2008 February Archive

More Feminist News!

Proposal to limit abortion rejected – The Tennessean: “A proposed constitutional amendment that could have allowed new limits on abortions in Tennessee was killed on Tuesday by a state House subcommittee, the fourth time the Republican-backed proposal has been defeated in the legislature.”
Florida Marlins recruit tubby male cheerleaders for Manatees squad – NY Daily News: “The Florida Marlins are looking for some footloose fat men. The National League team is creating an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad to be dubbed the Manatees.” (File under: not funny)
Deviance in the Time of Abstinence – RHRealityCheck.org: “‘…I wouldn’t mind having a conversation that does not include the words dildo, fisting, squirting, orgasm, vibrator, latex, fucking, shibari, or three-way,’ writes ...

By Jessica • 16 years ago

Mid-day feminist fun time

A couple of you have asked in comments and emails for some occasional cheer-up posts, to temper all the bad news we’ve been getting. So here you go…this is my favorite happy-making video. (Yes, I know I’ve posted it before, but it never gets old to me.)

By Jessica • 16 years ago

Student activist responds to LA Times‘ “no rape crisis” op-ed

Nora Niedzielski-Eichner from SAFER has a piece in the LA Times responding to Heather Mac Donald’s recent op-ed claiming that there is no rape problem on college campuses.
Niedzielski-Eichner not only refutes Mac Donald’s claims that commonly-cited rape statistics are wrong, but also points out that fewer than half of colleges have sexual assault prevention programs – something that must change given the very real problem of campus rape.
Check it out for yourself, and comment over at SAFER’s blog.

By Ann • 16 years ago

Favorite headline of the day

Reason magazine topped its article on the “we need more white babies!” movement (and its accompanying film, Demographic Winter) with this great headline:

Best EVER! But seriously, the article also makes the excellent point that people don’t choose to remain childless for some weird or nefarious reason. Some of us, uh, just don’t want kids, and have decided our lives will be just as happy or happier without them.
When I think about my happiness and my lack of desire to have babies, I’m reminded of the Simpsons episode in which Marge starts a crusade against “Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays,” and she has the following exchange with childless activist Lindsey Naegle:

Bart: ...

By Jessica • 16 years ago

Barbara Seaman: A Remembrance by Jennifer Baumgardner

Barbara Seaman, born September 11, 1935; died February 27, 2008
Contributed by Jennifer Baumgardner
I came to New York City in 1993, age 22, to take an internship at Ms. magazine. Within a few months, I was asked to fact-check a profile of Barbara Seaman, a pioneer in the womenâ€™s health movement on the 25th anniversary of the publication of her classic The Doctors Case Against the Pill. I called her and three hours later got off the phone a changed person. She had answered my fact-checking queries, but then peppered me with friendly questions: Who was I? What was my background? Was I interested in health? Was I on the Pill? Did I know Mary Howell? No, ...

By Ann • 16 years ago

Vitter symbolically restricts native women’s abortion access

This morning the Senate passed the Vitter Amendment — yup, that David Vitter — banning the use of federal Indian Health Service (IHS) funds for abortions. Except that the Hyde Amendment — another piece of “pro-family” legislation named for a noted philanderer — already restricts the rights of low-income women by denying Medicaid and IHS coverage for abortion.
So what’s Vitter doing? He claims his amendment closes a loophole in the Hyde Amendment that may be exploited by a pro-choice president. But really, this is bullshit. All his amendment does reiterate our existing federal policy, and muck things up for a future Democratic congress or president that may repeal the Hyde Amendment. Explains Planned Parenthood’s ...

By Jessica • 16 years ago

Feminists are “language rapists”

I love anti-feminists so much, because the jokes just write themselves.
David Gelernter from the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research has a doozy of an article up, “Feminism and the English Language.” Basically, Gelernter is pissed that some words are used differently now (i.e. firefighter instead of fireman) as not to be sexist.

How can I teach my students to write decently when the English language has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Academic-Industrial Complex? Our language used to belong to all its speakers and readers and writers. But in the 1970s and ’80s, arrogant ideologues began recasting English into heavy artillery to defend the borders of the New Feminist state. In consequence we have all ...

By Miriam • 16 years ago

Can’t get enough of those feminist sex shops…

So I have a confession to make. I have a litte bit of an obsession. With feminist sex shops. I want to work at them, and every time I go to a new city I drag whoever I am with to find the local one. Ever since I discovered Babeland (formerly Toys in Babeland) when I was in college, I have been a huge advocate of these places. They should be paying me for all the promotion I do (but they’re not).
Today I am in Minneapolis/St.Paul and have had the awesome opportunity to visit another feminist sex shop, Smitten Kitten. And boy am I smitten.
For those you who have never visited a feminist sex shop, ...

So I have a confession to make. I have a litte bit of an obsession. With feminist sex shops. I want to work at them, and every time I go to a new city I drag ...