October 2008 Archives

Cindy Rodriguez from the Allentown Women's Center sent us a picture of this awesome Feministing pumpkin she carved out for the clinic. Thanks for the awesome Feministing-o-lantern, Cindy! You can also check out some of her book reviews on Lesbiatopia.

What are you doing/wearing for Halloween tonight?

Transcript after the jump

One of my favorite things to do on Halloween is to just chill out with my peoples/honey and watch horror movies. I'm a big fan of scary flicks, yet I always run into the obvious - that so many of them are pretty damn sexist.

So yes, I'll admit I've watched some horror films that are a feminist's nightmare - basically those cheesy, old school sexist flicks that are so silly and ridiculous, it's laughable. But I also can't tell you how many times I've had to turn off a movie five minutes in because the glorification of violence against women is so blatant.

Yet every once in a while, I come across a scary movie that actually manages to be sexist-free. I would say one example is The Descent, a scary-ass film with an all-female cast of really strong characters.

So tonight, Jessica and I are getting a bunch of scary movies to watch. Do any buffs have suggestions of some feminist-friendly horror we could get?

Michael Pollan had a fantastic article in the NYTimes magazine earlier this month entitled Farmer in Chief. If you haven't heard of Michael Pollan before, go pick up a copy of the Omnivore's Dilemma immediately. It has been garnering a lot of buzz for a few years now and in that book Pollan does an amazing job of making the politics of industrial agriculture interesting. A large portion of that book focuses on how corn is at the center of almost everything we eat and how the government influenced this change in the national diet.

In Farmer in Chief, Pollan outlines an impressive food policy for the new administration. He explains how everything from farmers markets, to an official definition of the word "food" to who is chosen as the White House chef could make an impact on the global culture of food and the future of climate change. Check out the full piece here. It's long, but worth the read.

Some highlights:

It is one of the larger paradoxes of our time that the very same food policies that have contributed to overnutrition in the first world are now contributing to undernutrition in the third.

The good news is that the twinned crises in food and energy are creating a political environment in which real reform of the food system may actually be possible for the first time in a generation. The American people are paying more attention to food today than they have in decades, worrying not only about its price but about its safety, its provenance and its healthfulness. There is a gathering sense among the public that the industrial-food system is broken.

If any part of the modern economy can be freed from its dependence on oil and successfully resolarized, surely it is food.

More recently, cheap energy has underwritten a globalized food economy in which it makes (or rather, made) economic sense to catch salmon in Alaska, ship it to China to be filleted and then ship the fillets back to California to be eaten; or one in which California and Mexico can profitably swap tomatoes back and forth across the border; or Denmark and the United States can trade sugar cookies across the Atlantic.

Click to enlarge

I'm super excited to announce that we've revamped our comments section to make them more organized, and more community-friendly. Here are the new functions in comments; let us know what you think!

Threaded comments: This means you can not only reply to the post, but you can reply to a particular comment (like I did above). This will help the conversations to stay more organized.

Rated comments: Similar to recommending posts, this "liked or disliked" function allows readers to put their two cents in about comments as well. I find this really helpful because if you don't have time to read a long thread, you can choose to ignore the comments that got a lot of low ratings from the community and focus on the higher rated ones. I think it's also a great way for the community to help moderate the thread.

Reporting abuse: Speaking of moderating...anyone who is a regular Feministing reader knows that we still have our fair share of problems with trolls. And now that we also have the Community site to moderate, it's become even more difficult to keep track of all the active threads. Here's where you come in. If you see a troll or an abusive comments, simply click on "report abuse." It will immediately send us email with a link to that comment. That email will also tell us what user reported abuse, so abusing the abuse button (heh) isn't possible.

Please let us know how you like the new format... And we're planning on bringing you more new additions to the site in the coming weeks, so be on the look out!

I know we've already covered the ridiculous sexism (and general sexualization of young girls) and racist bullshit that we find from too many Halloween costumes, but I couldn't not point out these this gem today. The above is titled the "Oh No You Didn't Wig." Just....wow.

Obama, responds to the latest manufactured controversy from the McCain camp:

"I don't know what's next. By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I read Margaret and Helen's best-friends-for-sixty-years blog, not because they're really old, but because I love old ladies and don't get to interact with them very often. My own grandmothers have passed away, and I don't run into too many blue hairs here in Brooklyn.

If, like me, you're hankering for some old lady interaction, do not stop go, do not collect one hundred dollars, but instead go directly to Margaret and Helen's awesome blog.

When 82-year-old Helen was recently called out by her readers for using foul language when talking about respected government officials, she writes:

New rules:

I will stop calling George Bush a jackass when he stops calling me a terrorist: Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.

I will stop calling John McCain an ass when he stops calling Barack Obama a socialist at every dog and pony show on the Straight Talk Express tour.

I will stop calling Sarah Palin a bitch when she stops calling Obama a terrorist sympathizer. And I will stop calling Sarah Palin a bitch when she stops calling the parts of the country where I don't live more Pro-American than the part of the country where I do live. And I will definitely stop calling Sarah Palin a bitch when she stops acting like a bitch.

And don't miss the FAQs. An excerpt:

Are you for real? Why is that so hard to believe? Now I know what Santa Claus must feel like.

Have you really been friends for 60 years?
Some friendships last a lifetime. We just seem to be living a hell of a long time.

Is this a fake blog?
We got a few scary emails when I first wrote about Sarah Palin so my grandson told me to change our last names on the web page blog. Philpot was my grandmother's maiden name and Schmechtman is actually the name of a bird Margaret keeps as a pet. That bird shits on everything, but she loves him.

Thanks to Luckwouldhaveit for the heads up.

Please add other links in the comments to some of your fave elder bloggers!

Check out this ridiculously sexist Christmas letter that Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann wrote in 2003, in which she reinforces gender norms left and right and tries to pimp out all of her children, even going so far as to post a hypothetical singles ad for her son:

Chick magnate (sic) needs wife to put him through med school, clean house, pay bills and run his life. Must be willing to gamble against onslaught of socialized medicine diminishing return on investment.

Happy (batshit crazy) Holidays! Minnesotans, are you seriously going to re-elect this woman?

Thanks to Anna Barberio for the heads up.

A bunch of conscientious readers have sent us the link to a really depressing article in today's New York Times about economic differentials for women and men when it comes to health insurance costs--and, no, not just because we're the ones that bear the babies. It reads, "In general, insurers say, they charge women more than men of the same age because claims experience shows that women use more health care services. They are more likely to visit doctors, to get regular checkups, to take prescription medications and to have certain chronic illnesses."

Seriously? Is our health care system so broken that when women actually use it, it discriminates against them? This is deeply troubling. Health care is a human right. Every woman in this country deserves it, and deserves to be charged the same as her male peer for it. And if we're looking at it from a strictly economic stand point, preventative care of the type that these insurers claim women do more of actually saves them money over the long run!

Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, has it right: "The wide variation in premiums could not possibly be justified by actuarial principles. We should not tolerate women having to pay more for health insurance, just as we do not tolerate the practice of using race as a factor in setting rates."

One more reason to vote people. Check out the candidates' differing health insurance plans: Obama and McCain.

Toni Ann Brodber and our bestie Gwendolyn Beetham have a totally fascinating post up over at Girl with Pen about how the candidates fare on international issues, inspired by The Economists' Policy for Women's Issues recent scorecard on national issues. An excerpt:

The Global Gag Rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) was a Reagan-era policy that made it possible to deny U.S. funding to organizations that that "provide abortion services or counsel, refer, or lobby on abortion". One of George W. Bush's first official acts in office was to reinstate this policy, which had been repealed during the Clinton Administration. This rule led to the scaling back of reproductive health programs in approximately 56 countries around the world, which, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, "imperils women's health and lives both in countries where abortion is legal, as well as where it is illegal." Reports on the impact of the Gag Rule on women's lives point to a shortage of contraceptives, clinic closings, loss of funds for HIV/AIDS education, and a rise in unsafe abortions in countries where the rule has been implemented.

According to a survey conducted by RH Reality Check in December 2007, Obama plans to overturn the Global Gag Rule and reinstate funding for UNFPA. McCain supports the Global Gag Rule and voted against repealing it in 2005. He has not addressed UNFPA directly, but, when asked in a town hall in Iowa whether he believed that contraceptives stopped the spread of HIV, McCain responded, "You've stumped me."

Also check out the Gallup poll on who folks around the world want to win in the good ol' U.S. of A.

As you all know, I read A LOT of serious nonfiction. Slap a Samantha Power book or an old political philosophy text in my hand, and I can be happy for a few hours. But sometimes my brain is in overdrive and my schedule is in overwhelm and what I really crave is a good, speedy novel--the kind you can devour in one or two sittings.

I was in that mode recently and had the chance to race through Run by Ann Patchett. With the clouds floating outside the airplane window, I immersed myself in a world of family secrets, long held relational patterns, race, class, and politics. The nice thing about Run was that, while it was a really fast, easy read, it also had some major substance to it.

Essentially it is about a family colored by death and adoption. The former mayor of Boston (a white dude) has one biological child and two adopted children (both black) and is forced to raise them alone after his wife dies. His relationship with the three boys, and later on some surprise characters that come (back) into all of their lives, are the center of the book. Throw in some mystical healings, a few ghosts, and a couple of car accidents and you've got yourself a suspenseful, if not always sophisticated, sociological thriller. My one reservation about this book was that sometimes it felt like the race and class elements played out a little too black and white. It sometimes reminded me of a less evolved On Beauty by Zadie Smith. Which is one of my favorite books ever.

The fall issue of Ms. magazine should be hitting newsstands this week, and I've got an article in it about period-suppressing birth-control pills like Lybrel and Seasonique. (Timely, in light of the approval of a new low-dose version.)

Also, Veronica of Viva La Feminista reviews Yes Means Yes, the anthology edited by Jessica and Jaclyn Friedman that features essays by our own Samhita and Miriam, as well as Jill, Cara, Kate Harding, Latoya, Julia Serano, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and a roster of other awesome writers.

The issue also features an expose of crisis-pregnancy centers, a piece on innovative programs for mothers in prison (shout-out to the awesome Beth Schwartzapfel, who reported it), and short fiction by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Unfortunately, articles aren't posted online, so check it out in your local bookstore. Or subscribe here.

And irritates me to no end: When you do a Google search of "Obama," the top related search is "obama citizenship." Wait, it gets worse:

Please tell me everything is going to be okay. Please?

The fabulous National Advocates for Pregnant Women reminds us why voting pro-choice is so important - to all women.

Please pass this video along to your friends and run it on your blog, website, or social networking profile!

Ad appearing on NYC subway, via bxlee.

The folks at Manhattan Mini-Storage, who we just love for their pro-choice ads that caused a ruckus a while back, now have an anti-Palin ad up in New York.

Gothamist has more.

Remember anti-feminist Roy Den Hollander, who is suing Columbia University over its Women's Studies classes? Well the school has struck back, filing a motion to dismiss the suit, saying it "reads like a parody."

Now this is rich. Kevin Burke, a proponent of the invented "post abortion syndrome," writes that the criticism of Sarah Palin "may have a relationship to the collective grief, shame, and guilt from personal involvement in the abortion of an unborn child." Here I thought voters made decisions based on the issues that matter to them - little did I know that women across the country who don't support Palin are simply depressed about all of those abortions we've been having!

Burke gets even classier when he brings Palin's pregnant teen daughter into the mix:

If Bristol Palin had quietly aborted, Sarah Palin would have been spared the politically untimely focus on this very personal family issue. The problem would have quietly gone away. But Bristol, like countless post abortive women, would have paid a high price to protect her mother from the political heat that her pregnancy brings to the campaign. We know from our work with thousands of women who feel pressured to abort for various reasons that she would surely suffer many of the common post-abortion symptoms; depression, promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, sleep disorders, and relational problems. But she would have suffered in silence; no one would know her secret. No one would acknowledge that she has reason to grieve or have symptoms after abortion. Sarah Palin would have lost not only her precious grandchild...she likely would have lost her daughter Bristol to the silent ravages of post abortion suffering.

Wow, given that one in three American women will have an abortion in her lifetime - there must be millions of tired, addicted, slutty, depressed, single women running around voting Democrat!

Seriously, conservatives need to get their heads out of their asses - and out of our uteruses. (Sorry, not the best visual.)

Part 2 after the jump.

Via Jack and Jill Politics.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women, but according to Consumer Reports many women could be in danger because of a misdiagnoses:

If you have chest pain, breathlessness or an irregular heartbeat, you'd expect your doctor to check you out for heart disease. But if you're a woman, it's possible that might not happen. Instead, you might be told your symptoms are caused by stress.

A study presented at a recent conference looked at decisions made by 230 experienced American physicians. The study showed that doctors were more likely to put these symptoms down to stress if a woman appeared anxious, or if they knew she had been through stressful events.

When the same symptoms were presented for men, the doctors didn't relate it to stress - and instead indicated that they would send the man to a cardiologist or start him on heart medication. Scary.

It seems pretty widely known that heart disease is not just a health issue that impacts men, so I'm curious as to why the participants in this study were so quick to attribute symptoms to stress. Does it have something to do with the longstanding tradition of labeling women as neurotic? (Just putting it out there...)

For more information on women and heart disease, click here, here, and here. Also check out the Go Red for Women campaign.

Thanks to Meredith for the link.

Samantha Bee on McCain's women's health air quotes. Nails it dead. (Wait until about halfway through the vid.) I love her.

Thanks to all the Feministing readers who emailed me late into the night excited about this segment!

In no particular order.

1. You are expected to dress nice and act a certain way "waiting" to get asked out.

2. You have to play by the rules which generally give men most of the power. (wait till he calls you, don't be too forward, be mysterious-you don't want to scare him off, etc)

3. If you show emotion too early on or too much of it, you are needy.

4. If you don't show enough emotion, you are making the other party insecure forcing them to wield social privilege to silence your daring attempt at independence from self obliteration via coupling.

5. It fetishizes unequal power relations between women. He'll get the tab, he'll get the door as long as he gets the vagina, and that is considered "romance."

6. It makes same sex couples feel "less than."

7. It dictates your interaction in most social settings and social circles, whether you are single or coupled. It is either/or, there is no 3rd identity or in-between.

8. If you have sex too early you ruined it.

9. If you don't have sex early on you are a prude.

10. It is expected to lead to marriage (and if you don't have a ring on your finger you are "on the market.")

It's not even a new twist on an old theme; as Barack would say, it's more of the same. The idea that women's bodies can and should be offered as a reward for good behaviour has been with us for centuries. It's appearance as a campaign slogan only proves how far we need to progress as women.

I really hate that this props up the idea that there's a "groupie mentality" among young women who support Obama. The poster echoes the insulting argument made by some during the Democratic primary that young women who support Obama don't actually think he has good policy positions or political stances. We just think he's HAWT. And we like that our boyfriends like him!

Look, I understand this poster is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, retro fun. (Hello, it just oozes "Made in Brooklyn" hipsterrific charm.) And you know what? I'm into retro. Retro fashion? Yes, pls. Retro music and home decor? Yes and yes. But retro politics and political statements? Um, no thank you.

In light of claims that we have reached a place of post-racism, Latoya at Racialicious aptly points out multiple examples of how this is actually untrue. In light of the events of Hurricane Katrina, the Jena 6, the Jersey 4 and the Duke Rape case, all highly public moments where racism proved to be a relevant factor, we can hardly claim to be in a post-racial country.

