Aug

31

As if the truth about cosmetic surgery isn’t scary enough

Filed Under beauty myths, media, women’s health | 8 Comments

So I found this to be pretty funny.

A new study has just been released that supposedly “reveals why women have cosmetic surgery.”. Sounds exciting, huh? And, when you see the results, it also looks really scary! So scary, in fact, that even I was fooled until I stopped to read it a second time.

British women are more likely than Americans to have cosmetic surgery to please their partners, according to research published yesterday.

The Aberdeen University study found UK women were often motivated to go under the knife to appear more attractive to their other half. In the US women were more likely to have the surgery for themselves.

The research also revealed that British women were more inclined to keep their surgery a secret from family and friends and were often self-critical of their decision.

Forty British and 20 American women aged between 23 and 52 took part in the study. In interviews with Debra Gimlin, a sociologist, they were asked about their motivation. While the Americans consistently claimed it was for themselves, nearly a quarter of the British women indicated they wanted to make themselves more appealing to a male partner.

Wow, I wonder how this cultural disparity arises? Are American women more “confident” than British women? Are American women just self-delusional? What could it all mean . . .

Wait a second. Does that say that only sixty women took part in the study?

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Popularity: 24% [?]

Aug

31

They’ve Only Just Begun

Filed Under abortion, anti-choice extremism, misogyny, patriarchy, politics, religious fanaticism, reproductive justice, social conservatives, violence against women and girls, women’s health | 2 Comments

There’s no doubt about it: reproductive rights are currently undergoing widespread attack.

If it’s not the Missouri attacks against Planned Parenthood, it’s the ongoing legislative and judicial attacks against Dr. Tiller in Kansas.

And now, it’s the ire of anti-abortion protesters in Illinois. But no, putting together a 1,200 person protest in front of the new Planned Parenthood building was not enough. Holding up the City Council with over six hours of “testimony” against the clinic was not enough.

Now the Aurora mayor is investigating Planned Parenthood for fraud. Why? Because, for obvious reasons, they tried to keep their presence quiet until the opening.

The building permits were issued to Gemini Office Development. The sign at the construction site said Gemini Health Center.

But as he watched the installation of bulletproof windows and security cameras at the office space in Aurora, Ill., a worker began to get suspicious. He told his priest, and the priest went to an anti-abortion group.

And late last week, the protesters went to work.

Gemini is owned by Planned Parenthood, which will operate the 22,000-square-foot clinic in the conservative Chicago suburb. The facility will provide birth control, gynecological exams, disease screening and abortions for women through the middle of their second trimester.

. . . The protests have prompted Aurora’s mayor to hire an outside lawyer — at $185 an hour — to determine whether permits for the clinic were granted on fraudulent grounds. “We want to ensure our laws were properly followed,” said Carie Anne Ergo, a spokeswoman for the city of about 170,000.

Steve Trombley, president and chief executive of the Chicago-area Planned Parenthood affiliate, said: “We are absolutely confident that everything we did was legal.”

He said that Gemini, a limited liability partnership, was set up to mask Planned Parenthood’s involvement to keep protesters away while the $7.5-million clinic was being built.

“It should be evident . . . why we did that,” Trombley said. “This land was zoned for medical services. The city didn’t ask what type of medical services.”

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Aug

30

Missouri Contracts Anti-Abortion Group to Fight Planned Parenthood

Filed Under abortion, anti-choice extremism, courts gone crazy, legislation, patriarchy, religious fanaticism, reproductive justice, social conservatives, women’s health | Leave a Comment

I have been blogging about the new abortion clinic regulations in Missouri and how Planned Parenthood has been fighting them. The law they are challenging would force Planned Parenthood to undergo medically unnecessary renovations, possibly exceeding $2 million (the previously cited $600,000 was an outdated figure), and almost certainly shutting down two clinics indefinitely. Now, via Ann at Feministing, there is even more bad news.

You see, last week, Missouri Health Director Jane Drummond fired Attorney General Jay Nixon from the case.

Gov. Matt Blunt’s health director is using a private law firm to defend against a challenge to a new Missouri abortion law, claiming Attorney General Jay Nixon cannot be trusted because he backs abortion rights.

. . . Typically, the attorney general’s office defends state agencies in court. But Drummond sent a letter yesterday to Nixon saying she would not be using the attorney general’s office and instead would rely on private attorneys for her defense.

“As you have been an outspoken supporter of abortion on demand and a political ally of Planned Parenthood who has accepted campaign contributions from this abortion provider, I did not believe I could trust you to defend me and my department vigorously,” Drummond wrote.

Drummond added that the new law is “very pro-life while you are radically pro-abortion.”

