March 2008 Archives

Next Tuesday, HBO is featuring a documentary exposing the scope of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo titled, The Greatest Silence, reports UN Dispatch.

The Enough Campaign and HBO are working together to coordinate house screenings across the country. You can even hold your own screening or take part in a conference call the following day with filmmaker Lisa Jackson, ENOUGH Co-Chair John Prendergast, and Director of Public Policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Kiersten Stewart, to discuss the film and find out about ways that you can help end violence against women in the DRC.

Check out more background on violence against women in the DRC.

If you didn't catch the New York Times Magazine piece, "Students of Virginity", make sure to check it out. It serves as a good reminder as to why the abstinence-only, modesty, chastity, or whatever they're calling it at the moment, movement is bad for women.

The piece - which examines the abstinence movement in ivy league colleges - focuses mostly Harvard student Janie Fredell, an outspoken member and speaker with True Love Revolution. What I found interesting is that Fredell tries to explain her penchant for virginity-worship using a feminist analysis:

“People just don’t get it,� Fredell said. “Everyone thinks we’re trying to promote this idea of the meek little virgin female.� She said she was doing no such thing. “I care deeply for women’s rights,� she said...She had awakened to the wage gap, to forced sterilization and female genital mutilation — to the different ways that men have, she said, of controlling women. One of these was sexual. Fredell had seen it often in her own life — men pushing for sex, she said, just to “have something to say in the locker room,� women feeling pressured to have sex in order to maintain a relationship. The more she studied and learned, the more Fredell came to realize that women suffer from having premarital sex, “due to a cultural double standard,� she said, “which devalues women for their sexual pasts and glorifies men for theirs.�

Okay...but isn't the problem the double standard - not the sex? (Shameless plug alert.) If we don't like that women "suffer" from sexual double standards, how is not having sex fighting back? Seems more like giving up to me. Of course, Fredell also frames her views with the idea that it's just men who want or "push" for sex and uses bad science to boot - but that's a whole other post.

Jill hits on the nail on the head:

I can recognize that it is hard to remain abstinent, especially in the face of a very sexualized culture. I appreciate and applaud the personal strength of individuals who decide abstinence in the best choice for them. But what I can’t support is the constant attacks on sexually active people. People who have sex do not feel a constant need to tell abstinent people that their human dignity has been compromised, or that they’re dirty, or that they are secretly unhappy, or that they’re headed for total life ruin.

Indeed. It also doesn't help Fredell's "feminist" argument that abstinence-proponents rely on the virgin-whore dichotomy to shame women into being chaste.

The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College is having a fabulous conference this weekend on reproductive rights and health. Not only does it have some amazing speakers attending, it's also free to attend and has free housing opportunities.

I wish I could be there, but if anyone goes - report back to us!

There's something about feminist activism that wakes you the fuck up.

Last week, I was lucky enough to meet more feminists in a five day period than I probably have ever - it was incredible. After speaking at three colleges in the DC/Virginia area, I also went to the WAM conference. And athough I was exhausted from traveling and speaking, being around all of these amazing men and women committed to feminist activism and media really energized me. So I just wanted to say thanks.

Thanks to all of the feminists out there raising hell and making people remember that young women aren't apathetic or apolitical. They're not "going wild."

Young women are active, engaged and fucking awesome. Like the women at Georgetown's United Feminists who packed the room when I came to visit, despite the fact that it was their first event. Or Casey who I met at University of Mary Washington who makes a kick ass homemade feminist shirt (and was even kind enough to give me one!). Or the gals at Hollins University who created a feminist calendar to raise money for their Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance on campus.

And, of course, all of the bad-ass women at WAM - who not only put on some great panels, but also can dance like nobody's business.

All of you ladies inspire me daily - so thank you.

(The post title is dedicated to Ms. Courtney Martin, who mocked me this weekend for being "bougie" after I said - sigh - that I'd kill for a latte. Okay, maybe it was deserving of some mocking.)

Yahoo just launched a new web portal called Shine, “for women between ages 25 and 54, calling it a key demographic underserved by current Yahoo properties.� Topics of the site include “fashion + beauty, healthy living, entertainment, parenting, love +sex, work + money, food, at home, and astrology.� And the site's signature color is, of course, pink.

Would it be possible, maybe, please, for a website “for women� to not be pink? I mean, honestly, I couldn’t even get past that to see what the content is. It’s not breast cancer pink (light pink), so I think that means it must be Sex and the City pink. Hot pink, some sparkes. Yup.

Sigh.

I was traveling all last week, so here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago when Monty went to go visit his brother in Woodstock. Even when separated by a glass sliding door, they like to chill together.

Over at Shakesville they’re collecting photos flipping off Jay Leno for being, as usual, a sexist, homophobic ass. Actor Ryan Phillppe was on Leno’s show, and mentioned that his first acting job was playing a gay teenager on a soap opera. Leno kept bugging him to look into the camera and give his “gayest look.� Phillppe declined. But Shakesville readers are happy to share. Go check it out.

More at My Gayest Look for Leno.

This is a long video, but worth watching. A group of students at the South Bronx High School of Performance and Stage Craft talk about the presidential elections, how they're becoming politically informed, and the future of race in America.

The piece is focused on how Barack Obama's candidacy has inspired them, but it goes far beyond that. They write their own "Yes We Can" speeches about the things they want to do with their lives and to change the world.

Via Tracy

Our lovely editors Jessica and Miriam are on this panel, along with the fantastic Carmen from Racialicious, who is also (in case y'all didn't know) the co-founder and President of New Demographic, and Patti Binder, an amazing leader and advocate of girls' programming in NYC and board chair of Girls Write Now.

Patti discusses her experience within girls' programming, and how people generally make the assumption that there shouldn't be a need for girls' leadership organizations because there's a woman running for president. And all of the girls' organizations that exist aren't recognized nearly enough, not to mention the difficulty in trying to get the same funding (since so little are funded) when they're all on the same side. She also touches on how the "boys' crisis" has effected their ability to get funding on top of that. And amidst all of these forces working against them, the organizations focus on pushing their message through to convince people that girls' and women's issues, well, exist.

Miriam talks about Radical Doula and as someone who is a part of the birthing movement, how she feels that it's important to identify herself not only as a birth activist, but as someone who supports abortion, and tries to bring the conversation into the movement. Hence, "Radical Doula." So for herself and the way she identifies, the push back she deals with is the doulas and midwives who stigmatize or judge her for being a supporter of abortion. Another form of back lash she's experienced, referencing to her work with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, is a general misconception that Latina women are all blatantly anti-choice. Yet the Latina Institute works with and helps Latina women who support abortion and those who don't necessarily support it but are accepting of the organization regardless and are pro-birth control and support a number of other aspects of reproductive health.

Carmen divulges her experience with Racialicious, where in the beginning there was no moderation for comments but came to a point when moderation was definitely necessary. She talks about the general "rules" that they ask their readers to abide by, which includes to not make generalizations about race or any other group of people or person, which is something that they deal with on a consistent basis. She also discusses how to figure out what's "ban-able," and some strategies that the editors have talked about to handle particular comments that have been problematic for the productivity of the site.

Jessica makes a point that - after listening to the speakers - how different blogs' backlash can be, and how disruptive comments are usually (and obviously) not appropriate in public spaces which is why commenters use anonymity to speak their ignorance. (Because they wouldn't do it in person.)

Somehow the suggestion that chicken and beef's hybrid would be spam also came into the conversation, but that's a whole other conversation. (And no, I'm totally not joking.)

There's a fantastic group of women panelists covering this session: Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon and author of "It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments" (highly recommended), moderator Emily Douglas of RH Reality Check, Cristina Page, author of "How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America," and Aimee Thorne-Thompsen of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP).

Aimee talks about PEP's work with younger women of color, their research and critique of the "choice" movement and the ways that it isolates many women, in which she leads to a discussion about the creation and history of reproductive justice, which she means working towards "a collective solution that betters us all instead of betters just some of us." She also touches on the amazing initiative EMERJ who has the goal of growing and strengthening the reproductive justice movement.

Cristina Page discusses her experience within the pro-choice movement and how the conversation around the movement has largely been around abortion, when the fact of the matter is that reproductive rights organizations are working more towards prevention than anything, specifically contraception rights. In fact, she befriended a "pro-life" leader, traveled across the country and ended up writing an op-ed together in the New York Times, "The Right to Agree" suggesting that the two movements can, in fact, work together to provide support for prevention and family-friendly policies, but how that all gets lost in the larger debate of abortion rights. She talks about taking back language that anti-choice leaders use, including "murder" and "butcher," but as well as anti-choicers being "fanatics." In short, there are arguments that we have to potentially recruit anti-choicers to see things differently.

Amanda talks about how a reproductive justice framework "makes it easier to communicate our values to the public." Really understanding the reproductive justice framework can also help you debate anti-choice people, particularly anti-choicers who aren't necessarily activists. She says we need to talk about things in really blunt, frank terms (like "sex," as scared as the public may be to talk about it) in order to reach out to people, and even using humor in the process. She also suggests to not be afraid to take the cheap shot when you need to. (She uses the example of her calling out John McCain's spiritual adviser Rod Parsley for saying that the KKK would just love abortion rights people for committing "black genocide," while she finds very clearly on the KKK website of their opposition to choice. Who would of thought.)

Great questions and comments are being brought up by the audience, including how to engage anti-choicers, people with faith who support reproductive justice, including abortion as a health care issue in the media, taking "education" out of "abstinence-only education," and talking to black communities about abortion. (Silent Choices is a film running today at the conference addressing that very issue.)

Great panel. Serious kudos to all the panelists!

While my co-bloggers, friends and fellow activists are out having some celebratory drinks to kick off the first night of WAM, I'm here in the hotel room about to catch up on some much-needed sleep. But I just wanted to say - to all the WAMmers out there - every year I get more excited to see you all. You are one bad ass group of women!

For those of you who couldn't be at the conference, look out for some live-blogging tomorrow (and perhaps after-party blogging?).

A special shout out to the fabulous women here from Cornell University's Women's Resource Center who are bringing me to campus next week to speak. I was running on about two hours sleep when I talked to you gals, so apologies for the incoherent blabbering I was doing. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with you all tomorrow!

If anyone wants to find me at WAM, I'll be spending a lot of my day tomorrow on table duty for the incredible organization Girls Write Now. Come find me and find out more about GWN and how to get involved. (Or, just to chat.)

It’s amazing how two contraceptive ads can be on such opposite sides of the respectrum. (Yes, I totally just made up that word.)

I posted a while back on Trojan’s commercial launching their “Evolve� campaign that I was a bit wary of, but now I’m really digging what they’re trying to do. Their new widely released ad uses the recent study showing that 1 in 4 teenage girls have an sexually transmitted infection (STI), with the statement, “We can do better than this! We can evolve the way we approach sexual health in our country.�

Then we have Durex.

According to All Diva Media, the text says something along the lines of, “There are better things to hit.� Who needs to talk about a sexual health crisis when we have references to sexual violence to make!

Thanks to Kory for the link!

So sick of pop culture reducing girls to mindless boy-crazy Barbie wannabees. Check out the two posts that inspired this video.

And, of course, don't forget to subscribe to the Feministing YouTube channel!

A woman who filed a restraining order against former boyfriend and present Republican candidate was pressured by the Republican party to drop it.

Ali Hasan was in the midst of his campaign when Alison Miller and his relationship ended, after which, according to Miller, Hasan hired a company to hack into her email accounts to find out here whereabouts as well as harassed her. "He followed me to intimidate me and control how I handled the situation," said Miller, also a Republican, stated in the court documents.

Chairman of the Eagle County Republican Party, Randy Milhoan, implied that the story was concocted as a campaign smear, which is also what the Hassans are claiming. "The whole thing is just crazy. You couldn't have scripted a story more cleverly than this one," says Milhoan. Hence the article title, "GOP candidate in a 'crazy' soap opera drama."

Yeah, because stalking just seems just so outrageous! And a Republican woman to file a restraining order against her own kind?? Pshhh.

After Hasan hired Kobe Bryant's law firm and local party officials began telling her she was "embarrassing the Republican party," Miller decided not to move forward with a permanent restraining order. Criminal charges may still be filed by the district attorney.

Let's all say it together now: Stalking is a very real and serious problem. To brush it off as some melodrama and shame a woman for trying to protect herself is what the Republican party of Eagle County should be embarrassed by.

Another great article from the NYTimes, Who Likes Asparagus? Men More Than Women discussing a study that analyzed eating patterns among men and women.

The study of eating habits of adults -- called the most extensive of its kind -- was a telephone survey of 14,000 Americans. It confirmed conventional wisdom that most men eat more meat than women, and women eat more fruits and vegetables. But there were a few surprising exceptions: Men were much more likely to eat asparagus, brussels sprouts, peas and peanuts. They also were bigger consumers of frozen pizzas, frozen hamburgers and frozen Mexican dinners. Women are more likely than men to eat eggs, yogurt and fresh hamburgers.

Studies like this, and the simple reporting that outlets like the NYTimes does upsets me for a few reasons. One, it is really that useful? Could we also do a telephone survey and find that brunettes show different trends in eating than blonds? How much does this research just reinforce our already concrete ideas about gender difference? Of course men eat more meat than women! It's because they need more protein for all their manly activities.

The other problem has more to do with the media misuse (and abuse) of random scientific studies. There is a great article in Bitch Magazine, Mad Science, that addresses this.

Nowhere do scientific findings get more mangled than when they’re about the differences between men and women. According to the science pages, women aren’t just biologically hardwired to prefer pink to blue. We’re also predisposed to backstab one another in the workplace, cry in the boardroom, and have both lower iqs and less of a sense of humor than men.

Some misleading stories come from bad science, where the study authors’ conclusions aren’t supported by their own data. Others are well-conducted studies whose conclusions mutate upon contact with the mainstream media. Newspapers and websites are prone to playing fast and loose with their reports on studies, often neglecting to reveal salient facts about a study’s sample group or methodology.

And finally, there is the obvious angle missing from this piece which is the way the we are socialized through our gender. Men and women have very different eating habits most likely because they are taught (and marketed to) in very different ways. Body image, differences in standards of beauty and nutritionism, all of these things are going to have an impact on our eating habits. Yet the way the NYTimes reported the study simply implies that this is just another fascinating way that men and women are so radically different!

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, complaints of pregnancy discrimination hiked up by 14% between 2006 and 2007. There has been a 40% increase over the last decade, reports the National Partnership for Women and Families.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that this is party because women are increasingly working later into their pregnancies, including new advocacy being created for pregnant women and women with children.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act can't straight up protect women from being fired or not hired, but if they're singled out based on their pregnancy, they're liable to take action. And unfortunately, the Family and Medical Leave Act poses a problem: while unpaid maternity leave is required, it doesn't doesn't require paid maternity leave. (California and Washington are exceptions.)

Regardless, it's good to see women taking more action on pregnancy discrimination; we're getting closer to accurate numbers on how prevalent it really is in the U.S. and maybe, just maybe, our family-friendly policies will someday get friendlier. Check out MomsRising and the National Advocates for Pregnant Women has a great list of more resources about pregnant women and mother's rights at work.

If we're a little slow on posting today, it's because about half of the Feministing crew is en route to Boston for the super-fabulous WAM conference. But don't worry, you can expect some live-blogging this weekend...

Playboy magazine is launching in the Philippines, though I'm not sure that's what I find so disturbing...

"Maxim and FHM are called laddy magazines. We can be called a Dad magazine," Beting Laygo Dolor, Playboy Philippines' editor, told Reuters on Thursday.

Now, Dolor said that they're calling it a "Dad" magazine because the publication will be marketed to men 30 years-old and over. But still - ew.

