Recently in Updates Category

Last week I linked to a study from OK Cupid about race and dating. OK Cupid released some more data, including who likes to use strap-ons and what slang daters are familiar with, and who thinks they are a genius (guess who thinks they are geniuses more often than not?) The data I found most striking however, was the data on who has considered suicide.

OK Cupid blog notes that the straight identified people are less likely than "other" to consider suicide. But the number that struck out to me was that the most likely group to consider suicide are bisexual identified women.

Thoughts?

Thanks to Dave for the link.

Really interesting choice, huh? I covered that she would be in Glamour on Tuesday, but didn't discuss that they had made her Woman of the Year.

Glamour Magazine chose her as one of their "Women of the year." Although the article does not go into depth about her experience of domestic violence or any treatment she may have received, she does openly discuss the shame and isolation she endured...

...Many women who have suffered from domestic violence also feel that same sense of loss and loneliness. The shame women feel from choosing an abusive partner and feeling that they "allowed" it to happen can also contribute to not seeking help. Sometimes when women do reach out for support from their families or friends, they feel judged and retreat more.

Women who find themselves with abusive partners typically do not have media hounding them day and night after their abuse is reported to authorities. They also do not have the public scrutinizing their involvement and reactions.

I can understand that Glamour chose to do this because it brings to light the issue of violence against women, but it seems a little soon and potentially exploitative of her story. As the article asks, I have to wonder if this was her choice and part of her healing process or created by her PR team to support her upcoming single? And hours before her 20/20 interview tomorrow, MTV is airing an interview with Chris Brown. The media spectacle of it does give me pause.

In other news, his new tour is doing lousy. Wonder if it is connected to his "anger issues?"

Now this is art - a poem by Calvin Trillin at The Nation, titled...

What Whoopi Goldberg ('Not a Rape-Rape'), Harvey Weinstein ('So-Called Crime') et al. Are Saying in Their Outrage Over the Arrest of Roman Polanski

A youthful error? Yes, perhaps.
But he's been punished for this lapse--
For decades exiled from LA
He knows, as he wakes up each day,
He'll miss the movers and the shakers.
He'll never get to see the Lakers.
For just one old and small mischance,
He has to live in Paris, France.
He's suffered slurs and other stuff.
Has he not suffered quite enough?
How can these people get so riled?
He only raped a single child.

Read the rest at The Nation.

Back in March, we mentioned that the FDA had recently approved a new female condom (FC) for distribution in the U.S.

Well folks, that new female condom has officially hit U.S. markets, and is now available for our all-American consumption. The FC2 is made of a new, thinner, material, is less likely to squeak during use, and is about 30% cheaper than the original FC.

My colleague Audacia Ray has a post up on Akimbo about why this news marks exciting progress for US women's access to safer sex materials.

Now, I know that the FC often gets a bad rap. Previous commenters have touched on some of the many criticisms it often faces- it's not readily available, it's too expensive, it squeaks, it looks funny, the materials' unfamiliar, it's uncomfortable, it's unnatural, it's inconvenient, it's not effective enough, etc. And part of this criticism is understandable because the FC is a relatively new form of contraception and- let's face it- not many of us use FCs on a regular basis, or even know someone who does. How many of us have even seen an FC for sale in a drugstore? Or seen women carrying around FCs in their wallets the way men often do with the male condom?

Just a quick update: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was admitted to the hospital last week because of "light headedness and fatigue," was released on Friday and back to work the same day. That's what I call bad-ass.

Scott Roeder, the man who shot and killed Dr. George Tiller, won't see trial until next year.

Roeder was scheduled to go to trial today, but both prosecutors and Roeder's lawyers wanted it moved to a later date.

Related posts: Esteemed Doctor and Friend of George Tiller to Provide Late Term Abortion Care in Kansas, Thank you Dr. Tiller, Vigils for Dr. Tiller

That is more or less all Chris Brown could say in this teaser of his Larry King interview when discussing his feelings about attacking his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.

It's like he completely disconnects himself from that person who did what he can't even publicly say he did. Tracy from Broadsheet hits the nail on the head in her sum-up of what this guest appearance seems to be: convincing the public that he is a good boy who would never do such a thing, that he still loves Rihanna and doesn't even remember brutalizing and threatening to kill her (despite prior incidences), and in other words, he's talking the same talk most abusers do but imploring America - not Rihanna - to forgive him.

Ugh.

UPDATE: A reader alerted us to Brown clarifying that he does, in fact, remember the attack.
Approximate transcript after the jump.

After the madness that was Marriott's victim-blaming bullshit towards a rape survivor who was sexually assaulted in their hotel garage in Connecticut, we find (sort of) good news about the case:

The Marriott hotel chain on Monday abandoned its legal claim that a Connecticut woman raped at gunpoint in a hotel parking garage, in front of her young children, had been careless and was partly at fault.

The withdrawal followed days of backlash against Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc., which had claimed in its defense of a lawsuit by the woman that she had "failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities." (Emphasis mine)

The statement given by the Marriott says they are "profoundly sorry that such a terrible thing happened to the victim of this violent crime" and that the lawsuit has "created a mistaken impression that Marriott lacks respect" for victims of violence. Blaming a rape survivor for her assault? That's no mistaken impression of disrespect, but a certainty.

Many are also saying (and I concur) that the damage has already been done. Although it's obviously good that they're not using this horrific defense anymore, what kind of message has already been put out there? Nancy Kushins, executive director of Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, contended,

"The fear of being blamed for being raped is one of the most common reasons that victims of sexual assault don't come forward."

The responses to the recent Pennsylvania shooting speaks volumes about how we view (or ignore) misogyny.

In the aftermath of George Sodini's horrific crime, I took some solace in the fact that the media was covering the crime as one targeted towards women. (Something they failed to do several years ago when similar shootings occurred.) And this weekend, I was even more heartened - and not at all surprised - to see Bob Herbert of The New York Times link the shooting to our culture's hatred of women:

We have become so accustomed to living in a society saturated with misogyny that the barbaric treatment of women and girls has come to be more or less expected.

We profess to being shocked at one or another of these outlandish crimes, but the shock wears off quickly in an environment in which the rape, murder and humiliation of females is not only a staple of the news, but an important cornerstone of the nation's entertainment.

Yet despite the links being made in the mainstream media, and the numerous bloggers and reporters who have shown that Sodini had ties to the "pick up artist" community and probably would have fit in well with the "Nice Guy" sect as well - some people are aghast that anyone would link Sodini's crime to a larger culture of misogyny.

Take, for example (and this is just one of many), conservative anti-feminist blogger Cassy Fiano - who after a roundup of feminist blogger responses to the shooting, writes:

...To say that it is a "culture-wide problem" because America is apparently just still so misogynistic is ridiculous and wrong. And feminists know that. Most men do not harbor secret fantasies of forcing women to have sex with them whether they want to or not, nor do most men dream about enacting violence against women. Yet it doesn't keep feminists from labeling men this way.

What I think it boils down to is that feminists no longer have anything to fight for. And so, a movement that once was dedicated to fighting for equality between sexes has now resorted to slandering all men as angry, violent, women-haters in order to further their own feminist agenda. George Sodini is a sick, evil man who I hope rots in hell for what he's done. And while I don't think feminists are evil, they should still be ashamed of themselves for exploiting a tragedy of this nature in order to continue to smear men.

I genuinely find this kind of reasoning completely fascinating. Calling feminists opportunists and conflating cultural criticisms with man-bashing seems to serve only one purpose - denial. (And some head-patting from misogynists, of course - but that's a post for a different day.) Seriously, I have often wondered why anti-feminists spout what they do. The only answer I've been able to come up with is denial, and an extreme desire to believe that if they're not one of those women (feminists, sluts, etc) then they will be safe. If they can separate themselves from the reality of most women's lives, and the terrifying culture that is misogyny in America, then somehow they will be immune to it all.

Yesterday, Jessica posted her criticism of the new show on ABC, Defying Gravity, rightfully noting the anti-choice attitude she felt the pilot reflected. It turns out that the daughter of the lead writer and producer of the show reads Feministing and passed our critique on to her dad, James Parriott. He sent us a statement regarding his stance on choice with regard to the show.

I don't want to give away the plot on the blog. But our position on the show is that abortion should be legal and the choice of the woman. But, too often, the Right to Lifers, paint the choice position as being glib, easy and insensitive. What we, in our storyline, say is that that simply isn't so. It's a tough, considered choice that can have repercussions -- but it is a choice that must lie with the woman.

Thematically, this show is about man's self determination vs. the need to follow orders. It's about what we can't control vs. what we can -- and the grey area in between. It's about the price we pay for both.

Zoe makes the decision to abort (against the govt) to achieve her dream. It isn't an easy decision (as right to lifers often portray it). It's an agonizing decision that Zoe will carry the rest of her life. But is was her decision to make. Not the government's.

Donner makes a decision on Mars that he regrets. He followed orders (by Goss; the government) and lost two people dear to him. He's paying the price of not following his own gut.

Jen, in growing her bunny (making the choice of having her "baby"), will also pay a price. She'll endanger the crew and the ship for something that never should have been allowed to grow in the first place. (again, this is a choice message, not right to life).

We have a scene upcoming, where Ajay, who knows Zoe aborted a baby, will tell her directly that she made the right choice. Sometimes we need to make our own path and her path is in space. She should not worry about her aborted baby - Hindus believe that the soul simply moves on to another body.

Even religious Paula will come to challenge her own right to life beliefs.

So... we explore the subject from a number of directions. I imagine we'll take heat from people on both sides of the issue - but they should certainly wait and see how the story develops."

It is rare that we write about popular culture and those involved actually respond to us. James Parriott has been the lead writer and producer for a variety of shows, including Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy among others. I am a huge fan of Ugly Betty and I felt that it took a progressive stance on gender, race, immigration, sexuality and class issues so I will check out the next few episodes of and see how the plot develops. And not just because I have a crush on Ron Livingston. I know, a shameful crush since he delivered that one line that took dating books by sexist storm.

In May, we posted about 20 year old Samantha Orobator, a pregnant British woman who was jailed in Laos on drug charges - and originally sentenced to death by firing squad. (She became pregnant while in jail; her mother feared that she was raped while in prison - Orobator says she was not.)

CNN reports that Orobator will be freed to today and go to Britain to receive a sentence there.

Related: Amnesty International's Human Rights Report on Laos.

From Talking Points Memo:

Remember how last week, in an episode of the much-derided web series Mouthpiece Theater, Washington Post reporters Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza joked that "Mad Bitch" beer would be an appropriate beverage for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Well, after TPMDC's initial report on the episode, the Post has killed the feature entirely.

"I don't think the series worked as they intended," said Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli. "It was meant to be funny and insightful and translate the superb journalism Chris and Dana do in print and online into a new format."

But...it wasn't. The Clinton joke, he said, was "a serious lapse. . . . It's really beneath us and not something we should engage in."

Cillizza says at the end of the day the show "wasn't funny." I couldn't agree more.

As I'm sure you've already heard, journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were freed and returned home today after more than four months jailed in North Korea.

Thirty hours ago, Ms. Ling said, "We feared that any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp." Then, she said, they were taken to another location.

"When we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton," she said to applause. "We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end, and now we stand here, home and free."

Pic via Shakesville.

Good news for DC residents: on Thursday the House of Representatives passed a spending bill that removes the ban on use of local funds for abortion coverage in the District and lifts a number of other important bans as well. We now need the Senate to pass a funding bill that does the same.

I do want to make note of some really awful comments made on the floor of the House by Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas) on Thursday regarding the DC abortion ban. The Congressman called the use of local funds for abortion a "financial incentive" to "encourage" women elligible for the funds to have abortions. Linking class with race, Tiahrt asked if President Obama's mother would have "taken advantage of [an abortion]." He asked the same question about Clarence Thomas, which is what makes the racial element of his line of thinking so obvious. I believe Rep. Tiahrt's comments were meant to suggest the disgusting black genocide argument, which claims reproductive rights organizations and abortion providers are engaged in a murderous racist conspiracy. More information on Rep. Tiahrt's comments and an action alert can be found here.

Previously: House moves to lift bans on abortion funding, needle exchange, domestic partnership, and medical marijuana in DC, Quick Hit: House Appropriations Committee votes to lift DC abortion ban.

It looks like the Telegraph has pulled their completely inaccurate victim-blaming piece from last week, also publishing an apology that's barely satisfying:

Owing to an editing error, our report "Women who dress provocatively more likely to be raped, claim scientists" (June 23) wrongly stated that research presented at the recent BPS conference by Sophia Shaw found that women who drink alcohol are more likely to be raped. In fact, the research found the opposite. We apologise for our error.

While the BPS has stated they're happy with Telegraph's actions, this is a completely lazy (and really not entirely accurate) correction. Nonetheless, it's good this was taken down.

h/t to Anne!

After the news tha the remaining five defendants of the Jena 6 case were getting a plea deal today, we find that they pleaded no contest to misdemeanor simple battery, sentenced to seven days probation and fined $500 plus court costs. Color of Change's Executive Director James Rucker said:

"The story of the Jena 6 was an extreme example of what can happen when a justice system biased against black boys operates unchecked. But it's also an example of what can happen when hundreds of thousands of people across the country stand up to challenge unequal justice. Together, we drew the country's attention to this case and raised the money necessary to fund a strong legal defense."

This is great news.

Looks like we might have a new brand of MRA on our hands! Remember the "Stockholm: An Exploration of True Love" game that Amazon was selling which allowed users to "convince" a young woman to fall in love with them by sexually assaulting, gassing and psychologically abusing them? Well, it seems that its creator is a wee ticked about being banned from Amazon and others is conducting a college outreach program designed to enlighten college students with "types of love and relationships hidden and ignored by a culture increasingly dominated by female values."

