Feminism

• 
  Feminist Daily News

• FDA Approves Single-Dose Plan B Emergency Contraceptive

  The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a single-pill version of the Plan B emergency contraceptive, which is currently available as a two-pill dose. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd announced yesterday (see

• Obama Appoints Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General

  President Obama announced yesterday his appointment of Regina Benjamin, MD to the position of surgeon general. The President commented that Dr. Benjamin, who has lost relatives to diabetes, high blood pressure, and blood cancer, has a deep understanding of the health needs facing the United States. ...

• Sotomayor Hearings Commence

  Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for the United States Supreme Court began yesterday. Though the first day of hearings was dominated by the Senate Judiciary Committee's opening statements, Sotomayor made a brief introductory statement at the close of the proceedings. In her opening ...

• Law Protecting Clinic Buffer Zone Upheld

  The US 1st Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Massachusetts law on Friday, allowing a 35-foot safety buffer zone between protestors and abortion clinic entrances. The law, established in 2007, protects clinic patients and staff from harassment. Five anti-choice protesters

• Appeals Court Rules Pharmacists Can't Refuse Plan B

  The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that pharmacists in Washington State must dispense Emergency Contraception (EC), also known as Plan B, even if they have personal religious objections to the medication. The ruling overturned a temporary injunction from the US District Court in Sea...

• 
  ParentingGirls.com

• Gender-Bias at the Goal Post!

  Dr. Janet Rose

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:12 pm

  This past weekend as I sat with a group of (mostly) men watching the Super Bowl, I was keenly aware of the recurring  gender-demeaning remarks used by men to describe women. The discussions of desirable and undesirable shapes, sizes and sexiness were discerning. Excuse me 'honey' one gentleman said as he moved in front of me to place a tray of food on the table. Another engaged in a conversation about his inconvenient plane ride the day before. He made countless negative remarks about the 'female stewardesses' stressing the words female and women by actually using air…

• What Do You Think of Girls In Tiaras?

  Dr. Janet Rose

  28 Jan 2010 | 6:33 am

  Check out this video from BraveheartWomen.com!  These well-spoken women discuss young girls participation in pageants. I was amazed to hear one panelist state that beauty pageants are a "feminine type of girly thing"!  Wow!  Is that what we want for our daughters? The discussion is a good one and the question of "winning" or finding value based on looks is addressed. I support the idea that this type of message is demeaning to women. I always have. Competition was discussed and the avenue of sports was suggested as the way to go! Hooray for that idea! One panelist who…

• VIDEO: How to Potty Train Your Daughter

  Dr. Janet Rose

  27 Jan 2010 | 7:02 am

  Here is a great video from Veronica Baragas of Wiggles and Giggles on how to potty train your daughter. 

• How to Shoot a Bow & Arrow Like a Girl

  TheTruth

  12 Jan 2010 | 7:48 am

  Lilia Stepanova - Click here for another funny movie.

• Is Teaching 'Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" the Way to Go?

  Dr. Janet Rose

  9 Dec 2009 | 12:55 pm

  Do co-ed classrooms foster gender stereotypes? This school in Virginia believes it does. This article from CNNam Fix reports that proponents of same sex education believe that boys learn best with competition and movement and girls with low light and social groups. Hmmm...I find that a bit troubling. No, wait, I find that very troubling! Maybe that is how we have been socialized? You know, girls are all about sugar and spice and everything nice. Seems to me that many girls enjoy competition and movement also and if they don't, maybe they should be encouraged to engage in some. How can anyone…

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  Wikio - Feminism

• Feminism in the Classroom (Feministing)

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:45 am

  If you're not hip to Ileana Jiménez's amazing blog, Feminist Teacher, it's time. Throughout her thirteen year career, Jiménez has been a leader in the field of social justice education for students of color, LGBT youth, women and girls. She's...Source : Feministing (subscribe)

• Notes from a bitch...pondering five years of blogging... (Feministing)

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:10 am

  This week my personal blog, AngryBlackBitch, will celebrate five years of practicing the fine art of bitchitude. Sigh. I still remember not understanding how to post pictures as if it were just yesterday. Sigh again. When I began blogging it...Source : Feministing (subscribe)

• Women sommeliers and the old boys club (feminist blogs)

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  I’ve been drinking wine since I was in my mother’s womb (gasp! Yes my mom did drink wine while she was pregnant with me. I am OKAY). My parents allowed me to try a sip of their wine at the dinner table every since I could talk. They started giving me small glasses of wine [...]Source : feminist blogs (subscribe)

• More 'Body Space' (Fat, frumpy & fifty...)

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:14 am

  ... the use of clothing in art became popular in the late sixties and early seventies with the rise of feminism and the Women’s Movement, today, its representation explores broader notions around personal identity. Susie MacMurray and Rhian Solomon explore the weight of guilt and external pressure put upon women to conform to an ideal body shape and weight. Susan Stockwell explores British...Source : Fat, frumpy & fifty... (subscribe)

• Couldn't Remember Where I Heard It...... Just a quick note (ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES)

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:50 am

  but last week, after hearing a male English professor waxing wistfully about how much Catcher in the Rye meant to his development, another professor, a woman, said that her first reading of Holden Caulfield was like being on a date with a boy who couldn't stop talking about himself. Which might be the most insightful single thing ever said about the book. A McCSource : ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES (subscribe)

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  AlterNet.org Main RSS Feed

• It Takes a Village to Raise a Racist

  Sonia Scherr, SPLC Intelligence Report

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Researches have found that kids don't necessarily get their prejudice from their parents -- it is the community that fosters tolerance or prejudice.

• Our Democracy No Longer Works and the Problem Is Congress

  Lawrence Lessig, The Nation

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  At the center of our government lies a bankrupt institution: Congress. The US Congress has become the Fundraising Congress.

• False Profits: We Will Be Suffering from Greenspan and Bernanke's Ineptitude for a Long Time

  Dean Baker, PoliPoint Press

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  An $8 trillion housing bubble fostered by the Federal Reserve has burst, and with it much of the wealth of America's middle class.

• One Company Thinks They've Created Fast Food With a Conscience -- Are They Right?

  Tara Lohan, AlterNet

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Chipotle has a great record when it comes to buying more sustainable ingredients, but it has done one thing that has human rights activists howling.

• A Conspiracy Theory About a Secret Police Force Has Ignited a Firestorm of Right-Wing Paranoia

  Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  An obscure executive order has been misconstrued and now the blowback has reached all the way to Congress.

• 
  Bitch Blogs

• White Washed: Black Women in Rock

  Annalee Schafranek

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  While my love for female-based rock music is well-documented and longstanding, even a fangirl like me can easily admit that riot grrrl and the punk scene more generally have long been a largely homogeneous affair, with a lack of racial diversity and inclusion among its iconic musicians and those who loved them. Partially inspired by Black History Month and partially by Beyonce's rendition of Alanis Morissette's classic at the most recent Grammy's (skip to 3:10 in the video), I wanted to showcase some women who defied narrow expectations and produced amazing music. Grace JonesOf those included…

• The Biotic Woman: A Conversation About Carnism with Melanie Joy (Pt. 1)

  Brittany Shoot

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm

  People often think about vegetarianism or veganism as an ethical framework or intentional life choice, but in her new book, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, Dr. Melanie Joy posits that eating meat comes from the same type of belief system. The only difference, of course, is that consuming animal products is an invisible belief system continually reinforced by the many Western societies and “carnism”—the nearly unconscious practice of eating meat—is not part of our vocabulary the way “vegetarianism” is. The choice to eat meat is not named in…

• Reproductive Writes: An Introduction

  Holly Grigg-Spall

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:38 am

  Before I started writing about women's reproductive health, I'd pretty much resigned myself to being a film journalist for life. All the free movies, premieres and parties were a lot of fun, but I was beginning to think that my choice to give a film five stars or one star was being unfairly swayed by whether the complimentary pastry was stale or if the air conditioning was turned up too high. Film reviewing is rather male-dominated, so when I ended a review of The Hottie And The Nottie with the line - 'The scandal surrounding the Hilton sex tape acts as a distraction, convincing us that sex…

• So... How 'bout that Tebow ad?

