Recently in Weekly Feminist Reader Category
Gabby Sidibe on Conan, being awesome.
What's the best way to equip Afghan women with info on contraception?
Support Scarleteen, an awesome sex-positive sex-ed site for teens!
On a new approach to education about women's rights from some awesome activists in Lebanon.
The FBI received an advance warning that Scott Roeder was a threat to Dr. George Tiller. And ignored it.
A 29-year-old trans woman was murdered in London. Two men have been arrested in connection. Reminder: The Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20.
Two critiques of Glee's approach to disability.
When it comes to being considered for a job, race is a more significant factor than criminal record. Wow.
A toolkit for ensuring that green-jobs initiatives benefit women and people of color.
Wendi Muse asks the big questions.
A big ol' middle finger to you, too, Klondike. And you, too, Reebok.
On Packaging Boyhood, the follow-up to Packaging Girlhood. Also read Rachel on social constructs of masculinity.
Kay has some great resources for understanding the implications of the Stupak Amendment.
After googling Michelle Obama, writes Aminah Hanan at Michelle Obama Watch, "you've come a long way, baby" is not the first thing that pops into her mind.
Alice Rossi, a noted sociologist and one of the founders of NOW, who died this week.
The House passed a health-care bill, and a major anti-choice amendment along with it.
The Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP) is conducting free video and filmmaking workshops for Two Spirits, or queer Native Americans.
Nick Kristof on bisphenol A, the synthetic estrogen that's been linked to breast cancer and all sorts of other health problems.
What if we did as much to prevent rape as we do to prevent H1N1?
Beyond slogans: Neda's mother speaks.
Men's rights groups just won't go away.
An astounding fact: "Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood."
A great post from Sharanya Manivannan on women, language and experience, inspired by Penelope Trunk tweeting her miscarriage.
Iraqi women take refuge in underground shelters.
A woman in Texas was fined $204 for not speaking English.
Richmond is dealing with the fall-out over the gang-rape committed at a high school homecoming dance two weeks ago.
The New York Times did not agree to refer to women as "Ms." on its own...
How the Internet is democratizing comics -- and women are benefiting.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
Page at the Bitch blog argues that Halloween queers us all. And a commenter at Sociological Images observes that grown women dress as sexualized young girls, and young girls dress as sexualized grown women.
Esperanza is the country's first nonprofit dedicated to eradicating sexual assault and harassment of female farm workers.
On women combat veterans and PTSD: "Indeed, at home, after completing important jobs in war, women with the disorder often smack up against old-fashioned ignorance: male veterans and friends who do not recognize them as "real soldiers"; husbands who have little patience with their avoidance of intimacy; and a society that expects them to be feminine nurturers, not the nurtured."
CNN bumped a story about ten missing black women to cover the disappearance of on non-black woman.
Bad-ass woman alert: Lan Yin Tsai, 84, bikes 150 miles (in a straight shot) for multiple sclerosis research every year
Recommendations for achieving global reproductive justice.
A high-school teacher in Illinois was suspended for having his students read a book about homosexuality in the animal kingdom.
A compilation of critiques of hate-crimes legislation.
KRS-ONE says hip-hop needs more women.
The Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill passed the Senate. (For a dissenting view on hate crimes laws, read Jos's take.)
Are big movies with strong female leads damned if they do, damned if they don't? More from Women & Hollywood.
How the Superfreakonomics writers get it wrong on sex work.
On Law & Order's anti-choice propaganda.
A Utah OB puts its anti-woman policies on a sign for all to see.
The gender gap in the results of a survey of DC teens about sex.
Challenging assumptions about working mothers.
The nation's only African-American lacrosse team.
Ramapriya Gopalakrishnan on her life as a single, urban, and happy Indian woman.
The Navy announced it would start stationing women on submarines. Cue sexist outcry!
A new report reveals the level of discrimination and inequality faced by trans people in Britain.
I don't have an issue with Obama having a regular all-male basketball game. But I am tired of male politicians citing the "strong women in their lives" as proof somehow that they have no gender biases.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has taken a stand against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Does Islam need a sexual revolution?
Writes Tami, "I've come to expect black women, especially plus-sized ones, to be the butt of the joke in low-brow comedy films--the sort of flicks commonly associated with Eddie Murphy, Rob Scheider or Tyler Perry." But now Amy Poehler, too? Ugh.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
I'm out of town this week, and so I'm going to hand over the Sunday link roundup to you all.
What have you been reading/writing this week? Leave your links in comments!
Photo by Lez Get Real on Flickr.
The National Equality March is happening today in DC. On a related note, Obama again promised to end Don't Ask Don't Tell, but failed to say when. Plus, one gay man's experience in the military.
On Apple's transphobic advertisement.
How the economic crisis is impacting young people of color -- and what to do about it.
Women senators spoke out about health reform.
Students at Minneapolis College of Art and Design collaborated to create a primer on women, feminism and art! Plus: Know a feminist art blogger? Contact womenarts.org!
Add your name to a letter asking President Obama to listen to the women of Afghanistan. And on a related note, apparently the U.S. military is finding there are some advantages to using teams of all-female soldiers there.
Various writers consider the question of why many women wear high-heels. No one goes with the shortest answer: Patriarchy.
It's sadly unsurprising that Serena Williams, naked, on the cover of the ESPN magazine has really brought out the racist/sexist trolls.
"Schrödinger's Rapist: or a guy's guide to approaching strange women without being maced." With a response by Thomas.
Feminists mourn Patrick Swayze.
It is race. "News flash, we ain't even close to a post-racial America." Plus, "A funny thing happened on the way to PostRacialLand."
The "happiness gap," debunked.
Why the woman in a wheelchair onstage with Lady GaGa at the VMAs wasn't progress -- she was scenery.
I'm excited to see that there's a new website for pro-feminist men. I'm not excited that, like Double X, they've named it after chromosomes.
Naomi Wolf and Phyllis Chesler really need to stop talking about Muslim women.
The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research has a new blog.
A new film looks at human trafficking.
On the response to Michelle Obama's speech about women and health care.
In DC and nine other states, insurance companies have claimed that domestic violence is a pre-existing condition.
What is the role of privileged white women in the reproductive justice movement?
Sean Lennon defends that Purple magazine photo.
Even Kleenexes are gendered now?
Cara and Amanda write about Tucker Max so we don't have to.
Does parenthood make women more liberal and men more conservative?
How the coverage of Chris Brown is bad for understanding abuse.
A new documentary on water rights and access in Michigan.
On the unconventional anti-sex-tourism activism of FEMEN, a women's rights group in Ukraine.
A Florida group wants to outlaw birth control, and the Alabama Supreme Court upheld the criminalization of sex toys.
Renowned coach C. Vivian Stringer enters the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Should the people who killed a white man for dating a black woman be charged with a hate crime?
A high school in Iowa strip-searched five teenage girls.
A slightly shorter list than usual, 'cause it's Labor Day weekend...
Jack and Jill Politics: When Will This White House Learn You Cannot Negotiate With Terrorists?
Tiger Beatdown: Sexist Beatdown: Not-Yet-Nude Levi Johnston Edition
PostBourgie: Does It Pay to Play Hard to Get?
Feministe: 287(g): Can White Privilege Ever Be Exercised for Good?
xkcd: Anatomy Text
Jezebel: Coming This Fall: More Naked Fat Ladies In Glamour!
Pandagon: Sailors subjected to sexual harassment, gay-baiting--and it was encouraged
Sociological Images: NSFW!!! More Clothed-White-Woman/Naked-Black-Woman Images
RaceWire: Das Racist's Politics of Dancing (at the Pizzahut Tacobell)
Young Fat and Fabulous: Beth Ditto Vs. Karl Lagerfeld
RH Reality Check: Women Need Rights, Not Rescue
Jezebel: Is There Feminist Discourse Beyond The Veil?
WireTap: Moonshine and Rainbows: Queer, Young and Rural
Isak: What? Two Women Are Major News Anchors?
Ad Age: Creativity Knows No Gender, but Agency Creative Departments Sure Do
Dying for a Public Option: Specifically, Women
Tapped: Kennedy's legacy on abortion and disability.
Angry Asian Man: Nip/Tuck promo's super sexy asian sweatshop
Submit a feminist joke to Bitch, enter to win a copy of Randa Jarrar's A Map of Home.
Help out some researchers who are studying mothering and feminism by taking their survey.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
Pioneering photojournalist Mary Morris Lawrence (pictured above) died last week at age 95. At her request, the last line of her obituary reads: "In lieu of flowers, Mary would ask you to join the League of Women Voters, shop at Farmer Joes, write a letter to the editor, or break a glass ceiling!" (Which reminds me of this post by Amanda Marcotte, asking folks to "politicize" her death.)
As we mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a few relevant reads:
Katrina's Hidden Race War, The Nation
Waiting for Charity in New Orleans, The Root
Lunchtime Lessons from New Orleans, The American Prospect
Levees and lives: New Orleans four years after Hurricane Katrina, Global Comment
Remembering Hurricane Katrina, Feministe
On the struggle to reconcile Ted Kennedy's stellar public record with his far-less-than-stellar personal record. (See Kay Steiger and SarahMC.)
Rebecca Walker responds to Katie Roiphe's piece on feminism and motherhood.
Monica Roberts on Caster Semenya and the parameters of femininity.
How food stamps influence women's nutrition.
Women write about their experiences with infertility and pregnancy loss.
Glamour received an outpouring of letters after running a photo of a woman who wasn't super-skinny. Obviously women want to see more "real" bodies in magazines. Think Glamour will actually do something about that? Me, neither.
Asian American women are more likely than other Americans to think about and attempt suicide.
Support the campaign to remove the Gender Identity Disorder category from the international diagnosis manuals.
Listening to Latinas, a new report by the National Women's Law Center, "explores the causes of the dropout crisis for Latinas and identifies the actions needed to improve their graduation rates and get them ready for college."
Hamid Karzai was far ahead in the vote count after last week's Afghan election -- Alive in Afghanistan (via Spencer) has reports on low turnout, violence, ballot box-stuffing and other issues.
"Culture, Cognition, and Consent: Who Perceives What, and Why, in 'Acquaintance Rape' Cases."
Skepticism about marriage is a new, hot trend? I was WAY ahead of this one...
Cecile Richards asks, "Does anyone else see the irony in the U.S. bishops wanting to define universal health care as covering everything except for what they don't support?"
On the struggles of international LGBT couples.
The number of men who have been raped in Congo has taken a sharp upturn in recent months.
Maria Gunnoe fought the coal industry -- and won.
Post Bourgie questions interpretations of Mad Men as feminist-friendly. Plus, Melissa at Women & Hollywood looks at whether the women writers on the show are actually in positions of influence.
The rise of the Muslim woman's travel memoir.
Newsweek profiles Dr. Leroy Carhart, and spotlights what it's like to be one of the country's few remaining later-term abortion providers. Carhart on Tiller's killers: "We have to realize this isn't a difference of opinions. We need to fight back."
An interesting take on Mad Men from Michelle Dean: "I find it really problematic as a show to recommend to people who aren't feminists, or who aren't, at the very least, what I would call ready for a serious discussion of gender roles." Plus, a great post on Mad Men from Shark-Fu's sister, Crystal Merritt -- an ad woman herself!
Amber Rose poses for a series of photos for Complex that reference some notable photos of Grace Jones. And Naomi Campbell plays a wild African queen in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar. As Tami said on Twitter, "Will the black women=animal, exotic meme ever die?"
The New York Times surveys the state of women in combat. I think it downplays the ways in which the military's refusal to formally acknowledge women in combat roles has had negative repercussions for the women themselves. (It's hard to demand better services -- services in the field, PTSD and other health services at home, etc -- when, on paper, you're technically serving in a limited role.)
On the vitriol spewed at Harriette Harman and Hillary Clinton this summer.
A socially-conscious video-production class in Chicago created a video on rape culture "to spread awareness and get people thinking about how and why rape happens."
Colbert takes on hormone replacement therapy and Wyeth pharmaceuticals.
In an incredibly cruel review of the new JCPenney in Manhattan, the Times even manages to fat-shame the mannequins.
Jesse at Pandagon dismantles the "Whole Foods Health Care Plan."
Abortion coverage in health reform is getting a lot of press these days, but what about pregnancy coverage in our current health system? It's deplorable.
Sexual harassment is a crime of power, not passion, Latoya points out.
Can community gardens have an impact on crime rates?
Internet rumors say that Lady Gaga came out as intersex. Lisa at Questioning Transphobia says really, it's none of our business. Sady has more. (Plus a bonus comment from Gaga herself on gay culture.)
What are you reading/writing this week? Leave links in comments...
So no Weekly Feminist Reader this week - it will be back in full force next Sunday!
In the meantime, check out this must-read from Esquire, "The Last Abortion Doctor."
A gunman in Tel Aviv opened fire on a community meeting for LGBT teens.
Women's rights workers in Afghanistan call for more aid instead of more troops. Guess which one of those things Obama is sending?
The Massachusetts Dept of Public Health just released the results of a survey comparing the health of LGBT residents to hetero and non-trans residents. As Helen notes, is a pretty alarming gap between the health of trans people and cis people.
Bob Herbert weighs in on a question Shark-Fu has tackled in response to the Skip Gates arrest: When is anger productive?
Femininity and masculinity on So You Think You Can Dance.
There's a new report on how reproductive justice intersects with environmental justice.
Veronica celebrates her momoversary.
Paige Schilt at Bilerico has a moving post about truck stops (Yes -- truck stops! Read it.): "When I was a straight, white college student, I used to appreciate places like this as kitsch. That was before I traveled the U.S. with my ex--a gender non-conforming man of color, a non-citizen. Now I sense the undercurrent of violence. I can taste the ambient terror."
Apparently the White House garden is contaminated by a toxic sludge used as fertilizer during the Clinton administration.
A hundred immigrant detainees in Louisiana are on a hunger strike in protest of jail conditions.
On refugees, rape, and why we need an International Violence Against Women Act.
Kate Harding on Michael Pollan on home cookin': "[...] I still can't help thinking his penis is showing when he describes Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" -- which also debuted in 1963 -- as "the book that taught millions of American women to regard housework, cooking included, as drudgery, indeed as a form of oppression." Funny, I always thought Friedan became a feminist icon because she articulated what millions of women already felt, not because she brainwashed them into believing that repetitive, menial, unpaid labor might not be the best use of their talents." (Amanda has more.)
Examining the overwhelmingly negative lexicon for aging female bodies.
A robot model walked the runway in a fashion show in Japan. Apparently the standards for women's bodies are now so unrealistic that mere humans cannot meet them.
A full 87% of employer-based insurance policies cover abortion.
Veronica reviews a book on the history of the earliest female astronauts.
Why class matters in the Gates arrest.
In response to an article on women commandos protesting in Iran, Faith questions the need to make every story relate back to U.S. politics and policy.
Sarah at the Bitch Blog asks, "How Could $3 Million for Postpartum Research Hurt Women?"
What's the best way to respond to rape jokes?
Author Justine Larbalestier writes about how, despite the fact that the protagonist of her book is described as "black with nappy hair which she wears natural and short," the publisher insisted on putting a white woman on the cover.
This year at Comic Con, EA encouraged attendees to grope its "booth babes" -- promising attendees dinner with the "babes" if they took and published a photo of themselves sexually harassing the women. The F Word has more, as does PharaohKatt on the community blog.
This is just so sad and infuriating: An 8-year-old Liberian girl was shunned by her family after being raped by four older boys (who are also Liberian refugees) who lured her into a shed by promising her gum. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said of the girls' family, "They should help that child who has been traumatized." And of the boys, "They have to pay the penalty, but we also want to make sure that they are counseled ... that they will have an opportunity to change and become useful citizens, not only in the United States but when they return home." Renee has more.
The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver will have a house for LGBT athletes: "an inclusive hangout and social space for gay and nongay athletes."
A Hungarian company is holding a beauty pageant specifically for women who have had plastic surgery.
Jessica Hopper chats about The Girls Guide to Rocking.
On marketing Asian women to appeal to antifeminist men.
Daisy ruminates on Jewish masculinity.
Harassed on the street? Tweet the offending catcall to @catcalled.
How the world sees America differently in the Obama era. But, as Jesse Taylor points out, it should by no means be understood as a post-racial ear.
The fight to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell goes grassroots.
Tracey at Unapologetically Female notes a gendered-product trend from her childhood: Gameboy, Talkman, Walkman, Discman... (via)
Support Tami's Run for Congo Women!
What have you been reading/writing this week? Leave your links in comments!
Is Mattel's new black Barbie more "authentic"?
There's a pay gap in the White House between men and women -- as Matt points out, it's unfortunately a reflection of the wider world that women disproportionately hold lower-level jobs, but shouldn't these numbers look better considering over half of Democrats are women?
Kate Harding on today's NYT Magazine cover story about one man's lifelong struggle with bulimia.
Former GE CEO Jack Welch sez moms who take time off will never become CEOs. This quote is pretty astounding: "There's no such thing as work-life balance.There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences."
On Obama's speech to the NAACP and the "personal responsibility" narrative.
Bitch has a guide to the recent trend of gendered band names.
Pam Spaulding has a nice tribute to Walter Cronkite.
On the Sotomayor hearings and the myth that all people of color are "biased," while white people are "neutral."
