Belated edition!
On the systemic execution of gays and lesbians in Iraq.
A truly terrible headline: "Scandal reveals women love to steal-- then shop"
The German government calls on the fashion industry to regulate itself and portray more than super-skinny body types.
Women have got the spine for pregnancy, apparently.
A new sterilization method provides an alternative to the tubal ligation by creating scar tissue in the fallopian tubes. (via.)
Female characters as comedic killjoys.
At least 40 women were murdered in Basra in the past year.
The recent Albuquerque clinic fire was indeed arson.
On the death of Pakistani-Canadian teenager, and what the hijab has (and doesn't have) to do with it.
Thank Bush for the teen birth rate.
There's a new book out on Bella Abzug.
This is just ridiculous.
The Wall Street Journal on golddiggers.
Hillary Sexism Watch: Drudge edition. (Shocking, I know.)
Abstinence programs are flailing in the states.
Sexual assault victims in Wisconsin will no longer have to pay the bills for their hospital exam and treatment after the assault.
Two women who married in Massachusetts have been barred from getting a divorce in their home state of Rhode Island.
On Hillary's pantsuits. (eyeroll.)
Leave your other links in comments.
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Long time lurker, first time poster.
This is a Newsweek article about the trend of women boomers having plastic surgery- boob jobs and tummy tucks- to get their young bodies back. Because there's nothing more horrible than an aging woman. Ugh!
http://www.newsweek.com/id/78042
That Spice Girls article was such BS. I was a SG fan as a kid and I'm not anorexic or bulimic now, nor am I drowning in credit card debt. That woman needs to step back and take a deep breath.
I would hate to have to turn in my feminist card just because I'm going to see the SG in Toronto...just trying to recapture my youth, is all. :) While I don't believe the SG are a credit to feminism, I certainly feel it would take more than a few ten-year-old pop songs to kill feminism.
"Skinny models belong neither on the catwalk nor in advertising," Health Minister Ulla Schmidt said in Berlin on Thursday, Dec. 13, adding that that the fashion world had a responsibility to regulate itself in this regard.
Schmidt, accompanied by Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen, Education Minister Annette Schavan and Austrian Family Minister Andrea Kdolsky, was kicking off a campaign entitled "Life has weight -- together against slimming madness."
(From the article about the German Fashion industry). It immediately stuck out to me that the Health Minister, Family Ministers, and Education Minister are all ladies! That's pretty badass, and totally telling of why this issue is being given government attention. I'm jealous--I want more women in power who actually care about what's good for the well-being of my girl-friends and i.
Even leaving aside all the other things that are wrong with that Spice Girls article, I seized on this:
"They've got five children between them. Sexy strip-teases? I ask you!"
The trope of mothers-can't-be-sexy, alive and well.
that story about the Canadian teenager broke my heart. things must have been very difficult for her.
Also from the Spice Girls article:
What we thought was the ultimate triumph of feminism was, in fact, its death knell.
Did anyone actually think they were some super feminist group? They were manufactured and branded (to use the term the author used), not the embodiment of independence and empowerment. I was, what, ten when they were popular? And even I knew that back then.
It's undeniable that they had insanely catchy songs (though I think "Wannabe" broke my brain when I tried to comprehend its lyrics), but a feminist triumph? Not even close.
That Spice Girls article was ridic. I remember in one of my first WGS classes we discussed "SG feminism"- i.e. Girl Power Feminism and how it was different from 3rd wave fem. But of course when there's a strawfeminist around there's no need to distinguish between them!
fempowered- so true!
The bitter tone was almost palpable.
Read the comments to the SG article; they're amusing. Apparently, unisex uniforms killed feminism.
"With the Spice Girls came the "Because I'm worth it" culture – "Dump the boyfriend, the car's more fun" ran the ad slogans."
She list this as one of the "damages" the Spice Girls wought on society and feminism. While I can agree that consumerism isn't really good for anyone, "because I'm worth it," never seemed like a bad thing to me. It was actually my motto while getting out of a pretty abusive relationship. So really, I think that teaching girls they can have cars (or whatever) without relying on a boy/man is a good thing. If that's what the Spice Girls even did.
And one more thing:
"Victoria, the bad-tempered one, pouts her mouth and squeezes her tiny frame into bondage gear. The attempt at eroticism doesn't work. For all the lighting tricks and clever camera angles, it remains as sexy as second-rate soft porn."
Wait, is your article "about feminism" seriously picking on someone because they don't look *sexy*? Really? If she had looked better, more sexy, would it have been okay? For real?
Right. Just checking.
Re: the Newsweek article in the first comment, and the related article in the NY Times a few weeks ago. I'm just now reading "Backlash" by Susan Faludi for the first time (encouraged by discussions on this site), and it has given me a strengthened and renewed skepticism about these kinds of "style" articles. Particularly interesting is the common theme of how the tone is often one of mild alarm, but the intent is to encourage a certain type of behavior.
