A few things that made me throw up a little...

This week has been the week of literature induced vomiting.
1) While reading The Girls of Riyadh, which beautifully written, engrossing novel, the lives of Saudi women became painfully real. For so long I had prevented this reality from entering my mind, preferring instead to pretend that this way of life had gone the way of the chastity belt and the Dodo. Women married to men they don't know or like, divorced at the whim of their husbands, to bare the brunt of their culture's scorn for their "disgrace". If you have a strong stomach I highly recommend women and men read this book.

2) Vaginoplasty/hymenoplasty (see previous post)

3) Female suicide bombers: or any suicide bomber for that matter makes me feel ill. I'd like to consider myself open minded and accepting of all religions, except those that behold murderers as saints "to be greeted by 72 virgins in heaven". By the way if you get to have these virgins, then where do the next 72 come from? Or are they like bowling balls at the alleys that get recycled ready for the next person? Whats the point? Killing infidels? If everyone felt that way we'd all eventually be dead and there would be no one left to be right! Heaven and hell would come apart at the seams from the massive influx of souls. Or is this just semantics?

4) Fistula hospitals in Africa: girls as young as 12 and 13 being married, becoming pregnant before they are physically able to deal with child birth, labouring for days while the baby dies and they become septic, pressure causing a fistula to develop between the vagina and rectum, getting abandoned by their husbands and shunned by their community because they can't control their bowels or bladder!? They go to this fistula hospital to have their gynecological health seen to and to attempt to rebuild their lives.

Actually there seems to be a theme here. Women in other countries aren't treat how we in the western world are. Now I'm not saying that everyone should become like the west, but women should not be treated like chattle. We can be a tad hormonal (the guffaws coming from my husband can be heard down the street!) but we don't deserve that!

You want to do WHAT to WHERE?

I just finished reading an article on hymenoplasties and vulvuloplasties. Essentially a plastic surgeon sews your hymen back together (for a hymenoplasty) to "re-virginize" you. Who wants that!? Seriously, it was bad enough the first time! It's like the first day of high school, you only ever want to do it once. Is this for the man who has everything? It sure as hell ain't for the woman unless she has some weird sado-masochistic fetish in which case - whatever floats your boat I guess. But spending $130 on a "Rabbit Vibrator" is one end of extravagance in the name of sex but $4000 to go through something that was, frankly, shit the first time and messy and Christ, very expensive for a one shot deal?! Forget it. Not for this freak. If I were to loose all touch with reality and actually do this, I imagine the lucky guy that would get to deflower part 2, would need to go through a very rigorous interview and audition process. I'm talking full under the hood inspection, a few test runs (minus the enchilada, we need to make $4000 worth it!), a full psychological evaluation, hell I'd even have him sign up for the NASA astronaut tryouts while I'm at it!

Seriously, what is it about our culture that has left such a void that freakish surgery is the latest and greatest beauty treatment? I can't imagine after the few NECESSARY surgeries I've had, electing to have surgery on my vagina to make it prettier or "like new". If a man is down there looking at it, he's not doing what he should while down there. I heard it argued that women were embarassed when they went to their doctor...well ladies, they knew what they were signing up for! And you're definately not the first woman to walk in with labia that could double as a hacky sac. Get over it! Boobs and noses are one thing, but I'm going to leave my other "lady parts" out of this.