naked.

DO is upcoming, and so I’ve been wondering: why do I so hate being naked in front of people?

I went to a workshop at a DO summer camp about getting in touch with your body, and you’re meant to sit there naked, and talk about stuff, like what you like about your body, what you hate, problems your body brings you, & pleasures.

& I did it, at long last, only after stripping down piece by piece. A little at a time. Iit was when Ii was at my thinnest (which means it was fall 2006), and now, 20 lbs heavier, I’m thinking I should try that workshop again.

Because there are always people at DO who are fatter, hairier, older; more scarred, more beautiful, thinner, more hairless, with better or worse skin than me. Even if I were judging, which is not my style, I’d still end up somewhere in the middle – not the best, not the worst.

& Then I feel like such a shallow idiot. Because there are people with all sorts of bodies out there – scarred, people who have lost limbs, people with chronic medical conditions, etc. – and really I have a pretty healthy body, all told.

So what is it?

What annoys me most is that plenty of people are not comfortable naked & they’re perfectly okay with being uncomfortable being naked. Others are happy naked and okay with that. Me, I’m not okay with not being okay. *sigh*

5 Years

It’s the blog’s five year anniverary; amazing that I’ve been doing it this long, after Betty encouraged me to give it a try.

Thanks all, for reading.

Thank You Del

Activist and co-founder of The Daughters of Bilitis, Del Martin, has died. She co-founded the DOB – the first lesbian organization in America – with her partner, Phyllis Lyon, in 1955. Together they wrote and edited the group’s newsletter, The Ladder, and also co-wrote the 1972 book Lesbian/Woman. They were also issued the first marriage license after California’s Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry. That is, they were married on June 16, 2008, nearly 60 years after they met.

Godspeed, Del Martin. And Phyllis — what can anyone say? Thank you both so much for being so brave. Phyllis, I hope your bravery sees you through missing her in the days ahead.

Obama

10:08PM – Here we go. I’m fully expecting to cry through most of his speech, and I expected that before Olbermann read some of it as a preview.

10:09PM – Though wow is this video heavy-handed.

10:13PM – As a speaker, I think I know that look on his face. He is about to blow this thing wide open.

11:02PM – By God. That is an historically important speech – the craft of it, the earnestness, the humor, the empathy. By god. “It’s how Henry won at Agincourt,” says Chris Matthews. Nation of whiners my ass. Own your failure, you ownership society types. Democrats and Republicans fight and die under the same flag. What a stunning piece of work, which simultaneously laid out his plans, criticized the bullshit that’s in DC, and taught Americans how to defeat and debunk the Republicans & John McCain. Jeez louise he just hit that OUT OF THE PARK.

ENOUGH, he said. I agree. We have had enough. Change doesn’t come from Washington; the people go to Washington and demand it. Damn straight.

Sign me up for the PA canvas. & Otherwise you can donate through the Trans for Obama campaign.

1:30AM – & on the second listen: “You’re on your own” = Obama’s summation of Trickle Down Economics.

& Pat Buchanan says it wasn’t a liberal speech. Silly, silly man. What it was is something so rare in American politics that we don’t recognize it when we see it, A Genuine Article Populist Speech.

Yow.

I’m not going to share with you all what Betty’s dental surgery is going to cost us in the long run, and instead I’ll just say damn I shoulda been a dentist.

Still, she’s in good hands in CO, and goes for surgery this morning. Keep her in your thoughts, everyone.

(edited to add, 1:24 PM – got the call that she’s out of surgery & that it went well. she’s still under, & is expected to sleep most of the next 24 hours.)

Post-Blogging the DNC

I didn’t blog tonight because I was busy worrying about Betty and having dinner with my sister.

I don’t care what anyone else thinks — I think (Bill) Clinton’s speech was mediocre. For him, & for this campaign. Were I his speechwriting consultant, I would have sent him back to the drawing board. It was too safe, nearly mealy-mouthed. This is the man who defined what is is, after all.

Who did rock tonight was John Kerry. His talk left me thinking, as I did with (Hillary) Clinton’s, where the hell was that during their own campaigns? Kerry had his claws out, & that was lovely.

Biden’s rocked too (though it’s not yet up on YouTube). & Yes, I’m biased, since he’s a good Catholic boy from PA. But I just love that he’s made up for his stutter by being someone who speaks, sometimes too much, in public. In front of thousands. I haven’t liked him much since the Anita Hill fiasco, but he’s a good VP for Obama, and he gives good emotion. I especially liked what he said about America regaining the world’s trust.

What’s funniest is that I find myself agreeing with Pat Buchanan (who’s a regular commentator on MSNBC): Where’s Guatanamo? Where is the criticism of Cheney, that fucker? He’s a traitor and a shit and his approval rating is something like 18%. What about Rove? What about Valerie Plame? ATTACK, DEMOCRATS, ATTACK! These guys suck.

Here’s another thing: someone needs to get up & try to undo (Hillary) Clinton’s poison against Obama, specifically her charge about his “rhetoric.” We need rhetoric right now. Great leadership is not just about policy. It’s about Fireside Chats, and “nothing to fear but fear itself,” and “once more into the breach.” It’s about motivating people. & While no, we don’t need a motivational speaker as President, it doesn’t hurt when a guy as smart as Obama can move the masses with his words. I know I’ve needed someone to tell me to have hope, what with paying $900/month for health insurance that covers who the fuck knows what.

Stella Walsh

Paul Farhi wrote a really sensitive and smart column about Stella Walsh, IS conditions, and gender testing at the Olympics.

Walsh had no access to steroids in her day. And since her male organs were nonfunctional, Reiner says, she probably had partial or complete androgen resistance, which makes the body unable to produce or use the small amounts of testosterone that most women have. So it’s even possible that Walsh was at a disadvantage compared with her competitors.

Interesting reading, and a nice companion to Jenny Boylan’s op-ed in The NY Times a few weeks ago.

To fill out your gender Olympics reading, try Zagria’s bio of Dora Ratjen.

Clinton Redux

Is anyone else annoyed by the ongoing media silliness about Clinton’s voters? Either they’re on board, or they’re not. Clinton has said her piece about as articulately as anyone could, & it’s very apparent that if they don’t back Obama, they’re going against her wishes, which is one hell of a way to “support” a candidate.

Still, even for those who won’t vote for him, I do hope they vote. Ah, the stupidity of a woman not voting in a year where we had our first female candidate for president… don’t get me started. & All those other Dems running for the other umpteen offices will need supporting as well.