Though both the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the International Violence Against Women Act have been bogged down in Congress, the U.S. government hasn’t given up on addressing gender-related violence. Last Friday, President Obama released an executive order that promises to prevent and respond to violence against girls and women globally. According to the Obama […]
Author: Lauren Barbato
Lauren Barbato is a writer who enjoys focusing on the intersection of the arts and social justice. As a journalist, she has contributed to Ms., the Women's Media Center, IndieWire, MovieMaker Magazine and many others. She holds a B.F.A. degree in screenwriting from the University of Southern California. Follow her on Twitter @lauren_barbato.
Scenes from SlutWalk LA 2012
Slutitude. What is it? That was the question posed to a crowd Sunday afternoon crammed in a tiny studio space behind, of all places, the Chick-fil-A on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Dressed in bras and underwear, fishnets and the occasional lace-up platform boot, we all had, according to comedian Luce Tomlin-Brenner, an air of slutitude. […]
Katie Goodman Says If You’re Homophobic You’re Probably Gay
What’s that, Louis C.K.? Feminists don’t have a sense of humor? Trying telling that to comedian-actress-musician-feminist Katie Goodman. Before there was the women-in-comedy phenom Bridesmaids, there was Goodman, a long-time women’s theater advocate who performs solo and with the show Broad Comedy. Goodman is all kinds of myth-busting. Not only is she a funny feminist, but she’s also […]
Lawmaker Compares Birth Control Coverage to Terrorist Attacks
Years from now, young children are going to be asking, “Where were you on August 1, 2012?” And no, it wasn’t at a Chick-Fil-A. Forget the day John F. Kennedy was shot, the Iranian hostages were released or Osama bin Laden was killed. Nothing will be more infamous than the first time American women were […]
What Women Gain From the Affordable Care Act–Starting Today!
Today, August 1, the Affordable Care Act enacts eight preventive health care services for women’s health and well-being that will be available under all insurance plans–without copays or deductibles. Women leaders in Washington, D.C., have been heralding the passage and subsequent enactment of the ACA as a major advancement for American women—possibly the most […]
Federal Judge Okays Arizona Abortion Ban
Just weeks after Mississippi’s lone abortion provider received preliminary injunctive relief to stay open by a federal judge, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit with hopes to receive a similar injunction against Arizona’s new anti-abortion restriction. But the women of Arizona were not afforded that relief. U.S. District […]
Ride, Sally Ride: A Pioneer Dies, But Her Inspiration Lives On
In the late 1970s, Sally Ride spotted a newspaper ad from NASA calling for applicants to its space program. She immediately knew that, as a young, intelligent woman about to receive her Ph.D in physics at Stanford University, this ad was for her. “I’m one of those people,” she thought. People. Not men, which all […]
Montana’s Personhood Amendment Won’t Be on Ballot
Should an embryo or fetus be granted equal protection under the law and the full rights of persons? Montana voters don’t seem to think so. Members of Personhood Montana, in conjunction with the Montana ProLife Coalition, scrambled over the last few months to get the requisite 48,674 signatures needed for their statewide petition to put […]
Federal Judge Shoots Down Contraception Lawsuit
Religious freedom won’t be ringing for the seven states that attempted to curb access to no co-pay contraception. U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom of Lincoln, Neb. dismissed a federal lawsuit today that challenged the Affordable Care Act’s HHS mandate, which requires health insurers to provide coverage of birth control, emergency contraception and sterilization. In line […]
Inside the Legal Fight Over Arizona’s Abortion Ban
Arizona state legislators were smug last April when they passed a 20-week abortion ban that remains the earliest abortion restriction in the nation. But enacting this law won’t be a cakewalk for anti-choice Gov. Jan Brewer and co. The Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU of Arizona have joined forces in fighting the Arizona […]