Actively Resisting Cruelty!

DON'T BUY PUPPIES FROM A PET SHOP!
Pet shops buy puppies from puppy mills to try to make as much profit as possible. To further profits, the dogs at the puppy mills are used until they can no longer breed or give birth to more litters, they are given inadequate amounts of food, water and care, they are kept in small wire cages for their whole lives, and they suffer health issues such as rotting teeth and ulcers in their eyes. Many puppies that come from puppy mills have health problems or genetic disorders because of the poor conditions.
Every time you buy a puppy from a pet store, you are most likely supporting the puppy mill that dog came from and therefore supporting the abuse and exploitation of thousands of dogs.
Patti, Claire, and I greatly dislike puppy mills. To protest, we borrowed Claire's neighbor's dog (whom was adopted from a shelter), put a sign on him that said "Adopt a puppy," and walked around Claire's neighborhood informing people of the puppy mills and the better alternative of adopting from a shelter.
I have very strong feelings on this subject partly because I have a dog and I love him very much. I feel that dogs are like babies in the sense that, in the human world, they are helpless and need our support to survive. Therefore, when humans take away the right for a dog to live comfortably, i feel that that is as bad as treating a baby poorly. No one would lock up a baby in a wire cage for the rest of his or her life, would they? if anyone did do that, the person would be locked up in jail. Why shouldn't dogs be held on the same pedestal? They are as helpless as human babies. Just because an animal's life is "less significant" than a human's life does not give people the right to openly abuse animals. I understand that, if in a life or death situation, the human comes first. But when there is the luxury of treating both existences equally, what would prevent you from doing that?
I don't know of many pet stores around here that sell puppies (if you know one, tell me please:]) but next time i plan to go to one of those stores and inform the customers about puppy mills if they plan to buy a puppy. I want to be able to make a real difference.

Lysistrata Blog 10

This play was considerably happier, less morbid, and funnier than the house of bernarda alba and Hedda Gabler.
You've got the women in Lysistrata; thinking about sex, abstinence, and the right thing to do for the greater good. they took action and did something positive. Hedda and Adela took action too, but that ended badly. And the women in The House of Bernarda Alba and Hedda Gabler were portrayed almost negatively. The women in Lysistrata were headstrong and willing to do something good. The women in the House of Bernarda Alba were constantly bickering with each other, gossiping, and off being scandalous. The women in Hedda Gabler were either your typical motherly woman type, obedient wife type, or socially defiant crazy type who goes and kills herself in the end.
Overall, Lysistrata was positive in both categories: The way women were portrayed (slightly sex-addictive but we'll forgive aristophanes for that one) and the ending. The House of Bernarda Alba and Hedda Gabler epically fail in those categories because the other characters continue as if nothing happened which means Adela and Hedda died for nothing.

Lysistrata Blog 9

Was it ethical of Lysistrata to use Peace (the girl) as a sacrifice to negotiate the treaty?
First of all, how old was this girl?? I hope she wasn't like 16. That's just wrong. But i have a feeling that she was unusually young.
Did she consent? you can't just offer other people as a "gift" for the men to ogle at. well, i guess she wasn't really a part of the treaty, she was more of a distraction. but at what price? it's kind of dehumanizing and humiliating. whoever this Peace girl was, she had a lot of influence. Probably partly because she was naked. but anyway, on page 101 Lysistrata asks Peace to lead the Spartans and the Athenians close together. Here comes the pun again. Peace was able to bring the two opposing forces together as well as peace, the concept. Since the two sides were at war, the only way to stop it was to have peace. Peace was calming and was able to effectively lead them close to Lysistrata.
She also never talks. That makes her seem as if she was just an object; something pretty to look at. How could Lysistrata do that to a fellow woman? wasn't that sort of demeaning sexism she was fighting against? She only supported it. I'm disappointed in you, Lysistrata.

Lysistrata Blog 8

"She left our home, and happiness went with her. Now pain is the tenant. Oh, to enter that wifeless house, to sense that awful emptiness, to eat that tasteless, joyless food- it makes it hard I tell you. Harder all the time" Kinesias says this when trying to get Lysistrata to send Myrrhine down(81).
Does Kinesias say this because he truly loves and misses Myrrhine?
I don't believe he does. His last statements back up the fact that he only wants to see his wife so he can have sex with her. And it also backs up Myrrhine's assumption that Kinesias does not want her love.
It's interesting that Kinesias would approach the women in this manner. He tries to seem approachable and agreeable; willing to compromise just to see his wife. It's almost sweet, if it wasn't so fake. Apparently men can't fend for themselves. They can't cook or even change a baby's diaper on their own. And the house seems "empty" and sad without a woman which would be really touching if he didn't mean that now he couldn't have sex.
But maybe it's not fake. Maybe Myrrhine really is Kinesias' happiness and soulmate. and this also allows insight into the lives of the people at this time. Men today can cook but men back then would starve without women, i guess. and babies will go without baths or food.

