Have a great weekend, everyone!

New efforts in Montana to redefine their constitution to add fetal personhood. Sigh.

Interesting NY Times article about progressive US nuns facing scrutiny from the Vatican.

Carmen over at Racialicious launches the Racialicious Experience, a six week workshop series via weekly phone discussions. More details here!

New York native Melissa Giges just released her national debut of Evident, where she sings with a soft yet almost haunting voice which conveniently matches the production of the music in the album, particularly the song, Evident. (Listen below.)

Utilizing off-key notes in the crux of a song - and making them work - come from of my favorite songs and artist, like Fiona Apple, Portishead, etc. She's no Fiona or Portis, but surely has great potential. She told us why and how feminism effects her life and music:

I grew up in a family where there weren't gender-defined roles: Mom and Dad were interchangeable as caretakers and wage earners. As a result, I simply expected to be treated with respect and equality even as I recognized that women often did not get the same treatment as men. I believe my album "Evident" reflects this mind-set, telling a story from an independent, strong woman's point of view and using music as an outlet to express--not silence--strong feelings.

You might say it was serendipity that the producer of my album (and owner of Engine Company Records, the record label I am signed to) is Blake Morgan, a man steeped in the feminist tradition. The son of feminist writer, Robin Morgan, Blake insisted on making sure the album is the one I wanted to make. He used his talent to help me strengthen my viewpoints to convey my story in a way that allows listeners to be challenged by the powerful female voice. The title track "Evident" does just that. It is a song I wrote about my frustrations with not being listened to or respected in a male-dominated musical environment. "Oh it's evident that this is happening to me. I hate to think it, but it's true. Oh it's evident that you're not listening to me. ... I won't rely and I won't cry. Even while I'm scrutinized. ... I won't let this get me under."

Talking about this book today. Transcript after the jump!

Today I'll be talking about Along for the Ride, a new book by Sarah Dessen. It just came out last week and it's a YA fiction novel.

I've actually been reading Sarah Dessen's books since high school, when she actually came and did a reading at my high school public library in Chapel Hill NC. It turns out Sarah is also from Chapel Hill and actually went to my high school. She's actually since written 8 books and has been really really successful. This book was actually a NY Times bestseller last week, and two of her books were made into a Mandy Moore movie, How to Deal, a few years ago. I really like her books. I'm really into young adult fiction and like getting to talk about it.

This book is about a young girl named Auden who is spending her summer with her father in a beach town in NC, Colby. Her parents are divorced, her mom is an academic, an overachieving academic type. Auden is this overachieving really smart intellectual type who has spent most of her high school dedicated to her books and has grown up too fast seemingly because of her parent's divorce.

So Auden is spending her summer before college in Colby with her father, her stepmother and her new half-sister who has just been born. So that's where the book places us. It's a really great story of self-discovery and Auden finding more about her social side. It's a sweet story and I really enjoyed it.

I really like all of Sarah's books, I've read all 9 of them. They all feature really strong, independent and dynamic female protagonists and I really appreciate that. They're good role models for young girls.

Sarah also does a good job of tackling tough issues, like in this book divorce, in others intimate partner violence, teen pregnancy. All sorts of different hard issues and I appreciate that she takes them on and makes them accessible.

My own main criticism about her books is that all of her characters have been straight (at least that I can remember). I'd be really excited to see a character who was struggling with issues of sexuality. Also almost all of her characters have been white. So Sarah, if you're watching this, I'd love to see some more diversity in your upcoming books.

The only other thing that has been a criticism for me of her books is that the main character's path to self-discovery always includes a guy, a love interest. While he's not the knight in shining armour who comes in to save the day, he is involved her process. I've been a little disappointed to see that plot line reoccur.

But all in all I really like her books.

If you've read Along for the Ride, leave your thoughts in comments!

You can buy the book here, check out Sarah's livejournal here and see her other books here!

Demand justice for the Florida tomato pickers who supply the produce that Chipotle uses.

