Femisisters

Romney Gives Cash to Struggling Supporter

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:18:00 -0500

Mitt Romney doesn’t believe in free stuff. At a campaign event in New Hampshire in December, Romney said:

I know there are some people who run for president that will say, ‘Hey, I’m going to give you more. I’ll find a way to give you some more. I’ll change the rules and give you more money. I’m not that guy. If there’s a competition for who will give you the most free stuff, go vote for that guy.

Being the incredibly resolute and unfaltering Mitt Romney that we all know and love, at a campaign stop in South Carolina yesterday, a struggling supporter submitted to Romney that her son had suffered a brain aneurysm and they were in financial distress. In response, Romney reached into his pocket and handed her a wad of bills.

At face value, this seems like a nice enough gesture. But, explore this a bit further, shall we? I mean, clearly, handing the lady fifty dollars isn’t going to do anything to solve her son’s medical ailment or to begin to cover the bills. A little demeaning to just throw money at an issue rather than listen to a future constituent’s legitimate issues (particularly when it has to do with healthcare, something you are hellbent on destroying), isn’t it? Seems like faux-compassion to me.

Don’t be surprised if Romney changes his mind about giving the supporter that money and asks for it back tomorrow.

Maybe soon we can start calling him Mittens Romney because he’s just so warm and fuzzy.

- Lily

Femisisters are baaaaack!

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:17:09 -0500

Hey all! Your favorite progressive feminist sisters are back from our hiatus. We have been quiet on here but loud on the streets and on the phones for Obama 2012 and abortion access.

occupystudentdebt: No hope.

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:54:57 -0400

occupystudentdebt:

No hope.

Why stay silent?

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:48:59 -0400

The struggle in Washington has spread throughout the country. Average people are debating fiction over facts and grappling with lies. The youth was energized but now I see a deep despondence and lack of zest. Our rights are trampled on every single day and most of the time we have no idea. Other times we do know but we choose to stay silent. Silence can be due to lack of interest, lack of motivation or perhaps the inability to cause change.

I am deeply dismayed and disheartened that the rights of American people are constantly being trampled on without proper recourse. Congress is full of corruption and woahhh let me get this straight, they think that they deserve RAISES? You have got to be kidding me! I’ve got a better idea…stop having sex with your interns, put down your drugs, pull up your pants and stop being so damn greedy. We can get out of this mess but you all just want to bicker and get reelected by the same people you screw over CONSTANTLY.

I’ve been watching the Republican debates and all I hear is garbage. They are all clones of one another. Too scared to speak their minds (well with the exception of Ron Paul) because ooohh the scary “Tea Party” might ax them?! Keep focusing on the wedge issues instead of the issues that need to be addressed. Keep knocking down every single bipartisan gesture that President Obama has made and let’s see how far that gets us. NOWHERE. So why stay silent? You shouldn’t. You should be screaming at the top of your lungs. I say President Obama should be screaming at the top of his lungs. Everyone listened to the poison that President GW Bush spewed and when they reacted, he didn’t care.

Let’s all just take a moment and scream together because silence won’t get you ANYWHERE.

stfuconservatives: uprightcitizens: Mean Girls jokes are so...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:49:33 -0400

stfuconservatives:

uprightcitizens:

Mean Girls jokes are so played out but I just want to say that terming Bill Clinton a “sexually active band geek” literally made me spit out a little bit of water.

Holy crap! In this moment I understand why politics frustrates me so much, it’s because it’s like High School. I know that pretty much all organizations are still High School but this shit, this is Movie High School.

-Joe

THIS.

NHL '12 becomes first professional sports game to have female character

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:41:49 -0400

Hockey gaming enthusiasts now have the option of creating a woman character in the newest of the popular game series, NHL. This seemingly simple move is new to the sexist gaming industry as NHL has become the premier game to allow this type of customization. Other professional sporting games such as MLB, Madden and NBA allow players to customize just about everything about their players — except for their sex. While Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game has always allowed players to choose a female character, among mainstream sporting games, NHL has broken a boundary of sorts.

The change in this EA Sports game is reportedly the result of a letter written to EA from a young female hockey fan who was frustrated that she was unable to customize her character to look like her. After being initially turned down, EA decided to honor the young fan’s request and created the new option. Unfortunately, the game only allows for minor customizations to the character, including two options for hair color, but only gives the option of being Caucasian — contrary to male characters who get a plethora of options for customizing their characters.

This is surely progress but it begs another question: Why are major sporting leagues are STILL allowed to discriminate against players based on their sex? The WNBA’s viewership is much lower than that of the NBA’s and there exists very few alternatives for women who are interested in playing football on the professional level. How is this still going on and what can be done to fix it?

For this 14 year old, a letter went a long way. Could a letter lead to a conversation about integration in major sporting leagues?

It’s happening again. Every couple years or so a...

