Breaking Boundaries of Textual Space
Before I returned to academia for my M.F.A., I worked in communications and public relations for two and a half years. Through this experience,  it became exceedingly clear to me that the skills learned in the writing classroom need to be translated into “real-world” writing. I am an advocate for encouraging and assisting students in publishing their own work, because I believe this instills a sense of confidence and accomplishment even in the most inexperienced students. My hope is to help produce informed and capable global citizens. To me, this principal is at the core of feminism. These students have already begun to make a difference in their communities. They are socially aware. I am so proud of their ambition and passion. In the classroom, I strive to foster a type of character culture, because I believe that learning and writing flourish in safe, open environments.  I want to be a teacher who creates a space that inspires individual  creative writing and learning. I also think we should all feel responsible for offering students the necessary tools they will need to survive and succeed in the American academy and beyond.

*Disclaimer: I did not come up with this assignment.  I stole it. It most likely came from some combination of my pedagogy classes, colleagues, and mentors.

The Assignment: Take one of the formal papers you’ve written this semester and turn it into something completely different! In this process you will take apart your writing and reassemble it in a new form. I want you to revise to the point that your revised text is so different from the original that you may think it is near failing. I am encouraging you to push the composing envelope. Systematically stretch your writing to the limit!

Then, you will write a story of what you learned during this revision process. This should be in a narrative essay that will accompany your final presentation to the class of your radical revision project. I believe this assignment teaches writing as a writer experiences it.

You must reach an audience OUTSIDE of this classroom. Consider the following when approaching this assignment: Audience, Meaning, Clarity, Style & Form, Development & Depth, Purpose, Organization, and Context.

Please, take a look at how these incredible students are impacting their communities!

XO Sarah

ENGH 101-08

Carolyn Aroche-Jimenez: Letter to Fairfax County School Board

For my radical revision, I continued addressing my researched argument paper topic on cyberbullying amongst adolescents. I chose to write a letter to Mrs. Sandra Evans, the Mason district member of the Fairfax County School Board to plead for more programs educating students about bullying. Transitioning from my researched argument paper into this radical revision letter, my audience changed from experts to administrators. This meant I had to be mindful of my language and continue to use an academic and professional tone in addressing Mrs. Evans. I offered my opinions as a recent high school graduate and young adult about ways the school board could enact programs that would appeal to these students. I hope my letter causes discussion amongst the members of the school board so that they consider my suggestions and keep them in mind for future generations.

Helena Byun: Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4, Pic 5, Pic 6- Children’s Book- YouTube

Harry Dowsett: Vision Board 1, Vision Board 2, Vision Board 3

My name is Harry Dowsett and I wrote a paper on a personal belief that I wanted to share with a larger audience than my classroom.  I wrote about being thrust outside of my comfort zone and all of the positive effects it had on myself as an individual and how it completely changed my life. I revised this paper to be a series of one on one therapy sessions with middle school-aged children that I tutor. We spoke about the anxieties and pressures they felt as adolescents and how to cope in a healthy and responsible manner. We also drew a series of artistic “vision boards” that depicted what each student wants to accomplish by the time they graduate from high school (in five years). We put these drawings in a time capsule that will be opened when the students graduate high school. The goal is that they will accomplish all of the expectations they thought up for themselves and discover how much hidden potential they really have inside, no matter how small they may feel their voices are.

Izzy Echeverria: Comic Strip 1, Comic Strip 2 – Comic Strip Presentation

My project was a comic strip about the impact on someone’s life on receiving a high school diploma and not receiving one. The comic strip was based on my research paper about how high schools need to create programs for students that are in the brink of dropping out of school. The comic strip is intended for high school students so I asked my old teacher if I could email them the comic strip and if they could post the comic strip in their classrooms. All agreed to post the comic strip in their classrooms. The intentions for my comic strip were to inform high school students the importance of continuing on with school, graduating and receiving higher education.

