The latest installment in my story for the No Longer Quivering blog has been posted.

When The Levee Breaks covers my late pregnancy, homeless and sleeping in a friend's cement-floored, unheated laundry room. I have added some detail into the story so even if you read an earlier version you will find some new material.

My latest guest blog entry, entitled What It's Like To Sing The Blues, has been posted on No Longer Quivering.

I have a new guest blog post up at No Longer Quivering:

From Generation to Generation.

Talking about why self esteem is not enough--we need to truly love ourselves!

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/03/joy.01.html

Transcript of show with segment about the Quiverfull movement with Vyckie Garrison of No Longer Quivering discussing QF with current QFer Rachel Scott and with author Kathryn Joyce who wrote a book about the movement. (You'll have to scroll through the beginning segments.)

Amazingly, Rachel Scott tried to say she had an egalitarian marriage, that God is a feminist, implied that Catholics aren't real Christians (but denied that when asked), said most QF daughters go to college when they don't, and implied that Vyckie didn't do QF quite right or she wouldn't have been so unhappy.

If you look at her website, what Rachel usually says is very different from the image she tried to portray on the show, to the frustration of everyone who shared that segment with her. She also would hardly shut up and let anyone else speak. Other QF adherents have been shy about going on these shows, but not Rachel! She seems to yearn for the public spotlight.

Some of Rachel's REAL beliefs:

The enemy is also preparing his army for battle. Believers do not need to fear
the army of the enemy but we do need to be aware that they exist. On the other
side there are children being born who already desire to promote the enemy’s
agenda. Some are chosen in the womb through demonic rituals or other forms of
evil. Some are birthed into this world and taught to hate. The only hope these
children have is to find Christ, but until they do they will be
increasingly susceptible to the deeds and plans of the enemy.

* * *


We are presently living in the last generations before Christ returns. The
children that we are birthing right now are the beginnings of this end-time
army of Mighty Warriors who will worship the Lord and prepare the way for His
return.

Several generations fell into Babylonian thinking (Babylon in scripture
usually refers to human thinking and ideals) and the traditional family of:
mother/father, a loving marriage that produces loving children, fell apart
in both society and in churches. People left God's "ideal" and what resulted
were 70+ years of pain and suffering for families.

WAS IT SIMPLY "COINCIDENCE" THAT NEARLY 70 YEARS AFTER THESE
RULINGS AMERICA EXPERIENCED A "WAKE-UP" CALL
IN THE EVENTS OF 9/11/01?

The No Longer Quivering Carnival has kept me hopping, first with writing material in advance for the news items that are being posted throughout each day, short essays on different aspects of our experience by several women, really dynamite stuff. Then I'm running the body image workshop and that's been quite active (yay!) and there have been lots of very good questions. (Don't forget to check it out--guests can post and there will be a prize drawing among the participants.) I have a few behind-the-scenes jobs also.

Tonight on the Joy Behar show on HLN (the other CNN channel) Vyckie Garrison herself, NLQ blog owner, will be on debating Rachel Scott, mother of eight and author of "Birthing God's Mighty Warriors." Don't miss it! 9 p.m. ET/PT.

You can look at my introduction and first assignment on the Body Image Workshop pages today and get started on your homework and thinking about your questions.

Here's what Vyckie says:

Beginning Sunday evening, Nov. 1st until we collapse sometime before midnight on Wednesday the 4th ~ we’re creating a party-like atmosphere here at No Longer Quivering and on the NLQ forums which includes fun & games ~ and even some cool prizes!

There will be lots of interesting things to read, prizes, fun, and food for thought. Please check it out!

No Longer Quivering, the blog and associated forum started by Vyckie D. Garrison to talk about her days in the Quiverfull movement, is having a Carnival! Yes, talking about life under the thumb of the patriarchy doesn't have to be depressing--we're celebrating freedom and autonomy for all women! There will be prizes and a slew of interesting posts during the carnival. I will be contributing some posts.

Beginning Sunday evening, Nov. 1st until we collapse sometime before midnight on Wednesday the 4th ~ we’re creating a party-like atmosphere here at No Longer Quivering and on the NLQ forums which includes fun & games ~ and even some cool prizes!
The NLQ chat room will be open round-the-clock and we’ll be posting new NLQ articles every few hours.


We’ll be setting up a “Carnival Midway” on the NLQ forums which will be open to all visitors ~ no need to register. On the “Midway” visitors will find carnival booths with games and activities ~ plus plenty of excellent company!

Be there or be square!

The latest installment of my story for No Longer Quivering had been posted and is entitled "I Will Lay Me Down." This covers half a year in the early days of my marriage to Mahasraya (Michael Cody).

What is rape culture? How is it defined? What does it look, sound, and feel like? This is the best description I've ever read.

Rape Culture 101

Part 7 of my guest series for No Longer Quivering is entitled I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You). In this installment my mom takes me back to Keokuk but invites the man I've just started to date, Mike, to join us. To my surprise he said yes.

Previous installments can be found under the heading Patriarchy Across Cultures.

I previously wrote a longer version of the time with Mike in Keokuk, which can be found here.

Here's another installment in my guest blog series at No Longer Quivering.

Patriarchy Across Cultures: Magic Man.

No Longer Quivering has its own domain now: nolongerquivering.com.