But the very nature of our conversation about whether or not America is post-racial proves that, in fact, it's NOT. Just look at the competing narratives on the right and the left about what role race has played in this election. Last week I suggested that Colin Powell put his support behind Barack Obama at least partially because of race, whether he said it out loud or not, and that this support is understandable given the history of racism in this country. In response, there were some suggestions that perhaps this act was in itself racist. I want to talk about what comments like these tell us about how we understand race, especially in the context of this election.

Voting for Barack because he is black is considered problematic for two reasons:

The first reason, pushed by conservatives, is that this is somehow reverse racism (despite the clear proof that the McCain campaign is appealing to people to not vote for him because he is black). This reason is firmly rooted in white power, fear and control of this countries government and the potential threat that a black leader is to this establishment. It is just blatant old fashioned racism. I am not sympathetic to this line of analysis.

The second reason, pushed by liberals, is that he is a qualified candidate outside of being black, so we don't want him to be the affirmative action candidate and play into the right wing agenda of calling us "racist against white people." This reason is based in a belief that we are in a potentially post-racist time where we are actually witnessing a "reverse Bradley Effect" in which Americans are so past their racism that they want to prove it by supporting a black candidate.

It is worth noting these contradictions. Take a look at how themes of post-racialism play out in Frank Rich's Sunday editorial:

There are at least two larger national lessons to be learned from what is likely to be the last gasp of Allen-McCain-Palin politics in 2008. The first, and easy one, is that Republican leaders have no idea what "real America" is. In the eight years since the first Bush-Cheney convention pledged inclusiveness and showcased Colin Powell as its opening-night speaker, the G.O.P. has terminally alienated black Americans (Powell himself now included), immigrant Americans (including the Hispanics who once gave Bush-Cheney as much as 44 percent of their votes) and the extended families of gay Americans (Palin has now revived a constitutional crusade against same-sex marriage). Subtract all those players from the actual America, and you don't have enough of a bench to field a junior varsity volleyball team, let alone a serious campaign for the Electoral College.

I agree with Rich and I find most of his argument to be solid, but I do think he is attempting to pull from the post-racist frame. He even makes the "reverse Bradley" argument -- that voters want to vote for Obama because he's black -- later in the piece. But here's my question: Is a "reverse Bradly" possible considering one of the largest liberal messages being pushed right now is that this isn't about race? Aren't there almost certainly other racial factors at play here -- that white Americans are disgusted by the race-related tactics that McCain has pulled and that Obama's blackness isn't very threatening to them?

With these two frames about race, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. On one hand, we recognize the clear and blatant racist attacks that Obama is facing. On the other, we claim not to notice or care that the first black president is actually black. The simple truth is that in fact there are Americans voting for Barack Obama because he is the best choice AND because it is important for us to have a black president. As we said over and over again during the Democratic primary, gender is a factor but not *the only factor* in choosing a candidate to support. The same goes for race.

But this tension -- is race a major factor or a non-existant factor? -- is at the heart of this election, and I don't believe it is proof that we are in a post-racial space. Perhaps we are stuck somewhere in the middle of two different ways of understanding race. It is so important that Barack Obama is elected (and obviously not just because he is black) but let us not forget what this election is bringing out in all of America -- and not just the "real" Americans as defined by McCain and Palin. We must continue to push the way we understand race in American society and push to change the racist conditions these beliefs have created. Saying that we are post-racial or don't see race does not change the actual condition of our country.

My best friend who lives in Oakland, CA called me over the weekend because her neighbor was violently murdered by an ex and stalker whom she had a restraining order against. Everyone knew he was crazy, she had kicked him to the curb, she had done everything within her legal right to stop him from coming near her.

Elnora Caldwell was always clear about what she wanted. And after a turbulent marriage, she wanted nothing to do with Robert Woods. The 46-year-old Oakland woman, a Nordstrom employee in downtown San Francisco known for her impeccable appearance, served Woods with divorce papers several weeks ago, relatives said, and filed for a restraining order. She told her landlord, "I kicked him to the curb."

But police said Woods, a burly weight lifter who once worked for the city of Oakland, did not leave his estranged wife alone.

Woods fatally stabbed her Saturday evening in his black pickup and pushed her out on a road just off Highway 24 near the Orinda side of the Caldecott Tunnel in front of stunned motorists, authorities said.

But see the problem is a restraining order doesn't restrain someone who is psychotic, obsessed or just hates women which is usually at the root of most violence against women. Perhaps if the abusive person is a rational human being, than maybe it would work, but how many abusive people that are capable of taking someone's life are rational?

A quarter of women experience domestic violence and the murder of women via intimate partner violence and homicide is the fourth leading cause of death for women of childbearing age and 1/3 of women murdered are by intimate partners. Yet all of the resources that are available to us do not effectively solve the problem, nor do they save lives. Where were the cops? Why was he not being patrolled or why was he not forced to relocate? Or why was he not put in rehabilitative services, counseling, anything? What does it take to take that kind of action? He has to kill her first?

Sorry to sound so frustrated, but when I had to leave my apt for a stalking incident I too was told that the only recourse I had for a man that lived under me and could get to my front door at any time of day or night, was to file a restraining order. I don't think a piece of paper will actually stop a mentally ill person that hates women from doing what he is planning on doing. That is not how it works.

It is stories like this where theory meets action and I feel so at a loss for how to move forward or what words of solace to even offer. I don't support the heavy policing of communities of color, I don't support increased rates of incarceration and I support rehabilitation for all kinds of offenders, however, given the current conditions of the prison industrial complex, it is difficult to see any of that theory in action. Without policy based support for alternatives to rehabilitation for people committing domestic partner violence, what hope do we have?

My condolences to the family of Elnora Caldwell and the community surrounding her. Our thoughts are with you.

Update: They are considering the death penalty for the murderer.

Sometimes people ask me how I deal with all the anti-feminist, anti-woman craziness. Well, one answer is that I do things like go to ridiculous (but fun in a puffy paint shirt, huge fan button kinda way) concerts. Joey 4-eva.

I am so deeply saddened by the right wing attack on gay marriage in my recently previous home of California. The implications for the potential ban on gay marriage are frightening, suggesting that any union that isn't between a man and a woman will become illegal. It is amazing how much money has been pumped into the Prop 8 campaign, because a few months ago many of us believed the prop didn't have a shot in hell. This video that I found via Amanda uses a play on words to show exactly how discriminatory a gay marriage ban is. They replace gay marriage with "interracial."

Also, this video from Yes on 8 enthusiasts in Oakland via Feminist Law Professors.

Prop 8 is just one piece of legislation to strips away the rights of and harms our gay citizens, it doesn't change harassment or hate crimes. It does however set a precedent of how society sees gay people and a marriage ban would tell us that they are not actually citizens. This has implications and Carolyn Goossen at New American Media takes a look at the harassment of gay teenagers in California.

This just looks really good. Aaronette M. White, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz has a book out called, "Ain't I a Feminist? African American Men Speak Out on Fatherhood, Friendship, Forgiveness, and Freedom," that delves into the intersection of race, manhood, sexism, family and feminism. It is a series of in-depth interviews with man who have transformed their relationship with themselves and the women in their lives by embracing feminism. White's main point being, sexism hurts everyone.

For black men, feminism can be a positive force that enhances romantic relationships, friendships with other men, and relationships with children, said White, whose findings are based on in-depth interviews and an extensive written survey administered to each participant. Her subjects, whose identities are not revealed in the book, were hand-selected from a pool of about 50 men, all of whom were self-identified feminists.

"These men have defied the odds," said White, whose book breaks new ground in the empirical study of black feminist men. "Their lives help define what it means to be a feminist and an ethical human being."

Via.

And as her title suggests borrowing from Sojourner Truth's pivotal speech, she calls her subjects the sons of Sojourner because, "they refuse to place race above gender, or gender above race."

This looks like a powerful read, and I appreciate the juxtaposition of black masculinity and feminism as they are usually diametrically opposed. I guess the question begs to be asked, which is what makes this a controversial book on some level, is can men be feminists? I think they absolutely can, but what do you think?

Thanks to George for the link!

Wow. The FBI rounded up 600 adults and rescued 47 children in 29 different cities for sex trafficking of minors.

"Sex trafficking of children remains one of our most violent and unconscionable crimes in this country," Pistole said.

The 47 rescued children ranged in age from 13 to 17, and all but one are female. Of these, Pistole said, 10 had been reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Child prostitution has taken on a new urgency in recent years with the growth of online networks where pimps advertise the youngsters to clients. The FBI generally gets involved in child prostitution cases that cross state lines.

A University of Pennsylvania study estimated that nearly 300,000 children in the United States are at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial purposes.

Those are staggering statistics. There is no other demographic data on the youth, but I do wonder what impact the declining economy has had on this issue.

via AP.

Say it with me now, "ANN FRIEDMAN."

Former Ms. magazine editor Elaine Lafferty has been working as a consultant on the McCain campaign (yes, seriously), and has a bone to pick with feminists who dare to criticize Sarah Palin.

For the sin of being a Christian personally opposed to abortion, Palin is being pilloried by the inside-the-Beltway Democrat feminist establishment. (Yes, she is anti-abortion. And yes, instead of buying organic New Zealand lamb at Whole Foods, she joins other Alaskans in hunting for food.[...])

...[L]ike many other Democrats, including Lynn Rothschild, I'm tired of the Democratic Party taking women for granted. I also happen to believe Sarah Palin supports women's rights, deeply and passionately.

M-kay, whatever floats your boat I guess. Never mind that her record indicates quite a different story. But here's the kicker:

Last month a prominent feminist blogger, echoing that sensibility, declared that the media was wrongly buying into the false idea that Palin was a feminist. Why? Well, just because she said she was a feminist, because she supported women's rights and opportunities, equal pay, Title IV--that was just "empty rhetoric," they said. At least the blogger didn't go as far as NOW's Kim Gandy and declare that Palin was not a woman. Bottom line: you are not a feminist until we say you are. (Emphasis mine)

"Empty rhetoric," hmm? That sounds familiar. The anonymous "prominent feminist blogger" is our own Ann Friedman! But it seems that naming Ann is beneath Lafferty - as is bothering to engage with her in-depth look at how Palin's rhetoric does not match her record. Making women invisible: Now that's feminist!

Is it really so hard to name the person whose opinion you're (limply) arguing against? Ann Friedman. Check it out, I can even do it in all sorts of different ways:

Ann Friedman. Feministing. Ann Friedman, Feministing. Ann Friedman of Feministing.

It's like a typing miracle! Say it together, folks: Ann Friedman.

A new birth control pill, called LoSeasonique, has just been approved for sale in the US by the FDA, according to Barr Pharmaceuticals.

Under the LoSEASONIQUE(R) extended-cycle regimen, women take combination tablets containing 0.10 mg levonorgestrel/0.02 mg of ethinyl estradiol daily for 84 consecutive days, followed 0.01 mg ethinyl estradiol tablets for seven days. The regimen is designed to reduce the number of withdrawal bleeding periods from 13 to four per year.

LoSeasonique is a low-dose version of Seasonique, which also reduces the number of periods a woman has.

What do you all think about these period-reducing birth control pills? Anyone tried them?

This year many states are facing a variety of ballot measures. We've heard a lot about the CA gay marriage initiative, and there are initiatives in 14 different states that could affect reproductive freedom, affirmative action, economic security, transportation, education, health care, energy and security (to name a few).

Choice USA, Campus Progress Action and Progressive Future have teamed up with the Ballot Initiatives Strategy Center to create this awesome guide to all these ballot measures, what they would really mean, and how you should vote on them.

So if you live in any of these states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Massachusets, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington download the guide and get the facts. Or forward it along to people who do!

From Lynn Paltrow's piece at RH Reality Check:

This summer, the question of abortion and the rights of the unborn once again took center stage as a presidential campaign issue. In August, at the Saddleback Civil Forum, Pastor Rick Warren asked both presidential candidates: "At what point is a baby entitled to human rights?" Senator John McCain's answer, "at the moment of conception," immediately established his anti-abortion bona fides.

But the right answer, as a matter of international human rights principles and simple justice, is: human rights attach at birth, not at conception.This is the only position that ensures that upon becoming pregnant, women do not lose their human rights.

Political candidates of all persuasions should rest assured that to oppose the recognition of human rights before birth is not to deny the value of potential life as matter of religious belief, emotional conviction or personal experience. Rather, it is to recognize the value of the women who give that life.

Right on.

Cross posted at Radical Doula

From the Associated Press:

A contest that would pay $10,000 to an engaged couple, as long as they abstain from premarital sex, hasn't gotten any takers. The deadline for the Marriage for a Lifetime contest is Oct. 31. The prize includes free flowers, invitations and other wedding treats.

Considering 95% of Americans have pre-marital sex, I'm not exactly shocked.

The contest is sponsored by the Marriage Appreciation Training Uplifting Relationship Education (MATURE) project in Georgia, a federally-funded abstinence program. The group is set to receive $455,510 a year until 2011; the money for the contest was to come from those funds. In an economic crisis, it's pretty awesome to see our federal dollars being so entirely wasted.

Monty is starting off the week the way I'd like to - unconscious. More pics after the jump.

Sarah Palin, who called herself a feminist in the infamous Katie Couric interview, is not so sure anymore...

In an interview on NBC Nightly News that aired yesterday, Brian Williams asked Palin: "Governor, are you a feminist?"

"I'm not gonna label myself anything, Brian," said Palin. "And I think that's what annoys a lot of Americans, especially in a political campaign, is to start trying to label different parts of America different, different backgrounds, different...I'm not going to put a label on myself."

You know, this is a flip flop I can deal with. Don't label yourself, Gov. Palin. Especially not as a feminist.

UPDATE: Video of Palin's change of heart after the jump.

A bitch has been working on several campaigns and I am tired as hell!

I've canvassed...phone-banked...blogged...rallied...and there is still so much that needs to be done.

Pause...consider...continue.

Yep, 'tis time for a pre-election Bitchfirmation!

Ahem.

When we're called un-American for doing what this nation's founders did by calling out bullshit and questioning those elected to serve us...

When we're called socialists by people who couldn't define socialism without a Google search an the assistance of an online dictionary if their herd mentality-based lives depended on it...

When they drop dollops of hate in the comment section of my blog as if I've lived damn near 36 years...all of them black...and never been called that shit before...

When they hang up the phone, slam the door or walk away rather than listen and debate...

For all the drama that accompanies campaign volunteering and activism in general...

Go on, y'all!

Go on with your badass volunteer, activist and advocate self!

Because living your values is not copy-writed by any political party...valuing family and community is not the sole property of social conservatives...and patriotism doesn't reside exclusively within the GOP.

Be vocal...because the blood, sweat and tears of millions were shed so that we can do just that.

Be proud...because part of being patriotic is the expectation that we the people speak truth to power.

And be fierce...because all that drama and more is why they call this a struggle.

Yes, I don't know about y'all but I needed that.

And now?

Begin again...

Jezebel: Teen Moms Displeased At Double Standard Glorifying Bristol Palin & Jamie Lynn Spears

Genevieve at UneFemmePlusCourageuse catalogs the pro-rape "flair" on Facebook. (Via)

There have been a series of attacks on gay and trans students at Washington State University. (Via)

Sara calls out Palin for giving domestic terrorists a pass.

Fatemeh wrote An Open Letter to White Non-Muslim Western Feminists.

Chicago Defender: "Domestic Violence Hits Black Women Harder"

Mable F. Yee: How Can 30+ Million Women Be Invisible? (Also see Celina's interview with Mable.)

