2010 March Archive | Feministing

RNC spends thousands on private jets, luxury hotels and strip club

More scandal from the Republican National Committee, this time focused on how they spent committee funds.

The Republican National Committee spent tens of thousands of dollars last month on luxury jets, posh hotels and other high-flying expenses, according to new Federal Election Commission filings, including nearly $2,000 for “meals” at Voyeur West Hollywood, a lesbian-themed nightclub that features topless dancers in bondage outfits.
The RNC spent more than $17,000 on private jet travel in February as well as nearly $13,000 for limousines, according to the documents. The GOP’s main political committee also ran up tabs at numerous posh hotels, including the Beverly Hills Hotel ($9,000); the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons ($6,600) and the W Hotel in Washington ($15,000), and spent ...

More scandal from the Republican National Committee, this time focused on how they spent committee funds.

The Republican National Committee spent tens of thousands of dollars last month on luxury jets, posh hotels and other high-flying expenses, ...

By Miriam • 14 years ago

National LGBT Health Awareness Week

This week is the National LGBT Health Awareness week, sponsored by the National Coalition for LGBT Health.

This year the theme of LGBT Health Awareness Week is Closing the Gap. The LGBT community has, on average, worse health outcomes and less access to the care we need than the straight community. We cannot afford to ignore the gap anymore. We need to educate ourselves and our health care providers about our unique health needs as well as our health risks. We need to commit to closing the gap, because everyone deserves good health!
To help accomplish this, we have provided many resources. You can learn more about specific health issues relevant to the LGBT community, download ...

This week is the National LGBT Health Awareness week, sponsored by the National Coalition for LGBT Health.

This year the theme of LGBT Health Awareness Week is Closing the Gap. The LGBT community ...

By Miriam • 14 years ago

Iceland bans strip clubs: A victory for feminism?

The news last week that Iceland has passed legislation banning strip clubs in the country was met with news outlets claiming this makes Iceland the “most female-friendly country in the world.”
The move was promoted as a law motivated by feminism, not religion, as these types of laws often are. Iceland also boasts an openly lesbian Head of State.
One thing missing from media coverage of the ban was the perspectives of the dancer’s themselves. Club owners were quoted, politicians, but no women actually employed by this industry in Iceland. That’s a big gap. They briefly mention in the Guardian piece that most of the workers were immigrants–that’s an important piece of the puzzle as well.
Iceland and the ...

By Jessica • 14 years ago

Health Care Reform, At Whose Expense?

Guest post by Aimée Thorne-Thomsen, Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP)

Despite the headlines and excitement over the signing of the health care bill, today is not a great day for many of us. After months, and let’s be honest, years of struggle to reform America’s decayed health care system, we got…what, exactly? Yes, young people can now stay on their parents’ insurance until they are 26, assuming that their parents have insurance. The legislation expands Medicaid to cover family planning and other preventative reproductive health care. Insurance companies will no longer be able to charge women more than men or deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. So, yes, women and our families gain ...

Guest post by Aimée Thorne-Thomsen, Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP)

Despite the headlines and excitement over the signing of the health care bill, today is not a great day for many of us. After ...

By Miriam • 14 years ago

Georgetown students chain themselves to statue to protest no-condom policy

Photo by Lexie Herman, from Vox Populi
This weekend, Georgetown students protested the campus’ anti-choice policies by chaining themselves to a campus statue during tours by prospective students.

As groups of prospective students and their parents toured Georgetown University Saturday afternoon, three current students put tape over their mouths and chained themselves to a statue of the Catholic college’s founder.
The president of the campus’s unofficial pro-choice group yelled into a megaphone: “We are unofficial because Georgetown refuses to take care of the sexual health of its students.” Two other students held a huge banner with a message for university president John J. DeGioia: “Take the tape off our mouths and the chains off our ...

Photo by Lexie Herman, from Vox Populi
This weekend, Georgetown students protested the campus’ anti-choice policies by chaining themselves to a campus statue during tours by prospective students.

As groups of prospective ...

By Ann • 14 years ago

Weekly Feminist Reader

From a human resource handbook for women, 1943.

On the latest Catholic Church sex-abuse cover-up and rape culture. Plus, given this, why does the Church have any legitimacy in the debate over women’s rights?

Honoring Denise Scott Brown, perhaps the world’s foremost woman architect.

Take action in support of Nazia Quazi, a Canadian woman being held against her will in Saudi Arabia.

Is TV for tweens girl-centric?

Parsing what filling out Census forms says about queer relationships.

China requires female astronauts to be wives and mothers.

Amanda Hess takes on the (sometimes) fine line between street harassment and friendliness.

Could “conscience clauses” be used as justification for refusing to fill hormone prescriptions for trans ...

From a human resource handbook for women, 1943.

On the latest Catholic Church sex-abuse cover-up and rape culture. Plus, given this, why does the Church have any legitimacy in the debate over ...

By Professor Foxy • 14 years ago

Ask Professor Foxy: Polyurethane Condoms Fore and Aft

This weekly Saturday column “Ask Professor Foxy” will regularly contain sexually explicit material. This material is likely not safe for work viewing. The title of the column will include the major topic of the post, so please read the topic when deciding whether or not to read the entire column.
Hi Prof. Foxy!
To get right to the point, I’m allergic to latex. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, that can cause a NASTY allergic reaction. My question then is about condoms. I know latex are the best but I can’t use them, and I know animal skin is the worst because they’re pores (I’m vegetarian so I wouldn’t use them anyway). I’ve been using the polyurethane condoms, but ...

By Chloe Angyal • 14 years ago

The Feministing Five: Gloria Feldt

Gloria Feldt is a force to be reckoned with. Feldt is the former President and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Foundation of America and has devoted her entire working life to women’s rights. This week marked the conclusion of efforts to pass health care reform, and because abortion coverage was used, successfully, as a wedge issue in the debate over those efforts, it’s important to reflect on what went wrong, what we did right, and what our next steps should be. And who better to help us understand that than Feldt?
That said, any week is a good week to interview a woman who had led a life like Feldt’s. Raised in West Texas, she grew ...