I think insurance company exec jokes will soon replace lawyer jokes in popularity. Apparently, in some states it's OK to deny coverage to a woman who is beaten by her husband (or a man beaten by his wife) because domestic violence is seen as a "pre-existing condition." I'd like to say April Fools or something but you can't make this shit up!

I wonder how long it is considered a "pre-existing condition." If you divorce the guy but he comes and beats you up again, will they pay for your hospital care then? What about the PTSD you suffer even after you leave? Can you get therapy? What kind of inhuman people want to prevent a battered woman from getting medical care, anyway? The federal government can't do a worse job of administering health care than the states and insurance companies are already doing!

Starts tomorrow, September 17th, register FOR FREE at this page.

SARK is one of the women who will be participating in the seminar. The page above gives a full list at the bottom. Men are welcome also.

From the website:

Dear Friend,

ARE YOU READY TO GET INSPIRED, BE UPLIFTED, AND LEARN FROM THE BEST? Join us for the series that has been universally acclaimed as “inspiring,” “thought- provoking,” “empowering,” and “uplifting.”

My name is Amy Ahlers, aka “The Wake-Up Call Coach,” and I am deeply honored to be able to connect people like YOU with our most prominent and powerful women leaders. My vision is to inspire, energize, and motivate you so that you can feel more joy, more connection, and more purpose in your life - despite the challenges you might be facing. Please join us for this FREE Ten Call Tele-Series and get inspired! Consider this series a STIMULUS PACKAGE FOR YOUR SPIRIT!

Since it's free, how can you lose? Sign up today!

My latest guest post for the No Longer Quivering blog has been posted. It is entitled Over The Rainbow.

My new post at No Longer Quivering is entitled All Things Must Pass.

This was a hard one to write since it brought back a lot of unpleasant memories.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll be away today but back tomorrow.

There is a new installment of my series at No Longer Quivering about my time in the Hare Krishna Movement and how it connects with the lifestyle of women in Quiverfull groups or other fundamentalist traditions. It's entitled Summer of Transcendental Love.

Previous installments can be found here and here.

There will be future installments; I won't leave the readers hanging, I promise.

Look At The Fat Girl is a review of two shows representing fat women by blogger and author Kate Harding.

I love how she addresses the fact that every segment of the audience will watch for their own reasons, whether to hope for fat acceptance and positive representation or to jeer at fat women. So true.

ETA: For anyone who doubts that many people jeer at fat people, see the letters section in response to this article.

Though I am amused by the idiot who rants about "denyal." Too bad there isn't a foolproof diet to increase "maotsetung's" IQ.

I was quite touched by this letter:

Fat acceptance is not a joke

Two of my closest friends--who are both beautiful, smart, funny, cool women-- are severely obese, and they struggle daily with it, and I often listen to them weeping about how they wish things could change for them--granted, much of that change has to come from within themselves and they know it. (One of them is married by the way, so it's not all about attracting a mate either.) They just feel powerless a lot of the time. One of them just had a lap-band put in.

Just to illustrate how desperate they are to be thin, both of my friends have said many, many times, that they would trade places with me in a heartbeat. Why? Because I am thin. I am also visibly physically disabled. They have actually, literally said that they would trade their limbs to be thin, I'm not kidding. Even when I've thought about it, I definitely wouldn't want to trade my body for theirs. We all get stared at sometimes, but they assert it's worse for fat women, and you know what? I actually think they're right. That's how judgmental our society is against fat people.
-- not_rebecca

I cringed when I saw the promos of the new Fox (where else) show More To Love. Following the usual Bachelor format, large women compete for the attention of a self-admitted Fat Admirer. I couldn't bear to watch, but fortunately another Fat Acceptance Activist did and published a review: Really Big Love, by Marianne Kirby.

Excerpt:

More to Love, at least so far, doesn’t show big women in the pursuit of being small—a definite step forward.

But the show also falls into the same old fatty-hating, fatty-baiting traps that belittle the Fat Acceptance movement. The women joke about Spanx, a girdle-like product that’s supposed to smooth you out and make you look slimmer. One girl, who jumped into the pool in a bid for attention, worries that she looks like a whale.

It’s a one-two punch of acceptance followed by a knockout blow of shame.

Luke manipulates a woman into kissing him by playing on her fear of being cut the first night, playing on her body insecurities. She kisses him again.

More to Love is a confounding welter of self-confidence and self-loathing. I like these women, the interesting ones, and while Luke is a bit too much of a frat boy for my tastes, I applaud his lack of shame—he likes big women and he’s unapologetic about it. That shouldn’t deserve the acclaim it gets him, and it shouldn’t deserve the points it scores him with these women, who seem convinced this is their only chance to find love.

Ultimately, I think that’s what made me the most upset about More to Love—the show’s depressing portrait of these young women, already afraid they will die alone and unloved, unworthy of companionship. I’m not mad at them, though I want to send each and every one of them a copy of my book, a useful guide to getting over self-loathing. I am mad at every man and every woman who has taught them this kind of fear. I am mad at every jerk who wants these women to loathe themselves.

But there is a glimmer of hope. More to Love shows us beautiful fat women, refusing to apologize for who they are. That alone is positive. And I’m trying to hold on to that.

Continuing my effort to make connections across cultures regarding the treatment of women and children under patriarchal religions, I have a new guest post entitled Living In The Material World where I talk about how and why I was drawn to the Hare Krishna Movement.

This post fills a gap in the previous posts I've made here about my time in that movement.