  Kelsey Wallace

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:13 am

  If you are among the record numbers of people who tuned in to yesterday's Super Bowl, then you had the chance to see the controversial Focus on the Family ad starring Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam. And if the ad shocked you at all, it was probably due to how tame it turned out to be. As you can see, though this spot garnered quite a bit of attention from feminist, pro-choice organizations (this one included), the word abortion is never mentioned – it is almost the opposite of controversial. Had the hype not happened, this 32-second snoozefest would have most likely elicited little more than…

• Race Card: Ishmael Reed on “Precious”

  Nadra Kareem

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:21 pm

  If you’ve yet to read Ishamel Reed’s editorial “Fade to White” in the New York Times about Precious, get to it post-haste! In the piece, Reed makes excellent points about portrayals of black men in popular culture and why the film has received such a favorable reception from whites but been met with resistance in the black community. “The blacks who are enraged by Precious have probably figured out that this film wasn’t meant for them,” Reed writes. “It was the enthusiastic response from white audiences and critics that culminated in the film being nominated for six Oscars by…

• 
  CommonDreams.org Headlines

• Palm Oil Deal 'A Threat to the Rainforest'

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:46 am

  by Martin HickmanHundreds of millions of tonnes of palm oil look set to be pumped into Britain's vehicles despite scientific evidence showing that chopping down rainforests to make way for plantations exacerbates climate change, according to a leaked report. The European Commission is planning to increase the amount of palm oil used in cars and power stations under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which is intended to reduce greenhouse gases, suggests the document. read more

• Battle Begins Over Who'll Get Lucrative Haiti Cleanup Contracts

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:28 am

  by Martha Brannigan and Jacqueline Charles As Haiti begins digging out from under 60 million cubic meters of earthquake wreckage, U.S. firms have begun jockeying for a bonanza of cleanup work.It's unclear at this point who will be awarding the cleanup contracts, but there is big money to be made in the rubble of some 225,000 collapsed homes and at least 25,000 government and office buildings.At least two politically connected U.S. firms have enlisted powerful local allies in Haiti to help compete for the high-stakes business.read more

• Elizabeth Warren: Time For Wall Street CEOs To 'Earn Back' America's Trust

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:03 am

  by Shahien NasiripourBailout watchdog and Middle Class advocate Elizabeth Warren has accused Wall Street CEOs of abusing consumer trust and challenged them to step up and support financial reform -- for the nation's benefit as well as their own. In an opinion piece to be published in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, Warren writes:read more

• US-Backed Palestinian Security Forces 'A Prescription for Civil War'

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:54 am

  by Jon Elmer in BethlehemAbu Abdullah has never been charged with a crime, but he has been arrested by Palestinian security forces so many times in the past two years that he has lost count. He has been arrested at work, in the market, on the street, and, more than once, during violent raids by masked men who burst into his home and seized him in front of his family.read more

• Dems Sign on to GOP Bill Preventing Funds for Civilian Guantanamo Trials

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:36 am

  by Susan CrabtreeTwo Democrats signed on to a Republican bill that would prevent any funds from being spent on prosecuting Guantánamo Bay suspects in U.S. federal court.Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.) last week joined Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) and 16 other Republicans in sponsoring the legislation, which would deny the Justice Department any funds for trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other suspected terrorists in federal civilian court.read more

• 
  Ms. Magazine Online

• Extreme Makeover: Feminist Edition

  How the pitch for cosmetic surgery co-opts feminism

• The Invisible Ones

  Ms. undertook an investigation into the shadow world of sex and labor trafficking in the United States, and learned not just the dimensions of the problem but the startling inadequacy of the federal response.

• A Major Blow to Roe

  The Carhart ruling chills doctors and shows no concern for women’s health.

• Court Gives OK To Unequal Pay

  The Ledbetter decision guts anti-discrimination law; can Congress strike back for women and people of color?

• A Window On Abuse

  New state laws let victims of childhood sexual abuse find justice.

• 
  WomenWatch: Latest Resources

• Women and Human Rights: Online discussion 1 to 28 February 2010

  29 Jan 2010 | 8:02 am

  In 1995, the Beijing Platform for Action identified lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women as critical obstacles against gender equality and empowerment of women. Moderated by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the aim of the online discussion on "Women and Human Rights" is to draw on the collective experiences to identify good practices contributing to the realization and advancement of respect, promotion and protection of Women’s Human Rights. Sign up now!

• Women and the Media: Online discussion 1 to 28 February 2010

  29 Jan 2010 | 8:01 am

  The United Nations Department of Public Information would like to invite you to an online discussion on "Women and the Media", one of the 12 critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995. It is scheduled to take place from 1 to 28 February 2010. Register now!

• Women and the Environment: Online discussion 1 to 27 February 2010

  29 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

  The e-discussion on "Women and the Environment" - organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN HABITAT - will bring together experts, practitioners and policy-makers, from within and outside of the UN system, to formulate critical policy messages to the 15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000). Register now!

• On the Ground: Women Struggle to Survive in Haiti

  25 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

  UNIFEM is working in Haiti to expand the provision of emergency services for women in the aftermath of the earthquake on 12 January 2010. As part of the overall UN effort in the country, UNIFEM particularly seeks to rebuild women’s shelters and to ensure that relief efforts incorporate a gender perspective. The work of the UNIFEM team in Haiti includes going out among the survivors who are seeking refuge in spontaneous and self-managed temporary camps.

• On the Ground: Women Struggle to Survive in Haiti

  25 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

  UNIFEM is working in Haiti to expand the provision of emergency services for women in the aftermath of the earthquake on 12 January 2010. As part of the overall UN effort in the country, UNIFEM particularly seeks to rebuild women’s shelters and to ensure that relief efforts incorporate a gender perspective. The work of the UNIFEM team in Haiti includes going out among the survivors who are seeking refuge in spontaneous and self-managed temporary camps.

• 
  Women's eNews

• Canada Fails to Assist Jailed Aboriginal Women

  Wency Leung

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:25 pm

  VANCOUVER, British Columbia (WOMENSENEWS)--Kate Rexe, at the Ottawa-based Native Women's Association of Canada, sees public foot-dragging on longstanding recommendations by the federal correctional ombudsman for reducing imprisonment of Aboriginal women. read more

• Michelle Obama Urged to Speak Out for Breastfeeding

  Malena Amusa

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:08 pm

  (WOMENSENEWS)--Michelle Obama breastfed her daughters Malia and Sasha and public health and maternal health activists are hoping she will explicitly endorse breastfeeding as part of her anti-obesity campaign. In doing so, activists hope she'll become the national symbol, particularly for African American mothers, for pro-breastfeeding initiatives. read more

• Boat Brings Aid to Climate-Afflicted Bangladeshis

  Amy Lieberman

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:27 pm

  GAIBANDHA, Bangladesh (WOMENSENEWS)--Hardly anyone, including Bangladeshis, know of the isolated northern chars, tiny islands that barely rise above sea level. Fewer know what will become of the islets as land erosion and flash floods likely worsen in the near future. read more

• Pentagon Stocks Plan B; Nicaragua's Abortion Law Damaging

  WeNews staff

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:47 pm

  (WOMENSENEWS)-- Cheers The emergency contraceptive Plan B will now be available at all military health clinics and hospitals around the world, announced the U.S. Department of Defense Feb. 4, according to various news services. A proposal to offer these drugs for women in the military was also made in 2002, but was rejected under President George W. Bush's administration, reported The Washington Post on Feb. 5. read more

• U.S. Jury Convicts Muslim Woman of Attempted Murder

  Rima Abdelkader

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:18 pm

  NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--In a rare case involving a woman accused of actions related to terrorism, American-trained neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui was found guilty on Feb. 3 by a federal court jury in New York. read more

• 
  BlogHer - Gender

• A Different Take On Interracial Relationships: Questioning The Motives Of Our Mates And Ourselves

  lainad

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:00 pm

  Many of us live in diverse communities where we interact with a culturally diverse group of people, but because I work in the downtown core in a large, metropolitan city, I understand that for some their racial tolerance has a short expiry date, ending at 5pm on Friday afternoons. Once they get off the commuter train and reach their homes in the suburbs, that tolerance goes out the window. But in this day and age, I'm of the opinion that anyone who has issues with their children dating or marrying across racial lines should have raised them in a forest or under a rock. There is still a great…

• Rock the Red Pump - 500 in 50 Campaign

  Luvvie

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:19 pm

  Every year, the United States recognizes March 10th as National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). It's a nationwide initiative to raise awareness about the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages ladies to take action. While progress has definitely been made in the areas of AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group. This year focuses on this statistic, "Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States."In observance of…

