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 arrived."

Shortly after the first round of suits from 6 women in the states, I guess Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein is not doing so hot in the UK either.

Douglas Wigdor, the US attorney piloting their case, told The Observer this weekend that since news of the lawsuit broke he has been contacted by 'a large number' of other female bankers from Dresdner seeking to add their names to the list of claimants.

'They include many British employees working for Dresdner in London. There is a high probability that we will file a separate action against Dresdner in the British court,' said Wigdor, who is also a qualified solicitor in the UK.

Lovely.

A study done by the Italian National Research Centre found that women have a harder time quitting smoking then men.

Figures showed that although initially more men than women smoked - 67% compared to 52% - the numbers changed dramatically once women had "discovered the pleasure of smoking".

"However, once women discovered the pleasure of smoking, for example at a bar or in a restaurant after a meal or while chatting with friends, then the figures changed dramatically.

"The women in the survey found that once they started smoking they really enjoyed it and smoked more and as a result found it harder to give up. We found that 30% of men later gave up smoking while that compared to only 17% of women with many saying they just couldn't live without nicotine.

This is really interesting. I just realized that almost all my girlfriends smoke and none of them have been able to quit in the last 10 years, myself included. Hmm, I wonder why that could be?

via Scotsman.com

Women-only swim sessions have ended after men complained they were sexist:

The man [sic] objected to being unable to take part in the popular sessions at the pool in Portishead.

As a result, North Somerset Council has been forced to cancel the sessions at four of its pools.

Thoughts?

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that may not be around much longer if things keep going the the way they have.

There are plenty of ways to get involved and celebrate today, so get to it!

But before you run to your nearest pro-choice group to help out, here’s a look back at the year in U.S. reproductive rights:

Terrible (but not shocking) fact: Last year’s legislative season marked a record high in anti-choice maneuvers.

Most annoying contradiction: Young women are said to take choice for granted, young women create zine on reproductive rights.

Strangest anti-choice moves (there are a bunch):

Gym erects a fetus tree in their lobby to celebrate the holiday season.

Group tries to fly pics of aborted fetuses over Hawaii beaches.

A teacher is fired for pro-choice volunteer work.

The Christian Right attempts to block HPV vaccine for fear it will make women slutty.

Anti-choice group claims Hurricane Katrina is punishment for abortion.

Racist group pays women to be sterilized.

A Virginia school fines women who have abortions. ($500 for abortion, only $250 for racial or sexual harassment)

Arizona pharmacist recommends lying to women about EC availability.

University of Wisconsin tries to ban EC and birth control from campuses.

A fetus sings.

Wackiest anti-choice legislation:

Texas docs who perform abortions could face the death penalty.

Indiana and Virginia try to make marriage a requirement for motherhood.

NY Governor Pataki vetoes over-the-counter EC for fear teens will obtain it. But teens can get abortions without parental consent or notification in NY.

Virginia delegate proposes a bill that would jail women for not reporting their miscarriages.

Interesting/telling Bush fact: The President still won’t say if he’s against contraception.

Fetus-love only: Pregnant women across the country get fired, denied divorces.

Most anti-choice states: Ohio, Indiana and South Dakota all try to outlaw abortion.

Most thorough anti-choicers: Groups in Mississippi try to shut down the last abortion clinic.

Emergency contraception goes through hell:

Pharmacists deny women prescriptions. Everywhere.

Hospitals are encouraged to break laws requiring informing rape victims about EC.

Federal guidelines for treating sexual assault conveniently leave out any mention of EC.

Despite research that shows EC availability has nothing to do with promiscuity and that most doctors support it, legislators insist it’s a Girls Gone Wild situation.

Smack in the face to young women: Parental notification is everywhere; in Texas you need a written note from your parents.

Right to privacy? What’s that?: Ohio, Indiana and Kansas all seek women’s private medical records.

Supreme Court: After three anti-choice nominees, we’re just plain scared.

FDAssholes:

The FDA continues to trump politics over science.

Even the government says so.

Smart folks leave.

FDA puts veterinarian in charge of Office of Women’s Health. Then they deny it.

Hager gets called out.

Scary fact: American women having more babies they don’t want.

Persistence doesn’t pay off (yet): Bushie keeps trying on the “partial birth” abortion ban.

Pipe down little ladies: Boy blogs tell women to stop worrying about choice.

Cause clearly we're in great shape.

Via NPR:

Maryland could become the next state to recognize marriage for gay couples. As early as Friday, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Brook Murdock is expected to rule whether a 1973 statute that defines marriage as between a man and a woman violates the state constitution.

Maryland is one of seven states where the definition of marriage is in play. But after a big win in Massachusetts in 2004, gay rights advocates are finding the road to same-sex marriage more tortuous than they had anticipated.

The article covers Lisa Polyak and Gitanjali Deane's case in Maryland, as well as reviews the legal battles regarding same-sex marriage taking place in the other seven states, so check it out for an update.

Let's hope this one has a happy ending.

Whaaa?

No, I’m not joking. Apparently Laura Bush has recently been dubbed by some as “the feminist with a velvet hammer.”

Whaaa?

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Read the article and tell me what you think.

NARAL Pro-Choice America has just released an updated version of Who Decides?, a report on the status of reproductive rights by state.

The good news? 11 states got As: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

The bad news? More states got Fs. Check out the report to find out who failed, and to see where your state stands on reproductive rights.

And don’t forget, the anniversary of Roe is on Sunday! NARAL has some suggestions for how to celebrate.

I couldn’t help it.

You must check out BUST magazine’s Feb/march Music Issue with the ever-so-hot Peaches on the cover. This issue takes on a number of kick-ass musicians/performers, including Feist, Trina, and special guy guest, the scary-but-strangely-sexy Henry Rollins.

Click here for more info on the issue.

Under the slogan, "Enhancing the role of women in local communities," the Foundation for Supporting Civil and Democratic Initiatives (MADA) looked for women willing to participate in local and presidential elections, scheduled for September.

"We've held this extensive meeting to draw a plan of action for spreading awareness about the importance of women's participation, both as voters and candidates," said MADA Chairman Abdul Majeed al-Fahd.

"We wanted to know what exactly we need to encourage women to take part in the election process, and also to encourage men to support them," he added.

Yemen has recently decided to allow 15 percent of its decision making to women (gasp, not very much), however the number of registered women voters has tripled (15% to 42%).

via Reuters.

Oddly enough, I find Skin Deep--the new magazine dedicated to plastic surgery, staying young, and all things superficial--kind of comforting.

