November 2004 Archives

As cnn.com reports, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on sex discrimination in school sports. At issue is whether Congress intended to allow lawsuits by those who complain of gender bias -- even if they are not direct victims -- when it passed Title IX barring discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds.

According to NPR, the original case involved a coach who said he was fired after complaining that girls' basketball teams at an Alabama high school got fewer resources than boys' teams.

Go Justice Ginsburg! We'll keep you posted as this case develops...

Pic from WNBA

The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that the stress of racism on pregnant African American women may cause their children to be born with a low birth-weight.

According to the article, several studies recently published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the “psychological stress of experiencing racial discrimination is at least partly responsible” for low birth-weight and premature babies.

Some possible triggers discussed in the research included stress-induced raised blood pressure, the release of a particular hormone linked to preterm deliveries, and the lowering of women’s immune system because of stress.

Talk about the far-reaching effects of racism…these kids aren’t even born yet and they’re feeling it. Sad.

Are you a law student? Can you make it to the Boston Area in February? If so, this post is for you.

Law Students For Choice is holding their first ever national conference on February 5th and 6th at Harvard Law School. Confirmed legal panels include international reproductive rights issues, abstinence-only education, Latina priorities in the reproductive health movement, the courts, and anti-choice strategies to change the legal status of pregnant women.

In addition to legal panels, workshops focused on activism skills will provide helpful advice for on-campus events and campaigns, professional training, and curriculum reform. Opening and closing messages will be given from Louise Melling (President of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project) and Elizabeth Cavendish (Interim Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America).

Law student registration for the weekend conference will be a sliding scale of $35-50. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Boston-area law students are currently coordinating a network of couches for activists to sleep on as needed and many law students have funds available for conference travel.

Law students are young leaders in the reproductive rights movement. This is a chance to meet, build knowledge and skills, expand networks, and turn our ideas into action.

The Washington Post reported today that a "federal appeals court prohibited the government from withholding funds from colleges and universities that refuse to cooperate with military recruiters because of the Pentagon's discrimination against gays in the armed forces."

RIGHT ON! This is wonderful news.

Here's the deal: Colleges and law schools around the country have been, over the last few years, protesting military recruiters on campus because of the military's discrimination against gays. [A few weeks ago here at the University of Michigan Law School people wore suits in protest of JAG recruiters. It was really powerful.]

In late 2001, the Pentagon (gotta love Rumsfeld) sent letters to more than 20 law schools threatening to cut off their federal funding unless they stopped. Gotta love free speech!

According to the Post, when faced with this threat, the law schools began cooperating with the Pentagon but filed complaints in federal court seeking to overturn the law.

"Yesterday's ruling in a case ... overturned a decision by a lower court judge and marked the first time an appeals court had blocked the government from enforcing the law."

YEE FUCKING HAW!!!!! Take that Bush. Now if we could only get the Supreme Court to EVENTUALLY hear some gay marriage cases, justice might actually be within reach.

Thanks to everyone for their patience over the last few days. We've been going slightly nuts trying to figure out what the problem was with the site.

Most of the comments are missing for now, but we're in the process of putting them back up. But from now on (because of the insane amount of comment spam we've been getting) a Feministing staffer will have to approve a comment before it's posted. But rest assured, unless your name is online poker or hot teen sex, your comment will be approved.

Regular Feministing posts will start up again tomorrow.

An amazingly big thanks to Jon Goldberg for his help in getting Feministing back up!

Check out this article from Women’s eNews about the mothers' fight to feed her baby in public. After writing a post this summer on the infamous breast-feeding protests at Starbucks, it’s sad to find that the lactating ladies are still having a hard time.

Despite the breast-feeding campaigns that have been spreading across the nation, and although over 30 states already have laws protecting breast-feeding in public, women are still continually being violated of their rights by being asked to cover themselves up.

Are there really so many people concerned with this “public indecency” of a woman, or does society have a hard time accepting the breast’s natural function due of its over-sexualization, as Mary Lofton of La Leche League International suggests? Both seem pretty evident to me.

After you check out the article, take a peek at La Leche International’s website. La Leche International is an advocacy group for breast-feeding. Very interesting stuff.

Feministing will be away for the remainder of the day, due to the holiday. Enjoy your day and we'll catch y'all tomorrow!

There’s been quite a bit of buzz going around about Oliver Stone’s newest film, “Alexander.” The New York Times wrote a piece on it this week, and Stone’s portrayal of the fourth-century Macedonian victor, Alexander The Great, as being in love with a man.

Although Alexander (played by my Irish lover, Colin Farrell) is married, there are a number of love scenes in the film between Alexander and his boyhood friend, Hephaistion, who is played by Jared Leto. A hot pair of men in togas? Buy me a ticket!

But alas, it looks like some people aren’t happy about this breakthrough for Hollywood. Apparently a group of Greek lawyers have been threatening to sue Stone for his portrayal of Alexander as gay or bisexual. They are requesting that Stone includes a statement in the credits of the title disclosing that the movie is based on fiction, and not fact. Yet historians believe that Stone’s depiction is accurate, and most also believe that Alexander The Great was bisexual, if not gay.

Some may say this is a huge step for the gay community, and that the film “may redefine what is acceptable to mass audiences when it comes to heroic portrayals on the silver screen.” This is absolutely true, and is absolutely a good thing. Yet we know that it can’t all be good. After all, it is Hollywood.

“Warner, which financed ‘Alexander’ with the German company Intermedia, has taken pains to de-emphasize the film's gay aspect in its advertising campaign - the trailer declares Alexander's ‘passion’ while showing a love scene between Mr. Farrell and Ms. Dawson.”

So even though the love of his life is a man, he still likes women, see?? He’s only half gay, so it’s okay! Sigh.

I've actually heard that the depiction of Alexander's relationship with Hephaistion plays a significantly small part in the movie, and the presence of homosexuality is pretty sparse. So while society applauds the people involved with this film for being sooo brave to approach such a controversial subject, I'd wait until I see the movie before I put any hands together.

Hundreds of Afghan women rallied today in Kabul to bring attention to violence against women.

The women demonstrators prepared a 12-article resolution addressing, among other issues, the elimination of violence against women, gender-based discrimination, and the creation of programs to prevent and combat violence against women.

