"Legitimate Rape" - Excuse me?!

Interesting commentary, again from Slate (author William Saletan), on Todd Akin's horribly degrading and ill-informed statement about "legitimate rape" and abortion. 

Todd Akin's Rape Fiasco

Grunting and Tennis

"Convinced that loud female grunts distract opponents and annoy fans, the organization unveiled a plan to 1) develop a hand-held device with which refs can measure on-court grunting levels, 2) set a maximum volume for grunting during a match, and 3) teach aspiring woman athletes at tennis academies and development programs how to compete quietly."

It seems like a bad joke, but sadly it isn't! Slate writer Katy Waldman offers great commentary on the subject:

Slate Article: Grunting and Tennis

"Is this Caribbean idyll the worst place in the world to be a woman?"

"Last year, this “jewel of the Caribbean” ranked 8th in the world for refugee claims to Canada, surpassing India (population 1.2 billion) and Pakistan (population 187 million).

The population of St. Vincent and the Grenadines? An estimated 104,000.

The majority of Vincentians flocking to Canada are women. And it appears most are fleeing domestic violence.

“There is something very wrong in the relationship between men and women in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” wrote Canadian Federal Court Justice Sean Harrington in a 2009 ruling. “Year after year, woman after woman washes up on our shores seeking protection from abusive, violent husbands or boyfriends.”

It turns out the vacationer’s idyll, with its turquoise waters and verdant hills, is one of the world’s worst places to be a woman."

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1084791--video-is-this-caribbean-idyll-the-worst-place-in-the-world-to-be-a-woman

"Argentina Gender Rights Law: A New World Standard"

 "The gender identity law that won congressional approval with a 55-0 Senate vote Wednesday night is the latest in a growing list of bold moves on social issues by the Argentine government, which also legalized gay marriage two years ago."

 ""The fact that there are no medical requirements at all — no surgery, no hormone treatment and no diagnosis — is a real game changer and completely unique in the world. It is light years ahead of the vast majority of countries, including the U.S., and significantly ahead of even the most advanced countries," said Eisfeld, who researched the laws of the 47 countries for the Council of Europe's human rights commission."
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=152470558

 
Other articles: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenni-chang-and-lisa-dazols/argentina-transgender-law_b_1506166.html
http://feministing.com/2012/05/11/friday-feminist-fuck-yeah-argentina-makes-history-with-new-gender-identity-law/

"Sweden’s New Gender-Neutral Pronoun: Hen"

"A country tries to banish gender."

"In 2010, the World Economic Forum designated Sweden as the most gender-equal country in the world.  But for many Swedes, gender equality is not enough. Many are pushing for the Nordic nation to be not simply gender-equal but gender-neutral. The idea is that the government and society should tolerate no distinctions at all between the sexes. This means on the narrow level that society should show sensitivity to people who don't identify themselves as either male or female, including allowing any type of couple to marry. But that’s the least radical part of the project. What many gender-neutral activists are after is a society that entirely erases traditional gender roles and stereotypes at even the most mundane levels."

...

"Social Democrat politicians have proposed installing gender-neutral restrooms so that members of the public will not be compelled to categorize themselves as either ladies or gents. Several preschools have banished references to pupils' genders, instead referring to children by their first names or as "buddies." So, a teacher would say "good morning, buddies" or "good morning, Lisa, Tom, and Jack" rather than, "good morning, boys and girls.""

...

"But not everyone is keen on this political meddling with the Swedish language. In a recent interview for Vice magazine, Jan Guillou, one of Sweden's most well-known authors, referred to proponents of hen as "feminist activists who want to destroy our language." Other critics believe it can be psychologically and socially damaging, especially for children. Elise Claeson, a columnist and a former equality expert at the Swedish Confederation of Professions, has said that young children can become confused by the suggestion that there is a third, "in-between" gender at a time when their brains and bodies are developing. Adults should not interrupt children's discovery of their gender and sexuality, argues Claeson."

...

"Ironically, in the effort to free Swedish children from so-called normative behavior, gender-neutral proponents are also subjecting them to a whole set of new rules and new norms as certain forms of play become taboo, language becomes regulated, and children's interactions and attitudes are closely observed by teachers."