Sarah Hardt: Posters . Poster 1 . Poster 2 . Poster 3

The assignment was to transform a essay we wrote for English class into another form. I decided to create a series of paintings on the subject of discrimination. From personal experiences and stories from friends, I noticed a similar theme with every account. We all felt alone in our struggle. I wanted the paintings to help those effected by discrimination and to raise awareness of the issue.

Do-Heui Kim: World Recipes Online Cookbook

My audience for this project was the immigrants. Not only just immigrants, but also those who are planning to move to other countries, and also for those who already moved to other countries but did not yet get adapted to the new foods. I made a cookbook because I felt like it could help people to get easily adapted to foods from different countries, and thought that food was the most important thing that people need to get adapted to. Also I made it online so that people from any countries could easily get accessed to it. In addition for people who has not yet moved they could try to make those foods. So that when the time comes and they move to another country, they are ready to eat the foods from that country.

John Thomma: Letter to Senator Mark Warner

My project took the same direction that I took in my research paper. My intention with both Essay 2 and Essay 3 (the Radical Revision) was to propose and argue for an extension for the standard maternity/paternity leave time in America. By changing my essay into a letter to a senator, my audience was narrowed down greatly, and I was able to more effectively make my argument to someone who is actually in a position to do something about it.

Josh Umali: PowerPoint & Poem

The main reason I choose to do poetry, like I stated in my presentation & power-point, is that poetry has a connection to my creative writing class, a class I eventually loved, and Rae, a person I love.  Those two are also my inspiration for my belief. Also poetry, to me at least, is a creative manner in which I can express my belief creatively in a not so complicated manner or process. Plus it’s quite made making a power-point quite easy because I could put anything that connects to my radical revision. One last possible reason why I chose poetry would be that I was part of my high-school poetry club and though I am not that much of a writer like before I still admire and like writing poetry when I can or so; this radical revision assignment provided me with an opportunity.

Brian Wright: Education in Augusta PowerPoint

My project was brought about by my desire to see education taken more seriously in the area I live in.  By creating a brochure detailing the differences in employment and earnings of a college graduate and a high school graduate I hope to persuade parents to take an active interest in their children’s educations.  These brochures will be displayed in 5 schools around Augusta County, Virginia, pending decision by the school board. (Update: the school board passed Brian’s proposal!)

ENGH 101-12

Leen Badeeb: http://stressisuniversal.blogspot.com/

My stress blog will serve to inform the public of the universality of stress, how it affects everyone and anyone. The blog will also shed light on natural coping methods and remedies that may help individuals surpass stress, maintain a positive outlook, and keep a healthy lifestyle. The main purpose of this blog is to inform people about stress, suggest healthy coping mechanisms, and share interesting findings/articles about dealing with stress. The key thing to remember is that allowing stress to pile up and demonstrating avoidance will only serve to harm people. Therefore, one must deal with his/her problems as they come, one step at a time.

Michael Bowers: Letter to Senator Robert P. Casey Jr.

To radically revise my research paper, “How Legalizing Marijuana will Benefit the United States Economy,” I wrote a letter to my local senator.  I included information about myself, information about my topic, and asked the senator to change his opinion about a bill that is currently going through Congress.  In order to be short and precise, I narrowed my paper down into three main points that were about how much money could potentially be made in America and how it would be beneficial to help people find jobs.  I also included information about the harms of marijuana compared to two legal drugs, alcohol and tobacco.  I am expecting a response in the near future and thoroughly enjoyed writing the letter.

Wenyi Chen: http://honestyisthebestpolicy1.tumblr.com/

Through my English 101 course, I have created a tumblr to gather thoughts, ideas and opinions about honesty.  Being honest is one of my strongest beliefs. I wonder what would others people opinions about honesty.  At first, I transform my belief essay, honesty is the best policy into a blog and in the process, I not only share my own beliefs, but others’ as well. My main audience is college students, because I have already started asking my colleagues to post on my tumblr. I hope from there on, I can reach more college students to access to my tumblr.

