Todays Lady News

Arkansas Ban On Abortions After 12 Weeks Temporarily Blocked

Jessica Wakeman11 hours ago //

A ban on abortions after 12 weeks in Arkansas — the earliest abortion ban in the country — has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge. [Politico]
The state government of Illinois has advanced a comprehensive sex ed bill that requires teachers to teach “medically accurate and age-appropriate lesson[s]” on sexual health. What a novel idea! [Rockford Register Star]
New York State has introduced a bill to prosecute sex traffickers. [Stop Human Trafficking NY]
Dove, Vistaprint and Audible.com are all ignoring an online campaign by feminist activist group Women, Action & Media (WAM) to encourage Facebook to remove content that is violent against women and girls. [Feministing, WAM]
Meet Rep. Krysten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, who is openly bisexual and agnostic. [ELLE] Keep reading »

Women, Action & The Media Calls On Facebook To Address Gender-Based Hate Speech

Jessica WakemanMay 21, 2013 //

Feminist media group Women, Action & The Media (WAM) has called upon Facebook to address gender-based hate speech on the site, in particular groups and pages that condone rape and domestic violence, such as “Raping Your Girlfriend” or “Domestic Violence: Don’t Make Me Tell You Twice.” In an open letter, WAM asks that Facebook recognize speech about violence against women and girls as hate speech and agree not to tolerate it; train moderators to recognize and remove hate speech; and train moderators to understand how online harassment impacts the Facebook community. You can also contact five prominent companies who have run ads which appeared alongside violent and hateful content, including Dove and American Express, in hopes that they will put pressure on Facebook, too. [Women Action Media]
A federal appeals court has struck down Arizona’s ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, calling it unconstitutional. [The Daily Beast] Keep reading »

Iowa Senate Republican Staffer Says She Was Fired After Reporting Sexual Harrassment

Jessica WakemanMay 20, 2013 //

How To Talk To Girls

For starters, don't ask to see her private parts. Read More »

#IAskedPolitely

Hashtag gathers stories of asking sexual harassment to stop. Read More »

I Was Sexually Harassed

... while trying to run errands at my local store. Read More »

Kirsten Anderson, a former staffer for Iowa Senate Republicans, said she was fired hours after reporting and providing documentation of sexual harassment. According to WHO TV, Anderson said “male staffers and senators used sexist language, commented about her body and her clothes.” [WHO TV, Raw Story]
A Facebook page that is a “direct threat” against Rep. Jackie Speier has been shut down and referred to Capitol police. The page had several disparaging comments on it from active duty service members. Rep. Speier was targeted for helping to shut down a page run by active Marines which mocked violence against female troops. [NBC News]
A former “hero cop” Richard DeCoatsworth who once sat next to the First Lady at a presidential speech has been accused of raping two women at gunpoint and numerous other crimes. [Jezebel]
A so-called “crisis pregnancy center” has moved next door to an abortion clinic in Charleston, West Virginia. [RH Reality Check]
On the feminism of Beyoncé (and no, this one’s not from Ms.!) [Bitch Magazine] Keep reading »

Comedian Loses Gig After Confronting Staff Over Their Lack Of Response To Sexual Heckling

Jessica WakemanMay 17, 2013 //

Lampanelli's Schtick

Lisa Lampanelli's racist schtick abuses the art of comedy. Read More »

Daniel Tosh Rape Joke

Daniel Tosh joked about a woman in audience getting raped by five men. Read More »

Whitney Talks Comedy

Whitney Cummings on why it's okay for a woman to be pretty in comedy. Read More »

A Funny Rape Joke?

Jamie Kilstein tells one. Read More »

Comedian Christina Walkinshaw was performing as an opening act at Yuk Yuk’s in Casino Niagra in September 2012 when guys in the audience started yelling at her “Show us your tits!” and then “Show us your bush!” After the show — during which the headliner tried to get the staff to kick the sexual harrasers out, to no avail — she confronted the woman who ran the show for the casino, asking why she didn’t remove the audience members. The woman then told her, “Oh! Sorry! We thought you liked it!” She later found out that an upcoming gig had been cancelled because of the “incident.” [The Globe & Mail]
A federal judge has granted an injunction requested by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU against a new law in Arkansas that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. [AP]
Two Democratic politicians in New York have introduced a bill to end deceptive practices by so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.” [RH Reality Check]
What is trans feminism and why is it necessary? [Jezebel] Keep reading »

Feminists Take Over A Misogynist Facebook Page From The Inside

Jessica WakemanMay 16, 2013 //

Read this story about how six feminists took over a misogynist Facebook page from the inside… [The Daily Dot]
Black women are 49 percent less likely than white women to get tested for the mutated genes that lead to breast cancer. Here’s what else you need to know about how race impacts breast healthcare. [Diversity Inc]
Vermont has passed an equal pay law that targets certain factors that lead to a wage gap. [National Women's Law Center]
North Carolina, thank God, has taken out that part of an anti-abortion bill that would have allowed employers to refuse coverage for birth control. [RH Reality Check]
On the ethics of extreme porn: is some sex wrong even among consenting adults? [The Atlantic] Keep reading »

Women Don ’60s “Mad Men” Costumes To Protest North Carolina Birth Control Refusal Bill

Jessica WakemanMay 15, 2013 //

NC Wants Parental Consent

... for STD testing? Are you serious? Read More »

NC Vaginal Probe

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

Abortion Provider Threat

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

North Carolina’s state house is set to debate a bill that would allow employers to refuse coverage of employees’ birth control. In protest, a bunch of women dressed up in ’60s-era “Mad Men” garb and sat in the audience! [RH Reality Check, Huffington Post]
A bakery in Oregon is refusing to provide a cake to lesbian brides. Oh this again?. [Raw Story]
The White House is taking proactive steps to lower the wage gap between male and female federal workers. [AL.com]
The director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response office said that sexism needs to be taken as seriously as racism within the military. Hear, hear! [USA Today]
Meanwhile, a soldier who was to set up a sexual assault prevention program in Texas has been arrested for “abusive sexual contact.” Facepalm. [Talking Points Memo] Keep reading »

Rep. Michele Bachmann Urges “Spiritual Warfare” Against Marriage Equality, Reproductive Rights

Jessica WakemanMay 14, 2013 //

Teen Stands Up To Sex Ed

Katelyn Campbell just said no to her school's abstinence-only sex ed. Read More »

No "Feminist" Blog

Beliefnet wouldn't use the word "feminist" on a blog. Read More »

Nutso Religious Graphic

Your slutty behavior is killing flowers (or something?). Read More »

Rep. Michele Bachmann is urging Christians to engage in “spiritual warfare” to put their religious values in government, like banning marriage equality and criminalizing abortion. Scary, scary stuff. [Raw Story]
In related I’m-moving-to-Canada news, North Carolina’s state Senate has advanced a bill that erroneously lists abortion as a cause of premature birth. Although the medical community vehemently disagrees, abortion opponents frequently claim that abortion causes breast cancer or makes it difficult for women to have children in the future. The NC bill includes abortion as a cause of “preterm birth” up there with drug use lack of prenatal care. [RH Reality Check]
On Planned Parenthood and the real lessons of the Kermit Gosnell case. [The Daily Beast]
“Elementary” actress Lucy Liu on the limits placed on her for being an Asian actress in Hollywood. [xoJane]
On the inappropriate comments being made about Angelina Jolie losing her natural breasts to a double mastectomy, which she chose to have to prevent breast cancer. [Slate] Keep reading »

Cab Driver Allegedly Rapes Sleeping Woman, Returns Lost Wallet, Wants A Cookie

Jessica WakemanMay 13, 2013 //

A New Orleans cab driver would much prefer that you focus on the fact he returned a man’s lost wallet and didn’t accept the reward and not that he covered the in-cab surveillance camera and allegedly raped a woman sleeping in the back of his taxi. [Jezebel]
Surprise! White men make up the majority of evening cable news hosts. [Media Matters For America]
California’s state Assembly has advanced a bill that will protect trans students who use bathrooms based on their gender identity, not their physical sex. [Los Angeles Times]
What are Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision that effectively legalized abortion in America? [Politico] Keep reading »

Minnesota’s Rep. Peggy Scott Says “My Heart Breaks” Over Marriage Equality Win

Jessica WakemanMay 10, 2013 //

Minnesota’s state House has advanced a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage … [Feminist.org]
… which has one Minnesota Republican named Rep. Peggy Scott very upset. “My heart breaks for Minnesota,” she said. Deal with it. [Raw Story]
Microsoft has named Amy Hood as its first-ever female CFO. [The Daily Beast]
Here’s how to participate in a national call-in for Kiera Wilmot, the teen girl in Florida who was expelled, arrested and charged with a felony all for a science project gone wrong. [Crunk Feminist Collective]
ABC News producer Dawn Ennis has come out to her colleagues as transgender, asking now to be referred to as “Dawn” instead of “Don,” and henceforth dressing in her gender at the office. [Cosmopolitan] Keep reading »

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 »