Equal Rights Amendment

This was taken from http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/legislation.htm This is very short and I’m sure most of you that read this blog support equal rights. This is a reminder that we have not achieved equality yet.

Equal Rights Amendment

SECTION 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

SECTION 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

SECTION 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification

The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights

I got this from Human Rights Web. I thought I would post up “The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights” because it’s important to everyone.

Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.

Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair, and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

How To Start A Zine

Here’s something I got from the old and no longer around The X-Womyn Collective website. It tells you how to start your own zine.

Before You Start

Buy a whole bunch of zines and take note of all the different layouts, designs, graphics, content, etc. It will help you get a better feel for what you want to put in your own zine.

Content

What do you want your zine to be about? What sort of things are you going to put in it? Is it going to be a fanzine for a band (i.e. C.I.L.L. - a Lunachicks zine)? A zine about your local scene (i.e. Neus Subjex - a zine about Cincinnati punk rock)? Personal writings like rants, poetry, stories, etc. (i.e. Puzzle Pieces)? A political/informational zine about sexism, rape, violence, homophobia (i.e. Body Count/FEM-UH-NIST)? FYI, punk, ska, riot grrrl, hardcore, whatever… decide what you want to put in your zine. This is your project. Don’t worry about who will buy it and who will like it. Put what YOU would want to read about. Most zines are created because people see zines they like and want to imitate it. There is no such thing as an original zine anymore, so do whatever you want with it. If you are going to be using pre-printed material, whether it’s a poem, statistics, interviews, graphics, etc., make sure you give the original author credit. No one likes to pick up a zine they’ve never heard of and see something they wrote and the zine writer claiming it as their own (regardless if you tried to pass it off that way). If you are unsure who the author/artist is, make a note of it and offer future credit for that person.

Name

What are you going to call your zine? Choose a name that means something to you. It’s what you are going to be associated with from now on. Pick something that will go with what’s inside. Don’t pick a generic name like “Punkzine” or something like that, use some creativity and put some thought into it. One Up, Neus Subjex, Poop Corner, Cicada, Little Girl, Agitprop, Doo Wrong, Shakeface, Maximumrocknroll - all pretty good names. Don’t purposely rip off zines names though, zine writers get very angry when they see zines with almost exact titles. Your zine will become your life, and it’s sort of like identity theft if someone else is using the same name as you. (We’ve had this provlem before. You wouldn’t think it would be that big of a deal until it happens to you.)

Graphics

What sort of images, if any, are you going to use to accompany you’re writing? Find pictures, drawings, anything to fill in extra space. Empty white spaces are an eye sore. If you have access to it or can afford it, try using colored paper. It doesn’t add to the graphics, but someone may be more willing to pick up a zine if the pages are blue instead of white. Use anything to add life to your zine. But beware of copyrighted material. If you steal graphics off the internet or out of another zine, make sure you mention where you got the graphics from. It’s proper zine ettiquettte. (I never paid much attention to “zine ettiquette” before but in the world of zines, it’s a major issue.)

Layout

Arrange your zine so it’s easy to read. Don’t cram everything into 10 pages if you have 20 pages of material. If you have that much stuff, save some of it for a future issue. You don’t want to run out of material after 2 issues. Don’t reduce it all either so you need a magnifying glass to read it. Normal point size (10 or 12) is good, and with certain fonts you can go as low as 8. Handwritten zines have a certain charm to them, but only if your writing is legible and it copies dark enough. If you are going to handwrite, try using a roll-point pen or transparency marker, that way it will come out better than a ball point pen. Make sure you leave a margin on all sides for copying and stapling. If you are using a comupter, you can mess with your page layout in your writing program and modify the margins.

Printing

This is the biggest pain in the ass of the whole zine process. You can go through 50 printers before you find one that suits you. This is also the most time consuming part of it all, at least from what we’ve experienced. You need money and a lot of time to print. Call around before you venture out and see what prices are available to you. Print shops may be a bit more expensive but their copies usually turn out better. And you don’t have to stand at a xerox machine for six hours printing your zine. But, it is better to do it yourself since you know how everything should be laid out and how you want it to look. But, you can always have someone else do it for you. Plan to spend extra money on your first issue, since it’s the first time you’ve ever done this, you are going to mess up a lot and it’s going to cost money. A quick way of printing is to make what is called a flat. It’s a single-sided version of your zine. Take your final product to the xerox machine, copy each page until it looks the way you want it to. Then place the flat on the document handler on top of the copy machine and select 1 to 2 sided. This makes things go a lot faster so you aren’t screwing up 50 copies of a page at a time. It also helps if you make friends with people that work at copy shops. They can cut you deals and sneak you free copies. Or you could go all out and work in a copy shop!

Getting your zine out

This is the fun part and where all your hard work pays off. Give a copy to the bands and zines you reviewed, if you did reviews at all. Give it to other zinesters where you live and ask them to review it in their zines. Trade zines with people. Sell them at shows. Take them to local record stores and see if they’ll buy them. The internet has made zine distributing a million times easier. You can trade zines with people you’ve met online. You can get on zine mailing lists and talk about your zine there. You can make a webpage to promote your zine and have an e-mail address so people can contact you. Send your zine to bigger zines like Punk Planet, Factsheet Five, Maximumrocknroll and ask them to review it. A lot of people read their reviews and buy the ones with the good reviews. You can send zines to friends out-of-town. You can look for out-of-town distros that would want to carry your zine. Pander, Riot Grrrl Press, Basement Children, Word Is A Weapon, Bitch - all of these distros carry many zines.  Send your zine to online places like World Wide Punk. Hundreds of people visit there a day and trust Vic’s opinions.

