November 2007 Archives

Check out this New York Times piece from yesterday about how the Girl Scouts have been recruiting Muslim girls in an effort to help them adjust to American culture without sacrificing their Muslim identity. At the same time, the piece itself was bothersome at some parts, for example:

She has discovered that the trademark green sash — with its American flag, troop number (3009) and colorful merit badges — reduces the number of glowering looks she draws from people otherwise bothered by her traditional Muslim dress.

Just slap an American label on her and she'll be good to go! Sigh.

"A 12-year-old girl was recently arrested for having illicit affairs with men." Ugh.

Oh dear. Stay tuned for more.

Amnesty International has launched an ad campaign to battle female genital mutilation (see full sized pics here and here). The images of sewn up flowers are striking, but effective. What do you think?

Michelle Bruce--who won a City Council seat in Riverdale, Georgia four years ago--is being sued by her (losing) opponent for supposedly "misleading" voters by running as a woman. Talk about classy.

Three rivals ran against [Bruce] in the Nov. 6 election. She captured 312 votes, not enough to avoid a Dec. 4 runoff against the second-place finisher, Wayne Hall, who earned 202 votes.

The third-place finisher, Georgia Fuller, who collected 171 votes, filed a lawsuit claiming election fraud.

The complaint, identifying Ms. Bruce as “Michael Bruce,� says she misled voters by identifying herself as female. It asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election.

You know, because Fuller is the arbiter of who is female and who isn't. Ugh. Apparently, Riverdale tends to favor female candidates. Fuller's lawyer, Michael King says, "It’s not just sour grapes. The people need to know whether the election is fair.� I'm sorry, what's fairness got to do with it? Sounds more like trans hate than anything else to me.

The folks over at Planned Parenthood NYC are rocking it again with their new series of parties: Body Politic '08. These shindigs are designed to "engage pro-choice New Yorkers, raise funds and make new friends for our upcoming voter education and mobilization work." Who could argue with that? (Well, I know, lots of people, which is why it's so important to support.)

The first party, Jazz and Jewels, is tonight at the The Duplex at 9:30, but others follow if you already have crazy Friday night plans.

Hilarious.

Bush's proposed 2008 spending on the Women, Infants and Children program (which provides food vouchers to low-income women and their children up to age 5) would leave roughly half a million people in the lurch. The price of food and milk has soared, but Bush's budget isn't keeping pace.

Doug Greenaway, executive director of the National WIC Association, which represents state and local agencies, said states probably would deter new applicants and cut new mothers, rather than pregnant women and children.

"Once the word gets out on the street that the program is in some kind of funding jeopardy, people will say, 'Wow, there isn't an opportunity for me to participate,' " Greenaway said. "It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Depressing.

Reminder number one.

Regardless of which holidays you're celebrating or subverting, we thought this time of year called for some feminist cheer. So we’re going to be getting our drink-on in NYC for the holiday season and a coming new year full of great things for the feminist movement.

So if you're in the area, join us and spread the holiday love.

Hope you can make it!

Last night in the CNN/YouTube Republican debate, the candidates were asked what the punishment should be for women if abortion is banned.

The question of "How Much Time Should She Do?" is one that we heard from Anna Quindlen this summer and is now resurfacing once again. Now that the political heat is high, this message - while it's certainly not new - might just reframe the abortion debate and put conservatives on the defensive for a change.

Pro-choice candidates have consistently been forced by anti-choice rhetoric into positions where they end up compromising on reproductive rights issues; this is no big news. But asking anti-choice individuals about criminalization isn't an easy question to answer, as you can see in this video. And as mentioned in the Quindlen article, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa asked anti-choice Republican Jim Nussle publicly during the 2006 governor's race the very same question, in which he lost the race to pro-choice Governor Chet Culver.

The National Institute for Reproductive Health's Messaging Project gave PPGI resources for their campaign, which focuses specifically on "How Much Time?" after doing research which showed that this question resonated with the public more than a number of other pro-choice messages. While the majority of Americans are pro-choice, the majority of them aren't activists and many don't even consider a candidate's position on choice to be a priority. But putting criminalization at the forefront of the argument could not only change the debate, but prioritize the public's expectations in candidates.

Jill also wrote a great piece about this when the Quindlen article came out that asks more than the one question. Last night, the candidates naturally turn the question to the doctors (because you know, the women seeking abortions are too distraught and not mentally well enough to be held responsible). The criminalization of doctors is also being researched by the National Institute in creating effective messaging; because if doctors are put in jail, women won't have anywhere to go and this country will regress back to dangerous, illegal abortions.

In short, Journey's question last night is an opportunity to not only reframe the abortion debate, but to reclaim it altogether.

RH Reality Check has more details on the debate.

Within the first time in the comic book character's 66-year history, a woman is serving as an "ongoing writer" for Wonder Woman, reports the New York Times.

With issue No. 14 hitting the stores a couple of weeks ago, Gail Simone began her new title. Her thoughts on the character:

“She’s just the best kind of person. . . She was a princess who didn’t need someone to rescue her. I grew up in an era — and a family — where women’s rights were very important, and the guys didn’t tend to stick around too long. She was an amazing role model.�

Awesome.

Not one week after UK women Reclaimed the Night on Saturday, we find that juries will now be "briefed" before rape cases in order to dispel "rape myths" that studies have shown to contribute to a severe decrease in rape convictions in the UK.

In 1977, 33% of reported rapes ended in conviction. By 2005, that percentage had dropped to 5.4%. So in one form of response, a number of doctors, judges and academics are in the process of putting together a packet to be presented to juries which addresses these myths (such as the fact that not all rape survivors report the crime immediately, or that not all will act emotionally on the witness stand).

Despite the project, others still think change within the system as a whole is necessary to change the current state of conviction rates.

Aretha and Annie are here. This has got to be within the top three feminist music videos of all time.

Thanks to Michael.

For most of my young life, I’ve avoided thinking about or watching pornography. Sure there was that time that my gal pals and I got a porn flick in a hotel room on spring break “just to see� or the afternoon Gareth and I spent researching feminist porn and finding scary titles like Dungeon Mistress. I’ve browsed Nerve.com and I like to check out Bust’s one-handed read, but generally I’ve steered clear of porn or, even, truth be told, erotica. (Somehow I even missed studying pornography in college or grad school.)

I never made a conscious decision; it was just one of those subconscious, self-protective moves. I think I sensed that there was a “point of no return� quality to being aware of what was really out there and I was scared to go down that road just as I was developing my sexual identity and getting involved in relationships (in my case, heterosexual).

But I’ve really loved Robert Jensen’s work on Alternet and I’m obsessed with masculinity studies, so when I saw that his new book was Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity, I had to read it.

I was right about the “point of no return� thing…

Apparently there's more than one woman-hating pencil product out there. First there was the headless doggie-style sharpener, and now Shakes shows us this: Lusty Linda the pen holder.

You'll note from the packaging that Lusty Linda can utter "8 lusty sayings," which fall into one of two categories—"good mood" or "bad mood," controlled by the click of a switch. Says one site (screen cap) that sells Lusty Linda, "too bad all women did not have such a switch." Ho ho ho!

Her "bad mood" sayings include "Ow," "Help, Help!" and "Get out you, you dirty old man." You know, because rape is hilarious.

Recently "men's rights activists" scoffed at the idea that we were offended by the pencil sharpener, which blogger Glenn Sacks wrote "depicts a conventional, common sex act which women enjoy." (What woman enjoys fucking without her head, I don't know.) I wonder if they'll find more excuses as to how "Help!" and "Ow!" are actually cries of unabashed pleasure.

Cara puts it well:

This promotes rape. If you buy one of these things, you are promoting rape. If you laugh at one of these things, you are promoting rape. If you don’t laugh but still think that it’s a harmless joke, you are promoting rape. If one of your friends has one, or thinks it’s funny, and you don’t say anything about it, you are promoting rape.

How many more times do we have to say it? Rape is not funny.

From our gal Mikhaela, who was inspired by a proposed law in Colorado that would give constitutional rights to human eggs.

Just wanted to let rotten apple folks know that I'll be speaking about my book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, at The New School (Swayduck auditorium, 65 Fifth Avenue (between 13th/14th Sts) tomorrow, Thursday, at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public, so feel free to swing by if it is of interest.

The only feminist bookstore in Texas, BookWoman, is in danger of closing and needs your help. Feminist bookstores are dwindling (sadly); we can't afford to lose another one, so please consider donating or spreading the word.

Some of you may be seeing a retro Feministing page (circa 2004) when you come to the site--clearly something funky is going on. We're working on the issue; thanks for your patience!

Go listen to Nellie McKay's Mother of Pearl. It will put you in a good mood, I promise.

Don't forget we're in the middle of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence...though stories like this make sure that we can't forget.

A woman in Spain, Svetlana Orlova, was killed by her by her ex-boyfriend after she rejected his marriage proposal on a television talk show.

Svetlana had no idea why she had been invited on to the daytime television show and she was shocked to find herself face to face with the man who had beaten her for years...She was further stunned when he produced an engagement ring and proposed. Looking deeply uncomfortable, she shook her head.

Ricardo Navarro, 30, had told Patricia’s Daily Show, which has an audience of 2 million, that he and Ms Orlova had broken up because of a dispute over money. Ms Orlova contested that, saying: “There were many other things�, but without elaborating or mentioning that she had a restraining order against her former boyfriend.

Days later, Navarro stabbed her to death. The television show is denying any responsibility for her death (shocking), though some are calling for the show to be canceled. How about this...how about they just not potentially put women in danger by enabling abusers to get access to them? Seems simple, no? But that wouldn't be good television, I guess.

According to new research, my dense, urban breasts are at a higher risk for cancer than women dwelling outside of cities.

The study was actually conducted in the UK, which found that women residing in the city had much denser breasts than non-city dwellers. And previous research has shown that women with the densest breasts are up to four times more likely to develop cancer.

The source behind these findings could be a variety of things, between pollution, city stress and even body weight; regardless, it's something that us city gals should be aware of.

After a Glamour associate editor's implication that being black is a fashion don't, the magazine has issued an apology and is hosting a panel today on "Women, Race & Beauty," which "will explore the culture of beauty, with an emphasis on ethnic hairstyles in corporate America." (via.) They've got some excellent panelists, including Farai Chideya from NPR's News and Notes and Daisy Hernandez of ColorLines. (If someone finds a link to a transcript or video, please post it in comments!)

The Newsday article about the panel also features a slideshow of several professional women talking about their hair, and how they've chosen to wear it. I think this comment, from Keisha Walker, is especially telling:

"It’s obvious that corporate America doesn’t care for natural hairstyles on Black women because you rarely see them wearing them there. People think that when Black women wear natural hair that they are making a political statement. And I find that strange, because I don’t know of any ethnic group where if the women wear their hair naturally, it is associated with politics."

And Ifeanyi Chijindu echoes that:

"Hair is a big issue with black women. We are judged by it all the time When I wore my Angela Davis afro at school, all of a sudden people parted the way. They were treating me like a Black Panther. I could feel this huge sense of fear."

That sounds, interestingly enough, like the Glamour editor's critique:

'No offense,' she sniffed, but those 'political' hairstyles really have to go.

Maybe that's a large part of why corporate America treats Afros, braids, and other natural styles as "inappropriate" for the workplace: Because they associate these hairstyles with black empowerment, and with women of color standing up for themselves and for their rights. It goes beyond the superficial racism of "this is a messy fashion don't." It's also about the old boys' (and girls') club feeling threatened by an empowered woman of color.

CNN had a segment yesterday on doctors denying women reproductive health care -- mainly contraception.

Denying rape victims emergency contraception "sits OK with me!"

KAYE (voice-over): Dr. Scott Ross, a Catholic family physician in Virginia, believes contraception interferes with God's plan to breathe life into us, so he doesn't prescribe birth control. (on camera): So, if someone came to you today and said they would like contraception or the morning-after pill, what do you tell them?

ROSS: I'm very frank with them and say, that's something that I don't do. It's not part of my practice.

KAYE (voice-over): Dr. Ross says he has denied contraception to at least a dozen patients.

(on camera): Do you ever feel as though you're playing the role of judge, too?

ROSS: No.

KAYE: But when you're denying someone something that they're requesting, aren't you making a judgment on whether or not they should have that care?

ROSS: I don't know that I'm making a judgment on whether or not they should have the care. It's just the judgment of, I can't provide that care.

KAYE (voice-over): Melissa didn't see it that way with her doctor.

(on camera): Did you feel as if he was judging you?

MELISSA: Yes. Yes, I really did. I felt as though he was accusing me of being immoral and trying to impose his values on me.

...well, in most states, anyway. Via Jennifer Block (author of Pushed), I see that Missouri -- where certified midwives can be charged as felons for simply doing their jobs -- is debating legislation that would legalize midwife-assisted birth.

Even as midwifery grows increasingly popular nationwide, with an estimated 40,000 babies born outside hospitals last year, a handful of states remain severely restrictive of the profession. In nine states, including Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, some forms of midwifery are illegal, though not a felony. Missouri, the only state where midwives can be charged as felons, has long been the most hostile to the practice of midwifery, though hundreds of families like the Kerrs rely on an underground network of midwives who quietly operate outside the law.