At least this mag isn’t bullshitting anyone about their intentions. Shit, their name says it all!

But dear lord, how sad is it that an entire magazine is devoted to cutting up your body?

Via Gawker.

A fun reunion with my old roommates last night proved to be a little more dangerous than I would have thought--a big old glass of red wine spilled all over my computer. Terrifying. It’s acting a little funky, so I’m giving it a little time off. Check out these other folks until I can nurse my poor iBook back to health.

Pseudo-Adrienne takes on the (non)ruling in Ayotte.

Ampersand debunks a men’s rights myth.

Pam at Pandagon reports that Laurel Hester’s plea for partner benefits has once again been denied.

The Countess on Fathers 4 Justice and their foiled plan to kidnap British Prime Minister Tony Blair's youngest son. (!)

And for the cherry on top, check out Echidne who posts some great Guerrilla Girls posters.

A new study says that men derive more pleasure than women from others’ misfortune.

Using brain-imaging techniques, they compared how men and women reacted when watching other people suffer pain.

If the sufferer was someone they liked, areas of the brain linked to empathy and pain were activated in both sexes.

Women had a similar response if they disliked the person experiencing the pain but men showed a surge in the reward areas of the brain.

"The women had a diminished empathic response," said Dr Klaas Enoo Stephan, a co-author of the report. "But it was still there, whereas in the men it was completely absent," he added in an interview.

I don’t know. Maybe these researchers should take a look at junior high school girls and their cliques. Then tell me about empathy. Yikes.

This is too funny. Apparently Disney’s 1946 foray into our scary lady-parts, “The Story of Menstruation,” has reared its head on several P2P networks.

From BoingBoing:

Walt Disney's The Story Of Menstruation -- Presenting the Story of Menstruation. A Walt Disney Production Through the Courtesy of Kotex Products -- was originally delivered to the International Cellu-Cotton Company on October 18, 1946. It runs approximately ten minutes. It has been estimated that the film has been seen by approximately ninety-three million American women. Neither sexuality nor reproduction is mentioned in this influential film, and an emphasis on sanitation makes it, as Disney historian Jim Korkis has suggested: 'a hygienic crisis rather than a maturational event.'

Sounds hysterical. I would love to see this movie. Anyone ever had the pleasure?

The UN says that too many countries are failing women by conducting subpar census reports.

"The World's Women 2005, Progress in Statistics" reports that many developing countries are not keeping track of the the sex of those who are born, work and die.

"The whole goal of the improvement of the quality of life worldwide is dependent on knowing the situation of women, men, the elderly, infants," said Mary Chamie, chief of the U.N. demographics and social statistics branch.

"We need it for questions on globalization, for questions on trade, on understanding of economic production, education, ... getting vaccinated and for that matter, reproduction," she said in an interview. "It's like going to the doctor, but the doctor never examines us."

Read the report here.

Related report: Beijing Betrayed: Women Worldwide Report that Governments Have Failed to Turn the Platform into Action

This is a new low, even for weight-loss commercials.

The other night (while watching Rollergirls, of course) I caught a TV ad for Jenny Craig featuring spokeswoman Kirstie Alley walking alone down a dark street. A man yells at her "Ooohhh mama, you lookin' good!" She turns and says, delighted, "Are you speaking to me?"

Then Kirstie rips off her raincoat, and they break into a song-and-dance rendition of "It’s Raining Men."

Way to romanticize catcalls from strangers in dark alleys. The ad exec is obviously not a woman who’s ever walked home alone at night.

And street heckling as proof of physical attractiveness? Uh, sorry to break it to the Jenny Craig folks, but creeps on the street don't limit their harassment to thin women.

Not to mention the Weather Girls, who sang the original version of "It’s Raining Men," were both heavyset women who also recorded under the name "Two Tons O’ Fun." And, in many of the group's videos, singer Martha Wash was replaced by lip-syncing models.

Have you called Jenny (to complain about this ad) yet?

I know we had our reservations when the promos first came out, but I’m loving A&E’s Rollergirls.

The women on the show exude real, empowered sexuality. Maybe Texas Roller Derby members with less-than-perfect bodies didn’t make the ad campaign. But they’re certainly featured in every episode, and kicking just as much ass.

These rollergirls are tough, clever, sexy, competitive and a slew of other flattering adjectives. Each episode features a different bout, with background on members of the competing teams. The show has also, thus far, been about the struggle between skaters who liked the league’s old, loosely-coordinated, clubby style -- and those who prefer more structure. In other words, it's not just about babes on skates.

As someone completely lacking coordination, I won’t be competing in roller derby any time soon. But I’ve already bought my ticket for the Bay Area Derby Girls' opening bout of the season, Oakland Outlaws vs. S.F. Shevil Dead. (Check and see if there's a league near you.)

Now I’m dying for a bad-ass nickname. Think I can get all of my friends to start calling me AnnArchy?

Women in the San Fran area are not too pleased about a recent series of anti-choice ads littering the BART trains.

The ads--funded by the Respect Life Ministry of the Oakland Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church--carry the tagline “Abortion: Have we gone too far?” (Click here to see two of the ads.)

The posters also point to the website of The Second Look Project, which is as scary as it gets.

Over 280 ads are in the BART trains and 48 larger versions are in the train stations.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that many of the posters have been defaced or torn down. Gee, I wonder why.

Every year on the Roe anniversary, anti-choice protesters make their way to Washington, DC and harass women going to local clinics.

The DC Abortion Fund is doing something about it; they’re raising money for low-income women who can’t afford abortions:

In April of 2005, the DC Abortion Fund sponsored our first Pledge-a-Protester campaign to fight back against the anti-choice protesters and we raised almost $2,000 in just over a week! This year we are running the campaign during Roe with a goal of $5,000 and need your help to secure women's access to reproductive health care in light of increasing threats from the Supreme Court and the Alito nomination. And with this year's matching grant from a generous donor, every dollar raised is doubled.

By pledging a protester, you’re committing a certain dollar amount for every anti-choice protester (don’t worry, you can put a cap on your maximum donation!).

And speaking of the Roe anniversary, don’t forget to sign on to NARAL’s Blog for Choice Day!

From the Associated Press:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that a lower court was wrong to strike down New Hampshire abortion restrictions, but steered clear of a major ruling on the volatile issue.

Click here and here for some background on the case.

The seventh edition of Carnival of Feminists is up and kicking ass over at Feministe. Go be amazed.

The next carnival will be at Gendergeek on February 8.

If you missed Rebecca Traister’s interview with antifeminist author and pundit Kate O'Beirne, go check it out now. And god be with you.

