2011 November Archive

By Vanessa • 12 years ago

What We Missed

Another “personhood” amendment is in the works in California.

Putting the pleasure (and more) in sex education.

Event alert: An All Women’s Assembly at Occupy Wall Street

NYC students and teachers at Occupy.

The Yes Means Yes blog turns three.

Another “personhood” amendment is in the works in California.

Putting the pleasure (and more) in sex education.

Event alert: An All Women’s Assembly at Occupy Wall Street

NYC students and teachers ...

By Vanessa • 12 years ago

New bill takes military sexual assault cases out of high-ranking officers’ power

Via Ms. Blog, we find a new bill was introduced late last week regarding sexual assault in the military with a specific focus: to take the responsibility of handling sexual assault reports away from the chain of command.

The bill is called the STOP Act: The Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act – Helen Benedict gives us examples of why this bill matters:

Most assailants are of higher rank than their victims, which means some victims are forced to report their rapes to the rapist. Victims who report a sexual assault to commanders can never remain truly anonymous, despite a policy to the contrary, because military platoons are closed, gossipy units in which everyone knows everyone ...

By Miriam • 12 years ago

What happens when you fact-check Michele Bachmann’s memoir?

Michele Bachmann has a new memoir coming out next week, and Mother Jones has an analysis of the new book, complete with a fact-check of the stories she shares there. I haven’t had a chance to get a copy myself, but from what Tim Murphy writes, it doesn’t hold much surprise for those who’ve been following Bachmann’s political career so far. It includes plenty of take-down of President Obama, as well as full-throttle with her faith background. But it’s the results of the fact-checking that shouldn’t surprise anyone, but I still found frustrating. Mother Jones reports:

There’s enough to dispute within the first 13 pages that by the time she announces, on page 14, that she was born in ...

Michele Bachmann has a new memoir coming out next week, and Mother Jones has an analysis of the new book, complete with a fact-check of the stories she shares there. I haven’t had a chance ...

By Vanessa • 12 years ago

Latino and black community twice as likely as whites to be affected by housing crisis

This isn’t surprising or new news to many of us, but important to document nonetheless. Think Progress brings our attention to a report just released by the Center on Responsible Lending which reveals that the Latino and black community are nearly twice as likely as whites to have been affected by the foreclosure crisis:

Although the majority of the people affected overall by the crisis were white, one-quarter of all black and Latino borrowers in the U.S. have lost their homes or are currently in trouble of losing them:

Although the majority of affected borrowers have been white, African-American and Latino borrowers are almost twice as likely to have been impacted by the crisis. Approximately one ...

By Vanessa • 12 years ago

Quick Hit: The New York Times on the reporting of rape

Discussions around the inaccuracy of reporting on rape are definitely not new, but reporting on the recent Penn State case (and subsequent complaints by news readers) has compelled Arthur Brisbane at the New York Times to take on the issue in more detail:

It is common for newspapers to use terms like “sexual assault” and “sexual abuse” and “have sex” when reporting on sex crimes. Perhaps, though, it’s time that The Times and other news organizations take another look at the language they use. Victims’ advocates echo what the readers told me in their e-mails: language in news media reports — and, for that matter, in the court system itself ...

By Vanessa • 12 years ago

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Yesterday, November 20th, marked the 13th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to commemorate individuals in the transgender community who were killed due to anti-trans violence and hatred. Below is a short round-up of coverage from the day:

Melissa at Shakes names those lost this past year, and highlights an important point by Julia Serano — that it’s action, but also inaction that allows transphobia to kill.

Natacha Kennedy tells us why focusing on the horror of anti-trans violence is so important, despite how difficult it may be.

PFLAG focuses on the experiences of transgender people of color.

SheWired reminds that violence against the LGBT community is rising.

LGBTQ Nation

By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

Weekly Feminist Reader

Dorli Rainey, the 84-year-old activist who was pepper sprayed at Occupy Seattle, remembers that in “the women’s movement there were signs which said: ‘Screw us and we multiply.'” (Image credit: Joshua Trujillo / Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

“Breaking Dawn is where the Twilight series goes straight-up cuckoopants.”

Amanda Hess profiles boy-next-door porn star James Deen and wonders when the industry will start making porn for women.

Muslimah Media Watch reviews TLC’s new series All-American Muslim.

Awesome: Sarah Vowell is The Daily Show‘s new Senior Historical Context Correspondent.

Angela Davis says that the most important question facing the Occupy movement is how we can “come together in a unity that is not simplistic and oppressive, but ...

By Anna • 12 years ago

The Feministing Five: Jaclyn Friedman

If you read this blog often, I’m positive you know who Jaclyn Friedman is already. Longtime friend of Feministing, Friedman’s work as a writer, activist and educator continues to influence the work of feminists everywhere. She co-edited (along with Jessica Valenti) “Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape,” and is the founder and executive director of WAM!: Women, Action & the Media.

She has a new book out titled “What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl’s Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety” and it’s amazing. The book is a guide to helping you decipher what it is you truly desire, parsed out from social conditioning. It’s chock-full of practical ...