Category Archives: Feminism and Politics

“What Women Want”

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From here: According to a  recent poll by the National Women’s Law Center, women feel the impact of economic insecurity and rising food, energy, education, and health care costs more deeply than men – and see government as a key … Continue reading →

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Obama Phenomena: Facets of a Historic Campaign

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Ann Bartow

We invite you to attend “Obama Phenomena: Facets of a Historic Campaign,” a one-day symposium at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law on Friday, August 29, 2008, the day after the Democratic National Convention. Randall Kennedy, the Michael … Continue reading →

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Barack Roll

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here! Via R.P., one of my terrific former students! –Ann Bartow

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On the coerced prostitution of Iraqi Women and Girls

Posted on August 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here. Below is a short excerpt: The most moving part of her e-mail was her description of a visit to prostituted Iraqi girls in a Syrian prison.”I spoke to some of them,”Ms. Adel writes,”and they said they would rather be … Continue reading →

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Praise for the draft Democratic Party platform

Posted on August 13, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here. I’m happy to see both Obama staffers and Hillary Clinton’s presence in the race getting credit for the positive developments the author describes. Via Bob C. with thanks. –Ann Bartow

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“I think this president has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.”

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

As you probably guessed or already read elsewhere, that’s what John Edwards had to say about Bill Clinton during Clinton’s impeachment trial. To quote Ani DiFranco in 32 Flavors: Squint your eyes and look closer I’m not between you and … Continue reading →

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“Anti-Abortion District Attorney Loses Kansas Republican Primary”

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From the Feminist Weekly News: Johnson County, Kansas District Attorney Phill Kline lost his seat in the Republican primary to Steve Howe, another anti-abortion candidate. Kline lost by a margin of 60% to 40%. His anti-abortion politics played a significant … Continue reading →

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In three months, these laws will change (or not)

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Nan Hunter

Election Day is three months from today. Despite the fact that one can hardly escape the relentless onslaught of horse race journalism about candidates, there is almost total radio silence about the laws that voters will adopt or reject on … Continue reading →

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“Straight in a Gay World”

Posted on July 27, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Essay by a straight man who worked at a gay organization about what he learned from the experience.

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“We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby”

Posted on July 27, 2008 by Ann Bartow

An overview of women’s political and cultural history: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Like any history, it has viewpoints you may not agree with.

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South African Woman Named Human Rights Commissioner for UN

Posted on July 27, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From the Feminist Daily News: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon named South African judge Navanethem Pillay the UN high commissioner for human rights Thursday. She will serve a five-year term, replacing Louise Arbour, after her nomination is confirmed by the … Continue reading →

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Kelly Oliver, “Women as Weapons of War: Iraq, Sex, and the Media”

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From the publisher: Ever since Eve tempted Adam with her apple, women have been regarded as a corrupting and destructive influence. The very idea that women can be used as interrogation tools, as evidenced in the Abu Ghraib torture photos, … Continue reading →

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Arrgh.

Posted on July 24, 2008 by Ann Bartow

This. And this. –Ann Bartow

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The Third Circuit has thrown out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS for Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl.

Posted on July 24, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Per this AP story: … The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity. Ninety million people were … Continue reading →

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“Black. Female. Accomplished. Attacked.”

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Ann Bartow

WaPo OpEd about Michelle Obama here. -Maggie Chon

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Women For John McCain

Posted on July 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

I’m 85% sure this is satire, and 15% afraid it is not.

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South Carolina counterproductively drops out of campaign to attract gay tourists

Posted on July 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The State reports: South Carolina’s top tourism agency has canceled an overseas advertising campaign targeting gay tourists. The campaign, tied to gay pride week celebrations in London, included ads that proclaimed”South Carolina is so gay.”A handful of other U.S. destinations … Continue reading →

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CFP – Conflict and Transitional Justice: Feminist Approaches

Posted on July 8, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Conflict and Transitional Justice: Feminist Approaches, September 19-20, 2008 Emory University School of Law. Sponsored by: The Feminism and Legal Theory Project. Truth Commissions and other forms of transitional justice have become ubiquitous as a mechanism for societies emerging from … Continue reading →

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Obama Newly Embracing Abortion Restrictions?

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From the ABC News Blog Legalities: … In a recent interview, Obama appears to back away from his long-stated positions on abortion (and a proposed federal abortion rights law he had co-sponsored), repudiate 35 years of accepted Supreme Court rulings … Continue reading →

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“Startlingly Sexier” Conservative Feminists?