Then go read Jill at Feministe who analyzes the interview in such depth you’ll feel shamed being in the mere presence of her post. Seriously.

Oh how I wish I was joking on this one.

A Croatia [sic] lumberjack claims he started 'enjoying housework and knitting' after he was given a female kidney.

Stjepan Lizacic, 56, from Osijek, is suing his local health authority because he says he's become a laughing stock. He says his life changed from enjoying heavy drinking sessions with pals to prefering [sic] housework after the operation.

He told local newspaper 24sata: "The kidney transplant saved my life, but they never warned me about the side effects. "I have developed a strange passion for female jobs like ironing, sewing, washing dishes, sorting clothes in wardrobes and even knitting."

You hear that guys? You better watch out; only macho-man organ transplants from now on! Just think--even if a chick bleeds on you, you may be suddenly inclined to buy shoes or have an inexplicable desire to bear children. Shudder.

Kudos to anyone who knows where the above still is from. (Or is it too easy?)

Clearly Condi is not my kind of gal, but I can’t help but feel bad for her when I see a headline like this:

Condoleezza Rice's anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems

But Russian newspaper Pravda seems to have a history of weird headlines concerning the Secretary of State. Check this one out:

Condoleezza Rice leads solitary life, but surprises the world with her slim figure and determination

I’m so hoping this is just bad translating.

Thanks to Paige for the links.

A new pill created to treat people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could help rape victims.

[Scientists] have been testing a pill that, when given after a traumatic event like rape, may make the resulting memories less painful and intense.

...Scientists think [PTSD] happens because the brain goes haywire during and right after a strongly emotional event, pouring out stress hormones that help store these memories in a different way than normal ones are preserved.

Taking a drug to tamp down these chemicals might blunt memory formation and prevent PTSD, they theorize.

Propranolol, a beta blocker, is generally used to treat high blood pressure; now scientists have found that it can help trauma victims by crossing the blood-brain barrier and working on stress hormones. (The drug would need to be administered within a day or two of the traumatic event.)

A Harvard University psychiatrist did a recent study where he gave 10 days of propranolol or a placebo to accident and rape victims--three months later the eight people who had taken the drug had fewer stress symptoms.

I’m generally skeptical about the idea of medicating people in an attempt to numb feelings. But I’m unsure--if the drug treats the often-debilitating symptoms of PTSD, who am I tell a victim not to take it?

Related aside: I’ve heard of MDMA (Ecstasy) being used in similar studies. Anyone know the latest on this?

Ms., you know I love you. But seriously--what the fuck? Us feminists are the edgy ones, remember?

I'm all about making feminism more mainstream, but when a Ms. cover is the scary doppelganger of a 2003 Good Housekeeping cover something is seriously amiss.

Make sure to check out Katha Pollitt’s take on the recent “controversy” over the gender imbalance in colleges. Great stuff.

My favorite bit:

"Advocates for women have been so effective politically that high schools and colleges are still focusing on supposed discrimination against women," writes John Tierney in a recent New York Times column. "You could think of this as a victory for women's rights, but many of the victors will end up celebrating alone." If the ladies end up cuddling with their diplomas, they have only themselves--and those misguided "advocates for women"--to blame. Take that, you hyper-educated spinster, you.

Actress Kari Wuhrer claims that she was fired from the soap opera General Hospital after she became pregnant; she is suing ABC.

Wuhrer says she notified the shows writers as soon as possible so they would have time to write her pregnancy into the show. She was fired two weeks later. Ouch.

The suit says that “the vile underbelly of the Hollywood Machine encourages female actors to be as beautiful and slim as possible” and that any actress who gets pregnant can only “terminate her pregnancy or be terminated.”

Check out the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University...

Feministing will resume posting tomorrow.

Chile elected socialist Michelle Bachelet to be its first woman president on Sunday, making her only the second woman elected to head a South American state as Latin America cements a shift to the left.

Some background info for those interested in the election.

W00t!

via Reuters.

A study in New Zealand found that

those reporting abortion prior to age 21 had rates of mental disorders from age 21 to 25 that were over 1.5 times higher than the rates for women who did not become pregnant and those who became pregnant and did not have an abortion.

Um, have they factored in that when women are demonized for having an abortion and made to feel like shit by their surrounding cultural, social and political climate, they may go crazy? Just a thought.

The piece goes into the research surrounding the issue of mental health and abortion and some of the differences between our choice movement and New Zealand's.

Check it.

This is a super complicated and rather grim situation.

The Falls Bar is the sensual epicenter of the casino. The walls around it are fashioned from alternating panels of stone, sheets of water encased in glass, and sheer white curtains. Patrons sprawl on leather divans as barely attired waitresses serve them cocktails. "The girls chosen for the Falls Bar were delighted," says Ward. "Those who didn't make it were devastated." For one thing, when high rollers request the exclusive services of a cocktail waitress, the plum assignments are reserved for members of the Falls Bar crew, who attend to the big spenders in a private salon.

But not all of the Falls Bar women would remain delighted with their position on the pedestal -- or with many other aspects of life at the casino. In a civil lawsuit filed in 2005 with the Placer County Superior Court, Dalton, Ward and five other women -- all former employees of Thunder Valley Casino -- allege gender and age discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and violation of state and federal labor codes by casino management. A casino hostess, Sundi Lyons, claims she was raped by one of the Thunder Valley managers.

The casino and tribe responded in a legal brief that the case should be dismissed because the tribe is immune from civil lawsuits and its "sovereign immunity extends to the casino because it is legally inseparable from the tribe."

This truly highlights the complicated relationship between sovereign Indian nations and US law and how women tend to be the ones that fall between the cracks in a highly political and historically violent relationship. This is similar to our discussion on women in Indian Reservations that are violently attacked by US officials and have no recourse.

Read the article at Salon.

To update on Vanessa's post, in light of Pope Benedict's (aka B-Dizzle) not-so-kind words on gays and abortion, the people of Italy have rose up.

Tens of thousands of women marched through Milan to keep Italy's liberal abortion law intact while gays rallied in Rome to push for legal recognition for homosexual couples as both issues heated up in the campaign for the premiership.

The Vatican and government ministers were totally heated.

"These demonstrators are really nauseating," Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA. "Family is a serious thing, based on love between a man and a woman." He is a member of the right-wing Northern League party.

Anyway, so the march for gay rights (not even marriage rights, just legal recognition!) in Milan drew in about 1,000 people. In Rome they estimated 50,000 people came out to protest the potential overturning of the 1978 law giving women the right to abortion.

