January 2006 Archives

This is crazy:

“In a startling revelation, the former commander of Abu Ghraib prison testified that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former senior US military commander in Iraq, gave orders to cover up the cause of death for some female American soldiers serving in Iraq.

Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women's latrine after dark.”

Alternet gives us details. I’m honestly too appalled to comment.

What a horribly sad day.

Coretta Scott King, civil rights icon and Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, died today at the age of 78.

After her husband’s assassination in 1968, she took up his unfinished work and continued as a human rights and peace activist for the remainder of her life. A quote from the “first lady of the civil rights movement”:

“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it in every generation.”

Here's a hint: It starts with "con" and ends with "ception." (And, sadly, it's not "contraception.")

Indiana is considering legislation that would require abortion providers to tell women that life begins at conception.

Even though the state already has mandatory pre-abortion counseling (and a slew of other abortion restrictions), a new law would require women seeking abortions to be informed in writing "that human life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm."

Huh? Haven't they heard that South Dakota (surprise, surprise) aready tried this? A federal judge prevented the law from taking effect.

Under the Indiana law, doctors would also have to notify women that the fetus may feel pain during an abortion and an anesthetic, which may or may not be paid for by insurance, could be used on the fetus if the woman is at least 20 weeks along.

So, what subjective statement will the state of Indiana attempt to legislate next? "Adam and Eve - not Adam and Steve," "Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder," or maybe just "Jesus died for your sins."

Thanks to Madeline for the link (via Focus on the Family).

While it's been quite the sad day as Alito has been confirmed, Liberal Oasis discusses what we can do now with the battle for the Supreme Court. Check it out.

While football is generally seen as the epitome of American masculinity, it looks like women football fans are increasing like a mofo.

While this article by USA Today had to focus on clothing in order to make this increase in female football fans interesting, we find that women’s gear made about 15% of the NFL’s total merchandise sales for the 2005 season compared with 3% in 2004.

The reason for the increase in sales may not even be due to the increase of female fans, but due to a larger production of women’s gear in general. "We've finally listened to the cries of women who wanted NFL product," said Eddie White, vice president of sports marketing.

Nevertheless, women account for 43% of NFL fans, according to Shannon O’Toole, author of the book Wedded to the Game: The Real Lives of NFL Women. The article failed to mention that the book is not about female NFL fans, but is actually about the lives of football players’ wives.

While it’s great that women are being recognized as fans of football, it bothers me that they’re feminized as much as possible in the process, whether it’s discussing their football fashion habits or “wedding” them to the game. After all, we wouldn’t want the “manliness” of the game turning them butch or anything.

Wendy Wasserstein died yesterday at the age of 55 from complications due to lymphoma. She wrote a number of plays that approached feminist issues, and won the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for “The Heidi Chronicles” (1986).

Her final play, “Third,” recently closed at Lincoln Center.

Just because I’m not too surprised about this doesn’t mean it’s any less upsetting to hear.

It was reported yesterday that the Bush administration is rejecting consultative status of the United Nations to two LGBT organizations. In response, 39 organizations have written a letter to Condoleeza Rice, requesting an explanation for the decision.

Last year, the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the Danish gay rights group Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske (LBL) applied for consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. This status allows NGOs worldwide can participate in discussions among member states at the UN. There are already 3,000 groups who have this status.

While organizations applying for consultative status are normally allowed to state their cases to the NGO committee, Bush and the other opposing nations moved to dismiss the groups’ application without a hearing. Among the opposing was Cameroon, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.

Matt Forman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, had this to say:

"It is an absolute outrage that the United States has chosen to align itself with oppressive governments – all in an effort to smother the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world...It is deeply disturbing that the self-proclaimed ‘leader of the free world' will ally with bigots at the drop of a hat to advance the right wing's anti-gay agenda."

And he wasn’t a bigot to begin with? Sigh. The heinousness of the anti-queer agenda in this world never ceases to amaze me.

