"I love feministing.com and always learn from it." Katha Pollitt, The Nation
"Many people need a morning "fix." For some, it's coffee. For others, it's "SportsCenter." For me, it's Feministing.com." Katie Stone, The Denver Post
"Feminism is fun again! Every bit as edifying as your women's studies books from college, but with a biting sense of humor that keeps things punchy, not preachy." Marie Claire, December 2006
I have a story in the current print issue (Jan/Feb) of The American Prospect about the politics of using RU-486 to treat cancer. It's also online here.
Phill Kline's investigation into a Kansas abortion provider won't continue after Kline leaves office on January 8. But Kline is working hard to get charges filed before then.
Might it be possible to repeal the Global Gag Rule this year?
After initially banning an abstinence-only program, Rhode Island agreed to reinstate it -- even though it's still medically inaccurate and discriminatory.
The Vatican has upheld the 1996 excommunication of a Catholic reform group that supports the ordination of women.
Barbara Ehrenreich on DemocracyNow!speaks about poverty and global feminism.
The politics of Patricia Heaton, Feminists For Life's celebrity spokesperson.
The movement to end violence against women in Darfur continues.
A New Mexico abstinence group is suing Governor Bill Richardson for failure to disclose how the state spends its federal abstinence-only dollars. I'm all for more transparency on how these federal grants are administered. But the abstinence group is basically just pissed because New Mexico has refused to indoctrinate kids 6th grade and younger with the abstinence-only message.
Shocker! Women who leave the workforce to raise children full-time are often financially screwed in later life.
Why the new sitcom My Boys does justice to the single gal more than Sex and the City ever did.
Even though the number of women in science continues to grow, they still routinely receive less research support than their male colleagues, and they have not reached the top academic ranks.
While many U.S. states still haven't committed to covering the cost of the HPV vaccine, Britain is vaccinating all 12-year-old girls.
Funny how headlines never scream "fear grips town" when a serial rapist targets women. (Thanks to Erin for the link.)
Linda Nieves-Powell: Bringing Latino Flavored Productions
Linda Nieves-Powell is the president and CEO of the multimedia entertainment company, Latino Flavored Productions, Inc. based in New York, which she founded in 1995. As well as a playwright, author, mother, wife, and entrepreneur.
I spoke with Linda over the phone in November. Here’s Linda…
Mehrnoush Najafi, a lawyer who also happens to be a women's rights activist and blogger, won in the Hamedan City Council Elections.
Eteraz notes that after the polls closed, Najafi wrote on her blog: "I am a candidate, therefore, I am." He also gives us this great quote:
“Why don’t women want to have a larger share of participation?” Najafi continues, “We shouldn’t wait until they give us a share. We should go forward ourselves and be involved. Standing aside will do no good.” (Rooz.)
Women bloggers taking over the world...I'm telling you.
They writhe and strut, shake their bottoms, splay their legs, thrust their chests out and in and out again. Some straddle empty chairs, like lap dancers without laps. They don’t smile much. Their faces are locked from grim exertion, from all that leaping up and lying down without poles to hold onto. “Don’t stop don’t stop,” sings Janet Jackson, all whispery. “Jerk it like you’re making it choke. ...Ohh. I’m so stimulated. Feel so X-rated.” The girls spend a lot of time lying on the floor. They are in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
As each routine ends, parents and siblings cheer, whistle and applaud. I just sit there, not fully comprehending.
Vanessa covered this girls-shouldn't-dance-sexy stuff recently, and I tend to agree with most of her thoughts.
Is it kind of shocking when you're an adult to see kinds dirty dancing or girls dancing like their grown women? Of course. But it's nothing new. Lawrence Downes, author of the editorial, seems to think that racy talent shows and dancing are a recent phenomenon brought on by an oversexualized pop culture. But I hate to tell you, kids have been shaking their shit for quite a long time.
A small example. At my seventh grade dance teachers almost lost their mind when we all started dancing to "I Want to Sex You Up" by Color Me Bad. (Don't give me a hard time, it was a hot song back then.) There was much bumping and grinding and such going on--and it was a lot more innocent than the teachers thought. We were laughing and having fun, but seeing us all up on each other was enough to give adults fainting spells. And you know that teens back in the 50s were doing the same shit, just to different music.
I'm not saying that I think that the current pop culture doesn't position young women as sexual objects in a disturbing way--it does. But I don't think the solution is to legislate dance moves or try to implement a no grinding rule at school dances. Cause seriously, the more adults are freaked out by it, the more they're going to want to do it.