Of course the Pope said he doesn't believe in giving legal recognition to gay couples and he still condemns abortion. (I mean really, shut the fuck up!)

via CNN.com

A recent study done by Sanaa Halawani found that several cultural barriers still prohibit women's success in career development.

Halawani says most Saudis are not ready to accept women as professionals. In research for her just-completed MBA in England, she investigated the current situation concerning women’s employment in the Saudi private sector. She examined the reasons for the low percentage of women working in the private sector as well as human resource management policies that affect women’s employment.

Saudi culture still looks at a woman’s principal role in life as getting married and taking care of her house and children. This is why women are still held back in their careers, explained Halawani.

Some of things prohibiting women include family pressures, men not wanting to work in the same office as women, unfair hiring practices and innappropriate training on behalf of the employer.

via Arab News.

"Russia May Legalize Polygamy for '10 Million Lonely Women'"

Because I'd rather share my man than have none!

That’s sexist, not sexiest. (Despite the super appealing pic.)

While we know that Rush Limbaugh is infamous for being a total misogynistic jackass, I felt inclined to share his recent comments on a recent sex discrimination lawsuit filed by six women against their company, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities.

The women stated that they were hired as “eye candy”, and included a number of other horrendous situations that they were subjected to; in other words, these dudes are the epitome of piggery. Rush responded on his talk show with:

I’m not talking -- I know how many of you want to be sexually harassed -- that’s not what I’m asking. But if somebody wants to hire you to look good for whoever is the first to walk in the door every day, why not, if that’s your asset?

Now, I have a real-world question for those of you women in the audience. Just something I’d like to know. How many of you in the secrecy and privacy of your own dreams and hopes would love to be hired as eye candy?

Ah, you gotta love Rush. Well, in that “I want to stab you in the eye” kind of way.

I know I've written oh-so-many posts on Pope Benedict XVI and his ridiculously horrendous reputation concerning reproductive and LGBT rights, but I felt like I had to keep y'all updated on his (wrong)doings -- after all, he is the leader of the largest branch of Christianity in the world. Via CBC News:

Pope Benedict used an audience with local politicians on Thursday to reiterate the Catholic Church's objections to both abortion and gay marriage.

Benedict spoke of the need to help pregnant women and said medical officials should not prescribe any kind of pill that terminates a pregnancy.

Officials, he said, should ‘avoid introducing drugs that hide in some way the gravity of abortion, as a choice against life.’

As well, the Pope said the union of a man and a woman is not a ‘casual sociological construction’ and suggested that efforts to allow gay marriage ‘obscure the value and function of the legitimate family founded on matrimony.’

The Italian Bishop’s Conference has sparked the debate over abortion and the RU-486 pill, turning it into a campaign issue (the general elections are due in April) for the first time since 1981 when the church attempted to overturn the legalization of abortion.

The Pope’s reasoning behind his comments on the illegitimacy of gay marriage was simply that “there really is no social need.”

Nah, not at all.

Is it just me, or are these things plain freaky looking?

From Reuters:

The first uniquely female dummy for use in car safety tests is being developed in Sweden, researchers said on Wednesday.

All current crash test dummies are based on how men's bodies react in collisions and other accidents.

Apparently women’s risk for neck injuries is twice is high as men. Crazy.

While this news is a bit old, I have to know what y’all think about this.

The New York Times had an article on “life coaching” the other day, an apparent growing trend amongst young women. The article begins:

To figure out what you want to do with your life, you could:

A) Study hard in school, get internships in the field that interests you, work diligently and learn as much as possible at your first real job.

Or:

B) Hire a life coach.

A lot of women in their 20's are opting for B…

For $200 to $500 a month, the lucky ladies will receive information and advice via telephone concerning, well, their lives. Jane magazine featured a big article on it in this month’s issue. The coaches not only help you with school and work, but with your personal life as well.

Am I just being nitpicky, or does this "trend" seem to perpetuate the idea that women are helpless and incapable of running their own lives?

As it turns out, a fetus is legally not a separate person. At least not in the carpool lane.

Sgt. Dave Norton stopped [Candace] Dickinson's car Nov. 8. When asked how many people were in the car, Dickinson said two, pointing to "her obvious pregnancy," the officer said.

Norton said Dickinson's theory "would require officers to carry guns, radios and pregnancy testers, and I don't think we want to go there."

The municipal judge applied a "common sense" definition in which an individual is someone who occupies a "separate and distinct" space.

Now if only the federal government agreed with that assessment...

A new study says a drinking moderate amounts of coffee could increase women’s desire for sex. If you’re a rat. Oh well.

Like whoa.

On the first day of this year - and in the teeth of strenuous opposition from many Norwegian businessmen - Norway's leftist government put into effect one of the more radical attempts to achieve sexual equality: requiring that in the next two years 40 percent of the board members of the nation's large, publicly traded private companies be women.

via New York Times.

I guess there had been a legal issue as to whether women could work as bartenders in India. I think this is really interesting considering it is easier to get a job as a woman bartending in the states. The courts in India decided that a woman can and should be allowed to bartend.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that no restrictions can be put on women for working at a place where liquor or other intoxicating drugs are served to customers.

The judges also made very clear that women cannot be forced to serve liquor against their wishes.

The Court struck down Section 30 of the Punjab Excise Act, which prohibited women, and men below 25, from serving liquor at public places, as unconstitutional.

Well I don't know about serving liquor, but I know me some Indian women that can drink it.

The issue of women's right in Iraq is a complicated one. There are of course women that are in favor of Islamic law and those in favor of the civil courts. Some women are afraid that when the constitution is enacted at the end of the month, Islamic law will be the predominant and women will lose many of the rights protected by the civil courts currently.

Under the charter approved in a nationwide referendum in October, Islam will predominantly govern Iraqi law and religious sects will decide issues involving marriage and inheritance. Currently, those issues are resolved in civil courts.

While some women welcome the introduction of Islamic law, others fear it will lead to restrictions on their personal freedom and civil rights similar to the theocracy that rules in neighboring Iran.

What's undeniable is this: As the United States continues the work of liberating Iraq from the regime of Saddam Hussein, women's rights here are in jeopardy.

"Muslim women are going to suffer if the civil courts are completely abolished," said Annam Al-Soltany, a lawyer and a member of the Progressive Women's League, an Iraqi group lobbying for constitutional reforms benefiting women. "The civil law offers women more protection, but Iraq is a very religious society, and many people, including women, want Islamic laws and Islamic courts."

Amanda at Pandagon has already done a great job dissecting Jonah Goldberg’s article on the sins of feminism, so I’m not going to go into the whole thing.