Stanton Audemars says during his college tours, he'll disseminate the game to make sure "that every single college student of appropriate age has access to this simulation," seeming to push an anti-women and anti-feminist message cloaked in BDSM rights language:

"And young men and women have the right to recognize that true love does not necessarily involve the kind of mental castration and excessive domestication that it has become associated with . . . The point of 'Stockholm' is not that kidnapping is the path to true love. The point is that the sugar coated nonsense that TV and movies are forcing down our throat is not the only true path. It is a message that college men and women need to hear. Most don't realize that they have a choice in how they approach love and relationships, that choice in relationships does not just mean 'gay or straight'. It also can be polygamistic, dominant, submissive, relaxed, nice, cruel, possessive, etc. The types of love that women have tried to criminalize are no less valid than the types of love that seem to require that men become weak, doting, servile eunuchs."

The thing is, this game is not about choice; it's about kidnapping, sexual assault and nonconsent. What a hoot it would be if we ran into this guy while doing our college tour come fall.

While the closing of Dr. Tiller's clinic and the infuriating possibility that anti-choice extremist group Operation Rescue may try to buy the space has made us realize things actually could get worse, Dr. LeRoy Carhart brings us some hope.

Via Feministe, we find that Carhart has stepped in to take Dr. Tiller's place in providing late term abortions in Kansas, although potential plans to open an actual clinic are unknown:

A Nebraska doctor said Wednesday that he will perform third-term abortions in Kansas after the slaying of abortion provider George Tiller, but would not say whether he will open a new facility or offer the procedure at an existing practice.

Dr. LeRoy Carhart declined to discuss his plans in detail during a telephone interview with The Associated Press, but insisted "there will be a place in Kansas for the later second- and the medically indicated third-trimester patients very soon."

"I just think that until everything is in place, it's something that doesn't need to be talked about" in detail, Carhart said a day after Tiller's family announced his Wichita clinic was permanently shutting its doors.

Tiller's clinic was one of the only facilities in the country that performed third-trimester abortions. Carhart has run his own clinic in Bellevue, Neb., since 1985, but had performed late-term abortions at Tiller's clinic because of Nebraska's more restrictive abortion laws.

Carhart is indeed of the Gonzales v. Carhart Supreme Court case, which upheld the 2007 Federal Abortion Ban. (Carhart argued that the ban didn't provide an exception for the woman's health.) He was also a longtime friend of George Tiller.

Check out Ann's piece from a couple of years ago when she met Carhart at his Nebraska clinic, which he had struggled to keep open himself amidst anti-choice forces. But whether or not he opens a clinic in Kansas or practices at an already-existing clinic, we all can rest easier knowing this brave doctor is stepping in to protect women's health and lives.

Last week, I wrote about Quinta Layin Tuleh - a 28 year old woman from Cameroon sentenced to 238 days in federal prison because she is HIV positive and pregnant.

Today, Margo Kaplan from the Center for HIV Law and Policy has a piece on RH Reality Check analyzing just how terrible the judge's decision was.

Judge Woodcock's decision ignores the complex factors involved in a pregnant woman's medical treatment decisions - as through being HIV positive makes one incapable of reasonable decision-making - and glibly equates being HIV-positive and pregnant with committing a crime. When reading the sentence, he makes clear that his sole reason for keeping Tuleh in prison was that she was HIV-positive and pregnant, and that, had she been pregnant and not HIV-positive, he would release her with time served. He reasons that he could keep Tuleh in jail "to protect the public from [her] further crimes."

...While some states do, indeed, criminalize HIV exposure, Judge Woodcock does more than this - he imprisons a woman for the mere possibility that she might transmit HIV in the future. His reasoning essentially criminalizes being HIV-positive and allows the state to jail anyone with HIV simply because they have HIV and are capable of transmitting it to another. It classifies anyone with HIV as a threat to society who can be incarcerated at the whim of the state to protect public health.

Make sure to check out the whole piece, Kaplan does a great job linking the paternalism, discrimination and misogyny that are so rife in this case.

Please, say it isn't so.

On the heels of the closing of Dr. Tiller's clinic comes the horrific news that anti-choice extremist group Operation Rescue may try to buy the space.

Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said that his group has discussed the idea of buying the tan, windowless clinic in east Wichita. He made the comment after the Tiller family announced that the clinic would be closed permanently.

"I would love to make an offer on that abortion clinic, and that's some of the discussion that we're having," Newman said in a telephone interview Tuesday from his group's headquarters in Wichita.

These people seriously have no shame.

Related posts: Tiller's Clinic Will Be Shut Down.
Thank you Dr. Tiller
What Are Civil Rights Leaders Saying About the Murder of Dr. Tiller?
Upcoming vigils for Dr. Tiller

Thanks to Cyril for the link.

Pictures via NARAL Pro-Choice America's Flickr page.

Last night, the LA City Council approved a budget that will fund the testing of the huge backlog of untested rape kits in Los Angeles.

According to Hollywood NOW President Lindsey Horvath (who was also recently appointed to the West Hollywood City Council - congrats!), "Over the next two years, we will eradicate the backlog of untested rape kit evidence as long as the Council continues to work with LAPD on a system that holds everyone accountable."

From Human Rights Watch:

As part of the city's budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the council approved money for an additional 26 employees for the city's crime lab DNA section and for using private crime laboratories for outsourcing. The budget now goes to the mayor for signature or veto within 10 days of approval by the City Council. The city has a backlog of more than 5,000 "rape kits," as the collected evidence is called, which have not been tested to try to identify a suspect through matching DNA.

Wonderful news, but HRW points out that this funding only affects the testing of rape kits under the Los Angeles Police Department's jurisdiction." There are still 7,000 more untested rape kits in the 47 other cities in Los Angeles County and stored by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Related: Why Do Rape Kits Sit Around Untested?
Nearly 13,000 Rape Kits Go Untested in LA County

First it was raining gays, now they're coming to get your kids.

It's a new ad being run in New Hampshire by the same folks who gave us the ridiculously homophobic "Gathering Storm" ad that was not surprisingly mocked to the nth degree, the National Organization for Marriage. CornerStone Policy Research, a group so extreme that even Focus on the Family has put distance between them, partnered with NOM for this gem.

Via the Bilerico Project.

Transcript after the jump.

We're a bit late getting to this; on Wednesday, the New Hampshire Senate passed (with a narrow margin) to allow same-sex couples to marry.

It was passed with a 13-11 vote, and only after language in the bill was amended granting religious groups and organizations legal protections who do not want to perform same-sex marriages. (Could this be due to a recent kerfuffle in Iowa over judges giving up their rights to perform marriages altogether to avoid marrying gay folks?)

The House, who passed the bill just a month ago, now has to approve those changes and place the final bill in the hands of Governor John Lynch, who made this statement on its passage:

"I recognize that the issue of same-sex marriage is intensely passionate and personal, and raises strong emotions on all sides.

"I still believe the fundamental issue is about providing the same rights and protections to same-sex couples as are available to heterosexual couples. This was accomplished through the passage of the civil unions law two years ago. To achieve further real progress, the federal government would need to take action to recognize New Hampshire civil unions."

This doesn't sound super hopeful, so sign a petition or contact the governor's office directly; there's no time to waste.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, while marriage equality matters to the Senate, transgender anti-discrimination laws aren't up for discussion. (As it wasn't in the House either. What a disappointment.)

Who's smirkin' now, sucka?

Remember the anti-feminist lawyer who was suing Columbia for offering Women's Studies courses because, according to him, it's discriminatory towards men? His case (not surprisingly) was thrown out last week by a Manhattan judge.

This is not the only case Roy Den Hollander has pursued; he's also filed lawsuits against clubs that offer Ladies Nights (because of course that's feminism's doing?), and is pretty blatant in the acknowledgment that his sole purpose in life is working against the evil feminist machine, saying:

"What I'm trying to do now in my later years is fight everybody who violates my rights... the Feminazis have infiltrated institutions, and there's been a transfer of rights from guys to girls."

Holy eloquence. Is this dude really a lawyer? Also not surprisingly, when the judge dismissed his suit, Hollander "assailed the judge as [insert gasp] a feminist" and claimed that "[w]hen it comes to men's rights, judges act with an arrogance of power, ignorance of the law, and fear of the feminists."

There are too many contradictions there even worth repeating, but regardless you better be careful - that kind of talk may not bode well with The Feminists...

Remember the new Shia law passed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that not only potentially allows child marriage and marital rape but also prohibits women from leaving the home? Well, it looks like the law will now be amended, says President Karzai, who is now claiming he "did not know all the contents of the law."

I can't say I completely buy that, although I'll admit I was confused he signed it in the first place considering he's made efforts in the past to combat child marriage. (Some folks predicted it was a political move by Karzai for more votes.) Either way, this is good news.

Via UN Dispatch.

RH Reality Check has a video about the teacher in Oklahoma who was forced to resign for teaching her students about the Laramie Project.

h/t to Max!

Transcript after the jump (extra h/t to asthenia!)

Angie Zapata's family has made a statement on the trial of Allen Andrade. Below is Angie's brother, Gonzalo, speaking.

Potentially triggering

Read the transcript at Feministe.

Via TransGriot

This is me trying to keep my cool. What do you think?

You've all heard the great news - Angie Zapata's murderer, Allen Andrade, has been found guilty and last night received a mandatory life sentence. I don't know that there can ever be real justice - because Angie isn't here - but this is certainly something.

More from Pam's House Blend, Race Wire, Queerty, GLAADBlog, PageOneQ, the Human Rights Campaign, Womanist Musings, EDNAblog, TransGriot, and the Justice for Angie Twitter Feed.

Pic via Deanna.

Last night, after finding out about the Amazon craziness, I immediately called my editor, Brooke Warner, over at Seal Press. (Especially because Full Frontal Feminism and Yes Means Yes were two of the books affected.)

She spoke to their Amazon rep today, and he told her it was definitely not a glitch. From Brooke's email to me:

Basically he said that amazon has been experimenting with the way they dole out content specifically so that people who are searching Harry Potter or whatever won't run into links to products that might be offensive.

...It's super fucked up, but apparently he's saying that Amazon is a bully when it comes to stuff like this and it's all about sales for them and it's not about censorship. [He said t]hat they love you, love Seal, but that this is mandated from their bosses, who essentially want to be Walmart.

...He also said no human is responsible for the decisions per se, and that it's all about tagging and feeds which are constantly being tweaked. He does think that amazon will retweak the tags based on the uproar that happened over the weekend.

It's also worth noting that some folks, like the fabulous Deanna Zandt, believe that the reps may not know what they're talking about. "I'm almost positive at this point that it was a scripted (automated) thing someone figured out how to exploit," Deanna told me via email.

So that's what I know so far. Will update this post again if I hear anything different...

An AP reporter received an email from an Amazon's director of corporate communications saying that "there was a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed." A glitch that's been there since February?

This is an update from the story that developed over the weekend about Amazon identifying LGBT books and more (for example, feminist books like Jessica's Full Frontal Feminism) as "adult" and therefore deranked on the website. This is not to mention the fact that (hetero)sexually explicit books like Ron Jeremy's autobiography weren't deranked, while Ellen Degeneres' autobiography was.

tehdely has an interesting take on the situation; I agree that it seems hard to believe that the company is simply being run by Christian fundamentalists. But we do know one thing; there is anti-queer, ant-feminist motivation behind this and Amazon has got to step the fuck up. Craig Seymor even pointed out the problem to them in February and it's only now, when folks are up in arms, that they're taking action on this. Not okay.

Deanna has more.

You know, I knew that Courtney's Friday Feminist Fuck You would draw out the assholes and rape apologists. But this just pisses me off to no end.

Wired has a post on us "furious feminists" and Courtney's video, writing that we have a problem with Observe and Report's "shocking sex scene." Shocking sex scene? No, assholes - that's called rape. It's unbelievable to me that people are arguing whether or not this scene depicts a rape, not only because of the obvious inability for Anna Faris' character to give consent - but also because Faris herself calls it rape.

So please, you fucking idiots, stop calling it sex.

It's also worth pointing out that the comments at Wired (and hundreds at the YouTube video that I moderated) trying to argue that the scene isn't rape are of the "no one would want to rape you anyway you stupid cunt" variety. So yeah. I swear, it's stuff like this that makes me want to give up on humanity.

Please give the folks at Wired a piece of your mind - or any one else who wants to argue that you just don't get the hilarious genius humor behind a dude raping an unconscious woman.

abyss2hope, Majikthise, Jezebel, Tiger Beatdown and nshay1031 at the Community Blog have more.

Thomas and Rachel Myers at the ACLU recently covered the story in PA where a group of teens were being threatened by Wyoming County (PA) district attorney George Skumanick, Jr. of facing criminal charges over distributing revealing pictures of their classmates - including charges against the very girls in the pictures for being accomplices to child pornography because they allowed themselves to be photographed.

Well, we're happy to see that a U.S. judge has filed a restraining order against Mr. Skumanick from pressing charges against the students. Said the judge:

"The court agrees with the plaintiffs that the public interest would be served by issuing a TRO (temporary restraining order) in this matter as the public interest is on the side of protecting constitutional rights."

Awesome.

This is not the kind of news I like to hear on a Monday morning. (Or I guess any morning for that matter.)

Nearly half of the 200 Boston teenagers interviewed for an informal poll said pop star Rihanna was responsible for the beating she allegedly took at the hands of her boyfriend, fellow music star Chris Brown, in February.

...Of the teens questioned, more than half said both Brown, 19, and Rihanna, 21, were equally responsible for the assault. More than half said the media were treating Brown unfairly, and 46 percent said Rihanna was responsible for the incident.

