Jessica Wakeman | The Frisky

North Carolina Pols Actually Thought Requiring Parental Consent For STD Testing Was A Good Idea

Jessica WakemanMay 9, 2013 //

NC candidate co-stars with vaginal probe in new campaign ad. Read More »

NC Vaginal Probe

North Carolina's ultrasound-before-abortion law challenged. Read More »

Abortion Provider Death Threats

NC politician calls for public hanging of abortion providers. Read More »

terrible idea!

Thank God somebody in North Carolina’s state legislature has some sense: the Health and Human Services Committee has pulled a bill that would require teens get parental consent for STD testing and treatment, as well as other healthcare. The Republican-controlled committee had advanced the bill on Tuesday, to an explosion of WTF ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? on the Internet.

The bill would have required teens to get notarized parental consent for STD testing and treatment, pregnancy care, mental health counseling, or substance abuse treatment. Anyone with half a brain would know that teenagers don’t want to talk with dear old Mommy and Daddy about weird stuff going on in their genitals, their cutting problem, or their dependency on popping pills. But North Carolina Republicans? Apparently they don’t understand basic human psychology. Keep reading »

Identical Twins Kirstie & Kristie Bronner Are Co-Valedictorians Of Spelman

Jessica WakemanMay 9, 2013 //

2 sets of twins

One woman gave birth to two sets of identical twins at once. Read More »

Twin Telepathy

Tamera Mowry experienced once of Tia's pregnancy contractions. Read More »

Mitt's Commencement

Mitt Romney urges 2013 college grads to get married and have kids. Read More »

congratulations, ladies

Here’s a hard sister act to follow: identical twins Kirstie and Kristie Bronner (yes, those are their names) have been named co-valedictorians of Spelman College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia. See, Kirstie had a 4.0 GPA and her twin sister Kristie also had a 4.0 GPA, so the school appointed them both to the highest academic honor. Both sisters were music majors and plan to record a gospel album together; after graduation, they want to work for their father, who is a minister. They’re also planning to write a book on how to achieve academically — a subject they both know well. The young women said they exercised intense self-discipline, only socializing on the weekends. “We maximized our study time,” said Kirstie. “People would ask us ‘do you want to go do this or that on a weekday’ and the response was an automatic ‘no.’ We saved recreation for the weekend. Our philosophy was and is, pay now and play later.” The twins will be honored this Sunday at Spelman’s 126th commencement. [News One; Patch]

SlutWalk Protest Gets Student Teacher Theresa Illgen Removed From Job

Jessica WakemanMay 9, 2013 //

What Are SlutWalks?

SlutWalks are sexually empowering for women! Read More »

Origins Of Slutwalk

The Slutwalk origin story comes to us via Toronto, Canada. Read More »

Be Sex Positive!

Eight ways to be positive you're sex positive. Read More »

Theresa Illgen, 23, a student teacher, was asked not to return to the high school where she was teaching after she participated in a SlutWalk protest on the New Mexico State University campus and had a picture of herself wearing a bra on the front page of the local newspaper. Illgen is the president of a student feminist group and marched in the protest with tons of other students. [Las Cruces Sun-News]
An abortion provider reflects on motherhood and her own abortion. [Raw Story]
A Change.org petition asking Disney not to give Princess Merida from “Brave” a sexy makeover has garnered over 30,000 signatures. [Change.org]
On how “The Great Gatsby” movie gets fashion and feminism wrong. [Collectors Weekly] Keep reading »

Lawyer Wants Age Of Consent Lowered To 13 To Stop “Persecution Of Old Men”

Jessica WakemanMay 9, 2013 //

On Consent

Jessica explores a sexual experience that wasn't totally consensual. Read More »

Statutory Rape Suicide

14-year-old commits suicide when IDed after statutory rape. Read More »

Teach Boys Not To Rape

On Steubenville High School and teaching boys not to rape. Read More »

what?!

Yup, you read that headline right: a British lawyer has called for the age of consent to be lowered to 13 because a dirty old man touching 8th graders’ boobs should be totally OK.

London lawyer Barbara Hewson penned an impassioned piece for a contrarian British publication called Spiked in which she wrote about the Jimmy Savile trial, or Operation Yewtree. Simply put, Yewtree investigated multiple allegations that a late British TV host had sexually abused many, many underage girls and boys. The whole trial has reignited concerns in the UK about adult sexual abuse of children and young adults

But now Hewson — A WOMAN!— is concerned that the UK is conducting its own witch hunt, falsely accusing adult men of being sexual predators. ”[T]he goings-on at the BBC in past decades are not a patch on what Stead exposed. Taking girls to one’s dressing room, bottom pinching and groping in cars hardly rank in the annals of depravity with flogging and rape in padded rooms,” she wites. “Touching a 17-year-old’s breast, kissing a 13-year-old, or putting one’s hand up a 16-year-old’s skirt, are not remotely comparable” to rape or gang rapes. And since that’s supposedly the only really bad way a young woman can be violated, she now advocates that they “remove complainant anonymity; introduce a strict statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil actions; and reduce the age of consent to 13.” Keep reading »

Facebook Page Run By Active Marines Mocks Violence Against Female Troops

Jessica WakemanMay 9, 2013 //

Trump's Rape Tweets

Donald Trump helpfully reminds us all men are rapists, always. Read More »

Rape In Military

Defense Secretary vows to take sexual assault in the military seriously. Read More »

A Soldier's Thoughts

Why an ex-soldier was reluctant to endorse lifting the ban. Read More »

