"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
Check out this New York Times piece from yesterday about how the Girl Scouts have been recruiting Muslim girls in an effort to help them adjust to American culture without sacrificing their Muslim identity. At the same time, the piece itself was bothersome at some parts, for example:
She has discovered that the trademark green sash — with its American flag, troop number (3009) and colorful merit badges — reduces the number of glowering looks she draws from people otherwise bothered by her traditional Muslim dress.
Just slap an American label on her and she'll be good to go! Sigh.
Michelle Bruce--who won a City Council seat in Riverdale, Georgia four years ago--is being sued by her (losing) opponent for supposedly "misleading" voters by running as a woman. Talk about classy.
Three rivals ran against [Bruce] in the Nov. 6 election. She captured 312 votes, not enough to avoid a Dec. 4 runoff against the second-place finisher, Wayne Hall, who earned 202 votes.
The third-place finisher, Georgia Fuller, who collected 171 votes, filed a lawsuit claiming election fraud.
The complaint, identifying Ms. Bruce as “Michael Bruce,” says she misled voters by identifying herself as female. It asks a judge to rule the November election results invalid and order another general election.
You know, because Fuller is the arbiter of who is female and who isn't. Ugh. Apparently, Riverdale tends to favor female candidates. Fuller's lawyer, Michael King says, "It’s not just sour grapes. The people need to know whether the election is fair.” I'm sorry, what's fairness got to do with it? Sounds more like trans hate than anything else to me.
The folks over at Planned Parenthood NYC are rocking it again with their new series of parties: Body Politic '08. These shindigs are designed to "engage pro-choice New Yorkers, raise funds and make new friends for our upcoming voter education and mobilization work." Who could argue with that? (Well, I know, lots of people, which is why it's so important to support.)
The first party, Jazz and Jewels, is tonight at the The Duplex at 9:30, but others follow if you already have crazy Friday night plans.
Doug Greenaway, executive director of the National WIC Association, which represents state and local agencies, said states probably would deter new applicants and cut new mothers, rather than pregnant women and children.
"Once the word gets out on the street that the program is in some kind of funding jeopardy, people will say, 'Wow, there isn't an opportunity for me to participate,' " Greenaway said. "It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Regardless of which holidays you're celebrating or subverting, we thought this time of year called for some feminist cheer. So we’re going to be getting our drink-on in NYC for the holiday season and a coming new year full of great things for the feminist movement.
So if you're in the area, join us and spread the holiday love.
The Village Pourhouse
64 Third Ave. (on 11th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Wednesday, December 19th
6:00 PM
Happy Hour Holiday Specials Until 7 PM include:
$1 Bud and Bud Light Drafts
2 for 1 Sauza Margaritas
2 for 1 Level and Absolut Vodka Cocktails
Last night in the CNN/YouTube Republican debate, the candidates were asked what the punishment should be for women if abortion is banned.
The question of "How Much Time Should She Do?" is one that we heard from Anna Quindlen this summer and is now resurfacing once again. Now that the political heat is high, this message - while it's certainly not new - might just reframe the abortion debate and put conservatives on the defensive for a change.
Pro-choice candidates have consistently been forced by anti-choice rhetoric into positions where they end upcompromising on reproductive rights issues; this is no big news. But asking anti-choice individuals about criminalization isn't an easy question to answer, as you can see in this video. And as mentioned in the Quindlen article, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa asked anti-choice Republican Jim Nussle publicly during the 2006 governor's race the very same question, in which he lost the race to pro-choice Governor Chet Culver.
The National Institute for Reproductive Health's Messaging Project gave PPGI resources for their campaign, which focuses specifically on "How Much Time?" after doing research which showed that this question resonated with the public more than a number of other pro-choice messages. While the majority of Americans are pro-choice, the majority of them aren't activists and many don't even consider a candidate's position on choice to be a priority. But putting criminalization at the forefront of the argument could not only change the debate, but prioritize the public's expectations in candidates.