This is definitely depressing: A national poll in Ireland showed that a shocking (well, I guess not) number of people think that rape survivors are totally or partially responsible for being attacked.

More than 30% think a victim is some way responsible if she flirts with a man or fails to say no clearly.

10% of people think the victim is entirely at fault if she has had a number of sexual partners.

37% think a woman who flirts extensively is at least complicit, if not completely in the wrong, if she is the victim of a sex crime.

One in three think a woman is either partly or fully to blame if she wears revealing clothes.

38% believe a woman must share some of the blame if she walks through a deserted area.

Just...wow. I really can't wait to get to WAM this weekend - there's something about being around hundreds of feminists that really cheers a gal up, even in the face of news like this.

Thanks to Denise for the link.

My friend and colleague Nora Dye, along with the Pro-Choice Public Education Project is organizing an amazing bike tour this summer and she wants YOU to join her. She and a group of 10-15 people will be riding from New Orleans to New York City and doing amazing work along the way. Nora did a cross country trip last summer and it served as the inspiration for this year's group trip they're calling Wanderlust.

Wanderlust is usually described as “desire to see the world�, or “having an itch to travel�. Some people call it itchy feet. I chose the name Wanderlust to represent the spirit of this trip, which is dedicated to talking to people about the convoluted and endlessly fascinating ways we deal with sexuality in our culture.

I had such a good time last summer that I’m doing it again, and this time YOU’RE invited! We’ll be riding from New Orleans to New York City from May 26th to July 1st. Along the way, we’ll be sharing the results of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project’s recent research on the concerns of young women of color as well as the experiences and interests of the riders. By traveling the country and listening to those organizations and people who are fighting for reproductive, sexual, and political autonomy, we will gather knowledge and information, forge connections between people who could mutually benefit from knowing each other, and get inspired and excited by the amazing communities, ideas, and projects that are being manifested every day.

This trip promises to be an unforgettable experience, and I hope you’ll join me to explore the politics of sexuality from the bayou to the big city.

Gotta a few open weeks this summer? Join the ride! For more information about the Wanderlust trip, check out Nora's blog. Apply now! The deadline is April 1st.

I don't know about you, but I was obsessed with Sweet Valley High when I was a kid. (Though I was always pissed that the Jessica character was the vapid one, while Elizabeth was the cool, smart reporter type.)

Well, it seems that Random House is re-releasing the series with a new modern twist: skinnier twins.

To publicize the re-release of teen fiction series Sweet Valley High, Random House Children's Books sent a letter to journalists highlighting the changes made to the content of the 1980s paperbacks. New cover girl Leven Rambin (pictured) was not mentioned, but just to make sure preteen and teenaged girl readers are sufficiently insecure about their bodies, the publisher made the "perfect" clothing size a couple of notches more restrictive.

In a side-by-side column comapring the 1983 version of the book with the present one, publishers write that the previous characters were a "perfect size 6." Now, they're a "perfect size 4." Charming. The next SVH book? Nipping it in the Bud: Elizabeth's Designer Vagina.

Check out my latest at the Nation. It is about the connection between rate at which STDs spread and its relationship to the rate of incarceration in communities of color and how prisons are a feminist issue and should be on the agenda of the feminist movement.

The New York Times has a piece in the Style section today (as usual) about sexism within some vegan/vegetarian circles like Johnny Diablo, owner of the new vegan strip club in Portland, who just loves using the word "feminazi" and signs his name "Lord & Master." Check out Ann's great post for more background.

As anyone who listens to the music knows, it tends to be a man's game, but there are a few brave women who have shown that MC-ing isn't sex-linked to the Y-chromosome. In my book I talk about the negative affects of growing up listening to a music that essentially told me: "Your role in the music of your generation is as eye candy, the cute girl at the party who gets freestyled about [thanks Che DeLeon], not the one who does the freestyling. Your body is your voice." There were some spit-kickin' women, and more to come, who give young women a different message, that they have every right to make their voices and lyrics and stories heard within hip hop communities. Big ups to Jill Scott, Bahamadia, Jean Graye, Lauren Hill, Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shante etc. etc. (please free to add names in the comments section). And a personal shout out to Kate and Christina, Lengua 4 Eva.

I was hanging out with some Skidmore gals after my talk there Tuesday and we got to talking about that old, itchy foe, yeast infections. One of the pre-med students had just prepared a paper about alternative treatments, including...drum roll please...sticking yogurt in your vagina ("not strawberry, not vanilla," she warned us, "plain yogurt.") A couple of the other female students freaked out at this suggestion (ahem, Carly, ahem). I googled it today and, lo and behold, it's a bonafide treatment (along with garlic and tea tree oil).

So level with me, what do you all think about these alternative va-jay-jay remedies? Do you use them or resort to the man's Monistat? I went to the Monistat website, and in addition to lots of smiling women pics, I found this warning:

CAUTION: If you are taking the prescription blood-thinning medicine Warfarin, ask a doctor or pharmacist before using any MONISTAT® products, because bleeding or bruising may occur when miconazole nitrate is taken at the same time as warfarin.

There's no question that the personal is the political, even when it comes to our most individuated health and wellness choices. But it's got me wondering, is it "less feminist" to resort to store-bought cures or is this one of those things that we should lay off on politicizing?

*Note to all: douching is bullshit. If you don't know, now you know.

If you're in the New York area tonight, check out what promises to be a deep conversation about the unfinished work of feminism and its bright future. I spoke in Ann Snitow's class earlier in the semester and I was blown away by how awesome she was. It's no surprise that she's brought in such a great group of panelists:

FEMINIST GENERATIONS/FEMINIST LOCATIONS:
THE CONTINUING VITALITY OF FEMINIST THOUGHT AND ACTION
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2008
66 WEST 12TH ST., ROOM 407
6:30-8 PM

DEBORAH SIEGEL, author of Sisterhood, Interrupted

LINDA ABAD of Damayan Migrant Workers Association

MEREDITH TAX of Women's World
(a founder of Boston's Bread & Roses – 1969)

ANN SNITOW of Eugene Lang College and NSSR
(a founder of New York Radical Feminists – 1969)

CLEOPATRA LAMOTHE of Women of Color Collective, Lang

ERICA READE of Moxie, Lang College Feminist Club

(Sponsored by the Gender Studies Minor Working Group & Eugene Lang College Special Projects)

I’m reading an amazing little book by one of my new favorite authors, Parker Palmer (see my review of The Courage to Teach from a couple of weeks ago). This one's called Let Your Life Speak and in it he explores how one truly finds a vocation, a calling, a purpose in life. He writes:

Some journeys are direct, and some are circuitous; some are heroic, and some are fearful and muddled. But every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.

Two childhood memories popped into my head…1) lying on the cold, tile kitchen floor, holding my mom’s toes while she talked on the phone to her friends, listening to their stories and the way she consoled them and 2) setting my stuffed animals up in a group and then reading to them aloud, careful to show them the pictures when I turned the pages very patiently and deliberately. What did I become? A professional eavesdropper (i.e. writer) and a teacher.

Watching his granddaughter, Parker writes:

She did not show up as raw material to be shaped into whatever image the world might want her to take. She arrived with her own gifted form, with the shape of her own sacred soul. Biblical faith calls it the image of God in which we are all created. Thomas Merton calls it true self. Quakers call it the inner light, or “that of God� in every person. The humanist tradition calls it identity and integrity. No matter what you call it, it is a pearl of great price.

So today, I ask you, where does your “deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?� What is your “pearl of great price?� I think these questions are particularly important in a society that still clings to inauthentic gender norms, especially when it comes to career. If you were neither man nor woman, if you didn't get caught up in "shoulds" or "oughts", if you had a break from economic fears...who would you be?

Next week: some literary take on the Women, Action, & Media conference and the week after, Complications by by Atul Gawande

On Fox News yesterday, Larry Sabato of the Center for Politics offered a very insightful metaphor of Democrats and Republicans:

"Look, when you analyze parties, you need to think of them this way: The Democratic Party is the mommy party, and the Republican Party is the daddy party. . . The mother is loving and caring and takes us back in and provides the safety net. The father is the disciplinarian -- tough love. He makes us face up to hard realities, at least in many families. Well, the mommy party is the Democratic Party. The daddy party is the Republican Party."

No comment necessary.

Check out the video of this ass at Media Matters.

As promised, here’s an update on the Feministing site upgrades. Things are moving along well, we’re to the part I like best, fiddling around (technical term) with where things go and how they work. Today Jessica and I were talking about something that we’d like your feedback on.

All registered users with the site will be able to upload a picture that displays on your profile page, if they want to. It’s also possible to have a small user picture appear next to every comment you add to the site. So, the question is, do you want that? Let us know. Vote in the poll and let us know in comments why you answered that way.

It is good to see that eating disorders are actually considered a public health concern that is being stimulated by the fashion and beauty industry. Italy is starting a campaign on eating disorders.

Italian authorities are mounting a $1.5 million campaign against a growing epidemic of anorexia and other eating disorders in a country known for its fashion industry and image consciousness.

The Italian Ministries of Health and Sports are aiming the project at schools and the media, providing guidelines for magazines, television, radio and Internet sites to discourage ultra-thin beauty ideals.

"Anorexia and bulimia have been for many years diseases that have not been recognized as such. It was sort of a veil of unspoken and unrecognized problems," said Giovanna Melandri, minister for young people and sports.

I wonder how the fashion industry will take to that?

via AP.

iPartySmarter.com - Smart Women Smart Choices:"Girls just want to have fun. Right? However, a woman's party style can make all the difference between having fun or having regrets." (Nothing like a little victim-blaming campaign to shame women into not "partying.")

Copyranter - French men can't see the forest for the trees. Or something: Some charming ads for hair removal cream.

Rebel Dad - Men: Shrinking Violets?: Brian takes on Laura Sessions Stepp's latest nonsense.

Open Society Fellowship: "The Open Society Institute has launched a fellowship program for outstanding individuals from around the world working on issues concerning national security, citizenship, authoritarianism, and new strategies and tools for advocacy." (For all you activists who need funding, check it out!)

Feminists More Open-Minded on Weight - New York Times: "If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then try to be beheld by a feminist."

Think Progress - HHS Secretary: OB/GYNs With Objections To Abortion Should Not Have To Refer Patients To Other Doctors: "In a little-noticed letter on Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt wrote a letter to the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), stating that providers with moral objections to abortion should have no obligation to refer patients." (NPR has more.)

This is too gross. An online game, Miss Bimbo, encourages girls (as in under 10 years old) to buy their avatars plastic surgery - face lifts, boob jobs, you name it - in order to be the "hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the whole world." Yeah.

Children are given a naked virtual character to look after. They compete against other players to earn "bimbo" dollars so they can dress her in sexy outfits and take her clubbing. They are given missions, including securing plastic surgery at the game's clinic to give their dolls bigger breasts, and they have to keep her at her target weight with diet pills.

Perhaps even worse than the sexist and dangerous messages being sent to young women, is the cavalier response of the Miss Bimbo creators (both men, btw).

[Chris Evans says,] "But there are lots of positive lessons that replicate messages in real life."

While feeding your bimbo too much chocolate has added virtual pounds to the animated girls' hips, feeding her fruits and vegetables will improve her health, Evans points out.

That and diet pills, apparently. Evans also claims that the game is just aiming to be realistic: "The breast operations are just one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to have them, just reflecting real life." You know, the kind of real life where nine year-olds get boob jobs. Charming.

The morning after Back Up Your Birth Control Day, that is. Ack, we missed it! But not to fear. Just like you can take emergency contraception the day after unprotected or less-than-ideally-protected sex (and in fact, up to five days later -- though it's most effective within 24 hours) you can back up your birth control today.

If you're 18 or over, visit your local pharmacy and pick up some Plan B. You'll have to show ID, but you should just be able to get it over the counter, right then and there. It's probably gonna cost about $40 or so. If that's more than you can afford at the moment, or if you're under 18, you can reach a free or low-cost EC provider by stopping by a Planned Parenthood or calling 1-888-NOT-2-LATE. (Here's more info on how to get EC.)

I know it can be weird to go ask a pharmacist for emergency contraception when you're not in an emergency situation. Hard to work up the motivation. But because its potential effectiveness decreases the longer you wait to take it, it's best to have some Plan B on hand. What if it's a weekend and your local pharmacy is closed? Or what if a friend needs it, and you're able to come through for her in a stressful moment? And think of how nice it will be to be spared the errand of rushing off to the pharmacy (because, even in the big city, you never know if you're gonna get a judgy pharmacist) if you're ever in a panicked moment when you actually need EC.

If you've already got some EC on hand, you can still celebrate the morning after Back Up Your Birth Control Day by spreading the word. Here are some talking points (PDF) on EC access. I'd add a special election-year talking point to the list, pointing out that John McCain has opposed legislation improving access to emergency contraception.

So I read this quote in a Newsweek article about why few female politicians get caught cheating on their husbands:

Some insist it can be explained by basic biology. ___________ says men "stow their brains in their crotches. Women do seem to approach work differently. And women tend to regard sex differently. They like to at least like the person."

Fill in the blank. Any guesses as to who is advancing this perspective, common in abstinence-only education, that all men are savage sex-obsessed beasts and all women value emotional connections? Charlotte Allen, perhaps? Abstinence-only crazy lady Leslee Unruh? Or maybe all-purpose anti-feminist commentator Phyllis Schlafly?

Nope, it was feminist author and activist Robin Morgan. Wow. I'm going to go out on a limb and say many, many feminists (myself included) disagree with her on these points.

Shockingly, Newsweek follows the quote with a reasonable response that takes into account the sexual double standard:

But surely part of the reason is that, historically, women who stray have suffered more than men who do. Men are often forgiven more easily—their dalliances are considered a lapse, an uncontrollable urge. Gunnbjorg Lavoll, a psychiatrist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, says the assumption that men will be "naughty" is built into phrases like "boys will be boys." "Do you hear 'girls will be girls'?" asks Lavoll. "No. The social consequences for women are much harsher. What kind of woman would abandon her children?"

Right. It's not that women politicians never cheat. In fact, Newsweek named several who have. It's just that women have more disincentives for doing so -- society punishes them more harshly than men who stray.

The most recent entry in a personal-history subgenre I like to call "I'm not a freak, I'm an over-6-foot-tall woman!" was excerpted in yesterday's New York Times (via):

Everywhere I go people stare at me. At the grocery store children gawk at me wide-eyed, craning their necks and pointing as they tug their mothers’ shirts. When I pass people on the street, I hear them mumble comments about my appearance.

I am not deformed or handicapped, I’m not a circus attraction. I have strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. What makes me different is that I’m 6-foot-4, and I’m a woman.

Arianne Cohen, who's got a book about height coming out in July, said much the same thing in Nerve in 2006:

To begin with, to be extra-tall is to be somehow more public than the average woman. Everybody sees me. Strangers on the subway peer upward and tell me about their childhood neighbor who was tall. Fellow grocery shoppers sheepishly request my help procuring items from upper shelves. Male passers-by mutter, "That was one giant woman." Men seem particularly inclined to register one characteristic: tall.

And here's a bit from my own take on life as a tall woman:

I'd add to that: Fratty dudes in bars will chant "6 footer!" or loudly make bets with each other about how tall I am. (Well, I've actually had restaurant wait staff and fellow wedding guests make bets, too, so maybe it's unfair to pin that one on the bros alone.) People stare openly, all the time, everywhere I go. There are some days, namely those when I'm wearing whopping 1-inch heels, that I feel like I leave a ripple of height comments in my wake. Small children point and say, "Mommy! Look at the giant lady!" Women who feel insecure about their own height will often say to me, "I wish I was that tall!" No, honey, you don't. Really.

But it does have certain benefits.

