SlutWalk comes to a rape culture near you

When a Toronto police officer told students they could avoid sexual assault by not dressing like "sluts", women took to the streets in protest with an organized "SlutWalk".

Although SlutWalk began in Toronto, the movement has spread across the globe and now many U.S. cities will host satellite SlutWalks.

According to The Huffington Post, some women in the Toronto walk wore jeans and a t-shirt while others wore lingerie and stilettos.

Protesters dressed in lingerie for a movement called "SlutWalk" was bound to draw criticism from people like Fox host Greg Gutfeld, who said, "Marching for sluttiness? Nothing brave there."

But for the organizers of SlutWalk, the campaign is less about flash and more about spreading the word that people who experience sexual assault are never at fault.

The movement also asks us to re-claim the word "slut", which has been used to hurt and condemn survivors of sexual assault instead of their perpetrators.

The brilliance of the campaign is that news organizations will undoubtedly cover a march called SlutWalk, especially if the marchers are carrying provocative signs and wearing only undergarments and thigh-highs. Let's just hope this important message is not lost in the spectacle.

Surgeon resigns after backlash from 'semen' editorial

A controversial editorial in the official newspaper of the American College of Surgeons has sparked a debate about possible gender and sexuality biases within the organization and the field of surgery.

According to a post by Dr. Pauline Chen in the New York Times Well blog, the offending article, written by the American College of Surgeons president-elect and editor in chief, Dr. Lazar Greenfield, discusses the possible mental health benefits of semen for women who have unprotected sex.

The article was published in the February issue of the newspaper, which must be why Dr. Greenfield decided to close his piece with this lyrical gem: "So there’s a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there’s a better gift for that day than chocolates."

In response to complaints about the editorial, titled "Gut Feelings", the entire issue of the newspaper was withdrawn and Dr. Greenfield was asked to step down from his position as editor-in-chief. Criticisms continued and Dr. Greenfield also resigned from his position as president-elect on Sunday, the New York Times reported.

Dr. Lazar Greenfield

In an e-mail to the Detroit Free Press, Dr. Greenfield defended his article and his reputation as an advocate for women in surgery.

"The editorial was an opinion-piece written for a throw-away newspaper," he said, "I extended sincere apologies and resigned as editor in chief of the paper."

He continues, "That was not sufficient for some women who convinced the leadership that I was unsuited for the presidency to which I had been elected."

The debate over whether Dr. Greenfield's article was intended as a light-hearted joke-y piece or a subtle form of sexism could be tedious and everlasting.

My own "gut feeling" is that Dr. Greenfield's record of mentoring and advocating for women in surgery should not be overlooked because of one tasteless article. 

I also think that someone who is both the president-elect of the largest professional organization of surgeons in the country and the editor in chief of the organization's newspaper should be exponentially more cautious about the "jokes" he attempts to defend with research and then decides to publish.

But it seems like the backlash is less about the article and more about the bigger problems facing women in the field.

According to Chen's post, women only make up 10 percent of the members of the American  College of Surgeons and only five out of the 22-member governing board are women. Less than a third of women who enter medical school go into surgery, partly because of perceived male bias.

"Once in practice, studies have shown, well over half of all women surgeons report feeling demeaned, and nearly a third say they have been the objects of inappropriate sexist remarks or advances," Chen wrote.

Women in America, the White House's report on the status of women, showed that one of the reasons women still earn less than men overall is because women are still concentrated in lower-paying, "traditionally female" occupations.

As long as women are deterred by the negative attitudes and male bias in higher-paying, "traditionally male" occupations, like surgery, they will likely remain in those lower-paying jobs.

Hopefully this controversy has brought some of these issues to light in the organization and the profession.

Students participate in "Day of Silence" to protest anti-gay bullying

Thousands of middle and high school students across the nation will take a vow of silence today to protest the bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people. 

The "Day of Silence" began in 1996, but it has been sponsored since 2001 by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, an organization "working to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression."

Honestly, I was only made aware of this because my 15-year-old brother linked the event to his Facebook page (how awesome is he?).

But according to the 220,000 people who joined, it's a pretty big deal. 

Unfortunately, it only took 45 seconds of research for me to find a Fox News article titled, "Gay Day of Silence a Waste of Tax Dollars, Critics Say".

Wow, it's a good thing they added that, "comma critics say". Otherwise, I might have thought Fox slants the news! The full article is about as disgusting as you'd expect.

Anyway, I really think these young activists are doing something great here.


How many more children and teenagers need to die before the rest of us actually address this issue in our homes, communities, schools, and laws? 


Bullies aren't born, they're created. By Fox News (I kid, sort of).

