October 2006 Archives

An article in Slate concedes that the increase in the use of internet porn has a direct correlation to a decrease in rape. He also contends that violent movies decrease violent behaviors and crimes. Now theoretically, this is plausible, but his logical leaps are a little grandiose.

Have at it.

Does pornography breed rape? Do violent movies breed violent crime? Quite the opposite, it seems.

First, porn. What happens when more people view more of it? The rise of the Internet offers a gigantic natural experiment. Better yet, because Internet usage caught on at different times in different states, it offers 50 natural experiments.

The bottom line on these experiments is, "More Net access, less rape." A 10 percent increase in Net access yields about a 7.3 percent decrease in reported rapes. States that adopted the Internet quickly saw the biggest declines. And, according to Clemson professor Todd Kendall, the effects remain even after you control for all of the obvious confounding variables, such as alcohol consumption, police presence, poverty and unemployment rates, population density, and so forth.

This may very well be true, but I would be interested in seeing some other factors that may be involved here, like law/policy, work by anti-rape activists, etc. Furthermore, whether this decreases rape or not, does the use of internet pornography change the culture of rape, or does it justify sexual fetishization to an even greater degree. Don't get me wrong, the less rapes the better, but is this a solution?

The author (Landsburg) continues admitting that correlation may not be causation.

OK, so we can at least tentatively conclude that Net access reduces rape. But that's a far cry from proving that porn access reduces rape. Maybe rape is down because the rapists are all indoors reading Slate or vandalizing Wikipedia. But professor Kendall points out that there is no similar effect of Internet access on homicide. It's hard to see how Wikipedia can deter rape without deterring other violent crimes at the same time. On the other hand, it's easy to imagine how porn might serve as a substitute for rape.

The article also discusses violent images and violent crime, one theory being if violent criminals are watching a movie, then they are not outside committing a crime.

Thoughts?

Napoli's stupidity comes back to bite him in the ass.

This is perhaps one of the scariest rulings I've ever seen:

An appellate court said Maryland's rape law is clear -- no doesn't mean no when it follows a yes and intercourse has begun.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Special Appeals Monday threw out a rape conviction saying that a trial judge in Montgomery County erred when he refused to answer the jury's question on that very point.

The appeals court said that when the jury asked the trial judge if a woman could withdraw her consent after the start of sex, the jury should have been told she could not. The ruling said the law is not ambiguous and is a tenet of common-law.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.

So ladies, once it's in, it's in. Ain't nothing you can do about it. Changed your mind? Suck it up. He's hurting you? Oh, sorry--should have thought of that before. After all, it's not like your body is yours or anything. Jeez.

UPDATE: A reader sent us the Maryland decision; check it out.

Thanks to Roxanne for the picture!

After the fall of the Taliban women were promised many rights that have yet to be realized. According to international women's rights organization, Womankind Worldwide, women in Afghanistan still face systematic discrimination and violence.

via BBC.

The report admits that there have been some legal, civil and constitutional gains for Afghan women. But serious challenges remain and need to be addressed urgently, it states. These include challenges to women's safety, realisation of civil and political rights and status.

Furthermore, women have received at least 25% representation in the government, but the culture surrounding female politicians and activists is still a hostile one.

"Women who are standing up to defend women's' rights are not being protected," says Brita Fernandes Schmidt of Womankind Worldwide.

"My message, really, to the international community is: you need to address specific security issues for women," she says.

"Women's rights activists are getting killed, women's NGO workers are getting killed, and that is not going to change unless some drastic action is taken," Ms Fernandes continues.

Womankind Worldwide says the international community needs to fulfil promises made after the fall of the Taleban to help protect Afghan women.

What I find interesting about this is that the US government used the rights of women as its rationale for military aggression in Afghanistan. But now after the fall of the Taliban (and since we couldn't find Bin Laden there you know and attempts at building a natural gas pipeline have failed) we are suprisingly not present to protect women. Oh the smell of hypocrisy, so rank.

Despite all the false advertising and other dirty tactics, polling shows support for the South Dakota abortion ban is down 10 points headed into the last week before the election. Sweet! If (and it's a big "if") all those people actually turn out to vote, things are looking good.

So I'm heading off in a bit to bring 100 girls (yikes) from Girls for Gender Equity's programs to this year's Glamour Women of the Year Awards. I have no idea what to expect, but I heard last year's event featured Queen Latifah, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mary J. Blige.

Let's hope it will be as inspiring as it sounds; I'll write a little something on it later in the week. Wish me luck! (It's not easy chaperoning a hundred adolescents on a mission to see some stars.)

Let's play a game called "Which synonym is the most offensive?" Via Thesaurus.com:

Main Entry: girl

Definition: female

Synonyms: babe, baby doll, bird, blonde, bobby-soxer, boytoy, broad, butterfly, canary, chick, coed, cupcake, cutie, dame, damsel, daughter, deb, debutante, doll, female, filly, gal, jail bait, lady, lassie, mademoiselle, maid, maiden, minx, miss, missy, mouse, nymph, nymphet, piece, queen, schoolgirl, she, sis, skirt, spring chicken, teenybopper, tomato, tomboy, virgin, wench, witch, woman

"Piece" is really sticking out for me. Here is its "antonym":

Main Entry: boy

Definition: young man

Synonyms: buck, cadet, chap, child, chip, dude*, fellow, gamin, guy, half-pint*, junior, lad, little guy*, master, punk*, puppy*, runt*, schoolboy, shaveling, shaver*, small fry*, sonny*, sprout*, squirt*, stripling, tadpole*, whippersnapper*, youngster, youth

Just a little reminder of the power of language.

Check out this interview in The Washington Post with one of the Real Hot 100 of 2006, Holly Shulman.

Shulman is the founder of Vote Against Violence, a political action committee which addresses domestic and sexual violence. Did I mention she’s only 23?

Congratulations, Hottie Holly!

While last year’s disturbing product poll nominee the Child “Pimp� Costume was disturbing enough, I thought I’d point out another kind of costume that I really can’t believe people actually wear: for Halloween, why not be a different race!

In addition to the “Indian Pink Princess� above check out some more of my favorite-racist-costumes-to-hate after the jump. It's pretty infuriating, particularly when they try so hard to exoticize women of color. Has anyone seen worse than these? (Although I don't think you can get much worse.)

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A New York high school principal forced three female students to leave school last week because they were wearing beige leotards. I kid you not.

On Long Beach High School’s Superhero Day, the students came to school dressed up as Captain Underpants, an extremely popular children’s book character. Because his garb is just underpants and a red cape, the girls wore beige leotards and nude stocking under white briefs and red capes.

'Yes, I know they weren't naked,'' said Principal Nicholas Restivo, "But the appearance was that they were naked.''

Um, but they weren't. Would male students would have been kicked out for wearing the same thing? Regardless of that answer, Captain Underpants is a humorous character and, if anything, the costume sounded funny, not revealing or inappropriate.

Is it just me, or is this principal unecessarily sexualizing these girls for wearing a comical costume?

In honor of the Get in Shape, Girl tape I found in my apartment when I was moving out (yes, it was mine), may I present the 80s version of fucked up toys for girls.

Students at Gallaudet University did an incredible job organizing to protest the board of director's appointment of Jane K. Fernandes as president. The school of 1,800 students managed to shut down the campus for days, and organized a 2,000+ person arch on the Capitol. And in the end, they won. It's a great example of young, passionate people making real change happen. As a graduate of a university with (ahem) presidential issues, I say bravo. Check out some fantastic photos on Flickr, by nonlinear.

I’ll admit that when I first read the headline, “Stylists reach out to abused women,� I was extremely skeptical. My anticipation was one of finding that the article would be about giving domestic violence survivors make-overs or something. But Cut It Out is nothing of the sort.

The program was created by the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and has become a national program which essentially trains salon professionals on how to recognize signs of domestic violence, and what to do about it. It may sound a bit bizarre, but the fact of the matter is that salons have been known to be a safe space for many women to disclose their life experiences and be in a women-friendly environment where male abusers typically wouldn’t go.

Yes, salons are still public spaces where women wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable talking about their abuse while other women are in the room, but the program teaches stylists to be discrete with their communication, whether it be slipping a hotline card into a magazine or just listening and suggesting resources (out of the hearing range to others). This is just one of the many things Cut It Out teaches their stylists.

I love it. Check out their site for more info.

In one of the first U.S. prosecutions for female genital mutilation, an African immigrant faces trial for circumcising his daughter.

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds calls emergency contraception an "exception" to the state's abortion ban... then says he misspoke.

Dahlia Lithwick explains why the New Jersey gay marriage decision isn't judicial activism.

SCOTUSblog talks to the always awful Phyllis Schlafly.

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has a new report on how public housing authorities respond to domestic violence.

A letter from an Iranian man whose mother was stoned to death.

Our Truths/Nuestras Verdades, a project of Exhale, is now accepting submissions for their upcoming issue. The topic is "feelings about the fetus."

A Seattle principal ignored allegations that a teacher was fondling female students. Here's a petition calling for his resignation.

The International Carnival of Pozitivities is a new blog carnival of and for people living with HIV/AIDS, their families, friends or caregivers.

Canadian progressive bloggers discuss what feminism has done for them.

Planned Parenthood releases (PDF) a document on its political strategy for the midterm elections and beyond. Plus, Jennifer Baumgardner writes about how the South Dakota abortion ban will test the political savvy of new president Cecile Richards.

The IUD is the preferred method of contraception for female OB/GYNs.

Home-brewed beer has long been an African tradition, a product produced mainly by women. But the globalization of beer thratens this tradition.

The founders of Source magazine must pay millions for harassing a former top editor.

A letter responding to the NY Times story on "Slutoween" critiques the paper's decision to refer to women as girls.

The MTA in NYC will now allow transwomen to use women's bathrooms.

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about her new novel about the Nigerian civil war.

A petition calling for the admission of transwomen to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. [UPDATE: Wrong petition, we're working on getting the correct one; apologies.]

Katherine Arnoldi wrote her first article about equal rights for teen moms in a magazine called Hard Labor in 1976. She has won numerous literary awards since then. And her graphic novel, The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom, published in 1998, was named one of the top ten books of the year by Entertainment Weekly, was awarded two American Library Association Awards, and is being made into a major motion picture.

Katherine Arnoldi became a single mother when she was 17, living in Canton, Ohio in the 1970s. The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom chronicles Katherine’s journey through abusive relationships, toxic factory work, and the backlash she received as a single teen mom, to a college education at the University of Arkansas. Katherine has been advocating for the rights of teen moms to education and mobility ever since. And is currently a doctoral candidate in creative writing at Binghamton University in New York.

Busy Katherine emailed me her answers to my questions. Here’s Katherine…

Yeah someone actually said that. Specifically, a senior Australian Muslim cleric.

A senior Australian Muslim cleric triggered national outrage today for likening women who dress immodestly to meat that is left out for prey to eat.

Sheik Taj Aldin al Hilali's spokesman said the cleric's comments in a sermon last month to mark the Islamic holy month of Ramadan had been taken out of context in a report in The Australian newspaper.

But the spokesman, Keysar Trad, did not challenge the accuracy of the paper's translation.

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden, or in the park, or in the backyard without cover, and the cats come to eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat's?"

Concluding that it is the fault of the uncovered meat. But how can meat cover itself, isn't it usually I dunno, unable to move? His metaphor is faulty.

via Independent UK.

UPDATE: As a result he has been suspended.

In an effort to curb sexual harassment, a city in British Columbia is requiring all of its firefighters to wear boxers rather than briefs.

In the wake of harassment allegations from four female firefighters, the department didn't respond by committing to hiring a critical mass of women, working to change firehouse culture, or instating strict penalties for harassing behavior. Nope, they decided standard underwear (the same boxers will be issued for both male and female firefighters to wear) was the way to go.

The one-style-for-all is part of the city's attempts to make the department gender-neutral and provide an environment in which men and women will feel comfortable, said Townsend.

This is, apparently, because firefighters have to strip down to their underwear in order to dress in their gear before heading out on a call. I guess it's possible that the women complained about being catcalled while changing into their gear. And if issuing standard underwear will change their work environment for the better, I'm all in favor.

I hope, though, that the fire department is looking at broader ways to change its culture of sexual harassment.

Via Nerve.

I don't know what to make of this exactly, but I don't like it. Men come here and put up pictures of their girlfriends and wives that they feel have gotten *fat.* I think it just adds to the wealth of media and knowlegde production dedicated to the hatred of fat people. Do we really need more of that?

Thoughts?

The Center for Work Life Law has a new report called Opt Out or Pushed Out? The True Story of Why Women Leave the Workforce (PDF), a detailed analysis of how the press has covered/created the "opt-out revolution" -- plus an examination of the real reasons women exit and enter the workforce.

Findings include:

• although mothers are not increasingly likely to stay home with their children, a real trend is that both men’s household contributions and women’s work hours have stalled;

• better educated women are more likely to be in the labor force than less educated women; and

• women’s decisions to opt out do not represent a return to “traditional� values; in fact, much of what contemporary professional moms stay home to do is not traditional.

The report kicks off with a breakdown (and takedown) of Lisa Belkin's 2003 piece that coined the phrase "opt-out revolution," explaining that Belkin's "success in naming and framing reshaped and refreshed a well-entrenched story line: that women are returning home as a matter of choice, the result of an internal psychological or biological 'pull' rather than a workplace 'push.'" And story after story, in her own New York Times and in countless other outlets, has gone on to reinforce that narrative.

British superstore Tesco is selling stripper poles in the children's toy aisle. The perfect gift for your padded-bra wearing, bikini-modeling 8-year-old!

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words, "Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!

My initial reaction is that this product doesn't look much different from the packaging of certain Barbies, Bratz, or other toys marketed toward girls. Which actually says a lot more about the state of girls' toys than it does about this particular product. But it's supposedly an excercise product for adult women, and now Tesco has agreed to only sell it in the fitness section of its stores. Seems a more acceptable fit in that aisle.

