Have we been lost in the shuffle?

**cross posted at ChoiceUSA

There has been so much talk circulating pro-choice candidates on the Republican side, and all of it is negative. If a candidate has a pro-choice history, he’s* flaky and not a “true” Republican, but if he’s anti-choice, it seems like he has to be unabashedly religious about his stance.

On the flip side though, there isn’t much talk going on among the Dems. They are pretty consistently pro-choice. Sure, Hillary and Obama have had it out about their “real” stance on choice, but there doesn’t seem to be the same tenacity and ruthlessness about the dreaded A-word as we have seen in the past.

This raises several questions:

1. Is choice no longer a political hot button issue?
2. Is saying you’re pro-choice enough to get the Democratic endorsement?
3. If so, has it been accepted as the norm? (Ha! I wish)
4. Or, has it been overshadowed by other issues?
5. If this is the case, what do we do?

I think we can all agree that the state of choice in this nation is precarious to say the least. But if the Dems aren’t talking about it and the Republicans address only with vehement rejection, then who is working on these issues?!

I think the obvious answer is: us.
There are so many organizations working to protect our rights, and we have to keep fighting the good fight, because if don’t, who will?

*Note: I realize I am using “he” as a general statement, but, come on, any women running in the Grand Ol’ Party? Nope.

Stories of Human Trafficking

When you get a chance please go on the Amnesty website to read on the campaign to end human trafficking and also participate in their calls for action.

Also, the Guardian has a slide show of real stories of women trafficked into the UK.

Sex-segregated transportation to decrease harrassment

Many cities across the world have resorted to creating "Women only" transportation "to protect" women from being harassed, at least when they are commuting.
While I can see why this is beneficial for women in the short term, I am worried about the inherent meaning behind this measurement-- we need to segregate women in order to protect them, because they are weak and they can be harassed if someone choses too.
I would like to see actions that convey the message " No, you cannot harass any human being, regardless of their sex, age, and race (to name a few.)"




The Nation article.

Domestic Violence Public Service Announcement

One my friends came across this video on YouTube. It is a domestic violence public service announcement on national television in Canada. It is very graphic and disturbing but the point comes across very strongly! Guaranteed to make you feel uncomfortable!

Liberia

I read this interview with one of the top government people in Liberia (where they have their first woman president) and one of the quesitons to this offical was like this: "What advice would you give young girls thinking about going into politics?" The female official's response was "Go into politics like a man."

Now, on some level I think I can understand what this woman is saying. I mean, men have dominated politics for so long that whatever they do has obviously worked for them so women should try to imitate men and they might be just as successful.

But the interpretation that I just gave is what I think is exactly wrong with our fellow so-called feminists. Sometimes its our gender that bring us down or promote the stereotypes of weak, emotional women.

What she should have said was something like, be ready to fight, be ready to get hurt and be ready to hurt, keep personal things out of the discussion, don´t let any emotion get the best of you, fight for what you believe it. Women should not have to feign "manhood" to be successful in politics and please, for once, lets not hear another of our own gender suggest that.

Rapist Receives Military Burial

Consider the gravestone of Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a Vietnam War Veteran and the recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. It Reads: "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men, and a discharge for loving one."

Also consider this L.A. Times article that discusses a rapist who was buried with full military honors. Veterans convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death or life in prison do not receive this same honor but a serial rapist ....well, thats okay.
What kind of message does it send when a convicted rapist is honored by our country? Sometimes it seems like people just want to pick and chose the morals they defend and glorify without also considering the inherent contractions in doing so.

4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days

In continuation to the Roe v. Wade discussion, I would definitely recommend that you watch "4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days." The film is about a young woman that is trying to get an abortion in communist Romania. As in all communist countries, abortion was illegal and it was a highly punishable crime to have one or help in one.

Wow.

This is wrong in at least three ways. Ugh.

*My love and thanks to Feministing.com for the link

My idea of a perfect man

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0108/Kucinich_drops_out.html#comments

Good luck Dennis! I love you more than you know.

Happy Belated Bday Roe v. Wade!

