Feminist Friday #17

It’s back! After a little break due to vacation and whatever, it’s time to get back on the feminist news track. With (American) election season kicking into high gear, there’s much to be discussed, and most of it is about women’s reproductive rights. Let’s do this.

A terrible, terrible Republican actually said that “some girls rape easy“. Like, those words came out of his mouth. Which mean they were in his brain in the first place. And he is making important government decisions! Lord help me. 

This tumblr, stemming from a twitter debate, poking fun at the idea that feminists don’t do certain things (like, ya know, wear lipstick or get their hair did). Memes ftw!

A pro-life/anti-choice Tea party congressman who is against abortion for any reason….well, except for that time his mistress got pregnant and he wanted her to abort that fetus post-haste. Ah…irony. And while I am of the camp that politicians private lives should generally remain private, if your platform is all “family values” and regulating every woman’s reproductive choices, your ducks better all be in a row (a non-coercive abortion, no mistresses in the closet sort of row, feel me?)

Sign the Bill of Reproductive Rights! (I did!) Watch the video too-it’s pretty enjoyable, and Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon are in it, which sweetens the pot a bit:)

Collateral damage in the war on women, a heartbreaking article about the consequences of shutting down women’s health clinics in Texas. An excerpt:  “In the run-up to the presidential election and the full implementation of Obamacare, anti-choice Republicans have taken umbrage at the “war on women” metaphor, but they have not changed course. Red state governments, along with religiously affiliated hospital networks and universities have filed court challenges to repeal health reform or gut its birth control coverage requirements. In these cases, state officials have used the rhetoric of religious freedom to deny women birth control and abortion coverage in the private insurance policies for which they pay premiums. Similarly about 15 states have signaled that they will reject Medicaid expansion, a core component of the plan. Fourteen have outlawed abortion coverage in their insurance exchanges. It’s likely that the next wave of anti-choice sabotage will be centered on insurance coverage.”

And I take it you’ve heard about this, but Malala Yousafzai is my hero. This brave 14 year old Pakistani girl, who has been publicly campaigning for the right to education for herself and all the other girls in Pakistan since she was 11 years old, was targeted by the Taliban and shot in the head while on her school bus. She is recovering now, but what will happen to her?

 

Woo! That’s kind of a lot-guess I had more to share than I planned. Enjoy your weekend, and get it started with some fierce Beyonce in her most arguably nuanced and feminist video, why don’t you? (And to read more about it go here or here)