Now Missouri finds itself in the national spotlight on the issue. A state lawmaker, whose wife was aided in a pregnancy by a midwife, pushed through legislation this year that would allow midwives to practice freely in the state, and Gov. Matt Blunt signed the bill into law. But opponents quickly filed a lawsuit to overturn it, state courts ordered an injunction, and the law cannot go into effect until the Missouri Supreme Court rules on its legality, probably early next year.

If even uber-conservative Gov. Matt Blunt is in favor of decriminalizing midwife births, then who, you might ask, is against the legislation? The answer, though the article manages to completely gloss over it, is advocacy groups like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Missouri State Medical Association, which represent the interests of doctors. Not pregnant women and their families.

For more on related issues, see Sarah Blustain's review of Pushed and Born in the USA for the Women's Review of Books.

Womens eNews has the rundown on where the presidential hopefuls stand on the issue of sex education.

All of the Democratic candidates say they support comprehensive sex ed, but I'm pretty certain all have voted to fund abstinence-only -- understandably so, because the funding is always bundled with other programs that Democrats support. (Hell, even Kucinich recently voted to extend abstinence-only funding through the end of the fiscal year.) Still, I'd like to see some pledges that, as president, they would do everything in their power to ensure federal funds only go to comprehensive, medically accurate sex education.

Things aren't quite as clear-cut on the Republican side. Giuliani was OK with making condoms available to public school students in New York, and hasn't explicitly come out in favor of abstinence-only. McCain and Romney have mixed records, but both say they would back abstinence-only. And Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, and Duncan Hunter are all unequivocally for teaching misinformation and gender stereotypes about sex to our nation's youth.

In conjunction with the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, today Take Back the Tech is collecting virtual postcards that portray women's take on the impact of gender violence. Below is one postcard I really liked, submitted by Jenny in South Africa:

Check out the other postcards here, and submit your own!

It's no big surprise that David Horowitz of the Weekly Standard doesn't know a thing about Women's Studies and still feels free to pontificate about why it is akin to indoctrination, but I do find it peculiar that he is such a simple thinker as to totally neglect that every academic discipline is shaped by subjective and, very often, political forces. Does he think that economics, taught from a perspective that usually privileges capitalism and free market ideology, isn't a touch political? Has he ever been in a psychology class to witness how certain behaviors are deemed pathological and others are categorized as sane? A totally political process, I would argue.

I do have to say that dumbos like him reinforce my desire to have "Women's Studies" departments adopt "Gender Studies" as a moniker instead. (I know there is much debate about this.) I don't want to bow to dudes like David, but I do think it would give him less ignorance to work with if we sent a clear message to the public--as an academic community--that we are interested in looking at gender issues, not just feminism as a political movement (which is what he tries to claim when he sees that some departments adopt the title "Feminist Studies").

For another awesome angle on this whole thing, check out Elizabeth Curtis' blog. Thanks for the heads up.

Oh, and for my take on what feminism, not Women's Studies, is, check out today's New Statesman column: Is Feminism Dead?

Every time I read about feminist activism in India I can't help but start to get really excited and want to jump up and down and point and say, loooook, look what they are doing! But you can't really help it when a group of women get together in pink saris, call themselves a gang and fight against injustices done to their communities.

Meet the Gulabi gang, via BBC.

The pink women of Banda shun political parties and NGOs because, in the words of their feisty leader, Sampat Pal Devi, "they are always looking for kickbacks when they offer to fund us".

Two years after they gave themselves a name and an attire, the pink women have thrashed men who have abandoned or beaten their wives and unearthed corruption in the distribution of food grains for the poor.

They have also stormed a police station and thrashed a policeman after they took in an untouchable man and refused to register a case.

Now I will say the story itself is alright, but it is always a little annoying when reporters put in their sexist, infantilizing two cents. I mean I was willing to look over the fact that they called the leader "feisty." When are aggressive men ever called feisty? But then to further qualify this tone, he goes on.

The pink sorority is not exactly a group of male-bashing feminists - they claim they have returned 11 girls who were thrown out of their homes to their spouses because "women need men to live with".

That is also why men like Jai Prakash Shivhari join the "gulabi" gang and talk with remarkable alacrity about child marriages, dowry deaths, depleting water resources, farm subsidies, and how funds are being stolen in government works.

Why are women that work for the rights of other women labeled as potentially male bashing? I am going to assume as this is written in the Indian and British media that this description is greatly influenced by Western feminisms bad PR that made it overseas. Either way, amazing story.

Thanks to Katherine for the link.

OK back to my male bashing. . .

You know, despite chastity whore Dawn Eden's anti-choice (and other) craziness I held a very teeny tiny soft spot in my heart for her because she once stood up for me during the boobie fiasco. Very stupid idea on my part--because this is beyond vile.

Jessica Valenti of Feministing asks: "How is one supposed to feel about the state of the education system when a college gives medical benefits to employee's pets but not to same sex partners?"

Not being an animal lover, I'd have to guess the answer is about the same as I feel about the state of the legal system when the law gives the right not to have their brains sucked out to pets, but not to human babies in the womb.

On that point, Valenti, blogmistress for NARAL Pro-Choice America (left), who clearly adores her dog, disagrees.

There's an interesting logic there. A pet is worth less than a same-sex couple — but more than a 36-week fetus in the womb.

Hey, Jessica, I'll make you a deal. The next time you're pregnant, instead of taking that EC and relying upon the prospect of an abortion as backup, just have the baby. (Emphasis mine)

For reals, bitch? The next time I'm pregnant? Do you have some sort of insider knowledge of my uterus' history that I'm unaware of? No? Then shut the fuck up. I know it's inconceivable to some anti-choicers that a woman would want to protect reproductive rights and health for all women no matter what her own reproductive history, and that it's easier to paint pro-choicers as harlots who get an abortion a week than be honest, but seriously? For shame.

(And by the way, pregnant women don't take EC--read a book, dumb dumb.)

UPDATE: Also funny--and telling--is that Dawn took down this picture of me from her post after a commenter complained that I was "immodestly dressed." Shoulders, apparently, are the new cooter.

UPDATE (AGAIN): It seems Dawn has taken the post down and apologized. I'm still irritated that she would write it at all, but the retraction is appreciated.

How is one supposed to feel about the state of the education system society when a college gives medical benefits to employee's pets but not to same sex partners?

Thomas B. Edsall at The Huffington Post has a feature up asking political movers and shakers about John Edwards' populism. It's a good thing that of the 14 people Edsall interviewed, zero are women--because as we all know, women have historically not given a shit about issues of inequality, economic security and good jobs. Nah, that's for boys.

(Oh, and I'm almost certain that all those deemed shmancy enough to interview are white as well. Shocking.)

Monty is all tired out from a long weekend in Woodstock, NY, as evidenced by his peculiar sleeping style. Unfortunately, because Monty was super excited all weekend, he managed to hurt himself--and me. He's all limpy from what I can only imagine was all the sprinting around in the woods (the vet will tell me more, hopefully), and I have just been informed that I'll be wearing a patch for the next week because of a dog claw to the eye I got during a little roughhousing. (Pirate feminism...could work, I suppose.)

And a little something extra: my father complained to me this weekend that not once in my Monday Monty Blogging have I mentioned Monty's brother Banjo. I got Banjo for my parents at the same time Monty came into my family. They are obsessed with each other and whenever they're together they're either wrestling, sleeping (on top of each other) or eating (out of the same bowl). Check the boys after the jump... (And Dad, no more bitching!)

The New Statesman, a great current affairs magazine and online presence out of the UK, asked feministing to post a series on, well, feminism and gender theory. Their Faith Column features a new person each week elucidating why they care deeply about a particular spiritual or intellectual philosophy. So this week, it's me, and I'm schooling peeps on what feminism ain't, what it is, and what it could be (to me at least). Check it out and feel free to put your two cents in the comments section.

Women in the UK took to the streets this Saturday the annual Reclaim the Night March, organized by the London Feminist Network. Hotness.

Jess McCabe at the f-word reports that 1500 women gathered in London's Trafalgar Square to protest violence against women and sexual assault:

We were protesting against the epidemic levels of violence against women - against rape, domestic violence, and against the mentality that in order to protect ourselves from these threats, we should half live our lives, afraid to walk the streets, or wear what we want, or do what we want.

But, despite how serious these issues are, despite the impact they have had on us, our friends and our families (almost inevitably, if you consider that one in four UK women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime), the atmosphere in our bit of the crowd was joyful.

Awesome. I always have felt that the marches/protests I've been to for women's rights--whether the protest was about violence against women, racism, or reproductive rights--they really do always seem to be joyful. (Feminists know how to party protest, I guess!)

Julie Bindel at The Guardian, who was a speaker at the event, has a call for action for "armchair feminists":

...I do still believe that direct action can have an effect. It is 37 years now since feminists threw flour bombs during the Miss World final at London's Albert Hall, an action that ended that competition's unquestioned popularity. Then there were the successes of the group Justice for Women, founded in 1990: we would gather outside the Home Office or the Old Bailey in our lunch hours carrying fold-up placards and banners. Whenever a man got away with murdering his partner on the grounds of her "nagging", or a rapist was given a non-custodial sentence, there we would be, rain or shine. And guess what? Editors took note, articles were written and our issues were discussed.

Bindel seems concerned that the advent of online organizing takes away from the warm bodies at in person protests, but it seems to me that the two support each other. Just look at how many people were mobilized online to show up to the March for Women's Lives in 2004.

But in all, it seems like the event was a super success and checking out some pictures certainly made me wish I was there!

Question for discussion: The march is a "woman-only" event; the London Feminist Network has their reasoning here. Is this a way to provide a safe space or is it just exclusionary? And who defines who "women" are? Is this like the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival where trans women are shamefully excluded? (I have no idea what the LFN's position is, I'm wondering aloud--if anyone knows, please educate my ass in comments.)

Yesterday marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, kicking off a fantastic campaign: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

Founded at Rutgers' (represent!) Center for Women's Global Leadership, the campaign begins on the International Day Against Violence Against Women and ends on December 10, International Human Rights Day, "in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights."

Since its inception in 1991, over 2,000 organizations in 154 countries have participated in the campaign.

At Feministing, we're going to make an extra effort to cover issues concerning violence against women until December 10 and point you to resources (in the U.S. and abroad) to help you get involved.

For now, take a look at the campaign's action kit and if you have a blog, get involved in the Carnival Against Violence Against Women, which Black Looks is hosting.

And please, if you know of any events that you want to share--announce them in comments!

Than a stark reminder of how the world sees women? (It seems the perfect woman is almost always dismembered and frequently being penetrated.) Just fucking kill me now.

Thanks to Journey for the link.

THIS is your "ew" for the day.

Women activists in Saudi Arabia are protesting the recent ruling that sentenced a gang-rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in jail for being in a car with a man who wasn't her relative.

Activist Wajiha al-Hweider said "[T]here is injustice against women in courts. It is a bitter situation that Saudi women have to endure...The kingdom is in an embarrassing position. King (Abdullah) should step in and stop this farce."

Hatoon al-Fassi, another women's rights activist, said, "It is good that the case has taken an international dimension. It is shameful that such a case could have stayed unspoken of...This is a ruling that has treated the victim as a culprit." She added, "Such logic is so distant from Islam. It is the result of a male-chauvinist reasoning."

And to add insult to injury:

Hweider highlighted the humiliation faced by women inside the courtroom, saying that a judge, who is always a clergyman, addresses only her male guardian.

"The woman does not have the right to represent herself in a court. She enters the court covered entirely in black. Some judges do not even allow her to speak," she said. (Emphasis added)

Sigh. In speaking out against the ruling, Senator Hillary Clinton brought up the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women: "In 1995, I went to Beijing and said, 'It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and for the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights.' We have made some progress since then. But we have not made enough." Indeed.

The Perfect Girlfriend - Watch more free videos

Thanks to Joe for the link!

As Feministing gets over our food hangovers and prepares to start post regularly again, consider this a open thread--tell us about your holiday, shamelessly self promote your blog or website, or just say hi...

So, obviously when I posted last week saying I would review Robert Jensen's book on porn this week, I wasn't exactly thinking about turkey and family togetherness. Tune in next week for my take on Jensen's really powerful book.

Today, I'm just feeling thankful so here are 25 books I am deeply grateful for:
1. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
2. Pearl by Mary Gordon
3. Appetites by Caroline Knapp
4. Beauty by Zadie Smith
5. Night by Elie Wiesel
6. The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B. DuBois
7. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
8. One City by Ethan Nichtern
9. Manifesta by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards
10. My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan
11. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
12. Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson
13. War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges
14. A Problem from Hell by Samantha Powers
15. On Violence by Hannah Arendt
16. The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
17. Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach
18. The Ethics of Authenticity by Charles Taylor
19. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti
20. Okay, I have to admit it, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney E. Martin
21. the complete stories of Flannery O' Conner
22. Rousseau's Basic Political Writings
23. Beginning to the See the Light by Ellen Willis
24. Native Son by Richard Wright
25. American Music by Chris Martin (that my brother and he's a genius)

Feel free to make your own lists.

