NYMPHE: Childless, Childfree, Parent, Stepmom.

Oregon's Pregnancy/Crime Law

If you kill a pregnant woman, should you receive a different prison sentence than if you kill a non-pregnant woman?

Suppose, as the new Oregon law dictates, you should indeed get a harsher sentence for killing the pregnant woman.

What does this mean?

Does it mean that the embryo-foetus-"child" within is a separate person you can murder, thus increasing your prison sentence? If that's the case, should women be tried for murder when they have miscarriages or abortions?

Does it mean that pregnant women are more worthy of protection by the law than are non-pregnant women and men? If that's the case, do we approve of this discrimination against the non-pregnant?

How could a law that sounds so reasonable start unraveling so quickly once exposed to a few questions?

GOOGLE STRIKES AGAIN

Google search:
childless   therapist   portland   oregon

first link to pop up:
NYMPHE: Living Childless & Child-free
Childless or childfree? Women as mothers, as notmothers, as artists and writers. ... KOIN-TV in Portland, Oregon, reports that a restaurant in Silverton, ...
magdalen.blogs.com/nymphe/ - Cached - Similar -

so yes,
in my attempt to find a therapist in my town who is actually a biologically childless/childfree woman herself, who might be able to discuss these issues with me from a notmother/nonparent/nullipara's point of view, what Google found me was this:

my own fucking blog.

AAAAAAUGGGGGH!

Easter Island Project: links

I've been on the road with the Easter Island Project, so I haven't had much time to post here.

The weirdness and intensity that is the onslaught of the biological clock continues, though every day I reconfirm my choice to remain childless/childfree. I will say this: at age 40, it is still difficult, especially practicing 'selective avoidance' enough to stay sane. However, the level of tormented grief I experienced a few years ago has definitely subsided. I feel there is hope.

So anyway: I posted a couple photos from the Portland and Seattle sessions on 2GQ.org if you're interested. Lots more fun stuff to come as I sort through all the photos, videos, and "seeds" I'm taking to Easter Island. (If you missed my spam: the project arose out of my interest in childlessness/childfree living, and the petri dish of overpopulation that Easter Island's history provides.)

Join the email list at New Oregon Arts & Letters, the presenter of the project, if you want updates. You'll also receive the occasional announcement about other projects the organization sponsors. 

GOOGLE RESULTS:

No results found for "cure for the biological clock"

Bay Area Tonight: join me for writing, chatting, artmaking...

... at Myrtle Street Review headquarters in West Oakland, April 18. Read on for details.

Hang out, see some in-progress video that arises from my work in childlessness, and if you want to, make something for the Easter Island Project. You don't have to be "a writer" or "an artist" to dive in and have some fun with it!

Image: a "seed" made for the project by K. T. for the Seattle Studio Current session.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A PENIS."

I'm just quoting Isabella Rossellini in "Green Porno 2: Starfish." No, this isn't porn per se. It's just really cool and involves puppets. See the video free at Sundance Channel. The limpet section is cool, too. Well, all of 'em are.

I'm reminded of how my childhood learning, from fairy stories to educational films, revolved around reproduction so much...

PRIVACY POLICY, COPYRIGHT POLICY, ETC.

TypePad have asked us bloggers to clarify our privacy policies. Here's the Nymphe one, along with information about copyrights and how we'd like you to be nice about it if you steal our words, photos, or ideas. (This policy statement itself is borrowed from 2GQ.org.)

"THE KITCHEN SINK" on EXHALE

Exhale, the online magazine "for intelligent people" dealing with issues having to do with childlessness, losing a child, infertility, and the like, has given my piece "The Kitchen Sink" its ArtEx Award.

Read it at exhalezine.com.

PAID FAMILY LEAVE: COMPASSIONATE OR DISCRIMINATORY?

if you want to have a baby, you should be able to take three months off work to have a baby.

if you want to write a book of poetry, you should be able to take three months off work to write a book of poetry.

i recently joined in a conversation on Oregonlive.com, the online companion to our local newspaper, The Oregonian. (the above bits are from my responses.) In an Op-Ed piece, Elizabeth Hovde argued against a proposal for a paid family leave law in Oregon. As Hovde put it, "While granting paid leave for important life events sounds like a nice idea, it's odd to charge all employees—regardless of their means or income—so other employees can take several weeks off work."

Oregonian article on working with childlessness

 

hello nimfee readers --- over the weekend, the Sunday Oregonian ran an article about my writing and artwork inspired by childlessness. it's now online at oregonlive.com , complete with the usual array of ranting internet bullies who didn't appear to have actually read the article before they started dissing me, infertile women, etc etc. ah well. i think we all get a little ranty and whiny online sometimes, eh?

motoya nakamura took the photo i've reproduced here... this is a small sculpture that someone offered to the Easter Island Project as a "seed" during the Port Townsend "Seeding Easter Island" performance. i don't know who made it. (it's cool - the little acorn in the middle swings around - kinetic sculpture.)

people interested in participating in the project: please email me at easterislandproject (at) gmail.com for details, dates, etc. thanks!

also: that awesome green hooded shrug i'm wearing in the Oregonian photos was created for me by the awesome Portland designer Holly Stalder  using a silk and gold-thread scarf given to me at the wedding of my friends David and Rathna in Madras/Chennai, India.