Remember the Target pharmacist in Fenton, Missouri who refused to dispense emergency contraception?

Fashionable, pro-choice discount shoppers rejoice! Target seems to have responded to the deluge of letters they received. The store now requires its pharmacists to sign a "conscience policy" - in which they agree to fill or refer EC prescriptions.

And what about employees who refuse to sign the policy? They're fired. A pharmacist at a different Missouri Target store has filed a complaint with the equal-employment opportunity commission because she was axed for failing to agree to dispense or refer prescriptions for EC.

The pharmacist says Target fired her because Planned Parenthood threatened to boycott. True, some letter-writers may have refused to shop there, but Planned Parenthood says they never called for a boycott. Rather, they attempted to work with Target to change the store's pharmacy policy. Paula Gianino, of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, praised Target's commitment to filling EC prescriptions.

However, this would seem to contradict Planned Parenthood's online action center, which still has an alert saying Target has been uncooperative.

Anti-choice lawmakers have entered the fray. The hideous Missouri Governor Matt Blunt is pushing legislation that would prevent pharmacies from firing or disciplining pharmacists who refuse to fill EC prescriptions.

A similar battle is raging in Missouri's neighbor to the east, Illinois-- whose governor, thankfully, is not quite so repulsive.

I totally kicked it with the kind of boys that would have worn a skirt to high school. I remember like it was yesterday.

via Salon.

Broadsheet elaborates on what seems to be women being used as bait between Iraqi insurgents and US troops in this *hostage* situation.

Apparently the US Army has been kidnapping the wives of suspected insurgents to use as bait. Lovely. (So who does have bigger balls?)

As they ask,

And we wonder why Iraqi insurgents think taking a woman hostage and attempting to use her as a bargaining chip might be an effective tactic?

Hmmm.

It's been super-trendy recently to cover the "gender imbalance" in colleges and how poor boys are getting the shit end of the education stick. Now, it seems our evil feminist plan has spread over to high schools. Sigh.

The Boston Globe recently reported on Doug Anglin, a 17 year-old at Milton High School who has filed a federal civil rights complaint claiming that his school discriminates against boys.

Some of my favorite parts of Anglin's complaint:

..."The system is designed to the disadvantage of males," Anglin said. "From the elementary level, they establish a philosophy that if you sit down, follow orders, and listen to what they say, you'll do well and get good grades. Men naturally rebel against this."

Yeah, mofo. That's called school. And if men "naturally rebel" against following orders, why aren't guys fleeing from the hierarchical structure of the institutions like the army?

Grading on homework, which sometimes includes points for decorating a notebook, also favor girls, according to Anglin's complaint..."You can't expect a boy to buy pink paper and frills to decorate their notebooks," [senior Kelli] Little said.

Seriously, guys. Don't you know that boys spontaneously combust if they're even in same room with a glue stick?

Larry O'Connor, another Milton High senior who supports Anglin...said he is surrounded by a sea of girls in his classes.

Noooo! They're everywhere! (As Katha Pollitt said recently, maybe these boys "will just have to learn to learn in a room full of smart females." (The horror.)

[Anglin] also wants the school to abolish its community service requirement, saying it's another burden that will just set off resistance from boys, who may skip it and fail to graduate as a result.

Um, ok. So community service is too girly?

Not wanting to do your work and being prone to skip required classes doesn't amount to discrimination. It's just means you're not a great student. Jeez.

Research shows that women’s brains are "wired" for worrying. Um, yeah.

A new test claims to be able to tell women how long they will be fertile. Or as some oh-so-enlightened folks would say, it gauges women’s reproductive “expiration date.”

The kit assesses the number of eggs in a woman's ovaries and then predicts the ovarian reserves over the next two years. This will help women decide how long they can delay conceiving.

...The Plan Ahead test by Lifestyle Choices, costs £179 and is only available privately. It measures three hormones in the blood - two ovarian hormones called Inhibin B and AMH, and the pituitary hormone called FSH.

