Reality TV Hangover? Not yet

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I adore trash- trashy music, trashy magazines, trashy movies and, most of all, trashy television. I am one of those who spends Sunday afternoons watching America's Next Top Model Marathons rather than say, reading in the sun (although it is way too cold to do that right now anyway, so I don't feel so bad).
So honestly, my confession is that one of the reasons I have updated my blog so rarely lately is my vigilance to celebrity gossip blogs. Particularly those focusing on ANTM and The Hills. So I apologize to the few of you who read Femivix. I will post again soon.
That said, The Hills has me wondering whether I stare emptily at people when they are talking to me as much as LC does.

Day of Remembrance.

Today is the 18th anniversary of the "Montreal Massacre", a horrific shooting that took place at the Ecole Poytechnique in Montreal, Quebec. Mark Lepine walked into an engineering school classroom, separated the men from the women, told the men to leave, yelled "I hate feminists," opened fire, and shot the nine women, killing six and injuring the rest. Then he moved onto other parts of the school, By the time he turned his gun on himself, Lepine had killed a total of 14 women:

• Geneviève Bergeron (b. 1968), civil engineering student.
• Hélène Colgan (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
• Nathalie Croteau (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
• Barbara Daigneault (b. 1967) mechanical engineering student.
• Anne-Marie Edward (b. 1968), chemical engineering student.
• Maud Haviernick (b. 1960), materials engineering student.
• Maryse Laganière (b. 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department.
• Maryse Leclair (b. 1966), materials engineering student.
• Anne-Marie Lemay (b. 1967), mechanical engineering student.
• Sonia Pelletier (b. 1961), mechanical engineering student.
• Michèle Richard (b. 1968), materials engineering student.
• Annie St-Arneault (b. 1966), mechanical engineering student.
• Annie Turcotte (b. 1969), materials engineering student.
• Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (b. 1958), nursing student.

While I do not generally condone posting suicide notes, here is Lepine's.

I have decided to send the feminists, who have always ruined my life, to their Maker. For seven years life has brought me no joy and being totally blasé, I have decided to put an end to those viragos.... Even if the Mad Killer epithet will be attributed to me by the media, I consider myself a rational erudite that only the arrival of the Grim Reaper has forced to take extreme acts. For why persevere to exist if it is only to please the government. Being rather backward-looking by nature (except for science), the feminists have always enraged me. They want to keep the advantages of women (e.g. cheaper insurance, extended maternity leave preceded by a preventative leave, etc.) while seizing for themselves those of men.

In Canada, today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action On Violence Against Women.

It's been a long time...

Ok, so while I still have carpal tunnel, it has significantly improved since the last time I wrote and I think it may be time to start this thing up again. I just did my LSATs and finally have time to do activities other than logic games and logical reasoning problems. So, I am back.

Carpal Tunnel Sucks!

Sorry no posts in a while. I am trying to minimize my typing to avoid horrible pain. Hope to post soon!

Back in the day...

Last night I was looking at this Tori Amos bio and remembered what a tremendous effect the singer/pianist had on my teenage years. I wanted to honor some of my teenage idols who not only kept me (kind of) sane during high school, but beckoned me to a clearer feminist consciusness.

Tori Amos

I remember treking to the Avalon Mall in St. John's, Newfoundland to purchase her albums the day they came out. I horded bootleg albums, posters and paraphrenalia featuring the feminist fairy queen.

Not only was (and is) Tori's music beautiful and incredibly complex musically, it really spoke to my personal and political concerns regarding gender and sexuality. Whether Amos sang about rape (Me and a Gun), breakups (Putting the Damage On, among so many others), female circumcision (Cornflake Girl) or sex and religion (Icicle and the infamous God), she was always spot on.

Courtney Love

Yes, I know Love's status as a feminist has been highly debated (and that she has gone a little more than nuts lately), but I have to admit, Courtney Love (and Hole) was probably the single greatest influence on my musical taste and personal style. She just didn't give a FUCK (or at least she pretended not to). Her baby doll, overly girly dresses contrasted so sharply with her growly voice and in your face attitude and I, as an insecure ninth grader, wanted, more than anything, to achieve that level of what I percieved as independance and confidence. So maybe for her it came partially from drugs. Besides all the drugs, fighting, etc. back then she was still an embodiment of my personal goals and helped me to stop caring so much what others thought and believe that women could seriously ROCK!


7 Year Bitch

Super fierce grrrl band from Seattle screaming about everything I was feeling during junior high and high school. Need I say more?

Anna Rexia- because eating disorders are sexy

Ok, I though I had seen some of the most offensive Halloween costumes ever, but this one really takes the cake.

As someone who has dealt on and off for most of her life with various eating disorders (or as someone who has watched others cope) I am completely disgusted and offended by this costume. It would be one thing if someone were to wear a costume commenting on the prevelence of eating disorders or bizarreness of body image issues in society, but to wear or sell one that sexifies a death threatening desease is just plain sickening.

Oh, and just in case you haven't had your fill of costume that make mental illness sexy, check out Ella Mental.

Thank You Courtney!!

Here is a great list of things you can do to love your body from Courtney Martin at Feministing.
I think that my favorite is probably:

1. Make the radical choice to commit to healing your relationship with your body.

Thank you!

Stupid, offensive article alert!!!

So, once again, I have found an infuriating story on yahoo. In the article "Is Your Image Hurting Your Career", Penelope Trusk states the following:
1.) The heavier you are, the less money you make.
2.) The less attractive you are, the les money you make
3.) Your employers may be right and thin people might actually be scientifically smarter

"Before you get up in arms over how unfair it is to discriminate against people who are overweight, consider that there may be some rationale behind it. If you're overweight, you're probably not
exercising every day. But regular exercise increases peoples' ability to cope with difficult situations in the workplace and, according to University of Illinois
kinesiology professor Charles Hillman, might even make people smarter. " (links her her own, pasted from the page)

First off, size does not necessarily have anything to do with exercise. Some people have lower metabolism and, therefore, can exercise a few times a week and still be larger than people who never exercise at all.

Second, not only is this article a waste of space, it is offensive, disgusting and one of the worst displays of fatphobia I have ever witnessed!

Yay Portland, Maine! Boo Bush & Orr!!!

If this hadn't passed, it may have been the final straw for my sanity.



This week has been a little les than cheerful on the reproductive rights front, with Bush appointing Dr. Susan Orr as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services family planning program.

According to Orr, contraception is part of a culture of death.

"It's not about choice. It's not about health care. It's about making everyone
collaborators with the culture of death."

Thank you, George Bush for providing this fucking nutcase with a platform. How the hell are these things ok? The last time I checked, abstinence is not part of my or any of my friend's', or anyone I know's "family planning strategies". To those who choose abstinence, cool. But the key word is CHOOSE. I am just so angry.



But, back to my original point, middle school students in Portland, Maine now have access to contraceptives without parental notification! And STD counselling!! All at a convenient, on-site medical clinic.

And then, there is Kansas.

New Job

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I have (finally) switched jobs. While it is surely too early to judge (still have 58 minutes left of my first day), the new place seems pretty great. People being generally nice and polite in a nice change and, so far, I have heard few, if any, catty remarks.
Thumbs up, new work place!