Wulanga Saafi, a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Education who was participating in the rally, said that "women do have the understanding to voice their concerns and ask for their rights, but they are self-censored given violence both at home and outside their homes."

And don't forget...tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

FEMINISMS WITHOUT BORDERS: DECOLONIZING THEORY, PRACTICING SOLIDARITY
by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
(Duke University Press, January 2003)

Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s “Feminisms Without Borders” is an exceptional analysis of various critical issues that exist within contemporary feminism. Of these, she uses three main themes to confront these issues: the decolonization of feminism, an anti-capitalist analysis, and the ultimate goal of solidarity. She discusses the conflict of globalization, reclaiming language, crossing boundaries between “third-world” and “first-world” women, and feminist mobilizing by using key concepts that helps the reader better understand the complexity of these issues. By the end of the book, Mohanty achieves in forming a very comprehensive and very possible solution to these conflicts that arise within feminist theories.

I highly recommend this book. Although the reading is pretty intense, it is an exceptional piece of writing that creates new meanings of mainstream concepts and terms. Her reclaiming of certain language is extremely productive and inspirational; it seems to look forward rather than focusing on the past. Her ability to use the theme of experience (which includes her own experiences) also made the book more insightful and seemed to bring her theories into life. The last chapter was particularly impressive because it gave the reader a solid and productive solution for these serious conflicts that exists among feminist practice. I think her greatest accomplishment is how Mohanty manages to discuss all of these complex issues and create a positive and constructive solution that doesn’t leave the reader with a question that so many theorists tend to do. Crossing borders doesn’t seem as impossible than it was before. That’s a big accomplishment.

Media Matters reports that in a November 21 television appearance, Reverend Jerry Falwell—chairman of the Faith and Values Coalition and founder of The Moral Majority—called the National Organization for Women (NOW) the "National Order of Witches." Yeah, I bet all the ladies over at NOW were huddled around their cauldrons just fuming over that one. Please.

I find it really interesting that Falwell chose the word “witches” to describe feminists. During my undergraduate English lit days, I developed a slight research obsession over the persecution of “witches” during the Middle Ages and how it related to fear of women’s power. (All the literary references to witches stealing men’s penises were all I needed to see to know what the hell was up.)
For a real scare, check out the Malleus Maleficarum—essentially a handbook on how to identify women as witches and subsequently torture them.

Media Matters also points out that this kind of anti-feminist nonsense is not exactly new for Falwell. He was a leader in opposing the Equal Rights Amendment and has been quoted as saying:

I listen to feminists and all these radical gals ... These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it, and they're mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They're sexist. They hate men; that's their problem.

Geez. This is a quote from the 80s, but it seems that anti-feminists are still using the same tired arguments.

Via Pacific Views.

In our attempts to raise our kids progressively, are we keeping them from what they really want?

Check out Salon’s A Nation of Little Princesses for a father’s point of view on his daughter’s growing obsession with all things “princess,” and how parents can reconcile their politics with their kids’ Disney-induced interests.

Best author observation on the princess craze: “It’s like crack for five year-olds.”

Check out this cool new product, Bandshades—for those of us (which would be most) who don’t have a nasty pasty shade of peach for skin color.

Bandshades come in five different shades and do a hell of a better job at looking discrete than your typical band-aid. (Unless you’re still sporting your Hello Kitty or fluorescent band-aids, which I admit doing on occasion...)

The ACLU is threatening a lawsuit against Louisiana's Governor's Program on Abstinence because of references to God on its website. Upon looking at the site, the religious stuff is definitely a problem, but what kills me is the false and potentially dangerous health information on the website.

On the "Medical Info" page, all you see is a big old header:

MYTH: "Be responsible and safe. Protect yourself. Use a condom."

What's worse is that there is no explanation attached, just links to other articles that talk about things as varied as reclaiming your virginity to cancer-causing agents in condoms. Great.

And where do they get their info? From such bastions of truth like Concerned Women for America and The Heritage Foundation.

Looks like the kids of Louisiana are in some deep shit, education-wise...And is anyone else disturbed that the "edu" in the website logo looks like it's written in crayon?

Just in case you feel the need to wear testicles...buy some "ballsies." Scary stuff.

Thanks to Ray for the link.

According to a recent survey, almost 64 percent of Japanese women in their 20s and 30s have been groped on Tokyo trains, subways or at transit stations. Eww.

Women being "groped" (which I'm wondering why they're not calling it "assault") has been a problem for some time in Tokyo. In fact, recently women-only train cars were established for the month of December, when drunk men coming from office parties seem to get more rowdy than usual.

Having grown up in NYC, I've been taking the subway here since I was 12 years old; nasty-ass men trying to grab you or expose themselves has definitely been a part of my life, and I would imagine many young women's lives who live in cities.

But I don't know that sex-specific train cars are the answer. That's essentially letting these men off the hook, and simply accepting women being assaulted as a part of life.

What do others think?

Wendy McElroy was obnoxious enough two weeks ago. (Personally, I've been all set on the McElroy tip ever since reading: "the alarmism of mainstream feminism often blows problems way out of proportion and reports them out of context".) But lately, she's officially gone too far.

First, there was her lovely FoxNews.com article on domestic violence. Check this:

"The underlying ideology of domestic violence is politically-correct feminism which considers women to be oppressed by male power and the institutions of society, including traditional marriage. Accordingly, domestic violence has been subjected to a black-and-white analysis that rests upon stereotypes...The inadequacy of the stereotypes became clear to me through one question. 'Why did I stay?' It is a question PC feminism never asks because to do so would acknowledge a fact that contradicts its theories. Namely, some victims choose to stay, which means they could choose to leave."

Had enough? Too bad -- there's more. On Friday, McElroy was at it again with the gem "In Defense of Beauty Pageants" on lewrockwell.com. She wrote:

"A beauty contest at Lakehead University aroused sharp protest from campus feminists....The feminist contention that beauty contests are unfair to the average woman has a Rawlsian ring. It also sounds like envy."

Ohhhh, so that's what we've been missing? Thanks, Wendy. It wasn't enough to have our own government and media misinterpret and mangle our message. What we really need is women calling themselves feminists and writing this crap.