Ah, victim-blaming. It's always with us. What particularly depresses me about this statistic is that the victim-blaming is coming from young people. There's this optimistic part of me that likes to believe sexist attitudes and hating women will lessen with new generations. Articles like these snap me back into reality.

Thanks to Alise for the link.

Via Amplify, we find that Fox News is having a grand ole time slamming President Obama's plans to repeal the HHS regulation that allows medical professionals to reject birth control to women because of religious or moral reasons. In fact, they're having so much fun that it's compelled them to blatantly lie and say that Obama's plans will result in doctors going to jail if they don't perform an abortion.

This is despite the fact that rules have already been in place for quite a long time that protect doctors from this happening. Check out Media Matters for more.

Hallelujah. Remember Bush's parting gift, the last minute HHS rule that not only allows health care providers to define contraception as abortion, but allows them to deny health care based on their moral or religious reasons? Well, folks are saying that President Obama plans to move to repeal the regulation today. Via AP:

The Obama administration is moving to rescind a federal rule that reinforced protections for medical providers who refuse to perform abortions or other procedures on moral grounds, an official said Friday.

A Health and Human Services official said the administration will publish notice of its intentions early next week, and open a 30-day comment period for advocates, medical groups and the public. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official notice has not been completed.

The Bush administration instituted the rule in its last days, and it was quickly challenged in federal court by several states and medical organizations. As a candidate, President Barack Obama criticized the regulation and campaign aides promised that if elected, he would review it.

Looks like we'll have another 30-day comment period to take action despite the fact that over 200,000 people submitted their opposition to the regulation originally, so we'll keep you posted on where to send your comments. In the meantime, I'm keeping confidence that Obama will put this shit to bed already. Thank him in advance.

Well, this is good news. After community poster Gexx alerted us on Friday to Amazon's sale of a rape simulation game where not only does the player stalk and rape women, but force them to get an abortion, Amazon has now pulled the game from the site. "We determined that we did not want to be selling this particular item," said a spokesperson for the company.

However (and not surprisingly), the video game company, Illusion, is defending the game's right to exist. Their statement: "We believe there is no problem with the software, which has cleared the domestic ratings of an ethics watchdog body."

I wonder what fucked up, misogynist "watchdog group" that was.

If you didn't see our last post on Courtney taking on Bill O'Reilly, here's the short version: O'Reilly called C a hypocrite for taking him to task for sexist comments against Helen Thomas while not defending Sarah Palin back in the day. (Uh, yeah.)

Wait for the last sentence of the segment: "You did not defend [Sarah Palin] in public and if you can show me where you did - tomorrow I will apologize to you."

Not only did Courtney write about sexism against Palin, she called O'Reilly himself out for it!

Well, Bill - we'll be watching with bated breath tonight!

Elana Schor at Talking Points Memo updated us yesterday on the dismaying news this week that the family planning revision has been removed from the economic stimulus:

A source present at today's White House signing ceremony for the Lilly Ledbetter bill tells me that President Obama gave assurances that the family planning aid would be done soon -- perhaps as soon as next week, when the House is set to take up a spending bill that would keep the government funded until October.

Obama emphasized that the family-planning aid "makes the budget look better, it's a money saver," the source said. In fact, removing the need for Medicaid waivers for family planning saves states an estimated $700 million over 10 years.

By removing the family-planning aid from the stimulus at Obama's request, Democrats "were giving a nod to the Republicans, believing they would act in good faith," the source added. And given how many GOPers voted for the stimulus bill, sounds like the family-planning aid is back on track.

I certainly hope so.

The bill passed last night. That didn't take too long after the House's passage, although it still needs to be signed by President Obama (damn it feels good to write that). He strongly supports the legislation so that we should be in the clear.

However, the Paycheck Fairness Act still waits in the wings for Senate's passage. Kia Franklin at Tort Deform reminds us why both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act are critical:

The passage of Ledbetter as written will be a significant victory, but it puts us back to square one. To give the new administration the tools to end wage discrimination, a second comprehensive law - also passed last week by the House - is essential. The Paycheck Fairness Act would update the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Shepherded by departing Senator Clinton, it would create incentives for employer compliance with equal pay laws, rearm federal enforcement and outreach efforts, and encourage programs to help eliminate the persistent wage gap.

From the SF Chronicle:

The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, of Lafayette was taken into custody in Douglas County, Nev., said Deputy Steve Velez of the Douglas County sheriff's office. The arrest was also confirmed by David Chai, chief of staff to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.

Color of Change has more ways you can get involved.

Related: Justice for Oscar Grant-Please spread widely!
Justice for Oscar Grant: Update on Fruitvale BART Protest

Via zp27 on the community blog.

Amen! Via AP:

Energized by the prospects of a pro-labor president, House Democrats marked the first week of the new Congress Friday by pushing through two bills to help workers, particularly women, who are victims of pay discrimination.

Unlike President George W. Bush, who threatened to veto the two bills when they came up in the last session of Congress, President-elect Barack Obama has embraced them.

"Today we face a transformational moment," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., chief sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act. "With a new Congress, a new administration, we have a chance to finally provide equal pay for equal work and make opportunity real for millions of American women."

The bill could reach the Senate floor as early as next week, so make sure your senator knows about your support. Here's more info about Lilly Ledbetter and read the whole AP piece for more details on today's passage.

A week after I blogged about the the recent case of a lesbian being gang raped right outside of San Francisco, we find that most of the suspects have now been found and arrested.

Two of those in custody are 15 and 16 years old.

Dennis Prager's thoughts on why women have no real right to deny men sex (excuse me, the "giving" of their bodies) couldn't be summarized in just one column. No, Prager needed a sequel to his ode to marital rape.

Jesse takes apart the whole piece, so I won't reinvent the wheel - but I will leave you with my favorite part:

Why would a loving, wise woman allow mood to determine whether or not she will give her husband one of the most important expressions of love she can show him? What else in life, of such significance, do we allow to be governed by mood?

What if your husband woke up one day and announced that he was not in the mood to go to work? (Emphasis mine)

And that's all I have to say about that.

Hey all!

In a few hours I'll be beginning an almost two week road trip through the South. I've been to most of these places before (since I grew up in North Carolina) but I'm excited to spend some more time and rediscover these Southern cities. Posting will be lite from me, but I hope to have a couple of posts from the road.

So, for all you Southern Feministing readers out there, I would love suggestions for places to visit in these cities: Asheville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston. I'm up for pretty much anything (particularly things off the beaten path), but as many of you know I have a particular interest in local feminist sex shops and queer bars. Suggestions welcome!

Happy Holidays everyone.

It's about time. After a four-year anti-choice crusade against women's health clinics in Kansas, former Attorney General Phill Kline was slammed by the Kansas Supreme Court on Friday for his baseless attempts to criminalize Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. The Court said:

Kline exhibits little, if any, respect for the authority of this court or for his responsibility to it and to the rule of law it husbands. His attitude and behavior are inexcusable, particularly for someone who purports to be a professional prosecutor. It is plain that he is interested in the pursuit of justice only as he chooses to define it. (Emphasis mine)

Hallelujah. Peter Brownlie, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, responded, "The Court confirms what Planned Parenthood has said all along: Phill Kline is a zealot pursuing a lawless prosecution and misusing the people's trust to advance a radical anti-choice political agenda. We are saddened and angered by the travesties recounted in the Court's opinion, and we are grateful the Court rebuked him for his disgraceful acts."

Related posts:
Kline files 107 counts against a Kansas City Planned Parenthood (Weekly Feminist Reader)
Abortion records seized by Kline now missing (WFR)
Special Prosecutor fired, Kline criticized by governor Kathleen Sebelius (WFR)
Kline's special prosecutor linked to anti-choice terrorists (WFR)
Phill Kline's "investigation" continues
Are you going to second base? The Kansas AG wants to know.
Hearings on Kansas abortion records to be closed

That's what I'm talkin' bout!

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced legislation today that would block the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from passing the midnight regulation being finalized as I blog. As most of you know, the proposed HHS rule would prevent family planning clinics from "discriminating" against employees who refuse to service women seeking reproductive health care.

Senator Clinton had this to say about their proposed bill, the Protecting Patients and Health Care Act:

"In the final days of his administration, the President is again putting ideology first and attempting to roll back health care protections for women and families. The fact that the EEOC was never consulted in the drafting of this rule further illustrates that this is purely a political ploy. This HHS rule will threaten patients' rights, stand in the way of health care professionals, and restrict access to critical health care services for those who need them most. Senator Murray and I are standing up once again to the administration against this rule and will continue to fight for women's reproductive rights. President Bush is making a last-minute attempt to undermine women's health care, but our legislation will stop this rule and ensure that women can continue to get needed health care."

Amen. Check out Planned Parenthood's community post on this.

UPDATE: Senator Clinton has a guest post up at RH Reality Check.

The New York Times has a piece this morning about the Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation that the Bush administration is planning to slip onto the books before he leaves office - you know, the one that would prevent family planning clinics from "discriminating" against employees who are opposed to abortion on "religious or moral grounds," even if they're working at an abortion clinic, and even if they believe birth control is abortion.

With the final version of the regulation (which may very well pass) to be released in a matter of days, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights issued a joint letter to the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget. Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said, "It's unconscionable that the Bush administration, while promising a smooth transition, would take a final opportunity to politicize women's health." The regulations will hit low-income women seeking reproductive health care the worst, allowing pharmacists to refuse birth control to Medicaid recipients and literally undo state laws that require hospitals to dispense EC to rape survivors.

This is all despite the 200,000 plus comments sent to HHS opposing the rule. While Obama is opposed to the regulations and his aides say he will try to rescind the rule, the process could take up to 6 months. And assuming Obama would be able to rescind it in the end, that's still plenty of time to make plenty an impact.

Click here to read the letter to OIRA, and take action here.

I'm going to echo Kate's sentiments and ask Helen Mirren - for the love of all things good - to stop talking about rape.

Back in September the actress said in an interview that she didn't think that women should bring date rape cases to court and now she's said that female jurors on rape cases are "sexually jealous" of the victims. Seriously.

"Whether in a deep-seated animalistic way, going back billions of years, or from a sense of tribal jealousy or just antagonism, I don't know.

...But other women on a rape case would say she was asking for it. The only reason I can think of is that they're sexually jealous."

I'm speechless.

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."

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.

Remember the viral email campaign supporting Planned Parenthood by donating in Sarah Palin's name that community blogger ease_e covered not too long ago? Well, it looks like it was quite a success:

The message, which began circulating widely on the Internet last week, had one more instruction: request that the personalized thank-you card from Planned Parenthood be sent to Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee and a vocal opponent of abortion, at the McCain-Palin campaign headquarters in Virginia.

So far, the scheme seems to be getting a strong response. As of Friday, Planned Parenthood had taken in $802,678 in donations from 31,313 people, said a spokesman for the organization, Tait Sye. More than two-thirds of the individuals are first-time donors to Planned Parenthood, Mr. Sye said, and money came in from all 50 states.

Some thought this was actually counter-productive. What are your thoughts? I find it really interesting that more than two-thirds of the donors had never donated to Planned Parenthood before. And while this wasn't a campaign of Planned Parenthood's and despite your possibly adverse feelings about it, the concept itself has the kind of clever wit that mobilized people to act. We should learn from this.

Planned Parenthood is sending out the thank you cards this week. In the meantime, they have a take action component to send Palin a letter telling her that she's not your candidate.

Louisiana state Rep. John LaBruzzo, the charming dude who wants to pay low-income women $1,000 apiece to get sterilized, is speaking out not only to defend his suggestion - but also to complain about the media glomming onto the story. Boo-fucking-hoo.

Watching this guy is painful (and infuriating) but it's worth it, and interviewer Kyra Phillips is decent at taking him to task.

Extra Credit: Drink every time he says "these people." Seriously, he's like a caricature of racism.

The shit hath officially hit the fan. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released their proposed regulations (you can read them here) to allow health care providers to refuse to perform abortions, or refer women to others who might.

While we've been anticipating this, that doesn't make it any less upsetting. The title of the HHS release is enough to make one fume: "Regulation Proposed to Help Protect Health Care Providers from Discrimination." That's right - Discrimination. And though the regulations don't define contraception as abortion, the ACLU thinks there could be some wiggle room.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt also blogged about the release yesterday as well, saying:

"This became a topical matter when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued guidelines that could shape board certification requirements and necessitate a doctor to perform abortions to be considered competent."

Which is actually anything but the truth - ACOG actually doesn't have the power to take away board certifications. But the HHS is using this to create the illusion that providers' rights are under vicious attack, when in reality the regulations are the offense, blatantly threatening our reproductive freedoms - particularly for uninsured and low-income women. Louise Melling, Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project made a statement in their press release:

"For years, federal law has carefully balanced protections for individual religious liberty and patients' access to reproductive health care. The proposed regulations appear to take patients' health needs out of the equation.

"At a time when more and more Americans are either uninsured or struggling with the soaring costs of health care, the federal government should be expanding, not hampering access to important health services."

Amen to that. Take action on these regulations by telling HHS and your members of Congress that women's access to reproductive health shouldn't be compromised.

Community blogger MaraJ3791 covered this a couple of days ago, and thankfully some good news has come out of this heinousness.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) attempts to mitigate violent crimes in the UK by giving victims reparations. But in their most recent case, a 25-year old woman who was raped was told the £11,000 she was to be given was actually going to be reduced by 25% because she was drinking on the night she was assaulted. She received a letter saying that, "the evidence shows that your excessive consumption of alcohol was a contributing factor in the incident."

