Tag Archives: feminism

Cannes Film Festival Spurs Controversy And Disruptive Protest In Light Of A Lack Of Female Nominees

Rachel Krause3 hours ago //

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While we’ve been covering all of the fashion at Cannes, there seems to be a more unsavory undercurrent on the scene: in the 64 years of the festival, just one woman has claimed the most esteemed Palme d’Or award, and this year’s total lack of female directors in the awards’ lineup has sparked international backlash among feminists. Whether Cannes has provided warranted grounds for contention is still up in the air. A petition hosted on Change.org entitled “Cannes Film Festival: Where Are The Women Directors?” has garnered over 2,000 signees, with feminist icon Gloria Steinem, “The Vagina Monologues” playwright Eve Ensler, and award-winning Australian director Gillian Armstrong among them. However, last year’s nominations for the top prize featured four movies by women, while last month’s Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan had a heavy female presence, with many of the event’s 90 films both focusing on female protagonists and directed by women. At the time, Daryl Wein, the director of “Lola Versus” starring Greta Gerwig, said, “It’s a moment happening now for women in film.” Keep reading »

PA Lawmaker To Introduce Legislation Seeking To Defund Planned Parenthood

Jessica Wakeman17 hours ago //

A Republican state representative in Pennsylvania will introduce legislation tomorrow that seeks to defund Planned Parenthood. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s bill would prioritize health clinics that provide abortion services below ones which do not, which would mean that PP would be deprived of state and federal funds. Those funds are used to provide PP’s other services, including cancer prevention and prescriptions. [Huffington Post]
The civil lawsuit against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn, who was accused of sexually assaulting a New York City hotel maid one year ago, will hold its next hearing in the Bronx on June 11. The Bronx is where the victim, Nafissatou Diallo, lives. Criminal charges were dropped against DSK after prosecutors said Diallo was not trustworthy. [New York Post]
Why the “debate” over breastfeeding older toddlers is bogus. [The Daily Beast] Keep reading »

Catholic Orgs File Massive Organized Lawsuits Against Obama Administration Over Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 21, 2012 //

Earlier today, 43 Catholic dioceses, schools and other institutions filed lawsuits in 12 federal courts over birth control coverage in President Obama’s plans for health care reform. The Obama administration has long touted its compromise that contraception coverage will be provided free by health care insurers if the employer refused to cover it; however, the people filing the lawsuit claim their religious liberty is under attack. Additionally, two Catholic universities recently dropped their student health plans entirely rather than deal with the compromise. [New York Times]
North Carolina pastor Charles L. Worley was videotaped saying that lesbians and gays should be put behind an electrocuted fence and left to die off. “Build a great, big, large fence — 150- or 100-mile long — put all the lesbians in there,” he said. “Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out … and you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out … do you know why? They can’t reproduce!” How grossly inhumane. [Huffington Post] Keep reading »

Second Catholic College Drops Student Health Plan Over Birth Control Melodrama

Jessica WakemanMay 18, 2012 //

Ave Maria University in Florida has dropped its student health plan rather than cover birth control in its health plan. I don’t understand why Catholic universities are doing this. It’s pretty clear: under the health care reform compromise, if a religiously-affiliated employer (such as Ave Maria University) objects to covering birth control in its health care plan, then its insurance company will be required to cover it free of charge. See? You don’t have to pay for it. Canceling student health plans just seems like a way to make headlines while pretending to be the victim. [Think Progress]
Congress is debating a so-called “fetal pain” bill that would ban abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the medically unproven claim that fetuses can feel pain after that point. [AP]
The grocery store chain Safeway is doing PR damage control: the senior vice president made a joke about Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi being pigs at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. [Slate] Keep reading »

Missouri Might Let Your Boss Decide If Your Health Insurance Covers Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 17, 2012 //

Missouri’s House of Representatives advanced a so-called “conscience” bill that would allow employers to opt-out of providing health care coverage for birth control, abortion, or sterilization if it is against their personal religious beliefs. Supporters of the bill claim it protects the “religious liberty” of employers, but everyone else says it is an intrusion of an employer’s beliefs into their employees personal lives. [Columbia Tribune]
The Army may send female soldiers to its elite Ranger School to put them on par with their male counterparts, which would also help them with future promotions. This consideration is the result of the military deciding to open up more jobs for women. [Chicago Tribune]
Pregnant women may not be getting tested for STDs, despite recommendations by medical professionals, a new study finds. Getting tested for STDs is important for moms-to-be because some can be passed along from mama to baby. [Reuters]
A New York man offered to help a drunk woman who was lost and confused call the police, then took her into an alley and raped her. [New York Daily News] Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Maybe We’re All Just Too Selfish & Immature To Find Love

