Right now, Catholic bishops, charities, schools and universities are demanding exemptions from new rules requiring that insurance plans cover contraception for women, free of charge. And President Obama is listening, even as Congressional Democrats object. The demand for exemptions is based on moral and religious grounds. Religious rights, it’s claimed. But about women’s religious rights? […]
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Penn State Teaches Rape Culture 101
A man sexually assaults children. Witnesses are appalled. But no one tells anyone outside their tight circle. The assailant is eventually accused of attacking eight boys. Yet members of the community rally around the perpetrator and those who protected him. I’m talking, of course, of community support for Penn State’s coaching staff, particularly head football coach […]
Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze
“Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at,” art critic John Berger famously observed. Now some feminist artists are turning the tables in a new exhibit, Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze: With a gallery filled with men stripped naked this body of work exposes women’s cheeky, provocative […]
Testosterone Damages Verbal Skill. Yet We Have Shakespeare
Penn State psychologists assert that career choice begins in utero, hinging on exposure to sex hormones in the womb. Since testosterone damages both verbal and social skills, it simply makes sense that women would seek people-oriented jobs, while testosterone-soaked males would veer toward non-people pursuits like the hard sciences, right? Indeed, the psychologists found that girls exposed […]
Are Vibrators Coming Out of the Closet?
Not so long ago, vibrators were illegal in several states, including Texas, Mississippi and Alabama, or found only in seedy sex shops. But as The New York Times reports, today they may be purchased at your neighborhood drug store. Even Oprah has pitched the helpful tool. And who can forget the Rabbit Pearl popping up […]
Click! My Church Is Against Battered Women’s Shelters?!
“We’ve got to stop those feminists from setting up a battered women’s shelter!” So proclaimed my piano teacher in numerous post-lesson conversations with my mom. When she wasn’t grumbling about shelters she was remarking on how lovely Phyllis Schlafly’s bouffant looked alongside those long-haired feminists. I didn’t get it. “Why doesn’t she want shelters?” I […]
Tampons, Eggs, Your Period, A Camera: Editors’ Picks, 2/20-2/26
In light of crumbling regimes in the Arab world, Sara Yasin of Muslimah Media Watch asks if it’s fair to scrutinize Arab first ladies such as Tunisia’s Leila Ben Ali, Egypt’s Suzanne Mubarak, and Jordan’s Queen Rania. Francis Kissling on the evolution of the pro-choice and anti-abortion movements since 1973: The fetus is more visible […]