That post sparked a great conversation in comments about height and gender -- and again and again women of all body types wrote about strangers walking up to them and commenting on their body. Guess that's a pretty universal female experience in this country, no matter what your height. (And yet another reason why we're feminists...)

This is crazy.

The best part is this letter that comes with it, "Why chose chastity?" My favorite line, "Actually, it is not their fault, men constantly have their own biology bombarding them with a physical need for sexual release." See, feminism is for men too.

I am hoping this is a joke.

UPDATE: Having read the fine print this device is intended for fantasy play. So if you want to fantasize being a repressed boy that must be controlled, this is for you. It says at the bottom of the first page, " It must be understood that some acts discussed or depicted on the ExoBelt website on in email correspondence may be medically unsafe or harmful and that the description and discussion of and such act(s) is intended as purely anecdotal or "fantasy" material. You choose to engage in any such act(s), discussed or depicted, entirely at your own risk."

Men get to fantasize about having their sexuality controlled, while everyone tries to control a woman's. Funny, innit.

Over at RHRealityCheck, Dana looks at Barack Obama's record on choice issues when he was in the Illinois State Senate, and draws some conclusions about the smear campaigns the anti-choice movement will attempt:

The anti-choice anti-Obama strategy is based on Obama's clear "no" votes on the "Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act," or BAIPA. Leading anti-choice blogger Jill Stanek, who testified in the Illinois state Senate on behalf of the bill, has played a key role in disseminating this anti-Obama argument in the right-wing blogosphere. Taking the bait, former presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback, in a fundraising email to supporters of his political action committee last month, excoriated Obama for opposing BAIPA. And in a Feb. 26 editorial, the National Catholic Register fumed, "Obama wouldn't even protect children born alive by mistake during abortion attempts."

But BAIPA isn't really about protecting infants; it is anti-abortion rights legislation crafted by the hard right. BAIPA targets the abortion procedure known as dilation and extraction, which anti-choicers have so successfully re-branded as "partial birth abortion." Dilation and extraction accounts for less than one-fifth of one percent of all American abortions, and is used most often to end wanted pregnancies in which expectant parents learn their baby will not be viable outside of the womb.

Read the rest here.

(And does Stanek's name sound familiar? That's because she once claimed abortion providers eat fetuses, and that we don't need the HPV vaccine because it's only for sluts, and they pretty much deserve to die of cervical cancer.)

A Republican California assemblyman proposed a bill that would deem pregnant women "temporarily disabled" in the third trimester of their pregnancy and allow them access to handicapped parking. The bill failed, but I think this is really interesting.

The classification of differently-abled people is usually pretty stigmatizing. Disability rights activists have talked about the problem with being overly protective of differently-abled people while overlooking systemic problems in the care of people with disabilities and the lack of appropriate legislation to protect their individual rights.

People with disabilities are constantly fighting against a misinformed public, discrimination and the often erroneous belief that differently-abled people are helpless and can't make decisions for themselves. It is not OK, but we can agree that these assumptions are prevalent. So if that is the case, and we have politicians that want to classify pregnant women as "disabled" these same misconceptions apply on some level. There is then the belief that pregnant women are unable to take care of themselves, make choices for themselves, etc. Is the answer for society's mistreatment of both differently-abled people and pregnant women legislation that will classify women as "temporarily disabled?"

I don't think so. But then you think about what is possible, given the current laws with regard to differently-abled people and it is true that pregnant women sometimes have special needs and those needs should be protected by the government.

I just have a problem with calling people "disabled" and to extend that category to pregnant women. It is infantilizing, something the legal system loves to do to "vulnerable" populations through demoralizing and poorly phrased legislation. Isn't there a way to protect people's rights and allow them fair access depending on their abilities without saying they are disabled? And I am not overly concerned with the terms alone-but the meanings and assumptions that are attached to them.

One of our readers sent us an email recently, rightfully confused as to why Taco Bell's hot sauce packets are now printed with a website that leads you to perhaps the creepiest ad campaign ever. "Direct Daniella" has the user follow around a swimsuit model, taking pictures of her in a weird stalkerish webcam way.

Reader Karlen wrote, "What this has to do with lousy 'Mexican' fast food is beyond me." Indeed. So I did a little digging. Turns out, Taco Bell has joined up with Sports Illustrated to promote the magazine's swimsuit issue.

Imagine standing on the shores of an exotic beach, the warm sand beneath your feet while the sun glistens off your back. You are enjoying the sound of the waves crashing behind you, when suddenly a gorgeous supermodel walks up and asks, "Are you my photographer?" Welcome to Taco Bell's Direct Daniella interactive experience.

Taco Bell(R) has teamed up with Sports Illustrated and 2008 swimsuit model Daniella Sarahyba to create a one-of-a-kind online swimsuit photo shoot, Direct Daniella, where users become the photographer with the exotic Brazilian beauty.

Exotic, huh? It's like a big ole chalupa of sexism and grossness wrapped in some fetishization of women of color. De-licious.

Via Cecelia's new blog, Ojibway Migisi Bineshii, the Rapid City Journal reports:

A small shelter offering a temporary haven for Native American women seeking to escape domestic violence has just six weeks to find a new Rapid City home.

"We're just kind of shell-shocked," Karen Artichoker, manager of Cangleska, said.

Cangleska's Ohitika Najin Win Oti (Standing Strong Woman) shelter has lost the lease on the home it has used as a shelter for the past seven years. [...]

The shelter's original intent was to provide transitional housing for women leaving the reservation for their own safety, Artichoker said.

Over the years, a growing number of local Native American women have sought refuge in the shelter. The average stay for a mother and her children is about 19 days. The shelter always has a waiting list, Artichoker said.

You can donate to the shelter here.

In happier related news, earlier this month Pretty Bird Woman House (on South Dakota's Standing Rock Reservation) opened the doors to its new shelter! (The previous shelter was burned down last year.)

Oh those wacky anti-choicers!

A Senate candidate has legally changed his name to Pro-Life and will appear on the ballot that way this year, state election officials say.

As Marvin Pro-Life Richardson, the organic strawberry farmer from Letha, 30 miles northwest of Boise, was denied the use of his middle name when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 because the state's policy bars the use of slogans on the ballot.

Now, though, officials in the Idaho secretary of state's office say they have no choice because Pro-Life is his full and only name. He says he will run for the highest state office on the ballot every two years for the rest of his life, advocating murder charges for doctors who perform abortions and for women who obtain the procedure.

Sounds like a charming guy. I think I'm going to change my middle name to Profuckingchoice, just for funsies. Any other fun stick-it-to-the-Man names?

Okay, so it's not exactly back-to-school time. But these school supplies from the fabulous Sticker Sisters are a must have any time of year. (Though I totally want a pen that says 'action is glamour'. But I'm just cheesy like that.)

At the end of the week most of the Feministing crew will be heading to Boston for the Women, Action and Media Conference. If you're going to be there, make sure to come and say hi! Jessica is moderating a panel on Backlash on Saturday, along with Ann presenting on Beating the Old Boys Club, Courtney on book publishing and Feministing Techster Deanna on feminist blogs plus much more!

If you happen to be in town early, come see me speak at Boston College on Thursday night. I'm speaking twice, back to back, the first a talk sponsored by the African Studies department on reproductive health care access for immigrant Latinas. The second talk will be about the intersections of reproductive justice and LGBT liberation (I've written about this before) sponsored by the GLBTQ Leadership Council.

Event details after the jump.

Behold star of The Hills, Heidi Montag, aka Feminist Hero.

Ginia Bellafante writes,

Defying our expectations, Heidi has emerged as a kind of feminist hero this season, climbing her way to a bigger position at the event-planning company where she orchestrates Nascar parties, and refusing to acquiesce to the demands of her fiancé, Spencer, that she get herself home on time. Her career-mindedness sets their relationship off course. Heidi identifies the problem with no name: a boyfriend who sits around an apartment decorated to look like an ’80s video arcade while trying to deny Heidi a real wedding with the glory of registering. Her groundswell of self-assertion begins when he insists on eloping, prompting Heidi to declare, “This isn’t, like, Spencer’s relationship and you decide what we do.�

Yes, a modern day Gloria Steinem. I don't joke to denigrate Montag - frankly I don't watch The Hills so I can't speak to her feminist cred. However, I do find it somewhat hilarious that Montag is being deigned a "feminist hero" by the very reporter who famously declared feminism dead on the cover of Time Magazine.

Ann's brilliant (and sadly probably right-on) reaction: "She's probably compiling material for a 'Is Feminism STILL SUPER DEAD?' cover story."

Bellafante's 1998 article bemoaned today's feminism, saying it has "devolved into the silly...And it has powerful support for this: a popular culture insistent on offering images of grown single women as frazzled, self-absorbed girls." And yet Bellafante looks to The Hills for feminist icons. Baffling, really.

Via several readers comes this cartoon from Toothpaste For Dinner:

Click image to enlarge.

Reminds me of a real-life troll who showed up when Jessica and I spoke at the University of Missouri a few weeks ago. The guy raised his hand and asked us, "How come you never talk about men? You don't blog about areas where men are underrepresented!" Exactly which areas those were, he couldn't say...

Philip Anderson at The Albany Project reports on this oh-so-charming piece of news:

Up until just a few years ago, lawmakers would go "window shopping" for interns at the start of every legislative session. In a practice that went on for decades, the interns would be corraled in a Capitol newsstand, and legislators would take their pick.

..."There was a lot of hitting on us and boundaries being crossed," said one young woman lobbyist who was part of that scene for years.

Corraled into a newsstand? Really? I'm with Digby on this one:

If politicians who corralled a bunch of women into a newsstand to be chosen for jobs in legislators' offices based on their sexual attractiveness to the disgusting pigs they were going to work for are still in office today, they should be exposed. That's not consensual behavior, that's sex discrimination. This practice apparently went on until 2004, and there's no excuse for it.

Indeed. And ugh.

Poor Monty. He had such a good time this weekend in Woodstock running around and digging in the muddy snow, just to get all sick before he came home. Puppy gas=Ohmygodthatstinks.

How was your weekend?

No joke.

While the Steelers are getting quite the rep for violence against women as of late, the team managers have turned a blind eye to a player slapping his girlfriend because what he was trying to do "was really well worth it."

While Cedrick Wilson was released from the team for punching his ex-girlfriend on Wednesday night, James Harrison was decidedly okie dokie to stay after assaulting his girlfriend earlier this month.

On March 8, Harrison was charged with assaulting his girlfriend, Beth Tibbot, in her Ohio Township home. According to a police affadavit, Harrison broke down a door, broke Tibbot's cell phone in half as she attempted to call 911, then slapped her face with an open hand, knocking off her glasses. He was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief and faces an April 3 preliminary hearing before a magistrate in Bellevue.

When the team was questioned as to why one player is being released while the Harrison isn't, they replied that violence against women should basically be condoned on a case-by-case basis:

In Harrison's case, Rooney [team chairperson] said the player was trying to take his son to be baptized.

"What Jimmy Harrison was doing and how the incident occurred, what he was trying to do was really well worth it," Rooney said of Harrison's initial intent with his son. "He was doing something that was good, wanted to take his son to get baptized where he lived and things like that. She said she didn't want to do it."(Emphasis mine)

Beating a woman up is okay as long as it's "well-intentioned"! When the team was accused of condoning Harrison's actions, they released a statement saying: "To clarify the comments made earlier regarding the conduct of our players, in no way do we condone domestic violence of any kind. . . Each incident must be considered on a case-by-case basis. In the situation with James Harrison, he contacted us immediately after his incident and has taken responsibility for his actions." Not too convoluted, huh?

The Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh is attempting to reach out the Steelers about giving the players training on intimate partner issues. In the meantime, email the Steelers or call their administrative offices at 412) 432-7800 and tell them that condoning violence against women in any case is not okay.

Thanks to Breanna for the link.

The Advocate explores what happens when transmen choose to get pregnant. (And please, hold the stupid Junior jokes.)

Apparently anything with a female pronoun attached is subject to hate-filled, sexist rants that purport to be humor. Weird.

How rape and violence against women is downplayed in coverage of Darfur.

Rebecca Walker has a blog!

An awesome primer on Asian and APIA feminists.

Afghan feminists look to the Koran as reinforcement of their beliefs: "Forced marriage, child brides, honor killings – none of this is in the Koran," Fatima told me, when we met in her office at Kabul's Red Crescent Society, which she directs. "Women are treated like chattel, and in the name of Islam. This is not sanctioned in the Koran," she said. […] "If we want to change Islam from within, we have to be totally committed to the religion. That's the only way to succeed," said Fatima.

Reminder: Civil unions are not "just as good as" marriage. Scott and Melissa have more.

Kavita Ramdas tells us to look beyond Clinton v. Obama and toward the status of women and people of color in the rest of the world.

Deborah Brenner is the author of Women of the Vine and proprietor of Women of the Vine Cellars. While writing the book, Deborah and winemaker, Signe Zoller met and teamed up in 2006 to launch a first-of-its-kind wine company; bottled and produced by Women of the Vine Cellars.

From 2002-2005, Deborah ran her own marketing and public relations firm, SmallFishBigPond, and worked with such companies as Cinecitta Studios of Rome, Quantel, NBC and CNBC. Prior to that, Ms. Brenner spent over 16 years working in the film, television and the post production industries and was involved in four technology startups.

Here's Deborah...

Stolen shamelessly from my fave NYC-rockers, the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls. Find more weekend inspiration here, here and here.

This is going to ruin your afternoon. Just a warning. Isaac R. Baichu, 46, began calling a 22 year-old Colombian woman after receiving her cell phone number at a green card interview last year.

He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price — not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.

“I want sex,� he said on the recording. “One or two times. That’s all. You get your green card. You won’t have to see me anymore.�

Before she left his car, he demanded oral sex to “know that you’re serious.� In other words, he raped her. (Though strangely, the NY Times article doesn't it call it rape. It just notes that "he got his way.") The rest of the story is just as horrible (trigger warning like a mofo), but I'm glad that it's at least getting some press.

Preying on undocumented immigrant women isn't exactly a new thing, and it's pretty amazing that this young woman came forward. Most women won't report sexual assaults by immigration officials for fear of retaliation or deportation.

For more information on immigrant women's issues, check out the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women and Legal Momentum's Immigrant Women Program.

A survey released yesterday revealed that nearly half of maternity wards in the UK turned away women in labor last year:

Of the 147 NHS Trusts that provide maternity services, 103 provided figures. Of these, 42 percent reported having closed or having been forced to divert women to another site at least once last year because of capacity problems.

A Department of Health spokesperson responded:

"It is difficult precisely to predict when a mother will go into labour and sometimes, at times of peak demand, maternity units do temporarily divert women to nearby facilities. When this does happen, it is often only for a few hours and to ensure mother and baby can receive the best care possible."

Okay, but can't a few hours be critical in some cases? Deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives Louise Silverton said: "The key issue here is what the women want. Women want to know and develop a relationship with their midwife and not feel as if they are on a production line. Midwives want to be able to deliver the best possible individualised care and not feel like they are working in a baby factory."

This seems pretty crazy to me. Has anyone had this happen to them or someone they know?

Please, if you have a chance check out the Youth Blog-a-thon hosted by YO! and Wiretap Magazine. It is some of the dopest, fiercest youth writing and the topic this month is violence, both in Iraq and in our everyday lives. Support youth voices and go give them some Feministing style love!

Ok, so sometimes vintage sexist advertising is totally hilarious. Take for example this ad, which features a flying pantyhose package that acts like a magical VPL eraser, gently touching women's bums to remove unsightly lines. And then the kicker: "Why spoil the view? Wear Underalls, pantyhose and panties all in one!" (I wonder if they throw in the Monistat for free? 'Cause you're probably gonna need it.)

