Amarinda Jones: equality

Showing posts with label equality. Show all posts

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Arizona? Quit bullying people.

Years ago, when I was a young girl, I was continually told by my brother that I was fat and ugly and all his friends said I was the ‘ugliest girl they knew’. This went on for years. I won’t lie. Those words crushed me as a child. But I never showed it because I wouldn’t allow a bully to see that I was crushed or that I feared his words. I endured to spite him. It was a relief when he left home. Why do I bring this up? I believe my strong beliefs and views on human rights and equality were born from this bullying. It made me who I am – an individual with definite beliefs and opinions who will not stand quietly and let things slide. Anyone who has ever been bullied will not stand and allow others to be treated the same way.

When I read headlines like this, I instantly arc up...

"Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer must decide if she will sign a bill allowing business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers."

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/25/politics/arizona-brewer-anti-gay-bill/

This essentially reads as ‘someone’ must decide if other human beings with certain defined sexual and romantic preferences can be allowed to go into some places of business and purchase good and services. What. The. Fuck. How is this right? How is this having respect for other human beings regardless of what they think, believe or act? How can you slam one group of people and deny them rights? And to wrap it up in some talk about “as long as they (the shop owners) assert their religious beliefs" while they’re denying someone else their own particular beliefs to me is bullying in its worst form. It’s saying ‘well, you can’t be normal like us so I’m not going to interact with you and I’m going to make you feel ostracized because I can wave a moralistic banner saying my god allows me to do it.’ Bollocks. Remember when people were fervently denied human rights because of the colour of their skin? Remember how much we look upon those days as appalling and wrong? How is it okay to cite God to smite down people who just want to love who they love because it’s their right to do so as a human being?

If you have ever faced a bully, you know and I know, you bear scars that will never allow you to let another person feel the same way you did. Arizona? Quit bullying people.

Monday, 24 June 2013

Genderalization…

"You know, maybe part of the problem is we need to go back into the schools at a very early age, maybe at the grade school level, and have a class for the young girls and have a class for the young boys and say, you know, this is what’s important. This is what a father does that is maybe a little different, maybe a little bit better than the talents that a mom has in a certain area. And the same thing for the young girls, that, you know, this is what a mom does, and this is what is important from the standpoint of that union which we call marriage.”

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/06/19/2182311/gingrey-teach-gender-roles/

Thirty odd years ago, as an army brat, we moved schools. No surprise with that. Army brats move. What did surprise me is I moved from a high school in one region that was progressive to a high school that was so behind the times that I was stunned at the gender stereotypes that were inflicted upon me because I was a teenage girl. I went from choosing subjects where I could learn to weld, drill and do manual, handy person type jobs to being told that my only options as a girl were home economics (cooking and sewing) and mothercraft (how to care for a baby). I felt trapped in a world I was being forced into against my will. I was being told it was expected that I would be a homemaker and a baby machine. They were my only options. My mother wasn’t thrilled about it either. She didn’t believe in anyone pigeon holing her kids. So, at 13, I railed against it. I went out of my way, as teenagers do, to be deliberately crap at these two subjects for two long years. If I had not had a mother who inspired me to be anything I wanted to be despite gender, I would have been less than I am now. Not all kids have that freedom or support.

I am totally against gender stereotypes. No one should be told to follow a certain path due to genetics. Not all women cook, clean and have babies. Not all men do technical, manual labor. People – despite gender – are diverse individuals with their own beliefs and goals. I worry about politicians, like this one above, who advocate what a woman and a man should be like so teach kids that in school. I wonder about people who do not see the underlining threat of stereotyping genders.

I still get gender stereotypes pushed onto me. Just recently, I stood at my father’s funeral, beside my brother, who I had not seen in 13 years. His main concern appeared to be that I was neither married or had a partner in tow. In fact, I believe he would have been relieved if I announced I was a lesbian so I could be slotted into society somewhere. I’m not gay but I get people like him need to pigeon hole others… “She’s not married. She’s not gay. What is wrong with her? Why is she single? How can she stand alone?”

My answer? I can and I do. I am who I am. You are who you are. Bugger off if you don’t like it. Your approval is not required.

Thursday, 9 May 2013

Boycott bullies...

Uh huh...bullying comes in all forms.

"CEO, Mike Jeffries, 'doesn't want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people.