Combining these three results gives a forecast of the number of eggs in reserve, meaning that women who may face an early menopause are given a warning that they may not want to delay conceiving for too long.

I suppose this is cool, but the usefulness of this test is shadowed by the whole hurry-up-and-get-to-birthin-babies scare tactic we’re seeing so often these days. Anyone think they would partake?

Actress Nicole Kidman, recently appointed a goodwill ambassador for the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), will work on women’s rights and gender equality.

But Kidman--and UNIFEM--are dodging questions on abortion:

"In terms of where I stand (on abortion), that is my private belief," Kidman said at UN headquarters in New York. "I'm here to work for an organisation, so my own personal beliefs I don't think should come into it. I'm here to help disseminate information."

...UNIFEM backed Kidman's right to stay silent on abortion, saying reproductive health issues fell under the mandate of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

"As a result, UNIFEM will not comment on abortion issues at all," a spokeswoman said.

Eh? What in the world is this all about? How can reproductive rights not be discussed when working on international women’s issues?

With a whole lot of security, 500 women were able to successfully participate in one of Pakistan's historically male dominated marathon events.

Islamic protesters had demanded women be barred from taking part, arguing their presence ran counter to Islam.

But correspondents say such events are important to Pakistan's government, keen to seem a moderate Islamic state.

A total of three races were held: an exclusively male, professional run, a mixed-sex marathon and a family event which involved women and children running for 5km. Some 10,000 people took part, including 60 foreign athletes.

Apparently last year women participated as well, but as of April Islamic hardliners had made a ban on mixed-sex marathons.

via BBCNews.

Contributed by Jess Wakeman.

Readers of Step Inside Design's December/January issue bared their claws when the magazine chose to illustrate their "women of design" issue with....kittens.

Wrote one angry reader:

"Congratulations on degrading your well-written, well-researched articles with a cover that portrays these hard-working, intelligent, and creative women as a bunch of adorable, cuddly and nonthreatening housepets."

Wrote a male reader:

"I'll bet a bag of cat litter that if it had been about leading men of design, you would've shown their faces or samples of their work."

Mag representatives wrote in their February/March issue that they were trying to "change connotations by re-appropriating them," pointing out that's why Spike Lee can make a film about minstrel shows and Mel Brooks can make a film about 'Springtime for Hitler.' But I still say...hiss!

Via Romenesko.

Or, "everything we didn't have time to blog about." A new Feministing feature!

Molly Ivins lays out the reasons she wouldn't vote for Hillary.
Do not sit there cowering and pretending the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can.

Legal Momentum compares (or, more accurately, contrasts) Alito and O'Connor.

The Associated Press reports the U.S. Army is kidnapping the wives of insurgents in Iraq and using them as bargaining chips.
During the pre-operation brief it was recommended by TF [Task Force] personnel that if the wife were present, she be detained and held in order to leverage the primary target's surrender," wrote the 14-year veteran officer.

The Chicago Tribune has an in-depth package examining women crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

AlterNet reminds us that illegal abortions are on the rise.
"Our local hospital tells me they see 12-20 patients per year, who have already self-induced or had illegal abortions. Some make it, some don't. They are underage or poor women mostly, and a few daughters of pro-life families..."

After a Kansas judge dismissed Attorney General Phill Kline's appeal to end state funding for abortions, Kline says he won't appeal the decision.

Candidates for House Majority Leader are touting their anti-choice records.

Inside Higher Ed covers the new AAUW report about sexual harassment on campus.
[Anti-feminist Christina Hoff] Sommers also said that she found it interesting that the numbers on harassment were so close, considering that there are fewer men than women on many college campuses. "For many women on campus, their problems are not ones of harassment," she said. "It's that they can’t get a date."

A United Nations event honoring Mukhtar Mai was cancelled after Pakistan lobbied against it, arguing that it would be embarrassing to the Prime Minister. Mai is a Pakistani woman was publicly gang-raped on orders of a village court.