Feministing is taking today off to be with our crazy families and friends. Have a great holiday and we'll be back tomorrow with limited posting.

On a more serious note, check out this great Alternet piece I came across via Feministe (in which I ditto Jill's sentiments on the subject) that suggests sacrificing Thanksgiving for a National Day of Atonement in recognition of our crimes against native people.

A reader alerts us to this appalling billboard by a concrete company in Lockport, New York.

The humorous inference to “cement shoes� or “concrete shoes� as a method of doing away with one’s wife is at the heart of the controversy.

What company owner Kevin McCabe sees as risqué spoof, YWCA Executive Director Kathleen Granchelli condemned as ignorant.

“I’m sure it was considered to be a joke, or something cute, but with the number of fatalities we see in the domestic violence field, it’s not a joke,� Granchelli said Thursday. “It’s in very poor taste.�

No, it’s not, countered McCabe.

“I think the mainstream understands it,� he said. “It’s unfortunate that some people are reading much more into it than they should.�

McCabe goes on to give the classic excuse that women love this ad -- so how could it be offensive?! His wife isn't upset by it, he says, nor are her coworkers or a handful of women he informally polled at a restaurant. Shockingly, he did not solicit the opinions of the women at the local domestic violence shelter, but I'm sure they would have found it hilarious.

“The mainstream have seen it as a light-hearted joke; that’s all it is,� he said. “I’ve had women call (American Concrete) and say it’s one of the funniest things they’ve seen.�

Nothing like a little eggnog, a roaring fire, and some wife-killing jokes to make the season bright.

Carol Platt Liebau, author of yet another book--Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls (and America, Too!)--about how sex is ruining young women, takes issue with my analysis of Kathleen Parker's theory that women boning is a sign of a "mental health crisis."

In Prude, I talk about the existence of "do-me feminists" -- women who think it's a sign of "liberation" and "empowerment" for young girls to have sex consistent with the worst stereotypes of the way men do it, i.e. without affection, emotion or commitment.

For anyone who thinks such women don't exist, check this out. From their perspective, it isn't that young girls can suffer physical, emotional, psychological and (for people of faith) spiritual damage from giving too much, too soon to the wrong person (or people). Apparently, the problem is that someone, somewhere might be encouraging young girls to behave modestly. Heaven forbid!

Yes, heaven forbid we continue to shame girls and women about their bodies and sexuality. Heaven forbid we keep telling women that their moral compass lays somewhere in between their legs. Heaven forbid we teach abstinence-only education that not only is creating a generation of sexually misinformed and lied-to youth, but that is also responsible for unplanned pregnancies and STDs in that same generation. Heaven forbid.

You know, I am just so sick of these liars--and that's what they are, liars--pretending to have young women's best interest at heart while creating policy and social norms that destroy our sense of self and put our health at risk. I'm sick of these same liars spouting ridiculous myths about feminists wanting children to have sex because it's "empowering." I challenge Liebau, or any of her cohorts, to come up with just one example of a feminist (on this site or others) saying that teens having sex is "liberating." It's a sham, a distraction to take attention away from the fact that they are destroying young women.

What feminists really believe (and what Liebau and friends refuse to address): That young women should be informed and not lied to. That young women's moral character shouldn't be based on whether or not she has a hymen. That young women deserve access to health care that will enable them to live the lives they want--and that will potentially save their lives. That young women are smart. That young women are to be trusted. That young women can make decisions for themselves without moral panic assholes telling them they're whores.

(Not-as-angry-aside: I laughed when I found out about Liebau's Prude, because it's basically the anti-book to what will be my third venture with Seal Press--a book about how the myth of sexual purity is fucking up young women.)

This is one of those crappy web-only gender/"lifestyle" features (with equally idiotic art) that are insulting to both men and women:

Guys: Give thanks for women!

...but not real women, of course. So tomorrow, remember to give thanks for this caricature of femininity! (And masculinity, for that matter.) And then dig into that sexy turkey.

Matt links to some National Election Survey data about what voters say women's role in society should be. (They were asked, on a seven-point scale, whether women should have an equal role in business (1) or whether women should stay in the home (7).) Check out the results. Below, Matt graphs the percentage of respondents with the most extreme views (the 1s and 7s):

The trend lines are encouraging -- especially when you look at the percentage of voters who responded in the 1-3 range. But not exactly at feminist-utopia levels. I mean, in 2004 only 57% said unequivocally that "women should have an equal role with men in running business, industry and government." Yikes.

One of Matt's commenters, Paul, says,

Nearly every human being knows the expected correct answer to this question, so they're going to supply it, despite the fact that they might think that women PROBABLY should be in the kitchen.

So if we could devise a way to accurately survey people's deepest and truest feelings, then we'd realize that we haven't even come as far as those numbers make it seem. Probably true. (That's certainly borne out by a lot of the sexist stuff we blog about here every day.) But it's also worth noting: Saying that women should have an equal role in public life was not always the answer that most voters felt they should give. It took a very long time to get there -- to get to a point where a simple majority voters understand that, even though they might totally resent their female boss or want their wife to stay home and have babies, there is, in fact, a right and wrong answer to this question. That's progress.

That I don't cook all that much. Ugh. Apparently this is an actual turkey that people actually make. And eat.

Shakes has the recipe if you're looking for a way to guarantee a misogynist Thanksgiving. (What says giving thanks like the image of a cut up woman!)

I'm late to link to this one (sorry Hugo!), but is it wrong that this post totally made me so happy I cried? (Yes, I'm feeling self-indulgent today. Sue me.)

It's like the Real Doll booze fantasy from hell.

Via Copyranter.

Contributed by The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF)

Flushed pill packets. Holes poked in a condom. A boyfriend's sneer that "Depo-Provera is for sluts." Widespread but often unspoken, women's experiences of birth control sabotage offer a prime example of how violence and abuse in intimate relationships are often linked with reproductive health and rights.

This September, a groundbreaking study by Dr. Elizabeth Miller of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities revealed just how common the problem really is. Miller found that a quarter of teenage girls with histories of abusive relationships living in poor neighborhoods in Boston reported that their abusive partners actively tried to get them pregnant by manipulating condom use, sabotaging birth control, and making explicit statements about wanting them to become pregnant.

Troubling stuff. And something that needs to be more openly discussed—both in the feminist community and in the wider national arena.

That's where Feministing readers like you enter the picture. The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) is searching for women who are willing to share their personal experiences of birth control sabotage and other negative attempts--no matter how seemingly "minor"--to control their reproductive rights.

Have you ever had to hide your pill from your boyfriend or husband? Has your intimate partner been verbally or emotionally manipulative about your birth control choices? Have you ever been pressured into an abortion or an unwanted pregnancy? Sharing these and other stories with the FVPF will help us to launch an important new campaign to increase support for women's reproductive health.

Your stories can be emailed to safewomenstories@gmail.com. If you'd like to share anonymously, let us know; if you'd prefer to take a more active role as a spokeswoman against birth control sabotage, tell us that, too. We're eager to hear your thoughts, experiences, and ideas, and we think they'll be a crucial part of this new initiative to put a widespread and serious problem on the public's radar screen.

We're also seeking women's stories in a wide variety of communities and venues--everywhere from low-income health clinics to college sororities to domestic violence support groups. This project is a chance for you to speak out--recognizing that your voice is not alone and demanding that it be heard.

Editor's Note: Please also feel free to share your stories in comments.

Wow, I got two hygiene product related links today and I figured why not clump them together in one post. The first is "make your own pad."

Yep, take it from a former disposable-pad user – just like throwing those gory end products in the trash, periods were something to “get over� – the cramps, the fatigue, the plastic-bleached-pad rash. Oh, bloody tribulations. Not to mention that despite the health-risks and environmental impacts associated with disposable menstrual products, many of us still find psychologically difficult (“is it clean?�) or have an impression that it will be inconvenient to switch to reusable alternatives.

I think I would rather try the diva cup, but seriously anything to reduce the amount of money that women have to spend on hygiene, along with the insurmountable risk for the environment, and I am all for it.

And the second link? After the jump, but seriously you are going to laugh your ass off!

Why in a teaser for my local news (ABC) about the harassment of women at Giants Stadium, the voice over said "hear about women fans behaving badly?" What the fuck?!

Today marks the 9th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. Quench Zine (which is a fantastic blog, btw) has a great post up about the day, anti-trans violence and prejudice, as well as a call for more discourse. Check it out.

It is not exactly shocking that sporting events tend to be laced with sexist actions, specifically, the mob mentality that seems to proliferate when a group of men get together and get *really* excited about their team. Big sporting events are one of the times you get a nice vivid play by play of the ways that sexism, nationalism, homo-eroticism and woman-hate all go hand in hand together. So although this story is not exactly shocking, it is disgusting.

At halftime of the Jets’ home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, several hundred men lined one of Giants Stadium’s two pedestrian ramps at Gate D. Three deep in some areas, they whistled and jumped up and down. Then they began an obscenity-laced chant, demanding that the few women in the gathering expose their breasts.

When one woman appeared to be on the verge of obliging, the hooting and hollering intensified. But then she walked away, and plastic beer bottles and spit went flying. Boos swept through the crowd of unsatisfied men.

The mood of previous Gate D crowds — captured on video clips posted on YouTube — sometimes bordered on hostile, not unlike the spirit of infamously aggressive European soccer hooligans. One clip online shows a woman being groped by a man standing next to her.

Lovely.

via NYTimes.

Our gal Courtney went mano a mano with serious wingnut Laura Ingraham on the O'Reilly Factor. Click here to watch Courtney drop knowledge. (Isn't she brave?)

I'm especially glad she got to make this point on Fox News:

Courtney: I believe we live in a culture where the pop messages are sex, sex, sex everywhere. They tell girls, your body is your power. Then, we have the federally funded abstinence in sex education that tells girls, your bodies are dangerous. Do not ask questions. After interviewing over 100 women, I believe we are struggling to decipher those messages. In the real world, how do we create state boundaries for ourselves? How do we have good relationships with our bodies when we are caught between extreme arguments?

Laura: You said, having relationships with our bodies. You said, there are people up there who tell young girls that their bodies are dangerous. I talked a lot of families, too. I never hear a mother tell her daughter that her body is dangerous. I do hear mothers tell their daughters, you'll be better off, less likely to commit suicide, less likely to take part in drug use, if you abstain from sex during your high school years. Do you disagree that that is a good thing for girls?

Courtney: I believe our education system is sending a message that girls should cut themselves off from their authentic identities.

Laura: What does that mean? If you are 12 years old, you do not know what color of shirt to put on.

Courtney: That's not true.

Doesn't she rock? (Courtney, that is...)

Rest of the transcript (which contains some typos -- be warned) is below the fold.

Andi Zeisler of Bitch discusses the recent media frenzy surrounding the "B-word."

So here goes: Bitch is a word we use culturally to describe any woman who is strong, angry, uncompromising and, often, uninterested in pleasing men. We use the term for a woman on the street who doesn't respond to men's catcalls or smile when they say, "Cheer up, baby, it can't be that bad." We use it for the woman who has a better job than a man and doesn't apologize for it. We use it for the woman who doesn't back down from a confrontation.

So let's not be disingenuous. Is it a bad word? Of course it is. As a culture, we've done everything possible to make sure of that, starting with a constantly perpetuated mindset that deems powerful women to be scary, angry and, of course, unfeminine -- and sees uncompromising speech by women as anathema to a tidy, well-run world.

via Wapo.

Both to see the movie, and to have a killer vagina.

By the way, I still want to make a Vagina Dentata shirt with the tagline: "Feminists have teeth," but have nary an idea on the design. Any ideas?

You have to really laugh when big, corporate, mainstream media shows its true colors through word choice. Reporting on the violent death of four sex workers last year, CNN calls them, "hookers."

That is so retro, clearly they didn't get the memo that it is not appropriate to call sex workers, "hookers," "whores," and other derogatory terms you can think of, especially when reporting on their violent death. It is not the words, as much as the thoughts they provoke that I take issue with. It is a rhetorical issue, if you are trying to show the serious nature of the crimes against these women, calling them a term that has been discussed as demeaning by activists, organizers and sex workers, takes away from being able to recognize that these are women that were violently murdered in an act of woman hate.

via CNN.

Thanks to Matt and Paige for the link.

You have to love anti-choicers who make no qualms about admitting that they don't think women are actual people. This video, for example, manages not to mention women once, but instead equates our bodies with cardboard boxes on an assembly line. (Wishful thinking on their part, I think.) A word to the wise: not only is my uterus not cardboard or boxy, it also doesn't start off as a fucking cross.

Via Trailer Park Feminist.

Deep thoughts...by Monty.

Alternet has an excerpt from Robert Jensen's excellent Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity. Check it.

Contributed by Julia Serano

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 20th will be the 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes those who are killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Trans people are often targeted for violence because their gender presentation, appearance and/or anatomy falls outside the norms of what is considered acceptable for a woman or man. A large percentage of trans people who are killed are prostitutes, and their murders often go unreported or underreported due to the public presumption that those engaged in sex work are not deserving of attention or somehow had it coming to them.

