gdp's Comments

Courtroom Mama : Friday Night Movie: What to Expect When You're Going to the Movies

Sat, 6 Nov 2010 03:11:38 +0000

YESSSSS! At the very least we can simul-tweet like mean girls giggling in the back of the theater. (I bet we could make a trending topic and everything. ZOMG JBeibz I <3 U!!!)

Courtroom Mama : Psyched (NaBloPoMo)

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 18:56:41 +0000

Oh I'm doing it! Yes, you should let people know. I want everyone to do it to so that I'll post if only out of sheer guilt :) And I know I only read for your hard drive dumps ;)

Courtroom Mama : No Child of Mine

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:12:43 +0000

Ha, thanks. This post had everything to do with the order in which I went through my Google Reader that day -- total happenstance. To the extent that I'm sharp at all, it's probably because I'm angry. And I delete a lot of drafts of "ASDFJLKSJDFLSK!!! MAMA SMASH!!!" ;) Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me.

Courtroom Mama : No Child of Mine

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:03:01 +0000

Thanks, this is something I take very seriously!

Courtroom Mama : Footnotes Matter: Reflections on Burton v. Florida

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:01:56 +0000

Indeed - surprising, isn\\\'t it, that the hospital that sets your broken arm or treats your kid for asthma might be willing to turn around and lock you up for not doing as you\\\'re told!

Courtroom Mama : Footnotes Matter: Reflections on Burton v. Florida

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:00:02 +0000

I think you may be right. I know that there is somebody who tweets and blogs about bedrest under the name @mamasonbedrest - I wonder what she would have to say about it.

Courtroom Mama : Wearing Our Shame: Motherhood, Clothing, and Self-Denial

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:31:17 +0000

I snorfled at plus sized hair shirts. WATCH OUT, THOSE KIDS ARE GOING TO BE GIVING THEMSELVES EPIDURALS!!!

Courtroom Mama : Reply Turned Post: A Mother Load.

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:35:30 +0000

Thanks for your response, and for your post as well. Trust me, I had to take a couple of minutes to compose myself before I wrote out my response! I think that my response wasn't published because I always put "The Internet" as my location. Then again, I think I saw another non-geographic location, so I'll just say it got moderated so I can feel all self-righteous (I kid, I kid!)

Courtroom Mama : Reply Turned Post: A Mother Load.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:25:30 +0000

Thanks! (and if I can have a nerdy moment, omg I\\\'ve been reading your LJ for years! Your photography is breathtaking.)

Courtroom Mama : Reply Turned Post: A Mother Load.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:03:05 +0000

Oh, Amber. There are SO SO MANY myths about women's reproduction and their motivation (they crank out the babies to collect welfare checks, they have abortions because they're selfish and just can't be bothered to be mothers). When will the world understand that women exist in more than two dimensions and have complex feelings about their bodies and their babies... I think part of it is that so many women are treated poorly during labor that it hurts to think that it didn't have to happen. It can be easier to call other women self-indulgent than to realize that she wasn't treated with the dignity she deserves. Thanks for your work and being a true ally to women! I wish everyone could have someone like you standing next to them at birth.

Courtroom Mama : Reply Turned Post: A Mother Load.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:48:18 +0000

I am glad that you reached out to her directly, and I'm glad that she's already far enough along on her path to healing that this is just a blip in the rearview mirror. But the thought that *anyone* would think it's okay to rip on someone who is admitting to being terrified... man, human decency, grow some!

Courtroom Mama : Reply Turned Post: A Mother Load.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:43:16 +0000

I love this! Totally using it in the future :)

Courtroom Mama : Follow-up Friday: The Environment is a Reproductive Justice Issue

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:40:39 +0000

Is it bad that I still haven't seen that movie? Those uber-CGI extravaganzas creep me out. I can barely deal with Pixar movies, that's just a step too far. But yeah, like I said, uncontrollable eyerolling. I have yet to have someone explain it to me in a way that doesn't require me to imagine "The Circle of Life" playing in the background. My recent post Follow-up Friday: The Environment is a Reproductive Justice Issue