Religion Dispatches: A Woman Leads Muslim Prayer in Britain For the First Time

A new anti-rape campaign in Scotland takes on the "she was asking for it because..." excuse.

Actions and Events

Oct. 29: Attention bloggers! Participate in Write to Marry day to oppose Prop 8.

Oct. 30: Be Bold, Wear Red to protest violence against women of color. (Cara has more.)

Oct. 31 - April 5: Brooklyn Museum exhibition: Burning Down the House: Building a Feminist Art Collection

What else have you all been reading/writing this week? Leave links in comments...

Through EngageHer.org and documentary film Engage Her: Getting minority women to lead and vote, founder and CEO Mable Yee is working to get women to the polls -- especially women of color -- millions are registered to vote but don't cast their votes. So why do all those undecideds get so much attention?

Just 10 days to go till the big vote for the next prez. Here's Mable...

Big time.

Last month, Jessica gave us the lowdown on how the mainstream media has been feeding the whole Palin-as-Feminist rhetoric that's been going around, and Ann reminded us earlier this week about why Palin's attempt at feminist talk is completely empty of meaning. But apparently, the Washington Post disagrees. Lois Romano writes:

Palin's candidacy has sent a jolt through traditional liberal women's organizations as she tries to redefine feminism, suggesting that the old movement has become detached from the hockey moms Palin champions. The mother of five and former beauty queen is the antithesis of the bra-burning militant libbers of the '60s, and she is adamantly antiabortion. Yet Palin has grabbed the feminist label vigorously and has been hailed as one by the thousands of supportive women who wave their lipstick tubes at her rallies.

The author also contends that the "unexpected recognition of a conservative as a role model for women has forced some traditional feminists to reconsider the movement's mission," specifically referencing to her stance on abortion multiple times, as if Palin being anti-choice is the only issue that distinguishes her from feminists. Forget about charging residents in Wasilla for rape kits and her general apathy for rape victims, her lack of support for the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the fact that she's against emergency contraception , her history of cutting funding for young, low-income mothers - you get the gist.

What's the most infuriating is that Romano pretty much labels her as this subversive revolutionary working against a puritanical movement:

Palin proclaimed that feminism is no longer synonymous with liberalism but something that could be shared and celebrated by all women.

You mean no longer synonymous with the "bra-burning militant libbers of the '60s"? And speaking of, she quotes a Clinton-supporter-turned-McCain-supporter who says that, "Sarah Palin rocks all the stereotypes of feminism and can only enhance progress for women."

Somehow this writer managed to reinforce feminist stereotypes while deeming Palin as proof that feminists can be so much more than just stereotypes. You know, they can be airbrushed sexymoms with hot legs.

Sigh.

It's been a couple of weeks since we've put out a video, sorry about that! This week's 'fuck you' was inspired by Ann's post about the latest anti-choice pharmacy and Pharmacists for Life International (who incidentally has called us "radical feminazis" and "radical abortoholics" on their website). Enjoy!

For more about women's access to prescriptions, click here.

Don't forget to subscribe to Feministing's YouTube channel!

Approximate transcript after the jump...

You've probably heard McCain, Palin and various GOP pundits using the term ACORN like it's a dirty word. While we are hearing reports of really insidious voter suppression and voter intimidation (not to mention ballot "typos") all over the country, the Republicans have waged a campaign against the grassroots organization ACORN. Below is their response to the allegations.

I have to agree with them that this sounds to me like the Republicans laying the foundation for an election contest if Obama wins.

So, Campbell Brown keeps having these moments where she calls out sexism and I really like it.

I agree with her that there is an enormous double standard in focusing on what Palin is wearing and not cross-checking it against how much male candidates are spending on their images. However, 150K is a disgustingly huge amount of money to spend on "prettying up Palin" in the middle of a financial crisis. Furthermore, what Brown doesn't mention is part of Palin's whole appeal is to make her a "sexy" gal next door and the money was spent to create that image. The Republicans are using her look as part of her appeal and manipulating the sexist double standard to boost her popularity with voters that adhere to normative standards of feminine beauty. You know, the gal next door that looks "normal," but for women to look "normal" they need to spend tons of money on hair, make-up and clothes. Hillary's image was not used in this way because she didn't brand her self as the "sexy" mom next door, but was scrutinized nonetheless for her not being feminine enough.

Either way, they can spend 2 million dollars "prettying up Palin", but that will not cover up or distract any of us from her horrid politics, policies-history of government abuse, misinformation and corruption-or deplorable stance on women's issues. Seriously, can this election be over already.

My colleague Tim Fernholz at the Prospect has a piece up about candidates this cycle appealing to voters by touting their pro-choice cred:

But this year, Democratic political operatives have been surprised by the success they've had in deploying pro-choice messages. Congressional campaigns from New Jersey to Nevada have picked up on the trend, and outside groups spreading the word are not just usual suspects like NARAL and Planned Parenthood, but also the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

"We didn't use it as much in 2006. Voters then were really focused on Iraq and the economy," says Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who is working on several House and Senate races this year. "I was surprised, honestly. You think the economy and nothing else will break through, but this is breaking through."

Read the rest here.

I gotta say, it's refreshing news given the anti-choice rhetoric the McCain campaign is spewing, along with some of the stridently anti-choice ballot initiatives we've seen this year.

I saw this ridiculous Chevy commercial a couple of days ago and am so glad reader John reminded me about it (h/t!), it's definitely worth sharing.

Apparently women aren't marketable to the auto industry unless shoes are involved.

While this isn't as disturbing as some of the vintage car and auto-related commercials we've found, it's run-of-the-mill sexism is irritable enough.

Although shockingly, we have found one anti-sexist car ad. Go Johnson Automotive!

You're sitting in the airport terminal, rolling your copy of the Economist into a sweaty tube and waiting to see a significant other who lives far away. You're excited. You're aroused. But there's something else, a nagging feeling that gurgles in your stomach and won't go away. Is it pangs of guilt? It should be: The planet is about to suffer for your love.

As someone who has had my fair share of long distance relationships (LDRs for short) this Slate article really struck a chord with me.

By spending all their free time out of town or staring at a webcam--that is, in their apartments or airline cabins, rather than in parks, bowling alleys, and pubs--long-distance lovers erode civic commitment and social support networks. They have fewer chances to meet new people.

What's more, out-of-town daters have less sex than local couples--and long stretches of abstinence between visits could lead to negative health outcomes and thus higher health care costs. Distance also magnifies the impact of negative feelings like longing and suspicion; according to one study, intercity lovers are more likely to be depressed and less likely to share resources or take care of each other when sick. And they spend money on travel that they might otherwise save and invest--leaving them vulnerable to economic shocks and wearing away their future standard of living. Every one of these demons could be banished by simply dating local.

I couldn't agree more. I've been joking with some friends of mine about wanting to start a campaign against long distance relationships. Constantly missing your significant other, spending your life on the phone, always counting the days until you see them, or the days until you have to say goodbye again.

I think our increasingly globalized and technologized world is making LDRs much easier (and maybe more likely). Internet dating, email and social networking sites all make it much easier for us to connect with people who live far away. These things also make it much easier to maintain your connection with someone--you can always be connected to them, at least virtually. What used to be cheap airfare also makes it easier to visit one another (although that might be changing).

Now, it's not always easy to avoid LDRs. People move away, for jobs, or school, or other life decisions. I know there are couples out there who have made it work. But maybe Slate has a point--if we have a local food movement, why not a date local movement?

Thanks to Tanya for the link

Well this is a new one. If you thought Fox News was bad, check out their bloggers. Greg Gutfeld, also host of Fox News' Red Eye, wrote a post yesterday on Fox Forum that may just leave you speechless. The title: "Obama Is as Untouchable as a Really Hot Chick." And that's just the tip of the iceberg:

Seriously, the man isn't a presidential candidate, he's a really hot chick. You know what I mean, right?

You know how when a friend starts dating some girl, let's say a stripper with top of the line implants, he overlooks everything else. She could be spreading Chlamydia like a Jehovah's Witness unloading a case of Watchtower pamphlets, and it won't matter.

Blinded by beauty, he lets her get away with everything, until your buddy is left broken and broke, riddled with disease, sleeping in your garage and convinced a mob boyfriend wants him dead. (Emphasis mine)

It must be hard to put so many misogynist stereotypes in less than a hundred words. Sounds like this guy has some serious fucking issues.

After you've recovered from the speechlessness, let the fury sink in and let Greg know what you think of his blogging.

Thanks to Lisa for the link!

Just two months after we found out that the New York City MTA had agreed to post anti-harassment ads in the subway, I was thrilled to see them up and just had to share. Big ups to MTA and, once again, to the organizations who helped make this happen.

You must check out this new ad by the Winning Message Action Fund's How Much Time Campaign targeting McCain and Palin for their threat to Roe v. Wade; it's really powerful stuff.

Transcript after the jump.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family interviewed Sarah Palin recently, and I just had to point this one part out.

She said giving birth to her son Trig, who has Down syndrome, gave her an "opportunity to be walking the walk and not just talking the talk" in regards to being "hardcore pro-life." For serious?

Jill has more.

Holy rock star! This just in from Radar:

New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal sees something special in a certain teensy Gaelic man who refuses to remove his sunglasses. That's right, the Timesman announced last night his first acquisition for the paper's Op-Ed pages for 2009: Bono. Yep, Bono. The activist-creator of Zoo TV will pen between six and ten pieces for the Grey Lady next year, Rosenthal told students Wednesday night at Columbia's School of Journalism.

I'm speaking at a conference on Saturday in Austin about relational aggression and body image (info here), and it's got me reminiscing about "mean girl" middle school and all the sad memories I have of feeling alienated and alienating others. My friends and I used to have something called "truth talks." Essentially we would sit around at slumber parties and tell one another "tough truths" about the events of the week...

Justin told me that he thought your outfit was ugly. I thought you should know.
Your new haircut doesn't look good. I wanted to tell you when you first asked, but I was afraid to.
Daniel doesn't want to go out with you. He wants to go out with me.

I think that Rachel Simmons' Odd Girl Out is the best text we've got on relational aggression and the underlying causes. In it, she shines a glaring light on the previously shadowed ways in which women undercut, criticize, alienate, and disrespect one another (not to mention themselves). She's does amazing work since it's publication through her Leadership Camp for Girls, speaking engagements, and consulting work through out the world. (Rachel has a new book coming out next spring--The Curse of the Good Girl--which I am so excited to read.)

Rachel has brought about a whole shift in consciousness with her groundbreaking first book. It seems that we are finally comfortable publicly admitting that women and girls do have the capacity to be highly aggressive. But it still feels like we are fairly stuck about what to do with this new field of "relational aggression" (covert bullying or psychological abuse). How do we actually make change? Rachel's camp is one model. The Ophelia Project is another.

I wonder what your personal take is. Why do you think adolescent girls, in particular, but women, in general, resort to competition, body snark, and passive aggressive manipulation? And most importantly, how can we stop it?

I was so moved by the New York Times Saturday profile of Jenni Williams, "Zimbabwe's hell-raising practitioner of nonviolent civil disobedience." Williams is 46-year-old high school drop out, mother, and strategic activist who has taken on Zimbabwe's totally corrupt government through organizing women to do nonviolence sit ins, marches, jail time etc. From the piece: "Dozens of times, she has led seamstresses and maids, vegetable sellers and hairdressers onto the streets in Zimbabwe's struggle for democracy. They sing gospel songs, carry brooms to figuratively sweep the government clean and bang on pots empty of food."

She also has a bawdy sense of humor and an unbreakable belief in the power of citizens organizing. I know this wasn't exactly what we meant when we asked, "Can women have it all?" but it sort of seems like the most inspired answer.

An excerpt:

Mrs. Williams, listed as accused No. 1, faces an additional charge of causing disaffection among security forces, punishable by up to 25 years in prison. In a newsletter, the organization she leads -- Women of Zimbabwe Arise!, known as Woza -- said it told soldiers and police officers to refrain from beating people, a statement the police charged was "likely to induce the members to withhold their services or to commit breaches" of discipline.

"Hear us loud and clear -- your leaders may get generous retirement packages, but you will be left to face the justice of the law and the anger of the people," the newsletter warned.

Swoon.

Ana Mendieta (1948-1985) was a groundbreaking, Cuban-American visual artist who tackled issues of body image, identity politics, and gender with unparalleled ingenuity and immediacy. The new book, out on Prestel, of her too short-lived career is totally riveting--from the tracks made by the artist dragging her blood-covered arms down a wall to the pigment-filled void of her silhouette pressed into a sandy beach. The images speak for themselves:

For an "oh scary f-word" review of Mendiata's work, check out this Washington Post piece from awhile back. Despite being generally disappointing, I did think these lines were fascinating:

Mendieta wants to assert the possibility of a female presence in the world, but that means also insisting that the "feminine" can include the kind of macho, ego-boosting gesture that has been the preserve of male artists. If there's no choice but to spell it out in old symbolic archetypes -- and that is just how art has almost always spelled things out -- the vagina has to be allowed to have its phallic side.

Good ol' boy Bill O'Reilly was on The View yesterday and, in addition to being generally offensive and irritating, he also said the following in response to this seemingly innocuous question: "Why won't Sarah Palin come on your program?"

I don't know. I want her to come in. I have outfits she can wear.

See the clip for yourself below:

*Taking a tip out of a 1970s anti-feminist rule book, Bill also recommends that Joy Behar "lighten up" about politics. Yeah, why can't she just see it as one big, melodramatic performance with no consequences like he does? It makes for great ratings.

A pharmacy in Chantilly, VA. has become the seventh pharmacy to be officially certified by the anti-choice group Pharmacists for Life International.

On Tuesday, the pharmacy celebrated a blessing from Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde. While Divine Mercy Care is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, it is guided by church teachings on sexuality, which forbid any form of artificial contraception, including morning-after pills, condoms and birth control pills, a common prescription used by millions of women in the U.S.

"This pharmacy is a vibrant example of our Holy Father's charge to all of us to wear our faith in the public square," said Loverde, who sprinkled holy water on the shelves stocked with painkillers and acne treatments. "It will allow families to shop in an environment where their faith is not compromised."

Because otherwise families will be forced to compromise their faith by shopping at the CVS down the block, where cashiers toss handfuls of birth control pills into the air with wild abandon, buckets of NuvaRings are for sale right next to the cash register, and every aisle contains giant posters of copulating couples with taglines like "SEX WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES!" (Kidding.)

Seriously, though, Jessica at Jezebel explains why this matters:

So what's the big deal, you may think, this pharmacy is in the D.C. area, competing against thousands of pharmacies that do dispense birth control. But, as former Planned Parenthood lawyer Roberta Riley points out, "in parts of Montana, women must drive 80 miles to find a pharmacy willing to sell contraception," because so many pharmacists are practicing their "consciences."

What's more, as Tarina Keene, executive director of the Virginia chapter of NARAL notes, "If this emboldens other pharmacies in other parts of the state, it could really affect low-income and rural women in terms of access." But isn't denying women their prescriptions illegal? Well, it depends on where you live.

Let's hope it doesn't become a full-blown trend.

This web video from the Obama campaign highlights the importance of the Violence Against Women Act (and, of course, Joe Biden's role in its passage):

(Trigger warning.)

Related:
Quick Hit: Biden and VAWA
Meet Joe Biden

From the Associated Press: "An Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence Tuesday for a journalism student accused of blasphemy for asking questions in class about women's rights under Islam. But the judges still sentenced him to 20 years in prison."