Cost

Here’s a major dilemma. You are going to lose money on your zine. There’s no getting around it. Some zine writers have lost hundreds of dollars each time they print. It’s just a fact of zine life. You have to decide if you want to give your zine out for free (if you have good advertisers you can manage this, see below for selling ad space) or if you want to charge for it to cover some of the copying. Don’t expect to make money. You probably won’t so don’t even hope for it. If you do happen to make money, someone loves you. heheh. Keep the cost as low as you can - people are cheap. They’ll spend 4 bucks on a cup of coffee but not 2 bucks on a zine that could change their life. Don’t rip yourself off either, but keep the cost low enough that you aren’t losing tons of money every issue.

Promotion

Stickers, word of mouth, shirts, reviews, anything so people know what your zine is and so they get interested in it. Although it’s lame, have people talk about it so other kids will overhear and want to see your zine. Don’t be shy. This is your baby and you busted your ass on it. Talk to bands at shows and ask for interviews and stuff for review. Getting a big band like Screeching Weasel to do an interview is going to get a lot of people to buy it, although getting Ben Weasel to do anything like that can be a struggle with futility. Just kidding.

Feedback

Make sure and ask for feedback. What does everyone else think? Don’t be hurt or crushed by negative feedback or bad reviews. Not everyone is going to die over your zine. And not everyone will use it as toilet paper either. Find out what’s good and what’s not. What you need to improve on, what rocks already and you don’t need to change. No one is just going to flame your zine out of spite, they are giving you an honest opinion, whether it’s good or bad, and you should be willing to accept suggestions and criticism and try and improve on it. Some zine reviewers at bigger zines like MRR can be real snotty and picky so don’t give up on writing your zine if they give you an awful review.

Advertising

Send letters, e-mails, zines to bands and labels and other places. Call them a few weeks later and ask if they are interested in advertising. Make them pay for it. Not only are you making money to print your next issue, but the labels are reaching a bunch of kids with their products, which is really good for small labels that don’t get much press. The bigger labels are a lot wearier about advertising in small zines with limited circulation and print count. Try and stick with the smaller labels, they will probably send you some stuff to review as well if you ask, since they need all the press they can get, and so can you! Visit local places like record stores and coffee shops and skate parks and ask if they are interested in advertising as well. It’s a good way of lowering your printing cost and in turn lowering the price at which you sell your zine.

Sit back, relax, and repeat as necessary

Don’t start your next zine as soon as you are done printing an issue. Give yourself a break. After a few weeks, begin thinking about the next issue. Draw a layout of what you want to be in it, make a list of articles, gather submissions, get everything in order and then go into the next issue. Don’t burn yourself out. Don’t set deadlines, you’ll bever make them.

Split zines

Split zines take a lot more work on both editors’ parts. You have to coordinate page numbers, material (so you don’t print the same thing), graphics, etc. It’s always a good idea to let the other editor read what you have before you go to print. I got into a short spat with the other editor of my split zine over something I wrote. That could have easily been avoided had we talked about it beforehand. There’s a lot of give and take in a split zine, you have to be willing to compromise, like in any relationship.

E-Zines

E-zines are just as fun as paper zines to make. You can do it one of two ways (that I know of). You can make each zine a website (like we do here at the X-Womyn) or you can send it out as an e-mail. Making a website zine is just like making a webpage for anything else, you need a basic understanding of html and material to publish! Just make your zine as a webpage, publish it on the internet and you’re done! You still need to go through the steps of deciding content, name, etc. but the whole copying business is history. =) I’ve personally never done an e-mail zine before, but you can either send all the contents in an e-mail or attach a text file to an e-mail containing your zine. AOL members have more benefits with adding pictures, colors, fonts, etc. that you can’t do in a text file. Just organize your zine in an e-mail and send it off!

Newsprint

I admit, I’m a newsprint virgin. The next issue of my zine is going to be on newsprint, but I have never done it this way before. We contacted Small Publisher’s Co-op and asked for a pricing list and information. You can also call around and find printers that use newspaper and talk to them about how to print your zine that way.

WAM 2008!

For those of you unfamiliar with the WAM conference, let me give you the low down. The “Women, Action & The Media” conference is a yearly event held for women of all walks of life to get together and discuss our roll as females and feminists in the media. I had the pleasure of attending the pre-conference networking seminar this afternoon and will be giving you updates all weekend as the conference progresses.

Miriam Perez, author of the Radical Doula Blog and contributor to Jessica Valenti’s Blog, Feministing lead a discussion about starting out in the world of journalism and media as a woman. One of the major topics of conversation was the All Mighty Blog. Many of our readers no doubt have created their own Blogs and it is a great way to cut your teeth in this industry.

Blog writers are free to speak their opinions (most often) without fear of censorship. In a culture where so much of what is fed to us through mainstream media is inaccurate or just plain lies, this new form of media is especially relevant. From a feminist/riotgrrl perspective, The Blog is one of the few our movement can gain interest and attention without major marketing dollars. In the 90’s we made Zines. This was time consuming and could get expensive. Today any young woman who has something to say can turn on her computer and author a Blog.