In the winter issue of Ms., Anita Hill tells us what the failed Miers nomination reveals about Bush.
I believe that George Bush’s presentation of Miers reflected his own cynical view of women’s, and perhaps minorities’, qualifications for such a prestigious position. And I’m concerned that the failed Miers nomination will make it that much harder for future women judicial nominees.

A new study shows that the Pill does not cause women to gain weight.

Kaiser summarizes recent state-level actions affecting women's health.

A high-school girl in Tennessee was recently allowed to return to her weightlifting class, after she was barred from the course and assigned an office job instead. Administrators had cited "safety issues."

ABC News reports the unfortunate but unsurprising statistic that women ages 16-24 are more than any other age group to be victims of dating violence.

Media Matters dissects coverage of the anti-Roe march in D.C.

A recent study has found that close to one in five of the UK’s largest employers are breaking the law by paying women lower wages than men, reports the Guardian.

The research was found by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), who took 870 employers and found that 16% discriminate against their female employees by paying them a significant amount less in salary than male employees with the same position. Additionally, because of the fact that the participating employers were willing to do the pay review leads the EOC to predict that the real proportion is likely to be even higher.

The Women and Work Commission is due to release a full report on the pay gap next month. Some are hoping the findings will lead them to recommend making pay reviews required.

You know our reproductive rights are in dire straits when teenagers from the U.S. are going to Mexico to get EC without a prescription. Scary.

Mexico-- not exactly a bastion of reproductive freedom-- approved EC for over-the-counter sale last year. Parental consent is not necessary to purchase the pill, and public health clinics are required to keep EC in stock.

The Mexican government has picked up on something that U.S. anti-choicers have yet to understand: If you want to reduce abortions, make EC widely available.

I hope this story gets broader coverage. Then perhaps the FDA will realize it's better to improve EC access in the U.S. than force some teenagers to cross the border to obtain it.

As an update to our posts on the sex “mod” that has been found in the popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, we find that LA is now suing the company for selling pornographic games to children.

While the video game was recently rated “Adults Only”, LA attorney Rockard Delgadillo (And possible former porn star himself? That name is crazy) is accusing the game publisher of failing to disclose the modification to retailers.

In result, the lawsuit is asking Take-Two and Rockstar Games (the subsidiary behind Grand Theft Auto) stop marketing the games to children, pay fines and return $10 million in profits. Consumers in New York are suing as well, seeking class action status.

While I'm glad this controversy raised some questions regarding gender issues within the video game industry, it still aggravates me that it was okay before when the game merely alluded to sex. More importantly, the excessive violence that these kids were subjected to was never an issue, but when a tit comes out, it’s all over.

"Lib Dems buffeted by gay sex, lies and alcohol."

The horror of it! Alcoholism and lies are bad enough, but gay sex too?!?

Shortly after last month’s parliamentary elections in Egypt, women from around the nation and beyond are beginning to mobilize.

At a conference on Wednesday organized by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), women called for serious reforms from the government to allow a more representative political climate in Egypt.

Before the elections, the ruling National Democratic Party promised that they would fill 26 seats with female candidates out of 444. When the elections were done and over, only 6 seats were filled. (Those ladies were aiming way too high!) According to a report by the ECWR, all of the country’s major parties abandoned their pledges to support women candidacies.

In result, the ECWR is requesting a number of radical changes in the government, including a legal amendment ensuring a 30-percent quota of parliamentary seats for women. I suppose they realized promises don’t mean shit unless they’re on paper.

Searching for the perfect menstrual accoutrement wasn't super high on my list of priorities. But when Popgadget pointed me to the DivaCup, the internal struggle began.

The DivaCup is a reusable menstrual cup made of latex-free, medical grade silicone. It markets itself as safer and more environmentally friendly than tampons.