• On Superbowl Sunday, A Concussion Conversation Continues

  WVFC

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:25 am

  Today is Super Bowl Sunday, and even if your hometown’s team is one of the competitors, none has completely escaped chatter about the brain-injury controversy—from CNN’s report on the long-lasting damage suffered by former players, after years of impacts like those at left, to stories from Business Week and others on how states are already changing practice rules for school sports.If you watch the game, you’ll see at least one of those expensive PSAs on the subject. And if you're a New York Times reader, you might have seen the following quote from a 1928 issue of the Journal of the…

• The "F" Word

  Jaded16

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:33 am

    This week my students forced me to give them a 30 minute long lecture on why being called a Feminist isn't necessarily a bad thing – mainly because they were embarrassed to call themselves Feminist – even when they were. This class has inspired this rant/ blog post. I've wrote this on my blog a couple of weeks ago. But, this week when my students insisted that my ranting skills need a bigger audience - I thought of posting it up here.   Yes. You did read the right post title. Let your eyes rest and take it all in. And no, this isn't the delightful four - letter word we 21st…

• Valentine's Day for Feminist Lovers

  Suzanne Reisman

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  I know that some people believe that "feminist" and "lovers" do not belong in the same sentence, either because feminists are horrible people incapable of love (especially heterosexual love, which is why we never shave our pits or legs or bikini lines) or because feminists are horrible people that no one else is capable of loving (because we never shave our pits or legs or bikini lines).Pat Robertson famously opined that, "Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and…

• 
  Salon: Broadsheet

• Nerd porn of the day: "We love xkcd"

  Mary Elizabeth Williams

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:10 am

  On the list of things we love, "romance, sarcasm, math, and language" are reliably in the top ten. Hence our membership in the cult of xkcd , Randall Munroe's dry as vemouth, sweet as vin santo Web comic. And when a bunch of our Net culture heroes like Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Jason Kottke and Cory Doctorow get together to sing a little ditty of its praises, there is but one word to describe our delighted response. Replay. 

• Meghan McCain, daddy's little liability

  Tracy Clark-Flory

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:25 pm

  The women in John McCain's life are proving to be serious political liabilities. On the heels of wife Cindy's decision to join the NOH8 campaign's fight for marriage equality, daughter Meghan spoke out against the tea party's racism as a guest host on Monday's "The View." First and foremost in her sights: Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, who delivered the opening speech at last week's National Tea Party Convention: [He] said, "People who could not even spell the word vote or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House whose name is Barack Hussein Obama." And then he went…

• Katie Couric gets sexy

  Kate Harding

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:09 pm

  After nearly 30 years in broadcast journalism, Katie Couric is finally allowed to present herself as sexy, says the Washington Post's Robin Givhan. And this is apparently something to celebrate. Meditating on a recent Harper's Bazaar fashion spread, in which the first female solo evening news anchor poses in a "short -- very short -- skirt," a curve-hugging Calvin Klein dress and "the kind of platform Gucci heels that have been known to send professional models tumbling to their knees," Givhan writes, "[a]fter breaking ground in network news, after having folks debate whether she should have…

• Payback for child porn

  Tracy Clark-Flory

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pm

  Amy is an unwitting porn star. She is among the most-downloaded in the reviled genre of child smut. Photos of her sexual abuse at the age of 8 and 9 by her uncle have proliferated to the point that every day, sometimes several times a day, someone is caught with the more than decade-old images. Every time this happens, she's notified by police and reminded that uncountable strangers have gotten off on the trauma she suffered -- and, once again, she feels victimized. Her uncle is in jail, but what of these vicarious abusers? She's hoping to make them pay, too. The 20-year-old is…

• More women coeds = more Clooney rentals

  Mary Elizabeth Williams

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  Who needs a mancession to feel the encroaching threat of female power? Ladies, you don't even need to be out there in the workforce to be disrupting the New York Times' natural order. According to yet another of those scare tactics stories that makes my weekend coffee seem just a little more bitter, when women outnumber men in colleges, they'd better lower their uppity-ass standards, stat! Take, for example, the heartache unfolding at the University of North Carolina. On yet another "tiresome" evening out, writer Alex Williams explains, the girls are forced to "slip on tight-fitting tops,…

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  feminist blogs

• Nina Power, “One Dimensional Woman”

  Ann Bartow

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:40 am

  From here: Nina Power is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Roehampton University, and writes the blog Infinite ThØught. She discusses her new book, One-Dimensional Woman ( Zero Books), a critique of the kind of contemporary feminism that poses women as thriving in consumer capitalism. Where have all the interesting women gone? If the contemporary portrayal of womankind were to be believed, contemporary female achievement would culminate in the ownership of expensive handbags, a vibrator, a job, a flat and a man. How has it come to this? That the height of supposed female emancipation…

• Guess Who’s Nominated for an Okie Blog Award?!?!?

  okiefeminist

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:18 am

  We are! Yay! I am really excited about being nominated in the category of Best Political Blog (Liberal Leaning). I love that…”Liberal Leaning“! It’s like it might be offensive to say that we are Liberal, all the way. Or worse, Progressive. It’s like Liberal-ish. Or Liberal Light. Or Liberal and probably not 100% straight nor 100% enamored with the idea of being simplified and categorized. Whatever! It’s cussing cool that we’re mentioned on a list with with some other great bloggers who make us feel more at home as freaks on the prairie: Alternative…

• Notes from a bitch…pondering five years of blogging…

  Shark-Fu

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:10 am

  This week my personal blog, AngryBlackBitch, will celebrate five years of practicing the fine art of bitchitude. Sigh. I still remember not understanding how to post pictures as if it were just yesterday. Sigh again. When I began blogging it was with the expectation that only my friends and family would read my posts. I never could have imagined that folks outside my circle would care about my thoughts and opinions...but that didn't matter, because I fell in love with writing right from the start. From the beginning, I have been an activist who blogs. But blogging has been and remains a…

• Women sommeliers and the old boys club

  Emily Heroy

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

  I’ve been drinking wine since I was in my mother’s womb (gasp! Yes my mom did drink wine while she was pregnant with me. I am OKAY). My parents allowed me to try a sip of their wine at the dinner table every since I could talk. They started giving me small glasses of wine [...] A Message From FeministBlogs.org: February and March Fundraiser You are viewing this feed through the Feminist Blogs aggregator, a hub for blogs by self-identified feminists, women’s liberationists, womanists, and pro-feminist men. Feminist Blogs relies on your support to stay running. We're doing a…

• Couldn’t Remember Where I Heard It…… Just a quick note

  olvlzl

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:50 am

  but last week, after hearing a male English professor waxing wistfully about how much Catcher in the Rye meant to his development, another professor, a woman, said that her first reading of Holden Caulfield was like being on a date with a boy who couldn't stop talking about himself.Which might be the most insightful single thing ever said about the book. A McC A Message From FeministBlogs.org: February and March Fundraiser You are viewing this feed through the Feminist Blogs aggregator, a hub for blogs by self-identified feminists, women’s liberationists, womanists, and pro-feminist men.

• 
  Feministing

• Feminism in the Classroom

  Courtney

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:45 am

  If you're not hip to Ileana Jiménez's amazing blog, Feminist Teacher, it's time. Throughout her thirteen year career, Jiménez has been a leader in the field of social justice education for students of color, LGBT youth, women and girls. She's also a major advocate of getting intersectional feminism in schools at all grade levels. In a recent post, she writes about making an argument for getting gender education in the classroom, pre-college. There is so much talk about women's studies at the university level, that we often lose track of the importance of gender education in the early years.

• Notes from a bitch...pondering five years of blogging...

  Shark-Fu

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:10 am

  This week my personal blog, AngryBlackBitch, will celebrate five years of practicing the fine art of bitchitude. Sigh. I still remember not understanding how to post pictures as if it were just yesterday. Sigh again. When I began blogging it was with the expectation that only my friends and family would read my posts. I never could have imagined that folks outside my circle would care about my thoughts and opinions...but that didn't matter, because I fell in love with writing right from the start. From the beginning, I have been an activist who blogs. But blogging has been and remains a…

• What We Missed

  Jessica

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:30 pm

  If today's rundown of Superbowl commercials weren't enough to make you worry about the state of American masculinity, the above compilation of violence from last night's ads surely will be. Costa Rica elected its first female president by a landslide! The New York Times tells us that the increase of women in college means a decrease in hetero lurve. (Opheliasawake has more on the Community blog.) More on the Superbowl from Amanda at The Sexist. Who's to blame for the commodification of virginity? Feminists!

