17 Books to Read in 2017

One of my New Year's resolutions is to spend less time on my phone and Netflix; therefore, I have decided to commit myself to reading 17 books in 2017. I don't think this will be a particularly difficult goal as I tend to read a lot anyways. My goal is to simply read more. I reached out to Facebook friends and asked what their favorite books are. I combined some of their suggestions with books I already wanted to read to come up with this list:

1. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
2. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
3. What I Told My Daughter by Nina Tassler
4. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
5. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
6. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
7. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
8. Room by Emma Donoghue
9. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
10. In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
11. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
12. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
13. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 
14. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafsi
15. Defending Jacob by William Landay 
16. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
17. Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

This list is in no particular order and by no means finalized. In fact, I have already found other books that I wish were on the list. So, if you have good book suggestions throughout the year keep them coming! 

Much love, 

Taylor

I Am Who I Am Because Of You

I want to share with you words from my Mother that articulate how I feel better than I can:

"I have no words to tell you how disappointed I am. For the last 22 years I have told you that anything you want in life is possible. If you're kind, fair, and work hard, that the sky is the limit. I have been proven wrong. Hatred, bigotry, misogyny, and exclusion have won....this time. We must continue to fight, to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves. It's an uphill battle, but women are used to that. Love you my dear girl."

I am who I am because of my amazingly strong and intelligent Mother.

I will continue to fight, but today I am going to cry. 

A Letter to My Fathers

Dear Fathers,

When I was younger, you would joke that you would shoot any boy that disrespected me or made me cry.

Where are the guns now that Donald Trump is running for President?

As a woman, I am disgusted at the man that stands before my country as a legitimate candidate for President. As a woman, I am disappointed you would consider him to be your candidate.

Let's take a moment to consider this. We will use a very realistic example because unbeknownst to you, it's happened to me more than once. I'm at a bar and a random guy grabs my ass or my crotch without my approval. He tries to kiss me and I push him away. You're disgusted by this, are you not? Well, I am too.

So why is it different when Donald Trump does it? I'm guessing your responses to this will be, "It's not." And you're right about that. However, I know for a fact you would be a million times angrier if your daughter was on the receiving end of his vulgar actions. If the man isn't good enough for your daughter, why is he good enough to be your President?

I know how you both feel about Hillary Clinton and how you may consider Trump to be the "lesser of two evils."

Let me tell you what I see. I see a strong, incredibly well-qualified woman who has worked her whole life just to defend herself against a much less qualified man for the same position.

And quite frankly, that's bullshit. The bullshit women like me face every day. As a woman, I will make 77 cents to the dollar of a man who is just as qualified as me and works the same position that I do. As a woman, I face and will continue to face discrimination every day. I am not just talking about the classic "catcalling" I face frequently (although that is disgusting in itself). I am talking about the fact that boys stop me to ask if I need help carrying a three pound table. Trust me, I do not need help. I carry that table like the strong woman that I am.

It gets worse. As a woman, I have a 1 in 4 chance of being a victim of domestic abuse, and a 1 in 5 chance of being sexually assaulted. As a woman, I get asked my family members (including you on occasion) if I have a boyfriend yet. When I claim I do not want to get married or have children, I am shamed. I get asked, "Why on earth would you not want to?!" You know what I see when this happens? My worth is, and forever will be, judged based on my relationship to a man.

Like me and the million other women on this planet, I see Hillary facing it too. She is fighting for a job that she is so obviously more qualified for than her opponent. She is judged based on her husband's actions because god forbid the idea that she may be her own person with her own views different than that of her man.

I write this letter to you not to embarrass you or harass you. I write this letter to you because I am so unbelievably angry. I am angry at the fact that just because I was born a female, I will have less opportunities and more obstacles to face than if I were born a man. I am angry that if I had the chance to run for President (a dream I've always had since age 5 as you may know), I will still have to face this ignorance and blatant gender inequality.

I also write to you to ask you to reconsider your choice of candidacy. I will not ask you to vote for Hillary, which is incredibly difficult for me. I want to ask you to vote for her. I want you to vote for me and all the millions of women that stand to be affected by this decision. But I will not ask that of you because I respect your right to choose. Instead, I am asking you to strongly think about what your vote means. What it means for me and the millions of women in this country.

This letter is not to single you out. I hope all the important male influences in my life will read this and take it into consideration too. I address this letter directly to you because your votes matter to me. As a woman who is disgusted by the blatant gender inequality that pervades our world, I will sleep better at night knowing that my two father figures feel the same way. I do not expect to change your minds. I half expect you to be annoyed by this letter. I half expect both of you will not read it. But I hope you will, and I hope you really listen to what I have to say. I hope you will examine your own prejudices and preconceived opinions and take them into consideration on November 8th, just as I will.


All my love,

Your Daughter, Taylor.

Here's a Little Chuckle For All You Feminists Out There

If you want more jokes like these, that are absolute GOLD, check out Buzzfeed's "31 Jokes That Will Make Women Laugh Way Harder Than They Should."

#FightUnfair

"Because my face was covered in soot and my clothes were all dirty...This made me sad. They were all telling me to go away."

Would you have told sweet Anano to go away if she was covered in soot? Unfortunately like we see in this video, most of us would. 

Most of us do. Millions of children who live in absolute poverty are told to "go away" everyday by those who are much more fortunate than they are. 

