interesting point here

Who would we objectify if all the women were to die?

from feministing

Community Blog Round-up and a cartoon: In honor of Dr. Tiller
A cartoon video via the Women's Medical Fund in Philadephia about abortion clinic workers in honor of Dr. Tiller:

And a round-up of all the Community Posts about Dr. Tiller:

Boston Vigil for Dr. George Tiller by meganjpeterson (For a full listing of events, see Ann's post or our calendar)

A Moment of Silence for Dr. George Tiller by FunFrnd10

An Abortion Provider Reacts to the Murder of Dr. George Tiller by sbherold

On the Issues: An Abortion Provider Reflects on Dr. George Tiller by On The Issues

George Tiller and How Dehumanization Leads to Violence by cng87

A Very Short Post from Skrr

Thanks to everyone who contributed posts today. If you attend vigils tonight, post about them at the community blog.

Posted by Miriam

(i don't normally copy a WHOLE post. i do a very small portion and just link to the rest. today, i copied the whole feministing posting and linked to it as well. i don't think they'll mind)

i agree,

this makes me smile
THIS my dears is an ad for a mattress. if you do not wish to see a birth, don't watch it (hell, people get all bent out of shape when someone breastfeeds. i can only imagine what they'll think or say on seeing an ugly, unnatural, shameful, the most wonderful, beautiful birth!!!!)
(from feministing)

Mattress ad depicting home birth makes me joyful

You know, it's not often that a commercial makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. The tagline: "Tu cama. El lugar mas importante del mundo." ("Your bed. The most important place in the world.")

Read a translation and transcript here.............

'cause i always loved this song (a LOT)

and because i am a rabid supporter of COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION (and a rabid doubter of abstinence only 'education') ................

Abstinence-Only Education is for the birds: Let's talk about sex baby.

.......................It is appalling that for a culture as saturated with sex as ours, it is in the arena of education that certain groups want the most censorship and control. Perhaps because it is one institution that parents can have some control over through PTAs, charters and community organizations. It is unfortunate that what is being taught in school isn't matching up to the level at which youth internalize the sex in the media and have sexual experiences whether it be with peers, through pornography, video games or watching movies. Whatever it is, youth are exposed to sex and have a variety of sexual experiences. It is unfortunate that it is not therefore discussed honestly in school.

So I was excited to see this article in the Boston Globe about a church community that teaches real sex ed, you know, the kind that talks about sex.

A joint effort by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ, OWL aims to help teens understand sexuality. As Detwiler recalls the sessions of three years ago, the pictures demonstrating what sexual intercourse looks like were "shocking to kids, but also helpful. It helped them to grasp another dimension of sexuality." So did the frank discussions about dating norms, the chance to pass around condoms, and informal conversation about the way sex is portrayed in magazines, movies, and music. OWL is among a handful of sex-ed programs that take a position more radical than it may, at first, sound: namely, that sexuality education should actually talk about sex. While events like the spike in teen pregnancies in Gloucester last year or the bulging bellies of youthful pop stars (or Alaskan first daughters) can prompt outcries for better sex ed, most of what we call "sex education" is really about preventing the bad stuff. As one Newton teacher puts it, "It's all been reduced to two issues: teen pregnancy and STDs. That's all really important, but I feel we're losing other important things.".................

if the above link doesn't work try this one to feministing

jill scott

(h/t to feministing)

this is one of THE best vids i've seen in a long time

(vagislim shady!)


Unemployment Check: Vagislim Shady

don't these people know (the vagisil peeps that is) women actually SHOWER? if there IS a lil' somethin' somethin' happening in that neck of the woods, well then we actually SEE A DOCTOR! if you need to 'deoderize' that area, well then something is VERY wrong. our bodies - our selves. be comfortable with WHO YOU ARE. ALWAYS! if you're healthy YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE SPRAYIN' ALL SORTS OF SHITE IN YOUR VAG.