That's not to say I'm not disturbed my the mere idea of a stripper pole marketed at girls. I just wouldn't go quite as far as the crazy fundies, who decry the pole's phallic nature and say it will "destroy children's innocence."

via BoingBoing.

The natural way to connect the stem-cell research debate with women's rights is to note that the same conservatives who are against embryonic stem cell research are also usually opposed to abortion rights. At least that's one way I'd always thought about the issue.

But as Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society writes, young women are needed to act as egg donors to further certain types of stem-cell research. And few people are asking the important questions about the safety of egg harvesting.

Most embryonic stem cell research does not require women’s eggs. To date, all existing embryonic stem cell lines have been derived from embryos that were created but not used for fertility purposes. [...] But some researchers are trying to develop another derivation method, which relies on the technique known as research cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Those efforts do require additional eggs, in large numbers.

And egg retrieval isn't exactly a walk in the park, which is something I could have guessed when I saw ads in my college newspaper offering egg donors thousands of dollars.

Egg retrieval involves giving a woman hormones to first “shut down� and then “over-stimulate� her ovaries, followed by surgical extraction of multiple eggs under general anesthesia. Though the procedure is widely used in fertility clinics, data about both its short-term and long-term risks are grossly inadequate. Serious adverse reactions, even several deaths, have been reported.

California funds stem-cell research with state money, and recently enacted a law classifying egg donors as "research subjects." This will ensure women understand the risks involved and are covered in the case of an adverse event. Darnovsky notes that few states other than California fund this type of research. But if that changes, we need to be advocating for similar safeguards in other states. Something to keep an eye on.

From aodland.

Contributed by Suzanne Grossman
[Ed. note: this post was adapted from an email]

I'm here with the theater production Words of Choice on a tour around the state to help support and spur dialogue regarding the extreme abortion law that is up for a state-wide vote next Tuesday. We have done two shows so far in Sioux Falls that have gone extremely well and are heading to another college today in Brookings, SD.

I wanted to tell you some first-hand accounts of things here because I think that we all can do a lot to show our support. I've met a number of activists who are working hard to get out the "vote no on 6" message but it's difficult. They face a lot of opposition and are feeling at this point that the vote is completely up in the air and that they are out-numbered. The anti-choice side has signs all over town and the state. The pro-choice side delayed getting the lawn signs and fear that people will be too afraid to put them out. But they are working hard to make calls from their office which we went to visit. They are a diverse group, many young people and all working really hard. They are cleary anxious, though.

The office has a "wall of support" where they paste up letters cheering them on. I asked a few of them what people around the country could do. A contact at the Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls said that, at this late date, donations could go straight to the Campaign for Healthy Families because they are the ones doing the real "get out the vote" grassroots work. Funds will help keep their ads on the air among other efforts. (They even could use actual volunteers flying in from out of state, and welcome this.)

So....if you have a moment, please send a donation or send a letter or postcard cheering them on--it will go on their wall for the volunteers to see that even though it may seem like they are in the minority, in fact, the rest of the country is rooting for them.

Please forward this to your pro-choice friends. For more information, email here.

Activist have been lobbying in India for a while to get tougher laws on domestic violence. As of yesterday men could face jail sentences and stiff fines for violence against women.

The law, which took effect Thursday, also applies to men or their families who harass wives for larger dowries, the government said. The measure is intended to prevent cases in which a husband or his family kills a wife because her family did not give a big enough dowry. The Domestic Violence Act's definition of abuse is broad, including verbal, physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse. Violators face up to a year in prison and a fine of 20,000 rupees (US$435; euro360). "We have been trying for long to protect women from domestic violence. In India, around 70 percent of women are victims of these violent acts in one or another form," said Renuka Choudhury, the junior minister for women and child development.

Word.

via AP.

The Bush administration recently announced it's easing restrictions to encourage more sex-segregated public schools. I'm with most of the major civil liberties groups in saying I'm not happy with this smackdown of Title IX.

(And before everybody goes shouting that, "Hey! But feminists loooove women-only colleges!", let me say that seg-segregated education is a vastly different issue when we're talking about public K-12 schools. )

Sure, some studies have shown that both girls and boys can benefit from being in a sex-segregated learning environment. But the right-wingers who are pushing for more single-sex schools don't have these benefits in mind. This is more of a tool to reinforce traditional gender roles than it is to improve learning.

Brad illustrates this with a great quote from the ACLU's complaint (PDF) against sex-segregated schools in Louisiana:

Mr. Murphy briefly outlined the differences in instruction that would be given to girls and to boys.

For instance, girls would receive character education and be subject to high expectations both academically and socially. Girls would be taught math through "hands-on" approaches. Field trips, physical movement, and multisensory strategies would be incorporated into girls' classes. Girls would act as mentors for elementary school girls.

On the other hand, boys' teachers would teach and discuss "heroic" behavior and ideas "that show adolescents what it means to truly 'be a man.' Boys' classes would include consistently applied discipline systems and offer tension release strategies. Boys' classes would also feature more group assignments.

The National Women's Law Center points out that the Bush administration is pushing for segregation without proper safeguards against this type of gender stereotyping and discrimination. Without such protections, it's easy to be worried. One of the biggest backers of the new regulations is Leonard Sax, executive director of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. Sax wrote a key book about male and female brain differences that David Brooks has cribbed from to write his stereotype-laden columns. These are the same types of conservatives who are alarmed about the "boy crisis,"

Sure, some people are saying, but sex-segregated education is voluntary -- we're not forcing anyone to attend a sex-segregated school! That may be true. But in practice, as we know from watching the proliferation of abstinence-only sex ed, school districts go where the federal dollars are. So if the Department of Education is opening up additional funding streams for schools that separate the boys from the girls, and local fundies are pushing for it, you can bet districts will line up to get in on the action.

I don't know about you, but "separate but substantially equal" doesn't sound good enough to me.

A judge in Missouri ordered a woman not to have any children out of wedlock while on probation. Yeah.

"I was shocked," Nelson said. "I only have three kids. He made it seem like I was just having kids, kids, kids."

...[Mandy] Nelson told the judge that she had undergone surgery to close her fallopian tubes after her third son was born two years ago.

But [Judge Daniel] Kellogg replied, "Frankly, nothing is 100 percent."

And for this, he is the asshole of the day.

Another interesting piece of info:

In a case such as Nelson's, an officer would report to the court only if she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, Hauswirth said. The pregnancy by itself wouldn't be in violation.

So she would have to get an abortion as to not violate her probation? Nice.

Check out another ad from the folks at No on 85. While it's meant to focus on the proposed law in California, I think it shows the insanity of any parental notification law.

Broadcasting & Cable reports that in the six weeks since Katie Couric has taken over the anchor's chair, female reporters and correspondents on the CBS Evening News have recevied 40% fewer assignments.

Under [outgoing anchor Bob] Schieffer, stories filed by women averaged 5.8 minutes each night; under Couric, that average has dropped to 3.0 (the average for men is the same, at 10.1 minutes). Medical correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin has been replaced by Jon LaPook.

Maybe Kaledin wouldn't agree to the Photoshop diet? Writes B&C:

Couric has risen to the top network news spot. But so far, it seems, her rising tide has not lifted her sisters’ boats.

Ignore, momentarily, the icky phrase, "lifted her sisters' boats"... I don't know enough about broadcast news to say for sure, but I think the blame for this rests just as much (or moreso) on the producers as it does on Couric. Honestly, I'm not surprised that they've cut down other women's roles (at least in front of the camera) now that Couric holds the most prominent post. Wouldn't want anyone confusing the CBS Evening News with Lifetime, after all. Gotta downplay the chick factor.

It got me wondering if something similar happens when women rise to positions of prominence at magazines. There's really no noticible uptick in the number of female staffers and writers, but has anyone ever thought to track whether the numbers actually go down when a woman takes charge? It's a depressing thought, but I'd be curious to know.

The courts decided yesterday that gay couples should have the same legal and financial rights as hetero-couples but couldn't decide if it should be called marriage, handing that decision to the state legislature.

In a decision filled with bold and sweeping pronouncements about equality, the New Jersey Supreme Court gave the Democratic-controlled Legislature 180 days to either expand existing laws or come up with new ones to provide gay couples benefits including tuition assistance, survivors’ benefits under workers’ compensation laws and spousal privilege in criminal trials.

Four justices said that lawmakers, not the court, should decide whether to call those arrangements a marriage, a civil union or something else, while three dissenters said the state Constitution demanded that gay couples, like their heterosexual counterparts, be allowed to wed.

You can read more about it here.

What does this mean for policy change? Scott at Lawyers, Guns and Money breaks it down.

Contributed by Elana Levin
Cross-posted at DMIBlog.

What woman who votes doesn't love to read media speculation about what the mysterious female voter is looking for in "Mr. Right" (by which I mean the usually male candididates for higher office). The Washington Post's article on the George Allen vs. Jim Webb race for Senate in Virginia was called "Women's Vote Could Tip Close Contest: Webb and Allen Temper Records, Soften Images." The article asserts that both candidates' bio's dripped "machismo" (apparently that alienates women or something). While the Washington Post's news story focused on how candidates tempered their public image to match the apparently bright pink palette us little ladies demand, the lead opinion piece in today's Tom Paine.com by Martha Burk, a political psychologist and director of the Corporate Accountability Project for the National Council of Women's Organizations explained the ISSUES that are driving women voters to the polls. Issues like the ability to feed your family.

The article is a good read and I recommend it. She doesn't go into points like how Senator George Allen voted against the Family and Medical Leave Act, which gives workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a child or to care for a sick family member. But the appeal of that piece of legislation to mothers in particular is rather clear.

Speaking of issues that women care about, DMI's next Marketplace of Ideas event is Monday and the subject is Promoting Access to Pre-School Education. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is on the panel - she's fought for increased funding for free Pre-K and our featured guest flying all the way from Oklahoma is former State Senator Penny Williams. She's the leader behind Oklahoma's successful program providing high-quality preschool for all 4 year olds in that state. She'll be explaining how her legislation worked in Oklahoma and talking with Speaker Quinn about how access could be expanded here in New York.

All parents need to know their children are being cared for and educated so they can go to work and feed their families. Pre-k not only prepares children to do better in school, it helps to keep struggling parents from making a Catch-22 choice between keeping their job and supervising their child. This isn't just a women's issue - though the folks taking the lead on it seem to be primarily women - this is an issue for all parents and all people that might want to become parents some day.

So join us:

Monday October 30, 2006 8:00 - 10:00a.m.
The Harvard Club 27 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Admission is free. Light breakfast will be served.
Please RSVP to dmi@drummajorinstitute.org or to 212-909-9663.

Find out how to get involved here.

Ah, how kids love a broken promise.

Faculty, parents and students were thrilled to read on the Oklahoma Public Schools website that this year’s new student handbook would include language prohibiting bullying on the grounds of sexuality.

Shortly thereafter, the section on LGBT bullying conveniently disappeared. The school district officials say that the policy had not been approved by the school board yet, and apparently won’t be at all. According to the district, the language didn’t consist with “board-approved policy language,� and the material was officially retracted.

"They're nuts," teacher Joe Quigley said of district administrators. "They are telling students, 'We were thinking of protecting you, but we changed our mind.' Student safety should be paramount."

True that. What I'd like to know is exactly what language in the original handbook didn't meet the board's approval.

'Cause you never know when your last lay will be.

Annemarie Jorritsma, the mayor of Dutchtown Almere in central Netherlands, suggested that Dutch troops should have prostitutes accompany on foreign missions. "The army must consider ways its soldiers can let off steam."

Lovely.

And I thought nothing could beat the Virgin airlines urinal. I was wrong.

Check out the fab Bill Scher (who is out on the road whoring his new book) on how pro-choicers should be talking about abortion.

Thoughts?

I really wish they would do a study like this in the states, it might shed some light on this whole "sanctity of marriage" crap, to see that a lot of straight women don't want to get married anymore or just don't get married. I mean assuming most women in the US don't want to get married (outside of my little group of queers in SF;). But I digress. . .

NEARLY a third of British women regard marriage as "no longer relevant" in a modern society, according to research released today.

Whirlwind romances also get the thumbs down, with 71 per cent saying couples marry in haste without thinking things through carefully enough.

The research into women's changing attitudes to relationships, work and family lives, found older women were more cynical about the idea of wedded bliss.

Asked about the 31 per cent of women rejecting marriage, Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist, said: "This shift in attitude may be a testament to the fact women feel liberated enough, sexually and socially, to not have to walk down the aisle, or it could be that today's cynical attitude to almost everything has minimised the marriage to an outdated, over-romanticised practice."

You can read more about the study here.

But you know I always have to find something. Talking about marriage as if it is a choice for everyone leaves people out. Not just gay folks, but also I would say in the context of the US young ( often, but not always, brown) mothers that have babies "out of wedlock." I think they queer marriage too. I think they are resisting by having babies without getting married, even though they are demonized by our culture, government and media.

Via Amanda, I found out about this awesome new project called Emergency Kindness that works to make sure women have access to EC.

They rely on a network of volunteer "Janes" (a nod to the pre-Roe underground abortion service, Jane?) around the country to overnight mail or hand-deliver EC to women who are having trouble getting it -- an all-too-common occurrence.

When you put in a request for help, the form is sent to San Cai's email account. She alerts two of the Janes responsible for your region and depending on circumstances, we will rush-ship, hand-deliver, or arrange to meet you to give you your EC.

They promise no judgment, and it's free.

So spread the word, sign up to be a Jane, or otherwise lend your support to this kickass project. Just finding out about it made my afternoon. What a great idea.

I, for one, never thought that Feministing would be featured in a column about virgins. I feel so...clean.

Fucking creepy.

Prosecutors charged a real estate agent Monday with the rapes of three women, including two he met through a Web site claiming to be the largest online dating hub for millionaires, authorities said.

Joseph Garcia, 47, of Irvine appeared in court, although he did not enter a plea to six counts of forcible sodomy and one count of forcible rape. His arraignment was scheduled for Nov. 3, and bail was set at $1 million.