The DivaCup is very sanitary, comfortable, reliable and convenient. It holds one full ounce (30 ml). Since the entire cycle is an average of 3-4 ounces (90-120 ml), most women find that the cup is not even half full after 12 hours...Depending on your flow empty the cup 2-3 times per 24 hour day, wash and reinsert. It can be worn up to 12 hours, even overnight.

So it's the whole collecting-is-better-than-absorbing idea, which I'm kind of into considering recent health concerns about tampons.

A couple of years ago I became an Instead-convert. The Instead softcup is kind of like the DivaCup but it's disposable, so it's not as environmentally friendly. I've never tried the DivaCup, but it doesn't look as comfortable as Instead--it's got that weird pully-outy thing at the bottom. Another positive of Instead: it's a-okay for intercourse. Not so much with the DivaCup (again, cause of the pully-outy). But I'm open minded...

Has anyone given Ms. Diva a try and want to share?

(And yeah, I know I didn't mention pads. Sorry, they just remind me of junior high.)

Another one of those kooky studies...

Research showed a "long and passionate kiss" lowered blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of a stroke.

The study team concluded that kissing released a large quantity of bacteria, stimulating the production of antibodies which fight off infections.

And kissing is also good for keeping your face fit as it uses 25 facial muscles.

But the majority of men questioned in the study, carried out in Germany and Austria, said they felt kissing was "more of a duty and obligation".

Women said they "considered it far more intimate and of a higher value than sex itself".

What? Who are these people sleeping with?

What the hell is going on with these Iraqi women detainees and the kidnapped Jill Carroll?

Reuters reports that 5 women will be released but it has *nothing* to do with the hostage situation.

"The case of the women detainees is a legal case and it has nothing to do with the case of the American journalist," said a Justice Ministry official, who declined to be named.

The military statement said a panel comprising U.S. and Iraqi officials had recommended the release of the women after reviewing their cases.

The Justice Ministry had already publicised the panel's decision but U.S. officials, until Thursday, were insisting no releases were imminent. Iraqi officials have suggested Washington did not want to be seen to be giving in to the hostage-takers demands.

Whatever, this really sucks. Who cares about giving in? Save the woman and protect as many people as you can in the process, or is that just too logical?

I wonder what the Iraqi female detainees will have to say about what happened in prison?

The number of women-owned businesses, many of them one-person enterprises, grew at twice the national rate for all private companies from 1997 to 2002.

About 28 percent of all private companies were owned by women in 2002, according to the report being released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

Not much, but getting closer.

via Seattlepi.

This is an interesting commentary on the recent election of women in Liberia, Chile and Germany and how these countries are turning to women in times of trouble. The question is will the US be next?

The United States trails much of the world in the success of female candidates, ranking behind dozens of countries in the percentage of women elected to parliamentary bodies. That is due in large measure to the fact that about 70 countries now prescribe hard quotas or voluntary goals for women's participation.

But some U.S. strategists believe the budding lobbying scandal in Washington will heighten the chances of women candidates who are trying to unseat congressional incumbents in November. And the groundbreaking successes of women in other nations have helped rekindle talk about if, and when, a woman will be elected to the White House.

OMG, a woman become president of the US?! The women's movement has only been going on for what, like forever or something.

No but really, I think this is something to think about. Is this merely a re-inscription of the belief that women as *nurturers* can, you know, bring the country back together? Or are people actually making a connection between patriarchal oppression and corruption (gasp!)?

Maria House is a homeless shelter for women and their children in my hometown of Dubuque, Iowa. The shelter takes less than 10 residents (and their kids) at a time, and is focused on transitional services to break the cycle of homelessness. It's not a faith-based organization.

The local paper reported yesterday that a production of The Vagina Monologues offered to donate 30% of their proceeds to Maria House, which refused the offer. Why, you ask?

"A couple of the scenes are not in our best interest to be associated with," said [Maria House director Michelle] Brown, who admits she has not seen the play. "We just feel it is better to be more prudent."