Lysistrata Blog 7

Why did Lysistrata bring the girl Peace along when meeting with the Spartans and Athenians?
I think it was to distract the men but also keep them focused at the same time. as crazy as that may sound, i think it might have worked. The men were after Peace, not the concept. but if Peace were not there, the men might not have wanted to compromise to get peace. This pun is almost too perfect to explain.
Peace might also have distracted the men from what they actually wanted to compromise for. The men were desperate for sex and they agreed to everything. So Lysistrata distracted them to keep them focused.

Lysistrata Blog 6

I think this play had just too much happening in such a short time. First it starts with the men and women fighting. then they get along. Then the fight again. and then they make up. And i think it's outrageous that it was ONLY A DAY!! oh my god, these people don't wait for much, nor can they. they needed sex and that's why they compromised so fast.
It was quite comical though. But there were a lot of random things happening. maybe it was the translator's fault. it was shocking that he said he put in metaphors to make up for the ones he took out and stuff like that. doesn't that change the whole meaning and purpose of the play? imagine how much we might have missed because we couldn't read the original copy. That's just a little disappointing. Language jokes are the funniest but you can't fully understand those jokes unless you really know the language.

Lysistrata Blog 5

I saw the Boycott yesterday and it was inspiring. First of all, Kathryn Blume is an amazing actress. She was so well composed and seemed to know her lines so well. She also performed amazingly. if they had actually made the play into a movie, i'm sure it would have been awesome because she already made us see props that weren't actually there and feel the tension between two people even though she was the only one performing.
The play was pretty much a parody of Lysistrata except that Lysistrata in itself is already really funny. I'm amazed that there are people that are able to practice so much environmentally friendly things. I wish we could. It's hard for an individual to keep up with these kind of things because it's easy to forget. and it's really inconvenient. Say you're the only one who doesn't use plastic. Imagine what life would be like if you wanted apple juice! You would have to pick and apple (organic, of course) and then use the juice squeezer and... ohh it's just too much work. well, there has to be something we can do. since the juice squeezer would be made of plastic.

Lysistrata Blog 4

How significant is the women's disobedience in Lysistrata?
When the women in Lysistrata display their defiance and work against the men of the city it shows their strong will and nature and their capability to be equal to men in ideas and rights. The women show that they can fight against men equally and prove their strength in taking the objects that are considered "feminine", such as cooking utensils, and using them against the men. This defiance shows that even familiar and seemingly safe objects (or people) can become dangerous in a matter of seconds.
The women show their capability to organize a revolt. They broke out of their social hierarchy, a brave decision, to improve their life for everyone. It also shows the extent to which they want to advocate peace over war. They are showing the men that their slogan is "make love, not war" but, ironically, use violence to get peace.
The status quo for women is being a housewife in a private sphere. They only have power within the house, not publicly. The men's status quo is war and having power in public. The women use violence and abstinence from sex to show that they can be on the same level as the men.

Lysistrata Blog 3

"Make love, not war"
The over-used phrase during times of war that probably originated from Lysistrata. If people today used tactics like that, would the war in Iraq come to a peaceful end?
I don't think it would be very effective; the people who are serving in the war are overseas and are not able to see their husbands/wives/boyfriends/girlfriends until they could come home. People today don't value their relationships as much as the people in Lysistrata did. The troops could probably pay for a prostitute or something :o not trying to be bogus or anything.
But say everyone really did abstain. I still don't think that would be very effective. People can't be that desperate for sex. I mean, sure the people in Lysistrata couldn't last one day without sex but that's just for humor, right? There are people that are celibate their whole lives. I think they can handle a few years in order to finish a war. Unless it's a stupid war. Then maybe the leaders would try to quickly compromise.

Lysistrata Blog 2

"Oh, I do love him! I'm mad about him! But he doesn't want my love" (81). Myrrhine says this when Kinesias comes to visit her in an attempt to have sex with her.
It's kinda sad that the women all love their husbands but they know that their husbands want only the sex aspect of the relationship. That makes me angry that the women would put up with something like that. They know that the men only want sex but they continue those relationships.
if these relationships are based on sex, i wonder what happened after the truce; were the men angry at their wives? Were the relationships fixed? Did the men respect their wives more?

Lysistrata Blog 1

What would have happened if the men didn't agree to end the war? would the women have been able to continue to abstain or would they have given in? I believe that the women would have given in because they were also desperate for sex. The women even try running away by giving excuses such as taking care of the wool in the house, peeling flax, and even not wanting to give birth on forbidden ground (70-72). This shows that the women are very desperate to get out of Athenes and back to their husbands. They already showed signs of reluctance to agree to the oath in the beginning. Kleonike says, " there's nothing like it, Lysistrata!" (26). And Myrrhine would rather "walk through fire" (26).
However, the women were able to tempt the men without giving in. In pages 81 to 90, Myrrhine tempts Kinesias but then leaves him uncomfortable and alone on the cot. This shows her strong will because she said before the encounter, "Oh, I do love him! I'm mad about him!" (81).
Overall though, i believe that the women would have given in and the war would go on if the men didn't agree to end the war first.