When “Sluts Vote” becomes a popular political slogan, you know something is odd in American politics. It’s the vagina, stupid. Like many recent elections, 2012 is shaping up to be a Year of the Woman, but with a twist. Thanks to the fanciful physiology of Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin and mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds, as […]
Health
Alabama Abortion Clinic Struggles; Mississippi’s Forges On
When Diane Derzis shut the doors of the New Woman All Women Health Care clinic in Birmingham, Ala., last May, she did not expect the clinic to be shut for good. Derzis, known as the “Abortion Queen” by both her opponents and her supporters in the Deep South, was under investigation by the Alabama Department […]
As Memories of Dalkon Shield Fade, Women Embrace IUDs Again
Imagine a world in which women trying to avoid unplanned pregnancies don’t have to worry about popping a daily pill that shoots their moods to hell, getting shots, buying condoms that sometimes break or changing a patch. Imagine a contraceptive method with which 99 percent of its users report satisfaction. Sound like a dream? In […]
“Legitimate” Rapes and “Illegitimate” Children
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), a current U.S. Senate candidate, raised America’s consciousness last week when he revealed that there are people out there who believe that 1) there is such a thing as “legitimate rape” and 2) women cannot get pregnant from “legitimate rape” because their reproductive systems go on some sort of anti-rape lockdown. […]
Circuit Court Messes with Texas Women
Late on Tuesday, a federal appeals court lifted an injunction that blocked a new Texas law from barring federal Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood and other abortion provider-affiliated clinics around the state. It’s the latest in a string of affronts to women’s health in the Lone Star State, where the lives of Texan women have […]
NYC Speaker Quinn: Working Women Need Paid Sick Days
Christine Quinn is the first female and openly gay New York City Council Speaker. By speaking out and standing up for the rights of women and queer folks throughout the city, she has received a lot of support from the feminist community as Speaker and as potential NYC mayor. But on a new issue facing […]
Is Susan G. Komen Cleaning House?
In early 2012, the decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut ties with Planned Parenthood (and then the semi-reversal of that decision), sent the organization into a frenzied state of damage control. Attendance at Komen events declined, donations dropped and the organization immediately sought advice from a former White House press secretary […]
Gabby Douglas is Not Her Hair
“Are you kidding me? I just made history. And you’re focusing on my hair?” That was 16-year-old Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas, bravely echoing singer India.Arie’s anthem, “I Am Not My Hair.” The criticism of Douglas’ locks on social media sites such as Twitter and on black blogs is typical of the multiple types of […]
Kinky, Soft, Nappy, Straight —Who Cares?!
Like many over the past week, I have been tuning into numerous Olympic events, and gymnastics has been one of my favorites–not only because I love watching very skilled women do some incredible feats but because 16-year-old Gabby Douglas–the second African American woman gymnast to make the U.S. Olympic team–led her squad to an Olympic […]
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 […]