Don't all of their clients have vaginas? And a huge percentage of their residents are domestic violence victims. Seems like a perfect V-Day cause to me.

Given what I know about the organization, I'm assuming the real reason they rejected the money is that they just received a big chunk of funding from a local order of Catholic nuns. And the board membership (which includes my mother- more about that later) is generally very conservative. But really, what's so controversial about vaginas? (I mean, even the nuns have them...)

I know that hating on the Vagina Monolgues isn't exactly a new phenomenon, but this incident really hit home. Mainly because Maria House is one of the few causes my mother and I both wholeheartedly support. She's a conservative Catholic who doesn't believe in birth control, is against any sexual activity that's not between a married man and woman, and agrees with Pope Benedict's assessment that feminism is an "ideology of evil." Yeah, so we don't have much in common. And I'm sad that this has soured me on Maria House a little bit.

The paper's site is registration-required, so I posted the rest of the article below the jump.

A January 22 article in The Washington Times inaccurately reports that the majority of young people support abstinence-only education.

Check it out:

Critics of abstinence-only sex-education programs may be too hasty in judgment. There is support for the method among age groups that count -- the young.

According to a new Harris Poll, 56 percent of people ages 18 to 24, and 60 percent of those 25 to 29 think abstinence programs effectively reduce or prevent the occurrence of HIV/AIDS. Another 49 percent of people ages 18 to 24 and 52 percent of those ages 25 to 29 say the programs reduce or prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The problem is, the Harris poll didn't ask respondents about abstinence-only education programs. They asked about “programs to promote abstinence.” All sex education programs promote abstinence!

Comprehensive sex education promotes abstinence as well as contraception use; abstinence-only education teaches that refraining from sex is the only option. But the reporting in this piece distorts that very big difference.

Even more:

Among six age groups and three political groups, younger respondents showed the strongest support for abstinence over safe-sex programs.

The Harris poll doesn’t ask if abstinence education is preferable over “safe-sex” programs. It only asks if “programs that promote abstinence” are effective. The questions listed on the poll don’t even mention “safe sex” programs.

The article goes on to confuse abstinence-only ed with the questions in the poll in a number of ways; you can check it out for yourself.

But I call bullshit.

(By the way: the majority of all the people polled thought that “programs that support abstinence” were not effective in reducing HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies or extra-marital sex.)

The New York Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers announced yesterday a proposal for “principle-based standards that address the obligations of securities firms and individual brokers in connection with business entertainment.” Translation: no more expensing your lap dances, boys.

From the New York Post (registration required):

"Bankers and stock brokers make up a large part of our clientele," said Lonnie Hanover, spokesman for the Scores gentleman's club, which operates New York's two largest adult entertainment establishments. "If you try to curtail their visits to Scores, then the world might as well come to an end."

Glad to see no one is being overly-dramatic about the decision. Sheesh.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is speaking out against popular television show American Idol after judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson made some less-than pleasant comments.

On Tuesday's show, seen by a Nielsen-chart topping 35.5 million viewers, Cowell told one male contestant to "wear a dress" and Jackson asked another, "are you a girl?"

"The real offense here was in the producer's decision to add insult to injury by turning a contestant's gender expression into the butt of a joke," said Damon Ramine, a spokesman for GLAAD, in a statement posted on the group's Web site.

That’s shitty, but should we really expect any better from a show that keeps contestants that beat up their girlfriends but expels those who pose for topless photos?

If you haven’t registered for this year’s Women, Action & the Media (WAM!) conference--get to it!

Sponsored by the Center for New Words and the MIT Program in Women’s Studies, the WAM! conference is from March 31-April 2 in Cambridge, MA.

To give you an idea of how bad-ass this conference is going to be, just check out some of the featured speakers and panelists: Lakshmi Chaudhry, Christine Cupaiuolo, Cynthia Enloe, Daisy Hernandez, Lisa Jervis, Brian Reid, Mikhaela Reid, Rebecca Traister and a ton more (including yours truly).