Prosecutors said Garcia sexually assaulted three women, ages 22 to 42, between March 2005 and Oct. 18. He met two of his victims on MillionaireMatch.com and the third at a post office, said Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office.

Although the Web site claims its clientele includes professional athletes, celebrities and models, it also says "you don't have to be rich or famous" to sign up.

Or "you can be a rapist. . ."

via AP.

You know I had to be skeptical when I saw the word aggressive right next to black women in this article (because I do believe the subconscious mind is always working, even in the *objective* mind of the news reporter), but this study is attempting to separate biological factors from socio-economic factors in the survival rates of black women with breast cancer.

Black women with breast cancer are more likely to suffer from a more aggressive and harder-to-treat type of tumor than other women, according to a study of more than 2,100 Houston patients.

In research that cautions against putting too much emphasis on socioeconomic factors, scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported Monday that tumor biology is a component in the lower rates of breast cancer survival among black women.

"The study adds to the growing body of evidence that both tumor biology and access to care and other important socioeconomic factors are involved in the lower survival rates seen among African-American women with breast cancer," said Dr. Peggy Porter, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. "It shows the need to tease out how much of the issue is biology, how much is socioeconomics and what can be done about it."

It could very well be a combination of factors, but it is important to take any type of study with caution. To say that black women just *get* more aggressive tumors (not that I think that is what they are saying here) could affect health care policy designed to help neglected communities. Just a thought.

via Houston Chronicle.

And New Hampshire is the leader at 228. Heh.

Data released Monday by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute show a record 2,431 women are general election candidates for state legislative seats on Nov. 7. That's 56 more female candidates than the prior peak in 1992, when 2,375 women ran.

Obviously this seems like a good thing and it probably is. But I am interested to see a couple of things. How many of these women will actually be elected? Also, just because women are running doesn't mean that their agenda is feminist or progressive (or anti-war), so I think that is another variable to keep in mind. Finally, how many of these women represent women of color or working class people? Or are they mostly white middle class women, usually the first to have access to legislative bodies?

Of the women seeking office, 1,563 are Democrats, 859 are Republicans and the remainder are third-party candidates or are running in nonpartisan races.

I guess in these confusing times, this information is only slightly valuable. This is perhaps a good thing from a middle of the road feminist perspective. But for those of us that actively believe that the existing state legislative system fails to be truly representative of the people it is seeking to govern, I am skeptical that this will actually change anything.

I also just did a few searches and it is very difficult to find how many people of color, working class people or women of color are elected into state office.

via AP.

...what a goddamn great movie Girls Town is. I'm watching it on IFC now; I love it.

I remember seeing the movie when it first came out, it was the year I graduated high school--I thought these girls were so bad ass. Plus it reminded me of of my neighborhood, and I'm a sucker for that kind of shit. Add in some hardcore beatdowns of rapists...I'm sold.

Contributed by Gwendolyn Beetham

My job at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN is even busier than usual this week. The UN is celebrating the 6th anniversary of 1325, a resolution that was adopted by the UN Security Council on October 31, 2000. The full text of the resolution is here, but basically, 1325 is *hugely* important in that it’s the first of its kind to specifically address the impact of war on women and women’s role in securing peace and security.

To mark the event, the Secretary-General just released a new report on women, peace, and security, which talks about the progress made on 1325 and future actions that need to be taken. The NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security is also putting out a report called “Six Years On,� and the International Women’s Tribune Center is launching its amazing “Women Talk Peace� project – which features local language radio programs centered around 1325 conducted in Bassa, Kpelle, Luganda, Swahili, Filipino, French and English.

There are also lots of 1325-related events taking place both in and outside of the UN Secretariat building – check out PeaceWomen’s calendar of events for more information and read more about the anniversary of 1325 after the jump.

According to the supposedly largest study on global alcohol consumption, UK and Irish women are the biggest binge drinkers in the world. A whopping one in three 17 to 30-year old women are binge drinkers.

England in particular has recently had a sharp increase in binge drinking. In response, the government is launching a drinking awareness campaign this week which will, in part, highlight how “drunkenness puts women at risk of sexual assault.�

Whoa. Is it just me or is there something a wee wrong with this? It’s not that the connection between alcohol consumption and sexual assault shouldn’t addressed, it’s that it should be addressed with the reminder that it’s men’s responsibility not to rape, not women’s responsibility to not get raped. (By not getting too drunk, in this case.)

To launch their ninth year of work towards improving the lives of teenage girls through writing, Girls Write Now is having a fundraiser next month around the ING New York City Marathon.

GWN matches young teenage girls in New York City with professional women writers in the community, creating a safe environment where girls can not only expand their writing skills, but to help them develop into healthy and confident young women. (In other words, we heart them.)

Their goal this Fall is to raise at least $26,200 representing the 26.20 mile marathon each person will run. Go here to support the cause, and/or come check out the runners on November 5th! They’ll also have their table where you can buy t-shirts and anthologies. We'll surely be there supporting them with towels and cone cups full of Feministing love!

This sign is from a coffeehouse window in Chicago. Yeah, fucking hysterical.

Via Jenny on Flickr.

On Thursday, New York State’s highest court upheld the Women’s Health and Wellness Act over the Roman Catholic Church and other religious organizations.

The 2002 bill requires company health insurance policies that provide coverage for prescription drugs include contraception. Yet a group including eight Catholic and two Baptist organizations challenged the law, requesting to exempt religious schools, hospitals and social service organizations on the grounds that the bill forces them to violate the mandates of their faith.

The Women’s Health and Wellness Act was an 18-page decision with the intention to improve women’s health rights; one study included in the decision revealed that women paid 68 percent more than men in out-of-pocket costs for health care, which was primarily due to reproductive health services.

The New York State Catholic Conference may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, although I doubt it will do much; a challenge to an almost identical CA bill was dismissed in 2004 by the California Supreme Court. I don’t think NY will let us down either. (Now if the love would only spread to the remainder of the country...)

Isn't it sad when science is an "election issue"?

The Guardian considers torturous trends in women's fashion.

Professional women suffer from the Goldilocks syndrome... "criticized for being too little of this or too much of that; not confident enough or too confident; not aggressive enough or too aggressive; not ambitious enough or too ambitious. But women are seldom just right." It's a good point.

Somalia bans women from swimming at public beaches.

Newsweek profiles Nancy Pelosi, who is poised to become the first female speaker of the house.

A woman who was in prison for killing her abusive husband in self-defense has been released, and is speaking out about her experience.

Anti-choice parents are slapping duct tape on their kids' mouths and sending them to school as little protesters... if school districts will let them.

Muslim women are discriminated against at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Politics tend to melt away once women actually set foot inside an abortion clinic.

A touching obituary for Safia Amajan, an Afghan teacher and women's rights activist who was recently gunned down by the Taliban.

China has plans to crack down on a cosmetic leg-lenthening surgery that is getting more popular with women.

Clearly, "women deserve better" than Feminists For Life.

A South Dakota paper has allowed groups in favor of the abortion ban to buy ads that wrap around the entire newspaper.

...and Words of Choice takes their awesome theater/activism to South Dakota.

A new report on how the press created/covers the "opt-out revolution" will be released Tuesday. (PDF)

Anti-choice groups are using parental-notification ballot initiatives to chip away at abortion rights in most left-leaning Western states.

Many women consider the hijab "fashionably spiritual."

An Indiana jail has made it a specific requirement that all female visitors wear bras.

Awesome resource: Abortion laws of the world. (from the Harvard Law Review)

Lakshmi Chaudhry has been a writer and a reporter for independent publications for more than six years. And now she’s the Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute and Contributing Writer at The Nation magazine. Lakshmi was a Senior Editor at In These Times for a year and before that the Senior Editor of Alternet.org for three.

Lakshmi is also the co-author of Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq and Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics.

I interviewed Lakshmi last month by phone. Here’s Lakshmi…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert:

"Say hello to your president. He really surprised us...," Putin said to Olmert as reporters were being ushered out just after the two men got down to talks in the Kremlin. An Israeli official said Putin continued about President Moshe Katsav: "I met him. He didn't look like a guy who could be with 10 women."

...referring of course, to news this week that Katsav may be charged with rape. Hilarious.

[An] Israeli official ... said that after microphones were switched off, Israel's ambassador to Russia joked that Putin appeared envious of the Israeli president. Olmert told his host: "I wouldn't envy him," said the official.

The Kremlin said it was a translation error. (Putin speaks "passable" English.) But I'm sure his joke wasn't funny in Russian, either.

In The New Republic today, Jonathan Cohn writes (free login required) about the lies of the South Dakota abortion-banners. If you're a regular Feministing reader, Cohn acknowledges (woot!), you already know most of this stuff. But he does add a couple of interesting things. For one, he looks at the claim that "96% of abortions are for birth control":

The figure, 96 percent, comes from survey findings that only 4 percent of abortions are performed because of rape, incest, or concerns over the mother's health. The unstated assumption, then, is that all other abortions are, in the parlance of the right-to-life movement, "abortions of convenience."

But who's to say which reasons for an abortion are frivolous and which ones aren't?

Exactly. Cohn also tried to call many of the doctors and ask them if they would prescribe the emergency contraception they're happy to talk up in the ad. Turns out most of them are pediatricians, who likely wouldn't be called on to prescribe EC. But the one doctor he reached said that, if asked, he wouldn't write a scrip for Plan B. He considers it abortion. Of course. These people are maddening.

I disagree, though, with Cohn's assessment that the lying doctors ad is "striking" because it features medical professionals taking an anti-abortion stance. It's true that the medical community is probably pro-choice-leaning overall, as are important associations like ACOG. But anti-choice doctors have more power and prominence right now than ever before. Just look at Bush's appointments to important committees. It's getting increasingly common for anti-abortion-rights groups to use doctors as their mouthpieces.

It's not a new phenomenon. As far back as the 70s, anti-choice doctors led the charge in try to get city councils to declare a "public health emergency" if an abortion-providing clinic was opening in town. Groups like Physicians for Life have been around awhile, and are particularly dangerous because, like the South Dakota liars, they can claim to speak from an expert's perspective on non-medical issues like "when life begins." Reporters covering issues like the Plan B approval process went to them for comments from a "professional perspective." And their testimony has been key not only to passing the SD abortion ban, but to pushing other draconian anti-choice legislation at the state level.

The antis pour a lot of resources into "converting" doctors. And if they can't win them over ideologically, they try to convince them that physicians who provide (and openly support the right to) abortions are ostracized by others in the medical community. Which is sadly true in many parts of the country.

This 10-year-old girl modeled a bikini as part of the Ashley Paige Spring 2007 collection at LA Fashion Week. The swimwear designer has said: "I think the woman who like my stuff...exude sexuality."

Maybe we don't only need talk about weight restrictions on the catwalk, we need age restrictions, too. Sigh.

Thanks to Ken for the link. I won't ask how you found it.

In an excerpt from her new book, Gun Show Nation, Joan Burbick writes about the connections between gun culture, misogyny and domestic violence. She kicks it off with a fascinating anecdote about how she wasn't allowed to bring her camera into a gun show because men at the shows were afraid their ex-wives would see pictures of them in a newspaper and start demanding alimony.

At later gun shows, I started to pay more attention. Were ex- wives and their demands a threat to some guys at the gun shows? I frequently saw books for sale at the shows such as The Predatory Female by Rev. Lawrence Shannon .. The Predatory Female is a collection of warnings about women who prey on the feelings and bank accounts of unsuspecting men. Female predators have their eyes on one thing alone -- money. They marry and divorce to get alimony. They use emotions of love, trust, and care to undermine the sacred contract of marriage. They are the new scourges of secular life, hunting down unsuspecting men to get bucks and tear out their hearts.

She goes on to note that gun shows are always selling things with anti-woman phrases, like "I JUST GOT A GUN FOR MY WIFE. IT'S THE BEST TRADE I EVER MADE" or "Top 10 Reasons Handguns Are Better than Women." I'm familiar with the latter phrase because it was printed on a poster that used to hang on the wall of my landlord's house in Missouri. The guy was absolutely horrible (he once asked me if I was a "daddy's girl" -- ew) and, true to Burbick's observations, he was always making remarks about what a bitch his ex-wife was.

The gun lobby also lends its support to domestic abusers in more concrete ways. Burbick explains that the Lautenberg amendment to the Violence Against Women Act bans people from owning firearms if they have restraining orders against them or misdemeanor convictions for domestic assault. The NRA and other gun groups publicly oppose the law.

But Burbick notes that this is at odds with the supposed reasons their right to bear arms needs protecting. One of their standard catchphrases is that if guns are criminalized, only the criminals will have guns. Yet they fight for gun rights for domestic abusers, who are certainly criminals.

Also check out this interview with Burbick, where she explains other ways in which the gun-rights movement is more about male power than the Second Amendment.

I'm traveling this morning from Michigan back to New York, so please be patient if we're post-less for a couple of hours.

So that you're entertained while I'm gone, listen about how feminists are children of the devil and birth control is the "whoring pill." Woo hoo!

Check out one of the mailers from the group supporting the South Dakota abortion ban. Just in case SD voters didn't hear their lies properly in the TV spot, the antis have been kind enough to write them down.

And clearly, their dirty tactics go way beyond the deceptive ads:

* Vote Yes campaign operatives are destroying literature from candidates that don’t agree with the abortion ban and replacing it with their own literature (Yankton)

* Abortion ban supporters are misdirecting voters to a bogus website called www.sdhealthyfamilies.net that says ‘We Support the Abortion Ban!’ in the hopes of confusing people with the Campaign for Healthy Families REAL website, www.sdhealthyfamilies.org.

* Vote Yes volunteers have been blocking traffic in several church parking lots and continuing to distribute literature after church leaders asked them to leave (Rapid City)

* Vote Yes signs have been placed on people’s property without their permission or illegally on government property (Sioux Falls)

Ugh.