For those who aren't convinced that anti-gay bullying is way more than a "cause du jour", let Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns remind you of how devastating the consequences can be. You won't regret it.

What Congress would look like if it really represented us

Provided by Good magazine

It's only April, but 2011 is already looking like a bleak year for women, minorities, and working class people.

Since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, they have proposed cuts to collective bargaining rights and funding for family planning centers and early childcare programs.

Predictably, these Republican efforts disproportionately hurt women, people of color, and the poor.

I could continue to blame Republicans for all of our society's ills -- and I probably will -- but there are other factors.

The above graph shows us what our current Congress looks like and what they would look like if they were demographically representative of our nation. 

While this graph shows us what our current Congress looks like, it's safe to say that previous Congresses have also been overwhelmingly comprised of white men.

Good magazine also notes that while the average American's net worth is $96,000, the average net worth of a U.S. senator is $13.6 million. The net worth of a House member is slightly closer to that of an average American, at $5 million.

Now, demographics certainly aren't everything, and I wouldn't advise anyone to elect officials solely based on their gender, skin color, bank account, golfing skills, etc.

But it would be nice if we started electing people who reflect who we are -- as long as they are willing to stand up for us against the status quo.

'Pap smears at Walgreens' comment triggers a confused protest

On Saturday's Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade bravely attempted to expose the venomous lies of those batty Planned Parenthood defenders.

Defenders of Planned Parenthood, like Sen. Harry Reid, claim that funding the organization is important because their clinics provide women with life-saving services.


But Doocy and Kilmeade dismantled that argument by claiming that services like pap smears are available "at Walgreens."


This is obviously completely untrue, and Stephen Colbert did a hilarious piece about this on Monday's The Colbert Report, which brought a lot of attention to the issue.


Now, in response to this idiocy, feminist activists have planned a protest aimed at... Walgreens?


A blogger for Feministe called the idea "brilliant" and posted the details of the event and a link to the Facebook page. This is what it looks like:

FLASH MOB ALERT!!! FOX & Friends thinks we don't need Planned Parenthood because women can just get their breast exams and pap smears at Walgreens (which is not true). Let's prove them wrong by demanding these health services at Walgreens across the country and seeing what happens. Here's what to do this Saturday at 12 PM: 1) Pick your favorite local Walgreens 2) Get a group of friends together or connect with people via this event page. 3) Go try to get your pap smear! 4) Don't forget to bring your video cameras and share your footage on YouTube! View the Colbert Report's take on Planned Parenthood: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/381282/april-11-2011/pap-smears-at-walgreens PLANNED LOCATIONS: New York City: 1471 Broadway, between 42nd and 43rd street http://tinyurl.com/4xpc3kz DC: 1217 22nd Street NW, between M and N Streets. Madison, WI: 15 E. Main Street (on the Square) POST YOUR VIDEOS HERE: YouTube Channel WalgreensPapSmear

Maybe I'm missing something, but doesn't it seem kind of pointless to harass the employees of Walgreens because of an ignorant and baseless statement made by the people at Fox & Friends?

I mean, I guess it would be kind of funny to see the puzzled looks on the faces of unknowing cashiers when they're asked which aisle the breast exams are administered in... But they really don't deserve it.

Wouldn't a more fitting protest be in front of Fox News studios to address the dummies themselves?


Still, I'm eager to see the video footage.

On Equal Pay Day, Ann Friedman gives working women tips to beat the wage gap

 Today is Equal Pay Day. 

Actually,a presidential proclamation released yesterday formally made it NATIONAL Equal Pay Day.

Anyway, the event is meant to raise public awareness of the gap between men's and women's wages.

Currently, women who work full-time earn 77 cents to a man's dollar.

But as of April 12, 2011, the average full-time woman worker has finally caught up to what her male counterpart earned in 2010. It only took us 102 days more!

Since the Equal Pay Act was enacted 48 years ago, these numbers are bleak, to say the least.

But don't be a Sour Sally-- Feminist journalist Ann Friedman offers us some friendly (and hilarious) advice on how to beat the wage gap and look gorge doing it! 