Some trans people are killed as the result of being denied medical services specifically because of their trans status, for example, Tyra Hunter, a transsexual woman who died in 1995 after being in a car accident. EMTs who arrived on the scene stopped providing her with medical care—and instead laughed and made slurs at her—upon discovering that she had male genitals.

Much of the violence that is directed at trans people is predicated on the myth of deception. For example, straight men who become attracted to trans women sometimes erupt into homophobic/transphobic rage and violence upon discovering that the woman in question was born male. Perhaps the most well known of such cases is that of Gwen Araujo, who was bludgeoned to death by a four men, two of whom she had been sexually intimate with. Despite the fact that the men plotted her murder a week in advance, defense lawyers insisted that the murder was merely manslaughter because the defendants were victims of Gwen’s “sexual deceit.�

In the spirit of “deception,� Fox as been airing the British reality series "There's Something About Miriam" all this past weekend (and one of these airings actually falls on Transgender Day of Remembrance). For those who unfamiliar with the show, it follows a group of bachelors who try to court a young attractive woman. The catch is that in the very last episode, she comes out to them as transsexual. The original 2004 UK broadcast of the show was delayed for several months because the bachelors threatened to sue the show’s producers, alleging that they had been victims of defamation, personal injury, and conspiracy to commit “sexual assault�—this last charge apparently stems from the fact that several of them had kissed and hugged Miriam. The affair was eventually settled out of court, with each man coming away with a reported $100,000.

Few attempts to blame the victim are more blatant than when trans people are accused of “sexual deceit� or “sexual assault� simply because other people have chosen to express their attraction toward us. In reality, it is they who are guilty of cissexual/cisgender assumption (when one presumes that every person they meet is nontrans by default). Trans people simply exist, we are everywhere, and the rest of the world has to start recognizing and accepting that. Programs like "There's Something About Miriam" not only reinforce the stereotype that trans people’s birth sex is “real� and our identified/lived sex is “fake,� but they perpetuate the myth of deception and thus enable violence against us.

Julia Serano is an Oakland, California-based writer, spoken word performer, trans activist, biologist, and author of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity.

UN Dispatch reports on how rape is being used as a weapon of war in the Congo:

The conflict raging in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most brutal wars in the world today. Four million people are thought to have perished in a civil war that raged throughout Congo from 1998 to 2002. And while peace has been restored to most of the country -- which is the size of western Europe -- the conflict lingers on in the east. Rape, as this report from The Guardian explains, is a preferred instrument of war and terror used by all sides to the conflict. How bad is it?

Read the full (upsetting) post here.

Excuse the weird celeb-TV vibe, but I thought this was too funny...Katie Couric swings back at Rather's comment about CBS "dumbing it down" and "tarting it up" by hiring Couric.

How Bee Movie and other children's cartoons starring animals get the gender breakdown all wrong.

International human rights groups are rallying behind 24-year-old Iranian women's rights activist Delaram Ali

A remarkable essay on feminism, philosophy, and academia. (Via.)

An accused rapist's lawyer says "the encounter could have been consensual because the woman has a history of sleepwalking." WTF?

U.S. immigration services recently announced it will temporarily institute U-visas (PDF) -- which are incredibly important for immigrant victims of violence to be able to report the crimes against them without being deported.

A brief article about women buying Taser guns at home parties has me a little freaked out. Aren't these types of self-defense weapons more likely to be used on women? Anyone know whether these parties are actually widespread, or is this just an alarmist Fox News blurb?

Judi Giuliani attempts to get out the ladyvote for her husband.

Virginia rejects federal abstinence-only money. It's the 14th state to do so. They (and educators in other states) better start teaching kids about safe sex pretty quickly -- STD rates are on the rise, including "superbug Gonorrhea," which just sounds frightening.

Digby on freedom and consent.

The NIH started a campaign to raise awareness of vulvodynia.

Bush vetoes an increase in Title X family planning funds. Way to do your part to increase the abortion rate, buddy!

A woman quit her job as an investment banker to a high-school football coach. (As my friend Darin, who sent me this link, noted, "probably a good vehicle for a very very cheesy and painful Jodi Foster or Sandra Bullock comeback movie in about 2011." Indeed.)

Some Canadian dude laments the loss of men-only clubs. Oddly, I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for him.

Women on the Pill are at higher risk for cervical cancer.

The woman who was chastised by a Southwest flight attendant for wearing a short skirt and tank top has decided to pose for Playboy. But that doesn't change the fact that Southwest shouldn't be in the business of reprimanding its passengers for the length of their skirts.

And speaking of Playboy, ABC Sports reporter Suzy Shuster takes on their "Sexiest Sportscasters" list.

Employees of DynCorp, a major U.S. contractor, are accused of "buying" women and girls in Bosnia.

There's a new documentary about sex ed in Minnesota.

What have you been reading this week? Leave your links in comments!

From left to right: Megan Kocher and Heather Ites

Circa 1970-something, "two women decided to gather some books on women's topics and offer them for sale on the front porch of their living collective," and according to its website, Amazon Bookstore has been around ever since. It remains the oldest independent feminist bookstore in North America.

Megan Kocher and Heather Ites help run and own Amazon Bookstore Cooperative. Here's Megan and Heather...

Our very own Ann Friedman has just been named the Deputy Editor of The American Prospect. Well always knew Ann was very schmancy, now she has the job title to prove it. Congrats, Ann--we love you!

So long as there are people who want to think about what dirty, dirty whores today's girls are, we're going to continue to see misleading, stupid articles like this one, penned by Townhall columnist Kathleen Parker. The headline is about as predictable as a Lifetime movie title: Dying to date.

If you're younger than 30 or maybe even 35, you may not recognize the word "date" as a verb. But once upon a time, dating was something men and women did as a prelude to marriage, which - hold on to your britches - was a prelude to sex.

By now everyone's heard of the hook-up culture prevalent on college campuses and, increasingly, in high schools and even middle schools. Kids don't date; they just do it (or something close to "it," an activity that a recent president asserted was not actual sex), and then figure out what comes next. If anything.

Kids are fucking! Women are fucking! And they're not even demanding flowers for it anymore!! Here we go again.

Parker says there is a "mental health crisis on American campuses." Disease, thy name is fucking. To prove that young women are all going crazy with the cock, Parker quotes Miriam Grossman, yet another hack, I mean "expert," on the supposed hook-up culture on campuses.

Sued for sexual harassment?!

Here's a weird ass story.

Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

I'm all against sexist speech...but ho ho ho? Crazy ass people.

The World Economic Forum has just released its 2007 report on The Global Gender Gap.

The report examines four areas of inequality between men and women: economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; political empowerment; health and survival. The site also has video interviews with the researchers...check it out.

NOT a person.

Via Echidne, we find out that anti-choicers in Colorado are collecting signatures for a ballot measure that would define a fertilized egg as a person.

The court approved the language of the proposal, rejecting a challenge from abortion-rights supporters who argued it was misleading and dealt with more than one subject in violation of the state constitution.

If approved by voters, the measure would give fertilized eggs the state constitutional protections of inalienable rights, justice and due process.

To an egg. Due process. Huh.

Kathryn Wittneben of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado said in a statement, "Proponents of this initiative have publicly stated that the goal is to make all abortion illegal — but nothing in the language of the initiative or its title even mentions abortion...If that's not misleading, I don't know what is."

She also puts forward some interesting hypotheticals: “Does this mean fertilized eggs can petition the courts to make it illegal to use the most effective forms of birth control if those contraceptive methods create an inhospitable uterine environment for fertilized eggs? Does this mean that a fertilized egg can sue a pregnant woman if she miscarries?" Litigious eggs!

Sounds funny, but anti-choicers are leading similar initiatives in five other states. Not funny.

You know, you have to be some kind of real asshole to go out of your way to make a spoof commercial about how hilarious rape is.

Thanks to Patrick for the link.

The Boston Globe has a piece on bloggers of color, including quotes from Carmen Van Kerckhove of one of my fave blogs, Racialicious.

In tonight's debate, she was actually asked, "Diamonds or pearls?" What a stupid, gendered question. She said she likes diamonds and pearls. (My first thought: Hillary's into Prince?")

Addie notes that, no, the dudes were not asked, "Boxers or briefs?" Robbed of their ability to play their gender cards! How unfair.

As a fifth anniversary gift to her husband, Freddie Prince, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar has changed her name to Sarah Michelle Prinze.

"On their anniversary, she showed [Freddie] her new driver's license," the source tells Us. "It was so sweet."

Despite the fact that Gellar Prinze has said she isn't a feminist, I was still pretty surprised by this. Does the concept of giving away your own name as a birthday gift seem a little fucked up to anyone else? It doesn't strike me as weird to change your name of your own accord, even several years into the marriage. But framing it as a "gift" makes it seem like a sacrifice rather than something she wanted to do for herself. Kind of like the difference between "I got a boob job because I wanted one" and "I got a boob job for my husband's birthday." Like taking your husband's name, I'm not into the idea of boob jobs generally, but I suppose it seems better to do it to please yourself rather than to please your partner.

Also, I'm always shocked when a famous woman changes her name to that of her less-famous husband. I mean, isn't name recognition incredibly important? If I saw "Sarah Michelle Prinze" on a movie poster, I would just assume it was a newbie actress I'd never heard of.

Or, as my friend Phoebe exclaimed, "Did she learn nothing from Rebecca Romijn-Stamos?!"

This was fond at the entrance to a school: Open your eyes! No aggression without response. Let's fight against sexism!

Hotness.

Pic from airefresco.

Let's file this under the what-the-fuckety-fuck-I'm-going-to-cry files:

A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The 19-year-old woman -- whose six armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms -- was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," the Arab News reported. (Emphasis mine)

I'm just...sigh.

Congratulations to California NOW for launching their new (and very impressive) blog. I've had the pleasure of meeting several of the women at CA NOW, including President Mandy Benson--who I believe is the youngest NOW president in the country--and Zoe Nicholson. Both are awesome women doing incredible work. So add it to your blog readers, ladies! (Coincidently, I'm wearing my very cool CA NOW shirt this very moment.)

Nice of these gals to reach out to me and offer a complimentary review copy, especially given that I’ve called them out before on not being terribly intergenerational in their coverage and bylines. Congrats to them on a historically rich, ethnically diverse 35th anniversary issue, and even more, on keeping such a landmark publication going all of these years.

The most thrilling thing about the issue is that a reader can’t help but get a sense of how damn much has changed. The statistics in the Then and Now section alone are enough to eradicate any doubts of the feminist movement’s effectiveness.

1972: women own 4.6% of US businesses
2006: women own 40%, and of those 1 in 5 are owned by women of color

1972: Women in US prisons and jails: 14,008
2007: 209,980
Women’s solo art exhibitions at U.S. museums:
1970s: 14%
2000s: 27%

The New York Times covers a new design for the female condom that could potentially serve as a better form of contraception than the original, despite a crapload of challenges.

To help you get through the rest of the day. I totally forgot this existed until my boss sent it to me yesterday - Da Ali G takes on the anti-choicers at the March for Women's Lives. Whatever you may think of Sacha Baron Cohen, this shit is hilarious.

Feministing has won the Blogger's Choice Award for Best Political Blog! Yay! A huge, heartfelt thanks to all who voted.

(Oh and to our darling "men's rights activists" - nanananabooboo!)

Prepare to seethe.

Amidst the sexual harassment, the rape, the murder, and the the homelessness, feminism, out of all things, has resulted in the demoralization of the military.

According to this gem, sexual harassment charges are used as a "tool of some women to promote their own agendas," women are also apparently getting pregnant left and right (if that were true, that'd change if they had access to EC) so they can become reckless single mothers, or because their primary purpose of joining the military and potentially risking their lives in Iraq is to find a hubby. That one is my favorite.

So does anyone want to enlist with me after work today? My "visceral drive to capture a lifemate" is kicking in.

I'm putting the finishing touches on my new book (note the new and improved title), which is due this week. So you won't be seeing that much of me till I'm all done--at which point I'll be very cranky so expect some super-snark. In the meantime, I hope you'll settle for shameless self-promotion: you can pre-order the book here. Feel free to do you own self-promoting in comments.

Forget immigration, reproductive rights, health care or any other issue we feminists are reading up on for the upcoming election. It is all about getting a hot chick in the white house as first lady. Does that not count potential first dude, Bill? Forget you men.style.com, you are totally lame.

No, I don't have a sense of humor.

Slate asks, Do coffee shops discriminate against women?

Guttmacher has just released a report revealing how the basic tenets of "informed consent" is violated by states that have strict pre-abortion counseling requirements:

The counseling required by these 23 states in many cases appears to be designed more to influence rather than inform a woman’s decision whether to have an abortion, for instance by exaggerating the physical or mental health risks of abortion, or by including information on certain abortion procedures that is irrelevant to most women, according to the report published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Guttmacher Policy Review.