Reporters are starting to call out South Dakota anti-choicers on their lying advertisements. The Rapid City Journal confronted them about the patently false statement that the ban has an exception for the health of the mother:

In responding Wednesday for VoteYesForLife.com, Dr. Don Oliver, a Rapid City pediatrician who appears in the advertisement, said the law would protect women’s health by preventing the physical and long-term emotional damage caused by abortion.

Yet another perfect example of anti-choicers co-opting pro-woman language and using junk science and biased research to pervert it.

Oliver also said that any medical treatment currently allowed for pregnant women with health problems could continue under the provisions of Referred Law 6. The law wouldn’t apply to a miscarriage that inadvertently occurred during medical treatment for a pregnant woman’s health problems, he said.

“The law regulates intent, not procedures, so what it outlaws is the intentional aborting of a child,� Oliver said.

In countries with total abortion bans, it's this line of thinking that causes women to "accidentally" fall down stairs and do other things to injure themselves, hoping to induce miscarriage. Yep, this definitely sounds like a win for women's health in South Dakota.

But when asked if Referred Law 6 would allow a pregnant woman with serious health problems who wasn’t in immediate danger of dying to obtain an intentional abortion, Oliver wouldn’t answer directly.

“I’m not an obstetrician,� he said. “I can’t address specific medical conditions, other than to say they’re extremely rare … exceedingly rare.�

And apparently, in those exceedingly rare circumstances, women deserve to have their health seriously jeopardized. Sounds like a "pro-woman" argument to me!

Conveniently, the article reprints the exact language that will appear on the ballot:

[Referred Law 6 would] “prohibit any person, at any time, from using any instrument or procedure on a pregnant woman for the specific purpose of terminating her pregnancy, unless the person is a licensed physician performing a medical procedure to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.�

Yeah. No health exception. No rape/incest exception. Nothing about access to emergency contraception.

Local TV stations are currently considering whether to keep running the misleading ads. You can email KELO-TV and KEVN-TV to request they not air them. This is not jut "a fight between political parties." It's false advertising.

The New York Times is once again on the cutting edge in identifying trends. This time they've noticed that a lot of women use Halloween as an excuse to get tarted up. It prompted me to look at some Halloween costumes online, and I noticed this one Target is selling:

I wonder if they also sell a Virgin/Whore costume -- Purity Ball gown on one side, and thigh-high vinyl boots on the other?

But getting back to the NYT article, this comment was interesting:

Perhaps, say some scholars, it could even be good. Donning one of the many girlish costumes that sexualize classic characters from books, including “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,� “Cinderella� and “The Wizard of Oz,� can be campy, female sartorial humor, said Professor Gill. It can be a way to embrace the fictional characters women loved as children while simultaneously taking a swipe at them, she said. “The humor gives you a sense of power and confidence that just being sexy doesn’t,� she said.

But how many women actually choose these costumes as a way to subvert the feminine fictional characters of their childhood? I'm guessing next to none. That's why the "Post-post-post feminism?" caption on one of the photos is pretty unfair. Sure, I can see an argument for how "exploring the construction of female sexuality" with your Halloween costume might be a feminist (or post-feminist) act. But the caption is on a photo of a woman dressed as a sexy witch. Not much subversion going on there.

We're happy to see that Adrian College in Michigan is kicking off their own Women's Studies Program today, with Jessica as their keynote speaker, talking to the students about "Why Feminism is Cool."

The program is just offering a Women's Studies minor degreee for now, but I don't doubt that will change once Jess gets her F-game on.

Check out this (notably biased) article on the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, which aims to protect foreign women from violence.

Under IMBRA, dating agencies that specialize in matching American men with women overseas must first obtain information about a man's criminal record and marital history, relay it to the woman and then get her consent before disclosing her contact information. Men must also provide this information to the government when applying for a fiancee visa.

Um, yeah. Cause if a guy has a history of beating up his wives, that's probably something you'd want to know. The law also allows for women to swtich to a new kind of visa if they are being abused by their husbands. Sounds reasonable enough.

But check this out:

The new law has angered many men, however, who rightly argue that there is no definitive evidence that violence is more likely to take place in an international marriage arranged on the Internet.

As Amanda pointed out to me in an IM coversation today, it's true that there hasn't been data compiled on this--but shelter workers say it's definitely a problem. (Jessica Vasquez, a lawyer and activist working on violence against women, spoke about this at the NOW conference.)

And seriously, what is the problem? So you have disclose your criminal history to the person you're marrying--so what? And I think this quote says it all:

"It all started with women's lib," said Sam Smith, a former insurance salesman who founded I Love Latins in Houston six years ago. "Guys are sick and tired of the North American me, me, me attitude."

Yeah, it's real shitty when women don't want it to be you you you all the time. Jeez. (Oh, and I love that women who aren't North American all cater to their men. Please.)

For a really great read on the kind of guys who think it's just awesome to buy wives, check out A Foreign Affair. It's great/terrifying and gives you a good idea of why laws like this are necessary.

I interviewed Colin Meloy of the Decemberists for Venus Zine. We talked about the new album, and he said some things about pregnancy that I think are really interesting:

The album is so dark and gloomy. Not exactly what you’d expect from someone who’s just had his first child.
The songs were written in January and the first part of February. My son was born at the end of February. I was discovering that a lot of the songs I was writing at the time — even though the expectation is that when a songwriter is having a child, they end up writing kids’ songs — I found myself pushing in the completely opposite direction. There’s a darkness to pregnancy, to a certain degree, and it’s really messy and kind of unpleasant. [My girlfriend] Carson’s body was kind of fighting against this alien thing, this thing in her belly that wasn’t part of her body. Her body was trying to support that growing life, but there’s another side of her body that’s trying to get rid of it. That process really struck me, and really influenced the songwriting.

I also asked him about being a male artist who writes songs about rape, and whether any of the war-themed tracks on the new album were inspired by the current fiasco in Iraq. Check it out.

The four soldiers that raped an Iraqi girl and then killed her whole family, are going to face court martial, two may even face death penalty. Will this actually stop the systematic use of violence against women as a weapon of war? Probably not. If anything the soldiers are probably surprised anything is happening to them at all. This type of behavior is common in a militaristic environment and considered just a nasty side effect of war.

via BBC.

In light of all the recent, exaggerated and excessive discussion around "the veil," I noticed that the voices of women that choose to wear the veil (or not to wear it, or are forced to wear it, etc.) were not present. So I was happy when my lovely roomie forwarded this BBC piece to me which consists of four women sharing their own experiences.

A student from Syria says,

I chose to wear the veil or the niqab [a full face covering] as an act of worship. As a Muslim I believe that women should not only wear the hijab [head covering] but the veil too. I don't care what those who don't find my arguments convincing think. I believe that wearing the veil is God's will. I don't trust men, and women should protect themselves.

A teacher from Baghdad tells us,

This is what is happening in Iraq where the wearing of the hijab is a recent development. The hijab is being forced upon women at gunpoint. Women have no choice but to comply. Personally, I feel restricted when I wear it. I feel as if my personality is taken away. I feel I have to wear it, but if I had the chance, I wouldn't because I have faith that God knows what is truly in my heart.

I think their words speak for themselves. There is no uniform experience and to reduce women to the "veiled" subject ignores individual experiences, feelings and actions.

via BBC.

My girl Neela sent me this livejournal community she found via Sepia Mutiny called brownpeople. The site features pictures of random brown people. I love it.

Only one thing, their logo, is my eye!

Isn't that weird???

I am feeling lazy and the last time I wrote about the Duke rape case things got out of hand and I am just not in the mood, so go check out Broadsheet's Page Rockwell break it down and analyze the potentially one-sided nature of the interviews.

A little tidbit,

Maybe that's the only side there is. Maybe the accuser is an opportunistic fabulist and Nifong is an opportunistic media manipulator. Certainly the rigged police lineup seems unforgivably unfair; certainly Nifong acted inappropriately when he bragged about the players' guilt; certainly the accused are entitled to a presumption of innocence that, at least in the court of public opinion, they didn't get. But as the media reflects on these errors, there's the danger that the pendulum will simply swing the other way. First, the players were definitely guilty; now, they have been tried by the court of CBS and are definitely innocent! There are inconsistencies in the accuser's story, so she's definitely lying about all of it! Such a volte-face might sound extreme, but there are plenty of people drawing those conclusions today.

Can something reek and be tasteless at the same time?

While we're already familiar with the disturbing commercials that Axe body spray has aired in the past, their newest product, Axe Lab eau de toilette, appeals to male consumers in a really, really gross way.

If you go to the website and click on the "Stimulation Chamber," you'll be able to see the "profound effects Axe Lab has on a willing female body" and "cause a physical sensation by clicking on the dosage levels." I kid you not. They focus on three body parts of "participants" for you to watch quiver, shudder and sweat as the "experiment" takes place. (The thighs are the worst.)

Message: Women are sexbot automatons you control with your manly scent (among other things).

The fake heat-sensitive images in the "Dirty Mind Control" section of the site are also awful. They supposedly show what's going on in the "female test subject's" mind in response to the putrid stench of Axe. Keep in mind this is Axe World, where even women's personal sexual fantasies are designed to cater to men. How did Procter & Gamble guess that my sex fantasies always include donning 5-inch heels and slapping my own ass while eating a banana? Must be all their "pharmasexual research."

The Axeholes have been touring with Playmate Sara Jean Underwood, who vouches for the scent's supposed irresistibility. She's assisted by other big-breasted women in white lab coats who act aroused when men test it, as well as a "hologram girl" who you can "dose" with the push of a button.

The result is a bunch of moaning employees and horny consumers who buy it and end up suffocating every person who passes them. (I don't know if y'all have ever actually smelled Axe products before, but that shit is pretty nasty.)

The whole thing is pretty fucked up. We can just see the movie now: "Girls Gone Wild for AxeLab." Ugh.

-- Vanessa & Ann

My bad on being so late on this one. Check out Rebecca Traister's piece, Hillary is us, which takes on Sen. Clinton's "woman problem."

For American feminists who have long pictured themselves running arm in arm toward Pennsylvania Avenue with a woman like Clinton, coming to grips with the politically slick senator has been hard to take. But ambivalence about Clinton reflects our confusion about what authenticity in feminism (and in ourselves) means once it mates with the practicalities of the political world.

Make sure to read the whole thing and comment in the letters section (where there has naturally been fun personal attacks on Traister for even daring to write the article.)

Via one of our many awesome commenters comes the awful news that Nicaragua is on the verge of criminalizing all abortions, El Salvador-style. The country currently has an exception for women's health.

Kaiser reports that the Women's Autonomous Movement of Nicaragua, a women's rights group, says it will file an injunction if the bill is approved by Congress.

I'm sure you remember this horror of an anti-choice ad that has doctors straight up lying about the South Dakota abortion ban.

Well, the worst lie was spouted off by Dr. Mark Rector, who says in the ad that the ban "does provide exception for the life and health of the mother." It doesn't.

Something interesting: Several little birdies have told me that the oh-so-honorable Dr. Rector is actually Leslie Unruh's son-in-law. A family of liars; sweet.

But seriously, Dr. Rector is lying to the women of South Dakota--hold him accountable. Let Rector know that using his position to lie to women is reprehensible.

I wonder if bad-ass Snow White shaves.

Pic from just ryc.

I was just reminded by a reader that I never wrote about which book photo I was going to use. So thanks to everyone who weighed in; the winning pic (by a landslide) is here.

Also, if you're interested, you can check out my book cover after the jump. Because it's never too early to start publicity whoring.

This is pretty fucking terrifying.

But the 40-year-old former heavyweight champ promised an entertaining show Friday night when he launches the "Mike Tyson's World Tour" in Youngstown.

At a news conference at an Italian restaurant, Tyson said he would likely go just four rounds and that future stops on the tour might include bouts with women, possibly professional boxer Ann Wolfe.

Wolfe, from Waco, Texas, is 21-1 with 15 knockouts.

"She's such a prominent, dominant woman in the boxing field," Tyson said.

When asked if he was joking about fighting women, Tyson said, "I'm very serious."

As Zuzu points out, not only is this completely nasty because of Tyson's history of domestic violence and sexual assault, but it also ignores a little thing called weight class.

Wolfe's promoter Russ Young, said, "No state would sanction that. She would be outweighed by 60 to 70 pounds. Ann would never entertain the idea."

But, Tyson implores, "It's all fun." Clearly.

Oh, and if you're not content getting beat up by Tyson for charity, you can now be the lucky girl who gets to pay to have sex with him.

And not just because I have an essay in it. We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists has an amazing collection of feminist writers--you can check out the table of contents on the book's MySpace page.

Cool shit.

From Media Matters:

On his radio show, Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that it "is never the case" that a "mother's life is in danger" during pregnancy because "you can always have a C-section and do those kinds of things." In fact, several potential pregnancy complications, such as an ectopic pregnancy, which is "the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the first trimester" or preeclampsia, which "affect[s] up to one in seven pregnant women" can threaten the life of a pregnant woman.

Listen here. Try not to let the douchery kill you dead on the spot.

Check out this video from Seventh Generation, a company that makes chlorine-free natural feminine products. It's part of their Tampontification campaign, which aims to end the ‘taboo’ surrounding discussing women's periods.

The campaign also donates thousands of dollars of feminine products to local shelters, so check it out.

Personally, I think the man-pad seems a bit smug. Him and his organic grapes.

The title of this article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Is ‘Third Wave feminism’ counterproductive?

Or the fact that IWF's Carrie Lukas co-opts the term "third wave" for herself:

"There’s greater respect with third wave feminism, with women having equal opportunities, not necessarily equal outcomes. The most detrimental thing about earlier feminism was the idea of men or traditional families as the enemy. The assumption was that men had the right priorities and women had the short end of the stick, as if there was no value as a person in staying home and raising kids. Now, having the choice is healthy.�

You know, come to think of it...there's too many fucked things about this article to make a decision.

Check out this cartoon from Masheka Wood (fiancé of the lovely Mikhaela Reid).

Wood takes on the gross new Purity Ball trend. Love it. Click on the pic above for the full strip.

It wouldn't surprise me.