Equal Pay Day Tips for Working Women Ann Friedman Don’t choose a profession that is female-dominated. The wages tend to be depressed already. I mean, caring for children? Teaching? Girly stuff. You need to pick a man-tested, man-approved field if you want to rake in a decent salary. But if you’re one of the few women in a male-dominated profession, as there will probably be some limits to your advancement because you may be seen as “unsociable and difficult to work with.” A 2004 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology found “successful women were characterized as more selfish, manipulative and untrustworthy—your typical constellation of 'bitchy' characteristics," according to one researcher. Get educated! We all know that advanced degrees are one way to ensure you’ll earn an advanced salary. But don’t expect that fancy book-learning to correlate with higher pay. According to a White House report released last month, in 2009 women earned about 75 percent as much as their male counterparts at all levels of education. Be sure to negotiate. How will you earn more money if you don’t ask for it? But don’t negotiate too hard, lest you be seen as a total harpy. "People found that to be way too aggressive," economist Linda Babcock told NPR in February. "She was successful in getting the money, but people did not like her. They thought she was too demanding. And this can have real consequences for a woman's career." Be more cutthroat. The working world rewards go-getters and alphas, and nice gals finish last. Toughen up and maybe you’ll get that corner office! But don’t, like, be a ball-busting bitch once you get there. Studies have shown that employees, both male and female, are wary of working for high-achieving women. And since only 20 percent of professional leaders are women, you’ve got to represent your whole gender. Do us all a favor and don’t make all of your employees hate you. Maintain your appearance, especially if you are over the age of 30. Put on some lipstick and a nice pair of heels. Just because you’re one of the boys doesn’t mean you should wear what they do. But for god’s sake, don’t dress like a slut! How will anyone respect you if they can see that you have breasts? Use your natural nurturing skills to your advantage. Conservative author Christina Hoff Sommers has written that "a practical, responsible femininity could be a force for good in the world beyond the family, through charitable works and more enlightened politics and government." But don’t expect to actually raise a child and keep your career on track. Breast pumps and salary bumps are mutually exclusive. Research shows that, regardless of performance, women with children are seen as less competent and less committed to work. They’re also less likely to be promoted. And in one survey, participants said they would offer working mothers wages an average of $13,000 lower than wages for fathers. Get comfortable on the golf course. Know your way around a humidor. Suggest a post-work happy hour at the local strip club. The real deals all happen outside the workplace, you know. But don’t be too uptight about it when those outside-the-workplace meetings happen in places that still explicitly ban you. Congratulations! If you’ve followed all these easy tips, you are now a successful, self-determined, professional woman! Your friends always said you were the Miranda, and now you’ve got the salary to prove it. You are challenged and fulfilled at work! You probably make more than most men you know! But good luck getting laid. You will probably die alone.

Read the full article and get more Friedman at GOOD magazine.

Glenn Beck says only 'hookers' need Planned Parenthood

Glenn Beck surpassed even his own standard of reckless depravity when he called women who need Planned Parenthood "hookers" on his radio show Monday.

Beck has been involved in a ridiculous public feud with MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell for the past several months.


Both hosts typically go back and forth mocking and spouting insults at each other during their shows, but during his latest rant against O'Donnell, Beck broadened his target to include women who use Planned Parenthood.


After he replayed a clip of O'Donnell, who was driven to tears on his show while reading an e-mail from a friend who said she relied on Planned Parenthood services, Beck ordered his producers to stop the tape.


"Stop just a second!" Beck said. "Hookers? Who depends on Planned Parenthood?"

Then, mocking the woman, he said, "I’ve got 400 abortions that I have to have. I’ve got these children that I have to have aborted. I depend on Planned Parenthood."

While this behavior isn't wildly out of character for Beck, it does give us some insight as to the types of attitudes we are up against in our mission to protect our bodies from government interference.

For a better sense of Beck's lunacy, listen to the audio:

Scarlett Johansson stands up for Planned Parenthood

While our elected officials bicker and threaten to shut down our government over family planning, let Scarlett Johansson tell you why we should continue to support Planned Parenthood.

Patients testify that Planned Parenthood is much more than an abortion provider

Planned Parenthood just released a video from yesterday's Women's Health Rally  in Washington D.C. 

The message in the video is congruent with what I believe is a highly effective multimedia campaign strategy.

Planned Parenthood has been increasingly visible and vocal about debunking the myths being spread by anti-abortion ideologues who are intent on bringing the organization down. 


The campaign is focused on educating the public about the actual health services Planned Parenthood provides for women who may not otherwise have access to health care.


This video features real women who are either patients of Planned Parenthood or friends of patients who have benefited from their services*:

*According to their website, one in five U.S. women has visited a Planned Parenthood at least once in her life.

Celebrities, politicians, and activists show their support at Planned Parenthood's "Rally For Women's Health"

Planned Parenthood hosted the "Rally for Women's Health" on the National Mall in Washington D.C. today.

Thousands of women's health supporters gathered in front of the Capitol to deliver the message to lawmakers that "women's health is NOT NEGOTIABLE!".

