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"In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: either she's a feminist or a masochist." --Gloria Steinem
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Apr
24
Why We Need to Stop the Democratic Infighting
Filed Under Democrats, Republicans, assholes, class and economics, discrimination, legislation, misogyny, parenthood, patriarchy, politics, pregnancy, sexism, work | 12 Comments
Because John McCain is a misogynist nutbag. As are his fellow Republicans.
Yesterday, Republican Senators successfully filibustered — that’s right, not just voted against but fucking filibustered — a bill that would provide those who have been the victims of discriminatory pay with more legal recourse. In other words, they filibustered a civil rights bill. Because Republicans have so learned the error of their prejudiced ways.
Republicans said the proposal to ease the time constraints would prompt more lawsuits and lead to litigation over outdated cases. “This debate today is not about allowing, favoring or supporting discrimination,” said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia.
[. . .]
Mr. McCain, who was campaigning in Louisiana, skipped the vote but told reporters he would have opposed the bill since it could contribute to frivolous lawsuits harmful to businesses.
Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, accused Democrats of unfairly trying to paint opponents of the bill as unsympathetic to victims of salary discrimination. “The only ones who will see an increase in pay are some of the trial lawyers who bring the cases,” he said.
Um, what exactly, Senator Hatch, is being unfairly represented? Victims of unfair pay discrimination need a recourse, and you are actively denying it to them. You’re openly protecting companies who have a history of discrimination. And you are allowing, favoring or supporting discrimination, Senator Isakson, by refusing to hold those corporations who have engaged in it responsible for their actions. This is pretty fucking simple.
John McCain didn’t show up to vote — but did support the “it would provoke lawsuits” argument (um, assholes, that’s the point), and had this to say:
“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.
“It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least,” he said.
Oh, I see: so Senator McCain, you’re going to start supporting flexible work schedules and reduced working hours for both parents? You’re going to promote men taking a more active role in child-rearing and support social services that help women with child care? You’re also going to support those who are genuinely stuck in low paying jobs because a lack of educational opportunity with resources, and work to improve school systems and economic equality?
Um . . . no. McCain supports the “free market” — the very same free market that allows employers to discriminate against women, racial minorities, the disabled and LGBTQ individuals. He’s just using an opportunity to remind everyone that women belong back in the kitchen with a child on each hip. He also needed to point out that women are only paid less is because we just can’t stop popping out the kiddies, are uneducated and don’t do equal work — even though the Ledbetter case shows that this argument is a bunch of shit.
Below the jump, what I think of McCain and the Senate Republicans (all but six of whom voted to block the measure).
Popularity: 18% [?]
Apr
5
More Contractor Rape, More Cover Up
Filed Under Republicans, activism, human rights, misogyny, patriarchy, politics, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls, work | 4 Comments
I mentioned before that the theme of this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month is sexual violence in the workplace. So, let’s talk about it.
Another woman has come forward to tell her story about working for KBR in Iraq. She was drugged and brutally gang raped by at least one American soldier and one KBR coworker. As the only medical personnel in the area, she was required to treat herself, never received a rape kit, was forced to medically treat her rapists during the course of her job before she was allowed to go home two and a half weeks later, had her allegations ignored by her supervisor who may have actually been one of the rapists, and then faced multiple aggressive attempts at cover up once she reported the attack.
The Nation has the full story. I’m issuing a strong trigger warning for the article as the descriptions of rape are graphic and the recounting of what happened next is very emotionally painful and difficult. But if you can do so safely, I adamantly urge you to read it.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Mar
29
Hey, asshole
Filed Under Republicans, WOC issues, assholes, bigotry, blogging, feminism, misogyny, race and racism, rape and sexual assault, sexism, social conservatives, violence against women and girls | 2 Comments
You want to know what was definitely not a reason for my posting about the Sharpton/NAACP debacle? So that conservative assholes could use it as fodder to apologize for the white rapists, call the victims of that crime drunk sluts with “humper’s remorse,” use Sharpton as some kind of bizarre comparison to Obama’s Reverend Wright, call both men “racist” (instead of the accurate description for Sharpton, “sexist”), and proclaim that we should “burn down” Dunbar Village. I didn’t post it so that assholes could jump merrily up and down, clapping their hands and unable to believe their luck, because even the feminists agree with their racist and misogynist remarks.
I mean, I always assumed that the whole thing might be inevitable. But it was the very opposite of the reason for my post. And it still is.
Yours is the kind of support that we do not want and do not need. I absolutely do not agree with you, and we’re sure as hell not on the same side. And I wanted to make that very, very clear.