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Bridget Crawford

Camille Paglia has published “Feminism Past and Present: Ideology, Action and Reform” in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Arion: A Journal of the Humanities and the Classics.    Here’s her explanation of the current state of “feminism:” Two technological innovations:cable … Continue reading →

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The Bush Administration Hates Poor Women Who Have Sex, Voluntarily Or Not

Posted on July 4, 2008 by Ann Bartow

It is why Bush “has decided for the seventh year to withhold funds allocated to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which conducts global work on issues such as reducing obstetric fistula, increasing access to contraception and family planning, HIV … Continue reading →

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“Poverty is one reason so many Yemeni families marry their children off early. Another is the fear of girls being carried off and married by force. But most important are cultural tradition and the belief that a young virginal bride can best be shaped into a dutiful wife, according to comprehensive study of early marriage published by Sana University in 2006.”

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Ann Bartow

That’s a paragraph from this heart wrenching account of young girls forced into marriage.

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The Op-Ed Project

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Katharine Mieszkowski at Salon writes: Here’s a dismal fact: There are fewer female bylines on the Op-Ed pages of the nation’s major newspapers, as a percentage, than there are women serving in the U.S. Senate, according to Bob Sommer, a … Continue reading →

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About Those PUMAs

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Ann Bartow

PUMAs are Democrats who supported Clinton but oppose Obama’s candidacy and wish to see him defeated. I have no idea how many true PUMAs there are. Certainly Republicans may be distorting or manipulating the online PUMA presence for their own … Continue reading →

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“Goodnight Bush”

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Ann Bartow

A parody of Goonight Moon “built around the coming end of the worst presidency ever.” Via the terrific Rebecca Tushnet.

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Cyra Akila Choudhury, “Empowerment or Estrangement? Liberal Feminism’s Vision of the Progress of Muslim Women”

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Abstract: This paper presents some thoughts on the progress of Muslim women towards gender justice. It argues that Liberal Legal feminism shares a common understanding of history and progress with those Liberal political theories that justified the British Empire. Because … Continue reading →

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“Who’s afraid of Michelle Obama?”

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Ann Bartow

That’s the title of this essay at Salon by Erin Aubry Kaplan, which is subtitled: “The flap about the potential first lady’s “image problem” proves how uncomfortable the country feels about a shift in racial dynamics. But as far as … Continue reading →

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Race, Feminism and Politics; four links

Posted on June 23, 2008 by Ann Bartow

1. Your Whiteness is Showing: An Open Letter to Certain White Women who are Threatening to Withhold Support from Barack Obama in November 2. I’m running for the evol crown, too 3. Why Clinton voters say they won’t support Obama … Continue reading →

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NOW’s Media Hall of Shame “2008 Election Edition”

Posted on June 22, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here: Check out the most outrageous moments of sexism from mainstream media’s coverage of the 2008 elections, and rate them yourself on our Misogyny Meter. Via Tennessee Guerilla Women, where Egalia notes: “I find it a real challenge to rate … Continue reading →

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How much prostitute sex does a woman who is not a prostitute have to displace, to effectively lower a nation’s HIV transmission rate?

Posted on June 21, 2008 by Ann Bartow

That’s a question some economists are vigorously debating. Yes, high HIV transmission rates are apparently the fault of women who are not putting out enough, and therefore driving men to disease ridden prostitutes. Feel free to unpack that, and all … Continue reading →

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Michelle Obama Watch Reminder

Posted on June 21, 2008 by Ann Bartow

This blog documents the myriad slurs being thrown at Michelle Obama. Rather than replicate efforts, I’ll remind y’all periodically to keep checking it out. Today the blog highlights this Op-Ed called “The Loud Silence of Feminists.” –Ann Bartow

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Lioness

Posted on June 20, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From here: Cast & Credits Director: Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers Executive Producers: Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger, Judith Helfand Producer: Meg McLagan, Daria Sommers Editor: Stephen T. Maing Co Executive Producer: Diana Barrett, Sarah Johnson Redlich Director of Photography: … Continue reading →

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“… Republican candidates always expect to win white men by a substantial margin, but it is white women that usually decide the race.”

