When Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last week that birth control and other women’s preventive health care services would be covered by health insurance starting in August 2012, it set off a cacophony of right-wing hysterics. They zeroed in on the “radical” concept that contraception is prevention and displayed […]
Month: August 2011
Don’t Ms.: BIG MOUTH, Sandra Bernhard, The Help and so much more!
I never wanted a private jet–until now. With so many sweet feminist events going on all over the country, I’m trying to figure out how can I be in D.C. on Tuesday, New York on Wednesday and back in Los Angeles by Thursday. Maybe you’ll have better luck making it to one of my top […]
We Heart: Champion Diana Nyad
Imagine swimming 103 miles nonstop and without sleep through territory inhabited by four kinds of sharks. You can’t. But Diana Nyad can. And after a year-and-a-half of planning, she’s on her way from Havana to Key West–a big, splashy voyage she couldn’t quite finish when she attempted it at age 28, so she’s trying again […]
Warren Jeffs’ Conviction Exposes the Coercion of Polygamy
In a courtroom in San Angelo, Texas, in August 2011, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) leader Warren Jeffs defended himself against the charge of sexual assault on the basis of religious freedom. It was an outrageous defense given that the women and children of his FLDS have no freedom whatsoever, religious or otherwise. Their minds have been coerced, cajoled and controlled since the moment of birth.
Sex, Lies and Hush Money
By Katherine Spillar This is the story of an illicit sexual relationship between a powerful U.S. senator and his female campaign treasurer, and of the equally powerful male political figures who allegedly helped cover it up. It’s a story where so-called family values and religiosity meet abuse of power. And it’s the story of a […]
Economic Woes, Nefarious PACs and 100 Years of Lucy: Editors’ Picks, July 31-August 6
For anyone who depends on money to fund their existence, getting through this week may have been an emotional roller coaster. The Senate finally approved the so-called “Satan sandwich” debt plan just hours before the deadline on Tuesday. In spite of that agreement, however, the Dow fell 512.76 points on Thursday, marking the first time […]
ALEC Exposed
Yesterday I joined more than 100 activists from as far away as Pennsylvania and Michigan to protest the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting in New Orleans. The shadowy group–a corporate-funded, right-wing “membership organization” of state politicians that supplies its members with “model legislation” to take back to their home states–has come under mounting scrutiny, […]
Dispatches from an Abortion-Rights Battleground: Germantown, Maryland
This week, Germantown, Md., became the latest front in the battle over a woman’s right to a safe abortion. Last Sunday, anti-abortion extremists launched a seven-day protest of Dr. LeRoy Carhart’s Germantown clinic. Since the murder two years ago of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion extremist, Dr. Carhart, who worked with Dr. Tiller at […]
Don’t Ignore LGBTQ Immigrants’ Needs
Immigrants are often scapegoats for all kinds of societal ills: a lagging economy, dangerous reproduction, even environmental degradation. Thankfully, there is a strong and growing immigrants’ rights movement that counters these attacks and highlights the real problems: xenophobia, racism and an out-of-touch immigration policy. All too often, however, immigration is portrayed as heterosexual and male. […]
SlutWalk, Bahia-Style
Early this summer, I was in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, directing a five-week study-abroad program for Spelman College students when I began to hear buzz about the upcoming Marcha das Vadias, or SlutWalk. The first SlutWalk was held in Toronto, Canada on April 3 as an outraged response to a Toronto police officer’s comment that, in […]