Quick note: I don't have much time today, so I'm just posting headlines and links without commentary... They're in no particular order, but I numbered the links for your commenting convenience.
1. Shakesville: Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #82
2. ABA Journal: Being a Lawyer and Male Makes You a Top Earner, Census Report Shows
3. Womens eNews: Two Views on Sarah Palin and Women of Color
4. MSNBC: Honor killings persist in 'man's world'
5. Rinku Sen with Fekkak Mamdouh: The Accidental American
6. YouTube: Planned Parenthood Action Fund, "Sexual Abuse" election ad
7. Katha Pollitt, The Nation: Lipstick on a Wing Nut
8. Zuky: Foreign Exchange -- Global Summit of Women
9. Huffington Post: New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams
10. Guanabee: Jessica Alba Sells Suffrage, Self
11. LiveScience: Boss' Gender Can Affect Workers' Stress
12. Time: A Biological Clock for Dads Too
13. Muslimah Media Watch: What About Aafia Siddiqui?
14. The Feminist Underground: Are All Women Pro-Woman?
15. Womens eNews: Little Rock Women Remember Their Own Stormy Time
16. Chicago Tribune: Girls, moms bash ban on purses in classes
17. RH Reality Check: Reality Check Video Series
18. The Curvature: Woman's Murder a "Sordid Soap Opera"
19. Feminocracy: And now you know the rest of the story
20. Wall Street Journal: Crossing the Line. When a client or coworker crosses a line in the workplace, it can be difficult for young female employees to fight back
21. New York Times Editorial: Not Just a Glass Ceiling
22. Kay Steiger: Too Many Women
23. Womanist Musings: Lipstick Feminism and Dressing the Part
24. New America Media: Transgender Dancer's Hard Road to Love: Portraits of Young People in a Changing China
25. Broadsheet: Do I hear $1M for the virgin?
26. LiberalOasis Radio Show: Palin's 15 Minutes Edition (Featuring Jessica)
27. Eve Ensler: Drill, drill, drill
28. Associated Press: Forum sells 'Obama Waffles' with racial stereotype
29. CBS: Woman Invents 'Cleavage Caddy' Purse For Your Bra
29. PopEater: Pink: Sarah Palin 'Hates Women'
30. Feminist Peace Network: Alaskan Women Organize HUGE Anti-Palin Protest
Actions and Events
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NOW: Help Pass Paid Leave for New Parents
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That cleavage bra has been a long time in coming. I keep stuff in my bra all the time, and I got to say, having a pocket would keep the chafing down.
I think schools are going too far in paranoia. Banning purses? I think that it's obvious why someone would go to the bathroom carrying a purse (that's why I always pocketed my tampons), but shouldn't all students be allowed a small personal carry-all? Hell, they allow that in airports, don't they?
Instead of taking care of students mentally to insure that there are no school shootings, schools are just getting stricter about stuff that won't stop anything.
My former high school banned purses of a certain size. I forget how small they had to be but it was pretty small (I broke the zipper trying to cram a hair brush, pens, pencil, tampon, and face powder inside.) I thought the purse rule was pretty stupid because every school shooting I ever heard of was committed by a male (though I suppose it is possible a female would do the same, and I'm not sure what the school would do if they had a male who wanted to carry a purse, though somehow I can't imagine anyone willing to do that and subjugate themselves to the alienation/taunts they would receive from peers) I realize that it is a balance between safety and freedom but I'm not sure that treating kids like they are all dangerous and potential mass murders and not to be trusted makes a positive and respectful learning environment or the school any safer. Of course, my school also had a dress code aimed at females which I broke on a regular basis. (No tank tops in their non air conditioned building, and my sleeveless shirt that came the whole way up to my neck was included in that) I remember at the time the reason for it was because girls in tank tops would distract the boys from learning.....
Ah, the imcomparable Katha Pollitt! Love that woman. She says it all with style.
I'm fully in agreement with you about the nonsensical nature of the purse ban, Cicada Nymph, but there was at least one case of a school shooting committed by a girl. You know the Boomtown Rats' song "I Don't Like Mondays"?
I almost pointed that out, ShifterCat, except that one was a little different. She was across the street, at her own home, shooting at the playground of a school she was not attending. When people talk about school shootings, that's not usually what they're talking about. They usually mean walking into one's own school with a gun and shooting a bunch of classmates and/or teachers and/or administrators, or at least finding a vantage point on campus from which to do so. Though perhaps you may see this as a distinction without a difference.
I had just typed a couple of sentences about how there had not yet been a school shooting in the US of the spree killing, Columbine type committed by a female student, but then it turned out I was wrong. That second one, in fact, took place just this February. I don't remember hearing about it. Perhaps the body count wasn't high enough for the orgiastic media attention these things usually get.
Still, interesting as all that trivia may be, purse bans aren't going to prevent jack shit. A kid who wants to walk in with a rifle isn't going to be deterred by the fact that she can't carry a purse. And it's not like you need a purse to conceal a handgun. It's just another pointless rule to make school a little more restrictive and a little less comfortable.
The Little Rock Women article gave me a number of squeals. I'm from Little Rock, and went to Central High, and the woman who wrote it, is someone I have known since 3rd grade. I'll facebook her now.
Oh wow, Lilitu, I hadn't heard of those.
In Fast Food Nation they mention that shooting sprees at fast food joints are so common now that they rarely make the news. That school shootings might be going in that direction is frightening and sad.
Re. the Jessica Alba ad: being gagged for consensual sex play is completely different from being politically silenced, and it's very stupid of that ad to conflate the two. If they wanted to do an election ad based on the concept of speaking up vs. silence, here's a good example.
"Are All Women Pro-Woman?"
I believe this deserves it's own Friday feminist fuck no.
We're for recaptioning the Alba poster to give it better meaning:
http://feministavengers.blogspot.com/2008/09/media-hates-women-vol-1.html