In fact, you should! We are strong aggressive women with a lot on our minds. We have this free avenue of expression and an open audience willing to participate. I know this may be an obvious point, but Mariam illustrated so beautifully this afternoon the need for involvement.

You there reading this, what do YOU have to say?

Feminism Friday: How To Start A Riot Grrrl Chapter In Your Area

I got this from an OLD riot grrrl website that’s no longer up anymore. I used archive.org to find the old website. It’s taken from here: The X-Womyn Collective and it’s from their DIY guide. Some of the information below might not be something you want to try, but the main point of a riot grrrl chapter is to hold meetings and connect with other riot grrrls.

Put up flyers announcing the formation of a riot grrrl chapter in your area. Include contact information like phone numbers, mailing addresses, e-mail addresses if you have them, and a website URL if available. Leave them in coffeeshops, record stores, hand them out at shows, and if you have the nerves, get up and announce that you are starting a chapter at shows and public events. You may also want to decide if you will allow men in your meetings. Some chapters do, some don’t.

Wait for people to contact you. Make sure you get all their contact information, like name, address, phone number, e-mail address, etc. Once you feel you have enough people, get in touch with everyone and plan a meeting.

Meetings can take place almost anywhere. You can do it in a public place like a coffeehouse or a park, but there may be a lot of outside distractions and people will find it hard to stay focused. You can also have meetings in people’s houses, if everyone is comfortable with the idea. Have people bring snacks to munch on and drinks. Tell them to bring a friend who might be interested.

The first meeting is always a little slow and you don’t do many activities. It’s good to go around and introduce yourselves, like name, where you’re from, how you got involved with riot grrrl and what you hope to get out of the group. You may also want to explain why you are starting a chapter in the first place. You may then want to discuss what you’d like to do, whether you want it to be just a discussion group, or if you’d like to do other outside activities. If you are in a public place you might want to collect donations and give them to the people who run the place as a thank you for letting you meet there. Some places might even require that you do it. You also might want to ask people to donate money to the chapter so you have spending money if you need it. But be sure to put it in a safe place and don’t spend it on anything except what’s agreed on as a chapter.

Some ideas for things to do as a chapter are to hold a convention featuring girl/queer-positive bands, workshops and speakers. This takes a lot of planning though. You should hold off on this until you get things really organized. You can also have slumber parties and dance parties, as a way of bonding and getting to know each other. You can hold workshops in meetings about topics like self-defense, abortion, sexism, the media, equality, rape/sexual assault, girl love/sisterhood, racism, classism, gay/lesbian/bisexual rights, eating disorders and the internet. These can also be topics for workshops in your convention if you decide to hold one. You can put out a chapter zine and distribute it through your area and let people know what your chapter is all about. You can print up pamphlets on rape statistics, eating disorders, etc. and give them out. You can volunteer in women’s shelters (providing that you are the proper age, it all depends on the shelter). Some other ideas would be to write in bathroom walls (if you’ve seen Girls Town, this is just like that), girl-positive messages and lists of rapists in your area. You can place flyers in fashion magazines and diet products like “Is this how you measure your self-esteem?” See below for a list of things you can put in them. You can have spoken word nights where people just get up and read stuff they have written, and you can even record it and sell it. If you notice some people are more talkative than others, you may want to hand out cards (5 per person?) and everytime someone speaks they have to give up a card. That way everyone has a chance to talk. Consider helping out other local organizations like the Anti-Racist Action and Food Not Bombs. It will help bring all the groups together.

There are endless things for chapters to do, all of which can help promote the idea of riot grrrl and do something good for the community.

Here are some things you can put inside fashion magazines and diet products:

“This product contains unrealistic images”
“This product is nothing more than an attempt to cash in on your fantasies”
“Diets deprive our bodies of healthy food and our minds of healthy thinking”
“FACT: Every year, the U.S. spends more money on trying to lose weight than we do preventing child abuse, where are YOUR priorities?”
“If diet pills really work, why are there so many overweight people?”
“Diets starve the body of healthy food and the mind of healthy thinking”
“The Diet Industry: Sex, Thighs, and Measuring Tape”
“Intelligence never goes out of fashion: BOYCOTT STARVATION IMAGERY”

You can put these in dressing rooms:

“these clothes are made to fit you, not the other way around”
“don’t weigh your self-esteem”
“don’t judge your personal worth on your dress size”

Emergency Room Visit = Ovarian Cyst

Here’s my health story. I went to the ER (emergency room) Wednesday.

Monday night I couldn’t sleep. I kept waking up every so often due to hurting in my abdominal/pelvic region. To be more specific, I was hurting in my left ovary and at times I would have pains there as well. At the time, I didn’t think it was my ovary, but in a way I felt like it was my ovary bothering me. However, I figured it was my bladder and that I had to urinate, since it happened in the middle of Monday night. On Tuesday, I was still hurting and still having pains all day long. It was going on for 24 hours, even while I was at work. (For those of you who don’t know, I work at a nursing home as a Certified Nursing Assistant. [CNA]) I got to thinking maybe I had pulled a muscle from lifting at work or maybe I was constipated for some reason. I’ve never hurt in this area of my body before. I started getting sharper pains and it was a bother to me because I was trying to get my work done. When I came home Tuesday night, I told my mom about it. She thought the same thing I did.

