Welcome to the fifth #HERvotes blog carnival. This time we’re focusing on the need to keep strong the laws and public policies to end sex discrimination and sexual harassment in schools and in the workplace. HERvotes, a multi-organizational campaign launched in August 2011, advocates that women must use our voices and votes to stop the […]
Month: November 2011
Want to Stop Sexual Harassment at Work? First Stop it in School!
Sexual harassment allegations by four women against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain have made the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace headline news. What many people may not realize is that such harassment is a widespread problem in middle and high schools, too. During the 2010-11 school year, nearly 48 percent of students in […]
Despite King’s Edict, Saudi Woman Sentenced to 10 Lashings for Driving
International outcry arose this September when, just a day after Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced a commitment to women’s rights and granted women voting rights in 2015, a woman named Shaima Jastaina was sentenced to 10 lashings for driving to the hospital. There is no specific law making it illegal for women in Saudi Arabia […]
To Get Hate Speech Off Campus, Cal State Students Wield Title IX
In an ongoing student battle against a hate-filled tabloid, The Koala, that has been causing uproar on three Cal State campuses since January, Cal State San Marcos students have now filed a Title IX complaint with the university. In addition to aggressively handing out their publication by shoving it in students’ faces, “Koalans” also make […]
You, Too, Can Be a Queer Parent
“Do you have to use that word?” My mother made a face that looked slightly ill. Despite being a bit insulted, I feel compassion for her plight. I know my mother loves me, but she hates the word “queer,” and really wishes I could be a little less odd, too. “What word? Queer?” She nodded […]
Lessons for the Catholic Church from an Unlikely Source—Penn State
During the past week, the media and the American public could not help but draw comparisons between the recent child sex abuse scandal at Penn State and the endemic sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. But there are major differences that are hard to ignore. At Penn State, the predator and those who covered […]
No Joy in Penn State, But a Flicker of Hope
No one knew exactly what was going to happen. But as the Penn State Nittany Lions walked onto the field at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, the applause that grew in the stands was loaded. How do you clap for a program led by a man who knew that one of his coaches molested at least […]
Penn State Community Rallies in Support of Victims
Why does the Penn State community cheer for Joe Paterno? We’ve seen nearly a week’s worth of rallying in support of the legendary football coach after a grand jury indictment made plain that Paterno enabled his longtime assistant’s sexual abuse of children. While the university’s Board of Trustees almost certainly gave Paterno the opportunity to […]
What a Difference a Strong Snow White Makes
Two new fall TV shows, Once Upon a Time and Grimm, blend the real world with the world of fairy tales–but there the similarities stop. The two are radically different, especially in their representations of women. When Grimm remembers that women exist, they are hapless victims (think CSI: Deep Dark Woods), while Once Upon a […]
Japan’s Yaeba Trend and Cosmetic Infantilization
Benjamin B. alerted us to a New York Times story about a new trend in Japan: yaeba. Some young Japanese women are now having dentists artificially enlarge their incisors so as to achieve a look associated with a small mouth crowded with teeth: Here’s some dental work to that effect, borrowed from the “after” pictures on a dentist’s website: […]