March 2009

Target Women: Barbie

by Cara March 13, 2009

The latest from Sarah Haskins: (If you can’t view the embedded video, click here.) And for those of you who missed it, she also had a pretty awesome Op-Ed in the Washington Post on Barbie’s 50th birthday. (Yeah, I’ll admit it; that’s how I played with my Barbie, too.) I so cannot wait to see [...]

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Thoughts on Castration for Sex Offenders

by Cara March 12, 2009

The NY Times has a story on debates raging in Europe over whether is ethical and/or smart to castrate sex offenders as a form of punishment or rehabilitation. Whether castration can help rehabilitate violent sex offenders has come under new scrutiny after the Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee last month called surgical castration “invasive, irreversible [...]

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Kansas Law Allows Anonymous Rape Kits for Those Who Don’t Immediately Report

by Cara March 11, 2009

A recent change in Kansas law allows rape victims to undergo anonymous rape kit testing that will be held by the hospital and can be used to file a police report up to five years after the rape is committed: The victim arrives at a hospital for treatment. She is traumatized. She is stressed. The [...]

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Rape Culture and Its Incredible Prevalence: A Strangely Optimistic Analysis

by Cara March 10, 2009

When I first read the news at Feministe that a full one-quarter of people surveyed in England and Wales said that a woman is fully or partly to blame for a rape if she wore sexy clothing, my first response was, as it should have been, complete and total dismay.  It wasn’t surprise — no, [...]

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Offensive Remark of the Week: Obama is Like an Abusive Spouse Edition

by Cara March 9, 2009

I try to stay as far away from World Net Daily as possible, but via Media Matters comes this outrageous excerpt from a column that appeared on the site on March 4. After explaining why he thinks that Obama is already a completely colossal failure, Burt Prelutsky writes: Frankly, I don’t know why anybody continues [...]

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Top 5 Beatles Love Songs

by Cara March 7, 2009

Though I did manage to miss my perfect opportunity to do this list on Valentine’s Day, it’s a list that can nevertheless go ignored.  The Beatles were masters of love songs — and until Revolver threw that model out, a vast majority of the songs the band wrote were indeed about nothing else.  In fact, [...]

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Back Up Your Birth Control: NYC Day of Action

by Cara March 6, 2009

Those of us here probably know why emergency contraception (EC) and its availability are so important to women everywhere.  Though hardly the most ideal method of contraception, it is effective — and it prevents both unplanned pregnancies and abortions. But far too many women still don’t know what EC is or how to get it. [...]

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Catholic Church Excommunicates Mother and Doctors Over 9-Year-Old Rape Victim’s Abortion

by Cara March 6, 2009

In Brazil, there is a horrific story of a 9-year-old girl who was raped and impregnated (h/t Falloch’s comment).  It’s believed that the rape was committed by her step-father.  The girl was not only pregnant at that young age, but also pregnant with twins.  And so, as makes perfect sense, she had an abortion.  Because [...]

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Hospital Visitation Rights as Human Rights

by Cara March 5, 2009

This just broke my heart into a million tiny little pieces: As her partner of 17 years slipped into a coma, Janice Langbehn pleaded with doctors and anyone who would listen to let her into the woman’s hospital room. Eight anguishing hours passed before Langbehn would be allowed into Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. [...]

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Former Detective Accused of Raping Women Who Sought Police Help

by Cara March 4, 2009

Very Strong Trigger Warning The Daily Mail reports on former North Wales detective Timothy Michael Jones, who is alleged to have raped two different women who were seeking the help of the police at the time.  The highlighted rape is below, and the description is graphic: The woman, a heroin addict, had been called to [...]

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