Erin Doherty: Teens Struggling with Everyday Obstacles Blog

The blog targets a mostly teenage audience but is open to anyone who struggles with depression or everyday obstacles. It features a series of entries focused on various individuals I know with self-destructive behavior as a result of bullying or other serious issues. The stories are provided to give hope to teens who struggle with similar problems, however each one ends with a positive outcome. One post also has a list of phone numbers and websites for teens to contact for help. I have allowed the blog to be indexed to search engines so that it can be easily found and accessed through keywords that are associated with the blog’s content like “teen depression.” Readers are encouraged to submit their own stories through the “Submit” link and may also ask anonymous questions in the “Ask me anything” page. I want students to share their personal struggles because I believe this creates an emotional connection between the audience and the person sharing. It is important that readers learn the value of compassion and realize that bullying is not acceptable.

Robert Forbes: Political Cartoon

I created a political cartoon for my radical revision project.  My research paper was written on affirmative action within college admission offices.  Within my essay, I stressed the importance of the individual and the dissolution of the concept of minorities.  In this way, admissions offices could create a more fair system of admission.  My concept was that if we keep labeling groups of people as minorities, they will remain as minorities and a balance of equality will never be reached.  I took this concept of the struggling individual within society and made a political cartoon from it. It depicts the individual struggling with society to obtain human dignity.  Human dignity encompasses human equality and the basic human rights.  Society is pulling the individual in the opposite direction with money as its goal.

Philip Heil: YouTube Video

My radical revision was made to appeal to a large audience. From my paper where it originated it was more focused towards the professor (the main audience) while the video reaches not only to them but also to my peers. It holds no real underlying condescending tones towards the group that I focused on nor did it sound too informal. Most importantly though, I back up my presentation with information, studies showing where my facts were from. Along those facts were also recommendations
for how to counteract the growing problem of weight gain. Between the facts, alternative ways to combat weight gain, and the tone of my presentation it is portrays the problem well.

Kyle Imperatore : (Op-Ed) Factions Equal Folly: The Ineffectiveness of the Two-Party System

“Factions Equal Folly: The Ineffectiveness of a Two-Party System” is an op-ed article written by George Mason University Music Composition major Kyle Imperatore. The article is intended to display the facts of American voting bias and how it might be eliminated to allow us to have a fairer, more representative election system than the one that exists today. There is a growing disparity between the beliefs of American voters and the policies of representatives that they elect. In writing this article, the author hopes to open the eyes of its readers and show them that there can be an alternative to the politics that we live with on a day-to-day basis, thanks to less partisan voting systems like the non-profit organization Americans Elect.

Sung-Jun Lee: competitiveorchill.blogspot.com

I did my radical revision on my paper which was about my opinions on competitive lives and how trying to do things just for the sake of winning would bring less enjoyment.  The taste of victory is not worth the effort so the process should be more valued.  I made an interactive blog asking people to comment on it after sharing my beliefs and experiences.  I thought that the blog would help people reconsider their values.  I want people to reconsider if winning was really what they wanted.  It is human nature to be competitive, but would it not take away enjoyment?  I believe that by commenting on my blog, the people who wrote them would really think through their priorities.  I also want people to look at other comments so they can look at what the views of other people are so they can reflect and compare views.  My audience is anyone who is a user of blogs and wants to share or create a view on enjoyment received from winning.

Alissa Mirsky: Anti-Bullying Poster

My radical revision was transforming my research paper into a collage. I had to change my target audience from professors to college students. I did this by making my poster interesting and colorful and relating to a topic college students go through. I also displayed the meaning behind my collage after collecting sentences from random students around campus. I wanted to explain that even though everyone has different colorful stories behind why they were bullied, they all still share the same experience and trauma. I also added an anonymous hotline students can call to talk to students and help them through their bullying problems.

Lisa Naughton: Children’s Book- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

For my radical revision essay, I transformed a 3-page essay into a children’s book. The purpose of my original “This I Believe” essay was to describe one of my strongest beliefs: Achieving personal goals is always possible if you work hard enough. I believe that the audience that would best benefit from this advice would be young children, so I was inspired to compose a children’s book to communicate this idea with a younger audience. My children’s book tells the story of a young robot who has a goal to earn the lead role in the school play. Although his parents doubt his abilities, he works very hard towards this goal, and ultimately achieves it. I hope that my children’s book will inspire children to work hard towards their personal goals, regardless of those who doubt them.