• Superbowl Sexism: "Man-ifesto" edition

  Jessica

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:27 pm

  Transcript after the jump Dockers' feminist-hating "man-ifesto," now in video form. Cause if dudes want to "wear the pants," they should buy ugly khaki ones. Dudes singing: I wear no pants [over and over and over again] Voice-over: Calling all men...it's time to wear the pants.

• Students protest for LGBT inclusion in school nondiscrimination policy

  Jessica

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:48 pm

  Love these students! Students at John Carroll University in Ohio protested during a school basketball game over the school's unwillingness to include sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy. From a student statement on YouTube: John Carroll's mission is to create people for others. That means support, protection, love, and understanding for all people without regard to color, creed, sexual preference, gender, age, or other personal factors. That's the goal of a Jesuit institution. By not explicitly voicing its support of LGBTQ students, faculty, and alumni, John Carroll's…

• 
  Feministe

• A woman’s right to choose

  Jill

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:26 pm

• The Super Bowl and Madison Avenue Misogyny

  Jill

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:04 am

  A guest post by Kate. Kate is a freelance writer and full-time law student. Follow her @itscompliKATEd on Twitter. Superbowl ads are sexist. This is well trod ground: Marketers objectify women and play up stereotypes in order to sell things to (heterosexual) men. But we knew this year was going to be special. This year there was going to be some extra anti-feminist flavor. This year, there was going to be Tim Tebow. We’ll come back to Tim and his anti-choice ad in a second. But for now, let’s take a look at the companies that decided that it would be a great idea to isolate half…

• Well, I did make some great brownies.

  Jill

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am

  CNN contributor Erick Erickson is right — watching Tim Tebow tackle his mom during a Super Bowl commercial last night really inspired me to give up the whole thinking-thoughts thing and get back in the kitchen. It’s a shame I’m too ugly to get a date, because now I have all of this food and no one to give it to. How many brownies do you think 14 cats can eat?

• Do Black Women’s Reproductive Rights Matter?

  Jill

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:21 am

  A guest post by Renee at Womanist Musings; read the original over there as well. This weekend Focus on the Family Plans plans on running a Pro-Life advertisement during the super bowl. From the moment that this was discovered, it received national attention. Groups like NOW and the feminist blogosphere waged a real effort to challenge this threat to women’s reproductive rights. The Center for Reproductive Rights wrote a letter to CBS pointing out that Ms. Tebow lived in the Philippines at the time of her supposed choice and therefore her only real option was to have the baby because…

• Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday

  Jill

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:38 am

  Written something good this week? Leave a link and a short description in the comments. Link to a specific post, not your entire blog.

• 
  Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog

• FAQ: vagina vs vulva and public “faces of feminism”

  tigtog

  15 Jan 2010 | 2:06 pm

  Q: A celebrity feminist said something about the incorrect usage of vagina vs vulva and I want you to explain every nuance of her thoughts to me and why feminism thinks that way. A: “Feminism” doesn’t necessarily think that way just because that celebrity feminist does. Possibly there is controversy about her opinion. Possibly her opinion is highly unpopular. Also, just a thought, possibly she didn’t actually say quite what you think she said? This same sort of “justify feminism’s opinion on this” request gets made all the time based on the media…

• Changes

  tigtog

  21 Nov 2009 | 2:29 pm

  I’m about to update the template to something that is more accessible to more readers. Bear with us if a few things look wonky until the adjustment has been fully sorted out. Posted in announcements, FF101-admin Tagged: template changes

• Updated FAQ on Patriarchy

  tigtog

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm

  The post FAQ: Isn’t “the Patriarchy” just some conspiracy theory that blames all men, even decent men, for women’s woes? has been edited and modified to include material on the concept of “kyriarchy” and to clarify other issues which were not as well expressed as they could have been back in 2007. If you have a quote from the Patriarchy FAQ somewhere on your hard drive that you like to use, it might be a good idea to check whether it’s still there before using it again. Comments are closed on this post so that any relevant discussion can take place on the FAQ…

• FAQ: Rape Culture 101

  shakesville

  18 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm

  This post was written by Melissa McEwan and originally published at Shakesville on October 09, 2009Editor’s note: this post does not follow the usual FF101 FAQ conventions, but it’s being included in the FAQ list anyway. [Trigger warning.] Frequently, I receive requests to provide a definition of the term “rape culture.” I’ve referred people to the Wikipedia entry on rape culture, which is pretty good, and I like the definition provided in Transforming a Rape Culture: A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports…

• Press Release from Equality Now

  tigtog

  23 Sep 2009 | 2:11 pm

  Remember the RapeLay video game, written about by Melissa and Cara back in February? Equality Now has been working to persuade Japan to uphold its obligations under UN conventions with respect to material that normalises and/or promotes violence against women and girls. EQUALITY NOW CALLS ON NEW JAPANESE ADMINISTRATION TO BAN ALL GAMES THAT PROMOTE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS JAPAN MUST FULFILL ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE UN WOMEN’S CONVENTION BY IMPLEMENTING RECENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CEDAW COMMITTEE Equality Now calls on the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the country’s…

• 
  Hugo Schwyzer

• Reprint: The “expectation of desperation”

  Hugo Schwyzer

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:11 am

  This post originally appeared in September 2007. While we were away, a number of emails piled up in my inbox from various folks seeking input on gender issues (usually, of course, on the “older men, younger women” theme). On a different note, “Dave” writes: I’m three years out of a divorce, a good guy, a dad, sweet, generous, and back into dating. Many, most, if not all of the women I’m interested in are so busy that they have a hard time shoehorning me into their schedules. They act like I’m a good catch, but they don’t carve out time for me.

• Friday Random Ten: home from Russia edition

  Hugo Schwyzer

  5 Feb 2010 | 2:33 pm

  I’m safely back in the States after an eight-day visit to Russia; FRTs are rare for me these days, and this isn’t quite random: these were the last ten songs I listened to on my iPod on my flight home. Yes, Cerys Matthews was the inspiration (at least in part) for my daughter’s second name, and if you haven’t purchased the new Patty Griffin album yet, please do. 1. “Indianapolis”, Bottle Rockets 2. “My Life Would Suck Without You”, Kelly Clarkson 3. “Another Country”, Tift Merritt 4. “Up in Heaven (Not Only Here), The Clash 5.

• “I just cannot turn it off”: on not wanting to be attracted to younger women

  Hugo Schwyzer

  4 Feb 2010 | 1:24 am

  I’ve got a four-hour layover at Heathrow. Why not blog? I got an email last week from “Jake”: I was very much attracted to your blog writings on Older Men and Younger Women as this issue has always been on my mind. I am a 25 yr old guy, and for quite some time, I often find myself attracted to 16-18 yr old girls. As I find the age gap to still be too big (university graduate vs. high school almost graduate), I would very much like to not be attracted to girls that age, but it seems like I cannot just turn it off. None of this will matter to me once the girls hit 20, but I am…

• Thursday Short Poem: Yevtushenko’s “Memento”

  Hugo Schwyzer

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:01 pm

  It may still be Wednesday in the States, but it’s 5:00AM Thursday morning in Domededevo airport, and I’m on my way home. Makes sense to come back to the TSP with the great contemporary Russian poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko. I saw ducks playing in a break in the ice yesterday, and briefly rode on a Moscow tram, so I feel connected in a small way. Memento Like a reminder of this life of trams, sun, sparrows, and the flighty uncontrolledness of streams leaping like thermometers, and because ducks are quacking somewhere above the crackling of the last, paper-thin ice, and because children…

• Reprint: “Architects of our own Adversity”

  Hugo Schwyzer

  3 Feb 2010 | 10:29 am

  I’m headed back from Russia; hope to have some fresh posts up next week. This post originally appeared in March 2007. One strand of feminist thinking about male oppression is that men are rarely oppressed as men. Those who advocate this stance argue that black men are oppressed for their blackness, not their maleness; Muslim men for their faith, not their sex; inmates for ther status as prisoners, not their biological equipment. They also argue that authentic oppression requires a dominant oppressing caste whose identity is distinct from those whom they are oppressing: in other words,…

• 
  The Curvature

• Court Ignores Man’s Domestic Violence Prior to Murder-Suicide

  Cara

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:34 am

  Via SAFER comes a really awful story about a man named Stephen Garcia who murdered his 9-month-old son Wyatt before taking his own life. Obviously any kind of violence like this is always horrible, but what makes it even more appalling is that the man’s actions were easily predicted by his previous threats and behavior, and evidence of that was presented by the boy’s mother Katie Tagle in court. And while it’s possible that a similar outcome might have unfolded had the court acted, the fact is that it did absolutely nothing (all emphasis mine). Her family said Garcia abused…

• Reproductive Coercion is Sexual Violence

  Cara

  29 Jan 2010 | 12:18 pm

  There is a new study which discusses a horribly prevalent but rarely discussed form of intimate partner violence: reproductive coercion. From a press release by The Family Violence Prevention Fund: “Pregnancy Coercion, Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy” is the first quantitative examination of the relationship between intimate partner violence, reproductive coercion and unintended pregnancy. It finds that young women and teenage girls often face efforts by male partners to sabotage their birth control or coerce or pressure them to become pregnant – including by…

• Remembering Dr. King

  Cara

  18 Jan 2010 | 10:26 am

  Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We still, I should hope it goes without saying on this particular blog, live in a world fueled by racism, white supremacy, and classism. With a lot of the reporting coming out of Haiti this past week alone, that much has been evident. We live in a world where Dr.