Courtroom Mama : Feminism Beyond the Veil

Tue, 6 Apr 2010 03:22:31 +0000

"This feels like my life's calling and I am almost desperate to make the most of my drive and make a difference while I can." I really feel you there! Honestly, law from a "legal practice" perspective can be a little limiting because the law is inherently backward-looking, so change is slow at best. I personally want to see more good, organized legislative advocacy -- it's something moms are great at (see MADD and lots of consumer protection stuff...). Seriously, though, if you ever do want to go into law, I'm happy to give whatever words of wisdom I might have to give. :)

Courtroom Mama : Feminism Beyond the Veil

Tue, 6 Apr 2010 02:09:28 +0000

Can I preorder a copy of that on Amazon? :) I'm always really, really happy to find allies in people who either don't yet have children or don't want to have children (understood of course that you rank among those!). I shouldn't be so surprised that people are out there, but I guess I am sometimes. My recent post Feminism Beyond the Veil

Courtroom Mama : Feminism Beyond the Veil

Mon, 5 Apr 2010 17:20:24 +0000

Thank you for such a thoughtful response! Wow, I apologize if I minimized the gravity of you experience of being told that women can't be priests. Our 140-character conversation didn't make it clear to me that this was profoundly moving experience for you. I try to be mindful of the value people place on religion because, as a cultural Catholic doing social justice work, I sometimes find myself defending that church and sometimes admonishing it, regardless of whether or not I adhere to doctrine. It's complicated, right, and I should know that, but I nevertheless sometimes fail in gauging other people's values, and I'm sorry if I did here. As to the 14th Amendment issue -- it's interesting, you know, we've seated just about everything having to do with reproduction in the right to privacy rather than the right to equal protection, and I think that, wholly apart from the whittling away at Roe, this is coming back to bite us in the ass. This applies a thousandfold when you talk about pregnant women. Like the first post at Fertile Feminism noted, women's bodies become public property in a way that is otherwise considered outrageous. As a society, I don't think we really believe that pregnant women have a right to privacy cum bodily autonomy, which makes the privacy right rocky soil indeed. I agree that it seems offensive, and on some level legitimizing the idea that women aren't equal, to need an ERA for example. But like you, I don't want to wait or assume that I actually have equal rights, I want to make damned good and sure I have them, because history hasn't been kind to the women who assumed that they'd be treated like human beings.

Courtroom Mama : Feminism Beyond the Veil

Mon, 5 Apr 2010 06:26:16 +0000

Haha, I've actually been sort of surprised at the way that a lot of young women manage to get through life without *really* feeling the effects of gender subordination. I think that for some women, certainly not all, it plays itself out in subtle ways. Certainly, there had been indignities in my life. Rebecca (@PushforMidwives) described saying that she wanted to be a priest and being told that "girls can't," and I definitely had those sorts of experiences. But, like you said, it was far from the soul-crushing weight of being guilty until proven innocent simply by dint of having a uterus that pregnancy brought with it. My pregnancy also involved race and class issues that made me really confront how people think about young women of color having babies; let me tell ya, it ain't pretty. Isn't it funny, though, how once it's over, it's like all your privilege is back intact? I've personally heard of women who are professional academics or medical professionals being totally written off when they try to present medical evidence in support of their choices. But once they're done being pregnant, it's all collegiality and respect. (Well, sort of, I guess... they get to go back to being someone's inconvenient employee, and now they're going to need ALL THAT TIME OFF when their kids get sick... but that's a whole other post) My recent post Feminism Beyond the Veil

Courtroom Mama : Why is VBAC a vital option? Because anything less is anti-woman.

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 14:32:04 +0000

Nicola, I hope you get your VBAC. I hope that you're connected with your local ICAN or with people who can help you. Railroading women into repeat cesareans is highly unethical. A doula I talked to once told me that sometimes they'll hold off if you agree to NSTs so they can make sure the baby is alright. Personally, I don't think that anyone should HAVE to negotiate for their health care, but I do try to acknowledge that doctors think that they're doing the best thing for mom and baby and try to avoid "standoff" situations because they really hold all the cards. Good luck, and good VBAC vibes!

Courtroom Mama : Poisson d’avril!

Fri, 2 Apr 2010 07:29:37 +0000

Yeah, it was actually sort of creepy. I don't know if you followed when that crazy guy crashed into that building, but his "manifesto" was up for a while before the web host took it down and just put up a really flat text message. It sort of reminded me of that. I saw the post and I really don't even know what to think. 40%. Appalling. Am I surprised? Unfortunately, not much. WTF, NJ?