TransGriot on how the experience of transitioning differs depending on your location.
Sociological Images has an interesting discussion of a video game in which the characters are all girls with disabilities.
Does living with a roommate of a different race really change college students' views?
On the pressing need to reform the detention industry.
A woman who gave birth to twins three years ago has died, at age 69. BeckySharper refutes the idea that this means we should deny reproductive rights to older women.
Nelson Mandela turned 91 yesterday.
More than Americans' short attention spans are to blame for the Iran story slipping out of the headlines.
Call for papers: for a new anthology on mothering and hip-hop culture.
Sponsor Cara or Frau Sally Benz in the 2009 Blogathon!
What have you been reading/writing this week?
A guide from the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund on how to cover the Lateisha Green trial next week.
Black nursing home residents receive worse care than white residents.
What do Ginsburg and Sotomayor have in common (besides the obvious)?
Ta-Nehisi Coates has a thought-provoking post on men, bodies, and responsibility.
On heterosexual men's role in HIV transmission.
Dahlia Lithwick analyzes the Palin phenomenon.
Fatemeh has penned a super-helpful list of dos and don'ts to keep in mind when coming to the defense of Muslim women.
How to have a thoughtful conversation about race on Twitter.
Latoya ruminates on sex and gender in vampire pop-culture.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
How the state can go wrong when it tries to "save" Muslim women.
Courtney warns, "Don't call it a he-cession."
Redefining "vagina music" as a positive thing.
Is impregnating a woman against her will a form of intimate-partner violence?
A really moving essay on Michael Jackson.
Did you know Rhode Island's official name is actually "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations"? There's now a push to remove the "Province Plantations" part by folks who say it is a reminder of slavery.
The complicated history between women in Iran and women in the West.
The growing backlash against evolutionary psychology.
In Missouri, "a husband who consents to his wife's insemination with donor semen is the father of the child she conceives" -- but that rule apparently does not apply to same-sex couples.
Megan on "the dichotomy between the ways we view women in the developed world and those in the developing world who chose to sell access to their bodies."
A great post by fillyjonk on women's bodies as allegories.
The Organization of American States approved a resolution protecting human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity.
An op-ed advocating women adopt the title "Ms." -- published in 1901!
Why LGBTQ and HIV-positive voices need to weigh in on the health care debate.
A studio exec claims "women don't go to movies."
"The modern LGBT-rights movement owes its existence to the heroes of Stonewall. And while much has been gained in the intervening decades, a certain crucial something has been lost."
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
Happy Father's Day! Read Barack Obama's essay on fatherhood in Parade, Tracy Clark-Flory on where feminism meets Father's Day, and a powerful piece on the U.S. deporting fathers.
Against Facebook's gender binary.
Tied Up in Tehran: A Metaphor
Terry O'Neill is the new president of NOW. Veronica has the details.
A Chicago gay bar bans bachelorette parties.
A magazine photoshops extra pounds onto Beth Ditto.
How can young women develop as leaders, given all of the competing negative stereotypes about women in the workplace?
"Um, why weren't people changing the color of their avatars after the Zimbabwe election?"
An update from the National Network of Abortion Funds organizing summit.
A gay postman in the UK won a lawsuit against his manager, who discriminated against him on the basis of his sexuality.
Shark-Fu on John Ensign's hypocritical violations of the "sanctity of marriage."
A shorter edition this week, as I am still recovering from our amazing 5-year anniversary bash on Friday night. (Pics and a recap to come...)
The big news today is the fallout from the election in Iran. I'm reading Laura Rozen's blog to stay up to speed. Also read Roja's posts on the community blog.
Sharon McIvor won her case against sex discrimination in Canada's Indian Act.
An Army sergeant is charged with juvenile sex-trafficking.
A great post from Carrie Brownstein about how Beth Ditto is described in the U.K. press: "But for how obsessed they are with Ditto, they aren't really talking about her music, or maybe it's that they can't. They can't, because they're always talking about her size and her weight."
Where are the girls in Pixar films?
Amanda Hess and Jess Wakeman take on Huffington Post's boob-tacular celeb coverage.
When it comes to gay rights, personal relationships deeply influence political beliefs.
How paid parental leave stacks up around the world.
Has Shakira found the right way to do celebrity activism?
What have you all been reading and writing this week?
Yesterday was Dr. George Tiller's funeral. For a moving tribute, read IAmDrTiller.com, which is "both a memorial to the lifework of Dr. George Tiller and as a living testimony to the courageous lives of abortion providers." Also, in response to the murder, the Dept. of Justice has reinstated the Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers. This is great news! But we still have a long way to go to ensure the safety of abortion providers.
The Catholic Church: homophobic AND fat-phobic.
Listen to this TED Talk with Mary Roach about orgasms. Fascinating!
In China, culture and policy have led to a scarcity of women -- who are increasingly treated as property.
What anti-choice hatespeech and anti-gay hatespeech have in common.
The U.S. House passed a bill granting paid leave to federal employees who are new parents. Time to push them to extend that protection to ALL working parents.
Evil Slutopia has an Anti-Sotomayor Stupidity Scorecard! And Veronica runs down Things You'll Never Hear About a Male SCOTUS Nominee.
How corporate mining interests are tied to epidemic levels of rape in eastern Congo.
New Jersey revised its rule for indicating gender on drivers licenses. But taking advantage of it will probably cost you.
The accidental shooting of a black police officer is a call to reexamine unconscious racial biases among police.
A judge in the trial for the murder of Lateisha Green, a trans woman who was killed in 2008, recently upheld the charge that this was a hate crime.
Are women catching up in the sciences?
A man used Craigslist to arrange to have his wife raped.
Awesome Indian feminist blog UItra Violet has a brand-new site, and some other exciting changes.
Radio shock-jocks in California made some truly reprehensible comments about transgender children. The hosts are still on the air, but advertisers are pulling out.
On The Girlfriend Experience, a new film about sex work.
Unsafe abortions are endangering women in Tanzania.
What have you all been reading and writing this week?
NY Times: A Judge's Own Story Highlights Her Mother's
What Tami Said: Sonia Sotomayor: How did she get in here? Or...The more things change; the more they stay the same
Think Progress: G. Gordon Liddy On Sotomayor: 'Let's Hope That The Key Conferences Aren't When She's Menstruating'
Feministe: Racism, Sexism and Sotomayor, in a few easy-to-read bullet points.
Post Bourgie: A word on empathy
F.R.I.D.A.: "On the Bench, With Fairness and Empathy"
Broadsheet: Sotomayor and abortion
RH Reality Check: Fair and Balanced: Weighing Sotomayor's Opinionse
Slate: Republicans won't beat Sonia Sotomayor by attacking her as too darn human.
Gender & Sexuality Law Blog: "Justice Sotomayor" - A View from Columbia Law School
What's the best thing you've read so far on Sotomayor's nomination?
Also, I know there's been a lot of non-Supreme Court news this week, too. What have you all been reading and writing?
Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia! This years focus is on combating transphobia and respecting gender identity. Read the appeal here (PDF) and sign it here. Also sign the petition to demand just treatment for trans people in NYPD custody.
France will no longer classify transsexuality as a mental illness. If you're in the Bay Area, there's a protest tomorrow (Monday, May 18) to push the American Psychiatric Association to do the same.
Feminist Scrabble fans, don't click this link! It's too depressing.
Girls in Afghanistan were poisoned for attempting to get an education.
Did you read the Malcolm Gladwell piece which prominently featured an anecdote about girls' basketball? Did you, like me, notice the weird racial comments? Post Bourgie breaks it down.
Is Hungry Girl the answer to Skinny Bitch? (At the very least, it sounds much better.)
There's a great series at Shakesville on one person's gender journey. Read Part I and Part II.
YO! (Youth Outlook) in the Bay Area interviewed high-schoolers about gender. Their comments are pretty fascinating.
Different takes on the whole "beauty pageant" concept.
A more in-depth take on the anti-women's studies lawsuit -- on why feminism is not a religion.
Alicia at Muslimah Media Watch has a great post on body image and eating disorders among Muslim women.
Bilerico Project: Genderqueer Mommy
Feministing Community: Dear Greeting Card Companies
The Nation: Michelle Obama, Mom-in-Chief
Womanist Musings: Mothers, Embrace the Insanity!
The Unapologetic Mexican: Happy Mother's Day! Feliz dia de la Madre!
Feminist Peace Network: In Honor Of The Missing Mothers
Slate: How to return Mother's Day to its original meaning
Bitch: Mother's Day, by the book
The Pursuit of Harpyness: We Don't Need a New June Cleaver
Science Progress: What My 91-Year-Old Mother Wants for Mother's Day (It's Health Care for All)
Jack & Jill Politics: Why Mother's Day is Special for African-Americans
The Kitchen Table: Motherhood and Loss
Slate: The Orphan Trade
New America Media: This Mother's Day, Let's Promise Her Equal Pay
Broadsheet: The funny thing about mothers
R.I.P., Bea Arthur.
The Dominican Republic passed a total abortion ban. Frau Sally Benz has been following abortion politics in the Dominican Republic, and has more.
Congres is again considering a federal hate crimes bill that applies to "crimes of violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability." And on a related note, Washington state now protects against hate crimes motivated by gender identity.
Sorry gals. Cosmo sez sports are for guys!
On Gaza's female-only police force.
Why is working in the home not considered a "real job"? (Oh, and CONGRATS to Renee!)
I had no idea that Rockstar energy drinks are owned by the hatemongering radio host Michael Savage and his son. (Thanks to reader curvyglo for the tip.)
An interview with gay-rights activist Rita Mae Brown.
Autumn Sandeen on what "justice" really means for Angie Zapata.
Blogging Against Disablism Day is May 1!
Why Title IX is about more than sports.
Listen to Jessica on this week's Liberal Oasis podcast. (mp3)
On whether what you call your partner -- partner/wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other -- has political ramifications.
Go read Hilzoy's post, "Why do they stay?," on women in violent relationships.
Monica Roberts on the term "passing" -- what it means in a gender sense, what it means in a racial sense, and why she'll be using the term "blending" from now on.
Sex workers in Ecuador are building a national labor network.
The Violence Against Women Act is 15 years old!
A police chief in Texas used a taser on his wife.
A recently released documentary on Cindy Sherman illustrates the misogyny still pervasive in the art world today.
Evil Slutopia on the repugnant posters present at the conservative "tea party" demonstrations.
How U.S. immigration policy disadvantages women.
Shark-Fu on Sarah Palin and reproductive choice.
An Illinois court says the governor can't force businesses to sell the morning-after pill.
Join the Amnesty campaign to stop violence against women in Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
Judith Warner on how anti-gay slurs became "the most potent and feared weapons in the school bully's arsenal."
Racist fetishes get their own iPhone app. (More from SarahMC.)
Bird of Paradox has coverage of the Angie Zapata murder trial. (As well as a catalog of previous posts on Zapata.)
Listen to the What Tami Said podcast, featuring AJ Plaid aka The Cruel Secretary, Monica of TrandsGriot and Renee of Womanist Musings, today at 4pm EDT.
How the right is fighting Obama's pro-choice nominees.
M.Dot wonders at Racialicious, "what if, instead of Rihanna it were Sasha or Malia Obama who was assaulted by their boyfriend? Malia is 11, and in 8 years she could be college student who is dating an R & B star."
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
Just the headlines today, folks...
The Curvature: Actual Rape Victim Jailed for "False Report"
FiveThirtyEight: Will Iowans Uphold Gay Marriage?
Feministe: Unions, Women and Fair Labor Practices: Why the Employee Free Choice Act is a Feminist Issue
Muslimah Media Watch: Hard Times in Gaza: the BBC looks at Domestic Violence in Gaza Strip
Jump Off The Bridge: I Hear It's Immigration Awareness Month... (on the Binghamton shooting)
McSweeney's: The Sexually Fluid Person's Guide to a Seamlessly Uneventful Coming Out.
Huffington Post: Israel: Women Photoshopped From Cabinet Picture To Cater To The Ultra-Orthodox (and a related post over at Sociological Images)
Pandagon: How anti-vaccination hysteria is about sex, accidentally helping Big Pharma---anything but science
The Guardian: Outcry in Pakistan after video of a 17-year-old girl's flogging by the Taliban is shown on TV
NPR:Women Pay The Price For Health Insurance
DREAM Activist: If you are gay and undocumented, you are NOT alone.
Democracy Now: A 21st Century Hooverville: Seattle's Homeless Population Builds "Nickelsville," a Tent City Named After the City's Mayor (Related: New America Media: Tarp Nation)
What About Our Daughters: CNN Covers Slaughter of Chiquita Tate:Black Woman Lawyer Stabbed 38 Times-Husband Suspect
Feminocracy: Goddamn R****ts! Excuse my French (on iTunes censoring the word "rapist")
And Lauren's got more links...
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
What Tami Said is doing a series of posts making sense of Obama's budget. First up, Housing and Urban Development.
Can this be real? Some sort of survey says more women would rather win America's Next Top Model than be awarded the Nobel Prize.
Alyssa Rosenberg reviews Joss Whedon's new show, Dollhouse.
Does your state take dating violence seriously?
Bilerico Project was recently shuttered by hacker attacks -- glad they're back up and running. As Lisa points out, this is something that's a constant problem for those of us who write consistently about women's rights and gay rights.
Renee tells you what you should know about disability.
An Indiana high schooler sued her school district for the right to wear a suit to the prom. (On a related note, see Miriam's post, "Black Tie Blues.")
New ads for a Schick pube-trimmer are... pretty awful. So in terms of anti-woman advertising metaphors, topiary trees are the new "not so fresh feeling"?
I am so sad Samhita and I missed GAYbiGAYGAY at South by Southwest! There's always next year...
The debate over choice in Brazil rages on. And Old Feminist catches a New York Times headline fail with regard to the 9-year-old rape case.
Nisha lists 25 ways to use your blog and social media to create change.
Jill has been doing some great liveblogging from WAM.
How history is repeating itself on gender and the economy.
Hoyden About Town has a roundup of feminist responses to a recent article in the Atlantic making the case against breastfeeding. Rachel's Tavern has more.
On police and transwomen of color. (TransGriot has a related post.)
Looks like there's been an uptick lately in right-wing vitriol directed at Michelle Obama.
Reading increasingly bleak news of the floods in North Dakota, Melissa Harris-Lacewell writes, "We are all residents of Fargo now."
Aunt Jemima's Revenge remembers historian John Hope Franklin
On buttons as a tool for spreading ideas... specifically, feminist ideas.
The Associated Press claims more women are turning to sex work as they lose other jobs.
A really interesting guest-post over at Sociological Images on how photo selection informs how we think about cultures other than our own.
What are you all reading/writing this week?
I'm caught in the SXSW whirlwind (about to attend a Cupcakes Take the Cake party!), so no WFR this week.
So consider this an open thread.... What have you been reading/writing this week?
Happy International Women's Day!
Go read coverage and commentary from Frau Sally Benz, Hoyden About Town, and Women's eNews. Our Bodies, Our Blog has a great roundup. And there's even more at the official IWD site. Plus, Renee has been doing an awesome series this week in which she interviews feminist/womanist bloggers in the run-up to IWD: Holly of Menstrual Poetry, Faith of Acts of Faith, Hexy of Hexpletive, Melissa of Shakesville, Loryn of Black Girl Blogging, Amanda of Pandagon, and Monica of TransGriot.
For the rest of the links, just the headlines today ...
Questioning Transphobia: Transphobic Assault Outside Washington, DC Bar
Jezebel: All Hail the Checkout Girl (via Lauren)
Found in Mom's Basement: 1971 ad for Republic steel wants to "talk women's liberation"
Aunt Jemima's Revenge: CNN Reporter Sean Callebs Plays at Living on Food Stamps for One Month
TAPPED: How the stimulus sells women short
Feministe: NYPD accused of raping intoxicated woman Kay Steiger: Who takes over for Sebelius? Michelle Obama Watch: British Paper Calls First Lady Obama "Lady Macbeth" Because They Didn't Like The Toys She Gave PM's KidsMSNBC: Ditch the doll? Lawmaker out to outlaw Barbie (Plus: Dodson & Ross: If Barbie Was a Real Woman)
Yes Means Yes Blog: What it doesn't mean (that Rihanna and Chris Brown are reportedly back together) Related: Shark-Fu has a caution about abuse.Obama has included the Medicaid family-planning provision (which, you'll recall, was stripped from the stimulus package) in his proposed budget. Good news all around!
The attacks on women in Bangalore have not stopped.
The new Health and Human Services head is... Kathleen Sebelius, formerly governor of Kansas. (More on Sebelius here and here.)
Emergen-C perpetuates the advertising trope of using a person of color to represent "flavor."
On Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and the church.
The Valentine's Day episode of This American Life featured a moving segment on transgender children. After reading several articles (of varying quality) on the lives of trans kids, there was something about listening to them directly that was really powerful.
Two women have become judges in Islamic courts in the West Bank.
Oh, the irony: Cosmo wonders why women are so quick to bare their boobs.
In Seattle, a 15-year-old girl was beaten by police while in detention. (Trigger warning.)
A new film is a fictionalized version of femicide in Juarez.
Will the stimulus package deliver much-needed economic help to Native Americans?
The Onion hilariously turns the young-Asian-woman fetish on its head.