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/04/hen_sweden_s_new_gender_neutral_pronoun_causes_controversy_.html

Important Swanee Hunt Articles

Bosnia Still Needs Fixing

"Dayton also divided the country itself into two separate statelets — a Bosniak-Croat federation and a Serb republic — governed by the same legislature and presidency. At the time, many Bosnian women’s groups, religious leaders, civil society activists and students warned that the arrangement wouldn’t work because the country historically had been integrated. But they weren’t at the negotiating table; only those with the power to fight or to lay down their weapons were invited.

In retrospect, perhaps we could have done better to engage politically unrepresented groups who craved stability, so that they could sit alongside those who knew how to fight."

Sex Trafficking: Swanee Hunt interview 
Fox 25, Boston News: "Prostitution and sex trafficking is a problem for any big city across America.
Over 60 criminal justice professionals from all over the U.S. will gather right here in Boston.
Their main goal is to find ways to eliminate the demand for illegal commercial sex.
Ambassador Swanee Hunt Founder and Chair of the Hunt Alternatives Fund joined us in studio to tell us more about it."

Ending the 'hot or not' factor for Nikki Haley and female candidates: Sexist attitudes in the media toward female candidates don't just hurt women, they hurt all of us – lowering public discourse and damaging political representation. It's time to push back.

Political Parity Launches Year of Women Campaign
"A coalition of women's rights leaders has launched a bipartisan campaign to double the number of women elected to the highest levels of government by 2020. Political Parity held a press conference on January 19th to announce the initiative chaired by Swanee Hunt and Kerry Healey. Healey dubbed the campaign a "grand experiment"."
 
Swanne Hunt, former Ambassador to Austria under the Clinton Administration, is an important political figure "at the forefront of the protection, encouragement, and advancement of women in US and across the world." http://www.swaneehunt.com/publicpolicy.htm

Women's Political Movements in Cameroon by Mitzi Goheen

"Women throughout West Africa have always had the right to protest, individually or more powerfully in group, when they perceive that men have acted in ways which show disrespect for women and for women's role in society."

...

"And in neighboring Nigeria, Igbo women have long had an institution called "Sitting on a Man" where women collectively, in costumes again very much like the women I have described here in Nso, could corner a man who they thought had insulted women or who had beaten his wives in his house--or wherever they found him, and yell obscenities and threaten him physically until he recanted publicly and paid a fine."

...

"Within the context of a commodity economy, women have had to bear the largest burden of the economic crisis which has debilitated much of Africa. Becoming especially acute in Cameroon over the past decade where it has been exacerbated by structural adjustment programs attempting to curtail the overspending and corruption of its government in a number of ways, one of which has been a fifty percent devaluation of the CFA--a move which caused prices for most household essentials to triple within a few months.. During this time women's formerly inalienable rights to particular resources such as land have been increasingly threatened as commodification of land and of food crops has proceeded apace--with an increasing population and with the possibility of a civil service job shut off for most men--and with drastic salary cuts within the civil service, many men have taken over available farm land as commercial enterprises and many have been selling ancestral land to be able to maintain a middle class life style. The burden of women's responsibilities to earn a cash income to pay school fees, medical bills and other obligations formerly paid by men who no longer have access to any kind of work--essentially to fulfill what has always been women's role--to reproduce the household and underwrite the rural standard of living-- has grown almost exponentially."

Mitzi Goheen is a Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Amherst College.  
http://www3.amherst.edu/~mrhunt/womencrossing/goheen.html

"Ariz. Bars Funding For Groups Providing Abortions"

As The Arizona Republic reports:

"The law aims to prevent contracts with or grants to any group that perform abortions that do not meet the federal requirements under Title 19 of the Social Security Act, which reimburses in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. It also prioritizes how public money for family planning will be distributed — such as to state-owned health-care centers and rural hospitals."

In a statement in April, Planned Parenthood Arizona said the law "could reduce access to a wide range of preventive health care for thousands of Arizonans."

The governor signed the legislation during an event for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List. In her press release, she adds:

"This is a common sense law that tightens existing state regulations and closes loopholes in order to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, whether directly or indirectly."