"It was just so cruel and unthinking and so wrong because there is nothing you can do to prevent yourself being raped. It is not illegal to go out and have a drink, it is illegal to rape somebody," said the survivor.

The good news is that after some pushing, the decision has been overturned. But unfortunately, this is too little too late for others. The CICA also acknowledged that they had already cut reparations for 14 other rape victims this year, but refused to review the past cases to potentially right their wrong.

"If an applicant accepts our decision then that case is finalised and closed," the CICA said. "If they wish to ask for a review they must do this themselves, in writing."

The fact that these people can be so smug after admitting guilty to blatant injustice through victim-blaming is beyond me. Let the CICA know that they should take responsibility for their shameful actions and give the 14 women their reviews; they certainly shouldn't have ask for it.

Check out Keith Olbermann's takedown of Limbaugh's oh-so-hilarious joke about Edwards' affair.

Via Community blogger Stellar.

Note: In our recent Feministing retreat, we decided that some back and forth dialogue between editors would be a cool thing, so every once in a while you may see a post title with "re:" in it - that's how you'll know it's us doing some good old fashioned feminist debating.

Miriam, I'm so happy that you posted this amazing video of An Open Letter to Alix Olson. I thought it was just incredible and I really appreciated your take on MichFest.

I have to say, though, that it really bothers me when MichFest is framed as a feminist "controversy" rather than straight up discrimination. This isn't a controversy - it's deliberate exclusion and it's shameful.

I also find the "Oh, but we're not doing genital checks"(!) just as offensive as a stated and enforced womyn-born-womyn policy. There doesn't have to be a written policy on the website for the discrimination to still be there. If MichFest wants to do the right thing, they'll be proactive and have a statement denouncing their womyn-born-womyn policy and stop hiding behind their silence on the issue.

I personally think the festival should be open to people who identify as women (or womyn), and if there are issues with safety or harrassment (which seems to be a fear) then they should be dealt with directly, not via discriminatory policies.

I totally agree, though I wanted to just point one thing out. I find the "safety" issue really uncompelling - as did Carasande in comments. Not only because it's not just penises* that rape women, but also because it uses rhetoric of the Right. As thebeatles11 noted on the Community blog, the latest anti-trans campaign (tellingly called "Not in My Shower") cites the fear that women will be assaulted as the reasoning behind their discrimination. Feminists shouldn't resort to the language (or actions!) of fear and discrimination - we're better than that!

You mentioned Julia Serano--who I think is probably the most brilliant feminist writing today--and I think that no one talks about trans woman exclusion better than she does. So I thought it fitting to end my post (though hopefully not the discussion!) with her words:

*Because the fear here does seem to be about penises, rather than "men."

What a dick. A Boston Herald op-ed covers this "Horribles parade" in MA:

At this year’s Horribles parade in Beverly Farms, the biggest laughs - and loudest complaints - were inspired by a float mocking the “Give It Up” girls of Gloucester High. Ladies from “The Fahm” adorned themselves in fake baby bumps and danced to “I Got It From My Momma.” Guys tossed condoms and waved signs rhyming words in a decidedly family-unfriendly manner.

Pretty horrendous, no? Apparently, this guy thinks it's appropriate to shame the pregnant students at Gloucester High:

..Other communities and families send a far clearer message condemning teen sex. There are 15-year-olds who know that if they make the wrong choice, they will be greeted with embarrassment and disappointment, not on-campus day care.

When the same girl shows up at the school clinic for five pregnancy tests in one month, shouldn’t somebody be mocking her for it? In fact, isn’t promoting shame through mockery our civic duty? (Emphasis mine)

He also condemns comprehensive sex ed supporters for rejecting the use of shame as a value and tactic to woo kids away from sex.

I'm actually glad the author published this, because at least he's exposing the truth by standing proud to what the abstinence-only movement feeds on.

Talk about shame.

h/t to Emmeline.

Remember how Henry Morgentaler, Canada's best-known abortion-rights crusader was to the Order of Canada? Apparently some folks aren't too happy about it.

A Calgary-based activist group has filed an official request to the Governor General, asking that she strip abortion crusader Dr. Henry Morgentaler of his membership in the Order of Canada.

..."Henry Morgentaler's conduct is unbecoming that of a member of the Order of Canada and thereby tarnishes all recipients of this tremendous award," the coalition wrote in its letter to the Order of Canada advisory committee.

Yes, supporting women's rights is pretty "unbecoming." Sigh.

I'm in shock. TIME magazine followed up their original story about the pregnant teens of Gloucester, but now suggesting that the girls' decision is not just one of personal choice, but one of rejecting abortion and "taking responsibility." And the credit is partly given to crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).

You must read the whole piece, which reeks of anti-choice language, but the last paragraph really says it all:

Whether a girl--or a woman--decides to end a pregnancy or see it through is as complex an emotional and moral and medical calculation as she ever faces. But I wonder if some soft message has taken hold when the data suggest that more women facing hard choices are deciding to carry the child to term. This has been the mission of the crisis-pregnancy-center movement, the more than 4,000 centers and hotlines and support groups around the country that aim to talk women out of having abortions and offer whatever support they can. If not in Hollywood, then certainly in Gloucester, teen parents and their babies face long odds against success in life. Surely they deserve more sympathy and support than shame and derision, if the trend that they reflect is not a typical teenager's inclination to have sex but rather a willingness to take responsibility for the consequences. (Emphasis mine)

Now, we obviously know these girls shouldn't be shamed in any way regarding their decision to have sex or to go full term with their pregnancies. But to imply that it's more responsible to have a child than to have an abortion is just ridiculous. And I won't even get into the fact that the piece blatantly lauds crisis pregnancy centers and the "support" they apparently give women. If by "support," she means deceiving and misleading women to believe they're giving them all of their options - sure. "Support."

And it's not surprising considering the author; Nancy Gibbs wrote an article in TIME last year all about how CPCs help women titled, "The Grassroots Abortion War", with headline conveniently placed over an image of a crib. Send a letter to the editor and let Gibbs and TIME know they're promoting deceiving organizations.

It seems that the anti-choice organization profiled in The Washington Post, Pharmacists for Life International, was not very happy that Feministing blogged about them.

A snapshot from the top of their website:

It's nice to know an organization that holds itself up as a paragon of virtue, morality and Christian values finds the time to make snarky personal insults. Nothing pleases me more than when groups like these show their true colors.

(Is anyone else just shocked that they didn't choose to quote the part of the post that called them out for supporting racists?)

Fox's Senior Vice President of Programming Bill Shine told the Politico that the producer responsible for labeling Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama" in a segment "exercised poor judgment." Uh, yeah, I'd say so. (So much for a heartfelt apology.)

Via the newly-launched Michelle Obama Watch, created by What About Our Daughters. (Add it to your blogrolls, and get involved in keeping tabs on the media!)

Incredible.

Via Echidne via blinkytreefrog, Amanda takes this 1951 book, "On Becoming a Woman" and compares it to the Just for Girls/Just for Guys abstinence-only teen magazine that I posted on last week. You absolutely must check it out.

Via Consumerist, we find out that Kmart is claiming their True Love Waits sweatpants have absolutely nothing to do with abstinence.

A spokeswoman for Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Kmart, told The Buzz the pants have absolutely nothing to do with taking any kind of position, either way, on abstinence. "It was not associated with any group or any cause," said Amy Dimond. "It was just a graphic put on the pants."

Piper & Blue, Kmart's private label brand, designed the sweatpants as part of its summer collection that hit stores in late April.

Although the pants were not designed to make a statement, Dimond admitted that "there may be some (customers) who made the (abstinence association), but it was not the intention."

Oh, wow. How stupid of me! When I saw the description of the pants on Kmart (right after "drawstring waist) as having a "bold abstinence screen print," I must have been hallucinating. Oh wait, no. There it is.

Note to Kmart flacks: If you're going to lie, make sure to cover your tracks.

Shortly after women ski jumpers rallied in Vancouver this winter while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was in town, it looks like they're now filing suit against the Vancouver organizing committee for the 2010 Olympics:

The women ski jumpers say not being included in the Games is a violation of the women's rights under Canada's bill of rights.

The lawsuit, filed in B.C. Supreme Court, says the failure to include a women's ski jumping event in the Games is discriminatory and based on stereotypes of the types of activities suitable for women.

Last year, the women also filed a suit with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, who compromised to press the IOC to change its mind. And the Vancouver organizing committee had told the IOC it didn't want to include women's ski jumping because of budget constraints, and the IOC voted in 2006 to not allow women ski jumpers in the Games because the sport hasn't developed enough. Not to mention the International Ski Federation has stated in the past that the sport "isn't appropriate for ladies" and could damage their ovaries and uterus. For reals.

In the meantime, badminton was approved in 1985 by the IOC to be given full-medal Olympic status.

Check out the Let Women Ski Jump in 2010 campaign for more info on this ridiculousness.

Not two months after charges were dropped against an Oklahoma man who took photos up a 16-year-old girl's skirt while she was shopping at Target, a similar Florida case has been thrown out which charged a man who used a mirror to look under a woman's skirt at Barnes & Noble:

Defense attorney Katheryne Snowden argued that the voyeurism charge should be dropped because Presken's accuser didn't have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place under Florida law.

The law under which Presken was charged states, 'It is illegal to secretly observe someone with lewd, lascivious and indecent intent in a dwelling, structure or conveyance, and when such locations provide a reasonable expectation of privacy.'

This is the same reason the Oklahoma case was thrown out, in which Appeals Judge Gary Lumpkin wrote in his dissent:

"What this decision does is state to women who desire to wear dresses that there is no expectation of privacy as to what they have covered with their dress. . . In other words, it is open season for peeping Toms in public places who want to look under a woman's dress." (Emphasis mine)

Looks like he was right.

Go Washington University! (I also have some great footage of students turning their back on Schlafly, but YouTube hates me and won't let me upload it.)

Should we be surprised this is the work of PETA? It just never ends. And you have to love their press release on the "demonstration":

Wearing sexy yellow bikinis outside the legislative meeting of the United Egg Producers in Washington on Wednesday, six PETA beauties will crowd into three cramped cages to mimic conditions for laying hens on factory farms. The ladies will hold egg-shaped signs that read, 'Chicks Suffer for Eggs.'

One of the women in the cages, Shawn Herbold, made a statement, "I'll heat things up a little to show exactly what cold-hearted egg producers do to make hens' lives a living hell." Nothing hotter than caging women up like chickens.

Washington University students and faculty turned their backs to Phyllis Schlafly, as a form of silent protest, as she received an honorary degree at the school's commencement.

The crowd was mostly quiet as [Trustee emerita Margaret Bush] Wilson introduced Schlafly to the crowd. Hundreds of graduates and faculty stood and turned their backs during the introduction. A few of the faculty even walked off the stage to turn their backs.

Awesome! If anyone has pictures, please send them in!

The protesters, who Schlafly called "a bunch of losers" and "bitter women," also started a website to tell the Washington University community how they could join in on the action.

Several days ago, Chancellor Mark Wrighton apologized for the "anguish" the decision to give Schlafly a degree caused, and noted that the school is not endorsing her views or opinions. (They're just honoring them, is all.)

UPDATE: I've received an email from Michael Murphy of Washington University's Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program - he tells me the article grossly underestimated the number of people protesting. He estimated that about 75 percent of the 2800 graduates and two-thirds of the other members of the crowd turned their backs in protest.

Here's a partial video, and some pics.

Phyllis Schlafly, who is set to receive an honorary degree from Washington University this week has reiterated her support of marital rape. (Because, sorry, if you think that women who have gotten married have don't have a right to refuse sex - you are supporting rape.)

In an interview with Washington University's student newspaper, Schlafly held her anti-woman ground:

Could you clarify some of the statements that you made in Maine last year about martial rape?

I think that when you get married you have consented to sex. That's what marriage is all about, I don't know if maybe these girls missed sex ed. That doesn't mean the husband can beat you up, we have plenty of laws against assault and battery. If there is any violence or mistreatment that can be dealt with by criminal prosecution, by divorce or in various ways. When it gets down to calling it rape though, it isn't rape, it's a he said-she said where it's just too easy to lie about it.

Was the way in which your statement was portrayed correct?

Yes. Feminists, if they get tired of a husband or if they want to fight over child custody, they can make an accusation of marital rape and they want that to be there, available to them.

So you see this as more of a tool used by people to get out of marriages than as legitimate-

Yes, I certainly do.

Find out how can you can contact Washington University about this honorary degree nonsense here.

Via Right Wing Watch.

Anyone remember the oh-so-controversial pro-choice ad that Manhattan Mini Storage ran last year?

Well it seems that the company is taking their support of choice a step further. According to a press release from Planned Parenthood of NYC, they've committed to donating a total of $200,000 to 5 NYC charities – including PPNYC.

Send them an email to say thanks.

Some bad news via Female Impersonator:

At the beginning of the semester, there was an incident here at Yale involving a "fraternity prank" and the Women's Center where 12 members of the Zeta Psi frat stood in front of the Women's Center chanting "dick dick dick dick" while holding a sign saying "We Love Yale Sluts." Quite the incident.

On Monday, the Executive Committee of Yale College found the members of this group not guilty of intimdiation [sic] and harassment charges. No charges of sexual harassment were ever filed, even though complaints were issued with the Sexual Harassment Grievance Board.

The men also intimidated women trying to enter the center. But I guess that's not harassment, huh? One of the harassed women penned an article for the college paper, noting that she has no recourse to appeal the decision and that "all 12 brothers of Zeta Psi were allowed to read my written affidavit before they wrote their own — 12 iterations of the same collective story." Charming.

Thanks to Kari for the link.

I have to say, I'm impressed. When I posted an anti-feminist hate email from the (now former) public relations officer of the Southern Illinois University College Republicans, I didn't expect any action to be taken.