Bitch has the goods on a new reality show, set at a British finishing school for girls.
The military honors the first all-African-American, all-female unit to serve overseas in World War II.
Rush Limbaugh tries to move up the misogyny ladder as a Nice Guy TM.
Belgin Celik, a transwoman, is running for office in Turkey.
Renee on homelessness, ownership, and dignity.
The mayor of Los Alamitos, CA actually made a "watermelons at the White House" joke. He has now said he's going to resign.
Is fascination with the exotic Other the same as the racism and the colonial conquest of yore?
Hilarious Antibreastfeeding Bingo.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not some passive, meaningless policy, as Megan points out.
The team that built the stimulus package featured no women.
A Texas sheriff is also a rapist.
Feminist Finance has thoughts on preparing for (and surviving) layoffs.
The Times reviews Joss Whedon's new series.
Zadie Smith on Obama and his appeal.
New York domestic workers rally around a bill of rights.
Who will Obama nominate for HHS secretary?
Scott Lemieux on the importance of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court -- for liberals in general and women in particular.
On skin-whitening ads in Hong Kong.
Mars is marketing a candy toward women with body-image problems and eating disorders.
Can female workers turn the economy around?
Monica Roberts is just not that into RuPaul.
Glamour calls for more openness about abortion.
PostBourgie asks how and why female rappers lost credibility. And Chuck D. has declared that "this year he will focus on promoting female artists, songwriters, and executives in the hip-hop scene."
Ta-Nehisi links to a friend's blog about her pitched battle against ovarian cancer, black gyrl cancer slayer. Check it out. Also, more on cancer, women, and politics at Echidne's place.
Talk about being a fighter: The Times profiles 18-year-old boxer Cheryl Ziegler, a single mother from the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
How the victims in the CIA rape case were portrayed in the media.
There's a new (animated) Wonder Woman movie!
Felix Salmon defends Suze Orman.
The National Review thinks poor people and victims of domestic violence have no affect whatsoever on the economy.
What if the stimulus included the formerly incarcerated?
Kjerstin at Bitch writes about the very young parents in Britain, and what the news coverage says about acceptable parenting.
BeckySharper tells her story of loving her boyfriend's young daughter -- and yet wanting a daughter of her own. (Ok, that's kind of a silly summary, but go read her post.)
Diary of an Anxious Black woman writes about Chris Brown, Rihanna, and stereotypes, looking through the lens of black literature.
Bil at the Bilerico Project spotted some seriously offensive, racist advertising.
A history of menstrual activism, via Our Bodies, Our Blog.
Muhktar Mai is still waiting for justice.
Get Involved
Check out the Tell It WOC Speak blog carnival, posted today.
Get on board with the Prevention First Act!
Support the Uniting American Families Act for immigration equality.
Just the headlines today, folks:
New York Times: Till Children Do Us Part
Zuky: Ongoing Echoes from the Women of the Long House
Muslimah Media Watch: Hope from Whom and for Whom? Palestine as a Muslim Cause
Feministe: Woman Set on Fire Outside Strip Club
Awesome & Fabulous: "The Last Bastion of Acceptable Sexism"
Salon: The great girl gross-out
Nicholas Kristof: The Senate discovers women
What About Our Daughters: Dear Jonesboro Dance Team, You Are Not Sluts
Sarah Haskins does the Super Bowl shuffle.
After divorce, men's incomes increase while women's decrease.
Gazan women tell their stories.
A group of women in Mangalore, India were attacked for simply being out in public "indecently dressed." Jill has video, and Ultra Violet has a powerful open letter to the local government.
Kenya's transgender community has recently faced several human rights violations.
Veronica started a new natural hair blog, for chemical- and color-free ladies. Her intro post is here.
Harriet's Daughter adds an inauguration caveat: No, not everything has changed. (Yup, that racial barrier is still there...)
The good news about women and children in the economic stimulus package.
Jean-Paul Gaultier used a 51-year-old fashion model in his recent runway show. Fashion models "are not just 14-year-olds," Mr. Gaultier said later. "There are no [age] barriers to beauty."
A woman in the UK had a friend paint her portrait after she had a mastectomy, and the portrait is now being shown in the Louvre.
Cara posted a great video of Andrea Gibson on "living in our stupidly gender-obsessed culture when you present your gender ambiguously."
The glass ceiling in politics, writes Jamelle, is created by "barriers of perception, entry and access rather than barriers to electoral achievement. Which means, to me at least, that we should spend less time kvetching about Caroline Kennedy, and more time doing the difficult work of recruiting more women candidates, and encouraging women's political ambition.
In areas with longer average commutes, married women are less likely to participate in the workforce.
"Push is the story of Precious Jones, an obese and illiterate teen whose mother and father are sexually, physically, and emotionally abusing her." It won accolades at Sundance, and is currently looking for a distributor.
Ashlee Simpson smacks down the media for criticizing her sister's body.
When it comes to enjoying pop culture that contradicts your personal beliefs, Tami asks, "What I want to know is : Where's your line? I mean, what separates the offensive comedy you abhor and that you tolerate and find hilarious? What criteria does a slightly sexist song have to pass to make it on to your iPod?"
Connecting the dots between climate change and unsafe working conditions for women.
Debating what the Palin phenomenon says about feminism.
Sara at F-Words is (understandably!) skeptical about MTV's ability to execute a new version of How's Your News?, a show produced by people with developmental disabilities.
Juliana at Bitch reviews Tool Academy, a VH1 show in which "women drag their truly terrible boyfriends through a relationship boot camp in hopes of turning them into nice guys."
How can The New York Times simultaneously debunk and reinforce the crack-baby myth?
I concur with MzBitca's take on Nadya Suleman, who just gave birth to octuplets. That this was her choice and she seems very happy, so that's that. (Rachel at Rachel's Tavern offers a different view.)
TransGriot on black LGBT history.
Get Involved
A reminder: Check out our calendar for upcoming events (and add events that you hear of)!
Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium: Registration and Call for Abstracts
Submit to the Down Under Feminists Carnival.
Encourage a young woman you know to apply for Running Start Young Women's Political Leadership Program for High School Girls.
As always, leave additional links in comments!
What a week! Obama does away with the Global Gag Rule and announces plans to do the same for Gitmo. Isn't winning elections fun??
Roe v. Wade was decided 36 years ago. Jamelle writes, "I'm not terribly interested in living in a world where women die for the "crime" of trying to control their own futures." earlgreyrooibos asks Obama to make contraception and sex education more accessible. Cara on how abortion intersects with the issue of sexual violence. Over at her place, Shark-Fu writes, "The existence of Roe v Wade doesn't automatically make pro-choice activists out of everyone. It does, however, give those of us who do give a damn something to fight for...to build on...and to defend." PLUS, Our Bodies, Our Blog has a link roundup, and Broadsheet has Obama's statement.
MADRE has a 12 month plan "to address massive medical and humanitarian crisis left by invasion."
Sybil at BitchPhD asks why we gender-segregate film awards. (Also see the Friday Feminist Fuck You I did on this topic...) via PostBourgie. Plus, Tammy Oler at Bitch on the Academy Award nominations.
On women entrepreneurs in Rwanda. (video)
Will Michelle Obama, in her role as first lady, push for a new national work/family policy?
Renee has some data on the issue priorities of LGBT folks, and writes, "just like any other social grouping in the GLBT community, whiteness seeks to lead and make its issues primarily the focus for organizing."
The latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up at abyss2hope.
Yes, domestic violence is a human-rights violation.
Sasha and Malia Obama are already being commodified. (More at Sociological Images and What Tami Said.)
On the awful new ABC show, Homeland Security, USA.
Sarah Haskins takes on Ann Curry.
Tami is worried about what Chris Rock is going to say about hair.
Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Kay Yow has died.
Muslimah Media Watch on single mothers in Morocco.
Kay Steiger infiltrated an anti-choice "personhood" conference.
Carlin Ross asks, "Is it possible that one legacy of this recession is that women become a majority of the work force for the first time in American history?"
Take it from the abstinence-only clown: sex is just as dangerous as juggling machetes.
Watch "I Am Sean Bell: black boys speak."
Get Involved
We've got a new events calendar! So I'll no longer be listing upcoming events in this space. However, I'll continue to post online actions, calls for submissions, etc.
The Break the Silence project is looking for your creative submissions (art/music/writing) on silence and sexual violence. Submission deadline is March 15.
Submit to the new Tell It WOC Speak blog carnival, started by Renee of Womanist Musings. Click here to submit a link!
I've had a busy weekend here in DC -- the whole city is abuzz in anticipation of the inauguration on Tuesday. Plus, some sort of internet hiccup managed to swallow my working version of today's links.
So forgive my laziness, and consider this an open thread. What have you all been reading and writing this week? Leave your links in comments.
Just the headlines today, folks.
Sociological Images: Crossing Gender Lines: Boys Doing Double Dutch
Washington Post: Hollywood Wedded to The Formula: Bridal Films Ply the Same Scary Image
The Well-Timed Period: Increase in U.S. Teen birth Rate Due to Failure of Contraceptive-Focused Sex Ed
Questioning Transphobia: The Pope and teh trans
Womanist Musings: Sex Slavery
Dodson and Ross: At Birth, No Difference Between Male & Female Brains
Women's eNews: Casualties Replace Gaza's Maternity Ward Patients
BBC: Pakistan girl band creates a stir
The G Spot: In support of a feminist stimulus
Related: Robert Reich on How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers
RHRealityCheck: Innovative Thinking In The Fight Against Gendered Violence
The Bilerico Project: Let's move beyond "marriage" in '09
Broadsheet: How the Madoff mess hits women
Muslimah Media Watch: Aliyah's Choice: The LA Times' Profile of a Lesbian Muslim
The Atlantic: American Girl (Ta-Nehisi Coates on Michelle Obama)
Yes Means Yes: Prop 8 Was A Matter Of Ideology, Not Race
The Black Scientist: Queering Black Politics: Reconsidering the Black Single Mother Argument (via PostBourgie)
Jezebel: Bobby Jindal Seeks To Stave Off Another Hurricane By Eliminating Gay Rights
Womanist Musings: When You Force Oral Sex You Might Get Bitten
Don't Gel Too Soon: Doubt - More than a Movie -- Also a Time Capsule
The Bilerico Project: A1 steak sauce: Sexism is that important
TransGriot: Why Some Black GLBT Peeps Hate the 'Q' Word
Finally, I'm sorry, but this is just hilarious.
Actions and Events
Chicago, IL: Catch a screening of Pray the Devil Back to Hell and a panel discussion on Wed, Jan 14.
Call for Submissions: An anthology about doulas.
Send a message to Obama on Darfur.
Cool photo project: What Does Feminism Mean to You?
I'm back after a nice, refreshing, internet-free vacation, so some of these links may be a bit old. Bear with me! And, as always, leave your own links in comments...
The Israeli attacks on Gaza continue, and civilians are suffering. "We were sleeping. Suddenly we heard a bomb. We woke up and we didn't know where to go. We couldn't see through the dust. We called to each other. We thought our house had been hit, not the street. What can I say? You saw it with your own eyes. What is our guilt? Are we terrorists? I don't carry a gun, neither does my girl." More on Gaza from Israelity Bites, Bitch, Feministe, Muslimah Media Watch, and our archives.
The city of San Francisco is challenging insurance companies that charge women more for health coverage.
The Boston Globe blames girls for boys' violent behavior.
Remembering Latina feminist poet, author, performer, polio survivor and disability educator, Maria R. Palacios.
What Wall Street's gender gap may have to do with the financial crisis.
On the rise in dating violence, and what we should be doing about it.
Nancy Goldstein argues that Milk sanitizes the struggle for gay rights.
A woman launches a sex discrimination and harassment lawsuit against the Halifax Bank of Scotland.
The results of a YWCA survey on what women want from the Obama administration.
One health-care reform that isn't often presented? Rely more on midwives.
Indonesia recently passed so-called "anti-porn" legislation which also bans revealing clothing, censors literature, and further curtails gay rights.
Another transwoman, Lenneshia Edwards, was murdered in Tennessee. Questioning Transphobia has an action alert.
Should the first lady get paid for her work?
Some people still refer to female college students as "coeds"?
The Nation has a stomach-turning investigative report on how white residents of New Orleans attacked black residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Color of Change has an action alert.
The real-life ramifications of the ridiculous portrayals of relationships in romantic comedies.
Check out the latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence.
Our Bodies, Our Blog names Women's Health Heroes of 2008.
Actions and Events
Sign the petition asking Obama to ensure his job-creation efforts include non-male-dominated industries.
A project for the new year: Call your local pharmacies and ask if they dispense emergency contraception.
Register to attend the WAM! (Women, Action and Media) conference in March!
Just the headlines today...
bastard.logic: Gaza Blockade Forces Citizens to Eat Grass for Survival
Feministe: NPR Backs Out of Interview with Abortion Provider
Jack and Jill Politics: The Malia and Sasha Effect
Bilerico Project: Agnes Scott College: Lesbians until graduation?
Washington Post: 'This Is the Destiny of Girls' Across Much of South Asia, a Daughter's Life Is Circumscribed By Tradition and Poverty. But for Some, the Dreams Die Slower.
Bitch Blog: Calling all Female Hacks: Please Direct More Movies
Sociological Images: Alcohol as a tool in the dating game
Lusaka Times: It can happen to you This story is dedicated to baby M who died on 11th November 2008 in D block UTH, Lusaka Zambia as a consequence of the power failure that occurred shortly after midnight.
New York Times: The Green Power Broker (Majora Carter)
TransGriot: Why I Can't Stand The 'Gay Is The New Black' Slogan
Michelle Obama Watch: Let Michelle Obama's real self shine
Unfogged: Obama and the glass cliff
The Independent: Police investigate MP's anti-gay remarks
The American Prospect: Feminist Media in a Time of Economic Trouble
Feminocracy: England to Begin Non-Prescription Birth Control Pilot Program
Muslimah Media Watch: Princess Hijab
Womanist Musings: Michelle Obama: Hair and the Politics of Submission
Women's eNews: Kenya's Rape Probe Falters After Lawyers Drop Out
Bitch Blog: Urban Outfitters Pulls Support Tee
Hoyden About Town: The impossible beauty of Jessica Alba
Feministe: No words (on an anti-Latino hate crime in Brooklyn)
Yes Means Yes Blog: Dear Ann Arbor Police, Sgt. Richard Kinsey, University of Michigan and Yaron Eliav: Are you kidding me?
Take Action: Help save Portland feminist bookstore In Other Words.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
New York judges can no longer bar people from changing their name to one that matches "the other gender."
Obama will reportedly push for ratification of the women's equal-rights treaty known as CEDAW, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Check out Sociological Images' series of posts on people of color in advertising.
On the high rate of cervical cancer in Nicaragua.
New media: Gawker lays off its lone female employee. Old media: Meet the Press will again be hosted by... a white dude. Totally shocking.
In Maine, the Senate president, House speaker, and attorney general are all women.
The Vatican still considers gay people criminals.
Shark-Fu on the conservative definition of "life" and "family."
Jessica Yee on native youth and the power and importance of native land.
Who was overlooked in the '100 Greatest Movie Characters' list? Women.
Obama's speechwriter and the "boys will be boys" defense of sexism.
Krista at Muslimah Media Watch on a truly bizarre fundraiser for Afghan women: the wine-bottle burqa. Just... wow.
How the child marriage rate in Nigeria relates to the prevalence of obstetric fistula.
Our hearts go out to all those affected by the attacks in Mumbai. Bastard.logic has a list of resources.
Cecelia at Ojibway Migisi Bineshii gives her view of Thanksgiving, and Renee asks, "what are we really giving thanks for?"
Nezua on men who don the traditional costume of Zapotec women in southern Mexico, and constructions of Mexican masculinity.
The situation in Gaza has gotten really bad.
Shark-Fu on Nebraska's safe haven law, which allows parents to drop off children of any age, not just infants.
Horrible news: Jdimytai Damour, a Long Island Wal-Mart employee, was trampled to death on Friday. As Matt says, "Talk about a great reason to celebrate Buy Nothing Day."
Is the New York State senate backing away from its pledge to enact same-sex marriage rights?
Edith Kent, the first woman to receive equal pay in Britain, turned 100.
On anti-domestic violence programs that meet victims where they're comfortable.
Obama will reportedly wait until 2010 to remedy the fact that gay Americans cannot serve openly in the military. Dana Goldstein has more.
Toni Morrison talks to the Times about her new book.
Roy on a new twist on shaming women's bodies. More at Sociological Images.
Conservatives are freaking out because Planned Parenthood in Indiana is offering gift certificates. Granted, a pap smear is not the most exciting Christmas gift I can think of, but it sure is practical. Oh, wait -- you mean they're claiming these are going to be used for abortions? As if that's all Planned Parenthood does? I'm shocked.
Just the headlines today, folks...
Proposition 8, The Mormon Coming Out Party: While the LDS Church's leadership role in the passage of Proposition 8 may have been a surprising new direction for observers here in the United States, the Church has been instrumental in the organization of a world-spanning alliance of right-wing Christians and Muslims.
