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By Alesa Mackool • 12 years ago

So maybe it wasn’t the Worst Week Ever for women?

Like most good Democrats and decent people with a uterus, I’ve been rather doom and gloom lately because of the garbage in the news. This week Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Men and Millionaires) signed the law that made Virginia the eighth state to mandate ultrasounds before abortions. Progressive superhero Chellie Pingree announced she wouldn’t be running for retiring US. Sen. Olympia Snowe’s open seat in Maine, and Thursday was International Women’s Day, which served as a reminder that we–half the world’s population–still aren’t getting celebrated the other 364 days a year.

So there’s that.

But there were a few good things that came out of this otherwise sludgy last few days. So in the spirit of optimism:

Things that totally didn’t suck in the news this week

Rush Limbaugh is still on the air, which is always a bummer, but his show is flailing after his misogynistic attacks on Sandra Fluke. Because of the Boycott Rush campaign, reasonable sponsors interested in distancing themselves from Limbaugh’s bizarro tirades are dropping his show left and right. Of the 86 ads aired on WABC’s broadcast of “The Rush Limbaugh Show” Thursday (International Women’s Day, mind you), 77 were free public service announcements, and seven of the nine paid spots were from advertisers who previously vowed to pull their ads from the show. AWKWARD.
By Alesa Mackool • 12 years ago

Further dispatches from under the bus

Rep. Trent Franks just can’t keep his hands to himself.

Franks (R-Ariz.), author of the infamously ridiculous/sad May 2011 op-ed, “Women in Combat: The Culture War on the Backs of Our Troops” (excerpt: “It may surprise some of these feminists to learn, for example, that women can get pregnant while men, it turns out, cannot.”), has a long history of trying to tell women what they can and cannot do.

His latest target is D.C., a proven easy mark for intrusive legislation by so-called small-government conservatives.

One day after Roe v. Wade’s 39th Anniversary, Franks introduced “The District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the District. The congressman — of Glendale, ...

Rep. Trent Franks just can’t keep his hands to himself.

Franks (R-Ariz.), author of the infamously ridiculous/sad May 2011 op-ed, “Women in Combat: The Culture War on the Backs of Our Troops” (excerpt: “It may surprise some ...
By Alesa Mackool • 12 years ago

Hear Me Roar

Ian Ritchie, head of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club, which hosts the Championships at Wimbledon, said expressive female athletes are “spoiling the game.”

Ritchie seems to think a lady should be seen and not heard. Even a lady with a 129 mph serve.

From the rather comical interview in the UK’s “The Daily Telegraph”:

The loudest known grunt came from Maria Sharapova, who sent the sound monitor into new realms with a recording of 105 decibels in 2009.

Mr Ritchie added: “I think there is an education problem with younger players. And certainly my postbag, if you say ‘what do you get most letters about’, I would say that grunting is high up.

“So we are aware, whether you ...

Ian Ritchie, head of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club, which hosts the Championships at Wimbledon, said expressive female athletes are “spoiling the game.”

Ritchie seems to think a lady should be seen and not ...
By Alesa Mackool • 13 years ago

Dispatches from under the bus

As a D.C. taxpayer with a uterus, I’m used to being ignored.

Friday’s budget (or)deal was especially repulsive though, as once again, those of us in the District were robbed of rights held dear by those in every other jurisdiction. (Mayor Vincent Gray and several D.C. Council members were arrested Monday while protesting this longtime policy of Congress treating Washingtonians as second-class citizens.)

Stephanie Drahan of the National Women’s Law Center summed it up:

The final agreement, which contains $38.5 billion in cuts for the remainder of this fiscal year, does not include either the Title X or Planned Parenthood rider. It also does not include the Global Gag Rule, which if passed, would have prevented foreign organizations receiving family ...

As a D.C. taxpayer with a uterus, I’m used to being ignored.

Friday’s budget (or)deal was especially repulsive though, as once again, those of us in the District were robbed of rights held dear by those in every ...