Make sure to read the whole story.

I'm sure most of you have seen the news that Sarah Palin has been appearing with "a small group of high-profile feminists," including Oregon NOW Vice President Linda Klinge and former Ms. magazine editor Elaine Lafferty. (More about that later.)

Rather than focusing on who or what is or isn't feminist, let's just step back and look at the policies Palin stands for. Not the talking points or labels. Let's examine what she's actually saying on the stump this week:

Palin went on to suggest Obama discriminated against women employees in his own Senate office, as opposed to GOP presidential nominee John McCain.

"There is a difference between what Barack Obama says and what he does," she declared. "Out on the stump, he talks about things like equal pay for equal work, but according to Senate records, women on his staff get just 83 cents for every dollar that the men get. What is with that? Does he think that the women aren't working as hard? Does he think they're 17 percent less productive?"

"I know one senator who does pay women equal pay," she added, referring to McCain

It's completely fair to call out Barack Obama for not having more women at the highest (and highest-paid) levels of his campaign. I grant that (and have linked to this point before). BUT beyond the anecdote about their campaign staffs, Palin declines to mention that McCain voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act, and supports the right of businesses to discriminate on the basis of gender. This has a much greater impact on American women than what he pays his own staff.

Instead, she said if elected she would pursue policies such as flexibility in labor laws so women could engage in more telecommuting and would push for a tax code "that doesn't penalize working families."

"Working mothers need an advocate, and they will have one when this working mother is working for all of you," she said, as the crowd cheered.

...Except that, again, her running mate has supported paid family leave in theory, but not in practice. Obama has pledged to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act, while McCain...

Shark-Fu tipped me off to 8 Against 8, which is an effort by eight awesome lesbian bloggers to joined forces against Prop 8, California's same-sex marriage ban. Check out eight days of equality-blogging at:

Grace Chu and Grace Rosen - Grace The Spot
Lori Hahn - Hahn At Home
Kelly Leszczynski - The Lesbian Lifestyle
Dorothy Snarker - Dorothy Surrenders
Pam Spaulding - Pam's House Blend
Sinclair - Sugarbutch Chronicles
Riese - This Girl Called Automatic Win
Renee Gannon - Lesbiatopia

Equality California, the pro-marriage-equality effort, is a full $10 million behind in fundraising, so these eight bloggers are stepping up to help raise money. Click here to donate -- even just $5 or $10 -- to this group effort to defeat Prop 8.

After the jump, a quick sampling from these bloggers' anti-Prop 8 blogging so far...

This past weekend, after failing to get tickets to see W., I went to see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I mean who can say no to Michael Cera's sarcastic, self-conscious, nerdiness, that makes feminists gush. Yes, I like quiet, shy, nerdy boys. So. What.

I love movies that try and capture youth culture. Maybe because I am obsessed with youth culture, or have participated in almost every sub-culture of my generation, but I am always fascinated with Hollywood depictions of spaces and places, most people don't have access to or know about. I always relate to characters that are underdogs, that don't fit in with the popular kids and choose to hang out with the punk/goth/skater/hip-hop kids. I especially like movies that depict one eventful night where they are spending the whole night chasing a party, band or DJ. Those movies make my heart smile because I spent so much of my youth chasing parties, DJs, bands, boys, or the next fun thing in the night. They allow you to see what I saw-nerdy kids go to parties, we have fun and adventures without the judgment and gaze of the mainstream normative non-queer world.

Some good news for your mid-week: The Bureau of Prisons recently announced it has changed its policy and now bans the shackling of pregnant women during transportation, labor and delivery.

Maria Jones, who was incarcerated for violating drug laws, tells the story of having labor induced two weeks prior to her due date, but being "kept in shackles, leaving 18 inches between her ankles, and told to pace the hallway for several hours. 'It was so humiliating. My ankles were raw,' she said. 'I had shackles on up until the baby was coming out and then they took them off for me to push...It was unbelievable. Like I was going to go anywhere.'"

[...]The new policy represents a huge victory for the thousands of women incarcerated in federal prisons throughout the country -- a victory hard won by groups like The Rebecca Project for Human Rights and other organizations that have advocated for this change.

But this is only the beginning. In 47 states there is no legislation to restrict the practice of shackling pregnant women; state and local prisons are not subject to the new federal policy. And the U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which increasingly detains immigrant women who have never committed a crime, has refused to specifically end the use of restraints on pregnant women.

So basically, it's a good start, but we need to keep advocating that state and local prisons, as well as ICE, also ban the practice of shackling pregnant women. As the ACLU notes, women are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population. This issue is not going away anytime soon.

Amnesty International has info on the situation at the state-level.

Can we just talk about how much I'm been crushing on Amy P. lately? First she got a spot on one of the funniest shows on television, The Office. Then she got her own TV show--all the plans still in the works. Meanwhile she's been acting, rapping, and swinging that big ol' pregnant belly all over the stage with wild, unencumbered abandon. She makes being pregnant look like some serious fun.

And as if that wasn't enough, I've just discovered that she's co-producing this show, Smart Girls at the Party, "a fresh and wholly original digital series that celebrates young girls who are changing the world by being themselves. The show - Smart Girls at the Party - aims to help girls find confidence in their own aspirations and talents, and to prove that you don't have to be famous to be interesting."

My new dream dinner party just become Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Maddow, and a whole gaggle of feministing-ers.

Every time I think I couldn't love Rachel Maddow more, she comes out with something like this. Sigh.

More at Think Progress.

Fellow midwest diva Rachel sent along the following picture she snapped at a Target store in St. Paul, Minn.:

This wall decoration was for sale in the baby-items aisle. Apparently it's never too early to start fat-shaming and instilling body-self-consciousness! I wonder if parents who buy this also buy their infant daughters "high heels" and their six-year-olds padded bras? Ugh.

Sarcasm, people. Courtesy of Katie Halper (via Baratunde):

And:

Transcripts after the jump.

I gotta say, while the Women for McCain video is spot-on, Obama isn't that much better when it comes to a lot of gay-rights issues.

I just thought it was weird, insincere and awkward. And the Palin rap, well that just took the awkwardness to the next level. I guess seeing Palin on SNL makes me realize that is where her campaign belongs. In a fantastic comedy world. The Nation has more.

Ethar at Muslimah Media Watch calls out "shame cartoons" that target Muslim women.

I hate Rush Limbaugh. This isn't news, I mean he is an asshole. But I love that he is so angry about Colin Powell's historic decision to support Barack Obama, exclaiming that it is "ABOUT RACE." Powell has bore the brunt of the racism of the Republican right for a long time, from being called "well-spoken" to having his race ignored or having to pretend he wasn't a person of color for the benefit of the party. I have frequently disagreed with his perspectives and policies, however, I was *very* moved by his public endorsement of Obama.

I understand that Powell has to say he is not endorsing Obama because of race. I understand that is what Chris Rock has said, what many public black men have had to say. Because they have to pretend to be color blind. Because racism in this country is so deep, so entrenched that as people of color we have to ignore it and can only call it out in polite and really obvious ways. If we get too angry or speak out we are divisive. And if we endorse a candidate because he is black, well then *we* are the racist ones.

So of course Rush is screaming Powell's endorsement is about race. He noticed that there is a shot that a black man might make it to the presidency which is a direct threat to old white male power (as subtle as it is going to be) and Rush has taken himself to the task of exposing us libruls as the racists that we are.

See, calling someone a traitor because they chose to support a candidate because they agree with his politics, thinks that his own party is using bad tactics and because he is the same race, well that makes him a racist, not a well reasoned human being. And making images like this one, well that is just political expression. Not racism.

UPDATE: After thinking about this a little bit more and before the link thread spirals out of control about how we should support Palin because she is a woman...I think it is important to state the obvious. This is not a competition between what is a more compelling reason to vote, gender or race. They are both things to consider and it helps that Obama has politics that I or most feminists do support therefore gaining the support of most feminists. However, I didn't support Powell when he was considering running for President and would have voted against him even if it meant voting for someone white instead.

The point however is that whether Powell says it is for race or not, he is going to have it thrown in his face in a way that a white conservative supporter would not. That is the way racism functions, you are damned if you do, damned if you don't. There is a specific type of anger that Powell's endorsement is unleashing that is tied to white power and control and it is interesting to watch it play out.

Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales)

We've written before about Castle Rock v. Gonzales, a 2005 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that local police departments are not responsible for enforcing restraining orders. Well, the plaintiff in that case, Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales) is taking her case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights this week.

Here is a post from her on what the hearing is all about:

My name is Jessica Lenahan and I am a survivor of domestic violence. On Wednesday I will make my second appearance before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, DC. The IACHR is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights throughout the Americas. I turned to the IACHR three years ago because the justice system in the United States abandoned me.

In June 1999, my estranged husband, Simon Gonzales, abducted my three young daughters in violation of a domestic violence restraining order I had obtained against him three weeks before. I repeatedly contacted and pleaded with the Castle Rock Police for assistance, but they refused to act. Late that night, Simon arrived at the police station and opened fire. He was killed and the bodies of my three girls were found murdered in the cab of his truck.

When asked last week in the debate about his racist sentiments aired by some of his constituents, McCain tried to weasel his way out of the question them "fringe" members. I think we as the news reading public have found evidence to the contrary. It is starting to seem that the Republican base has become filled with racism. This might be why moderate Republicans hate their own party so much at this point, but I digress. Last week we saw Obama with a noose and talked about the sentiments anti-Obama folks are drawing from in calling a black leader a socialist. That was deplorable, this is disgusting.

I am thinking they didn't get this idea from Old Dirty Bastard's album cover. And when Ol Dirty put this album cover out, we knew it was problematic, but it was also a joke, his idea and thankfully ODB wasn't running for president.

This however is just some really shameful shit. Racialicious has more.

UPDATE: CNN did a story on this. (h/t)

The fight to legalize homosexual sex in India has brought out homophobic sentiments in the government. The government of India is functioning under the misguided belief that the spread of HIV/AIDS in India is due to gay sex. The high court in Delhi took up the task of calling out the government.

Via Times of India.

Irritated by the government's contradictory and unscientific stand on the issue of homosexuality, the Delhi High Court on Monday told the government that the homosexual trait in a human being cannot be termed as a "disease" and objected to the contention that if legalised, homosexuality would bring "devastation" to society.

"Show us one report which says that it is a disease. A WHO paper says that it is not a disease but you are describing it as a disease. It is an accepted fact that it is a main vehicle that causes (AIDS) disease but it is not a disease in itself," a Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah remarked in response to Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra's harping on the point that homosexuality was a disease that is responsible for the spread of AIDS in the country.

Yikes. Isn't it true that when something is legalized the potential for ensuring safety increases? If homosexuality is kept illegal in India their fear of "high risk" behaviors continue underground, only riskier because people lack access to health care needs or protection of the law if they are sexually violated.

Furthermore, it has also been proven that one of the main reasons HIV/AIDS is on the rise in India is because of infidelity on behalf of men. Why not penalize men for engaging in dangerous sexual behaviors as opposed to outlawing the ability for two consenting adults to have safe sex. Queer rights activists in India continue to fight for the decriminalization of gay sex, but it is looking like an uphill battle given homophobic attitudes on behalf of the government.

Continuing with its opposition the government described homosexuality as "a most indecent behaviour" in society, pointing out that homosexuals comprise just 0.3% of the population and the interest of rest 99.7% population "cannot be compromised" just to accommodate their rights.

"Every citizen has the right to lead a decent and moral life in society and the right would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised in the country," Malhotra said arguing that an amendment in section 377 would mean subsequent tinkering around with marriage and divorce laws of each community as all have sodomy as a ground for divorce. The ASG claimed even section 375, which pertains to rape, would need an amendment to change definition of "consent" if homosexuality was legalised.

Apparently it is decent and moral to deny an entire segment of the population basic human rights. I am truly appalled at this archaic thinking.

Thanks to Grishma for the link.

Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland where about 70 to 80 abortions happen legally and is only allowed to happen under rare conditions. According to the Guardian UK,

Some 50,000 Northern Irish women have had to come to England for abortions, costing about £2,500 each, while poorer women bear unwanted children or use back-street methods: over 10% of GPs admit to dealing with the aftermath of amateur abortions.

The political nature of abortion in Northern Ireland has led to crucial reforms being left out of today's debate in Parliment. The 1967 law that legalized abortion in the UK is full of caveats. It reads,

Here's the case for reform: the 1967 abortion law casts women as too morally unreliable to decide if they should become mothers. Two doctors must agree that a pregnancy can be terminated; women must plead psychological cause and attend a registered clinic. All that adds to cruel delays: some women still wait six weeks.

Doctors are not making a medical diagnosis, but giving or withholding their moral blessing. Not surprisingly, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists wants an end to this archaic hypocrisy. In these days of "choice" and "empowerment" for patients, doctors are not priests. How odd that women should be morally incapable of making this most important decision and yet might be compelled against their will to become mothers - presumably morally incompetent ones.

To make sure that the women in Northern Ireland can't have any access to abortion whatsoever, the President added a "pro-life amendment" that essentially banned abortion in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, they have canned debate on this topic in the UK due to the potential that it will threaten and therefore increase tension between Northern Ireland and England.

Activists that believe women have human rights and should have fair access to controlling what happens to their bodies and a full choice of reproductive rights will be protesting in front of Parliament today as they attempt to leave this crucial reform off the debate floor. These are the types of things I fear for if McCain/Palin end up in office. Will we too be fighting for our reproductive rights? *shudder to think*

I'm sure you remember the epically sexist Rose Petal Cottage commercial. About five minutes ago, during a commercial break from Heroes (yes, I like the show) the ad comes on again. I'm already pissed, thinking that this stupid commercial should have been complained off the air months ago. Then something incredible happens. At the end of the standard ad (above) a quick promo for Hasbro's latest disaster, the Sweet Lily Castle, is tacked onto the end.

I can't remember what it said word-for-word, but I swear the last sentence was about letting her have a place where she "can wait for her prince." Seriously. I mean, the frigging castle even comes with a frog to kiss. I think I need to go to bed early tonight. Sigh.

Not that I expect progressive discourse from E!, but I still thought this poll from Ted Casablanca's blog was worth calling out. Casablanca says of Lindsey Lohan's same-sex relationship, "It's only a matter of time before L.L. retreats back and finds comfort in her fave male body part." Classy! Looks like folks are already giving him hell in comments, but it might be worth adding your two cents as well.

Thanks to Laura for the link.

Teen Breaks, an anti-choice website geared towards teens, tells teenage girls that being a teen mom is easy breezy and anyone telling them otherwise just wants them to be "unpregnant." For real. (Oh, and there's a big old picture of the movie Juno on their sidebar for that extra indie cred.)

The site tells girls' stories of abortion (though I'd be interested to know if they're real, cause they sure don't seem it), including 16 year old Brianne's:

At first I was happy. I no longer had worries or responsibilities, but that changed. Now I look around my school, and I see girls younger than me carrying a child. Why couldn't I do it? Their life is no different than mine. I could have raised a child.

The site also has quotes from ex-providers (now anti-choice extremists), fake supposed consequences of having an abortion (including depression and suicide), and other "unbiased" facts.

This part is my favorite, because anti-choicers are always screaming about parental notification and how important it is for parents to be involved in their pregnant daughter's decision making process. Apparently that's only true if said parents are anti-choice:

After you get over the shock of finding out you're pregnant, the next step is naturally to go to your boyfriend and then your parents to give them the news. Generally you are expecting support from your boyfriend and disappointment/anger from your parents. However, it can be a huge shock if they react so angrily that they start pushing you into an abortion to solve everyone's problems.

