Abortion, oddly enough, is a hot topic of discussion in the political and religious world. Nearly 40 years after women won the right to determine what happens with their own bodies, the Right (read: Wrong) has begun the discussion again like there is any discussion to be had.
My freshman year of college, I was enjoying my newly found liberalism and being gay, I starting to think more deeply about issues affecting women, in large part due to an English professor I had. She was a Master's student at the time and taught my class a lot about American Rhetoric. She was one of those professors you'll never forget, even though her name now escapes me. I remember her overalls and black rimmed glasses. She told our class the story of having to choose between having her son and making the decision to abort her baby and focus on school. While she chose to have a child, she helped the class understand how grateful she was to have that choice as pregnancy completely changes a person's body and emotions.
I understand many people's religions feel abortion is wrong and I feel that's the choice of people in that religion to follow the sanctions of their religion and not to press that onto those who do not follow religious doctrine. I personally, believe that adoption is the best option, but I would never second-guess a woman's choice to do what she wishes to do with her own body. Childbearing can often be dangerous for many women and children who are not wanted should not be brought into the world. While I understand there are people who chose not to have an abortion and were happy with their decision, I do not think anyone who made the difficult choice should be looked upon with shame.
UPDATE: Read
this and try not to puke.
My sister miscarried her first pregnancy and I'm sure nothing more tragic has happened to her or my family. It's very upsetting to read that this is even a discussion being had in modern times.
Sorry to be a little bit 2000 and late about my write up on the September Issue, as Gawker, the New York Times and everyone in a big city was on it, well much earlier in September. However, living in Michigan, tonight was my first real opportunity to see the documentary as The Maple in Bloomfield Hills started playing it over the weekend.
While it wasn't quite what I had expected (much more glamour, clothes, designers, models), it was a fascinating look into the business of fashion -- an industry that gets a lot of flack by anti-fur activists and for the importance placed on body image (thinness as opposed to health in many cases). However, what I saw was an industry that celebrates, elevates and inspires women.
We receive the first real intimate look at the genius of Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington and the Vogue staff -- which aside from a few editors seems to be a wonderfully female-based. While Vogue as a magazine isn't necessarily my taste, the respect I have for Vogue as a brand is infinite.
Anna Wintour lives up to everything an editor-in-chief should be. She's strict and efficient. Considering all she does, she has to be expecting things now because she has something else to do in 5 minutes. She pretty much expects things to happen right when they're supposed to and that's really all she expects. The team knows her tastes well enough. There were plenty of "Anna will hate this" and "Don't even show that to her" that working at Vogue should be easy enough. Anna is a powerful woman, who is annoyed by inefficiency and has no time for warmth when it comes to business. She shows a particular warmth when speaking with her daughter, Bee, that reminds you there's a part of her that's not all business.
As all of the reviews have stated, Grace Coddington is really the best part of the documentary. She's two parts crazy and two parts brilliant. She self-describes herself as a romantic who loves models, obviously has nothing to do with Sienna Miller and is the perfect yin to Anna's yang. She's pushes the envelope, show's Anna the side of fashion that is a little less practical and a little more whimsical. She's tough yet loved by all and obviously a creative genius when it comes to styling and clothes.
Aside from a few other cuties like Thakoon and Raquel there wasn't much more to the documentary. I'm not quite certain what André Leon Talley does at the magazine, but Anna has no time for inefficiency so I assume it's quite important. The women: Anna, Grace, Tonne are all powerful strong women who are good at their jobs and have worldwide influence. Overall, the documentary really gave me a new found respect for the fashion industry as a whole and how much goes into decisions at the top that affects what each of us wears every day.
I have no intent of trivializing what happened to Mackenzie Phillips. She was raped by her father, while addicted to drugs that he supplied to her. I will never blame the victim in any situation where rape is involved. That being said, she was an adult. I know nothing is easy about rape, but after being raped, consenting to a sexual relationship with your father for years, isn't the next logical step, whether or not you're on drugs. I think most can agree that her father was continuously raping her despite the fact that she thought she agreed to it. Many women are put in a position where they fear they have no way out -- which no doubt Phillips experienced to a degree we will never know and clearly, she believes she was consenting. Once you're raped by someone, I can't imagine sex with them would ever not be about rape.
My issue lies with how she's handling her healing. She's written a book and made a memorable appearance on Oprah -- which will no doubt launch her book to the #1 spot. This is all fine, if she were taking an activist role, educating and helping people in similar situations, but she continues to play a sad victim, timid to answer questions and upset by her situation. Then profiting off of that roll? If it's the case that she has not yet healed enough, she shouldn't catapult her story into the public eye. If she is at peace, she should own up to that fact and make what was a terrible, horrifying, disgusting situation and help others (which I have read she is also doing) -- not just make a buck. (read more from CBS news)
