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Is Breastfeeding a Form of Activism?
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You may have seen the controversial breastfeeding images last week.
They dipicted two women, nursing their babies. One of those moms was nursing twins.
The babies were small, this wasn’t an issue of extended breastfeeding. The mothers were carefully covering the majority of their breasts. The images weren’t graphic.
Both mothers were in their Air Force uniforms.
So why is this so controversial?
The United States Armed Forces have no policies against breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is entirely legal. However, there are rules about supporting causes while in uniform. Engaging in activism.
So the question is…
Is simply being the subject of a photograph in which you are nursing your baby a form of activism? Or is it an honest depiction of how you genuinely spend the majority of your time as a nursing mother when you have an infant?
Is breastfeeding so controversial in our culture that nursing an infant is anything BUT activism?
But more than that, I think the real issue here has less to do with activism, and more to do with women in the military. In a military culture that views femininity as inherently weakness- in which women are so frequently the victims of sexual violence, in which women must fight tooth and nail to be treated as the dedicated servicemembers that they are- is the real issue that there is nothing more inherently female than nursing a baby?
…and isn’t simply being a woman in uniform a form of activism as well?
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June 14, 2012
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The GOP: Budget Less Important than Reproductive Rights
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The GOP has been saying for ages that it’s the party of job creation, that the elections are about the economy, but their actions tell a different story.
For example, the House has passed a spending bill that has nothing to do with abortion.
Except that the House GOP made it about abortion.
Included in this spending bill is an abortion ban in Washington, DC.
…Washington, DC, which is populated by citizens who vote for their own representative.
…a representative who has not been allowed to speak on this subject at all, who is a Democrat, who is pro-choice, and who is a woman.
The GOP is not interested in the economy. The GOP is interested in policing the women of the United States, ensuring that women who they do not represent are denied their legal access to reproductive healthcare.
This is the agenda of the Right.
Those of you who are unemployed, underemployed, or in debt up to your ears… remember.
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June 13, 2012
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Good News from Louisiana
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A few weeks ago, Louisiana was on the verge of passing an incredibly restrictive bill- a “Fetal Pain” bill. It would have unilaterally banned abortions after 20 weeks, based on the scientifically unfounded belief that fetuses can experience pain at this point of development.
Of course, it is at the standard 20 week ultrasound that mothers are first able to learn of many devastating and untreatable conditions that their fetus might have, rendering it incapable of surviving life outside of the womb. Only 1.5% of abortions are performed after 20 weeks, and of those, the majority are women who had wanted a baby but do not wish to labor and deliver a baby that can never survive.
…it is these women, mostly grieving mothers, who bills such as these attack.
The good news out of Louisiana is that the legislature completely bypassed the bill- which had already passed in the state senate- tabling it to committee in the House. They did this because if the bill did pass, it would eliminate any protections for pregnant victims of rape or incest, and for women who are put in serious physical danger by carrying a pregnancy. If this protection is eliminated, Louisiana would lose its Medicaid funding- to the tune of about $4.5 billion.
Good news for Louisiana!
Now let’s hope that Michigan lawmakers take heed and follow suit.
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June 12, 2012
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Michigan’s Attack on Women
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All across the country, individual states have been trying to push through horrific measures that attack women- frequently in the name of protecting embryos and fetuses.
Michigan is jumping onto this bandwagon in a very big way. The new Michigan anti-abortion bill is one of the worsts in the country. Why? Because it lumps together almost every terrible idea that the GOP has come up with over the last three years (you know, when they had promised they would be creating jobs).
What does the bill do?
It unilaterally bans abortions after 20 weeks. Even in the case of incest or rape. Even if the fetus is totally unable to survive life outside the womb (born with its organs on the outside, for example), the mother would be forced to labor and deliver it. Even if the health of the mother is at risk. The only post-20 week abortion that could be performed would be if the mother would die right then without it. In other words, if she’s not at death’s door, she must remain pregnant.
It makes getting a post-20 week abortion a criminal offense- not just performing one.
It requires that any clinic that provides medical abortions- that’s a pill you can take at home- have operating rooms.
It requires that doctors be present for those medical abortions, and that they interrogate women about whether they are being “coerced” into abortions.
This is a horrific piece of legislation.
Women of Michigan, our hearts and hopes are with you in these dark times.
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June 11, 2012
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Want to Get Away with Rape? Move to Oklahoma.
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More and more GOP controlled states are dictating how women can be treated. From what health services they can receive to how much their employers are obligated to pay them, compared with their male coworkers.
And the effects of these attacks on women’s rights are becoming more and more obvious.
Last week, a woman in Oklahoma took her daughter to a local hospital. Why? The daughter had been raped.
The hospital turned the woman and the sexual assault victim away.
They did so because the GOP cut the funding for a program that requires the use of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) to perform rape kits on victims. These are specially trained nurses who are prepared to treat victims without causing any additional trauma.
However, without funding… there simply aren’t enough SANEs to go around. And when this woman took her daughter to the hospital, no SANE was available to her.
The doctor who did see her? He wouldn’t even prescribe emergency contraception. He had the option of claiming religious conscience- another fun GOP law- which meant that he didn’t have to do anything he found morally objectionable. Like treating a victimized girl like a victim, instead of like a drug addict seeking a fix.
This is the GOP’s America- where all you have to do to get away with rape is pick a night with no SANEs on duty.
