Lunch with the Professor

People, let us talk frankly about the bathroom at Noshville. I was in there with a Southern Woman of a Certain Age, seemingly of a Certain Class. You know the type I mean, small, impeccably put-together, can probably tell fake pearls at 50 paces, the kind of woman who has elevated “Oh, dear” into a lethal weapon?

And she and I were both in agreement that someone needs to take a sledgehammer to that bathroom. It’s huge, so why is each stall so tiny? Why are all the coat hooks broken? What are those weird little fake paper towels right by the door? Why does the toilet shoot water at you after it’s flushed?

Is it ill-conceived on purpose?

Why don’t they remodel?

Anyway, lunch with the Professor otherwise was delightful. She just knows some shit I have no idea about. I’m like “Let me tell you about weird situation ‘x’!” and she’s like “Oh, yeah, that’s not that weird. Here’s what’s going on.” And she knows! Plus, it’s good to have friends who make you laugh.

And the weather! It’s like July out there.

Single Ladies–Ruining It For Everyone

Rachel’s talking about the annual Women’s Health Report  Card and I noticed that, in the Barriers to Health section, passed along without commentary, women in our state are given a “c” in the “Percentage of Households Headed By Women.” As if it is obviously bad healthwise for women to head households and obviously good for women’s health for men to head them

This in the very same report that acknowledges that a third of female homicide victims were killed by their intimate partners. Yes, a third, and yet, somehow, it’s still not very good that 20% of households are headed by women.

It just pisses me off, these moral judgments given a sheen of respectability because they’re put forth by doctors. I mean, really, when you’re talking an infant mortality rate in this state of 8%, double that among African Americans, would we really feel like women’s health in our state was better, all things considered, if we all were married?

And when they ask “What will you do for a healthier you?” is marriage really one of the easy steps they think we can all take?

Get your heterosexist, morality policing busybodying nose out of my business, Tennessee healthcare providers.

I’ve already got the Southern Baptists sticking their nose in there, to make sure I know how bad I’m ruining it for everyone, I don’t have room for you.

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I’m sorry. I guess I’m more livid about this than I realized. But when you count the number of women in this state who can’t get married because we’re lesbians and the number of women in this state who are actively in physical danger from our male head of household and should not be with them for our own health, putting out any grade that, without nuance makes it sound like women are contributing to our own ill-health bu not being married? Just fuck you, assholes.

Grr.