I'll leave you with one more choice McElroy quote, just for kicks:

"In recent years, feminism has come to be associated with anger toward men....Many feminists have called for the government to impose affirmative action policies and speech codes....The liberated woman of the 21st century does not resemble the ghosts haunting '80s feminism. Who is she? She is the estimated 17 million women who... reject the concept of 'victim.'"

Right on, Wendy. You've captured the essence of the feminist movement perfectly.

CAN YOU DETECT MY SARCASM?

According to the AP, a provision in a $388 billion spending bill passed on Saturday blocks any of the money “from going to federal, state or local agencies that act against health care providers and insurers because they don't provide abortions, make abortion referrals or cover them.”

This policy is just another another step in the fight against choice, following the lead of the conscience clause laws that states have begun to pass.

Democrats have complained that the provision was slipped into the bill without any discussion in the Senate or the House. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said, “Now any business entity can decide to tell doctors working for it they can't give information to women about their right to choose.”

Most health care providers that receive federal funds are required to let women who don’t we to be pregnant that abortion is an option for them. But the language in this provision, according to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi “is essentially a domestic gag rule, restricting access to abortion counseling, referral and information.”

So where are all the folks who said that the right to choose wouldn’t be in danger under another Bush administration? Puh-leeze.

Make sure to check out this 11/20 NY Times article on the bill and its anti-choice implications.

Best piece of gossip I've heard in while...via Gawker:

Freemans, tuesday night the 16th of nov. the bush twins , along with 2 massive secret service men, tried to have dinner. they were told by the maitre'd that they were full and would be for the next 4 years. upon hearing, the entire restaurant cheered and did a round of shots... it was amazing!!! [Ed: We're hearing that this is actually true.]

Ha! Awesome...

Are you a die-hard fan of The Simpsons like myself? If so, you have may checked out last night's episode, which grappled an ongoing feminist issue.

Little Lisa gets made fun of by the twins for having a big ass, so she responds by becoming immersed in the current social beauty trend of being "thin" -- in other words, looking starved. Lisa's reaction -- by constantly working out, reading "Thin By Third Grade" magazine, and eventually binging on a cake in the middle of the night -- approaches the numerous problems that begin for girls as young as herself due to society's obsession with weight.

It was interesting how although Nelson succeeded in getting revenge on the mean twins for their comments, Lisa admitted that her insecurities about her body still existed. While the show usually resolves every problem that arises in each episode by the end of the half-hour, this one was left open-ended. Despite how intelligent and feminist Lisa may be, she is still an impressionable little girl who is just as victim to this pressure.

At the end of the show, while discussing the standards she can't seem to escape, she even admits that "We still have a long way to go."

Word.

Make sure to read Katha Pollitt's Earthly Rewards for the Christian Voter, which outlines how Bush has been paying back the Christian Right for the past four years, and what we might lose in the next four years as he continues to appease his base.

Just a (scary) few examples:

The fact is, anyone who thinks the GOP is stiffing its "moral values" backers hasn't been paying attention: George Bush, for one, has been paying them back for the past four years. He's promoted a raft of anti-choice legislation--including the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and a law making it easier for health professionals to deny women abortions and even birth control for "reasons of conscience." He's packed the federal bench with antichoice reactionaries, and he's seeded the federal bureaucracy and the government's international agencies with hard-line social conservatives like the faith-healing Dr. W. David Hager of the FDA reproductive health panel.

In our increasingly homophobic society, a Vermont family court judge has issued some good news--both members of a same-sex civil union are legal parents of a child.

Four years ago Janet Miller-Jenkins and Lisa Miller-Jenkins entered into a civil union in Vermont. Two years later, after undergoing artificial insemination, Lisa Miller-Jenkins gave birth to a daughter. The couple then moved from Virginia to Vermont. When the couple split up earlier this year, a custody battle ensued. A Virginia trial court judge gave full custody to Lisa Miller-Jenkins, claiming that Janet Miller-Jenkins was "no more than a friend." Using Vermont law, Judge William Cohen reached a *much* different conclusion.

"Parties to a civil union who use artificial insemination to conceive a child can be treated no differently than a husband and wife, who, unable to conceive a child biologically, choose to conceive a child by inseminating the wife with the sperm of an anonymous donor."

"Under Lisa's interpretation of the law, because there is no established precedent in Vermont, the husband would be no more than a mere stepparent and would be required to adopt the child in order to be considered a parent in the eyes of the law. This argument is without merit."

This decision is the first of its kind. Professor Michael Mello of Vermont Law School explains that: "It's a landmark decision, and it's a no-brainer under Vermont law. It shouldn't be controversial and the only reason it is, is because it involves a civil union." Let's just hope the judge on appeal sees things this clearly.

I'm sure I'm probably a cultural step behind, but I just found out about SorryEverybody.com, and I'm obsessed. The site invites you to submit a picture that captures your dismay & depression over the election--so far they've uploaded more than 5000 pics--and it's amazing.

Mark Morford provides this narration for the website...

Dear world: We are so very, very sorry. For Bush. For our bitterly divided and confused nation. For what's to come. Please know that tens of millions of us did not vote for him. Please do not hate us. Not all of us, anyway. OK, maybe Utah. Do you know where Utah is? Never mind.

After all, we knew this wasn't no ordinary election. We knew how much was at stake, how this one represented a sea change in global attitudes, a dramatic upheaval and reversal of long-standing American ideas of cooperation and defense and restraint, ideas that BushCo has now mutated into a hollow, kill-'em-all faux-cowboy maverick attitude, an almost irreversible shift, mostly backward. Or downward.

If you haven't yet, definitely check out the photo gallery. Has anyone submitted a pic? If so, send them them to us too. I'd love to see what a young feminist version of this project would look like.

A Maryland jury awarded Nataliya Fox more than $430,000 yesterday in a negligence claim against Encounters International (EI). EI is a US online marriage service that pairs American men with Russian women. "Encounters International has more than 400 carefully chosen, currently available Russian women....As wives, they desire to build a loving home, follow their husband's lead, and stick with the marriage, even when times get tough and things stop being fun." UGGGH.