Sure as hell sounds fishy, right? You better believe it is. Because now reports have revealed that the new attorneys are being provided by Alliance Defense Fund– an apparently “radically anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-separation-of-church-and-state legal powerhouse.”

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Aug

30

So Tucker Carlson is a Gay-Basher

Filed Under LGBTQ issues, assholes, bigotry, homophobia and transphobia, media, patriarchy | 6 Comments

And when I say “gay-basher,” I don’t mean the “loves to verbally insult gays” type of gay-basher. I mean the “I physically assaulted a man who came onto me in a bathroom” type of gay-basher. Here’s the video:

The key section starts at about 3:00. Essentially, Carlson claimed that he was once “bothered” in a public restroom by a man looking for sex. His response to the incident, by his account was: “I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the — you know, and grabbed him, and … hit him against the stall with his head, actually.”

Oh, and everyone else on the show found this hilarious.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Aug

29

Website Threatening Abortion Providers is Challenged by Feds

Filed Under abortion, anti-choice extremism, assholes, religious fanaticism, reproductive justice | 2 Comments

The Justice Department has taken legal action to require a man who runs an anti-abortion website to take down and stop posting threats against clinic workers.

One posting targeted a former clinician for the Philadelphia Women’s Center and featured the provider’s name, photo and address, stating that “while it does not sound good to say go shoot her between the eyes, it sounds even worse to say let her alone,” according to the request.

“This type of intimidation and scare tactic, regardless of one’s beliefs or religious convictions, simply cannot be condoned,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said. “Using a public forum, such as the Internet, to incite and instruct people to kill is tantamount to a form of domestic terrorism.”

The postings constitute a violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, Meehan said in a statement.

He wants the court to force John Dunkle, 72, of Reading, to remove the material from his Web page and prohibit him from publishing similar messages containing names, addresses or photographs of health clinic staff members.

Dunkle said that he did not write the message on the blog, but that he did post it. He said that, if asked, he would take it down and identify its author.

“If they tell me not to print it, I won’t print it,” he said. Dunkle said he was not sure whether he agreed with the statement.

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Aug

29

Nothing like a little morning transphobia

Filed Under International, LGBTQ issues, South America, assholes, bigotry, gender, homophobia and transphobia, misogyny, patriarchy | 5 Comments

It seems that I used my offensive remark of the week way too soon.

Today, Slate’s William Saletan has a column titled “Sex-change Socialism: Taxpayer-funded genital mutilation”.

Oh, but it gets worse.

First, he leads in with a story about how new surgery can partially reverse FGM. Then, he goes from talking about the violent act of tearing apart a little girl’s vulva against her will, without anesthesia, to talking about sex reassignment surgery! All without batting an eye!

You see, Brazil is now paying for sex reassignment surgery out of its national health care. And William Saletan thinks that it’s highly unfair, asking:

Question: Is genital mutilation a crime if you don’t want it but a right if you do?

Oh yeah, see the parallel? Because trans people are mutilating their bodies! Right? No? Hmm.

If anyone can find contact information for William Saletan, please let me know (aren’t bloggers and journalists supposed to be contactable?). I looked all over the Slate website and couldn’t find anything other than the forum (of which you have to be a member to post). And I definitely think that he needs to hear some “feedback” on this one, including quite the lesson on gender and trans-politics. Oh, and on how to not be a prejudiced fuck.

UPDATE: Saletan’s email address is apparently human@slate.com. Let the commenting and critiquing begin!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Aug

28

Missouri Abortion Clinics Stay Open

Filed Under abortion, anti-choice extremism, legislation, women’s health | 3 Comments

. . . for now.

A judge has temporarily blocked the new state abortion law that would require costly and medically unnecessary renovations.

In his order, Smith warned both sides from reading too much into his ruling, saying “the state has a legitimate interest in regulating facilities that perform surgery, even if the facility in question performs surgical abortions.

“The court also believes the state may differentiate between facilities that do not primarily perform surgery based on the types of surgery they provide,” he wrote.

But he said it was confusing how the state would apply the law to the Kansas City clinic, which performs only medication-induced abortions, not surgical ones.

Defense attorneys said that the facility should be outfitted for surgery in case something goes wrong with the medication. But Smith was unconvinced.

“Of all the establishments that dispense medication (e.g. doctor’s offices, pharmacies), why is it only those that dispense medication for the purpose of inducing an abortion that must be prepared to perform surgery?” Smith asked.

He said the law should probably apply to the Columbia clinic and noted that Planned Parenthood and the department were willing to cooperate. But he said there was still disagreement over what level of regulations the clinic would have to follow, and more discussion was needed on that point.

