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Help each other grow instead of destroying each other

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This is one of my favorite images of all time

A Window into the World of the Great Goddess: An Egalitarian, Earth Amiable Time

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Happy Earth Day. Ever wondered what humanity looked like when God was considered a female? Most of us know the original religions centered around female divinity with egalitarian societies, but we don’t know very much. This documentary “Goddess Remembered” provides a little bit more info. Relaxed and low key, the film features Merlin Stone, author of “When God Was a Woman,” and many other scholars and influential figures, who make a connection between the loss of female divinity with environmental crises.

Remember this?

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barbie
photo credit assets.nydailynews.com

On the left you can see the usual Barbie and on the right you can see what Barbie would look like with real life, average woman proportions. I prefer the the real-life one on the right for two big reasons: One, it doesn’t set little girls up for failure thinking they fail if they don’t add up to the teensie-tiny proportions of the doll they’re playing with on the left. But two, I also prefer the one on the right because it just looks better, don’t you think? Doesn’t the one on the left look alien next to the one on the right?

Also, have you seen this yet? This woman makes dolls that girls like playing with, because they look like them and are natural. She revamps old Bratz dolls and has gotten a ton of media attention because she, unintentionally, has brought attention to the hyper-sexualization of children’s toys. I find this project encouraging because it promotes natural beauty and is also environmentally responsible because she reuses old dolls that have been tossed out. I’m also glad that it appears she sustains ethnic diversity within them too. Plus, this family is just adorable. Check it out:

Offensive Content?

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My friend Sarah Bennett posted this beautiful photo to her Facebook page. This photo demonstrating motherly love has been shared over 75,000 times. Yet, as was the case when Sarah posted it, the photo has been taken down numerous times for “offensive content.” How is this offensive, especially when photos of pornified bodies are permitted? What is inspiring about this story, however, is that people are  persistently reposting it.

 

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Photo credit: Tisha Johnson

Sarah had this to say about the photo being taken down:

“An image which I posted earlier of a group of beautiful nude mamas holding their babies has been taken off of my page as being offensive content. Think about that. What goes on in someone’s mind as they take offense to a bare human body? Our bodies are magnificent works of creation, evolution, divinity, whatever- within any ideology or perspective- how can that magnificence possibly be denied? Our bodies give solidity to the mysterious truth that we are HERE. We are here.
To view the nude human form only as a sexual object, to associate it with all of the confusing shame and pain stigma around sexuality that so many of us have been inundated with, is an absolutely unnecessary pain. What has warped our thinking into believing that sexuality is so wrong that it must be hidden and denied, while at the same time casting it constantly upon everything we see?

What has twisted us into thinking that only certain bodies are worthy of calling themselves beautiful, worthy of being seen?

To cast shame upon our very vessels of existence as we know it implies a heartbreaking denial of self. Every single body is beautiful. Miraculously beautiful. Every one of us has the right to live within our bodies free of shame, stigma, and fear.

We have choice in our thinking. Your body is proof, proof at least that you are here. Here in this life with all of its confusion, pain, pleasure, freedom, love, and joy. What could ever be more beautiful?”

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Comprehensive Sex Ed is Crucial

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Not only is John Oliver hilarious, he makes it very clear just how crucial comprehensive sex education is. As he points out, the states that have abstinence-only sex education are the places where teen pregnancy are highest. Teenagers have questions, and they need to be addressed so they can make informed, responsible choices. And no; girls who have sex are NOT like used pieces of gum, contrary to what many sex ed classes are teaching. Girls are people too. (It’s astounding that women themselves are teaching the ‘used gum’ thing.) And unlike algebra and many other school topics, sex education is one of the few subjects you’ll need for the rest of your life. Teens need to be getting the facts straight from trusted adults so they can go out and be respectful, responsible people in the world.