BlogHer - Body Image - Comments

Listening to Sapphire's book in iTunes

Bailey Alexander — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:44:52 -0600

I'm spending a couple of months aboard our saiboat in northern Italy so I decided to buy the book, turn out all the lights and let her words just wash over me for hours. It was intense but at the end, I was surprised by how much the other students' stories moved me, that was a clever, effective device. Allowing them to compare their pain, own their own story, move on independently.

I sat on a non-profit board in Seattle to help eliminate domestic violence. The issue is everywhere, I've heard it expressed in various languages in several countries, over the fence, walking by an apartment, in different modes of conflict and danger.

I certainly don't equate incest and rape with a color, community, let alone a country. Look at what we do every time we start a war, the first ones to suffer are the children that are raped.

This novel was something else though wasn't it, centered and more effective maybe because the community was known rather than any city, usa.

It was a brilliant use of language, really, in listening to Precious embrace the world thru gradual understanding of a language.

Prior to learning French and Italian, I lived in Rome and Paris so I was illiterate by choice, feeling vulnerable, even if only on the most superficial level, but it was valid. Speaking from somone that understands the power of her own language, the ability to control it, manipulate it, own it, I'm empathetic at the very least, on that level.

I'm not sure that anyone other than a performance poet like Sapphire could have told the story in such an effective manner, with that motive and that result. But I'm so grateful Sapphire went so dark and stayed so honest, if only so the light at the end of the tunnel could feel that much more worth the trouble of traveling towards......

Beautiful

kristanhoffman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:35:36 -0600

Beautiful words from a beautiful woman. Thanks for spotlighting this wonderful post. I've been too lazy to register and leave comments for a couple weeks now, but I just had to bite the bullet for this one.

Kristan

kristanhoffman.com

"Flow"

Liz Henry — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:09:51 -0600

Wow Denise. Now I want to read that book! My Amazon account is cowering in terror!

-----------------
Liz Henry
Composite: Tech & Poetics
lizzard@bookmaniac.net

Respect isn't a given.

butters88 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:01:47 -0600

I realize this is incredibly outdated, but the first thing that struck me is that most comments are from women saying more or less what you'd expect about women getting screwed in a man's world (I don't meant that as offensive, just to summarize generally what I've read). There is a very basic thing here that nobody ever seems to pick up on Palin. People only paint her as a victim because she is a woman. If everything else stayed the same, but she were just a man instead, favourable opinion of her would be even LOWER. Call it sexist, call it biology, but men resect pretty women more.

But men also understand that respect is earned, not a given. There is the basic repect for fellow Man (as in human, not just men) but when someone has power who shouldn't and is making a move for more power, they will be torn down. Women have this assumption that men just tear down women because their women. False. Men are even more vicious to other men. Only growing up, men have become accustomed to it. Girls, on the other hand, who are considered sacred are sheltered from criticism growing up and are unprepared for it.

Basic fact about Palin, I find her annoying with that constant goofy smile, her annoying accent, constant reference to herself as a "Maverick" and acting like she's some revolutionary changing the political world. But listen to ANY interview with her. She can't answer simple questions and ANY criticism of her that is read back to her is the fault of the person commenting on her. She attempts to discredit the person to discredit the argument.

It isn't about her being a woman in a man's world (that whole idea makes me want to vomit, how bad women have it. but sorry, thats for another day.) its about her being an idiot in a world that needs better. Hilary isn't better because she's a liberal, but because she's intelligent and articulate.

Flow

Denise — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:18:00 -0600

In the BlogHer Book Club, we just had a very long discussion about menstruation. OK I discussed and others looked on in mostly horror.

And, I tweeted photos of three of the six books that I purchased (for all six children) for Christmas.

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings

I knew there had to be a story behind it!

moonfever0 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:45:45 -0600

Cool baby shower! And too bad on Sproingy. The progesterone ones really make periods into barely a trickle. Haven't seen a super-maxi in ages!

The uterus piñata!

Liz Henry — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:27:00 -0600

Oh I'm glad you liked it! Even though I still hate everything. The uterus part was a paper mache cover over a balloon, the Fallopian tubes were paper towel rolls, and the ovaries were wadded up newspaper wrapped in duct tape. It took a team of us an hour to wrap that sucker in frilled crepe paper. Inside we had candy, horrible baby dolls, and super-super maxi pads painted with nail polish. People were walking around the baby shower with the bloody-looking maxipads stuck to their foreheads. It was epic and gross!