While the existence of "informed consent" within the spectrum of abortion law has always sounded pretty paternal to me, just as Guttmacher mentions Justice Kennedy's majority opinion in the Federal Abortion Ban ruling and his "concern" that women aren't necessarily capable to make decisions for themselves, they state that Kennedy's opinion "moved the Court—and likely the future of the abortion debate in the states—to the very heart of the issue of informed consent," in which they then seem to reclaim the term for its bare principles. These principles come together to the ultimate goal of what "informed consent" seeks to achieve for a patient, which is "protection of personal well-being and individual autonomy." Which is the very opposite of what is really going on.

In short, the ethical base of informed consent has been stripped by misinformation and methods of coercion that exists within current state abortion laws. It's interesting stuff; read the full report here.

I find most conversations with people about the fetishization of Asian women mind numbing. Even when people have the best of intentions with comments like, "you can't help who you are attracted to," or "Asian women are hot," you begin to realize that often people are just trying to explain away their own or someone else's racism. Myths such as Asian women are hotter, or they are more docile and therefore better wives, are not only mythical and generalizing, but they hinge on essentialist stereotypes that silence the voices of Asian women and Asian feminists that have been shouting for years about how they are not your fantasy.

Carmen at Racialicious emailed me about this piece on Jezebel, that seems to be calling out the problematic reality that a lot of men have hard core Asian fetishes, but unfortunately ends up reinforcing the very stereotypes that reinforce this complex situation.

A bunch of economists are once again putting their decades of rigorous study to a societally optimal end and dispelling the "myth" of the Asian fetish. In studies of speed dating communities, it turned out, Caucasian men showed no racial preference at all for Asian women; in fact, male speed daters showed no racial preferences at whatsoever! To which I call, "bullshit." (Remind me to tell you about my "Asian" phone sex persona one time!) And I know because I practically am Asian that when talking about the AZNs we are allowed to talk about stereotypes without regard for the numerous and glaring exceptions out there, so here goes: there are a few reasons some dudes prefer Asian women, and it starts with the fact that they are very rarely unattractive, and they are even more rarely stupid, and they are even more rarely than that fat. They have really nice skin and they're not afraid to tell you yours looks bad.

Um, no. It is very difficult to talk about Asians as one whole group of people. There are a lot of different kinds of Asian people and sometimes, Asian also includes South Asian. And while Moe concedes that it is difficult to homogenize when there are so many exceptions, the reliance on still perpetuating the same myths that fetishizers use to justify their fetish, well that is not cool. I mean I am South Asian and you will not hear me say, "oh we are nerdy, tee hee, that is a positive stereotype, so it is OK!" Because in reality, the Indian nerd stereotype is often used to justify unfair work conditions or low self esteem in South Asians that are not "nerdy."

The fetishization of Asian women by the media, by men, by women, by Westerners, it is not just coming from a few people. It is supported by not only myths and stereotypes, but the objectification of Asian women's bodies through pornography that is focused on Asian women, the global sex trade that is disparaging in Asia and South East Asia and the culture of sexual tourism. It has somehow become OK to have racist sexual preferences, even in progressive circles. The thing is, it is usually one sided and that being white men, into Asian chicks. We are not operating in a vacuum. There is a long history of white men lusting after Asian women because of certain qualities they felt were "natural" to Asian women, qualities that make them more desirable than us loud mouth American gals.

I mean Asian women that are choosing to be with white men (even when they are racist or just into them because they are Asian) is their choice as well. I mean if they feel OK with it, who am I to say anything otherwise. But for the rest of us, that are sick and tired of white men being into us because we are "exotic," well this shit is just tired. I am not your fetish, I am not your fantasy and, yeah, I might be good in bed, but my race is not why.

Here's a lovely bit of political misogyny. A supporter on the campaign trail asks McCain, "How do we beat the bitch?" to a roomful of laughter. After someone else in the audience shouts out, "I thought she was talking about my ex-wife!" (sexism never gets boring, I guess!), McCain laughs and responds: "That's an excellent question." Really? Is it? Or are just an asshole too afraid to call someone out on their completely inappropriate language?

Via TPM Election Central.

Andrew Lavallee at WSJ online takes on the snarky and funny podcast, turned online video show that is shaking up the world of abstinence-only education and has become widely popular. If you have not already seen the Midwest Teen Sex Show, please put some time aside and check it out. It is smart and FUNNY. I am still laughing at this episode on birth control.

Now, you know what we at Feministing think of most sex ed that is out there and it ain't cute. Most of it doesn't not apply, does not work or ignores the real ways that young people are living. Mainly it doesn't respect the choices they make or treat young adults as people that can think. But Midwest Teen Sex Show makes fun of all of it, while smartly including some tips on safe sex and other such things.

That sort of wry, pointed presentation has helped the show lure thousands of viewers since its debut this past summer. Some may have been attracted by the provocative title, but this isn't pornography. Instead, it aims to teach teenagers about sex using risqué sketches, explicit language and anecdotes that draw on the teenage experiences of its two 28-year-old creators -- host Nikol Hasler, the aforementioned woman, and Guy Clark, an aspiring filmmaker.

The two felt that existing sexual-education efforts were far too prim -- and boring -- to be useful to teens. Their podcast focuses less on birds-and-bees basics and more on real-life scenarios teens are likely to face.

Yeah, but interestingly, sex educators are not into it as much. The fear is that it is too satirical and humorous, while holding back hard truth. I don't think that is necessarily true though. Most of popular culture is snarky, sarcastic and full of inside jokes. Young people know how to decipher these messages and will still make their own conclusions. I think that if this has the ability to reach wide audiences it will still be more effective than, "save it for marriage." Let's be real. When I was young, I didn't always listen to the facts, especially when someone was forcing them down my throat. I listened to people I trusted and definitely paid attention when they made me laugh. But more importantly, I learned from watching other people and making some mistakes myself.

Midwest Teen Sex Show is using real world experiences with snark to get a point across and I think that is a lot more effective than many of the other types of snoring sex ed that is out there.

Thoughts?

Thanks to Shilpa for the heads up.

I was a serious bookworm as a child. I actually used my mother's library card, because my local public library would only allow you to check out 10 books at a time with a kid's library card -- the adult card netted you 20. I had a "Read to Succeed" poster in my bedroom -- stolen, I believe, from the school library. (My brother still mocks me about that. Rightfully so.) And among all the Judy Blume and Lois Lowry, I consumed a great deal of the Sweet Valley and Baby-Sitters Club series.

So imagine my joy upon finding these retro-lit sites, which re-read the ghost-written classics of my childhood and mock them when appropriate:

• The Dairi Burger, devoted to re-reading Sweet Valley High, of course.
• Claudia's Room, blogging the Baby-Sitters Club series.
• And What Claudia Wore, where blogger Kim actually critiques the outfits of "artsy" baby-sitter Claudia Kishi. Amazing.

Claudia was always my favorite member of the BSC. Case in point: I had a Baby-Sitters Club themed birthday party in the second grade (ok, shut up), at which all of my guests were assigned a character. I, of course, wanted to be Claudia. But, no. My mother made me be Logan, the boy, because "none of the guests should have to be the boy." I was pissed. Since when does the birthday girl have to be Logan?

Aaaanyway, if you were a serious bookgeek as a child, you'll love these sites.

I had such a good time on Saturday night (too good, if my hangover reminds correctly) and thank you to all the people that came out to watch me read at Writers with Drinks! My lovely friend and super star recording artist Micropixie has put together a little film of some of the footage she got at the reading, including a hilarious introduction from the fabulous Charlie Anders.

Beige Against the Machine.

According to this defense lawyer, it may not be rape, because she was SLEEPWALKING! How do these people sleep at night?

Dexter Ford, 52, is charged with raping the 23-year-old woman early Thursday morning near Interstate 71 in Cincinnati.

Ford's lawyer, Jeff Adams, said prosecutors told him the woman takes prescription medication and has a sleepwalking condition, a fact that will likely be the core part of Ford's defense.

"It goes to consent," he said. "How is he to know she is sleepwalking, if it's a dream 'yes' or a real 'yes?' "

Adams has not said if Ford spoke to the woman and whether she consented to sex. Messages seeking comment were left with Adams on Saturday.

Two passing motorists reported seeing Ford on top of a woman near a White Castle restaurant on Taft Road near I-71, and called police from their cell phones, Cincinnati police said.

When police arrived, the woman was still asleep, according to police reports. She was taken to University Hospital for treatment.

If she was still sleeping when the police got there, it was not consensual, unless by consensual you mean, she was raped.

via AP.

The Feministing logo has drummed up its share of controversy. Our mudflap gal was designed to be giving the finger, but has been misinterpreted all over the place -- by everyone from well-meaning fellow feminists to men's rights types. (We've blogged about the mudflap girl -- and mudflap boy -- in all sorts of other contexts.) So we realize that, like calling your magazine "Bitch," making your blog's logo a pissed-off sexist symbol is not going to be immediately understood by everyone. We've made our peace with that, and we still love the logo.

Reader Emily, who works as a shelver at a public library in Wyoming, sent us a link to this graphic, which is part of a marketing effort by Wyoming Public Libraries. Being a lover of libraries and subverting sexist symbols, I was initially excited. I naively thought maybe Wyoming was hoping to convey, "Reading is sexy!" or "Ladies with intellect are really hot!" Which, in my opinion, might be a defensible appropriation of the mudflap girl.

Of course, I was wrong. Here's the explanation of what they were going for:

Also in the second segment of the campaign is mudflap girl. This campaign's only purpose is to market the ChiltonLibrary auto repair database. Mudflap girl stickers meant to be put on vehicles, were sent to auto repair stores across the state advertising the Chilton database.

Did you catch that? This is about getting people (primarily dudes, of course) who are interested in car repair to come to the library to use a computer database. In other words, not a whiff of subversion or reappropriation. It's just plain ol' tired sexism. Marketing the mudflap girl, without any irony or anger, to her traditional audience: men who like cars and babes.

Writes Emily, whose library has chosen not to adopt the mudflap campaign:

It's one thing to appropriate an icon with the intention of subverting it (exempli gratia being Feministing itself), but I'm pretty sure they're doing that wrong. In the "Equality State," too (don't get me started on that one). I just...ech. Makes me feel a little squicky.

Me, too. And she's exactly right here. It's why I roll my eyes at this campaign, but sport a tote bag with the Feministing logo. It's why I rail against people who call powerful women "bitch," but subscribe to a magazine of the same name. It's why I am totally appalled to hear someone utter the word "cunt" as an epithet, but picked up Inga Muscio's book. The same image (or word) in different contexts can flip pretty quickly from subversion/reappropriation to just flat-out sexism.

WashPo reports a study that was recently conducted in response to the Ohio State University study claiming that teens who lose their virginity early on are more likely to become "delinquent." The new research not only shows that the previous study is not only not necessarily true, but that the opposite may be the actual case.

Jen and I are practically in tears over the fact that this event on Tuesday, a panel discussion called "Modest Proposals," is full up, so we can't go. Because it offers a chance to see -- live and in the modestly-clothed flesh! -- Laura Sessions Stepp, Wendy Shalit, and Dawn Eden. (Plus Dr. Miriam Grossman and the founder of Princeton's chastity group).

Wowza. It's bound to be chock full of slut-shaming, victim-blaming, and pining for the good ol' days when women went to college to earn their MRS.

I so wish I could be there to ask them about this new study debunking the abstinence-only talking-point that people who lose their virginity earlier are more likely to become juvenile delinquents. Or to ask Laura Sessions Stepp whether she finds baking cookies more fulfilling than having orgasms. Or to ask Wendy Shalit why she manufactured quotes from the Abercrombie girlcott crew. Or to ask Dawn Eden to sing.

Has anyone RSVP'd to this event? Let us know in comments. At the very least, I assume why.i.hate.dc will have a full rundown on the appalling quotes of the evening, and I'll have a follow-up post on Wednesday.

The Neidra-Monty Peace Agreement of 2007.

Who would have ever possibly thought this headline would come from our feminist-hating darlings, Men's News Daily:

"Feminist Ann Friedman Has a Point"

And that's not sarcasm talking, either. Hilarious!

I linked to video of the evil Leslee yesterday, but let's start the week off right with a new video from the undeniably awesome Leslie Hall:

Shot on location in the thrift stores and mini-marts of Ames, Iowa. This woman gives my home state a good name.

If you're not familiar with her work, check it out. She's a vision in gold lamé spandex and gem sweaters.

Some of you might've noticed that Feministing was down for an hour or two tonight, but everything should be up again-- we were in the process of upgrading some services. If you notice anything funky, though, please feel free to drop a line to sitehelp AT feministing.com.

An interview with Esther Pearl Watson, who does the hilarious "Unlovable" comics on the back page of Bust.

Leslee Unruh's greatest hits! (Save this video and watch it when you need to increase your blood pressure.)

A controversial women's ordination ceremony in St. Louis.

Dumi tells you everything you need to know about the Section 8 housing program.

Huckabee not only opposes marriage equality, he's against civil unions.

A U.S. District judge has ruled that Washington State pharmacists can refuse to dispense EC.

Revisiting sexist '60s board games.

Chatting with the author of a new book about Title IX and girls' participation in sports.

A really, really odd study about the effects of sexist humor.

Julia Roberts: "My dream is to be a highly fulfilled and productive stay-at-home mom and wife."