On the contrary, not only did officers of the CR - Wess Haubrich and Jermaine Raymer - come into the thread to offer apologies (as did the emailer himself, Alex Kochno, though his apology was not as well-taken by commenters), but SIU also took out an ad in their college paper (4/23, p 14) renouncing the act. Kochno also resigned from his position at CR, I'm assuming under pressure from his peers.

And to top things off, I received an email from the SIU administration informing me how seriously they took the email and that Kochno's email privileges were suspended pending a student conduct code review.

I think major kudos go to the SIU administration and the officers of the CR for their prompt and thorough response.

SIU's response has really heartened me. I think we all know how rampant online misogyny is, and how difficult it is to deal with because of anonymity issues. But I think incidents like these show how we can hold harassers accountable, and how seriously the "real" world will take hate speech - online or off.

So big thanks to SIU administration, the CR, and the many SIU students who emailed us. I have a little more hope today because of your action.

Thank god.

After the highest court of Maryland reheard the case which made the horrifying ruling that a woman cannot be raped once she has consented to sex, the court has overturned the decision and broadened the definition of rape to, um, rape:

With this expansion of the legal definition of rape, Maryland joins seven other states whose courts have determined that a woman can revoke her consent after intercourse begins.

'This goes to the heart of women's autonomy,' said Lisae C. Jordan, legal director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which filed a brief in the matter. 'It says that, yes, women do have the right to make decisions about something as intimate as sexual intercourse.'

The Maryland Court of Appeals' opinion in a rape case from Montgomery County overturns what defense attorneys and a lower appeals court said was existing common law and the high court's own 1980 opinion.

Like Jessica said, it's hard to believe that this was actually up for debate in the first place, but at least the right decision was made. (Nearly two years later.)

It looks like all the attention POPLINE has received from their decision to omit the term "abortion" from their search engine has been brought to the attention of the Dean of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who released the following statement:

I was informed this morning that the word "abortion" was blocked as a search term in the POPLINE family planning database administered by the Bloomberg School’s Center for Communication Programs. POPLINE provides evidence-based information on reproductive health and family planning and is the world’s largest database on these issues.

USAID, which funds POPLINE, found two items in the database related to abortion that did not fit POPLINE criteria. The agency then made an inquiry to POPLINE administrators. Following this inquiry, the POPLINE administrators at the Center for Communication Programs made the decision to restrict abortion as a search term.

I could not disagree more strongly with this decision, and I have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore "abortion" as a search term immediately. I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and not its restriction.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH
Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Good stuff.

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

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

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

h/t Reason Magazine.

I couldn't help myself, I needed one.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Washington Post is running letters (including one from Katha Pollitt) in response to their oh-so-hilarious column about how women are dumb. Besides finding it kind of funny that they started with a positive letter, like others, I'm a bit eye-rolly that the letters are run under the innocuous heading, "Barack Obama and the Female Vote." (What? No more "Women Aren't Very Bright?")

And didn't even bother to get my name right. Thanks to Jeff for reminding me. That is all.

The Politico is reporting that Washington Post editor John Pomfret said Charlotte Allen's women-are-dumb fucks article was “tongue-in-cheek.� I call bullshit.

Any quick search of Allen's past writing shows just how seriously she takes her women-hate. Instead of making excuses for running the most craptastic article ever, how about WaPo just takes some fucking responsibility? Weak.

I imagine that yesterday's Washington Post article about how dumb women are brought in some pretty pissed off letters to the editor - after all, there are over 600 comments already. So how does WaPo respond? They change the headline from overtly misogynist to questioningly sexist.

Yesterday:

Today:

And yet, us "dumb" gals aren't placated. Try again, assholes.

Don't forget, write a letter to the editor or complain to the ombudsman - The Washington Post owes its female (and male!) readers a big ass apology, and let's not let them forget it.

Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but reader Deja points out that the link that once housed the now-pulled rape shirt currently displays a "Miss Bitch" shirt. Slight dig at feminist complainers, perhaps?

UPDATE: Thanks to commenters for catching what I totally missed. This:

You know, if pointing out that trivializing rape is wrong makes me bitchy, so be it. I am a bitch. If bringing attention to the fact that a company shouldn't be selling pre-teens shirts that say rape is okay if a girl is drunk makes me a bitch, I'm okay with that. I am a big fucking bitch. So David and Goliath, you think the gals at Feministing are bitches. That's fine. Cause at the end of the day, we're still the bitches that got you to pull a shirt.

Via Hear Me Roar, we find out that David & Goliath has pulled the oh-so-funny rape t-shirt (at least online, it seems). First Wal-Mart's panties and now this - we're on a roll, folks!

But don't worry, they still have the classic "I'm too pretty to do math" shirt. (Sigh.)

Nora Niedzielski-Eichner from SAFER has a piece in the LA Times responding to Heather Mac Donald's recent op-ed claiming that there is no rape problem on college campuses.

Niedzielski-Eichner not only refutes Mac Donald's claims that commonly-cited rape statistics are wrong, but also points out that fewer than half of colleges have sexual assault prevention programs - something that must change given the very real problem of campus rape.

Check it out for yourself, and comment over at SAFER's blog.

Nearly six months after the House passed its companion measure, the Senate heard testimony for S. 1843, the "Fair Pay Restoration Act," or the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act", reports the ACLU. Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, stated:

"This bill is a modest and logical fix to an ongoing civil rights problem. American workers should know that they are protected from wage discrimination and are able to challenge such discrimination when they discover it. There should be no benefit to employers in keeping pay discrimination hidden."

Let's hope this is soon put to bed.

Yesterday, women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia kicked off 2008 with a petition which they handed in to King Abdullah, calling for him to take off the ban restricting women from driving. Over 1,100 names were signed.

They gave in a similar petition in September with over 1,000 signatures, and intend on continuing to hand in a new petition for 1,000 signatures they receive. The statement on the petition states that the people who sign the document "hope that 2008 will be the year in which Saudi women obtain their natural right to drive a car."

Let's hope this becomes a reality.

After talks last spring in New Jersey of making HIV testing mandatory for pregnant women, we find that the state has decided to move forward and enforce new legislation.

The law requires health care providers to make the test a part of routine prenatal care, with an "opt out" exception. However, newborns will also be required to be tested if the mother is HIV positive or her HIV status is unknown.

We had some really good discussion here around the issue, where commenter Sassygirl pointed out the ACLU's position with some background information on mandatory testing for pregnant women and newborns, which explains that the testing of newborns is more or less senseless. It also features an example of a HIV-positive woman (from New Jersey, no less) whose child was taken away from her because she refused to give her newborn AZT treatment and was deemed an "unfit" mother. The baby ended up being HIV negative.

And while having the option to refuse testing is a good thing, studies show that many women who live in states that have mandates didn't feel comfortable refusing testing, and almost one in five didn't even know they were even tested for that matter. So how much of "an option" really is it?

It's a complex issue and obviously prevention should be the priority, but do women's private medical decisions need to be sacrificed in the process?

Yay Feministing readers! The gross "Who needs credit cards..." panties have been pulled from Wal-Mart:

"We have directed our stores to remove this merchandise from our shelves," Linda Brown Blakely, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, told FOXNews.com Wednesday.

The undergarments had caused a stir on some blogs prior to Wednesday's announcement. Scarlett, a reader of Feministing.com, alerted the blog to the holiday-inspired undies, which she found on a rack in the juniors department of a Wal-Mart in Cary, N.C.

Go Scarlett! And as Ann just said via Skype to me: File this away for the "online activism isn't 'real life' activism" rebuttal files. Indeed.

UPDATE: This is hilarious; Fox News has the panty story on their front page. Please go look at the headline this instant.

You may remember the horrendous story from The New York Times about how female Jets fans are routinely harassed and abused at Giants Stadium:

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

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

Charming, right? Well it seems that maybe (maybe) something will get done about it.

Dennis Robinson, who recently became chief executive of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (which is responsible for Giants Stadium security), has blocked access to the stadium ramps where the majority of harassment takes place and is considering long term measures such as limiting alcohol sales. Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well.

While it's great that steps are being taken, there's no easy fix to change the sexist sports culture and mob mentality that breed harassment and assault against women. Any ideas?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While Clay wants to whup Ann's anti-cat ass, Cracker thought he'd reach out to all the anti-felines in a more sympathy-inducing way; the poor baby had to endure 10 days with "the cone" after getting three stitches from a cat fight.

Now if that's not worth some respect, I don't know what is.

Drum Major Institute's blog has a good post up by their civil justice fellow Kia Franklin on the Anucha Brown Sanders' victory of her sexual harassment lawsuit against Knicks coach Isiah Thomas.

Remember the awesome pro-choice Manhattan Mini Storage ad that attracted a shitload of media attention?

Well, it looks like there's been so much hoopla around the ad that they're asking the public to take a vote on whether you think they should give "just the facts" or continue to bring the "edgy" advertising we all know and love? So go vote.

From The New York Times: Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Rights Messages

NARAL Pro-Choice America president Nancy Keenan says, "Let's hope Verizon has learned a lesson today: citizen participation in democracy is neither 'unsavory' nor 'controversial.'"

Indeed.

You know, I honestly didn't think I could think any lower of Southwest Airlines. Then this happened.

Southwest has offered a faux apology mocking the women they harassed. Seriously. Company President Colleen Barrett released the following (obnoxious and perhaps further harassing) comment:

"From a Company who really loves PR, touche to you Kyla! Some have said we've gone from wearing our famous hot pants to having hot flashes at Southwest, but nothing could be further from the truth. As we both know, this story has great legs, but the true issue here is that you are a valued Customer, and you did not get an adequate apology. Kyla, we could have handled this better, and on behalf of Southwest Airlines, I am truly sorry. We hope you continue to fly Southwest Airlines. Our Company is based on freedom even if our actions may have not appeared that way. It was never our intention to treat you unfairly and again, we apologize." (Emphasis added)

Charming. The "apology" was followed by Southwest promoting new reduced fares called...wait for it...mini-skirt prices:

Southwest Airlines today faces the bare facts and reveals the naked truth by issuing an apology to its Customers who have commented about its handling of a few who were dressed in revealing clothing. Poking fun at itself, Southwest has lowered its already skimpy fares to "mini-skirt" size of $49 to $109 one-way.

Wow, glad to see they're taking sexual harassment seriously. Let Southwest know that harassing women isn't a joke; here's the number to their PR department (who came up with these stellar releases): 214-792-4847

Thanks to Janice for the heads up!

Southwest Airlines, the proud sexists who nearly kicked a woman off of a flight because they deemed her outfit inappropriate, are at it again.

A second woman is complaining after an airline took issue with her sexy attire.

Setara Qassim said she was flying home to Burbank, Calif., from Las Vegas in June when a Southwest Airlines flight attendant gave her a blanket and told her to cover up.

"The flight attendant came up to me and asked me if I had a sweater, and I said, 'No, because why would I pack a sweater in the heat?'" Qassim said. "So I asked her why, and she said I needed to cover up."

Am I the only one who finds it interesting that both women that Southwest has harassed have been well-endowed in the boobie department? Because as someone with not-small breasts, I have to say nothing pisses me off more when someone assumes my outfit is "sexy" just because of said breasts' presence. Disgusting.

So I say boycott Southwest Airlines, and give them a piece of your mind.

For more on this story, check out Ann on CNN.

Remember the judge in Nebraska who banned the word "rape" at a rape trial? (Cough, asshole, cough.) Remember the bad-ass woman who refused his order? Well, she's suing.

The accuser in a sexual assault case is suing a judge because he barred the word "rape" and other words from the trial.

The federal court complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Neb., claims Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront violated the accuser's First Amendment right to free speech by barring her from saying words including "rape," "victim" and "assailant" during the trial of Pamir Safi.

Good for her, cause that was some bullshit. By the way, there have been two mistrials in this case because of the controversy over the language ban. Prosecutors are planning on seeking a third trial.

Ann drops knowledge on CNN.

Cara at The Curvature received a response to her letter (I'm sure one of many) condemning Cosmo's craptastic "gray rape" article. And it's completely insulting--they basically insinuate that readers who are upset over the article just didn't "get it." We get it, and it still sucks.

Their response to Cara after the jump.

The video of Miss Teen South Carolina mucking up a question got a ton of play everywhere--there was even some controversy in comments over Samhita's decision to run the video. The always-fabulous Rebecca Traister decided to take on the video and, more importantly, why so many were laughing so hard.

It is frankly just embarrassing how eagerly, joyfully, jeeringly we've embraced Upton as pure point-and-snarf spectacle. She falls into a particularly dirty sweet spot for Americans: young, pretty, blond, Southern and female. That she appears to also be sort of dumb completes our idealized vision of laughable femininity, and the popularity of the clip shows that her embodiment of our national punch line is going over like gangbusters...

Check out the whole post...good stuff.

Who would want to cut up such a happy and serene vagina?

Finally. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have released a public warning against vaginal rejuvenation surgery, saying that not only is there no proof of the surgery being effective, but that it can be severely damaging to, well, your vag:

According to ACOG, the procedures are unproven and the potential risks -- including infection, scarring, nerve damage and loss of sensation -- outweigh the potential benefits (Zimmerman, Wall Street Journal, 8/31). ACOG in a statement said it is 'deceptive' for physicians to 'give the impression' that such procedures are 'accepted and routine surgical practices.' ACOG's Committee on Gynecologic Practice in a statement published in the September issue of the group's magazine said the '[a]bsence of data supporting the safety and efficacy of these procedures makes their recommendation untenable.'