Joshua Norris: End Puppy Mills

I changed my Research Essay into a Facebook group to inform people on the cruelty of puppy mills.  I felt that a Facebook group was the best decision because in my research paper I explain how one of the best ways to make a difference is to inform the public.  Since most of our society uses Facebook, it seemed right to make a Facebook group to inform our society about this problem of puppy mills.  I also added in links to the ASPCA website so if there were anyone that see’s the group that wants to get a new dog, they can hopefully adopt from the ASPCA instead of getting one from a store.  My hopes with this group are just that whoever goes to the groups page will learn something about puppy mills and be motivated to do something so that one day these mill dogs will be safe.

Dylan Thomas Pulliam: Prescription Medication Project

For the radical revision I created a website to represent the information in my paper and give users a more interactive experience. I used forums, pictures, and posted my paper to help add content. The forum provides a place for people to discuss current threads and create their own threads. In this way people can focus on which part of the issue is most relevant to them. For the pictures I posted an image of myself to add personality to the website. I also used a couple pictures that helped emphasize the topic. Beyond this I posted my paper so that people could see what inspired the website. Overall I hope that people will see the website and share their thoughts and ideas.

Sophia Williams- Jeopardy

Today in America many people acquire a large portion of their knowledge through the media, which consist of magazines, billboards, books and social networking. There is no limitation to the kind of messages being sent through nowadays media, and it has become a powerful source of information and ideologies for our generation. We tend to believe most of what we read and view in the media and have gained a line of trust for our many reporters including the most unreliable sources. Based on this I have taken my “This I Believe” essay, which spoke of the inequality amongst genders, one instance was in the workplace where women are offered lower wages etc., and mimicked a Jeopardy Game show. The game show was designed to prove that the contestants have acquired the answers that they have provided for the questions that they were asked through the media. This reveals to me that the message the media sends to the public influences our daily lives in so many ways; and the stereotypes that are placed on women’s capabilities in the workplace and media influence on self-worth are just a few of them and a small part of a larger picture.

Fighting against sexism, homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, partner violence, victim-blaming, slut-shaming, ableism, racism, xenophobia, hate crimes.

May 5, 2012
George Mason University
2:00 beginning in North Plaza

The protest march comes to Fairfax, Virginia. Help support keeping individuals happy and safe. Stop blaming the victim! Show your love and join us!

For more information:

http://twitter.com/masonslutwalk

masonslutwalk@gmail.com

To give a piece of my mind here, as much as I agree with ElTahawy’s rage at the treatment of women, I was, indeed, offended by the photographs of the nude, body sprayed woman. It brings to mind the annoying habit of “sensationalising”  Arab and Muslim women’s issues. Why does it have to be about the hijab or niqab? Why does it even have to be  about religion in the first place? Aren’t we over these offensive, cliche, and orientalist portrayals yet?

Salam,

Siwar

One of the most controversial topics in Jordanian (& Arab) Feminist issues is Honour Killings. Honour Killings are in no way a “religious matter” as some people try to identify them (in regards to their defense or their protest). Honour Killings is a phenomenon that is the outcome of sexism and lack of education. It is about the control over a woman’s body by her family members–often, the men. It is when a family member  kills a woman if she is suspected of having soiled her family’s honour by engaging in sexual activity (or in some cases a mere  nonsexual relationship) outside of marriage. What makes this social issue even more problematic  is  that there is a legally reduced sentence for murderes accused of Honour Killings in Jordan.

There have been numerous activist groups trying to combat Honour Killings and spread awareness in Jordan. There are petitions being signed and books written on the subject; and people have been trying to change the law, as well as the cultural view toward the moral legitimacy of Honour Killings, for years.