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June 8, 2012
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Sexual Assault Not a Crime if Attacker Doesn’t Talk
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Every woman should be aware of a few statistics when it comes to sexual assault. They should know that fewer than half of victims report the assault, they should know that only 3% of rapists ever spend a day in jail.
And this should empower them to stand up for themselves. To demand justice. To not stand by and become another faceless victim in an overwhelming sea of violence.
…of course, it doesn’t help that sometimes the police are totally complicit in the lack of justice administered to offenders.
Last week, a woman was walking home to her Manhattan apartment from the train, when she noticed a man following her. She thought she’d shaken him off, but he jumped at her and groped her. When she screamed, a male neighbor ran out of his home and chased down the attacker. They held onto him until the police arrived.
When the police got there, they interrogated him. For a few minutes. But when he made it clear that he had no intention of talking to them, they simply let him go.
Once they released him, they went so far as to claim that he had committed no crime because there was no victim.
…so attempted rape is a victimless crime.
Assault is assault, regardless of the sexes of the parties involved. And the victim, in this case, is incredibly fortunate to have been aided by strangers.
The NYPD should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
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June 7, 2012
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Ask the GOP- Women are Worth Less
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The GOP has been adamant that there is no War on Women.
That the Republican Party is not actively fighting against the women of the United States.
That they respect women.
Yesterday, every single Republican senator voted against the Equal Pay Act. Every single one.
Every single Republican senator voiced their opinion, their belief. And their opinions and their beliefs are that women should not be entitled to the same pay for the same work as a man.
That 70 cents on the dollar is all that a woman deserves.
That women are somehow less suitable than men, to advance in their careers and in their lives.
That no woman really needs the hundreds of thousands of dollars she is being denied over the course of her careers by wage inequality.
That women should shut their mouths and let the big men make all of these decisions.
Yesterday, every single Republican senator stood up and denied women the right to equality in the workplace.
Women- think on this.
Every single Republican senator.
We have no allies in the GOP. We have no support, we have nobody looking out for us. The only thing that matters to the GOP is that they win and Obama loses. Even if we all go down with him.
Women- do not forget.
We are not worth less.
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June 6, 2012
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Hate Speech Leads to Hate Crimes
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As the GOP ratchets up its anti-woman rhetoric more and more, the repercussions are becoming obvious. On a state level, more and more GOP politicians are attacking not only the practice of abortion, or the women who seek abortions, or the doctors who perform abortions, but every woman who might not be “moral” enough.
Wisconsin alone has legislation in the works to criminalize single motherhood, to stop women from divorcing abusive husbands, and Gov. Scott Walker has repealed equal pay protections.
So it is sadly no surprise that in the course of all of this somebody bombed a Planned Parenthood clinic in Grand Chute.
But Wisconsin is not the only state going all-in in the War on Women, and it is not the only state where anti-choice extremists are resorting to violence.
In the last two weeks, there have been three such attacks on clinics in the south alone. Two in Georgia, and one in Texas. The most recent attack had nothing to do with abortion- unknown persons set fire to a non-profit that helps prostitutes seek out health services and transition out of sex work.
…you would think that those same anti-choice extremists would support an organization that helps women out of that line of work. But you’d be wrong. This isn’t about consistency, it’s about punishing women who dare to deviate from a moral ideal- who dare to experience sex in any way other than at their husband’s bidding.
This is 21st century America.
…or is it? Some days, I’m just not so sure.
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June 5, 2012
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Equal Pay for Equal Work
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As the GOP continues to claim that there is no war on women (but if there is, it’s Obama who is waging it), one senator is asking that they put their money where their mouth is. Literally.
Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) has renewed her push for the Equal Pay Act to close the loopholes that allow companies to continue undervaluing women.
This is simple common sense. If there is no war on women, mandating that you treat women like equal citizens under the law is an obvious choice. If there is? You claim that paying women as much as men will hurt the economy, that it will hurt productivity, or that women don’t earn as much as men because they can’t do math well, or don’t work as hard, and that this sort of legislation is redundant.
It is not redundant. On average, women in this country only earn 77 cents for ever dollar that a man earns. For African American women it’s more like 68 cents, and only 59 cents for Latinas.
This is unacceptable.
Women are people, human beings. And we deserve to be treated just as well (or poorly) as men in this country.
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June 4, 2012
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The War on Women- Things Might Get Violent
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Well, in fact things already have gotten violent. The vitriolic rhetoric from the GOP has already incited bombings and arson of clinics and non-profits offering services to women. But now it’s getting even worse.
Jay Townsend, the spokesman for Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-NY) has actually gone so far as to suggest that GOP supporters throw acid on the faces of female United States members of congress. This is not a joke. How I wish it was. In fact, what Townsend said was, “Let’s hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who won’t abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector.” He was talking about the Democratic support of the Lily Ledbetter Act.
In case you’re not familiar with the practice, throwing acid in the faces of women is something that the Taliban does to punish women for such crimes as displeasing their husbands, voting, or daring to accuse their rapist.
The fact that the GOP is comparing themselves to the Taliban is ominous.
Is it actually okay to be upfront and honest about your anti-woman agenda?
And why aren’t women running away SCREAMING from the GOP?
Women- stand up and look at yourselves. And then ask yourself, do you deserve to be mutilated for life for demanding equal pay?
Because the GOP certainly seems to think you do.
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