• Alleged Victim Slut-Shamed, Rape Case Thrown Out

  Cara

  15 Jan 2010 | 8:39 am

  A particular rape case has been making the rounds lately, for its especially ludicrous and misogynistic outcome. In short, a U.K. woman made allegations of a gang rape by five perpetrators. The case made it to court. And then, the judge ordered the jury to return a not guilty verdict when “evidence” was presented — not by the defense, but the prosecution — showing that the alleged victim had made statements online about her fantasies involving group sex. The revelation that she had had group sex fantasies was, in fact, the entire reason presented for the dismissal of…

• Swedish Court Decides Sexual Assault is Not a Crime

  Cara

  14 Jan 2010 | 10:19 am

  Trigger Warning for descriptions of sexual assault, apologism, and victim-blaming At a New Year’s party in Sweden, a 17-year-old girl laid down to sleep on a sofa. The 49-year-old father of the boy hosting the party proceeded to lift up her skirt while she was unconscious and photograph her genitals. He then, in some unspecified manner, spread the photo to other people. The victim pressed charges, once she learned of what had been done to her. Then, the court dismissed the charges — not because they found that there was insufficient evidence, or because the victim changed her mind…

• 
  Holla Back New York City - If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em!

• Woman: Police ignored groping

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:06 am

  Reprinted from Metro New York, written by HOLLAhero Amy Zimmer:Georgia Warren felt “disgusted” with what she witnessed on a Brooklyn-bound N train as it pulled into Pacific Street around 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 1: A man shoved his crotch against a woman and touched her shoulder. The man then walked toward Warren, but she shouted, “Don’t you f—ing touch me, you pervert.”She alerted the conductor as two “good Samaritans” blocked the man from boarding another train. Police arrived 20 minutes later but said they couldn’t do anything because the man was “crazy,” Warren said.

• Holla Right Back at Us!

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:34 pm

  We are in the process of developing our new project -- Hollaback! -- and we want to make sure that it is in line with the needs, wants, and desires of our many Hollabackers! Please take our quick, 11 question survey: Click here to take surveyIt won't take longer than 2 minutes (I promise) and it will help us make sure we are giving you what you need to hollaback faster, stronger, and smarter!

• Police Insensitivity Deepens the Pain

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:14 pm

  Today, I was walking across the street, with my headphones on, minding my own business to go to the store. When I reached the other side of the street, I caught a guy hanging with a female and a group of friends, staring at me. I looked at him back and asked, "What the fuck are you looking at?" He says, "You look beautiful." I cursed him out, and he comes charging at me, stepping, literally, up to my face. Not wanting to show any signs of fear, I stood there in a Mexican Standoff. When he walked away and I told him not to fuck with me, he came back again and was literally in my face. I went…

• Update to the LAPD Police Report

  6 Feb 2010 | 3:08 pm

  On January 24th, a woman named was assaulted on Hermosa beach and reported it to the police, read more here. Unfortunately, the police have effectively ignored her report and the perpetrator continues to go free:Regarding the Hermosa Beach groping incident, it's been weeks and I haven't heard anything from them. I called and even went down to the station. Finally, on Thursday, I spoke to the detective, Detective Freelough, about my case. When I asked why hasn't he gotten back to me, he asks me why I am in such a hurry, that the schedule of him meeting with the guy hasn't been good, and that…

• Californians: Make Your Workplace Harassment-Proof

  6 Feb 2010 | 10:48 am

  ADVERTISEMENTHarassment doesn't just magically go away; it takes work. If you want to make your workplace harassment-proof, check out our corporate sponsors at CalBizCentral.From CalBizCentral:When it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace, you have to know what is required of your company and your human resources department. Harassment is not a topic you can take lightly or decide to learn about at a later date. If you work in human resources for a company, it's time to learn everything you need to know about sexual harassment. HRCalifornia will help you find information and tools to…

• 
  Jezebel

• It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's... Flying Panties [Up In The Air]

  Margaret

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:20 am

  Next month a wind-up flying panties toy will be released in Japan. Apparently, it's based on the intro to the anime series Sora no Otoshimono, but that still doesn't explain why the panties are flying in the first place. [InventorSpot]

• Proud Mary [Snap Judgment]

  Anna

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:10 am

  [New York, February 8. Image via Getty]NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 08: Singer Mary J. Blige performs onstage at the Hope Help & Relief Haiti 'A Night Of Humanity' event at Urban Zen on February 8, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

• Take No Prisoners: Jenny Sanford Sad Over Loss Of Inmate Assistance [Clips]

  Irin

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

  Last night, South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford, appearing on the Daily Show to plug her book Staying True, made Jon Stewart awfully uncomfortable. And he said so.Sanford seemed nervous and couldn't stop chatting cheerily about how beautifully the inmates working at the Governor's Mansion in Columbia maintained the appearance of her garden and her dogs. Memo re: future media appearances: A well-off white Southern lady isn't going to gain much with the audience by complaining about the loss of her unpaid help, however charmingly she imitates their funny accents. Stewart tried to steer the…

• Clothes Call [Snap Judgment]

  Anna

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:50 am

  [Reading, Pennsylvania; February 8. Image via INF]

• Time To Get Ill [Fashion-speak]

  Katy

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:40 am

  British officials have commissioned designer Ben de Lisi to create new, chicer hospital gowns to replace the "hideous, embarrassing" open-backed model. "I wanted the new gowns to feel fabulous and aspirational," explained de Lisi. "It's infinitely dignified, yet practical." [BBC]

• 
  The Angry Black Woman

• Feature Blog: The Feminist Texican

  unusualmusic

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:14 pm

  There are other blog posts that I have promised to make. I’m still working on them. In the meantime, here’s a cool blog whose owner has has good links and great blog posts: Feminist Texican Blogeando: Latinos Are Blogging, Are you Engaging Them? Lean in close to your screen. I have something to tell you. Latinos use computers. It’s true. Know what else? There are more Latino bloggers than general market bloggers. I didn’t believe it either, but this week has seen a spate of industry reports saying exactly that and more. Depending on the source, there is anywhere from 5.4…

• Transcending Race…A History Lesson

  karnythia

  29 Jan 2010 | 9:19 am

  So this whole thing with Chris Matthews “forgetting that Obama is black” falls into that same range of racism as “Pretty for a black girl” and the “You’re not like those other black people” claptrap often espoused by the “I’m not racist, but…” crowd. They’re coded as compliments, but the subtext is still an ugly one that frames racism as being the fault of the oppressed. After all, if we’d all just be a credit to our race then our problems would go away right? Right. Oh wait, no that’s completely wrong. Let me…

• There goes America’s democracy: I never thought I would be living in a dystopian cyberpunk novel!

  unusualmusic

  21 Jan 2010 | 8:27 pm

  So much for being the leader of the “free” world. The Supreme Court completely eviscerated our democracy today. Or, put another way US ends political campaign spending limits And considering the fact that net neutrality is highly likely go the way of the dodo, I sincerely doubt I’ll be able to acquire Al Jazeera on youtube if I’m not rich enough to afford the extra cash, don’t you think? Or, in short…U.S. Supreme Court Makes Corporations Supreme, People Mere Monkeys At the root of the Court’s attack on popular democracy — and it is an attack, and it…

• Why is American tv coverage of the Haitian disaster driving me to drink?