The rally was a response to the recent wave of anti-abortion legislation proposed in more than 20 states and in House bills such as H.R.3 and the Pence Amendment.

Celebrities, House and Senate leaders, and activists were scheduled to speak in defense of Planned Parenthood and women's health.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund tweeted updates from the event all day. Here are some highlights:

The dangerous, ideological cuts to PP that passed the House are never, never, never going to pass the Senate - @ChuckSchumer #Rally4Healthless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet ReplyPlanned Parenthood
PPact

We will not turn our backs on the women of America... We're here for you every day. - @SenatorBoxer #Rally4Healthless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet ReplyPlanned Parenthood
PPact

"Denying my daughter's generation access to healthcare, screenings, reproductive choice is not a smart move." - Ed Harris #Rally4Healthless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet ReplyPlanned Parenthood
PPact

I'll keep an eye out for more details about the event, as I'm sure videos and articles will be available tonight or tomorrow.

Hillary Clinton's popularity is near her all-time high

According to a Gallup Poll, 66 percent of Americans view Secretary of State Hillary Clinton favorably. 

That is only one point below her all-time high rating of 67 percent in 1998, which came after President Bill Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury for scandals involving Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones.

An article in the Washington Post suggests that her surge in popularity may have something to do with the nature of her position as secretary of state, which is viewed as less partisan than other public offices.

Gallup also found that Clinton is viewed more favorably than President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Unfortunately, this comes weeks after Clinton announced that she will not serve a second term as secretary of state or run for president of the United States.

Say it ain't so.

Remembering Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro, the first major female vice presidential candidate, passed away on March 26 at the age of 75.

She was the woman my mother and countless others referenced when they told their daughters they could do anything.

I was not even alive when Ferraro accepted the nomination for vice president in 1984, but the momentousness of the occasion still resonates in her acceptance speech.

Hillary Clinton says she will not serve a second term as secretary of state or run for president of the United States

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she will not serve a second term or run for president of the United States.

She seems pretty determined, but I have trouble imagining Clinton outside of the political arena.

In a recent interview with Newsweek magazine, Clinton said, "I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century.”

And Hillary doesn't strike me as the type of person who leaves business "unfinished".


So maybe she will leave politics, but surely she will continue to be an influential advocate for women's rights...right? 

Or maybe I'm in denial. Let me know what you think:

Florida state rep. blames 11-year-old victim of gang rape

Oops! Republican Florida state rep. Kathleen Passidomo made a small gaffe during a debate over a student dress code bill.

Actually, it was more like a gaping lapse in decency. This is what she said:

"There was an article about an 11 year old girl who was gang raped in Texas by 18 young men because she was dressed like a 21-year-old prostitute. And her parents let her attend school like that. And I think it’s incumbent upon us to create some areas where students can be safe in school and show up in proper attire so what happened in Texas doesn’t happen to our students."

Yikes! I didn't think a politician could possibly be that unrefined.

In her defense, the article she referred to pretty much explains the rape in the same way.

In his New York Times article about the brutal rape of an 11-year-old girl by 18 young men and teenage boys in Cleveland, Tex., James C. McKinley Jr. focuses on community concerns about the ruined lives of the rapists and their disapproval of the child victim's "provocative" attire.


Without offering context or explanation, McKinley writes that neighbors said the victim "dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground."


He chose to quote another resident, who said, "Where was her mother? What was her mother thinking?"


None of the residents McKinley included in his report expressed any concern for the 11-year-old victim. Instead, he writes that neighborhood residents were asking themselves how their young men could have been "drawn into such an act".


The only traces of sympathy coming from residents in McKinley's story were for the perpetrators.


"These boys have to live with this for the rest of their lives," one woman said.


After reading this "news" story, it isn't that astonishing that someone like Kathleen Passidomo might buy into the rape myth that girls get raped when their mothers allow them to dress like prostitutes.


OK, McKinley didn't use the word "prostitute". And he was restating the heinousness that came from the mouths of neighbors, not asserting his own opinion.


But the story was not framed as a community reaction piece, it was supposed to be a NEWS article.


I doubt that McKinley intended to minimize the brutality of the rape, but he should have known that his story needed either more context or more devotion to the victim's ordeal.


He also should have made it explicitly clear that, however the child was supposedly dressed, the men who raped her are the only ones at fault.

"I Have Sex": Students defend Planned Parenthood with web video

Wesleyan University students created a simple yet effective video in support of Planned Parenthood and open sexual dialogue:

On their Facebook page, they urge other students to take part in the movement by making their own videos, signing the Planned Parenthood petition, and calling Congress.

