Is the United States the only country where more men are raped every year than women?
That’s the claim in this n+1 piece, which is well worth a read:
...read moreIn January, prodded in part by outrage over a series of articles in the New York Review of Books, the Justice Department finally released an estimate of the prevalence of sexual abuse in penitentiaries. The reliance on filed complaints appeared to understate the problem. For 2008, for example, the government had previously tallied 935 confirmed instances of sexual abuse. After asking around, and performing some calculations, the Justice Department came up with a new number: 216,000. That’s 216,000 victims, not instances. These victims are often assaulted multiple times over the course of the year. The Justice Department now seems to be saying that prison rape accounted for the majority of all rapes committed in the US in 2008, likely making the United States the first country in the history of the world to count more rapes for men than for women.
Fallen Celebrities: Casualties of Fame or Victims of Circumstance?
There seems to be this recycled response when a female celebrity dies from anything other than an accident, illness or old age: “She couldn’t handle the fame.”
...read moreWhat Are Women For?
It’s a good question. What are human beings all here for anyway? Is it simply to continue the human race? Or do humans have some greater purpose, or higher function? It’s a question that’s been tackled, to varying degrees, by philosophers, historians, artists, writers and theologians. We can all stop now, though, because James Poulos has the answer:
...read moreWhy We Need V-Day More Than Ever
“Why are you doing Vagina Monologues?”
...read moreShockingly, Catholic Bishops’ hostility to birth control is not about religious liberty.
Last week, the Obama administration instituted a new rule requiring institutions to provide birth control for their employees, with exceptions for primarily religious institutions — they didn’t have to provide birth control if it violated their conscience. Seems like a good compromise, right?
...read moreThis Is What Happened to CeCe
Cece McDonald stood up to bigots and survived a hate crime. Now she’s in the county jail waiting to be tried for second degree murder.
This is a story about intersectionality – what happens when a young trans woman of color goes up against white supremacy, misogyny and transphobia. It’s a story about what happens when you have to fight for your life.
...read moreWhat Komen Reveals About the Ugly Truth of American Politics
A must-read by Jill Lepore in the New Yorker:
...read moreThe people who have urged Komen to stop supporting Planned Parenthood aren’t opposed to breast-cancer screenings; they’re opposed to other services Planned Parenthood provides, which include contraception and abortion. But a campaign to sever the ties between a foundation that’s raising money to find a cure for breast cancer and a health-care provider that advocates for reproductive rights exposes more than a division over contraception and abortion. It exposes a gruesome truth about politics in this country.
Five Ways to Support Health for All Women
As Caperton covered yesterday, the Komen Foundation recently pulled $600,000 in annual funding for Planned Parenthood, making it even more difficult for low-income women to get necessary cancer screenings. Nona over at GOOD offers a list of five other ways to support women’s health, and offers organizations to support that don’t put so-called “pro-life” values ahead of actual women’s lives. If you’ve got some extra cash, consider putting it toward actual health care.
...read moreCome Talk about Women and the 2012 Election
On Monday Feb. 6th, I’ll be speaking at NYU Law with former President of Planned Parenthood Faye Wattleton, Director of MergerWatch Lois Uttley, and conservative scholar Christina Hoff Sommers about women and the 2012 election. It should be an interesting discussion — if you’re in New York, drop by! Just make sure you RSVP to ssb363@nyu.edu.
...read moreLady of the Hour: Janet Howell
Since anti-choice legislators are forcing women to undergo invasive and unnecessary ultrasounds before obtaining abortions — yes, that is a legal requirement that women be vaginally penetrated for no medical purpose other than to humiliate and emotionally manipulate them — Virginia State Senator Janet Howell has decided that maybe men should also be subjected to some less-than-necessary medical examinations for the privilege of being sexual creatures:
...read moreBirth Control: Kind of Like Pork Chops
“Pro-life” Catholic colleges are all salty about a new law requiring insurance plans to cover birth control. Because even though 98% of Catholic women will use contraception at some point in their lives, male Catholic leaders have decided that a baby is a gift from God and expecting insurance providers to cover birth control is like expecting pork to be served at a Jewish barbeque:
...read more
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