Jill also wrote a great piece about this when the Quindlen article came out that asks more than the one question. Last night, the candidates naturally turn the question to the doctors (because you know, the women seeking abortions are too distraught and not mentally well enough to be held responsible). The criminalization of doctors is also being researched by the National Institute in creating effective messaging; because if doctors are put in jail, women won't have anywhere to go and this country will regress back to dangerous, illegal abortions.
In short, Journey's question last night is an opportunity to not only reframe the abortion debate, but to reclaim it altogether.
Within the first time in the comic book character's 66-year history, a woman is serving as an "ongoing writer" for Wonder Woman, reports the New York Times.
With issue No. 14 hitting the stores a couple of weeks ago, Gail Simone began her new title. Her thoughts on the character:
“She’s just the best kind of person. . . She was a princess who didn’t need someone to rescue her. I grew up in an era — and a family — where women’s rights were very important, and the guys didn’t tend to stick around too long. She was an amazing role model.”
Not one week after UK women Reclaimed the Night on Saturday, we find that juries will now be "briefed" before rape cases in order to dispel "rape myths" that studies have shown to contribute to a severe decrease in rape convictions in the UK.
In 1977, 33% of reported rapes ended in conviction. By 2005, that percentage had dropped to 5.4%. So in one form of response, a number of doctors, judges and academics are in the process of putting together a packet to be presented to juries which addresses these myths (such as the fact that not all rape survivors report the crime immediately, or that not all will act emotionally on the witness stand).
Despite the project, others still think change within the system as a whole is necessary to change the current state of conviction rates.
For most of my young life, I’ve avoided thinking about or watching pornography. Sure there was that time that my gal pals and I got a porn flick in a hotel room on spring break “just to see” or the afternoon Gareth and I spent researching feminist porn and finding scary titles like Dungeon Mistress. I’ve browsed Nerve.com and I like to check out Bust’s one-handed read, but generally I’ve steered clear of porn or, even, truth be told, erotica. (Somehow I even missed studying pornography in college or grad school.)
I never made a conscious decision; it was just one of those subconscious, self-protective moves. I think I sensed that there was a “point of no return” quality to being aware of what was really out there and I was scared to go down that road just as I was developing my sexual identity and getting involved in relationships (in my case, heterosexual).
You'll note from the packaging that Lusty Linda can utter "8 lusty sayings," which fall into one of two categories—"good mood" or "bad mood," controlled by the click of a switch. Says one site (screen cap) that sells Lusty Linda, "too bad all women did not have such a switch." Ho ho ho!
Her "bad mood" sayings include "Ow," "Help, Help!" and "Get out you, you dirty old man." You know, because rape is hilarious.
Recently "men's rights activists" scoffed at the idea that we were offended by the pencil sharpener, which blogger Glenn Sacks wrote "depicts a conventional, common sex act which women enjoy." (What woman enjoys fucking without her head, I don't know.) I wonder if they'll find more excuses as to how "Help!" and "Ow!" are actually cries of unabashed pleasure.
This promotes rape. If you buy one of these things, you are promoting rape. If you laugh at one of these things, you are promoting rape. If you don’t laugh but still think that it’s a harmless joke, you are promoting rape. If one of your friends has one, or thinks it’s funny, and you don’t say anything about it, you are promoting rape.
How many more times do we have to say it? Rape is not funny.
Just wanted to let rotten apple folks know that I'll be speaking about my book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, at The New School (Swayduck auditorium, 65 Fifth Avenue (between 13th/14th Sts) tomorrow, Thursday, at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public, so feel free to swing by if it is of interest.
The folks over at Planned Parenthood NYC are rocking it again with their new series of parties: 
For most of my young life, I’ve avoided thinking about or watching pornography. Sure there was that time that my gal pals and I got a porn flick in a hotel room on spring break “just to see” or the afternoon Gareth and I spent researching feminist porn and finding scary titles like Dungeon Mistress. I’ve browsed 