And remember that not only are they giving the impression that these procedures are routine, but that they're also empowering. And while there's been a "doubling" in the number of labiaplasties in the UK over the last five years (compared to a reported 30 percent rise by the American Society of Plastic Surgery), they're making attempts to warn women of the negative mental effects:

The British Medical Journal weighed in on the topic with a May article calling cosmetic genital surgeries an 'extreme and unproved intervention' that 'could undermine the development of other ways to help women and girls to deal with concerns about their appearance.'

Most women don't understand that the size and shape of genitalia vary greatly, leading to 'misguided assumptions' about what is normal, said the authors, a clinical psychologist and a gynecologist.

Amen. Hopefully more women will begin to get the hint, especially since they're doctors and all.

Thanks to Scott for reminding me that gray-rape enthusiast Laura Sessions Stepp is the same person who argued in The Washington Post last year that girls who like sex make dudes limp. Seriously.

So a little retro Feministing for you:

Apparently women who like sex too much are responsible for a scourge of impotence among college men.

The Washington Post reports on the problem of younger men experiencing erectile dysfunction, which is supposedly caused in part by young women initiating sex.

According to surveys, young women are now as likely as young men to have sex and by countless reports are also as likely to initiate sex, taking away from males the age-old, erotic power of the chase.

"I know lots of girls for whom nothing is off limits," says Helen Czapary, a junior at the University of Maryland. "The pressure on the guys is a huge deal."

But it’s not just women’s horniness that’s a huge turnoff, it’s our damned opinions too:

One can argue that a young woman speaking her mind is a sign of equality. "That's a good thing," says [teacher Robin] Sawyer, father of four daughters. "But for some guys, it has come at a price. It's turned into ED in men you normally wouldn't think would have ED."

Equality is the enemy of boners. Now I get it. Traister also did a great piece tearing Stepp down, "Do loose chicks sink dicks?" Heh.

So according to Stepp, women who like sex not only are responsible for their "gray rapes," but are also causing a scourge of limp dicks. Jeez, she gets better every day!

As an update to Cosmopolitan's article on the crock-o-shit "gray rape" theory, The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault has initiated a letter-writing campaign which says it simply, "No Such Thing as Gray Rape."

If you're not in the NYC area, why not start your own letter-writing campaign? Or at the least, write your own letter to Cosmo at cosmo@hearst.com.

Because there's nothing worse than being "girly," a South Carolina prison has taken to punishing sexually active inmates by dressing them in pink.

Of course, the prison punishment isn't the first to use feminization as a deterrent against "bad" behavior: Thai police officers who act up are forced to wear a pink Hello Kitty armband and let's not forget about our Man Can friends. But this punishment being tied up with sexual behavior strikes me as particularly fucked.

State Corrections Department John Ozmint said the two-year-old punishment deters inmates and protects female officers.

..."We don't believe the United States Constitution protects an inmate's right to publicly gratify himself,'' Ozmint said.

Uh yeah. How exactly is a pink prison jumpsuit going to protect women? But more to the point, feminization as a form of punishment is sexist and foul. Rant over, back to playing with the puppy.

Remember how the new Batwoman was going to be a lesbian? Well, she's not.

When it comes to portraying characters as gay in comics, Devin Grayson admits the amount of editorial latitude she's given depends upon the legacy of the character in question. “The Powers That Be are pretty good these days about letting you choose to make a character of your own design homosexual or bisexual, but the closer you get to an established character, the harder it becomes,� Grayson said.

...In fact, Grayson was eight months into the development of the proposed “Batwoman� title when she found out from a newspaper article that the project was dead, and to this day, the writer has not received so much as a phone call from upper editorial on the matter. “That reversal really surprised and disappointed me,� Grayson admitted.

I'll second that disappointment. Boo.

It seems there has been some controversy sparked up by that New York billboard that Vanessa spoke about on NY1.

"It's trashy and its vulgar and it's in your face with its crudity," Kiera McCaffrey, of the Catholic League said on Thursday about the Manhattan Mini Storage billboard.

The Roman Catholic group, a vocal opponent of abortion rights, has been urging people to complain to the company.

You know what's really vulgar? Women dying from illegal abortions. So seriously, fuck you.

Mary Alice Carr, of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, points out that most New Yorkers are pro-choice, and that billboards like this one remind people to stay active.

If you're feeling up to it, it would be nice to show Manhattan Mini Storage some support--so send them an email thanking them for not backing down to folks like the Catholic League.

Even the cancer is pink!

Remember Camel's new brand of cigarettes, Camel No. 9, which are marketed towards women? Well a group of women's and public health organizations have come together to protest the brand.

Camel No. 9 hit stores early this year. It immediately drew fire for its stylish packaging — shiny, sleek black boxes bordered with fuschia and teal — and ads that included florals, hints of lace and the slogan "Light and Luscious."

The latest ad campaign says "Now available in stiletto" — a longer, thinner cigarette.

A letter sent to R.J. Reynolds chairman Susan Ivey says "This product is nothing more than a veiled attempt to sell more cigarettes to girls and young women, putting them at grave risk for disease and a premature death." So far, efforts to get women's magazines to pull the ad have been unsuccessful.

(So I'm kind of freaking out that there is WiFi on the ferry from Martha's Vineyard, but pleased that I can bring you at least one post today!)

It seems that the judge in the witch-hunt, uh--I mean case, against Dr. Tiller was once a "staunch anti-abortion state lawmaker."

The judge who will decide the case — Sedgwick County District Judge Anthony Powell — was a leading voice for anti-abortion lawmakers during his eight years as a legislator. Powell was appointed to the case this week.

Well that sounds fair.

Commenters had already set us straight on Andy Samberg's NOW t-shirt, but it's nice to hear it from Samberg himself in this Nerve interview:

You wore a National Organization of Women shirt to the Spike TV Awards —
I did! Thank you for noticing! I thought it would be funny, because obviously Spike TV is very in the opposite direction. You know, we were promoting the movie, and it was a good time with a lot of fun people we liked. We went and had fun, but you know, I'm from Berkeley, California, I can't go into that thing wholeheartedly. I had to put a little wink in somewhere to let everyone know back home that I hadn't gone all the way.

I was reading a feminism blog that was trying to decide whether you were sincere or ironic.
[laughs] Totally sincere.

Niiiice.

For those of you who didn't catch it, here was Clinton's response to the YouTube debate question about whether she'd be taken seriously by the leaders of Arab or Muslim countries:

"Certainly in my last year in the Senate, I have had high-level meetings with leaders in Kuwait, Pakistan, Afghanistan. I don't think there's much doubt I can be taken seriously," she said. "Other countries have had women presidents and prime ministers. I have noticed that their compatriots certainly take them seriously."

Check out the full speeches that Sen. Obama, Sen. Clinton and Elizabeth Edwards made at the Planned Parenthood event on Tuesday.

We won't ask you to vote on the best speech, but any general thoughts?

Meant to post this last week, my bad:

Before a jury was even seated, a Nebraska judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the sex-assault case where he had barred the words "rape" and "victim" among others.

Judge Jeffre Cheuvront said publicity surrounding the rape case against Pamir Safi, 33, would have made it too difficult for jurors to ignore everything they heard before the trial, which had been expected to begin next week.

Right, and god forbid their precious little ears heard the word 'rape'. Fucker.

For background on this case, make sure to check out Dahlia Lithwick's piece at Slate.

Remember the Nebraska judge who banned the word 'rape' during a rape case?

Well the alleged rape victim is having none of it.

"I refuse to call it sex, or any other word that I'm supposed to say, encouraged to say on the stand, because to me that's committing perjury. What happened to me was rape, it was not sex."

She says she's willing to go to jail for ignoring his order. Fuck yeah.

Remember the iDollator community? You know, the dudes who have "relationships" with their Real Dolls? Well, here's a short documentary about them. It's very creepy, very scary, and very sad.

And just to get this out of the way, since the last time we posted on these guys we got a whole bunch of comments about how women use vibrators and a sex doll is the same thing: Fucking a sex toy is fine by me. Calling it your girlfriend and wishing that real women were like dolls (in that they can't move, talk, etc) is not.

Well this seems fucked.

Israeli president Moshe Katsav stepped down from his presidency yesterday due to the rape charges that have been brought against him, but only to be rewarded with the dropping of the actual rape charges.

The prosecutors, who had originally said they had intended on charging him with raping two women that could land him 20 years in jail, are now in talks with Katsav about a plea bargain which would allow him to just confess to sexual harassment. Because, you know, it's all the same shit anyway.

A protest of over 20,000 in Tel Aviv resulted in outrage over the bargain yesterday, which has been frozen for at least 24 hours before any final decisions are made.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown's office has announced that they will review the Santa Clara County district attorney's decision not to file charges in the alleged gang rape of a teen girl by De Anza College baseball players.

"We will review to determine if the district attorney abused her discretion in finding not to prosecute," said David Kravets, a spokesman for Brown. "We have no evidence that she did, but we will conduct a thorough review of the evidence in this case and come with an independent decision. ... We will look at their entire case file and do any investigation of our own that we determine is appropriate."

Kudos to all of the amazing activists out there who brought attention to this case and put the pressure on!

Just so you know: Seems the Colors of Domestic Violence campaign may not be an official Benetton thing. Broadsheet reports that a senior fashion public relations manager for the company says that Benetton has never heard of the campaign. So where in the world did this thing come from?

I love me a good tshirt, and our gal Jaclyn Freidman has made several. After publishing an article on drinking and rape, Jaclyn received some less-than-polite comments. Including a couple that called her a "lying, man-hating whore." (Because she decided to write about being sexually assaulted in college--the nerve!)

Here's Jaclyn's response: "Well, I gotta say, that hurt. A lot. Until I realized it only had power because I let it. And what takes the piss out of a phrase faster than putting it on a cute tshirt?"

Indeed. So now you can buy shirts that say: lying man-hating whore; working hard to undermine your marriage; I hate your freedom; and hairy-legged lesbian. Fun.

Fuck.

After appealing to the high court, it looks like the young woman in Ireland who was being withheld from leaving the country to seek an abortion in the UK is not being granted permission to leave.

While the Health Service Executives (who were originally prohibiting her from leaving) agreed on Friday to allow her to travel to the UK for the abortion as long as the judge ruled it was appropriate and under other conditions, the judge stated that granting the order would amount to a failure to protect the rights of the fetus and hence would be unlawful and "improper."

Now the HSE is trying to fix their fuck-up by bringing a judicial action review, saying that the judge misconstrued the law and that the woman should be allowed to travel.

Some people never learn. Some people are douchebags. And then there's Joe Francis...who just defies category.

Joe Francis, the millionaire founder of the “Girls Gone Wild� video empire, was charged Wednesday with misdemeanor sexual battery for allegedly groping an 18-year-old woman.

Francis allegedly touched the woman’s breast and buttocks repeatedly despite pleas to stop, said city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan.

By the way, it was just Monday that Francis sentenced to 35 days in jail in Florida for criminal contempt.

Us at NARAL Pro-Choice New York (I started working here about a month ago) are holding a rally in response to today’s Supreme Court decision:

If your city is holding a rally or event in response to the decision, please post in comments!

While I posted on a study not too long ago which found that women react to erotic images just as strongly as men, a newer study showed that when shown sexual images with women in them, men looked far more at the woman's face than the female subjects, who looked primarily at the body.

Remember the street "admirer" who was attacked by a group of women after he allegedly called them "dykes," spit on them, threw a cigarette at them, and grabbed one of the women by the throat? Well check out the oh-so-classy headline the New York Post came up with after the jump.

The New York Times ran an editorial yesterday on the resignation of crazy-ass Keroack. (Yes, that's his official name.)

"A Bad Choice, a Quick Exit" says that Keroack "was always a disturbing choice." That's putting it mildly.

Do you care?

From MSNBC:

“There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society,� CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. “That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision.�

I SO needed some good news today:

A legislative panel on Thursday dropped a measure from an abortion bill that would have made South Carolina the only state to require women to review an ultrasound images of the fetus before terminating a pregnancy.

Word.

Douchebag extraordinaire and accused rapist Joe Francis was ordered to jail today for contempt of court.

Joe Francis, 34, has until noon Thursday to turn himself in to authorities, The News Herald of Panama City reported. A federal judge ordered Francis jailed on Wednesday after lawyers suing him complained that unbeknownst to them he had substantially changed the conditions of an offer they'd agreed to.

U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak found Francis in contempt of court last week after lawyers for seven women complained he shouted obscenities and threatened them during civil suit settlement negotiations.

Why can't someone put this fucker in prison? Seriously.

Contributed by Courtney Martin.

Props to Vanessa for pointing out the ways in which the recent treatment of perfect girls in the NY Times does not represent the plight of most girls across America. I’d like to take issue with it from a different angle.

While I respect Sara Rimer’s structural choice to let the girls speak for themselves, I fear that she produced something more akin to PR than investigative journalism. Sure hanging out with a few upper middle class white girls from the northeast will provide you with a flurry of shocking quotations about ambition run amuck and some great scenes with overly involved parents. But that story is obvious, already reported, on the surface.

The underbelly is what we need to be talking about. Nine million girls and women in this country—of all different classes and cultural backgrounds—have diagnosable eating disorders and countless others obsess over food and fitness. Panic disorders are twice as likely for females. About 75% of autoimmune illnesses occur in women.

These are serious health concerns in large part caused by a society that systematically socializes women to take the weight of the world on their shoulders and try to look graceful while doing it.

When I was researching and interviewing for my book— Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body (out in a couple of weeks on Simon & Schuster’s Free Press)—I couldn’t believe how much pressure girls and women put themselves under. Whether it was the Armenian-American girl in the course I teach at Hunter who felt completely shameful that she’d gained weight in college despite the fact that she was the first in her family to go, or my beautiful younger cousin from a tiny town in Colorado who spent much of college feeling on the edge of an eating disorder (as did I), women are just flat out deteriorating as a result of their own determination to be everything to all people all the time.