Wednesday morning, I get up and start my day. I’m still hurting and having pains in my left ovary. Mom told me since it’s still bothering me to go to the ER and not to go to work, so I done that. The doctor at the ER, Dr. Ross, had them to do a urine specimen and an ultrasound on me. Dr. Ross said that nothing showed up in my urine, but I might have a small UTI (urinary tract infection also known as a bladder infection), which I have had before, but it was contaminated, so he couldn’t tell. I have had a kidney infection before too. He told me he didn’t think it was a UTI causing me to hurt and have pains. He had an ultrasound done on me. After doing the ultrasound, I went back in my ER space and Dr. Ross came in. He told me nothing showed up and everything was fine. Then, He left and came back in 15 minutes. He told me that the Radiologist called back and said that he did find a small ovarian cyst on my left ovary, after looking a second time at the ultrasound. He said it wasn’t anything to worry about, since it was barely noticeable. He said that alot of women have them, but if the hurting and pain gets worse, to go see my doctor. He said they may have to operate if it does get worse or if it grows.

I’m going to share some information about ovarian cysts, since quite a few women seem to have them. Here are a few links with quite a bit of information on ovarian cysts.
About Ovarian Cysts
Ovarian Cyst on Wikipedia

The information below was taken from: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/women/reproductive/gynecologic/279.html

What is an ovarian cyst?
An ovarian cyst is a fluid-filled sac in the ovary. Many cysts are completely normal. These are called functional cysts. They occur as a result of ovulation (the release of an egg from the ovary). Functional cysts normally shrink over time, usually in about 1 to 3 months. If you have a functional cyst, your doctor may want to check you again in 1 to 3 months to make sure the cyst has gotten smaller. In certain cases, your doctor may want you to take birth control pills so you won’t ovulate. If you don’t ovulate, you won’t form cysts.

If you are menopausal and are not having periods, you shouldn’t form functional cysts. If you do have a cyst, your doctor will probably want you to have a sonogram so he or she can look at the cyst. What your doctor decides to do after that depends on your age, the way the cyst looks on the sonogram and if you’re having symptoms such as pain, bloating, feeling full after eating just a little, and constipation.

What is a sonogram?
A sonogram (or ultrasound) uses sound waves to make “pictures” of organs in the body. It’s a good way for your doctor to “look” at your ovaries. This kind of sonogram can be done 2 ways, either through your abdomen or your vagina. Neither type is painful. The sonogram usually lasts about 30 minutes. It will give your doctor valuable information about the size and the appearance of your cyst.

Do I need surgery for an ovarian cyst?
The answer depends on several things, such as your age, whether you are having periods, the size of the cyst, its appearance and your symptoms.

If you’re having periods and the cyst is functional, you probably won’t need to have surgery. If the cyst doesn’t go away after several menstrual periods, if it gets larger or if it doesn’t look like a functional cyst on the sonogram, your doctor may want you to have an operation to remove it. There are many different types of ovarian cysts in women of childbearing age that do require surgery. Fortunately, cysts in women of this age are almost always benign (not cancer).

If you’re past menopause and have an ovarian cyst, your doctor will probably want you to have surgery. Ovarian cancer is rare, but women 50 to 70 years of age are at greater risk. Women who are diagnosed at an early stage do much better than women who are diagnosed later.

Cuba: Blocking Bloggers

Want to get the Cuban blogosphere talking? Block access to a popular blog. Ever since Cuban authorities did just that to several less-than-supportive Havana-based blogs earlier this week, the blogging diaspora have come out in full support of Cuban bloggers - especially Yoani Sanchez and her popular Generacion Y blog, which, according to this post, seems to be the principal target.

Read full story here

Past injustices should spur battle against modern forms of slavery – Ban Ki-moon

25 March 2008 – As the United Nations honoured the memory of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed the hope today that the struggle against “one of the greatest atrocities in history” will inspire the world in the battle against modern forms of slavery such as forced labour and human trafficking.“Even as we mourn the atrocities committed against the countless victims, we take heart from the courage of slaves who rose up to overcome the system which oppressed them,” Mr. Ban said at a special ceremony at UN Headquarters marking the first International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

“These brave individuals, and the abolitionist movements they inspired, should serve as an example to us all as we continue to battle the contemporary forms of slavery that stain our world today,” the Secretary-General told those gathered at the event, which included performances by African drummers, dancers and poets and a steel pan troupe from the Caribbean.

Mr. Ban noted that even today, millions around the world, including children, are suffering under the yoke of racism, forced labour, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Not only is the world shamed by these horrible crimes but it is also challenged to respond, he said. “Let us honour the victims of the slave trade by remembering their struggle. Let us carry it forward until no person is deprived of liberty, dignity and human rights.”

In his message marking the Day of Remembrance, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim noted that it provides an opportunity to acknowledge a “profoundly shameful” period in history and to remember the millions who suffered. “It also gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to the courage and moral conviction of all those who campaigned for abolition,” he added.

It was the Assembly that, in December 2007, adopted a resolution designating 25 March as an annual day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It also decided to erect a permanent memorial at the UN to acknowledge the tragedy and consider the legacy of slavery.

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Sex-Abuse Survivors Urge Each Other to Speak Out

By: Alison Bowen
WeNews correspondent

A Web site gives abuse victims a place to report their experiences anonymously and encourages them to make an official report. Filmmaker Angela Shelton leads the effort and plans to report her own abuse on April 29 in Asheville, N.C.