However, Samhita and I wanted to address the claim in Goldberg’s headline that the “problem with feminism” is narcissism. Our response is after the jump.

The Republican Majority for Choice has announced its opposition to Alito.

Get the full story at BushvChoice. (And don't forget to sign up for Blog for Choice Day!)

Our fave cartoonist Mikhaela Reid takes on the recent (bizarre) Barbie controversy in Talking Doll. Maybe we can get Barbie and SpongeBob together to "cure" them and they can become an "ex-gay" power couple!

The hearings have my mind turned to mush, so check out these very smart folks while I beat my head against a wall:

Pacific Views and Echidne take on John Tierney’s latest piece of crap.

Feministe points to a terrifying post by the Happy Feminist that shows just how ingrained the culture of rape is in women’s minds.

Pandagon muses over Alito’s inability to recall his membership with the Concerned [that the blacks and the women will get us!] Alumni for Princeton.

LiberalOasis on Alito’s abortion “snow job.”

Six women have sued Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities and their parent company Dresdner Bank AG in a $1.4 billion discrimination suit.

The suit, filed today in New York federal court, seeks class-action status on behalf of female employees who cite a “pervasive pattern and practice” of discriminatory treatment. The women claimed they were subjected to demeaning workplace comments, including one dubbing a female employee the 'Pamela Anderson of trading.'

“The `glass ceiling' is alive and well at this German investment bank where women are treated as second class citizens,” according to the complaint. “Women cannot advance to senior levels.” Dresdner Kleinwort is an investment-banking unit of Allianz AG, Europe's biggest insurer.

The women claim that they weren’t paid as much as men, weren’t promoted as often, were denied equal job opportunities, and were often treated with open hostility.

The suit also outlines several pretty gross examples of discrimination:

One woman who attended a dinner after the closing of a major deal claimed she was pressured to leave so that male colleagues and their clients could go to a strip club, according to the complaint.

Sounds like a great place to work.

Women constitute less than 2 percent of the managing directors at the Dresdner’s capital market's division and only 13 percent of the directors worldwide.

Yesterday's hearings nearly killed me with boredom, but it was all worth it just to hear this slip from Republican Senator John Cornyn:

CORNYN: But Judge Scalito might -- Alito, excuse me...

(LAUGHTER)

After talking about Judge Scalia -- you know what I was thinking, in the back of my mind, a nickname that you've acquired sometimes. And I apologize.

Totally worth it.

Researchers are finally acknowledging what most women picked up on long ago: The Pill can kill your sex drive.

Let's be clear-- this research (or lack thereof) affects a lot of people:

Some 11.6 million women in the United States - 19 percent of those 15 to 44 years old - take birth control pills, according to a survey in 2002 by the National Center for Health Statistics. Eighty-two percent have used the pills at some time.

The article goes on to note that one in four women on the Pill experience sexual side effects. Isn't that roughly 2.9 million women?

You'd think that with that number of women affected, we'd have some answers as to why the Pill decreases libido. Some doctors chalk it up to testosterone. Others attribute it to a specific protein, or the progesterone in the Pill. They say "emotions and personal circumstances" may also be to blame.

Uh, aren't "personal circumstances" a factor in how anyone (male or female) reacts to any medication? Citing "emotions" is such a typical out when talking about women's sexuality. Gee, we haven't done enough research to understand what exactly causes the drop in desire. But these are women, after all. Must be emotional!

Also, can you imagine doctors not warning their male patients that sexual dysfunction was a possible (even likely) side effect of a prescribed medication? One of the oft-cited research challenges in developing a male birth control pill is finding a way to prevent adverse sexual side effects. God forbid men suffer decreased libido, even though after 40 years of the Pill we haven't bothered to find out exactly how affects a woman's sex drive.

"I think there's been a serious neglect on the part of the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry," said Dr. John Bancroft, a senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute.

No shit.

Just want to give a little birthday shout-out to our lovely Feministing editor Ann. She insists that it's difficult to embarrass her (as proved by the picture), but I figured I'd try anyway.

Happy 24th!

This is classic. It’s along the same lines of thinking as the Shop with a Bunny Day at Saks Fifth Avenue--everything you do should have scantily-clad women involved.

A California company, Girls Valet Parking, has “struggling models and actresses dressed in bikinis, miniskirts or lingerie” park cars for the “rich and famous.”

Clients, most of them movie stars and producers, can request a variety of uniforms, including lingerie, bikinis, capri pants, camisoles and miniskirts.

Ew. (And when did capri pants become sexy?)

If you think it sounds trashy, don’t fret. Company founder Brad Saltzman says that “if it is legal, we will do it, but we draw the line at nudity or topless.” Well it’s nice to know they have standards.

At BushvChoice.

Six back. Relax. Stop thinking about the hearings. Listen to the Menstrual Tango. A stuffed toy tampon isn't necessary to fully enjoy the song, but it helps.

A 34 year-old Vermont man got a 60-day jail sentence for raping a seven year-old girl numerous times over the course of four years.

Judge Edward Cashman, who sentenced Mark Hulett, said he no longer believes in punishment: "The one message I want to get through is that anger doesn't solve anything. It just corrodes your soul."

Yeah, prison sucks. But excuse me if I can’t muster up any sympathy for this guy.

Judge Cashman went on to explain that he is more concerned with Hulett being rehabilitated, and is forcing him to receive sex offender treatment.

I’m speechless.

South Dakota seems to be making a run for most anti-choice state legislature in the country.

A law passed by the 2005 legislature-- which has been put on temporary hold while it's being challenged in federal court-- would force doctors to inform pregnant women that the procedure ends a human life and "terminates the constitutional relationship women have with their unborn children."

Then the state's predominantly anti-choice Abortion Task Force released its biased report recommending a total abortion ban, among other crazy things. (Here's the final version of the report.)

The state legislature also recently passed a parental notification law, which is awaiting the governor's signature.

Now a survey shows that-- SURPRISE!-- more than half of South Dakota legislators favor further restrictions on abortion. As if we needed a survey to tell us that.

Oh, Indiana. Wasn’t it enough to try to keep unmarried women from having babies?

A bill filed this week in the Indiana House would make abortion illegal--even for victims of rape and incest. How lovely.

House Bill 1096, proposed by Rep. Troy A. Woodruff, would only allow for abortion if a woman’s health or life would be “permanently impaired.” The bill would make it a felony to perform any other abortions; doctors who did could face up to eight years in prison.

Here’s Woodruff’s contact info, if you’re so inclined.

