In Which I Say, YOU ARE NOT HELPING

So about a gazillion of you folks emailed me this story in which a Yale student apparently artificially (or otherwise) inseminated herself for nine months and then induced abortions all in the name of art. Many claimed to be haunted by the story, as you should be, although I have to say after working for five years in an all woman art college the whole story just made me feel tired.

Hopefully by now you have all heard the follow up to the story; yes, Virginia, it was all a big fucking hoax. It was all a performance art piece to track the reactions people have to what women do with their bodies. And isn't it interesting? How people feel like she didn't have the right to do that with her body?

My initial reaction was just, oh lord have mercy, this is so NOT going to help the cause. But I find the reaction to it being a hoax very interesting; at the end of that Time piece a man saying, "Women who have suffered miscarriages and abortions don't find this amusing."

Really? Are you sure? I think perhaps he with the penis should SHUT IT. Because frankly? I think it being a hoax is actually kind of hilarious.

But overall, the whole mess is best ignored.

You want an art project to get up in arms about? Try this one. Warning: VERY DISTURBING IF YOU LOVE DOGS. Here is a petition to stop that artist from profiting from his sick work of "art."

_______________________________________________________

On a much lighter note... am I a bad person if I decide to just cut the arms and legs off my daughter's winter pajamas rather than buy her summer ones to save a little money?

Comments

[victoria]

I have been known to cut the arms and legs off things to make them last longer. PJs and jeans with holes in the knees for sure.

[Celeste]

Actually? The chopped pj's won't be that much cooler because they will still fit snugly where they do touch.

My suggestion is to leave the pj's as is, sell or donate them, and (ultra cheap idea coming here) just buy either some new or used t-shirts in a lot larger size than she now wears and let her sleep in those as jams. Or ask moms you know if they have any leftover t's for play. DD loves to sleep in T's, always has, and you still get the use of the shirts as shirts later on. Yeah, it might entail spending something now if you can't score hand me downs, but it's a frugal thing that worked for me.

[Lisa]

I second the t-shirt idea. Hanes and Fruit of the Loom make t-shirts for boys in six-packs. Buy her some in a 4-6 and they'll be long enough to keep her little legs warm when the A/C is on.

[Pamala]

I think it was more for me that she seemed so callous about it, because I'd think it would be hard to do it, but that callousness actually made me think it was a hoax in the first place. I just don't know any normal person who could do that.

As for cutting the pajama's go for it. Why not!

[Sherry]

Absolutely about the t-shirts. GREAT idea. Or, check out places like Ocean State Job Lot or Big Lots for good deals on kids' pj's.

[Katie]

I consider it a success if I can get my kids to wear underwear to bed!

[carmie]

I clicked through to the "artist's" page showing some pictures of the exhibition. Fucking WRONG, the way the art patrons were standing around in the same room as this poor skeletal dog covered in sores and not one seemed to be upset. I hate people sometimes.

Tshirts are a great idea. Check out the thrift stores.

[Sheri]

Hannah started sleeping in t-shirts at about Tori's age and has never looked back. We just used some of Gary's white Hanes or whatever they were and they are loose and come down to her knees. We tie-dyed a few of them with pinks and yellows so they look girly and she loves them.

[Gretchen]

Why don't use some of the $ from your nifty tip jar and buy her pajamas?

[Melessa]

I thought it was a hoax because to have both the AI and the herbs both do exactly what they were supposed to do in such a timely manner was very suspect to me. It was all just a little too convenient. And I'm not even what most would consider a skeptic.

As far as the PJ's go, I'm impressed with your creativity and I like the t-shirt idea.

[Rach]

I was going to email it to you but figured many had beat me to the punch. I simply felt sorry for her; what had someone done to her in her past to hurt her in such a way.

It was a bit suspect that she could use only herbs to cause herself to abort like clockwork.

[Rach]

On the pajama note - you're my kinda girl, Cec. Our weekly budget for EVERYTHING not medical and car related is $170. I do precisely this kind of thing to make it streeeeeeeeeeetch.

[mar]

In our house - summer pajamas are undies - maybe a tank top! Of course, we don't have A/C so we just swelter the nights away in the lovely mid-Atlantic humidity ...

Onesies are the best toddler pj's, in my opinion. Help keep the diaper where it should be, a little cotton to help with the sweating, and something you always have around. And who cares if they've turned a little gray and dingy from getting washed w/the darks ....

[Val]

My brother was a single parent and he'd cut the feet off the blanket sleepers when they got too short. My nephew was a furnace when he slept so the footless sleepers did not bother or harm him in any way. So go for it, if Tori won't get too hot. We all have to tighten the belts in this time of political BS (I mean recession).

A few days ago, I remember oil/gas prices jumping in the year of an election. I just don't remember if it went down any afterward. Do you remember?

[ally]

That is presicly why I do do "art". Either have something to say or don't, but starving an animal, while there is dog food glued to the wall, that is wrong, and the people who viewed it are just as wrong.

The jams, I'd go with a tee shirt or just underpants.

[Rachel]

I cannot believe you are saying this because I had the same damn thought the other night. Why go to old navy or target and get pajamas when I could just make them? HAHA Your the best!

[Cat]

I so enjoy reading your blog. I have a special needs kid who likes to take off all of her clothes. I cut the feet off the jammies and even put them on backwards - at least I know her diaper and jammies will still be on in the morning!

[Shelley]

On jammies, I used to try to put mine to bed in a diaper on really warm nights, but as it turned out not having jammies is against the Toddler World Order. I don't see a thing wrong with your solution, though!

[Sarah]

I say cut the pjs! What a smart idea.

[Roxanne]

I know you said not to look if you love dogs, which was precisely why I had to look and now I am so sad and upset. Why do I do that?

[Kathleen]

Now the artist is claiming that Yale is full of shit. I think she should change the title of the piece to "Biting the Hand that Feeds You."

[Gry]

I think I saw it on Boing Boing that the starving dog was also a hoax - as in, they took the dog in, tied it up and let people think they didn't feed it, and it was later released back out on the streets.

Wish I had the link...

[Tine]

If you're a bad person, I'm downright evil for...

1) Refusing to buy daughter a new snowsuit this past winter, because her last year's one fit (for about 1 month of winter). And this is Minnesota.

2) Dressing said daughter in her older brother's hand-me-downs, with the result that everyone asks me how old my little boy is (when my son is nowhere in sight). Despite the fact that she has long, curly hair and super-girly-girl features.

[nellies nook]

HA! Love the pj idea... that's cute. Go for it!

[amy]

Depends. Are they flannel? In the summer my girls frequently sleep in long t-shirts and undies. Usually my too small t-shirts.