The Indian government is giving money to people who "marry down" the caste system.

Feminist writers remake the fairy tale.

Alaska teens can choose abortion without notifying their parents.

Romney says Adam and Eve "looked promiscuous." Ahahahaha.

The U.S. won't grant asylum to women who face female genital mutilation in their home countries. (More here.)

Classifying cars by gender? Really?

The antis are already gearing up for a fight over the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Denver.

The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act seeks to bring down the price of contraception.

On sex trafficking in Israel.

More terrible task forces! Sara reports that in her home state of Idaho, the House has convened a task force to consider "repealing no-fault divorce laws and finding ways to encourage mothers to stay home with their children." Aaaa!

A black woman's love letter to her hair.

Five strangers in Oregon intervene to stop a rape happening near a busy road.

An abortion doctor wrote a book about her work, her patients, and the obstacles to safe, accessible abortion services.

Activists in South Korea demanded that their government print some currency featuring a woman leader, and eventually their demand was met. But now there's controversy over the woman selected to appear on the W50,000 banknote. (Anyone know more about this? I could only find this one op-ed on the subject.)

Rosa Brooks says torture, not abortion is becoming the campaign litmus test.

Do we need more research on the long-term effects of the pill?

Minor League Baseball released its only female umpire this week.

On the sad state of sex ed in Florida.

One argument for why abortion isn't a religious issue.

Katha Pollitt chats with NPR about her book.

The Center for Reproductive Rights has released its 2007 "What if Roe Fell" report.

A federal judge orders a "pro-life" activist to remove death threats from his website.

An Australian man claimed he kidnapped and raped a woman because a spider bit him. Seriously.

Do we still need feminist media?

The Republican candidates' female staffers seem more concerned with one particular woman -- Hillary Clinton -- than with the American woman voter.

Live in St. Louis? If you're interested in participating in a major Washington University study of women and contraception, you can get three years of free birth control. More info here (PDF).

Sign the petition demanding an International Violence Against Women Act.

Sister Outsider is the latest project of novelists, screenwriters, and entrepreneurs Elisha Miranda and Sofia Quintero who have been collaborating since 2000. They co-founded the nonprofit Chica Luna Productions and its project, The F-Word, that is working to train the next generation of women of color filmmakers.

Julia Carias is an actor, educator, filmmaker, and Sister Outsider's Director of Operations and Productions.
Among her list of works and activism, Julia co-wrote, produced and directed her first play in 2002, "Roots," a production by La Casa Latina, an organization dedicated to promoting Latino culture throughout the college community.

Here's Julia...

Shockingly, it's Rudy Giuliani, who also has the dudeliest campaign staff". Clearly, he's on a roll.

Mercury Rising (via Alas) has a chart:

Reader Deanna sent us a copy of this letter she wrote to Safeway about her experience buying groceries there with WIC (Women, Infants and Children) checks. I'll let her speak for herself:

I am a mother of two children, a full time student and full supporter of my family and because of that I have been on WIC to help with groceries. I have been on WIC for about 5 years now and have always gone to Safeway to purchase my items. I have run into amazing checkers that have been courteous and kind every time, but I have also had my share of checkers that seem outright annoyed with me due to having WIC and because it takes a little longer process to go through with my checks.

I have dealt with these rude people and have talked to managers, but I have never felt so hurt and embarrassed to be on WIC as I had on the day I showed up to your California store Wednesday, November 7, 2007. I had picked up my items and went to check out. I first noticed the bagger that just finished the person ahead of me and as soon as he saw me pull out my WIC checks, he left. I let it go until I approached the checker let him know that I had WIC. Keep in mind that because I know it is a longer process to go through, I make sure that all my items are in order and just try to do my best to speed up the process for you guys and the people in line behind me.

Check out the latest from our fave cartoonist, Mikhaela Reid: Your Yucky Body: Why You Need a Mommy Job!

Tiara included!

We should be excited that there's a new book coming out specifically reaching out to young female gamers, but not with this cover and pitch:

Do you want to take on the boy's at their own game and beat them every single time? You want to prove that games AREN'T just for the guys anymore! Are you, your daughter, your niece or your best friend a Nintendo DS or DS Lite girl gamer? Tired of other gaming publications ignoring all your favourite games in favour of the latest big boy's toys? So you want all the latest gaming gossip and the hottest hints and tips especially written for you? So do we, and its about time. The Girl's Guide To Gaming! is the must have accessory for all Nintendo DS and DS Lite gaming girls, just like you. (Emphasis mine.)

It doesn't get much worse than this.

I was hanging out at my old stomping grounds yesterday (I went to Barnard College, the all-women's school of Columbia University) and discovered a feisty little encampment of hunger strikers on the college lawn. I thought it was especially interesting given the characterization of our generation in mainstream media as totally apolitical and self-focused. I would have to argue that starving yourself in solidarity with those in the surrounding community who are being displaced by your university is the opposite of selfish. Check out the full write up at HuffPo.

Editor's Note: When I got an email from Jaclyn yesterday with the subject line: "the antidote to the chubby-bashing asshole," I knew I was in for some good shit. So instead of me posting about her work at Big Moves, I asked Jaclyn to write about it herself...

Contributed by Jaclyn Friedman

I created the Big Moves calendar not just as a much-needed fundraiser for our tiny, broke-ass, volunteer-run organization, but also as an antidote to the narrow (pun-intended) images of beauty I'm bombarded with every day. In a world where Glamour sees fit to photoshop America Ferrara down to a size-nothing (and has the nerve to run the headline "1st Annual Figure Flattery Issue" right next to it), where images of "fat" women are used as sure-thing motivation to get you to buy whatever it is that will make you Not Like That, I wanted to reclaim the glamor of the Calendar Girl and make it something new and powerful. I wanted to glamorize the kind of real beauty that has nothing to do with what you weigh.

That's not just a cliche -- the women in this calendar are beautiful because they're confident, because they're brave enough to insist on being artists and performers against all social messages, because that's what makes them feel alive. It's an honor to perform with them, and it was a true privilege to shoot them for the calendar. These are my compatriots onstage and off -- my fatties, as we've taken to calling each other with pride, no matter what our size.

We are women mending what's broken in our lives, and my hope is that this calendar will mend some of what's broken in all of our lives. I can't wait to spend every day next year with this kind of beauty, and I hope that you will, too.

Note about the calendars: The slides how has lo-res versions of the pictures for quick-loading purposes. The actual pics are gorgeous high res and color saturated.

Anyone who knows me, or my writing, is familiar with how proud I am of my mom. Well, it’s hard to remember a moment when I have ever been more proud than last weekend when I attended the 20th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival—a shindig she started from scratch along with lady friends that is now the longest running film festival in the world.
First a word on its founding, because the story is just so damn cool. Basically my mom and her friend, Donna Guthrie, were headed home to culturally starving Colorado Springs from the Telluride Film Festival one year and said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could bring films made by women, films that showed varied perspective and dealt with all kinds of social justice issues to Colorado Springs?� And then the other was like, “Hey, that would be cool. Let’s do it.� (Or something like that. I’m taking artistic daughter liberty, obviously.) Keep in mind that neither of these women knew a lick about film, film production, festival coordination, or the industry. They were skilled in all kinds of amazing ways—Donna is an award winning author and my mom is a badass clinical psychiatric social worker—but none directly related to film or festivals.
And they just did it.

Who knew that Australia's toy of the year would contain gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB), a drug commonly used to sedate rape victims. Crazy.

Since a number of children were recently hospitalized after eating beads from Aqua Dots, or Bindeez as they're called in Australia, their products are now frantically being pulled off of all store shelves internationally. The chemical can cause seizures, a coma and even death, if enough is ingested.

I've admittedly seen others take GHB for "recreational" purposes back in the day and to be frank, that shit was terrifying. The fact that it was being sold not only in a toy product, but in beads out of all things (probably the most ingested inedible material out there), is pretty unbelievable.

New Yorkers are mobilizing on Monday around birth control prices being jacked up on college campuses. So if you're in the area, come by and represent. Co-sponsors include NOW-NYU, Voices for Choice, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice New York and Planned Parenthood of NYC.

I have just been alerted to the fact that Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein has a blog on NPR.com.

Via Jezebel, we find out about perhaps the world's biggest asshole, Michael Karolchyk.

Karolchyk owns a gym in Denver that he calls an "anti-gym.

It has numerous slogans, from "Too chubby; Never find a hubby," to "Have Sex With The Lights On" to "Save The Chubbitos" to "No Chubbies." It also has numerous amenities, including "live DJs, cage dancers, and our elite co-ed Ravish Room." The Ravish Room turns out to be a sauna that admits only members who have reached a sufficiently low body mass index, but you also have to be screened to so much as join his gym, where motivational techniques include having cupcakes hurled at you on the treadmill...

Charming. But nothing, nothing, beats this horrific commercial, "Hottie" in which Karolchyk physically assaults a "chubby" crying woman by pushing her onto a couch (so that her cake smashes up against her full humiliation style) while yelling "Moo!" at her. And that's just the tip of the asshole iceberg. If you can't watch the full commercial, a breakdown is after the jump.

It's stuff like this that makes me just fucking hate people.

Oh, and by the way, if you have the audacity to contact the "Anti-Gym" about their disgusting ads and vile owner, you are a "bearded lady."

Via columnist Lucy Kellaway in a piece on office politics:

"More women in the workplace means more problems and there is the whole political correctness thing."

Classic.

For those who think that only rap videos contain sexist content.

While this is more or less a rock video version of Vogue Italia's spread, we can use this as a reminder of how sickly obsessed (no pun intended) pop culture has become with glorifying (and in this case, sexualizing) mental illness, addiction and general life failure among the young women of Hollywood.

Thanks to reader Michele.

A new study by a Belgium researcher finds that the birth control pill may cause atherosclerosis, or a buildup of plaque in the arteries. We already knew that blood clots and high blood pressure were two potential effects from the pill that carry similar risks, such heart disease, stroke, etc. But apparently this new research shows that plaque buildup in the arteries can also potentially advance even after discontinuing birth control use.

While the actual researcher, Ernst Rietzschel, MD of Ghent University in Belgium, doesn't seem like your run-of-the-mill anti-choice "scientist" that we often find doing these studies - he makes sure to state that there is no cause for alarm and that an association between the two doesn't prove the pill caused the condition - what exactly should we take from this study? Aren't there other factors that could have contributed to an increase in atherosclerosis for the women in the study over the course of a decade, like smoking, unhealthy diet, and so on? This is not to say we shouldn't be concerned as to what the long-term effects of birth control may or may not be, but it sounds like no sirens should be going off.

Thoughts?

The House approved the Employment Nondiscrimination Act last night, legislation that would ban discrimination against individuals in the workplace based on their sexual orientation, but with gender identity left in the dust.

Sign the petition stating that you support the original ENDA.

You all know I have complex feelings about my girl Oprah (evidenced by the title of my book review column), but right now she is doing a great service. I'm watching her show on marital rape and it is both horrifying and such a relief that more national airtime is being devoted to this critical and neglected issue. She just told viewers that 1.5 million American women are raped or sexually abused every year by an intimate partner. Check it out if you are a lazy bon-bon eating freelance consultant like me or just see clips on the website.

A new study put out by the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports that abstinence-only education does not affect teenager's sexual behavior.

"At present there does not exist any strong evidence that any abstinence program delays the initiation of sex, hastens the return to abstinence or reduces the number of sexual partners" among teenagers, the study concluded.

The study found that while abstinence-only efforts appear to have little positive impact, more comprehensive sex education programs were having "positive outcomes" including teenagers "delaying the initiation of sex, reducing the frequency of sex, reducing the number of sexual partners and increasing condom or contraceptive use."

In other words? Abstinence education is a big fat waste of money.

The report also debunked myths about comprehensive sex-ed that the abstinence crowd like to spout--that it promotes promiscuity and so forth. Douglas Kirby, one of the researchers, said that instead comprehensive sex ed improves teens' knowledge about pregnancy and STDs and gives them "confidence in their ability to say 'no' to unwanted sex."

I can't wait to see what the pro-abstinence folks will say about this.

Sure I'll dance with you, but stay away from that voting booth!

Tucker Carlson, in a predictable but shining moment of misogyny, told Feminist Majority Foundation president Eleanor Smeal that women shouldn't want to get involved in politics. You know, cause it's all icky and stuff.

After Smeal remarked that we should be embarrassed that the U.S. is so far behind in terms of representation of women in politics, Carlson replied, "I'm actually not embarrassed by it at all." He continued, and here's the doozy, "I don't know why that's embarrassing. You could make the counter case that most women are so sensible, they don't want to get involved in something as stupid as politics. ...They've got real things to do." You know, like cook his dinner.

What's hilarious is that this sentiment is actually very similar to the anti-suffragist arguments from back in the day: that women shouldn't want to get involved in politics--they're too good for it! There's the famous quote, for example, from Rep. Thomas Girling who said that "women shouldn't be dragged into the dirty pool of politics."

Those were the good old days, right Tucker?

Via Cara.

Eight teen boys in Australia were given a slap on the wrist after sexually assaulting a 17 year-old girl, taping the assault, and distributing it as a porn movie.