I guess I never realized the VPL was such a major late-'70s/early-'80s cultural phenomenon. I mean, I knew it from Annie Hall:

Contributed by Jessica Yee

I am proud to be Native. I am proud to be a woman. I am proud to know that I come from a long ancestral line of strong Native women. And I don’t think that this is a message we recognize coming from my community often enough.

So I was completely overjoyed to discover that the Spring Equinox has now been dubbed “Indigenous Women’s Empowerment Day�. Wow! There is finally a day that symbolizes and honours the first life-givers of our planet; Indigenous women.

“Today's celebration of Indigenous Women's Empowerment Day was truly a woman's day of empowerment. Offering support through direct action which we did today by awarding those Indigenous women who have surpassed and overcome the traps and pitfalls offered by society, to now live a clean and healthy life, was inspirational.� founder Gloria Lacroque told me today, who initiated this focal event as part of the Kookum Education Traditional Acceptance Society (KETA).

The event in Vancouver was opened up by two female elders, Dorothy Visser, Cree from Northern Alberta, and Evelyn locker, Blackfoot from Southern Alberta. Indigenous lawyer Janelle Dwyer presented the first award to recipient Cee Jai Julien, while the second award was presented to recipient Mona Woodward by Dr. Jan Christilaw, Vice President of Medicine at BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre. It has been an emotional journey for all the women present, but a real chance to come together from different sectors in admiration, respect, and solidarity for one and other.

This significant occasion began in British Columbia on March 20, 2006. The idea is to claim the time of the year where we change seasons and see balance in the light and dark of the day as an opportunity to acknowledge the strength and accomplishments of the Indigenous women in our land. We very frequently only hear about the negative events that surround the Native community and seldom about the many achievements and advances which, in actuality, far outweigh the bad.

I'm thrilled to introduce the Hysterical Festival, a fantastic project aimed to give women in comedy their due. While there seems to be this general conception that women aren't nearly as funny as men, these ladies aim to defy that stereotype and take the cake in hilarity. And Feministing's next NYC Happy Hour is going to be at their April event, a comedy show sponsored by BUST magazine taking place at Comix, an all-women owned comedy club in New York (which are hard to come by).

The great thing about this project is that not only are female stand-ups being recognized, but also sketch performers, improvisers, cabaret acts, comic musicians, solo artists, writers, filmmakers, burlesque divas, and more.

Hope to see you there!

I'm thrilled that Obama's recent speech created a more complex framing for all of this, so I guess I can fuck you/thank stupid media for prompting that reaction.

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Some vintage sexist, classist advertising:

Because we all know that being female "warrants immaculacy under any and all conditions." That includes during your period, ladies.

The All India Personal Woman Law Board has proposed legislation, called Shariat Nikahnama, that will give the same rights to men and women in marriage, including the right to divorce.

If the board has its way, a Muslim woman would be entitled to seek divorce if her husband was found having illicit relationship with another woman.

The board has also rejected any divorce done through SMS, e-mail, phone as video conferencing, besides rejecting divorce done on provocation.

A Muslim woman can seek divorce if she is forced by her husband to indulge in unnatural sex. She can also seek divorce if her husband contracts AIDS.

"We have framed the new nikahnama strictly in accordance with the tenets of Islam, which clearly prohibit any kind of harassment or oppression of a married woman by her husband," said AIMWPLB president Shaista Amber.

It is about time.

Via.

Anti-choicers are converging on Planned Parenthood's St. Paul Highland Park clinic tomorrow for a day-long protest. Planned Parenthood is looking for pro-choicers (they hope to have 500) to stand in solidarity with the clinic. So if you live nearby, show up! (For security purposes, you must register with Planned Parenthood first and let them know you're coming. Contact Sally.)

If you're not local, you can still click here to pledge a certain dollar amount per anti-choice protester who shows up at the clinic. (Can I just say how much I love the Pledge-a-Protester action?)

Here's more info:

White House spokesperson Dana Perino says she doesn't understand military and defense issues because she's a woman:

Some of the terms I just don’t know, I haven’t grown up knowing. The type of missiles that are out there: patriots and scuds and cruise missiles and tomahawk missiles. And I think that men just by osmosis understand all of these things, and they’re things that I really have to work at — to know the difference between a carrier and a destroyer, and what it means when one of those is being launched to a certain area.

Remember the Teen Talk Barbie that was pulled from shelves because it said things like, "Math class is tough!"? I kind of picture Dana Perino as the Bush administration's version of that, only instead she says, "Understanding missiles is tough!" As Rob points out, the vast majority of Americans -- yes, men too -- "haven’t grown up knowing" about complex defense issues. And Spencer notes that there are many prominent, whip-smart women working in defense. But thanks for furthering stereotypes anyway, Dana!

Check out these first-person monologues called "Forward Deployed" by a female soldier in Iraq. As we face this fifth year anniversary, I think it's important that we keep recentering the voices of those who are there and those who are, well, feminist. I never claimed to be impartial.

Thanks to Girl with Pen for the rec.

I was on a panel of intergenerational feminists early this week and we were all charged with telling the stories of how we became feminists. You might expect to hear about Gloria Steinem, or workplace harassment, or some other galvanizing force. And there was a little of that, but you know what was an almost universal thread? Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. How amazing and unexpected is that?

I remember being totally blown away by this book, and the rest of Morrison's deep, intricate, challenging work, starting in high school. I've read The Bluest Eye almost every year since that first time when I was 15 or 16 and every time I am reminded of why it broke my heart and made me understand social change and the human psyche better. She weaves body image, sexual incest, racial segregation, class issues, and so much more together in this tiny little tome on what it means to be human.

My girl Kate has a blue streak in her hair. She digs obscure music and was raised by a feminist historian. She's a vegetarian with a yoga teaching dad. Oh, and she wrote a badass book on the subculture of competitive college cheerleading.

A total contrast, I know, but that's why her new book, CHEER!, is so cool. Kate is a journalist fascinated in all the ins and outs of how people become obsessed with sports and identified with the cultures surrounding them. When she first did some reporting on college cheerleading for Jane Magazine, where she was working at the time, she didn't expect to be too drawn in. And then she started to get to know the fearless women and men involved, she started to see that cheerleading was far from rah-rah siskomba and all the other stereotypes. It was leaping thirty feet in the air, concussions, and almost bizarre dedication.

In CHEER! she follows three teams through out the year on their way to Nationals, the Super Bowl of cheerleading. She eats in diners with them, sits in the hospital with them, parties with them, and, of course, watches a lot of frickin' cheerleading. In the process drugs, race, eating disorders, class, and a host of other issues come up.

Kate creates fascinating, empathy-inducing portraits of this culture and each of its characters. If only we were all so curious about the world and so passionate towards other people. Check out Kate on Good Morning America below:

Next week Oprah and I are taking a little break, but I'll be back the week after with something thrilling.

To kick off this brand-new series, I'm going to start with the guilty pleasure that spurred it all, the Millionaire Matchmaker. Now we could probably dedicate a whole post just to Bravo and the gamut of shows they have which fall into this category, but for now I'm going to focus on this one.

I love it. I've watched every episode, including maybe some re-runs. The show is reality style, focusing on Patti Stranger, the matchmaker herself (she comes from a long line of matchmakers). She specializes in taking really rich men and helping them find hot sexy women--to marry. While almost everything about her service (and the show) is based on sexist and debasing stereotypes about women, she makes it pretty clear that this is not an escort service. She even has some endearing things to say about the matchmaking profession, and how if she could do this for free around the world, she would. By the end of the season I started to almost believe her.

Her manhandling of the men on the show also appeals, as she tries to whip them into the shape she thinks they need to snag a woman. And some of these guys are weird.

In the end it definitely makes my feminist alarm bells ring at high volume, especially when I found the link to the service's site. Talk about leggy blonds. But it's fun to be outraged by Patti and her crazy techniques, to poke fun at the awkward bachelors and at this same time hope that someone might find love.

Stay tuned for more (Un)Feminist Guilty Pleasures from the Feministing crew!

Introducing a new Feministing series: (Un)Feminist Guilty Pleasures!

In this series we're going to share a few of our own (un)feminist guilty pleasures. It's those pop culture things that you love, even though deep down inside you know that they might conflict with your feminist values. Maybe it's a show that makes your Women's Studies 101 alarm go off, but you just can't stop tuning in every week. Maybe it's a celeb gossip blog, or an immature movie marketed to teen boys, or high-fashion magazines where all the models look half dead. Maybe you're just human, and humans are complex occasionally hypocritical beings. Maybe you have created your own unique definition of what it means to be feminist that includes all of these guilty pleasures (and much more).

We at Feministing believe there are ways to maintain a critical eye towards these (un)feminist things while still enjoying them. It can even be fun! We think you believe this too and we are psyched to see what guilty pleasures you have to add to the mix. Stay tuned for my first contribution to the series (and the inspiration for it altogether).

The FDA has promised a speedy review of Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, for women over 26 years old.

The designation means that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to make its decision on the marketing application within 6 months, rather than within the agency's typical 10-month review period.

Nice. Because let's not forget that 25% of women in the U.S. (yes, grown-ups too) have HPV. Now we just have to see if the FDA sticks to their schedule. Hopefully the "controversy" factor will be a bit less since this about adult women.

I'll be at Mansfield University tonight, chatting about...well, the usual. Come say hi at 7pm in Alumni Hall, Room 307.

via Pam, I see that Bill O'Reilly and Marc Rudov (a Frank TJ Mackey type whose admonition to men is, "YOU Are Tolerating Her Nonsense!") had a meaningful, nuanced chat about the "downside" of female leadership:

O’REILLY: Tonight, we begin a brand new segment called, “He Said, She Said,� where we’ll deal with issues from a gender-based point of view. The segment will run every Friday, but we wanted to debut it tonight with a very provocative question: What is the downside of having a woman become president of the United States?

…RUDOV: You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?

O’REILLY: But guys have mood swings, Marc. And you know --

RUDOV: Right.

O’REILLY: -- they have other control issues, as we just heard with Governor Spitzer and we saw with various presidents. So come on now, let’s be fair.

RUDOV: Well, you know, I’m joking. Of course, the main problem I have is if a woman has a female agenda. If she doesn’t have a female agenda, if she just wants to be an executive for all the people, then all I care about is if she’s qualified. And I have no qualms about having a female president.

But if we take Hillary Clinton, she specifically does have a female agenda.

Pam wonders if this is sorta like the Homosexual Agenda conservatives are always so worried about? Or maybe Rudov thinks the "female agenda" is just the search for some good PMS remedies.

Video below the jump.

More editions of Hillary Sexism Watch here.

Decidedly not hilarious.

The fabulous organization MADRE has released a statement on women and violence in Iraq. It's really a must-read. MADRE also lists resources for perspectives of Iraqi women, so get on over there.

For those New Yorkers who haven't already signed up for our Feministing Happy Hour Google Group (email me if you're interested), we're having a happy hour today on the Lower East Side. Come out and play with us!

Reader Renee sent along this truly appalling Dear Abby column, in which a man writes in about one of his brothers posing as him (in the dark) and having sex with -- er, raping -- his wife.

DEAR ABBY: I am 27, and my wife, "Marybeth," is 26. We recently went to my folks' house for supper. That evening a heavy snowstorm was starting and, because the trip home is 30 miles, we decided to stay overnight.

My old bedroom is upstairs, as are the rooms of my brothers, ages 25, 24 and 22. The guest room is downstairs. Because the room is quite small, and Marybeth said she felt a cold coming on, we decided I'd sleep in my old room.

The next day, while we were driving home, Marybeth told me she was glad I had come to her room after all and made love to her.

Abby, it wasn't me! She had mistaken one of my brothers for me in the darkness. We are all about the same size and build.

I have talked to each of my brothers (they all know about this), but they won't say who it was for fear of causing a rift between the guilty party and me. I told them that unless I find out who it was, there will be a permanent rift between all of us. (Marybeth still doesn't know it wasn't me.)

How do I handle this? -- ENRAGED IN ROCHESTER, N.Y.

Yeah, he has a right to be enraged. One of his brothers has just raped his wife. But does Dear Abby place the blame on the rapist? Of course not!

"Spanx" Now Hold In Your Unsightly Boobies As Well As Your Hideous, Mutant Gut - Guanabee: "Speaking of bacon cups, “Spanx� underwear brand is re-launching their line of bras designed to make you, the average bacon-chomping woman, look more like the feminine ideal put forth by store mannequins and anime heroines alike."

Kansascity.com - Kansas House gives first-round OK to abortion bill: "The House today advanced a bill supporters say will lead to better enforcement of restrictions on late-term abortions. Approved on a voice vote, it also requires that women get more information about the fetus and the procedure before having an abortion."

Chicago Business - Illinois AG to appeal overturning of abortion notification law: "In an action that is scrambling normal political alliances, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has decided to appeal a federal court order that overturned the state’s law on parental notice for abortions for minors."

Religion Dispatches - An Open Letter to Western Feminists: "It is appalling that in these catastrophic times, many U.S. liberal feminists are focused only on misogynistic practices associated with particular local cultures, as if these exist in capsules, far from the arena of imperial occupation. Indeed, imperial violence has given fuel to some of these patriarchal practices of misogyny and sexism. They should also know that such a narrow vision furthers a much older tradition of feminist mobilizing in the service of colonialism--�saving brown, or black women, from brown men,� as observed by Gayatri Spivak."

Top Ten Feminist Blogs - TakePart Blog Network

In Alabama, a Crackdown on Pregnant Drug Users - New York Times: "A day after she gave birth in 2006, Tiffany Hitson, 20, sat on her front porch crying, barefoot and handcuffed. A police officer hovered in the distance...Ms. Hitson’s newborn daughter had traces of cocaine and marijuana in its system, and the young woman, baby-faced herself, had fallen afoul of a tough new state law intended to protect children from drugs, and a local prosecutor bent on pursuing it. She made arrangements for the baby’s care, and headed off to a year behind bars." (Note: Make sure to check out this response from the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.)

Akansas Woman, Left in Cell, Goes 4 Days With No Food or Water - New York Times: "A woman was locked for four days in a tiny holding cell in a northern Arkansas courthouse, forgotten by the authorities and left without food or water, the local Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday...'Everybody is backing away from it as fast as they can,' Mr. Petty said. 'Frankly, that’s how they treat Hispanics down here. They treat Hispanics like cattle, like less than human.'"

Ok gals, time to get personal. (Is there any other way to do feminism?) My struggle to find the perfect period product is no secret - I've gone from pads to tampons to Instead to the DivaCup. And yet I have issues with all of them. So dear readers, I'm looking to you to illuminate me (and each other!) about the best period products out there. Tell us what you like, what you love, even the methods you loathe. Maybe you'll inspire converts to your menstrual cause!

Related Posts: DIY feminine hygiene products, Madeleine Shaw: Flow Lover & Founder of Lunapads

If the bathroom wall says it, it must be true.

Pic from Lovely Eden.

Well, this is depressing.

According the South African Human Rights Commission, sexual assault has become so pervasive in schools that children as young as 7 are playing games such as "rape me rape me" and simulate sexual assault on each other.

Their findings, which took over a year to complete, were made primarily in the Western Cape province. According to the report, fifth of all sexual assaults on young people occur at school. A survey of 1,227 female students who were victims of sexual assault found that nearly 9% of them had been attacked by teachers. The commission also found a growing trend called "corrective rape," where boys justify sexual assault on lesbian girls by claiming that it would "make them" straight. Unreal.

Check out the commission's findings here.

Sara Gould, the President and CEO over at the amazing Ms. Foundation, has a really important perspective up at their blog about the deeper thinking that needs to go on with respect to the Iraq War. Don't miss it.

Video of the speech is here, full text here.

