Men are Skeevy

I write to share with you my disappointment today and the unfortunate subconscious association, now, of the Tattered Cover with perverts.
Not to remind you how hot I am--we leave that to The Speaker, ;-)--but to remind you that Men are Not to Be Trusted.

First of all--to the congenial man who PASSED ME A NOTE:
LIFE IS NOT THE FOURTH GRADE!!!! I'm sorry I couldn't read your entire list of multiple choice items, but just because we shared a power strip doesn't mean I'm there to pick up men. Not that perhaps the TC isn't a great place to pick up people, just get a little wiser to the signals, eh??!

Secondly--to the older balding slob closely perusing all levels of the tote bag rack and evidently not wise to the ways of the SKORT: I'M WATCHING YOU, TOO, YOU GIANT F***ING PERV.
He's undoubtedly kin to one of the drivers of the 4-cars-in-2-hours that parked alongside the kid-packed Pool in the 'Hood the other day, too. Just passing their lunch hour in the shade, I'm sure.

Disgusting.

???!! (open mouth, speechless)

OMG. Did you hear this? Girls' Pregnancy Pact (Albeit unconfirmed; I'm sure we'll hear more on this.)

WTF?!
Wow, I cannot believe how many things have failed at once here.
Or do they have a smart idea?! As one commenter pointed out, "By the time they enter the workforce, their kids will be in school." Another topic for the future reissue of Free Lunch....

Funny, I just finished Someone Like You by Sarah Dressen last night. This YA (that's library speak for Young Adult) novel talks about a teen who chooses to keep her baby sans father and prepares for motherhood with her best friend. Yeah, right. But that's why we love fiction, right? Oh, wait...it's not fiction anymore.

Islamic Feminist Theology for Dummies, by a Dummy

Okay, not a dummy, but certainly a neophyte, and my recent experience tells me that Mohammed wasn't a big fan of women.

Or Allah, I'm still trying to figure this out. See, there's the Qu'ran, or the prophecies as told to Mohammed (and written down later). But there's also this other text, the Hadith, that describes What Mohammed Did and dictates the Islamic law, Shari'a--a sort of 'WWMD' text for Muslims.

Some first-hand evidence: separate mosque entrances & smaller women's rooms, prohibitions on 'unclean' (that would be pregnant, menstruating or recently serviced) women entering the mosque, separate everything--schools, salons, clothing stores, taxis, wedding ceremonies--and then there's the whole covering thing.

In UAE, the 'outdoor dress' consists of the abaya, the black robe worn with the shayla or black headscarf. Both are adorned with glitter designs, sequins, or embroidery but I never saw any other color but black. These are different from the burka and chador. I can now identify a goodly number of countries of origin based simply on attire. Now that you're up to speed, you're probably wondering, like me, how you can wear normal clothes, sandals and lots of jewelry and then cover up all but your most sensual parts--your face, eyes and feet--in an effort to keep men from sinning (and of course protecting the woman and her dignity)? Granted, they likely need all the help they can get but is all this covering really a deterrent?!

Sure, I saw some women with uncovered heads and most actually did not cover their faces, but this was definitely the minority. And there's something to same-sex socializing, but that's when it's by CHOICE.

I spent a whole 90 minutes with my head covered, and that was about 90 minutes too long. It took my greatest concentration to not let a wisp of hair or my neckline peak out. Let me tell you, it was a full-time job. No wonder the women I saw were constantly flipping, tucking or adjusting their scarves. And then there's the peripheral vision question, especially for those who cover their face and drive! There's so much web information (our fav source) on both sides of this issue--some espousing the increase in veil-wearing and its positive impacts--but I have to say a weekend in Cyprus felt genuinely liberating for this non-veiled woman.

At least women can drive in the UAE, you say. Well, it's not that easy to understand, I'm learning. Women's rights don't mean a thing to a woman whose culture ingrains her in a system of permission-seeking. I can see how equal rights would be a foreign concept if it goes against the very grain of your everyday existence. I mean, if the question is, "Don't you want equal rights?" and the response is, "Let me ask my husband," there's a long way to go in this discussion.

Here's a great blog that presents a less blasphemous view of some things UAE: http://arabiantights.blogspot.com/2007/10/truth-about-abayas.html

Thanks, Alberto Gonzales and all the other Women Haters in our Sham Government

Read about the close effort by Ruth, Stephen, John Paul and Dave--our Supreme Court justices who tried to uphold the legal right of women to obtain safe medical care in the event of an abortion:

(*@&#($*#&(^%!@% from PP

@@^#%)@$*&@^* from the NYT

And what about protecting the WOMEN who are actually IMPACTED?!....Justice Kennedy’s observation that “the government may use its voice and its regulatory authority to show its profound respect for the life within the woman.”