The registration fee goes up at the end of the month, so hurry your asses up!

A new study by the American Association of University Women says that almost two-thirds of U.S. college students are affected by sexual harassment.

Not shocking, I know. But get this: While men are more likely to harass than women, men and women are equally likely to be harassed. I have to admit, that’s news to me.

Researchers found that 62 percent of college students experienced sexual harassment, and 32 percent of college students said they were victims of physical harassment.

"The primary form of harassment that we're seeing is actually non-contact: it tends to be remarks, gestures and jokes," Elena Silva, the report's co-author, said in a telephone interview. "But the fact that one-third of college students are experiencing some form of physical harassment is certainly a concern."

What’s most upsetting about this report, however, is the nonchalant attitude students have towards harassment. 41 percent of the students in the study said that they had sexually harassed someone and most felt it was just “funny, the other person liked it, or it is 'just a part of school life.'" Oh dear.

Common types of physical harassment include being touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexual way, or intentionally brushing up against someone in a sexual way, the study found.

How collegiate.

Click here to read the report, Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus.

UPDATE: Seems I spoke to soon on the "men and women are equally likely to be harassed" stuff. Check out Hugo on how CNN misrepresented the study's findings.

An FDA advisory panel voted yesterday to recommend a nonprescription form of orlistat--a fat-blocking pill whose side effects include “fecal incontinence, gas and oily discharge.”

Apparently over-the-counter access to a diet pill that makes you shit your pants is preferable to a safe form of contraception.

But, wait! Everyone knows the FDA is super concerned about teens getting their whorey little hands on EC. They’re looking out for the kids!

The Associated Press on the almost-approved diet pill:

Several panel members said they were concerned about the potential for abuse, especially by teens, as well as possible interactions with other drugs...

Ah, whatever. Better unsafe than slutty, right?

Are we seriously still looking for the G-spot?

Good lord ladies, just ask for directions.

The Feminal (such an unfortunate name) is a portable urinal designed specifically for women. And it’s purple.

Women, you can stop worrying about finding a restroom when you travel with a portable urinal. You won't be forced to use dirty or deserted rest stops when nature calls at inconvenient times. Can be a real lifesaver if you're stuck in traffic!

The Feminal® is designed so that a woman can urinate in a reclined, seated, or standing position. When the Feminal is gently pressed against the body, the unique shape creates a leak-proof seal. Includes cap. 4-cup capacity.

If you’re not a fan of rolling around with 4 cups of pee but want that non-squatting convenience, check out the P-Mate.

Personally, I think I’ll stick with holding it.

Via Popgadget.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Naomi Wolf, author of the well-known books The Beauty Myth and Promiscuities, gave an interview to Scotland's Sunday Herald that was a bit...strange.

From Rebecca at Broadsheet:

...she claimed that during a therapy session to treat writer's block, she took on the spirit of a 13-year-old boy and saw Jesus Christ.

"I'm sure it was Jesus," Wolf told the Herald, describing him as "this figure who was the most perfected human being that there could be -- full of light and full of love."

She continued, "I was a 13-year-old boy sitting next to him and feeling feelings I'd never felt in my lifetime ... [Feelings] of a boy being with an older male who he really loves and admires and loves to be in the presence of."

Don’t really know what to make of this. Cool for her I guess. I’m not really surprised, though. Back in the day (high school) I went to this weekend retreat thing run by Wolf and she kept talking about her aura and divine femininity. A bit hyper-spiritual for my taste, but whatever.

In addition to some amazing Blogging for Choice, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision inspired lots of other great pieces of reporting and commentary.

Sure, there was the routine coverage of major pro- and anti-Roe rallies. But not only in D.C. and San Francisco-- everywhere from Fayetteville to Long Island to Boise to Minneapolis to Fort Lauderdale.