However, this has been a shock for them too, and they just want you to be "unpregnant." That's why you need some help from a rational, experienced, non-family source. Care Net has helped thousands of pregnant girls with all kinds of things...

So Care Net, a crisis pregnancy center that lies to women, is better for young women than their families. What happened to parental involvement, hmmmm?

In any case, check out Teen Breaks in all its misleading glory for yourself. You'll be tearing your hair out in seconds.

Related: The site says that it's run by the Rosetta Foundation - who doesn't seem to exist online outside of references from anti-choice sites like the Life Issues Institute and HeartLink.)

Community Blogger Seneca has more.

After a weekend jaunt at the Socrates Sculpture Park with his brother, Monty was grass-stained, dirt-flecked, and ready to hop onto my white chair as soon as he possibly could. Maybe I should restart the old Italian tradition of covering all of one's furniture in plastic.

Several of you have sent in this video...I'm glad it's making the rounds! Very powerful indeed.

Thanks to reader JustCharlotte for emailing us about this charming UK-based television show, Three Fat Brides, One Thin Dress.

In each of the three episodes of Three Fat Brides, One Thin Dress, three brides-to-be have just eight weeks to transform their appearance and well-being, with the prize of the wedding dress of her dreams for the bride who has the greatest success.

But how will they cope with the added pressure of Ms McKeith on the wedding scene? Will they make it to their big day a few sizes smaller? Or will they want to call the whole thing off?

You know, because women would rather call their wedding off than be fat. I mean, is this show for fucking real? It's the same gross sentiment behind We TV's Bulging Brides: That women only deserve love if they're a certain (small small small) size.

Feministing pal Roja Bandari gave us the heads up about her dear friend Esha Momeni, whom while in Iran interviewing members of the One Million Signatures Campaign for her Masters thesis at CalState Northridge, was arrested and taken to Evin Prison, which is managed by the Intelligence and Security Ministry.

We've been covering this great campaign for quite a while, and Esha is not the first to be arrested. She is a member of the campaign in California, and came to Iran two months ago to work on her thesis there. Her parents were told by court officials yesterday that nothing can happen until the investigation of Esha's case is resolved.

Our thoughts go out to Esha and her friends and family who are working tirelessly for her release.

In fifteen days Americans will go to the polls and get our vote on. A bitch adores voting...the excitement, the anticipation and the satisfaction of adding my voice to the process and making my wishes known. I teach voter education classes at local women's shelters so I also get the honor of watching young women who are particularly vulnerable to legislative drama cast their first vote.

On Election Day I will drive my students to their polling place knowing that they know their rights and what they are voting for. It sounds so simple...and yet too many of us vote against something rather than for something.

I encourage all ya'll to ask yourself why you vote and what you are voting for.

Trust a bitch, the answers will guide your decisions more than you know.

What matters to you?

And let me be clear...I'm not just talking about the presidential election. On November 4th we'll be voting for a hell of a lot more than who the next president will be.

If you don't know who your state representative and senator are look their asses up! Get to know their records and their policy positions. Call the candidates up and ask questions...research ballot initiatives so that the wording is familiar rather than a surprise. If there is a proposition on the ballot take some time and find out what is being proposed and how it will impact your life.

For all the talk about elections being popularity contests, we the people are somewhat to blame. When we fail to vote from a place of knowledge...fail to challenge and question...and walk into our polling place knowing that our ass is about to wing it, we aren't doing our job.

And our job doesn't end when the polls close.

Prepare to get your oversight on post election, because we are the ones who are responsible for holding elected officials accountable.

After the Missouri primary I dropped my students off at the shelter and was about to leave when one student asked me to wait a minute so she could show me something. She rushed back to her room and returned with a legal pad in hand. I took the offered pad and looked at the neat writing that filled it from top to bottom...she had written down her choices complete with bullet points on each candidates key issues.

When I asked her why she didn't take the pad with her when she went to vote she rolled her eyes and laughed at me.

"This is for the after part, Ms. Shark-Fu!"

Fantabulous.

The vote is when our work begins...and after the election our work must continue.

We're at fifteen days and counting, y'all.

Be ready.

Some great thought on the Latin@ vote from Mamita Mala:

From the This Is What Women Want Campaign.

Cross-posted at Nuestra Vida, Nuestra Voz

I couldn't agree more. For example, Palin is directly opposed to the feminist "agenda" of battling violence against women and giving women control over their own bodies.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama today. Thoughts?

TPM reports that the latest McCain campaign robocall has stooped to a new low:

It claims that Barack Obama callously denied newborns needed medical attention by opposing a measure to force doctors to preserve their lives when they survive botched abortions.

Which, of course, is a big fat lie.

Listen for yourself below.

Full transcript of the call after the jump.

Just a little reminder that we'll be celebrating Samhita's return to the east coast tonight in NYC tonight for those who want to come by - here are details. Also check out our Facebook event.

Hope to see y'all there!

I don't care if you call it domestic violence or intimate partner violence - but stop calling it a Facebook crime, or a MySpace murder. It has nothing to do with social networking and everything to do with violence against women.

Take this latest story from the BBC:

A man has been jailed for life for stabbing his wife to death over a posting she made on the social networking site Facebook.

Wayne Forrester, 34, told police he was devastated that his wife Emma, also 34, had changed her online profile to "single" days after he had moved out.

Forrester did not murder his wife because of her Facebook status, he murdered her because he was an abuser.

The couple, who had been together for 15 years, had a "volatile" marriage, jurors were told.

But talking about "volatile" marriages (you know, abusive relationships) isn't as trendy as talking about Facebook. I'm so incredibly sick of all of these stories coming out about women being killed by their partners and not hearing the words "domestic violence" once. Not once. Please, all, hold media accountable. When you see a story like this one, write a letter to the editor and tell them how important it is to call out violence against women for what it is.

The Atlantic has a huge piece on transgender children out - what do you think of it?

Oh dear. Something tells me I'm not going to want to watch this one.

(By the way, Pam has a ton of great posts on the "ex-gay" movement; check them out here.)

Check out Planned Parenhood Cecile Richard's take on McCain's air quoting "health of the mother" on Hardball. She also wrote a piece on HuffPo about it, talking about who's really extreme here.

Also check out a terrifying image of McCain's in the act of airquoting 'health' after the jump, via Shakeville via Dorothy Snarker.

Possibly triggering

I gotta give my home state a shout out for this awesome theatrical event by Words of Choice. If you're in the area, check it out October 15-22nd.

MJ: One question I did have. I really do appreciate the work PETA has done but it has gotten a lot of criticism for using women in some of its ads. A lot of times in bikinis, or scantily clad, I think there was a striptease campaign that came online recently. What do you say to people who criticize PETA and say that it's not women-friendly, that it denigrates women?

IN: Well, it's rubbish because the organization is run by a woman, who is me. I marched in the earliest of rallies, I am an adamant feminist, but I'm not a prude and I think you can go to the beach and see people who are in less than you can in a PETA ad. Our people are all volunteers, no one has asked a woman to take off her clothes. I've done it myself, we've all marched naked if we want to, and I think that it's very restrictive and in fact wrong. I would expect someone in, say, Iran to tell us that we should cover up, but I don't expect women or men in this country to criticize women who wish to use their bodies in a form of political statement, to tell them, you need to cover yourself up. There's this idea of 'naughty bits' and I just think it's funny more than anything else. It's not sexist, it may be sexual, but no. No woman has ever been paid to strip. She has decided to use her body as a political instrument. That's her prerogative and I think it is anti-feminist to dare to tell her that she needs to put her clothes back on.

Thanks to Tanya for the link

Via Ophelia at Feminocracy, parents in Vacaville, Calif. are pulling their kids out of class because their teacher is transgendered.

A teacher's gender reassignment surgery has caught the attention of some parents who want to know why the school district didn't notify them ahead of time about the change.

A music teacher at Foxboro Elementary School, who was formerly a woman, returned to school as a man at the beginning of the school year.

Some parents told Travis Unified School District that they feel like their rights to know were violated.

[...] Parent Angela Weinzinger, who has three children at the school, said she has since transferred her children out of the class.

"I wasn't given the opportunity to make a choice on what I wanted to do with the situation," Weinzinger said.So far, 23 students from 15 different families have transferred their children out of the music class and into a physical education class.

Ophelia writes,

"The situation" you mean someone's gender? They feel that their rights have been violated because the school refused to violate the rights of the teacher and disclose their surgical history? Fuck that noise.

Go read the rest of Ophelia's response here, because it's spot on.

And related to the destructive "transpeople-are-scary" meme, Renee has a good post on the portrayal of transpeople on prime-time TV.

I'm going to have lots to say about this in tomorrow's Friday Feminist Fuck You, but I wanted to highlight this clip as soon as possible. McCain thinks so little of women's health that he put it in fucking air quotes. You know, because women's health and lives are a political talking point, not a reality.

Related: A diarist at Daily Kos shares her story. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of these as the reaction to McCain's crass dismissal of women's health (sorry, "health") sinks in.

First I have to admit, I am not all caught up so take my commentary here with a grain of salt. My honey and I just started blazing through this amazing show, first season, on DVD last weekend. But I just had to shout them out because I've been so affected by the gender dynamics that play out on the little screen on this wildly accurate historical drama.

For those who haven't seen it, Mad Men looks at the inner and outer lives of ad executives circa 1960. Sounds like a potential sleeper right? Except the creators and writers do a masterful job of looking at the time as this sociological flash point. Not only does it portray the rise of advertising culture in a way that makes me understand Naomi Klein, Adbusters, and every other brilliant critique of consumer culture more deeply, but it presents the gender dynamics and family lives of folks at that time in a way that is piercing.

I can honestly say that, even with all of my women's studies classes and feminist reading, I've never really understood how fucking limiting and objectifying being both a working girl and/or a housewife were at that time until I watched this show. I was even more stunned when I talked to feminist historian Elaine Tyler May about it, and she said that Mad Men is shockingly accurate in every way.

The secretaries are seen as pretty little slaves, always available for the vanquishing in a hotel room and never valued for their own ideas or identities. The housewives are completely trapped, sexually and intellectually starved, scared as all hell to counter their husbands' whims and ways, really frickin' joyless. I recognize that these are fairly one-sided portrayals. Certainly some women at that time found ways to feel powerful, work their ideas into the board room (even if under a male name), find joy in care taking and housekeeping, but I also believe that we would be fooling ourselves if we thought that these were majority experiences.

So this week, I thank the creators of Mad Men for really making me understand just how incredibly far we've come in so many realms. Speaking my mind has more meaning than ever.

I'm going to have lots to say about this in tomorrow's Friday Feminist Fuck You, but I wanted to highlight this clip as soon as possible. McCain thinks so little of women's health that he put it in fucking air quotes. You know, because women's health and lives are a political talking point, not a reality.

Related: A diarist at Daily Kos shares her story. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of these as the reaction to McCain's crass dismissal of women's health (sorry, "health") sinks in.

I'm not Jewish, but I'm sure glad so many young people are.

This is a frickin' brilliant idea. If my grandmothers were alive, I'd schlep my way--Buddhist/Feminist/Agnostic style--to Colorado.

I got wind of this new entrepreneurial venture, Ignighter, awhile ago from my friend Hannah and thought I would share it all with you. Two recent college grads (both guys) have started an online dating site that allows groups of friends to mingle and jangle, rather than depending on that one little love connection.

How it works: basically you get together with all your college roommates or your cubicle crew or your James Baldwin book club (look, I know someone who has one), and then you create a profile as a group. Once you've created your group's page, you can then browse the other groups and--if all parties consent--make a time to meet up and see how it all shakes out.

I see some major advantages to this scenario. First and foremost, it's way more natural than the big pressure of meeting a total stranger in a bar or whatever and hoping to hit it off. As we all know, online profiles rarely predict blast off chemistry. With this set up, you get to evaluate the vibe of a bunch of people in the flesh.

I also like that it sort of takes away the emphasis on ROMANTIC relationships. Two crews hanging seems like it would lead to a love connection or two and plenty of friendships, whereas when it doesn't work out one on one, sometimes it's hard to transition into a friendship.

And as the founders argue, it is safer. Though I haven't heard much about sketchy online dating experiences (have you, readers?), I do see the advantage of having your crew of friends around in case some meet up ends up feeling sketchy.

Downsides? The pictures on the site seem pretty white (no love for people of color?). I'm sure if you really get deep into profile browsing you can find yourself love of all kinds, but it would be nice to feature some people of color on the homepage.

So what do you all think? Group pumpkin pickin' date?

I'm proud of her...And I can't tell how proud I am of her and her family.Her husband's a pretty tough guy, by the way, too.

Yup, that's the Republican presidential candidate talking about his running mate, Sarah Palin, last night in the third and final debate. I was pretty horrified that, number one, he seems to feel that it is necessary to articulate how proud he is of Governor Palin, as if she were his niece not his equal. But what was even more shocking was that, in answer to Bob Schieffer's great question, "Why would the country be better off if your running mate became president rather than his running mate?", Senator McCain felt the need to end by invoking Palin's husband.

Did you hear Obama say anything about Senator Biden's wife, as reassurance that Biden will have help in the White House from a big, strong lady? If I were Palin, I'd be pissed.

If we stay together, we will die together," she says quietly, "but if they cannot find us, they cannot kill us." Her voice shakes when she speaks. "You three have to leave and go far away. Geak is four and too young to go. She will stay with me." Her words stab my heart like a thousand daggers. "You three will each go in different directions. Kim, you go to the south; Chou will head to the north; and Loung to the east. Walk until you come to a work camp. Tell them you are orphans and they will let you in.

Loung tells the story of going from being one of seven children in wealthy family in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh to being practically starved to death by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army in what has become known as the killing fields. At least 200,000 died there. Including Loung's own father and mother. Loung has survived to tell the tale.

And she tells it so starkly that it punches you in the gut. From her childlike perspective (she was five when the Khmer Rouge first stormed Phnom Penh), she makes the nawing force in her belly that pushed her to steal uncooked rice from her own family, stuffing it into her tiny mouth in the middle of the night, real. She gives a profound psychological sketch of the survivor--someone who must turn her sadness into absolute rage in order to have the energy to survive. She provides the reader--withstanding all of this incredible terror--to see that humans have the most profound capacity for resilience and transformation.

Today Loung Ung continues her activist work, is writing on the balance of masculine and feminine, and running a bar and restaurant with her husband in Ohio. I had the gift of hearing her speak at the Omega's Women & Courage conference, and sharing some meals and chats with her afterwards, and I was profoundly moved by her capacity for both deep sadness and ebullient joy. She is a testament to how one little body can hold so very much honest, conscious life within it.

In honor of Love Your Body Day, the Feministing Crew has a little message for all you readers out there:

Go Masturbate!

We think that's probably one of the best ways to love your body -- and will probably make you feel better than throwing away a tube of lipstick or an issue of Cosmo. If you need some assistance on the loving your body front, check out one of the awesome sex shops that the feministing readers recommend. And come on, we all know it will make a great antidote to the political mess of late.

Happy Wednesday!

So apparently a group of people who are anti-McCain/Palin showed up at a rally wearing these shirts:

Not exactly a new approach to "political discourse" about a female candidate. Sigh.