Now, this is the part I am excited about:

A nine year old girl, who was told she was unable to sign a petition called “Where do We Stand?” protesting Honour Killings because she is not of legal age yet, wrote this lovely letter : (translation from Arabic is my own, & am afraid so much of the cuteness and brilliance of this is lost between languages)

I am Raneem Abdullah.

I am a nine year old girl, and I cannot sign the “Where do we stand?” petition. But I am a girl, and I am against Honour Killings committed against girls, because it is not anyone’s right to rob someone else of their right to live. I have to defend my rights and express my protest against killing girls, and  protest  this  view that is not so nice toward girls in society.

I have to defend my rights and learn how to do it now.

So what if I am only nine years old?

I am going to sign anyway:

Raneem Rashad Abdullah Mohammed

14/4/2012

A reader may think: why is this so impressive?

I think it is extremely impressive that a nine-year- old has such a strong opinion. It is so impressive that she feels that she should (& can!) express her opinion. It is so impressive that she does not understand why her age would not allow her to have an opinion. The amount of awareness and defiance in this letter amazes me.

In my experience, many people in Jordan, especially women, do not feel “entitled” to a voice, or to such a strong opinion. I remember discussing Honour Killings in an undergraduate class where almost all of the 30 students did not understand the problematic logic behind a woman “representing” her family’s honour, or the horrifying logic leading to a murder justified in the name of “honour”.

Reading this Feminist statement coming from a nine year old girl restores my belief that change is possible. This feminist challenges my belief that violence against women is not as engrained in our Jordanian (or American for that matter, regarding issues of sexual violence, rights to abortion, etc) cultural psyches as I have always thought it is.

Salam,

Siwar

Leininger’s collection, “The Way I’ll Leave You,” was selected by Judge Mark Doty, who wrote:

“This fresh, livewire collection introduces a distinctive new voice, a deeply ingratiating speaker who’s flirtatious, tender, knowing, tough enough to get by but not too tough to avoid getting her heart broken. In these poems love is gorgeous, slippery, and hard to live in. Here, Jill Leininger tells us, ‘More than one woman is crying. Come to the liquid edge…see our wings span the city…I bet you’ve never loved a bird like us. We’re so beautiful, it hurts’.”

A 2011 Lambda Literary Fellow, Jill Leininger’s poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in cream city review, Poetry International, and the Harvard Review Online. “Roof Picnic Skies, New York,” a chapbook of prose poems, was also published by dancing girl press in February 2012.

So to Speak Fiction Editor Atossa Shafaie sells journals at the Will Read for Women drive.

As promised, So to Speak hosted an amazing poetry reading and donation drive on Saturday night benefiting Bethany House shelter!  We celebrated poetry, women, and feminist communities at our first-ever Will Read for Women event with more than 75 guests, 4 featured readers, and 2 open-mic readers! And with the generous support of our audience members, we collected over 15 boxes of donated pantry items–an entire car-full! 

From left to right, our terrific readers included Joe Hall, Meg Ronan, Sarah Browning, and Kateema Lee.

Poets Meg Ronan, Kateema Lee, Joe Hall, and Sarah Browning each  read from a beautiful array of lyric to experimental verse. The poems focused on a number of different topics, including the body, sexual and family relationships, D.C., and high school. All four of the poets were incredible readers, and we were so pleased to have their support for this exciting event.

Here are our two lovely hosts, Kate Partridge and Warren Ciabattoni, with the fabulous readers!

Keep us updated on what events you would like to see us host in the future! And thank you, again, for all of your amazing support!

Sarah Browning******Kateema Lee

Joe Hall*************Meg Ronan

& Bring your own creative work for the Open Mic to follow!

So to Speak is proud to host our first-ever donation drive. Hear great poetry from exciting writers and help women in your community! Audience members are asked to bring toiletry items and other pantry necessities to donate to the shelter, Bethany House.

Bethany House Mission Statement: Bethany House was organized to help women and their children who have suffered from domestic violence regain health and dignity and become re-established in their community by providing temporary housing and support.

