A family emergency and the subsequent attempts to get back on my feet – which included a bit of make-up work – has precluded me from getting much reading, research, or writing done this past month. Fortunately, I managed to set everything back on track this afternoon. And just in time to fill people in on what’s going on with the Houston Public Library, too.

Starting on April 17th, budget cuts at HPL forced the institution to scale back on its hours at all locations. More information on the ins and outs of the decision can be found right on their website, so there is little need to really delve into all of the details here on Burning Leaves. At first, I was content to show my appreciation through donating books to the Friends of the Houston Public Library, rearranging my schedule so I could volunteer at the downtown branch (as it is right here in my neighborhood), and writing a letter to the mayor and my local City Council representative requesting that they find some way of maintaining the original hours without contending with debt. Perhaps better empowering Houstonians to donate their used books, movies, and CDs, organize book drives, volunteer their time, sign up for donation programs at Kroger or Randalls, and/or patronize the Annual Book Sale and Children’s Book Sale as well.

After all…the library does so much for our community. In its time of need, we should band together and do what we can to give back in whatever way we can.

Nobody realizes this more than Gretchen, whose attempt to mobilize Houstonians towards taking an active role in keeping the library open inspired me to approach the issue from a more inclusive, communal standpoint. By making more people aware of the situation, Gretchen’s discussion opened up readers’ eyes to the various ways in which the new hours will impact the city. The open dialogue format also led to some more detailed possible solutions as well. Taking everyone’s opinions into consideration, I offered to write up a form letter for time-crunched people to copy and paste into e-mails, letters, or faxes. Quite a bit of passion went into the responses left on Gretchen’s forum, and my most earnest gratitude goes out to everyone who participated. Thank you very much to everyone who participated! And, of course, to everyone who may participate in the future…

For those interested in showing how much they love the library by fighting to find a viable means of maintaining their original hours, I am reprinting the form letter right here. I did what I could to incorporate all of the concerns and suggestions mentioned in the talk.

Please remember to read over and customize the letter with the date, your name and contact information, the recipient’s name and any personal anecdotes or issues. If you do not know who your City Council representative is, please check the City of Houston’s eGovernment Center for a quick, painless means of snagging all the information you need. Contact information for Mayor Annise Parker can be found right here for those who would like to voice their concerns to her as well.

For the sake of transparency, this particular entry will also be cross-posted at my book review blog Burning Leaves as well. I welcome any suggestions you may have on ways to improve the form letter. And if any of you have written up any letters of your own and would like to share, I would very much like to read them! So feel free to leave those in the comments section if you’d like! Or you can express any opinions that were not covered in the form letter…or your experiences with the Houston Public Library…or, you know, pretty much anything so long as you stay civil.

Thank you everyone for anything and everything you may do to rally behind this intellectual and social necessity.

~Meredith

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To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing you to express my apprehension regarding the new hours at the Houston Public Library. While I fully understand the reasoning behind the decision, I believe that such a move will ultimately send negative reverberations throughout the city. In 2008, 797,603 Houstonians[1] circulated an average of 18,205 books, movies, and musical recordings[2] and took advantage of the 956 public access computers[3]. A further 263,748 attended the diverse selection of programs[4] as well – fully solidifying its role as an absolutely integral facet of our community. To cut back on the libraries’ hours is to deny the citizenry myriad opportunities to engage and improve itself.

Even looking beyond the complimentary intellectual and creative stimulation bursting promisingly from the shelves, the free computer usage offers local children and teenagers from economically deprived areas many of the resources needed to complete their academic assignments. The after school and weekend programs provide them with a nurturing environment that facilitates personal growth and teaches them how to channel their energies into positive activities. Unemployed or homeless adults can take advantage of the free internet access to make valuable connections that will help them greatly improve their lives and become productive members of society. Every additional hour the library closes only further marginalizes the demographics needing its services the most. Without access to computers, internet, financial guidance, and activities, they lack the most essential resources required to better their lives and must contend with intensified frustration and hopelessness.