"The Wage Gap Over Time: In Real Dollars, Women See a Continuing Gap"

Unfortunately, we really haven't come that far:  http://www.pay-equity.org/info-time.html

"Rachel Maddow Clashes With Alex Castellanos Over Women And The Economy On 'Meet The Press' (VIDEO)"

 Alex Casellanos is really scary in this clip, but Rachel Maddow is brilliant - definitely worth watching!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/rachel-maddow-alex-castellanos-meet-the-press-women-economy_n_1464039.html

Checking Rachel's facts:
 - The National Committee on Pay Equity states on it's website that:
"The wage gap remained statistically unchanged in the last year. Women's earnings were 77.4 percent of men's in 2010, compared to 77.0 percent in 2009, according to Census statistics released September 13, 2011 based on the median earnings of all full-time, year-round workers."http://www.pay-equity.org/

- A TIME magazine article from April 20120 explains: 
"Once you control for factors like education and experience, notes Francine Blau — who, along with fellow Cornell economist Lawrence Kahn, published a study on the 1998 wage gap — women's earnings rise to 81% of men's. Factor in occupation, industry and whether they belong to a union, and they jump to 91%. That's partly because women tend to cluster in lower-paying fields. The most-educated swath of women, for example, gravitates toward the teaching and nursing fields. Men with comparable education become business executives, scientists, doctors and lawyers — jobs that pay significantly more.  
Still, workers don't choose their industry in a vacuum. "Why do you think [male-dominated industries] are sex-segregated?" says Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. "Very often women aren't welcome there." Real or perceived, discrimination in certain sectors could discourage women from seeking employment there. A dearth of role models might, in turn, influence the next generation of girls to gravitate toward lower-paying fields, creating an unfortunate cycle.
But industry doesn't tell the whole story. Women earned less than men in all 20 industries and 25 occupation groups surveyed by the Census Bureau in 2007 — even in fields in which their numbers are overwhelming. Female secretaries, for instance, earn just 83.4% as much as male ones. And those who pick male-dominated fields earn less than men too: female truck drivers, for instance, earn just 76.5% of the weekly pay of their male counterparts."http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html

- Catalyst* analyzes median weekly earnings, education levels, the wage gap broken down by age, marriage economics, women's earnings as a percent of men's by industry.... very thorough and strongly conclusive - women still make less than man anyway you look at it!
*"Founded in 1962, Catalyst is the leading nonprofit membership organization expanding opportunities for women and business."http://www.catalyst.org/publication/217/womens-earnings-and-income

Looks like Mr. Castellanos needs to do a little more research...

"A Complete Guide to 'Hipster Racism'"

http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racism

Not about Women's Rights, but it's a very very very important commentary on modern racism!

Anti-Choice vs. Pro-Choice Measures in 2011

Anti-Choice Legislation:

"In Congress, the anti-choice leadership of the House of Representatives declared blocking women's access to legal abortion care a "top priority.""  

This is what happened...

Total anti-choice measures enacted in 2011:

• 26 states enacted 69 anti-choice measures in 2011.
• Arizona, Florida, and Kansas enacted the most anti-choice legislation in 2011, with five measures each.
• Since 1995, states have enacted 713 anti-choice measures

http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/government-and-you/state-governments/key-findings-threats-to-choice.html

IN CONTRAST:

Pro-choice Legislation:

Total pro-choice measures enacted in 2011:

• 6 states enacted 10 pro-choice measures in 2011.
• California enacted the most pro-choice legislation in 2011, with four measures.
• 2011 marks the seventh year in a row that Colorado has enacted a pro-choice measure.

Key pro-choice victories in 2011:

• California, Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon enacted laws that promote healthy childbearing.
• Colorado enacted a law that improves sex education for young people.
• California enacted a law to protect the confidentiality of reproductive-health professionals and patients.
• Maryland and Washington improved low-income women's access to reproductive-health services by expanding eligibility for their state Medicaid family-planning programs.

http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/government-and-you/state-governments/key-findings-pro-choice.html 

Guest Blogger Series: Nancy Keenan “‘Arrest Grandma’ Act Would Insert Government into Difficult Family Decisions”

http://blog.latinovations.com/2012/04/20/guest-blogger-series-nancy-keenan-arrest-grandma-act-would-insert-government-into-difficult-family-decisions/

"The bill’s backers call it the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA). We call it the “Arrest Grandma” Act because of what it would do.

The “Arrest Grandma” Act would make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent—such as a loving grandmother, aunt, or clergy member—to accompany a young woman to another state for abortion care. It also would force doctors to learn and enforce 9 other states’ parental-involvement laws—under the threat of fines and prison sentences."

