Weekly Open Thread with Tapestry
Hosting this weeks open thread is Carole King’s classic hit from the 70s. Please natter/chatter/vent/rant on anything* you like over this weekend and throughout the week.
* with a few netiquette exceptions
...read moreAngelina Jolie and her mastectomy. (It was going to come up eventually.)
In February, Angelina Jolie had a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. This week, she wrote an op-ed about it for the New York Times. And here’s all I’m going to say about it.
...read moreNo, actually. No. Violence against women actually isn’t funny.
No, The Onion. No, Hanna Rosin. A joke about beating a woman to death is not funny.
...read moreMother’s Day is Over – But Pregnancy Discrimination Isn’t
Stories of discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace are all too common, and that’s why we need the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was introduced in Congress today.
Despite the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act over 30 years ago, which prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, some employers continue to deny pregnant women the minor job modifications that could protect not only a woman’s pregnancy but also a family’s economic security, forcing pregnant women out of their jobs.
The PWFA would make it crystal clear to employers that they can’t treat pregnant women worse than other workers who have certain job limitations and instead must make reasonable accommodations if doing so doesn’t pose an undue hardship on the business.
...read moreLGBT community to the state of Minnesota: “YOU’RE WELCOME.”
Well, you’ve done it now, Minnesota. You’ve gone and okayed same-sex marriage, and now Michele Bachmann is leaving.
[Update: Okay, so I'm a sucker. It's satire. Wishful thinking on my part, I suppose.]
...read moreHow to be an ally with bisexuals
Of course, some of you reading this are bisexual. So am I. But for those who aren’t, you may be wondering how to be our allies. Here are some suggestions (by the way, if any other bisexuals have suggestions they’d like to add, please feel free to say so in the comments.)
...read moreShameless Self-Promotion Sunday
Promote yourself.
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Weekly Open Thread with May dancers
Please natter/chatter/vent/rant on anything* you like over this weekend and throughout the week, under the benevolent aegis of this week’s host, a group of children dancing around a maypole from nearly a century ago.
* with a few netiquette exceptions
...read moreI definitely want to pet your dog.
But I still think Farhad Manjoo is correct here when he says that many dog owners are a little too lenient with their pets. Not everyone likes dogs; a lot of people (me included, actually) are allergic to dogs. A lot of people are scared of dogs — yes, even your cute one.
...read moreCleveland Kidnappings, Rapes and Torture
The horrific stories of the abuse inflicted by Ariel Castro upon his victims Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina de Jesus for a decade of imprisonment have been this week’s big news story, and I know some of you will want to discuss it. Because of the potential for triggering, I’m giving it a thread of its own so those readers who want to avoid potential PTSD triggers can do so.
...read moreShould you speak out at a wedding of a friend marrying an abusive man?
That’s Cary Tennis’s advice to a woman who witnesses her friend being subjected to a variety of abusive behaviors from her fiance. He beats up her dog. He monitors her phone. He violates her physical boundaries. I like Cary’s explanation — that silence is enabling — but I wonder if what amounts to a public humiliation will only marginalize the friend more.
The letter-writer should absolutely take that dog to the vet, though, permission or not.
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Purity Culture and Sexual Assault
Caperton covered the Elizabeth Smart speech about abstinence already, and my Guardian column this week is on a similar topic: How an emphasis on purity is bad for women, bad for men and bad for rape survivors:
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