I realize the Houston Public Library’s decision was not made with the intention of shoving its most desperate patrons towards the fringes of society, but that stands as the most unfortunate and dire consequence. To resolve it, I support a contemporary’s proposition for a 1¢ per $100 valuation tax for libraries and propose a reevaluation of budget to discover the best route towards providing the populace the services necessary to finish homework, network to find jobs and homes, and grow into well-adjusted individuals who contribute to the community. I also believe that far more attention should be paid to the institution’s plight as a means of empowering Houstonians to take action. Open up to us. Let us know – in detail – everything you struggle with and what we as a people can do to give back to the organization that has already given us so much. Such transparency will encourage us to pool our time, money, and resources and make sure that all of the libraries’ needs are met without compromising their core goals and amazingly helpful services.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

I wanted to share a couple of articles with you all that debunk a lot of misconceptions about both eating disorders and suicide – an issue which occasionally factors into the equation. In the interest of full disclosure, I actually know the individual who wrote them and asked permission to share. I have also double-checked the research against sources such as the National Institute of Mental Health to make sure that everything these articles have to offer comes from the most reliable information available – any skeptics are more than welcome to do the same. At no point has PR Unfriendly received any money to share these, either, and if someone has I will personally bop them on the head and send them on their way.

The Physical Therapy Blog at Physical Therapy Assistant Schools writes about 10 Common Myths about Eating Disorders. #8 – “The Eating Disordered Only Care about Looking Pretty” is a particularly disheartening falsehood that many family, friends, and contemporaries of the victims still stick with as fact.

The X-Ray Vision-aries Blog at X-Ray Technician Schools featured an article on 10 Common Myths about Suicide that is both heartwrenching and informative. Even if it doesn’t seem like it fully correlates with anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS, and binge eating disorder, at their core is a feeling of helplessness – not to mention the massive role that depression frequently plays in both. At the end of the write-up is a listing of extremely useful resources on preventing and reaching out to those considering suicide, so I would encourage anyone who loves someone who frequently struggles against these sorts of emotions to give it a read.

Feel free to discuss any other myths you can think of – or if you disagree with any of them, you are more than welcome to bring up your qualms as well! Just remember to be respectful of others, of course.

-Meredith

Thank you very much, Alejna and Collecting Tokens! We hope to see you around again someday!

-Meredith

May today be a day when battles are fought with words and barbs tear apart hatred – but not the haters.

May today be a day when the marginalized look to the future with hope in their eyes instead of dread in their hearts.

May today be a day when we are all willing to die for justice instead of live for complacency.

May today be a day to remember that no person is defined by any individual characteristic.

May today be a day when doing the right thing takes precedence over doing the popular thing.

May today be a day when we love our friends and family for everything they are and not everything we wish they could be.

May today be a day where the measure of a person is not the color of their skin. Nor the consenting adults they take to bed. Nor the shape of their bodies. Nor their politics. Nor their religion. Nor the clothes on their back. But rather the shape of their heart and the intentions they hold.

Thank you, Dr. King. Without your courage, your devotion, none of what we have today would have been possible. You’re an inspiration for all of us who choose to fight. All of us who choose to believe. All of us who choose to stand up for justice.

Thank you for…

…I Have a Dream

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

…and so very, very much more. We are forever in debt to your memory, forever in debt to your true love for humanity.

-The PR Unfriendly Crew

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Ethics Guideline: Everything will be followed by the APA guidelines in ethics and handling of risk factors. (this will be elaborated more)

Method for creating questionnaire: Gather all textbooks used in health classes across Houston schools and surround areas. To cover the general area with a easier sample gathering, an inquiry of textbooks used by school district. Make a list of frequencies of  what the textbooks on the mention about the signs of Anorexia and Bulimia. See if there are any sections or chapters covering the mention of the internet age on promoting these disorders, and self-esteem.

After comparing the textbooks, create a questionnaire which can cover the mention of these textbooks. This will be tested knowledge of textbook versus Classroom application/material not shown in the book.

Data Gathered so for Textbook used by school district:
District – Textbook
HISD – Glencoe Health
Tomball ISD - Texas Lifetime Health published by Holt
Alief ISD – check syllabus

It seems as if everyone had understandably been swamped by the holidays as well, but now that we’re all back to normal…why don’t you consider perhaps contributing? We’re always looking for fresh new voices and perspectives on the frustrations and social ills we encounter on a daily basis. And remember – it doesn’t have to share any parallels with our current social justice project. We really hope you’ll consider!

