Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Cheers!

The verdict is out – ladies’ nights remain!

On Monday, Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum struck down a lawsuit alleging that ladies’ night at nightclubs in Manhattan discriminate against men. The suit was brought on by attorney Roy Den Hollander, an ardent opponent of feminism, who most recently sued Columbia University for its women’s studies program and the lack of a comparable men’s program (yea right!). Hollander was not pleased with the suit’s outcome and said the decision is “consistent with the discrimination embedded in many of America’s institutions.”

This is just plain ridiculous! Seriously? I want to meet this guy so I can knock some sense in him or better yet throw my discounted drink in his face! There was a time when bars and pubs were exclusively male spaces and women were unwelcome or assumed only to be there for one thing, and it wasn’t alcohol. That’s discrimination - as is the fact that women still do not receive equal pay for equal work! If my logic were as good as Mr. Hollander’s I’d demand that women deserve to pay less for alcohol (and everything else for that matter) to make up for the wage gap – am I on to something? (I kid).

What concerned me about this lawsuit was the nightclub owner’s defense that men might actually benefit from ladies’ nights because of the abundance of women who attend. Really? Lots of women, lots of alcohol, and lots of men eager to “benefit” – this combination can easily put women at extreme risk for being assaulted, raped, or worse. Perhaps this is the more important issue.

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Aborting Your Judgements


Each year in the United States 1.3 million abortions occur. That’s about one in three American women who will have an abortion by the time they reach the age 45. In New York abortions represent nearly 13% of all abortions in the United States.

That’s a whole lot of women, but who are they? What are their stories?

We don’t know. We have no idea who these women are or what led them to make one of the most important decisions of their lives. Of course abortion is a private and intimate matter but it is a right that we have, at least for now, and something we must protect. Unfortunately, with all the silence and secrecy that surrounds this pivotal life choice, abortion remains a mystery to many.

In “Abortion & Life” Jennifer Baumgardner sets out to demystify abortion as she documents the stories of multiple generations of women and their abortion stories. The women in the book are photographed wearing “I Had an Abortion” t-shirts, a campaign Baumgardner began to “challenge the taboo that cloaks abortion in silence.” The cover depicts a pregnant Baumgardner and a woman wearing one of the t-shirts standing by her side touching her belly. It is this dichotomy that we need to embrace – the notion that women who’ve had abortions can understand one another and the decisions they have chosen for their lives. I’ve never had an abortion, but I wouldn’t judge another woman for choosing to do so. We are lucky we are able to choose and we must stand up for our right to have an abortion now more than ever.











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Friday, September 26, 2008

No Day But Today


If you never got a chance to see the hit play Rent during it’s 12-year run on Broadway you need to check it out this weekend. The final performance on Broadway was filmed and is now being aired in select movie theatres. Only two days left – Saturday and Sunday night!

Check out The Hot Ticket for participating theaters:

http://www.thehotticket.net/rent/


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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Genius Idea

I’d like to take credit for what I’m about to tell you, but unfortunately this was not my genius idea. Ok here’s the deal. We all know Sarah Palin poses an undeniable threat to women’s health so why not do your part to protect a woman’s right to choose, and have a little fun doing it. Make a donation to Planned Parenthood – in Sarah Palin’s name. When you do, they’ll send her a thank you card telling her that a donation has been made in her honor. You’ll need to fill out an address for her to receive the card so why not send it to the McCain campaign headquarters?

Here’s the address:

McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington, VA 22202

And the link:
https://secure.ga0.org/02/pp10000_inhonor

Have at it! Told you it was genius!

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Saturday, September 20, 2008

Bitch Saved!

We did it! Bitch Magazine has been saved – at least for now. The next issue will be out December 1st, but to ensure Bitch stays alive keep the money rolling in!

Current Issue

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Protect Women’s Health Now

Hillary Clinton teamed up with Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in today’s New York Times with an excellent editorial, Blocking Care for Women, that criticizes the recently proposed regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services that would allow medical professionals (doctors, nurses, receptionist, volunteers, you name it) to opt out of providing any medical procedure they find objectionable.

What’s on the line here? Well, abortion (of course), sterilization, possibly even basic forms of contraception, and other “unspecified medical procedures.”

As Clinton and Richards note:

Could physicians object to helping patients whose sexual orientation they find objectionable?

Could a receptionist refuse to book an appointment for an H.I.V. test? What about an emergency room doctor who wishes to deny emergency contraception to a rape victim? Or a pharmacist who prefers not to refill a birth control prescription?

These are all legitimate questions as the proposed rules are vague and leave room for interpretation. Nonetheless, whatever way you slice it, women lose.

There is less than a week left until the public comment period on the regulations closes. Don’t miss your chance to raise your voice and protect women’s health!

TAKE ACTION!

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Yes We Can

Obama received the endorsement of six women's rights organizations this week:

Business and Professional Women/USA
Feminist Majority Political Action Committee
National Association of Social Workers
National Congress of Black Women
National Organization of Women
Women’s Information Network

With Election Day less than two months away its time to rally as much support as possible for the change this country needs. The alternate choice is not an option.

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Bitch Slapped

My favorite feminist magazine, Bitch, needs you! In these hard economic times, these bitches need a helping hand - $40,000 by October 15th to be exact - so dig in your pockets and dig deep. Bitch is one of the only places we can go for serious feminist analysis on the issues we care about so don’t let this be the last Bitch! Donate now!

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Palin Mania

After a short hiatus away, I’m back! And there is lots and lots to talk about, especially the Palin Mania that has hit the media by storm. My thoughts? As a Democrat, woman, and human being I’m completed insulted. Palin’s feminist cries are laughable, as are her rallying cries to shatter the glass ceiling, an accomplishment that would abandon the 18 million voters (including me) who were hammering away behind Hillary Clinton. Yet, despite her anti-woman policies and ultra conservative values, the Republican campaign is doing its damndest to rally the female vote to nominate a woman whose candidacy will turn back the clocks.

Supporting Palin means supporting a candidate who will limit our reproductive choices, a woman who will make criminals out of women for choosing what is best for their own bodies. This is a woman who believes rape victims should carry their assailant’s baby to term, a woman who also believes incest survivors have no choice but to have their father, brother, uncle, or grandfather’s baby.

A vote for Palin is a vote for abstinence-only education, programs that have been proven ineffective and have failed even Palin’s pregnant 17-year-old daughter. A Palin-McCain ticket will ensure that young women across the country do not learn about birth control or contraception, topics comprehensive sex education programs teach to avoid unplanned pregnancies and reduce the rate of abortion.

About what about same-sex relationships? Forget it. In 1998 Palin supported the constitution amendment in Alaska that defines marriage to be solely between a man and a woman. Against a decision by the Alaskan Supreme Court in 2006 to give same-sex couples the same spousal benefits (such as healthcare and retiree benefits) that married couples receive, Palin believes such rights belong only to heterosexual couples.

Palin may be a woman, but her policies do not protect and support the rights of women. They undermine and seek to erode the very freedoms women have worked for decades to achieve. Her nomination to one of the country’s highest offices is a notable achievement, but Sarah Palin is not the right woman for this job.

Want a few more reasons not to support Palin? Check out: http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

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