One of the shirt's creators emailed Politico's Ben Smith (Emphasis mine.):

I personally am a registered Libertarian, supporting Obama this year. Palin is the last woman I want to hold a political office right now. Her lack of common sense, cruel treatment to animals, and just plain ignorance to what we (Americans, and even women) really care about is absolutely frustrating. The point of wearing the shirt to me is just a bold way of saying that she certainly is not liked or one of "us." To play the gender card is irrelevant, because I am a woman who wears the tshirt anyway.

Whoa whoa whoa. The claim that "I'm a woman, therefore it's okay for me to use anti-woman hatespeech" is ridiculous. There are plenty of civil ways to state your beliefs about Palin and her politics -- and note that she does not represent all women or what's best for them -- without resorting to sexism. And no, just because McCain reportedly used this word to describe women doesn't justify McCain's opponents using it.

You know, it's one thing for gag-gift companies (and other folks who don't appear to give a damn about the outcome of the election) to create sexist products about Palin. I'm obviously against it. But it's all the more maddening to me when I see self-identified Obama supporters pulling this shit. Please stop. You're just making it harder for everyone who opposes Palin because of her stance on the issues.

(Oh, and a sidenote: Melissa has noted that, though the shirts are detestable, she's chosen not to cover this because "It was a publicity stunt, and I'm not inclined to give them any more attention." I get that. But I have to believe that a lot of the sexist incidents regarding both Hillary Clinton and Palin were, at their core, publicity stunts. And I see no reason to stop calling it out, even when it's designed to bring attention to the idiots behind it. Also, the right-wing is going to claim (accurately) that Palin has faced sexism and (inaccurately) that the left was silent about it -- so I'll admit to feeling an obligation to call out these t-shirts.)

Via DCist and The Washington Times:

The paper signs began arriving last week in the mailboxes of the roughly 1,200 violent and child-sex offenders across the state with a letter explaining how they are to comport themselves on Oct. 31.

"Halloween provides a rare opportunity for you to demonstrate to your neighbors that you are making a sincere effort to change the direction of your life," the letter states.

In addition to posting the sign, the offenders must stay at home, turn off outside lights and not answer the door, according to the letter obtained by The Washington Times.

Samhita has written about this before, CA law requiring former sex offenders to live a certain distance from parks and schools, and GPS tracking devices. I know the subject of policing of sex offenders is a touchy one, but I think I agree with Samhita that these policies don't get at the overall problem here, which is the lack of services to address the underlying problems. Also, the stigmatization of formerly incarcerated people is a serious problem. Once someone has been incarcerated, regardless of how law-abiding they might be for the rest of their lives, they are consistently discriminated against.

Also I think this plays up on the idea of Halloween as a heyday for child predators. You know all those tales parents tell their kids about razor blades in unwrapped candy? Maybe it's linked to religious campaigns against Halloween, a celebration with pagan roots.

What do you all think?

I'm really excited about this upcoming film about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the US.

Via Queers United

Via UN Dispatch for Blog Action Day Against Poverty, we find this awesome video by The Girl Effect:

Did this make you tear up like me or am I just a big sap? Check out their website too and take action.

Check back for another live chat during tonight's presidential debate...

Elle, PhD noticed a little something (ok, a big something) about how some science kits are marketed to kids:

(Image via Elle, PhD)

She notes:

And while the "boy's" kit promises to boost your brain... the "girl's" kit promise to relax you and let you experiment with different fragrances. The boy's box is also covered with words like "go wild" and "erupt" and "blow your mind,"while the only thing that promises to be exciting about the girl's is the foaming and frothing of bubbles.

Then reader Maggie sent along a link to One-A-Day vitamins for teens:

It says, under the picture:

- Healthy muscle function with Magnesium (for Him)
- Healthy skin with Vitamins A and C, Copper, and Iron (for Her)

Today is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.

HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death among Hispanic men ages 35 to 44 and the fourth leading cause of death among Hispanic women in the same age group.

In honor of NLAAD, check out Ambiente, a bilingual online Latino LGBT publication.

A Tulsa abortion provider has sued the state to stop a law that mandates women to have an ultrasound, and be "informed" about the doctor sees, within one hour of obtaining an abortion.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, a nonprofit global human rights organization based in New York City that is representing the Tulsa clinic, alleges in the court filings that the law intrudes on a patient's privacy, endangers her health and assaults her dignity. The law prevents a woman's doctor from using his or her medical judgment for treatment, the center alleges.

The suit alleges that a woman's right to privacy is violated because it requires her to listen to unwelcome speech by the government while in a private setting.

Oklahomans for Life state chairman Tony J. Lauinger said, "This legislation protects women's health and gives mothers more information: the ability to see their baby by ultrasound; the ability to see their baby's beating heart."

Ah yes, the women are too stupid to know they're having an abortion line of reasoning! Charming.

Via What If.

Make sure to check out Courtney's latest at TAP on the political power of...The View!

This scared the crap out of me.

Sign this open letter from Color of Change telling John McCain and Sarah Palin to denounce the lies, racism, and hate coming from their supporters.

Via Jack & Jill Politics.

At one of our Feministing retreats, we had a running joke about creating a "Feminist Stereotypes Pin-Up Calendar." (January= Two women making out. February = Birkenstock-wearing earth-mama dancing in a field. March = Frigid career woman in a power suit. April = Close-up of a HAIRY ARMPIT. Etc etc etc...) We all take pleasure in mocking the stereotypes that hit our email inbox every day. Especially given the blatant contradictions that crop up over and over again. So for my first Tuesday Ten list, I'm gonna count down my favorite feminist stereotypes:

1. We're frigid and hate sex.

2. We're sluts.

3. We're lonely "cat ladies" who can't get a man. Therefore, we are bitter.

4. We get knocked up for fun just to have abortions on-demand.

5. We're hairy, angry man-haters.

6. We're just desperate for male attention.

7. We want to dismantle the patriarchy so we can establish a matriarchy! Muhahaha.

8. We are intellectually unserious.

9. We are the sanctimonious women's studies set, with our heads up our academic asses.

10. We are loud-mouthed bitches who won't STFU and make you a sammich.

Ok, so the last one's true.

Karen Ocamb at the Bilerico Report writes,

With just over three weeks until the elections, it seems a pretty certain bet that most of the LGBT community will vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, though with curtailed enthusiasm after numerous missteps.

But electoral support does not mean surrendering the right to critique and hold the candidates or the Democratic Party accountable. Indeed, it is the obligation of citizenship to call out disparities between avowed principles and actions that conflict with those principles. If the actions are not corrected, at least the credit-card promises are de-mythologized and once starry-eyed voters will not be surprised when the disappointing compromise bills come due.

So let's stipulate that Obama has captured most of the LGBT vote. After all, LGBT people have been deeply impacted by the Bush-Cheney-Rove regime and can't wait to exhale. But, frankly, it seems the Obama camp and the Democratic Party just aren't all that into us anymore

And on a related note, Cara has tips on what you can do to defeat Prop 8 in California.

I think it is tidbits like this that tell us the true nature of Sarah Palin and her views on the indigenous people of this country. Her bullshit lines about keeping our country "free" backed with an unapologetic record on women's rights and horrid treatment of indigenous communities keeps it clear. Full of shit would be an understatement.

The Huffington Post reports today,

Gov. Sarah Palin's rural adviser resigned Monday amid criticism of the governor's record on hiring Alaska Natives.

Rhonda McBride, who is not an Alaska Native, made the announcement in an e-mail to several Native leaders, saying there need to be more Native voices in Palin's administration.

She left the position empty despite calls from Native leaders.

State Sen. Al Kookesh, a Democrat, said Palin left the position unfilled her first year in office and ignored Native leaders' suggestions on the selection process.

"We were really disappointed when an Alaska Native wasn't appointed," said Kookesh, a Tlingit Indian who held the job in a previous administration.

Natives bristled early in Palin's administration when she named a white woman to a game board seat held by a Native for more than 25 years. An Athabascan Indian eventually was named to the post after protests.

As though you needed more reason to suggest that Palin represents everything that is wrong with the history of this country. One only looks to the treatment of indigenous folks, one of the most atrocious moments of our history and her mere ignorance of their issues in a face of such a great opportunities. Alaska still have somewhat of an indigenous population, yet Palin barely recognizes them as thinking entities.

Related:
An Indigenous Perspective on Palin, Oil and Alaska
Palin Unpopular Among Indigenous Alaskans
An Open Letter to Sarah Palin
Biden vs Palin on Indigenous Issues

Please file this under WHAT THE FUCK? If that line of defense works, someone please bring me some oxygen before I die. It is interesting though how social networking sites have become forms of evidence. I guess we better be careful we don't smile too much in our Myspace and Facebook pictures, lest we get accused of looking too happy to have been a victim of sexual violence.

Thanks to Martina for the link.

Check out John Cleese on Sarah Palin; hilarious. (Via Boing Boing.)

Speaking of parrots...check the famous Monty Python sketch after the jump.

So as most of you know I am taking some time off from the nitty-gritty of the 9-5, quit my non-profit job and am living at home to work on some writing. Now, I don't generally share a ton of personal stories, mainly because I don't want to be too self indulgent and I don't want to bore you, but this one I just had to share.

When I was 21 I decided the only hope for my personal survival was to move as far away from my strict Hindu parents as possible. My escape from NY was to escape from my parents and what I felt as the suffocating South Asian community we are part of and I found my freedom in San Francisco. Moving back 7 years later was a difficult decision, but I figured I am 30, I am who I am, what can they say to me now?

Before moving in, I set some ground rules for my parents. They were not allowed to talk to me about my lack of allegiance to our religion, my dating and/or marriage status and my weight. I got to give it up to them, they have definitely not bothered me about religion or dating (too much), but they have failed miserably at making comments about my weight.

This PSA just about takes the victim blaming cake and plays off several inaccuracies about sexual violence towards young women.

TRIGGER WARNING.

Cara takes it to task at the Curvature. I am disgusted by this video.

Update: After thinking about this some more, I think what is upsetting about this is that it perpetuates the belief that rape is a young woman's fault and that if parents buy their daughters alcohol they are putting them at risk of rape. I am assuming that there is a harm reduction campaign around parents monitoring alcohol intake of youth by providing it for them and probably providing a place for them to drink it.

It is victim-blaming to suggest it is the fault of parents for buying alcohol or the fault of their daughter to be drunk and therefore gotten herself raped. What about telling young men to not rape drunk women? That is what the focus of the PSA should be. Perhaps another conversation about youth and alcohol consumption is needed, but let's not tangle the issues. Alcohol is not the cause of misogyny and sexual violence against young women.

This is What Women Want (brought to you by the fabulous Center for New Words) is hitting New York tonight for a pre-debate speakout.

Some of the speakers include Kate Bornstein , Kety Esquivel , Shelby Knox , Maegan "la Mala" Ortiz, Betsy Reed, Amy Richards, Deborah Siegel, Carmen Van Kerkhove, and others!

So if you're in the area, make sure to stop by; info is below the jump...

via Pam's House Blend.

So, I am sure by now most of you have caught a glimpse of some of the videos capturing hate and vitriol towards Barack Obama at the McCain/Palin rallies. If you are like me, they probably make you sick, embarrassed and even frightened for what the Republicans have come to stand for. When people tell you racism doesn't exist anymore please refer them to the picture above and the countless examples of wing-nuts screaming, "terrist" and "commie" at some of the McCain/Palin events. Epithets such as "terrorist," show us the fear and anxiety that lies at the intersection of race, education, potential political affiliation, class and sexuality and the possible threat to normative forms of white male power. But these tactics are nothing new. Adam Serwer at the American Prospect delves deeper. In discussing Congressman John Lewis bold calling out of McCain's use of racist tactics he says,

It's no wonder that the tone at McCain rallies remind Lewis of the bad old days. In recent months, conservatives have sounded increasingly retro with their attempts to paint Obama as a socialist or communist. In some ways, this accusation is typical far-right boilerplate. Obama certainly isn't the first Democrat running for president to be accused of communist sympathies. And as usual, the accusations are rarely linked to policy specifics. But the difference with Obama is that, in the eyes of the right, it's not just his political affiliation that implicates him as a socialist. It's his ethnic background.

The hysterical accusations of socialism from conservatives echo similar accusations leveled at black leaders in the past, as though the quest for racial parity were simply a left-wing plot. Obama may not actually be a socialist or communist, but his election would strike another powerful blow to the informal racial hierarchy that has existed in America since the 1960s, when it ceased being enforced by law. This hierarchy, which holds that whiteness is synonymous with American-ness, is one conservatives are now instinctively trying to preserve. Like black civil-rights activists of the 1960s, Obama symbolizes the destruction of a social order they see as fundamentally American, which is why terms like "socialism" are used to describe the threat.

Growing up in a country where overt and covert, interpersonal and institutional racism are par for the course, it is not only difficult to watch what is happening and nerve-wracking, but it is indicative of what is coming to a head through this election. This unabashed display of racism is humiliating for most Americans, but it shows us that there are two ways ideological standpoints held by the American public, one that is clinging to yesterday's racist attitudes and one that wants to move forward away from a painful history of racism and abuse against our more disenfranchised members. Also, if you look at the history of calling someone a "pinko commie fag," despite not having to use racialized descriptors, it was generally understood that this was an activist, probably a person of color or someone who fights for the rights of people of color, poor people, queer people, etc. So it is describing an emasculated and raced person, the ultimate threat to nationalist understandings and forms of white masculinity. Obama makes the white boys feel less manly, so they have to call him a "commie" to make them feel less paranoid and anxious.

So their campaign rhetoric is surprisingly on point-a vote for Obama is a vote for change. But I don't need to tell you that. You are already there.

Seems like there's plenty of Palin-sexism to watch out for these days. This latest one, however, may take the misogyny cake.

From The Frisky:

Created by adult product purveyors Topco, the Sarah Palin blowup doll is known as the "This is NOT Sarah Palin Inflatable Love Doll." Featuring a busty, conservatively dressed Palin lookalike, the box cover promises: "Cross party lines with your own inflatable running mate!" The political love doll's suggested uses include: "Blow her up and show her how you're going to vote," "Let her pound your gavel over and over," and "It's time some male interns caused a scandal in the Capitol."

So disgusting.

With all the vicious, racist attacks on Obama as of late and the McCain campaign's desperate attempts to tie him with terrorism, we have found that McCain is the one who has connections with domestic terrorists.

Not only does he have a relationship with former extreme anti-choice activist Paul Schenck, but has overwhelmingly voted against bills that would protect abortion clinics from anti-choice terrorists. Via Think Progress:

On multiple occasions throughout his career, McCain sought to limit the government's ability to punish violent anti-choice fanatics by:

- Voting against making anti-choice violence a federal crime. As the Jed Report notes, McCain voted in 1993 and 1994 against making "bombings, arson and blockades at abortion clinics, and shootings and threats of violence against doctors and nurses who perform abortions" federal crimes.

- Opposing Colorado's "Bubble Law." McCain said he opposed Colorado's "Bubble Law," which prohibited abortion protesters from getting within 8 feet of women entering clinics [Denver Post, 2/27/00]. The law was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

- Voting to allow those fined for violence at clinics to avoid penalties by declaring bankruptcy. NARAL Pro-Chioce America notes that McCain "voted to allow perpetrators of violence or harassment at reproductive-health clinics to avoid paying the fines assessed against them for their illegal acts by declaring bankruptcy."

