Let’s Raise One Up for Lady Parts Justice

Calling all ladies/people- the ones who give a shit about politics, believe that yes, the personal IS political, the gals and pals who want to embrace their beautiful-no-matta-what bodies and would appreciate free reign to do what they want with them, too.  This is a casting call for all the people who are grasping at a chance to fight injustice, be involved, and shout “I AM A FEMINIST AND I AM PROUD” from the rooftops (this is a personal fantasy of mine).

Enter, Lady Parts Justice and our love story:

I recently bought a t-shirt off a neat website called Prinkshop, a shop that makes swag items identifying pertinent social issues in need of attention.  They partner with “trailblazing organizations,” and donate 30% of their profits to the imminent cause.  With recent news and politics swirling around women’s reproductive rights, I have grown weary, thinking how illogical it it feels to have a majority of white, conservative, heteronormative old men deciding what I can and cannot do with my body, my corporeal property.  Because of this notion of absurdity, the t-shirt I purchased features the black and white silhouette of an hourglass female body with the bold words “YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF V” set in the middle.  It is simple.  It is bold.  It rocks.  This purchase led me to research the organization it would be profiting, Lady Parts Justice (LPJ).  The first thing that strikes me on their website is their symbol, that of Lady Justice, *all hail the Roman Goddess*, holding her sword and in the place of scales, a freaking uterus (I badly want this image in life-size form and in the middle of my house).  Next was a pop-up willing me to “SIGN-UP TO THROW A LADY PARTS PARTY” in order to educate women about their slowly disappearing rights in the good ol’ U.S. of A.  It’s real.  It’s happening.  And we should throw an extravaganza to do a little consciousness-raising, amirite?  

The organization promotes comedy and the consumption of alcohol, sisterhood, equality, political action, and having one hell of a time together on the road to equality.  It is feminism as I’ve never seen it before.  Upon further research I discovered the history behind their name, a homage to former Michigan state rep Lisa Brown.  Brown was banned from the statehouse floor after mentioning the scandalous, obviously inflammatory term “vagina” in her argument against a bill seeking to require transvaginal ultrasounds.  That’s right, amidst her impassioned speech to block this bill, one centered entirely on vaginas and those who possess them, Brown was silenced after using the biologically correct term because it was deemed “offensive” and prompted to instead use the proper, easy-to-digest term, “lady parts.”  This ludicrous event and “the offensive nature of men uncomfortable with the word vagina, but perfectly comfortable legislating it” inspired LPJ to claim it as their name.

Their story, their videos, their e-mails and parties and especially their humor, are what makes LPJ worthy of celebration and inspiration to feminists everywhere.  A featured tweet rests at the top of their webpage establishing their motto, “LPJ is a cabal of comics and writers exposing creeps hellbent on destroying access to birth control and abortion.  Inclusive.  Intersectional.  Fun as Fuck.”  I don’t use this term lightly but…*raises hands in praise* yaaaaaas.  This is consciousness-raising in its most exhilarating form.  So get your pals, your uteri, your booze and your foods (what even is a party without snacks), and gather together for a grand ol’ time.  Cheers to fighting the patriarchy!

In the spirit of LPJ’s e-mail sign offs: Yours In Outrage, inthemotheroffing

featured image screenshot here by inthemotheroffing