First a Stripper, Next...a Murderer!

KOMO News reports that “A judge in Anchorage has dismissed a murder indictment against Mechele Linehan, who was accused of conspiring to kill her former fiance. Linehan, a former Anchorage stripper who eventually settled in Olympia was convicted in 2007 of killing Kent Leppink, who was shot on an isolated trail 11 years earlier.”

My big question is why does every article related to this story have to point out that Linehan had been a stripper?

It’s like a woman’s past, even if it has nothing to do with her present, needs to be dragged up every time she is mentioned. In this particular case, are we supposed to make some kind of association between strippers and murderers? Like, well, she was a stripper, so you know, that kind of explains it all—she’s immoral, so…she’s a murderer!

It’s not a big jump to make, right? A woman who will take off her clothes for a living will have no problem also arranging a murder.

Watch out folks…I’m on the loose!

Margaret Cho Rocks It!

I love how Margaret Cho can just cut through the crap and get to the heart of a thing.


On her blog today she talks about the whole Lindsay Marilyn Monroe Playboy spread.

While she puts Lindsay in her place with humor regarding the $5,000 purse, and $10,000 cash in said purse, she takes an interesting approach to the photo shoot.

“The sadness I feel about Lindsay has more to do with the media’s casting of her as Marilyn Monroe, swaddled in red velvet, sad eyes and vermillion lips, and a framing of her story as if it has already ended. These magazines constantly show her as if she is already dead and I feel scared and freaked out and mad like why can’t they just give this kid a fucking chance?”

For some reason our society still loves to cast women as the ultimate sex-bomb victim, as if that role is the highest honor to bestow upon a woman.

Why can’t we have iconic sexy female figures in glasses and studying literature?

Why can’t we honor a woman’s sensuality in some other form than bikini model, tragic sex icon, or waif?

Say It Loud and Proud...Vagina!

I’m sorry I’m just finding the article Sperm Trumps Vagina. WTF? by Dr. Lissa Rankin now; it’s awesome!


She totally captures how I feel about the old double-standard of how it’s okay to talk about penises, but not vaginas

I remember a few years ago, when my step-nephew reached his hand down to his wet swim trunks and exclaimed, “I touched my penis!”

Have you ever heard a 4-year-old girl be this proud to announce to the world that she touched her genitals?

I don’t even remember my mom ever naming my vagina for me. It was referred to as “down there” or that place where I pee from. I remember describing it once to my mom as the front of my bottom.

When I had a daughter I decided I would never be afraid to speak up about down there. I made sure to use the name vagina to get her used to it. Let her know it has a name. Vagina.

I mean we take the pride to name little girls’ other parts—knee, elbow, fingers, toes. Why not—vagina?

This is your vagina. It’s where babies are born from.

Maybe one day she’ll reach in her pants and proudly say, “I touched my vulva.” And I will beam poolside.

Of course, I think cute names are okay, too. In everyday speak, we call the vagina the nina.

And I never squirm from explaining the answers to her questions. She already knows that she will one day get a period, too. And a week ago, she decided it was time to practice. So she put a panty liner in her panties for the night.

How can I expect my daughter to feel healthy and comfortable about her body if her mother doesn’t? I strive every day to find new ways to accept how I feel about my body. Every part of it.

To Strip Or Not To Strip

Me, a few weeks before Tommy

Interesting piece by Ronnie Koenig, Baring the Belly: Why I posed nude while pregnant on Babble.


Koenig examines her feelings about her body throughout her life and determines that all women should pose nude while pregnant.

I won’t go so far as to suggest that—there are some women whom I’m sure are just fine without posing nude in their lifetimes. And, of course, Koenig is only speaking of a healthy, beautiful, loving experience with a qualified photographer.

I do kind of regret not having nudes of me while pregnant. It would be pretty cool to compare my body back when I was in perfect shape (but thought I was fat) with my blossoming belly (and thighs) of my pregnant body.

But I actually adored my body while pregnant. I wore tighter-fitting clothes and sexier outfits when I was pregnant. I felt freed from any perfect standards I forced myself into when not pregnant. It was quite exhilarating to dress trying to accent my belly rather than hide it.

Now that I’m no longer pregnant, I’m back to my old ways. Wearing loose-fitting jeans and shirts and doing my best to cover myself up again.

Perhaps what moms should do is photograph themselves right after giving birth. I did this just because I knew my belly would have to get better eventually and I’d be able to look back and say, thank goodness.

Hmm, why would I want to save photos of my poor, wrinkly flesh after having been stretched to the limit for nine months and then suddenly deflated? Perhaps as evidence of all the sacrifices I made for my children.

Two weeks post-partum belly. My belly button totally popped out and it looked like a nose.

These are my war wounds; and I'm not ashamed.