In the case of Fox, the marriage stopped being "fun" when her husband began beating her. Fox sued EI for negligence in their background check of her future spouse.

Leslye Orloff, the director of Legal Momentum's Immigrant Women Program, heralded the jury verdict as victory, explaining that, "We know that the international matchmaking agencies are not taking any kind of care."

Well, not unless you're a paying client. The EI website explains its indepth screening process in selecting women. "We don't just ask a few routine questions during an initial office visit and admit a woman to our program. Instead, the screening process is continuous and on going...EI office managers interact with the women to understand their sincerity and see if there are any ulterior motives." Too bad they don't offer their future brides this same level of care. (sigh).

While I don't think the jury award is near enough, hopefully it will provide *some* incentive to address the safety issues created by the high-risk situations in which they are placing these women. For information on the rights of battered immigrant women, check out New Beginnings.

On November 2, a prominent and controversial Dutch filmmaker, Theo Van Gogh, was shot and stabbed to death, allegedly by a 26-year-old Islamic extremist holding Dutch and Moroccan citizenship. According to a note left at the crime scene, this was an act of retribution for a Van Gogh’s recent project, which detailed what he saw as the misogyny and backwardness of Islam and Muslim communities in Europe. In the wake of this much publicized political murder, Dutch and European lawmakers have begun using an exclusionary political language “culture” and “European values”, amid promises to “get tough” on immigrants.

Perhaps the most difficult issue to confront in this is the gender politics. Van Gogh’s last project “Submission” is clearly provocative (If you have high speed internet, you can view the controversial film “Submission” here). It tells the fictional story of a Muslim woman forced into a violent marriage, raped by a relative and brutally punished for adultery. It features actresses portraying abused Muslim women, naked under transparent Islamic-style shawls, their bodies marked with texts from the Koran that supposedly justify the repression of females. It is easy to see how Muslim men and women could be offended by a film like this (Particularly one made by a white Dutch-born man).

Conversely, the film is a testimonial of sorts of an African immigrant raised in a strict Islamic society. The film's screenwriter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, grew up an upper-class Muslim in Somalia before immigrating to the Netherlands in 1992. Now a Dutch politician, she has received death threats for numerous stances she's taken and activities she's undertaken. Although Van Gogh's filmmaking may have been offensive to some, it is pretty amazing that a platform was given on national television for the viewpoint of an African immigrant woman (I doubt very much that our networks would carry anything close to this...).

More broadly, this case is clearly about political tolerance, or lack thereof.

On the one hand, it is clear that within the parameters of the case, Van Gogh’s murder is about a truly sinister form of intolerance and violence. He was murdered for his opinion. And that is really, really scary.

But the political ramifications of Van Gogh’s are perhaps more insidious, and far-reaching. On Friday, one of the most popular politicians in the Netherlands, right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders, told the AP that the country’s democracy is under threat and called for a five year halt to "non-Western" immigration:

** "The Netherlands has been too tolerant to intolerant people for too long," he said. "We should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country. There is nothing to be ashamed of to say this. It's not Islam. I speak out against the facts." **

WHAT THE FUCK?! Has the whole world gone reactionary? (…here I was thinking it was only the red states…) I feel like I am in an Orwell novel. Condemning intolerance and close-mindedness with intolerance and close-mindedness. Strike one more country off my "places-to-flee-to-if-they-overturn-RoeV.Wade" list....

--Posted by Brendan

It looks like anti-choice legislators are at it again, and this time they’re targeting Mifepristone, otherwise know as RU-486, that’s been proven to be a safe and effective form of abortion.

According to Ms. Magazine, Republican Congressman and Senator-elect Jim DeMint of South Carolina is trying to reintroduce a bill that suspends the sale of Mifepristone and authorizes the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the process the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to approve the drug.

DeMint and his co-sponsors, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) had taken the opportunity to start this shit up again after the FDA announced that Mifepristone’s label will be changed to recognize that there are certain risks associated with any abortion, and that doctors prescribing it should tell their patients to contact them if there’s any excessive bleeding or bacterial infection. Isn’t that what any prescribed drug is supposed to have?

The RU-486 Suspension and Review Act was originally introduced after the death of a California woman who had taken Mifepristone. Yet Dr. Steven Galson, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, stated he does not believe that mifepristone was related to the infection that cause the woman's death.

“There is no scientific or safety reason to suspend sale of mifepristone,” said Dr. Beth Jordan, Medical Director of the Feminist Majority Foundation. “It’s curious that these same legislators are not trying to get the safety of penicillin, aspirin, various anti-histamines or especially Viagra reviewed and the product suspended given the astronomically higher associations with complications these drugs have over Mifepristone. Clearly, this is a politically motivated agenda.” No duh! (Sorry, I'll take any opportunity to regress back to junior high slang.)

Mifepristone has been taken by around 360,000 women in the U.S. since its approval by the FDA in 2000. According to the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, mifepristone is actually safer than taking a pregnancy to full term.

That should tell us something, no?

Check out The Well Timed Period's take on this, as well as some thoughts from Mouse Words.

New president of NARAL Pro-Choice America Nancy Keenan is well prepared for the upcoming battle over choice. A former Montana public official and seasoned activist, Keenan is going into the position with the right attitude. "I really believe that pro-choice is an American value and that it is shared by women and men across the country," she says in the Washington Post today.

Pro-choicers are so often put on the defensive, especially with this new liberals-have-no-moral-values crap. What seems to be lost in most conversations about reproductive rights is that the majority of Americans are pro-choice.

Keenan certainly has a fight ahead of her, though. With Bush still in office and the Supreme Court essentially up for grabs, the right to choose in a seriously precarious position.

But I’m all about staying positive. As Keenan optimistically points out, “We have America on our side.”

It’s been forever and a day since we’ve updated our blogroll, so for the next couple of weeks you’ll be seeing a bunch of new additions. Here’s a start to what will hopefully be a massive influx of new folks:

The Daou Report, run by Peter Daou (a veteran of the Kerry campaign), “tracks blogs, message boards, online magazines, and independent websites from across the political spectrum - providing a quick overview of the latest news, views, and online buzz.” It’s an amazing resource—check it out immediately...

