These stars are using their celebrity to spread the "F" word

When I was 13, my father handed me a slim paperback titled The Facts of Life and Love for Teenagers. My little book became the hottest item at camp that summer...The only problem was that I didn't understand much of what I read and I was too embarrassed to ask questions. No one in my home said "sex." Ancient history? I wish. Full Article

When Marjane Satrapi started working at l'Atelier des Vosges, home to many of France's celebrated new wave comic book artists, she would regale her fellow artists with amazing stories of her family-- stories of dethroned emperors, suicidal uncles, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution-- in short, the details of daily life in contemporary Iran. Full Article

"Elders are not a separate species," says photographer Jessica Chornesky. "I want to reframe how older women are perceived." Chornesky, 40, brings that idea vividly to life in her new multimedia project "70 Up." Chornesky interviewed and photographed more than two dozen women over 70 years old to spotlight their productivity and contributions. Full Article

In the 27 years since the Supreme Court revived capital punishment, ten women have been put to death. As the nation continues to debate the use of executions as a crime prevention strategy, the fate of these women is mostly absent from public discussion. They are a policy afterthought, as invisible in their potential deaths as they were in their lives. Full Article

All along women have been developing plans for their vision of the political management of Congo. This initiative came from a collective of women's groups known as Women as Partners for Peace in Africa (WOPPA) led by Ellyse Dimandja. Women's organizations are actively engaged in keeping the country moving toward peace. Full Article

Along with Ireland, Poland's abortion law is one of the strictest in Europe. Under communism, women had little or no access to contraceptives (or tampons or anesthesia during childbirth). Abortion was not just available; it was broadly used as a means of birth control. Only 124 legal abortions were reported in Poland in 2001. Estimates of illegal abortions range from 80,000 to 200,000. Full Article

Somehow, I wasn’t surprised when the first Beltway Baby of 2003—born in our nation’s capital’s greater metropolitan area—turned out to have two mothers...as it happens, just about every lesbian couple I know between the ages of 27 and 42 (and some single lesbians as well) are trying either to get pregnant or to adopt, are currently expecting, or have small children already underfoot. Full Article

If each woman in the U.S. breastfed each of her two children for six months longer than she does now, Beral and her colleagues conclude, the number of new breast cancer cases in the U.S. could be reduced by more than 7,500 each year. More than half the countries in the world provide routine nursing breaks for mothers in the workplace. So far, the U.S. does not. Full Article

Despite promises by international players and pleas from Afghan officials, the expansion of international peacekeepers beyond Kabul remains unfulfilled. And the accompanying violence around the country is probably the single biggest obstacle to getting international authorities to pay sufficient attention to women's rights in Afghanistan. Full Article

Afghanistan in the Feminist Daily News

The Umschlagplatz, where transports of Jews were shipped East decades earlier, still received trains, including mine. Disembarking into the early morning haze, I realized I was stepping out of a station where others only stepped in. Full Essay

Today's wars are about oil. But alternate energies exist now-- solar, wind-- for every important energy-using activity in our lives. The only human work that cannot be done without oil is war. Full Article

Every anti-war movement deserves a good song (or two or three) for emotional sustenance and inspiration. The Iraqi conflict turned out to be short on inspiring music, from both sides of the political spectrum— except, we might suggest, from feminist rock trio Sleater-Kinney. Full Article

You might think that the nation's oldest and arguably most prestigious university-- Harvard-- would have a policy on sexual assault in place that lesser schools might emulate. You would be wrong. Full Article

Sexual Assault in the Feminist Daily News

With over 60 original essays Robin Morgan commissioned from well-known feminist leaders plus energetic Gen X and Y activists, Sisterhood Is Forever is a composite mural of the female experience in America: where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going. Read the excerpt “Biologically Correct” by Natalie Angie. Full Article

Women have a foothold in most professions today, but lawsuits are documenting how tenuous that can be. Expanding the "comfort factor" between the mostly male bosses and credentialed, up-and-coming women is a challenge. It is made harder, of course, if the corporation handicaps women by sponsoring men-only "outings." Full Article

Augusta National in the Feminist Daily News

A new generation of student activists has taken up the cause and re-invigorated the civil rights movement as they speak out on what's at stake for them-- and for the nation. Full Article| Teresa Stern Chat Transcript

Affirmative Action in the Feminist Daily News

In the past 20 years, no fewer than eight federal courts have considered and rejected the claim that Title IX sets up a quota system. See how Coach Pat Summitt founded a Title IX dynasty. Full Article

Title IX in the Feminist Daily News

As war is imminent, women across the world and the United States continue to raise their voices in defense of peace. The National Council of Women’s Organizations Statement on War with Iraq has been signed by 170 women's organizations representing over 7 million members. Full Article | Partial Member List

On the January 22 anniversary of the Roe v. Wade court decision legalizing abortion, Kopp's circle of committed abortion foes, members of a group who call themselves the "Army of God," traveled to Buffalo to demonstrate in support of Kopp. Full Article | Press Release

Kopp in the Feminist Daily News

Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem and Ellie Smeal speak out against the war - and for the collective action among women's organizations and peace organizations that has arisen in response to Bush's actions. Full Article | List of Organizations

The "This is What a Feminist Looks Like" tee worn by Ashley Judd, Margaret Cho, Whoopie Goldberg, and Camryn Manheim on the cover of this Ms. is available in the Ms. Online Store for $17! Get the Gear

Other great tees: Radical Feminist, Girls Rock!, Outrageous Older Woman, Wild Women Don't Get the Blues, and more!

Today, in a country so narrowly divided in its politics that the loss of one seat shifts party control of the Senate and the last presidential election had to be decided in federal courts, an unshakably solid majority of women aligns with the women's movement, its accomplishments, and its goals.
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