'He doesn't want his core customers to see people who aren't as hot as them wearing his clothing,' Mr Lewis added. 'People who wear his clothing should feel like they're one of the "cool kids."'

'We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2320868/Thin-beautiful-customers-ONLY-How-Abercrombie--Fitch-doesnt-want-larger-people-shopping-stores.html

Gee, if only, as a human being, I was perfect then I would shop at Abercrombie and Fitch. Oh, no wait...I wouldn't. I believe in equality. I don't believe that's a dress size for them.

Sunday, 28 April 2013

Dead Sus...

Number 3 in The Outcasts series

Denby Dumaresq trusts no one. Men. They always have an agenda and she’s tired of being screwed over by them. She lives her life the way she wants and she’s not about to change that. Love? Nope. Denby knows it doesn’t exist. It’s just a means to control women.

Sirius Tate knows exactly what Denby is like. He made a huge mistake when it came to her. He lost the woman he loved. Sirius wants to change that and be back in her life. But he knows, Denby, being the independent woman she is, isn’t about to make it easy for him.

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-deadlysuspicious-1173696-149.html

Eventually they found a small motel right under the airport flight path. Denby was too tried to care about that. “I could sleep on a barbed wire fence,” she muttered as she flopped onto the double bed in the room they had taken for the night.

“I wish you’d told me. It would’ve been cheaper to sleep on barbed wire,” Sirius quipped as he dropped the car keys down on a bench.

Money. He had it. She didn’t. Denby felt guilty. She had been the one who wanted to go. “I should pay.” Problem was, she wasn’t sure how.

“It’s okay, Denby,” he assured her as he sat down on the bed beside her.

“I pay my way.”

“As I do I. Added to that, I chose to come.” He lay back on the bedspread. “Arrrggghh, that feels good.”

She sat up. Him lying beside her was making Denby feel stuff she didn’t want to feel. Memories of a hard, warm body tight against hers made tense up. Sex right now would be totally inconvenient. Great, but awkward, with her irrational need to still feel pissed off at him. It was hard to keep that up when he was being so nice. “Well, I’ll buy dinner.” She reached for her duffle bag and scrabbled through her meager belongings to find her purse. “Or not.” She was broke but for three dollars, ten cents, a busted packet of mints and some ants who had managed to find their way in for the mints.

“Denby,” Sirius murmured to her.

“What?” She turned to see his eyes closed. He had to be knackered after driving for so long.

“While I’ve always loved your independence it’s okay for either a man or a woman to depend on the other. It doesn’t mean one is less than the other.”

Of course he was right. “I’m just used to looking after myself.” She dropped the bag on the floor. Flee while you have the chance, ants. Everything deserved to be free.

“I know and I don’t expect anything from you.”

“Oh.” She felt weirdly disappointed that he wasn’t so overcome by lust he wouldn’t want to jump her bones then and there. Not that he has to. It’s not like I want sex or anything.

Sirius opened his eyes and smiled. “No, your virtue is safe.”

“Right.” Disappointment slammed into her. Okay, maybe I do want sex. Spending so much time with him in the car had made her start to remember stuff she thought she had squashed down.

“Disappointed?” He tilted his head and looked at her with interest.

“No. Yeah. I don’t know.” He was a bastard. She hated him. He did wrong by her. Yet I want him. How confusing is that?

“Need sex?”

“It’s just being with you again—”

“Feels right?”

“Sorta. Anyway forget it.” There was no way she was going to ask for sex.

“Nope, I can’t now.” Sirius kept his gaze locked on her eyes. “Sex is handy to have with someone you already know as there are no ties or expectations.”

“I suppose.” Handy? Jeez, hardly romantic.

“And you could still consider me a bastard afterwards.” He grinned at her.

Lordy, he’s lovely when he smiles. “I was angry when I said that.”

“I know.”

Denby blew out a breath and contemplated her options. It was just sex. They had done it before. It’d be no big deal if they did it again. Right? “So, I suppose we could—”

“Yeah, we could.”

“You don’t sound that excited.” Maybe this is a bad idea. Maybe I’ll just use my fingers and memory later in the shower.

“Are you kidding me?” Sirius picked up her hand and placed it on his crotch. “I’ve had a hard on since the millisecond I saw you.”