It’s not just about Ivy League admittance or extracurriculars. It is about a nation of women buying in to the idea that their wellbeing is not as important as achievement and beauty.

Salon’s Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh discusses the Kathy Sierra madness. Here’s a snippet:

"Attitudes toward women have improved dramatically just in my lifetime, but still the world has too many misogynists, and the Web has given them a microphone that lets them turn up the volume on their quavering selves, their self-righteous fury, their self-loathing expressed as hatred of women. And yet, mostly, women on the Web just have to ignore it. If you show it bothers you, you've given them pleasure...

But it coarsens you to look away, and to tell others to do the same. I've grown a thicker skin. I didn't want skin this thick. And what does it mean that women writers have to drag around this anchor every time they start to write -- that we reflexively compose our own hate mail, and sometimes type and retype to try to avoid it? I can honestly say it's probably made me more precise and less glib. That's good. But it's also, for now, made me too cautious. I write less than I would if I wasn't thinking these thoughts. I think that's bad. I think Web misogyny puts women writers at a disadvantage, and as someone who's worked for women's advancement in the workplace, and the world, that saddens me."

This particularly reminded me of the conversation we had yesterday at the WAM! conference about this assumption that women threatened on the internet should be thick-skinned and just deal with the trolls that come our way rather than talk about the seriousness of the issue, that violence can actually exist on the internet.

Yeah, her character was assassinated. Excuse me while I cry a fucking river.

Watch the whole exchange at Crooks and Liars. Also check out Lawyers, Guns and Money, Firedoglake, Shakespeare's Sister and Ezra Klein.

Originally at Bloggingheads.tv.

UPDATE: My reaction to this whole thing can best be summed up here.

I'm getting pretty ugh over the direction the comments have taken over at my "gray rape" post at TPMCafe. Enlightened, lovely, readers...will you go weigh in over there?

Remember the sorority that ousted its "undesirable" members? Well here's an interesting turn of events:

DePauw University severed ties yesterday with a national sorority that evicted two-thirds of the university’s chapter members last year in what the sorority called an effort to improve its image for recruitment, but which the evicted women described as a purge of the unattractive or the uncool.

“We at DePauw do not like the way our students were treated,� DePauw’s president, Robert G. Bottoms, said in a letter to the Delta Zeta sorority. “We at DePauw believe that the values of our university and those of the national Delta Zeta sorority are incompatible.�

Good for them.

After over 30 women's rights activists were arrested in Tehran, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed concern about their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. Arbour further urged authorities in Iran to adhere to the international agreements they are party to, specially the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Read more at UN Dispatch.

This is just fucking ridiculous.

There has been many tiresome efforts to get the Japanese government to give reparations to up to 200,000 victims of sex slavery, forced into prostitution by the Japanese Military before and during World War II. Although the goverment admitted to the crimes in the early 90s, they assert that all claims were settled by post-war treaties. Now some members are taking it a step further (or backwards, I should say) and denying the crimes' existence altogether. (I sense a bit of contradiction here...)

Nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a statement yesterday implying that the women were actually not forced into sex slavery, saying, "The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion."

Now right-wing members of government are talking of pushing for an "official revision of the apology." And what kind of apology is that supposed to look like? The refusal to give reparations is bad enough, but after years of struggle these women have went through to get the justice they deserve, the government's lack of accountability and straight-up disrespect for their sufferings would be just as heinous a crime as what actually happened. Sigh.

Ann mentioned this atrocious story of an Indiana sorority who booted all of it's "socially awkward" sisters--you know, the women of color and "overweight" women--in the Weekly Feminist Reader.

I just wanted to let y'all know that some folks have started a Facebook group to support the ousted women.

These things are ridiculous, but a ban? Seriously?

"People are making a joke out of it," [Maryland delegate LeRoy] Myers said yesterday. "But I think it's a pretty serious problem. You have body parts hanging from the hitches of cars. We've crossed a line."

His bill would prohibit motorists from displaying anything resembling or depicting "anatomically correct" or "less than completely and opaquely covered" human or animal genitals, human buttocks or female breasts. The offense would carry a penalty.

Also good to know:

A hunter could still throw a freshly killed and uncovered deer in the back of his pickup, though, because the deer's body parts would be real, Myers said.

We can all recognize that Myers is semi-crazy (the man referenced deer balls in a serious manner), but I asked myself if I'd feel the same way if a female legislator was protesting plastic breasts hanging from bumpers. And I have to say, while I would in all likelihood find them distasteful, I wouldn't be interested in passing legislation to ban them. As Meredith Curtis of the Maryland American Civil Liberties Union said, "The solution to speech we don't like is more speech."

Plus, this is one of those items that serves to warn you away from guys that you probably don't want to be dating anyway.

Here’s some awesome news! The proposed abortion ban in South Dakota—which now had exceptions or rape, incest and women’s health—was rejected yesterday by a committee vote of 8-1.

So much for trying to “tone down� the ban in an effort to drum up support. (Sorry, assholes!)

Via TalkLeft.

The ladies of the slope are finally taking the leap. Let’s hope that will soon be literally as well as figuratively.

Almost exactly a year ago, I covered the infuriating reality for professional women ski jumpers; ski jumping is the only Olympic sport that women aren’t allowed to compete in because it’s apparently not “appropriate for ladies� and could potentially (but not really) damage their ovaries and uterus. (And I thought it was the woman who controls her own body...) Well, it looks like women ski jumpers are finally mobilizing to get in the game.

They have filed complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the basis that not allowing them to jump is gender discrimination, which should be prohibited at a venue that’s being constructed with millions of Canadian money. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) are now saying the reason is that there aren’t enough pro female ski jumpers to compete in the games, but female ski jumpers say it’s a crock.

While there are predictions that the complaint won’t amount to much considering the fact that the IOC had already made its decision, I have hopes; after all, it is Canada.

The Hoohah Monologues has been changed back to The Vagina Monologues. Now back to non-cooter related news...

Good news!

Here are the official statements from Edwards, Amanda, and Melissa.

Dan Riehl, the classy blogger who argued that Amanda wasn't hot enough to blog for Edwards, is trying to make amends for his dumb post. By writing a dumber one.

You see, Riehl assures readers that he wouldn't "throw" Amanda--or me, it seems--out of bed. Way to prove you're not a misogynist, Dan!

Oh and also, apparently I probably suck in bed because of that pesky Masters degree in Women's Studies. Yeah.

Via Feministe.

I loves me some good news before the weekend. Nazanin Fatehi, who was sentenced to hang for killing man who was trying to rape her and her niece, was released this week after two years in prison.

Emotions ran high at the entrance gate of Evin prison, where 19-year-old Nazanin Fatehi was greeted by supporters and reunited with her family. Nazanin had a very emotional reunion with her family members. She could not believe that this day had arrived. She cried in her mother's arms and embraced her siblings and father. After she finished greeting her family, Nazanin's lawyer, Mr. Mostafaei, said that she told him that she now wants to go to school and study hard to get her life back.

Most of the bail was raised by HelpNazanin.com, a site created by human rights activist (and former Miss Canada) Nazanin Afshin-Jam.

Protestors in Toledo, Ohio were successfull in getting Kmart to pull the gross "Problem Solved" shirt they've been selling.

Many passing drivers honked their horns - apparently in support - as parents of young people who were slain in domestic violence, representatives of the Toledo chapter of the National Organization for Women, the Take Back the Night Collective, and others shivered in the 27-degree temperatures.

Most held signs referring to the T-shirt carried in Kmart's boys department:

•"Attention Shoppers: Kmart has an attitude problem. Recall violent merchandise."

•"Attention! Domestic violence in Aisle 7."

•"Violent T-shirts: Get it off your chest!"

•"There is nothing light-hearted about domestic violence."

During the rally, which lasted about 35 minutes, three parents of domestic violence slaying victims walked across the parking lot to the store to present a letter written to Aylwin Lewis, chief executive and president of Sears Holdings Corp., the parent firm of Kmart and Sears stores.

Spokesperson Kim Freely, who once said "we believe these attitude Ts are meant to be light-hearted in nature," later released a statement saying that the shirt "is no longer available at Kmart...and we have no plans to reorder it."

So big kudos to the demonstrators in Toledo!

While Ann posted a few months ago on the recruitment of young women to donate their eggs for stem cell research and the safety risks involved, ethical questions have been raised regarding compensation.

While there’s been some controversy about women getting paid to donate their eggs to fertility clinics, the fact that women are getting paid to donate their eggs for stem cell research has created some talk.

One of the bigger questions posed regarding this asks whether getting compensated for donating eggs to stem cell research exploits lower-class women. Marcy Darnovsky, the associate director of the Center of Genetics and Society, says that a woman’s need to survive could override the medical risks involved in donating eggs:

'I think any woman who's trying to pay the rent and put food on the table, and people who don't have a lot of money to spare, are going to be tempted to discount the risks and overvalue the benefits.'

But like Ann’s previous post, some states in the U.S. have enacted a law classifying egg donors as “research subjects,� so you could potentially say the same thing could happen for any research subject. Kathy Hudson, director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center at John Hopkins University also says there are ways of avoiding exploitation, like ensuring that a variety of groups of women are recruited to donate, as well as putting limits on the number of times women can donate.

At the same time, some of the most heinous cases of exploitation in this country were due to flawed research methods, so donors' protection should be an absolute priority.

20 year-old Miss New Jersey Ashley Harder has resigned after she "violated" Miss USA rules by becoming pregnant. (Guess she should have had an abortion, huh Donald?)

And you've got to love this coverage from the New York Daily News:

Curvy beauty Ashley Harder, 20, became the third lovely in Trump's pageant stable to run afoul of strict rules designed to keep the beauty contest a wholesome affair.

Blech.

Maybe if Harder would have agreed to pose nude while in a family way Trump would have forgiven her.

Hat tip to Pam for finding this ABC coverage of the Quiverfull movement. It's everything I thought it would be.

Remember how much shit Miss USA took recently for her "behavioral and personal" (aka "slutty") issues? Apparently the real problem was that she was projecting this image without first getting permission from the men in charge. Because now The Donald is apparently considering letting her pose for Playboy.

We know what's happened when national beauty queens have appeared in porn in the past. But clearly it's acceptable behavior if it's been approved by their male handlers first.

Gross.

This is a wee late. Many (including myself) anticipated that because Massachusetts lawmakers were refusing to vote on a proposal to ban gay marriage, there was little chance it would make the ballot.

But unfortunately, last Tuesday’s meeting on the proposal didn’t go as planned, and now the only state that has legalized gay marriage is moving forward to possibly make the proposed constitutional amendment a reality.

Fuck.

John Bambenek author of the baffling article “You Are More Than Your Vagina, No Matter What Neofeminists Tell You,� is running for the school board in Champaign, Illinois.

In case you don't remember Mr. Bambenek, he is the guy that made the astute observation that "far from being merely sperm receptacles, [women] are people entitled to the full balance of human dignity."

Narciblog points out that in addition to seeing women as so much more than merely cum dumpsters, Bambenek also has some lovely ideas about the HPV vaccine being offered to students and creationism being taught in schools. I'm betting you can guess where he comes down on those issues.

So please, start praying for the kids of Champaign. Especially the little vaginas, I mean girls.

Alternet has compiled some of the feminist blogger responses to the Women's eNews article Ann blogged about yesterday. (I also did a short intro.) Enjoy.

UPDATE PART DEUX: Funk (and others) respond.

UPDATE: Alternet cut my intro down (they can't handle my heat, obviously) so I'm posting the original uncut intro below the fold.

Seems like the pseudo-incestuous nastiness of Purity Balls is clear to everyone but the folks that throw them.

While I posted on the victory of Malalai Joya gaining a seat in the Afghanistan parliament a while back, it seems that her plight to improve women’s rights within the country is being threatened, along with her life.

Ali from Eteraz.org points out that Joya's occupancy in parliament has resulted in constant death and rape threats, and is even forced to move homes on an almost daily basis in fear of her safety. But despite all this, she is still managing to do what she can to expose the reality of the conditions Afghanistan under the present occupancy of the Northern Alliance. Here’s a snippet of a kick-ass speech she recently gave:

Five years after the collapse of the misogynist and anti-democracy regime of the Taliban, and after almost five year of the US led attack on Afghanistan; you may like me to describe the achievements and positive outcomes in Afghanistan, but I'm sorry to tell you that Afghanistan is a land still burning in two-fold fire.

. . .I must tell you that unfortunately there has been NO fundamental change in the plight of Afghan people. When the entire nation is living under the shadow of gun and warlordism, how can its women enjoy very basic freedoms? Unlike the propaganda raised by certain Western media, Afghan women and man are not ‘liberated’ at all.

This site has been created in her support where you can donate to her cause. You can also send a letter to Afghan authorities urging for her protection.

Women like Joya are necessary for the change that’s so desperately needed in Afghanistan, particularly for the rights of its women. Let’s hope this will help her to get the security she needs to continue her struggle towards peace and equality.

Joe Francis, the oh-so-classy founder of the Girls Gone Wild empire, was sentenced to community service yesterday as part of a guilty plea for taping underage girls.

The company, Mantra Films Inc., also agreed to pay $1.6 million in fines for using drunken 17-year-olds in videos it filmed on Panama City Beach during spring break and failing to properly label its DVDs and videos as required by federal law.

U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak told company founder Joe Francis he added the community service because it did not appear a fine would be a meaningful punishment.

..."It does not take a very brave man to go out and corner a girl in the middle of spring break who had four drinks," Smoak told Francis.