(hat tip: feministing)

let's go get our damn equal rights! c'mon

liked her before - LOVE her now

(found via feministing)

i'm with sarah (haskins, NOT the other one)

on this. NO ONE really gives a flying yoo hoo about the 'ladies' on the view (well i sure as shite don't)




Target Women: The View

vawa

(found via feministing)

jessica is MORE than right

violence against women has nothing to do with ANYTHING other than the partner is insane (well those are MY words)


Posted by Jessica

It's not a "Facebook crime," it's domestic violence

I don't care if you call it domestic violence or intimate partner violence - but stop calling it a Facebook crime, or a MySpace murder. It has nothing to do with social networking and everything to do with violence against women.

Take this latest story from the BBC:

A man has been jailed for life for stabbing his wife to death over a posting she made on the social networking site Facebook.

Wayne Forrester, 34, told police he was devastated that his wife Emma, also 34, had changed her online profile to "single" days after he had moved out.

Forrester did not murder his wife because of her Facebook status, he murdered her because he was an abuser.

The couple, who had been together for 15 years, had a "volatile" marriage, jurors were told..............

the girl effect

(found via feministing)

here's the girl effect fact sheet (pdf)

oh no no no no and no

there is not too very much more i can say here. i'm in a state of disbelief

Canada judge tells woman not to call police if battered again

This story from Canada is just peachy:

Told by a judge she should have 'walked out' of an abusive relationship and never to call police if she goes back to her former partner, a London woman has complained to Ontario's judicial watchdog.

Melodie White said she felt 'embarrassed and humiliated' by Justice Gregory Pockele, who heard the case in a domestic violence court last summer.

White has requested that the Ontario Judicial Council discipline the judge by "re-victimizing" and endangering her by telling her to not call the police if she goes back to her partner. This was all in front of the abusive ex-boyfriend, by the way. "It was supposed to be about (the accused) being violent to me and the police felt it was serious enough to lay four charges. But it turned out to be about me," said White.

And he dismissed the charges. He also told her that women today were not "not weak and disadvantaged" and she should have been gone "in a flash."...........

huh?

i thought time was better than this. why in this goddess' earth would they publish a heapin' pile o' shite like luscombe's article? why i ask you?

women (with a BRAIN and a HEART and a SOUL) don't like sarevil because she would ban choice, she supports abstinance only education (which CLEARLY DOESN'T WORK AS YOU CAN SEE FROM HER OWN FAMILY), she thinks her god WANTS us in iraq, she loves big oil, she's not too intelligent (although you do have to give her a point for being a master of misdirection). there are way more reasons but this will do for now.

hey luscombe YOU are feeding into the common myths about women.

TIME: Women who don't support Palin are just jealous little girls

You have got to be kidding me.

I almost thought this was a spoof article, but soon realized that TIME magazine author Belinda Luscombe is quite serious about her contention of why women aren't supporting Sarah Palin: 'cause when it comes to politics, we're all just struggling with our inner catty schoolgirls:

Here's why Palin doesn't make the grade:

1. She's too pretty. This is very bad news. At school, pretty girls tend to be liked only by other pretty girls. The rest of us, whose looks hover somewhere around underwhelming, resent them and whisper archly of their "unearned attention." So, if everyone calls your candidate "hot," you're in a whole mess of trouble. If the Pakistani head-of-state more or less hits on her, well, yes, she'll get a sympathy vote, but we're in Dukakis-in-the-tank territory. It's an admiration vaporizer. (Of course a candidate can't be too ugly, or it will scare the men, who are clearly shallow as a gender.)

2. She's too confident. This also bodes ill. Women have self-esteem issues. But they also have other-women's-esteem issues. As almost any woman -- from the head of the Budgerigar Breeders association to Queen Elizabeth -- can attest, it's almost impossible to get confidence right. Too timid and you're a pushover. Too self-aggrandizing and you're a bad word unless it's about a dog, or Project Runway's Kenley. Or Michelle, my best friend until 9th grade, after she won that debating prize and got cocky..........

i got this from feministing

as the poster said (Posted by Jessica), it really IS creepy, yet it really IS something we should all see

you go grrrl!!!!!!!!!!

