If you’re not in DC today there are still plenty of ways you can get involved and make your voice heard. Here are some ways to take action:

• Sign the petition at StopStupak.com
• Call your Senators to voice your opposition to anti-choice amendments. You can reach them at 1-888-423-5983.
• Participate in an action or other event in your state.
• Use social networking sites for social change - use Facebook and Twitter to inspire your friends to take action.

Please do everything you can to stop this step back in women’s rights!

Some insurers charge women as much as 50% more, while employers pay more per individual in their group health plans if their workforce is predominately women. This is a system known as “gender rating”, and it is one of the main reasons why health care reform is so important.

Women are charged for child-bearing costs in their individual insurance policies even though most policies have maternity costs added on as an extra expense already. Only 13% of health plans in the United States give maternity coverage to a 30 year-old woman. Women are literally charged for having female sexual organs. Women are also rejected if they have been a victim of domestic violence, are pregnant, or who have previously had a Cesarean section. The National Women’s Law Center’s 2009 study “Still Nowhere to Turn” even found that non-smoking women pay more for health insurance coverage than male smokers!

Among the insurers that use “gender rating” the majority of them charge women more until they reach the age of 55, and some (like Aetna) charge men more after that. But since men have shorter lives than women, it’s unfair that they should start to pay more at the age of 55 when they’re nearing the end of their lives. Women have to pay more than men for 55 years and then they have to pay the normal price for 20 years or more.

There have been some efforts to change this thankfully- but there hasn’t been nearly enough. In April 2009, Arkansas passed a law expressly prohibiting health insurance companies from using a woman’s status as a domestic violence survivor to deny coverage. In October 2009, California became the eleventh state to ban gender rating in the individual health insurance market. It’s a nice start but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

The only way to fix these problems is to make insurance available to all and to reform health insurance. Hopefully, Congress won’t pass up the chance to reform health care so it can be available to all people- regardless of gender.

My Sources:

Bust Magazine Feb\March 2009

Ms. Magazine Fall 2009

The National Women’s Law Center “Still Nowhere to Turn” http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/stillnowheretoturn.pdf

Aetna http://www.aetna.com/about/aoti/aetna_perspective/roleofgender.html

Peaches, or Merrill Beth Nisker, is a Canadian born 42 year-old electronic musician that not only writes some pretty awesome songs, but also challenges gender norms. She was formerly an elementary school teacher but all that changed after she released her first album called Fancypants Hoodlum in 1995. In the next five years she developed the Peaches persona and in 2000 her album called The Teaches of Peaches brought her to the front of the electro clash scene.

She is noted for many of her songs being sexually explicit. Songs such as “Fuck the Pain Away” and “Lovertits” are two awesome songs that have some awesomely explicit lyrics. The lyrics for her song “Hot Rod” are:

“You’ll like it when I like you less. No caress, just undress. You’ll like it when we play hardcore. The panty war, then you get pussy galore.”

I’ve always found the term ‘pussy galore’ to be hilarious! Here’s the *cough* interesting *cough* music video for her song “Fuck the Pain Away”

Remarkably, since she’s so up front about her sexuality she isn’t viewed as a ‘whore’ by most people. She’s mostly viewed as that weird girl who has inflatable penises on stage during her concerts. Her songs are sexually explicit- which is shocking enough- but they’re mostly about female sexual pleasure or power which can be particularly shocking to some people.

Gender identity is a big theme in Peaches’ music, often playing with traditional notions of gender roles representation. Her lyrics and live shows consciously blur the distinction between male and female; for example, she appears on the cover of her album Fatherfucker with a full beard.

Peaches has just recently released a new album called I Feel Cream which has much critical acclaim. I personally haven’t heard it yet, but I can’t wait to hear the queen of electronica’s newest creation.

http://jezebel.com/5366712/this-is-what-a-feminist-looks-like

Here’s an excerpt:

“So while she’s considering it…I just want her to know, I’m ruling it out. A Palin-Beck ticket, I’m absolutely ruling it out. I’m just saying, Beck-Palin, I’ll consider. But Palin-Beck–can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? She’d be yapping or something, I’d say, “I’m sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I’m not in the kitchen.’”

God what an asshole.

I wish our commercials were like Japanese commercials because they’re so much more fun! I could literally sit and watch them for hours lol

Supporters of the ban say that the minaret is a political symbol that would help introduce sharia law into Switzerland. This idea is so completely absurd I can’t even wrap my mind around it. A minaret is a cultural symbol that comes from centuries of tradition- not some covert plan by the minority to take over the country! By banning the construction of minarets in their country they are keeping Muslims from celebrating their heritage.

In a region that already has shaky relations with Muslims, do they really want to ban one of their cultural traditions? Countries do things like this and then they wonder why there are so many terrorists. By banning the building of minarets in their country they are also saying that Muslims are not wanted in their country, despite the fact that it is a democratic country. The president of Zurich’s Association of Muslim Organizations said that “During this campaign in the last two weeks different mosques were attacked, which we never experienced in 40 years in Switzerland…” It’s obvious to me that this ban has nothing to do with politics but is more to do with prejudice, and it is helping to spread prejudice against Muslims throughout their country.

This ban treats Muslims in Switzerland like 2nd class citizens and should be repealed immediately before any more cultural traditions of Islam are banned.

My old blog was a mainly a fashion blog and I was really enjoying it. I was a fashion major at a community college and I thought that was what I wanted to do.

One day I went to New York City to apply for a fashion design internship and I realized that I do not want to be involved in that industry in any way! I mean, I always thought that the industry was really obsessed with looks and everything- but I always thought that I could ignore it\overcome it. But being surrounded by that environment constantly for an entire day was pretty soul-sucking and it made me realize that if I decided to dedicate my life to that profession I would essentially be dedicating my life to clothes. BORING! Since I suddenly abhored everything to do with fashion, I started to hate my old blog- so that’s probably why it failed so miserably.

I switched to majoring in Sociology and Women’s Studies which I find a LOT more interesting. Also, I think that it would be easier for me to feel as if I was really accomplishing something with my life with the sort of work I could do with that degree.

 I don’t really have any set idea of what this is going to turn out to be I’m just going to write whatever the hell I feel like writing about…it’s my damn blog after all! It’s probably going to be mostly about popular culture and women’s issues (since that’s what I’m majoring in).

So here’s blogging: round 2, and let’s hope this time I’m more successful with it!