Good? Good.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Mar
29
Updates and Things
Filed Under 2008 election, Republicans, assholes, blogging, media, objectification, politics, race and racism, random, rape and sexual assault, sex work, sexual exploitation and harassment, violence against women and girls | 5 Comments
A few stories I’ve recently blogged about have some updates:
Yesterday, I wrote about a woman who was forced to undergo a painful process of removing her nipple piercings before she could board a plan, apparently for the amusement of the male security officers. The TSA has responded to the situation:
The TSA said Friday in a statement on its Web site that the officers properly followed procedures, but that the procedures must change. In the future passengers can either allow a visual inspection of their piercings, or remove them, the agency said.
The statement stopped short of apologizing to Hamlin.
”TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself,” the agency said in a statement. ”We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again.”
Hamlin’s attorney said she accepted the TSA statement as an apology, and commended the agency for taking quick action. The policy change is ”an achievement for the protection of passengers’ civil rights while meeting the security goals of the TSA,” Gloria Allred said.
Uh huh. Well call me difficult to please (you wouldn’t be the first), but I do find it a little odd how the TSA website already said prior to this statement that “If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search.” A pat-down search was never offered to Hamlin, and was in fact refused to her when she made the offer herself to show her nipple piercings to the female guard in private — the same guard who had to look at her piercings anyway as Hamlin went through the excruciating process of removing them. So I think that TSA will have to try again. Changing a policy is totally different from beginning to enforce one that is already in place. It was previously indicated that Hamlin was considering suing if she did not receive an apology. I think that it will be a shame if a lawsuit doesn’t go through, and after all of the trouble, TSA gets off the hook with a slight wag of the finger.
I’ve also recently blogged about how Al Sharpton and the NAACP are supporting leniency for the Dunbar Village rapists. Now, Sharpton’s organization (NAN) and the NAACP are furiously denying, changing their stories and pointing fingers at each other. Sharpton has tried to rewrite history and is blaming the “misinformation” on the women of color bloggers who have raised awareness and interest about this issue, without noting that the information came from numerous objective and mainstream news sources. In other words, he’s not only ignoring the fact that women of color deserve rights equal to those of men of color, but is now also blaming his own disgusting mess on women of color rather than taking responsibility for his actions. Nice. Also, while reviewing the denials and backpedaling, check out this flier. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of who produced it, but according the the Dunbar Village blog, it was passed around at the NAN and NAACP join press conference on March 11. And even if they didn’t produce the fliers themselves, the fact remains that putting together an event with this type of bullshit propaganda being openly distributed isn’t exactly the best way to prove that you’re not supporting the rapists (and neither is standing on a stage with the rapists’ families).
Keep those letters coming, folks.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Mar
26
Bush Official: Doctor’s Right to Withold Information Greater Than Patient’s Right to Receive It
Filed Under Republicans, abortion, anti-choice extremism, assholes, misogyny, patriarchy, politics, religious fanaticism, reproductive justice, social conservatives, women’s health | 53 Comments
Surprise, surprise: the Bush Administration thinks that Ob/Gyns should not only have the right to deny women basic medical care like abortion, emergency contraception or regular old birth control, but they should also be able to refuse to provide a referral to another doctor for these services.
Last Friday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt sent a letter to the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with a copy to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Leavitt said he was concerned about an ethics committee statement from ACOG in November stating that doctors should either be prepared to perform “standard reproductive services” or else refer those patients to someone who will.
Leavitt’s letter said he was even more concerned that the Ob/Gyn board had made adherence to that policy a requirement for certification.
Pro-life Ob/Gyns complained that that would require them to make abortion referrals, something they morally opposed. And in his letter, Leavitt said that could violate federal laws protecting health workers’ conscience rights.
But here’s the thing. Also shockingly, Leavitt is an idiot. Not only because he sent such an outrageous letter in response to such a practical guideline — essentially stating that a person actually does have a right to medical care regardless of who their doctor prays to on Sunday — but because the board in no way makes adherence to this commonsense guideline a requirement for certification. It should be a requirement, of course; I don’t really know how the hell you could certify a doctor who refuses to provide his or her patients with basic information about services he or she doesn’t like and expect an acceptable result. But the fact remains that it’s not a requirement. And so Leavitt is not only an asshole who thinks doctors should be able to withhold information, he’s also an asshole who doesn’t bother to verify information before widely disseminating it.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Mar
23
Offensive Remark of the Week: White People Just Don’t Get Enough Credit for Stopping the Whole Lynching Thing Edition
Filed Under 2008 election, Republicans, assholes, bigotry, discrimination, media, offensive remark of the week, politics, race and racism, social conservatives | 29 Comments
Clearly, it should go without saying that Pat Buchanan is a fucking nut. Really, I try to ignore these types more than anything. I just don’t have the time to follow the disgraceful career of every racist, misogynist, homophobic, nationalist, religious fanatic puppet of the Republican party.
