LETS GET OUR INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY ON!

Today’s International Women’s Day Theme here at Important Blog is:



Why women’s liberation you say? Didn’t that already happen? Haven’t women already been liberated? Aren’t men and women equal now?

Well, my friends, the answer is no, no, and definitely not!

Over at The National Council for Research on Women, they provide a very comprehensive list of the many reasons why the women’s liberation movement is still relevent and why it still needs to be very much alive, but I’m going concentrate on just a few that I feel really indicate the inequality that still exists between men and women in the world today.

First:

Women are still trafficked. Women and girls are the majority of the 800,000 to nearly 4 million people trafficked internationally every year.

An article on CNN.com details the struggle of one girl who was sold at age five by her parents to a brothel that caters to sex tourists and is very much worth reading to gain more insight on this issue. Please go and read the whole article because it is truly enlightening, but for the purposes of this blog, here are some important facts presented in the article related to the trafficking of women and children for the sex trade:

• More than 1 million children in global sex trade each year, U.S. State Dept. says
• 50,000 to 100,000 women and children involved in Cambodia's sex industry alone
• Gang rape, AIDS, torture afflict the women and children in this field

So, these women and children need to be liberated in the most literal sense of the word.

Second:

Girls are still unwanted in many countries.
In many countries, including India and China, girl children are still considered less desirable by parents, many of which are neglected, put up for adoption, or killed.

You may say, what does that have to do with me? At least women in the U.S. are equal right?

Negative GhostRider!

Right here in the U.S.:

Women are still underpaid. Women earn only 76 cents to every dollar earned by men – and have done so for the past 20 years!

Seriously. Ew. If that doesn’t scream “Women Still Need Liberating!” I don’t know what does. Remember, women only got the right to be involved in the political processes of this country less than 100 years ago! (Which is why we ALL HAVE TO VOTE- we haven’t had that right for very long and our grandmothers fought very hard for that privilege- so we sure as hell better use it.)

One example of late that proves that women are indeed NOT considered equal in this country is the question:

Are we ready for a woman President?

How many times have you heard this as we head into the 2008 Presidential Election? I have heard it way more times than I'd like to recall. If we were truly considered equal, than this question would never be voiced, because no one ever wonders if we’re ready for a human president.

(This of course also applies to any minority running for President.)

So in short my friends- don’t get all lazy and rest on the laurels of those who came before. There are still many steps that need to be taken (cheesy metaphor alert!) on the road to gender equality- the majority of which I wasn't able to mention here for lack of time and space.

Support Women’s Liberation and support Blog Against Sexism Day- there are tons of blogs involved, so check them out!

And now, I leave you with a final thought:

*Many thanks to The National Council of Research on Women for the information that I gathered from their site.

*Thanks also to feministing for the image above.

**To any concerned readers- my extremely pointless and nonpolitical posts will resume tomorrow. This issue warranted a step off the Pointless Path onto Serious Street, if only for a moment. I thank you for your support and understanding.

TOMORROW IS BLOG AGAINST SEXISM DAY:

So if you could just go ahead and blog about that tomorrow, that would be greeeaaaat, OK?

Oh, oh, and I almost forgot....I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and blog about that on sunday, too...

ET TU GWYNETH (PART DEUX)

The Gwyneth stuff from the other day was fabricated apparently, but this is (said to be) a real quote:

To Toronto's Globe & Mail in September 2005: "I've always been drawn to Europe. America is such a young country, with an adolescent swagger about it. But I feel that I have a more European sensibility, a greater respect for the multicultural nature of the globe. And it's a strange time to be an American now."*

Same kind of idea, but not as obnoxious. My apologies.

WTF???

Communist squirrels not withstanding, we here at Very Important Blog do not usually care to engage in serious political discussion, stemming from the fact that there is WAY too much of that swimming out there in Blogdom.

However...this was just TOO easy. Please read the story below (taken from the IMDb website...the ONLY place for news):

Limbaugh Blasts Parkinson's Sufferer Fox for "Acting"
Controversial radio host Rush Limbaugh has slammed actor Michael J. Fox for "acting" his way through a new campaign ad for his favorite politician. The Parkinson's Disease sufferer is seen frantically shaking as he urges voters to consider Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill in the TV spot. McCaskill shares Fox's hopes for a cure for Parkinson's Disease, and is a strong advocate of embryonic stem cell research. But right-wing radio pundit Limbaugh is far from convinced the Back To The Future star was being honest in the tough-to-watch TV ad, accusing him of faking his condition. He says, "Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting... He's exaggerating the effects of the disease. This is the only time I have ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has. This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox." In his radio rant, which aired on Monday, Limbaugh continued "I will bigly (sic), hugely admit that I was wrong, and I will apologize to Michael J. Fox if I am wrong in characterizing his behavior on this commercial as an act, especially since people are telling me they have seen him this way on other interviews and in other television appearances. Michael J. Fox is using his illness as a way to mislead voters into thinking that their vote for a single United States senator has a direct impact on stem cell research in Missouri. It doesn't, and it won't."