Overthinking It: Why Twilight Will Be a Great Achievement for Women
Stereohyped: England's Black Women Overcome Pay Gap
The rise and fall of Rachida Dati: Born to a poor immigrant Muslim family, France's justice minister has had an astonishing political ascent, appearing in glamorous magazine shoots and holidaying with the Sarkozys. But now pregnant with a child whose father she refuses to name, and facing a rebellion by the country's judges over her 'incoherent policies', her future looks uncertain.
AutismVox: Girls and Getting a Diagnosis
Kay Steiger: Congresswoman Pregnant! (Psst. She's Not Married)
The "Bitch" and the "Ditz": How the Year of the Woman reinforced the two most pernicious sexist stereotypes and actually set women back.
Feministe: Tom Daschle for HHS Secretary?
Economy Hitting Women Hardest, Say Experts
Kristen Bell's victim vow: The actress says she will consider any type of film offer she is given, but has ruled out ever playing the part of a repressed character.
Writes Like She Talks: Secret to NH State Senate female majority: it doesn't pay
Kay Steiger: Wanted: Geekettes
Muslimah Media Watch:How to Use a Murder Victim: The Exploitation of the Aqsa Parvez Tragedy
Domestic violence: Your coworker's dark secret: The topic is taboo in most of corporate America. But the workplace is often central to the struggle - as sanctuary, source of income, and sometimes crime scene.
Stereohyped: Few Black Mastectomy Patients Opt for Reconstruction
Local Church Starts "Embryo Adoption" Service: "Embryos are not simply human material to be used for medical experimentation, vaccine cultivation, or trash to be discarded."
Counseling on alcohol key to teens' sexual health
Job Segregation as a Cause of the Wage Gap Between Men and Women
Chicks Rock: Musings of a Latina Immigrant
Questioning Transphobia: After Duanna Johnson: What Next?
abyss2hope: Colleges Can No Longer Impose Gag Orders On Rape Victims
Post Bourgie: 'Be Like Barack and Michelle. Get Married.' And on a related note, go read Ta-Nehisi on why he and his partner chose not to marry.
Events
Washington, DC: Chicana art exhibit at the AFL-CIO, Nov. 19, 2008-May 31, 2009
Goshen, MA: ROCKRGRL Day at the Institute for Musical Arts on Saturday, December 6, 2008
Boston, MA: Be the Media! Mini-Conference 2008 on Wednesday, December 3
New York, NY: Eve Ensler Presents Offensive Women: Talk is Dangerous! on December 5 and 6
Missoula, MT: Off the Rack: A Baring and Daring Fashion Show to benefit for Blue Mountain Clinic and UM Students for Choice on February 7, 2009. Deadline to submit wearable art for the show is Friday January 16, 2009.
There's a new in-depth report on the Global Gender Gap (PDF).
The U.S. named the first female four-star General, Ann E. Dunwoody.
Audio: New America Media on the glass ceiling for Asian American women.
The latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up now at abyss2hope.
Rachel Setzer on why we still need an ERA.
Aimee Wilcoxson, a transwoman from Aurora, CO, was found dead in her apartment. Police say it's suicide, but her friends and family say she was murdered.
The Women's Appointments Project, which pressures incoming presidents to appoint women to high-level positions, is running out of cash.
Rebecca Traister on the mom-ification of Michelle Obama. Gina MacCauley's alternate take.
Die-hard Beatles fan Cara lists the top (bottom?) five anti-feminist Beatles songs.
A sex-trafficking group operating out of the UK and Thailand has been broken up.
How not to make the case for organ donation.
Single mothers' college attendance has dropped.
My review of Jeanne Flavin's Our Bodies, Our Crimes and Carol Gilligan and David A.J. Richards's The Deepening Darkness is up at Bookforum.
Girls in Afghanistan are staying home from school after a series of brutal acid attacks.
Check out the National Women's Law Center's Platform for Progress, which "offers concrete proposals and outlines steps that should be taken by the new Congress and Administration in the areas of education, employment, basic economic security, health, and legal rights."
A Pakistani 17-year-old, Taslim Solangi, "was forced to give birth, and the baby was thrown into a canal. Taslim was then put in front of dogs to be mauled, and subsequently shot dead." Female senators in Pakistan staged a walkout to demand better protections for women.
Another reminder that new media isn't much better than old media when it comes to women's bylines.
A woman was banned from British department store Marks and Spencer after she pulled an emergency bell because her wheelchair was stuck in a bathroom. The store deemed her a "health and safety hazard"?!! WTF.
The U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs has new shelters and outreach efforts for homeless female vets.
Jessica Yee on Barack Obama and the Native vote.
Actions
A fund has been set up to help cover Duanna Johnson's funeral expenses. Jack at Angry Brown Butch suggests that folks match the donation they made to No on 8.
Tell the Bush administration -- again -- not to implement that HHS rule protecting employees who want to exercise their antichoice beliefs.
Call for submissions: The Body as a Site of Discrimination - A Multidisciplinary, Multimedia Online Journal.
Events
New York, NY: Paradigm Shift: A discussion of feminism and motherhood with Amy Richards on Nov. 19.
New York, NY: Toward a Greater Understanding: Transgender Identity and the Jewish Community on Nov. 25. More info here.
Portland, OR: Susie Bright speaks on the Sexual State of the Union on Nov. 18.
Washington, DC: Feministing/Racialicious happy hour on Nov. 18!
We rejected smears and race-baiting and Muslim-baiting and desperation. We rejected so much history and so many rules that have bound us to the way things have been and are supposed to be. We rejected fear. Most importantly, we rejected fear.
Despite the beliefs of certain cable-news talking heads, white privilege is, uh, still around.
Latoya rounds up some good links on the Prop 8 fallout.
New Hampshire just became the first state to have a majority of women in the legislature!
Veronica Arreola on Larry Summers topping the short-list for Treasury secretary under Obama. (Jill has more.)
Eliot Spitzer escapes prosecution for his involvement in a prostitution ring. (More thoughts from Bianca on the community blog, and from Figleaf.)
Echidne makes the case for why First Lady should be a paid job. Gina at Michelle Obama Watch has some related thoughts, and Dana also adds her two cents.
A voting-rights movement for the mentally ill is gaining ground.
One man's experience with taking his wife's last name. (via Renee)
Well-known anti-immigrant Sheriff (and all-around asshole) Joe Arpaio caused an incarcerated woman to lose her baby.
Just two days before the election, every single guest on the Sunday political talk shows is a man.
The first female judge was appointed to a Palestinian religious court.
We've discussed Biden and the Violence Against Women Act before, but RH Reality Check has more on his efforts to pass an International VAWA.
On a related note, men's rights groups are upset about a series of anti-domestic-violence ads in Dallas.
Check out and submit to the Transgender Carnival, which now has a permanent website home.
Women with disabilities are more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence.
As series of anti-domestic violence ads in Dallas have the men's rights crowd all riled up.
Rebecca Traister on women in nightly news.
JC Penney apparently doesn't do "black hair." WTF?!
Kay has a historical perspective on same-sex marriage.
A mailer from Bed, Bath and Beyond essentially promotes eating disorders.
Boston Magazine has a long feature about the lives of teenage girls in Gloucester, MA, and goes beyond the "pregnancy pact" label affixed by the media. (via)
I'm not sure how to reconcile the news that the Democratic party is running a high number of anti-choice candidates this year with the news that pro-choice messaging is also prevalent in this election...
Obama goes on the record against Prop 8 in California.
Jill has even more links.
Actions and Events
Take the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's discrimination survey.
Nov. 14: Feminism and bioethics conference in New York.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
Jezebel: Teen Moms Displeased At Double Standard Glorifying Bristol Palin & Jamie Lynn Spears
Genevieve at UneFemmePlusCourageuse catalogs the pro-rape "flair" on Facebook. (Via)
There have been a series of attacks on gay and trans students at Washington State University. (Via)
Sara calls out Palin for giving domestic terrorists a pass.
Fatemeh wrote An Open Letter to White Non-Muslim Western Feminists.
Chicago Defender: "Domestic Violence Hits Black Women Harder"
Mable F. Yee: How Can 30+ Million Women Be Invisible? (Also see Celina's interview with Mable.)
Religion Dispatches: A Woman Leads Muslim Prayer in Britain For the First Time
A new anti-rape campaign in Scotland takes on the "she was asking for it because..." excuse.
Actions and Events
Oct. 29: Attention bloggers! Participate in Write to Marry day to oppose Prop 8.
Oct. 30: Be Bold, Wear Red to protest violence against women of color. (Cara has more.)
Oct. 31 - April 5: Brooklyn Museum exhibition: Burning Down the House: Building a Feminist Art Collection
What else have you all been reading/writing this week? Leave links in comments...
There's a new documentary out about women and creativity.
Lynda Carter says Palin is no Wonder Woman.
A school bars males students from wearing makeup. (File under: Patriarchy hurts men, too.)
Yesterday was Coming Out Day! The Bilerico Project has a great series of coming-out posts. And Wanda Sykes has a great little ad on why saying "that's so gay" is insulting.
Nezua on politicians "microtargeting" Latino voters, while at the same time neglecting the big picture: "And as if the fluffed-up bios are somehow a substitute for staking out a position and promising action on issues integral to community and family and the health of children, such as immigration? Feel the pride."
The NYT profiles Queen Latifah.
Asylum for women fleeing domestic violence is in jeopardy.
Palin Sexism Watch: Lipliner edition. (Ditto for hairstyles.)
Carmen wrote an open letter to white voters.
What happens if the anti-choice ballot initiatives pass in South Dakota and Colorado?
"Hair and makeup is killing female hip-hop," says a source. "The grooming cost to break a female rapper versus a male rapper is 10 times as much per appearance. That tends to have an adverse effect on a record company's willingness to even entertain a female rapper."
More "isn't breast cancer sexy?" advertising.
On the invisibility of Muslim women.
MzBitca has an interesting post on "feminist dealbreakers" -- exploring the question of how we discuss feminist statements and actions coming from a person who hasn't historically been a feminist or ally.
Chicago is considering opening a gay-friendly high school.
Check out the Black Masculinity Project. And ?uestlove's thoughts on the daily life of a large black man.
On Michelle Obama's hair. (Shark-Fu has more.)
Actions
Participate in a survey about street harassment.
The Native American Task Force of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families needs your donation to help mobilize Native American communities against the proposed abortion ban. (Link leads to a few other events and actions as well!)
Events
Chicago, IL: Free screening of Quinceanera. Monday 10/13.
NYC: This Is What Women Want Pre-Debate Speakout! Tuesday 10/14 in Long Island City, Queens. Free! Featuring Kate Bornstein, Kety Esquivel, Shelby Knox, Maegan "la Mala" Ortiz, Betsy Reed, Amy Richards, Luz Rodriguez, Deborah Siegel, Carmen Van Kerkhove and others.
A new study looked at workplace-transition experiences of transgender people "to provide new insights into the long-standing question of what role gender plays in shaping workplace outcomes."
Congress is considering the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and has a chance to really improve this legislation. And on a related note, a new report shows major gaps in sex-trafficking enforcement.
Australia's new governor-general -- who happens to be a woman -- has been denied access to some of the country's most exclusive clubs, because of her gender.
Equal pay? Not yet. But at least we're gaining ground in other important areas. (Sarcasm, people, sarcasm.)
An Alburquerque high-school yearbook staff has pissed off some Christian conservatives by daring to acknowledge that gay students attend their school. For real, the headline reads, "Clovis High School Yearbook Features Gays." Who do these gay students think they are, wanted to be included in their school yearbook?
A great op-ed from the Baltimore Sun: "What do families of children with disabilities need from the next president? Not just a 'friend' in the White House but a willingness to pay for services they need"
Low-income women continue to lose ground, while Wall Street gets a bailout.
The 65th Carnival of Feminists!
Lots of action items and events this week! So be sure to read to the end...
Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez on Latinas and Palin. And Michelle Goldberg on Alaskan women and Palin.
A judge in Texas sentenced a woman to not having children as a condition of her probation. Yeah, that's not constitutional.
What Katy Perry and Sarah Palin have in common.
"Nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007."
Lauren has a wish list for young parents, up at RH Reality Check.
Now that this season of America's Next Top Model is underway, Monica Roberts and Lisa at Questioning Transphobia check in on the coverage of Isis, the show's first transgender contestant.
Rachel Maddow's new show on MSNBC is rocking in the ratings.
A proposed sculpture in West Virginia would honor female veterans.
On why it's totally ridiculous that John McCain supports both abstinence-only education and the global gag rule.
A Hollaback victory!
African American voter registration has surged.
One sexologist's personal experience with hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Quick note: I don't have much time today, so I'm just posting headlines and links without commentary... They're in no particular order, but I numbered the links for your commenting convenience.
1. Shakesville: Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #82
2. ABA Journal: Being a Lawyer and Male Makes You a Top Earner, Census Report Shows
3. Womens eNews: Two Views on Sarah Palin and Women of Color
4. MSNBC: Honor killings persist in 'man's world'
5. Rinku Sen with Fekkak Mamdouh: The Accidental American
6. YouTube: Planned Parenthood Action Fund, "Sexual Abuse" election ad
7. Katha Pollitt, The Nation: Lipstick on a Wing Nut
8. Zuky: Foreign Exchange -- Global Summit of Women
9. Huffington Post: New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams
10. Guanabee: Jessica Alba Sells Suffrage, Self
So many Sarah Palin links... Fact-checking Palin's RNC speech. Will Palin be the first woman president? Who pays for Palin's child care? Polling shows women aren't buying the McCain-Palin ticket -- they're more skeptical of Palin than men are. Palin's first photograph at the RNC was with the political wives. Phyllis Schlafly uses Palin as an excuse to spew more bile. And Kate Sheppard looks at Palin's environmental record.
Bloggers are posting tomorrow on community organizing, setting the record straight about why "community organizer" is NOT a derogatory term.
Vanity Fair does the math on Cindy McCain's RNC attire. And on a related note, Robin Givhan (she of the "Hillary's cleavage" coverage) defends writing about clothes in a political context.
On the parties' changing stances on abortion. And Habladora asks if the parties are really moving to the right on this issue.
CNN runs a classic "career girl" article that reads as if it were published in the 1950s: "...wives rated their marital quality as higher when husbands were the primary earners." Ugh. ... AND then follows it up with an article that actually asks if catcalling is a compliment. They're on a roll, clearly.
The EU Parliament decries sexist advertising.
A truly tasteless spread in Vogue India featured impoverished Indians wearing outrageously expensive fashion items.
On Facebook's gender-targeted ads.
Remembering Doris Gibson, who founded Peru's first newsmagazine.
Check out Science Debate 2008, where they asked the presidential candidates to answer 14 science questions.
Syndicated radio host Jim Quinn referred to NOW as the "National Organization for Whores." And radio host Mark Levin called NOW the "National Organization of Ugly Women." Stay classy, conservative talk radio.
Actions and Events
Sign up to host a house party for Bitch magazine!
A kicker was booted from a high-school football team in Georgia because of her gender.
A Pakistani senator defends the fact that women were buried alive in his district as "tribal custom."
Monica Roberts has video interviews with Isis, the first trans contestant on Top Model.
MzBitca has a plea: leave Amy Winehouse alone!
A clearly innovative and forward-thinking family counselor goes on Oprah to tell women it's their fault if their husbands cheat.
Broadsheet discusses a new blog, called What to Expect When You're Aborting.
Katie Couric on how her nightly news hosting gig has been difficult.
In These Times on why soldiers rape. And Col. Ann Wright has another piece on the possible cover-ups related to two female soldiers' suicides.
Lotsa links this week...
On the increased prominence of women at this year's Democratic National Convention. And Rev. Irene Monroe at the Bilerico Report examines where the fissures could lie in the Feminists for Obama contingent.
A chat with "men's rights pioneer" Roy Den Hollander.
The U.S. women's basketball team takes Olympic gold.
How marriage equality in California affects the entire country.
Surprise! Women are having "underground" abortions.
Kate at Broadsheet highlights this awesome Missouri 7th-grader, who got in trouble at school after dying her hair pink in her father's memory.
Big news that was eclipsed by Obama's VP announcement: Bush has agreed to pull combat troops out of Iraq by June.
A Kentucky judge jailed a woman for wearing "short shorts." Renee responds, "This is slut shaming at its finest."
Amber at FRIDA considers the real lives of girls with disabilities.
A feminist rock critic reading list. (via Jessica Hopper)
Bill Kristol, Gold-Star Feminist. (HA!)
Womens eNews on the lives of Iraqi women who have fled to Damascus.
Go read Black Canseco's eloquent post at Racialicious about the racial gap in coverage of missing or murdered kids.
Bloggingheads.tv has a conversation about wearing hijab and definitions of modesty.
Melissa at Shakesville on the power of getting personal in blogging.
It's carnival time: There is a new Carnival Against Sexual Violence up, as is the new Carnival of Feminists.
A transgender delegate to the DNC has some comments on the Democratic platform as it pertains to trans rights. (via Monica Roberts.) Plus, Linda Hirshman on the DNC platform change about choice, and reclaiming the morality of abortion. More from Digby.
The New York Times discovered that ladies like the internet! What a scoop!
A new poll from the National Women's Law Center shows women feel they are falling behind economically. And go read Lauren on low-wage workers.
Sorry this is a bit late today, folks...
Four women who were sentenced to die by stoning in Iran have had their sentences commuted... but that doesn't mean this issue should fade from the headlines.
