2005 March Archive | Feministing

Advice columnist tells lesbian not to “ask for trouble” through PDAs

Never been quite the fan of Slate’s advice column Dear Prudence, but this latest bit of crap really got to me.
A 22-year-old lesbian wrote in asking about appropriate levels of public displays of affection, stemming from frequent arguments with her mother. One of her mother’s concerns was that her daughter and girlfriend were “inviting trouble, perhaps even physical trouble.”
Check out Prudie’s response:
Dear Polite,
Prudie’s opinion about the ongoing head-butting is that anybody’s PDA (hetero and gay) should be within the bounds of restraint. Handholding in public is fine, necking is not. (For everyone.) A spontaneous expression of love—a brief one—is fine if it’s not for effect and there would be no consequences ...

By Samhita • 19 years ago

All female battalions in India tackle crimes against women

Back in my Women’s Studies undergrad, I remember reading about a group of women who formed an alliance in India to fight sex offenders on gender divided trains. I guess at the time there had been a lot of men breaking into the women’s cars and engaging in acts of sexual violence. Not only did these women form a group, but they armed themselves with bats and when the men would break in, they would beat the crap out of them! Aight.
Following in this tradition, the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India just created the first the Tamil Nadu Special Forces Fifth Battalion: the world’s first all-female battalion.
Ms. Magazine reports:
Tamil ...

Back in my Women’s Studies undergrad, I remember reading about a group of women who formed an alliance in India to fight sex offenders on gender divided trains. I guess at the time there had ...

By noauthor • 19 years ago

Feminism and Racism Meet Again

Not long ago, the Boston Globe featured an article, Step off, about “the objectification of black women — both visually and lyrically –” in contemporary rap music and videos. Old news, right? Not so fast. Apparently, “as this years-old aesthetic reaches a crescendo, a rumble of complaint is emerging from black men and women.”
As the article reports, students at Spelman College in Atlanta organized a protest of a campus fund-raiser by Nelly after getting a look at his ”Tip Drill” video, which shows the rapper sweeping a credit card down a black woman’s buttocks. In January, Essence began a “Take Back the Music” campaign that was initially scheduled to last a year, but it will ...

By Jessica • 19 years ago

Get married or get fired

Not really a choice I’d like to make. And certainly not one I should have to make.
But that’s exactly the “choice” that was given to Debora Hobbs of North Carolina when her boss found out that she was living with her boyfriend.
A former sheriff’s dispatcher, Hobbs was told by her employer “to get married, move out, or find another job,” supposedly because of the state’s law against cohabitation. Cause those who live in sin don’t really have the time for work.
Hobbs quit last May, and luckily got the ACLU on the case. Jennifer Rudinger, Executive Director of the ACLU-NC Legal Foundation, said that “the government has no business meddling in ...

Not really a choice I’d like to make. And certainly not one I should have to make.
But that’s exactly the “choice” that was given to Debora Hobbs of North Carolina when her boss ...

By Jessica • 19 years ago

Ms. Editor in Chief resigns; magazine in trouble?

According to the New York Observer, tensions between Ms. Editor in Chief Elaine Lafferty and the magazine’s owner and publisher, the Feminist Majority Foundation, led to Lafferty’s recent resignation. Hmm…
Lafferty announces her resignation in the latest issue of Ms., due to hit newsstands this week, saying “in the last two years, I believe Ms. has been lively, provocative, thoughtful, and a fierce feminist example of advocacy journalism at its best…I wish the magazine’s owners all the best as they move forward with the kind of publication they envision.”
President of Feminist Majority Eleanor Smeal said of the resignation, “She resigned and that’s where it is. Change is constant and we ...

By Jessica • 19 years ago

Chicago Tribune on Plan B

Make sure to check out this piece from The Chicago Tribune, Plan B for pharmacists.
A snippet:
To dwell on the intricacies of the law is to lose sight of a larger point. Turning customers away is bad for business. Pharmacies are in business to sell drugs. It’s not good enough to tell a customer to call back tomorrow when a different pharmacist is on duty, or just go somewhere else. That may be relatively easy in a big city, albeit a good way to lose that customer’s repeat business. But in some rural areas, the next pharmacy isn’t a few blocks away, but many miles.
…Pharmacists must be free to exercise their professional judgment.
Good business practice ...

Make sure to check out this piece from The Chicago Tribune, Plan B for pharmacists.
A snippet:
To dwell on the intricacies of the law is to lose sight of a larger point. Turning customers ...

By Jessica • 19 years ago

NARAL calls out big-name pharmacies on conscience clause laws

Firstly, if you haven’t already seen NARAL’s new flash film, “You’ve come a long way baby! But how much farther do you still have to go?” go check it out…very nice stuff.
And then when you realize how much work still needs to be done, go and take action against the assholes who want to keep women from obtaining birth control and emergency contraception.
As you well know, in as many as 20 states pharmacies can refuse to fill women’s prescriptions for contraception. You know shit is getting ridiculous when you need a cop to help you get your BC pills.
So to take on this craziness, NARAL Pro-Choice America is ...

By Jessica • 19 years ago

Breaking: Supreme Court expands reach of Title IX

The Supreme Court ruled today that Title IX not only protects against discrimination, but also protects people from retaliation. Yay!
It was a close one, with a 5-4 vote.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that “reporting incidents of discrimination is integral to Title IX enforcement and would be discouraged if retaliation against those who report went unpunished,” and that if there weren’t protections against retaliation, “individuals who witness discrimination would be loathe to report it, and all manner of Title IX violations might go unremedied as a result.”
The not-so-surprising dissenting judges, Justices Thomas, Rehnquist, Scalia and Kennedy argued that “retaliatory conduct is not discrimination on the basis of sex.” I call bullshit.
The ruling came ...