One day, you get a knock on your door. When you open it, you see the protagonist from your favorite book standing there, wide-eyed. “I know you won’t believe me,” they say, “but you’re the main character of my favorite book. I know how it ends and I’m here to change it.”
“Oh thank god, my life is really spiraling out of control lately” you say, relieved
Harry Potter pulls out a handgun “I think you misunderstand the point of this visit”
“I’m laying there, scared enough, not wanting this done, telling her I didn’t want it done. All of a sudden I smell something burning. If I could’ve moved my legs I probably would’ve kicked her.”- Brenda Pelletier on being sterilized against her will
Brenda Pelletier checked in to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon five years ago to give birth to her baby girl. She left, with her tubes tied. The tubal ligation procedure happened, she says, after she was pressured into it by hospital staff, while she was in a vulnerable state.
And as a Métis woman, Brenda Pelletier’s experience appears not to be an isolated case.
At least three other aboriginal women have come forward to say that they too were pressured to be sterilized at the Saskatoon hospital in recent years.
Ok but this is true!!! I was 19 years old when i went into the hospital to give birth to my first child and while i was laying in bed reading and signing consent forms i came across one that woukd give them.permission to tie my tubes. The nurse kept telling me i didnt have to read them all that they were all about my stay in the hospital and intake forms and when i began to read that particular form the nurse came to me laughed nervously and said well we put that in there just in case you wanted to get your rubes tied. I then asked if they always gave them to woman giving birth she said no, the doctor had asked for thematic be put in there “just in case” I didnt want any future children. The nurse then went on to ask me about my future and if i was really sure i wanted to have more children or not. Until my mom came intimate room to check up on me and the nurse then took all the papers from me and left. For the rest of my delivery the nurses refused to give me medication for the pain or an epidural saying it was too early for that and it might stop my labour. I honestly think they withheld pain medication and the epidural to show me how hard child birth can be. Afterwards when they were releasing me the nurse asked me again if i was sure i didnt want to get ny tubes tied. Which i said no to. She then went on and explained thaf if i did i woukd just have to make an appointment with my doctor and i would be in and out in no time at all. That is my experience with the Canadian healthcare system and being a native woman. It is wrong that anyone would try and force something like that on a 19 year old. Please share. Let it be known what is happening to native woman. We have rights just like any other woman and shouldn’t be pushed into suxh decision at such a young age.
Hey white folks with uteruses who do not want or should not have kids,
you know how you’re outraged about how hard it is to get a Doctor to agree to sterilize you even to save your life?
Guess what else they do? Double your outrage.
And those two issues are not unrelated. White supremacy pushes an idea of who should be having kids and who shouldnt. White, abled women are prioritized especially ones who arent poor, they should have many kids, to further white supremacy, while those deemed “undesireable” (people who arent white, people who are disabled, people who are poor and uneducated and especially people who are more than one of those things) should be kept from having children for the good of society.
So when doctors refuse to sterilize white, educated women who want it, they are functioning within the same thought process as when doctors sterilize non-white women against their will.
Since this article came out in 2016, a class action lawsuit has been filed by two of the victims.
Have you ever seen a twitter thread (or, in this case, two!) that so perfectly expressed everything you’d felt over months and months of harassment persistent? With all credit to @blackblobyellowcone, who is clearly amazing and completely gets it– not just why us women write and read the erotica that we do, but the history behind the censorship we, as a gender, have experienced. Bravo.
I know I often hyperbolise, but I’m not kidding when I say this excerpt from a short story called ‘Death of a Superhero’ by Christopher Fielden, where the main character is Death and they’re trying to deal with a dead woman who’s pretending to be Batman, is one of the funniest things I’ve read this year oml
Hey guys. I basically never ever put anything on this blog that isn’t art-related, but a close friend of mine is having some trouble, to put it mildly.
Katherine Tam, a student at Cornell University, was put in a medically induced coma about 3 weeks ago to protect her brain from seizures. She’s just starting to wake up, and the medical bills are pretty horrific. Her parents are both immigrants working minimum wage jobs, and they really can’t afford this. A lot of people here are probably broke, so it’s ok if you can’t donate–but if you can, I (and a lot of other people) would genuinely appreciate it.
i haven’t seen any noise about this on tumblr yet, but a fire has completely wiped out a small town in california.
they’re calling it the camp fire. over 20,000 residents have been evacuated so far, the last area estimates i heard were over an hour ago at 18,000 acres and its still zero percent contained.
this is the smoke from about 18 miles away from the fire three hours ago. if you know anyone near chico, paradise, oroville or durham california you might want to check they’re okay
UPDATE: 4PM FRI NOV. 9, 2018
the fire has completely walked over paradise, magalia, and much of the rest of butte county. it’s under 10% containment and moving towards chico, which was been mostly evacuated as well. it’s been documented as one of the top 20 deadliest fires seen in california. i know many of the people personally whose lives have been destroyed by this fire. my aunt and uncle’s home, of whom we’re very close to, was demolished last night, same goes for family friends and others who lived in paradise– which is completely gone. there are 5 confirmed deaths, several dozen missing people.
EVACUATION SITES STILL OPEN AS OF 1 HOUR AGO:
Butte County Fairgrounds (199 E Hazel St, Gridley, CA 95948)
Yuba-Sutter Fairground (442 Franklin Ave, Yuba City, CA 95991)
Glenn County Fairgrounds (221 E Yolo St, Orland, CA 95963)
Chester Memorial Hall (22 Gay Street, Chester)
HOW TO HELP/DONATE:
“Currently the best way to contribute is to make a monetary donation via the North Valley Community Foundation website.” -abc7news.com
“Supplies: Hope Center in Oroville (1950 Kitrick Ave Ste. A) is taking donations. Hours: Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Needs: warm clothes, shoes, socks, coats (primarily for elderly residents).” -abc7news.com
the majority of those affected by the fire in paradise were elderly people. and having known paradise and magalia myself for years, it’s not a wealthy part of california. these people will need help, and lots of it.
if you have any questions, you can message me personally or seek information online or from the above references personally.
if you cannot help yourself, please spread the word and reblog. so many wonderful people are going through a terrible thing and need your help.