Category Archives: Feminism

Dear Black Children: Everyone Can Beat You! | Dame Magazine

The South Carolina student’s reported refusal to give up her cell phone is understandable to me. Children in foster care don’t have much property or many lifelines. There is so little that you can call your own, much less control. You’ve already been abused, abandoned, violated and made to feel like a number rather than a child. Rather than a human. You have to deal with the shame and embarrassment of the violation and circumstances that landed you in the system. Your trauma is likely to be misdiagnosed and rather than receiving adequate counseling, too many children in foster care are given psychotropic meds, with no caring adults to monitor their response to the drugs, potential side effects or even if they’re helping at all.

Source: Dear Black Children: Everyone Can Beat You! | Dame Magazine

Angleterre Suffragette | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Accession Number: 1975:0112:2134 Maker: Ch. Chusseau-Flaviens Title: Angleterre Suffragette Date: ca. 1900-1919 Medium: negative, gelatin on glass Dimensions: 12 x 9 cm. George Eastman House Collection General information about the George Eastman House Photography Collection is available at http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/collections/photography.php. For information on obtaining reproductions go to: http://www.eastmanhouse.org/flickr/index.php?pid=1975:0112:2134.

Source: Angleterre Suffragette | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Quote of the Day: No mother wants her daughter to have fewer rights than she did

Yesterday, Glamour named Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, a Woman of the Year. And damn — that woman has seriously had a year. Speaking about the attacks on Planned Parenthood, TRAP laws passed in conservative states to shut down clinics, and the pressures of her job, Richards said: There’s not a mother in the world who wants her daughter to have fewer rights than she did—and for me, it’s the 2.7 million people Planned Parenthood serves each year who make everything I advocate for possible. Women, men, and young people deserve quality health care and fundamental rights. I will do this job every day to protect them.We’re all so grateful that she does.

Source: Quote of the Day: No mother wants her daughter to have fewer rights than she did

One-woman counter-protest breaks up anti-choice vigil by chanting “yeast infections!”

Numair’s best friend and co-worker clocked in early so she could head out to the protest, where she planted herself between two families with children. “In my first 30 seconds of walking out there, I did get called a whore,” Numair said. “One woman was shaking her head. I knelt down to her kid and said, ‘Do you know about yeast infections?’ ”Onlookers gave Numair the thumbs-up, and some passing cars honked in support, but she was the only counter-protester on the scene. Still, with a spontaneous chant, she managed to break up the protest in under a half-hour. “I don’t know why I started chanting ‘Yeast infections!’ but it just came out. I have this cold, so it was just this obnoxious squeak, cheerleader-like. And I started doing high kicks, which I don’t normally do, in my skinny jeans.” A religious leader was guiding a circle of protestors in prayers for Numair—but as her chants got louder and more grating, they stopped.I’m on board with pretty much anything — including being straight-up obnoxious — that makes it as hard as possible for anti-choicers to gather in front of clincs. A recent British study found that patients found the presence of anti-choice protestors outside clinics distressing, regardless of the protestors’ behavior; a silent prayer vigil by so-called “sidewalk counselors” was just as much of an unwanted intrusion as a more aggressive protest with graphic signs.Unfortunately, our legal system apparently thinks anti-choicers’ right to free speech takes precedence over patients’ right to access a legal medical procedure without harassment and intimidation. As long as that’s the case, the only (imperfect) solution is countering their speech with our speech — and if it’s shouting about yeast infections that makes anti-choicers as uncomfortable as they make those seeking abortions, so be it.

Source: One-woman counter-protest breaks up anti-choice vigil by chanting “yeast infections!”

Texas Is Fishing Through Your Abortion Files | Dame Magazine

A demand for records—especially an extensive demand such as the one apparently occurring in Texas—is just as much about serving as a warning to future providers and patients as it is about casting as wide a net as possible in the hopes of finding some sort of error or deviance to potentially prosecute. For doctors, it’s a warning that the act of performing an abortion will inevitably put you under a microscope, where a mistake made in another medical profession that would likely be overlooked could in this case turn into a fine, a loss of a medical license, or worse. For patients, it’s an active reminder that someone, somewhere could find out about your medical past, and that there is always the chance that information could get out.  That’s an especially alarming scenario for the women of Texas, who are already learning the hard way that politics will often trump their health and safety, as the state cuts off family-planning services, refuses to expand Medicaid for low income residents, and will even arrest an undocumented mother while she is visiting her gynecologist.Subpoenaing medical records is just the latest salvo of the state of Texas’s vendetta against Planned Parenthood, and regardless of what the health department finds, the state will most likely be successful in frightening some patients and medical professionals away from the clinics. But like every other political attack in the state, it will do nothing to stop the need for reproductive health services, and instead it will just continue to put those services further out of reach for those who need it.

Source: Texas Is Fishing Through Your Abortion Files | Dame Magazine

When girls become wives to escape war | Europe | DW.COM | 26.10.2015

When will men grow to be human and humane!

Marriage as protection from sexual violence

One of the recurring topics is family honor. Many girls and women are expected to defend their honor: this is perceived to include entering into marriage as a virgin. But sexual assault and rape often occur in Syria’s war zones. Claudia Söder from Medica Mondiale says that everyone there has had such experiences. Rape brings great shame to families, she says, as the honor of their daughter has been sullied. Marriage can solve the problem. “They hope that they will no longer be subjected to sexual violence,” explains Söder, adding that families accept the fact that the girls are legally much too young. Age often does not matter. “People are not bothered and the state does not take action,” says Christa Stolle. In dire situations, money plays a part, as families need the monetary dowry they receive for every eligible daughter. So the number of child brides has tripled in Syrian refugee camps in recent years.The subject is unsettling and it seems remote from people’s lives here, but there have been similar cases in Germany. Christa Stolle tells the story of a 16-year-old whose parents of Turkish origin wanted to marry her off. It is legally possible in Germany if special judicial authorization is granted but the parents had only planned a religious wedding, without the necessary documents. After the parents had taken the girl out of school and locked her up at home, the girl turned to the women’s rights organization. That was five years ago. The girl is now 21 years old and lives in an unnamed place with a different name and has a job, according to Stolle: “She is now a confident young woman and very grateful to us.”

Source: When girls become wives to escape war | Europe | DW.COM | 26.10.2015

Germaine Greer defends views on transgender issues amid calls for cancellation of feminism lecture – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

“I don’t even talk about it, they’re not my issue. I haven’t published anything about transgender for years,” she said.”I’ve had things thrown at me, I’ve been accused of things I have never done or said, people seem to have no concern about evidence or indeed, even about libel.”When asked whether she will still deliver the lecture, Greer appeared pessimistic.”I’m getting a bit old for all this. I’m 76. I don’t want to go down there and be screamed at and have things thrown at me,” she told BBC News.”Bugger it. It’s not that interesting or rewarding.”

Source: Germaine Greer defends views on transgender issues amid calls for cancellation of feminism lecture – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)