Remember how just two years ago George Bush claimed he wanted to put a stop to human trafficking - i.e., women being forced into sexual slavery?

Then why was the Bush administration's premiere advocate for stopping such sexual slavery forced out of his job a while back?

According to the Sunday Los Angeles Times, he was fired because convicted criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff was representing one of the countries that most profits from sexual slavery and human trafficking, the Northern Mariana Islands. Abramoff wanted this Bush administration official fired because the official's anti-human-trafficking agenda - now George Bush's agenda - posed a direct threat to Abramoff's pro-sex-slave client.

Read the rest at Americablog.

The Israeli police have found enough evidence to charge the President of Israel with rape. Isn't that lovely?

President Katsav is due to open the winter session of parliament on Monday, but a number of deputies have already threatened to walk out if he attends.

The president denies claims that he forced two female employees to have sex with him, and all other allegations against him.

He has said he is the victim of a "public lynching without trial or investigation".

The police statement said: "There is sufficient evidence indicating that in several cases... the president carried out acts of rape, forced sexual acts, sexual acts without consent and sexual harassment."

He is also being accused of wiretaping (a whole other issue). Hmm so much corruption, where did these people learn about democracy, from the US? WTF?

via BBC.

At a meeting intended to reinvigorate the Southern African feminist movement, feminists convened to discuss the future of feminism and the fighting of patriarchy.

Women rights activists from Southern Africa emerged as determined as ever to continue with the struggle against patriarchy during a three-day conference held in Johannesburg last week. Participants noted that patriarchy is at the core of women's subordination and must be challenged in both the public and private spheres. The activists spoke with one voice in their resolution to develop a road map towards reinvigorating the women's movement and working further to eradicate poverty, mitigating conflicts and addressing HIV/AIDS holistically.

Several of the activists agreed that many of the local feminist issues are similar in Southern Africa as they can work together. One veteran activist from Botswana also brought up how globilization is affecting the women in these areas.

via AllAfrica.com.

Theresa Spry is a Native American Democratic candidate running for the South Dakota State Legislature against our fave anti-choice Senator Bill Napoli. (You know, the one who said that only brutally sodomized virgins should be allowed to get an abortion.) She’s doing some great stuff and is not getting nearly enough recognition, so we thought we’d give her a little shot-out.

She’s been doing serious community organizing and women’s rights work for years, and will hopefully kick Napoli out of his seat o’ misogyny. Here’s a bit more about her history and vision. You can also donate to her campaign here or here.

Just when you thought they couldn't top the "Women can still take EC!" argument...

This is absolutely infuriating, because these are undoubtedly physicians who refuse to write prescriptions for emergency contraception. Apparently saying that science proves life begins at conception is their idea of "clarify[ing] some of the issues surrounding abortion."

As for the abortion-banners' totally baseless claim that "96% of women who have abortions are using it as birth control"... Ema does their homework for them, and digs up the research on birth-control use and reasons South Dakota women cite for choosing abortion. She notes:

The South Dakota Department of Health, Office of Data, Statistics, and Vital Records (.pdf) report contains no data on birth control use in women obtaining an abortion in SD (a glaring omission, in my opinion). Unless Sen. Napoli is privy to information not available to the South Dakota Department of Health, Office of Data, Statistics, and Vital Records, his statement to the voters of SD that they are actually voting for...abortion as a means of birth control is a lie mistruth.

Indeed.

So do they mean this in a REAL hot 100 sense, or in a Maxim sense? Discuss.

(I'm with Ann Bartow on this one...)

Phil Woolas, the UK Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion, has requested that a 24 year-old teacher, Aishah Azmi, should be fired because she wears a veil while teaching class.

This is immediately following the recent controversy that caused some hoopla when former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and others said Muslim women who wore full veils portrayed a "visible statement of difference and separation" and essentially are a problem.

Woolas says that wearing a veil while teaching makes it impossible for her to do her job and even accused the act of sex discrimination:

"By insisting that she will wear the veil if men are there, she's saying; 'I'll work with women, not men'. That's sexual discrimination. No headteacher could agree to that."

Give me a break. The veil is a pretty complex issue, but to fire a teacher for wearing one is ridiculous. Azmi has said that the students “never complained� about it and that there are no communication barriers, so what could possibly be the problem?

This is yet another no-win situation that women have to endure in the workplace: if you wear too little, you’re fired; if you wear too much, you’re fired. I also think it’s wrong to punish this woman for simply doing her job while following her beliefs at the same time. (That may remind you of extremist pharmacists who may claim to be doing the same, but the distinction between the two is clear: Azmi’s action is not impinging her work or negatively affecting the people she serves.) And yes, the veil is “a visible statement of difference,� but why does that have to be a bad thing?

Thoughts?

Bob Herbert has a great column today on misogyny and how damn pervasive (and accepted) it is.

Herbert uses the recent school shootings targeting girls as a jump off point, and notes that had the kids been singled out by race or religion, people would have been outrage and a concerted effort to address the bigotry that led to the killings. But because these were "just girls," society was silent.

The disrespectful, degrading, contemptuous treatment of women is so pervasive and so mainstream that it has just about lost its ability to shock. Guys at sporting events and other public venues have shown no qualms about raising an insistent chant to nearby women to show their breasts. An ad for a major long-distance telephone carrier shows three apparently naked women holding a billing statement from a competitor. The text asks, “When was the last time you got screwed?�

An ad for Clinique moisturizing lotion shows a woman’s face with the lotion spattered across it to simulate the climactic shot of a porn video.

We have a problem. Staggering amounts of violence are unleashed on women every day, and there is no escaping the fact that in the most sensational stories, large segments of the population are titillated by that violence. We’ve been watching the sexualized image of the murdered 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey for 10 years. JonBenet is dead. Her mother is dead. And we’re still watching the video of this poor child prancing in lipstick and high heels.

What have we learned since then? That there’s big money to be made from thongs, spandex tops and sexy makeovers for little girls. In a misogynistic culture, it’s never too early to drill into the minds of girls that what really matters is their appearance and their ability to please men sexually.

And now you know why I crush on him. Make sure to read the whole piece (in its entirety here).

Whoa.

Despite what Feminists For Life would have you believe by taking her quotes out of context, Susan B. Anthony was against anti-abortion laws, and believed they did nothing to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Carly Fiorina finally acknowledges there's a glass ceiling. (Thanks to TGW for the full text.) “...from the time I arrived until long after I left HP, I was routinely referred to as either a ‘bimbo’ or a ‘bitch,’ she writes. “Too soft or too hard, and presumptuous, besides.� She adds: “I watched with interest as male C.E.O.’s fired people and were hailed as ‘decisive.’ I was labeled ‘vindictive.�

It's sad when actresses have to make an official press statement that they are not sluts.

The Supreme Court won't revisit Doe v. Bolton, the 1973 companion case to Roe v. Wade. (Cynthia Gorney's recent New Yorker piece on the SD abortion ban laid out a lot of interesting points about how Doe is, in many ways, a more significant ruling than Roe. Sadly, the piece isn't online. But she touches on some of those ideas in her 2003 piece for Harper's -- check out where Doe fits in her four-point crib sheet on anti-abortion legislation.)

A new movie tracks conservatives' quiet takeover of the federal judiciary.

A 19-year-old prostitute was forced to have sex with a Boston police officer, so she stole his badge to prove it to authorities.

Even in states with liberal abortion laws, logistics keep many women from getting the procedure done in a timely manner.

A new report examines which campuses have adopted "gender identity and expression" non-discrimination policies.

One woman writes about her complicated relationship with hip hop.

They're selling a pink version of EVERYTHING for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I recommend everyone who's fed up with the "culture of pink kitsch" read (or reread) Barbara Ehrenreich's amazing piece, Welcome to Cancerland.

Rather than write a pro- or anti-sexwork treatise, a sociologist decided to interview exotic dancers and phone-sex workers about their experiences.

In solidarity with South Dakota women, students at Wellesley started the "Armbands for Choice" project.

A woman who write love songs for a living tells Nerve why she's perfectly happy being single.

Women in California prisons lack basic health care.

Mathematician Penny Smith just solved one of the big, $1-million-prize equations from the Clay Mathematics Institute. She's one of the few women to have won a major prize in mathematics. [UPDATE: Spoke too soon. Apparently Smith has retracted the paper.]

A pro-choice woman reflects on her past as an anti-abortion crusader.

Lani Ka‘ahumanu is a published author, editor, poet, and long-time bisexual rights activist. She and her friend Loraine Hutchins co-edited the groundbreaking anthology, Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out in 1991, which was listed on the Top 100 Queer Books of the 20th Century by Lambda Book Review and is still in print.

Lani, now 63, is a safe sex educator and is working on writing her activist memoir. She told me: “There is so much history. And some of it people have no clue about. And some of it is not very pretty. But we have to tell the truth about the bigger picture so that people can understand why so many bisexuals are really cranky.�

Here’s Lani…

Okay, I know we're a little late in posting this, but it's pretty funny.

Stephen Colbert asks the tough questions, like "How can you tell whether a woman is a feminist or just angry?"

You know, it almost feels overly indulgent to respond to your semi-coherent post about Feministing. But, because this is a site (and, really, a project) that all six of us put a lot of time and effort into, your HuffPo piece really got under our skin.

We're not even going to bother to address all the Boobgate shit. Been over that again and again.

It's definitely true that we like sex. And we like to talk about sex, both in humorous and in serious ways -- because, let’s face it, a lot of feminist issues are bound up in sex and sexuality. Maybe some readers enjoy our blog because of our coverage of sex and the politics surrounding it. So what? We don’t believe that means we’re selling sex the same was as, say Cosmopolitan does. And we don’t appreciate the comparison.

We think there’s a lot to be said for a mix of serious discussion and the occasional post on Jem, Project Runway or vibrating appliances. Even you agree that more traditional feminist outlets like Ms. could stand to have a little more fun and tackle pop-culture issues once in awhile. We think we walk that line pretty well.

If you don’t like our take on feminism, fine. But please do us the courtesy of accurately characterizing the range of content we produce. And after actually reading it, if you still don’t find our site up to snuff, you can stop clicking on it. You may find Ann Althouse and the ladies of IWF to be more appropriate company.

Love,
Ann, Jessica, Vanessa, Samhita, Celina and Jen

What could be more important than making sure the carpet matches the curtains? Just think, now the Pink Taco can be a reality.

Via LAist.

From the Eagle Tribune:

Gloucester High School field hockey player Jill Lukegord is yet another casualty of the death of common sense. She is a casualty of the logical consequences that follow from blindly bowing to the gods of political correctness.

Holy shit? Did this young field hockey player die in some horrible PC accident?

...Lukegord broke her finger last week in a game when she collided with another player - Adam Izzicupo of Saugus. "He ran me over and then threw me to the ground," she said. Yes, Izzicupo is a male. He was the only male in the game. He is one of just three male field hockey players in the entire Northeastern Conference. And he wasn't breaking any rules.

Via Nerve.

Dag. Women's organizations in Zimbabwe are rightfully pissed off at comments made by Timothy Mubhawu at a debate in front of the national assembly.

During debate on the Domestic Violence Bill, Timothy Mubhawu, member of parliament (MP) for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told parliament: "I stand here representing God the Almighty. Women are not equal to men. This is a dangerous bill, and let it be known in Zimbabwe that the rights, privileges and status of men are gone." His remarks in the wake of disclosure by gender and women's affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri that over 60 percent of all murder cases in Zimbabwe were linked to domestic violence, sparked spontaneous protests.

Yes passing a bill that would criminalize the death of women through domestic violence is dangerous. WTF?

But Women's Coalition is not hearing all that.

Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF government rarely permits demonstrations, but more than 200 people from the Women's Coalition, an umbrella body for 35 women's organisations, protested outside parliament in the presence of police, petitioning MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai to ensure that Mubhawu apologised for his remarks. The ZANU-PF women's league joined the protest.

"This Bill seeks to bring harmony in the home, and if parliament is not going to protect women and children, who will? Women are the majority of the voters and we therefore feel betrayed," the coalition said in a statement.

Contributed by Lisa Witter.

With control of Congress up for grabs and the election less than a month away, pundits are busy predicting which voting bloc will have the biggest sway this time around: will it be soccer moms? NASCAR dads? Religious voters?

Not then and not now. Election 2006 is the Year of Women on Their Own. Specifically, single women (perhaps you?). Call them overlooked; call them a sleeping giant. But whatever you call them, single women voters have the ability to impact the election and future of the nation – IF they turn out and vote.

In the 2004 election 20 million single women did not vote. 20 million single women: that’s the largest group of non-voters and the fastest growing large demographic in the country.

Yet these women are among the least likely to register or vote on Election Day. And in mid-term elections, they are much more likely than married women to "drop-off.� In fact, 7 million women, or 24% of single women who voted in 2004, are expected to stay home from the polls in 2006.

With recent elections that hinged on a little more than half a million votes nationally and a few hundred votes in Florida, single women have more power than they realize – or exercise.

This week, Women's Voices. Women Vote. (WVWV) launched the “Remember Your First Time� campaign to motivate these women to make their voices heard in the 2006 elections.

Some of American's best-known stars – including Angie Harmon, Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Rosario Dawson, and Marg Helgenberger – have contributed.

Watch/listen to this PSA on YouTube as some of American's best-known stars – including Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Rosario Dawson and Angie Harmon, - describe their “first time� doing it.

(Don’t forget to rate and share!)

America is changing and too many voices are not being heard in our democracy. It’s time for single women in America to use their voice – and their vote – to make a difference in their lives.

Sleeping giants no more,

--Lisa Witter

P.S. I admit, I was married 4 weeks ago, no longer a single woman officially but I am in spirit (don’t tell my husband).

Check out this addlepated critique of our site, from the "fearless voice" of Liz Funk, who does a great job of accurately describing our "cute, bubbly" coverage of issues like juvenile prisons, violence in Darfur, the South Dakota abortion ban, gentrification and body image.

