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By femocracy • 13 years ago

Pro-choice campaign strategies? Shock!

[Cross-posted at Femocracy.net]

Do you know what is a really important step to winning a tight election in a contentious election year? Motivating your base. Do you know who is an important part of the Democratic base? Liberal women. Women overall lean much more to the Democrats than men – meaning elevating women’s rights, I would think, is pretty central to hanging on to votes. It’s difficult for me to remember this sometimes, seeing as how the Democratic Party on a national scale has not really been fighting for feminist issues lately. I remember riding an emotional high when the President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, only to have it dashed when the Democrats allowed health care reform to be hijacked by Bart Stupak, who help up health insurance for 30 million people because he felt abortion restrictions in the bill’s funding just weren’t strong enough. In fact, the Democrats made a concerted effort to court congressmen who didn’t care about women’s rights, while attempting to prevent more liberal wings of the party from running ads to pressure conservative members. I heard an awful lot of members of Congress arguing against abortion rights, while only a low levels muted lip service about women’s health care from the most progressive members. Which is probably why we need a New York Times article when Democrats use reproductive rights as a campaign issue.

By femocracy • 14 years ago

Health care reform: The anti-woman chess board

[Cross-posted to Femocracy.net .]

Are there ever days you just get really fed up? That no matter how hard you try to be rational and make reasoned arguments, it seems like the world has decided to throw up obstacles in your way? And then you just want to resort to ripping out your hair, because forces are conspiring to make you always lose? This is how I feel about health care reform and its impact on women – specifically, how I reacted yesterday as I was reading about latest fight over contraceptives. (Reader beware: This is probably going to get ranty.)

Today I began thinking about how health care reform has seemed like a giant chessboard battle over women’s health ...

[Cross-posted to Femocracy.net .]

Are there ever days you just get really fed up? That no matter how hard you try to be rational and make reasoned arguments, it seems like the world has decided to throw ...

By femocracy • 14 years ago

Women candidates: Running against gender

[This is the fourth of a five-part series about politics, feminism and reflections on conservative women. Tune in tomorrow on how conservative women in politics will push back on the status quo. Cross-posted at Femocracy.net]

After several female candidates won their primaries last week, we were treated to a whole slew of articles that excitedly exclaimed this a new “year of the woman.” Between coverage of the prominence of women as Tea Party organizers and protectors, and the inroads Republican women are making into actual representation on their party’s ticket, it’s easy to be convinced women are having a moment. (Of course, if you do the math, you realize that even if every last woman won her race in November, ...

After several ...

By femocracy • 14 years ago

Sarah Palin’s “have-it-all” version of feminism

[This is the third in a five-part series about politics, feminism, and reflections on conservative women. Tune in tomorrow for thoughts on using gender during campaigns. Cross-posted to Femocracy.net] Yesterday, I wrote about Sarah Palin’s “new” feminism and how it co-opts both a historical and traditionally conservative language of motherhood-as-empowerment and tries to fashion into something new – the “real feminism,” which is, of course, a heady cocktail of the old feminism before it evolved into a progressive social and political movement, and with a twist of anti-feminism for good measure. This brings me right to another element of what feminism means in Sarah Palin world, which is namely “having it all” – except not in the way I ...

By femocracy • 14 years ago

Mama grizzlies: emphasis on “mama”

[This is the second of a five-part series about politics, feminism and reflections on conservative women. Tune in tomorrow for some thoughts on the “new feminism” and “having it all” – that is, motherhood and political life. Cross-posted at Femocracy.net]

Something strange is happening in politics. Motherhood is now a badge of honor, proof of competence, capability of juggling, and toughness. There’s a “mom uprising,” after the men in power ran roughshod over the economy and spent us into a $12 trillion hole. And ever since Sarah Palin uttered the phrase “mama grizzlies,” this has been the face slapped on the “new feminism.”

Except this link between prizing motherhood and American conservatism is nothing new. It’s just been given better ...

By femocracy • 14 years ago

When feminism and conservative women collide

[This is the first of a five-part series about politics, feminism and reflections on conservative women. Tune in tomorrow for some thoughts on the term "mama grizzlies" and the link between motherhood and political life. Cross-posted at Femocracy.net.]

I guess the cliche is true that what’s old becomes new again. After a slew of political wins for women candidates last week, the topic du jour is Feminism Today. As someone who has considered myself a feminist for quite some time, it’s amusing to watch feminism declared "dead" or "irrelevant" for years – or, paradoxically, responsible for everything from the divorce rate to crime and Everything That Is Wrong With America – then have it be resurrected and trample the ...

By femocracy • 14 years ago

Health care bill results in abortion restrictions

[Cross-posted at Femocracy .]

If you’re a supporter of women’s reproductive rights, you probably felt like you were being accused of behaving like Chicken Little during the health-care debate, when a few anti-choice lawmakers held the whole process hostage until strict language restricting abortion coverage was inserted (because apparently the Hyde Amendment didn’t go far enough for them.) Stop saying the sky is falling, was basically the message from lawmakers on the hill, who saw no problem with selling out women to win a legislative victory. No way were all those dire predictions about the increasing prevention of abortion coverages going to come to pass.

Except, oh wait, they are.

Anti-choicers have seen their window of opportunity , and they are ...

[Cross-posted at Femocracy .]

By femocracy • 14 years ago

The “which is worse” fight about rape

[Cross-posted to Femocracy.net ] Last week, I wrote a post titled “Why the media gets rape so long,” which sparked a lot of discussion on the Feministing Community page . Naturally, a high volume of comments is gratifying, but a lot of them centered on a throwaway line I wrote within the context of looking at a male-dominated media structure, which was: Meanwhile, not addressing that it might be a guy’s worst nightmare to be falsely accused of rape, but in my mind at least, it doesn’t match a worst nightmare of actually getting raped. And I do not intend to stereotype against all males here, as there are many men who realize the seriousness of sexual assault; ...