The list of suggested items:

Bath soaps Shampoo Conditioner Lotion Combs & brushes Razors Dish & dishwasher detergents Bleach Laundry detergents Toilet paper Paper towels Tweezers Lip balm/Lip gloss Vaseline Toothpaste Toothbrushes Mouthwash Napkins Baby & adult wipes Diapers (size 3-6) Pull-ups (size 2T-5T)

Please stick to these domestic items. We thank you for food stuffs, but the shelter will not be able to accept it.

Parking is available nearby in the Mason Pond, Shenandoah, and Rappahannock parking decks. We’d appreciate your support in reaching out into the community and getting this event off the ground! Contact us at sts@gmu.edu with any questions and follow us on Twitter for up-to-date announcements @SoToSpeakJrnl

Bios:

Sarah Browning is director of Split This Rock Poetry Festival. Author of Whiskey in the Garden of Eden and co-editor of D.C. Poets Against the War, she is an associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, poetry co-editor of On the Issues Magazine, and co-host of Sunday Kind of Love, a monthly poetry series at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. She has received fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the Creative Communities Initiative and is winner of the People Before Profits Poetry Prize.

Joe Hall was born in the woods and is devoted to Cheryl. Black Ocean Press published his first book of poems, Pigafetta Is My Wife, in 2010. With Chad Hardy he wrote The Container Store Vol. I (SpringGun 2012). His poems, fiction, book reviews, and essays have appeared in Gulf Coast, Octopus, HTMLGiant, The Colorado Review and elsewhere.

Kateema Lee is a Washington D. C. native. She is a University of Maryland graduate, a Cave Canem Fellow, and an associate editor for the Potomac Review. She’s also an English instructor, and she teaches women’s studies courses for the Montgomery College Women’s Studies Program.  Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in print and online journals such as Poet Lore, Word Riot, Pirene’s Fountain, So to Speak: A Feminist Literary Journal, and others.

Meg Ronan‘s poems can be found in West Wind Review, SpringGun, Shampoo Poetry, Cricket Online Review, Interim, LEVELER and other lovely journals. She teaches, sells things, and gives tarot readings in & around the DC metro area.

Changes in the drink trade saw brewing turn from a female-dominated field to a male-dominated field. Brewing changed from a small-scale operation for a small-scale audience to a large-scale operation for a large-scale audience. The factory model of brewing, still in existence today, grew alongside the industrial revolution.

Do you know a “Brewster”? I went to High School with a Brewster, and I have no idea of her lineage save what she knew (a bit of English and Irish). Recently, the word “Brewster” has been separated from the surname “Brewster” as it seems to have different connotations in different areas in the United Kingdom. Beer historian Martyn Cornell, analyzed the Oxford English Dictionary entry on the –ster suffix in 2007. While many beer historians always believed “Brewster” to be a term indicative of a female brewer, his research brought forth further questioning. “If you see ‘brewster’ in a Southern English context in the Middle Ages, it probably means a female brewer, but in the North of England and Scotland it could be female, it might just as likely be a male.”

So where does this leave Americans today? Well, while beer is still a masculine-dominated field, we have a host of female business owners and brewers who are ardent supporters and practitioners of the brewer’s art. Beyond craft beer many local female fermentationists are brewing excellent beer at home.

Kristi Mathews Griner, former head brewer at Hops Grill and Brewery in Alexandria, is now a brewer for the Vintage 50 Brewpub in Leesburg, Virginia. Likewise, Lindsey Miller is head brewer with Baying Hound Aleworks in Rockville, Maryland. Megan Parisi, former lead brewer with Cambridge Brewing Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has recently been named head brewer of the soon-to-open Bluejacket in Washington, DC.

The brewery, Bluejacket, will roll out kegs from an old naval yard in Southeast, a few blocks from the Navy Yard Metro. Other notable, female-owned breweries that are worth checking out (please pick up their products!) include Stoudt’s Brewing Co., Intercourse Brewing Co., and New Belgium Brewing Co. All make delicious beverages with distribution throughout the Mid and North Atlantic.