  unusualmusic

  15 Jan 2010 | 7:38 pm

  Chris Matthews is on my tv carefully saying how much Haiti’s problems are due to its politics. He is also congratulating the US on how much its image will be burnished because of how quickly it is responding to the crisis. Really. Yes, really. And aren’t we the greatest country in the world? And most of the reporters that are on my tv are emphasizing how poor and desperate Haiti’s people were before the quake. And how sad isn’t it, that this country has never been able to get its act together oh my! But don’t worry, America’s there to save them now. And…

• On Haiti, Helping and Hurting

  karnythia

  13 Jan 2010 | 12:57 pm

  So, you want to help? Great. Here’s a list of charities. However if you feel the need to sound anything like Pat Robertson I’m going to need you to go sit down somewhere and be silent. The last thing anyone needs after a crisis is the bigots swooping in with lies to bolster their racism. And after all the things that have been done to Haiti over the years in the name of U.S. Foreign Policy the last thing they need is white American missionaries handing out condemnation and vilification in the guise of help. Aside from the major logical flaws in these arguments; what makes anyone…

• 
  Muslimah Media Watch

• The Headscarf as Cultural Barometer: Emma Tarlo’s Book on Hijab

  Sara

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  In her new book, entitled Visibly Muslim: Fashion, Politics, Faith, Emma Tarlo captures the diversity in the way that Islam is practiced against the backdrop of multi-cultural Britain. Refreshingly, the book did not aim to answer whether or not covering was a part of Islam, and neither did it represent the views of Muslim women as a monolithic body. Tarlo's book. Image via Amazon.com In her book, Tarlo shows a snapshot of the way in which the veil has manifested itself within the Muslim population of Britain. In focusing on the way that different Muslim women struggle to find common…

• Friday Links — February 5, 2009

  Fatemeh

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Girls in Sudan risk sexual exploitation. A Jordanian court sentenced a 19-year-old man to 10 years in jail for stabbing his sister to death. May Allah give her peace and justice. Hijab Style interviews the founders of Vela. Sheema Khan asks for a Canadian approach to the burqa. Speaking of burqas, a cleric in India says that it is permissible for women to have identification pictures taken without a face veil. Nadya Khalife writes about Dubai’s shameful record on rape. More from the Los Angeles Times. A Small Magazine interviews Muna Abu Sulayman. In Turkey, a conference discussed the…

• Cold Comfort: Supporting Arguments don’t do Burqa Bans a Favor

  Krista

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  The proposed French ban on facial coverings* worn by some Muslim women seems like it hasn’t left the news for weeks, with new developments popping up regularly and prompting, again, a wave of articles and editorials on the topic. One theme that I’ve noticed lately is the tendency for people opposed to the ban to contextualize their opposition with a comment along the lines of “I really don’t like the burqa/niqab/veil, but I don’t agree that it should be banned.”  One Canadian blog describes it as “unsettling because it is often a symbol of feminine…

• A Look at Women in Ali Eteraz’s Children of Dust: Part I

  Raaz

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Image via Amazon.com Children of Dust, prominent writer Ali Eteraz’s recently published memoir, provides an excellent example of a Pakistani-American Muslim in search of his own self-identity.  Eteraz’s prose is a delight to read—I randomly started reading a segment from the middle of the book upon its arrival and proceeded to read a good chunk before realizing that I should start reading it from the beginning.  I found his descriptions of cultural experiences as an immigrant growing up in the United States to be reminiscent of my own cultural and religious experiences as a…

• More Than Just a Game: The Right to Wear a Scarf and Play Sports

  Nicole

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Yet another Muslim woman has been denied the right to play sports while wearing a headscarf. Sura al Shawk. Image via Zoe Jobin. Last summer, a young Swiss Muslimah from Luzern, Surah al Shawk (pictured left), attracted the attention of the Northeastern Swtizerland Basketball Association, ProBasket, when she started playing in second division games in Luzern. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her amazing skills on the court that grabbed their attention–it was her headscarf. Her veil had never caused any problems at the community level, before her talent led her to the big leagues.

• 
  Womanist Musings

• A Spark of Wisdom: You’re already teaching kids sexuality

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  This is a guest post from Sparky, of Spark in Darkness.  Many of you are  familiar with him from Livejournal, as well as from his insightful and often hilarious commentary here. Each Tuesday, Womanist Musings will be featuring a post from Sparky. Children are too young to learn about ANY kind of sexuality. It's a common refrain, when you discuss teaching children about homosexuality or homophobia. Children are too young for that. Too vulnerable. Too young to understand. They're not homophobic, they hasten to add, oh no, they don't want to teach kids about ANY sexuality! And that…

• Tune in Tuesday: Dexy’s midnight runners come on Eileen

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:23 am

  I was chatting with everyone’s favourite Gus last night when she mentioned how much she loves this song.  In typical Gus fashion, she confused the band that actually sang this song.   Contrary to her first suggestion, the song is BEFORE my time.  I actually first heard this song when a French male skater did a routine to it.  I immediately loved the song, at which point the unhusband informed of how old it was, thereby showing his age hahaha.  At any rate, I still think this is a good one to dance to. Subscribe

• The Leafs Welcome Terminally Ill Toddler

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:38 pm

  I was not planning on blogging anymore for the day but then the unhusband sent me an e-mail about three year old Tucker Patterson.  The following comesfrom the CBC. Tucker Patterson, 3, suffers from Leigh's disease, a debilitating genetic disorder that has him confined to a wheelchair. He cannot walk, talk or eat, but was smiling as his father and twin sister wheeled him around the ice surface at the home rink of the Leafs on Tuesday. Tuesday's skate came nine days after Tucker was denied access to a Hamilton rink. A rink employee told Tucker's mother Kari on Jan. 17 that the facility…

• Emily Blunt Makes Disability Fashionable

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am

  In a series of photographs featured in the Los Angeles Times MagazineMs. Blunt can be seen posing with crutches.   Isn’t she vulnerable and sweet?  Images of differently abled people rarely appear in mainstream media and to have an able bodied woman affecting disability not only creates the differently abled as invisible, it presents an unrealistic image of what disability looks like. Crutches are not a fashion statement; they are a mobility aid. There is nothing chic about crutches because they help to mark a persons body as faulty to the outside world, due to our…

• Just Another Monday

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:12 am

  Well here we go, the beginning of another work.  Please use this thread to chat about your weekend or simply whine about the fact that it is Monday and that there are forty hours to go until freedom.  This weekend I finally watched “Up in the Air” and everyone’s favourite Gus, Allison McCarthy forced me to watch “Flowers in the Attic” despite the fact that she has thus far failed to yell, I love Black people in honour of Black history month.  If that isn’t going above and beyond for friendship I don’t know what is.  Let it all fly and I will meet you in the…

• 
  Our Bodies Our Blog

• New Emergency Contraception Drug Stirs Old Arguments

  Rachel

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:14 am

  A recent ABC news piece and two new journal articles (in The Lancet and Obstetrics and Gynecology) have drawn attention to an emergency contraception drug that is not currently available in the U.S. but apparently has been submitted to the FDA for review. Emergency contraception pills (EC) currently available in the U.S.  are intended to be [...]

• Site maintenance

  Christine C.

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:57 pm

  We’re working on fixing some bugs that people have reported in the last few weeks, including problems with RSS feeds. If something looks off for the next few hours– no worries! We’re on it.

• National Library of Medicine Exhibit on African American Midwives

  Rachel

  5 Feb 2010 | 12:05 pm

  For readers around the D.C. area: the National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine division in Bethesda, MD will run an exhibit through June of this year on the history of African American “granny” midwives. Details below: Nothing To Work With But Cleanliness: African American “Grannies”, Midwives & Health Reform For over three centuries, African American midwives [...]

• Sean James and Al Joyner Respond to the Tebow Super Bowl ad

  Rachel

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:06 am

  By now you may have heard about the Focus on the Family-sponsored anti-choice ad slated to run during the Super Bowl. The ad features football player Tim Tebow and his mother discussing her decision not to have an abortion when pregnant with the star player. The ad has been controversial for many reasons, including that it [...]

• Efforts Underway to Respond to Potential Closing of New York Hospital and Associated Birth Center

  Rachel

  3 Feb 2010 | 11:29 am

  Following financial struggles and a move by another hospital system to take over, St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan is in danger of closing.  The proposal  has met with community protest, primarily because, as one article notes, “St. Vincent’s treats a disproportionate number of poor, homeless and uninsured patients, who could be forced to go elsewhere [...]