Planned Parenthood has said that if the law stands, the renovations would cost in excess of $600,000 and effectively close two clinics indefinitely. This order is valid until September 10th, when a new hearing will be held to determine if the injunction will be permanent.

Fingers crossed.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Aug

28

Offensive Remark of the Week

Filed Under 2008 election, Democrats, Republicans, assholes, bigotry, media, misogyny, offensive remark of the week, politics, race and racism, violence against women and girls | 6 Comments

This week’s offensive remark is definitely a tag-team effort. The sadly likely duo of Ted Nugent and Sean Hannity have really pulled this one out.

It all started with some comments that known sexist, racist and all-around Republican asshole Ted Nugent made in concert. While holding two assault rifles on stage, he proudly declared:

I was in Chicago. I said, “Hey, Obama, you might want to suck on one of these, you punk!”

Obama, he’s a piece of shit. And I told him to suck on my machine gun. Let’s hear it for it.

And I was in New York. I said, “Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch!”

Naturally, there were massive cheers from the crowd. Then, another sexist, racist, all-around Republican asshole Sean Hannity played the clip on his show, called Nugent a friend, seems to suggest that Obama deserved the threat, and adamantly defended Nugent from Democratic strategist Bob Beckel.

After airing the clip, Hannity referred to Nugent as a “friend and frequent guest on the program,” and then compared Nugent’s comments to recent statements by Obama, which Hannity again distorted by claiming Obama “accus[ed] our troops of killing civilians.” Hannity then asked Democratic strategist Bob Beckel: “What’s more offensive to you? Is it Barack Obama’s statement about our troops or Ted Nugent?” Beckel responded by asking Hannity if he was “prepared to disavow this lowlife,” to which Hannity responded: “No, I like Ted Nugent. He’s a friend of mine.” When Beckel said that Nugent “ought to never come on your show again, and if you have him on, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Hannity responded: “Not at all. We have you on.”

You can view the whole clip at Media Matters, to see the ferocity with which Sean Hannity defends Ted Nugent. It’s impressive.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Aug

27

Heineken does not think very highly of you

Filed Under beauty myths, marketing, media, misogyny, objectification, patriarchy, products, sexism, videos | 18 Comments

At least, that’s my personal interpretation of this ad for the Heineken DraughtKeg:

I found it via Bob Garfield at the Advertising Age. He calls this ad out for “portray[ing] a woman’s uterus as a beer keg” and being “arguably the most sexist beer commercial ever produced.” Unfortunately, he also second-guesses several times, and asks if he is over-reacting. I sure as hell don’t think that he is. And I thank him for bringing to my attention, not to mention being a lot smarter than the YouTube user who says that he “needs a robot like that.”

Heineken loves the new campaign so much that they have a whole website based off of the concept. If you’d like to tell Heineken what you think about the commercial, you can use this form and select “advertising” as the subject. Oh, and try to not buy any of their beer, huh?

Popularity: 18% [?]

Aug

27

On Sex Trafficking and Johns

Filed Under Europe, International, WOC issues, human rights, misogyny, objectification, patriarchy, race and racism, rape and sexual assault, sex work, sexism, sexual exploitation and harassment, violence against women and girls | 17 Comments

Last week, I wrote a post about the issue of sex trafficking in Britain, which resulted in some interesting (if unoriginal and obnoxious) discussion about the extent to which exploitation and trafficking actually takes place in the prostitution industry. I have maintained that it is incredibly high.

Sadly, a new story about British police raids of brothels has proven me right. (I’d like to say here that I believe the problem is just as bad, if not worse, in the U.S. and many other western countries, but Britain happens to be where the stories are coming from. In fact, kudos to them for trying to do something about the problem and to the British media for reporting on it). The raids have helped to identify the extent of the horrors to which many women are subjected, as well as the fact that these women are are auctioned off to different gangs in pubs. Hmm, does that ring a historical bell for anyone else?

The scale of the abuse has horrified officers and staff from other agencies working with them, who have found women being forced to work in the sex trade in houses in villages as well as city centres. Some were made to have sex with up to 60 men a day, earning thousands of pounds for the gangs.

. . . Police say women are brought to a pub with a minder. They are then inspected by members of different gangs who are invited to bid for them - often as little as £1000 per woman.

So far, 24 people have been arrested in police Operation Radium, most on suspicion of immigration offences, and all have been bailed. No charges have yet been brought.

Many of the women trafficked into Britain each year come from eastern Europe, Africa and the Far East, tempted by the prospect of a better life and well-paid jobs. But, on arrival, their identity documents are taken and they are often kept captive in appalling conditions.

