Most Popular Women's Rights Posts
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Published November 24, 2009 @ 10:27AM PT
Violence against women includes sex trafficking, honor killings, domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, violence against migrant workers, rape, and torture. In recognition of the prevalence of these problems, in December 1999 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to create the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, now celebrated every year on November 25. This day demands that women not be treated as second or third class citizens, but as equals among the rest of the global population.
Today at the United Nations, in honor of this significant day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is launching a Network of Men Leaders committed to ending violence against women. The goal of this new initiative is to get men more involved in combating violence against women, which is an important step in changing the gender power structure around the world. Men have to be our partners in ending violence -- we can't fight this fight alone.
Dear Sofia Vergara, Rape Is No Laughing Matter
Published November 23, 2009 @ 03:20PM PT
Yikes. When did making a joke about your son being a product of rape at age 13 become acceptable commentary for daytime television?
Actually, I'm pretty sure it's still not acceptable. But apparently Modern Family's Sofia Vergara, who made this exact joke on The View recently, thinks it is:
You can tell how shocked the hosts and audience of The View were after this statement. Clearly, rape is no laughing matter. It makes me wonder how Vergara ever thought that this comment would be not only funny, but something you should say on national television.
Catholic Bishop to Pro-Choice Politician: "No Communion for You"
Published November 23, 2009 @ 12:21PM PT
Once upon a time, there was a Church known for demonstrating concern over social justice and poverty. Then, one day, it decided that it had higher priorities, like controlling women's bodies and denying people who love each other the right to get married.
On Change.org's Gay Rights blog, Mike Jones has a post up on a Catholic bishop's decision to deny Communion to Rep. Patrick Kennedy due to his defense of reproductive rights. With gay marriage ranking up next to abortion as one of today's top sins for conservative Catholics, Jones wonders whether Catholic bishops will start withholding communion from supporters of the right for all people to marry and live happily ever after.
For lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women, marriage equality is a significant women's rights issue. But, unfortunately, this incident is a double-whammy here on the women's rights blog, because our concerns are not confined to the hypothetical -- as Jones points out, Catholic bishops are already denying the communion wafer to reproductive justice supporters.
When did the Catholic Church -- which I know has a lot of very liberal constituents -- become such a two-issue horse?
Gun Rights Are Women's Rights?
Published November 23, 2009 @ 10:30AM PT
Why are progressives standing with the National Rifle Association in the biggest gun rights case of the year? Because some believe it's an opportunity to thaw a cryogenically frozen clause in the Constitution that might add a crucial tool to the arsenal of advocates for civil liberties and individual rights.
The right to privacy, which protects reproductive freedom, has historically been protected from state action by the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, directed at protecting people's "life, liberty, or property." Critics of reproductive rights argue that being deprived of contraception or abortion, for instance, generally do not endanger a woman's life, liberty, or property, and are thus undeserving of protection under the Due Process Clause.
In McDonald v. Chicago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) may re-shape the way that individual liberties are legally defended against state interference. The argument for restoring the more broadly drafted Privileges or Immunities Clause -- effectively eviscerated by the Supreme Court shortly after its enactment -- appears to have found fertile ground on both sides of the SCOTUS's perceived progressive-conservative divide.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project in the 1970's, has long sought an alternative to due process for protecting reproductive rights. Justice Clarence Thomas, often found diametrically opposed to Ginsburg, has directly invited debate about whether the Supreme Court should give credence to the Fourteenth Amendment's command that "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."
If the right to bear arms finds protection in the Privileges or Immunities Clause, debate swirls around how this might affect reproductive rights, with esteemed progressive and conservative scholars taking different views on the issue. What remains certain, though, is that when the Supreme Court hears oral argument in McDonald, people passionate about both the rights to arms and abortion, handguns and health, should be watching with bated breath.
Photo Credit: katutaide on Flickr
Women Have Been on Subs for Years: It's Time to Integrate the Service
Published November 23, 2009 @ 08:40AM PT
Admiral Mike Mullen, Joint Chiefs chairman, stirred up a bit of controversy in September by proclaiming his support for integrating women into submarine service. The Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations have joined Mullen, the nation's top military official, in this stance -- but critics have come up with a laundry list of objections, citing everything from bathroom space and sanctity of marriage to fetal health of pretend babies.
Here's a little news flash: Women have been serving on subs for a long time in the United States Navy. Maybe not in the capacity in which they are about to be, but they have been there for years, serving in short stints, and they have somehow managed to not destroy the Navy as we know it with all of their girly bits.
Women have served on submarines as Undersea Medical Officers, military trained doctors who have been qualified in basic Submarine Systems, Damage Control (shipboard firefighting and emergency repair), and physical fitness standards. They become certified divers, and learn all it takes to become the medical professional on hand for SEAL divers or Submariners. They earn their "twin dolphins," the insignia worn on their uniform that proclaims to all sailors that they have earned their sub qualifications.
Laurel Clark of the Spaceship Columbia was an Undersea Medical Officer and Diving Medical Officer, working with SEALs before she became an astronaut.
Twilight: A Feminist Nightmare
Published November 22, 2009 @ 05:52PM PT
Ok, I will admit it. I haven't seen any of the Twilight movies. Nor have I read any of the books. But what I do know about it is that it has attracted millions of young, female fans. Based on this fact alone, I feel the need to take a closer look.
I got my start in feminist organizing when I helped coordinate a voter registration drive during the Sex and the City Movie premieres in 2008, where with the help of Mobilize.org, we registered 10,000 women to vote. While Sex and the City certainly has its narrative flaws, I found that it helped many more women than it hurt by displaying the challenges of being a single mother, a career woman, being infertile, and many other difficult moments that millions of women experience. I also believe that it was the best sex education young women have had in the past decade; it made it okay for women to talk about sex, have sex and break out of the puritanical expectations of society. Sex and the City was the last big movie I can think of which drew in women from all over the world -- until Twilight came to the big screen.
Even without seeing the movies or reading the book, the Twilight narrative really disturbs me. From what I know about it, it is a story of a predatory vampire who essentially stalks a young woman named Bella. Their relationship turns into a reckless romantic escapade and Bella ends up losing every sense of herself, becoming solely concerned with giving herself to this 100-year-old vampire dressed up in a 17-year-old boy's body.
Senate Begins Debate on Health Care: Eschews Stupak, Funds Abstinence
Published November 21, 2009 @ 10:20AM PT
Debate on the Senate version of the Health Care bill opened today with a mixed bag for those concerned about reproductive health.
On the plus side, the Senate Bill avoids Stupak language, instead offering private insurance a separate means by which it can set aside monies that could be used in case of abortion that do not interfere with government spending.
RH Reality Check reports that this approach closely mirrors the Capps language originally included in the House and Senate Finance Committee bills, with an additional provision tacked on obligating the Health and Human Services Secretary to ensure that no federal funds are used for abortion. Additionally, the Secretary of HHS would ensure that in each State Exchange, where the uninsured will go to buy their insurance, at least one plan does provide coverage of abortions beyond those permitted by Hyde and at least one plan does not.