Wishful thinking study: Housework cuts breast cancer risk
"I hate chores, but I guess I hate cancer more!"
I couldn't help it, I started laughing when I read the headline of this article.
A new study says that women who exercise by doing housework can reduce their risk of breast cancer.
The research on more than 200,000 women from nine European countries found doing household chores was far more cancer protective than playing sport.
Dusting, mopping and vacuuming was also better than having a physical job.
You hear that ladies? Cleaning could save your life. A job could kill you.
Never mind that the results simply show that moderate, regular forms of exercise may be more effective in cutting cancer risk than "less frequent but more intense recreational physical activity." No...let's make sure to push the dusting angle.
In 1993 nonfatal intimate partner violence was 5.8 victimizations per 1,000 U.S. residents 12 years old and older. By 2004 this rate had fallen to 2.6 victimizations per 1,000 individuals.
...The number of intimate partner homicide victims has declined since 1993, with greater declines seen for male victims. During 1993, the number of females murdered by intimates was 1,571, compared to 1,159 during 2004 -- a 26 percent decline. The number of males murdered by partners during 1993 was 698, compared to 385 -- a 45 percent decline.
Of course, it's not all good news. Some demographic groups saw an increase in violence, and some women are more at risk than others.
During that period [2003-2004] the rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence among black females increased from 3.8 to 6.6 victimizations per 1,000 females aged 12 and older.
...The average annual rate of non-fatal intimate partner violence from 1993 to 2004 was highest for American Indian and Alaskan Native females at 18.2 victimizations per 1,000 females aged 12 and older. The risks also varied by age group. Females 20 to 24 years old were at the highest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence.
The lovely Miss Samhita is in town, which means I'm in a state of perpetual hangover nastiness. Naturally.
Classic Samhita:
Outside a Lower East Side bar, a random guy saunters up and tries to light Samhita's cig. He can't get it to work. Samhita rolls her eyes at him and says, "Fuck that patriarchal bullshit, anyway." He backs away slowly.
A report from NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina says inaccuracies occur in both Sex Respect and Me, My World, My Future, which are used in the county's "abstinence only" family life program taken by some middle school students.
Sex Respect, used by eighth-graders in New Hanover County, questions the protection that condoms provide against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, stating: "There is not a lot of proof that condoms really work. Would you trust your life to one?"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that condoms are highly effective against HIV when used consistently and correctly.
Like this gem: “A young man’s natural desire for sex is already strong due to testosterone, the powerful male growth hormone. Females are becoming culturally conditioned to fantasize about sex as well.” (Cause lord knows we wouldn’t think about sex naturally. Ick.)
Another peeve? Jere Royall of the North Carolina Family Policy Council says, “If you get into 'let us show you how to use contraceptives,' then you're sending a mixed message to young people…With drugs and alcohol we encourage them to make wise and healthy choices. We don't turn around and say, 'If you are going to do these things, this is how to do it.'”
Of course we don’t. Because drugs and alcohol are pretty much bad for you no matter what—there ain’t no coke condom. It just kills me when people liken teen drug or alcohol use to sexual activity—shouldn’t we be teaching kids that sex is a wonderful thing rather than something akin to heroin use?
Check out this piece in Alternet (originally posted on Women's eNews) about "maternal profiling"--employers asking women about their marital or parental status before hiring them. Interesting stuff.
Here's one of those things I don't know what to say about.
It is a beauty contest complete with a swimsuit round. But all the contestants in the latest reality format to sweep ratings-hungry broadcasters have a disability.
Contestants must display a “handicap visible to the eye” in Miss Ability, a Dutch show that became the surprise hit of 2006 in the Netherlands.
Twelve women, including amputees and wheelchair-bound contestants, parade in nightgowns and bathing suits.
I'm not so into beauty pageants, but this actually seems kind of cool--at least in terms of redefining beauty standards. The producers of Miss Ability say that the show isn't patronize women who are differently abled and are aiming to break down barriers:
But the prospectus does not suggest sensitivity. It reads: “Ever whistled at a woman in a wheelchair? Checked out the boobs of a blind babe? If the answer’s ‘no’, this barrier-breaking show will put an end to that.”
Controversial, no doubt. Progressive? Not sure. Thoughts?
Apparently, about 40 percent of the world's population is infected with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in raw meat, that makes men dumb and women sluts:
'Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women.
