Tag: Feminist Fridays

1950 America’s Favorite Redhead

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Let’s pretend it’s still Friday… ;)

Before I knew anything about comedy or the entertainment business, I knew that one of my grandma’s absolute favorite funny ladies from the 1950’s was Lucille Ball. She also became one of my favorites at a young age, thanks to Nick at Nite’s 1990’s reruns. I know her best from I Love Lucy (which ran from 1951 to 1957), but she also had two successful shows after that: The Lucy Show (1962-68) and Here’s Lucy (1968-74) in addition to many feature films and appearances on various other radio and TV programs.

I love that Lucille was relentless when it came to her career. There weren’t too many women doing the show business thing when she first started out. From pioneering herself into vaudeville, Broadway and Hollywood, to starting her own production company, she really paved the way for many women in entertainment.

Lucille Ball

Here’s a few of my favorite Lucy quotes:

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work – and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.”

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.”

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Feminist Friday: Human Trafficking

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Human trafficking is the third biggest crime operation in the world, only after illegal drug and gun trade.

It grosses approximately $32 billion dollars each year.

The two main types include slave labor (about 20%) and sexual exploitation (80%).

More than 70% of these trafficked individuals are women.

According to the FBI, 83% of domestic victims are not undocumented immigrants or even qualified aliens, but United States citizens.

The average age in which someone is generally sold into the sex trade is 12-14 years old.

Do you have goosebumps yet?

The punishment for engaging in human trafficking is less harsh than the punishment for engaging in illegal drug trade.

Every 30 seconds, a new victim is brought in.

The facts speak for themselves. These people are not criminals, they are victims. Human trafficking is one of the biggest human rights issues of our generation, especially for women and children. I’m not going to go into more detail on why this is such an important battle to engage in, because I’m thinking it should be pretty black and white. Press on this issue has picked up since Obama’s been in office, but the fight’s far from over. Here’s what you can to do help:

  • Raise public awareness.
  • Find out your Slavery Footprint and realize the importance in engaging in fair trade.
  • Volunteer. Most of the victims come from broken homes. By spending time with at-risk youth and serving as mentors, you can directly impact their lives by showing them they have other options.
  • Encourage local organizations to offer non-judgemental support.
  • Advocacy. Contact your Senator and demand increase anti-trafficking and business transparency laws.

“Justice is what love looks like in public.“

Friday Inspiration

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Happy Friday! I thought I’d end wind down this week with a few of my favorite inspirational quotes from some even more empowering ladies:

Eleanor Roosevelt: A woman is like a tea bag; you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

Oprah: Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion.

Tina Fey: Maybe what bothers me the most is that people say that Hillary is a bitch. Let me say something about that: Yeah, she is. So am I and so is this one. [Points to Amy Poehler]      Amy Poehler: Yeah, deal with it.     Tina Fey: You know what, bitches get stuff done. That’s why Catholic schools use nuns as teachers and not priests. Those nuns are mean old clams and they sleep on cots and they’re allowed to hit you. And at the end of the school year you hated those bitches but you knew the capital of Vermont. So, I’m saying it’s not too late […], bitch is the new black!

Ellen DeGeneres: I work really hard at trying to see the big picture and not getting stuck in ego. I believe we’re all put on this planet for a purpose, and we all have a different purpose… When you connect with that love and that compassion, that’s when everything unfolds.

Amy Poehler: Great people do things before they are ready.

Lily Tomlin: The road to success is always under construction.

Marissa Mayer: I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of  ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.

Beyonce: Power’s not given to you; you have to take it.

Tina Fey: There are no mistakes, only opportunities.

Mother Teresa: Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

Have an inspiring weekend!

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

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Adolf CATholicAs if we were the third episode in a fresh new America’s Next Top Model season, guess what it was seriously time for? It’s been live for a few days now, but just to state the obvious, LGBA got a fun, new makeover — just in time for the beginning of the season of changes!

A couple of things you’ll notice are the new logo, updated “about” sections, and refreshed photos/links to my contact info. My hope is that it’s simpler, cleaner, and hopefully easier to navigate. I’m always open to feedback, so please let me know if you have any questions or concerns as you click around the updated site.

Another difference you may notice is that I’ve started to post more regularly. I think in this month alone, I’ve already posted more than the rest of this entire year! That statement is both exciting and pathetic. It ties back to my post a few days prior, but I’m attempting to make the commitment, once again, to post new content on a regular basis. In efforts to maintain this, I’ve come up with a few weekly series I want to try to maintain:

  • Me, me, me! Mondays — because in order to commit to a regular posting schedule, especially to begin the week on the right foot, I need to write about something easy. Something I love. Something that isn’t a nightmare to create new content for/about. What’s easier than talking about yourself (and perhaps the occasional selfie) to begin the week? I rest my case.
  • Lists + Loves — a typical Virgo female, I’m OCD to the core: efficient, obsessive, critical, analytical. There’s nothing on this planet that I’m better at than making lists. If I wrote better Espanol, “Listy Lunes” would be the perfect way to incorporate this feature; however, my senior year Spanish four class consisted of weekly parties of eating queso blanco and watching (not reading) El Principito in English with Spanish Subtitles… so making lists somewhere in the middle of the week [in English] with no real commitment or confusing verb conjugation works just as well.
  • Feminist Fridays — per my Wednesday post, over the past days, weeks, and months, I’ve been increasing my role in the feminist movement. Equality has always been something I’ve been passionate about, but as I enhance my views and deepen my vested interest in promoting equal pay, equal treatment, and just overall women’s empowerment in the workplace and beyond, I’d love to share my passion in this small corner of the world I’m caving out for myself on the inter webs.
  • Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I’m going to continually strive to keep humor and story-telling an active and engaging part of this blog. Entertaining and making people laugh is my single favorite pastime, and without attempting to maintain that basic level of quirkiness and candor I try to incorporate into each and every one of my posts, this thing would fall flat faster than peanut shells in a Texas Roadhouse.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Ideas? Try me. I’m wide open, people.