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:15:31 -0400

It’s happening again. Every couple years or so a designer or photographer decides to play dress up by depicting women with bruises on their bodies. They find that it is provocative and alluring to people. HEY buy my product because even a woman suffering at the hands of a heathen wife beating husband can appreciate it! Let me tell ya, the bruises that I get from bumping into things do not look beautiful like the ones in these photos. They are ugly and they hurt. So why glorify something that is disgusting and vulgar? It caught our attention didn’t it? It just goes to show that even though times have changed; times have not changed. People still think it is amusing to mock serious topics like domestic violence, rape and assault. All for the sake of fashion and art. We have the freedom of expression under our Constitution but does depicting a beaten woman actually sell a product? I can’t stomach it.

"If they make abortions where I can’t do them any more, then I’m not going to do them..."

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:07:00 -0400

““If they make abortions where I can’t do them any more, then I’m not going to do them anymore. Does that hurt me? No it doesn’t. I get to retire. But does it hurt the women of the United States? The answer is yes it does.””

- Dr. LeRoy Carhart, a true hero (Via the Germantown Patch).

Bachmann submission

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:15:57 -0400

Our potential future president (gross) will submit to her husband because the good book says so? According to Bachmann the word submit means respect. So when it came down to her making a decision for her future she submitted to her husband. She asked him what he thought she should do and he told her to become a tax attorney. Call me paranoid but I don’t want a president who is going to “submit” to her husband’s will. I want a president with his or her own viewpoints and not that of her husband who runs Bachmann & Associates, a place alleged to attempt to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals.

No thank you!

"There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women."

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:05:05 -0400

“There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.”

- Madeline Albright

Sarah Palin and So-Called Conservative Feminism: A Matter of Convenience

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:44:00 -0400

Sarah Palin, the moose-slaying maverick turned GOP VP candidate turned reality star from Alaska, has never been an advocate on behalf of her fellow sisters. She has advocated against a woman’s right to choose (even in cases of rape and incest), against gay rights, charged rape victims for rape kits as Mayor of Wasilla and is anti-sexual education (among other things). But when it comes to wooing women voters, Palin pulls the f-card: feminism.

Since 2006, Palin has been a member of Feminists for Life, an organization formed upon the belief that the original feminist leaders were anti-abortion and that in carrying on their name, modern feminists should not support abortion rights either. This narrative is misguided (intentionally). Clearly, stances of the likes of Susan B. Anthony and Mary Wollstonecraft were as a result of their environments and the time. Abortion was not safe in the early 1900’s and especially not in the 1700’s when Wollstonecraft was around. If I had lived in that time, I would likely have been against abortion because it often harmed women. Anthony and Wollstonecraft would not support a woman’s right to plan her family in contemporary times. Why? Because if they had then they wouldn’t be feminists. For further explanation see this.

Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate primarily to win the female vote and specifically those Hillary supporters who were upset that she lost the nomination. What McCain failed to understand was that it was not Hillary’s anatomy that intrigued women (and men), it was her record, her conviction and her ability to lead. Palin lacked all of those things and the comparison to Hillary is quite offensive, actually. But alas, Palin campaigned hard as a “pro-life” feminist and even received support from progressive women, including President of the Los Angeles National Organization for Women, Shelly Mandell.

But I take issue with the notion that Sarah Palin is a feminist and, for that matter, that conservative feminism even exists. How could it be? By its very definition, conservatism does not match up with feminism. Conservatism touts gradual and minimal change in society. Some conservatives want to move back to the way things were. That does not work for feminism. Feminism is about breaking boundaries imposed upon us by a traditionally male dominant society. Feminism is the belief that men and women are inherently equal and that we can only achieve equality. If conservatism champions tradition and patriarchy is the tradition, then how could someone claim to be a conservative feminist? That would be a monumental oxymoron.

Conservative women, like Sarah Palin, are just feminists when it is convenient to them. When Planned Parenthood was in danger of losing federal funding earlier this year, conservative women politicians such as Palin and GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, stood up and spoke out against Planned Parenthood. Under the Hyde amendment, no taxpayer dollars are allowed to be appropriated to pay for abortions. True, Planned Parenthood provides abortions — along with pap smears and HIV screenings. Palin and Bachmann had a great opportunity to stand up for an entity which is extremely vital in safeguarding women’s health, a clearly feminist goal, but instead invoked their conservative beliefs that contraception is unnecessary and even evil.

How can conservatism work alongside feminism? Can it? And if so, why do conservative values seem to trump feminist values among politicians?

- Lily

Drove them out

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:46:51 -0400

Operation Rescue came to Maryland with the hope that their Summer of Mercy 2.0 would drive out abortion provider Dr. Carhart. Day after day they were met with Pro Choice activists who came from across the country to ensure that the clinic stayed open. I was fortunate enough to meet some amazing people this week and I gained a lot of insight from the fountain of experience each individual had. Through rain and a whole lot of shine; we stood firm and never engaged the Anti’s. We shared water, opened our homes to strangers, received the help of local religious groups and so much more. They tried to push us with their rhetoric, they tried to divide us, they even called us names. Bitch, Commi Bastards, Baby killers, etc. However, they were the ones that left angry because we did not respond. Every single day we bit our tongues and peacefully proclaimed our legal right. That is a thing of beauty.

