From the Mailbag

[Trigger warning; there's a great video at the end you should definitely check out if nothing else, though—and it needs no trigger warning. Joyblub warning, maybe!]

Shaker Carrie sends this deeply distressing and potentially triggering article about the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refusing to "review the asylum case of a woman whose father has said he will bring her back to Senegal, circumcise her and marry her off to a much older man." The unbelievable majority opinion of the court was that it "must defer to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which found that [Francoise A. Gomis] failed to prove it was 'more likely than not' she would be circumcised," despite her testimony that her younger sister had been forcibly subjected to genital mutilation.

More violent misogyny in the Odd/Weird News Sections: Shaker Nancy Shrew found Women beaten for bad karaoke filed under "weird" news, and Shaker Carmen found this post about a serial sexual offender story being filed under "weird" news.

Shaker MorganP sends this story about the ongoing slaughter of albinos in Tanzania for the belief that their bodies contain magical healing powers. [strong trigger warning for graphic descriptions of violence]

Shaker Julia forwards this piece with the note: "This column asks, 'Should a mom be singing about threesomes?' because Britney Spears' new single '3' is apparently about threesomes. And so, apparently, that means we're all allowed to talk about what Britney 'should' and 'shouldn't' be singing about."

Shaker EastSideKate forwards this hot mess with the note: "Most fail-worthy line: 'Data revealed that more than 80% of people entering the nightclub did so without a partner and so were potentially sexually available'."

And, to end on a positive note, Shaker Megan sends this video:

Too Big for My Skin, by Desdamona

My momma never told a lie, she couldn't when the truth was clear
Through stretch marks and crow's feet, the truth is what she told me
Not through words, but through the curve of her hips
The gleam in her eyes, the memories on her lips
She is so beautiful, that her skin can't even keep her concealed
She is so beautiful, that in her early days
She carried another life inside her, manifested the fire
Sending her existence higher
She has tracks on her breasts, stretched and pressed
From days where there was no time to rest
And she gave birth to my dreams, unselfishly
Because hers she could not see
She never told me how to live, she showed me
She showed me the moon, sun, and stars in her belly
She showed me the dirt on the soles of her feet
Cracked and worn into painfully beautiful designs
Marking her travels and mine
And my spirit dances in her eyes
And no matter how far I try to run, there inside I will reside
And when she flies, part of me will die
Lifeline stretched like the marks on belly and breast
And I will strive to survive with the rest
Imitating her breath
Rhythms resumed inside hardheaded womb and she whispers to me in my dreams
that things aren't always what they seem
She tells me that I am things I cannot conceive
And she tells me that my hips, could never be too big
And that those stretch marks don't mean a thing
She said - that's just your flesh trying to sing!
She says, don't ever let someone try to take what is within
And if they tell you you're too big for a woman
Tell them - you're just too big for your skin

Tell them, a body, just can't hold all this beauty
Tell them, they only wish they had hills and valleys like the Earth
They can criticize, but they will never give birth
to the love that rests in your breast
They will never see the life in your hands
And you can never, expect them to understand
Too big for your skin, she says, too big for this Earth
Too big for anyone to ever return your worth
Lips like peaches, plump nectar sweet
When your belly shakes with laughter it sends earthquakes and tremors
Keeping time with your heart, beats arms like ivy
Twisting, taking it all into your hands
Fingertips like matches, setting flame to all you touch
They may try to call you a witch
Because they cannot grasp the magic you possess
And they cannot even begin to imagine the tenderness of your caress
Your memory expands past what your eyes can see
And you can use this knowledge to set you free
You are too big for your skin
Not too skinny, too fat, too ugly, too pretty
Too white, too black, she says
You are too big for your skin
And honey, there ain't one thing bad about that.