1.
My husband noticed yesterday that my
blog button wasn’t working. I fixed it yesterday and now it works. If you happened to put the button on your blog you might want to click on it to make sure it links you back here. If it is the wrong one it will take you to a page that says my blog doesn’t exist. Don’t worry it does. Just come back and get the right code and re-paste it. Sorry about the mistake, html and I aren’t always friends.
2.
I was really impressed with
Dizzlefig’s post in response to
the attacks on Lara Logan, the reporter to was attacked in Egypt last month. Her post reminded me of how different our expectations of men and women are. Here is a snippet of the list Dizzlefig gives:
Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Guaranteed to Work
1. Don’t put drugs in women’s drinks
2. When you see a woman walking by herself, leave her alone.
3. If you pull over to help a woman whose car has broken down, remember not to assault her.
6. Never creep into a woman’s home through an unlocked door or window, or spring out at her from between parked cars, or assault her.
8. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If it is inconvenient for you to stop yourself from assaulting women, ask a trusted friend to accompany you when in public. Read the rest
I was talking to my husband about this list and asked him if he is ever afraid to walk across a parking lot at night by himself (I worked for a rape crisis team for two years and it was enough to make me terrified of parking lots at night). His answer was really enlightening to me. He said that he’s never been afraid to walk alone at night but told me about a time when he’d been walking down a hill at night and he could tell the woman in front of him was terrified of him. He wasn’t sure what to do. If he slowed down she might get scared, if he sped up she’d probably run, if he called out “Hey don’t worry I’m a nice guy” she’d probably spray him with pepper spray. It makes me really sad that we live in a world where women have to worry about these things and where men can’t walk behind a woman at night without worrying that they are scaring her to death. Some thing needs to change.
3.
I am pining away for spring. The weather is playing games with me. One week it is beautiful and warm and then next week it is a snow storm. Today is a warm day, reminding me that the only thing I’m not looking forward to about spring is that it means our driveway will start to turn into mud pit again. We didn’t get a driveway laid last summer and now we are really regretting it. As soon as it gets warmer this is where our tax return money is going.
4.
If you or anyone in your family has a Smart Phone you really need to
watch this clip. I not easily spooked but this one made me nervous. Luckily the GPS settings on my phone were already turned off. Scary.
5.
Have you read Sister Julie Beck’s article in the
Ensign this month called
“Teaching the Doctrine of the Family” ? It is fantastic and so powerful. She really is my hero. She makes me love being a woman. I think that if I had a couple thousand dollars to spend I’d put this quote from her up on a big billboard on the freeway… right in between the ones for breast enhancements and permanent birth control.
“Satan knows that he will never have a body; he will never have a family. So he targets young women, who will create the bodies for the future generations… Anti-Christ is antifamily. Any doctrine or principle our youth hear from the world that is antifamily is also anti-Christ.”
Go read the rest of the article. It is so worth it.
Have a beautiful weekend!
I loved that article by Sis Beck too. I used it to teach my YW lesson on eternal families. I love how she emphasized that the youth need to know the doctrine of the family because they will be called upon to defend it. I loved how she taught of the 3 pillars of the gospel relating to the family. I emphasized this and made a handout for my mia maids to teach it for FHE to their families. My hope is that if they had to teach it to someone they would remember it.
Anyway, I'm pining for warmer weather too.
#2 — I, too, think it is so unfair that women are unsafe!! That's why I lean towards "feminism" (well, thought I did…) because women need that right to walk around without being assaulted!
#5 I haven't read the talk, yet, but it looks like it is a condensed version of this one: http://latg.blogspot.com/2010/11/teaching-doctrine-of-family.html LOVED IT! It really changed my perspective, and makes me NOT feel bad saying having a family is THE most important thing (as long as you're in the position to have one!)
Oh yeah, also with #2 — Wendy Shalit (A Return to Modesty) talks about how if everyone respected the "modesty" of women, things like assault would rarely happen! It's a good read!
I had never thought about a man point of view when it comes to assault…interesting. I don't like to be out alone after dark.
thanks for your comment on my blog. I am trying not to dwell on the the worse case, because I know placentas move around and chances are it will and I will be able to have my unmedicated birth. The thing that is stressing me, is that I am already bleeding from my placenta, keeping quiet and limiting my activities makes a huge difference with that. It really isn't super hard, I can now sit and read a book all afternoon and not feel guilty about it! LOL!
Oh, I loved this today. I am going home and doing a lesson for the girls on this one. Then, we are going to memorize the Proclaimation on the Family. I think you are exactly right on for your points. Thank you so much for the inspiration.
Yikes! That camera phone thing was scary. I still have a "dumb" phone. 🙂 I loved Sis. Beck's article too, and will refer to it many, many times in the future.
Emily, I think a lot of her article was from that talk but she added in a whole lot of new stuff too. That other talk is great though. I should link to it because there is stuff she said in that one that she didn't say in the ensign article.
I was listening to a radio talk show about the differences between men and women. The guest host said that women have a tremendous need to feel safe. She told about a survey that asked men and women the last time they were scared. All of the men could either not remember a time when they were afraid or else they could think of maybe one or two times in their life. All of the women could name a time that they were afraid within the last few weeks. It really is something that women live with and men never think about.
Loved Sister Beck's article too.
Your husband's perspective is very interesting, reminds me of how my husband feels he can't ever talk to or help children because of the immense fear around child predators. It's so unfortunate how unrighteous actions of others can impede our ability to serve others.
I'd never thought about the nice guys that have to deal with the fear of women…I'm not saying I'll hold my can of pepper spray any less tightly, but it was nice to get a new perspective.
Also, you should add Asenath to your list. She's kind of important. Genesis 41:45 🙂
Asenath,
I actually have a post about Asenath brewing in my head. Maybe I'll have to get it out of there soon. She really is an amazing woman! How beautiful that you share her name.