“Wow!” He was hard. And all for me. It’d be a shame to waste it. Denby licked her lips. She couldn’t believe how horny she was. But this was Sirius and he was hard. It was a no brains required situation. “No strings attached right?” Her fingers hovered above the metal tag of his zipper.

“Right.”

“And later we’ll act like nothing happened.”

“If you say so, darling.”

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Out Now - Deadly Single, The Outcasts....

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-deadlysingle-1161023-149.html

Lois Cantwell is an outcast. She is a single woman trying to survive in a deadly world where the rights of women have eroded under the dictates of the Jacobson Committee. She helps those who cannot help themselves.

Tuck Morris is in love with Lois. So much so that he takes on an undercover assignment from the Committee in order to save her life and help them escape the world they live in.

The problem is, Lois isn’t going to be happy when she finds out she’s being manipulated by the one man she thought was different.

Excerpt:

The Jacobson Ruling was made law on March 13h, 2015. It decreed that –

All women past the age of twenty-one must be married to a male or in a monogamous, sexual relationship with another female constituting a partnership that has been sanctioned by the Jacobson Committee.

All women must have at least one child unless they can prove they are medically unfit to conceive and have received pardon from this law. If a woman is found to be pregnant and unmarried and refusing to marry, she will be incarcerated during the term of her pregnancy and the child will be taken from her.

Any woman found to be unmarried without reasonable cause – i.e. – physical impairment or gross deformity that cannot be surgically corrected or expected to be endured by a man – will not be allowed government benefits and will not be allowed access to banking facilities and hospitals.

Proof of marriage is to be carried at all times by all women. Those women without proof or found to be unmarried will be considered to be loitering with the intent to cause dissension among the female population and will be arrested

Friday, 15 February 2013

Love is not all you need....

...freedom to live in peace without violence is.

But we have not ended violence. Today 1 out of 3 women in the world -- more than 1 billion women -- will be raped or beaten.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/one-billion-rising_b_1277501.html?utm_hp_ref=womens-rights

One out of three women...
One billion women...
One billion women too many...

Sunday, 2 December 2012

57 years ago...

57 years ago today, Rosa Parks chose not to give up her seat for a white man and chose not to go to the back of the bus because of the colour of her skin.

What a courageous woman. I absolutely admire what she did. It took a tremendous amount of guts.

http://www.archives.alabama.gov/famous/academy/r_parks.html

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Wrong. Criminal. Unforgiveable.

"Nurbanu is one of thousands of women in Bangladesh who have had acid flung at them by a relative or partner due to domestic arguments, financial woes or even rejected marriage proposals."

http://www.news.com.au/world/wife-forced-to-remarry-hubbie-who-threw-acid-on-her/story-fndir2ev-1226525490341

I have said it before and I will say it again. What affects one woman, affects all. There will never be true equality until all women are allowed to live without fear or prejudice.

Wednesday, 8 August 2012

Ah, what?

I was talking to someone I work with quite regularly on the phone. She was annoyed that someone we both deal with on a daily basis said to her ‘you remind me of my mother.’ She’s, at a guess, late 50’s. He’s early 30’s. He’s supposed to be a manager of people. Here’s what I think, to manage people you work with you have to assess who that person is and if unsure of what to say for fear of offending them then shut up and say nothing. And yeah, you could blame lack of life experience for saying something so crass to a woman like that but that would be a cop out. You are paid to be a figure head – someone people are supposed to respect – not an insincere twit. I called him out on it. Me - lowly office manager that I am. I pointed out it was inappropriate and also rude because the lady in question had taken offense at it. I’m not sure he understood but he was very quiet. You know, big corporations talk about equality in the workplace and they have a gazillion policies written on it to show they care but in the end it’s all lip service. I've seen it too many times. Men treat women like crap in the workplace.

You say she looks like your mother? I say you act like your 5 years old and do your parents know where you are?

Monday, 23 July 2012

Crimes against women...

“I’m at the point that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it.”

Brave woman with a lot of guts. Stupid Judge protecting rapists. That's a crime. My total support goes to this 17 year old.

http://www.inquisitr.com/282168/kentucky-girl-may-face-jail-time-after-tweeting-names-of-guilty-rapists/

Friday, 13 July 2012

Do not judge me...