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Ann Bartow

That’s a rather stark and startling quote from this article, which also observes: In the head-to-head matchup, Obama leads McCain among African Americans (83-7 percent), Hispanics (62-28), women (52-33), Catholics (47-40), independents (41-36) and even blue-collar workers (47-42). Obama is … Continue reading →

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Worst Thing I Saw Online Today.

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Ann Bartow

This. I admit I wasn’t looking that hard. –Ann Bartow

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Susan Faludi, “Think the Gender War Is Over? Think Again”

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Ann Bartow

This is an Op-Ed that was published in the NYT on June 15th, below is an excerpt: In the campaign ahead, expect a fierce Republican effort to reinstate the nation’s guardian myth : by demonstrating how the other party’s candidate … Continue reading →

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Target: Women Takes On The Summer of Political Courtship

Posted on June 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here. Funny but infuriating too.

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“It’s reached the point that we can’t even rely on the Democrats to stand up for our basic rights. Twenty-two Democratic Senators voted to confirm John Roberts as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2005. A few months later, when Democrats failed to block the confirmation of batshit-crazy Samuel Alito, most feminists I know went into a state of barely-contained fury. Many of us had worked our hearts out for years to elect every Democrat we could, in no small measure because we were relying on the party to stop the erosion of our rights under a conservative Supreme Court. Lot of good it did us.”

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Those are the words of Dr. Violet Socks, excerpted from this essay. She’s pretty disgusted with the Democratic Party right now, to put it mildly. Meanwhile, Historiann seems to be feeling a bit more conciliatory, if I am reading her … Continue reading →

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Michelle Obama Watch

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Ann Bartow

At What About Our Daughters.

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NY Gov’t Leaders, Activists Urge Strong Senate Bill to Curb Human Trafficking

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The following is an excerpt of a press release from Rep. Maloney in December 2007: Today, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens), New York City Council Member Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights), and other leaders in the fight against human trafficking rallied … Continue reading →

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Would Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius Make A Good Veep?

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Fred Vincy at Stone Court thinks so.

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“Adrienne Maree Brown of the Ruckus Society on Media Justice, Election Protection and the Issue of Race in the 2008 Election”

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Read the transcript of her Democracy Now! interview by Amy Goodman here. Or watch or listen to it, via links here.

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So Now The Sexist Hillary Bashing Susbsides And The Sexist Michelle Bashing Ramps Up

Posted on June 6, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Of course, sexist Michelle bashing has been occurring already. Now this post at What About Our Daughters reports about an Internet rumor involving Michelle. Michelle isn’t above criticism any more than any other member of Team Obama, or Team Anybody, … Continue reading →

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Melissa McEwan’s “For the Record”

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Ann Bartow

A very powerful post appeared at Shakesville a couple of days ago. Since I don’t think I can excerpt if effectively I’ve reposted the entire thing here. I hope Liss doesn’t mind and if she does I will remove it … Continue reading →

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“The Girl Effect”

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The Girl Effect overview video, viewable here. Affiliated website here. And see also. Via Froomkin and here. Edited to add: Shorter “Girl Effect” – if we start treating women like human beings maybe they will clean up some of the … Continue reading →

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Op-Ed by Margaret M. Russell and Stephanie M. Wildman: Who Speaks For All Women?

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Who speaks for all women? The maelstrom following the recent endorsement of Barack Obama by NARAL (the National Abortion Rights Action League) dramatically pumped up the volume of a months-old debate among women: namely, can a true women’s rights supporter … Continue reading →

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The Sexism In The Democratic Primary

Posted on May 25, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Erica Barnett compiled just a small sample of the slurs against Clinton MADE BY DEMOCRATS, writing: I’ve said it before–but because some Slog readers seem to still think I believe any attack on Clinton is a sexist attack, I’ll say … Continue reading →

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Two Links To Political Posts

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Both are thought provoking. Neither bashes the unsupported candidate. Avoid them both if you are burned out on the election.   Please be respectful if you are moved to comment at the linked blogs. When will Barack Obama answer for … Continue reading →

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McCain (sort of) Explains His Opposition to the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here. Via Froomkin.

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Ask a Working Woman Survey 2008

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The AFL-CIO and Working America have joined up to produce the Ask a Working Woman Survey 2008. Read the details at The Feminist Underground.

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I Don’t Believe Them

Posted on May 16, 2008 by David S. Cohen

After yesterday’s decision from the California Supreme Court, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama issued statements about the issue.   From the Associated Press: “Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and … Continue reading →

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