Brutal Women comes to us from Kameron Hurley, a woman with an impressive background and a take-no-shit attitude.

BlackFeminism.org is a community blog that deals with the intersection of race and gender.

And of course, the ultimate roundup, Feminist Blogs.

Also make sure to check out Feministing's new pages ("Meet the ladies" in the sidebar) on all of us gals...

Working women no longer exist in the eyes of the Bush administration.

I knew things would get bad, but not quite this bad. The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that as of 2005, it will discontinue researching information on women.

Yeah, you heard me right. No more stats on how women fare in the workplace. And where did I find this insanely vital piece of info? Not someplace widely publicized, that's for damn sure. The DOL apparently thinks a two sentence mini-release on their website is sufficient to explain the exemption of women from labor research:

Following the release of preliminary December 2004 data in February 2005, estimates for women workers will no longer be produced by the Current Employment Statistics program (establishment survey) in an effort to reduce respondent burden.

Data for women workers and other demographic information related to employment from the Current Population Survey will continue to be available at http://www.bls.gov/cps/. (emphasis added)

Reduce respondent burden?

The "respondents," meaning businesses, will still have to provide stats concerning the race and age of workers, so is providing gender info really that much of a fucking "burden?"

I guess this shouldn't come as that much of a surprise considering the Bush administration's past attempts to shut down the DOL's Women's Bureau and remove information concerning women from government websites.

But completely disregarding working women? You have to wonder what's going to be next...

Women’s eNews wrote an interesting/scary-ass article this week about a newly popularized form of plastic surgery that makes me quiver -- labiaplasty.

Originally, labiaplasty was performed primarily for women in the sex industry who needed their labia reduced for infection or pain. But more recently, it looks like the average Jane is coming to the doc’s to get her vagina “looking pretty.” Some do get the surgery due to physical discomfort, but it seems to be quite a trend for women who feel like their pussy is “old looking” and want it nice and, er, perky again.

And what does it actually mean to get your labia “reduced?” Exactly what it sounds like. “In a labiaplasty, the surgical reshaping of female external genital structures, larger or uneven inner vaginal lips are cut and shortened.” Ahhhh!

Another form of vaginal cosmetic surgery is called vaginal rejuvenation, which is a tightening of the vaginal and perineum area (which can be stretched during childbirth). I won’t lie, I am a bit scared of damaging my goods while giving birth, but my cooch could be wider than Texas and I still wouldn’t let someone take the knife to any part of it. On top of that, there is speculation of whether vaginal rejuvenation actually increases pleasure or severely decreases it -- seems that there’s risk for cutting nerves, creating scarring and causing future pain during intercourse. Gulp.

And it seems that much of the time, according to two doctors that perform labiaplasty and vaginal cosmetic surgery, the reason for the surgery is due to a comment by a partner. “The bulk of the women getting this surgery are ultimately being pressured by men who want them to conform to a idea of beauty most often seen in the porn industry...Doctors Loftus and Young say feedback from male partners is the number one reason women request the surgery.”

Should we be surprised? Sigh.

Also check out Echidne of the Snakes’ take on this scary shit.

The good news is that he faces a life sentence for attempted murder. Sadly, his girlfriend is now in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

17-year-old Jeffrey Cameron FitzHenry shot his girlfriend—identified only as Sara S.—in the neck while she was in a health clinic filling out paperwork to obtain an abortion.

FitzHenry told Sara a week earlier not to have an abortion and that, “If you take something from me, I am going to take something to her from you.” Take something from him? Oh, I didn’t realize that he had claim uterus. Sounds like a real reasonable guy.

For a more in-depth look at the case, check out Pinko Feminist Hellcat.

Online gift store Abernook has just put out the Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit, touting it as “‘cool’ and practical.” The fact that they put the word cool in quotes in their press release should probably tell you a little something…

The Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit contains some useful stuff for the driving gal: an emergency blanket, instructions on how to change a flat tire (though the assumption that women don’t know how to do this is annoying), first aid supplies, etc.

The kit also has some not-so-useful (and somewhat bizarre) items: breath freshener, portable stain treater, antiperspirant, an aromatherapy headache remedy, lip moisturizer, an 18-piece emergency sewing repair kit, tampons, a nail file, and…chocolate.

Um…okay. I’m so torn with stuff like this. Obviously it’s great that someone has put out an emergency kit specifically for women, and if folks buy it because of its “cool” appeal, how can I complain?

But come on now—a fucking sewing kit? Am I going to be mending shirts on the side of the highway or something?

In any case, if you want to buy the kit you can also get it at Curve magazine’s online store.

As an update from my post a wee back on recent bizarre trends Playboy has taken on, including neked video game characters, this week they have introduced their brand-new “hamburger honeys,” otherwise known as McDonald’s employees. Sigh.

According to CNNmoney.com, Playboy has been working on this recent project of the “All-American girl” appeal, to disclose a “lighter side” of corporate America (whatever that means). It has been quite a treat for them -- there has already been features of ladies from Wal-Mart (should we be surprised) and Home Depot. With their most recent “sexiest burger babes,” they’re expecting much attention. So will the burgers be on the babes? Or maybe they’ll be laying naked in a sea o’ fries? That would be hot. I won’t even mention what they could do with the chicken nuggets....

John Thomas, editor of Playboy.com, said that the models were paid but didn’t say the amount. "These women are not CEOs of corporations but they made a nice piece of change with the feature. They were flown in to our headquarters in Chicago and all expenses were paid by us." Oh, such gentlemen!

So the pictorial is exclusively available on Playboy.com for all to see (Well, if you have the loot to pay the small fee). I just don’t get it. The only guy I could think of who would seriously get off on this shit is our red-headed pal, Ronald.

The shitstorm just doesn’t stop these days. A Texas school district has decided to scrap a homecoming tradition, TWIRP Day (The Woman Is Requested to Pay), because of its “homosexual overtones.”

On this particular day, girls dress like boys and visa-versa, and it supposedly gives “boys and girls a chance to reverse social roles and let older girls invite boys on dates, open doors and pay for sodas.” Sounds thrilling.

Instead, the district will hold “Camo Day,” where kids ranging from elementary to high school will dress “with black boots and Army camouflage.”