What did you all think? To kick off the discussion, I'm going to repost what I wrote over on TAPPED:

WHAT I DON'T GET.

Why, after Geraldine Ferraro's comments, didn't Hillary Clinton stand up and deliver a speech on how she sees race in America?

Ok, ok, of course I understand why Obama was the one expected to offer a definitive statement on race. I just don't like it very much.

People of color are not the only people who have a racial identity, and are not the only people who deal with issues of race in this country. Just like women are not the only ones who deal with issues of gender.

Just had to say that again.

Nezua at The Unapologetic Mexican noticed a little something about these underwear posters in a store:

Notice a pattern? This dehumanizing crop-job is, as Nezua notes, "Usually a treatment reserved for women in visual representation, here it seems to fall squarely on only one type." After seeing this other ad featuring the headless, naked, (presumably) Asian woman, this rings especially true. And, no, it's not being "too PC" or over-sensitive to point these things out.

UK-based videocasting channel Truetube has a great series on feminism, Feminism 3.0. It includes pieces on feminism in India, the Hijab, sex, and a piece about "random acts of feminism" where they interview yours truly. Check it out...

Remember that cool documentary, At Your Cervix, that I posted about a few months back? Well they are still in the process of raising money, so help out if you can, and go to this event in NYC on March 21st if you're there!

Bellydancing, Cocktails and a Film About Cervixes
Friday, March 21, 2008
Doors 6:30, Show/Screening 7 pm
Collective Unconscious
279 Church Street, New York City

Hello folks! It's almost spring and we're throwing a party in honor of that film we keep telling you about. Hope you'll come and see some clips, have a drink, give what you can and enjoy a great night of performances and celebration. We're not finished, but this event will help us get there!

In the name of improving pelvic exams for all patients, hope to see you!

Amy Jo, co-writer, director & producer

The National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) is asking folks to take action against the above campaign publicizing a new Asian fusion restaurant owned by Chow Fun Food Group, Inc.

Thankfully, because of the outcry over the ad - it's been pulled by Chow Fun Food Group owner John Elkhay. But NAPAWF says that's just the first step.

NAPAWF denounces the Chow Fun Food Group for leveraging, in this marketing campaign, the lowest common denominators of Asian female exoticism and the commodification of a generalized Asian culture. NAPAWF is also disturbed by the flippancy with which the restaurant appropriated the name "Chinese Laundry" without recognition of the significance that line of business played in Chinese American history and oppression.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese Americans were largely forced to enter the laundering business due to intense discrimination that closed the door of opportunity to most other forms of work. Chinese Americans came to be associated with the laundry business because, as with railroad work during the mid-19th century, it was one of the few available industries that Chinese workers could enter into to pursue a livelihood. Mr. Elkhay clearly missed the mark in naming his restaurant "Chinese Laundry" to "honor the time honored traditions of those before us," as Mr. Elkhay has stated.

Similarly, the advertisements' evocations of passive, faceless hypersexuality resurrect the struggles that Asian American and Pacific Islander women have historically fought against. For centuries, Asian American and Pacific Islander women have been represented as objects of submission, foreignness and sexual exoticism. The advertisement is proof that this "orientalism" continues today.

Sign this petition calling on Elkhay to issue a formal apology and discontinue this "business practice."

I wanted to take a minute to give everyone an update on the work we're doing to upgrade Feministing. To review (in case you don't remember), along with making some technical upgrades to make things run smoother (including getting rid of the dreaded error/double commenting problem), we're going to be offering a whole new level of involvement on the site with a brand new community blog written by you. You’ll be able to read, comment on, and recommend posts written by the community.

Every time we write about the upgrades, I see that people are concerned about Feministing changing too much, or becoming confusing. Rest assured, we hear you. And we agree. It's really important to all of us that we keep the things that work, and improve what needs it. So, while the upgrades are definitely taking longer than we hoped - the flaw in the plan was working on it during "free time." Turns out, we don't have much. And we want to do this right.

Stay tuned, all. I’m going to start doing weekly updates.

To update on last week's report that one in four girls has contracted an STD through sexual contact, I wanted to add some other feelings that are running through my head. As you may recall, I was upset that they had termed it "sex infection," (terminology they continue to use via this editorial) which I felt was misleading and made it sound pretty fucking awful. But I will say, I do believe the NYTimes was trying to do the right thing by raising awareness about an issue and informing the public.

The problem is that since there are so many assumptions about young women - and especially young women of color and their assumed sexual promiscuity - the news media has to do more to actually influence public opinion or inspire people to do something. Dismal stats just make us all feel helpless. Looking at racist and sexist policy and how that influences the behavior of young men and women to see where key interventions might be possible, might be a place to start.

The big issue for me here is that young women of color are rarely, if ever, on the cover of any newspaper. The press doesn't count the news affecting their lives as real news, so to only report about women of color when it is because they have "sex infection" feeds a racist and sexist media, that is already inundated with overly sexed images of women of color. Logic only follows that these same women have the burden of "sex infection," due to their shameful over-sexuality.

So then where do we go? HALF of the African American girls studied had contracted some form of STD. That is a staggering statistic and it is hard to blame such a clear discrepancy on personal behavior and choice. Abstinence-only policies, funding cuts and poor educational systems hit hardest among young black women. And they don't deserve it.

Please put any resources or organizing efforts on this issue in comments.

You may remember Virginia Delegate John Cosgrove from the oh-so-sensitive bill he proposed in 2005, which would require a woman who has a miscarriage to report the occurrence within 12 hours to a local law enforcement agency or face 12 months in jail for failure to report a death. (Thanks to the efforts of blogging and online activism, Cosgrove pulled the bill.)

Well, it seems that Cosgrove - who seems to have a penchant for legislation that involves women's bodies - is the man behind a bill that requires strippers to wear pasties. He must be so proud.

h/t Reason Magazine.

That's right, my all-time-fave misogynist magazine has just stooped to a new low and published an actual guide to stalking your girlfriend (or, I suppose, any woman who you feel entitled to). Check it out:

Click image to enlarge.

Sure, it contains a helpful disclaimer that this is illegal in many states. And it claims to be a guide to "eavesdropping" on "friends and foes." But the feature at the bottom of the page makes clear that these are really tips for keeping your little lady (aka your "target") in check, and making sure she's yours and yours alone. It even suggests (under the sub-head "Step Up the Stalk") using GPS tracking. (For a better-intentioned but still creepy guide for stalkers, see this Guardian piece. I was torn when I read it: Is this information more helpful to women -- because now they're aware that this is possible -- or more helpful to stalkers?)

This was a wake-up call to me about how, in the internet era, the term "stalking" has really been trivialized. I know I've definitely joked about "Google-stalking" people, and there's Katha Pollitt's already-classic "Webstalker" essay. Of course, using this terminology is not the same thing as promoting controlling, abusive behavior. But I do think we need to be careful about how we joke about this sort of online voyeurism, because it can be a fine line between kidding around about combing Facebook for info on your ex and laughing at Wal-Mart's classic "Some call it stalking, I call it love" T-shirt or the hoax site "selling" GPS panties or the above Maxim article. Because real-life stalking is, uh, decidedly not hilarious, to put it mildly, and we need to draw a bright line between a common joke of the personal-is-public-online era and the very real threat posed by stalking.

The Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime has more info on stalking.

If you feel compelled to write a letter to Maxim, here's the email address.

Not only because he is fucking right on, but also because he throws in a small mention one of my favorite songs ever. See if you can catch it. First person to email me the name of the song gets a Feministing shirt...

Congrats to Melissa, who correctly guessed A Tribe Called Quest's Check the Rhime.

If you're in the NYC area, don't miss my girl Felice Belle this Thursday. She rarely makes a super public appearance since her Nuyorican days are over (she was the Friday night host forever), and she's fucking brilliant. Um, and I'm on the panel too. And so if the ridiculously talented Sofia Quintero.

Thursday March 20th, 6:30 pm
Revolution Books
9 West 19th Street (btw. 5th & 6th)

Check out this intergenerational conversation about the election that I'm having--blog style--over at Jewcy with the always gut-busting Wendy Shanker and the always brilliant Bitch Ph.D.

I'm so frickin' intergenerational these days--currently in Michigan getting ready for a panel. Thanks to the awesome Central Michigan University students who already declared their major love for feministing. Apparently we are supposed to get picketed tonight by pro-life kids on campus, so it's nice to have friendly faces in the crowd.

I actually think this tampon commercial is kind of cute. I know that "beaver" isn't exactly a positive term for women's genitalia, but the beaver in the commercial is cute and having fun. That's something I can get behind. It just seems...cheeky to me more than anything. What do others think?

(If you want a really bad example of a commercial featuring animals to describe vaginas, take a look at those Vagisil ads from a while back.)

h/t Broadsheet.

In the wake of Spitzer's resignation there's been a ton of commentary (feminist and otherwise) about prostitution, trafficking, legalization, and a host of other related issues. I've been out of town and haven't found time to write a substantive post on the subject, but I've been reading a lot of interesting things 'round the internet:

First up, check out Nicholas Kristof's column from Sunday's Times: Kristen's story is "a dangerously unrepresentative glimpse of prostitution in America. Those who work with street prostitutes say that what they see daily is pimps who control teenage girls with violence and threats — plus an emotional bond — and then keep every penny the girl is paid."

Amanda forges ahead and opens what we all know can be a huge can o' worms for a sex-positive feminist: "But when degradation and harm are the work itself, struggling over labor standards becomes confusing. ... Which is why I tear my hair out at the people who focus on the exceptions, like Kerry Howley arguing that prostitution is about women who love sex so much they want to make it a career. That sort of argument serves only one purpose—to shame people with serious questions about prostitution into not asking those questions for fear we’ll be labeled as prudes. Well, I’m not taking the bait."

Safe to say Twisty's against decriminalization: "Note that the goal is merely to curb the male appetite for trafficked women. The message? Pay-for-rapists are here to stay! It is unfathomable that human society could exist entirely without a subclass of sex slaves." UPDATE: Twisty has a clarification.

Brad Plumer looks at what happened in Nevada and Sweden when they decriminalized prostitution: "[O]ur currently policies are grotesque, but honestly, I don't know what the ideal alternative is. I'd lean toward legalize-and-regulate as the least-bad option, although the idea of providing generous support for women who want to get out of the sex trade sounds like the best idea on offer. But if Sweden can barely manage it, good luck putting anything like that in place in the United States."

...and dnA has more thoughts on legalization.

The Sex Workers Project says: "To focus solely on the salacious scandal created by Mr. Spitzer’s alleged actions without attention to the realities and needs of sex workers does nothing to provide solutions for sex workers."

Jill takes on conservative John Derbyshire, who actually wrote that: "To a lover of liberty, it’s hard to see why a woman shouldn’t sell her favors if she wants to. Trouble is, weak or dimwitted women end up in near-slavery to unscrupulous men, and I think there’s a legitimate public interest in not letting that happen." Yeah, you read that right: "weak or dimwitted women."

Jill also points out that there is not an inherent contradiction in being a sex worker and a feminist.

What have y'all been reading/writing about this issue? I'd love to see more links in comments.

Monty had a bit of an adventure this weekend - he joined the boyfriend and me for brunch at a friend's place (thanks Tiloma and Jayant!). His strategy for excursions like this is to hide under any available table, couch or chair, preferably near people-feet. Then, like in the pic above, he gets tuckered out. Another "hiding from brunch" picture is after the jump...

In the midst of all the Spitzer drama last week, Washington Post blogger Mary Ann Akers noted that Silda Spitzer had (gasp!) worn the same suit and scarf before. Um, who the hell cares? I’m sure next we’ll hear that her habit of wearing her clothes more than once forced her husband to turn to escorts.

The point was, ostensibly, to mention how much happier Spitzer was the last time she wore this outfit on television, but the tone strikes me as a little snarky. And very different from most of the other posts in the blog.

Thanks to Sunshine for the link.

I think Guttmacher deserves an award for this study title: Single Women Have Sex Too. And don't we know it.

I couldn't help myself, I needed one.

UPDATE: To those who asked... the "/" symbol is akin to "end" in coding. Hence, /patriarchy = end patriarchy!

This picture made my morning in a big way, so I'm hoping it will do the same for you... So what did you do this weekend to /patriarchy?

Pic from Brocco Lee.

How the hell does something like this happen?

A 21-year-old Harris County woman filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines alleging employees on a flight to Los Angeles from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport failed to protect her while she slept from another passenger who masturbated to her and ejaculated in her hair

Via Pandagon.

Bad first: A Florida House committee passed an Unborn Victims of Violence Act that defines an "unborn child" as "a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb" and removes all language around viability.

The good news: The Oklahoma House voted by a tiny margin to reject a bill that would require parental consent before students receive sex education. They currently already send "opt out" forms to parents of children enrolled in classes that provide sex ed.

I'll be speaking on a couple of panels early next week with Deborah Siegel, Kristal Brent Zook, and Gloria Feldt. Come by if you're in the area and say hi!

Central Michigan University, Monday, March 17, 7:30 pm, Mount Pleasant, MI 989-774-4000
Eastern Michigan University, Tuesday, March 18, 7:00 pm, Ypsilanti, MI 734-487-1849

Check out Alissa Quart's, a friend of Feministing and brilliant journalist, fascinating story on transgender students at our nation's colleges in the New York Times Magazine this weekend. It feels like Christmas in March--a mainstream newspaper acknowledges trans issues and they get a smart journalist with a history of interest in these and other complex issues to do it (in 5,000 words!). Pass the eggnog.

Just have to share from this amazing conference...I just sat in an amazing keynote by the investigative journalists, Anne Hull and Dana Priest, who broke the Walter Reed story for the Washington Post. They talked about hanging out in vet bars, creating bonds with overmedicated, underappreciated men and women coming back from Iraq, sneaking into Building 18--the most notorious of the falling-apart buildings housing our injured vets.

I was so moved--not just because these smart, dedicated journalists spent months getting an important story, and changed the world in the process, but because they are women who wouldn't have been given access to this "beat" or these stories in an earlier America. They weren't relegated to "women's issues" or the Style section. They were writing about war. They were doing hard-nosed investigative journalism. And they did a damn good job.

Check out Samhita's post over at The Nation on the prison industrial complex. It's damn good.

Early Thursday morning there was a huge fire in Mt. Pleasant, a neighborhood in NW DC. The neighborhood is predominantly Latino, although quickly gentrifying as well. An entire apartment buidling was destroyed in this fire, which displaced around 200 people, mostly low-income Latino immigrant residents.

It's a complicated story, unsurprisingly for those who are familiar with struggles around gentrification and housing. The building was one that had been neglected for a long time, in what some would say was an attempt by the owners of the building to force out their low-income residents. Well now nature has done it instead, although the source of the fire is as of yet unclear (I smell a rat). Luckily no one was hurt.

So now we've got a crisis in Mt.Pleasant, with a ton of displaced people who have lost everything. If you happen to be in DC, there are some donation options: you can donate supplies (like clothing, Bottled Water, Blankets, Trash Bags, School Supplies, Gift Cards, Baby Formula) or money to some local orgs and businesses that are serving as facilitators for this process. Also a friend of Jen's is organizing a happy hour tonight to raise money for the displaced people.

These sites provide the best information on how to help: Hear Mt. Pleasant, Neighbor's Consejo, then info about the fundraiser tonight.

Why do things like this always affect the most vulnerable populations? Not only are these people out of a home, but their building will probably be turned into luxury condos they can't afford anymore. It's just so frustrating.

Pictures of the fire here.

I know you all just can't get enough of my vlogging, so I went ahead and took a stab at the Friday Feministing Fuck You. I apologize, I am a little sick and stuffy, but you get the point. To get some background check out Jess's post on Dr. Laura's appearance on the Today show.

God, will I just shut up already. . .

