I obviously have a lot to say and share. Lately, however, I have not been in the mood to say/share via this medium... maybe that's because i have nothing immediately due to procrastinate with. We'll see... I have a long To Blog List. So once I bust out of this block of relaxation, I'm sure that I will be in a much more prolific mood. But in the meantime, there are many guest bloggers to keep you company. (Check out Ceece's and Syl's diatribe if you haven't already!!! It's really good.)
Until motivation sings back around,
Stay So So Serious with SableYork
Monday, March 9, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
So So Proud to be a Young Person!
Finally! I'm so excited to see a young person defending our generation. I feel like all I hear is about how our generation voted for Obama and that now we go back to our cooky internet gadgets and don't actually engage in any meaningful way with politics and activism.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
So So Fatphobic
Diatribe
This list is at its core a diatribe. We are frustrated with some of the unsafe environments being created around us and would like to name in an open way the ways that we have felt uncomfortable and marginalized in an effort to allow us to bring our whole selves to all situations. By writing this we are putting ourselves out there, so be considerate and respectful.
1. Don't make me sit in the middle seat of the back of a car
2. Don't make me sit on the ground ever
3. Chairs in Sci. Center 183 NOT FUN, Chairs in Kohlberg--I have bruises
4. Flying on airplanes makes me want to die because the seats are so small
5. Never take a picture from below
6. Be aware if I'm running, out of breath, generally unable to keep up
7. No, walking long distances isn't going to work if we are running, or walking
8. Don't call yourself fat, I'm uninterested in hearing that
9. Don't comment on how much I'm eating, ever
10. Don't ask me what medicine I'm taking
11. Don't ask me why I have so many doctors appointments.
12. Don't give me two potatoes at Sharples. I want a multiple of two. It is not your responsibility to be my Jenny Craig
13. Don't talk about the Freshmen 15
14. Don't assume I'm not sexual
15. Don't assume that I'm your chair
16. Don't tell me I'm comfy. I'm not your lazy-boy. Comfy is code for fat.
17. Ice breakers like the human knot and others that make me acutely aware of my size are not OK. Trust fall is never OK. NEVER!
18. Just because I'm fat does not mean I'm sassy--I'm not Mo'Nique, I'm not Queen Latifah, I'm not your comedy show
19. Don't ask me to carry 15 things and balance one on my head, it's not easy to balance myself
20. Moving to the center of an aisle, cafeteria, shouldn't be more important than my discomfort with hitting everyone on the way there with my boobs/stomach/self
21. My boobs are proportional to the rest of me, there is no need to note their size
22. Pools and beaches are not safe spaces for me, bathing suits are my worst nightmare.
23. My weight does affect my temperature, sometimes I sweat.
24. Amusement parks and roller-coasters are not safe spaces for me, anything really with a size limit
25. No, I don't want to try that on in a size 1/2 of what my actual size is.
26. Ice is my worst fear, falling could break a bone. Gravity is my other worst enemy.
27. Don't confuse health with wellness, they are different.
28. Don't comment on how much my jeans cost, it's more fabric, it makes sense that it costs more.
29. Don't tell me that "you shouldn't be eating this," no you shouldn't, you should give it to me. Fishing for compliments isn't going to work here.
30. We can't share fitting rooms, it's not a party.
31. Don't take me into Abercrombie and Fitch. Don't take me into Rainbow. It's just insulting.
32. Cheap stuff looks good on you, a piece of tissue paper is not flattering on my body.
33. Victoria is the beign of my existence, anything above a B-cup is a piece of shit.
34. If it doesn't look good on me, be honest, but it's kind of your fault were in this situation in the first place.
35. I don't care about the environment, I need to take the elevator.
We know these are funny but they are all, also dead serious. We can each point to moments just like these that made us feel marginalized, excluded, self-conscious, and generally unsafe. So think twice before you act, recognize your privilege and own it.
In Solidarity,
Sylvia and Cecilia
Please add in the comments section any that you believe are relevant/important and we will add them.
This list is at its core a diatribe. We are frustrated with some of the unsafe environments being created around us and would like to name in an open way the ways that we have felt uncomfortable and marginalized in an effort to allow us to bring our whole selves to all situations. By writing this we are putting ourselves out there, so be considerate and respectful.