Dana Goldstein and Michelle Goldberg chat on bloggingheads about Sanford, Iran, Sarkozy's burqa ban, and Michael Jackson.

A study shows that women are less likely than men to agree on what traits are attractive. (Though I tend to think studies that make such major generalizations based on gender are not particularly enlightening.)

Urge the Senate Finance Committee to ensure any health-care reforms contain reproductive health coverage.

Google's rationale behind disallowing ads in these particular countries, whose abortion laws range from conservative (Argentina, Brazil ) to more liberal by comparison (France, Italy), is shrouded in mystery: the spokeswoman deftly avoided answering my question about how the countries were chosen.

Regardless of the reason, I'm pretty disturbed by Google's ability to withhold information about reproductive health services in these countries without justification or accountability. Call me crazy, but it seems to me that women living in the countries in question should be granted the same access to reproductive health services as women in other parts of the world. If you agree, call or email Google today and let them know they have some 'splaining to do. For sample text of an email you can send, visit the Action Alert on the International Women's Health Coalition's blog Akimbo.

And in case you're still as incredulous as I was when I first heard about this, please read the unedited email exchange I had with a Google representative yesterday regarding the official policy after the jump.

Hi Lori,
I just heard back from the policy team, and have the below information for you.

The Google AdWords advertising program is managed by a set of policies that we develop based on various factors, including user and customer experience. Our goals are to provide more relevant results and a higher quality experience for our users, and to have policies that are fair, consistent and adaptable. We regularly review our policies and make changes to keep them current and effective, but the policy regarding ads that promote abortion services has not been changed since September 2008.

The issue of abortion is an emotive subject and Google does not take a particular side. Last September, we reviewed our abortion ads policy in order to make sure it was fair, up to date and consistent with local customs and practices. Following the review we decided to amend our policy, creating a level playing field and enabling religious associations to place ads on abortion in a factual way.

We decided to disallow ads for abortion services, such as abortion clinics, in the following markets: Germany, Poland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, France, Italy and Spain. (Emphasis mine.) However, general, factual ads on abortion continued to be allowed and we also enabled religious associations to place ads on abortion in a factual way.

Under our current policy, religious associations are able to put up ads on Google in a factual and campaigning way. This means that their ads need to aim to educate and inform, not to shock. The ads can refer to government legislation and existing law and the alternatives to abortion. But, they cannot link to Web sites which show graphic images that aim to shock people into changing their minds. In terms of campaigning, this means that the ads can link to Web sites which are taking a particular view on a piece of government legislation. But, once again, those Web sites cannot possess graphic images or language that aims to shock or blame people.

Hope this clarification helps,
[redacted]

Hi [redacted],

Thank you very much for this information. You've been extremely helpful in clarifying the policy in question. For additional clarification, can you please expand on the reasoning behind choosing those specific markets in which to disallow ads for abortion services, as described in paragraph 3 of your email? Is this policy in response to a particular law or other social characteristic particular to Germany, Poland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, France, Italy and Spain?

Thanks so much,
Lori

Hi Lori,
I can share that we conducted the review and made the change to ensure our policy was fair, up-to-date, consistent with local laws and codes of practice.
Best,
[redacted]

Thanks to Women on Waves for bringing the original policy to the attention of the International Women's Health Coalition.

I just cringe at that "pregorexia" term every time I see it. It's just another example of how eating disorders are always presented in extremes (and having the gallery of "look how skinny she was!" photos certainly doesn't help). That kind of coverage makes it much easier for other women to separate themselves and, sadly, to pass judgment ("How could she be so selfish?). And that "selfish" label is one that the pregnant women and moms we interviewed are truly terrified of. It's why so many of them keep their eating disorders, disordered eating and body image issues quiet. Three quarters of them admitted that didn't even discuss those histories with their doctors.

Hopefully we'll be able to broaden the discussion with our upcoming book, Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat?: The Essential Guide to Loving Your Body Before and After Baby.

Keep any eye out for it in October!