Educating Myself on Abortion Legislation

Hyde Amendment (1976)

"First passed by Congress in 1976, the Hyde Amendment ensures that abortion is not covered in the comprehensive health care services provided by the federal government through Medicaid. Congress has made some exceptions to the funding ban, which have varied over the years. At present, the federal Medicaid program mandates abortion funding in cases of rape or incest, as well as when a pregnant woman's life is endangered."
http://nchla.org/issues.asp?ID=1

Roe v. Wade (1973)
"Roe v. Wade challenged a Texas law that prohibited abortions except to save a woman's life. At the time, many other states had similar laws. As a result, women had very restricted access to legal abortion. Too often, women who desperately needed abortions resorted to dangerous illegal abortions performed by poorly trained practitioners in unsanitary conditions. Examining the Texas law and the effects that it had on the women of Texas, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to privacy found in the United States Constitution included the right of women to decide whether to have children. The Court was careful to balance the right of a woman seeking an abortion with the states' interest in protecting maternal health and the potential life of the fetus." 
http://www.prochoice.org/policy/courts/roe_v_wade.html 

Chinese Activist Flees House Arrest

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/27/151530934/blind-chinese-activist-flees-house-arrest

"A blind Chinese activist, one of the country's most prominent, has made an audacious escape from house arrest and is safe from Chinese authorities, according to his supporters.

Yet days after Chen Guangchen fled his home, it's not clear exactly where he is. A diplomatic source indicates that he is inside the U.S. embassy, but this has not been confirmed officially.

Chen has attracted international attention with his efforts to prevent forced illegal abortions in China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken out in support of him."

The Komera Project & Global Grassroots: Educating Women

 http://www.komeraproject.org/

"The Komera Project provides scholarships to qualified girls in Rwinkwavu, Rwanda who lack the resources necessary to complete secondary school. Komera Scholars attend existing local boarding secondary schools in Rwanda. Our comprehensive scholarships include tuition, uniforms, health insurance, travel expenses, feminine hygiene products, books, pens and pencils, notebooks, mattresses, and sheets."

"As girls continue their education, they improve their earning potential, their health and their sense of self-worth enabling them to break the bonds of poverty." 

“You will never break the cycle of poverty or disease without educating girls. It won’t happen”
-Paul Farmer, Founder, Partners in Health

________________________________

http://www.globalgrassroots.org/index.html

"What Gretchen (Gretchen Steidle Wallace, the founder of Global Grassroots) discovered in that visit to South Africa, was that women and girls in grassroots communities throughout the country already knew what they needed to do to protect themselves from contracting HIV. But they did not have the economic freedom, sexual rights or personal voice to decide when, where, how and with whom to have sex." 

"In Rwanda, nearly 1 million people were killed in 100 days during the 1994 genocide. The UN estimates that 250,000 - 500,000 women were also raped, many by known HIV infected men. At the end of the genocide, the government estimated women made up 70% of the population, left to assume the roles of men in heading households, rebuilding lives, caring for orphans and trying to heal from trauma, grief and physical wounds. It is among these same marginalized women that Gretchen found extraordinary courage, steadfast resolve and legitimate solutions to advance social change for women."

_______________________________

Education = Earning potential + Self-Worth
Earning potential = More career choices + Independence + Better use of family money
Self-Worth = Independence + Strength + Health

When I was studying abroad in Rwanda and Uganda in the spring of 2010 I noticed the unbelievable strength of the women.  In Uganda, the women in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps rethatched the houses, tended to gardens, found food, raised the children, kept their lives going while the men succumbed to drinking and depression after the peak of the LRA violence.  In Rwanda, there was a disproportionate number of women after the 1994 genocide.  Today, the women are the ones who are working hardest towards real reconciliation.  We visited villages where women's collectives had been formed where wives of perpetrators and wives of victims worked together to produce soap and other goods.  Women are peacekeepers; Women are survivors, forgotten victims; Women are healers.   

 

 

Why Women Are a Foreign Policy Issue

Why Women Are a Foreign Policy Issue - By Melanne Verveer

"On a trip to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, not long after my appointment as the U.S. State Department's ambassador at large for global women's issues, I stopped for dinner with a group of Afghan women activists in Kabul. One woman opened our conversation with a plea: "Please don't see us as victims, but look to us as the leaders we are.""
...
"...promoting the status of women is not just a moral imperative but a strategic one; it's essential to economic prosperity and to global peace and security."

The Fight For Women's Rights in NH

This is everyone's fight! If it isn't you, it's your mother, your sister, your grandmother, your wife, your best friend... women's rights = human rights.

*Thankfully, the New Hampshire state Senate rejected four anti-choice bills yesterday that would have made access to birth control and abortion care much more difficult for women in the state.  
http://www.miscellanyblue.com/post/21797835826