And, of course, don't forget to subscribe to Feministing's YouTube channel!

I wasn't going to post about the sex worker, "Kristen," in the middle of the Spitzer scandal - because I didn't want to add to the intrusion into her privacy and the general seediness of the coverage. But the media coverage - whose latest take on the story is that Kristen being outed is actually good for her and she probably is stoked about it - is just a little too much to handle. (Note: I'm not reprinting her real name on this blog because she didn't come forward willingly.)

This was the headline, from CNN, that first caught my attention:

Now, if this was a quote given to CNN in reference to the Spitzer mess I wouldn't take issue with it. But this quote is actually just lifted from her MySpace page and made to seem like it's a response to the scandal. I guess journalistic integrity goes out the window when it comes to slut-shaming!

The newest coverage is all about how fabulous it is for Kristen that she's been outed as a sex worker, and that it's probably the best thing ever to happen to her.

Take this headline from the Associated Press:

Or another one on CNN for the same AP article:

Or this one, from The Washington Post,

The reporter goes on to write:

No, a record deal isn't a sure thing. But look at it this way: She had no chance on Tuesday, before anyone knew her name, and she has a slender chance now that more than 2.3 million people have visited [her MySpace page] and heard her songs.

See? All the amazing fame and fortune she's sure to get from the scandal is totes worth being shamed by disgusting reporters!

In addition to the gross assumptions that Kristen will benefit from this situation, the fact that her fucking MySpace page is being used to piece together the events of her life is just beyond wrong. The media is creating a narrative for this woman in the absence of any substantive quotes from her. It's completely dehumanizing; they're using her MySpace profile and her pictures as if she's a product from a goddamn catalog. And I'm just sick over it.

Please, contact any media outlets you see participating in this shaming and call them out on it.

Some great news to end your week with:

Flanked by two survivors of sexual assault, one with tears welling in her eyes, Gov. Jim Doyle signed a long awaited bill Thursday that requires hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims.

"This is one bill I've been working to get on my desk for a long, long time," Doyle said.

He credited rape survivors like Linda Gage and Amanda Harrington, who provided testimony before the state Legislature and appeared next to him at the bill signing, with being instrumental to the bill's passage.

"I would like to recognize all of the survivors who have been willing to come forward with their stories ... and to tell what they went through," Doyle said. "The survivors really made this happen."

It's kind of unbelievable that anyone would want to fight against a law that would ensure rape survivors are treated with respect and given all the necessary medical options they need. But in any case, I'm glad to see Wisconsin took this important step in fighting for women's health.

Gage said the new law "tells me, my daughter and the women of Wisconsin that our health and well-being does matter to our state government."

Find out more at BushvChoice.

Yeah, yeah, we've heard it a million times: sex sells. It's often used as an excuse for why advertisers use pictures of half-naked women to sell just about every product imaginable. It shouldn't be surprising, then that anti-sex also sells. (via Jezebel) Conservative Christian don't-have-sex publishing has taken off! Publishers Weekly puts the bestsellers into a few broad categories: Chasing Chastity, AIDS Awareness, and Sexual Integrity for Men. Let's take these one by one, shall we?

Chasing Chastity

The article mentions Lies Women Believe, a book by two women who have both written "purity" guides. It's a perfect example of the near-porniness of some "abstinence" writing. The book begins with a description of what was going on in Eve's head when she ate the forbidden fruit (I'm not kidding):

First, I just listened and looked. In my heart, I pondered, I questioned, I debated. Adam had reminded me many times that God had said we must not eat the fruit from that tree. The creature kept looking into my eyes and talking in a soothing voice. I found myself believing him. It felt so right. Finally, I surrendered. I reached out -- cautiously at first, then more boldly. I took, I ate. I handed it to Adam. He ate. We ate together -- first me, then him.

Those next moment are a blur. Sensations deep down inside that I've never had before. New awareness -- like I know a secret I'm not supposed to know. Elation and depression -- at the same time. Liberation. Prison. Rising. Falling. Confident. Afraid. Ashamed. Dirty. Hiding -- I can't let Him see me like this.

Alone. So very alone. Lost. Deceived.

Ah yes, I go through those same feelings every time I eat an apple. We could have a Freudian field day with that passage. I can see this prose causing guilt-ridden titillation -- a surefire recipe for bestseller success.

AIDS Awareness

The abstinence-only crowd promoting "AIDS awareness"? How hypocritical. Just look at what they want to do to PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). They basically want to strip everything effective from our international AIDS strategy. It's not so much an anti-sex movement as an anti-health movement.

Sexual Integrity for Men

The no-sex-until-hetero-marriage movement has set up "men's integrity" as the flip side to "women's purity." Hence, you have the hilariously titled "Integrity Balls" for boys, which emphasize not "ruining" your girlfriend for her future husband. See, maintaining women's "purity" should be the goal of both men and women. So again, this isn't so much an argument against sex as an argument against women violating their Eve-like innocence and purity by having sex. Also: This "integrity" line of reasoning has always caused me to wonder: Does this mean dudes can maintain their integrity by just sleeping with other dudes? Makes sense to me.

It is difficult to track the rate at which women are being transported out of Great Britain and forced to marry. Similarly, it's difficult to actually know how many cases of domestic violence and rape occur. But the few that are reported should be enough for some actual changes.

While a government unit investigating forced marriage deals with just 300 cases a year, the true figure could be up to 4,000, the Home Office-funded study into the issue said.

There are 300 inquiries about the issue every year in one town alone, said the report's author Dr. Nazia Khanum, citing figures for Luton, a town with a high immigrant population.

"It's a reasonable assumption that it is the tip of the iceberg," she said, noting that with rape and domestic violence only 10 to 12 percent of cases are thought to be reported.

via.

UN Dispatch and RH Reality Check are hosting an online salon, "A New Agenda for Girls' and Women's Health and Rights," this week and next about what global plans the new U.S. president should be creating to improve the status of the rights and health of girls and women worldwide. I'm thrilled to be a participant along with a number of intelligent minds including journalists, authors and leaders within the international women's movement.

Adrienne Germain, the president of the International Women's Health Coalition, kicked off the salon on Monday and we've had some great discussion since. Make sure to check it out on either site.

There is nothing funnier than someone who is so offended by feminists and feminism that they resort to middle school style hyperbole to air their criticism of feminist ideology. Or I should say their perception of feminist ideology and activism. I think this guy fears castration. The mere presence of women, makes him feel like less of a man.

For shame on Townhall, really. I would like to think this opinion doesn't count, but unfortunately, it probably votes.

This is what happens when you don't sleep perhaps. But here is my story.

As many of us already know, Bush's budget proposal for 2009 includes a $120 million cut from the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Joe Biden has a bill on the floor of the Senate today requesting $100 million to be restored to the program. Tell your senator to vote for this much-needed amendment.

If you haven't seen Searching for Angela Shelton, you've missed out on a truly powerful work of art that interrogates the linkages between diverse women--both triumphant and depressing. Faced with a writer's strike and a bit of a psychic crisis, Californian Angela Shelton hits the road in her RV and visits all the other Angela Sheltons in the U.S. that will speak with her. Very quickly she realized that one of the things that too many of them have in common is a history of abuse and interpersonal violence. The film really comes to a head when Angela, the original, finds her own father who molested her and her siblings when they were all young, and confronts him. I have to say that I've seen few moments caught on film that are that powerful--not in a cathartic way, mind you.

Now Angela has graced us with a book to go alone with the documentary, this one called Finding Angela Shelton. It is a glorified diary of her film journey, complete with far more comprehensive accounts of the lives of the Angela Sheltons along the way and her healing process with her family and her own soul. She ends with this reflection:
My survey of women in America showed me that we are all pretty amazing and we've been through hell, but most of us are breaking the cycle and leading awesome lives."

Amen Angela.

Next time: CHEER! by Kate Torgonick and then I'm on the road so I may take a week off. Can you stand it?

There are simply not enough women being featured in the nation’s op-ed pages, which is why something like Charlotte Allen's crappy op-ed has such reverberations.

That isn’t news to those that remember the shake up at The Los Angeles Times following Susan Estrich’s defiance in 2005. Estrich, a political pundit, had her law students at USC analyze the gender imbalance on the op-ed pages for a period of three years and found wide discrepancies, including 24 men and one woman in a three day period, 13 men and no women as authors of pieces on Iraq etc. An op-ed writer for the paper herself, Estrich attacked editor-in-chief Michael Kinsley for alleged discrimination.

In fact, The Los Angeles Times has a far better percentage of women—20—than did The Washington Post (10.4 percent) and The New York Times (16.9 percent).
These statistics are not looking much better three years later.

Never fear. The amazing and brilliant Katie Orenstein is here. She has started The Op-ed Project, which is:

an initiative to target and train women experts across the nation to project their voices on the op-ed pages of major newspapers and other key forums of public discourse, which are currently overwhelmingly dominated by male voices, and to connect them with the editors who need them. This is a media democracy project, designed to promote diversity on the op-ed pages and beyond. The premise of this project is not “women’s affirmative action� — in fact, it is not a “women� project at all: It’s an everyone project. The lack of diversity on the op-ed pages deprives the public of robust, democratic debate, especially important in this space, which is intended to showcase divergent opinions.

I love her intersectional approach and that she got major press in The New York Times (the very institution that she's, in part, targeting).

I've also taken her workshop and it's transformative. If you're in the Bay Area, seize the day this weekend:

Date: Saturday,March 15, 2008 (In San Francisco)
Time: 10AM to 5PM (with one hour for lunch and two half hour breaks)
Say you're from the feministing community and get a $50 discount!
Register here.

Thank you to Katie for her amazing work in the world. She is providing a fundamental answer to the problem of anemic public debate and making the whole dang world better in the process.

Check out one of my favorite blogs, 37 Days, for this personal essay on playing an instrument previously considered just for dudes. As if.

Via Gizmodo and a ton of emails from you lovely readers, we find the "Bitchcruiser" bicycle, which apparently is for sale on eBay. Sometimes, there are just no words.

For more in disembodied misogyny, check out Shakesville's ongoing (horrifying) series.

We're a little late on this one, but I think it's still worth noting (if only because Dr. Laura's woman-hate is so glaringly obvious it's almost hilarious).

Dr. Laura Schlessinger has never been one to shrink from controversy, and she leaped headlong into one on Monday when she said that if a husband cheats, his wife may share some of the blame.

“When the wife does not focus in on the needs and the feelings, sexually, personally, to make him feel like a man, to make him feel like a success, to make him feel like her hero, he’s very susceptible to the charm of some other woman making him feel what he needs,� the popular psychologist and radio personality said.

The infamous anti-feminist, Dr. Laura made the comments on the Today show in a discussion about Eliot Spitzer's connection with sex workers. (Video available here)

Naturally the show received a shit-ton of appalled emails and letters, which gives me hope. Outside of the obvious grossness of suggesting that women (or men, for that matter) could be responsible for the partner's cheating - you have to love how Dr. Laura says that men who don't get the hero-worship they so deserve are "susceptible to the charm of some other woman" who makes them feel special.

To update on yesterday's post about 1 in 4 girls having an STD, the NYTimes today led with this as the title:

Now, two issues come up for me.

*I am all for raising awareness and educating the masses about the potential threats of STD's, but I support fair and balanced coverage and to not unnecessarily scare people. Using the term "infected" sounds like there has been an outbreak of birdflu and feeds into the sci-fi notion that some incurable disease is spreading that we are powerless against. We (by which I mean feminists) have known for while that young women were at a high risk of HPV, but no one wants to listen when it is preventative. No, instead they want to cut funding for sex ed programs and teach children to abstain. (Sorry to generalize there, but you get my point.)

*As several smart Feministing commenters noted yesterday, where is the study that shows how young women are getting these STDs? Why is the burden and spotlight only on young women? What are young men doing that is leading to "high risk" behaviors and leading to young women being "infected?" I think it is important to look at the risks for young women and educate and spread resources accordingly, but it is very short-sighted to assume this is a problem only for young women.

That is what I have to say about that.

In the last few days Mississippi and Wyoming held primaries, both won by Barack Obama. Final results from previous states are coming in, to see the latest delegate count I like MSNBC’s site.

I mentioned last week that I was experiencing some election fatigue. It’s now transformed into election exhaustion. Not from the too many hours of watching cable news, or trying to think of super Tuesdays and delegates, or trying to avoid John McCain at all costs. Those hassles aren’t helping, but they’re not the worst. The worst is watching the push/pull of racism and sexism. This isn’t the oppression Olympics anymore. It’s turned into a war. A war no one can win.

Geraldine Ferraro, Democratic politician and champion of reproductive choice, said the following to The Daily Breeze in Torrance, California:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

Your thoughts?

Detailing the findings of the rapid assessment of gender-based violence (GBV) suffered in camps, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Christian Children's Fund (CCF), said the women had repeatedly expressed fears of sexual violence because of makeshift sleeping arrangements, where men and women were forced to sleep under one tent or out in the open.

Correction, the women are not being repeatedly raped and abused because they are sleeping in one tent with men, but because when people are put in adversarial, life threatening, and impoverished situations, they do dangerous things, that are often violent and usually involve violence against women.

The post-election crisis led to the deaths of at least 1,500 people and the displacement of 300,000 others. They said: "The preliminary findings of this assessment confirm initial reports from Nairobi-based hospitals that sexual violence has increased during the post-election crisis that began on 30 December. Evidence suggests that perpetrators are exploiting the conflict by committing sexual violence with impunity, and efforts to protect or respond to the needs of women and girls are remarkably insufficient."

Disheartening to say the least.

via AllAfrica.com

It looks like Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York, is going to resign live in a few minutes. Get the skivvy on his sex scandal from Ann a couple of days ago.

This news has made me think a lot about the ugly intersection of politics and sex in this country. I was just about Monica Lewinsky's age when that whole ridiculous and terrible scandal broke...and broke...and broke...and got done broken. I think it had a huge effect on my view of politicians--namely that they tend towards corruption despite the shiny, professional surface. It also confirmed for that it is difficult to be a young woman in any political setting and be taken seriously and not seen as a sex object, a shocking reality given that it is frickin' 2008.

And now this. I have to admit that though I just publicly came out as an Obama supporter, this news gave me one of those gross feelings in my gut and I found myself wondering:

Would we all be better off with a woman in office, in part, because she would be less likely to get involved in these kinds of scandals?

It's not that I'm horrified by infidelity (come on people, it's omnipresent) or think prostitution is morally reprehensible. It's that I want political leaders who are whole, authentic, honest human beings. It's that I am depressed at how much precious time, energy, money, and airtime this scandal is going to take away from much more important considerations--the failing economy, Iraq's fifth anniversary, the situation in Sudan etc. Spitzer's kinky sexual desires are crowding out far more important public concerns. And they will for days to come regardless of what he says in a few minutes.

And FYI, the Spitzers have three teenage daughters. How they heck are they processing all of this?

I'm almost ready to crash because of all this traveling (I'm posting from the Cleveland airport!), but not before tonight when Ann and I will be at University of Missouri talking about feminist blogging! Come say hi at 7pm in the Mark Twain Ballroom, Memorial Union.

Wajeha Al-Huwaider, a women's rights activist in Saudi Arabia marked International Women's Day this past weekend by defying the ban on women driving. Bad. Ass.

Sorry I couldn't find a video with English subtitles, but there is some translation of what she's saying here.

Young people are having sex and without access to reproductive technologies or education, there are consequences. I have a hard time with the way the mainstream media covers "epidemics." A lot of young women have HPV and it is not because they are promiscuous and "didn't know any better." But, it is not shocking that it is spreading at a fast rate with young women. Appropriate sex education helps with young women and as these stats show us, it is young women of color that are most susceptible.

At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.

