My Story

Tonight was the viewing of V-Day: Until the Violence Stops, a documentary about the V-Day movement started by Eve Engler, at Charis Bookstore in L5P, sponsored by Charis Circle and Men Stopping Violence. Facts come from V-Day.org and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Coming up:

V-Day Atlanta GA

As part of the 2007 V-Day Worldwide Campaign, Atlanta GA is proud to present a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds for local organizations working to end violence against women and girls.

5 April 2007 - 7:30 PM
With Special Guest Doria Roberts

Venue: Tabernacle

152 Luckie Street NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Fact: 28 Central African countries practice female genital mutilation on girls, usually between the ages of 4 and 12.

Fact: There are 3 types of FGM: clitoridectomy, the amputation of the clitoris; excision of the labia minora as well as the clitoris; and infibulation, the removal all external genitalia including the labia majora, after which the edges of the wound are stitched together, allowing for only a tiny opening. In Somali custom, prior to a girl's marriage, the best man uses a bull's horn to re-open the stitching for her husband.

Fact: The clitoris is a bundle of 8,000 nerves, the most nerves in a single location in the human body, male or female.

Fact: During WWII, Japanese soldiers were given "comfort women" on the battle field. These were South Asian civilians who were forced into military sex slavery between 1932 and 1945. Many women have been shunned from their children after speaking out seeking justice, compensation, an apology from the Japanese government.

Fact: Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.

Fact: Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey.

Manhater? I hate cultures and societies that tolerate, condone, and promote violence against women, children, minorities, marginalized, ANYONE.

I have been encouraged to reconsider my sexual orientation based on, among other choices, my decision to sometimes NOT shave.

I have been asked: Are you a lesbian? Because I chose to attend a women's college. Because I claim my freedom to defy society's or anyone's definition of what makes me feminine or womanly. I choose to create, modify, and uphold my own images of beauty and sex appeal.

Are you a manhater? Because I wear a shirt that says about my alma mater, Agnes Scott College, "Not a girls' school without men, but a women's college without boys."

And these questions never come from strangers. They come from friends, people who know me!