We'll post a longer response later, but on behalf of all the ladies at Feministing, I'd like to graciously accept Ms. Funk's compliment that feminism is "probably safe" with us.

I just love it when feminists decide other women aren't "real" feminists. What a bunch of tripe.

Jill recently wrote a post about "fun feminism" in relation to Laura Kipnis’ latest book, The Female Thing, and a post by Twisty.

Make sure to read the whole post; Jill discusses how she reconciles her desire for things "feminine" (waxing, make up), while understanding that embracing "the trappings of femininity" isn't an empowering act.

I like my mascara, and I’m not going to waste time feeling bad about it, but I’m also not going to convince myself that long eyelashes are totally empowering, and other women would be so much happier and more empowered if only they could have a make-over. I’m also not going to be spoken down to by women who should be my allies as they try and tell me that my behavior is unequivocally “wrong� and anti-feminist.

But apparently not everyone got it. Molly says that Jill is failing as a feminist role model by "going along with the patriarchy." Uh huh. You can read the post for yourself, I'm not going to dissect it here--but I have to say that it seriously pissed me off. Not only did it take everything Jill wrote about out of context, but it posits that any woman who waxes or wears make up isn't a true feminist. In fact, it likens shaving to rape porn. For real.

I am so fucking sick and tired of people telling me how to be an appropriate feminist--or what a feminist looks like. I suppose that all of my feminist work over the past ten years is shit because I shave my underarms? Give me a break.

Yes, we should analyze why we do the things we do and how it's related to sexist standards of beauty. But bashing each other (in what Jill astutely calls a feminist pissing contest) is pretty much the dumbest thing ever. What, exactly, is this doing for the movement?

Anyone who reads this blog and knows me is well aware that having one's feminist credibility questioned because of appearances is something I'm not unfamiliar with. And guess what--it sucks. Having a feminist judge you for what you look like or choose to do aesthetically is no different than having a sexist man do it.

I don't think that feminism is for everybody and that everything a woman does is, by default, empowering. But I'm also not going to judge another woman's commitment to feminism based on whether or not she has leg hair. I mean, seriously. Not only is this a completely vapid way to define a social justice movement, but it's also not doing said movement any favors in appealing to younger folks. Just saying.

If we really want to be critical of each other in a way that's productive, let's talk about the issues--not grooming habits.

UPDATE: Jill responds. So does Shakes.

Whoa.

A death-row inmate held in solitary confinement in Vietnam for almost a year is pregnant and is seeking a pardon to give birth, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper quoted a police doctor as saying tests in September confirmed that convicted heroin trafficker Nguyen Thi Oanh, 39, was then 11 weeks pregnant.

The report said it was the first time that a death-row prisoner had become pregnant in Vietnam and that police were investigating how it had happened.

Oanh's husband was serving a jail sentence at another prison in another province, the newspaper said.

Hmmm. Musta been immaculate conception. Women held in solitary confinement are often subject to a lot of abuses. Look at what happened in Abu Grahib.

via Reuters.

Thoughts?

For some more feminist fodder, check out this and this. (I'm going to post on it shortly, but I bet you can already guess where I stand.)

Pic from imylthinle.

Rushdie maturely articulates the veil as "sucking" and stripping women of their power.

British author Salman Rushdie Tuesday joined the delicate debate about face veils for Muslim women saying they "suck" and weakened a woman's position. The writer, who was the subject of a fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran in the late 1980s over his novel, The Satanic Verses, said he regarded the veil as a way of taking power away from women.

Speaking in a BBC interview, Rushdie supported the position of Jack Straw, the former British Foreign Secreatry, who last week sparked controversy with his comment that the veil was a "visible statement of difference and separation."

"He (Straw) was expressing an important opinion which is that veils suck - which they do," the Indian-born author said.

He might have wanted to talk to some women that choose to wear the veil. Many women wear veils to stand in solidarity with nationalist imperatives. Agree with it or not, it is not really yo biness. Furthermore, these annoying obsessions with the veil as the "ultimate" sign of subjugation are misleading. The veil is but one issue Muslim feminists are working on (and that varies VERY much by geography and country).

Two men discuss what they think is appropriate for women in "other" countries. And in a sweeping statement Rushdie gives the anti-Muslim world but another reason to focus on the overemphasized symbolism of the veil. But our gaze is still one way. Why not just stop looking? Get over the fact that the male gaze cannot reach them, as they are covered.

Finally, giving a piece of cloth, a symbol so much power is problematic. What about the greater patriarchal structures that are taking away women's power, like blocked access to voting or education? Why isn't Rushdie commenting on that? Simply stating that the veil is the source of oppression is a tad bit of an oversight wouldn't you say?

via The Raw Story.

(ps I do love much of Rushdie's writing)

This is another male contraceptive being tested and it looks a little creepy, but probably not anymore so then an IUD, only this is called the IVD.

The Intra Vas Device or IVD, inserted via a small hole made in the scrotum, is a tiny silicone plug that blocks the tube sperm travel along in the body.

In a pilot study involving 30 men the IVD was effective. Studies in monkeys also showed it was reversible.

Elaine Lissner, from the non-profit US organisation Male Contraception Information Project in San Francisco, said: "It is a lot easier to pull the plugs out than to find the best, most expensive micro-surgeon to sew a vas deferens back together.

I guess men and monkeys aren't that different anyway. (Totally fucking kidding:)

via BBC.

A parasite found in cat poo causes higher rate of boy-childs if mom to be is infected by it. I (cat) shit you not.

Researchers in the Czech Republic collected medical records from 1,803 newborn babies between 1996 and 2004 and checked them for information on the mothers and babies including gender, the number of previous pregnancies, and the mother's levels of toxoplasma antibodies.

They discovered that women whose antibody count was high - suggesting a substantial infection - had a much higher chance of having baby boys. In most populations the birth rate is around 51% boys, but women infected with toxoplasma had up to a 72% chance of a boy. Toxoplasma causes congenital defects in newborns and can trigger miscarriages, but a link with the gender of newborns has never been identified before.

I have to wonder what motivated this study.

via Guardian UK.

So, as a lot of you already know, I'm in the process of finishing up my first book. (Hence the bizarre posts about dead rodents. I'm starting to lose it a bit.)

I recently had my friend Adam Joseph take some pics of me for my fancy author photo, and I pretty much hate myself in pictures. So pretty please go to my Flickr page and tell me which one you like best. I'm adding more in the coming hours. Try to ignore the fashion-y ones--they're not for the book, we we're just having fun. The book ones are labeled. Thanks! (And no laughing, please.)

Ok, self-indulgence over.

... but only because they decided it'll help them pass the South Dakota abortion ban. (Quick, somebody tell Will Saletan!) I bet they're simultaneously drafting state legislation to allow pharmacists and medical professionals to refuse to dispense it.

This ad, paid for by an anti-choice group, constantly harps on the fact that the morning-after pill is still technically legal, even if abortion isn't. These hypocrites completely disgust me. As if a single person who supports or helped create this ad has EVER done anything to increase women's access to emergencry contraception. Ugh.

If you can put aside the hypocrisy involved, I guess it's sort of an advertisement for the morning-after pill -- something we definitely want to raise women's awareness about.

UPDATE: As I guessed, the group that created this ad was instrumental last year in blocking a bill last to require info about EC in all South Dakota ERs. They also helped pass a law allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense the drug. I'm also not surprised to learn that abstinence-only cheerleader Leslee Unruh is heading up this hypocritical campaign.

Keith Olbermann stays classy by reporting that Paris Hilton has "had worse things happen to her face" than being punched. And you know exactly what he means.

Also note the lovely "A Slut and Battery" graphic. For shame.

Eat The Press via FishBowlNY.

UPDATE: Feministe has more.

Our gal Celina has an interview up at Alternet with First-Amendment expert Frederick S. Lane, author of The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture.

The book chronicles the history of the Religious Right in the U.S. and its recent rise to power. It's awesome stuff, so go check it out.

My good friend Erin was in Buenos Aires last week, and said this graffiti was everywhere. My Spanish is growing rustier by the day, but the gist of it is:

Sex education in order to make decisions
Contraceptives in order to not have abortions
Legal abortion in order to not die.

Awesome.

Because Neidra has been very pissed at me for disposing of her kills--which she now brings home daily--I decided to show her some love and praise, blog styles. Check out the mole baby to her right.

My little Brooklyn house kitty is now a heartless killer in the woods of Woodstock. They grow up so fast.

A close up of her new friend (she's been carrying it around all day) after the jump. Cause I'm sick like that.

We've been impressed with Elizabeth Edwards in the past, so I couldn't pass the opportunity to meet her last week for a talk about her new book, Saving Grace: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers.

We sat down to chat with a few other NYC bloggers about the book and blogging. While it's an autobiographical account of her life over the past ten years since her and John Edwards' son died as well as her experience with breast cancer, a portion of it discusses the importance of online communities. For quite some time Edwards has been engaging online using an alias and reaching out to a number of communities who ended up largely helping her cope with her loss.

We didn't have much time with her, so once the conversation began to get "political," she had to leave for another appointment. Her engaging yet somewhat shy demeanor was adorable, and she made it a point to sincerely remind the group how passionately she feels about online communities and the importance of our work. She also told me she likes Feministing's name. (Teehee.)

At the University of Maryland, a professor teaches a popular, and impressively comprehensive sexual health class. Check it out:

Apart from student attire, his lecture hall could have been lifted right out of "Kinsey," the 2004 movie about professor and sexual researcher Alfred Kinsey, who stunned America with his frankness and his findings more than half a century ago -- and provoked the sex-education debate that continues to this day.

All eyes are on Sawyer. Many students appear to be writing down everything he says; he actually stops lecturing a couple of times to persuade them to put down their pens and simply listen.

It seems a lot of the questions students have are typical, debunking myths or confirming things they've heard.

After running through the methods of birth control, he encourages the questions to fly. Does going off the pill, then on again, affect how well it works? a young man asks. (Short answer: "Yes.") Some women who have been on the pill say they ended up having trouble getting pregnant later. Is that true? ("There's no scientific evidence to prove that.") I have these incredibly heavy periods. Will the pill help that? ("Perhaps.")

In my 7th grade sex ed class we were a little more bashful, so someone asked through the "question box" if since she heard sex is good exercise (cardio), does masturbation do the same?

The part that struck me, was that college is a little late for people to be finally getting good information about sex:

At the beginning of this school year, he asked his class how many had had sex education in middle school or high school. Virtually all listeners raised their hands.

Then he asked how many had had sex ed for at least a semester. Three-quarters of the hands went down. How many had been taught by a certified health professional? A bunch of other hands went down, leaving about five students out of the 200 who had had, in his view, adequate preparation for sexual activity.

Not unless you ask an anti-gay bigot who likes to think of HIV/AIDS as a plague visited upon sinners. ...or a gay and lesbian center in L.A., which just launched this HIV awareness campaign with messaging that looks suspiciously like what the fundies are always saying:

Their site has a message board section, where many of the responses are predictably anti-gay, with comments thanking the campaign's sponsors for "bring[ing] attention to the demoralizing effect that this "behavior" is having on our society."

I'm not surprised. Some commenters are understandably alarmed that a pro-gay-rights organization is promoting this message:

First let me say that I am in appreciation of what you are trying to do here....... BUT - Have you lost your mind????? We as a community can't handle this type of negative stigma if we hope to equalize ourselves in society!! It's bad enough that an openly, flaming gay man, such as myself, can't even walk down the street without all flavors of negative slander. NOW, by doing a campaign such as this, you are reinforcing the negative stigmas that we've been trying to disprove.

And this one (which Kian highlights):

This has to be one of the most irresponsible ads I have seen. I teach science to teenagers all day, everyday and this ad suggests that only a specific group is at risk of getting AIDS or becoming HIV Positive. I work hard to dispell the myths and teach the scientific facts as we know them and this is NOT a gay disease but rather one that effects all of humanity.

Other people have pointed out that, hey, this is a disease that disproportionately affects gay men. Why shouldn't an ad come out and acknowledge that? That's why the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center says they created these ads.

Because I'm not a part of the community, I guess I can't say if there's truly a silence around HIV/AIDS among lesbians and gay men these days. But my outsider's perspective is that this is a campaign that's going to do more harm than good.

And isn't this sadly appropriate on the heels of the Concerned Women for America comment about "why AIDS is a gay disease"?

Interesting.

A study of young college women showed they frequently wore more fashionable or flashier clothing and jewelery when they were ovulating, as assessed by a panel of men and women looking at their photographs.

"They tend to put on skirts instead of pants, show more skin and generally dress more fashionably," said Martie Haselton, a communication studies and psychology expert at the University of California Los Angeles who led the study.

This study has WAY too many variables. Thoughts?

via Reuters.

Check out our girl Ann's newest piece on Alternet about the gender gap in most progressive publications. Yeah, she rocks.

Conventional wisdom among many women journalists (and their male allies) is that change will come when more women rise to positions of editorial power -- which just hasn't happened. Certainly magazines should take steps to elevate competent women not just to the editor-in-chief level, but to all gatekeeper editorial positions. But I don't think the mere presence of female editors can remedy the byline gender gap. Several national and progressive magazines have female editors-in-chief, but you wouldn't know it by looking at each table of contents. There are countless days when all of the progressive news websites feature only one or two stories by women. I know these are places where the editors would agree that the paucity of female bylines is a problem.

Watch this interview with David Rakoff from The Daily Show and find out what Republicans think about the gay agenda and women's bodies. Scary.

Via Echidne.

The title of this article, Practicing Moral Hygiene, coupled with a picture of Dirty Girl products was too much to pass up. And thank goodness I read it. Apparently human beings take showers to cleanse their souls.

The researchers undertook the study because several observations about washing, including how refreshing it can be to take a shower, intrigued them. […] A deep psychological link between hygiene and moral purity could explain the similarities across cultures, Zhong said.

Not earth-shattering, since the article starts with Lady Macbeth, clearly this isn't new territory. But it is interesting. And the best part of the article? This line.

"Cooties," said Haidt, "is an invisible moral essence."