#FightUnfair and choose to care. 

Thank you, Unicef for an eye opening video and campaign. 

The Supreme Court Decision That You Missed

United States v. Texas, one of the Supreme Court's most important decisions regarding abortion, has dominated the media--and rightfully so. This is a historic case and should be celebrated.

However in the midst of this decision, there was another important Supreme Court Decision that deserves more attention than it has gotten: Voisine v. United States.

In a 6 to 2 ruling, the Supreme Court in Voisine v. United States ruled domestic violence assaults can be classified as misdemeanor crimes that can restrict gun ownership.

Justice Kagan, delivering the opinion of the Court, declared, "Federal law prohibits any person convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” from possessing a firearm." Current US Law prohibits felons from possessing a firearm. But, most perpetrators of domestic violence are charged with misdemeanors. One can hardly argue against the notion that domestic violence offenders and firearms can be a deadly combination.

This decision is incredibly important for two reasons. One, in its decision the Supreme Court has become a champion of victims for domestic violence; it has taken a stance against those who commit violent acts against others. The second reason is much more controversial: it limits certain citizen's Second Amendment Rights.

The fact that this decision has gone relatively unnoticed is interesting. Following the shooting in Orlando, the issue surrounding gun control has blown up in the media. The Senate recently struck down several proposed gun control measures. This decision forbids domestic violence perpetrators from owning a gun. Certainly such a decision would attract great national attention, right? Apparently not. This is also an important decision for women. Although women are not the only victims of domestic violence, they are overwhelmingly the victims of this crime.

This decision deserves more attention. The Supreme Court has once again proven itself as a champion for women and a champion for the safety of its American citizens. Let's hope the Supreme Court continues to make landmark decisions for the betterment of our nation.

A Win for Women

The United States Supreme Court in a 5 to 3 ruling, struck down Texas abortion restrictions that already caused dozens of clinics across the state to shut down.

Lets take a minute to thank Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who not only joined Justice Stephen Breyer in his majority opinion but wrote her own concurring opinion on unnecessary abortion restrictions. 

RBG wrote:

The Texas law called H. B. 2 inevitably will reduce the number of clinics and doctors allowed to provide abortion services. Texas argues that H. B. 2’s restrictions are constitutional because they protect the health of women who experience complications from abortions. In truth, “complications from an abortion are both rare and rarely dangerous.” Planned Parenthood of Wis., Inc. v. Schimel, 806 F. 3d 908, 912 (CA7 2015). See Brief for American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists et al. as Amici Curiae 6–10 (collecting studies and concluding “[a]bortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States”); Brief for Social Science Researchers as Amici Curiae 5–9 (compiling studies that show “[c]omplication rates from abortion are very low”). Many medical procedures, including childbirth, are far more dangerous to patients, yet are not subject to ambulatory surgical-center or hospital admitting-privileges requirements. See ante, at 31; Planned Parenthood of Wis., 806 F. 3d, at 921–922. See also Brief for Social Science Researchers 9–11 (comparing statistics on risks for abortion with tonsillectomy, colonoscopy, and in-office dental surgery); Brief for American Civil Liberties Union et al. as Amici Curiae 7 (all District Courts to consider admitting privileges requirements found abortion “is at least as safe as other medical procedures routinely performed in outpatient settings”). Given those realities, it is beyond rational belief that H. B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law “would simply make it more difficult for them to obtain abortions.” Planned Parenthood of Wis., 806 F. 3d, at 910. When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety. See Brief for Ten Pennsylvania Abortion Care Providers as Amici Curiae 17–22. So long as this Court adheres to Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833 (1992), Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers laws like H. B. 2 that “do little or nothing for health, but rather strew impediments to abortion,” Planned Parenthood of Wis., 806 F. 3d, at 921, cannot survive judicial inspection.

The Texas law passed in 2013 required all abortions to take place in surgical centers instead of regular clinics. RBG beautifully crafted her argument by getting straight to the point: Abortions are simply safer than many other simply medical procedures, and Texas does not place similar restrictions on those procedures. 

Whether you are pro-life or not, you cannot deny that abortions happen. They are a fact of our reality. In the words of RBG, "When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners...at great risk to their health and safety." 

The Supreme Court's decision was the most important decision concerning abortion since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, a whopping 24 years ago. Planned Parenthood v. Casey reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion that was established in the famous 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. Despite these important decisions, lawmakers have found loopholes by establishing severe restrictions on abortion, endangering the lives of thousands of women. This recent decision is incredibly important as it sets precedent that Texas laws, and thereby similar laws in other states across the nation, are unconstitutional and represent an undue burden upon women. 

The debate over abortion honestly astounds me. Yes, abortion is not pleasant. But let me tell you a little secret: abortions are not fun for any woman who gets one. It's a burden those women will live with for the rest of their lives, but it's their choice. Many of those who oppose abortion also oppose laws limiting gun rights or laws limiting freedom of speech. So why do so many people oppose a government's ability to restrict freedom of choice? No government should have the power to tell any person, including women, what they can and cannot do with their bodies. A government's responsibility is to protect its citizens, not place undue burdens and laws that could put their citizens in danger. This is why the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Texas is so important. Not only did the Supreme Court uphold its own precedent in previous abortion rulings, but it also sent an important message to American women. The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land and the end all-say all of the United States, has declared women's safety and right to choose is important.