Where to start…

Clearly this unfortunately-named Texas school tradition has a bevy of problems in terms of the whole stereotyped gender roles thang. But I’ll leave those arguments for another day.

What I find truly bizarre:

Assuming that any kind of reversal of traditional gender roles is “cross-dressing” and “homosexual.” I mean come on now, it's a fucking cheesy school thing, not a gay recruiting day.

Implying that cross-dressing or being gay is wrong.

Coming to the conclusion that dressing your kids as trained killers is better than even the slightest suggestion of nontraditional gender roles or homosexuality. (If you can call the truly weird and old-fashioned idea of “girls paying for sodas” nontraditional…)

Local mom Delana Davies--a complaining parent--said the day was much more than a school tradition, but essentially a stepping stone to sin:

“It's like experimenting with drugs…You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary...If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?”

Hear that homos?! Get off the junk!

Is it just me, or are stories like this getting more and more common?

Feministing reported on pregnant women who try to slim down back in September as a disturbing New York City trend, but it seems that the rest of the country is (unfortunately) catching on.

A Johns Hopkins study found that one in five pregnant women think it's cool to skip meals, and that most feel bad about their weight gain. Umm, you have another friggin person in there—you’re going to gain weight!

Coauthor of the study, Dr. Laura Caulfield, noted that this was the case “even among women who gained the recommended amount of weight associated with a healthy pregnancy.” Ugh.

What’s the deal ladies?

Despite what the haters over IWF have said, the wage gap is alive and well.

According to a new report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, while all states have narrowed the wage gap between men and women, no state has eliminated it.

The report also points out that at this rate, it would be 50 years before women’s income is equal to men’s in the U.S. Oh, is that all? Awesome, I’ll only be 76 years old…jeez.

As has been previously reported, women nationwide only make 76 percent of men’s income. Women in Washington, D.C. come the closest to wage equity, earning 92 cents to men’s dollar, while women in Wyoming suffer the largest wage gap, earning only 66 cents to the dollar.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out Sharon Lerner's piece in the Village Voice: The first battle in the new war against Roe; Grim Specter of Things to Come.

As Lerner says in the article, "welcome to the truly alarming post-election reality."

Indeed.

Despite Bush’s contentions, the United States’ record on helping women in Afghanistan is pretty frigging reprehensible. But Afghani women are—and have been—taking matters into their own hands.

A new women’s radio station in Maimana is seeking to take on some of the major issues affecting women: poverty, illiteracy, forced marriages and the rule of the gun.

Radio Quyash (the Sun) is one of the four local women's radio stations and one of over 30 independent radio stations in the country. Because of the high illiteracy rate, radio is one of the best ways to reach out and educate women in the region.

Even though this is amazing news, the Radio Quyash team is having a difficult time finding women to interview. Arefa Zareh, a teacher and staff member of the station, says that “society still cannot accept women speaking out openly on the streets.”

Well, it’s a start.

If you’re looking for something fun AND altruistic to do tonight, check out the Girls Write Now Fall Fundraiser at Fiddlesticks (56 Greenwich Ave) from 7-9pm.

Girls Write Now (GWN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to guiding and encouraging underserved teenage girls in New York to develop their writing and communication skills through mentoring relationships with women writers. All programs are free, and GWN relies solely on volunteers and outside contributions and funding sources. Check out their website for more info.

Beer is going to be provided, and all the lovely gals of GWN are asking for is a modest $20 donation at the door. Naturally, there is a sliding scale for those who are low on the dough.

This is an amazing organization that my roommate happens to volunteer for, so if you're in the area make sure to stop by!

Looks like the highly disturbing boyfriend pillow we reported on in August now has a partner in crime. Say hello to the “girlfriend lap pillow,” sure to give you hours of fun and a lifetime of nightmares.

What is it this week about fetishizing women’s dismembered body parts? Just a couple of days ago, the NY Times reported on the trend of new “curvy” mannequins. And I’m sorry—I don’t care if they’re “more realistic.” The fact that someone actually says in the article that “men like it…Some guys come in and buy the mannequins,” is enough to make me know something is seriously wrong.

Gross.

Via Fleshbot.

Looks like Condoleezza Rice will be named as Bush's new secretary of state. And I am so torn. This would be a first for an African-American woman, and that's a HUGE deal to me.

And no one's doubting that she's qualified. As the Washington Post reports, "Rice is a poor Alabama cotton farmer's granddaughter who became an accomplished classical pianist and ice skater and graduated from college at 19. She speaks Russian and served a two-year stint as the National Security Council's Soviet expert in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. She also was named, at age 38, provost of Stanford University, essentially the chief operating officer of a huge institution."

But I don't understand how a woman, let alone a woman of color, could support an administration so backwards.

Tell us what you're thinking...

It looks like Eve Ensler is coming out with a new play, and this time she’s not going to be obsessing over her vagina. This time, the fetish has moved six inches up. "

Yes, Ensler’s tummy has been the inspiration for her new 85-minute broadway play, "The Good Body," reported the New York Times yesterday. "It has become my tormentor, my distractor," she laments. "It's my most serious committed relationship. It has protruded through my clothes, my confidence and my ability to work....My stomach, is chicken wings, dipping butter, fried shrimp, fried zucchini, fried ice cream, fried dumplings, fried anything, fried right. My stomach is America.” I would be careful Eve, your vagina might get jealous...

There is a discussion in the article of how there seems to be a fad of shows concerning weight like "The Biggest Loser," where weight-challenged contestants compete to see who loses the most weight, “Fat Actress” on Showtime where Kristie Alley plays an actress struggling with her weight, and "Flab to Fab" from VH1 where peeps follow a weight-loss program inspired by their favorite celebrity. Ugh, when does it end??

What I found interesting was the question posed concerning social beauty standards and being overweight -- is Eve Ensler’s belly subversive to these norms? Is "fat" a feminist issue? I would say yes. But please, let’s not replace the vagina speak to tummy talk.

As if all of the existing "feminine hygiene" commercials weren't bad enough (who could forget the mother-daughter talk on the beach about feeling "not so fresh."), now we have to deal with a whole new generation of products that tell us we're inherently dirty.