As someone who's adopted grandmother has Parkinson's...I can firmly say:

What a dickhead.

It boggles the mind how someone could make a such a STUPID public statement. Especially coming from someone who...uh...USES ILLEGALLY OBTAINED PAINKILLERS! (....And uses the word "bigly". In what language may I ask is that a word Mr. Radio Talkshow Host?...)

That's an awfully high horse you continuously ride Mr. Limbaugh...

What an idiot.

THE POLITICAL LEANINGS OF LOCAL RODENTS

Here at This Very Important Blog, we care about the politics of all our neighbors-even those who are currently members of the animal kingdom-and today, I believe I stumbled upon a community of Communist Squirrels.

How do I know they were communists you may ask? Let me explain.

While driving through a nearby neighborhood on the way back from lunch (Chipotle..MMMMM), my companion noticed that there were a lot of dead squirrels littering the road. After remarking that she was indeed correct, that there did seem to be a fair amount of deceased squirrels lying about, I made a comment about how maybe it's just because there are a lot of squirrels around there. Now, I meant this in more of a "maybe there are a lot of squirrels around here so that the ratio of squirrels deceased compared to the number of squirrels alive is actually relatively small." But instead, my companion took it as...maybe there are so many squirrels that some are taking it upon themselves die so that the rest can live. So I said, "what, like for the good of the group?"

So we agreed that this was indeed a logical conclusion. That maybe the squirrels lying in the road are there because it was their time to show their loyalty to The Cause. That the Community of Squirrels is more important that the Individual Squirrel, and if there isn't enough food for all of them...then someone has to Make the Ultimate Sacrifice.

Maybe today it was Rodney Squirrel's time to put his life aside. Aside for all of Squirrel Kind (or at least those living in this particular neighborhood...).

Perhaps it went like this:

Run Rodney!...It'll be quick...think of how much it will mean to the Community!!!

GO RODNEY GO!

(thump THUMP)

Sigh...that Rodney...he was such a good squirrel.

Can we all please have a moment of silence for Rodney?

HAIR CRIMES

In my glorious state, candidates are gearing up for the state elections in November. After the primary election of last month, we are left with two candidates for Governor of My Glorious State. One candidate is the current governor running for reelection- and he is the candidate I wish to discuss in this blog. I do not believe that the current Governor should be reelected on account of the fact that he has committed serious crimes. We're talking Hair Crimes people. Hair Crimes.

The dude has bad hair. Horrible hair. And this hair has been assaulting us on television commercials and during public appearances for four years now. Do we really want four more years of BAD HAIR? I'll elaborate because I'm sure that some of you have no idea the extent of the Hair Atrocities that have been committed by the current Governor of My Glorious State.

A) It looks like a helmet. Not just because its stiff and unmoving, even in high winds...but because it literally...Looks. Like. A helmet. As in, the football variety.
B) He has as Lucy would say "a suspicious lack of sideburns." If the dude has hair as thick as the helmet he has going on the top...that hair should continue down into some fairly sizable (or at least visible) sideburns. It doesn't. They just aren't there.
C) This hair causes him to look (also as Lucy would say) "overall turtle-like." Do we want a Turtle Man running the state of Maryland? I don't think so.

If a person can't keep his hair looking Presentable (or at least Not Hideous), how can we expect him to keep his state looking Presentable? How!? I'll tell you. WE CAN'T.

We're talking the worst kind of Hair Crimes here. Worst kind. And the tragedy of it all is that he's not even sorry. Not even a little bit! Here he is committing Hair Crimes in full view of the public every day and he hasn't even had the sheer decency to issue an apology to us citizens. Is this the kind of person you want running the state? IS IT?!

So please...if you are a citizen of My Glorious State (you know who you are!), and you are going to the polls to vote next month (AS YOU SHOULD!) don't vote for someone who has committed Hair Crimes. It's not good for Our Glorious State, and it's not good for the country.