A virus that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common sexually transmitted infection in teen girls aged 14 to 19, while the highest overall prevalence is among black girls -- nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD. That rate compared with 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens, the study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Via.

Over at NOW on PBS, Maria Hinojosa talks to Letty Cottin Pogrebin, one of the founding editors of Ms. magazine (and a Clinton supporter), and her daughter Abigail, an author (who supports Barack Obama). They talk elections and feminism..check it out.

One of the most controversial policies in the last 30 years is China's one-child policy. Who hasn't heard of the grueling stories of women having to give children up for adoption when they are born the wrong gender? Controversial and sexist, China's one-child policy has caused an imbalance in the number of men verse women in China, as there is a preference to having male children. According to today's Times, they are a far from changing this law.

Mr. Zhang said that 200 million people would enter childbearing age during the next decade and that prematurely abandoning the one-child policy could add unwanted volatility to the birthrate.

“Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now,� he said. “It would cause serious problems and add extra pressure on social and economic development.�

China, with more than 1.3 billion people, is the world’s most populous nation. For nearly three decades, it has enforced one of the world’s strictest family planning policies. Most urban couples are limited to a single child, while farmers are often allowed to have two. Critics say the policy is coercive and has led to numerous abuses, including forced abortions, which continue in some areas.

Another one of the effects of the one-child policy has been an influx of young girls to China's underfunded, unsanitary and inept orphanages, where girls are growing up in abject poverty. This is something I remember reading about even 10-15 years ago and conditions haven't changed much.

Some are saying that the one child policy has prevented the potential birth of 250 million children. The problem is, when couples have girl children or are pregnant with girls, they are often forced to have abortions or to give the child up. The long term consequences of a society that is effectively wiping out girl children is yet to be seen, but I can't imagine it is pretty.

In light of the 2008 Olympics being in Beijing, the global spotlight will be on China. It will be interesting to see what comes of this much needed, but often misdirected, international attention.

I think I saw at least three different bloggers (including myself) refer to yesterday's admission by NY Governor Eliot Spitzer's hiring of a sex worker with just the word "wow." Understandable given Spitzer's legal history wherein he has gained recognition for successfully prosecuting prostitution rings. Quite a contradiction it seems, but alas we see time and again, political power-which often manifests as hyper-masculinity-produces powerful men that just can't keep it in their pants. It makes sense to descend into the preconditioned response of chastising a politician for abusing power and trying to (stupidly) get away with paying for sex, not to mention transporting a human for the purpose of paying for sex. I think we can all agree, as Scott mentioned, that if a sex worker is going to get prosecuted, he should as well. No questions.

What I don't want to do is chastise a man for potentially having a sexual kink (I'll let the wing-nuts hypocritically take care of that), not because I am all for protecting Eliot Spitzer's sexual kinky rights (ew, barf, ew), but because I think it tells a bigger story of patriarchy, heterosexuality, legalization of sex work and the ethical treatment of sex workers. As Ann discussed a while back, as progressives, we shouldn't jump to attack politicians when we find out that they committed a sexual "indiscretion." As someone who supports the decriminalization (hello prison nation!), I don't think we need anymore fodder for the right-wing"I hate sex" machine to use in their purity crusades.

The over-reliance in the US political system for our politicians to be heterosexual and vanilla in the bedroom is like a recurring nightmare of puritanical ethics that continually allows for anti-sex, anti-gay, and anti-kink legislation to continue. If anything what these "outing" episodes should teach us is that everyone should be allowed to have the kind of sex they want and have the proper education about it, so we should stop pretending we are all "Republicans" in the bedroom. This story in particular, along with, the DC Madam drama, for me is an opportunity for us to talk about the rights and conditions of sex workers. Spitzer may get a slap on the wrist and be asked to step down, but sex workers nation-wide will continue to be subjected to harsh criminal proceedings, high incarceration rates, drug use, violence, lack of health-care and no protection from violent, retaliatory pimps.

It is obvious that Spitzer hiring a sex-worker is a gross abuse of masculinist political power and completely hypocritical, but let's not lose the bigger story of the horrid treatment of sex workers by the criminal justice system and society at large. And let's be real, $5500 dollars is still not enough for a woman's body.

For those in the area, the DC Chapter of the Younger Women's Task Force is having their first big fundraiser tonight. Stop by and support an amazing cause for reproductive choice, indulge in some wine-tasting, and enjoy a local art show and silent auction.

RSVP to info.ywtfdc@gmail.com.

If you're anywhere near the University of Akron tonight, come out and see me at the Martin University Center at 7pm.

PS. Hotel food is ugh.

Note to readers: Feministing is honored to have Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-28) guest posting on international family planning.

Ensuring access to reproductive health care and family planning is a hallmark in our effort to advance the rights and empowerment of women around the world. However, over the past decade, international family planning funds have declined by 40 percent in real dollars even though the number of women of reproductive age in the developing world has increased by 275 million.

As a result, 200 million women want but lack access to contraceptives, and this demand is projected to rise by 40 percent over the next 15 years. The absence of adequate funding and the resulting shortfalls hold grave consequences for the health and well-being of communities across the globe because family planning is essential to reversing the horrific trends of maternal and infant mortality in the developing world.

More than half a million women die from pregnancy related causes and childbirth complications each year while 50 percent of infant deaths result from poor maternal health and inadequate safe delivery care. The vast majority of these preventable deaths occur in the poorest countries in the world where there are limited services to promote safe motherhood and a lack of basic health infrastructure.

To address these issues, several of my colleagues and I are asking that the funding for international family planning assistance be increased in the Fiscal Year 2009 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act to reflect the U.S. fair share of the amount necessary to address the existing unmet need for family planning. These funds will be used to finance projects that promote safe motherhood initiatives, combat sexual and gender-based violence, and prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, reducing the risk of mother to child transmission.

Our request will enable18 million additional women in the developing world to use modern methods of contraception. Representatives Michael Michaud (ME), Christopher Shays (CT), Diana DeGette (CO), and I are circulating a letter to send to the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, the subcommittee that is responsible for funding for international family planning programs.

However, I need your help. As you are all well aware, funding for contraception and family planning within the United States, let alone as part of international aid, is subject to constant attack by far right-wing ideologues in Congress and outside groups. We need to have a strong showing of support for this funding increase to withstand the barrage of attacks we all know are coming. We need your Member of Congress to sign onto this letter.

I come to you today to ask that you let your Member of Congress know that you expect him or her to stand up for women's right to access reproductive health care. To let him or her know that you expect them to contact me, Louise Slaughter, and sign on to our letter requesting that the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee increase funding for international family planning assistance.

The current level of funding is simply not sufficient and women and children are dying because of it. Access to reproductive health care and family planning is an issue of basic human rights. Period.

Please help me convey that message to your Member of Congress. Please tell him or her that you expect them to stand up for a healthier world and planet and strengthen international family planning programs.

In light of Eliot Spitzer's apology for buying sex, I'm with Dana:

When politicians are caught cheating, I'd wish they'd leave their wives in the green room while they address the press. You're in the dog house, and it should look that way. Those "stand by your man" visuals are tired and demeaning.

Here are the "visuals" in question:

And here's Tammy:

Also see Samhita's earlier post on Spitzer's bombshell today.

Thought the recent racist donation trap was bad? Now anti-choicers have another headline that fits squarely with their talking points. The myth supported this time? That reproductive health providers are rolling in cash. Here's the L.A. Times headline:

Lawsuit alleges overbilling by Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood's Los Angeles affiliate was accused by a former employee of overbilling the state and federal governments for birth control pills. BUT:

State health officials now say, however, that they do not believe Planned Parenthood acted improperly because the organization was given contradictory guidance on billing from the state.

In fact, after Planned Parenthood complained that a lower reimbursement rate could imperil its survival, the state passed a law in 2004 allowing it to continue billing as it had been all along.

The case sounds incredibly confusing, involving "arcane reimbursement rules of public health programs of the federal and state governments." I certainly don't understand the ins and outs of these policies, and I sincerely hope there isn't financial mismanagement going on at this Planned Parenthood affiliate. But at least it sounds like the state is square with them, which bodes well. Anyone else know anything about this?

It's scary when I kind of agree with Carrie Lukas -- a woman who has called the wage gap a "bargain" and said careers are "baby-deniers":

Yet I agree with the critiques that she took it too far (and lost me on the humor), particularly with the ending: "Then we could shriek and swoon and gossip and read chick lit to our hearts' content and not mind the fact that way down deep, we are . . . kind of dim."

Women aren't dim, even when we indulge in girly things like fashion, romance novels, and friendly gossip. Equating our propensity to engage in this trivia with a lack of intelligence is a mistake, and, although I'm sure it was inadvertent, undermines attempts to shake the taboo from discussions of innate sex differences.

Yeah, except it wasn't inadvertent, because Allen repeated it throughout the follow-up online chat. And yeah, I obviously disagree with Lukas that boys are preprogrammed to like trucks and girls are preprogrammed to like dolls. But on finding Allen's piece insulting and not funny? I'm with her.

Still, it's shocking that Lukas and I even kind of agree here. I mean, that hasn't happened since I saw her at some awful event on Capitol Hill last year and we both reached for the cheese plate at the same time. Damn.

Wow!

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.

Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He is set to make an announcement about 2:15 this afternoon at his Manhattan office.

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

What made him admit this?

via NYTimes.

New York is introducing a bill to the City Council this week that would expand protections of victims of intimate partner violence to unmarried couples. Only married/divorced couples or blood relatives can currently seek a civil order of protection from a family court. The bill would allow same-sex and unmarried couples to get the order without having a criminal proceeding first, which is known to possibly escalate violent behavior.

"We will continue to advocate on the state level for a broader definition of family, but we can't wait for the state to act," said Christine Quinn, speaker for the City Council.

Check out more information on intimate partner violence in LGBT relationships.

Monty had a lot of extra love and attention this weekend since I knew I'd be gone for the week. This is the result: a totally blissed out puppy.

Ann linked to the horror show that is Oklahoma legislator Sally Kerns in yesterday's WFR, but I thought it was worth posting here anyway.

For more info, check out Pam's posts here and here.

If you'd like to contact Rep. Sally Kern and let her know how you feel about hate speech, you can email her at sallykern@okhouse.gov, or call her at 405-557-7348.

The video came via The Victory Fund.

I’m a pretty big fan of Seth Godin. He’s not only really smart about marketing; he’s also a fantastic writer. And it seems to me, an all around good guy. So, I was rather disturbed to see this:

Why do people struggling for an income end up using an expensive check cashing service when the bank right next door will let them have a checking account for free?

Just about everyone has noise inside their head. It's a noise that keeps them from being rational, that forces them to avoid the simple truths sometimes, that makes them unable to take a shortcut when a long (more emotional one) is available.

Seth’s blog is all about marketing, and it seems to me that taking a little time to think about people and their decision-making might be useful in that field.

I'm traveling most of this week doing speaking gigs - so if you don't see a lot of posts from me, that's why. But if you're in the mood to come talk feminism (and you're in Florida, Ohio or Missouri), come on out!

Tonight I'll be at the University of North Florida at 7:30pm in the Andrew Robinson Theater. Good times, great weather. I'm all about it.

Hey all. Check out my co-written op-ed in today's Washington Post. I think after all that Charlotte Allen nonsense, they decided they better include some feminist voices in the page--a silver lining of sorts. It's a call for keeping our eyes on the prize with respect to the presidential election, penned with one of my favorite ladies, Deborah Siegel, of Girl with Pen and Sisterhood Interrupted.

Some reflections on International Women's Day.

McCain: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The Guerrilla Girls pen a letter to Eli Broad, whose new Broad Contemporary Art Museum in LA is 97% white and 87% male.

The Census Bureau just released a 40-year study on pregnancy in the workplace.

On women presenting as male online to avoid harassment.

Despite the screaming headlines, serotonin levels are probably a better predictor of whether girls will cut themselves than their relationships with their mothers.

The Missouri legislature wants to reclassify mifepristone -- the drug used in medical abortions -- as a Schedule I controlled substance, a classification for drugs with "a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value."

Amnesty International decries the backlash against women's rights activists in Iran.

An anti-domestic violence riff on the typical jewelry ads.

A line-by-line rebuttal to Charlotte Allen.

The "mentoring gap" for women in science fields. And yeah, the good ol' pay gap is still around, too.

"American sex experts" define "sex" as only penis-in-vagina.

This is horrifying: Police pull over a woman for little to no reason, then "one of the officers allegedly inserted his finger into Shutter's vagina on a public street during an apparent search for drugs."

The Wisconsin state senate just passed a law mandating that EC be offered to rape victims.

If you've not been following the disgusting, homobigoted comments by Oklahoma legislator Sally Kerns, head over to Pam's place and get caught up. You will be appalled.

Christopher Hitchens has once again declared that women aren't funny, and Katie Halper has this great response.

The National Urban League focused its 2008 State of Black America report on women.

Spc. Monica Lin Brown, a 19-year-old US Army medic in Afghanistan, became the second woman to be awarded a medal for valor since WWII. After a roadside bomb hit a convoy of Humvees, "Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said." Too bad women are still banned from combat!

Guttmacher reports on the role of contraception in preventing the spread of HIV.

Actions and Events
In the UK, the nonprofit Southall Black Sisters (which works to end violence against women of color) is under threat of closure. Some ideas on what you can do do help.

Happy International Women's Day, y'all!

If you're looking for information on the history of IWD, click here, or you can watch this video I made last year commemorating the day.

For more recent videos, click here. To find out about events happening worldwide, click here.

You can also see what's happening on women's issues in blogs across the globe by checking out Global Voices Online's Gender section.

And since I plug it in the video, if you want to check out Beijing Betrayed, a global monitoring report on women's progress since the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, you can download it (in multiple languages) here.

If you have any events, posts, or websites related to IWD, leave them in comments. Hope everyone is having a super fun feminist day!

Hahahaha. Ok, I know it's not mature to laugh at this. But I am, anyway: "Pro-life" Congressman Rick Renzi bilked crisis-pregnancy centers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Organizations such as Arizona Right-to-Life, the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center and the Wickenburg Pregnancy Resource Center paid insurance premiums to Renzi's insurance firm, Renzi & Company, but received notices their insurance coverage was going to be cancelled for nonpayment, according to a 2003 complaint filed with the State of Arizona. The complaint was first reported by the Phoenix New Times.

According to the indictment, Renzi funneled those payments -- totaling more than $400,000 -- through various accounts and finally to his campaign.

Think of all the tiny plastic fetuses and misleading literature the faux-clinics could have purchased with those hundreds of thousands of dollars!

Thanks to Brad for the link.

And you thought Happy Furry People was good.

Julia Serano is an Oakland, California-based writer, spoken word performer, trans activist, and biologist.

Back in August 2007, I posted a critique of a NY Times article regarding what has come to be known in the transgender community as the “Bailey controversy.� Briefly, in 2003, psychologist J. Michael Bailey published a book, The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism, that forwarded three of the most commonly repeated sexualizing stereotypes of trans women: that we are either gay men who transition to female in order to attract straight men, fetishists who transition in order to fulfill some kind of bizarre sex fantasy, and/or that we are “especially well suited to prostitution.� The book was not only extremely trans-misogynistic, but it was marketed to a largely trans-ignorant lay audience as “science.� A broad consensus of trans activists, allies and advocates found the book to be unapologetically pathologizing, sensationalizing, stigmatizing, and a distortion of both trans women’s experiences and the scientific literature. The resulting backlash against the book was fierce and (as with any backlash) had its ugly moments. But it was also empowering in many ways as it represented the first time that the transgender community en masse stood up and forcibly challenged a theory forwarded by members of the psychological/gatekeeper establishment who hold institutional power over us.

