Is Kim Really To Blame?

        It has been a minute (as the kids today say) since I have written anything. Two plus years to be exact, and this lines up with the timeline of doom we have all been living in since March 2020. Lately, I am having a hard time not letting my feelings out - even if it is on a blank page and may not have anyone even read it. Surprisingly, the thing that spurred this on was the ever shallow Kim Khardashian (sorry Miss Kim) . She was recently being roasted for losing 16 pounds in 2 weeks to fit into Marilyn Monroe's iconic "Happy Birthday Mr. President "dress. She accomplished that lofty, possibly even dangerous, goal- wore it for a short while , then changed into a replica that actually fit better and she could spill cocktail sauce on. Where am I going with this? Hang on , I hope it will become clear. 

         Let's fast forward to the current mess that is SCOTUS and Roe vs. Wade. This is where women's rights for control of their bodies hang in the balance , at the mercy of old men (mostly) making decisions based on , what?  I mean, last I looked they don't have a uterus in their old man abdominal cavity. They do not know what it feels like to have to make a decision that will color their life - no matter which way they decide. Women are used as vessels if you will with no regard to what they want, how they feel , or what their circumstances in life allow. I am outraged by this. Why are women treated like their bodies belong to someone else? Why does society make women feel like they have to look a certain way, choose a certain way , and pretend to be okay with it all?  Why are we, as a society, going back to days where a woman who faces an unwanted pregnancy will have to risk sepsis, multi system organ failure, possible loss of her uterus (if she lives) ? Don't for one minute think this is about babies, and sanctifying life . It is about control and women having less rights and beating down a woman's mindset to fit a mold. 

           Back to Kim, and even myself. So, Kim is shallow and vain and will do anything for money- we know all this. So her wanting to wear that dress , and losing serious amounts of weight to do so should shock no one. In fact , my first twisted thought was "I'm going to eat tomatoes for 14 days too, and see what happens". Luckily my GI system would not allow such crazy behavior without leaving me dehydrated and chained to the porcelain potty . I fortunately know my vanity limits , but the thing is I thought about it. And if 51 year old me , with common sense and a history of stupidity for vanity, thought about it - I  guarantee your daughters thought about it.  And , drum roll please, those thoughts are perpetuated by the way women are viewed in society. Rather, the way their bodies are viewed. Like they are not their own. They are viewed as something to look at , something to be obedient and do what it takes to fit. Whether it be in a 60 year old dress or to go through with something that may ultimately harm them - physically or mentally . 

            I  have no answer to how to change this. I am probably not even the right person to try. I mean I just had my second breast augmentation 6 days ago . Fifteen years ago I had my original one because I was actually mentally beaten down by people (some were related to me) always saying hurtful things about my flat chest. I  allowed myself to fall into the trap of "what a woman should look like". Women have been under this cloud of what they "should be" for as long as I can remember . I had hopes for my daughter's and subsequent generations for a better world, a world where there is equality and security in how a woman looks and acts, and the choices she makes for HERSELF.  That hope is fading fast when things in the news , and current events are revolving around what a woman cannot do, rather than what she can do.