But this time . . . oh, this time. Buchanan has written a column as a response to Barack Obama’s recent speech on racism in America (all emphasis in quoted text is mine). And as far as I can tell, Buchanan’s feelings are really hurt because Obama didn’t take the time to personally thank him for the fact that slavery ended and rich white dudes like himself only continue to demand slightly more subtle forms of oppression. It’s a good point; for everything else he’s said, I don’t remember Buchanan ever remarking (in public) “that slavery thing was a pretty sweet ride — why don’t we bring that back?” Why the hell aren’t all those uppity black folks sending him thank you cards?
Really, read the whole thing; it’s a fucking doozy.
The “white community,” said Barack, must start “acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination — and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past — are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds … .”
And what deeds must we perform to heal ourselves and our country?
The “white community” must invest more money in black schools and communities, enforce civil rights laws, ensure fairness in the criminal justice system and provide this generation of blacks with “ladders of opportunity” that were “unavailable” to Barack’s and the Rev. Wright’s generations.
What is wrong with Barack’s prognosis and Barack’s cure?
Only this. It is the same old con, the same old shakedown that black hustlers have been running since the Kerner Commission blamed the riots in Harlem, Watts, Newark, Detroit and a hundred other cities on, as Nixon put it, “everybody but the rioters themselves.”
Was “white racism” really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stories, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said — that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery.
Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.
Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.
Aww. Buchanan feels he isn’t being listened to and has to remind the entire world that he presumably has a white penis. I’d feel so terribly bad for him if a single word of it was true. But please, wait, because that’s the intro. It gets about ten times worse.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Feb
16
Offensive Remark of the Week: Glenn Beck Thinks He Can Call Other People Ugly Edition
Filed Under Republicans, assholes, beauty myths, feminism, media, misogyny, offensive remark of the week, patriarchy, sex and sexuality, sexism | 5 Comments
‘If we don’t tell anyone I’m a douche, they’ll never figure it out!’
If you’ve ever heard conservative TV and radio host Glenn Beck’s name, you undoubtedly know that he’s an asshole. Simple enough, no big shocks there. He’s also dumb as a bag of rocks. The other night, I was out for pizza, the restaurant TV was unfortunately tuned to CNN, and Beck was talking about the condoms that NYC handed out on Valentine’s Day. He made the ridiculous argument that handing out condoms to teenagers is encouraging sex, blah blah blah, but then took the stupidity up a notch — I kid you not –with saying that NY is a dirty city and it’s not a good idea to hand out condoms on the street because people should be having sex in more sanitary locations. I kept waiting for an indication that he was joking, and not actually so dense as to think that the moment you hand someone a condom, pants are dropped and fucking ensues right there on the sidewalk. It didn’t come.
This is generally harmless asshattery. But he often takes it up a notch and decides to implicate other people in his ignorant rantings. He did just that on his radio show, the morning of the same day that I watched him make his above comments. Media Matters only highlights the last paragraph here, but I think that the preceding paragraph they provided for context is just as offensive. Here are Glenn’s thoughts on a story he found called “Surprising reasons you’re not having sex”:
BECK: I mean, here are some other reasons. “You’re ugly.” Hello! I’m not a sex expert but I’m — you know, I’m thinking, you know, you’re ugly and, you know, that’s a tough one to overcome especially if you’re a woman. If you’re a guy, that’s not hard to overcome. I’m sorry. That’s just the way the world is. Have you — how many ugly guys have hot wives? Take me, for example. I don’t know why she married — I think it was low self-esteem. I do. No, really I think it was low self-esteem. I got in — you know, you buy when the market is low. You know what I mean? While everybody else is selling, you buy. And I think I got in there right at the right time. Low self-esteem, low, wait a minute, could go a little lower, she might come down to my price. Hang on, OK, sold! Now her self-esteem is going up. And if my income wasn’t going up, she would have ditched me long ago. She would have gone, “Wait a minute, I think I was depressed when I married you.” I’m just — look. I’m not Tania, but I am a thinker. I’m on to you, Tania!
OK, so anyway, I was talking about ugly people. Ugly people, if you’re a guy, you can get past it. I don’t think you can as an ugly woman. I don’t — no, I don’t. If you’re an ugly woman, I apologize. Oh, you’ve got a double cross, because if you’re an ugly woman, you’re probably a progressive as well. Oh, jeez. I’m sorry. Today’s just not your day. But you know what? If you believed in God, you’d know that there’s going to be another chance for you. You don’t have to be ugly in heaven. You’re going to be your perfect self, and there will be another perfect somebody waiting for you on the other side.
Popularity: 21% [?]
Jan
28
You know who I fucking hate?
Filed Under Republicans, assholes, politics | 11 Comments
Bush.
I know, I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?
Take the unimpressed face of Barack Obama, multiply it by the unimpressed face of Hillary Clinton and throw in a pinch of the unimpressed faces of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi, and you’ll get an idea of what my unimpressed face looks like right about now.
Also, can someone please get the Democrats some super glue to help them keep their asses in their damn seats? Christ.
*deep breaths*
Popularity: 12% [?]
Jan
28
On “Pro-Choice Republicans”
Filed Under 2008 election, Democrats, Republicans, WOC issues, abortion, class and economics, human rights, politics, pregnancy, reproductive justice, social conservatives, women’s health | 6 Comments
This RH Reality Check article on pro-choice Republicans has intrigued me and got my brain whirling. To someone like me, “pro-choice Republican” is quite the oxymoron. Yeah, I’ve heard of them existing (though I don’t recall every knowingly meeting one in person). But every time I hear the concept, my head just about explodes.
The basic premise for pro-choice Republicans, which I accept, is that traditional Republican values of personal freedom and lack of government intrusion are perfectly in line with legal abortion and medical privacy. But there are two very significant problems here. The first is that the Republican Party has seemingly not stood for these principles in some time, and certainly not in my time. In my 23 years, Republicans have always been anti-gay rights, anti-abortion, anti-black civil rights and in favor of abandoning the most basic principles of the capitalism they so adore by artificially propping up big business. The second problem is that merely being in favor of legal abortion doesn’t make one pro-choice.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Jan
26
Who says feminists are humorless?
Filed Under 2008 election, Republicans, abortion, action alert, anti-choice extremism, assholes, politics, reproductive justice | 3 Comments
I just got a fund raising email from NARAL, and I have to say that it’s pretty fucking awesome. The hook? Three anti-choice Republicans for the price of one. Here is the candidate we need to fear:
Eek!
I have to say that when I saw the email subject, my first thought was “that needs an artistic rendering,” only to find out that NARAL had already gone that extra mile. And I find it to be infinitely amusing. A cartoon would still great, though. Artists?
If you feel inclined to donate to NARAL — whether because they do great work, because they’re hilarious, or because The McRomabee is indeed terrifying — you can do so here.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Jan
23
Getting Better in Missouri
Filed Under Republicans, abortion, anti-choice extremism, class and economics, human rights, misogyny, politics, reproductive justice, women’s health | 4 Comments
Sing it with me, Beatles fans: it can’t get no worse.
After yesterday’s Roe anniversary and Blog for Choice saturation, I’m sure that a lot of you might be sick of hearing about abortion. But one piece of good news out of my favorite anti-choice state of recent weeks before we find something different to talk about: a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling that Missouri must provide inmate transportation for elective abortions. In a bit of poetic justice, the decision was indeed made yesterday, on Roe’s 35th anniversary.
A Department of Corrections spokesman said the state would comply while considering appeals options.
“We will have to abide by the court order, as we have been,” said Brian Hauswirth. “That said, we have serious security concerns.”
“Jane Roe” received an abortion soon after filing the suit in October 2005. The lawsuit was then amended to represent all female inmates seeking elective abortions.
Roe left state custody in 2006, Blumenthal said.
A policy enacted in September 2005 had barred corrections officials from taking female inmates from a prison in Vandalia to St. Louis for elective abortions. Prison officials said security concerns and cost savings prompted the policy.
State officials estimated $350 for fuel and two guards.
While acknowledging that prison officials had made their point on the security question, appeals judges found other state arguments lacking. State officials had established no alternate means for inmates to obtain elective abortions, had overstated the impact on prison resources and had miscalculated the cost savings.
Pregnant inmates probably would take more trips out of the prison for prenatal care, the judges found.
But while the appeals judges affirmed U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple’s original ruling, they faulted his finding that the state’s policy violated Roe’s Eighth Amendment right to be free from “cruel and unusual punishment.”
State officials had not been indifferent to a serious medical need, the judges found.
Well, okay, I’m not exactly sure about that last part. Is the court suggesting that abortion is not a serious medical need, or that refusing to provide transportation for a medical service that an inmate must pay for out of pocket doesn’t constitute indifference? I don’t know, and at this time in the morning I probably don’t want to know.
Popularity: 12% [?]