The NY Times article, however, didn’t concern itself with the psychiatric sexualization of trans women. Instead, it portrayed Bailey as a “scientist under siege� who was unfairly attacked by transsexual activists who tried to “ruin� him. This flip-flop of a premise—depicting Bailey as though he was the “minority� who was oppressed at the hands of “powerful transsexual women�—came directly from an article written by Alice Dreger which is slated to be published in the sexology journal Archives of Sexual Behavior (ASB) later this year. ASB is also including 23 “peer commentaries� on her article from people on both sides of the debate. A list of the accepted commentaries has recently been released (the one that especially caught my eye was the sure-to-be-patronizing contribution from sexologist Richard Green entitled “Lighten Up, Ladies�).

Or so says a commenter on the Nation in response to my piece (shameless self-promotion) on Dowd's op-ed from Wednesday.

i agree with your points about this particular article, but this specific writer is not a member of the The Nation's staff. she is basically a temporary intern, who probably has yet to finish undergraduate studies. by the time she gets to grad school, she'll find out that racism and sexism have indeed vanished......

My response after the jump. . .

Yeah, that's it...just like that..yes, yes...wait you missed a spot

Do we really need to go back here? A study shows that "wives report greater feelings of sexual interest and affection for husbands who participate in housework," which leads to United Press International headline, "Men doing more housework, may get more sex," or the Daily News' "Best foreplay is husband who cleans house."

The gross thing about this is the way the articles present the findings in this sort of sleazy way that could almost make a straight guy expect sex for doing housework. Yeah, a real turn-on.

Margaret Cho is getting her own reality show on VH1.

THE CHO SHOW (7 Episodes - 30 Minutes)

Thirteen years after her catastrophic foray into television, Margaret Cho is triumphantly returning to television in a new reality-sitcom on VH1 in "The Cho Show." This time it's on her own terms.

Margaret burst onto the scene in 1994 with her sitcom "All American Girl" and her struggles with the network over that show are legendary. After the show was canceled, Margaret channeled all of that negative energy from her network experience into a wealth of comedy material that fueled her rise as one of the hottest comics in the business.

This VH1 series will follow the irrepressible Margaret Cho and her eccentric entourage as she fights to be herself in an industry that in the past wanted her to be something other than herself. The series will touch upon all aspects of Margaret's "anything goes" lifestyle, from the strained and awkward moments provided by her somewhat traditional Korean parents to the more irreverent and outrageous moments shared with her colorful cast of friends and colleagues.

Related: Margaret Cho's blog!

Thanks to Matt for the link.

Hey all, just a little shameless self-promotion... Check out my article in The Nation, The Sisterhood Split, a commentary on what I think the feminist election tension says about the movement more generally.

I'll be honest, I was nervous about writing this - I knew that I'd be criticized for feeding the backlash and such. But I truly do think that if we want feminism to move forward, we have to be honest about the problems within it.

Gloria Feldt, who I quote in the article, has a response here. I have a ton of respect for Feldt and the work she's done, but I do think her post demonstrates the problems I talk about in the article. For example, Feldt says that I'm buying into the "catfight" stereotype - but if feminists can't talk about issues within the movement without being accused of fanning the backlash flames, how can we possibly get any work done? In any case, check it out for yourself...

Katha Pollitt has a must-read piece in The Washington Post today, smacking down Charlotte Allen's notorious women-are-dumb column.

Pollitt points out that Allen isn't so miffed by women's supposed "dimness" as much as she is pissed that women today "reject, with every fiber of their latte-loving beings, the abstinence-only, father-knows-best, slut-shaming crabbed misogyny of the Republican right." Snap!

Props to Vanessa for this week's "fuck you."

There's much being done to celebrate International Women's Day tomorrow and bring the state of women and girls worldwide to the forefront. Here are a few efforts being made:

The Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq sent a message of solidarity through the Global Fund for Women. Sign their petition to End the Genocide of Women in Iraq.

Yesterday, the UNHCR released a new guide, "Handbook for the Protection of Women and Girls," which outlines strategies to address the challenges in protecting women and girls globally, as well as pushes for gender equality "through targeted actions to empower women and girls in the civil, political and economic sectors."

Also announced yesterday was Amnesty International's new report, "Safe Schools" Every Girl's Right" in which the agency called upon governments and school officials across the globe to take action to end violence against girls, specifically in schools where it's prevalent.

The 52nd Commission on the Status of Women concluded today. This year's theme was "financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women" with the emerging issue as "gender perspectives on climate change."

Anyone who knows of other happenings or action taken, please put it in comments.

About a hundred years after the others, here's my story of joining the Feministing crew. Here's a hint: It involves Jessica. She, Ann and Courtney have also posted their stories.

Four down, four to go, ladies.

William Burke, co-founder and president of the City of Los Angeles Marathon remarked (with nary a smile or indication that he was joking) on female runners in the recent race: "You can't keep those women down...You can't get them back in the kitchen." Why couldn't he have just stopped with "you can't keep them down?" Sigh.

If the headline wasn't enough to make you gag, check out the lede: "Deceit, thy name is woman."

NY Post, thy name is douche.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for Title IX, which states:

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Passed in June of 1972, you all know what a huge difference this legislation has played in the lives of women and girls. The most celebrated benefit has been women's involvement in sports (amazingly, an unintended side effect of the original foremothers). In 1972, one in 27 high school girls played sports. Today 1 in 2.5 does.

I used to hear my grandmother's stories about only getting to bounce the ball three times in gym class and laugh my ass off. I--a two-sport captain--couldn't imagine such a limit! Sports were where I learned resilience, teamwork, risk-taking, and discipline, among so many other lessons. My sports moments were some of my most joyful through out high school. How did Title IX affect your life?

Check out this profile I wrote of the godmomma of Title IX, the AMAZING Bernice Sandler.

I stand in front of a classroom of 50 some odd skeptical faces and introduce myself. I can see it in their faces. They can’t believe that this woman, who looks like she is a student, is actually the teacher. They immediately wonder: Is she straight or gay? Single or married? How old is she? Is she one of those feminazis or will we be able to express dissenting opinions?

Such is my experience of teaching Intro to Women’s Studies at Hunter College. It is one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced, and also, one of the greatest opportunities for making me a smarter, more inclusive, more dynamic thinker and writer.

I was reminded of this (I haven’t been able to teach since I’ve been touring for my book) while reading The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer. It is an incredibly moving perspective on what it takes to be a truly enlightened, committed, effective teacher.

Palmer bravely argues that teachers must bring themselves—authentically and fearlessly—into the classroom if they want to change students’ lives. He denounces the defensive posture of old-school teaching, the notion that there is one body of knowledge, a solid and unchanged Truth, and that it is the teachers job to impart this knowledge on the student. Instead, he writes: “To teach is to create a space in which the community of truth is practiced…the hallmark of the community of truth is in its claim that reality is a web of communal relationships, and we can know reality only by being in community with it.�

Check out this cool video collage by Antigone Magazine answering the question:
What are your dreams for women?

It's a great take off on the ever so popular PostSecret project. These creative gals are using it as a fundraiser:

We are raising the money in order to help launch the Antigone Foundation, a national foundation that will encourage young women aged 10-30 to get politically and civically engaged. Help support Antigone as we help to make the dreams of young women come true!We want submissions from all over the world - so forward this on!

And send your own postcard to:
Antigone Magazine
C/O WILLA UBC
Box 61-6138 SUB Boulevard
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6T 1Z1

I am, regrettably, out of petals.

Yay, Iowa!

Iowa is now the 17th state to reject Title V funding for abstinence-only sex education, which provides $4 in federal funds for every $3 the state spends, allowing for $50 million nationally. According to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, the Iowa Department of Public Health, which is responsible for these funds, doled out slightly more than $212,000 in 2006, $45,000 of which went to the UI to cover the mandated evaluation of the program.

In 2007, Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, sponsored a bill that, when passed last spring, set guidelines requiring all of Iowa's sex-education curricula to be scientifically based.

Which, shockingly, abstinence-only education is not.

Duel of Historical Guilts - New York Times: "Some women in their 30s, 40s and early-50s who favor Barack Obama have a phrase to describe what they don’t like about Hillary Clinton: Shoulder-pad feminism." (For serious, MoDo? Ew.)

Reese Witherspoon and Avon Team with the UN to Fight Violence Against Women - UN Dispatch: "Apparently, it's celebrity endorsement week at the United Nations. Yesterday, we learned that Drew Barrymore is donating $1 million to the World Food Program. Today, Reese Witherspoon is getting in on the action."

Glamour Magazine on Women, Race, and Beauty - Racialicious: "...the prevailing dominance of the white beauty ideal was not mentioned. Most of the discussion focused around corporate ideals of what is acceptable and what is not."

Southwest Airlines & ‘The Souls of White Folk’ - Kenyon Farrow: "With his right hand, the man reached across himself to grab my left arm. With my arm in his grip, he looked me in the eyes through his glasses and replied, 'I’m going to slap you in your mouth.'" (Just...wow.)

Want to have a baby? Now's the time - The Boston Globe: "If you are past your early twenties, and you're single and want to have children, you need to find a partner now. Take that career drive and direct it toward mating - your ovaries will not last longer than your career.
to motherhood sexism work ... saved by 1 other person ... 6 mins ago

Pic from rrho.

Don't forget, the Charlotte Allen live question/answer session at WaPo is happening now! Her answers are predictably ugh.

Here are a couple of my questions that got in (click for bigger view):

Teens beatdown a rapist in my fave feminist flick, Girls Town.

Radar has compiled a list of the decade's most woman-hating movies (some I agree with, some not so much).

But, to get the afternoon started on a positive note...leave your favorite feminist-minded movies in comments. Mine, by a fucking landslide, is Girls Town. Lili Taylor rocks out in this flick, where a group of high school girls hand out some serious justice to rapist assholes. Love.

Well, more likely she dodges your difficult questions. In the wake of her reprehensible op-ed, the Post is hosting a chat with her at 2pm today. You can submit questions live, or ahead of time via email. (Of course, the Post editors -- the same people who defended this op-ed as "tongue-in-cheek" -- decide which questions make the cut, so I'm not holding my breath...)

I know I've got a burning question for Charlotte:

After reading your op-ed, we've all come to realize just how stupid women are. How do you, as a woman, have the brain capacity to write for the Washington Post op-ed page?

What do you want to ask her? Submit to the Post and then leave your question in comments here.

In response to the New York Times piece about gender-segregated public education, I encourage you to read this smart explanation of exactly why Leonard Sax is full of it, brought to you by education expert (and feminist!) Sara Mead. She also explains the important difference between single-sex and gender-based education.

My colleague Dana Goldstein also had some smart things to say about that distinction. She also connects the issue to the recent spate of hate crimes against gender-nonconforming teens and pre-teens:

The stereotyping, heteronomativity, and misogyny of such an education (Girls! Someday you can wash dishes too, just like mom!) would be laughable, if it weren't the backbone of actual lessons being taught to actual American children. But there's also a more positive form of single-sex education, a trend represented by schools like Harlem's Young Women's Leadership School, which is based on building the self-esteem of girls of color in a culture that doesn't present them with very many models for success. Indeed, it would be naive to deny that girls and boys face different kinds of challenges. In our December print issue, I profiled a program in suburban New York that provides after-school sociocultural extras to African American boys, including a high school support group to talk about masculinity issues, including the lack of present fathers. And girls face a whole host of gendered challenges, from pregnancy, to eating disorders, to self-cutting.

Of course, there are ways to combine co-ed schooling with extra counseling that gives kids safe spaces to talk about more gender-specific problems. But any school district that defines children first and foremost in terms of their gender is playing with fire. Let's say it together: Gender is a spectrum. And defining masculinity and femininity rigidly for children risks leaving many of them feeling left out and unsure of themselves -- or even deviant. Remember the 15-year old California boy who was murdered by a classmate this month after he came out of the closet as gay and began to wear make-up and women's shoes?

School should not be about promoting traditional gender identities -- it should be about helping every child learn in the way that suits them best.

And check out what we had to say back when Bush was promoting public sex-segregated schools.

CNN's recent article on "unfulfilling" marriages is pretty par for the course: Statistics about how many (or few) married couples are having sex, interviews with sex therapists and relationship experts, the whole shebang.

And then there's this super cool piece of advice for couples who want to spice things up:

Try traditional gender roles: Men may become more sexually assertive if they feel more in control, and women may feel more desire for a mate with newfound machismo. "You don't have to get his slippers," explains [sex expert Laura] Berman. "You just have to give him some control." She suggests a date where the man chooses everything -- her clothes, the restaurant, the food -- as a starting point.

I'm not against a little role playing, but a return to traditional gender roles as a relationship-saver always freaks me out. Because some people take that shit too far.

So what did folks think of last night's returns?!

The kind that involves choreographed dancing. A flashback for your Wednesday.

I have been listening to this all week, I can't help it, it is so fun to dance along to.

I don't know about all of you, but I'm feeling a bit of election fatigue. To help out, a good friend of mine suggested that given how unseasonably warm it is, I pretend that it's summer already. It does kind of help. But thinking of summer always makes me think of this song.

Oh, right. Results. McCain got the number of delegate to make him the official candidate for the republican party. Apparently president Bush will be formally endorsing McCain tomorrow. Obama took Vermont, Clinton has won Rhode Island and Ohio. I am going to bed.

An article in Sunday's New York Times, And the Doula Makes Four, has stirred up some anger in the doula community. It is kind of a classic example of one bad apple ruining the bunch. The piece focuses on a couple of bad doula stories along with a relatively one sided view of role of a doula in the hospital setting.

It is frustrating for a subject that gets such little press to get negative press like this. Of course there are some bad doulas, just like there are bad obstetricians and nurses. But for every negative experience a woman has with a doula, there are five more women who had amazing experiences, which is why the practice is growing so much.

For a more long-winded rant about this piece, check out what I wrote on Radical Doula.

Also you can check out the author, Pamela Paul's response to the attacks on her article. I think it's a little weak.

I hear that male Democratic voters are divided over whether to support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I suppose this is what we can expect from next week's Washington Post Outlook section?

Click image to enlarge.

(For your reference, this is what the Outlook section looked like this week. Further context here, here, and here.)

Shhh, dolly! Charlotte Allen gave away how we really feel about women so now we have to stay VERY quiet.

As the political blogosphere is busy blowing up over Charlotte Allen's women-are-dumb column, Allen's homies at the Independent Women's Forum are eerily silent. (Though they did have time to blog about how campus rape is a myth. Charming.) The IWF claims that it works for women's best interests. Shouldn't they let us know if they stand by Allen's column calling women "dim?" I say contact them and leave comments in their blog posts until we get an answer.

(I sent an email myself this afternoon. No response as of yet, but I'll keep you updated.)

So as I mentioned last week, I have been down and out from blogging for a couple of weeks because of an incident that occurred with my apartment. I am now safe and happy and in a new place to live, but I have had a really stressful couple of weeks.

I'll just start at the beginning. A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my apt (I live alone) and my downstairs neighbor, who I had on many occasions heard screaming at the top of his lungs all types of hate speech, who I knew had some mental health issues-but had been assured was harmless, came to my door and asked me to take down surveillance equipment he believed that I had put up in his apt. I looked at him and just said, I don't know what you are talking about (I know I should have just fessed up!), but if you think there is video equipment in your apt, you should ask the landlord, I have nothing to do with it. He said, don't look at me like I am crazy, to which I responded that I wasn't and asked him to leave. I laughed it off with my friends and thought about the lack of quality mental health support for people, but basically went about my day.

The following evening, I heard all kinds of noises outside my bedroom window that freaked me out, so I slept with a screw driver next to my bed, not really sure why. I went to sleep, got up and went to work the following day.

I get a phone call from my building manager. I guess my crazy