• 
  Shakesville

• The Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report – T100209

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  Time for another Teaspoon Report, brought to you by Shaxco, proud publishers of the thrilling sequel to Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying: Ethel the Aardvark: Assistant Manager of Quantity Surveying for Northwest Region! Available now in bookstores near you, and some which are sort of on the net, so they're near in a way, but not really like you could go over and get a cuppa and sit down and read them.Leave comments here that describe an act of teaspooning you encountered or committed. They don't have to be big, world-shaking acts; by definition, a teaspoon is a small thing, but…

• NQDTR Discussion Thread – T100209

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  Hiya, Shakers, time for another Discussion Thread for the Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report!This is the thread in which you may offer congratulations or admiration for a teaspoon or teaspooner. If you're posting with just congrats or admiration, though, do take a moment and check the thread to see whether other people have said so a number of times already. Remember that no one is required to read here just because they posted over there, so there's no guarantee you'll get a response to a given comment.

• Bread and Teaspoons Twenty-Two

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  Good morning (unless it isn't where you are, in which case I wish you Good $TIME_PERIOD), and welcome to this week's installment of Shakesville's networking post, Bread and Teaspoons*. This is a (theoretically) weekly post, usually Tuesdays, providing a spot for Shakers to network a little with one another, see if we can help each other out some. Sorry for missing last week's instalment, depression sucks big rocks through a garden hose sideways.Also remember, if you’re running or part of a small business, you’re encouraged to drop links here for that. I’m happy to see Shakers makin’…

• Open Thread

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Hosted by a Mad Tea Party.

• Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:30 am

  Trans-X: "Living on Video"

• 
  Kate Harding's Shapely Prose

• With advocates like this, who needs hate radio?

  Sweet Machine

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:32 pm

  It will surprise few people who pay attention to American politics that Sarah Palin is a world-class hypocrite. But her recent foray into the politics of language and disability have proved that her hypocrisy is dyed in the wool, an amazing contradiction of terms: openly disingenuous, profoundly committed to shallowness. She’s taken one of the [...]

• Friday fluff: What Super Bowl?

  Sweet Machine

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am

  So apparently there is some kind of football game going on this weekend? I know this for two reasons: 1. Feminist bloggers keep posting about Tim Tebow (boo) and Scott Fujita (yay). 2. My friend The Urban Gastronome has been posting mouthwatering “game day” recipes. MMMMMM CUPCAKES Shapelings, are you watching the game? If so, is it because [...]

• We Are the Boss of You

  Kate Harding

  31 Jan 2010 | 9:53 am

  Shapelings, we need to talk. I just updated the comments policy with the following: Eighth rule: If you’re having trouble processing the seventh rule, just know that sassing the mods is a very bad idea. There may come a time when one of the moderators —me, Fillyjonk, Sweet Machine, Snarky’s Machine, or A Sarah — tells [...]

• Friday fluff: Step up, step up!

  fillyjonk

  29 Jan 2010 | 9:52 am

  Kate sent along an article this morning about the death of Bruce Snowdon, the last sideshow fat man. Mostly she was boggled by this bit: Until the mid-1960s, traveling carnivals frequently featured fat acts. But sideshows declined in popularity as waistlines expanded and obesity became less of a laughing matter. As the years went by, spotting a [...]

• Fashion without hatred

  Sweet Machine

  28 Jan 2010 | 9:23 pm

  There was a time, when I was a teenager and in my early twenties, when I used to think about fashion the way The Guardian’s Tanya Gold details in a recent article: that it was a foolish realm of fantasy for people who would never give me the time of day. The oddest thing rescued me [...]

• 
  The F-Word: Latest features and reviews

• The Fossil Hunter

  Kaite Welsh

  4 Feb 2010 | 1:43 pm

  Kaite Welsh reviews a fictionalised biography of early paleontologist Mary Anning

• Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism

  LonerGrrrl

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:53 am

  Nona Willis Aronowitz and Emma Bee Bernstein's book reclaims the road trip and tells a story about what young women across the US think about feminism and the issues facing them as women, says LonerGrrrl

• Bring the herstory of riot grrrl back into the present

  Heather McIntosh

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:58 am

  What has happened to the legacy of riot grrrl? asks Heather McIntosh

• Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism

  Melanie Newman

  3 Feb 2010 | 2:05 am

  Natasha Walter's latest book reflects her change of heart since The New Feminism, but Melanie Newman argues the result is a mixed bag

• Feminism and fat

  Helen Dring

  31 Jan 2010 | 2:58 am

  Susie Orbach's classic Fat is a Feminist Issue became suddenly relevant to Helen Dring in the aftermath of a car accident which caused her to lose weight

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  wowOwow | The Women on the Web

• Liz Smith: Football's Holy Day – Saints Win Super Bowl

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am

  Also from Our Gossip Girl, Madonna’s holy day – Still giving it up to Jesus! … ‘Dear John’ weepie ain’t crying; ‘Avatar’ is!The Liz Smith Column | Today 5:00 am"Reporter: ‘Were you apprehensive in the twelfth inning?’ Yogi Berra: ‘No, but I was scared!’" *** I AM not a sports fan but this is pretty much the way lots of people felt during the Super Bowl. (I actually like to watch football being played; it’s something like ballet.) So my impression of the Colts was that they were big, brutal steamrollers with the…

• A Hard Life on the Road – Made Harder, by Jean Chatzky

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

  Shower cap? Bed made? Don’t take these awayJean Chatzky | Today 4:00 amI – like all women who travel for business, I am sure – am sometimes asked if I mind the time on the road.  The subtext, of course, being: Don’t you miss your kids?  Isn’t it tough being away from your husband?  “Sometimes it’s tough being away,” I acknowledge. “But I try to go for just a night or two at a time.  And,” I admit, thinking specifically of the heavenly bed at the Westin, of having coffee and buttered toast delivered to the door, “having a night to myself in a nice hotel is pretty…

• When the Other Sibling Cares for an Aging Parent, by Francine Russo

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  An author faces the decline and death of a parent, from the place of daughter and sister — and shares strategies to avoid misstepsA Friend Stopped By | Today 2:00 am Editor’s Note: Esteemed journalist Francine Russo covered the boomer beat for Time magazine for nearly a decade and has also written for the New York Times, Redbook, and Family Circle. She is the author of They’re Your Parents, Too!: How Siblings Can Survive Their Parents’ Aging Without Driving Each Other Crazy, just published by Random House. Visit her website at www.yourparentstoo.com. As a daughter of…

• Mary Wells on What Ellen Brings to 'Idol'

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  What does Mary Wells think of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres on ‘American Idol’? Mary Wells | Today 12:00 amEllen DeGeneres will bring some class to "American Idol."

• Ellen DeGeneres has joined the judges on 'American Idol.' Should she have? What other celebs should make a similar move?

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Join Mary Wells and Liz Smith in judging Ellen’s move to reality TV …Question of the Day | Today 12:00 amMary Wells | Today 12:00 amMary Wells on What Ellen Brings to 'Idol'Ellen DeGeneres will bring some class to "American Idol."

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  Skepchick

• Skepchick Quickies 2.9

  Amanda

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Fat? Just think yourself thin – According to this guy if you’re fat and think you have good sex, you’re delusional. CNN contributor Erick Erickson: “Ugly feminists return to the kitchen” - From Lauren. The Skeptic Detective made it into the final round of the Nerdy awards, help her out and vote for her! Leaves show looped networks may be better than branched - “Tree branches have inspired efficient transit networks, but a new study finds inspiration in leaves.”

• Ask Skepchick tackles Yeast Infections (and the sexism inherent in alt med philosophies)

  carr2d2

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:15 pm

  Dear Skepchick, Hi! Um…this is embarrassing, but I was wondering if you could do a post to enlighten…um…people with yeast infections. Because it would be wonderful if…people…could find cheap cures for yeast infections, but when I–I mean people–google “skeptic yeast infection treatment” I get nothing. If douching with yogurt or whatever actually worked that would be kind of fantastic, but I suspect that it doesn’t. (Which is maybe why the word “fantastic” is appropriate.) Do I just have to suck it up and shell out for the…

• AI: A root canal feels like a million unicorn kisses

  Elyse

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  Last week I wrote a post about the things no one ever tells you about being pregnant. The only way to get it to spread around the internet faster would have been to ask Bill Gates to offer $10,000 to each person who passed the article on. I learned a tough lesson about reading feedback from people who didn’t submit it directly to me: don’t. Seriously. Wow. The internet is full of crazy people and mean people and really stupid people… and they’re all experts on pregnancy. One response that I saw a lot was that my article was “exaggerated” and a “worst…

• Skepchick Quickies, 2.8

  Jen

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Seeking reasons for autism’s rise. The facts about diamonds (and why I don’t like De Beers). Which recent UFO sighting is most likely to have been caused by aliens? (From Sydney.) Astronaut Soichi Noguchi is tweeting pictures from the ISS. (From PrimevilKneivel.)

