My Body

Young the Giant has this incredible song by the same name. It’s a great workout track, and an even better way to start the morning. But this post isn’t going to be about a song (though I highly recommend listening to it). No, this post is going to be about

My body.

And specifically, who it belongs to.

First, let’s talk about contraceptives. Always a fun topic. It has been outlawed, banned, and socially disapproved of since it was invented. The Comstock Laws in the U.S. prohibited the production, sale and even use of contraception as early as the 1870s. Nonetheless, the industry still grew as the demand continued to rise. Determined individuals like Margaret Sanger dedicated their lives to keeping clinics and stores that offered contraceptives open and available to the public. Many were arrested and jailed, but time after time they kept fighting. Sanger was one of the first pioneers in human birth control research. She developed the first birth control pill approved of by the U.S. FDA in 1960. This development helped women become more independent than ever before, as they were able to choose when -- or if -- they wanted to have kids and when they wanted to join the workforce. We were given a choice. But this ability to choose sparked anger and controversy. In 1965 the U.S. Supreme Court found itself handling the landmark case of Griswold v. Connecticut, which ruled in favor of married couples having the right to use birth control. The rest of the women, however, were still denied this right.

It took seven more years for every women to gain the right to use birth control in the Supreme Court case Baird v. Eisenstadt. It took another year after that to guarantee women the right to their own body and their own medical decisions through the extension of the right to privacy. This was the case that allowed women to have an abortion without politicians breathing down their backs. This was Roe v. Wade. And yes, this is the same one that the current Supreme Court is threatening to overturn.

It has been quite the fight to get to where we are today. It’s taken centuries of research and protest, and millions of supporters to get us here. But it only takes the decision of five justices to turn us all back to what we started with: a lack of choice.

Why write about this? Well, it seems like now more than ever we need to have this discussion of ownership and choice. Especially considering the newly conservative makeup of the US Supreme Court. If you don’t agree with me, that’s fine. I respect your decisions. It is your body. It is your choice.

So please respect my body, and my choice. And respect those who may make choices that go against your own. Because it isn’t your body to control. You can be pro-life. I’m not asking you to change your values. But be pro-life with your own body. Let people make their own choices about our own bodies and our own lives.

If you want to learn more about this issue, here are a few resources to check out:

http://www.prochoiceohio.org/what-is-choice/abortion/supreme-court-positions.shtml

https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/roe-v-wade

http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/a-brief-history-of-birth-control/

The Health Bubble:

The Aftermath of My Mental Health Crises

Trigger warning: this article deals with issues of mental health and self harm that may not be suitable for all audiences

** The article was written with the idea of sharing my experience and hoping to reach out to others who have dealt with similar experiences. Everyone has their own personal stories and journey. This is not advice but a reflection of mine**

My mental health experience has always been a topic I tried to steer away from talking about in any type of discussion. In the past, the reason was because I wasn’t ready to talk about certain events that I felt would startle me into a state of panic. That was never a pretty sight to see. However, as several years passed, the reasoning shifted into a constant fear of people defining me by my mental issues. As a result, I hid these feelings and experiences from everybody I knew-- both acquaintances and even my closest friends. I hid it so well that at some point in my life those experiences turned into obscure fragments in my memory that I tried to pretend never happened.

During my second semester at UF, I decided to make an appointment with the CWC (Counseling and Wellness Center) because I started to recognize those familiar symptoms coming back. This scared me because I knew I had never fully recovered from it. I am now a 3rd year and it has been almost two years that I have gone to therapy and have built this strong, trusting relationship with my therapist. Throughout those years I am still trying to learn that I shouldn’t sacrifice my authenticity for safety. In order to fight the stigma, I need to own my story and refuse to let others dictate how I should feel about myself.

Although my mental disorders have led me down many dark paths, I can’t personally say that it doesn’t define some part of me. I wouldn’t be me without it: resilient, empathetic, and a force to be reckoned with. My story is both real, scary, and sad but there has been laughter, love, and light as well.

So here it is:

I am 20 years old Colombian- American who identifies as a feminist, is obsessed with her chihuahua named Chichi, and tries to enjoy the little things in life. I have also been diagnosed with a general anxiety disorder, ADD, and depression since the age of 13. I have had two suicide attempts, one that resulted in being admitted into a psychiatric hospital. That’s as far as I am willing to share, and that’s perfectly okay as well.

In a given year, approximately 1.5% of U.S adults have a persistent depressive disorder [1]. Prevalence of this disorder among adults is seen higher for females. Females are also more likely to have multiple psychiatric disorders in their lifetime, the most common to re-occur with depression is anxiety [2].

Some of us are part of this 1.5% or other percentages of a population that struggle with a mental health disorder. I believe data and statistics paint a picture of the impact of mental illness in the US. Self-advocacy can be very powerful but also requires reflection and self-awareness that should never be rushed. In my personal experience, this journey to recovery isn’t similar to that of a physical injury. It is achieving a state of remission, trying to maintain it, and having action plan for the possibility of a relapse. This may be difficult to achieve alone and only touches the surface of the mental health crises in the US.

For now, I will constantly reassure myself this: Don’t harbor self-stigma. Some days will be amazing, and some days will feel like utter shit. And that’s okay because my mental illness only defines some parts of who I am- both in good ways and in bad.

So, fucking own it.

[1]https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/persistent-depressive-disorder-dysthymic-disorder.shtml

[2]https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics

Year of the Woman

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

- William Congreve, The Mourning Bride

Since the beginning of politics, women have been fighting for their right to be heard. Yet despite the fact that half of the American population identifies as female, less than 25% of the positions in elected office are held by women.

This year women are rising up to take on more political leadership roles at every level of government, from local city commission seats to national senate chairs. Over 250 women have qualified to be on the November ballot for the midterm elections in Congress, an institution where men overwhelming hold the majority in both houses. It’s an incredible feat, but first we have to answer one question: Why are so many women running this election season?

The most simple answer: because women are angry. We’re angry about this country’s current situation. We’re angry with how local governments are addressing issues, how our national government is disregarding critical human rights, and how blatant misogyny is considered acceptable behavior in the most powerful institutions of this country. More women are running because we’re tired of our issues being ignored.

This isn’t the first ‘Year of the Woman’. In 1992 an unprecedented number of women ran for political seats in every branch and level of government. The catalyst of this phenomenon was the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court, after Anita Hill gave a moving testimony to an “all-white, all-male Judiciary Committee” about Thomas’ history of sexual harassment. Women all over the country watched this hearing, and the bitter outrage of the disregard to Hill’s statements motivated women to step up and fight for respect and equality. After the Kavanaugh hearings this past October, women are feeling the same anger at this deja-vu like occurrence. On top of all that. our current administration has a lack of respect for women and allows for disgusting presidential behavior, women have the right to be angry.

This ‘Year of the Woman’ will remarkably alter the course of politics in America just as it did in 1992, and will inspire future generations of women to keep striving for equality in the male-dominated political field. 2018 might be considered the ‘Year of the Woman’ now, but soon this phenomenon won’t be constrained to just a year. We’ll keep marching, fighting and running until there is truly equal representation in the most influential institutions in this nation.

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”

- Michelle Obama