The Truth Ministry has erected three of these in South Carolina. Not shocking, but appalling nonetheless. Pam at Pandagon has the full story.

NYC's recently passed "potty parity" bill, which requires that new buildings have twice as many sit-down toilets for women as they have for men, is being implemented for the first time.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse on Greenwich Street in Manhattan will be the proud first building to enforce the measure.

Del. Robert Marshall of Virginia is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature that would forbid unmarried women from using reproductive technology to get pregnant.

While Virginia's HB187 was written particularly with lesbians in mind, this bill would prevent any unmarried woman (can't let the lezzies have all the fun!) from "certain intervening medical technology" that "completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of conception." So basically: no dick, no deal.

Marshall has also sponsored measures to ban same-sex marriage and strictly limit abortions. So he's an all-around asshole. Good to know.

Something similar went down in Indiana recently.

By the way, if you'd like to vent some outrage you can find Marshall's contact info here.

Via DED Space.

Through the Scribbler, I found out about this Wikipedia weirdness.

Under the entry for 'woman', there is a vulgar terms section. The entry for ‘man’ has no such section. I think there are plenty of gender-specific vulgarities for the boys, no?

But I digress. This lovely collection of vulgar “woman” terms at Wikipedia made me remember this exercise a professor of mine did the first day of class (I've brought this up before, but I think it's that important):

What’s the worst possible thing you can call a woman?

You’re probably thinking of words like slut, whore, bitch, cunt, skank.

Now what are the worst things you can call a guy? Fag, girl, bitch, pussy.

The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl. Like Tiffany at BlackFeminism notes, “most slurs that are directed at men somehow have to do with feminization and/or homosexuality.” It all comes down to one thing. Being a woman is the ultimate insult. Ouch.

Thought I might as well get used to writing his name since it’s probably all I’ll be blogging about these next few days. Ugh.

I’ll be doing most of my Alito blogging over at BushvChoice as part of NARAL’s Blog for Choice campaign. A brief explanation: Basically, some of the best-est pro-choice bloggers have very graciously agreed to let me publish their posts on reproductive rights over at the BushvChoice blog. Talk about a one-stop shop. (The participating blogs are listed here.)

Another related campaign I’m super excited about: If you have a blog, go sign on to Blog for Choice Day. Blog for Choice Day is January 22nd--and the 34th anniversary of Roe. NARAL is asking that bloggers dedicate at least one post that day to reproductive rights--and to let them know about it.

Now, off to the races.

Our favorite Christian crazies, Concerned Women for America, have recently made a big stink over a very serious issue that will apparently infect the young kids everywhere: Barbie has crossed over to the queer side.

It seems that they’re outraged because a poll featured on the Barbie website asks children their age and sex, giving them three options for their sex: “Boy”, “Girl” and “I don’t know.”

In response, CWA has said that Mattel is being influenced by the transgender movement and that a “bisexuality gender confusion” is the dangerous agenda of the website. Um, what? Transgender, bisexual, it’s all the same perverse shit, right??

It seems that Mattel can’t escape the attention that conservative groups have been giving them as of late; they've recently broke partnership with Girls Inc. because of the American Family Association’s ludicrous hating on the nonprofit organization that empowers young girls.

Mattel claims that the third option in the poll was an oversight, was meant to be “I don’t want to say” instead of “I don’t know,” and have since changed the wording.

Shocker.

Why does a roll of toilet paper represent the college life of a female?

Via Nerve.

Reuters had a “Top News Article” today on a British survey revealing that women spend a crapload of money on clothes they will never wear.

The home insurer Churchill found that, on average, women have 14 items of clothing in the back of their closets that they haven’t worn in the past year.

In the end, they will have spent more than $22,000 in a lifetime on clothes they will never wear.

They happened to very briefly mention that men on average had nine items of clothing in their closet they hadn’t worn.

While we could get deeper into this in terms of consumer culture and its effect on women, I think these dudes are trying to make a simple point here: We’re all obsessive shoppers that are shitty with money.

I would expand on this, but I have to run to the mall.

I love these broads.

As Jessica mentioned on Tuesday, women from around the world have launched a global campaign aimed at ending the Iraq war in 2006.

Initiated by our ladies at CODEPINK, the Women Say No to War Campaign includes a number of female political leaders, military mothers, veterans, authors, actors and performers (including the kick-ass Margaret Cho -- had to mention that) who are organizing to urge for the withdrawal of foreign troops and fighters from Iraq. The first plan is to gather over 100,000 signatures by March 8th (International Women’s Day) and submit them to leaders in DC and US embassies worldwide.

Here’s a snippet of the call:

“We, the women of the United States, Iraq and women worldwide, have had enough of the senseless war in Iraq and the cruel attacks on civilians around the world. We've buried too many of our loved ones. We've seen too many lives crippled forever by physical and mental wounds. We've watched in horror as our precious resources are poured into war while our families' basic needs of food, shelter, education and healthcare go unmet. We’ve had enough of living in constant fear of violence and seeing the growing cancer of hatred and intolerance seep into our homes and communities.

This is not the world we want for ourselves or for our children. With fire in our bellies and love in our hearts, we women are rising up - across borders - to unite and demand an end to the bloodshed and the destruction."

Click here. Sign the call.

(Reminder: Men in solidarity with the message are urged to sign as well.)

In light of all the discussion about decriminalizing sex work in the European Union and the distribution of the image of Camille Cabral, sex worker and academic, wearing a sticker that says "sluts unite," we don't really know which way the EU will go on this issue.

As the E.U.'s twenty-five member nations struggle to fashion a cohesive identity, now could the moment for sex workers to achieve widespread legalization on that continent. But it could also be the beginning of a continental crackdown, where countries that have traditionally been tolerant of prostitution swing ideologically toward their neighbors with tougher laws. As it stands, European laws on prostitution vary from country to country, but the E.U. is looking to make a number of its laws consistent continent-wide.

Sex work is one of those issues that just makes us whee with comments , but the author brings up a good point about some of the differences in attitude between America and Europe in terms of sex work.

It's hard to imagine such a group making their way up the Capitol steps for a similar meeting with U.S. lawmakers to discuss the oldest profession. America has a fairly clear position on decriminalizing prostitution: No way. While liberals have their hands full shoring up such basic issues as evolution and sex ed, the right to purchase sex will remain confined to Nevada. But a conservative executive branch isn't all that defines the American public's view of the issue. Americans are far less inclined than Europeans to support the rights of sex workers by instinct.

Check out the piece via Nerve.com. and lets talk about it.