This is not to mention he sat in silence at an event while anti-choice extremist Marylin Shannon lauded a woman currently in jail for shooting former Navy veteran and doctor who provides abortion care. Check it out:

Reader Julia sent us a link to this posting on Madison, Wisconsin Craigslist. Pretty amazing stuff:

I'm married. Been married for 14 years. I moved away from my family to be with my wife's family, left my career, friends, & family behind. I now work out of my house because my wife got a "better" job else where and now I do ALL of the cooking and cleaning and take care of my 3 kids. She's the typical MALE now...comes homes, I have dinner ready. She works more at home. I play with the kids. She goes to bed, I have to go to bed. My whole life revolves around her now. She's the Sun and I'm Uranus. She leaves dirty clothes on the floor. Trash on tables. HAIR everywhere!! I SIT to pee now cuz I hate to clean up pubic hairs off the toilets....it's disgusting.

Yes, he's experiencing what many women have experienced for decades. But no one deserves to feel this way about their life or relationship. What I dislike about the entire tone of this post, however, is that he's not just pissed off about the unequal nature of his relationship. He's pissed because he's "THE WOMAN" -- as in, women are the ones who should doing all the shit work:

I feel I'm being converted to a female in some sick way. I AM NOT A WOMAN! I love women. But I now know what they put up with. It sucks. No thanks for dinner....not even "dinner was great dear...how 'bout I clean up the dishes"....NNOOOOOO. Just a couple of grunts and it's off to work....kinda like a guy going to the garage for the evening. I have tools. I'd love to go to the garage and work. But I think my kids come first. I'd love to have an affair but don't think I can deal with the guilt. If I start to PMS.......I'll scream. Oh...and don't think she's "MAN" enough to mow the yard or shovel the drive...nope...that's me too. Who gets the groceries....ME. My nipples stick out in the frozen food section too by the way. No one tries to pick me up though. I did get asked by the cashier what was for dinner once!!! I must have something written on my forhead. So women, ladies, how do you put up with it???

I'll admit to laughing at the nipples-in-the-frozen-food-aisle line, but I genuinely feel bad for this guy. In light of our conversation last week about balancing relationships with chores and the ins and outs of living together, does anyone have advice for this man?

You best get used to that winter coat, Sami!

This Friday, the Feministing editors will be out celebrating our girl Samhita's homecoming; as most of you probably know, she just moved back to the east coast from San Francisco and we're very, very happy to have her back.

Since this is a special occasion, we're not making this a happy hour, but just happy times for this Friday Feminist Fuck Yeah Fun.

Hope you can make it!

Swoon!

Via Sugarbutch Chronicles.

Despite the fact that even many prominent pro-life Catholics have endorsed Obama because they believe he is more focused on prevention, Palin attacked him as being "radical" on choice at a rally this weekend.

She also falsely claims that Obama's statement on how he wouldn't want his daughters to be "punished with a baby" was about abortion, when he was in fact talking about sex education. Read the details.

According to Bloomberg News, Johnson & Johnson has spent at least $68.7 million to settle the hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who used the Ortho Evra birth-control patch and suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes.

Of 562 complaints reviewed by Bloomberg News, the vast majority of users alleged the patch caused deep-vein thrombosis, or blood clots in the legs, and pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in the lungs. Some blamed it for heart attacks or strokes. The complaints blamed Ortho Evra for the deaths of 20 women.

One settled case involved Ashley Lewis, a 17-year-old high school junior from St. Louis who died in 2003. She developed a blood clot in her lung after wearing the patch for six months, according to Roger Denton, an attorney for Lewis's family, including her son, who was a one-year-old when she died.

Earlier this year, the NY Times found internal company documents that showed J&J hid evidence that Ortho Evra actually delivered much more estrogen than birth control pills, despite its claims otherwise. So scary. (I was actually a huge NuvaRing fan until I read about women having similar problems, like blood clots, at a higher rate than with the pill.)

Related: One woman recounts her horror story with the patch at Nerve.

We all knew this one was coming. (And I don't doubt this is just the beginning for the holiday.)

h/t to Erin.

There's a new documentary out about women and creativity.

Lynda Carter says Palin is no Wonder Woman.

A school bars males students from wearing makeup. (File under: Patriarchy hurts men, too.)

Yesterday was Coming Out Day! The Bilerico Project has a great series of coming-out posts. And Wanda Sykes has a great little ad on why saying "that's so gay" is insulting.

Nezua on politicians "microtargeting" Latino voters, while at the same time neglecting the big picture: "And as if the fluffed-up bios are somehow a substitute for staking out a position and promising action on issues integral to community and family and the health of children, such as immigration? Feel the pride."

The NYT profiles Queen Latifah.

Asylum for women fleeing domestic violence is in jeopardy.

Palin Sexism Watch: Lipliner edition. (Ditto for hairstyles.)

Carmen wrote an open letter to white voters.

What happens if the anti-choice ballot initiatives pass in South Dakota and Colorado?

"Hair and makeup is killing female hip-hop," says a source. "The grooming cost to break a female rapper versus a male rapper is 10 times as much per appearance. That tends to have an adverse effect on a record company's willingness to even entertain a female rapper."

More "isn't breast cancer sexy?" advertising.

On the invisibility of Muslim women.

MzBitca has an interesting post on "feminist dealbreakers" -- exploring the question of how we discuss feminist statements and actions coming from a person who hasn't historically been a feminist or ally.

Chicago is considering opening a gay-friendly high school.

Check out the Black Masculinity Project. And ?uestlove's thoughts on the daily life of a large black man.

On Michelle Obama's hair. (Shark-Fu has more.)

Actions

Participate in a survey about street harassment.

The Native American Task Force of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families needs your donation to help mobilize Native American communities against the proposed abortion ban. (Link leads to a few other events and actions as well!)

Events

Chicago, IL: Free screening of Quinceanera. Monday 10/13.

NYC: This Is What Women Want Pre-Debate Speakout! Tuesday 10/14 in Long Island City, Queens. Free! Featuring Kate Bornstein, Kety Esquivel, Shelby Knox, Maegan "la Mala" Ortiz, Betsy Reed, Amy Richards, Luz Rodriguez, Deborah Siegel, Carmen Van Kerkhove and others.

The Feministing gals Courtney, Vanessa and Samhita went out dancing last night while I was stuck in working. Sigh. So I made a little mix tape as an homage to their night out, with hopes that I'll get out of the house one of these days. Until then, I'll have to be satisfied dancing in my living room.

(One of the songs on this "tape" Courtney and I requested at the WAM after-party, just to have everyone else leave the dance floor in confusion as we happily busted moves. Any guesses which one it was?)

It's discreet, but it's there. Yay for positive representations of breastfeeding. It can be sexy.

Via DoulaMomma

You have to find it funny that this is coming from Fox News. Because Newsweek's recent cover of Sarah Palin isn't airbrushed, conservatives are up in arms. They claim all of Obama's covers are flawless. Yeah, totally flawless.

This is not to say either of these photos are even "unflattering," but to make the demand that Palin needs to be airbrushed like a supermodel rather than, um, a real woman, is what's sexist here. Nice try, Fox!

Thanks to stuperb for the heads up!

For those of you who aren't aware of the wonderful women of The Hysterical Festival, we partnered with them a while back to have a Feministing Happy Hour right before their Hysterical Fundraiser, which was pretty awesome and hilarious.

Their 4-day long festival is already among us, and we wanted to alert you NYC folk to the event. You can check out the schedule here, but a few shows in particular I'd recommend to check out is Thursday's Ambiguously Brown Comedy Hour hosted by my homegirl Desiree Burch, Friday's Girls Gone Gay hosted by our huge crush Murray Hill, and Funny Bones Burlesque on Saturday night. Hotness.

We're also having a NYC Happy Hour next Friday, the 17th, for some pre-hysterical feminist fun. So save the date, location coming soon...

From the Associated Press:

Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.

Woo hoo!

Hope to see some of you tonight!

Boston Feministing Happy Hour
Friday October 10th
5:30pm-8:30pm
Good Life Bar
28 Kingston Street • Boston, MA 02111
Anyone 18+ welcome to attend!

Facebook event here.

This story from Canada is just peachy:

Told by a judge she should have 'walked out' of an abusive relationship and never to call police if she goes back to her former partner, a London woman has complained to Ontario's judicial watchdog.

Melodie White said she felt 'embarrassed and humiliated' by Justice Gregory Pockele, who heard the case in a domestic violence court last summer.

White has requested that the Ontario Judicial Council discipline the judge by "re-victimizing" and endangering her by telling her to not call the police if she goes back to her partner. This was all in front of the abusive ex-boyfriend, by the way. "It was supposed to be about (the accused) being violent to me and the police felt it was serious enough to lay four charges. But it turned out to be about me," said White.

And he dismissed the charges. He also told her that women today were not "not weak and disadvantaged" and she should have been gone "in a flash."

Megan Walker, head of the London Abused Women's Centre, responded, "Suddenly, he's saying women are able to walk out the doors into the sunset. He is closing his eyes to the number of women who have been killed trying to walk out the door."

h/t to Rory.

This news segment (video below the jump because it's on autoplay) is takes a pretty comprehensive look at the proposed abortion ban in South Dakota, and just how extreme it is. Be on the look out for Tiffany Campbell, a spokesperson for South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families who wrote about her own story here on Feministing.

While being Monty's auntie is one of the greatest joys in my life, I had to represent this once for my cat-lovers and take the opportunity to show off my newly adopted kitty, Tweet. This scrawny Russian Blue wants to eat everything at every hour of the day, creepily stares at me while I sleep and has a seemingly abnormal amount of flatulence. (I bet a bunch of y'all could say the same for your live-in lovas.)

Check out another pic after the jump of her and my other cat, Cracker, who loffes her. I mean, I've never seen so much ass-licking in my life. (Sorry, it's true!)

I'm sorry, I know I've already posted about the wacko responses to my book (excuse me, my book cover), but I just came across this and I just couldn't help myself.

Ericka Andersen at LadyBlog has written a post that has brought intellectual dishonesty to a new low. She even starts off lying:

For some thought-provoking reading, check out Jessica Valenti's "The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women." Cassy Fiano's post on the book today lead me to check it out for myself.

Thought-provoking reading...really? You checked it out for yourself, did you? May I ask how? Because the book isn't going to be released for another five months. So, Ms. Andersen, if you've somehow stealthily broken into my apartment or hacked into my computer, I'd really like to know.

I grew up in a Christian environment where sex before marriage was frowned upon but never was the act of sex condemned. I was never told women don't like sex as much as men or that we were supposed to use it to get husbands. I doubt Jessica has really been in the midst of this environment but as someone who has, I can tell you women and men were both encouraged to be disciplined in their sexual urges. And...I've never once heard a church leader say you were a slut or a whore if you did choose to have sex. This is an assumption Jessica makes. (Emphasis mine)

Right, I make a whole book full of assumptions. Women are never ever told they're sluts or sullied or or less than or diseased if they have sex. I must be making stuff up!

But here's the part that had me screaming to my poor boyfriend about what fucking liars people are.

The real purity myth is what Jessica is telling women: that sexual consequences be damned as long as you feel good. God forbid you have guilt. Girls Gone Wild is better for young women that purity rings, she claims, but I doubt many people would sign up for that argument.

Sexual consequences be damned? I've spent my entire writing and feminist career advocating for young women to have medically accurate and unbiased information about sex so they can make the decisions that are best for them. I have never, never, said that Girls Gone Wild is anything but a fucked up organization run by a rapist. For people like Fiano and Andersen to warp - and just lie! - about this work that I do, it's just beyond disgusting. I understand that they have no actual argument to make (being that, you know, they haven't read the book), but simply making stuff up to suit their theories is not only dishonest, it's stupid. Because I'm not going to sit quietly and let people lie about me, about feminism, about this blog, or about The Purity Myth. Every time someone publishes some bullshit like this, I'm going to call it out. Welcome to my new post series, Pure Lies.

So bring it, assholes.

Via Kay Steiger, an article in the NYTimes about gender roles at fancy restaurants.

Back in 2003, I spent a summer working at a fancy five star country club restaurant. I worked there because the pay was really good, with an automatic 18% gratuity and my brother was able to get me the job. The restaurant was in North Carolina, so Southern hospitality was the law. Gender rules, whether it was for the servers or for the customers were a non-negotiable. We even had menus without prices for the women (not always used, but available). Women were served first, in order of age. I had to use the southern "ya'll" to refer to the customers, because "you guys" was gender inappropriate and too informal.

I wish I had a picture of me from that summer, the outfit I had to wear was absurd. I looked like a penguin. Everyone had to wear tuxedo pants, white button down shirts and black bow ties. Needless to say I didn't look great in my pleated tuxedo pants (think high high waist).

While I didn't criticize these gendered practices at the time, this article brought it all back for me. In my everyday life I am constantly confronted with gender stereotyping. Every time I walk into elevator or walk through a door, or interact with salespeople, I'm reminded that they are treating me differently because I'm a woman. Men always hold doors for me but will wait an eternity before letting me hold the door for them. I always have to walk out of elevators first, and then of course I get called "sweetie" and "honey" often.

Luckily I don't go to many fancy restaurants these days, where these rules seem to be important, but it's sad to see that it's still enforced for new restaurants. All these things are just reminders that women's liberation be damned, these subtle differences aren't going away anytime soon.

They said it best over at Echidine of the Snakes, so I'm not even going to try to paraphrase:

Nancy Pelosi deserves a lot more respect than she's given. People on leftist blogs, particularly the boys, constantly slam her for not delivering what we want, seeming to think, somehow, the Democratic Speaker of the House hasn't delivered what a sizable portion of Democrats and others want because she doesn't want to. Well, let's again review her reality.

She is the farthest left of anyone in the direct line of succession of the presidency in the history of the United States, a remarkable achievement for anyone in 2008. I've pointed that out here before. She gained that position at a time when 'liberal' is a dirty word in the wider culture. She gained it by dint of her own hard work and intelligence. No one handed it to her out of the clear blue.

She holds that position by the fact that Democrats hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives, a majority won during her leadership. That is something her male predecessor couldn't seem to achieve. Least anyone forget, Nancy Pelosi is also the only woman who has ever been in direct line of presidential succession, the only one to lead either of the two houses of the legislative branch.

Read the rest here.

And an extra bonus: Cobert giving Nancy Pelosi an award at the Glamour Awards:

Thanks to Cate Friema for the heads up.

Careful, my book may give you VD!

I figured that my new book would get some negative attention from conservative blogs, but I kinda thought that would happen once the book was, you know...published.

But it seems that there's no reason to wait for pesky things like the actual content of the book to start blogging about what The Purity Myth is all about. So apparently, the purpose of my book is to "turn America's teenagers into raging whores." Woo hoo!

Right Wing News: "But, these hardcore liberal feminists? For them, it's not enough to say that, 'I'm not a virgin' or 'I like to sleep with a lot of guys,' they have to come up with some kind of justification for why it's the best way to live."

Say Anything Blog: "The point is that because of feminists, our society is becoming one huge "Girls Gone Wild," with even little girls being sexualized in our culture."

The Network of Enlightened Women (remember them?): "The feminist movement has formed a strong alliance with the sexual liberation movement, although it wasn't necessary. This book represents this alliance."

Dad Reformed: "The cover says it all. I mean...... who is going to read that garbage??? Is it geared toward a mother and father to push their kids to refrain from abstinence???? I can barely type right now I'm so fired up. ...I can only wonder where she comes up with her standards, or lack there of. ALL of her stances are selfish. What is good for me RIGHT now. I am going to puke."

House of Eratosthenes: "Feminism, somehow, has come to be about everyone who can be a slut, being one."