Jessica WakemanMay 17, 2012 //

Guys' Pre-Date Nerves

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Bad Dating Patterns

10 Unhealthy Dating Patterns And How To Break Them

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Dating Don'ts: Criticism

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I’ve been thinking a lot about a date I had this weekend. I’m not sure that the guy and I are a right fit for some compatibility reasons, but we did end up having an interesting conversation over coffee on Saturday night. We were discussing the different ways that online dating sucks for girls and for guys. Girls, I was telling him, are inundated with creepy, overly sexual messages from random dudes, including dudes who are way, way, waaaaay too old for us. And this guy was telling me how for dudes, one of the worst things he experiences on a date with a girl is when she is too guarded and gives off a vibe of “I don’t need you.”

The stereotype may be that women are “too needy,” this guy told me, but the reality of dating strong, successful, accomplished, financially independent women is the exact opposite. “Okay, great, so what role am I supposed to have?” This guy asked me hypothetically. “It’s great if a girl’s got her life together. I think that’s awesome! But I need her to want me to be there because she needs a partner in some way, or else, what’s the point?” Keep reading »

Coat Hanger Abortions? No Biggie!

Jessica WakemanMay 16, 2012 //

Here’s a lovely comment on the value of a woman’s life from Republican Mississippi State Represenative Bubba Carpenter. In a video filmed a county GOP meeting, Rep. Carpenter is heard saying (emphasis mine), “You have [pro-choice supporters] … like, ‘Well, the poor pitiful women that can’t afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger.’ That’s what we’ve heard over and over and over. But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere, and that’s what we’ve decided to do.” Women permanently injuring themselves or even dying from unsafe, illegal coat hanger abortions, just like in the good ol’ days? Hey, no biggie! [Huffington Post]
Human Rights Watch says immigrant female farmworkers are suffering through sex abuse rather than standing up for themselves and possibly facing deportation. [Washington Post]
When so-called “men’s rights activists” are happy with the Republicans’ version of the Violence Against Women Act, you know we’ve got problems. [Think Progress] Keep reading »

Hitched: Yes, I Kept My “Maiden Name”

Andrea GrimesMay 16, 2012 //

What's In A Name?

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“So, should I be calling you something different now?”

The bartender at my local bar walked hurriedly over to my table last week as I sat with my 5 p.m. Hefeweizen, wrapping up the day’s work on my laptop. He looked genuinely worried that, when I’d walked into the bar, he’d somehow offended me by calling me what most of my favorite bartenders over the years have ended up calling me, which is: “Mizz Grimes!”

I don’t know why they’ve all tended to pick up “Mizz Grimes,” but they have, and I love it. It makes me feel fancy and Southern, and there’s something about the way Texas bartenders say “Graiihhhhmmmz” as they’re grabbing a Lone Star or a High Life out of the cooler that just sounds right.

It was the first time someone who didn’t know me well, but who did know that I’d gotten married last month, had asked me about changing my name. Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Catholic College Drops Entire Student Health Plan Rather Than Cover Birth Control

Jessica WakemanMay 15, 2012 //

A Catholic college in Ohio will drop its entire student health insurance plan beginning in the fall 2012 semester rather than cover birth control under its policy. Franciscan University would have been required to do so under Obama’s health care reform, given how the school is not a religious institution (i.e. it employs many non-religious “civilians”). It is not clear why the school didn’t opt for the compromise proposed by the government, which was to have the insurers pick up the tab if the employer wouldn’t. What a shame that the university would do this to their students. [Huffington Post]
This week marks the official beginning of women soldiers integrating into nine previously all-male units in the Army, which will open up 14,000 jobs. The policy change will eventually go Army-wide. [TIME, Boston.com]
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed into law a bill that allows a pharmacist to refuse to dispense a medication that he or she believes would terminate a life, like the morning-after pill. [Kansas City Star] Keep reading »

Slutty, Slutty Girl Scouts To Be Investigated By Bishops

Jessica WakemanMay 11, 2012 //

Girl Scouts Attacked

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Those little tramps are at it again. The nefarious-cookie sellers are trying to pull a fast one on us! The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched an official inquiry on the Girl Scouts out of concern that scouting materials contain links to other groups like Oxfam, the Sierra Club, and Doctors Without Borders, which support family planning and contraception. Apparently the connection here is that some Girl Scout troops are held in Catholic churches. Mind you, Oxfam works to end world poverty, the Sierra Club is an environmental organization, and Doctors Without Borders supports medical professionals in conflict zones. Nevertheless, those tenuous links to the Girl Scouts are “problematic,” say the bishops.

Sigh. Can’t we just leave the poor Girl Scouts alone already? [New York Times] Keep reading »