So ladies, make way for Vaginal Cleansing Film (VCF). It's like a big ole Listerine breath strip for your pussy. Or a scented mini-dental dam that dissolves. If you're not already huddled on the floor in the fetal position, check out the lovely fragrances VCF is available in: Chamomile, Island Breeze, Fresh Flowers, and Baby Powder.

OK, I can see the Fresh Flowers and Baby Powder, but what marketing genius thought that a flavor of tea and an umbrella-laden drink would be appropriate vaginal scents? Just think, if they made a Long Island Iced Tea version, your partner could catch a buzz while noshing.

What is truly hysterical about this nonsense is that Apothecus Pharmaceutical Corp., who put out VCF, thinks that they�re like the pussy innovators of the century. Check out the first couple of lines from VCF press release:

Dump the douche. Toss the towelette. Spare the spray. Now there's a modern, convenient alternative to old-fashioned feminine hygiene products�

(Dump the douche!? Wasn't that my mom's advice about my last boyfriend?)

Yeah ladies, give those antiquated douches and sprays the boot; now we have a brand-spanking new way to feel bad about our vaginas!

I don’t know how I didn’t come across this until now. The Associated Press reported on November 11 that a North Carolina public radio station has banned the use of the phrase ‘reproductive rights.’ That’s right...you can’t say it. At all.

Apparently WUNC-FM has recently informed staff and guests that they instead need to say ‘reproductive health,’ as ‘rights’ could be interpreted as taking a political position.

The station’s general manager said the decision was made to avoid trouble with the FCC, who prohibits “public radio stations from airing underwriting announcements that advocate political, social or religious causes.”

I call bullshit.

Go check out La Senza lingerie's cool new campaign to educate Malaysian women on domestic violence issues. In addition to ads and commercials, the lingerie company is also hosting a walkathon to raise money for the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO). WAO's spokesperson explains that: “The onus and responsibility always seems to fall on women to keep ourselves safe. Because no matter how much you do, you can become a victim whether at home, on the streets or at the workplace... A woman has to understand that if she is ever sexually harassed or battered mentally or physically, it is not her fault, it is about another person’s behaviour."

Now this is what I call *corporate responsibility.*

Seems that Oprah decided to team up with California Gov. Arnold "Girlie Man" Schwarzenegger, and keynote the CA Governor's Conference on Women and Families. The conference, Women as Architects of Change, "reflects the vision of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's and first lady Maria Shriver that the growing challenges women face are balancing and integrating their varied roles." Are you fucking kidding me???

Let's take a little walk down memory lane. In his autobiography, Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder, Schwarzenegger explained that: "I used to feel that women were here for one reason. Sex was simply another kind of exercise, another body function. I was convinced a girl and I couldn't communicate on equal footing because she wouldn't understand what I was doing. I didn't have time to take one girl out regularly and go through a normal high-school romance with all its phone calls and notes and squabbles. That took too much time. I needed to be in the gym. For me it was a simple matter of picking them up at the lake, and then never seeing them again."

Ummm, yeah...a whole conference on Arnold's vision for women--sounds like a great idea. (sigh).

Yesterday's NY Times had an interesting article exploring the tensions between evangelicals and gay Christians in one rural Ohio town. From the gay Baptist minister to the lesbian theologian, a plethora of voices emerge regarding small-town life following the passage of Ohio's same-sex marriage amendment.

"I used to think that I was on the religious right's side of the culture wars. I have never thought of myself as a relativist. I believe in a right and wrong and that God determines right and wrong. But I guess now I feel more closely identified with the left." (Rev. Marj Creech, lesbian minister)

"It's a sinking feeling to think that you live in a place where some people have just voted to say that you are not a real person." (Nancy Snyder, lesbian Christian single mom)

"Knowing that your neighbors, the people who you wave and say hi to, looked at that amendment and voted yes is very unsettling...I'm always wondering, is this person in front of me someone who has denied me my rights? Is it the bank teller, is it the waitress where I normally eat lunch? Is it the shopkeeper?" (Stephen Trumbull, gay music publisher)

Check out Business Week's run down on how to obtain state and national certification as a woman-owned business. The articles explains the application process, the cons ($350 application fee & lots of paperwork), and the pros (sales boosts, preference with government bids & loads of networking opportunities).

So if you're still feeling shell-shocked from the election, you probably won't want to read the latest election study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research. According to IWPR's findings, women's decreased support for the democratic ticket in Ohio is one likely culprit for why the state went red.

"In 2004, 50 percent of women in Ohio voted for Kerry, a drop from the 53 percent who supported Gore in 2000. If Kerry had maintained Gore’s level of support among women, and won half of Nader’s 2000 votes from women, he would have won an additional 120,000 votes from Bush. Assuming that Bush also picked up half of Nader’s votes from women, Kerry’s gain would have resulted in a victory of approximately 107,000 votes in the state."

The same thing goes for Iowa and New Mexico. Kerry only got 51% of women voters in Iowa (compared to Gore's 54%) and 49% in New Mexico (compared to Gore's 54%). (sigh). IWPR also contends that if Kerry had maintained Gore's national level of women voters (Gore 54% / Kerry 51%), Kerry would have won the popular vote by almost 1.4 million votes.

While, IWPR's study was based on exit polls (and doesn't account for a margin of error), the study still raises *a bunch* of issues. LIKE, who are the women who switched tickets in this election? Who are the voters that honestly felt like "W Stands for Women"? Bush managed to build his appeal to women, and I want to know *how*.

Some possibilities: Rep. Jan Schakowsky, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Women Lead project, claims that it's because Republicans succeeded in their "concentrated campaign to scare women." (i.e. the security moms voted). Ann Lewis, chief of the DNC's Women's Vote Center, believes that it's because Republicans did a better job in getting new women voters to the polls. (i.e. the evangelical women voted). Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg chalked it up to the married ladies--"The gap between how white unmarried women voted compared to white married women is a gigantic gap." And of course there are the crazies at the IWF who announced that the electoral gender gap "collapsed" because of feminists' lack of moral values. Ummm, yeah.

The two things I keep thinking about: (1) why did only 51% of white women vote for Kerry compared to 75% of women of color?, and (2) why did voting by single women only rise by 4%? Any thoughts?