In the meantime, Fight the Pro-Ana is almost ready to unveil the questionnaire to be sent to all of the school districts in Harris County. We already received quite a few positive responses to e-mails asking about what textbooks are currently being used in high school health classes – which Ms. Rüya is using to finalize and streamline the poll. Considering the quick feedback we received when inquiring about textbooks, we are hoping that the response to questions regarding eating disorder education and awareness of the potential health hazards present in the Pro-Ana movement will follow suit.

While we wait to formally announce the transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2, I would like to share with you a few links to some great websites dedicated to empowering women (and, occasionally, men) towards developing a healthy, positive body image. Posts associated with Fight the Pro-Ana have tended to focus mainly on those who foster – even actively encourage – negativity towards one’s own appearance. It’s about time we started looking at the antidote. At the people taking advantage of their time, resources, and experiences to ensure that nobody falls victim to hating themselves for not fitting into one arbitrary ideal.

This is only a small cross-section of websites, of course – just a couple of favorites to share and promote. We encourage anyone with any other suggestions to please share them in the comments section!

We Are The Real Deal – This impressively comprehensive blog inspires women to love and embrace themselves regardless of whether or not they conform to the unrealistic image of female beauty the media tries to sell. They post frequent articles on positive and negative trends regarding fashion and body image and host an extremely active, vibrant, and insightful community. We would encourage anyone who feels uncomfortable inside his or her own skin to seek out this blog and become surrounded by positive support that will never cut someone down for looking “different.”

We Bite Back – We’ve discussed We Bite Back on here before, but they warrant a second mention. They provide a recovery option for those formerly entrenched in the Pro-Ana movement and seeking real, honest therapy with a community that wishes to heal instead of hurt.

About-Face – These body image activists have taken to the streets and launched nonviolent, completely legal forms of protest that inspire women to think they are attractive and desirable no matter what the media may say. They post up regular lists of businesses that embrace diverse body shapes and do not treat women as objects as well as those who exist as part of the problem.

Obviously, this is by no means a comprehensive list. But all 3 of these sites are available for your perusal on the side of the page as well. We hope you will give them a chance and see all the wonderful things they are doing to help build people up instead of cutting them down for being “different.” And – again! – we hope you will share some of your favorite sites with the same messages.

More to come!

-Meredith

So it is with pride that we publicly thank Sabriel Rüya for all the hard work she has put into this project. After the finals capping off her hectic semester, she will have more time to devote to helping us better formulate poll questions in a reliable, respectable manner. In addition, she was also responsible for submitting the insightful video provided in this previous post.

Sabriel is operating under a pseudonym for her safety.

-Meredith

The morning hadn’t gone very well. I walked out of my office for my lunch break a wreck. I could feel the breakdown that I feared right over my shoulder, and all I had to do was make it to the safety of my truck and I could just let it out. I almost welcomed it. I got in my vehicle and turned on the radio and closed my eyes and prepared to give in to my sadness and my loathing.

And then a funny thing happened. The guitar part starts quietly but quickly. I know what it is instantly, and better still I know what is coming. The moment that happens at :10 can be described a variety of ways; objectively, it’s nothing more than a chord strum and the tapping of some high hats, but on a physical and mental and emotional level it resonates in me every time I hear it. And as I sat in my truck with my head full of emotions and my eyes closed, I let the song take over. And even though the lyrics have nothing to do with what’s going on in my life, I can feel the change in me. When the opening guitar part repeats itself later in the song, I’m already starting to feel better. It’s when the chorus kicks in for the last time that I open my eyes, put the truck in reverse, and decide that today is not that day I’m going to curl up and die.

4 minutes I go from feeling that everything I’ve done is hopeless to feeling like I can handle anything. For me that’s the power of music.

Music has always been a way of coping for me. Some people, they get upset and they go out for a run; or they break something; or they go buy ice cream; or they have a drink or 10. For me, when I’m upset, immediately it becomes a search for what song will be convey this moment for me. Is it something slow and broody and wordless? Is it something full of angst and screaming? Is it something direct and heartfelt?