I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to come up with an amazing blog post to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and it has stumped me for a week. How do you capture something like this in words? When I think of Roe v. Wade, it inspires a myriad of emotions and reactions ranging from pride and comfort to extreme disappointment and fear. I love, love Roe v. Wade. I love it like a family member, and maybe that’s because it has directly affected so many of my own family members. To me, it is not a cold, black and white, objective document, it is the faces of my mother, grandmother, high school and college friends, coworkers, neighbors, and even strangers sitting next to me on the bus. How do you being to describe that personal impact? Compound that with the thought that there are millions of other women and men out there who have been directly affected by this court case, and I am astounded.
It floors me to think of what Roe v. Wade has done for countless women and men in this country. The recognition of our autonomy and integrity is something to be both celebrated and criticized. It is a legal acknowledgment that women are also human beings. This should have happened way before 1973, but given the omnipresence of misogyny in this country, Roe is to be celebrated as an achievement.
I get scared, however, when I think of how many people, familiar and not, who will be affected by changes to Roe. We will face a Goliath in the coming years regardless of the decision in November. It has been chipped away since the day it was enacted and the attacks won’t stop anytime soon. I want to scream: it’s none of your goddamn business what I do with my body, or what my mom did with hers, or what my grandmother did with hers! You weren’t there, you have no right. The tears flow freely now thinking about it; about the injustice of the accusations and the blatant hatred directed at me by strangers. I am appalled by the hatred people are capable of harboring towards young men and women they have never met.
Abortion has been one of the most divisive issues of the past century. The rift had existed B.R. (before Roe), but in 1973, the battle had a name. I wish there was a consensus that the fighting is detrimental, and that the arguing and the yelling is going nowhere. I am inspired by groups like Choice USA that are working to mitigate the harmful effects of abstinence-only education by providing choices to young people so that an abortion is the last option (but is still a choice). I am encouraged by groups that are demanding comprehensive sex-education. And I am disheartened by those that still don’t get it.
So on this, Roe’s 35th Birthday, I am going to make a birthday wish: I want to see less abortions. Yes, I said it. Shocker! Both sides might have the same goals! But it needs to be done right. Give young people the information and the education we deserve. It is our right. Until then, Happy Birthday Roe, may you see another 35 years.

Babies

Trocaire Lenten Campaign.

 "Babies." I already posted it once...but it's worth doing again. 

Nike puts the "B" in Subtle

Last night, I recounted on the phone a story I had once heard about a Nike commercial. So, while this post may seem slightly outdated as the story is from the 2001 Olympics, unfortunately, I think many of the issues are still applicable. In short, during the 2001 Olympics, Nike RAN a commercial (pun intended...even if I am the only person that ever laughs at that joke) that featured a female athlete being chased by a man wearing a hockey mask and holding a chainsaw. She is able to outrun her attacker in part because of...(can you guess?...need another second....no, I am sure you already have it)...HER NIKE SHOES!!!!

I don't know why we spend time on this blog discussing violence against women when we could all just go out and buy some Nike shoes to solve our problems...eek, even though that was sarcastic, I still feel uncomfortable writing it.

Now, at first glance, it might not seem like a big deal. Nike is just parodying a serious situation to garner attention for its shoes. My problem, of course, is that it seems as though women's issues are always the issues that are up for parody, the easy joke. History seems to have a knack for using humor against the societally oppressed. Go back in time and look at comic strips or other public mediums of humor and it seems that whatever group of people lacks equality in society also gets the honor of being the butt of the joke or the one whose situation or worth is just not taken seriously. When's the last time you saw a gay joke on television or heard one on the radio? Gay jokes seem to be very en vogue right now and, dare I say it, it may somehow be connected with gays being on the bottom of that socially constructed hierarchy of groups that many use to make themselves feel better about life.

So, what I am trying to say is that sometimes its the subtle jabs that give the biggest insights into what many in society are blatantly saying.

BBC ARTICLE

Roe v. Wade, 35 years later

When I was about 12 years old, I remember borrowing from my uncle's library a book that talked about a group of young students in communist Albania during the 1970s.
In one of the chapters, the main female character gets pregnant and it is the most devastating thing ever. Mind you, I doubt it they had contraceptive pills or even condoms.
Anyway, it was worse than being dead as it meant social death and punishment.
In an attempt to "save" herself, she has an abortion done at a "nurse's" apartment as abortions were illegal. She bleeds to death in an attempt to save herself from a social death.

I recall being completely disgusted by the cruelty in which the abortion was performed and feeling a complete, utter anger about why could not this young, smart, beautiful woman, full of life go to the hospital and at least survive death. (Well, now I know that she could not because she would have to go to jail for attempting to have an abortion to begin with.)

I felt that I could not ask my mom as I would have to explain why was I reading a book that I obviously was not allowed to. Years later when I found out that actually my mom and the author were friends, I did talk to my mom about the book and felt so lucky that in any given circumstance, women of my generation would not have to go through such pain. Abortion in Albania and most of Europe is fully legal and set to stay so.

As I moved to study in the US, it always came as a shock to me that there is always a constant conversation about making abortion illegal. It always brings me back to that book and that young woman's story, and in a way I get very confused. There was an explanation for what happened to her, she was living under a regime that had no respect for human rights and freedom. But now, here in the US, the same conversation? Have we all not learned?

Please do read this article from the Salon magazine. It does put Roe v. Wade very much in perspective.

Bella Abzug

I was reading the Nation online and came across this article that celebrates the work and memory of Bella Abzug, an extremely influential women of the 20th century who did so much about women's rights, gay rights and the environment. She is credited with the expression: “This woman’s place is in the House — the House of Representatives,” which we today wear on T-shirts and pins.

Selling sex: A study about prostitution

The Economist is featuring an article covering one of the forums at the American Annual Economic Association. Two professors, Steven Levitt and Sudhir Venkatesh presented their results " on the economics of street prostitution. Check it out!


Source: The Economist

Female Circumcision

This article shows the contradictions and the controversy of female circumcision. Should such an act deemed cultural be condemned or are we putting our own judgment upon something that we do not understand? Such questions create tensions that stem between Western and Eastern cultures, but as a female I find it hard to find any justification for such an invasive procedure.

Abortion rates decline

Hey guys,

Check out this awesome post from ChoiceUSA. Maria is great. I would also recommend just checking out this site more. Lots of young people posting and getting connected through their shared love of reproductive justice. Ooooh my fave!

http://www.choiceusa.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=80&p=411

Cocktails at Tiffany's

A few days ago, I attended a Women's in Business Networking event held at the Tiffany & Co. building on 5th Avenue, in New York ( and there were drinks, hence the title). The guest speaker was a top executive at Tiffany, and as such she talked a little bit about the company and the challenges it faces as a high end jewelry retailer.
As she was going through the usual points of better marketing and so on, she mentioned that it is one of their ultimate goals to get WOMEN to buy their OWN jewelry.
Interesting point... was my first reaction. If 90% (or so) of their jewelry is women's jewelry and they seem to be doing pretty well, who is buying their jewelry?
You know the answer, but just in case you have any doubts, it is MEN that buy the majority of the jewelry at Tiffany, and not to wear it themselves, but to give it to their wives, fiancees, girlfriends, sisters and mothers to name a few.
The majority of the women nodded in agreement as the Tiffany executive was delivering the facts and calling the women in the room to stop by the lower floors and buy something for themselves.
So, why are women not buying their own jewelry but want their men to buy it for them?
The engagement ring, there is an extremely strong social perception that men are the one that buy it, so I will live it alone for now ( although, I have serious issues with it).
But other jewelry, why would women not buy it themselves?
One reason is that they just cannot afford it as traditionally men were the breadwinners. But these women in the room were all Wall Street executives that had their own money and for sure could afford to buy their own jewelry. So, the next reason is that women want to be celebrated for who they are and their contributions to their families and for that reason they want their men to buy them jewelry. Another reason, I was told by a friend of mine, is that there is a social expectation that the man, or better the husband is the ones that gives jewelry to the wife in sign of love and appreciation. You do not want to be perceived as the one that buys her own jewelry.
I frankly do not understand this - I love myself and of course I appreciate myself, that is pretty human.
To close, I truly hope that women who do not buy their own jewelry are not doing it because they do not consider themselves worthy of it!

The Hillary Tyra Show

I have a big problem with Tyra Banks. I think her show is total crap and just another way for her to showcase herself. And don't even get me started on America's Next Top Model. (Like the "plus-sized" models ever have a real chance. Size 4 is plus-sized?!) But my heart broke a little when I read this article. Why Hillary?! WHY!?!
I understand that she is trying to connect with her public and is trying to rally the troops (aka the women), but this "interview" was nothing short of internalized sexism. I mean seriously Tyra:

In a variation on the theme, Ms. Banks also asked Mrs. Clinton to weigh in on which existing reality show she would like to compete on (as if the contest for the White House is not enough of a media spectacle), asking her to choose among “America’s Next Top Model,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol.”

That's what you're going to ask one of the most important people in contemporary American society? ARGH.
The end of that article is perfect though:

Be sure to tune in to “The Tyra Banks Show” this week for “The Dangers of the Hook-Up” (today); “Sex SOS: Can My Sex Problem Be Solved” (1/16); “5 Ways to Get Over Being Dumped” (1/17); and “Hillary Clinton” (1/18).

Way to branch out Tyra.

DC and Sex Ed

Hello, friendly feministas!

I've been meaning to weigh in for awhile but haven't yet found an article or advertisement that has brought up enough to peg a post to. Instead, I'll share some of my experience over the last five months doing HIV/AIDS prevention in two DC public high schools. Anecdotal I know--sorry--but I just want to be part of the blogging family :)

Three times a week, I teach a CDC-approved curriculum in two public high schools off of Minnesota Ave in NE DC. Both of these schools previously employed curricula focused (unfairly) at women, and encouraged them to "guard [their] diamonds." I don't think I need to elucidate in any ways why this is messed up. Now, we take a comprehensive approach, promoting safe sex, pregnancy prevention and providing options for negotiating condom use talking to your partner about STDs, etc.

There's a lot of things I could write about here, but one of the most relevant is the manipulation of teenage pregnancy as a power struggle between young men and women. During the fourth session, we do a step-by-step condom demonstration. Step number two: check the condom for an air bubble. I explained this as something you had to check to make sure there hadn't been an error in manufacturing/storing. During the first class, one of my students corrected me: "Miss, you don't gotta worry about the person who made it--you gotta worry about the person who gave it to you." At first, I thought this was just a smart-ass thing for a kid to say. Then, the same reaction happened in each and every one of my nine classes. Apparently, it's common place (or, at least common enough for all of my students to worry about it) for young women to poke pin-sized holes in condoms and then use them--hoping to "trap" young men through pregnancy--or for young men to do the same in order to "stick it to" young women. While I've always known that teen pregnancy is a reality, it's incredible to what extent it plays into the assumption and assertion of power between genders.

What's equally troubling is the data our pre- and post-surveys reveal: most of the students come into our classes with a basic (read: VERY basic) understanding of what will put them at risk for HIV and other STDs, but have NO idea how to talk to their partners about this. So many of the teenagers I come in contact with lead these hyper-sexualized lives (see also: Superman) but have never had a legitimate discussion of sex before this tenth grade health class. When discussing STDs, I generally spend equal--if not more--time explaining what the cervix is, why Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is bad news, and how people become pregnant. At least one student per class has to ask the "real" word for "coochie" or "cock."

I basically borrow gym teacher's classrooms and it's an interesting struggle unto itself to correct the stigmas some teachers promote in their "health" classes-- one teacher poses this to young women if they come in late: "Who were you sleeping with last night that got you walking so slow?" He encourages young men to stop "acting like a f*****" when they ask questions about the risks involved with anal sex or imply even slightly that they might want to delay sex with their partners. He once asked a student to buy him a vibrating condom. While I'd love to say that these are just my experiences, the Americorps team I'm working with is placed in 100% of DC tenth-grade health classes, and just about all of my teammates have reported similiar experiences. It's scary who we can mistake for a certified and trained health-information provider.