The girl was filmed performing oral sex on two boys, had her hair set alight, was spat at and urinated on during the incident at a park at Werribee, in Melbourne's outer-west, in June last year.

...A DVD of the attack - which was titled 'C**t the Movie' - was distributed throughout the community, the court heard.

This seriously makes me want to cry. Instead of sending the boys--who were between 15 and 17 years-old--to a juvenile detention center, the judge let them walk so long as they participated in "rehabilitation program for male adolescents about positive sexuality." Now, I'm not a fan of incarceration, especially for young people. But what these young men did deserves more than a fucking therapy session or two.

We had some major tech issues this morning and were scrambling around trying to get the site up and running, so apologies!

And a major thanks to Jen and Deanna, tech mavens, who never cease to amaze me. You gals are the best.

I'm actually kind of speechless on this one. And that doesn't happen often.

Thanks to John for the link.

This is just awesome.

I can't decide if I should be horrified or reassured by this video. Probably both. But tell me what you think.

It's from the Tyra Banks show, and features "Dr. Debbie" and a vulva puppet. I'm right with them so far. Unfortunately, since it's her show, Tyra talks too, which is where everything always goes wrong. Watch until the end and you can hear a story About Tyra's mom making her examine herself with a hand mirror before going off to college. And Dr. Debbie telling the audience that women don't pee out of their clits or vaginas.

Obviously I'm not the target demographic for this, but, really? Do women actually think we pee out of the vagina? How would that work? Is urine stored in the uterus? I don't get it. If they exist, then wow, I hope they watched this show. And considering how uh... interesting Tyra's history with talking to women about sex on her show, I guess this is better than nothing. Right?

I have been graciously, GRACIOUSLY, asked to read at Writers with Drinks, in the San Francisco area this coming Saturday. I am really nervous and I will actually be reading blog entries, so that should be muy interesting. Anyway, please check out the deets and if in the Bay, roll through and come up and say hi to me!

At this month's Writers With Drinks, there will be ice buckets located at strategic points all around the Make Out Room. That's because it's severed limb month! Whose limb will be severed? It could be yours! After years of hearing about our "incisive prose" and "razor-sharp wit," we've decided to live up to our billing at last. Each one of our writers will receive one package of surgical scalpels, which they will hurl at the audience at dramatic moments in their readings. Your bloody mary could wind up being a little more bloody than you bargained for!

When: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007, 7:30 to 9:30 PM
Who: Kage Baker, Inga Muscio, Jessy Randall, James Calder, Ellery Urquhart and Samhita Mukhopadhyay
Where: The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd. St. between Mission and Valencia, San Francisco
How much: $3 to $5 sliding scale.

If you read the news you already know about the housing crisis and the subprime lending bubble that is threatening to burst. You know the whole lending money that doesn't exist to people that can't afford to buy a house. The MSM is all over this issue, but has overlooked one aspect of it, which is that the highest concentration of these loans goes to low-income, working class, communities of color, and thusly continuing a resource disparity.

According to the NYT and common sense, subprime lending occurs at a higher rate in the black and Latino community.

Lenders say that in general higher rates are justified to account for the bigger risks posed by borrowers who have a poor record at paying bills on time and defaulting on debts. And a recent Federal Reserve study noted that neighborhoods where people tend to have lower credit scores also tend to a greater concentration of high-cost loans.

The study suggests that the concentration of high-cost loans is not caused by an area’s racial makeup, though there is a correlation, said Jay Brinkmann, vice president for research and economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

But the Fed study also suggests that a big part of the reason may have to do with the lenders that minority borrowers do business with. The biggest home lenders in minority neighborhoods are mortgage companies that provide only subprime loans, not full-service banks that do a range of lending.

Ultimately, if you are poor or have bad credit, a subprime loan looks good to you. You sign at an interest rate that is too low to beat and then within months your interest rate goes up, sometimes 3-fold. This has led to forbearance or delinquency on loans and an increase in forclosures on homes. This is not only bad for the economy, but critical in maintaining an economic divide along racial lines. The folks impacted the most are the ones rarely discussed in the coverage of this issue. People of color, women of color and poor people are among the most affected by the inadequacy of subprime lending. It also makes their credit that much worse than it already was before.

If you are interested in the lack of media coverage of race and it's relationship to development, housing and gentrification, check out my co-worker Karlos's blogs and the current campaign my organization is working on around the media rights of communities being displaced by unjust economic policies. We have also put out a content analysis looking at the lack of coverage around displacement in Bay Area news outlets.

(Sorry for the reposts, formatting was funky.)

FGM is a controversial topic that Western feminists have had a hard time figuring out how to address. The reality is, we have to listen to the voices, experiences, concerns and wants from the women in these particular societies and to follow their leadership in any kind of action taken. When someone from another country, comes to the US (the supposed land of liberated woman) asking for asylum status because of crimes they feel have been done to themselves due to cultural practices that have taken away their sense of self and sexuality, we should grant it. Don't you think?

Well according to the NYT, the Board of Immigration Appeals doesn't agree with this sentiment.

In September, the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected Ms. Traore’s plea for asylum and ordered her sent back to Mali. It ruled that she did not face persecution there, because the cutting, while “reprehensible,� could not be repeated. “The loss of a limb also gives rise to enduring harm,� the board said, but it would not be a good enough reason to grant asylum.

The board also said that Ms. Traore’s fear that any daughters she might have would be subjected to similar barbarity was of no moment. Nor did it matter that Ms. Traore’s father has said he will force her to marry a first cousin — his sister’s son.

What exactly does persecution look like? Interestingly enough, the Board has given asylum status to victims of forced sterilization and has ruled that FGM and sterilization be treated differently. But what Karen Musalo, the director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at Hastings College of the Law, clearly points out is that this clearly hinges on the belief that reproduction is somehow more valuable than sexual autonomy.

Professor Musalo had a theory about why the board treated forced sterilization differently from genital cutting. Sterilization affects procreation and motherhood, which are valued by men. Genital cutting, by contrast, affects only women’s sexual pleasure and autonomy.

And perhaps some internalized subconscious xenophobic belief that sterilized women cannot reproduce more unwanted brown babies in the US.

A reality show about six year old beauty pageant queens. And their pictures look SO weird, like dolls, not even real children.

Dear VH1, please stop propagating this nonsense.

Thanks to Jenny for the link.

So I guess it doesn't matter how openly racist or sexist you are, or that you got fired because of how openly racist and sexist you are, someone will hire you. Don Imus has been picked up by Citadel Broadcasting where he will be on in the morning on WABC-AM.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry observers believe his new contract is worth somewhere between $5 million and $8 million a year. Imus replaces Ron Kuby and Curtis Sliwa, who have hosted a popular show on WABC for eight years. Kuby didn't hide his dissatisfaction during his final broadcast, taking a swipe at Citadel Broadcasting, which bought WABC last year: "Our show has enjoyed the best audience: intelligent, compassionate, decent and kind. The new owners don't want that kind of show."

As before, Imus will be accompanied by Charles McCord and other sidekicks. However, there was no word whether Imus producer Bernard McGuirk will be returning as well. In their previous CBS show, McGuirk prompted Imus to make the racist and sexist remark that stirred controversy and eventually got them both fired. After McGuirk called the Rutgers' female basketball players "some hard-core hos," Imus elaborated on the description, calling them "nappy-headed hos."

I can't believe they are bumping Curtis and Kuby for Imus. Even though Curtis is a rabid conservative and I haven't listened to their show in years. But still, hiring Don Imus, who was fired because of his inability to keep in check his shock jock sensibilities, sends the message loud and clear that it is OK to publicly humiliate young black women and still get a job.

Please put any actions you know about this in comments.

Oh, puke. How predictable. (But there is a mudflap girl on there...just not the cool kind.)

Just to keep in perspective what kind of people use the internets. Read comments on Digg with caution!

What I always find interesting is how anonymity allows people such gracious outpourings of hate, that they wouldn't normally display.

I will now resume more serious blogging. Kthxbye.

Because there's nothing like a manufactured "catfight," complete with vile accompanying images. (Can you imagine a disagreement between male politicians being shown as a head-to-head with a male symbol in between them?!)

ABC News' headline screams Pelosi: Clinton Camp Played Gender Card, yet the content of the article and Pelosi's quotes say nothing of the sort:

Pelosi, the nation's first female House speaker, told ABCNEWS.com in an interview that she didn't agree with observers who thought Clinton was drawing particular heat because she's a woman.

"[Sen. Clinton] said it best: They're 'piling on' -- or whatever the words were -- 'because I'm the front-runner.' That's why they're piling on," said Pelosi. "If she was in third place, they wouldn't say, 'Let's go attack a woman.'"

"I think the campaign is trying to take advantage of another -- probably people who didn't even watch the debate, to say, 'Oh, they were really rude,' or something like that, and that has some salience," said Pelosi...

So let me get this straight. Pelosi said she didn't think Clinton was "piled on" because she was a woman and that her campaign is trying to paint the opposition as "rude," and somehow that translates into her accusing Clinton of playing the gender card?!

Contact ABC News here. (And if anyone can find reporter Rick Klein's email, leave it in comments.)

Dear American male politicians,

We've got some advice for you: It's time to stop playing the gender card. I mean, really -- it's unprofessional.

It's just wrong to expect men to vote for you because you smell like Aqua Velva and cigar smoke, because you own a huge ranch and the Western wear to prove it, because you think America needs a "commanding Daddy" to torture the bad guys. Fine, go ahead accentuate your masculinity by tossing a football around on the tarmac. Puff your barrel chest proudly. Reference the rugged wilderness. Even wear your pants a little tight in the crotch area. But does that telling bulge mean you're going to be the best president? We don't think so.

Elections should be about the issues, not about who has the biggest... uh, lead in the polls.

We get it. You're dudes. You don't have to keep trying to prove that you're man enough by saying your opponents are wimpy "girlie men" who get fancy haircuts. After all, this isn't about gender, remember? Stop playing identity politics.

And please guys, enough with the contradictions. Don't try to emphasize your soft, "fatherly" side and then talk about your "sledgehammer approach" to politics. You can't have it both ways, boys.

Politics is a genderless sport, obviously. Which is why you need to run on your qualifications, not your ability to appeal to the "cock vote." Trust us.

Sincerely,

Ann and Jessica

P.S. It wouldn't be right not to mention the media's role in all of this. So in tribute to Chris Matthew's continued and unwavering support of the manliest of male politicians -- whether it's being amazed by a man's ability to actually debate a woman, pondering which politician would win in a street fight, or waxing poetic about Al Gore's "sublime masculinity" -- we're awarding him the first ever Feministing Golden Cigar Award for Excellence in Journalistic Man-preciation.

Inspired by Digby.

I think Monty looks kinda drunk in this picture, which makes me laugh. But not as hard as I laughed when I saw the picture below the fold, in which he's giving me the "crazy eye."

You really have to love headlines like these, because the article is sure to be a doozy. In this Times Online piece, "sex expert" Dr. Pam Spurr says that women need to start having sex with their partners whether they feel like it or not.

Having researched my new book, as well as talked to thousands of men and women over the years, I now firmly believe that too many women see the sexual side of their lives as something to be claimed completely and utterly as their own. That’s fine for single women flexing their sexual muscles.

But once they settle into a relationship, many will continue to do so. This doesn’t make sense to me at all – and unfortunately I’m privy to the heartbreak and distress that goes along with this view.

Imagine the nerve of thinking that one's sexuality belongs to themselves! Spurr is right to note that a sexless marriage can be a problem, but her solution is a bit...well, ick.

At the risk of being called old-fashioned (though I don’t think that old-fashioned should always have negative connotations) and antifeminist, I’d go so far as to say that for both partners sex could be considered a duty, if it is something that one partner knows would make the other happy. Does he really want to go up on the roof to repair a leak on a Sunday afternoon? Does she really want to take out the rubbish in the pouring rain? No, but partners in relationships do such things because they know that it makes the other happy. Sex should be seen in the same light.

Forget working out whatever issues are making you not want to have sex in the first place. Better that you just shut up and put out as to not piss off your hubby. After all, what's more romantic than thinking of sex as a duty? So hot....

Make sure to read the whole piece, seriously--it's a classic.

Feministing is nominated for Best Liberal Blog at the 2007 Weblog Awards. Go show us some love.

This is some horrible stuff: "Two California women were killed in a freak train accident. Police believe the high heel shoes they were wearing may have hindered their escape from a car stuck on the tracks, the Los Angeles Times reports."

The abstinence-only haven of Texas ranks first in the nation in teen births and in teen repeat births.

Miriam Perez tells you everything you ever wanted to know about abortion doulas, but were afraid to ask.

Why ENDA should include language on gender identity.

The South Dakota abortion ban may be baaaack.

Some teenagers deciding the Homecoming dance sucks leads to another weepy piece about the "death of chivalry."

Women leave their careers in the sciences for many of the same reasons they leave other types of workplaces.

Promoting adoption won't lower abortion rates.

On couples who are married, but not cohabitating.

Did you know six women were the programmers of the first computer, ENIAC?

Jill Sobule wrote a song commemorating Slut-o-Ween.

