2010 September Archive

Sexual Assault and Campus Housing: Know Your Rights

This post originally appeared on the ACLU’s Blog of Rights.

The New York Times recently reported that sex offense rates at the campuses and surrounding areas of 12 colleges and universities (including the eight schools in the Ivy League) are 83 percent higher than the overall national average.

This statistic once again highlights the importance of a school’s response to rape. Federal law holds a college or university legally liable when it knows about and ignores sexual harassment or assault in its programs. Because a student who has been subjected to violence or abuse is likely to live near the perpetrator, a key component of any effective response to sexual assault is providing safe housing. However, ...

This post originally appeared on the ACLU’s Blog of Rights.

The New York Times recently reported that sex offense rates at the campuses and surrounding areas of 12 colleges and universities (including the eight schools ...

By Vanessa • 13 years ago

What We Missed

Should-Be-An-Onion-Headline of the Day: Rush Limbaugh declares himself “defender and protector of American women and women worldwide.” Ha!

The chairman of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee is expressing his support for Sally Kern (who blames the recession on the gays and abortion) by being a horrific transphobic asshole her opponent, Brittany Novotny.

Sexual violence survivors are speaking at UN hearings beginning today about rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rachel Maddow on Colorado Amendment 62, which would make birth control illegal.

Should-Be-An-Onion-Headline of the Day: Rush Limbaugh declares himself “defender and protector of American women and women worldwide.” Ha!

The chairman of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee is expressing his support for Sally Kern (who ...

By Jos Truitt • 13 years ago

Mad Men Midweek Fix: Hands and Knees

During the fourth season of Mad Men Feministing writers will offer some of our thoughts on feminist moments, scenes, and themes in the new episodes in order to start a discussion about these topics in our community. This year we’ll help you get through the middle of the week wait for the next episode. *WARNING: Lots of spoilers follow.

Don invites Sally to see The Beatles.
And Sally’s path to become a kick-ass radical lefty of the 60s begins…. -Vanessa

I would’ve reacted exactly like Sally did. -Jos

Lane introduces his father to his girlfriend Toni, a black Playboy Bunny. Lane’s father beats him, tells him to return to England.
So we get a season where race stays frustratingly in ...

By Vanessa • 13 years ago

Youth Suicides, Andrew Shirvell, and America’s Tolerance of Anti-LGBT Hate

Yesterday, we found out about the fourth teen suicide this month after bullying and/or harassment by their school peers for being gay or perceived to be gay:

Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington bridge last week after his roommate broadcasted a video of him hooking up with a boy on the internet. Tyler was a talented violinist. In response, the LGBT community at Rutgers has been protesting for safe space housing for queer students. 13-year old Asher Brown of Houston (picture to the right), TX shot himself in the head last week after 18 months of bullying by fellow students, and after 18 months of complaints by his parents for the school ...

Yesterday, we found out about the fourth teen suicide this month after bullying and/or harassment by their school peers for being gay or perceived to be gay:

Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off the George ...

By Jos Truitt • 13 years ago

Legislation introduced to end abstinence-only funding!

It’s an exciting time for anyone who thinks it’s important for young people to have access to information about sex and sexuality. Yesterday, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced legislation that would finally end federal funding for abstinence-only programs.

The Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act would strike the Title V Abstinence Only Program from the Social Security Act, eliminating $50 million a year in funding for these dangerous programs. Funding would be transferred to the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) state-grant program. PREP programs are evidence-based, required to address both abstinence and contraception and include information about adult preparation topics like healthy relationships, adolescent development, financial literacy, educational and career ...

By Vanessa • 13 years ago

Feministing on Tour: Offline and Unfiltered

Some of you may remember Feministing kicking off our college tour last year — we decided that after years of blogging online, it was about time we meet more of our readers face to face. After all, it’s one thing to have the occasional local happy hour, but another to be able to sit down with readers across the country (and internationally!) to talk about the state of the feminist movement(s). In fact, it was such a fantastic time, we decided to hit the road again this year.

Between “he-cessions,” mama grizzlies, and a rapidly shifting movement, there’s much to discuss this year. We’re also thrilled to be working with the fantastic speaker’s bureau Soapbox Inc., founded by the ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Bad-ass women in fake beards

Last week I was on vacation in France, and in the window of a bar in the Parisian neighborhood of the Marais, I saw this poster.

Curious, I went to the website and I was thrilled to discover La Barbe (“the beard”), a French feminist activist group that aims to raise awareness about the lack of women in positions of power in a range of fields, from politics to the arts.

La Barbe takes its name from the cheeky assertion that in order to wield any power in France, it seems, you have to be man. Taking this message to heart, the women of La Barbe protest by showing up to events – meetings, conferences, and so on – wearing fake ...

Last week I was on vacation in France, and in the window of a bar in the Parisian neighborhood of the Marais, I saw this poster.

Curious, I went to the website and I was thrilled to discover ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Following up on Sydney Uni’s ‘pro-rape’ Facebook group

Last November I wrote about a “pro-rape and anti-consent” Facebook group that was created by some members of St. Paul’s College, an all-boys residential college at the University of Sydney. When the existence group, which was called “Define Statutory,” received press attention, rape culture at Australian universities generally and at residential colleges more specifically came under scrutiny. Here’s what I wrote at the time about my experience of the atmosphere in which some of the boys who live in those colleges come of age:

The young men I knew who ended up at St. Paul’s and at colleges like it had graduated from Sydney’s best and most expensive private boys’ high schools. In my interactions with them – ...