We did not leave. We stood our ground. We stood with Dr. Carhart and I know we would do it again.

Sorry Troy, you failed. This was not another Wichita. NEVER AGAIN!

In peace, justice and solidarity,

Neda

More photos from the ground. Summer of Choice in Germantown,...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:25:00 -0400

More photos from the ground. Summer of Choice in Germantown, MD. We will not be stopped!

Here are a few pictures of the hundreds of activists who have...

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:43:38 -0400

Here are a few pictures of the hundreds of activists who have come from around the country in support of Dr. Carhart. We continue to show our solidarity every single day of this week!!!

A few more notes for the Germantown Clinic!

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:07:00 -0400

A few more notes for the Germantown Clinic!

Today is the day!

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 09:01:51 -0400

Today we walk for choice! People from 18 states will be meeting in Germantown, MD to show solidarity with Dr. Carhart and the Pro Choice movement. We have been working so hard to get this thing going and we can’t wait to show the world that our peaceful presence is here to stay!!!

Join us today at 1 PM if you can!

stfuconservatives: greenstate: dennis kucinich solved all of...

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:08:18 -0400

stfuconservatives:

greenstate:

dennis kucinich solved all of your problems for you, america. too bad you will never do what is best for the country because you’re too busy doing what’s best for the rich.

I didn’t realize that much truth and honesty was allowed on the House floor these days.

-Joe

THIS.

Solidarity with Dr. Carhart, women's right champion, in pictures

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:31:00 -0400

Summer of Trust/Choice has gained a lot of momentum and I cannot believe how quickly it has sprung up on us! On Sunday is the first event of the week and I look forward to seeing a lot of awesome activists standing in peaceful solidarity with Dr. Carhart. We received a lot of picture submissions today giving thanks to Dr. Carhart. Enjoy!

These signs came from the LA fundraiser for Summer of Trust at Revolution Book — check it out: http://www.summeroftrust.com/?p=327#meghan

I love my pantsuits

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:52:00 -0400

Can someone tell me what is wrong with a pantsuit? Tim Gunn (from Project Runway) decided to bash Hillary’s fashion sense, calling her “gender confused” and asking “why she dressed that way”. Why does it matter that she wears pantsuits? Why does that make her gender confused and why are we focused on this instead of her role as a politician? I happen to enjoy wearing pantsuits and am truly enjoy wearing them. Sometimes I match my suits up with a cute tie while otherwise I wear a “feminine” blouse. I see absolutely nothing wrong with any of this. I also have suits with skirts. So what?

A woman’s suit does not need to be form fitting or “feminine”. The point of a suit is to be professional, to get a job done, and to fit in with the crowd that you are meant to fit in with. Hillary Clinton is not Elle Woods from “Legally Blonde”. She is the Secretary of State of our great nation, former Senator of New York, former first lady, lawyer, HUMAN. Why aren’t all the men in politics judged based on their clothing and lack of fashion sense? People don’t call Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann’s clothing into question because they are always wearing bright, skirt suits with accessories. That is their prerogative but it is not important to Hillary Clinton and frankly I’m tired of everyone calling her out ALL the time because she prefers to wear pantsuits.

In truth, justice and solidarity,

Neda

True Rape: HBO's True Blood and Rape

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:59:38 -0400

I am an avid True Blood fan and follower. I have been following the show from Season 1 and there have been many jaw dropping moments. Last season there was a violent sex scene between Bill and his maker in which he snaps her neck all the way around so that he does not have to look at her face during the process. It was one of those awkward scenes that was made okay because it was two “vampires”. But it was not a rape scene and it was two consenting adults and let’s face it; HBO loves to push the envelope.

This season the graphic sex scenes have continued but this time the “victim” was a man. Jason (the main character’s brother) is abducted, strapped down, given viagra and repeatedly raped by several women. It is not often when we see rape scenes where the man is the victim. In fact, a lot of people claim that rape is only for women because “men ALWAYS want to do it” or that it is physically impossible to rape a man. But hey if you have doubts, True Blood makes it possible with the use of viagra.

I know men who have been raped. They are often ridiculed or dismissed by their peers or family. There is a part of me that is glad that True Blood made a scene like this so as to shed light on the fact that men can be victims too. Then there is another part of me that is waiting to see where the show will go with this. Last season, a female character was abducted and raped by a vampire and it deeply disturbed her, actually ruined her life to the point that she had to leave her hometown. So how will Jason react to his MULTIPLE rapes? Last night, he spoke to his friend about it over breakfast and was mostly ignored. Will Jason need professional help? Will his multiple rapes be ignored?

Rape is very real and it disproportionately affects women but that does not mean it is exclusively along gender lines. Men are raped too and for various reasons they don’t report it or are often dismissed (happens to women too). I guess it’s high time that we examine rape with a different lens. Rape affects everyone.

- Neda