How David Horowitz's "Islamofascism Awareness Week" targeted campus feminists. (Katha Pollitt has more.)

A new facility opens for female veterans who are victims of sexual assault.

Even more links after the jump...

After graduating high school, Michelle Walker left NYC for the UK to spend years singing in renowned clubs like The Limelight and Ronnie Scott's. After moving to the D.C. area to study voice, she spent graduate school at American University, and continued her jazz studies privately with Madeline Eastman, Jay Clayton, Nancy Marano, Pam Bricker, Dena DeRose, Rhiannon and jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. Michelle also studied at the Amsterdam Music Conservatory in Holland and the Stanford Jazz Summer Workshop in Palo Alto, CA.

Some highlights of her work include opening on tour for jazz vocalists Mark Murphy, Rene Marie, Chris Botti, George Benson, Spyro Gyra, Terrell Stafford and opening for Wynton Marsalis. Michelle currently teaches privately and conducts workshops on musical performance and career management when she's not on stage. Here's Michelle...

On Wednesday I attended a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing about the effect of the Global Gag Rule. It felt like a slightly inopportune time, as Bush recently vetoed promised to veto legislation repealing the policy, which denies U.S. AID funding to any NGO that so much as discusses abortion. But as long as this policy is in place, it's vital to keep talking about it's effects.

NARAL Pro-Choice America excitedly announced it as the "first fair-minded House hearing on reproductive health in 12 years." In his opening remarks, Chairman Tom Lantos explained, "By gagging the world’s most effective reproductive health care organizations, the President is hoping to reduce the rate of abortion. But that is not happening. The Global Gag Rule is just making abortion more unsafe." Three of the four witnesses were there to testify as to the disastrous effect the Gag Rule has had on women in the developing world.

So why, then, did the atmosphere feel more like a crisis-pregnancy center than a pro-choice hearing? Maybe because, frustratingly, 18 of the 20 committee members with a 100-percent rating from NARAL didn't bother to show up and speak out against the Gag Rule. Most of the members who took time to attend the hearing were anti-choice Republicans who support Bush's policy of denying women and girls in developing nations access to family planning resources. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen lauded the Gag Rule as an effort to "protect the human rights of all." Rep. Steve Chabot told the committee that his birthday is the day Roe v. Wade was decided, so the Gag Rule issue hits him especially hard. (Not as hard as it hits women in Africa, I'd wager…) Rep. Donald Manzullo talked about the crisis-pregnancy center he and his wife opened in his home district in Illinois. And Rep. Chris Smith went so far as to put ultrasound images up on the screens on either end of the room and draw our attention to "the child kicking, catapulting in the womb." It was all I could do to keep from retching.

So I was relieved to finally hear from Rep. Nita Lowey, who isn't on the committee but attended the hearing at Lantos's request. She declared that the Global Gag Rule "has no place in our foreign policy," and went on to describe the huge unmet need for contraception in developing nations -- and how increased family planning funding would actually reduce abortions. "I do consider myself pro-life," she stated, for the benefit of the members of Congress who are pro-fetal-life only.

Sorry for the lack of posts these last few hours--I'm running around trying to get ready for my birthday party tonight at one of my fave spots. The video above is the song I'd most like to dance to tonight. (Getting older makes me feel nostalgic, cut me a break.)

What are your weekend plans?

Via Kaiser:

The Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday voted 65-32 to approve a bill that will require doctors to determine that women seeking an abortion consent to the procedure and are not coerced into it, the AP/WKBT.com reports (AP/WKBT.com, 10/30).

Under current state law, doctors are required to get written consent before performing an abortion. Rep. Fred Kessler (D), who opposes the bill, said requiring a doctor to also ask a woman if she was not coerced just adds another barrier to an already difficult decision. He added that the bill is one additional pressure from antiabortion groups to persuade women not to have an abortion.

And persuade everyone else that women can't make their own decisions. Not only do WI women already have to get a permission slip from themselves for an abortion (sounds like an Onion headline, doesn't it?), but will also need to give verbal assurance? I'm scared of what's next.

African reality show Big Brother recently aired the sexual assault of a woman by one of her roommates.

However, viewers of the incident, which took place on Saturday afternoon after an extended drinking bout which ended in copious vomiting and apparent blackout for [29 year-old Ofunneka] Molokwu, remain adamant about what they saw: [24 year-ld Richard] Bezuidenhout lay down next to the comatose young woman and penetrated her vagina with his fingers. He carried on despite the pleas of another female housemate for him stop. Under the law in South Africa - where, on average, a woman is sexually assaulted every 40 seconds - such an act constitutes rape.

Executives at MNet, which airs the show claim that a crime wasn't necessarily committed: "There is no indication that she was unconscious at the time," said Joseph Hundah, an executive at the company. Um, fuck you.

The only thing worse than MNet's response was that of Bezuidenhout, who after the assault "went off to sit by himself while drunkenly sniffing his fingers." When called out for his behavior, Bezuidenhout merely said, "Well, this is Africa." Ahh, male entitlement; it's everywhere.

I knew there had to be a downside of this 'vajayjay' business. And his name is Michael Smerconish. In an article for the Philadelphia Daily News, Smerconish argues that vajayjay is a fabulous word because it makes men more comfortable, but pisses feminists off. (Who knew?)

Pardon my directness, but I refuse to beat around the bush. The feminists, it seems, have a proprietary interest in female genitalia.

No matter what you call it, many feminists don't want guys attracted to it. If it were up to them, there'd be an image at www.dictionary.com with a sign next to "vagina" reading "No men allowed."

Hardy har har. Feminists don't like men--there's a new one. But I do love that Smerconish takes such offense to the idea that women would think they had a "proprietary interest" in their own vaginas. The nerve!

This is why I think they like the status quo. Vagina is a tough word that refuses to roll easily off the tongue. It has such a sense of taboo that nobody feels totally comfortable talking about it - not even women, but especially men. So use of the word remains almost exclusively to the feminists.

Or, you know, doctors. Or anyone else who isn't horrified by the idea of calling something by its proper name.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seems that vajayjay is different. Unlike the starkly clinical vagina, I see a vajayjay as a happy and inviting place, with a warm and fuzzy connotation. Vajayjay says "hello . . . welcome" and "open for business." "Vagina" screams textbook. "Vajayjay" says Facebook.

In short, "vajayjay" has got us thinking outside of the box, which makes the feminists nervous. They want to keep "vagina" all to themselves. That is why they are vajayjay naysayers.

I'm not quite sure where Smerconish got the idea that feminists are "vajayjay naysayers," since he fails to mention one feminist who has a problem with the word--but that's beside the point. The fact that this dude thinks that euphemisms for female genitalia should exist in order to make a more man-friendly vag tells me all I need to know.

Shorter Smerconish? Vagina, mine!

A case out of Kansas City that alleged AT&T Corp. was acting illegally when they failed to provide coverage for female employees contraception ended badly recently. A judge has ruled that the company didn't act out of turn because, wait for it...contraception is not related to pregnancy so AT&T couldn't possibly have been discriminating against women.

A three-judge panel of the appellate court ruled that contraception was not “related to� pregnancy for purposes of the law “because, like fertility treatments, contraception is a treatment that is only indicated prior to pregnancy. Contraception is not a medical treatment that occurs when or if a woman becomes pregnant; instead contraception prevents pregnancy from even occurring.�

Cough, bullshit, cough.

Via Shakes we find out about a group of five young people who saved a woman who was being raped.

Katie Porter, 20, was among the five young adults traveling in a car that passed the crime scene outside an apartment complex. Both [Paul Landingham]'s and the woman's pants were pulled down, Porter said. While she initially thought the two might just be "drunk lovers," the group became suspicious and collectively decided to turn around for a closer look.

As they approached the apartment complex for a second time, Porter said, Landingham began to get up and the woman screamed for help. At this point, Porter said, all five passengers knew something was wrong.

"He got off the girl and started running," Porter said. "The three guys ran out and went over and tackled him."

Shakes also rightly points out that this group of folks likely saved this woman's life--in addition to being charged with rape and assault, Landingham is also being charged with strangulation. So that night could have ended a lot worse than it did.

With all the hoopla that's come of King Middle School providing birth control to their students, a recent survey shows that the majority of people in the U.S. support public schools that provide birth control.

According to the AP poll of 1,005 people:

This article featured in the New York Times' Fashion and Style section (naturally, like all the other articles on women) features a recent report released by Catalyst, an organization that focuses on women and work. Titled, 'Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don't, " the report delves into the many double standards that women are faced with; you know, you're either "womanly" and passive but incompetent or "like a man" and assertive but a shrewd bitch.

While bringing these stereotypes to light are obviously important, the way in which the message is being executed here sounds more regressive than anything. Their assertion, according to the author, that "women don’t advance as much as men because they don’t act like men," seems to place the blame on women when there are so many more factors that incorporate into gender inequality at work. (Not to mention the whole "men are naturally more aggressive" misconception.)

In another study, for example, angry women in the workplace were deemed less "impressive" while angry men were seen as commendable, but these findings among others should apparently be seen as "nuggets of advice" for women in the workplace:

There are practical nuggets of advice in all this data. Don’t be shy about negotiating. If you blow your stack, explain (or try). 'Some of what we are learning is directly helpful, and tells women that they are acting in ways they might not even be aware of, and that is harming them and they can change,' said Peter Glick, a psychology professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.

While later on, this same professor contends that it's not individuals that are responsible, but others' "perception." So why exactly should it be their responsibility to change when all it does is reinforce the sterotypes they're addressing? I only wonder what "nugget of advice" would be given to the female executive in another study of his whose perceived competence was significantly lowered when she was wearing a low-cut blouse. (Robin Givhan would probably have two cents.)

To piggyback on Vanessa's post about Medicaid funding for family planning...

This week Bush awarded retired Rep. Henry Hyde with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Because nothing says "freedom" like severely curtailing the reproductive rights of low-income women.

Disgusting.

After reading Phoebe Connelly's moving analysis of Doris Lessing at TAP, I knew that she was just the gal to give us the straight dope on The Golden Notebook. Here she is, in all her glory. -CEM

Guest Post by Phoebe Connelly

Let's get this out of the way right now--you probably haven't read The Golden Notebook because it was:

• a) Tarred by the fact that you heard Doris Lessing said it wasn't feminist (I've already addressed those concerns here.)
• b) Dense, from the '70s and had had this cover image:

  

• c) No one ever told you it existed.

But Doris Lessing won the Nobel a few weeks ago, she offered a suitably flippant reply to the reporter who informed her of that fact, and now, you're newly excited by the idea of her. Well good. Welcome to a "classic feminist text" that's readable, relevant, and engrossing.

Lessing's novel is, as she her self puts it in the introduction, "a novel of ideas," which is to say that she's grappling with what it means to be a woman, to have plans and talent and desire, and then struggle to fit those pieces together into a life.

The Guttmacher Institute and Kaiser Family Foundation released a report yesterday on Medicaid’s role in family planning services in the U.S.; In short, it’s the largest source of public funding for family planning services in the country, serving millions of low-income women in contraceptive services.

But sadly, there is a downside. In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, legislation that excludes abortion from government-funded health care programs. As the report will show you, women enrolled in Medicaid and other programs for that matter receive coverage for family planning services including contraception, prenatal care, labor and delivery. But abortion isn’t included unless she is a victim of rape, incest or her life is in danger.

In other words, low-income women are forced to sacrifice rent or money for food to obtain an abortion, or are forced to continue the pregnancy and stay trapped in poverty. This makes me think about what Justice Bader Ginsburg said recently about the overturn of Roe v. Wade having "a devastating impact on poor women." But how much “choice� do they really have now when they don’t even have access?

The National Network of Abortion Funds leads a national campaign with a number of other advocacy groups which aims to repeal the Hyde Amendment. Their goal is to get 20,000 signatures delivered to Congress by January 2008. So go sign the petition to help give all women the access to choose.

Yes, it is our Jessica's 29th birthday today, and what better than a little birthday embarassment?

She's accomplished tons in this past year, between the success of her first book and straight on to the second (with more and more to come), she's been writing, blogging and ass-kicking her way up to being, well, a feminist icon of our time. And for that, we should all be very, very happy that she's here. Here's to you, sis.

With that being said, I'd like to share with you all my favorite Jessica story, and encourage any friends to do the same in comments:

I was about 6 and she was 8, and she had me pinned me down on our parents’ bed in the midst of a sisterly brawl, which was pretty typical for us. She threatened to pee on me, and I stupidly told her she didn’t have the nerve. But as y'all know, the girl is all nerve. 'Nuff said.

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

"Pope Benedict Says Pharmacists Have Right To Conscientiously Object To Fill Emergency Contraception"

B-dog is at it again! It's no huge surprise that our anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-woman and yes, even anti-rock Pope would also be anti-birth control.

Pope Benedict XVI assured pharmacists at the 25th International Congress of Catholic Pharmacists on Monday that they should object to filling prescriptions for emergency contraception, as well as give moral "advice" to those seeking EC. You know, because it's their business and all.

While gendering toys is no new thing, Tonka takes it to the next level.

Wowzers.

Hat tip to reader Monica.