I appreciate the judge calling him out for being a cowardly douchebag, but community service? Fucking lame. This guy belongs in prison.

While others address Louann Brizendine's claim that women use 20,000 words a day while men use 7,000, NYT is shmoozing it up with this "female brain."

The New York Times Magazine had an interview this week with Brizendine on her book, “The Female Brain,� which essentially rejects the existence of gender roles and says not only that women are hard-wired to be talkative, but also emotional, nurturing mommies. In fact, we actually sort of get off on taking care of people.

The NYT questions her on the study about women talking significantly more than men, in which she responds, "The real phraseology of that should have been that a woman has many more communication events a day — gestures, words, raising of your eyebrows."

Here's the kicker:

Are you concerned that you are rehabilitating outdated gender stereotypes that portray women as chatterboxes ruled by female hormones?

A stereotype always has an aspect of truth to it, or it wouldn’t be a stereotype. I am talking about the biological basis behind behaviors that we all know about.

Wow, do I wish I could have an interview with her after that comment.

As yesterday was Human Rights Day, it has also been declared the Global Day for Darfur, which mobilized women in over 40 countries to protest outside of Sudanese embassies, demanding for the end of sexual violence and rape against women and girls in Darfur.

Additionally, international stateswomen released a letter addressing the same issue on Saturday, calling for peacekeepers to be sent to protect the women and girls who are being systematically raped as a weapon of war. Among the authors of this letter were former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Graca Machel (Nelson Mandela’s wife), Glenys Kinnock of the European Parliament, former French Prime Minister Edith Cresson, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Check out a recent report on the status of the thousands of women and girls in Darfur who continue to suffer these heinous war crimes, which has only become more severe since the Darfur Peace Agreement.

The Kaiser Network reports that the Department of Health and Human Services is standing by their man Eric Keroack. You know, the “doctor� who likes cartoons but thinks birth control is icky.

Christina Pearson, spokesperson for HHS' Office of Population Affairs and Administration for Children and Families, said Keroack is not opposed to birth control…

Keroack "has expressed to us that he will fulfill his programmatic responsibilities in accordance with the law, and we believe him," Pearson said, adding that Keroack's work for A Women's Concern accounted for only 20% of his time and involved providing ultrasound examinations to pregnant women and not counseling to women who were not pregnant.

Yeah, somehow that doesn’t make me feel better. By the way, Kaiser has an amazing roundup of editorials and opinion pieces on Keroack. Check them out.

It looks like Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney is using his remaining time in office to push a homophobic angle so he can get the anti-gay “badge of honor� from conservatives nationwide.

Shortly after the state legislature recessed to vote on the proposal that would make gay marriage illegal, Romney asked MA’s highest court on Friday to force the legislature to make a decision.

The co-chair of Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Arline Isaacson, says that Romney is pushing for the vote mostly for political gain. (There’s been talks of his possible candidacy for president in 2008.) "Romney is pursuing this aggressively because he seeks to keep his name front and center at the national level as an anti-gay zealot in order to court conservative voters around the country," said Isaacson.

I’m not surprised; after all, he does have a history of being a faker.

I told you that Keroack was just a ten-year old pretending to be a doctor!

Check out the last lines in this WaPo piece on the wacky non-doc:

Pearson also acknowledged yesterday that Keroack is not currently certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist. That is not a requirement for the job, but HHS officials had cited Keroack's expertise in defending his selection.

Hells yeah they did!

The Washington Post, 11/21/2006:

An HHS spokeswoman said Keroack is a skilled doctor and a nationally recognized expert on preventing teenage pregnancy. "We have confidence that he'll perform his duties effectively and in accordance with the law," HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson said by e-mail.

The Washington Post, 11/17/2006:

John O. Agwunobi, assistant secretary for health, said Keroack "is highly qualified and a well-respected physician . . . working primarily with women and girls in crisis."

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Fortunately, folks aren't taking this quack's appointment sitting down. Letters from both the House and Senate (spearheaded by Rep. Henry Waxman and Sen. Barbara Boxer) were sent to Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, urging him to reject Keroack's appointment.

Related: Check out this great cartoon about Keroack in The Boston Globe.

Remember the horrendous synonyms I found from Dictionary.com for the word “girl�? Well, "woman" isn’t too far off:

Main Entry: woman

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: female

Synonyms: Mrs., babe, bird, bride, broad, chick, chicken, companion, dame, debutante, doll, gal, gentlewoman, girl, girlfriend, inamorata, kitten, lady, lass, love, lover, maid, maiden, mama, mate, matron, miss, mistress, moll, nymph, old lady, paramour, partner, pigeon, rib, she, skirt, spinster, spouse, squaw, sweetheart, tomato, tootsie, virgin, wife

Antonyms: man

Virgin, rib and the animal references are bad enough, but the fact that half of the synonyms basically define “woman� as some sort of companion pisses me the fuck off. So according to dictionary.com, our identity is based solely on our relationships to other people.

It was also nice to see that when I looked up “man,� the definition for the word is “human.� Lovely.

The Washington Post covered the appointment of Dr. Eric "bad science" Keroack, noting that folks aren't too pleased about his being in charge of family planning funding.

Marilyn Keefe, interim president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents 4,000 family-planning clinics, said Keroack's work "seems to really be geared toward furthering anti-choice, anti-contraception policies." She added that despite the congressional election results, the appointment "goes to show you the importance of controlling the White House and how important federal agencies are in the delivery of health services."

...Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called Keroack's appointment "striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation's priorities."

Sounds about right. Some more info on the scariness that is Doc Keroack...

He has said that "pre-marital sex is really modern germ warfare," that "sexual activity is a war zone," and that women "die emotionally" from having abortions.

That's bad enough, but the pics that Alternet has from his abstinence presentation make me completely convinced that Keroack is actually a ten year-old boy posing as a doctor. This would explain his comparing women to cars, the fact that he finds sex icky, and the strange obsession with cartoons and drawing his scientific explanations out with crayons. (Seriously, check the presentation out.) The only thing it doesn't explain, in fact, is his mustache. But those aren't that hard to come by.

I’m a little later than I wanted to be on this, so apologies.

The decision last week by a Maryland appellate court that women can’t withdraw consent once it’s given and intercourse has started has gotten a lot of attention online. Some of it good, some of it fucking terrifying.

The Happy Feminist reveals that the case, Baby v. Maryland, concerns a young woman who really never consented to begin with.

Q. [ASSISTANT STATE’S ATTORNEY]: And what else did he say?

A. He, after that we sat there for a couple seconds and he was like so are you going to let me hit it and I didn’t really say anything and he was like I don’t want to rape you.

Q. So when Maouloud said I don’t want to rape you, did you respond?

A. Yes. I said that as long as he stops when I tell him to, then -

Q. Now, that he could?

A. Yes.

Sounds to me like she was trying not to get hurt—not consenting to sex. Jesus. But besides this obvious lack of initial consent, the jury asked during deliberations, “If a female consents to sex initially and during the course of the sex act to which she consented, for whatever reason, she changes her mind and the man continues until climax, does the result constitute rape?� The short version: The trial court declined to answer, the jury convicted, and the defendant appealed. The appeals court then says that trial court made a mistake based on prior precedent, a case called Battle v. State.

Battle basically says that once the woman (property of father or hubby, of course) is penetrated, “the damage is done.�

It was this view that the moment of penetration was the point in time, after which a woman could never be "re-flowered," that gave rise to the principle that, if a woman consents prior to penetration and withdraws consent following penetration, there is no rape.

Sweet.

Happy believes that the appeals court outlined all of the wacky misogyny in Battle to “encourage the Maryland Supreme Court to set new precedent and overrule the old common law.� I hope she’s right.

I thought that this insane decision was enough to make me depressed…but then came the reactions to the case.

More after the jump.

An amazing video on the sex toy ban in Texas.

And thank god, it's not about my breasts.

I'm still waiting on the transcript, and when I get it I'll go into the more substantive stuff--even though others have covered it pretty well.

But I did want to say something about the lack of bloggers of color at the meeting. I waited this long to post about it because I wanted to get the scoop from Peter Daou, who organized the get together.

I was painfully aware of the lack of the diversity while at the meeting, and this pic is, no doubt, hard to look at. So I can understand why people got as upset as they did. But I know Peter, and I know how much diversity is a priority to him, so I was guessing that the invite list wasn't all white. And it wasn't.

But as Pam said, "Peter has been an advocate of linking up to women and minority bloggers, including me...Nevertheless the picture speaks a thousand words."

No joke. Number of invites aside, I think that it's all of our responsibility to ensure that the blogosphere is represented accurately, especially when it comes to high-level meetings. The public face of the liberal blogs has to be as diverse as we actually are.

Check out these folks for more.

So, wow. Who knew that simply having breasts in the presence of a former president could turn into such a disgusting spectacle of sexism, vapidity and downright meanness? Way too much time has been spent on this, so this will be the only post I write on it.

As Althouse and her ilk backpedal and try to claim that this whole thing started because they wanted to know why a feminist blogger would meet with Clinton given his history with women, I would just ask that people not forget what this was really about. It was a nasty personal attack - one that's ridiculously indicative of the way that young women are treated, especially by conservative assholes.

While Althouse repeatedly says that this wasn't about attacking my appearance and my behavior as assumed by one photo - I'd just like to remind folks of the following gems:

Then, when she goes to meet Clinton, she wears a tight knit top that draws attention to her breasts and stands right in front of him and positions herself to make her breasts as obvious as possible?

It's obvious that you're bending over backwards -- figuratively and literally -- to keep the attention on your breasts.

Jessica should have worn a beret. Blue dress would have been good too.

Jessica's breasts are definitely a distraction!

Jessica looks like Paula Jones (check her profile photo: she does)!

Look closely at that picture and try to adopt the posture Jessica's in. I did. It's not natural.

(And these are all from Althouse herself, never mind the disgusting crap that came from some of her readers.) So, yes, clearly Althouse is all about reviving "real feminism," as her latest post claims.

And this whole boobgate bullshit isn't just about Althouse and her mean-spirited attack. It's about how young women are routinely reminded that they're only good for one thing - consumption.

Zuzu put it best:

Althouse wasn't the only one trying to put Jessica in her place; as I also mentioned, there were any number of commenters across the progressive blogosphere that made comments about Jessica's fuckability. They didn't know who she was, or why she was there, but they sure as hell felt free to speculate that it had something to do with sex.

Even those defending Jessica have often focused on the appropriateness of her posture, her pose, her clothing and her smile, as if those were really the issues. They're not. The issue is that Jessica was invited to that lunch because of her accomplishments and her intelligence, but people like the commenters discussing her fuckability and Althouse criticizing her for having breasts are reminding her that no matter how much she's accomplished in her life, no matter how smart she is, she doesn't really belong in that group.

In other words, they smacked her down for being so uppity as to think that she had the right to be there.

This kind of incident is a perfect example of how so many people see women - especially young women. We're there to be ogled or ridiculed. We have nothing else to offer.

But I don't want to end (cause damn do I hope this is the end) on such a depressing note. I've gotten a ton of supportive emails and comments since yesterday, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate them - they really meant a lot to me. And a big thanks to everyone who blogged about this and called it out for the bullshit it was.

Pandagon, Feministe, Echidne, Emboldened, Broadsheet, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Booman Tribune, Feminist Law Professors, Ilyka Damen, Eschaton, The Mahablog, TGW, Steve Gilliard, The Heretik, Talk Left, Majikthise, Mad Kane, and everyone else whose links I wasn't smart enough to bookmark: you guys fucking rock and I thank you profusely.

P.S. Who thinks I should make a "These boobs are made for blogging" shirt?

UPDATE: Apparently Althouse is so "bored" by boobs that she's made a podcast about the kerfuffle. Not that I should be surprised, but she lies about the content of Feministing, saying we feature pictures of women in bras and other such nonsense. Sigh.

My lovely friend Gwynn has just posted the "official" pics from the REAL hot 100 party last month.

Everyone looks super fancy so check them out.

Check out this ABC News article from yesterday that connects the Forbes madness with the gender pay gap in the U.S. and asks its readers, “Is there a war on women who work?�

I love it. ABC News has actually done quite a bit of Forbes ass-kicking since this story emerged. Kudos!

This is too great. Remember that Stirring the caldron of radical feminism article Vanessa wrote about last week? Well it seems that Townhall has reposted it, and damn has it brought out the loonies.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Having been raised by increasingly leftist parents myself, I associate feminism with abandonment. In contrast, when I spent time at my girlfriend's homes, I experienced mothers who spent time with their kids, simply chatting warmly over tea...If a conservative woman wonders how she can change the world, I suggest that this is it: Be a great homemaker.

Fuck political participation and the fulfillment of a career. A little tea and cookies will change the world.

Feminism is losing ground. On campus we still have the lunatic ethnic studies, womens studies, homosexual/bisexual/transgender studies idiots. Faculty jobs in academia is probably all they can do. They are too crazy to make itin the real world.

You know--the real world where there are no women, people of color or queers.

I am not defending radical feminism, which I consider to be a minor mental illness...

Cuckoo!

In times when our nation is truly threatened, feminism will be forgotten and it will be our men who will lay their lives on the line in defense of our way of life, our country, our women and our children. Yes, there will be *some* exceptional fighting women too, but human nature (not the evil patriarchy) dictates that these will be rare and few. This (the open blood debt in life and limb to be called in at any time) is the reason men and only men are due the right to participate directly in our national government (i.e., vote and stand for national office).

Yeah, we're the crazy ones.

These far left feminists really have no clue as to what is really important in life - people, and especially one's own families. Too bad most of them will never know what's it's like to have a family, and true love.

Take that, spinsters!

Check out all of them; they're priceless.