Angry Black Bitch is pissed about stupid election-related polling of women.
Sweden is proposing mandatory sterilization for transpeople. Lisa at Questioning Transphobia writes, "To me, this idea doesn't send the message "We want to accommodate your transition." It sends the message "We want to make sure you have no chance of procreating once you start the medical aspects of transition.""
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt blogged about the new proposed rule that redefines contraception as abortion -- defending it.
In In These Times this month, Kate Sheppard has a must-read, comprehensive look at McCain's attitudes toward women: McSexist.
The HIV infection rate is 40 percent higher than previously estimated. For more on the changing face of HIV/AIDS in the U.S., read Kai Wright. (More at the AIDS Institute.)
There are some good signs for women and people of color in TV and radio news.
Angie Zapata, a transwoman from Greeley, Colorado, was murdered on July 17. A man has been arrested in the case, which is truly horrible in all its details. (Trigger warning.) Zapata's killer actually referred to her as an "it."
Massachusetts will now allow out-of-state couples (of all gender combinations) to marry!
Legislation was introduced last week that would allow tribal councils to address crimes that take place on their lands, with a goal, in part, to "reduce the prevalence of violent crime in tribal communities and to combat violence against Indian and Alaska Native women." (Cecilia at Ojibway Migisi Bineshii has more.)
Le Loup-garou on maternal medicine access in the developing world.
A Russian judge ruled, "If we had no sexual harassment we would have no children."
Turns out (shock!) that Barbie's exclamation that "math is hard" for girls is... not true. Paging Larry Summers...
Kara Jesella reports from BlogHer on the blogosphere's glass ceiling.
Catholics in the Philippines oppose the church's stance on contraception.
A liberal comic wasn't allowed to discuss McCain's use of the C-word on XM radio. (And she didn't even say the whole word! She just said, "C-word.")
Veronica at Viva La Feminista on the problem with the business of mommy-blogging.
I'm still up in Woodstock retreat-ing with the other Feministing gals, so no Weekly Feminist Reader today. But leave your links in comments and let us know what you've been reading...
After Norwegian Muslim rapper Deeyah received death threats, she set up a project for Muslim women in music.
"Repeat After Me: All Black Transwomen AREN'T Hookers." (via)
Katha Pollitt on McCain's record on contraception.
Rikyrah at Jack and Jill Politics discusses Michelle Obama as a racial Rorschach test.
NYC transit services canceled a series of anti-groping ads because they were afraid the ads would encourage groping.
The National Review's Mona Charen tells her 14-year-old son that all women who read Cosmo are sluts. Now, I'm no Cosmo fan, but, as Dana puts it, "What more approval does a boy need to call women 'sluts' for the rest of his life than his mom signaling to him that it's okay?"
Renee at Womanist Musings looks at the media coverage of the Brangelina babies and asks, "Whose children count?"
Colorlines on black girls reaching puberty early.
A Brooklyn woman who was simply walking to the hospital late at night (after having an asthma attack) was arrested and charged with prostitution. The cops claimed she was carrying a condom and had a previous arrest for prostitution. Neither was true.
The latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up at abyss2hope. Marcella Chester also has a must-read post at Feministe, Linguistics and Meaning of "Why Did She Stay?"
John McCain: "I think that we've proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don't believe in gay adoption." Now that's some serious antigay assholery.
Jessica and Courtney chatted with Times columnist Gail Collins about the Twilight series of tween novels.
A Washington Post op-ed proudly equates fucking over the planet with all-American manly swagger.
At London Pride last week, a trans woman was denied access to the women's restroom facilities and threatened with arrest. At a pride event. A few weak apologies have been issued.
British chain Marks & Spencer defends its practice of selling bigger bras for higher prices.
A Tucson alt-weekly has an in-depth report on rape along the U.S.-Mexico border. "I thought the wailings we heard at night were the coyotes barking at the moon," one volunteer told The Washington Times. "I didn't know until later that those sounds were the cries of women being raped in the Mexican desert, some less than 100 yards away from the border. There was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it."
You might not be surprised to learn that being constantly objectified takes a toll on women.
Via Sara at F-Words, a profile of the Idaho politician who changed his name to "Pro-Life."
It's not just socio-economics or genes: Black mothers may be at greater risk than women of other races because of social factors.
GO Magazine names 100 women they love. So many awesome women on this list. Unlike the recent spate of most-fuckable-female-blogger lists, this one actually honors women for things like their brains and skills and talents and humor.
Q: Is Dolly Parton a feminist icon? A: Hells yes!
A pregnant woman was pulled over by police as she left a prenatal clinic, and her three children were taken from her. She gave birth while in custody, and the baby was taken from her. All because she is an immigrant. Rachel writes, "This event sends a message to the community of immigrant women that there will be no discretion, no compassion, that they risk being jailed, giving birth in custody, and having their baby taken away if they take the simple step of seeking medical care while pregnant." (For more on immigration and reproductive justice, see the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.)
Over on the community blog, Kala asks for advice on feminist baby-naming. MzBitca points out that you can flout traditional beauty standards and still be successful in Hollywood -- if you're a dude. And milby_daniel has the story of a woman who was forced out of her police-department job after unrelenting sexual harassment and discrimination.
ICE raided a garment factory in Houston, and over 70 percent of those arrested were women.
The FDA chose not to approve Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, for women ages 27 to 45. This doesn't mean women those ages can't get it -- it just means your insurance is not likely to cover it.
Megan McArdle says guns are a feminist issue. Jill at Feministe, Megan at Jezebel, and Dana at TAPPED tell her why she's not quite right.
Read Renee over at Feministe on race and gender, and then check out Think Girl's petition to stop the false race/gender divide.
A Southern Baptist scholar says domestic violence is a result of wives' failure to submit to their husbands.
The Frisky weighs in on a modeling competition for women with disabilities.
Male members of Phoenix golf club are harassing those who protest the no-girls-allowed policy.
Actions and Events
The Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem is holding Rapathon 3: The Female Takeover. The Rapathon is a 24-hour cipher that features over 100 rappers who rhyme non stop with no vulgarities.... Our objective this time is to amass over 100 female MCs with hot lyrics, great energy, and stage presence... For more info, please contact Natassia Seward at 212-234-7171 or hiphopculturectr@aol.com
Frank Rich debunks the "angry white women" stereotype about Clinton supporters. Plus, the Center for American Progress has a rundown of McCain's anti-woman positions.
Jessica was on a panel in the UK about misogyny online.
New blog to add to your election-year reading: Michelle Obama Watch.
A women's clinic in Allentown, PA holds a Pledge-a-Protester fundraiser.
McCain cancels a fundraiser after it's revealed the event's host compared rape to the weather: “As long as it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”
Newsweek writes about young women who embrace the "nerd" label. Broadsheet points out, though, that "the Nerd Girls video makes it seem like sexual appeal is a necessary component to being part of their group."
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on how Americans talk about blackness. (And Shark-Fu on a related note.)
Rabia Siddique's war against the sexism and racism she experienced in the British Army.
Ovulation caught on tape. Reader Julie writes, "I gotta say, even though many people will 'ew' over the graphic images, it's pretty amazing to be able to see something that happens to so many of us every month."
"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" was a major hit in the UK. It was also dedicated to The Gossip's Beth Ditto.
The New York Times has a major article on "equally shared parenting."
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declared domestic violence a "public health emergency."
Women police officers in Detroit fight for paid maternity leave.
Given epidemic levels of sexual violence against women of color, why is it not considered an epidemic?
MADRE explains the connection between women and the global food crisis.
Colorado may have an abortion ban on the November ballot.
Get your mind ready for bikini season.
The abstinence-only juggernaut gears up for a major lobbying effort.
I'd forgotten all about Daria!
Heba blogs from Gaza… the whole world might not be listening, but some of us certainly are.
More on why John McCain would be disastrous for women's rights.
How the cost of infertility treatments effectively shuts low-income women out of motherhood.
On the rising number of widows in Iraq. (Also see Haifa Zangana's book about Baghdad since the U.S. occupation, City of Widows.)
Lisa Kansas on what makes a movie misogynist.
A history of women visual artists.
Colorado considers "every sperm is sacred"-type legislation.
A lesbian soccer player is raped and murdered in South Africa.
A girl wins the state team track title -- by herself!
Missouri rejects a slew of abortion restrictions!
A pervy harasser was arrested in Venice for taking pictures of women's asses without their consent.
A Canadian legislator apologizes for calling a female politician a "dumb bitch."
Kill a sex worker, get a two year prison sentence? (Cara has more.)
On persistent sexism in the engineering and technology fields.
A journalist with the UK Daily Mail completely misrepresented a Dolly Mix blogger, quoting her out of context to prop up a ridiculously bad story about "getting e-venge" on your ex.
Muslimah Media Watch on female Muslim rappers.
Much more after the jump...
First up, a few Mothers Day links:
An index of the best and worst places in the world to be a mother.
Mothers in prison celebrate the holiday.
Juarez mothers demand justice for their daughters.
The former vice mayor of San Jose discusses her experiences with gender discrimination in politics.
Thomas on why food is a feminist issue.
Female Impersonator has an update on the Johnny Vegas sexual assault .
A Catholic law school tells students they can't get credit if they do pro-bono work for a pro-choice organization.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a series of articles by reporter Joanna Connors, who writes, for the first time in 20 years, about being raped by a felon on parole and the fallout from that violent act. Her story "is about rape. It is about race and class. And it is about our community -- our line-in-the-sand combativeness over these issues, and our stubborn and fearful reluctance to talk about them."
There's been some debate lately as to whether those Dove Real Beauty ads were photoshopped. Photographer Annie Leibowitz and a professional photo-retoucher say they weren't.
All Africa profiles a woman who has climbed the political ladder in Ghana.
We mourned Mildred Loving's passing this week. Racialicious has two great posts on interracial relationships. And Rick Perlstein republishes Loving's call for marriage equality for same-sex couples.
More links after the jump...
Maria Soledad Vela, who is helping to rewrite Ecuador's constitution, wants to include that "women should have the right to make free, responsible and informed decisions about sex lives."
Veronica on why you should know who Lorena Ochoa is, but probably don't.
I highly recommend this piece by Betsy Reed in The Nation about Hillary Clinton and institutional feminism. Ta-Nehisi Coates adds, "As a guy who's long felt that civil rights-era black leadership has lost the moral high ground, I get where she's coming from."
Manohla Dargis on the state of women directors and actors in Hollywood. Also check out Women Make Movies.
The Coup Magazine offers some steps toward ending the violence (particularly the violence against women) in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- and also notes there's a new Amnesty International report on women, HIV/AIDS and violence in South Africa.
On those deceptive robocalls by Women's Voices, Women's Vote.
Latoya quotes Joan Morgan on hip-hop and feminism and racial solidarity.
Check out all the great Blog Against Disablism posts.
Does Obama support parental consent laws?
A day in the life of a feminist high-school student. (via Lauredhel)
Alice Walker on Clinton, Obama, and womanism.
What a horrible headline: "Testimony starts in manslaughter trial of woman who cried 'rape'." Astraea has a great post responding to this news story -- and an update noting the woman was convicted.
On the depressingly high maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan. (via)
Carmen at Racialicious on the "reality" TV show Miss Rap Supreme.
Scientific American has an article on subliminal stereotyping.
On marginalization, exoticism, and a South Asian adaptation of the Vagina Monologues.
Secondhandsally reacts to that Esquire cover featuring Jessica Simpson shaving (a takeoff on their 1960s-era cover that featured Marilyn Monroe Virna Lisi in a similar pose).
Prof BW has a list of Feminist Reading Tools for Recognizing and Countering Racism.
Actions and Events
On Tuesday, COLOR (Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights) is hosting an event to oppose the defeat the deceptively named “Human Life Amendment.�
May 8-11 is the Willie Mae-ra-thon in NYC to benefit the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls!
Click here to support the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA).
What Danica Patrick's victory means to young girls who aspire to be racecar drivers.
Last week, coincidentally the Global Action Week for Education, UNICEF released a study showing Afghan girls are excluded from the country's education system.
The awful Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now adding to his resume of "shaming" male inmates by forcing them to wear pink underwear and denying female inmates abortion access by throwing a few immigration raids into the mix. Last week he rounded up 150 immigrants against even the wishes of the mayor , who said, "That's not acceptable behavior for anyone, let alone someone whose job is to help make our community safer."
A good post from secondhandsally on obsession, objectification, and Judd Apatow movies.
Why young women in particular are at risk for pay discrimination.
Menstrual blood could save lives! (Now I'm waiting for the Christian right to come out against this because there are baaaaaabies in that blood… or something.)
A Saudi court ruled that a man had not, in fact, attempted to rape a woman (despite the fact that she leapt out a window to get away from him) because her jeans were found folded on the bed.
Ashton Kutcher is a real asshat.
A plus-size woman will compete in the Miss England pageant. I'm torn between being glad that the pageant is expanding its definition of what beautiful looks like, and still hating on pageant culture as a whole.
Someone has started a cleaning service called Dust Bunnies in which women clean your house clad in lingerie or topless. Endorsed by Time Out Chicago: "The chance to entertain your sexy-maid fantasies while actually having your place cleaned...need we say more?" Sigh.
Christina Ricci: “I think people are learning to actually aspire to be objectified. It’s like the highest form of flattery for teenage girls. The culture we live in right now seems to reward behavior that we used to frown upon. We used to teach our daughters not to be like this." Well, I agree with the general sentiment, but let's not veer toward the "gee, everything was great back in the 1950s" mode of thinking, mmkay?
NPR's News and Notes had a good segment on women's rights in Sudan.
On feminism and Sex and the City. (via Broadsheet)
Serving sushi on naked women is a high-end food trend in the U.S. now, too? (Ok, and serving some on naked men, too. Still.)
Illinois considers putting known domestic abusers on a GPS tracking system.
Some female superdelegates who support Obama have had their sisterhood called into question.
The SAFER blog has a thought-provoking post on drinking and consent.
Unmarried women earn only 56 cents for every dollar a married man earns (PDF).
LiP magazine on Obama and white voters: "But this is where things become considerably more complicated; the point at which one is forced to determine what, exactly, his success means (and doesn't mean) when it comes to the state of race, race relations, and racism in the United States. And it is at this point that so-called mainstream commentary has, once again, dropped the ball."
Fewer med schools are training future doctors in how to perform abortions.
Pro-choice women turned out before the Lithuanian Parliament to protest the proposed abortion ban.
How race, class, and other factors influence quality of life for aging Americans.
A group called the Internet Sexuality Information Services is holding a contest for the best underwear design that promotes STD awareness. Oh lord…
The sexist coverage we've come to expect from articles about Hillary Clinton is now showing up in articles about Chelsea Clinton.
Iraqi refugees forced to turn to prostitution.
Are black women always the "mean girls" on "reality" TV?
Much more after the jump...
An 8-year-old Yemeni girl takes her father to court for forcing her to marry a 30-year-old man.
The Guardian publishes an ignorant, hate-filled screed against fat people.
Female leads in blockbuster movies, by the numbers.
Note to Silvio Berlusconi: "Your women are ugly" is not a political argument.
A court dropped charges against an Oklahoma man who took photos up a 16-year-old girl's skirt while she was shopping at Target, because apparently you can't be a "peeping Tom" in public.
Philadelphia magazine on 8-year-olds getting waxes. Shudder. (Also file under: Lifestyles of the Children of the Rich and Famous. This is one of those New York Times-style "trends" that only affects the wealthiest 1% of the population, but yeah, has some resonance for the rest of us.)
The case for young women getting better breast cancer screening -- not just cervical cancer screening.
An elementary school in Wisconsin has a dress-in-drag day, and conservatives freak out.
A great post over at Bitch Ph.D, "Coming out of the menstruation closet." And Sara wonders, "Why aren't [tampons] provided for free in public restrooms, like toilet paper?"
More links after the jump...
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Despite what the L.A. Times prints, it's still a major problem on college campuses.
More colleges are assigning coed roommates.
Illinois considers tracking devices for people with restraining orders against them.
The Department of Justice's inspector general is investigating whether a U.S. attorney was fired because she is a lesbian.
Weight discrimination hits women harder than men.
Minnesota considers comprehensive sex ed -- 'cause, yeah, abstinence-only doesn't work.
Some interesting linguistic history on how we talk about virginity.
Women fight back against poverty.
The Pentagon apparently has a problem with "transporting gay domestic partners." WTF?
On rape as a weapon of war. (The Senate recently held its first-ever committee hearing on the subject.)
The Navy abruptly changed its policy to allow women to serve on submarines. (Ok, I was belatedly gotten by an April Fools joke. Sadly, the item about the Pentagon and gay partner travel is no joke.)
What have y'all been reading? What about actions/events coming up this week? Leave your links in comments...
The Advocate explores what happens when transmen choose to get pregnant. (And please, hold the stupid Junior jokes.)
Apparently anything with a female pronoun attached is subject to hate-filled, sexist rants that purport to be humor. Weird.
How rape and violence against women is downplayed in coverage of Darfur.
Rebecca Walker has a blog!
An awesome primer on Asian and APIA feminists.