(WOMENSENEWS)–On April 29, a day that the mayor of Asheville, N.C., has declared “Angela Shelton Day,” the filmmaker and actress will report her father’s abuse of her as a child online and to police.

Shelton, who is also a major voice in convincing victims to open up about their experiences, will do so as part of a nationwide campaign started last month to launch Report IT, a Web site designed to enable victims of abuse to report their stories anonymously and encourage them to report to authorities.

Rallies are also planned at Barnes and Nobles bookstores nationwide on April 1 calling for women to report being sexually assaulted and coinciding with the release of her autobiography, “Finding Angela Shelton,” published by Meredith Books.

Shelton–in partnership with a Chicago group called PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment–launched Reportitnow.org at victims’ rights rallies in about 30 cities last month timed to the opening of a retrial for the case of Tory Bowen, who was banned from using the word “rape” in a Nebraska trial.

Read the full story here

Grrrl Power is…

This isn’t about the Spice Girls version of “girl power”. We’re talking about “grrrl power” as in riot grrrl. I got this from an OLD riot grrrl website I used to visit called ++ riot grrrls please stand up ++. The website is no longer around, but as you can see archive.org comes in handy for old websites.

Grrrl Power is…

feeling okay about being a girl: Be proud! We ROCK!

promoting girl love and friendship: A kind of sisterhood. Don’t talk to me about cliques or sororities; in this clique there are no rules, no certain way to be, and we don’t leave anyone out!

encouraging one another: Telling each other it’s cool to be who they are and let them express themselves!

teaching: girls, boys, men, women, old or young about grrrl issues things that effect each one of us (equality, individualization, the right to speak your mind and let your thoughts run free).

respecting each other: to realize the individuality of every girl on this planet, not to divide people into groups like race, religion, ethics, etc., to look down upon derogatory names and phrases against girls and anyone else.

respecting yourself: respect yourself for who you are. Not realizing you have flaw, but character, things that make you who you are. Realize and respect your strengths, interests, opinions, and beauty. Realize your self-empowerment.

being able to: say what you want to say and not be afraid, voice your mind and opinion, to express yourself in any shape or form, to wear what you want to wear and look the way you want to without being degraded for it. It’s about not letting anyone judge you, because it’s not about limitations!!!

The Word Feminism In Many Languages

Below are some translations of the word “feminism” in other languages. If you have a translation to add, feel free to reply to this post with the language and the translation. The translations below were taken from here. I found this interesting and thought I would share it. If the translations are incorrect, reply to this post with the language and the correct translation.

Arabic: فمينيزم, النسوية
Chinese (Simplified): 女性主义
Chinese (Traditional): 女性主義
Czech: feminismus
Danish: feminisme
Dutch: feminisme
English: feminism
Estonian: feminism
Finnish: feminismi
French: féminisme
German: der Feminismus
Greek: φεμινισμός
Hungarian: feminizmus
Icelandic: femínismi; kvenfrelsisstefna
Indonesian: feminisme
Italian: femminismo
Japanese: 男女同権主義
Korean: 남녀 동권주의
Latvian: feminisms
Lithuanian: feminizmas
Norwegian: kvinne(saks)bevegelse, feminisme
Polish: feminizm
Portuguese (Brazil): feminismo
Portuguese (Portugal): feminismo
Romanian: feminism
Russian: феминизм
Slovak: feminizmus
Slovenian: feminizem
Spanish: feminismo
Swedish: feminism
Turkish: feminizm, kadın hakları savunuculuğu

Feminism Friday: A Brief History Of Riot Grrrl

Here is a brief history of riot grrrl. Later, I might write my own more detailed version. Here is the version from the Riot Grrrl Online website.

Riot Grrrl began in 1991 at Olympia Washington, when a few girls (mostly from Bikini Kill and Bratmobile) decided to get together and talk about their main interests..feminism and punk rock. The first time they met it was all fun, they put up posters to get attention of other open minded girls. Then they found out they had other things in common: they were all vegetarians; against drugs; and had been molested as children. At one meeting a very smart girl took notes, photocopied them and turned them into a cool fanzine. That’s how it all began. Some people think that Bikini Kill started it all, in my eyes they did. Bikini Kill, however does not think of themselves as starting the riot grrrl movement. In Bikini Kill’s songs, they sing about different women issues such as: rape, incest, and other issues that some women face. Some people think that bikini kill, riot grrrls, and feminists are ‘man-haters’. They’re not. They just want to be equal to men, not better to them. Zines are a BIG part of the riot grrrl scene. Most riot grrrls believe in DIY. (do it yourself) That means that they start riot grrrl chapters, zines, etc. of their own around the riot grrrl movement.

Riot Boi Manifesto

This article was written by Joey Van Houten that lives in the state of Louisiana, in the United States. He submitted this article to the old Riot Grrrl Online website and ever since then, It has been up on the Riot Grrrl Online website. He got the idea for writing this article from reading the “riot grrrl manifesto” on a website. Some guys have asked, “Why is this manifesto directed at gay riot boys? There are straight riot boys out there too.” If your a straight riot boy, Feel free to send me your version of a riot boy manifesto, by emailing me. I have not received a riot boy manifesto from a straight guy yet and I hope one day to receive one, so I can post it on my Riot Grrrl Online website. Joey’s manifesto seems to be posted here as well.