So true. Now, do you clean up when you've been naughty? I don't. But my life is incredibly virtuous, so I don't need to.

As the situation in Darfur gets worse, women seem to be on the receiving end of much of the brutality.

A coalition of U.N. agencies says the alarming increase in violent attacks against women and children in Darfur has risen ever since the signing of a peace accord between the Khartoum government and one rebel group earlier this year.

the attacks often occur, as they have throughout the three-year-long war, when women leave camps for internally displaced persons to collect water and firewood for cooking or selling. He also says patrols by African Union forces in and around the camps, some of which are home to tens-of-thousands of people, have been greatly reduced.

A.U. forces have come under attack and have been stretched far beyond their capacity to protect civilians.

How many more times am I going to write about the atrocities done to women in Darfur?

As I read this stuff and write on it, I feel so frustrated. I feel frustrated with myself for being so distant from the issue. I feel frustrated with the world and super powers for letting these things happen and making it look like it is the fault of the people of Darfur (you know those animalistic natives that can't run their own countries). I feel frustrated that as Western feminists we often use these examples of atrocities in other countries (3rd world countries) to assert our dominance in believing that we are the most liberated women on the planet, ignoring all the culturally hegemonic assumptions imbedded in that.

I feel frustrated that everything that has been going on to *help* the people of Darfur, isn't working.

Yes a post turned rant, but sometimes I get frustrated about these things, because I am writing about them constantly, and sometimes I feel like I am just part of the problem.

Does anybody else feel frustrated?

via VOA.

Male birth control may soon be a reality.

For the first time, a safe, effective and reversible hormonal male contraceptive appears to be within reach. Several formulations are expected to become commercially available within the near future. Men may soon have the options of a daily pill to be taken orally, a patch or gel to be applied to the skin, an injection given every three months or an implant placed under the skin every 12 months, according to Seattle researchers.

“It largely depends on how funding continues. The technology is there. We know how it would work,� says Dr. Andrea Coviello, who is helping to test several male contraceptives at the Population Center for Research in Reproduction at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Interestingly enough the article actually talks about how most men wouldn't even consider taking a form of hormonal birth control. Yet think of how many women do and have because they felt it was the only safe option. Why have women been putting their bodies, spirits and minds through things that most men wouldn't even consider doing?

I know it is difficult to judge this (because I do know some men that would take this) but in general, do we think men will use this?

Thanks to everyone for their patience!

Check out the Guardian’s tribute to Anna Politkovskaya, a renowned Russian journalist who was killed outside of her apartment in Moscow on Saturday.

Last December Politkovskaya said at a press conference, “People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think.� She was one of those courageous people, and her passionate contributions to seeking and exposing the truth will not be forgotten.

Buy it.

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Cecilia Fire Thunder is not alone. With some funding from the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project and other national organizations, a group of native women is running an incredible campaign against the SD abortion ban. It's a great example of messaging that comes directly from a community of color -- and not from folks speaking on its behalf.

These women will have a presence at South Dakota's largest pow-wow this weekend, and will be handing out fliers (see below). They're also planning a multi-tribe rally against the ban on October 26th.

Reuters had a piece yesterday on Blank Noise, a movement that is pushing for safer streets for Indian women. They recently began organizing “night actions� in a number of cities, where women walk down the street, largely wearing revealing or tight clothes with a message to street harassers -- that they should be able to wear whatever they please without feeling threatened.

'If I was not in a group, God only knows what would have happened,' Amrita Nandy Joshi, a 31-year-old Oxford graduate said as the group made its way down a dimly-lit New Delhi road after 10 p.m., a walk normally done only with a male escort, if at all.

Along the most recent march in New Delhi, the women spray painted the streets with brief descriptions of harassment that each of them encounter on a daily basis, leaving a mark of awareness concerning the lack of safety that exists for women in India. A few facts:

- A woman is raped in India every thirty minutes.

- More than 30 percent of rape cases reported in India’s major cities last year were committed in New Delhi.

- Street harassment, such as verbal taunts and groping, is a frequent occurrence.

Sadly, the Indian media refers to street harassment as “Eve-teasing,� which is largely portrayed as a joke or friendly “teasing� toward women. Blank Noise is attempting to call “eve-teasing� out for what it really is and make the Indian public recognize that just because it’s considered normal doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable.

Their next project will draw on what women wear by collecting 1,000 pieces of clothing that were worn during street harassment and put them on exhibit in public places with the slogan, “I didn’t ask for it.�

To me, this is local activism at its very best. Make sure to check out their blog.

As of late, conservatives seem to be loving teen pregnancies. This shows through in the anti-choice push being masked under the language of "protection" for our fragile young women.

Check out Jessica’s piece in the Huffington Post on these slew of laws that “protect� us from ourselves.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Pic from xhuglifex.

Just in time for the pink-ribboned hoopla of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the decidedly awful Tom Coburn has effectively killed an amendment to fund research into environmental causes of the disease.

Writes Fran Visco, head of the National Breast Cancer Coalition,

We played by the rules. We did everything right. ...we worked six long years to gain support for this bill, and we won that support from 66 senator sponsors. And 99 were willing to say yes. One lone senator has decided the course of breast cancer research for the entire nation. Senator Coburn won't release his hold and Senate leadership won't bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

It's not like this disease kills 40,000 people annually or anything. Nah, much more important to squeeze in a pre-recess discussion of the flag-burning amendment.

You'll recall Tom Coburn is a man who thinks women are healthier with fake tits. No need to fund breast cancer research, because how bad can the disease really be? I mean, a few more cases of breast cancer will mean a few more mastectomies, which will surely result in a few more happier, healthier, fake-titted women. Awesome!

The European Court of Justice has ruled that women who take time off for maternity leave have no right to the same pay as male colleagues.

The fine city of Madison, Wisconsin is considering an ordinance to require pharmacies that do not provide EC to dispay a notice saying so, and also stating the nearest location where it is available.

Struggling to pay the bills? Some politicians suggest you just get married.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled that most registered nurses are exempt from union membership.

Six ways for Hollywood to stop alienating women.

The latest British reality TV show, Birth Night Live, will feature a live childbirth in each two-hour episode.

A new project seeks to compile women's personal histories.

ACSblog has a preview of the upcoming abortion-related Supreme Court cases.

The Canadian government considers yanking funding for Status of Women Canada, a federal agency that funds different causes for women in this country.

When the Lusty Lady (the famous unionized strip club in San Francisco) booked a night full of entertainment by "big, beautiful women," clients walked out and made a barrage of nasty complaints.

A college considers allowing coed dorm rooms.

The Biting Beaver reflects on her experience being denied EC and shares that because of being unable to obtain the drug, she is now pregnant. Send her kind thoughts and show your support.

The firing of Melanie Martinez, 34, marks the second PBS moral values scandal. The first was the censorship of the “Postcards from Buster� episode last year where Buster the Bunny, who regularly visits families in every episode, went to visit a family with two mommies. Previous families featured in “Postcards� episodes have included Mormons, Hmong and Pentecostal Christians.

Melanie Martinez was fired from her position as host of PBS KIDS Sprout's "The Good Night Show" because she appeared in two 30-second online films when she was 27, “Technical Virgin� and “Boys Can Wait,� that spoofed abstinence-only education. The PBS ombudsman dedicated two of his columns to voice his opposition to the firing of Melanie, but her job wasn’t saved. Melanie says there is no lawsuit in sight.

I spoke with Melanie one Tuesday afternoon in September, until her 4-year-old son said, “Mommy, I’ve been waiting a long time.� Here’s Melanie…

Contributed by Shelby Knox

A recently released book by Dan Kindlon, titled "Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She Is Changing the World" sounds almost empowering—despite the reference in the title to the incredibly overblown Alpha/Mean Girls debate of a couple of years ago.

Yet, a closer look finds the book claiming that obstacles have virtually disappeared for women of the current college age generation, with the apparent reason being that women are acting more like men!

Recently on the Today Show (watch video here), Kindlon claimed that the aims of the women's movement have been achieved, and we are living in a world where gender is no longer a factor. I guess you could say that…if you look only at wealthy, white women being educated at top universities who went to mostly private schools (which are the subjects of his study)…and conveniently ignored the wage gap, the very real glass ceiling, and continued sexual harassment. Yes, put on that veil of ignorance and it's easy to see we live in an oh-so-equal society.

Shelby Knox, 20, is the subject of The Education of Shelby Knox, a documentary that explores abstinence-only sex education, Texas style. She continues to travel the nation to speak out about sex education and women's rights.

Introducing the Orgasmatron 3000.

After being invited to take part in a design exhibition on the theme of a Bordello, [artist] Dominic Wilcox came up with his own take on the subject.

This Leather clad washing machine and saddle aims bring the fun back to housework. This product is made to order, info above.

I know it's meant as art and not for sale on the floor at the Sears appliance center, but the Orgasmatron is interesting nevertheless. Is it meant for men to buy for their wives when they want to send a message that women should take pleasure in housework? Or is this a good personal investment because it means you'll be happy to do your laundry on a regular basis?

Put another way: Is this a tool of the patriarchy, or does it simply mean clean jeans with a few orgasms on top? Discuss.

And check out the controls on this sweet baby, below the fold.

Via the lovely ladies of Unibloggal.

I shit you not.

From Amanda:

I’m still trying to decide if I’m offended at having my intellect described as “almost frightening�. It’s hard to be offended when you’re flattered. You try it.

So go congratulate Amanda, Pam and Jedmunds on being the sexiest damn smartasses around. Oh, and join me in trying to convince Amanda to take an ironic pic wearing bunny ears.

In their "men should act like men" beer commercials, Milwaukee's Best tells guys that if they're not adhering to masculinity norms they're likely to get killed by giant falling beer cans. For real.

Your fave South Dakota State Senator Bill Napoli has a letter to the editor of the Rapid City Journal today clearing up the "mistruths and deception" surrounding the state's abortion ban.

Wide open abortions

Elections should be about the truth. The debate about HB1215 may not be full of lies, but there's a lot of mistruths and deception.

HB1215 is a law that can be changed during any legislative session. If the debate were really about rape and incest, why aren't we talking about changing it in the next Legislature? Change it to something that works for all?

Defeat of HB1215 is not about exceptions, it's about unlimited abortions. If you vote to repeal HB1215, you're actually voting for abortion on demand, abortion as a means of birth control, and abortion for convenience.

If you vote to repeal HB1215, you'll be voting for the death of 800 babies that didn't have anything to do with rape or incest.

The truth! Repealing HB1215 is for wide-open abortions, not just rape and incest exceptions.

If you love babies, and see those cute little babies in the park, grocery store, mall, or cafe, think very carefully about your vote to repeal HB1215.

When you vote, are you going to vote to end the life of a baby, or are you going to vote to give that baby a chance to live? Vote Yes on 6.

State Sen. BILL NAPOLI
Rapid City

So, voters of South Dakota, if you're concerned about the lack of rape, incest and health exceptions, just quit worrying and vote in favor of the ban, anyway! Then trust your awesome state legislators like Napoli to rewrite the law to protect only sodomized virgins.

My friend who passed this along is in South Dakota working on her father's state senate campaign. He's against the abortion ban -- and supports Roe, insurance coverage of contraceptives, comprehensive sex ed and EC in the ER. (Click here to support him.) If South Dakota elects six new senators in November, they'll have the votes to overturn the abortion ban.

I actually don't really know what to say about this (well I always say that, but I guess I can come up with something). But calling a woman a mule is just wrong. Furthermore, what little I know about women who are used as cocaine mules, the conditions are rather abusive. So technically a beauty pageant for cocaine mules could be seen as glamourizing the enslavement of women of color. At the same time, if this is enjoyable for the women, right on. But a greater discussion as to how these women end up in these jobs and what work is going on to support them still needs to happen.

Thoughts?

via Boing Boing.

Love this. Columbia students rushed the stage to protest speaker Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project--a "citizens' Vigilance Operation monitoring immigration."

Check out Douchey McAsshole at the very end of the clip who says the protestors are "a poor representation of Columbia's intellectual capabilities...these people are animals."

More at Gothamist, Gawker and Columbia University Television News.

From Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR): Study Finds Lack of Balance, Diversity, Public at PBS NewsHour

Gaultier used a size 20 model in his latest fashion show to give comment on the recent size 0 model debate. It could be a protest but it still seems fishy to me. I mean is he really supporting the use of size 20 models? I don't think so. If anything, it seems he is trying to say the opposite. But again, I have NO faith in the fashion industry when it comes to body size.

Furthermore, how come nobody has mentioned the fact that a size 0 means it doesn't exist. Zero means nothing or that it is not there, so in a way it is like the metaphorical erasure of women, as though they don't exist or that they don't take up any space. Just a thought.

Thoughts?

via Daily Mail.

and I am not ashamed. Along with their campaign, Ms. Magazine is releasing their fall issue next week with a list of 5000 women that have written in to say "We had abortions."

The publication coincides with what the abortion-rights movement considers a watershed moment for its cause.

"All this seems very dire," said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which publishes Ms.

"We have to get away from what the politicians are saying," she said, "and get women's lives back in the picture."

Even before the issue reaches newsstands Oct. 10, anti-abortion activists have been decrying it. Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, wrote in a commentary that when she saw a Ms. announcement of the project, "the evil practically jumped right off the page."

Of course they are. You know that crazy belief that women should have rights over their own body is just SO friggin evil.

via AP. Also read more about it at Ms.

Ali Eteraz has a step-by-step guide on how to help Iranian women who have been sentenced to stoning.

Amnesty International reports that seven women are currently at risk of execution by stoning.

Via helenbettysgrrl.

Inside Higher Ed reports that last year's NY Times article about women in ivy league schools opting-out is largely, well, bullshit.

A new study suggests that the article also overstated the number of women who hope to leave the workforce long-term. Yale University’s Women’s Center released a survey last week finding that just 4.1 percent of Yale women plan to stop work entirely after having children, compared to 0.7 percent of men. A vast majority of women — 71.8 percent — reported they would take less than one year off work after their children were born.