Do not judge the way I speak, look, act or dress. Do not assume because I’m a woman I’ll back down. I won’t. Am I older that you? Maybe. Do you think that makes me weak? Well, you’re weak for thinking that and I’ll use that against you. Am I younger than you? Do you think I don’t have life experience that could scare you, make you think twice or make you cry? So you don’t think I’m beautiful? Did you know that no one has to live their life by your standards? Am I too fat or thin or tall or short? Not sure - but I do know I like me and your perceptions are of no value to me. Am I scared of you? No, I’m scared for you if your beliefs are so rigid and unformed that you refuse to see beyond them.

Do not judge me for you will be wrong and I’ll still be me and I still won’t give a crap about what you think. Have a nice day.

Saturday, 14 April 2012

Open doors and minds....

So, I wrote something on facebook about liking the fact that men still open doors for me. No, I’m not some fluffy, helpless little woman who flutters her eyelids to get want she wants…oh wait…maybe I do the last bit when it suits me. However my point is that I’m a disgustingly independent woman who is capable of opening a door on my own but I appreciate it when a man does it because he wants to and that he was brought up to have good manners. Give me a man with good manners over a supermodel hunk any day.

One comment on facebook observed ‘woman’s lib be damned.’ The women’s liberation movement was never about denying men or castigating them for being gentlemanly or for wanting to do things for a woman. It was about the equality of the sexes – equal pay and equal say. And, nah, so many women don’t have the pay/say thing sorted yet but we have come along way when it comes to women’s rights. We still have a long way to go. But, on the whole, most women can do, say and be things we were shut out of before. That’s huge. Can you contemplate living in a world where the Suffragettes were fighting for the vote and were being taken to prison because of their protests?

Independence? Yes. Gentlemen with manners? Yes, I admire manners. It’s not all about being staunchly one thing or the other. Liberation in any form means freedom and the right to act as your conscience dictates without penalizing another for their thoughts and actions.

Saturday, 31 March 2012

Get back in your box...

So, I was a boot camp and we had to pair up with someone else to run through a course. The pairing up did not depend on being of equal fitness nor did you have to do the same thing at the same time. It was more about balancing numbers and everyone having an equal chance to do a particular exercise. Sounds simple? Sounds fair? Well no, of course it can’t be if you are a so called pretty or cool girl and you are paired up with one you perceive as being less than magnificent than yourself. What am I talking about? Yesterday, I experienced something I had not come across since high school. Someone tried to dismiss me as not worthy of being in their presence. Oh fuck off, I say. That person? A skinny, angular chick who considers herself too beautiful to be around anyone less than her supposed equal. When paired up with me she made it clear I wasn’t in her league. What is it with these women? Why do they never grow out of that high school mentality? Are they frozen in time and too scared to move on fearing that if they do not maintain that plastic, bitchy edge then they have nothing? I tend to believe that is the case. Lordy they’re sad, pathetic creatures. And being in your league? No thanks. I’d rather eat bark.

Anyway, I stepped away from exercise Barbie and paired myself up with an ‘uncool’, dishevelled bloke who was standing all alone. No one should be discriminated against when it comes to exercise or sport because the thing with sport is that it’s universal. It matters not who you are, the colour of your skin, your weight, how you look or if you have the longest legs or the shortest shorts. It’s sport. It’s sweat. It’s effort. It’s determination. It’s about having a go. Frankly, I don’t give a crap if you deem yourself too damn beautiful to associate with others and I'm sure as hell not going to fall apart if you don't like me.

For the so called ‘cool’ girls who think they are just too perfect? Grow up or get back in the box you came in. We need real people not the simulated kind. We have enough of those in politics.

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Dear Indie Author....

Dear Indie Author,

We have made a decision to no longer maintain most indie author accounts at BookStrand.com. Therefore, we are deactivating all titles associated with your account and no new uploads will be accepted. Your final distribution payment will be disbursed to you within 30 days and your account will be closed. During this time you will still be able to access your sales report from your account.

BookStrand will focus on its core business by servicing accounts of publishers with clear submission and publishing guidelines that best serve our targeted audience. Our customer base was successfully built on this premise, and it's time to go back to our roots.

While we understand you may be disappointed in losing a distribution outlet for your work, there are still several outlets that currently accept self-published titles. We wish you the best in your endeavors.

Sincerely,

XXXXX
BookStrand.com

Well here’s the thing Bookstrand, I already deactivated my account so deactivating something that no longer is valid seems like an overkill to me. Added to that you have killed off a lot of good Indie authors who have written many great stories that have nothing to do with sex. Did I mention OVERKILL?