keira is my new homegrrrl

telling all HER homegrrrls, be happy with who you are AND how you look

Keira Knightley Says Get Your Digital Mits Off My Body
The second highest paid actress in Hollywood is telling the publicists for her latest movie, The Duchess, to keep their airbrushing hands off her breasts. In previous films she was stunned to find her breasts digitally enhanced, but this time she's insisting it be different. I was asked to comment on this and related issues (body image, media etc.) on Good Morning America, which is supposed to air tomorrow morning for those of you with fancy television recording devices............

oh f**k this

i never understood spending THOUSANDS on a wedding. i really don't. for what? i can't grasp it. i know i'm in the minority. i'll live with it.

what i CAN'T live with is this:

New "gifts" for bridesmaids: plastic surgery

Apparently there's some new trend of brides getting their bridesmaids Botox and plastic surgery and the like before the big day. You know, just in case American weddings weren't enough about unrealistic expectations, consumerism and all-around bizarreness.*

Some brides pick up the tab for their attendants, replacing the pillbox inscribed with the wedding date with a well-earned squirt between the eyes. In other cases, bridesmaids -- who may quietly seethe about unflattering dresses -- are surprisingly willing to pay for cosmetic enhancements. "Most women, when they come in here, they want it," said Camille Meyer, the owner of TriBeCa MedSpa. "They know they're aging."

For Karen Hohenstein, who held her party at the Tiffani Kim Institute Medical Wellness Spa in Chicago, convincing her friends was as smooth as a Botoxed forehead. "It wasn't me saying, 'Hey, we all could use a little something,' " she said. "It was, 'I want to do this,' and a couple of people said, 'I do, too.' "..........

(and if a friend ever asked me to be in their bridal party - ........................and i'm not EVEN going to mention how effing mad i am at a certain italian for NOT asking me to be his best man, he asked his BROTHER instead and his brother chewed gum THE WHOLE TIME.............. - she sure as shite better NEVER ask me to get botox, my face done or any other work. my breasts are safe. they don't need enhancement. shite even if they were tiny, i'd NEVER have them done. if she DID ask me not only would i NOT be in her wedding, i'd kick the shite out of her as well)

tuesday humor

you know, the kind where you insist the comedian put down the crack pipe and back away slowly


Bill Kristol says "Republicans are much more open to strong women"

I say that's hilarious considering who this is coming from. I'm a week late on this, but it's a necessary mention. Via Think Progress:

Kristol: I think Hillary Clinton was gracious, she's put behind her the horrible sexism and misogyny the Democratic primary voters demonstrated. I'm appalled by it, personally. Never would have happened in the Republican Party, you know...we're -- Republicans are much more open to strong women. (yeah, so they can pull the pl0w longer) That's why McCain is going to put Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, on the ticket.,.............

(of course the italicized blurb up there is mine)

feministing

i just noticed this on the bottom of their header page:

By and for young feminists...

i'm deeply offended (and no, i'm NOT kidding). what about people who are other than 'young feminists'? it is my personal opinion one gets into dangerous territory when one excludes (segregates) others

i don't frighten easily

these fuck wads scare me. i could go on and on about birth control. i could go on and on about abstinance. i could go on and on about the VERY mentally ill who say things like the pill kills babies. i won't. i don't have to

American Life League launches anti-birth control campaign

Just in case you still had any doubts about the anti-choice movement's true agenda, the American Life League is letting it all hang out with their latest campaign: The Pill Kills!
From Christina Page at RH Reality Check:
On June 7th, the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that gave married people the right to use contraception, the American Life League, along with Pro-Life Wisconsin and Pharmacists for Life International Associate groups want you to join them in protesting in front of facilities that distribute birth control products. The national day against contraception, Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies, was started to convince the American people of a simple and imaginative idea: attempting to prevent abortion is abortion too.
The campaign basically says that birth control pills kill babies (yes, seriously) and that pro-choice groups and health care centers like Planned Parenthood are only touting birth control to make lots and lots of money. (Because as we all know, there's nothing more lucrative than offering low-to-no cost reproductive health care.).............

she keeps her own name muthas!!!

this is great:

(hat tip to feministing