• Enjoy the Super Bowl Ads Without Watching Them

  Rebecca

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:17 am

  Last night I was at an event that had promised the US feed with all the ads, but then didn’t have them. I panicked and asked Twitter and Facebook friends to fill me (and the rest of the bar) in on what was happening. A few Facebook pals were seriously committed to the cause. After the jump, enjoy 80+ out-of-context descriptions of ads, like “Tim Tebow tackled his mom. Violence against moms is funny and republican,” and “Fiddling Beaver,” and “Blind man slug bug.” What? Thanks to everyone for chipping in!

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  Viva la Feminista

• Erica Watson Surfs into NYC on a New Wave of Black Comedy

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:37 pm

  This was originally posted on the AWEARNESS blog Erica Watson is fat and she isn't afraid to tell you either. In fact, her one-woman show is called "Fat Bitch" and if you attend you'll learn a lot more than just how big she is. You'll learn about her 21st birthday party with a major stripper fail and how she thinks that being a cute fat chick is just too much pressure. "People are always telling me that if I just lost weight, I'd be sooo much prettier." I could see the eye roll from a dozen rows back when I saw the show in November. Watson and other "new wave" black comics don't "relentlessly…

• Cohen Watch

  6 Feb 2010 | 4:32 pm

  Scott Lee Cohen's tune seems to be changing. The media is digging more into his story and painting an uglier picture. Early on Friday he was sticking to his stance that the people of Illinois had voted for him and he was staying. On Twitter a bunch of people were saying the same thing. Warning that if we let the party nudge someone off the ticket for being unsavory or unlikeable, well then democracy would start down that slippery slope of ethics into a place where party bosses would hand pick candidates. What the hell do people think already happens? Cohen represents not a victory for…

• Just what Illinois politics needed: Scott Lee Cohen

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:03 pm

  Blago. Burris. Stroger. We thought we had finally turned a corner Tuesday night. Even with the weight of Alexi's family's bank saga, we at least were moving away from embarrassing politicians. We cheered the defeat of Todd Stroger and wished Toni Preckwinkle all the luck of a field of four-leaf clovers, cause she's gonna need it to clean up the mess of Cook County. Then we woke up on Thursday to news that 212,902, er, 212, 901 voters didn't do a good Google search of their candidate. Scott Lee Cohen admits to choking his ex-wife and violence against his ex-girlfriend. He didn't fess up after…

• Want to adopt a Haitian orphan? WAIT!

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:32 pm

  This post was written right after American missionaries were arrested and originally posted on the AWEARNESS blog.  I admit that my husband and I had "the talk." The "Can we adopt a child from Haiti?" talk. Of course it was out of sheer love for the children who need help, but we quickly snapped back to reality: Now is not the time to get in line for a child. Apparently some people think otherwise. Ten Americans were arrested over the weekend for child trafficking out of Haiti. Of course they say they were just trying to help by scooping up children and taking them across the border to…

• Sean James and Al Joyner respond to the Tebow Super Bowl ad

  4 Feb 2010 | 5:25 am

  Warning...Feministas, grab a tissue before you watch this amazing and beautiful video. Welcome to my new Laughing Liberally friends. This is the video Matt & I talked about last night. From Planned Parenthood: Matt asked me what dudes can do to help in the fight and I said, be aware and then I talked about this video. Men, be aware of how your actions impact our lives. Of your privilege that allows you to not worry about being raped when you walk around a corner to get to your car after a fun night with friends. How you have to decide if you'll ask for a friend to talk with you, if you'll…

• 
  Feminist Review

• Government Girl: Young and Female in the White House

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

  By Stacy Parker AabECCOIn the 1940s, thousands of adventurous young women flocked to Washington, DC to take wartime jobs in federal agencies. The media dubbed them “government girls.” More than fifty years later, when Stacy Aab née Parker entered the White House as an 18-year-old student intern, she was similarly primed—eager both to serve the nation and to improve her social standing by elbowing in on the country’s movers and shakers.As a devoted champion of then-President Bill Clinton, this biracial, working class, daughter of the Detroit suburbs was smitten by her proximity to…

• Trailer Girl: And Other Stories

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pm

  By Terese SvobodaUniversity of Nebraska PressOne of my favorite short story collections of all time is Black Tickets, a masterpiece written by Jayne Anne Phillips in the 1970s. So hauntingly poetic and impressive were these stories written about rootless misfits by a young and relatively unknown writer that a giant of the short story genre, Raymond Carver, contributed a blurb to the book’s back cover. He wrote: “These stories of America’s disenfranchised are unlike any in our literature. She is an original, and this book of hers is a crooked beauty.”A ‘crooked beauty’ is also what…

• Herizons Magazine (Fall 2009)

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:01 am

  I had never heard of the Canadian feminist news magazine Herizons before receiving my copy of the Fall 2009 issue in the mail. In fact, I often avoid globally-oriented, North American feminist articles, because they too often read like a contemporary version of the white man’s burden (“Oh dear, look at the how the brown barbarians treat their women”). While Herizons didn’t completely escape this snare, on the whole it was a refreshing surprise.The most striking feature of the publication is its emphasis on women’s power to create change in local struggles. The opening letter from…

• The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

  By Hannah PakulaSimon and Schuster PressNo one will fail to notice this giant red book on your bookshelf. Nearly 800 pages long, containing two sections of photographs and spanning 137 years, Hannah Pakula’s biography of Soong May-ling, The Last Empress, better known to the world as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the most famous wife of Chiang Kai-shek (the nationalist general who briefly united China before losing it to the communists organized under Mao Tse-tung) is a formidable conglomeration of information about many of the characters who had a hand in moving China from imperialism to…

• Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:03 pm

  By Crystal N. FeimsterHarvard University PressSouthern Horrors explores the racial and sexual politics of the Post Civil War South predominantly through the political writings, speeches, and lives of two prominent female figures of the era. Feimster describes the period through Rebecca Latimer Felton, a white woman from the stately plantation class, educated and raised during antebellum south, and Ida B. Wells, a the daughter of former slaves, raised during the reconstruction era.The author begins by describing the two women’s origins and how they came to rally around the issues of rape and…

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  My Ecdysis

• Tim Tebow is the Best Thing to Happen to Young Women?

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:06 am

  The so-called controversial anti-abortion message. From all the coverage, I was expecting a ferocious lion. A very lame commercial came on instead.Interesting read.It was written prior to the Superbowl and the unveiling of the controversial Tebow/Focus on the Family ad, but I think Jenkins makes some brilliant points. Her most resonating words are those that critique NOW and its narrow focus on feminism, women's rights, and reproductive freedom...Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn't be allowed to. Apparently…

• 4am Lessons

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:28 am

  Before I had a son, I wrote about feminism as a subject. It was a noun, sometimes even a verb. Feminism existed as a THING to be written out, explained, debated.As the past seven weeks of my life have unfolded, I've either woken up to a new form or writing, or I've undergone some sort of lobotomy where I have no recollection about that kind of writing. You know, the kind of writing where I blatantly write FEMINISM IS THIS, IS NOT THAT, IS MORE LIKE THIS, IS DEFINITELY NOT THAT...I breastfeed Isaiah and this painful learning process about the wonder of the body and the miracle of nurturing has…

• Despite the Dark, We See Light

  18 Jan 2010 | 5:12 am

  Each day I make vows and each day I break them.Is this the practice of new motherhood?Each morning I make vows to write - write the overdue thank you cards, write my thoughts about this time of my life, write blog posts, write my proposals, write correspondence...write write write.And I write nothing.Part of the problem is that my mind still feels like it's been stung by a bee the size of large mixing bowl. I have very little creativity lately.But what I do have is a lot of honesty these days. I think I'll have to take honest writing over creative writing. Perhaps someday I will create a…

• New Motherhood

  8 Jan 2010 | 8:48 am

  I have a saying: Sometimes when there's too much to say, there's nothing to say at all.There's so much amazing-ness to the new experience of motherhood. I am slowly coming to a schedule, a level of health and clarity where I will be able to write and express the up and down and everything in between about my new life unfolding. Until then, photos will suffice my journey.

• The Gift

  24 Dec 2009 | 5:57 am