On an unrelated note, my spouse and I have talked about the "moms can't be sexy" notion (fempowered's comment). In our limited overseas experience, this seems to be a uniquely American meme (his recalled thoughts from the time: "holy crap! sexy moms!"). I'd be very curious what readers from outside the US/Canada think about this.
Great job with the WFR Ann and the rest of the folks at Feministing! I was about to send info about the killings in Basra but you folks were right on top of it. As horrible as that situation is, its good to know that groups like the Iraqi Freedom Congress and others are doing great work around trying to build a democratic, secular, and progressive political culture in Iraq. Also, to stray just a little, the political journalist Doug Ireland does in depth reporting around the repression and horrors that the LGBT community face around the world (http://direland.typepad.com/direland/
The first item on the WFR reminded me of his work.
"That Spice Girls article was such BS. I was a SG fan as a kid and I'm not anorexic or bulimic now, nor am I drowning in credit card debt. That woman needs to step back and take a deep breath."
I agree whole heartedly.
And Germany kicks ass! I really hope that this campaign will cut down on the skinny culture and that other countries will open their eyes and fix things too. I remember when I was in school and I was short but of an average weight and I got called fat. I kept thinking: "Where do they get this crap from? I'm perfect just the way I am." Then after I graduated I gained like 15lbs but I still can't consider myself fat. =/
visitingfeminist:
No thanks, I'd rather not have a maternalistic government telling women what is good for them and what isn't.
As far as sexual assault victims not paying for medical treatment, here is the legitimate basis for that: ". . . forensic exams performed soon after an assault 'significantly' assists prosecution of an assailant." I would like to see all assault victims, and not just sexual assault victims, get free care because if I'm attacked by a bad guy (which I was), that's not my fault, either. But if the rationale is to encourage women to get in there to preserve evidence, hey, let's do what we have to do.
Yay for Wisconsin, my dear home state. :)
Yes, the Spice Girls are the reason for every "bad" thing women under 25 do. The Spice Girls made me have premarital sex and they're the ones who inspired me to drink shots of straight whiskey. And they really are responsible for creating all those binge-drinking, barf-slinging, barely-clad girls at the bars (who, by the way, deserve it if they get date-raped, and I hope the judge lets them know.) Oh, and by the way, by being responsible for all that, the Spice Girls have inadvertently rendered every feminist breakthrough of the past thirty years utterly meaningless. Feminism is dying as we speak, as we speak here on this thriving feminist website...oh, wait.
It sickens me that someone who claims to be a feminist could spew forth such a misguided piece of shite. I suppose buried somewhere deep, deep within that stinking pile were a couple of arguably valid points; I'm certainly not going to say that binge drinking by young women does feminism, or more importantly the young women themselves, any great favors. But the thing that really sticks out to me is how the author chose not to focus on today's feminist efforts by young women and women in general and instead targets those women who behave in a supposedly less than desirable manner. And she's not alone; a lot of the mainstream media does this. They also tend to ignore the fact that some young men also engage in binge drinking and promiscuous sex. And something else: can you think of something males do that the media throws a fit over because it's not desirable behavior? I can: school/public place shootings, which are overwhelmingly committed by males. And yet, when the media talks about that problem, they characterize it as a problem with "America's youth," which means they are ignoring the gender issues involved and equating "male" with "human," as usual ignoring the fact that half of humanity is female.
Grr!
Oh, and in answer to the question "Do we really want to look at an aging woman for the next four years?" I'd like to say that I (and I'm sure all of you) am much more concerned with the politics and the issues of the candidates rather than what they look like. Otherwise, I might be fretting about whether or not I will have to look at Fred Thompson (damned unattractive) or Rudy Giuliani (slimy guy with a cheesy grin) for the next four years. The president is, well, the president, you know, with a really important job to do that doesn't require him to be a sex symbol, and if the president is a she, well, she shouldn't be required to be a sex symbol. Hillary's age, appearance, or possession of a vagina should have no bearing on whether or not one votes for her (unless it's one of those magic vaginas that were discussed a few days ago, the kind that churns out brilliant domestic and foreign policy and balances the federal budget. That could be cool.)
I'm worried that more people haven't picked up on this story:
15-year-old girl jailed with 20 men for a month, raped repeatedly.
I've also posted a story about a second, mentally ill teenager in the same circumstances, as well as a news video--the only one I could find on this story.
Re: NYTimes article on women's spines
My bottom vertebrae are fused. How bout that. Now what? I guess I'll tip over when I'm pregnant?
I am so tired of reading articles that criticize female politicians about unprofessional topics, such as the woman's hair and/or clothing, or when they just flat out call the woman derogatory names.
I was given a glimmer of hope when I was flipping through Elle magazine and they sported an article on this exact topic. I was so excited to see that a mainstream magazine had such a progressively feminist article in it. I encourage all to check it out.
Check this out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7156577.stm
"Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to scrap laws that discriminate against homosexuals...
"...In their ruling, two Supreme Court judges said: 'The government of Nepal should formulate new laws and amend existing laws in order to safeguard the rights of these people.
"'Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex are natural persons irrespective of their masculine and feminine gender and they have the right to exercise their rights and live an independent life in society.'..."