An Easy Way To Get Involved. Whoo-hoo!
Last night I went to my local feminist meeting. I haven't been to a fem meeting in a long time, and decided that it was time I got directly involved again; plus, their meetings are right after my Wednesday night class, so there really isn't any excuse not to give that extra hour out of the day. The gals (and two guys) were really nice, although as usual they were mainly made up of very young undergraduates, which is OK, just a different group atmosphere. I was also saddened to see that out of a university of several ten thousand, there were under twenty people in that room. That isn't particularly unusual, though. I was brought up to speed on their planned activities for this semester (tabling with free contraception, producing the Vagina Monologues among other things, a Take Back the Night rape awareness thing, etc.). I think this Saturday I am going with them to a women's basketball game in my new t-shirt to support women's sports. Whoo-hoo!
So I got to poking around today, thinking about topics for women and issues that I could help with. I discovered that Plan B is now officially an over the counter medicine! Whoo-hoo! You used to have to go to the doctor and get a pap smear exam before he'd give you the two little pills, and you had to do it within 72 hours. Well, you still have to take the pills within 72 hours, but no more going to the doctor for something you can handle yourself. Whoo-hoo!
However, while Plan B is now OTC, that doesn't always guarantee that it's available at your local pharmacy. I was inspired by the linked story and will now go to every pharmacy in this town and see whether or not they have Plan B and do my damndest to make sure they stock it if they don't. While the cost is around $42, which can be steep for the age group that's most likely to use it, that's a hell of a lot cheaper than an abortion, and you don't have the humiliating discussion and visit with a doctor. I like, too, Bitch Ph.D.'s suggestion that even if you don't need it yourself, buy it for someone you love--a neice in college, a friend's daughter, so that they have it if they were to ever need it and don't have to scrounge up the $40+ for it. Or donate it to your local rape & domestic violence shelter.
Call or visit, purchase & give. It's an easy way to make life a little better for somebody else.
--Virgil
posted by contemplator at Thursday, January 18, 2007
7 Comments:
Great Ideas!
I Love it!
Does Plan B have a relatively limited shelf life?
There are various schools on feminist thought, and I am just curious if you would elaborate as to which views you happen to support.
I don't think it has a really short shelf life - from the Rx info it's storage is controlled room temp with a pretty decent excursion range. Usually drugs like that aren't short-dated.
I think I'll pick some up for my cousin as a little go-away-to-college present.
The manufacturers of Plan B say that it has a 48 month shelf life from the date of manufacturing, so 3 years. Other questions about Plan B: here.
There are various "schools of feminist thought", but it's not quite as clear cut as saying you're an Existentialist, for example, or a Miltonian Economist. It's not that easy to break down into identifiable parts.
So, essentially, I'm part old school feminist in that I support how Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were wanting to make it a humanist movement, because it really is about the improvement of humanity in general--although I still strongly support the use of the word "feminist". It hurt my heart when Madonna refused to call herself a "feminist" and went instead for "humanist", because I believe it was solely based on her desire to not identify with what the fem-bashing culture has made a negative word.
I support a woman's unrestricted right to choose (some "feminists" oppose late term abortion). I don't think we've begun to address the terrorism in our own nation that is domestic violence and rape. I'm not about bashing men or taking their rights away. I don't like spelling "women" as "womyn", although I understand why others do. And I get the problem with modern feminism being a middle class white woman's field with little room for minority women's issues.
The third wave has been derailed by eating disorders, which no one seems to want to talk about. Feminism has become a dirty word.
I wish I were a pacifist, but I'm much more of a brick thrower. I'm working on it. Hard.
Stupid me-- 4 years, not 3 years. That's enough to get somebody through their undergraduate time, at least.
You can see why my Masters is in English and not Math. *sigh*
"-I support a woman's unrestricted right to choose (some "feminists" oppose late term abortion).
-I don't think we've begun to address the terrorism in our own nation that is domestic violence and rape."
I support these too. I am firmly against force and coercion in a relationship. In addition, support the right of a woman to defend herself against physical attack. I support each and every 'negative' right that the feminists ask for. Lets just say that I have an ACLU view on feminism.
That squirrel I know, explains what I consider a sensible view on self defense.
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