So far, seven women have been rescued. Others have fled, fearing arrest even though they are innocent. Fullwood, head of Cambridgeshire’s serious and organised crime unit, said: “Many brothels operate under the guise of other businesses. They may be just ordinary-looking homes in quiet neighbourhoods.”

He appealed for men who have used brothels to report places where they think women may be prisoners.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Aug

26

Anti-Choice Protesters Swarm into Illinois

Filed Under abortion, activism, anti-choice extremism, misogyny, patriarchy, religious fanaticism, reproductive justice, sexism, social conservatives, women’s health | 8 Comments

Straight out of the anti-choice protesters are bat-shit insane files, approximately 1,200 protesters convened outside of a soon to be opened Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora, Illinois this Saturday. The clinic will perform abortions and is scheduled to open on September 18th. The anti-choice zealots are determined to prevent it from opening.

Police estimated that 1,200 people peacefully picketed near New York Street and Oakhurst Drive — with the large majority of them being anti-abortion advocates carrying signs, praying the rosary or chanting slogans.

They heavily outnumbered the 20 or so pro-choice advocates, although each side promised that every person in attendance was standing in for dozens — or hundreds — of others who wanted to be there.

. . .

The protest was a well-publicized effort to bring more attention to the clinic, which is scheduled to open Sept. 18. Planned Parenthood says the facility will be largest in the country and should fill a need for women’s health-care facilities in the suburbs.

Since the announcement of the clinic — which will offer not only abortions but also educational sessions for parents, teens and community groups — the Pro-Life Action League has held a 24-hour prayer vigil outside the clinic. Scheidler said the prayers are aimed at closing the clinic.

“Planned Parenthood should be terrified,” he said. “We’re going to destroy their building peacefully but aggressively.”

But the threats and intimidation get a lot worse.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Aug

25

Bad Ass Women’s Activist of the Week

Filed Under bad ass women’s activist of the week, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, sexism, violence against women and girls | 2 Comments

I’m not sure that this family technically qualifies as women’s activists, but they at least deserve an honorable mention.

Broadsheet has highlighted an Afghan family who broke taboo to report their young daughter’s rape. I’m sure that most of you are aware of the fact that in many cultures, rape is seen as an embarrassment to the entire family, rarely reported to authorities and often ends in “honor killings,” marrying the victim off to her rapist, or disavowal by the family.

This case is particularly heinous. It involves two brothers from another family (18 and 24 years old) who raped a 7 year-old-girl until she lost consciousness. Two months after the attack, the girl is still in pain and anti-social. But what makes this horrible crime different from so many others is that her family actually reported it, and are fighting for the rights of their daughter in court.

Rape is not uncommon in Afghanistan, but victims rarely come forward because a girl or woman losing her virginity out of wedlock is seen as disgracing her entire family.

Because the crime is seldom reported, there are no reliable statistics on the number of young girls raped, Anwari said. She said it was the second such case in Ghazni this year.

“It’s not reported because of family honor. It’s very unusual that they’re bringing this forward,” said Naderi of Women for Afghan Women.

“No one in Afghanistan wants anyone to know their daughter has been raped because a girl’s virginity is so highly valued here. If a girl loses her virginity for any reason … she’s not a girl anymore. She’s a woman. Unmarriageable.”

Families and local elders often take the matter into their own hands and resort to traditional tribal laws, which commonly punish girls for the crimes of their male relatives. Under Afghan law, the sentence for raping a child is life imprisonment.

Zafar said the brothers’ relatives offered a 6-year-old girl as a future bride to compensate the victim’s family, who rejected the offer.

Erfani said another proposal was that the 7-year-old girl marry a young male relative of the brothers to salvage her honor. The girl’s family also turned down this suggestion, he said.

Bravo to this family. I’m sure that they are not the first in similar circumstances to have had the courage to step forward. But their actions are still unusual. In a culture with so much cultural pressure to remain silent and/or even punish the victim, this takes courage.

This is how progress begins. We can hope all we like for rape to stop, but I am sadly confident that it won’t until we begin to see reliable justice against rapists. Community members will talk about this family. A lot, probably most, will be negative. But maybe others who wanted to step forward and were too afraid will realize that they are not alone with their thoughts. Maybe another family of a victim will be less afraid to step forward. Maybe some will think twice before agreeing to a tribal hearing, which are notorious for punishing women for the attacks against them. It is a seed that has been planted.

Or maybe I’m wrong and none of that will happen. And it’s quite possible that these men will not even be punished for their crime.

But at the very least, this little girl will not be married into the family of her rapists. For all else that she has been and will go through, she will at least be spared that much. And sadly, it is an unlikely luxury for other girls and women in her situation.

Popularity: 13% [?]

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