...Victoria Brescoll, now a postdoctoral research fellow at Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, who conducted the survey in the 2005-6 academic year as a graduate student in social psychology, said the survey results suggest that men and women equally value career and family, contradicting the implication of Louise Story’s September 2005 article, “Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood.�

“What does ‘many’ mean? Personally, I don’t think 4 percent equals many, � Brescoll said.

No joke. There's a whole bunch of interesting info comparing the study to the article, inlcuding stats on women planning on working part-time and the barriers women see in their family-planning futures--so check out the whole piece.

I've always wondered how much of a real option the judicial bypass is for teens who are seeking an abortion in states with parental consent/notification laws.

The Repro Rights Blog (by way of Feminist Law Profs) has a detailed description of what you need to do if you're a minor who needs a judicial bypass. In most states, reproductive health clinics can help put you in touch with the right people. But I'll put the state-by-state list below the fold.

Headline from Slate: When Moms Work, Kids Get Fat.

Lovely.

I've been so upset over the recent school shootings targeting young girls in Colorado and Pennsylvania...I haven't really wanted to post about it. When I read about second shooting, I was in Woodstock with my Dad and I just lost it. Not only because of the violence, but because of the misogyny behind the shootings that no one seems to talking about.

So, thanks to Echidne for saying what I wanted to but couldn't.

In her post, Echidne quotes some of "the hate sites where haters gather, where hate becomes acceptable and natural and normal." I generally don't share the kind of hateful emails and comments we get here at Feministing. But I felt like in the spirit of calling out misogynists, and to remind people the unimaginable hate some people have for women, I should share.

This is just one paragraph from an email sent to all of the women at Feministing; the subject was "last warning to you all feminists":

Now after hearing a lot about you from our American brothers, I strongly believe that each of you feminists deserved to be anal-fucked and gang-raped and then we will cut your boobs and empty whole magazines of 16 bullets into your vaginas. Then post live digital videos of the rape+executions on all men's sites around the world for our AAA entertainment.

That someone like this fucking exists...it's just too terriyfing to me. The fact that people like this have websites and forums--and friends!

Sorry for the downer of a post. But this shit has seriously got me depressed.

A Colorado man has been arrested for felony sexual assault after "biting a stripper in the vagina during a private dance."

Um. Wow.

33 year-old Jesse Adam Bopp was at Bustop Gentlemen's Club in Boulder celebrating his bachelor party two days before his wedding when the assault allegedly occured.

According to the police report, video footage of the private dance showed the dancer's vaginal area appear to come in contact with Bopp's face, then the dancer quickly pulled away and grabbed the area.

Bopp's friends were apparently bragging about Bopp "getting away with touching a dancer." The woman was taken to an area hospital for a sexual assault exam.

Question: What would Prudie say?

Watch Bitch magazine co-founder Andi Zeisler do a reading from Bitchfest.

So you know how anti-feminist groups like to co-opt the language of women's empowerment? The anti-abortion movement is following suit. In an important article in this month's American Prospect, Sarah Blustain and Reva Siegel report on the woman-centric (rather than fetus-focused) language in the South Dakota abortion ban.

The ban is based on the wording in the incredibly biased report (released last December) by state's task force on abortion. Fully half of the task force's "findings" focus on women rather than unborn babies. But it goes above and beyond the "abortion harms women's health" crap -- the phony breast cancer link and made-up "post-abortion syndrome" -- we've heard about time and time again.

Finally, to make credible its claims about women’s health and women’s choices, the task force made repeated claims about women’s nature. It asserted that women would never freely choose an abortion -- even absent outside pressures -- because doing so would violate “the mother’s fundamental natural intrinsic right to a relationship with her child.� The task force took as a statement of biological and psychological fact that a mother’s connection to her unborn baby was more authentic than her own statement of desire not to be pregnant. These gender-role convictions are at the heart of the movement’s claim that the nation must now combat an epidemic of dangerous and coerced abortions.

If you ever had any doubts that the anti-abortion movement was about enforcing traditional gender roles, this article should do a good job destroying them. It's straight out of the pre-pregnancy school of thought: Any person with ladyparts is really a walking incubator, biologically unable to reject the idea of motherhood.

I was visiting my mother over the weekend, and flipping through one of the dozen catalogues she gets per week, unrequested, and found "Essentials," or Old Lady Essentials as she called it. The products were mostly robes, house dresses, capes and those apron shirt things I don't understand. But on the back of the order form, right next to the toe socks was something a little surprising. Sex toys. There were two in the catalogue, but the website has a larger selection. Color me impressed. So often older women are thought of as asexual. But gray hair and menopause don't mean death for your libido.

The thing I like most, though, is there's no hiding. No "educational model" bullshit. "Essentials" offers a full range of products for the older woman. Beat that, Banana Republic. Pun intended.

Whoa. The CBS Evening News's "Free Speech" segment last night featured Brian Rohrbough, a man who lost his son during the Columbine school shootings. Rohrbough says that violence in schools can be traced to the teaching of evolution and abortion. I'm all for free speech, but damn.

Via Think Progress, Gawker, and Media Matters.

This is quite the shocker: women get aroused just as quickly as men.

Researchers say that the findings may help learn more about and possibly help treat sexual dysfunction in women, such as female sexual arousal disorder.

P.S. Can anyone tell me what the picture in the article has to do with the study?

It's back. A new Playboy Club will be opening this week in Las Vegas, almost twenty years after the last one closed.

The original clubs, staffed by bustiered Bunnies and spurred by the sexual revolution, spanned the globe in their heyday in the 1960s and '70s, from Chicago and New York to Manila, London, Tokyo and the Bahamas. At their height, 22 clubs were in operation, employing more than 25,000 Bunnies and boasting more than a million "keyholders," or members.

...The new club, on the top three floors of the Palms hotel-casino, pays homage to the past while introducing its swinging bachelor lifestyle to a new generation. Lounge seating is back, as are the famous Bunny outfits, complete with ears, bow tie and cufflinks, designed by Roberto Cavalli.

But don't fret, gals. Apparently this isn't a step backwards for women--we're moving forward.

"If you look at the magazine even in the early days, there were features on decorating your apartment, cooking, buying nice clothes, buying wine," said James Beggan, associate professor of sociology at the University of Louisville. "I think that they've always been ahead of their time in advocating what later becomes known as the 'metrosexual identity.' "Society has caught up with Playboy's view," he said.

Oh, well good. Because for a minute there I thought it was just good old-fashioned sexism revamped as retro-chic.

I met one of the gals of Sticker Sisters when I was at the NOW conference this summer--their products are too cool. (See above.)

Sticker Sisters also now has shirts, buttons, posters--even school supplies. Make sure to check it out!

Apparently, crime committed by youth is the fault of their parents. And not only that, because of this, we should sterilize the mothers of these children. What solid logic.

A City Council member, reacting to a video store holdup believed to have been carried out by children, says parents who can't properly care for their kids should be sterilized.

"We pick up stray animals and spay them," Larry Shirley said in a story published Saturday by The Post and Courier of Charleston. "These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. Once they have a child and it's running the street, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable."

Spay?! It is pretty clear to me here who need not be reproducing. Because surely it is not lack of resources, poor educational access and a racist and sexist system that is producing the *criminal* children. It is young, poor, probably non-white moms. Funny how racist, classist and sexist logic works. The man sees a store get robbed and his immediate reaction is to blame the mothers, not actually think about what is really causing inequity, or how he himself is implicated in it.

The genius continues. . .

"What we've got is a failure in society, whether it's in Mount Pleasant with yuppie parents or whether it's on the East Side with poor crackhead parents," he said, referring to areas in and around Charleston.

Yes and our failure in society has nothing to do with our failure in leadership.

via AP.

A study in Canada found that women with disabilities have a higher likelyhood of being abused. Lovely.

A study by a University of Manitoba researcher suggests women with disabilities may be up to 40 per cent more likely than other women to be abused by their partners.

Douglas Brownridge with the department of family social sciences based his research on more than 7,000 Statistics Canada interviews.

He says disabled women reported higher rates of being threatened, pushed, slapped, choked or sexually assaulted over the five years before the interviews were conducted in 1999.

I am sure many of these victims also are unable to get help in abusive situations, especially women with physical or cognitive disabilities.

via Canadian Press.

The steady and effective involvement of women in Liberia's government seems to be making a difference in the government and it's processes. Well at least according to the UN.

"Experience has shown that at all levels of Governance women do and can make a difference in raising awareness and in bringing a different perspective to a nation's development agenda," Alan Doss, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative, told a gathering of female politicians, legislators and other officials.

"Experiences in other countries show that it makes economic, social and political sense to put the power of choice in the hands of poor women. Only then can we get significant and quick advances in improving health and education."

Congratulating all the women who were elected during Liberia's elections last year, or appointed to positions of leadership, Mr. Doss also called on development partners to place women at the centre-stage in rebuilding the country after years of conflict.

via AllAfrica.com

Over the weekend the House failed to vote on the disastrous and probably unconstitutional Teen Endangerment and Grandmother Incarceration Act. Doesn't quite make up for saying YES! to torture, but still good news. Conservatives aren't happy.

In other national abortion-rights news, the Kaiser Report on Women's Health Policy (oh, dear Kaiser Report, how I love thee) also has a good round-up of coverage of the abortion cases in the new Supreme Court term.

An amazing video on the sex toy ban in Texas.

A new study shows that almost just as many men are complusive shoppers as women.

While “shopaholics,� or compulsive shoppers, have generally been perceived as women, research shows that while 6% of women are compulsive buyers, and 5.5% of men are compulsive buyers.

Additionally, women are more willing to to admit their addiction to shopping than men.

The sex toy ban in Texas will remain in place after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal that argued the law violates the right to sexual privacy.

The law bans the creation and sale of anything "designed or marked as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." Harsh.

Sounds all too familiar, right? Except for the fact that he's a dude.

I know this wannabe "trophy husband" personally, and he says he's already received one response.

There is some awesome stuff going on in the LGBTQ community this month: The Human Rights Campaign has launched their Snapshot Coming Out Project for Coming Out Day on the 11th, the Equality Forum is recognizing a different LGBTQ leader every day of the month, and -- on a more local level -- the Philadelphia School District has recognized the month this year in its school calendar.

Unfortunately, Philly isn’t particularly feeling the love. The district has officially declared October “Gay and Lesbian History Month� on its 2006-07 school calendar, which is (not surprisingly) causing some homophobic fits. Peter LaBarbera from the anti-gay Christian conservative group Americans for Truth says:

If you have a gay history month, you’re basically saying, ‘This is a wonderful part of American history- homosexual history-let’s celebrate it and let’s teach the kids that this is like civil rights.’

Um, yeah, that’s exactly what we’re saying.

A Thomasville ad campaign called "So You" features women-as-furniture. Cause it's "so you" to be objectified--stylishly! Ugh.

Via Adrants.

The Center for American Progress released a report last month, More than a Choice: A Progressive Vision for Reproductive Health and Rights. It’s been said to be one of the most comprehensive reports on reproductive issues that’s been out within the last decade.

Its purpose of the report is to cover the wide range of reproductive health and rights issues that are affecting each of our lives, and remind its readers that the right to have an abortion is not the only current battle we’re facing involving repro rights.

Anousheh Ansari, the first female Muslim and first Iranian-born woman to enter space, returned to Earth on Friday after an 11-day trip on the International Space Station (ISS).

Ansari had a blog which was updated during the course of her trip, described in the news as “girlish writing.� Check out the blog yourself and be the judge. Real girly stuff. Here’s a snippet from her last entry:

But this is no longer only my Quest. It is the duty of every one of you to go beyond just reading and writing on the Space Blog. It is your duty to make sure this excitement, this wave, this wonderful force that has awakened the best in us continues on.

I don’t like to be idealized or become an icon. I’m not special, I just found that light inside me that you all have and got my strength from it. It seems like I found the key to open up your hearts and souls so now you can reach inside and gain strength from there.

Welcome home, Anousheh.

Lots of linky goodness this week!

Will Saletan once again mistakenly believes the anti-abortion movement will support broader access to contraception.

The Seattle Times seems shocked that straight dudes are into Project Runway, too. (Thanks to straight-dude and Runway fan Darin for the link...)

Apparently 30-year-old women only like fluffy news. This from a 31-year-old woman... who works for US Weekly. Yeah.

The Washington Post profiles the horrendous, anti-sex Kansas AG, Phill Kline.

A new book speculates that maybe the ranks of nuns are declining because women these days are less likely to put up with patriarchal institutions like the Catholic church.

Shockingly, early abortions are hard for many women to obtain! A new article in the journal Contraception examines some of the reasons.

In the latest issue of Bust, Amy Poehler asks us all to grow our bushes out tall, wide and proud. Literally and metaphorically.

The Boston Globe fact-checks statistics on how men and women use language.

A group of scientists has gotten together to support political candidates who believe science should trump ideology.

Soldier Suzanne Swift, who went AWOL because she was sexually harassed, has been charged.

An Ohio judge strikes down a law that restricts how doctors can provide the abortion pill Mifeprex (commonly known by its French name, RU-486).

If the Democrats retake the House in November, it would mean significantly more women in positions of power in Congress.

The New Republic assigns a "strategic assessment of the Mommy Wars" to James Wolcott, a childless dude. He proceeds to be condescending toward women on all sides of the issue. The piece is titled "Meow Mix," clearly because this isn't a complicated debate wrapped up in class, education, power, and feminist issues. Nope, it's a catfight.

Teen pregnancies are still on the way down. Experts with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy say it's due to comprehensive sex ed and increased contraception use. Conservatives conflate comprehensive sex ed with abstinence-only, and claim their medically inaccurate, stereotype-packed programs are to be credited for the decline.

The Governator signs a bill to ensure the personal contact information of abortion providers isn't made public.

Trojan gives universities a grade based on how accessible they make sexual health information and services.

"Model minority" pressures are driving young Asian women to attempt suicide.

Rebecca Traister takes NOW to task for their support of Jeanine Pirro.