The music does something to me, stirs something in me. It can help give a frame of reference to a bad situation. It can provide something to focus on other than whatever it is that is making me upset. Most importantly, it can serve as a reminder that no matter what I’m feeling, I’m not the first to feel this way. Loss, hurt, disappointment… these are all universal concepts that we can all identify with. Knowing that someone else has been in that place before is reassuring, and can be a source for hope.

I believe that the best songs, the perfect songs, they’ll find you. So many times in my life I’ve been in a moment of hurt or weakness, when the songs that usually help aren’t. And somehow, be it dumb like or divine intervention, the random or fate, something has come along for me to seek comfort in.

Songs, they might not fix my problems or change my world, but they do manage to make the world seem less bleak. They help me find the words when I can’t conjure them up myself. Make a sad heart feel a little less hopeless.

So what happens, that day, if “Everlong” doesn’t come on the radio? I can’t tell you. For that, I am thankful.

Does that mean PR Unfriendly is done for? Absolutely not! For as hectic as life is right now, this is a labor of love with a message I am passionate about. Remember, though, that you are most welcome to send in submissions of your own – I’d love to have some new voices chiming in!

Normally I would not consider it my place to discuss my other writing projects in this space. However, I was not paid for this essay – nor will I – and I wanted to share it simply because it has some relevance to current discussions. This was an essay I wrote for the blogs at Skirt! Houston, and it deals with how I had to come to terms with my appearance, perceptions of my appearance, and the role fashion plays in society. I feel as if it dovetails harmoniously with many of the themes of PR Unfriendly and wanted to share it with you all. Perhaps show people who do or have felt similar that they are not alone.

It is titled Dedicated Follower of Fashion?, and I hope that someone, somewhere, gets something out of it. I also hope that many of you will open up about your own experiences as well. Please send in your own essays and stories, as I’d love to post the perspectives of others in the interim between Fight the Pro Ana Phase I and Phase II!!

-Meredith

In the meantime, however, I have been honored to receive e-mails with information that some of our contributors have been very eager to share. Both were completely unexpected and unsolicited, so it’s wonderful to see that others have been taking an interest in supporting Fight the Pro-Ana with their own personal research and findings! Thank you both for everything you’ve done!

The first comes to us from a contributer who wishes to remain anonymous. It’s an insightful video lecture from the University of Houston’s psychology department, with the class labeled as PSYC 3339: Introduction to Clinical Psychology and taught by Dr. Edward Sheridan. He discusses bulimia as it relates to society, other panic disorders, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Much of this, of course, ties into some of the research presented earlier in this project, and I am appreciative that this video was brought to my attention.

Agent Provocateur of Twitter and frequent contributer Cory Garcia has discovered yet another Ars Technica article relevant to Fight the Pro Ana’s interests. The project has been explicitly against calling for outright censorship due to its violation of the First Amendment, choosing instead to urge parents, teachers, school boards, server hosts, and others to practice discretion as to whether or not they would allow Pro-Ana websites to prolificate. As always, censorship is a thorny issue wrought with any number of variables. But its subjective nature can certainly lead to interesting and enlightening debates from multiple perspectives - when executed civilly, it is certainly an activity that PR Unfriendly stands behind.

According to the Jacqui Cheng article Cory discovered, the French parliament is considering a law that requires Photoshopped images of the human form to carry a warning label. The intent is to promote a positive, healthy body image amongst the French peoples, alerting them to the ways in which the media can instill insecurity and promote unrealistic expectations through the manipulation of photographs. It doesn’t outright ban Photoshopping – merely the use of a clear indication that a photo had been altered.

With the knowledge that France has also passed laws against Pro-Ana websites – which Fight the Pro-Ana has discussed before – there are several perspectives as to whether or not their efforts infringe upon free speech or if their obviously altruistic intentions override it. I could pose a myriad of questions on the topic, but I’d much rather hear what readers have to say and what sorts of issues they may or may not take with France’s decision. As always, post without fear of being insulted for your beliefs – all perspectives deserve an equal chance to be heard. Anyone caught being outright disrespectful or degrading towards other’s opinions, however, will have their comments deleted.

-Meredith