same. Certainly adds drama to mundane household tasks.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Kvu6Kgp88]

I’m sorry. I don’t want to sound cruel (well, more than usual, I mean), or to diminish the suffering of those who have great difficulty conceiving children. But golly, articles like this one bug me big time. Children are persons, not things we choose to have rights over.

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Tanya’s got nothing but questions here: How can a government decide to cover abortions but not cover IVF? It’s contradictory in the most obvious sense of the word.  Is there reproductive choice, or isn’t there?

If a woman is infertile sometime between puberty and menopause, for whatever reason, she is suffering from an actual physical ailment. If a woman becomes pregnant through natural means, it’s an indication of her reproductive health. So, here in Canada, our health care system might treat the healthy one, but leave the unhealthy one to fend for herself? Really? Genius.