Afghan feminists look to the Koran as reinforcement of their beliefs: "Forced marriage, child brides, honor killings – none of this is in the Koran," Fatima told me, when we met in her office at Kabul's Red Crescent Society, which she directs. "Women are treated like chattel, and in the name of Islam. This is not sanctioned in the Koran," she said. […] "If we want to change Islam from within, we have to be totally committed to the religion. That's the only way to succeed," said Fatima.
Reminder: Civil unions are not "just as good as" marriage. Scott and Melissa have more.
Kavita Ramdas tells us to look beyond Clinton v. Obama and toward the status of women and people of color in the rest of the world.
Some reflections on International Women's Day.
McCain: Be afraid. Be very afraid.
The Guerrilla Girls pen a letter to Eli Broad, whose new Broad Contemporary Art Museum in LA is 97% white and 87% male.
The Census Bureau just released a 40-year study on pregnancy in the workplace.
On women presenting as male online to avoid harassment.
Despite the screaming headlines, serotonin levels are probably a better predictor of whether girls will cut themselves than their relationships with their mothers.
The Missouri legislature wants to reclassify mifepristone -- the drug used in medical abortions -- as a Schedule I controlled substance, a classification for drugs with "a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value."
Amnesty International decries the backlash against women's rights activists in Iran.
An anti-domestic violence riff on the typical jewelry ads.
A line-by-line rebuttal to Charlotte Allen.
The "mentoring gap" for women in science fields. And yeah, the good ol' pay gap is still around, too.
"American sex experts" define "sex" as only penis-in-vagina.
This is horrifying: Police pull over a woman for little to no reason, then "one of the officers allegedly inserted his finger into Shutter's vagina on a public street during an apparent search for drugs."
The Wisconsin state senate just passed a law mandating that EC be offered to rape victims.
If you've not been following the disgusting, homobigoted comments by Oklahoma legislator Sally Kerns, head over to Pam's place and get caught up. You will be appalled.
Christopher Hitchens has once again declared that women aren't funny, and Katie Halper has this great response.
The National Urban League focused its 2008 State of Black America report on women.
Spc. Monica Lin Brown, a 19-year-old US Army medic in Afghanistan, became the second woman to be awarded a medal for valor since WWII. After a roadside bomb hit a convoy of Humvees, "Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said." Too bad women are still banned from combat!
Guttmacher reports on the role of contraception in preventing the spread of HIV.
Actions and Events
In the UK, the nonprofit Southall Black Sisters (which works to end violence against women of color) is under threat of closure. Some ideas on what you can do do help.
Birth mothers react to Juno.
Ellen DeGeneres speaks out about the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King, who was killed because he was gay.
A Japanese video game is about a young woman who is rejected by boys because of her "tremendous size." In playing the game, "You are that young woman and your mission is weight loss by way of exercise, diet, and mini-games." Ugh.
Military maternity leaves are awfully short.
On proudly identifying as a "bitch, ballbuster, battleaxe, ballcutter."
A high-powered networking society is now required to admit women.
Tennessee considers whether to make paternity tests mandatory for every baby born in the state.
As we gear up for the Texas presidential primary on Tuesday, the NY Times had a piece on the history of female leadership in the state.
A nice essay on supporting the notion of Hillary Clilnton, and how that's separate from supporting the candidate herself.
Public service announcement: You can be a devout Muslim and not wear hijab.
Arizona considers a measure that would undermine the rights of pregnant women.
A 16-year-old girl was raped by four teenage boys, and used MySpace to figure out her attackers' identities. When police got a warrant and searched their MySpace accounts, they found details of the attack.
Writes Kavita N. Ramdas, of the 2008 election: "What is alarmingly absent from our conversations and arguments, even as they allude to race and gender, is any sense of how our decisions affect the well-being of people across the planet--not least the status of women, 51 percent of us, who are being treated with appalling brutality around the globe."
More after the jump...
SO much stuff this week!
This entire article about sommeliers in Australia never explains why, in the photo, the one female sommelier is naked, while the men are all in suits.
Catholics in New York take to YouTube to bash pro-choice Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
How the media treat Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse differently than Owen Wilson and Heath Ledger.
DC Comics turns a black superheroine white.
More anti-LGBT bullshit in high schools. This week: Belleville, IL and Gary, IN.
Ve vill suck your period blood! (via.)
Can you believe that some whorish women want to wreck the white purity of their wedding gowns with a low-cut neckline? Horrors!
A new documentary explores what the Bible really says about homosexuality, and ponders why anti-gay sentiment is at the heart of the conservative Christian agenda.
I'm playing the world's tiniest violin for the so-called "angry white male" voting bloc.
A study by the Toronto school board found that "It appears a growing number of young girls are not only being sexually assaulted on campus, but have come to think of it as a normal part of their educational experience." That's incredibly upsetting.
Muslim Hedonist on talking to her daughters about FGM.
This article -- and the entire situation -- is pretty awful. Not only are they charging this woman for homicide for using drugs while pregnant, but the sheriff says her life consisted of "using drugs and having babies." Disrespectful much? Also, a reader sent along an earlier version of the article, which disclosed the woman is HIV-positive, which is totally unrelated to any charges brought against her. It appears they've now deleted the mention of HIV. (Check out our previous posts on drug laws that punish pregnant women.)
Next week the Canadian parliament will debate the "Unborn Victims of Crime Act." Pro-choice talking points are here.
The Bilerico Project has been running profiles of black LGBT people in history.
A Louisiana woman was arrested for a DWI and then brutally beaten by a police officer, who claims she "slipped and fell." (Trigger warning.)
They're marketing Frida Kahlo-brand skin cream? WTF?
A guy actually tried to get mini-silicone implants for his naked-woman tattoo.
An ultra-Orthodox Israeli politician blames gays for earthquakes. Seriously.
Anyone else find it sad that they're airbrushing kids' school pictures?
(Way more below the fold...)
A gender-nonconforming teenager was killed in Oxnard, CA.
Apparently gender equality is a bad thing, because sometimes teenage girls want to drink or use drugs. Which, you know, they never did when they thought their future career choices were homemaker, nurse or teacher. Time to blame feminism! This line of reasoning actually strikes me as remarkably similar to the paternalistic language used in the Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on dilation-and-extraction abortion: "We can't allow women to have choices, because they might regret what they choose!"
Newsday on the lack of models who are women of color.
Media coverage of Kentucky's ultrasound legislation has been rather misleading.
Alessandra Stanley on MSNBC trying to clean up its act.
A government official in Britain has suggested "temporarily sterilizing" all teen girls. (The article is accompanied by some truly heinous stock photo art.)
Jennifer Baumgardner on her support for Hillary Clinton.
Melissa Harris-Lacewell says that many women of color have decided they're "not willing to play Mammy to Hillary Clinton."
Kenya is moving closer to a peace agreement, but will that stop the rampant sexual assault? Plus, why women in crisis situations like this have different needs than men.
Muslimah Media Watch critiques Ann Telnaes' valentine cartoon.
The journal Nature rejects pushes to adopt a peer-review process in which authors are anonymous. Studies have shown that when auditions/submissions are anonymous, women (and minorities) fare better.
Malalai Joya rails against the twisting of Islamic law to suppress women's rights.
A new website lets you anonymously inform someone you may have given them an STD.
Tigtog pays homage to men in kilts.
Headlines like this make me think maybe we should start an Oppression Olympics Watch, in addition to our sexism watch(es).
Budget cuts in Chicago mean that lots of low-income women are waiting weeks and weeks for important gynecological care.
Twisty eviscerates the valentine-industrial complex.
Someone has created a "wine rack." Like a sexualized version of those ridiculous beer hats.
The fundies are incensed that people who don't hate gay folks are going to be allowed into schools in Ontario to talk about diversity and acceptance. The horror!
Even gaming magazines apparently come in pink for girls.
An interesting take on a somewhat controversial book among feminists, The Daring Book for Girls.
A woman visiting Saudi Arabia was jailed for having coffee with a male colleague.
Kira Cochrane has a long essay about her feelings on her weight, and explains why she'll be writing a column about dieting/fitness.
Is sex ed in Illinois really "comprehensive"?
Antigone Magazine has a video on their Dreams for Women project.
Bush still swears up and down that harping on the abstinence-only message is a better way to prevent HIV/AIDS in Africa than providing honest health information.
File under: So. Not. Funny.
A California high school paper is in trouble for publishing a diagram of the vagina. Teachers "rushed to confiscate the publication." This is clearly some seriously dangerous information in the hands of high-schoolers! The day after the issues were confiscated, the paper's 15-year-old editor-in-chief and others showed up at school wearing shirts that read, "My vagina is obscene." Nice.
What have you guys been reading this week?
Eve Ensler and Kimberle Crenshaw have some really thoughtful commentary on feminism and the Democratic primary.
Palestinian feminists stage a major demonstration in Rafah.
A woman misdiagnosed with HIV went through nine years of treatment before realizing her positive results were false. Wow.
Applying the "Slow Food" philosophy to sex.
On masculinity and campaign theme songs.
Jenn breaks down what happened with the Asian American vote on Super Tuesday.
On some churches shunning members who disagree with them.
More super-skinny model issues, but this time the models are male. Says one agency rep, “Skinny, skinny, skinny. Everybody’s shrinking themselves.� Ugh.
An Ohio woman called police to report being assaulted by her cousin, and found herself being violently strip-searched by sheriffs. There's a video, which -- warning -- is pretty disturbing.
Efforts continue to have HPV vaccination expanded to include men.
Oprah responds to those who call her a traitor against her gender for supporting Obama.
A county commissioner in Michigan was acquitted of sexual assault, even after he admitted he pushed a woman's face into his crotch.
Tis the season for barftastic (and offensive) Valentine's Day ads. Here's a real gem (har har) from JC Penney.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) comes out against home births. Surprise, surprise.
More on how the American invasion has made things worse for Iraqi women.
On gender-based violence in high schools in Ontario.
On Hillary Clinton, Courtney Love, and how women get a raw deal from being part of a power couple.
The BBC on Iraqi Kurdish women and self-immolation.
MSNBC temporarily suspends anchor David Shuster for asking if Hillary Clinton was "pimping out" Chelsea on the campaign trail.
An anti-choice rally in Brisbane, Australia gets heated when pro-choicers show up. I'm not without sympathy for the anti-choice spokesperson who complained the pro-choicers didn't allow them a chance to finish speaking. On the other hand, abortion is still a criminal act (except to save the woman's life) in Queensland, so the pro-choicers' anger is absolutely understandable. What do you all think?
Two mentally disabled women were used to bomb a marketplace in Iraq. The blasts killed more than 100 people.
Also in Iraq, police forces are once again allowing female police officers to carry weapons. Meanwhile, Iraqi women are facing more violence and have fewer rights.
New research shows women in India are not only more likely to donate a kidney, they're less likely than men to receive a kidney transplant when they need one.
A budget airline in the UK pulls its "back to school special" ads featuring a model in attire reminiscent of the "Hit Me Baby One More Time" video.
The siege against Kansas abortion provider Dr. Tiller continues. Now the antis are demanding he hand over non-redacted medical files.
Linda Hirshman on women voters in the NYT Magazine today.
A British chain store is selling A-cup bras for the same price as D-cups: "We're putting an end once and for all to one of the last prejudices - that of the bigger-busted woman," said brand director Fiona Lambert in a statement. (With apologies to my well-endowed girlfriends, II'll admit my total ignorance here: As someone with smaller boobs, I had no idea that bigger-size bras were way more expensive! Perhaps it's time to stage a bra-price-equity campaign in the U.S.?)
Despite President Michelle Bachelet's decree that the morning-after pill be made available to all women in Chile, there have been serious access problems.
An absurd piece of legislation seeks to deny restaurant service to anyone with a BMI over 30.
Hans Johnson argues that, "The ‘08 election, no matter its winners, will usher in decision-makers unable to deny the presence or escape the accountability of openly gay people in every precinct of the nation."
Susan Faludi has a great review of the new book, Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary.
A state legislator in Colorado recently resigned after sexually harassing a female lobbyist:The lobbyist, who spoke to The Denver Post on Thursday on condition of anonymity, said Garcia exposed himself to her last month and said, "Wouldn't this be real nice inside of you?"
An Afghan man is sentenced to death for downloading a report about women's rights.
How did I miss the news that Jodie Foster finally came out?
An attempt to crack the woodchuck glass ceiling.
A new report documents the effects of Manila's ban on contraception.
A quick summary of sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton.
New research suggests that some women with breast cancer get better follow-up treatment if they have a female doctor.
A University of Georgia professor resigns on the heels of allegations he sexually harassed his female students.
On the growing prevalence of fair-skinned models in India. (Gee, wonder if this has anything to do with sales of skin-whitening cream?)
Covering up rape to win a few football games. Disgusting.
Hundreds of Afghan women gathered to protest the kidnapping of an aid worker.
Pam and Hilzoy dispel the myth that this is a post-gender or post-racial election.
The South Dakota legislature passed sonogram-requirement bills. (Click here to listen to Planned Parenthood's Kate Looby discuss the legislation.)
This is frightening: If consent is obtained through fraud or deceit, it's not considered rape in Massachusetts.
Hillary Sexism Watch: More name-calling.
Three women in Canada file a complaint against their imam for treating them differently than men and using abusive language toward them.
Ema has a nice rundown of the history of Kansas patient-chart stealer Phill Kline.
On the gross new "reality" TV show, Battle of the Bods.
Margaret Cho calls out the racist, sexist assumption that women of color will have to "choose" their race or gender while voting. "Why are white men allowed to look at the issues and judge for themselves and the rest of us are expected to take sides grade school style?" (DnA has a counterpoint.)
Our Bodies Our Blog asks, "do women really want on-demand C-sections?"
[Note: I had a bunch of other links in here with nice snarky comments, but MovableType decided to randomly delete the rest of my post. So I'm just going to put the headlines and links below the fold. My comments will return next week...]
Pioneering journalist Fran Lewine has died. She was the first woman to be a full-time White House reporter for the Associated Press.
Class issues, weight issues, and Starbucks' new "Skinny Platform."
What? You mean you can be in a devoted, life-long, loving relationship without getting married -- or even wanting to? Wow!
Schools in the UK are told to stop giving students sexist career advice.
The New York Times has a big feature and photo essay on female genital cutting. Plus, and Iraqi Kurdish parliamentarian is pushing legislation to criminalize FGM.
Women in Saudi Arabia are now allowed to rent hotel rooms without a male guardian.
Vogue editor Anna Wintour calls Hillary Clinton "mannish."
Texas teens were arrested for forcing girls as young as 12 into prostitution.
Susie Bright on "smashmortion" cinema.
Note to political journalists writing about Obama and the Latino vote: Black and Latino are not mutually exclusive.
UK police are trying tactics that encourage rape suspects to incriminate themselves via text message.
Wisconsin antichoicers are mailing out 40,000 plastic fetuses.
Rep. Louise Slaughter has a letter asking the Department of Defense to investigate the KBR rape case.
High-school moms in Denver ask for four weeks of maternity leave.
Does caffeine increase pregnant women's risk of miscarriage?
Frances Kissling and Kate Michelman on Roe's 35th anniversary.
How Kansas antichoicers are using grand juries to undermine abortion rights.
Reviewing the new Bella Abzug biography.
How John McCain is using his adopted daughter to "prove" he's got antichoice street cred.
A Muslim girl was denied the right to participate in her high-school track meet because of her modified uniform.
If you haven't listened already, check out Melissa Harris Lacewell's brilliant response to Gloria Steinem (and her op-ed) on Democracy Now.
And Rachel points out that race and gender are real issues in this election.
I'm a day late with your link roundup this week... but I've got lots of good stuff to make up for the delay:
Isabel Allende talks about her writing and feminism. (video)
A woman is suing the Chinese government over her forced abortion.
On Lorrie Moore's idiotic op-ed.
VenusZine reviews the new anthology, Choice.
Canada will no longer allow sexually active gay men to be organ donors.
France celebrates the centennial of Simone de Beauvoir's birth... but not without controversy, of course.
How girls' view of their bodies is supposedly related to how popular they believe they are. (A super scientific study featuring self-reported data!)
A new Guttmacher study shows that women's concern for their existing children is one of the biggest factors in their decision to have an abortion.
Female employees of the University of Michigan health system sue under the Equal Pay Act.
Revolting Product of the Week: SlumpBuster.
Is this for real? "Yo" as a gender-neutral pronoun?
South Korea threatens to shut down its Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
Are Taser parties really all that common? I smell a fake trend...
Anti-choicers and the "moral ambiguity" of attacks on women's health clinics.
An Australian website is promoting Brazilian waxes for girls as young as 10. Ugh.
Tennessee moves toward passing a bunch of abortion restrictions.
And Rebecca Walker offers her take on last week's Steinem op-ed.
The Pentagon won't investigate the KBR rape case. See Feministe for an action item for Jamie Leigh Jones.
Canada is now putting female soldiers on security detail in Afghanistan.
Paradigm Shift (NYC feminist community) is sponsoring an open mic on January 25 on the subject of feminist entrepreneurship. Click here for more details.
Other links? Leave 'em in comments.
Katha Pollitt asks WTF is up at the New York Times.
What the word "Latina" means online.
Is the Pill going over-the-counter in the UK?
Yet another report confirms that even minimal sex ed is better than abstinence-only.
The man accused of slipping his girlfriend the abortion pill against her will has jumped bond.
Students protest the birth control price hike.
