Open Post: What’s on your mind?

9th November 2009

Open Post: What’s on your mind?

posted in Administrative, Eating Disorders, Feminist Topics, Personal, Purging Disorder |

Posting will probably be lighter than usual in the next few weeks. I’ve taken on some freelance web design jobs again in an attempt to help pay down our $5,700 vet bill from Grayson’s surgeries. I also ended up deciding to foster Nigel, the chocolate point Himalayan who’s been traumatized by demon children and will need lots of love and attention in order to recover. You can’t see his beautiful blue eyes in this pic, but you can see how absolutely gorgeous he is.

To top it off, both Brandon and I seem to be coming down with something. He insists that his sore throat and stuffiness are just allergies, but I rarely suffer from them and I have the same congestion. So, consider this an open post to discuss anything on your mind or offer links to related news or sites. Here’s a few headlines to check out.

PsychCentral has introduced the new blog Weightless authored by new blogger Margarita Tartakovsky. According to Tartakovsky, “Weightless is about well-being, not weight; about fostering body image, regardless of your size. It’s about exposing women’s magazines, other mediums and so-called experts, when they’re touting unhealthy tips and promoting restrictive standards. The goal of Weightless is to help women develop a better body image and work toward accepting themselves as they are, while being healthy and happy (fad diets and skinny-mini standards prohibited!); and to become sharp consumers, who can pick apart a commercial or magazine article and know which advice is helpful or harmful.”

Lynn Harris at Salon.com examines purging disorder, a “new” disorder discussed in an article in this month’s Archives of General Psychiatry.

Courtney Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, is one of 10 finalists for the Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit ” contest. Check out Courtney’s column here. The contest ends today at 3 p.m., so hurry up and vote!

Click to Bookmark

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Administrative, Eating Disorders, Feminist Topics, Personal, Purging Disorder. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On November 9th, 2009, Bianca said:

Oh my gosh, she is beautiful. I want to eat her up.

posted on November 9th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

2 On November 9th, 2009, merri said:

Ooh I love his tongue! Such a cute photo!

posted on November 9th, 2009 at 4:04 pm

3 On November 9th, 2009, Carolyn said:

What a beautiful cat! I hope you both feel better soon.

posted on November 9th, 2009 at 6:33 pm

4 On November 9th, 2009, Alice said:

OMG how adorable! I hope that all are feeling better soon.

posted on November 9th, 2009 at 10:35 pm

5 On November 10th, 2009, Lu said:

Gorgeous kitty! It’s great that you are taking care of him. I hope you aren’t coming down with something. That is never fun.

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 10:42 am

6 On November 10th, 2009, Rachel said:

Thanks, all. Both Brandon and I feel much better today. He still has a scratchy throat, but I am virtually symptom-free. We’ve been around kids, otherwise known as cesspools of disease, several times this week, so maybe we just caught something from them or it could have just been allergies.

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 11:00 am

7 On November 10th, 2009, Anita said:

“Eeek, kids! They’re so DIRTY! They make us SICK! Heaven forfend!” Yet multiple cats who sh’t in a box in your house are the paragon of clean. Please.

And? $5700 on vet bills – and you live in a country that doesn’t have adequate health care for your PEOPLE. Would you be moved to spend that on your neighbour’s dirty germ ridden child?

Sometimes I just don’t get it. Sorry if this sounds angry but – well, I am angry. I’m so sick of the “kids are harbingers of doom, we’re too cool to get involved with that nonsense” party line that everyone seems to be babbling these days. Even old favourite blogs (like this one) are using a lot of anti-feminist rhetoric. The baby shower post was a good example of kicking the sisterhood right in the guts. “Nauseating oestrogen fest”? You can say it in jest, but having a down on gatherings of women ultimately hurts us all. And that neatly ties in to my beef with the “too cool for kids” theme that’s really rubbing me the wrong way. Yet “SQUEEEE! FURBAYBEEEEEZ! LOVE THEM WITH ME!!!!!!”

Feh.

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

8 On November 10th, 2009, Rachel said:

*shrug* Whatevs.

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

9 On November 10th, 2009, B said:

I often wonder what the people who read and respond to blog posts are actually like. I wonder what has happened in their lives to bring about the response they choose to write. I wonder how similar or different to myself they are. I fully imagine their life, the computer they are typing on, the seat they are sitting in, their successes, their shortcomings. I imagine how they will take the snide rebuttal I compose, I start to feel sorry for them. I backspace to the beginning of my comment and start over. I smile and shake my head, god bless you Anita.

-Brandon

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

10 On November 10th, 2009, cggirl said:

Hm Anita your blog post is a bit confusing to me. Maybe you have been hurt or attacked on the issue of children and are sensitive about that, and reading something into this blog that wasn’t intended? I actually am not sure if/when I will have kids, but not because I’m “too cool”, I’m just not sure if I’m ready and seeing as how I’m already 31, I’m starting to wonder if it will ever happen at this rate… I know it can be a sensitive issue for people, talking about their life choices.

But I don’t think Rachel said kids are disgusting, she was just humorously pointing out how they pass along germs to each other and to us – parents often joke about this too.

Plus, I think it’s rude and hurtful to talk that way about Rachel’s relationship with her pets, especially knowing that she lost a beloved cat so recently. People can love their pets VERY much and indeed be moved to pay for their expensive vet bills. I think it’s rather cold not to understand this. I have had pets throughout my life and I love them so much (even the smellier dirtier ones haha). And they need me and depend on me… So yes, I would pay whatever I could to help them.
It’s her money, she can spend it how she wants, what does that have to do with the country not providing healthcare for people? Should she have donated that money instead, to cover some stranger’s health bill? Should I have donated the money I spent on this computer to pay for someone else’s health bill? Should you have donated the money you spent on your, I don’t know, favorite outfit to help starving children in the third world? After all, we could say that about ANY money that ANYBODY spends on what they want instead of solving some of the world’s ills.

Just my 2 cents…

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 5:35 pm

11 On November 10th, 2009, Bronwyn said:

Gotta say I’m with cggirl on this. I hear parents ALL THE TIME complaining that their kids are always getting them sick and that kids are germ factories, etc. But then again I’ve noticed that anytime someone who is going childfree chooses to complain about something like that, the people who think that EVERYONE should have children throw a fit even if they were just saying the same thing last week.

Anita, you made it sound like Rachel is some kind of horrible person because she and her husband have cats and not kids, which is not true, and was outright rude to say. Next time you take issue with something Rachel or anyone else says, think about it for a little bit and try to be civil when you reply.

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

12 On November 10th, 2009, Jackie said:

If your child were sick, you’d do whatever it takes, whatever it costs to try and make them better right? To pet owners, our pets are our children. You don’t like it when parents are judged, well then please try your best not to judge pet parents. Animals aren’t much different than babies, nobody would suggest this was an outrageous fee if it was to save a human.

posted on November 10th, 2009 at 8:44 pm

13 On November 13th, 2009, LLL said:

I for one would NOT spend that money on a neighbour’s child. They chose to have the child, they can find money for its care. I choose to have pets, I will find the money for their care, and if it frosts your socks that I choose to spend $2000 to have my dog’s bladder stones removed when you can’t afford to feed your kids, then I hope you like frostbite, because that’s not changing. You chose to have them, you deal.

Why do we have to love babies in order to be officially female? I love that we have the freedom to not have children, and to enjoy our pets. Or to have children, and hate pets. Whatever floats your boat.

FYI, children are far more of a risk for disease than pets because very few diseases pass from pets to people. Read a book.

posted on November 13th, 2009 at 11:26 am