By Samhita • 12 years ago

What we missed

Three of my favorite feminists talk about the “unwed black woman” meme. An excerpt from Joan Morgan,

This whole industry is approached from the idea that there’s something wrong with black women and that we need to be fixed. And even more offensively, “I can provide you the solution for that.” Is Steve Harvey really the guy you wanna end up with? Like, truly, is that your ideal?

This is not My Fair Lady.  I’m just trying to really not slip into the full range of expression for what a bunch of bloody fuckery I think it is.

An interview with Jennifer Baumgartner at the Rumpus.

Loving this way better post on “being Amber Cole’s father.”

She can’t be serious.

Three of my favorite feminists talk about the “unwed black woman” meme. An excerpt from Joan Morgan,

This whole industry is approached from the idea that there’s something wrong with black women and that we need to ...
By Lori Adelman • 12 years ago

How Mississippi’s personhood measure will hurt pregnant women

Last week Maya wrote about an absurd and dangerous personhood measure that is poised to pass in Mississippi. On November 8th, Mississippi will vote on a constitutional amendment that would define a fertilized egg as a person, effectively banning abortion and causing a whole host of threats to the health and rights of Mississippi citizens. Maya also pointed out that the pursuit of personhood measures isn’t exactly a new tactic in the anti-choice movement. Opponents of reproductive freedom have been using “egg as person” arguments to chip away at abortion rights for years.

That’s why it’s so important that the pro-choice and repro justice communities face this measure, commonly known as Ballot Measure 26 or the “Personhood Amendment”,  ...

Last week Maya wrote about an absurd and dangerous personhood measure that is poised to pass in Mississippi. On November 8th, Mississippi will vote on a constitutional amendment that would define a fertilized egg ...
By Samhita • 12 years ago

It is the last day to tell HHS not to ban insurance coverage for abortion

From Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is on the verge of issuing new rules that will determine whether millions of women are able to purchase private health insurance that includes abortion care.

Our opponents want to ban insurance coverage for abortion for every woman in America and make it impossible for millions to get affordable care — and they’re sending a flood of messages to HHS. We can’t let them drown us out. Fill out the form below to submit your comment to HHS before the October 31 deadline and become an associate member of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund today.

Please sign the petition right now and spread widely so others can too.

It just ...

From Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is on the verge of issuing new rules that will determine whether millions of women are able to purchase private health insurance that includes abortion ...
By Lori Adelman • 12 years ago

Happy Birthday to the 7 billionth person!

Have you heard? The world population hits 7 billion today!

Conflicting reports put the 7 billionth baby as having been born in a few different places (The Philippines! India! China!) but it matters little to me: for the most part the milestone is symbolic.

So .. what of it? Behind all the rhetoric and symbolism, what does this milestone really mean for us, for our families, and for our quality of life? What kind of world is the 7 billionth baby in being born into?

Lots of people have weighed in on what this all means.

As Miriam pointed out back in July, coverage of global issues related to population, health, and ...

Have you heard? The world population hits 7 billion today!

Conflicting reports put the 7 billionth baby as having been born in a few different places (The Philippines! India! China!) but it matters ...
By Samhita • 12 years ago

Feminist bloggers featured in New York Magazine

The very awesome Emily Nussbaum has an article in this week’s New York Magazine featuring feminist bloggers. The article is running in conjunction with a feature about the 40 year anniversary of Ms. Magazine and gives a brief history of the rise, importance, paradox and evolution of blogging. Similar to the conversations surrounding Ms. Magazine, blog conversations are diverse, sloppy and the very basis of current feminist activism.

Ms. magazine was a crucial publication, and I read every issue of it up until 1994, when its out-of-touch porn-debate issue irritated me sufficiently that I put it down forever. But as many women as Ms. spoke to and for, it rarely featured the kind of swashbuckling manifestos that supercharged so much of ...

The very awesome Emily Nussbaum has an article in this week’s New York Magazine featuring feminist bloggers. The article is running in conjunction with a feature about the 40 year anniversary of Ms. Magazine and gives ...
By Samhita • 12 years ago

Herman Cain responds to accusations of inappropriate behavior by not responding to accusations of inappropriate behavior

According to Politico, Herman Cain engaged in sexually suggestive behavior towards at least two female employees during his time at the National Restaurant Association. Suspiciously, the women signed agreements and received financial settlements to leave the association. It’s hard not to continually question Herman Cain’s legitimacy as a candidate, with his faulty logic, annoying bravado and frightening policy suggestions–but this is not looking good.

Initially, Cain didn’t respond to these allegations,

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon told POLITICO the candidate indicated to campaign officials that he was “vaguely familiar” with the charges and that the restaurant association’s general counsel had resolved the matter.

The latest statement came from Cain himself. In a tense sidewalk encounter Sunday morning outside the Washington bureau of CBS News — where the Republican ...

According to Politico, Herman Cain engaged in sexually suggestive behavior towards at least two female employees during his time at the National Restaurant Association. Suspiciously, the women signed agreements and received financial settlements to leave the association. It’s ...
By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

Weekly Feminist Reader


Women laughing alone with salad becomes a Halloween costume and it’s perfect.

Homelessness among women veterans has increased every year for the last six years–from 150 reported cases in 2006 to 1,700 this year.

An interactive map of the world’s abortion laws from the Center for Reproductive Rights.

An interesting look at the unreliability of wartime rape statistics.

Occupy the Department of Education! Featuring an awesome 8-year-old student.

“Reproductive Justice is our best opportunity to join middle-class women with poor women so that we can win for all women.” -Loretta Ross

Plus Sady Doyle talks to Andrea Plaid and our own Eesha Pandit about reproductive justice.

On Hillary Clinton and the limits of power.

A ...


Women laughing alone with salad becomes a Halloween costume and it’s perfect.

Homelessness among women veterans has increased every year for the last six years–from 150 reported cases in 2006 to 1,700 this ...
By Anna • 12 years ago

The Feministing Five: Nicole Roberts

Nicole Roberts is a professor at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad where her work centers on Hispanic feminisms. Originally from Trinidad, Roberts’s studies took her all over the world. She spent her high school and undergraduate years in Canada, got her M.A. at Florida State, and did her doctorate at the University of Birmingham in England.

Roberts became interested in Hispanic feminisms and specifically Afro-Caribbean women writers, after being in Birmingham in the 1990s. Being in that time and place, where intellects such as Stuart Hall were operating out of the Center for West African Studies, she was inspired to study race and black writers. An example of the kind of research and writing she ...

Nicole Roberts is a professor at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad where her work centers on Hispanic feminisms. Originally from Trinidad, Roberts’s studies took her all over the world. She spent ...
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