Police arrested two men in connection with the Albuquerque clinic arson. One of the men reportedly wanted to burn down the clinic because his girlfriend had scheduled an abortion there.
A woman is threatened with discharge from the Air Force for wearing her hair in cornrows.
Womens eNews counts down the top stories of the year.
There's been a whole lot written about Juno and Jamie Lynn Spears, but I like Carol Joffe's take.
Violet Blue has the top 10 sex memes of 2007.
RH Reality Check talks with Planned Parenthood about its list of the top women's health stories of the past year.
Stay tuned, we'll have our own 2007 wrap-up post tomorrow.
And as always, leave other links in comments.
Belated edition!
On the systemic execution of gays and lesbians in Iraq.
A truly terrible headline: "Scandal reveals women love to steal-- then shop"
The German government calls on the fashion industry to regulate itself and portray more than super-skinny body types.
Women have got the spine for pregnancy, apparently.
A new sterilization method provides an alternative to the tubal ligation by creating scar tissue in the fallopian tubes. (via.)
Female characters as comedic killjoys.
At least 40 women were murdered in Basra in the past year.
The recent Albuquerque clinic fire was indeed arson.
On the death of Pakistani-Canadian teenager, and what the hijab has (and doesn't have) to do with it.
Thank Bush for the teen birth rate.
There's a new book out on Bella Abzug.
This is just ridiculous.
The Wall Street Journal on golddiggers.
Hillary Sexism Watch: Drudge edition. (Shocking, I know.)
Abstinence programs are flailing in the states.
Sexual assault victims in Wisconsin will no longer have to pay the bills for their hospital exam and treatment after the assault.
Two women who married in Massachusetts have been barred from getting a divorce in their home state of Rhode Island.
On Hillary's pantsuits. (eyeroll.)
Leave your other links in comments.
On Iran's first female race car driver.
Henry Hyde, who worked hard to ensure that low-income women were denied reproductive health access, has died.
Related: Medicaid covers penis pumps, but not abortion services.
I'll take "gender parity" for 500, Alex: This season, 52% of Jeopardy! contestants were women -- a vast improvement for a show that historically skews male.
This Christmas, most girls are asking for toys designed with boys in mind.
Whatever happened to all the lesbian feminists?
Hillary Clinton's AIDS plan would strip out requirements that anti-HIV/AIDS programs discuss abstinence.
The New York Times characterizes Barack Obama as "postfeminist." WTF? (A longer post on the article to follow...) And Michelle Obama chatted with Rebecca Traister.
A new site, Abuse Aware, documents violence against women. (It features many of Donna Ferrato's groundbreaking -- and heartbreaking -- photos on the subject.)
On the unacceptable lack of coverage of Latasha Norman's disappearance and death. The major cable news networks couldn't find a few minutes in between all their Stacy Peterson updates to talk about Norman?
Extreme anti-choicers are flush with cash.
Sexist gamers rate the breasts of sexed-up video game heroines. Barf.
Did you have any idea that one of Bush's first actions in office (right after reinstating the Global Gag Rule, I'm sure) was to require that all women in the West Wing wear pantyhose at all times? Ugh.
How about some decent Hollywood biopics about black women?
How Bee Movie and other children's cartoons starring animals get the gender breakdown all wrong.
International human rights groups are rallying behind 24-year-old Iranian women's rights activist Delaram Ali
A remarkable essay on feminism, philosophy, and academia. (Via.)
An accused rapist's lawyer says "the encounter could have been consensual because the woman has a history of sleepwalking." WTF?
U.S. immigration services recently announced it will temporarily institute U-visas (PDF) -- which are incredibly important for immigrant victims of violence to be able to report the crimes against them without being deported.
A brief article about women buying Taser guns at home parties has me a little freaked out. Aren't these types of self-defense weapons more likely to be used on women? Anyone know whether these parties are actually widespread, or is this just an alarmist Fox News blurb?
Judi Giuliani attempts to get out the ladyvote for her husband.
Virginia rejects federal abstinence-only money. It's the 14th state to do so. They (and educators in other states) better start teaching kids about safe sex pretty quickly -- STD rates are on the rise, including "superbug Gonorrhea," which just sounds frightening.
Digby on freedom and consent.
The NIH started a campaign to raise awareness of vulvodynia.
Bush vetoes an increase in Title X family planning funds. Way to do your part to increase the abortion rate, buddy!
A woman quit her job as an investment banker to a high-school football coach. (As my friend Darin, who sent me this link, noted, "probably a good vehicle for a very very cheesy and painful Jodi Foster or Sandra Bullock comeback movie in about 2011." Indeed.)
Some Canadian dude laments the loss of men-only clubs. Oddly, I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for him.
Women on the Pill are at higher risk for cervical cancer.
The woman who was chastised by a Southwest flight attendant for wearing a short skirt and tank top has decided to pose for Playboy. But that doesn't change the fact that Southwest shouldn't be in the business of reprimanding its passengers for the length of their skirts.
And speaking of Playboy, ABC Sports reporter Suzy Shuster takes on their "Sexiest Sportscasters" list.
Employees of DynCorp, a major U.S. contractor, are accused of "buying" women and girls in Bosnia.
There's a new documentary about sex ed in Minnesota.
What have you been reading this week? Leave your links in comments!
An interview with Esther Pearl Watson, who does the hilarious "Unlovable" comics on the back page of Bust.
Leslee Unruh's greatest hits! (Save this video and watch it when you need to increase your blood pressure.)
A controversial women's ordination ceremony in St. Louis.
Dumi tells you everything you need to know about the Section 8 housing program.
Huckabee not only opposes marriage equality, he's against civil unions.
A U.S. District judge has ruled that Washington State pharmacists can refuse to dispense EC.
Revisiting sexist '60s board games.
Chatting with the author of a new book about Title IX and girls' participation in sports.
A really, really odd study about the effects of sexist humor.
Julia Roberts: "My dream is to be a highly fulfilled and productive stay-at-home mom and wife."
The Indian government is giving money to people who "marry down" the caste system.
Feminist writers remake the fairy tale.
Alaska teens can choose abortion without notifying their parents.
Romney says Adam and Eve "looked promiscuous." Ahahahaha.
The U.S. won't grant asylum to women who face female genital mutilation in their home countries. (More here.)
Classifying cars by gender? Really?
The antis are already gearing up for a fight over the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Denver.
The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act seeks to bring down the price of contraception.
More terrible task forces! Sara reports that in her home state of Idaho, the House has convened a task force to consider "repealing no-fault divorce laws and finding ways to encourage mothers to stay home with their children." Aaaa!
A black woman's love letter to her hair.
Five strangers in Oregon intervene to stop a rape happening near a busy road.
An abortion doctor wrote a book about her work, her patients, and the obstacles to safe, accessible abortion services.
Activists in South Korea demanded that their government print some currency featuring a woman leader, and eventually their demand was met. But now there's controversy over the woman selected to appear on the W50,000 banknote. (Anyone know more about this? I could only find this one op-ed on the subject.)
Rosa Brooks says torture, not abortion is becoming the campaign litmus test.
Do we need more research on the long-term effects of the pill?
Minor League Baseball released its only female umpire this week.
On the sad state of sex ed in Florida.
One argument for why abortion isn't a religious issue.
Katha Pollitt chats with NPR about her book.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has released its 2007 "What if Roe Fell" report.
A federal judge orders a "pro-life" activist to remove death threats from his website.
An Australian man claimed he kidnapped and raped a woman because a spider bit him. Seriously.
Do we still need feminist media?
The Republican candidates' female staffers seem more concerned with one particular woman -- Hillary Clinton -- than with the American woman voter.
Live in St. Louis? If you're interested in participating in a major Washington University study of women and contraception, you can get three years of free birth control. More info here (PDF).
Sign the petition demanding an International Violence Against Women Act.
The abstinence-only haven of Texas ranks first in the nation in teen births and in teen repeat births.
Miriam Perez tells you everything you ever wanted to know about abortion doulas, but were afraid to ask.
Why ENDA should include language on gender identity.
The South Dakota abortion ban may be baaaack.
Some teenagers deciding the Homecoming dance sucks leads to another weepy piece about the "death of chivalry."
Women leave their careers in the sciences for many of the same reasons they leave other types of workplaces.
Promoting adoption won't lower abortion rates.
On couples who are married, but not cohabitating.
Did you know six women were the programmers of the first computer, ENIAC?
Jill Sobule wrote a song commemorating Slut-o-Ween.
How David Horowitz's "Islamofascism Awareness Week" targeted campus feminists. (Katha Pollitt has more.)
A new facility opens for female veterans who are victims of sexual assault.
Even more links after the jump...
On names and gender connotation.
Biologist James Watson retires in the wake of his racist remarks.
Jenna Bush understands a few things her father doesn't.
Supporting Aung San Suu Kyi's non-violent struggle
Massachusetts expands buffer zones around women's health clinics.
Vietnam's "Paris Hilton moment."
Because no woman would ever need to know how to fix her own plumbing or install virus-scanning software on her computer.
Female lawmakers in Illinois start a listening tour, asking women about their concerns.
Queen Latifah: "Beauty is not just a white girl."
The CIA's glass ceiling.
An international court rules that it's a human right to be protected from domestic violence.
The Kansas Supreme Court halts the proceedings against Dr. Tiller.
Wisconsin courts consider whether transgender inmates have a right to continue taking hormones while in state custody.
On masculinity and public displays of male dominance.
...and how rape is a "crisis of manliness."
Justice Ginsburg on how criminalizing abortion only serves to punish poor women.
"I'm exhausted from constantly trying to explain why this conversation, one that involves playing a guessing game based on incredibly sexist and archaic gender norms, in order to figure out which men are gay in one's group of friends, office environment, or even a set of total strangers, is kinda wrong."
Married... without children.
The toxic reality of cosmetics.
Boys don't cry, apparently.
The media always seem to remember that October is breast cancer awareness month, and forget that it's also domestic violence awareness month.
Syracuse, NY approves same-sex partner benefits for school district employees.
I talked to Katha Pollitt about her new book.
Right-wing pundits fail to grasp why women may be more motivated to vote if they see a woman's name on the ballot. Garance has more on the pend-up demand for a female candidate.
Can't wait for the Itty Bitty Titty Committee movie!
The Senate rejected an amendment that would have cut reproductive health care funding.
Feminist health activism is still alive and well.
Kai Wright on the recent spate of noose incidents.
Mike Huckabee claims that if you promote safe sex and contraception use, it's the same thing as saying domestic violence is only kinda bad. WTF?
Don Imus is getting his platform back, and will likely be back on the air soon. The Rutgers basketball players say they don't really care. (via.)
New York State has stopped distributing a sexist handbook for female prison guards.
Phill Kline continues his crusade against women's health clinics in Kansas -- this time he's filed 107 counts against a Kansas City Planned Parenthood.
Attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey has a history of excusing gender discrimination.
The Democrats' "bipartisan compromise" on the S-CHIP bill included a $28 million increase for abstinence-only education. Because clearly children's health is best protected with medically inaccurate information and gender stereotypes. (More on Democrats propping up abstinence-only here.)
A new book of essays takes on all aspects of choice: birth, contraception, infertility, adoption, single parenthood and abortion.
Benazir Bhutto continues to push for democracy in Pakistan, despite the recent violence there.
Women are considered "impure" in the sumo tradition, and a woman recently tried to climb into the ring in protest.
Katha Pollitt has a big-picture take on reproductive rights.
Scientists are at work developing a birth control pill that messes with your genes, not your hormones. (Is that better or worse??)
A leading website for British teachers has a gender-segregated list of reading recommendations that limits girls' horizons.
Verlyn Klinkenborg gets it right that women writers sometimes have a hard time learning to assume and write with authority. He gets it wrong that Midwestern gals are somehow more meek or quiet.
Phoebe reviews Pollitt's new book.
Rape is rape, not "theft of services."
What will the '08 election mean for single-sex schools?
The U.S. average life expectancy is greater than ever -- for everyone but pregnant women of color.
On Dolly Parton's feminist streak.
Add links to your own recommended reading in comments...
Everything you ever wanted to know about men's rights activists, but were afraid to ask.
Hot local Purity Ball action! Organizers say there have been more than a thousand of these things in the past year. And apparently, not all of the sorta similar events for boys are called "Integrity Balls." Some are "a Knight to Remember." Ahahahahaha.
Reviewing Susan Faludi's new book on gender in post-9/11 America. (Terrible headline, huh?)
I have mixed feelings about Newsweek's cover story on women leaders. Check it out for yourself.
"If you are kidnapped or missing, it helps to be the right race, age, social class and gender. Otherwise, don't expect the media to cover your story."
On honor killings in Iraq's Kurdish region.
A Catholic college rents space to a conference on teen pregnancy, and the Catholic hierarchy is not pleased.
On the heels of the WaPo piece, the New York Times notices how white the runways are.
In his new book, Tom Perrotta tackles the "only oral/anal sex until hetero marriage" movement.
The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families is knocking on doors, asking people to sign a petition asking the legislature not to consider any more abortion bans. (One local media outlet called this "silencing the debate." As if that were possible.)
Margaret Cho talks about her new show, The Sensuous Woman.
Check out Feministe's hilarious Twelve Days of Christmas Pussy.
Home Depot decides to open stores that cater to the ladies. That is, ladies who aren't into hardware, only home decorating. Or something. And how, um, toolish is the store's name, Her Depot?
A woman is thrown out of the women's bathroom in a New York restaurant because the bouncer wouldn't believe her when she said she was a woman.
On making work/life balance a campaign issue.
Contraception access on college campuses is declining dangerously.
I talked with New Voices magazine about my experience in talking to Al Jazeera English about Israeli's Maxim PR campaign.
On the NY Times Book Review poor history with feminist authors.
"Can evangelicals and liberals come together over abortion, gay rights, and the role of religion in public life?" No.
A judge tells a criminal defense attorney she has a "nice butt" in open court. Classy.
Rebecca Traister sits down for a chat about the movie business with ten powerful Hollywood women.
A pretty general piece on the gender of the Democratic frontrunner...
Vancouver sexworkers are creating a cooperative brothel in anticipation of the 2010 Olympics.
A display honoring those killed by domestic violence was vandalized in Wisconsin. Cara has more.
An appalling story about a guy who raped at least 30 women he met on Match.com.
On the state of abortion rights in the South.
Finally, a group calls out Unilever's hypocrisy.
The declaration from the first-ever Black European Women's Congress
How messed up is the concept of MyFreeImplants.com? Ugh.
More on Nicaragua's first year as a "pro-life" nation. Death toll so far: at least 80 women. (Check out the HRW report for more details.)
"Video vixen" Karrine Steffens talks to NPR.
Marion Jones's admission to using steroids leads Robin Givhan to ruminate on the strength and glamour of female athletes.
What life is like for women in Kashmir.
And more and more and more nooses. Dumi writes, "While these incidents may be isolated in the forensic sense they are bound in the sociological sense by their support of a White supremacist ideology. A noose is not a joke, a noose is not a prank, a noose is a symbol of violence and threat."
The head of Warner Bros. has declared that "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead." Wow. Gloria Allred is calling for a boycott.
Jenna Bush is apparently opposed to a lot of her father's policies.
On South Carolina's gender-stereotype-heavy single-sex public education.
Australia recruits stay at home moms to be volunteer firefighters.
Get ready for a 2 1/2-hour mega documentary about abortion. (This review, which notes some of the key people and interview subjects in the film, mentions only one woman in it -- the one who's seeking an abortion. Let's hope the film is not another entry in the "men talk about abortion" genre...)
Apparently a Chicago woman killed her boyfriend because she was so angry after finding his porn collection. Though something tells me there was more to the story than this...
A new film exposes human trafficking.
BlackProf connects the Isiah Thomas lawsuit with the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.
And Anita Hill takes to the NYT op-ed page to discuss Thomas's new memoir.
Does gaming make women smarter?
The NFL issues a warning that teams need to "control their cheerleaders." (via Jovan)
Why we shouldn't be looking at banning super-skinny models as a response to anorexia.
A British professor talks about her upcoming book on the history of rape.
Women discuss the books that opened their eyes to feminism.
What's behind the birth-control price spike?
A hilarious review of "daddy" comedies.
On the serious harassment problems with a high school ROTC instructor in Tennessee: "Flash your breasts at the chief and you could smoke cigarettes on campus, students alleged in statements to investigators. Run topless in the gymnasium during an unauthorized sleepover and the chief turned a blind eye to drinking rum in a West High restroom."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez decries the trend in his country of teenagers getting boob jobs.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Concerned Women for America's Beverly LaHaye.
Iraqi refugee women and girls are being forced into prostitution in Syria.
Ok, ok, I know it's Rush Limabaugh and I should expect this. Still.
Jodie Foster talks about her latest role as a woman avenging a group of men who assaulted her. She says:
But is there a streak of feminist empowerment in your character's actions? A cop in the film says, "Women kill their friends, husbands, shit they love." You kill strangers in the street.
Such a big part of the female psyche is that we hate inwards. What if there was a woman who said, "I'm not going to be that kind of victim. I'm not going to hurt myself, I'm going to hurt you." What would that feel like? This was no feminist design on my part -- although I call myself a feminist -- but that's exhilarating to women who see this movie.
The fembot, reconsidered in light of the new Bionic Woman show and those awful Heineken ads.
