Happy 35th Anniversary Roe v. Wade!

Lots of great stuff going on today to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion.

Check out all the bloggers taking part in NARAL's Blog for Choice Day.

Also take a look at Planned Parenthood's Wall of Protest where you can "express your outrage over the Federal Abortion Ban." Beware it loads pretty slow. But I guess that means lots of people have contributed images, so slow is a good thing. The one thing I don't really understand is the images of people's pets up there. I mean I've never asked my cat if she's pro-choice, but maybe I should get on that!

I know there's a lot of talk about how Roe v. Wade is being eroded and reproductive choice is in jeopardy, but I've never felt like young people were really behind that. I mean we've grown up our whole lives with Roe v. Wade. I try not to pay too much attention to polls, but I was kind of freaked out to read that teens and young adults seem less pro-choice than older generations.

I read this today in the LA Times:

Looking specifically at teens, a Gallup survey in 2003 found that 72% called abortion morally wrong, and 32% believed it should be illegal in all circumstances. Among adults surveyed that year, only 17% backed a total ban.

The article talks about antiabortion clubs and summer camps for middle and high school students. Really? Antiabortion summer camp?! I had no idea.

Well we better keep fighting. Here's to many more choice filled years!

More Girls Fighting?

So I'm driving to work this morning listening to Day to Day on NPR and I hear the host proclaiming,"'Fight like a girl' used to be an expression that meant you didn't fight all that hard or all that violently. Well things have changed."

My ears perk up. Did I miss something? Is this cause for celebration? Are people not using "like a girl" as an insult anymore? Welllll...not quite. The story is about videos posted on YouTube showing girls fighting each other. They say in it that girls are getting in physical fights with each other more often than in the past. Not sure what the past is to them, but I definitely remember fights among girls when I was in middle and high school. But maybe it is getting more common. What do you think?

There was one part of the story that was especially annoying. Dr. Louis Kraus at Rush University says, "We see more girls interacting in competitive sports. We've seen girls get into more fights." Are we supposed to draw some connection between girls being more involved in sports and getting in more fights? What happened to sports being so good for girls?

And then they talk to a thirteen-year-old who says, "Guys aren't better than girls. Girls can fight too." Ah equality at last. But seriously let's strive for no fighting.

Oh but the Dr. Kraus guy brings up a good point at the end about how schools are less likely to take fights among girls as seriously as fights among guys. Teachers and administrators often see girls' fights as "skirmishes" and are less likely to intervene. Hopefully awareness will do a little something to help people not diminish girls' activities and expressions (however unacceptable).

Middle School Flashback (but in a good way)

This summer has been one middle school flashback after another. But luckily they’ve all been good! I met Hillary Carlip who wrote the book Girl Power and I saw Team Dresch perform. Reading material and music that helped me survive middle school.

But the coolest flashback has been getting a copy of Belle magazine. The magazine was started by Kelcie Angstadt when she was 13 years old (she’s now 15). It totally made me think of how I wanted to write a zine when I was 13, but didn’t feel ready to put my opinions out there with my writing. I ended up starting Sticker Sisters instead, which helped me find my voice in a different way. But I love seeing girls express themselves through writing.

The July/August issue of Belle has an article about how to "Be Green" and a quiz asking, "Do you care what other people think?" The title of the quiz might not sound that different from mainstream teen magazines, but the advice at the end sure is! It celebrates individualism and offers suggestions for getting away from today's "fashion-obsessed" society.

In an article on "The Great Debate about Weight," Kelcie writes:

"We are all different sizes, and I hope that I live long enough to see an era where women can be proud of that fact, not hide from it. If we accept that we are different, it will dissolve those thoughts in the back of our mind, like 'She's so much prettier than I am' or 'I wish I looked that good in a bikini.' Why focus on thoughts like that when they only bring you down. It doesn’t help anyone, and especially not you. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you train yourself to refocus that eye, you’ll see that you are beautiful, size zero or not."

Powerful words. Keep an eye on Belle—in a few years it just might give Bitch and Bust a run for their money!

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