Posts by Jen Nedeau
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UN Operations In Congo: A Dangerous Strategy
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Senate Begins Debate on Health Care: Eschews Stupak, Funds Abstinence
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Low Income Women Can't Get Abortions, But RNC Staffers Can
Newsweek's "Sexist" Cover Photo Stirs Up False Controversy
Published November 18, 2009 @ 04:50PM PT
The internet has been growling a lot today. And most of the disgruntled tweets and blog posts are over Newsweek's cover, featuring none other than former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin. To coincide with the release of Palin's book, Going Rogue, Newsweek's editors decided to print two essays about the former vice presidential candidate and a photo from a shoot she participated in for Runner's World magazine.
The most common critique is that Newsweek has committed the crime of sexism in order to sell magazines. In defense of the image, Newsweek's Editor Jon Meacham said the image chosen was "the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do." He went onto say: "We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard."
I wouldn't say this is entirely gender neutral, not to mention Meacham's response is rather misleading (you did this for marketing, not editorial, duh), but I don't actually think Newsweek is being sexist with this photo.
Will You Have To Ask Your Employer For The "Abortion Rider"?
Published November 17, 2009 @ 03:30PM PT
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) held a press conference yesterday with several of New York City's top women leaders to speak out against the House health care bill's anti-choice Stupak-Pitts amendment.
Powerful women such as Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Gloria Steinem, Speaker of the NY City Council Christine Quinn, President of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards, President of NARAL Pro-Choice NY Kelli Conlin, and many others spoke against the Stupak measure, which is one of the greatest attempts to roll back women's reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
For those who are unclear on what the Stupak-Pitts amendment means, basically the measure would prohibit the proposed government-run insurance plan from covering abortions except in cases of rape or incest, or to save the woman's life. It also bars any health plan receiving federal subsidies in a new insurance marketplace from offering abortion coverage; if women wanted to purchase abortion coverage through such plans, they'd have to buy it separately, as a so-called "rider" on their policy.
While this "abortion rider" is being touted as a solution to the prohibitive measures, Sen. Gillibrand said that the rider "is not only discriminatory, but ridiculous. It would require women to essentially plan for an event that occurs in the most unplanned and sometimes emergency situations."
Does Your University Health Care Plan Cover Birth Control?
Published November 16, 2009 @ 12:45PM PT
Last Friday I received this letter (after the jump) from a young woman at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania who recently found out that her student health insurance, Consolidated Health Plans, does NOT cover birth control. This same insurance broker arranges coverage for 60 other colleges in the upper Northeast, including schools such as Brown, The New School, and Sarah Lawrence college, among others.
Take a look at the letter that this college student sent to her university administration about the policy and make sure you read the fine print in your own student health insurance plan. You can see the offending part of the Lehigh plan in this PDF, under Exclusions and Limitations, which says "No benefits will be paid for loss or expense caused by, contributed to, or resulting from: 16. Reproductive/infertility services including but limited to: birth control; family planning; fertility test; infertility (male or female), including any services or supplies rendered for the purpose or with the intent of inducing conception."
You too may need to contact your administration and student health insurance broker to protest similar restricitions.
(It should be noted that condoms, however, are issued for free at Lehigh College. So boys can use birth control, but girls can't?)
The American Myth of Women's Equality
Published November 15, 2009 @ 08:11AM PT
The White House Project released a report on Friday that dispels what seems to be an American myth about women's equality by offering 132 pages of benchmarks to truthfully describe where women stand in a variety of sectors.
The report describes how "much of the general public believes that women's fight for parity in the workplace has already been won" but goes on to say that women are still noticeably absent from the boardrooms and the executive suites. Due to the economic slowdown, it has made it harder for everyone to move ahead, and women's progress up the ladder and through the glass ceiling is seemingly stalled.
Friday Femme Fatale: Bishops, Ann Kuster & Global Gag Rule
Published November 13, 2009 @ 09:52PM PT
It is with regret that I must say this is the last Friday Femme Fatale I'll be doing here at Change.org for awhile. We're adding some new voices to the blog in the next few weeks, so hopefully we will be able to cover as much as we do in these weekly wrap up posts all the same. Be on the look out for additional writing from new authors here on the site. I'll still be here as the editor, so don't worry too much.
After this week, there has been a lot of news about the Stupak amendment and what it means, which we have already written about here on Change.org, but below you will find links explaining more about it and other stories you may have missed in the fem-o-sphere:
Barriers To Justice For Rape Survivors in Sudan
Published November 11, 2009 @ 07:04PM PT
This past weekend I attended and spoke at the Pledge 2 Protect Conference in Washington, DC, which served to organize and educate young people about the realities of genocide around the world. One of the panels I attended was called "Wars Against Women and the Pursuit of Peace: The Case of Darfur" which outlined, among other things, the incredibly unjust system in Sudan for rape survivors.
Despite the fact that rape has now been determined a "crime against humanity" and a "war crime" by The Hague, there is a complete inability for the Sudanese to deal with rape and domestic violence on a domestic level.
Just so we all understand how difficult a situation it is for women in Sudan, here are a few of the barriers to justice they face if raped:
AIDS Becomes Leading Cause of Death for Young Women
Published November 10, 2009 @ 01:39PM PT
According to a recent study from the World Health Organization, the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Throughout the world, one in five deaths among women in this age group is linked to unsafe sex, according to the U.N. agency.
This is certainly depressing news as we already know that more and more women are disappearing each year by the millions.
For those who are unfamiliar with the plight of HIV/AIDS among women, here are a few facts from the WHO:
