Posts filed under ‘Sexism’
Don’t Tell Todd Akin
This morning I was listening to the BBC and an interview with Australian author Kathy Lette. Lette and the BBC correspondent were talking about the notorious sexism of Australian men. During their discussion Lette said something I thought was pretty darn funny. She was sarcastically describing how bad the situation is and she said there seems to be a feeling among Australian men that women are, “A sort of life support system for an ovary.”
Hah! Love it.
Oh, but shush. Don’t tell Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin or any other Republican for that matter. They’ll take it seriously.
Rebranding
Wisconsin:
(Image via Alibaba.com)
Madison — In a raucous clash on the state Senate floor Wednesday that recalled the bitter divides of 2011, Republicans abruptly cut off debate and forced a vote mandating that women seeking abortions get ultrasounds.
The morning’s brief floor session included sharp exchanges and one senator claiming abortions “became the thing to do” in the 1960s.
Democrats protested the bill’s merits and the process by which it was passed, saying Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and his fellow Republicans were trampling on democracy by ending debate after about 20 minutes.
“My first advice to the majority leader is that he seeks psychological help,” Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) said at a news conference after the vote.
[...]“Here we go again,” Fitzgerald said. He described Democrats’ approach as, “We don’t like what’s happening from a public policy perspective, so we’re not going to play by the rules.”
The abortion measure passed 17-15, with all Republicans for it and all Democrats against it. Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) was absent.
It now goes to the Assembly, which is expected to take it up Thursday. GOP Gov. Scott Walker has said he would sign the bill.
Wisconsin Republicans are spending their time on this instead of creating ah, hello!, JOBS: No matter how you spin job numbers, Wisconsin near bottom compared to other states. But I’m sure, come the heat of the 2014 campaign, they’ll start screaming about them again. It’s a thing they bring up every two years for a little while and then they go back to their real love: oppressing people.
John McCain Supports Women “Serving Our Armed Forces”
John McCain trying to appeal to the winger base and everyone else at the same time, or something:
What? Women have already joined the military.
Then there’s this:
He supports women who serve our armed forces? OMG. Freudian slip or what?
The guy doesn’t get it.
What if American Apparel’s Male Models Posed the Way its Female Models Do
This is how American Apparel advertises a shirt to a woman:
(Image via BusinessInsider.com)
What if they advertised a shirt to a man in the same way?
(Image via BusinessInsider.com)
(Via.)
Pretty ridiculous, huh guys?
No Women Allowed
(Image via NRCruise.com)
The conservative publication National Review is sponsoring a cruise aboard the MS Eurodam “in the Norwegian Fiords” on August 1 – 8, 2013 so folks can hobnob with their favorite pundits. The thing is, of the 22 pundits currently scheduled, there are zero, zip, nada women.
Ah yes. Conservativeland.
Check out the lineup here.
Sarah Palin Titillates at CPAC
This would be Sarah Palin at the CPAC conference today.
Don’t forget, these are The Serious People in the Republican Party.
Listen to the crowd roar when she sucks on a straw.
Moral of the story? This is how “girls” get noticed by Republicans.
Big gulp? Aimed at Nanny Bloomberg? Maybe.
Republican porn.
Female Undocumented Workers: “Perfect Victims” for Sexual Abusers
(Image via CSMonitor.com)
This is horrible:
Like millions of Mexicans, Carolina Martínez dreamed of coming to the United States to work. Her plan was to put in a few years in the fields, save up enough money to return to her hometown, and build a house there for her family. Her husband was already working on a farm outside of Albion, New York, so she knew there was money to be made, certainly more than the few dollars per day she typically made selling food on the street.
In 2004, at the age of 21, she took her 1-year-old child and traveled some 1,200 miles by bus to the U.S. border, where she handed off her son to a friend and found a coyote (smuggler) who would guide her and 10 others across for $2,000 each. It took a full week of hard and dangerous walking to get through the desert. She ran out of food and water, and at one point twisted her ankle, but she didn’t dare stop. “We passed people who were dead,” she recalls. But she made it out of the desert alive, reunited with her infant son—whom her friend had driven across the border—and eventually made her way to a small town outside of Rochester, New York, where she joined her husband. Martínez quickly found work packing potatoes and onions.
The work was hard. During planting and harvest seasons she might work 10 hours a day, six or seven days a week. But she had expected that. What she hadn’t expected was the near-constant sexual harassment on the job. The crew leader would, she says, “touch women in a sexual way … touch women on their asses.” When Martínez threatened to report him, he’d warn, “They’ll get rid of you. And if you do go to the boss, I’ll call Immigration.”
[...]
That’s what happened at one farm where Carolina Martínez worked. She says the manager, a Mexican immigrant himself, routinely approached women for sex. (He didn’t bother her, probably because she lived with her husband.) “He told [women] if they did not have sex with him, they were going to lose their jobs,” she says. Many women complied. Finally, one woman spoke up about the abuse to the farm owner. But, says Martínez, the owner didn’t believe her. In fact, he may not have understood her at all, because the woman spoke only Spanish and the owner, like most, spoke only English—while the supervisor spoke both. The handful of bilingual workers who could have translated were afraid to get involved. Not willing to lose his manager, the owner instead fired the woman who complained—which sent a strong message to the other women.
ROFLMAO
Texas, natch:
Using taxpayer dollars to finance family-planning services has become politically thorny in Texas, largely because of Republican lawmakers’ assertions that the women’s health clinics providing that care are affiliated with abortion providers. In the fiscal crunch of 2011, the Legislature cut the state’s family-planning budget by two-thirds, with some lawmakers claiming that they were defunding the “abortion industry.” Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, found that more than 50 family-planning clinics had closed statewide as a result.
Now, amid estimates that the cuts could lead to 24,000 additional 2014-15 births at a cost to taxpayers of $273 million, lawmakers are seeking a way to restore financing without ruffling feathers.
(H/t C.J.)
Gee. Who could have ever predicted.
Michigan Republicans Focusing on Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
That “Republican makeover” isn’t going so well in Michigan.
My God they’re insane:
From abortion limitations to expanded pistol carrying rights, lawmakers have kicked off a new session with recycled issues and proposals that sparked some of the most contentious debates in last year’s Legislature, but failed to become law.
There are eight abortion-related bills and seven that ease handgun restrictions. Most aim to overcome or circumvent one or another of the few vetoes Gov. Rick Snyder issued last year.
Also in the hopper are several bills the governor was happy didn’t land on his desk in 2012. Among those is one that would outlaw prevailing wage requirements on public works projects.
Another would reduce the sales tax on motor vehicle and watercraft purchases, gradually cutting into state revenue.
More…
When Does a “Girl” Get to Be a Woman?
I heard women referred to as girls, girls, girls over and over tonight on E! in the run-up to the Academy Awards. I’m talkin’ Giuliana Rancic, who’s 38, turning to Kimora Lee Simons, who’s 37, and calling her a girl.
The proper term for a mature female human being is woman. Rhe proper term for a mature kitten is cat, the proper term for a mature horse is horse, not pony, and the proper term for a grown dog is dog, not puppy.
Female human beings over the age of 18 aren’t puppies girls.
When do women in the United States get promoted from “girls” to “women?”
Never.
Do a Google image search of the word “boy” and you get this:
Google “Boy” and this is the second image you get.
Do a Google image search of the word “girl” and you get this:
Google “girl” and this is the second image you get.
“Girls:” It’s one thing when men diss you. It’s another when you diss yourselves.
Marco Rubio Approves of Violence Against Women
One more note (see here and here) on the new Republican “savior,” Marco Rubio,
(Image via Time.com – February 7, 2013 Issue)
Just minutes ago he voted against the Violence Against Women Act:
Just hours ahead of stepping in front of the cameras to give the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address; Senator Marco Rubio voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
The VAWA passed the Senate, despite Rubio’s no vote, by a 78-22 margin. All 22 of those who voted against the reauthorization of the bill were men and included not only Rubio but also Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The original Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1994, but expired in 2011 as Congress’ partisan divide grew. The bill seeks to help victims of domestic violence, stalking, and other crimes. The reauthorization added new protections for LGBT and Native American victims.
So there we have it. The stupid party is trying to reach out to Latinos via supposed wonder boy Marco Rubio but the problem is, all they’re doing is putting lipstick on a pig.
(If you want to read Time’s cover article about Rubio, here it is.)
You can put lipstick on a pig, but he’s still a pig.
Here is a full list of the 22 people (all men, all Republicans) who voted against the bill.
On the Pill? You Have “Little Tiny Babies Embedded” in Your Womb
This is how crazy they’re getting.
(Image via FamilyReformation.Wordpress.com)
This would be Generations Radio host Kevin Swanson on his show this week:
And they have found that with women who are on the birth control pill, there are these little tiny fetuses, these little babies, that are embedded into the womb. They’re just like dead babies. They’re on the inside of the womb. And these wombs of women who have been on the birth control pill effectively have become graveyards for lots and lots of little babies.
TGIF.
The Answer to Women Being Allowed to Drive in Saudi Arabia
Simultaneously sad and hilarious:
(Image via GlobalVoicesOnline.org)
Queen Elizabeth Says if Wills and Kate Have a Baby Girl, She Will be a Princess
It’s about time:
(Image via Wikipedia)
The Queen has formally declared that the future daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be a Princess.
With a long-awaited royal baby due in late spring or early summer, the monarch today issued what is known as a Letters Patent to announce that the couple’s baby would become an HRH – Her Royal Highness – even if she is a girl.
In doing so she rectified a century-old anomaly that meant a royal daughter would not automatically become a princess.
A decree made by George V in 1917 stipulated that that while a son would become a prince, a daughter would not become a princess.The King had ordered that the titles HRH and Prince and Princess should be restricted to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons and the eldest son of the eldest of the Prince of Wales.
Royal sources said the Queen felt it was time such a long-standing imbalance was formally rectified.
Last month a new law was published – the Succession to the Crown Bill – which end the system of male primogeniture, meaning the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child will become monarch whether they are a boy or a girl.
How the “News” Media Portrayed Women in 2012
Via MissRepresentation on YouTube. Get ready to gag or throw stuff at your computer, or both:
UPS Does the Right Thing
Clearly the UPS knows which way the wind is blowing:
UPS has confirmed that it has implemented a new policy for its charitable giving that will disqualify groups like the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. The UPS Foundation posted the following on its site yesterday:
“The UPS Foundation seeks to support organizations that are in alignment with our focus areas, guidelines, and non-discrimination policy. UPS and The UPS Foundation do not discriminate against any person or organization with regard to categories protected by applicable law, as well as other categories protected by UPS and The UPS Foundation in our own policies. These include, but are not limited to race, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, pregnancy, age and religion.”
Fantastic! Thank you UPS.
The Thought of Bearing Their Rapist’s Baby Didn’t Go Over So Well With Women
Here’s an interesting factoid about who voted for who yesterday:
(Image via C Simons on flickr)
The Obama campaign’s heavy focus on women’s issues for the past year paid off in a big way on Tuesday night, resulting in an 18-point gender gap that largely contributed to the president’s reelection.
According to CNN’s exit polls, 55 percent of women voted for Obama, while only 44 percent voted for Mitt Romney. Men preferred Romney by a margin of 52 to 45 percent, and women made up about 54 percent of the electorate. In total, the gender gap on Tuesday added up to 18 percent — a significantly wider margin than the 12-point gender gap in the 2008 election.
Women’s strong support in the swing states gave Obama a significant advantage over Romney, despite his losses among men and independents. While Obama lost by 10 percentage points among independents in Ohio, he won by 12 points among women in the state. In New Hampshire, women voted for Obama over Romney by a margin of 58 to 42 percent, while men preferred Romney by a narrow 4-point gap. Pennsylvania showed a 16-point gender gap that tipped the scale toward Obama.
I wonder if Republicans will think about this and drop the banish-women-to-the-kitchen-pregnant-and-barefoot crusade or if they’ll just stop talking about it publicly.
Botswanan Judge: Women Earn the Right to Inherit Family Home
Congratulations to the women of Botswana:
(Image via Wikipedia)
A Botswana judge has overturned a customary law that denied women the right to inherit a family home.
The decision is seen as a crucial step forward for women’s rights in the southern African country.
The judge ruled that the law discriminated against women and was therefore unconstitutional.
The case had been brought by three sisters who want to inherit a family home they have occupied and improved over the years.
They faced a challenge from a nephew based on a customary law that gives the youngest-born son the right to inherit the family home.
Priti Patel of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, which supported the sisters’ case, said the decision shows that “the days of women suffering from secondary status under the law in Botswana are drawing to an end”.
It shakes me when I’m reminded how oppressed women have been, and still are, in so many parts of the world. Heck, here in the U.S. there’s no law guaranteeing women equal pay for equal work but thank goodness we can inherit the family home.
Geez.
My Heart is With Malala Yousafzai
No words. Just, no words:
(Image via Brecorder.com)
Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old girl who won Pakistan’s first National Peace Prize, was shot and wounded on her return from school Tuesday in Swat Valley. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which has been condemned by the country’s president.
The teenager has been the subject of frequent death threats, because she blogs about the Taliban’s restrictions on education for women.
A Taliban spokesperson, Insnaullah Ishan, told CNN Yousafzai was targeted for spreading feminist messages.
“She wanted to make our women leave their homes for secular education, something the Taliban will never permit,” Ishan said.
Yousafzai was injured when armed militants stopped a van carrying her and other female students home from school. Once the National Prize winner was identified, the men began shooting at her, until the driver sped off. Two other passengers, in addition to Yousafzai, were hit by the shots.
One of the bullets hit Yousafzai’s neck, which doctors say will be difficult to remove. She was airlifted from Swat at the request of the Prime Minister to a large hospital in Peshawar. If the 14-year-old survives the attack, which doctors suggest is likely, the Taliban say she won’t next time.
Talk about feeling powerless. Ugh. Such a complicated situation.
Outrage overload happening here.
Todd Akin’s At it Again: Laments That His Opponent Isn’t as “Ladylike” As She Used to Be
Remember Todd Akin? Does “legitimate rape” right a bell? That Todd Akin. Yep, he’s at it again:
(Image via Wikipedia)
More than a month after his comments about “legitimate rape” nearly derailed his campaign for U.S. Senate, Republican Todd Akin said Thursday that it has become clear to him that he will triumph over Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill this fall.
Part of his confidence, he said, comes from McCaskill’s demeanor during their debate last week, which he said was not as “ladylike” as it was when she faced off with Republican Jim Talent in 2006.
“I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because she was very aggressive at the debate, which was quite different than it was when she ran against Jim Talent,” Akin said. “She had a confidence and was much more ladylike (in 2006), but in the debate on Friday she came out swinging, and I think that’s because she feels threatened.”
Ladies: Don’t Go to Saudi Arabia Unless You’re With a Man
Geezus:
(Image via FreePressKashmir.com)
More than 1,000 Nigerian women pilgrims remained stranded at a Saudi airport for a fifth straight day Thursday after being denied entry into the kingdom because they were not accompanied by men, an airport official confirmed.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the women have been denied entry because “they are not accompanied by a mahram (the statutory male companion),” adding that talks were continuing between Saudi and Nigerian officials.
The official said that the Nigerian consulate in Jeddah had offered to ensure the women’s return after the annual hajj pilgrimage, but Saudi immigration officials were “sticking to their position.”
The kingdom has yet to release a formal statement regarding the case.
The women had begun arriving at Jeddah airport on Sunday, a report by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, which oversees Nigerian participation in the pilgrimage, said.
I’ve always felt these laws are more about men than women. What, men can’t control themselves? Women have to cover their bodies from head to toe and be accompanied by a man when in public or else they’ll be assaulted? That’s my takeaway.
Rape Babies for Romney!
Check out the exciting new website, Rape Babies for Romney!
(Image via RapeBabiesForRomney.com)
Show pride in your rape baby ladies. ——> (Sarcasm!)
Pat Robertson Advises Man to Move to Saudi Arabia So He Can Beat His Wife
This would be Pat Robertson on his Christian Broadcast Network television show this morning after his sidekick read an email from a man who felt his wife disrespected him:
Well, you could become a Muslim and you could beat her.
You know, I think, this man’s got to stand up to her ah, and he can’t let her get away with this stuff. And ah, you know, I don’t know. I don’t think we condone wife beating these days but something’s got to be done…
The man can’t
divorce her according to the Scripture, so I say, move to Saudi Arabia.
BTW, Pat Robertson campaigned with Mitt Romney on Saturday.
Iran Ratchets Up Its Oppression of Women
This from FSRN (Free Speech Radio) News:
(Image via AnimalNewYork.com)
Iran Bans Women From 77 Fields of University Study
Women in Iran have been banned from university courses in 77 different fields, after administration said they have a “manly nature” not suitable for women. According to the US State Department, 36 universities have instituted the bans. They won’t allow women to pursue courses such as engineering, education, English language, computer science and literature. The Iranian Science Minister said the ban was put in place to protect morality. The US is calling on Iran to reverse the policy and uphold women’s rights. Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi has reportedly written a letter to the UN protesting the change in policy.
Geezus. If I lived in Iran I would be livid.
So hey, let’s bomb Iran and kill a bunch of oppressed people.
The Paul Ryan / Todd Akin Personhood Bill Could Outlaw In Vitro Fertilization
How intrusive into our private lives is the Paul Ryan / Todd Akin “Sanctity of Life Act?” Very:
Paul Ryan and Todd Akin: This is a person.
The national battle over Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape” has shed light on a “personhood” bill, co-sponsored by Akin and Paul Ryan, called the Sanctity of Life Act. Much of the chatter today has focused on whether Ryan opposes abortion in cases of rape. The Romney campaign confirmed today that Ryan does personally oppose it, while clarifying that a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose it.
But what about the other legal implications of the bill Ryan and Akin co-sponsored? In an interview just now, Dem Rep. Louise Slaughter, one of the leading pro-choice voices in Congress, raised two startling possibilities.
“One of the questions around this legislation is, Could a rapist who impregnated a victim sue that victim if she decided not to carry that baby and to have an abortion?” Slaughter said. “Another question: Could in vitro fertilization be outlawed?”
It’s unclear how this legislation would work. The bill affirms that from the moment of fertilization onward, “every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” It then says that Congress and the states have the “authority” to protect all human beings — again, defined as human life from fertilization onward — residing in their juristictions.
Slaughter’s suggestion is that this affirms the authority of Congress or the states to pass laws outlawing IVF, since that procedure requires the destruction of embryos, or that it could give legal weight to a rapist’s insistence that his victim not abort her baby — though again, it’s unclear how this would work.
“What it says is that a single cell can achieve all the protections the Constitution of the United States bestows on persons,” Slaughter said of the bill. “Scientifically the law is crazy.”
And that’s putting it politely.
Paul Ryan is a radical radical. Heck, the personhood amendment was voted down in my state (Colorado) twice, by “wide margins,” and in 2010 even Mississippi — Mississippi! — rejected it.
Augusta National Golf Club to Admit Woman
Finally! Finally, after 80 years, the Augusta National Golf Club — the place where The Masters golf tournament is held every spring — has decided to admit women:
(Image via LeisureLinkGolf.Wordpress.com)
Augusta National, home of the Masters golf tournament, said Monday the exclusive club has admitted the first women members in its 80-year history.
Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina businesswoman Darla Moore have accepted invitations to join the club in Augusta, Georgia, chairman Billy Payne said.
“This is a joyous occasion as we enthusiastically welcome Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore as members of Augusta National Golf Club,” Payne said.
Augusta National has come under increasing pressure to admit women members, with the question of the exclusive policy coming up each year when the club hosts the first major golf tournament of the year, the Masters.
The issue first came to a head in 2003 when Martha Burk, a leader in the National Council of Women’s Organizations, conducted a rally across the street from Augusta National, where the first black member was inducted in 1990.
Hootie Johnson, Augusta National’s chairman in 2003, had gone so far as to release broadcast sponsors from their advertising commitments when Burk threatened to target them for backing the club’s men-only policy as discrimination.
In April Payne himself refused to discuss the issue when it was raised in the days before the Masters, but said in a statement on Monday that the process for admitting Rice and Moore had been the same as for any other members.
It’s. About. Time.
Paul Ryan and Todd Akin Team up to Change the Definition of Rape
Here’s a little more on GOP Rep. Paul Akin of Missouri who said this morning the “female body has ways to try to shut that whole [pregnancy] thing down,” when impregnated due to rape:
(1) Akin is a member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Oh. My. God.
And, (2):
If you’re a woman and you vote Republican or if you’re a man who loves a woman and you vote Republican, you’re insane.
Democrats Miss Their Millionth Opportunity to Make Some Noise
Democrats should wrap this guys picture around Mitt Romney’s head:
Limbaugh – ‘When WOMEN Got The Right To Vote Is When It All Went Downhill’
Recently on his radio show, Limbaugh took a call from a man who wanted to blame Obama’s 2008 election on uninformed youth. Limbaugh interrupted him and said……drumroll…..
“Ehhh, I can do one better than that. When WOMEN got the right to vote is when it all went downhill. Because that’s when votes started being cast with emotion and uh, maternal instincts that government ought to reflect …….”
All of a sudden, Rush stops talking mid-sentence as if he’s realized what a horrible mistake he’s just made. His caller took advantage of the silence and continued talking about how young people are the ones ruining elections. Limbaugh interrupts his caller, who he was clearly not listening to, as he tries to figure out how to extract his foot from his BIG MOUTH and said:
“Yeah…I…Look, I’m joking about the women’s vote. I just got a little frustrated here…”
Given Rush’s record — remember Sandra Fluke — I don’t think he’s “joking.”
As if that isn’t enough fodder for some major noise on the part of D. C. Democrats, this happened yesterday:
N.Y. Sen. Marty Golden cancels feminine etiquette class after outrage
A New York state lawmaker has canceled a feminine etiquette class after it incited outcry from his colleagues and constituents.
Republican Sen. Marty Golden’s website advertised a July 24 class that would teach women from his Brooklyn district to “sit, stand and walk like a model” and how to “walk up and down a stair elegantly,” according to CBS Station WCBS.
Other goals of the “Polished Professional” summer series were to teach women “posture, deportment and the feminine presence,” as well as how to “correctly introduce self and others to: religious leaders, politicians, military and other socially prominent officials.”
Come on Democrats — are you in a coma or what? ACT UP!
Geezus.
