Tag: Trump Administration

War on Women: Arson at Abortion Clinics Is up 100 Percent; Trump Is Guilty of Sexual Abuse and Defamation; Republicans Try to End No-Fault Divorce

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This month: Jane’s Due Process is now providing travel funding for Texas teens accessing abortion; states continue to face anti-LGBTQ legislative attacks; Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll; Indiana’s medical licensing board fined Dr. Caitlin Bernard; and more.

Football Legend Jim Brown’s Legacy Includes Serial Abuse of Women

When football legend and civil rights icon Jim Brown died at 87 years old on May 18, commentary about his life and legacy downplayed his long history of violence against women.

One of the extraordinary ironies of Brown’s life is that he was a Black man who, in the face of stinging racism, demanded to be treated as a full human being who was “not going to be pushed around or disrespected.” But he allegedly did just that, and worse, to many Black women.

Josh Hawley’s New Book on Manhood Is Wrong on Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Ideas about men and manhood have been evolving for more than 50 years, but Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has not gotten the message. His new book, Manhood: Finding Purpose in Faith, Family, and Country ignores the realities of today’s men—more and more of whom are abandoning traditional expressions of masculine culture. Support among younger men for women’s reproductive rights, for gay and trans rights, for voting rights, is especially on the rise.

Fifty years ago, Hawley may have sold a lot of books. Today, I’m betting they’ll be remaindered by the Fourth of July.

Are Women’s Rights the Canary in the Coal Mine of a Democracy in Decline?

The tenets of reproductive health, rights and justice—and those of a healthy democracy—are not only inextricably interconnected, but essential to our nation’s promise.

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)

Are You There, God? My Nude Photos Are All Over the Internet.

Slut-shaming has become more rampant and acceptable than ever before in our surveillance-saturated culture. Lacking privacy, we are denied dignity.

By normalizing the behavior of pre-adolescent girls obsessed with sexuality that they don’t yet comprehend, Are You There God? is an excellent reminder that girls—like all of us—need space to act foolishly, sometimes cruelly and then grow up—without being treated like a sexual object and without the whole world knowing all about it.

The Proud Boys Have Only Just Begun to Fight

Guilty verdicts for seditious conspiracy were handed down to key members of the Proud Boys on May 4 for actions related to the Capitol insurrection—marking a significant milestone in the 21st-century struggle in democratic societies against far-right extremism and political violence.

But the group is still mobilizing at a rapid pace across the country. And they’ve adjusted their strategy, turning toward anti-LGBTQ activism and expanding the group’s mission beyond Trumpian “stop the steal” efforts to focus its violent tactics on policing the borders of traditional masculinity. So what can be done about the disturbing emergence of the Proud Boys as a reactionary force determined to block social progress?

The False Tropes About Rape We Must Destroy

The jury has returned a verdict in the E. Jean Carroll / Donald Trump battery (rape) and defamation case: The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse of Carroll, as well as defamation, but not for rape. In total, Trump is ordered to pay Carroll about $5 million.

Throughout the case, Carroll was asked to defend her existence existentially—all for a crime she did not commit, but which was committed upon her. Three tropes in particular stood out in the Carroll trial. It is past time to bury, once and for all, the false tropes about rape that still color judicial proceedings and certain courts of public opinion.

How to Stop Taxing Our Families and Our Future

Children bring us happiness and shared hope for our future. Yet, the surest route to U.S. poverty is simply being a child or a mother. Other developed nations on average contribute $14,000 a year for toddler care. The U.S. invests $500. That’s not only stingy. It’s stupid.

Taxing women and their wombs hurts all of us. It’s a better plan to tax those who can best afford it.