Riot Boi Manifesto

   We desire music, literature, and zines, but most of all a way of
life that calls out to us, one that us boysinthebackoftheclub group can
feel apart of. We’re the types that don’t fit into the stereotypical
queer lifestyle.

  We are artists and musicians, but most of all creative and
intelligent human beings that are fed up and desire a society in which we can
see/hear each others work, so that we can share ideas and
criticize-applaud each other.

  We seek to create revolution in our lives everyday by finding new
ways around, and also ideas on how to rise above the bullshit Christian
right wing way of life.

  We are unwilling to assimilate to someone else’s ways of conducting
their lives. As if life as we know it is nothing more than the premise
of some big wig television network program only showing the downside
of OUR culture. It seems most of us try to live up to this way of
thinking, and the rest of us simply can’t find the remote!

We are interested in creating non-hierarchical way of being AND making
music, friends, and scenes based on communications + understanding,
instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.

Because doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and
challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we
need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism,able-bodieism,
ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-Semitism and
heterosexism figure in our own lives.

We know that life is much more that physical survival and are patently
aware that the punk rock “you can do anything” idea is crucial to
the coming angry queer rock revolution which seeks to save the psychic
and cultural lives of gays and lesbians everywhere, according to their
own terms, not ours.

We recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical
lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming dreams. And
thus must take over the means of production in order to create our own
moanings!

We are angry at a society that tells us Gay=Moraless, Gay=Wrong,
Gay=Weak!

We are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or
turned against us via the internalization of hate as witnessed in gay/gay
jelousism and self defeating gay type behaviors.

We live in a society that tells us we must pick a way of life and act
this way or that, have such and such morals because we have picked this
way of life and if not than we face social disgrace!

Jigsaw Youth, seeing the world as misshaped pieces that form a big
picture. My life has always been full of contradictions; male feminist,
misanthropic social butterfly. Life doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t
have to.

To go from a manic depressive burnout to the writer of a manifesto
about accepting the not always glamorous, angry, not hormonally oversexed
underbelly of the gay lifestyle says a lot.

It’s all about rising above people’s expectations of your
life/lifestyle and showing them not everything is AS SEEN ON TV.

I believe with my wholeheartbodymind that us boysinthebackoftheclub
constitute a revolutionary soul force that can and will change the world
FOR REAL

Riot Grrrl Online’s Social Network

NOTE: Just to let you know, The Riot Grrrl Online website/forums located on hot-topic.org aren’t working properly. The interactive parts of the website, such as logging in, registering, and posting are not working at all and people are getting error messages. The pages on the website can be viewed, but nobody can register, login, or post on the website. I am hoping the website is fixed soon. I thought I would post about this one time, so others would know about the website. I do NOT advertise my sites much at all in this blog because this is a public blog and others post on this blog.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK: Since the website seems to be having lots of problems and downtime lately, Riot Grrrl Online has a social network on ning.com and due to lots of social networking websites on the internet, I created http://riotgrrrlonline.ning.com/. I bet your thinking, “Oh no, Not another myspace”. It is kinda like myspace, except I made the social network on ning. It’s not sucky like myspace. It’s a good way to meet/find other riot grrrls, riot boys, male feminists, and feminists from all around the world. The network is growing rapidly everyday. People seem to be joining the social network everyday. I am constantly updating the network daily. The network is sorta like myspace, but better. If you like myspace or even if you don’t, You might like the above website. You can do all sorts of stuff on the website, such as create groups, post blogs, and more! If you like the Riot Grrrl Online website/forums/blog, feminism, or riot grrrl, Feel free to join and invite your friends. Girls and boys are both welcome. Spread the word! Thanks! Hope to see you there!

My First Riot Grrrl And Feminism Interview

Below is an email I replied back to in February 2007. It is an online riot grrrl and feminism interview. Lucy was doing interviews for a book she was writing about feminism. This is the very first riot grrrl/feminism interview I’ve ever done.

Hi Lucy! Thanks for the email and the reply! I’m going to warn you…I’m not good at interviews. lol I will try my best to answer ALL of the questions. My answers are in capslock, so you can tell my answers from your questions. If I’m not sure what your trying to ask in your question, I will capslock it and ask you what you mean by your question. If I need to go into further details on some of the questions let me know and I will do so.

THE BASICS
~do riot grrrls exist today? YES, I BELIEVE THAT RIOT GRRRLS EXIST TODAY. EVEN THOUGH THE MOVEMENT HASN’T COME BACK SINCE THE 90′S, I FEEL THAT THE MOVEMENT MIGHT COME BACK ONE DAY. I THINK THERE ARE LOTS OF RIOT GRRRLS THAT STILL BELIEVE IN THE WHOLE RIOT GRRRL CONCEPT OR THAT ARE JUST NOW LEARNING ABOUT IT. I’M SURE IF YOU ASKED OTHER RIOT GRRRLS IF RIOT GRRRLS EXIST TODAY, THEY WOULD SAY YES.
-if not, do punks, metal heads, grunge kids? PUNKS, METALHEADS, AND GRUNGE KIDS STILL EXIST TODAY. (IF I NEED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION MORE, LET ME KNOW.)
-if so, why can these groups transcend past ‘thrash-pit equality’ code set
for girls by
grrrls? I’M NOT SURE WHAT YOU ARE ASKING IN THIS QUESTION. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS QUESTION?

