Whew, another stressful week in caregiving! For those of you who are also taking care of elderly or disabled friends or relatives, recognise that part of your stress is because of our culture, from assumptions that women will provide needed care to paychecks that are nonexistent or low for such vitally important work. But there are lots of online resources with suggestions for coping with stress. Here are some from the Mayo Clinic. It’s a copyrighted post, so to see all of them you’ll have to click on this link!:
- Focus on what you can do. At times, you might feel like you're not doing enough. But no one is a perfect caregiver. Believe that you're doing the best you can.
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- Get connected. Learn about caregiving resources in your area. There might be classes you can take. You might find caregiving services such as rides, meal delivery or house cleaning.
-snip-
- Seek social support. Stay connected to family and friends who support you.
So thank you, my support group! We caregivers couldn’t do it without you.
As always, WOW is a group effort. Many thanks to Angmar, officebss, and mettle fatigue for links and discussion behind the scenes this week!
In Other News
Governing Women
The19thnews The group chat these women governors turn to
Democratic women governors brag on their states — and one another in a group chat with each other. They talked to The19th reporter Jennifer Gerson about learning from one another about policy, what it takes to lead and what they see as “women’s issues.”
In Meghan Meehan-Draper’s first years with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), she noticed something startling:“We had more governors named John than we had governors who were women,” [said] Meehan-Draper, now the executive director of the DGA...
A few years later, the DGA launched the Women Governors Fund, which has put $80 million in Democratic women candidates in general elections. Since its start in 2018, the number of Democratic women governors has quadrupled.
The eight Democratic women leading their states — Maura Healey in Massachusetts, Katie Hobbs in Arizona, Kathy Hochul in New York, Laura Kelly in Kansas, Tina Kotek in Oregon, Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico, Janet Mills in Maine and Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan — have changed what it means for women to win and hold executive office in the United States. ...
Bad Ole Boys pretending they can govern without women
from Oklahoma Voice:
Only one woman at the governor’s “Budget Summit”
https://oklahomavoice.com/…
Native American News
NativeNewsOnline Navajo Nation Speaker Crystalyne Curley: The Issue of Missing & Murdered Diné Rooted in Colonization
Navajo Nation Speaker Curley recalled on Thursday that her grandfather warned her family that Navajo women were taken from the community and never returned. “The issue of Missing and Murdered Diné Relatives is not a new crisis. It’s rooted in colonization where many of our ancestors faced violence, abuse, and kidnapping ... “My grandfather has talked about our women being taken to never return home. It’s been generations that our people have been carrying this pain.”
Speaker Curley and the 25th Navajo Nation Council joined community members in a march to show solidarity with families of Missing and Murdered Diné Relatives (MMDR). Curley said one objective of the march was to foster support and healing for impacted families.
Law and Order Committee Chair Eugenia Charles-Newton supported the voices of those who speak out against harassment and abuse [saying] she was walking to take a stand against sexual harassment in the workplace, and that often those who speak up are looked upon as disruptors or agitators.“Sometimes when you speak out against this issue, you’re looked upon as the bad guy. I don’t believe that. We need to step up and say something. I’m here today to say that [s]peaking out and being blamed is not right. We need to stop root causes like stalking, domestic violence, and harassment in the workplace.”
health
National Women's Health Month - time to talk about menopause:
https://www.cbsnews.com/…
CDC Data shows U.S. maternal mortality rates declined in 2023, returning to pre-pandemic levels (which, as we know, were way too high even before the pandemic)
https://www.advisory.com/…
Gratuitous pootie break
Because we were talking about health, ya see. (h/t leonard145b)
Education
From Kentucky Lantern:
A congressional watchdog in a new report called on the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to improve its enforcement of Title IX compliance in college athletics.
https://kentuckylantern.com/...
Starvation Economics
From ONE:
9 facts you need to know about gender equality:
https://www.one.org/…
Note that you can join One’s fight against preventable disease and poverty, www.one.org/…!
GOTV! Get out the gosh-darn vote!
Our own indefatigable Yosef's diary on women's rights and GOTV. The latest crap, well summarised, https://www.dailykos.com/...
What Every Man should Know ;-)
New findings shed light on why women orgasm more often with female partners:
The problem here is the dominant sexual script associated with heterosexual sex, which does not include sufficient clitoral stimulation or sufficient focus on women’s pleasure. Heterosexual couples can create their own sexual scripts that work for the people involved.
The study's authors of course reassure men that they are "not necessarily" bad lovers! And probably anticipating men trying too hard, they conclude:
In pursuing a partner’s orgasm, it’s essential to never put pressure on a partner to orgasm, as this coercion can make orgasm less likely, less pleasurable, and can lead to negative relationship outcomes.
Awards
GLAAD Media Awards::
The 35th GLAAD Media Awards honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. Since its inception in 1990, the GLAAD Media Awards have grown to be the most visible annual LGBTQ awards show in the world.
Winners include many women. Since I am pretty unfamiliar with the entertainment scene I'll assume you are too, and include extremely brief, probably grossly inadequate synopses, but will provide links for those who want to know more. There are a total of 33 categories of awards, and three outstanding documentaries! Just a few of the winners include:
Queer fan favourite: Red, White & Royal Blue, the 2023 romantic comedy film based on the debut novel by Casey McQuiston.
Outstanding Broadway production: My Window, by and about Melissa Etheridge.
Outstanding variety or talk show episode: "Jennifer Hudson Surprises HIV Activist with $10,000” on The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Outstanding kids and family programming or film - live action: Heartstopper: "A British coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama television series" created by Alice Oseman, who is also the writer and one of the executive producers. Heartstopper is also a graphic novel and webcomic series by Oseman. The soundtrack is composed and performed by Adiescar Chase, "an English multi-instrumentalist and composer".
Outstanding music artist: Renee Rapp, Snow Angel the album. Her appearance on SNL singing her title track is here:
