Women are the majority of Americans living at or below the poverty level. Deeper cuts in our federal safety net programs–Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Health Care and Family Planning–will drive those women deeper into poverty and push more women over the poverty line, along with their families. While news, this isn’t new. My friend Beverley […]
Opinion
Women Must Vote in 2012
By Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Publisher of Ms. Magazine This blog is part of the #HERvotes blog carnival. The Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. magazine are proud to join a number of organizations representing millions of American women in an effort to mobilize women voters in 2012 around preserving women’s […]
Enough About Storm’s Gender. Let’s Talk About the Pronouns
It’s unfortunate that Kate Swift passed away recently, because I’m sure she would have had something to say about the way the media is covering the story about Kathy Witterick and David Stocker’s child, Storm. Newspapers and blogs have been having a field day with Storm’s parents’ decision to raise their child gender-neutrally, debating whether […]
10 Ways to Girls’ Healthy Sexuality
We know that the sexualization of women and girls is rampant. It is the stuff of Ms. magazine’s “No Comment” section, eyes rolled at reality television, training bras for 7-year-olds and high heels for infants. But maybe we don’t realize the full effect of these images. Did you know that 92.8 percent of music videos […]
Will “New Atheism” Make Room For Women?
If you’ve been following the rise of so-called “New Atheism” movement, you may have noticed that it sure looks a lot like old religion. The individuals most commonly associated with contemporary atheism—Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett and Victor Stenger—are all male, white and, well, kinda old (69, 61, 68 and 75). Sam Harris, another […]
Equality, Without Marriage?
While following the ups and down of the Prop 8 trial, I was reminded of an editorial by Bob Morris in The New York Times way back in 2004. “Gay Marriage? How Straight” was a cheeky bit of contrarianism, a gay man’s lament that marriage equality could ruin what he considered the relative freedom of […]
A Name for Men Who Buy Girls for Sex
We asked What Should We Call Men Who Buy Young Girls for Sex? and you answered. Pedo-pimp, you suggested. Sleaze-bag. Childhood-stealer. Words are powerful. Many of you noted that naming these men is important, yet challenging. How can we get across that these deeds are despicable? How can we find a coinage that’s memorable, shaming […]
Dear Sarah Palin: Refudiate the Mama Grizzly, For She is Pro-Choice
I was thinking about the “mama grizzly” model of womanhood and decided to do a little research, since this, according to Ms. Palin, is the way of America’s future. It turns out the Mama Grizzly’s excellence as a mother—the reason Sarah Palin chose her as her symbol—is a direct function of her ability to become […]
When Infidelity Becomes “Sex Addiction”
Cue: High-profile, charismatic man married to high-profile, attractive woman in picture-perfect marriage is outed by a long string of lovers claiming to have affairs (often lasting several years) that include everything from wild sex (often without protection) to pregnancies and abortions. Response: The tabloids erupt in a media feeding frenzy and the public is outraged […]