Freedom of speech and equality – you don’t got it. Equality in publishing is not about censorship. But hey, they’re your rules and you don’t have to believe in freedom and equality if you don’t want to.

And going 'back to their roots'? It fascinates me that Bookstrand is the home of one woman getting taken/shagged/fucked by five men – usually shapeshifters/cowboy - stories. This is okay apparently and it’s not obscene regardless of what sexual practice is used against the one woman. Double standards much?

Funny old world ebook publishing.

Monday, 10 October 2011

Twirp factor…

I had a moment today when a man questioned me as to why two women were together. Were they lesbians? What’s wrong with women like them? My response. Men like you. Save me from narrow-minded small balled men.

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Tacky, tacky, tacky...

So, I was talking to a woman at work and she was saying that she wasn’t going to allow her husband to do something he really wanted to do. I asked why? Apparently she just didn’t want him to do this thing because it didn’t suit her and he would do as he was told. Now, it was a pissy, harmless little thing he wanted to do that apparently he enjoyed doing and the last time I checked slavery had been outlawed. One of our few male employees came in during this discussion and I said what do you think about that? He said to keep life easy he does what his wife tells him. Now, I’m all for empowerment of women, for females to be in charge, break through glass ceilings and have an equal say and pay but allowing or not allowing someone you’re supposed to love something that’s important to them? What’s that about? I respect equality. That's not it. I respect strong women. There is no strength in degrading another. As for emotional blackmail and powerplay? It’s tacky treating someone in such a shabby way. Is that love? Apparently only if she says so...

Sunday, 19 December 2010

How equal are you when your arse is hanging out?

I had to fix something I had buggered up and it was going to take a while so I turned on the TV to zone out as I sorted out the problem. The old series of Star Trek came on. I hadn’t seen that for yonks (a long time). As I watched it occurred to me that although Star Trek was such an innovative and ground breaking program when it first came to air in the 60’s with it having all nationalities, races and genders portrayed co-existing on this mission of seeking out new life etc, it was also pretty sexist. Why were the women dressed as go-go dancers? As a kid this wouldn’t have registered to me that the men were fully dressed and the women had these tiny uniforms that didn’t cover their thighs and barely covered their arses. Why weren’t the women dressed like the men? Weren’t they on this mission together? And no, I’m not talking about the spin off spawn of Star Trek. I’m talking about the real Star Trek. How equal are you when your arse is hanging out? All childhood illusions are crushed.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Sunday, 3 October 2010

An Important Message from Ellen About Bullying

Say no to ignorance and intolerance.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Friday, 2 April 2010

Never discuss religion or politics…

So basically, we all believe in the same thing and no one should be able to step out of line and have thoughts of their own or believe in anything but Christianity. Yeah, I can see how that will work. No wonder the world is so screwed up.

RELIGIOUS leaders have used their Easter sermons and messages to condemn the rise of atheism, with Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen describing the philosophy as an "assault on God".

A day after Sydney Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell criticised non-believers, Dr Jensen said in his Good Friday sermon at Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral that atheism was a form idolatry.

"As we can see by the sheer passion and virulence of the atheist - they seem to hate the Christian God - we are not dealing here with cool philosophy up against faith without a brain," Dr Jensen told worshippers.

http://www.news.com.au/national/atheists-are-believers-who-hate-god-says-anglican-archbishop-peter-jensen/story-e6frfkvr-1225848927144

Here’s what I think – believe what you feel strongly about regardless what anyone thinks and those who attack others for their beliefs need to look at how ‘Christian’ their ethics are. Unless you are perfect – shut up.

www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Sunday, 7 March 2010

Plain sight…

I was talking to male friend about what another woman, a mutual acquaintance of ours, had said to me. She was annoyed that men didn’t take her seriously because she has blonde hair and big boobs. I pointed out to her that I’m plain and average and men only take note of me when I open my mouth and speak. I’m a shrew and proud of it.

I asked my long suffering male friend why were men so stupid. His response was to describe his thoughts about how this woman looked. Um no, that’s not what I asked but it answered the question anyway. Men only seem to see the outer person and it seems to take them a bloody long time to see inside to what makes up the person. No some wonder women jump ship and bat for the other side…

www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book