But Cassy Fiano's post was my fave, "Putting out is SO much better for girls than abstinence." (And it's not just because her blog design uses a rose/gun combo that speaks volumes.)

There's no question that being an artist in this culture--which does little to support the creative impulse and its contributions to society--just ain't easy. As if it wasn't hard enough just to make art, believe in yourself, and pay your rent, imagine also being a mother.

That's the life that five amazing women lead in Pamela Tanner Boll's new film, Who Does She Think She Is? Pamela, a friend and awesome feminist, also co-produced Born Into Brothels, which won an Academy Award for best documentary in 2005.

This film explores work/family balance, but with a particular lens on mother artists, who struggle to find a balance between what they love and who they love. Full self disclosure: I'm featured as an "expert" in the film. There's even a scene where I'm blogging for feministing! Bonus points for noticing the hilarious title of the post I'm working on if you see the film.

Anyway, check out the blog, watch the trailer below, and, if you're in the New York area, come check out the film at Angelika Film Center starting on Friday, October 17th. On opening night, the 17th, I'll be moderating a post show panel that includes Elizabeth Sackler, Pamela Tanner Boll, and one of the artists from the film.

I had the good luck to meet Liza Donnelly, cartoonist and Vassar professor, at the Omega Institute a few weeks ago and she had the generosity to send me a couple of her books: Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons and Sex and Sensibility: Ten Women Examine the Lunacy of Modern Love...in 200 Cartoons.

Funny Ladies is literally an illustrated history. If you're a New Yorker fan, you'll love it. If you think the New Yorker is elitist and stodgy, you might prefer Donnelly's Sex and Sensibility. In any case, I loved what she wrote about women and humor in the introduction:

Some theorists believe that women humorists are more often storytellers than joke tellers, more interested in communication than in presenting cleverness. This has perhaps been true because of the marginal position of women's humor. However, as humor from women has become more acceptable in society, as it is today, such statements of difference no loner ring true. Huguette Martel believes all cartoonists are "moralists," and Alice Harvey sought "to be true."

Nothing says it better than the medium itself. Check out these goodies:

"Just a warning: I'll leave you if you ever take up wearing suspenders."

"I hope my meteoric rise in the company isn't just because I am a man."

New Moon, the magazine for girls by girls and the first place I was ever published (awww, how cute), has just launched a brand new online site for girls ages 8-12. It's totally interactive and completely safe. If you've got a girl in your life that needs a virtual space to express herself, learn from others her age, and generally feel heard, check it out.

Gloucester High School, site of the 17 High School girls who got pregnant this past summer, voted to make contraceptives available (with parental consent) at the high school health center last night.

Good move, Gloucester. Now while it's unclear that these young women would have been impacted by this change in policy (remember, it's alleged that at least half of them wanted to get pregnant) this will be a great service to the rest of the teens at this high school.

Want more about this story? Read Courtney's op-ed about the missing pieces in the original Gloucester coverage, Vanessa's take down of girl shaming and Jessica talking about giving credit to Crisis Pregnancy Centers.

Am I going to hate him for watching TV? Is he going to hate me for being so picky about the volume on the stereo? Will I end up doing his laundry by default and then being bitter about it? How do we get alone time? Who's going to clean the toilet?

These are just some of the questions that have been going through my head as of late. After a very, very long indy courtship, my partner and I are moving in. I'm totally excited and more than a little nervous. It seems to me that I'm embarking on a journey that will land me squarely at the center of feminism's unfinished business. How do we share lives and space without losing ourselves? How do we keep things equal, intentional, exciting? How do we take care of each other and ourselves simultaneously?

According to Alternative to Marriage:

• there are 11 million people living with an unmarried partner in the United States, including both same-sex and different-sex couples (2000 Census).


• between 1960 and 2000, the number of unmarried cohabiting couples increased one thousand percent.


• 41% of American women ages 15-44 have cohabited (lived with an unmarried different-sex partner) at some point. This includes 9% of women ages 15-19, 38% of women ages 20-24, 49% of women ages 25-29, 51% of women ages 30-34, 50% of women ages 35-39, and 43% of women ages 40-44.

So some of you out there must be in this lovely/difficult situation. Anyone got tips for how two feminists cohabitate successfully? Are there any great books on the subject?

*Um, please keep in mind that I have a one bedroom apartment, so tips like, "just make sure to have your own yoga room and give him a den with wood paneling and a humidor" won't exactly fly. I mean, not that you would. Just sayin'.

I can't believe it. I actually like something Hillary Duff has done. I need a drink.

I might make this a regular Wednesday afternoon feature. We'll see!

Continuing on the theme of sex and Wednesday's (and don't you all need something uplifting after that debate last night), here is an interview via Babeland with Tristan Taormino. Tristan is the self-professed anal sexpert, and an all around impressive lady. She has been writing a sex column for the Village Voice for years (which was recently cancelled, sadly). She led one of the first sex workshops I ever went to, at Wesleyan University a few years ago. She has a great story about how she was going to go to law school, but she decided to become a sex writer instead. Tristan has a new book about open relationships called Opening Up.

An exerpt from the interview, available on Babeland's blog in two parts:

What was the most interesting thing you learned from the couples you interviewed for Opening Up? I didn't talk to just couples - I interviewed singles, couples, triads, quads, circles of five, lots of different combinations! I learned so much from each person I talked to and realized that life really is in the details. No one does non-monogamy the same way. It's all about crafting a relationship that's custom made for the people involved.

What is your favorite anal sex toy? I cannot pick just one! Of course, I have to say the Tristan butt plug from Vixen, since I helped design it and it's named for me. I think the Mistress is the best dildo for strap-on anal sex, especially for beginners. Now it comes with a vibrator, too, which rocks.

What is your favorite non-anal sex toy? I have fallen in love with a new strap-on harness recently, the Jaguar Harness from Aslan. In Cherry Red. The leather is smooth and gorgeous, it fits like a glove, and it's so comfortable, I could wear it all day!

Happy Wednesday!

Contributed by Tiffany Campbell, Spokesperson for South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families

The right of families to make decisions about their own private health care is under attack in South Dakota, where I live with my husband, Chris, and our three children. These agonizing decisions would be seized by bureaucrats and lawyers if Measure 11 -- another sweeping abortion ban like the one that South Dakota voters rejected decisively in 2006 -- passes this November.

Why did Chris and I decide to have an abortion?

Two years ago, in the midst of that first, intense battle to ban abortion here in South Dakota, we learned that we were pregnant with identical twins. We were overjoyed.

But then we learned that our sons were suffering from a severe case of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. That's a condition where twins unequally share blood circulation. It meant that one boy was receiving too much blood resulting in a strained heart and acute risk of heart failure. Meanwhile, his brother was clinging to life, but his blood supply was insufficient to sustain normal development. This is an affliction where if one twin dies, the other faces significant risk of death.

So we were faced with an awful situation that forced us to examine our most fundamental moral and spiritual beliefs. At first we just didn't want to believe the doctors' prognosis. We wanted so badly for our boys to win the fight. But we couldn't stay on the sidelines forever: against all of our hopes and prayers, our twins' conditions continued to deteriorate quickly.

This was the most difficult decision of our lives. We could let nature run its course and pray that by the grace of God our boys would miraculously survive, or we could abort the sicker of the two, giving his brother a legitimate shot at life.

Via.

Thanks to Katie for the link.

This video keeps putting me in tears. I have to say after yesterday's tactics by the McCain/Palin campaign that were blatantly racist, I really started to think about what this election means to myself and to the people in this country that have experienced racism and never been allowed to talk about it, had the tools to deal with it and have always been told covertly and overtly that we are inferior. You never quite fit in but then you are told you are imagining it when you experience racism. It means something to us that Obama is so close to the presidency.

It is good to see some mainstream media heads actually take it there.

I love her.

via Jezebel.

The New York Times had a really interesting article up yesterday about the condescending language some use addressing older people, "In 'Sweetie' and 'Dear,' a Hurt for the Elderly."

To study the effects of elderspeak on people with mild to moderate dementia, Dr. Williams and a team of researchers videotaped interactions in a nursing home between 20 residents and staff members. They found that when nurses used phrases like "good girl" or "How are we feeling?" patients were more aggressive and less cooperative or receptive to care. If addressed as infants, some showed their irritation by grimacing, screaming or refusing to do what staff members asked of them.

The researchers, who will publish their findings in The American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, concluded that elderspeak sent a message that the patient was incompetent and "begins a negative downward spiral for older persons, who react with decreased self-esteem, depression, withdrawal and the assumption of dependent behaviors."

Dr. Williams said health care workers often thought that using words like "dear" or "sweetie" conveyed that they cared and made them easier to understand. "But they don't realize the implications," she said, "that it's also giving messages to older adults that they're incompetent."

I'm really glad that the NYT addressed this - and I think that an ageism/sexism combo probably really adds to the "sweetie" effect as well.

I like Ellen Kirschman's response: "As I get older, I don't want to be recognized for my age. I want to be recognized for my accomplishments, for my wisdom."

To avoid stereotyping, Ms. Kirschman said, she often sprinkles her conversation with profanities when she is among people who do not know her. "That makes them think, This is someone to be reckoned with," she said. "A little sharpness seems to help."

Heh, nice. Before my grandmother (my Nanny Ann) passed away, when she was sick with dementia, she would often curse up a storm and get pissed when babied by her caretakers. An example: She was on the phone with my sister and the woman who was caring for her was making her mad. Vanessa sat there in horror as dear Nanny Ann screamed, "Leave me alone, you whoremaster!" and "Stick it up your hole!" The call ended when with my very frustrated Nanny saying "Ah fuck it," and hanging up. Oh, Nanny, I miss you.

Listen to an interview with Samhita on RH Reality Check's podcast, Reality Cast.

Some topics covered: The Planned Parenthood donation chain, Sarah Palin's gay friend, the Colorado amendment and forced C-sections...

Sarah Haskins for President!

The HRC went to Wasilla, Sarah Palin's town in Alaska to talk to LGBT people about her views and politics. It's pretty interesting, check it out below.

I know like many of you I watched the debate on Thursday. While I was disappointed by Joe Biden basically conceding that they agree on the gay marriage issue (I got so angry I had to walk out of the room), I was fuming at Sarah Palin's use of the world tolerate. I don't need you to tolerate me Sarah Palin. I just need you to stay out of my life, just like I want to stay out of yours. You can take your bigoted views back to Alaska with you.

Via Queers United

Watching Obama/McCain round 2? Have at it in comments, we will be around.

It is rare that armed resistance movements are given positive news coverage. And understandably so when groups use brutal force on civilians. However, the dialog of acceptable and unacceptable moments of violence has been dominated by a history of colonization. Basically, war is only acceptable when it is protecting the interests of rich and white people. But for those of us that believe in a more fair and just world where everyone should have access to the means of production and women should not be enslaved by patriarchy it is good to hear in some places people are fighting for their own rights. I don't support their tactics of hurting or killing civilians, but I do see what they are fighting for.

The women of the PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) believe that without a dismantling of patriarchy no one is free. They have been branded as a terrorist organization by NATO, Turkey, Iraq and the United States. The PKK wants an independent Kurdish state in Kuridistan. The women's demands are simple,

"We want a natural life, a society that revolves around women -- one where women and men are equal, a society without pressure, without inequality, where all differences between people are eliminated," says Rengin, the head of a female battalion of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Perhaps this is a leap of imagination for those socialized to think there is only certain types of right and wrong violence. We don't want violence in our communities or anyone else's. But given the context they are working with in, a country ravaged by war and a place where women are subject to inhumane conditions, I can actually empathize with their frustrations.

Revolutionary movements have been around for decades now, both using violent and non-violent tactics to fight for the world they want and generally focused on an anti-colonial stance (one notable example being the Zapatistas, who also believe in gender equity). We may not agree with them, but I think it is important to understand them.

Related:
Kurdish women fighting on the frontlines.

For those who want to check out Courtney on SIRIUS radio tonight at 7 pm ET on SIRIUS Stars channel 102, go here to sign up for a free trial and tune in.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Margaret Cho and Vanessa Valenti at Radio City Music Hall.

So Vanessa and I had the pleasure of seeing Margaret Cho on her tour, "Beautiful," at Radio City Music Hall this past Saturday. It was amazing, as per usual. But what was even more amazing is we had back stage passes and were actually able to meet her as well. She said she, "reads us all the time." *dies*

And she did in fact have the whole crowd singing, "Eat me out," at the end of the show.

Thanks for keeping it real Margaret. Real raunchy!

There is no doubt that I am a gender studies geek. I live and breath it like several of my Feministing co-editors. So here you go, my ten favorite feminist books.

1. Dawn by Octavia Butler

2. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics by bell hooks

3. to be real edited by Rebecca Walker

4. Palestinian Women of Gaza and the West Bank edited by Suha Sabbagh

5. Making Face, Making Soul edited by Gloria Anzaldua

6. The Decolonial Imaginary by Emma Perez

7. Dangerous Liasons edited by Anne McClintock, Aamir Mufti and Ella Shohat

8. The Eloquence of Silence by Marnia Lazreg

9. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

10. Between Woman and Nation edited by Caren Kaplan, Norma Alarcon and Minoo Moallem

These are books I go back to over and over. They have had tremendous impact on what I write, how I write and who I am writing for. And I can't claim these books without also giving thanks to the amazing professors I have had at San Francisco State and SUNY Albany that helped me understand what was captured by each of these authors.

What are your favorite feminist books?

Hello from Beantown!

All you Feministing readers living in Boston, I hope you can come out this Friday to the Feministing Happy Hour. Shout out to readers Rachel and Sarah for helping to organize this event!

Boston Feministing Happy Hour
Friday October 10th
5:30pm-8:30pm
Good Life Bar
28 Kingston Street • Boston, MA 02111
Anyone 18+ welcome to attend!

So come and mingle with some awesome Boston feminists! Hope to see you all there. Facebook event here.

Really?

Thanks to Maranda for sending this in. I can't think of any explanation for this, it is just reprehensible.

UPDATE: The ad says, "Easy Drinking Taste. For people who like things that are "easy" and "drinking." It is hard to read.

You might disagree with me for linking to a piece called, "Never trust a big butt and a smile-in politics," in discussing Sarah Palin. An obvious reference to a classic Bel Biv Devoe track that had me dancing (even as recent as my 30th birthday), but also a potentially sexist statement about women that are good looking but trouble. You know, Sirens. And we have discussed before how to negotiate our feminism with music that we like but recognize is sexist, but that is not the point of this post.

Davey D, the author of this blog, is a leader in hip-hop political writing and although I have frequently disagreed with him, I thought this post had some really valid points. What I found interesting about his piece was not his invoking of Bel Biv Devoe, but the argument he makes about how Palin is considered "hot" by old white men, therefore swaying them to vote for her and how most women he has met think she is full of shit. He says,

However a lot of men, especially older men see her as hot. She's a fantasy come to life. She's the naughty librarian 'MILF' who they'd love to get with. This manifest itself in the form of male talk show hosts giving her a pass. Many actually spend valuable time talking about her looks and small time stuff and not her scary politics. It manifest itself in people actually giving John McCain props for picking such a nice 'looking babe' versus's focusing on his shortcomings. It sort of like him having a trophy wife. Except this one will have serious impact on US policy. It manifest itself in male producers who are behind the scenes spending time editing film and audio tape giving her a favorable look as she is a welcome break from the daily onslaught of old wrinkly white males who they are usually editing.