~what constitutes a female musician as a ‘riot grrrl’? FOR A FEMALE MUSICIAN TO BE CLASSIFIED AS A RIOT GRRRL, THEY WOULD WRITE SONGS THAT ARE ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES SUCH AS: RAPE, ABORTION, ABUSE, MURDER, AND OTHER ISSUES THAT AFFECT WOMEN. THE SONGS WOULD BE EMPOWERING AND DIFFERENT. THE SONGS WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO TAKE A STAND AND SPEAK UP ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES. THE FEMALE MUSICIANS WOULD NOT HAVE TO BE STRICTLY PUNK ROCK, BUT THEY WOULD BE CONSIDERED “ALTERNATIVE” MUSIC AND NOT THE POP MUSIC YOU HERE ON MTV. THE FEMALE MUSICIANS WOULD NOT BE ALL ABOUT THE SPICE GIRLS AND THEIR SO-CALLED “GIRL POWER”. THEY WOULD NOT BE POP DIVA WANNABES SUCH AS BRITNEY SPEARS, JESSICA SIMPSON, ETC.
-can a female songwriter NOT necessarily be feminist? YES, FEMALE SONGWRITERS CAN BE NOT NECESSARILY FEMINIST. THERE ARE FEMALE SONGWRITERS AROUND THAT ARE NOT FEMINIST.
-is a feminist always riot grrrl? A FEMINIST IS NOT ALWAYS A RIOT GRRRL. SOME FEMINISTS HAVE NOT HEARD OF THE TERM “RIOT GRRRL” AND OTHER FEMINISTS THINK OF THEMSELVES AS FEMINIST AND NOT RIOT GRRRLS. HOWEVER, I DO THINK THAT FEMINISM AND RIOT GRRRL HAVE THE SAME PHILOSOPHY, IDEAS, AND PRINCIPLES.

~can a “real” riot grrrl call herself a ‘riot grrrl’? Would this make her a
poser? YES, A “REAL” RIOT GRRRL CAN CALL HERSELF A “RIOT GRRRL”. MOST OF THE TIME A “REAL” RIOT GRRRL WILL CALL HERSELF A RIOT GRRRL BECAUSE SHE SUPPORTS THE MOVEMENT AND AGREES WITH THE IDEAS OF THE MOVEMENT. IF SOMEONE SAYS THEY ARE A “RIOT GRRRL”, BUT DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE MOVEMENT OR THE IDEAS OF RIOT GRRRL, THEN YES, THEY WOULD BE CONSIDERED A “POSER”. THEY SHOULD DO THEIR RESEARCH BEFORE CLAIMING TO BE A “REAL RIOT GRRRL” OR A “RIOT GRRRL” IN GENERAL.
-do particular [new] bands classify themselves as R.G.s? YES, THERE ARE SOME NEW BANDS THAT CLASSIFY THEMSELVES AS RIOT GRRRLS. THERE ARE QUITE A FEW NEW BANDS THAT CONSIDER THEMSELVES RIOT GRRRL ON MYSPACE. I THINK THIS IS A GOOD THING. I THINK THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE RIOT GRRRL BANDS AROUND. THESE BANDS DO HAVE SONGS ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES AND ABOUT TAKING A STAND.

~so darling, are you a riot grrrl? I WOULD CONSIDER MYSELF A RIOT GRRRL, BUT I REALLY HATE SAYING THAT I’M A “RIOT GRRRL”. I DON’T FEEL THAT I SHOULD LABEL MYSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE AS A RIOT GRRRL, EVEN THOUGH I WOULD THINK IT TO MYSELF. I WOULD CONSIDER MYSELF SOMEONE THAT AGREES AND SUPPORTS THE MOVEMENT. I AGREE WITH THE WHOLE RIOT GRRRL IDEALOGY.
-who turned you on to it? NO ONE TURNED ME ON TO RIOT GRRRL. I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT FROM VARIOUS WEBSITES I USED TO FREQUENT. (A LOT OF THEM BEING RIOT GRRRL WEBSITES) ALSO, I HEARD ABOUT IT THROUGH LOOKING AT HOLE WEBSITES AND BIKINI KILL WEBSITES. MOST OF THOSE RIOT GRRRL WEBSITES ARE GONE NOW, BUT THERE ARE NEW RIOT GRRRL WEBSITES SPRINGING UP.
-how old were you? I WAS 14, WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT RIOT GRRRL. IT WAS BACK IN 1997, WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT RIOT GRRRL. I’M 23 NOW. (I’LL BE 24 ON MARCH 4TH OF THIS YEAR.)
-which band took your viriginity? HOLE: THAT’S PART OF HOW I LEARNED ABOUT RIOT GRRRL, THEN I STARTED HEARING ABOUT BIKINI KILL.
-anything else you’d like to add, hun? NOT THAT I CAN THINK OF.

~do you think the scene died? I DO THINK RIOT GRRRL DIED. HOWEVER, I HAVE READ ABOUT OTHERS WANTING THE MOVEMENT TO COME BACK AND WANTING TO START IT UP AGAIN SOMEHOW. LIKE I SAID EARLIER, THERE ARE STILL RIOT GRRRLS AROUND.
-may I ask why, either way? I THINK THE MEDIA TALKED TOO MUCH ABOUT RIOT GRRRL IN THE 90′S. THE MEDIA MADE IT SOUND “SCENE” AND REALLY PORTRAYED RIOT GRRRLS DIFFERENTLY THAN RIOT GRRRLS PORTRAYED THEMSELVES. IF THE MEDIA HADN’T TALKED ABOUT IT AND KEPT IT AS AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT, I DO NOT THINK RIOT GRRRL WOULD’VE DIED.

