By Jessica • 17 years ago

Greetings from South Dakota!

Contributed by Suzanne Grossman
[Ed. note: this post was adapted from an email]
I’m here with the theater production Words of Choice on a tour around the state to help support and spur dialogue regarding the extreme abortion law that is up for a state-wide vote next Tuesday. We have done two shows so far in Sioux Falls that have gone extremely well and are heading to another college today in Brookings, SD.
I wanted to tell you some first-hand accounts of things here because I think that we all can do a lot to show our support. I’ve met a number of activists who are working hard to get out the “vote no on 6″ message but it’s ...

Contributed by Suzanne Grossman
[Ed. note: this post was adapted from an email]
I’m here with the theater production Words of Choice on a tour around the state to help support and spur dialogue regarding the ...
By Samhita • 17 years ago

New domestic violence law in India passes.

Activist have been lobbying in India for a while to get tougher laws on domestic violence. As of yesterday men could face jail sentences and stiff fines for violence against women.

The law, which took effect Thursday, also applies to men or their families who harass wives for larger dowries, the government said.
The measure is intended to prevent cases in which a husband or his family kills a wife because her family did not give a big enough dowry.
The Domestic Violence Act’s definition of abuse is broad, including verbal, physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse. Violators face up to a year in prison and a fine of 20,000 rupees (US$435; euro360).
“We have been trying for long to protect ...

Activist have been lobbying in India for a while to get tougher laws on domestic violence. As of yesterday men could face jail sentences and stiff fines for violence against women.

The law, which took effect Thursday, also ...
By Ann • 17 years ago

Single-sex education and gender roles

The Bush administration recently announced it’s easing restrictions to encourage more sex-segregated public schools. I’m with most of the major civil liberties groups in saying I’m not happy with this smackdown of Title IX.
(And before everybody goes shouting that, “Hey! But feminists loooove women-only colleges!”, let me say that seg-segregated education is a vastly different issue when we’re talking about public K-12 schools. )
Sure, some studies have shown that both girls and boys can benefit from being in a sex-segregated learning environment. But the right-wingers who are pushing for more single-sex schools don’t have these benefits in mind. This is more of a tool to reinforce traditional gender roles than ...

The Bush administration recently announced it’s easing restrictions to encourage more sex-segregated public schools. I’m with most of the major civil liberties groups in saying I’m not happy with this smackdown of

By Jessica • 17 years ago

Asshole of the day

A judge in Missouri ordered a woman not to have any children out of wedlock while on probation. Yeah.

“I was shocked,” Nelson said. “I only have three kids. He made it seem like I was just having kids, kids, kids.”
…[Mandy] Nelson told the judge that she had undergone surgery to close her fallopian tubes after her third son was born two years ago.
But [Judge Daniel] Kellogg replied, “Frankly, nothing is 100 percent.”

And for this, he is the asshole of the day.
Another interesting piece of info:

In a case such as Nelson’s, an officer would report to the court only if she gave birth to a child out of wedlock, Hauswirth said. The pregnancy by itself ...

A judge in Missouri ordered a woman not to have any children out of wedlock while on probation. Yeah.

“I was shocked,” Nelson said. “I only have three kids. He made it seem like I was ...
By Jessica • 17 years ago

Jane’s Journey

Check out another ad from the folks at No on 85. While it’s meant to focus on the proposed law in California, I think it shows the insanity of any parental notification law.

Check out another ad from the folks at No on 85. While it’s meant to focus on the proposed law in California, I think it shows the insanity of any parental notification law.
By Ann • 17 years ago

More airtime for Couric = less for other women

Broadcasting & Cable reports that in the six weeks since Katie Couric has taken over the anchor’s chair, female reporters and correspondents on the CBS Evening News have recevied 40% fewer assignments.

Under [outgoing anchor Bob] Schieffer, stories filed by women averaged 5.8 minutes each night; under Couric, that average has dropped to 3.0 (the average for men is the same, at 10.1 minutes). Medical correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin has been replaced by Jon LaPook.

Maybe Kaledin wouldn’t agree to the Photoshop diet? Writes B&C:

Couric has risen to the top network news spot. But so far, it seems, her rising tide has not lifted her sisters’ boats.

Ignore, momentarily, the icky phrase, “lifted her sisters’ boats”… I don’t know ...

Broadcasting & Cable reports that in the six weeks since Katie Couric has taken over the anchor’s chair, female reporters and correspondents on the CBS Evening News have recevied 40% fewer assignments.

Under [outgoing anchor Bob] ...
By Samhita • 17 years ago

New Jersey courts back same-sex unions.

The courts decided yesterday that gay couples should have the same legal and financial rights as hetero-couples but couldn’t decide if it should be called marriage, handing that decision to the state legislature.

In a decision filled with bold and sweeping pronouncements about equality, the New Jersey Supreme Court gave the Democratic-controlled Legislature 180 days to either expand existing laws or come up with new ones to provide gay couples benefits including tuition assistance, survivors’ benefits under workers’ compensation laws and spousal privilege in criminal trials.
Four justices said that lawmakers, not the court, should decide whether to call those arrangements a marriage, a civil union or something else, while three dissenters said the state Constitution demanded that gay couples, like ...

The courts decided yesterday that gay couples should have the same legal and financial rights as hetero-couples but couldn’t decide if it should be called marriage, handing that decision to the state legislature.

In a decision filled with ...
By Jessica • 17 years ago

What women voters want…and an event

Contributed by Elana Levin
Cross-posted at DMIBlog.
What woman who votes doesn’t love to read media speculation about what the mysterious female voter is looking for in “Mr. Right” (by which I mean the usually male candididates for higher office). The Washington Post’s article on the George Allen vs. Jim Webb race for Senate in Virginia was called “Women’s Vote Could Tip Close Contest: Webb and Allen Temper Records, Soften Images.” The article asserts that both candidates’ bio’s dripped “machismo” (apparently that alienates women or something). While the Washington Post’s news story focused on how candidates tempered their public image to match the apparently bright pink palette us little ladies demand, the lead opinion piece in today’s ...

Contributed by Elana Levin
Cross-posted at DMIBlog.
What woman who votes doesn’t love to read media speculation about what the mysterious female voter is looking for in “Mr. Right” (by which I mean the usually ...

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