2012 March Archive | Feministing

National Organization for Marriage memos reveal same ‘ol racial wedge strategy

Surprise! The National Organization of Marriage uses race as a strategic wedge issue in the debate over marriage equality.

A confidential memo obtained by the Human Rights Campaign outlines the strategy to divide along racial lines stating (Via The Daily Beast):

“The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks—two key Democratic constituencies,” it said. “We aim to find, equip, energize and connect African-American spokespeople for marriage, to develop a media campaign around their objections to marriage as a civil right; and to provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots.”

The racial divisions aren’t only between black and white. Hispanics are actually the key to the plan with ...

Surprise! The National Organization of Marriage uses race as a strategic wedge issue in the debate over marriage equality.

A confidential memo obtained by the Human Rights Campaign outlines the strategy to divide along racial lines stating (

By Samhita • 12 years ago

Adrienne Rich: groundbreaking, author, poet and feminist dies at 82

It is with a heavy heart I share the news that Adrienne Rich passed away yesterday at her home in Santa Cruz, CA at the age of 82 from complications of rheumatoid arthritis.

Adrienne Rich changed the way we understand queer existence and feminism. Rich’s essay, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, gave us the language to talk about love like we never were able to before. Specifically, she unearthed the taken for granted social burden that is normative heterosexuality–what later was termed heteronormativity. For those of you that have read my book know, I am not afraid of using this word! If I were to give you a list of the 5 most influential authors that impacted who I am, how I ...

It is with a heavy heart I share the news that Adrienne Rich passed away yesterday at her home in Santa Cruz, CA at the age of 82 from complications of rheumatoid arthritis.

Adrienne Rich changed the ...

By zerlina • 12 years ago

What if the Supreme Court strikes down Obamacare?

After an unprecedented 6 hours of oral arguments, the Supreme Court wrapped up their consideration of Obamacare yesterday. The Court’s five conservatives asked probing questions and seemed very skeptical of the individual mandate throughout the week. After three days, it seems that President Obama’s signature achievement might be in jeopardy of a partisan ruling by the Roberts Court and if they do strike it down then what happens?

No one really knows. First off, important provisions from Obamacare are already in effect. Adults and children with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage. If the Supreme Court strikes down the entire law would insurance companies just go back to denying coverage to those individuals?

Young people can now stay on their ...

By zerlina • 12 years ago

George Zimmerman’s “self defense” story of Trayvon Martin shooting falls apart

ABC News obtained the police surveillence video recorded right after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman through his attorney and his “black friend” Joe Oliver claims that he and Trayvon got into a fight on the night that Trayvon was killed.

The police leaked Zimmerman’s account of the shooting to the Orlando Sentinel which claimed that Trayvon approached George Zimmerman when he was walking back to his car and that Trayvon punched Zimmerman in the face, breaking his nose. Zimmerman also claims that Trayvon while on top of him during a scuffle bashed his head into the ground several times causing lacerations on the back of his head.

Well, that version of events appears to be complete bullshit.

In ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

What We Missed

Today in Questions I Cannot Believe You Are Actually Asking, “was the sexual revolution good for women?”

Rep. Gwen Moore, defending the Violence Against Women Act, told the entire United States House of Representatives about how she was raped as a girl.

Georgia’s attempt to ban abortion after 20 weeks has failed.

So has Arizona’s attempt to make women get permission from their bosses before they can get birth control coverage!

Are you reading Andrea Grimes’s series “Hitched,” about getting married? You should be.

Today in Questions I Cannot Believe You Are Actually Asking, “was the sexual revolution good for women?”

Rep. Gwen Moore, defending the Violence Against Women Act, told the entire United States House of Representatives about how ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Quick hit: Today is the Back Up Your Birth Control day of action!

Sometimes, condoms break. Sometimes, you forget to take your pill. Accidents happen. Sexual assault happens.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to back up your usual birth control method with emergency birth control, also known as the Morning After Pill.

Emergency contraception is available over the counter for people seventeen and over. You can even order it online if you want. For more information about efficacy and availability, check out the National Institute for Reproductive Health’s EC site. And, check out the awesome tumblr they’ve created for the occasion – and submit your own fun picture, if you’re so inclined!

Sometimes, condoms break. Sometimes, you forget to take your pill. Accidents happen. Sexual assault happens.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to back up your usual birth control method with emergency birth control, also known as ...

By Lori Adelman • 12 years ago

WMC releases media guide for gender neutral coverage of women candidates and politicians

Throughout the years, we’ve written pretty extensively about sexist media coverage and the chilling effect it has on women-identified candidates and politicians.

That’s why I’m so thrilled about the Women’s Media Center’s newly released Media Guide for its Name It. Change It. Project. The Guide (click for PDF ) works to identify, prevent and end sexist media coverage of women candidates and politicians.

The guide is specially formatted to teach members of the media how to avoid injecting sexism into their own coverage and how to spot sexism in others’. And it’s pretty rad!

The guide is chock-full of research, which I think makes it a strong and highly useful document. One section in particular stands out, which ...

Throughout the years, we’ve written pretty extensively about sexist media coverage and the chilling effect it has on women-identified candidates and politicians.

That’s why I’m so thrilled about the Women’s Media Center’s newly released ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Guest post: Boys, men, patriarchy, and privilege

This is a guest post from Cara Hoffman. Hoffman is the author of the critically acclaimed novel So Much Pretty, about violence and retribution, a New Yorker Books Pick, So Much Pretty is now out in paperback from Simon and Schuster.

Women’s issues have dominated the news these past few months with reproductive health becoming the cornerstone of an argument many of us thought had been put to bed decades ago. We’ve seen Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem calling for Rush Limbaugh to be booted off the airwaves for his sexist hate speech against Sandra Fluke and sat in front of our televisions while the Republican candidates debate the use of birth control as if it is solely a women’s issue. ...