2005 September Archive

Only 10 women in list of top 100 intellectuals

Foreign Policy (FP) and Prospect magazine have compiled a list of the world’s top 100 intellectuals, including only 10 women.

Germaine Greer, the feminist and one-time celebrity Big Brother contestant, and anti-globalisation journalist Naomi Klein were among those women to make Prospect magazine’s annual list.
The eight other women are Florence Wambugu, a plant virologist from Kenya; Elaine Scarry, an American literary theorist; Martha Nussbaum, a US philosopher; Sunita Narain, an Indian developmental environmentalist; Camille Paglia, an American US critic and feminist; Shirin Ebadi, a human rights activist from Iran; Julia Kristeva, a philosopher and feminist from France, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a politician from Somalia and the Netherlands.
Commenting on the list, writer David Herman criticises ...

Foreign Policy (FP) and Prospect magazine have compiled a list of the world’s top 100 intellectuals, including only 10 women.

Germaine Greer, the feminist and one-time celebrity Big Brother contestant, and anti-globalisation journalist Naomi ...

By Jessica • 18 years ago

Debbie banned from doing Dallas

A judge in Texas recently ordered a 17 year-old girl charged with using drugs to abstain from sex as a condition of her probation. You know, cause drug use and sex go hand in hand. (I wonder how this judge plans to enforce the ruling…weekly vagina checks?)
Apparently Judge Lauri Blake is known for being quite the hater–she has also banned tattoos, body piercings, earrings and clothing “associated with the drug culture” for those on probation and won’t allow lawyers in her courtroom to wear sleeveless shirts or show cleavage.
Sounds like someone needs a gavel removed from their ass.

A judge in Texas recently ordered a 17 year-old girl charged with using drugs to abstain from sex as a condition of her probation. You know, cause drug use and sex go hand in ...

By Jessica • 18 years ago

“Some of my best friends are black fetuses…”

Nice job, asshole.

Democratic lawmakers and civil rights leaders denounced conservative commentator William J. Bennett yesterday for suggesting on his syndicated radio show that aborting black children would reduce the U.S. crime rate.
The former U.S. education secretary-turned-talk show host said Wednesday that “if you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose — you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.” Bennett quickly added that such an idea would be “an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do.” But, he said, “your crime rate would go down.”

Holy. Shit.
Bennett doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation to begin with–after writing books about traditional values ...

Nice job, asshole.

By Jessica • 18 years ago

I love him, I love him not

Yesterday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure to ensure that pharmacists can’t deny women emergency contraception.
He also vetoed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage.
Sigh.

By Jessica • 18 years ago

Pakistani women demonstrate against president

Hundreds of Pakistani women marched recently, protesting the president’s recent remarks about rape victims.

Protesters carried banners and placards and heard speeches denouncing Pervez Musharraf’s comments, made in the US.
…In Islamabad, human rights activist Hina Jillani told the crowds that the president’s remarks were an insult to women, and called for an “unqualified apology” from Mr Musharraf.
The rally, held close to the presidential palace and Pakistan’s parliament, was organised by the Joint Action Committee, a grouping of womens’ groups and human rights activists.
…Many Pakistani women routinely face abuse and rape in a male-dominated society.
Incidents of violent rape have caused outrage in recent years, with victims like Mukhtaran Mai and Dr Shazia Khalid highlighting ...

Hundreds of Pakistani women marched recently, protesting the president’s recent remarks about rape victims.

Protesters carried banners and placards and heard speeches denouncing Pervez Musharraf’s comments, made in the US.
…In Islamabad, human rights ...

By Samhita • 18 years ago

NOW condemns Robert’s confirmation.

Fuckers.
Only 22 senators had the courage to stand up for women’s rights when it mattered. NOW applauds those senators who voted to reject this dangerous nominee, and it is unfortunate that the courageous actions of a few are overshadowed by the fall-in-line politics of so many more.
I guess I am finding myself banging my head against a wall as well.

By Samhita • 18 years ago

Married women not having sex

This does not suprise me at all. Not to be anti-marriage girl today or anything (even though I am pretty anti-marriage), I found this study to be interesting.
Married women are more likely to have sexual problems than married men or single women, research suggests.
Researchers from University College London analysed data from a survey of 11,000 adults, giving a snapshot of what is happening in UK bedrooms.
Juggling caring for small children with maintaining a sexual relationship was highlighted as a problem by many.
Married or cohabiting women were more likely to have problems than single members of their gender, as were mothers with young children at home.
Problems cited by married women included not feeling like they ...

This does not suprise me at all. Not to be anti-marriage girl today or anything (even though I am pretty anti-marriage), I found this study to be interesting.
Married women are more likely to have sexual ...

By Samhita • 18 years ago

Women in Mauritania force fed for marriage

Here our “modern brides” starve themselves to fit into their wedding dresses. In this particular instance, women are being forced to overeat to fit into a beauty image that demands a larger woman.

The traditions of the desert are very much alive in Mauritania, an Islamic republic on the western edge of the Sahara whose people were still almost entirely nomadic when the country gained independence from France in 1960.
Having a voluptuous wife and daughters — well fed to survive the rigors of a desert lifestyle — was long a visible sign of wealth and power among the country’s light-skinned Moors. It is still seen by many as a canon of beauty.
But with Lebanese satellite television ...