If you want to learn more about women in beer check out the Pink Boots Society.

Following the conclusion of this post, there will be a list of reputable help centers. And if you know of more resources that support women, please contact us sts@gmu.edu or reply to this post as a comment.

While a student at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a small liberal arts school located at the southern tip of the state, I heard about a young woman who visited our local Care Net center, where she had hoped to learn about abortion. The large billboard out front reading, “Pregnant? Need help?” with the mournful face of a young girl (we’ve all seen that before, I know) pasted across the background seemed like an invitation for kind and considerate care, and when facing something so monumentally life-changing as an unwanted pregnancy at a young age, who wouldn’t find the idea of “help” comforting? Instead of help, however, the young woman received a lecture about her decision to have sex, which the workers there viewed as immoral. Those that she was hoping to receive help from threatened not to let her leave until she promised she was no longer considering abortion as an option. One woman even chased her into the parking lot, using rather unkind language, trying to get her to accept God’s forgiveness for her actions.

Unfortunately, this sort of bullying happens all the time at supposed help centers for young, pregnant women. Centers that advertise comfort and guidance often hide their religious agenda at the forefront, and then attempt to sway the minds and hearts of the women they meet, which means that many confused, or not-so-confused, women don’t get the kind of treatment they’re looking for at these places. Offering only ultra-sounds and pregnancy tests, the medical procedures available within these help centers are severely limited, and no methods of birth control are on hand to give out. Instead of the pill, visitors get penitence; instead of options, they get a stern talking-to about the provider’s perception of the only option.

When looking at George Mason’s own “Pregnant? Need help?” fliers, put up by the Pregnancy Lifeline Centers of Fairfax and Alexandria, there is no indication that the group is affiliated with Christianity on the piece of paper with phone numbers available to be torn off at the bottom. Once one explores the website, however, the Christian point of view becomes apparent, slowly but surely. While I am not against Christian organizations reaching out to young women about their sexuality, I am against the spreading of misinformation, intolerance, and guilt. When comparing the Pregnancy Lifeline Center’s website directly with Planned Parenthood’s, a number of examples of misinformation, intolerance, and guilt can be found. One of the most upsetting differences between these help organizations is the continuing assertion that a condition called Post-Abortion Stress (PAS) exists, even though it has been discredited by research.

Portrayed as an off-shoot of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), symptoms can include, among others, “sadness, sudden crying, guilt or depression, low self-esteem, poor relationships, anxiety over fertility and childbearing issues, development of eating disorders, alcohol or drug abuse.” Pregnancy Lifeline goes on to say that “studies show that these symptoms are real and legitimate and may surface immediately or over time,” however, no real or legitimate source is offered to back up these claims. In fact, in Planned Parenthood’s FAQ section about abortion (which is authored by Dr. Cullins, the vice president of medical affairs at PP), this “disease” is wrangled with and succinctly debunked. She goes on to say that, “anti-abortion groups have invented this so-called post-abortion syndrome to further their efforts to make abortion illegal,” and specifies the flaws in their studies, where only women with emotional problems were interviewed, as opposed to the majority who simply feel relief.

Besides the false information about abortions that is offered, the Pregnancy Lifeline website also gives very minimal coverage to methods of birth control, listing only the unpleasant and rare side effects of every option besides condoms. Clearly, this is an effort used to influence women into believing that they would be better off avoiding  premarital sex altogether. With the “real-life” stories that populate the bottom corner of each page, the website browser is greeted with a barrage of stories that use the misfortune of others to warn against premarital sex, living with a partner before marriage, and abortion, with the overall thread of sin making a run through every tale.

After the parking lot encounter at the Care Net facility in St. Mary’s City, the center proceeded to call the girl’s “emergency contacts” and let them in on the fact that she was considering an abortion and having premarital sex. Though the girl was promised a confidential consultation, her grandparents and best friend were contacted so that her contemplation of abortion could be made known, and her friend was even encouraged to spread hurtful rumors about the girl throughout the college.

