By Chloe Angyal • 11 years ago

Send a copy of Our Bodies Ourselves to every member of Congress

Clearly, some of them need it. Seems we have some members of Congress who couldn’t pass seventh grade Biology, and yet, they’re still allowed to write and pass legislation that gets all up in women’s… business.

So, the smart people over at Our Bodies, Ourselves have started a campaign to get a copy of their seminal book into every single congressional office, so that no lawmaker can ever use ignorance of how the human body works as an excuse for draconian anti-women legislation.

This information could help inform policies on maternal health, preventive care, and access to contraception, abortion and the full range of reproductive health services. It also could serve as a resource on violence against women ...

Clearly, some of them need it. Seems we have some members of Congress who couldn’t pass seventh grade Biology, and yet, they’re still allowed to write and pass legislation that gets all up in women’s… business.

So, ...
By Lori Adelman • 11 years ago

Quick hit: Special Olympics athlete and global messenger schools Professional Terrible Person Ann Coulter on use of r-word

Did you watch the third and final presidential debate on Monday?

If so, you’re not alone. The Huffington Post reports that over 59 million people tuned in to watch President Obama slay Mitt Romney and generate yet another hilarious meme with his commander-in-chief mansplaining.

And of those, the vast majority, while certainly opinionated about the content of the debate, managed to express said opinions without using an ableist and highly offensive term.

Unfortunately, Professional Terrible Person Ann Coulter, to the chagrin and embarrassment of everyone, did not get the memo. Instead, she chose to send this unfortunate tweet during the debate, calling President Obama the r-word in a derogatory fashion.

‘So what,’ you may be thinking. ‘Just another ...

Did you watch the third and final presidential debate on Monday?

If so, you’re not alone. The Huffington Post reports that over 59 million people tuned in to watch President Obama slay Mitt Romney and generate ...
By Lori Adelman • 11 years ago

Infographic: Trans voters and photo id laws

As E.J. Graff explores in her column over at the American Prospect, it’s pretty bizarre that we need to report our sex when we go to vote in the first place. “Why identify my sex [when I go to vote]?” Graff asks. “Would I get a different ballot?”

The concept seems ridiculous until we realize just how serious the issue of voter suppression is right now. Voter id laws are an insidious voter suppression tactic which, while not new by any means, are gearing up to play a revitalized role in our elections. And they threaten to silence hundreds of thousands of (mostly democratic) votes in  November, with people of color, women, trans people, young people, and ...

As E.J. Graff explores in her column over at the American Prospect, it’s pretty bizarre that we need to report our sex when we go to vote in the first place. “Why identify my sex [when ...

murdock
By Lori Adelman • 11 years ago

‘God intended rape pregnancies’ and other unsurprisingly misogynistic GOP opinions

UPDATE: Planned Parenthood Action Fund has called on Romney to revoke his Mourdock endorsement.

UPDATE ADDENDUM: Romney ‘Disagrees’ with Mourdock’s comments, but stands by him as a candidate and will not pull his endorsement ads

Good morning! It’s October 24, 2012, and Republicans still don’t believe that you should have any control at all over what happens to your own body.

Case in point, the video below, in which Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said Tuesday that when a woman is impregnated during a rape “it’s something God intended” after being asked whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. Check  it out if you’d like to have your entire morning ruined by ignorance!! Otherwise just ...

UPDATE: Planned Parenthood Action Fund has called on Romney to revoke his Mourdock endorsement.

UPDATE ADDENDUM: Romney ‘Disagrees’ with Mourdock’s comments, but stands by him as a candidate and will not pull his endorsement ads
By Syreeta McFadden • 11 years ago

What we missed

This is horrorific: “Sunday, Sharkmeka Moffitt was set afire by three unidentified assailants while walking in Civitan Park in Winnsboro. Her mother said the woman sustained burns to over 60 percent of her body.” Our thoughts and prayers go out to Moffitt’s family. Update: Police now apparently believe Moffitt fabricated the story of the attack.

Today is the National Day of Action Against Police Brutality.

Epic Jane Meyer profile on the crusader against “widespread” voter fraud.

“Only an imperialist white man can say that to a woman of color and call it objectivity or science.” Kao Kalia Yang in Hyphen Magazine  her and her uncle’s account of Yellow Rain where Radiolab failed.

Honduran Supreme Court Rules rules private cities plan unconstitutional. President Lobo ...

This is horrorific: “Sunday, Sharkmeka Moffitt was set afire by three unidentified assailants while walking in Civitan Park in Winnsboro. Her mother said the woman sustained burns to over 60 percent of her body.” Our thoughts ...
By Jos Truitt • 11 years ago

On Change.org and progressive petition gathering

I was not at all surprised to learn that Change.org is done pretending to be progressive (I also wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being bad for business). One thing’s always been clear to me: they’re in it for the money, not the politics. That’s why they got involved in progressive petition gathering in the first place. Because petition gathering in politics is pretty much a racket anyway.

Elected officials don’t care about petitions. They don’t care about mass form emails. They care about hand written letters and phone calls, and they care about office visits more (though I’m overstating the case on those methods, too. They really care about money). Progressive organizations know this.

When I worked in ...

I was not at all surprised to learn that Change.org is done pretending to be progressive (I also wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being bad for business). One thing’s always been clear to ...
By Syreeta McFadden • 11 years ago

Women veterans’ battle with unemployment goes unnoticed

Media Matter’s Lisa Reed connects a couple of dots from last night’s debate as the economy took a complementary role to the foreign policy discussion. Particularly, a close examination of the challenges women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan face in this economic climate. And while the state of veteran affairs continues to have a male face, the condition of women veterans remains underreported. Last month’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports:

Nearly one out of five women who served in the military at home or abroad during the two wars is now without a job, the new BLS statistics show. As the U.S. troop drawdown continues in Afghanistan, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 female vets surged to 19.9 percent in September, compared to ...

Media Matter’s Lisa Reed connects a couple of dots from last night’s debate as the economy took a complementary role to the foreign policy discussion. Particularly, a close examination of the challenges women veterans from Iraq ...
By Katie Halper • 11 years ago

Lena Dunham, Lesley Gore tell Mitt Romney “You Don’t Own Me”

Lesley Gore, of “It’s My Party” fame, is letting us know that the GOP is most definitely not her party. Sarah Sophie Flicker, Tavi Gevinson, Maximilla Lukacs, Tennessee Thomas, Leith Clark, Alexa Chung, Karen Elson, and Erika Spring, produced a PSA in which they, along with Tracee Ellis Ross, Lena Dunham, Miranda July, Rachel Antonoff and more lip sync to Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.” The song uses text cards to criticize Mitt Romney and the War on Women and urge women to vote.  (See the transcript of the video after the jump.)

Gore, who I’m now following on twitter,  appears in the video and states: “I recorded You Don’t Own Me in 1964. It’s hard for me to believe ...

Lesley Gore, of “It’s My Party” fame, is letting us know that the GOP is most definitely not her party. Sarah Sophie Flicker, Tavi Gevinson, Maximilla Lukacs, Tennessee Thomas, Leith Clark, Alexa Chung, Karen Elson, and Erika ...

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