1. Don't make me sit in the middle seat of the back of a car
2. Don't make me sit on the ground ever
3. Chairs in Sci. Center 183 NOT FUN, Chairs in Kohlberg--I have bruises
4. Flying on airplanes makes me want to die because the seats are so small
5. Never take a picture from below
6. Be aware if I'm running, out of breath, generally unable to keep up
7. No, walking long distances isn't going to work if we are running, or walking
8. Don't call yourself fat, I'm uninterested in hearing that
9. Don't comment on how much I'm eating, ever
10. Don't ask me what medicine I'm taking
11. Don't ask me why I have so many doctors appointments.
12. Don't give me two potatoes at Sharples. I want a multiple of two. It is not your responsibility to be my Jenny Craig
13. Don't talk about the Freshmen 15
14. Don't assume I'm not sexual
15. Don't assume that I'm your chair
16. Don't tell me I'm comfy. I'm not your lazy-boy. Comfy is code for fat.
17. Ice breakers like the human knot and others that make me acutely aware of my size are not OK. Trust fall is never OK. NEVER!
18. Just because I'm fat does not mean I'm sassy--I'm not Mo'Nique, I'm not Queen Latifah, I'm not your comedy show
19. Don't ask me to carry 15 things and balance one on my head, it's not easy to balance myself
20. Moving to the center of an aisle, cafeteria, shouldn't be more important than my discomfort with hitting everyone on the way there with my boobs/stomach/self
21. My boobs are proportional to the rest of me, there is no need to note their size
22. Pools and beaches are not safe spaces for me, bathing suits are my worst nightmare.
23. My weight does affect my temperature, sometimes I sweat.
24. Amusement parks and roller-coasters are not safe spaces for me, anything really with a size limit
25. No, I don't want to try that on in a size 1/2 of what my actual size is.
26. Ice is my worst fear, falling could break a bone. Gravity is my other worst enemy.
27. Don't confuse health with wellness, they are different.
28. Don't comment on how much my jeans cost, it's more fabric, it makes sense that it costs more.
29. Don't tell me that "you shouldn't be eating this," no you shouldn't, you should give it to me. Fishing for compliments isn't going to work here.
30. We can't share fitting rooms, it's not a party.
31. Don't take me into Abercrombie and Fitch. Don't take me into Rainbow. It's just insulting.
32. Cheap stuff looks good on you, a piece of tissue paper is not flattering on my body.
33. Victoria is the beign of my existence, anything above a B-cup is a piece of shit.
34. If it doesn't look good on me, be honest, but it's kind of your fault were in this situation in the first place.
35. I don't care about the environment, I need to take the elevator.
We know these are funny but they are all, also dead serious. We can each point to moments just like these that made us feel marginalized, excluded, self-conscious, and generally unsafe. So think twice before you act, recognize your privilege and own it.
In Solidarity,
Sylvia and Cecilia
Please add in the comments section any that you believe are relevant/important and we will add them.
So So New Blogger!
Hey Everyone! I realize I just posted a blog and didn't actually ever introduce myself! My name is Cecilia Márquez. I'm a sophomore at Swarthmore College. I am a recently declared Black Studies Major and Gender and Sexuality Studies Minor. I am a multi-racial Latin@ from Arlington, Virginia. I'm a queer person of color who loves bell hooks, Audre Lorde, cuddling, laughing, bad television, my friends and my family (as if they aren't the same).
Cecilia!
cmarque1@gmail.com
So So Immune
Today I had the pleasure of being in a Math class where the professor managed to offend me just about very time he spoke. On Monday we discussed the AIDS/HIV epidemic in the United States where he spent time in class addressing students by saying things like: "You don't have AIDS do you?" or "Let's pretend that you have AIDS."
This is, unfortunately, not a joke. I think that there is this horrible assumption that at Swarthmore and other elite institutions like Swarthmore we are "too smart" to get AIDS/HIV. Like this is something that we are somehow immune to and it is something simply effecting communities outside of our campus. To assume that we are not personally affected within our bodies or within our own networks of friends and families is insensitive and rooted in a disconnectedness from the realities of many people in the classroom.
Furthermore when a woman in the classroom brought up the idea that he perhaps be more sensitive when discussing issues like AIDS/HIV and other things that may effect us and our families he made a mockery of this situation and said that we needed to be "sensitive dammit" and then turned it on the classroom and told us that we should be more sensitive.
This class reminds me that actual knowledge/research/sensitivity to and around a topic is not required to teach a class.
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