Local and state-level activism couldn't be more relevant. As a lot of conservatives love to point out, overturning Roe won’t make abortion illegal in all states. But it’s so difficult to obtain an abortion in huge swathes of the country, it might as well be illegal. As TIME notes, despite our (understandable) preoccupation with Alito's confirmation process, rural states are the real abortion battleground. The year-end reproductive-rights summaries from NARAL and the Guttmacher Institute are proof enough.

Some papers did a better job of showing reproductive choice on a personal level. From South Dakota-- a hotbed of anti-choice legislation-- comes this story about two rape survivors. One chose to take the EC she was offered in the emergency room. The other did not and became pregnant. (Guess which one doesn't want EC offered to rape victims at all?) This year, the South Dakota legislature killed a bill to make hospitals offer EC to sexual assault victims. Also, the New York Times Magazine has a son's tribute to his father, an abortion provider in upstate New York. Plus, this commentary from a future abortion provider is a good read.

The importance of Roe really hits home when I remember that abortions are still going to occur even if Roe is overturned. The stories of pre-Roe providers serve as a cautionary tale.

What really cuts through the rallying/ranting/raving about Roe is the 1996 documentary Jane: An Abortion Service, which tells the amazing story of an underground clinic run by Chicago feminists in the pre-Roe era. (Copies are hard to come by, so if you're interested, check out Laura Kaplan's book on the same subject.) I highly recommend it.

And this is why. I’m sure Jill and the other brand-spanking new bloggers at Feministe will continue doing a fabulous job, but I have to say that I’m super-sad to see Lauren go.

Reading Feministe was what inspired me to start Feministing and Lauren’s savvy, humor and great writing will be sorely missed.

So go give a shout out of thanks and goodbye to the best-est feminist blogger around.

14 year-old Jessica Bradley, who was told to leave school after kissing another female student at a sleepover party, has withdrawn her lawsuit against Covenant Christian Academy. The reason why she dropped the suit is pretty depressing:

"She admitted to a sexual relationship with another student," Moffett explains. "That is a violation of school rules that are in writing, that are distributed to students and their parents, and which students and parents sign in agreement to abide by."

The attorney says those rules prohibiting sexual immorality apply both on and off campus. "It's stated very clearly that [violating those rules] can result in expulsion," he adds.

Unbelievable. So if you can’t get her out for being a lesbian, you’ll boot her for being a “slut?”

Obviously I’m pretty disgusted by this, but mostly I’m just really sad for Bradley. What kind of world do we live in where kids are humiliated and ostracized in order to promote an already-hateful agenda?

Sexual immorality? Please. What’s more immoral--being a kid who experiments with sex or being an adult spewing hate and discrimination?

Love this.

When the crew from Fire Engine Company 22 raced off at 7:50 a.m. the other day for the first call of their 24-hour shift, a woman reporting chest pains, their big red rig was primed for action but missing a typical feature: a man.

The four members of Engine 22, Division A, a captain, an engineer, a firefighter-paramedic and a firefighter, protect the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego, an affluent peninsula on the Pacific Ocean. They are one of the few crews in the nation made up entirely of women, winding up together last October, as the captain, Joi Evans, said, because of "the way the cards fell."

Female firefighters generally get the short end of the hose (har har), so this story is particularly fantastic.

Women only account for 2.5 percent of firefighters across the country. The nonprofit organization Women in the Fire Service reports that the cities with the highest number of female firefighters are Minneapolis (16%), Madison (15%), and San Francisco (15%).

And while I’m usually a proud New Yorker, I’m sad to say that NYC’s stats are abysmal: only 36 of the 11,430 firefighters are women. Ouch.

Terese M. Floren, executive director of Women in the Fire Service, says "We're seeing the most progressive fire departments really doing a good job...but the rest of the fire service needs to get up to that mark, because they are not there. And when you are no longer an anomaly, no longer a token, no longer turning somebody's head, then you will have