KJ Elizabeth

I just uploaded some old photos to my flickr account, including shots from a trip to Germany and various rallies and protests in Melbourne in the late 1990s.

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I just watched Jenny McCarthy on Oprah talk about her child’s autism and wanted to write down some thoughts I had.

Jenny McCarthy says that vaccination, received just prior to 2 years of age, triggered her son’s autism. However she also said the signs of her son’s autism were present at age one, which was several months before he received the vaccination. She still blames the vaccination though.

I found it interesting that she mentioned her ex-husband’s aloofness and apparent lack of concern when their child was having seizures and also when he was diagnosed with autism. She explained this as how he dealt with the pain of it all. Maybe. Or maybe the father has traits of autism himself, which their son may have inherited.

Jenny McCarthy also talks about her child as if he is healing from autism and has hardly any signs of autism left “he’s in constant recovery”. I think this kind of talk gives people false hope. If he’s in constant recovery, he still constantly has autism. She’s not healing her son’s autism, she’s managing the condition. Successfully apparently, so all power to her. But to call it recovery… that’s a stretch.

McCarthy joins the chorus of parents who say vaccinations cause autism. These parents always point to the massive increase in autism diagnosis in the past two decades to support their claim. “Rates of autism are on the rise” is the phrase they use. This is a misleading statement. The rate of diagnosis of autism is on the rise, and there are many reasons for this. It may be because there are in fact more cases of autism, but it may also be because detection of autism is significantly better than it used to be thanks to better awareness and education about autism among doctors and the public at large. The condition has been underdiagnosed for decades, past rates of autism did not reflect the actual rates. It is also the case that Asperger’s Syndrome, at the mild end of the autism spectrum, has only been recognised and diagnosed in the past 15 years or so. This in of itself is a significant reason why rates of autism diagnosis are higher than they used to be.

To say rates of autism are on the rise without acknowledging these factors is misleading. Under-diagnosis and the relatively recent recognition of Asperger’s Syndrome probably cannot account for the increase in rates of diagnosis on their own, but they would play a significant part. There probably is another factor - but I’m not convinced vaccination is it, although I remain open to the possibility.

Another two points on the vaccination issue, autism existed before children were universally vaccinated, and although all children are vaccinated, boys are more likely to have autism than girls.

If autism is on the rise, I think it will be shown to be due to an increase in thyroid dysfunction and hormone problems in pregnant women. Preliminary research has indicated an association between thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy and autism. I think this research will yield more answers than the issue of vaccination.

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Some news. Last week I sent off a bunch of old zines from my collection to the lovely Elle from Sticky. She helps manage the zine collection in the rare books section at the State Library in Melbourne. I was going to have them thrown in Sticky’s exchange box but Elle suggested I donate them to the Library. That was hands down a much better idea, so at some point in the future there will be a box of zine goodies in the library’s collection labeled ‘KJ Elizabeth’. BTW if you’d like to view the State Library’s zine collection, you can do so by making an appointment via Elle at Sticky or through the rare printed collections staff at the library. I’m told the collection is massive and goes back to the early 80s.

Still on zines. A few months ago I was invited along with many other grrl zinesters around the globe to contribute to an international anthology of grrl zines. The anthology is the work of Grrrlzines.net. I’m a little out of the loop with zines these days due to the PhD, but I was able to put something of a scene report together. After asking around it seems that there are almost no zine distros left in Australia, apart from one anarchist focused one (Beating Hearts). Sad to see.

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It’s been reported that Australian fashion designers have criticised the Prime Minster’s wife, Therese Rein, for her apparent poor fashion sense. It’s unfortunate that in this day and age the number one thing an accomplished and high profile woman is criticised for is her clothes. It’s alright for the blokes, all they have to do is whack on a boring suit and their set. While it might be true that sometimes Ms Rein looks like she just stepped out of the 80s, the beef I’d like to make is with the fashion designers who have made these criticisms.

NOTE TO FASHION DESIGNERS - If you bothered to make clothing for women like Therese who are on the voluptuous side, perhaps they would wear them. How dare you exclude full-figured women from your range of clothes sizes and then criticise them when they wear other clothing that you don’t approve of. I can’t imagine that stylish formal business clothes in plus sizes are in ample supply. Many “larger” women would love to be better dressed, but the only fashion readily able to them is god awful. What is the purpose of airing these trivial criticisms in public anyway? If it’s that much of a problem, would it be too much for someone to pull her aside and have a quiet word?

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News and magazine columnists across the western world are celebrating the rise of in-your-face sexuality as a sure sign that the modern woman is sexually empowered and liberated. From my point of view, I don’t see that much to celebrate. If we take a moment to look at what is underlining and motivating this in-your-face brand of sexuality, I would argue that quite the reverse is true, and that this so called empowerment and liberation is based on false and dangerous pretenses.

The aggressive “predatory” sexuality we see is not an indication of her liberation, but rather a measure of the depths of her insecurity and the lengths she’s prepared to go to boost it. She’s not pursuing pleasure, she’s pursuing validation.

The social value and self worth of women is intertwined with the extent to which she is sexually and physically attractive and attentive to the desires of men. A truly liberated woman, who is also highly sexual and upfront about what or who she wants, will not resort to the level of aggressive sexuality we see from insecure women, because her self validation is not based on the approval of men. If someone doesn’t want her, or respond to her advances, she doesn’t need to take it further. She does not need to present herself as an irresistible sex kitten 24/7, in every social situation, because she doesn’t need him/men for self-validation. Her self worth comes from a higher source; herself.

The “out there” sexuality of the modern woman is an unconscious smoke screen. If she doesn’t receive the kind and level of attention she needs to satisfy her sense of self worth and validation, she will try and make them give it to her by overwhelming them with her unbridled sexuality. In no way shape or form is this true emancipation and empowerment. It’s the same old story about women not feeling good enough about themselves, wrapped in a sexy scantily clad guise.

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