2010 July Archive | Feministing

The Feministing Five: Representative Jan Schakowsky

Rep. Jan Schakowsky represents Illinois’s 9th congressional district, and has been a member of the United States Congress since 1999. Schakowsky sits on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, where she’s the Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, and on the Intelligence Committee, where she’s Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Schakowsky got her first taste of politics in 1969, when she and a group of other homemakers led an effort for fresh products in supermarket –an effort that resulted in the now-ubiquitous “use by” labels we see on our food.

A strong supporter of women’s rights and a vocal critic of the anti-abortion Stupak-Pitts Amendment to last year’s healthcare bill, she is also ...

By Samhita • 13 years ago

What We Missed.

Arpaio continues to be an asshole.

Anthony Weiner goes in on the Republicans over the 9-11 Health Bill.

On the obsession with Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.

A possible House bill would ban federal funding of abortion.

Pregnant women losing out on home loans.

Brazil has seen an increase in sex tourism.

G.D. and TNC on Essence hiring a white fashion director.

Have a good weekend folks!

Arpaio continues to be an asshole.

Anthony Weiner goes in on the Republicans over the 9-11 Health Bill.

On the obsession with Chelsea Clinton’s wedding.

A possible House bill would ban federal funding ...

By Rose • 13 years ago

Celebrate National Dance Day because physical activity is a feminist issue

Don’t you just LOVE the Beat Freakz!

It’s Friday, and although National Dance Day is tomorrow, I can’t help but celebrate early. This day is brought to us by the efforts of Eleanor Holmes Norton. She is truly my she-ro and I am feeling her ideas to promote physical activity with a little hip swaying and two-stepping:

Norton will host a National Dance Day Flash Mob at Washington’s Malcolm X-Meridian Park. Guests include TV judge/producer of “So You Think You Can Dance,” Nigel Lythgoe, who is also behind the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a grassroots organization that supports dance education.

“National Dance Day belongs to the people, and it is up to individuals to come up with ways to participate,” Norton adds. ...

Don’t you just LOVE the Beat Freakz!

It’s Friday, and although National Dance Day is tomorrow, I can’t help but celebrate early. This day is brought to us by the efforts of Eleanor Holmes Norton. She is ...

By Samhita • 13 years ago

Schlafly: Non-fact based hater.

Vanessa mentioned in the What We Missed a few days ago that Phyllis Schlafly made some really offensive comments about married women. She said,

“One of the things Obama’s been doing is deliberately trying to increase the percentage of our population that is dependent on government…For example, do you know what was the second biggest demographic group that voted for Obama? Obviously the blacks were the biggest demographic, yall know what was the second biggest? Unmarried women. 70% of unmarried women voted for Obama. And this is because when you kick your husband out, you’ve got to have Big Brother Government to be your provider. And they know that. They’ve admitted it. ...

Vanessa mentioned in the What We Missed a few days ago that Phyllis Schlafly made some really offensive comments about married women. She said,

“One of the things Obama’s been doing is deliberately trying ...

By Samhita • 13 years ago

On Time’s “Courageous” Cover.

I have been stewing over the implications of TIME’s decision to run the face of a mutilated Afghani woman on the cover of the magazine to raise awareness about women’s rights in Afghanistan. Many have applauded TIME’s decision to do this calling it courageous and effective, all while recognizing this is also a cheap plea for magazine sales. I am taking issue specifically with the use of the image on the cover, not the article itself which was not available online in its entirety (but trust I will steal my dad’s copy of TIME asap). My inquiry is two fold: first, the assumption that military presence in Afghanistan has made women’s rights better is a complicated one that ...

By Rose • 13 years ago

Girl/Friends uses art therapy to create healing spaces for violence survivors

Last month,Vanessa and I made an appeal on Feministing for folks to contribute to the Girl/Friends program in Chicago, IL. Just a reminder, the program combines sexual health education, art therapy, and positive leadership development to empower girls to become leaders in their community. But most of all, it serves as a healing space for girls who have survived or witnessed violence.

By Samhita • 13 years ago

Schlafly: Non-fact based hater.

Vanessa mentioned in the What We Missed a few days ago that Phyllis Schlafly made some really offensive comments about married women. She said,

“One of the things Obama’s been doing is deliberately trying to ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Girl Scouts release new body image campaign

You might remember that a few months ago, the Girl Scouts Research Institute released some findings about young women and fashion. The findings revealed some alarming things about how images of fashion models and other media representations of women’s bodies affect the self image of the girls consuming them. Part of the problem, it seemed, was that even though girls and young women knew that the bodies being presented to them by fashion magazines were unrealistic and in some cases unhealthy, they aspired to look like those models all the same.

The problem, in other words, was the cognitive dissonance between what the girls and young women knew and what they wanted. The result was that even though ...