Maternity leave, here I come

The Equal Opportunities Commission recently found that one million pregnant women in the UK will face discrimination at work within the next five years, reports Reuters.
As we already know that 30,000 pregnant women lose their job every year, 200,000 (almost half of all pregnant women) face some sort of discrimination, including bullying, sacking and demoting. What’s worse is that seven out of ten of these women don’t even report it.
The EOC has called to the government to supply a written standard of maternity rights of pregnant women and their employers.
Crazy shit. What disturbs me is trying to imagine what bullying a pregnant woman entails.

The Equal Opportunities Commission recently found that one million pregnant women in the UK will face discrimination at work within the next five years, reports Reuters.
As we already know that ...

These boots are made for walking…and grinding?

<img src="http://feministing.com/imageStorage/daisyduke" .
From The New York Post gossip section:
A Christian group calling itself “The Resistance” wants Jessica Simpson to apologize for her “slutty” video of “These Boots are Made for Walking” and re-shoot a clean version. The group objects to Simpson’s racy antics in the vid, especially because her father was a pastor and she’s a Christian role model. “It’s sad to see her whore herself out like this,” declares the group’s, rep “John Conner” (he won’t divulge his real name). “She’s a singing stripper.” The Resistance has also blasted MTV for “celebrating the homosexual agenda.”

Now I’m not into censorship, and I’m definitely not into wacky groups calling women sluts.
But honestly,

<img src="http://feministing.com/imageStorage/daisyduke" .
From The New York Post gossip section:
A Christian group calling itself “The Resistance” wants Jessica Simpson to apologize for her “slutty” video of “These Boots are Made for Walking” and ...

Check out…

…The Nation on emergency contraception: Plan B for Plan B.
It’s a good background piece on all the FDA/Barr Pharmaceuticals craziness that–as we all know–ended up screwing women out of EC over-the-counter.
And of course an article on EC wouldn’t be complete without a mention of everyone’s favorite rapist, W. David Hager:
As The Nation first reported in May, an FDA staff member contacted Dr. W. David Hager–a controversial evangelical Ob-Gyn on the panel who voted against Plan B–and requested that Hager write a “minority opinion” to further elucidate objections he raised during the hearings; namely, that wider access to emergency contraception would increase “risky behavior” among girls as young as 11 or 12 [see McGarvey, ...

…The Nation on emergency contraception: Plan B for Plan B.
It’s a good background piece on all the FDA/Barr Pharmaceuticals craziness that–as we all know–ended up screwing women out of EC over-the-counter.
And of course ...

Gots to Love Walmart

We’ve reported a lot on Walmart over the last year (mostly because they’ve done a lot of sexist shit). Here’s a little cherry on that cake for you:
Womens E-News ran a great story yesterday about Walmart’s struggle to break out of its rural, Christian mold and expand into urban areas. Turns out, their discriminatory history is catching up to them, and might actually end up hindering their success in more populated areas of the country. As the article states:
Political battles over proposed Wal-Mart stores in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago have demonstrated that what’s acceptable in Arkansas isn’t necessarily embraced everywhere. While the objections focused on the retailer’s low wages, ...

We’ve reported a lot on Walmart over the last year (mostly because they’ve done a lot of sexist shit). Here’s a little cherry on that cake for you:
Womens E-News ran a

Lovely

Don’t you love those mornings where you’re driving to work, minding your own business, and are confronted with a lovely billboard for Newcastle Beer reading:
NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE: Not Heavy, Never Bitter. Can you date a beer?
Ugggghhhhhhh.
I’m thinking of sending this to Ms.’s “No Comment” page.
Anyone else seen some sexist gems lately?

Don’t you love those mornings where you’re driving to work, minding your own business, and are confronted with a lovely billboard for Newcastle Beer reading:
NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE: Not Heavy, Never Bitter. Can you date ...

A Must Read: The Missing Joy

Writer Ruth Franklin at The New Republic takes on the recent barrage of books on being the bestest Mommy ever, and how hard that is, in The Missing Joy; and I have to say she does a pretty kick-ass job of it.
The article is ridiculously comprehensive, discussing the so-called “opt-out” revolution, the “mommy wars,” work/life issues and more, by focusing on three recent books: Perfect Madness, by Judith Warner; How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-at-Work Moms, by Wendy Sachs; and White House Nannies, by Barbara Kline.
At the end of the piece, Franklin argues that it’s time that women just realize (and perhaps accept?) that motherhood is never going to be simple:
It ...

Writer Ruth Franklin at The New Republic takes on the recent barrage of books on being the bestest Mommy ever, and how hard that is, in The Missing Joy; and I have to say she ...

Abstinence-only ed: Second base action=Gonorrhea

It just keeps getting better.
In a N.J. abstinence class, kids are being taught the “facts” of life in a way that’s likely to make them morons:
Its main teaching tool is called “The Choice Game,” an interactive computer program with fictional teen characters in situations involving sex, drugs and alcohol.
One segment involved Maxine and Charlie, the teen parents. Another featured a girl named Ragana, who accepts a boy’s offer to go somewhere they could be alone. The two sit on a couch, with the boy, T.J., sliding Ragana’s sweater down her left arm.
At that point, a video narrator says: “Another critical choice for Ragana: Does she allow him to remove her sweater?”
Later in the ...

It just keeps getting better.
In a N.J. abstinence class, kids are being taught the “facts” of life in a way that’s likely to make them morons:
Its main teaching tool is called “The Choice ...

Most disturbing thing ever: Christian album has singing fetus

A friend of mine heard about this on Howard Stern’s radio show yesterday. Truly terrifying.
Lil’ Markiea grown man who speaks and sings in a child’s voice scary enough for its own horror movie–put out an album that takes on a number of issues (horrible, horrible sins!). But it’s his gross-out hit, “Diary of an Unborn Child,” that shows the anti-choice movement’s true, certifiable colors.
I can’t even get into how creepy this thing is; you should listen for yourself. So you know what you’re getting into, the first line that the fetus sings is “Why did you kill me Mommy, when God made me special for you?” ...

A friend of mine heard about this on Howard Stern’s radio show yesterday. Truly terrifying.
Lil’ Markiea grown man who speaks and sings in a child’s voice scary enough for its own ...

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