Well no shit. The Society of Adolescent Medicine has just released a comprehensive report reviewing government-funded abstinence-only programs. And shockingly, it ain’t good.

James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, says, "The report reads like an indictment. Abstinence-only is bad science, bad policy, and a blatant violation of medical ethics and basic human rights. Enough is enough. The time has come for Congress to declare an immediate moratorium on federal funding for these programs."

Here are some highlights from the report, which is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health:

"We believe that current federal abstinence-only-until- marriage policy is ethically problematic, as it excludes accurate information about contraception, misinforms by overemphasizing or misstating the risks of contraception, and fails to require the use of scientifically accurate information while promoting approaches of questionable value."

"Abstinence-only programs threaten fundamental human rights to health, information, and life."

Why is it that "modernization" and eating disorders go hand in hand?

Like many South African women, Bongi Tsuene is worried about her weight. The difference is that Tsuene, featured in a television advertisement promoting a dieting formula, is black.

Experts say more black women like Tsuene are shunning the traditional African reverence for the fuller figure as they adapt to the pressures of post-apartheid South Africa, raising fears they could become vulnerable to eating disorders.

Isn't that great!? Why?

Many non-Western societies have traditionally been immune to the diet-obsession of the rich world, viewing bigger bodies as a sign of prosperity.

But, as more of these women become exposed to Western culture in an ever-globalizing world, researchers have seen a shift in attitudes.

"Worldwide media exposure, which focuses on mainstream cultural values, has been implicated as a powerful force in shaping public perceptions regarding the value of thinness and hence contributory to the rise in eating disorders in non-Westernized populations,"

I think that women all over the world receive some degree of societal pressures to look a certain way based on their cultural surroundings. But something about this obsession with all things thin is so Western. I will now lovingly rub my belly in resistance to this bullshit.

via Reuters.

This is not a new issue, we have all been skeptical of the actual experiences of women attempting to enter Iraqi politics. But these women argue that although women are given "spots" in the government their role is not being utilized.

"We seek a real role for women, not a marginal one," said Haider al-Abadi, a prominent member of Iraq's largest political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite group. "Society has now accepted women in the political field. . . . We are keen for women to hold leading positions in the government."

During Saddam Hussein's 25-year reign, women did have a few opportunities to play important roles in government or elsewhere in society, but only as long as they complied with Saddam's demands to serve him and the ruling Baath Party. Women had the right to vote, for instance, but like all Iraqis could vote only for Saddam.

Yet for all the talk of shedding a history of female repression and establishing a nation in which a woman's voice matters as much as a man's, signs that the government is becoming more Islamist worry champions of women's rights.

One 23 year old woman says, "As a woman, I feel I need women in office to help me achieve my goals," she said. "So far we have seen nothing in the past elections. Women have been represented in the slates, but only to fill a space, and they haven't been valued."

via San Jose Mercury News.

Offensive t-shirts are popping up everywhere (remember these and these). Check these out, they go from offensive to more offensive. This is the description for the above shirt,

Do you have a substance abuse problem, an eating disorder, and low self esteem? Then you may have what it takes...

What does having an eating disorder and low self-esteem have to do with being a coked-out whore? If you are going to be offensive, do your research.

Thanks to Alex for the link!

The Feminist Majority Foundation, with the National Organization for Women and the National Congress of Black Women, today announced Freedom Winter '06, part of a joint campaign to stop the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Freedom Winter is a reference to the Freedom Summer of 1964 where students from all over the country went to the Southern states to help register black voters.

via Feminist Majority Foundation.

I still can't get the image of Birkenstock-wearing clowns out of my head when I hear that title. How wrong is that?

My fear of clowns aside, the sixth edition of the Carnival of Feminists is up at Reappropriate for your reading pleasure.

I’ve never put much credence in the whole “men need to spread their seed” argument for why women are supposed to be monogamous and men more likely to be polygamous. So I’m equally skeptical about two new studies that say women may be genetically inclined to cheat. (But I do find the idea of ovulation leading to a cock-crazed cheating frenzy pretty funny.)

One study published today by the University of California, Los Angeles Center on Behavior, Culture, and Evolution and the University of New Mexico says women have evolved to cheat on their mates during the most fertile part of their cycle, but only when those mates are less sexually attractive than other men.

..."We're claiming the desire to cheat is what evolved in women, that they may notice they have these desires at a certain point in their cycle," said Elizabeth Pillsworth, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of communication and psychology at UCLA. "Whether they translate into unfaithful behaviors is a matter of their own choosing. Cheating is a choice."

No way; my ovaries made me do it!

For consistently being able to write exactly what I feel without ever employing curse words. Damn you to hell.

Traister’s latest, At home with David Brooks, is a fantastic roundup analysis of the recent NY Times power-is-in-the-kitchen-debacle.

Here’s an excerpt:

Central to Brooks' argument is the barely veiled suggestion that mothers who work outside the home surrender influence in their households. The dark little melody playing underneath his self-assured dismissal of Hirshman is that a breakdown of society can be pinned on all those women who have abandoned their rightful sphere of influence in exchange for the "brutalizing, dominating power" that he thinks Hirshman "admires."

It's a chorus that's been heard a lot recently, and at increasing volumes, as we inch closer to a year in which many have speculated about the possibility of the ultimate working woman -- a female president. It's as if critics like Brooks, petrified by the changes afoot, are urging us in silken tones to return quietly to our corners. "Back away from the White House," he seems to be saying. "You don't really want to be there anyway. You'll be so much happier, and more powerful, and influential, back home where you belong."

A new Duke University study says that even if women drink less than men, they’re more vulnerable to the negative health consequences associated with alcohol.

Women are more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver, cardiac disease and cognitive impairments. Sounds fun.

Now why I didn’t I know this before New Year’s Eve?

John Tierney’s most recent sexist column isn’t exactly shocking. I mean, come on now--this is a guy who argued that Scrabble shows that women aren’t competitive and that abortion isn’t about women. But Tierney’s latest, Male Pride and Female Prejudice, combined with David Brooks’ recent article asserting that “power is in the kitchen,” is just too much for me to handle. But I’m tired of giving assholes like this any play on the blog.

Maybe Brooks and Tierney should have read Terry Martin Hekker’s piece before spouting off on how super fantastic marriage and scrubbing toilets is for women.

In Paradise Lost (Domestic Division) Hekker recounts her fall from advocate of stay-at-home-momism to divorced mom with no cash. It’s a must read.

Check out the latest from cartoonist extraordinaire Mikhaela Reid, 2005 in review. Just in case you forgot how fun the year was.

