Wednesday, November 28, 2012

To add to yesterday...

http://ellipsesproject.org/2012/10/19/forgiveness-is-a-luxury/

Interesting link here. Implying that it's a luxury that we can't all afford, though, implies that forgiveness is inherently desirable. And I'm not so sure it is.

On another note, I'm processing, processing, processing why I became so triggered tonight after a Facebook comment that sexualized me inappropriately. It's been a long time since I last felt that way.

My brain is trying to process...

A heavy blog night (don't worry, if you know me - I am actually totally ok, curled up with kittens and a lovely cup of tea, but writing about tough stuff)

A post on xojane, http://www.xojane.com/issues/rape-and-suicide (TRIGGER WARNING!!! talks about rape and suicide, PTSD, etc), got me thinking about that whole to-be-or-not-to-be thing. The blogger on xojane has survived several sexual assaults; for her, one more time would be the last straw. And this made me wonder - if it happened to me, again, what would I do? I want to think that it wouldn't happen, that lightning doesn't strike twice. Of course, life doesn't quite work that way; there is no life-long immunity to rape after it happens the first time. One of the commenters echoed what I think I feel about this as well - rather than it being the last straw, it would be another challenge to get through, but one that is perhaps easier than the first time, knowing that survival is possible even though it's hard as fuck.

So many folks in the comments (yes, I read the comments on everything...) say that they've always had suicide as a back-up plan. A friend of mine has often said the same thing for her life, and the possibility of having that last resort taken away from her was terrifying. I'm different (luckily, I guess) and I'm not sure what contributes to that. Not surviving has just never been an option that I'm willing to consider. It's letting him win.

Another thing I've been grappling with these past few weeks is the idea of forgiveness. It'll be 10 years this April, and I still cannot bring myself to look at his picture in my high-school yearbook for fear that I'll then know what he looks like (my eyesight was bad enough 10 years ago that I could not see him clearly enough to recognize him; in my mind, he doesn't have a face) and be able to know if I saw him on the street who he was - and I fear that then I'd kill him, or else explode with rage. So many people say to forgive, even though forgetting is impossible. I have trouble with that. I really do believe that some things cannot be forgiven.

Dying is letting him win; forgiving is letting him win; even as much as I'd like to push things aside, forgetting is letting him win. I can move past the flashbacks and surf on the waves of rage without being pulled under, but dammit if I'm going to venture inland.

[I still have never gotten a comment on this blog. If you read this, say hi?]

Monday, November 26, 2012

I am rarely speechless...

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/24/war-on-men/

I can't even begin to explain how much this woman has gotten it all wrong.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Two great links about street harassment

(either of these could be triggering for some folks; more so the first one which has very violent language)

https://www.facebook.com/notes/rachel-blair/that-time-a-man-yelled-something-sexually-violent-at-me-and-more-than-ten-male-w/10152554444345355

http://www.autostraddle.com/project-unspoken-makes-space-149449/

I'm just throwing links at the world today, rather than actually writing - sorry.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Made my day

I know this has been online for a long time, but I only saw it today when a friend posted it on Facebook.

http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men.html

If every man in the world thought the way Tony Porter does, the world would be a much better place.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Wandering Mind







I'm technically working on a grant proposal tonight, but wandered over to PostSecret for a break.

This anonymous secret is a goal of mine, and something that has been suggested to me by many other people, including friends, my boxing coach, strangers on the internet. I am beginning to consider that they may be right; my anger is not productive.