Hmm, this post has gotten long and hasn't been particularly productive... just wanted to add my two cents. Seems like we're arming our young men and women with ways to promote and further abusive behavior (both physically and verbally) based on gender instead of ways to protect themselves and the people around them...

Hopefully a more productive post soon.

NY Magazine

The past issue of New York Magazine contained an interesting article. It was a discussion of the decline of murder rates in the five boroughs of New York City. The majority of the conversation centered around the drug trade and the murders resulting from it. Same old same old. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a substantial amount of the article discussed murders in domestic violence settings. Crime fighters often ignore this statistic because of the sacred privacy of the domestic sphere. Bringing the idea of intimate partner/familial murder into the popular lexicon is extremely important. The more discussion of domestic violence, the more support there will be when victims come forward. Effective preventative steps (yes, advocacy and educational efforts can be preventative) will hopefully help lower the rates of domestic violence and murder.

I would be interested to hear people's ideas for bringing domestic violence further into the limelight. Informative posters on the subway? A debate topic? Infomercials?

Is virginity the last taboo?

While trying to find a reasonable answer to my question on how do you deal with teen pregnancy or the plausibility of it, I came across this article on the Observer Woman ( where I must admit, I find a lot of inspirational, educational and controversial articles).
The article talks about Christian women that have chosen to not engage in sexual relationships until marriage ( or after a sexual experience at a young age, have decided to abstain from sex until marriage). The women in the article are portrayed as a new generation of strong successful women that are committed to their faith and its principles to a degree that they can resist the pressure that society puts on them to have sex ( in one case, even the parents' pressure).
While I am extremely respctful and supportive of personal choice, there is something about the overarching argument of this article that does not sit well with me. These women seem to define ( and even justify) their choice through their faith: I choose to not have sex until marriage because this is what my religion says. This statement translates to me that " I feel good about being religious, and what my religion offers me, and therefore I will do what my religion mandates." Maybe it is just me, but I wish I could see more "I chose to abstain from sex because I believe so and wish to do so", and not so much of "I was lucky to survive an accident, so I should be a good Christian and not have sex".
How does this relate to teenage sex and pregnancy? Well, with the recent movements in the US to get teenagers to commit to abstinence, I believe you can make the connection.
While I most certainly do not think that 16 and 17 year olds should be getting pregnant, I believe that there should be a better way to protect teenage girls especially from becoming parents/ going through an abortion at a young age. My suggestion - better sex education in schools, more conversation and less silence on such an important issue that affects the lives of teenagers in such a consquential way.
Finally, while I dread the idea of my nineteen year old sister having sex, I believe she should be educated about her sexuality and know her options.

Juno sparks dialogue

There is something about this movie that is raising questions and starting dialogue around the issue of teen pregnancy. This NY Times Op-ed is just one interesting example.

WATCH THIS.

One of my closest friends sent this advertisement to me. What's better is that her dad sent it to her--good job, Dad.

'Tears Heard 'Round the World'

I wanted to post this article from the Women's Media Center because it references some earlier posted items but also because the title: "Hillary's Gender is A Bigger Deal than We'd Like to Admit" sums up a large portion of my opinion on the Presidential Campaign. Politics aside, candidate preference aside, why aren't more women in uproar about the portrayal of gender in this election--or the lack thereof! This article raises the interesting if not obviously answered question of why people pay so much attention to Hillary showing tears and so little attention to Mitt Romney doing the same. Why do so many articles surface about what Hillary wears, how her hair looks, or how 'emotional' she is on any given day? And, for Pete's sake (yes, I like that term), why aren't some more people talking about a sign that reads IRON MY SHIRT at a political rally? I can't show up at a political rally for a male candidate and say something like...hmmm...erm...'go chop some wood for me.' Nevermind. That doesn't work. But, I guess that's THE POINT--its just a little to easy to bring the woman down, now isn't it?