Lucky you with the IUD... Mine didn't work out very well, twice, and I don't want to try it again!

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Liz Henry
Composite: Tech & Poetics
lizzard@bookmaniac.net

Love the uterus pinata!

moonfever0 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:43:29 -0600

I am thankfully under the influence of the lovely Mirena, so I have gratefully avoided all those tempermental cycles for the last five years. But I do remember how infuriating it was when people around me seemed to know that PMS was here and I didn't.

The pinata is fantastic. Reminds me of the womb knitting pattern on Knitty, two of which I made and photographed here.

WOW! what a great post this

lilmommythatcould — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:07:05 -0600

WOW! what a great post this week. I think this is the first time I have seen NieNie as Blogher of the Week- Long overdo!

Reading her post always sets me on the right foot, Thanks for the great share.

~Susan

The Somethyme Writer

Thank you

Big Girl Bombshell — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:03:26 -0600

Thanks Crabby! That is an awesome starting point!

I will probably burn a few calories just reading and linking!

It's about the attitude, not the scale!

Thanks for including Cranky Fitness!

Crabby McSlacker — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:30:50 -0600

If I start mentioning individual blogs I'll get in trouble, because I'll inevitably leave out some of my favorites. But a few months back I asked readers to nominate some of their favorite weight loss blogs, and people keep adding great new recommendations to the comments. So if you're interested in a few more suggestions, here are Cranky Fitness Reader's choices for best Weight Loss Blogs.

Thanks again!

14?

Denise — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:29:26 -0600

That is the kind of thing that freaks me out.

My big kids never had a scale growing up. When TW and I moved in, she brought a scale and I made her hide it away where nobody could see it - especially the children. The scale is still hidden away but every now and then it makes its way out into plain sight (in the laundry room) and when I notice it, I hide it away again.

The folks who are overweight around here know that they are overweight, they don't need the scale to point it out to them. And those who are underweight, know the same thing. I'm so anti scale. But, I wouldn't be if I knew the people stepping onto it could do so without letting the numbers hurt them.

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings

Not surprised

Denise — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:25:19 -0600

Weigh in days can be emotionally difficult, it's hard enough to lose weight that using a tool that just makes you feel bad about yourself... it doesn't make sense.

~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings

Love Hate Relationship

Elana Centor — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:00:56 -0600

Right now it's a love fest because the scale is telling me what I want to hear ---that I am finally on a WOE that makes sense for me and is helping me lose weight.

My new scale is about two years old. I got the new one after I discovered that my old scale was weighing "light." It always weighed light by a few pounds but those few pounds became 25...that's right. My old scale was off by 25 pounds. For an entire year I thought I was 25 pounds lighter than I actually was... That misinformation made me okay with my wieght because I thought I was just a few pounds overweight instead of a lot of pounds overweight. It's amazing what we see in the mirror when we think we are one weight rather than reality.

Since I was 14 years old I have gotten on the scale religiously every morning and sometimes throughout the day. I'm actually very glad I have done this because it has helped me understand how my body responds to certain foods. When you weigh yourself every day and are accountable for what you are eating and the scale still goes up.... it's sending you a message.

Here's what I know, jumping on the scale every day will not help you lose weight. If the scale is up on a certain day, it somehow does not translate into healthier eating that day.

But what it has done is provide me with a lot of data that I can now use to try to make eduated decisions about my eating habits. Without the regular weigh ins I 'm not so sure that I would be confident that my weight problem had less to do with will power and more to do with a problem with carbs.

But sharing my weight? no thank you. Sharing my weight loss? That's much easier to talk about.

elana Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&Careers FunnyBusiness

BlogHer - Body Image - Comments

Listening to Sapphire's book in iTunes

Beautiful

"Flow"

Respect isn't a given.

Flow

I knew there had to be a story behind it!

The uterus piñata!

Love the uterus pinata!

WOW! what a great post this

Thank you

Thanks for including Cranky Fitness!

Read more about the risks of "bio-identical" hormones.

14?

Not surprised

Love Hate Relationship