The Adoption and Children Act of 2002’s provisions allowing same-sex and unmarried couples to adopt came into force right before the new year.

...adoption agencies will merely need to be satisfied that an individual couple have a stable and lasting relationship and that they can provide a loving family for a child.

Imgaine that. Now only if certain U.S. states would take a lesson from this.

Code Pink is asking women to sign on to their global call for peace. They have the appeal available in English, Arabic, French, Spanish and German; so please distribute it widely.

(By the way, the organization notes that men in solidarity with the message are welcome to sign on.)

Really, what the hell is wrong with people?

Since last year, a student-funded center at the University of Texas at Austin has offered counseling, workshops, forums and other services to gay, lesbian and female students.

Now some Texas conservatives are targeting the Gender and Sexuality Center, saying UT students shouldn't have to pay $80,000 a year in fees for a center that "promotes a lifestyle" a majority of Texans reject – particularly when parents are struggling to afford college costs.

The Dallas Morning News also reports that conservative groups are planning to draft legislation that would require the center to be privately funded.

The Gender and Sexuality Center serves a number of purposes at the University of Texas--you know, besides promoting sodomy and all that. The Center provides support services for gay and lesbian students; houses the campus's women's resource center which deals with rape, harassment and domestic violence issues; educates the entire student body on LGBT issues, safe sex and dating; and maintains a large library of magazine books and DVDs.

Scandalous, huh? You’re gonna love this, though. Check out why the campus chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas objects to the Center:

The center's literature states that gay and lesbian people deserve "fair treatment" and "equal rights," which could be construed to mean protection under the law from hate crimes or discrimination, a position opposed by many conservative and Republican groups.

Via Dru Blood.

While 2005 definitely had its (many) crappy moments for women, last year also marked a number of political gains for women across the world.

Liberia elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, making her the first female president in Africa.

68 Afghan women won seats in the 249-member legislature.

Angela Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor.

Two women in Saudi Arabia's were elected to the chamber of commerce board, making them the country’s first female elected officials.

The Japanese government is submitting a bill to parliament this month that will allow women to ascend the throne.

The number of female members of parliament worldwide reached an all-time high of 6,960 (16.1 percent).

The Associated Press reports that two 16 year-old girls were expelled from a California Lutheran high school “because they were suspected of being lesbians.” Suspected? Ugh.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Riverside County Superior Court, seeks the girls' re-enrollment at the small California Lutheran High School, unspecified damages and an injunction barring the school from excluding gays and lesbians.

...The lawsuit alleges that the school's principal, Gregory Bork, called the girls into his office, grilled them on their sexual orientation and "coerced" one girl into saying she loved the other.

The next day, the lawsuit says, Bork told the girls' parents they could not stay at the school with "those feelings." In a Sept. 12 letter to the parents, Bork acknowledged that officials had seen no physical contact between the girls but said their friendship was "uncharacteristic of normal girl relationships and more characteristic of a lesbian one."

Bork wrote in the letter that the relationship violated the school’s Christian Code of Conduct and that their behavior was “scandalous” and “immoral.”

The girls’ lawyer noted that the school must comply with state civil rights laws and that the principal’s letter was chock full of hypocrisy: “The school is claiming the girls were expelled because their conduct wasn't within the Christian code. But at the same time, (the school) has students who aren't Christians and are even Jewish.”

At least, that’s what Monique Stuart seems to think. The popularity of Sex and the City, the rise of sex columns in student newspapers and the performance of The Vagina Monologues on college campuses are all marks of what Stuart calls “slut feminism.”

Apparently talking about sex and vaginas will lead to a scourge of nationwide leg-spreading.

Stuart’s argument is basically that sex is bad bad bad and women who have--or even talk about--sex are immoral sluts.

...In Columbia University's sex column, "Sexplorations," Miriam Datskosky explains why the all-too-common "walk of shame" shouldn't be shameful at all. She argues that, men and women should be able to go out and have sex whenever and with whoever they like, and when walking home the next morning -- wearing the same clothes from the night before, their make-up smeared and their hair a mess -- they shouldn't be judged: "It is not up to a random stranger to make you feel ashamed." Moral relativism and the sexual revolution had a baby, and boy is it ugly.

Because as everyone knows, the only appropriate post-sex responses are guilt and shame.

But don’t worry, ladies--Stuart has a cure for the disease of a lustful mind:

...With the help of organizations like the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, [students] can bring conservative women leaders, such as Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter or Phyllis Schlafly, to their schools to challenge this type of thinking.

Predictably, Stuart works for the the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute--the org that brought you the Great American Conservative Women calendar. (Even better is Stuart’s “activist” history.)

What particularly pisses me off about the piece is Stuart’s holier-than-thou attitude: “Sexual freedom has turned into sexual obsession. Perversion and promiscuity are applauded, morality and chastity condemned.” So having sex is immoral, but calling women “sluts” is just dandy. With a moral barometer like that, I think I’m better off being a slutty feminist.

Nothing better than a post-holiday link dump.

Amanda takes on David Brooks and his helpful advice to women that “power is in the kitchen.”

Alas, a Blog’s Ampersand alerts us that New York’s Riker Island prison is shutting down it’s separate protective unit for gay and transgender prisoners.

Echidne asks what’s in a name.

Lynn at Broadsheet writes on how American girls are hitting puberty earlier and earlier (and the freaky new hormone implant created to stall puberty.)

Bitch Ph.D. points to a three part article on Laurel Hester and her heartbreaking story.

Come on, like you don’t want to know if they escape eternal hellfire?

This is terrifying. A young Louisiana couple attempted to bomb a clinic several weeks ago by throwing a Molotov cocktail at the building. Luckily it fell away from the building and the resulting fire never hit the clinic.

The couple, a 24 year-old woman was charged with manufacturing and possession of a delayed incendiary device, her 18 year-old boyfriend was charged as an accessory.

The New York Times magazine has a short first-person piece on the disturbing “designer vagina” trend--Our Vaginas, Ourselves. (Great title.) A little snippet:

So step right up, ladies. Your labia may not be up to snuff - they may extrude too much or lack youthful plumpness - but a quick nip/tuck or strategic injection of fat from Dr. 90210 and his colleagues will take care of that. And thanks to the wonders of hymenoplasty, you can get to be a virgin - or at least like a virgin - all over again. From where I sit, life looks to be one long Madonna-esque self-invention tour, and there's nothing to be done but to grin, tighten your Kegel muscles and bear it.

Now, if only I could get over my third grade sense of humor and stop giggling to myself over author Daphne Merkin’s last name.