Iron my shirt? Really?

An incident in NH today where a few men had a minor request for one of the presidential candidates...

Double Standards? But of course...

Reiterating my previous point...

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing?pid=267536

Women Are Never Front-Runners?!

I read today's op-ed in the NY Times and the last part about how, Hillary, the woman is seen as divivisive by her sex whereas Obama ,the man, is seen as unifying by his race really infuriated and disappointed me. Were Obama to be a black woman, would she be unifying by her race or divisive by her gender?

Anyways, what really disturbs me is that if a man and a woman show the same behavior ( " use the same card" ) they are perceived differently. It turns out to be a great advantage for the man and a disadvantage for the woman!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?em&ex=1199941200&en=e3d49753c7f6da32&ei=5087%0A

Juno?

Hi friends! So you guys know that I post on Choice USA's blogging site too, so I think I'm going to cross post, which is why I'm linking to ChoiceUSA blogs in this one.

So there's a lot of controversy over Juno huh? Well, I saw it Sunday with some of my favorite people, and discovered why. I walked out of that movie with my heart decidedly warmed, but my head buzzing with hesitation. Something about that movie just didn't sit right with me even though I loved it. The music, the acting, the wit! It was wonderfully entertaining. And there's the problem: it was too damn easy. This young, white, suburban girl makes the decision to carry the fetus to term and give it away to a happy loving (white) couple. Read this article for more, it's really spicy and it hits on some very important issues in reproductive justice. We never see her get shit from her fellow classmates about being pregnant, and we never once see her parents give her a good talking to (which, I don't know about you, but my Mom would tear me a new one if I came home pregnant in high school). I had a hard time believing that this was ever a difficult situation for her, and I had an ever harder time believing that a 16-year-old girl could go through this situation with as much grace and charm as our heroine Juno. But I think I missed the point.

Okay, so it made me uncomfortable about the message it was sending. Maybe I should just relax, put the soapbox away, and enjoy the damn movie. When I finally did that (much to my friends' delight), I realized that as a pro-choicer, I have an obligation to try to understand this particular story. This is possible, in fact, it's probable because of abstinence-only education, for a girl in a suburban Minnesota town. Sure, she made it through with wit and charm, but that's Hollywood. It's a movie; it has to be entertaining at least a little. It's important to see this story not as a message about all teenage pregnancies, or about ALL young women, or about ALL pro-choicers. As members of the pro-choice community, we have been charged with the responsibility to see every woman's situation as important or relevant, regardless of the message it sends.

The problem here is not that Juno's story is not believable, because it is. The problem is that it's not every woman's story, it never can be. Unfortunately, and I'm sure you all can agree, it's the only story like this out there in the mainstream consciousness, aside from Knocked Up and Britney's little sister. That's where we should be directing our extreme dissatisfaction. Juno's story is important, and even if it's fictional, it's still relevant because it's generating some much needed discussion on a national level. The problem is that there is nothing else right now that is speaking to the issues of teenage pregnancies, abortion, and sex-ed so we're expecting this one film, with its privileged role in the mainstream spotlight to fulfill all of our hopes and dreams. People are talking! That sure as hell is a step in the right direction.

Outsourced Wombs

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/outsourced-wombs/index.html?ref=opinion

I mean, I knew this was going, but Jesus. The fact that this is a $445 million/yr "industry" is sickening.

Surrogacy for me is very tricky. You're using your body as a tool to generate income for yourself. Is that bad? Is it inherently different from what construction workers do with their hands, or politicians do with their mouths (figuratively OF COURSE, heh), or sex workers do with their bodies? Is it that simple? Obviously not. But the parallel is there. Is the idea of taking money to allow a fetus to grow inside of you repulsive to most people because they have swallowed the "Motherhood is next to Godliness" mantra? Arrghh! It gets all twisted in my mind.

All I know is that I cringe when I see the pictures of them lined up like parts of a baby-making machine and that screams patriarchy to me.