~ why did we need a third-wave? I THINK THAT THE THIRD-WAVE INCLUDED YOUNGER WOMEN, UNLIKE SOME OF THE OTHER “WAVES”. THIRD-WAVERS WANT TO CONTINUE THEIR FIGHT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS. I THINK DEFINING FEMINISM (AND RIOT GRRRL) RAISES PROBLEMS. FEMINISM AND RIOT GRRRL MEANS SOMETHING INDIVIDUAL TO EACH FEMINIST AND/OR RIOT GRRRL.
-was riot grrrl inevitable? YES. IF YOU WANT ME TO SPEAK MORE ABOUT THIS, LET ME KNOW.

~what’s the difference (if there is one) between ‘grrrl fucking power’ and
Spice Girls ‘girl powuh’? THE SPICE GIRLS ‘GIRL POWER’ IS DIFFERNT FROM ‘GRRRL POWER’. THE SPICE GIRLS DIDN’T HAVE ANY SONGS THAT WERE ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES OR WOMEN’S RIGHTS. I’M NOT SURE HOW THEIR TERM OF ‘GIRL POWER’ CAME ABOUT. ‘GRRRL POWER’ IS ABOUT STANDING UP AND FIGHTING FOR YOUR RIGHTS, RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES, AND TRYING TO ACHIEVE WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND EQUALITY.

MILD POKING: WORD ASSOCIATION
First thought-descriptions for the following: (3-4 words if you can) I’M NOT SURE WHAT YOU ARE ASKING, LET ME KNOW. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?
-masculine: STRONG, PROTECTOR, WORKER
-feminine: GRACEFUL, SWEET, GENTLE
-feminist: OUTSPOKEN, ANGRY, POWER

PRODING JUST A LITTLE DEEPER

My focus points were the fifth and sixth paragraph (connecting states’
internet access to rape cases) and the eighth. But again, you may respond
to any part of this article

I DO NOT AGREE WITH ANTHONY D’AMATO’S VIEW IN THE “PORN UP RAPE DOWN” ARTICLE. I THINK THAT A LOT OF RAPES ARE NOT REPORTED. I AGREE WITH GAIL DINES VIEW. PORNOGRAPHY DOES NOT CAUSE RAPE. RAPE HAS MANY CAUSES. MOST RAPES HAPPEN BECAUSE THE MAN THAT DOES THE RAPING, NEEDS TO FEEL POWERFUL AND IN CONTROL OF A SITUATION. RAPE IS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT SEX AND IN MOST CASES, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SEX.

CLOSER LOOK AT PORN
-Are you familiar with the Suicide Girls’ name?
“With a vibrant, sex positive community of women (and men), SuicideGirls was
founded on the belief that creativity, personality and intelligence are not
incompatible with sexy, compelling entertainment, and millions of people
agree. The site mixes the smarts, enthusiasm and DIY attitude of the best
music and alternative culture sites with an unapologetic, grassroots
approach to sexuality…. With hundreds of thousands of subscribers, over a
thousand models, a succesful book and DVD in stores and a new clothing line,
there’s no telling what diabolical plan SG will next come up with to
seperate you from your hard earned money.” (http://suicidegirls.com/about/)

with this in mind, what are your thoughts of these girls? “all for” or
“against”?

I SUPPORT THE SUICIDE GIRL MODELS, BUT I DO NOT SUPPORT THE SUICIDE GIRLS AGENDA, IN GENERAL. I HAVE HEARD LOTS OF AWFUL STORIES FROM FORMER AND CURRENT SUICIDE GIRLS. I HAVE HEARD THAT THE GUY THAT RUNS SUICIDE GIRLS IS MEAN TO THE MODELS. I HAVE HEARD PEOPLE COMPARE THEM TO PLAYBOY. I DO NOT LIKE PLAYBOY, AT ALL. I HEAR THAT THE SUICIDE GIRLS ARE PARTNERS WITH PLAYBOY. I THINK THE SUICIDE GIRLS AGENDA IS A MEDIA CORPORATION, JUST LIKE PLAYBOY.

-Is there a difference between the models of the S.G. line and say,
Playboy’s?

I THINK THE SUICIDE GIRLS MODELS ARE DIFFERENT FROM PLAYBOY’S, FOR THE FACT THAT THEY ALL LOOK “ALTERNATIVE”. HOWEVER, MOST OF THE SUICIDE GIRLS LOOK THE SAME, JUST LIKE THE PLAYBOY MODELS. I THINK THE SUICIDE GIRLS LOOK REAL, COMPARED TO PLAYBOY MODELS. THE PLAYBOY MODELS SEEM TO HAVE BOOB JOBS, AMONG OTHER THINGS AND LOOK ALL SUPERFICIAL. THE SUICIDE GIRLS LOOK MORE REAL AND MOST DO NOT HAVE BOOB JOBS. I DON’T THINK YOU NEED TO HAVE A BOOB JOB JUST TO BE A MODEL.

-this is a long site, so copy and paste:

THIS WAS TAKEN OFF THE PLAYBOYSITE.
R