Preparing for my first weekly digest for this group was enlightening.
Earlier this week I made a folder to bookmark news items that I found of interest pertaining specifically to the war on women. Some items I read completely at the time and made a few notes in my journal of things I wanted to discuss in more detail in today’s diary, some I glanced over lightly and still more I didn’t read at the time but tagged because of a catchy title to read later.
I opened that folder this morning. Holy Cow!
While I like to think of myself as being well-read and having an above average awareness of the issues women face, I have never studiously collected a week’s worth of links to compile into a War on Women diary.
It is just one week. It is huge. It is overwhelming.
I limited my selections to 20 items. Otherwise this diary would be a never-ending story on the never-ending war on women.
Last week, I compiled and posted a handy-dandy list of victories that spanned the first quarter of 2014. It was not exhaustive, but it was pretty long! I blathered a little about appreciating and celebrating successes, great and small. Blah, blah, blah. While I still think that is true, judging by how many stories I collected regarding the setbacks and defeats that spanned a mere week, had I chosen to compile a list of outrages for the first quarter instead, I have no doubt the list would have been 10 or 20 times longer. No exaggeration.
Undoubtedly, those of you who with a longer history of writing for this group already knew this. You could have given a girl a little head’s up! Don’t judge.
It is not even realistic that I can post all that I collected. There is so much to share I am limiting my own comments - I am almost speechless anyway.
The war rages on below the fold…
Some Good Stuff:
From PolicyMic: 23 Ways Feminists Have Made the World Better for Women.
A response to The Heritage Foundation’s recent panel on feminism and happiness where attendees spent hours decrying the perceived failures of the women's movement and the “project” known as feminism.
So, you were wondering what it feels like to be a woman?
h/t ramara
A year after Republican-led North Dakota signed the most repressive abortion legislation; a federal judge overturned the six-week abortion ban in what amounts to a huge win for reproductive rights advocates.
A look at the numbers from The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) makes a case for investing in women and makes it hard to believe we are living in the 21st Century
Celebrating One Woman's History
Not new, but as a science geek, I find this fascinating and inspiring.
Some Bad Stuff:
It seems there were no items that could simply be labeled ‘bad’ this week. Please proceed to some ugly stuff at your own risk.
Some Ugly Stuff:
When Senate Republicans blocked the Paycheck Fairness Actto keep women earning 77-cents on the dollar a man earns, the right was carrying on a decades-long practice of opposing any measure to treat women as equal to men and to attack the idea of equal rights for women and openly publicize their push to drive women out of the workplace back to where they believe they belong; into marriage, tending the home, caring for their husbands, and bearing and raising children.
One well known conservative feels so strongly about it she thinks the country should take steps to force women into heterosexual marriages by imposing financial incentives in the form of penalties levied on women who choose not to marry. Adolf Hitler shared Phyllis Schitfly’s’s belief.
I am usually the first to roll my eyes when Goodwin’s Law is breached.
However, it seems that Republicans Are Following The Nazi Model of Forced Marriage for Women To the Letter.
We are used to the right attacking Hillary Clinton. Nothing new to see here.
It is quite another matter, and quite despicable when they attack her unborn grandchild. NY Post Reaches New Lows With Letter To Chelsea Clinton's Baby
"We were actually strategizing to put all of the women up in the front. If they're going to start shooting, it's gonna be women that are televised all across the world getting shot by these rogue federal officers. –Richard Mack
While the Cliven Bundy story has been highlighted continuously since it began, and this video clip is from several weeks ago, I think that these remarks, while extreme, epitomize the attitudes about women held by conservatives.
The message I received from these words is that women are of no consequence and disposable.
Kossack Joan McCarter wonders why a celibate, white, old man,who probably should just stay away from any discussion of lady parts and their health, thinks women should be getting their healthcare at the 7-11.
"All those slutty sluts looking for sex can just pick up some rubbers while they're buying their cigarettes and beer!
A Manhattan woman says she was fired from her job at a Chipotle because she had 'too many issues' outside of work after she took time off to recover from an attack at the hands of her abusive boyfriend.
It turns out that if you're a low-income woman, you're less likely than an earlier generation to make it to your 55th birthday. Economist Barry Bosworth at the Brookings Institution crunched the numbers and found that the richer you are, the longer you’ll live. And it’s a gap that is widening, particularly among women. CHARTS!
South Carolina minister, Det Bowers, the "Republican" primary challenger to the "Liberal" Lindsey Graham has a new message for the ladies:</>
Transcript:
"[...]I find that in about 95 percent of broken marriages, though the husband’s the one that ran out on his wife, the wife loves her children more than she does her husband. That is an abominable idolatry.
Do you hear me ladies? It is an abominable idolatry to love your children more than you love your husband, and it will ruin your marriage. And yet you blame it on him because he ran off with some other woman! He did run off with some other woman, and you packed his bags. All of his emotional bags, you packed for him. Is that true in every case? No, but it’s true in the vast preponderance of them.
You just ran him off. You paid more attention to your children than you did to him. ‘Oh, he doesn’t need me?’ He needs you more than they do. He chose you, they didn’t. An abominable idolatry."
Pat Robertson tells a male viewer to consider divorcing his wife for withholding sex because she was probably molested as a child and needs psychological counseling.
Rape culture on campus was a hot topic this week:
How colleges are Rebranding Rape
If you kill a person, you're a murderer. If you steal, no one would hesitate to call you a thief. But in America, when you force yourself on someone sexually, some people will jump through flaming hoops not to call you a rapist. h/t ramara's sister
Leaked Emails From American University Frat Reveal Prevalence of Rape Culture in U.S. Capital
A horrific farewell letter supposedly written by a sorority girl.
I don't even....This wreaks of adolescent frat boy to me.
Brown University lets rapist who choked his victim re-enroll after a semester-long suspension
Christian colleges are finding ways to get around the federal laws that address college rape.
Finally, while the message in the video is good, the reality of domestic abuse is ugly. WARNING: This video contains some powerfully ugly and frightening images.
We’ve come a long way baby, but domestic violence is still very real for millions of women each year.
There’s a number at the end of the video to call. If you have friends who are abused or abusive, it's time to have a serious conversation.