A Facebook page run by active Marines mocking violence against female troops has been taken down after it was publicly outed by a Congresswoman. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) penned a letter to the Secretary of Defense and the commander of the Marine Corps asking them to take action on the page, F’N Wook, which showed pictures of women with disrespectful, sexist, and violent captions. “Many of the pictures imply women only advance professionally by performing sexual favors,” Rep. Speier wrote in her letter. “And otherwise promote the idea that women are inferior and only useful as sexual objects and sandwich makers.” One showed a picture of three female Marines with the caption, “Lesbian … still goes down on gunny for promotion.” Another showed a servicewoman with a black eye and the caption, “She burned the bacon only once.” Keep reading »

Spanx Billionaire Sara Blakely Commits To Giving Away Half Her Fortune

Jessica WakemanMay 9, 2013 //

Spanx For Men

Giving him that six-pack look, without the gym. Read More »

On Bridal Underwear

Take a peek into the strange world of wedding day underpants. Read More »

Spanx for cats?

Is your cat in need of shapewear? Read More »

morning quickies

Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, is the first female billionaire who has committed to giving away half her fortune to Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates’ Giving Pledge. [Enterpreneur]
The Onion did a piece on called “Men Are The Best” as if it were written by Amanda Berry, Georgina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, the three women who were held captive in Cleveland. Naturally, it has a lot of people saying “TOO SOON.” [The Onion]
“The Vampire Diaries” stars Nina Dobrev and Ian Somherhalder have broken up after three years together. [US Weekly]
Nope, nope, nope: Hooters is offering moms a free meal on Mother’s Day. [OC Weekly]
Quel scandale! John Legend was allegedly seen making out with a woman who was not his model fiancée Chrissy Teigen on Friday night. [Page Six] Keep reading »

Cleveland Hero Charles Ramsey Did Prison Time For Domestic Abuse

Jessica WakemanMay 8, 2013 //

Meet Charles Ramsey

The amazing neighbor who helped rescue Berry, DeJesus and Knight. Read More »

Emerging Details

More info on the three missing women who were rescued in Cleveland. Read More »

Castro Helped Search

Ariel Castro reportedly helped search for the missing women. Read More »

evening quickies

The Smoking Gun has discovered that Charles Ramsey, the man who helped rescue three women from captivity, did prison time from three domestic abuse convictions. Ramsey was arrested in 1997, 1998 and 2003 for battering his ex, eventually leading to their divorce. His ex-wife Rochelle, with whom he had a daughter (and a son from Rochelle’s prior relationship), eventually got an order of protection against him. He also didn’t pay his child support. Well this is going to throw a wrench in that whole “hero” narrative. [The Smoking Gun]
Nick Lachey has probably been waiting to say this for six years. [TODAY]
So, Chris Cuomo’s interview with Amanda Knox was creepy. [Gawker]
Phaedra Parks from “Real Housewives Of Atlanta” has given birth to her second child, a baby boy. Congrats! [US Weekly]
The wardrobe of the late fashion icon Isabella Blow will go on display this November in London. SQUEE! [Fashionista] Keep reading »

Democratic Republic Of Congo Worst Place On Earth For Mothers

Jessica WakemanMay 8, 2013 //

On Motherhood

Why are we treating moms like second class citizens? Read More »

Best Places For Moms

The United States is waaay down on the list. Read More »

Mother's Day 2013

Why hello, Mother. Read More »

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst country in the world for mothers, according to the annual report on motherhood from Save The Children. The best place on Earth, in terms of education, income, maternal health and child mortality, continues to be Finland, Sweden and Norway. We should be ashamed of ourselves, America. [BBC]
This is beyond fucked up: an Air Force brochure advises sexual assault victims to “submit.” [WIRED]
On the Lilith Fund, an organization that gives small grants to women seeking an abortion. [Texas Observer] Keep reading »

Donald Trump Helpfully Reminds Us All Men Are Rapists, Always

Jessica WakemanMay 8, 2013 //

Marine To Fox News

Sexual assault should not be part of her job. Read More »

Military Ban Lifted

The military has lifted the ban on women in combat roles. Read More »

A Soldier's Thoughts

An ex-soldier on lifting the ban on women in combat. Read More »

Just in case you thought that men should be expected to obtain consent from women before engaging in sexual behavior with them, bigoted blowhard Donald Trump is here to remind you all men are rapists, always. Why else would 26,000 service members have reported experiencing [second item] “unwanted sexual contact” last year? It’s because, Trump tweeted, men and women have never, ever worked alongside each other in coed workplaces without men raping their colleagues. In a followup tweet Trump — who, correct me if I’m wrong, attended a military high school but has never served a day in the actual military, unlike actual women in combat — said “top military brass” didn’t want “a mixer.” But “dumb politicians” just had to endanger these vulnerable women at the hands of all the rapists in uniform. Sorry, ladies. Rape away, dudes — I know you can’t help yourselves. [Examiner]

Zelda Fitzergerald Gets Her Own Artisanal Ice Cream

Jessica WakemanMay 8, 2013 //

Capitalizing on “The Great Gatsby” has reached a jazzy new peak with limited edition ice cream in the spirt of Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Zelda Collection by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Ohio and Tennessee opportunistically celebrates the writer and bon vivant’s “free spirt” with four different flavors which carry you from her childhood in Alabama to Paris in the Roaring Twenties: Blackberries + Sweet Cream, Cognac + Marmalade, Loveless Biscuits + Peach Jam, and Dark Chocolate Rye. Not sure if the Fitzgeralds are rolling over in their graves or thumbing their noses because there isn’t more alcohol involved. Either way, the Zelda Collection ice cream is sold out, so we’ll never know. [Jenis via Gothamist]