I'm not going to say shit about it one way or another, but I think this is a good time to remind folks that the leading cause of death for pregnant women in the United States is homicide--most often by a partner.

The Associated Press reported today on a new form of contraception for men—given in a shot—that “prompts an immune reaction to a protein produced in the male reproductive system.”

“Immunocontraception,” which is now being tested on male monkeys, may be available within the next several years for humans. It works by preventing sperm from leaving the seminal fluid, so it can’t ever make its way to the uterus.

Essentially, it’s a vaccine against sperm, which is cool cause most attempts to create a male contraceptive have focused on shifting the level of hormones, which creates some nasty side effects.

A Nature.com news piece says that this vaccine form of contraception could “be advantageous if it takes less time than hormonal treatments to kick in, and leaves sperm production intact.”

The AP reports that in the experiments on male monkeys, “most” regained their fertility. I don’t know if men are going to be willing to take that kind of chance though. Any men-folk want to give their input on this one? Would you be willing to get a shot that according to the best article title ever, “cripples” your sperm?

Looks like the women down under are getting DIY crazy around the house. And not in a knitting-doilies kind of way.

According to The Australian, "encouraged by do-it-yourself nights at consumer-savvy hardware stores, women are taking to power tools and sledgehammers with increasing accuracy and frequency."

Nice.

Apparently a recent "Ladies DIY Night" in a Perth hardware store brought in more than 500 women. I wish the Home Depot in my neighborhood would do some shit like this!

We should take a cue from our Aussie friends; there the women influence 80 per cent of all hardware store purchases. I can't imagine it's sooo different here.

Just think, a night of women and powertools that wouldn't be illegal in Alabama.

In honor of Veteran's day (slightly belated...), check out this piece in The Christian Science Monitor, "For women vets, a battle along with a war."

It covers the hurdles women in the armed forces face on and off the battlefield. And naturally--like every frigging article on women in the military--it quotes Elaine Donnelly, the head of the Center for Military Readiness, who is forever fearful of feminists. (Forgive my Dr. Suess-like alliteration...I didn't get much sleep last night.)

If you are, then make sure to check out “Birth Of The Republican Feminist?” originally published in the National Review Online.

Written by Carrie Lukas, director of policy at the Independent Women’s Forum (the gals we love to hate), the article manages to disparage NOW and the Feminist Majority Foundation (calling them losers), call the extremely successful March for Women’s Lives a “celebration of abortion,” declare the wage gap “illusory,” and claim that “the feminist movement belittled the progress of women in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

All this in one little column. Nice work, Carrie!

Excuse me while I go fucking puke.

You must check out this speech published by Ms. Magazine discussing the impact of AIDS on women and the centrality of sexism to the pandemic. The speech, made by Stephen Lewis, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, is titled "AIDS Has A Woman's Face." The speech begins as follows:

"If there’s one constant throughout the years I’ve been U.N. Special Envoy — years spent traversing the African continent — it’s the thus-far irreversible vulnerability of women. It goes without saying that the virus has targeted women with a raging, Darwinian ferocity. It goes equally without saying that gender inequality is what sustains and nurtures the virus, causing women to be infected in ever greater, disproportionate numbers."

For a great book on women's global health issues, check out "Global Prescriptions: Gendering Health and Human Rights" by Rosalind Petchesky.

Sooo glad I grew up in New York. Check out this piece in Salon on Texas’ less-than-genius approach to sex ed in their textbooks.

Obviously no one considers Texas the epitome of comprehensive sex education, but seeing exactly what kids are reading about in their classes is nothing less than shocking.

Just take a look at some of these STD-prevention tips listed in high school and middle school text books just approved by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE):

“Get plenty of rest…When you're tired, it's hard to think clearly…Don't put yourself in a situation in which you have to make a tough choice when you're tired.” Yeah, I can see it now. “Yawn…well I know I’m supposed to wait till marriage, but shit I’m tired. What the hell, just stick it in.”

“Respect yourself.” Cause you know if you have sex you’re just a worthless whore, you no-respect-having slut!

“Go out as a group…You can also take the pressure off by double-dating.” Can anyone say orgy?

Jokes aside, it is pretty fucking discouraging that the state with the highest teen birth rate in the country is prescribing sleep instead of condoms.

Make sure to read the whole piece—even if your state has awesome sex ed, the article points out that Texas is the second-biggest textbook buyer in the country and therefore has the potential to set some pretty scary standards.

UPDATE: If you don't feel like sitting through Salon's day pass ad, you can also check out Ellen Goodman at the Boston Globe, or The Christian Science Monitor.

It looks like the television network Oxygen has been getting serious shit for a new show that feeds on the whole “housewife gone mad” bit.

The new show, titled, “Snapped” is a true-crime drama looking at cases of women who have murdered their husbands, reports Women’s eNews. Their appeal is to show how “there's often something far more sinister to the fairer sex than sugar and spice and everything nice.” And this is coming from a women’s network too. Tsk, tsk.

During the program, they study cases of women who have either premeditated or lost control and murdered their partner. Their goal is to pinpoint the exact moment when the woman “snapped” and killed her mate. Yet various organizations for battered women oppose the show, saying that it portrays convicted women as monsters, when most of them were defending themselves from abusive partners. “Oxygen is so wrong to exploit people's fears about women and it is not an accurate portrayal of women in prison at all. More importantly this should not be the dialog and focus of intimate partner homicide," says Andrea Bible, project coordinator for the San Francisco-based Free Battered Women.

Sue Osthoff, the director of the Philadelphia-based National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women is fighting the airing of the show as well. “This show sensationalizes and at the same time trivializes the serious realities of many women's lives. How can you take someone's life and shove it into a half-hour?”

The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women and Free Battered Women have sent letters to over 35 domestic violence and related groups around the country, urging them to join their fight against next season’s airing of “Snapped." Mirian Arias, Oxygen’s communications manager, said that the decision to start a new season will be made next month.

Let’s hope they suck the air out of that one.

The AP reported today that women who are considering abortions in states like Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Kansas, are being fed false information concerning a link to breast cancer. Ugh.

In Mississippi, women actually have to sign a form saying that they've been told abortion can increase their risk of