A conference this weekend devotes itself to advancing the science for a male birth control pill.
Clarence Thomas says of Anita Hill, "She was not the demure, religious, conservative person that they portrayed. That's not the person I knew." In other words, that sexual harassment was totally warranted! If you're not demure, you can expect it.
On what happens when the Tyra Banks show tries to tackle the topic of women and porn.
Congress approves yet another 90-day funding extension for abstinence-only programs.
New research shows 26% of teen girls in abusive relationships reported that "their partners were actively trying to get them pregnant by manipulating condom use, sabotaging birth control use and making explicit statements about wanting them to become pregnant."
In the heart of abstinence-only and virginity-pledge country, STDs flourish.
A profile of the women who are Mexico's top environment-defenders. They've been at this since long before climate change became a prominent issue.
Rebecca Traister on TV's new gender order.
A Washington state court dismisses a suit filed against stores that refused to stock EC.
Women say they feel patronized when pink gadgets are marketed exclusively toward them? I'm shocked!
A New Jersey school bans a video made to teach kids about gay marriage. (Video.)
On female boxers in Thailand.
An academy teaches the forced-pregnancy advocates of the future. Ugh.
CosmoGirl magazine acknowledges the gender spectrum. (Whoa!)
The scientists who developed the HPV vaccine are in the running for a major award.
On the forced-pregnancy movement using their children as political props.
Muslim women’s bodies are too frequently used to symbolize the state of Islam in Iran, Erin Wiegand writes.
On the prominence of the "abuelita" figure in Hispanic marketing.
Will this be the year Democrats stop considering white men an important part of their base?
Arlen Specter adds earmarks to fund abstinence-only programs in Pennsylvania.
New York rejects millions of dollars in abstinence-only money.
A prominent televangelist says her husband (also a prominent televangelist) abused her.
On the messy overlap between the repro-rights movement and “reprogenetic� technology.
Why one self-described "pro-lifer" supports the supposedly pro-choice Rudy Giuliani. Add this to the list of reasons Giuliani would make a truly frightening president.
A Harvard med student won't be allowed to duck out of exams in order to pump breastmilk.
The battle over FGM rages in Egypt.
Birth control use is on the rise in Pakistan.
Why would a Polish political party calling itself the Women's Party -- which advocates for things like contraceptive access and equal pay -- put up a billboard ad featuring naked women?
A woman at high risk for breast cancer decides to have a mastectomy. She calls herself a "previvor."
Sara at F-Words on the double standards for women and men in the kitchen. (or, " Get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich...but don't make it too good.")
Chris Matthews can't stop talking about his female guests' looks.
On Barnes and Noble advancing racist and sexist stereotypes with its display selections.
And the latest Carnival of Feminists is up!
Go ahead and post additional links in comments... or point us to a great post you've written yourself in the past week or so.
Our gal Courtney makes the case for including men in discussions about abortion.
The debate rages on about whether to sex-segregate classrooms.
Woo! Political crafting! But, Sabotabby wonders, why no mention of the knitted uterus, the AIDS quilt, Chilean arpilleras?
Lauren on the usefulness of the term "baby daddy."
Nevada officially allows brothels in counties with populations of fewer than 400,000. A new book on sexwork in the state does not paint a pretty picture -- the details are jaw-dropping. Says one woman, "It's like you sign a contract to be raped."
Suicide rate soars among girls.
There's a new documentary on women and humor.
On why the HPV vaccine is valuable beyond preventing cervical cancer.
A pro-choice leader responds to the Catholic columnist who called for jail time for women who get abortions. Also, Fred Thompson takes the politically palatable position: he favors jailing doctors, not "a 19-year-old girl and her mama." Gee, thanks.
The new Adipositivity Project seeks to "widen definitions of physical beauty. Literally."
What Barbie's butt can tell you about globalization.
Two women accused of "acts of obscenity" were beheaded in Pakistan.
Why do already-successful actresses choose to strip down?
Facebook bans photos of lactivists.
Women's eNews on efforts to curb dating violence in Croatia.
This whole article about new efforts to help boys cast out of polygamist Mormon sects contains only one brief aside about girls in this situation. I kept wondering, if this is what they do to the boys who like to watch movies, what do they do to the girls? Marry them off quicker?
Do you have a Republican man in your life who's insecure in his masculinity? Here's the perfect gift!
On Don Imus and the state of black media activism.
Needles were discovered inside a Chinese woman, whose grandparents put them there when she was a baby because they were disappointed she was not a boy.
Anti-choice acvitism reaches a fever pitch in Mississippi.
Reframing fighting cancer as... sexy? (The lead paragraph is incredibly annoying.)
GPS shoes for sex workers warn police, or, more likely, sex-worker outreach groups when the alarm is triggered.
What the demise of Punk Planet says about media consolidation.
More on the campus birth control price spike.
Shocker: Discrimination drives people to leave the workforce: "What is pushing these professionals out is not, by and large, overt racism and sexism but rather a series of more covert actions that end up undermining their trust and respect for their company and colleagues."
Chinese couples try to circumvent the country's forced abortion policies by doing everything from bribing officials to filing lawsuits.
On feminism and baking cookies.
If an Albany hospital merges with a Catholic hospital, they'll be cutting their women's health services (i.e. contraception, tubal ligations, and counseling).
Your weight could affect how effective your birth control pills are.
On whether it's appropriate to compare Elvira Arellano and Rosa Parks.
Some DC firehouses may be running a prostitution ring. (Talk about a hostile work environment.)
HHS bows to pressure from infant formula companies and "tones down" ads about the benefits of breast-feeding.
U.S. childbirth deaths are on the rise.
And the 16th Erase Racism carnival!
The head of the civil rights division of the Justice Department has resigned.
NFL punishes dog-abusers, but not domestic abusers.
Not your typical "topless car wash."
Why we need to restore funding to the UNFPA.
Can TV really empower women?
Women aren't getting good information on how -- and what it means -- to stop getting a monthly period.
Feminism once again declared dead! (This time by a "high priestess.")
Has the internet really been "feminized"? I mean, we're still talking about serious misogyny here.
A new study illuminates (again) gender bias in science and academia.
Time on soaring birth control prices on campus.
Remembering writer, feminist, activist Grace Paley.
Via in comments, a fascinating breakdown of the different types of "gazes" women are posed to give in magazine spreads and advertisements.
Time for the female urinal?
Women only seem to make the cover of fashion magazines. The political/newsweeklies, not so much.
How the so-called "Mommy Wars" ignore low-income mothers.
Abstinence-only programs don't decrease HIV infection rates.
Inside the Code Pink house, where activists stay when they're in DC agitating for an end to the war. It's described as "half Legally Blonde-style sorority and half radical boot camp."
Deborah Siegel reviews modesty enthusiast Wendy Shalit's book, Girls Gone Mild.
The 17th century version of Cosmo.
The USAID phase-out of contraceptives for developing countries is nearly complete, and places like the Philippines are preparing for an increase in births and abortions.
They actually made a movie about a man (played by Ryan Gosling) who has a "real" relationship with his Real Doll.
A nice little ode to Judy Blume, and her respectful literary treatment of teen sexuality.
Apparently you can now recycle your vibrator.
ABC News has a surpsingly (pleasantly!) inoffensive piece about women who "look both ways."
A woman sues her doctor after she becomes pregnant after having a tubal ligation.
The Journal of the American Medical Association finds the HPV vaccine prevents infection, it doesn't treat HPV infection. (Which is not at all surprising, seeing as how it was never intended to be a treatment.)
Great idea: Stop asking the Republican candidates where they stand on abortion, and start asking specifically about birth control access. Now if only they'd agree to participate in a YouTube debate, we could flood them with submissions of this question...
How courts fail pregnant minors.
Alex over at the Bilerico Project does a weekly queer reader! Check out today's installment. (And while you're there, check out Jessica's post on why she identifies as queer, not lesbian, bi, or anything else.)
Plastic surgery is, apparently, "democratizing."
The fascinating history of a racist typeface.
A new study shows women are more interested in making long-term partners of men with more effeminate features.
A judge rejects a Missouri law that would have allowed midwives to deliver babies at home.
Violet has an update on why electro-shock therapy is a feminist issue.
Prostitution is on the rise in China.
The BBC on "pro-anorexia" websites.
Ohio legislation would expand the rights of pregnant workers.
Bangladeshi feminist author Taslima Nasrin is attacked in India -- politicians were among those leading the mob. Ammu Joseph examines coverage of the incident in Indian media.
E.J. Graff's take on the first-ever gay issues presidential debate last week.
How involvement in high-school sports leads girls toward college diplomas. (Wooo!! Title IX!)
Newsday takes a long look at the state of affairs for women filmmakers. Turns out they don't all like directing rom-coms (shocker), and there are still far too few of them.
Doctors adopt a defensive tactic in the wake of the so-called "Partial-Birth" Abortion Ban: administering lethal injection to fetuses.
Sara at F-Words says this ad is simply offensive, not "absurd." (For a good follow-up read, check out Ornamenting Away on the right to be offended by misogyny.)
Our gal Courtney on fat activism and Mo'Nique.
And the Washington Times basically laments growing acceptance of "queen-sized ladies." (Featuring a truly awful headline: "U.S. women losing girth control." Ugh.)
RHRealityCheck has a breakdown of the Iowa straw poll results from a pro-choice perspective.
The 42nd Carnival of Feminists is up at Uncool!
Jessica tackles the question of whether women-only spaces are an appropriate answer to harassment.
Even after they're forced to register on an online database pledging to not get pregnant, more than 120 women who take Accutane became pregnant in the past year.
How Muslim feminist artists are confronting perceptions of women's place in their religion -- and in the art world.
Eugenia Chien on why unmarried women aren't a voting bloc.
A woman loses a lot of weight after a health problem, and is disturbed when strangers keep telling her how good she looks, and asking who her nutritionist is.
The number of family-leave discrimination suits continues to rise.
A really disturbing article ponders whether some men choose to kill their wives rather than divorce them.
A woman sues her ex, claiming he gave her HPV
The quiceanera industry seems on pace to match the wedding industry: a heady combination of girl culture and consumerism gone wild.
More about a Los Angeles sportswriter's decision to publicly document her transition.
GOP presidential candidates validate anti-contraception activism.
Latest stupid political/fashion trend piece asks, "Just how sexy is a first lady allowed to be?"
How autistic girls may be different from autistic boys.
More on the "legal loophole" that lets white men who abuse American Indian women get away with it.
How the Bush administration politicized global reproductive health.
An Army private is sentenced to 110 years in prison for raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.
Remembering feminist theologian Letty Russell.
Can Elizabeth Edwards secure the votes of women who aren't inspired by her husband?
A new survey shows working women are deeply divided about the value of maternal employment. Judith Stadtman Tucker explains what's going on behind the research.
Didn't get sex ed in school? At least you can get it in SecondLife.
The Nation takes down Wendy Shalit's Girls Gone Mild.
A Kurdish woman's father and brother are found guilty of "honor killing."
Latest Carnival of Feminists!
Dr. Drew hearts the IWF.
The case for a "women's page" in the newspaper.
A virtual tour of feminist art in DC.
Why can't people shut up about Hillary Clinton's clothes?
NPR on problems facing female military vets.
How the new movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry exploits feelings of homophobia while superficially emphasizing a message of tolerance.
A documentary solves a previously cold rape/murder case.
How to break down the barriers that stand in the way of women's political leadership.
What the U.S. could learn about China's disastrous attempts to regulate relationships.
Debunking the myth of the "boy crisis."
The nation's abstinence-only capital also features the #1 teen birth rate. Coincidence? I think not.
On African Americans' "shrinking" view of sexiness.
The Politico argues (seriously!) that Hillary is going to have problems succeeding because Geena Davis's TV show was cancelled. Give me a fucking break.
The hypocrisy of Republican Congresswomen who are mothers but refuse to vote for family-friendly legislation.
Heather Burcham, who fought for universal HPV vaccination, died of cervical cancer.
Despite its strong characters like Hermione, does Harry Potter advocate for a hierarchical society of traditional roles?
On sexism in Disney cartoons of the '90s.
A truckload of links for you this week...
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) signed three anti-choice measures into law banning dilation and extraction abortions and requiring providers to offer fetal anesthesia.
How Bush's war on women is also a war on science.
The pay gap is still wide in Europe.
Christian white male supremacists the Promise Keepers are regrouping.
On women and their marvelous "multitasking" abilities.
Two former sexworkers are running for seats in Parliament in Turkey.
Rumors are circulating that Don Imus might be back on the air soon, but groups are lining up to try to prevent that.
Gay veterans go on the road to oppose "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
The EPA is changing its reporting requirements, which is bad news for women's health.
Local small businesses are adopting the "babe chain" approach to selling their services.
Making movies based on books with a strong woman of color as the protagonist? Awesome. Casting white women to play the lead role when the movie is actually made? Decidedly not awesome.
How to the '08 presidential candidates measure up on the issue of sex ed?
Real Women, Real Voices has ongoing coverage of the Alabama clinic protests. (Anti-choice leader Flip Benham was recently arrested.) See also Gloria Feldt on who's responsible for reining in clinic protests.
The IRS rejects a transwoman's write-off of her sex-change surgery, calling it cosmetic, not medically necessary.
On gender roles in action films, specifically Live Free or Die Hard.
Cara rounds up some inane Hillary coverage.
Bad girls, bad girls, whatcha gonna do? Increase ratings, of course.
Anti-choicers want permission to wear "Right to Life" logos while working the polls.
Nigerian human rights activist Dorothy Aken’Ova faces osctracization and intimidation.
The Washington Post botches its Plan B coverage.
Saudi Arabia is creating "women only" work centers.
The IWF talks about sex, baby. (Without, of course, taking a stance on the availability of contraception.)
House committees investigate abstinence funding in anti-AIDS programs.
Where curly-haired women gather to get the kinks ironed out.
Violence against women in Afghanistan is skyrocketing.
Amnesty International defines reproductive rights as human rights (YES. Finally!), and responds to critics.
On the absence of abortion in this summer's hit movies.
British police are offering a 20,000 pound reward for information about people involved with female genital mutilation.
My girl Lauren reports that some transgender kids are receiving hormones to delay the onset of puberty.
On Pakistan's "Burqa Brigade" of moral militants.
The charges against former Israeli President Minister Moshe Katsav are spurring more women to come forward about their own sexual assault experiences.
The evolution of Katie Roiphe.
Female inmates in New Hampshire speak out about overcrowding.
Ghanaian women push for more property rights.
Time to start speaking up about the toll HIV/AIDS is taking on black women.
New Missouri TRAP laws go into effect, which Planned Parenthood says could force it to spend more than $1 million on remodeling. Also, new abstinence-only requirements apply to educators in the state.
Men and women are equally chatty.
An anti-choice protester wins his appeal after being arrested outside a clinic. His lawyer said, "It struck a very positive tone for a pro-life protestor. In most courts around the country, they are treated like they are maniacs.� Gee, wonder why that is?
Can't say I'm surprised at these kind of images of a powerful woman in politics.
Nancy Goldstein explains why she's keeping her gay money to herself this election cycle.
An Australian campaign tries to combat speeding by questioning manhood.
And speaking of manhood, why are TV talk show types completely obessed with how awesomely manly the Republican presidential candidates are?
One of the federal funding streams for abstinence-only education has officially dried up.
And speaking of abstinence, Laura Bush says she's now down with promoting condom use in Africa.
On chick lit books for women in Saudi Arabia.
A New Jersey school blocks out a photo of two male students kissing.
What the Supreme Court's "resegregation" decision has to do with gender.
Rebecca Traister on Jane Austen mania and the myth of the "perfect man."
Egypt bans female circumcision.
Portugal legalizes abortion.
The House is still on track to remove the abstinence requirement for receiving international AIDS relief funds.
A man who was angry with his girlfriend for having an abortion was recently sentenced to life in prison for killing her toddler.
Thailand passes a bill criminalizing marital rape.
On pro-choice politics in Kansas.
Arizona rejects a parental consent bill.
Good luck finding emergency contraception in North Carolina.
Only one Nashville hospital treats sexual assault victims.
Elected officials in India call for a national sex toy ban.
A British teenager sued her school for the right to wear her chastity ring.
A new study compares the NuvaRing to the Pill.
Radar mag satirizes summer fashion photo spreads.
One in five diverse workers reports workplace discrimination
What's so mesmerizing about Nancy Drew?.
Britain considers national mandatory HPV vaccination.
Apparently single men are all on the West Coast, and single women congregate on the East Coast. This map looks like a junior high dance.
Sam Brownback vows to nominate only anti-Roe justices, while Bill Richardson pledges the opposite.
Should it be legal for women to walk around topless in public?
A woman's family is suing a Planned Parenthood in Southern California because she died after having an abortion.
The Democratic-controlled Congress has not proved to be particularly choice-friendly. (Not surprising news, given they recently dropped the ball on ensuring EC access for servicewomen and amped up abstinence-only funding.)
A new film profiles Malalai Joya and the state of women's rights in Afghanistan.
The International Criminal Court has finally begun prosecuting rape.
Toy and cosmetic companies are starting to market makeup for 6- to 9-year-old girls.
...and at what age do kids start taking notice of gender roles?
Illinois residents complain and get a sexist billboard ad taken down.
Will a new up-