Unfortunately for Care Net, this kind of treatment of SMCM students is intolerable, and our Students for a Democratic Society, once they got wind of it, made sure that Care Net’s presence on our campus was completely eliminated. Students were made aware of the nature of the facility, and their pamphlets and fliers were removed from buildings and our Health Center. While I have no concrete stories or proof to illustrate that the actions of GMU’s Pregnancy Lifeline center would be similar to those of Care Net, I still want young women to be wary. If they are looking for religious help in their time of unwanted pregnancy, there is no better place to go, but if they are looking for unbiased and truthful medical support, the best choice may lay in an exam room at the closest Planned Parenthood.

Local Planned Parenthood locations for George Mason University students

Planned Parenthood’s main website

Also, check out one cartoonist’s interesting cartoon series that investigates faith-based pregnancy centers.

The message came while I was reading Dodie Bellamy’s Cunt-Ups: “RIP Adrienne Rich,” from one of my favorite poets and women in the world, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram. “Oh god,” I wrote back, stopped. I put down my book to go pick up a package, two Renee Gladman books, hand-me-downs from Gina Abelkop. I wanted to hold something in my hands, but mostly I wanted to step outside, to talk a little to the cats who live in the courtyard. In my throat something like a word tightened.

I did not open the books. I wrote to a woman, a friend, a filmmaker and once-collaborator I once loved, off and on for two summers, on the tarry rooftop of my old high school, on the floor of her Fort Green room. That night, she’d put her dog-eared and much-highlighted copy of Midnight Salvage into my hands before picking up her camera. I read. I read.

And read. The city in these pages: yes. The body: true; one shade of mine. As the day got darker and the boys came to sit on the stoop and hoot, we got closer, women held briefly apart from the world, from fear. We read that night, that summer, that book.

Tonight I told her Adrienne Rich had died. “Oh god,” she wrote back.

–

When I was drafting a brief obit for another magazine, I kept having to start over, start again. As a news-writer I thought it might be important, or at least standard, to note Rich’s many accolades, from MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships, to the Frost Medal and the Wallace Stevens Award. As a fan of hers—and as a woman and as a feminist and as a writer and as another dozen ands—I felt I was betraying something. Somehow, I felt it wrong to, with only the space of a paragraph to speak her import, give more room to other names, as if to say to the internet, these Big Men validate her, look at how big she, too, grows under the (heavy) laurels of their approval, she can never be a Big Man but look how they endorse her all the same.

Adrienne Rich came before us. She was never the poet laureate and many lesser poets were. This is fine and it is not fine. I look forward to what will no doubt soon be unveiled as the innaugural Rich Prize, or Chair, or Residency, or Fellowship. And I hate the world for needing one of our greatest dead, as so many others, before we can cast her name up there in big bronze letters, with the big Big Men. Oh god.

–

As a memorial, this stutters. Rich taught us to speak out from the i, from, no, the stronger I, to grit our teeth, lock our knees, locate ourselves in space, start from the tall spine, move out. I am trying to do what she taught, and this, tonight, means pointing, here. here, here, on a map she helped to draw.

Here I am, writing that body; here is my I, naming shining names.

–

Dodie Bellamy to Lillian-Yvonne Bertram to Renee Gladman to Gina Abelkop. Adrienne Rich came before us. I think she would also say that my assuming affinity is a bunch of nonsense, that all of us women writers are, yes, women, and yes, writers, but that there the resemblance ends—or, even if it doesn’t, that it is dangerous to assume otherwise. And so it is. Still, I have found that tracing these lines, writing these lineages is important feminist practice. In a world in which so much puts us down, shuts us up, makes us privilege one identity over another while our male cohorts just get to be “writers,” no ghettoizing qualifiers about it, I think kinship matters. I think a room apart from the world matters. Even if—especially if—all of our rooms are different—imaginary, lush, or chairless—I want to see us all in them, writing through and into and out from.

Adrienne Rich came before us and we are writing. Because Adrienne Rich came before us we are writing. In her own words, “this is the end of these notes, but it is not an ending.”