Revolution is not over for women in Egypt

Women who stood in protests during Egypt's 18-day revolution experienced a very different Tahrir Square on International Women's Day.

Several hundred activists gathered in Cairo on Tuesday for a peaceful demonstration to promote women's rights.

But according to Lauren E. Bohn, a Ms.Magazine blogger who witnessed and recorded the event, the "part-celebration, part-demonstration soon turned violent when throngs of men arrived to harass the women."

Women were verbally attacked, groped, and eventually rushed out of the square by the men. 

The Christian Science Monitor reported that the men yelled things like, "Go home, go wash clothes,” and “You are not married; go find a husband.” Others said that now is not the time to demand inclusion.

But for the women who fought with men as equal partners in the revolution, now is a better time than ever to demand inclusion in planning Egypt's future.

Just weeks ago, an article in The Washington Post stated that during the anti-Mubarak protests,"Egyptian women who were in the square were treated with a tolerance they hardly expected. Woman after woman marveled at that."

It isn't difficult to understand why the women who openly participated in every aspect of the revolution would expect to be involved in the daily politics of the country they risked their lives for.

I truly believe that the sense of empowerment Egyptian women felt as they celebrated the end of Mubarak will fuel them through their next revolution: gender equality.


I just hope that stories like this don't discourage Muslim women in the Middle East and North Africa who also want to fight for democracy.

Women in America: White House releases report in time for Women's History Month

In honor of Women's History Month, the White House released a report on the status of women entitled, Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being (PDF). 

According to The New York Times, "White House officials concede there is nothing new in the report. Rather, it is a compilation of data that paints a statistical portrait of changes in the social and economic lives of women over the past several decades."

In fact, the most interesting thing about the report may be its very existence-- It is the first comprehensive federal report on the status of women since Eleanor Roosevelt convinced President Kennedy to produce a similar report almost 50 years ago.

While the release of Women in America seems more symbolic than substantive, it does include some interesting bits: 
 

• Women are marrying later and having fewer children than in the past. Women also give birth to their first child at older ages.  

 

•  Women are more likely to live in poverty than adult men. Single-mother families face significantly higher poverty rates, often because of the lower wages earned by women in these families.

 

• Today, younger women are more likely to graduate from college than are men and are more likely to hold a graduate school degree. Still, women earned only about 75 percent of what their male counterparts earned in 2009. 

• Workforce participation among men has declined, but women are still less likely to work in the paid labor force. When women do work, they are much more likely than men to work part-time.

If you don't feel like reading the full report, you can check out highlights* provided by the Council on Women and Girls.

Happy Women's History Month!

*The report is divided into five categories: people, families and income; education; employment; health; and crime and violence

Rep. Jackie Speier reveals her abortion story-- But she doesn't want you to call it that

Ever since the passionate House debate that resulted in the vote to defund Planned Parenthood, Rep.Jackie Speier (D-CA) has become a kind of pro-choice hero.

 

During the debate, Speier was moved to share her own abortion experience after Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) used his time on the House floor to describe graphic images of abortion procedures. 

But in a recent blog entry for The Huffington Post, Speier criticizes the "journalistic sensationalism" that ensued in reaction to her story and needlessly defends her decision to terminate an unsuccessful pregnancy.

She argues that women's health issues are often trivialized when they are oversimplified and that the word "abortion" can be used to cast shame on the women who choose it.

I agree with Speier that the word "abortion" has taken on a very negative meaning which has been used to demonize women and doctors.

However, I feel like her attempt to soften "the a-word" by providing the context of her experience is a bit misguided.

Speier says that the painful decision to terminate her pregnancy came when the fetus slipped from her uterus to her vagina and threatened fatal infection or complications with future pregnancies.

At the time of the procedure, she was married and over 40.

Speier intended to humanize the experience of abortion for those who have only heard Conservative talking points.

But I fear that by contrasting her experience with the "sensational" stories of 17-year-olds facing unwanted pregnancies, Speier allows us to infer that some abortions are more excusable than others.

The bottom line is that Speier was tremendously brave for sharing her story and putting a human face on an experience that millions of women endure but few discuss.

But I think that over explaining the reasons behind our decisions or trying to soften the language we use to discuss abortion caters too much to the people who poisoned the discussion in the first place.

Kristen Schaal says we should cut funding to NASA and firefighters because of their abortion ties

Kristen Schaal returned to The Daily Show in another hilarious piece mocking Republicans who vowed to cut federal funding to any organization that has anything to do with providing abortions.

According to Schaal, who is way more edgy than her Republican buddies in Congress, we should extend the cuts to firefighters and NASA for their ties to abortion. She explains it better...

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