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On Being an Average Female Athlete
At the start of every softball season I run into a little problem of motivation. This year is no different. Why do I play at all? I often can’t remember the answer. Rather than find some spark of motivation or desire, instead I re-examine the growing collection of reasons not to bother. I’m no Serena Williams. No Mia ...
Read more.The Silence of the Lambs
With Harvey Weinstein’s sex assaults on writers, actresses, assistants, and models hitting headlines in the States it seems fitting that these are now costing him both job and wife. They may cost him much more as the allegations begin to wend their various ways through the legal system and more settlements are demanded and likely, ...
Read more.Murdering Feminine Hygiene. Part two: Tampons
In part one of this topic I explained why I despise the phrase and the practice of feminine hygiene. In short, the phrase is gendered and sexist – there’s no equivalent phrase for men such as ‘masculine hygiene’ – and feminine hygiene usually denotes unnecessary activities solely pertaining to one’s vagina. I examined hormonal ...
Read more.Murdering Feminine Hygiene. Part One: Hormonal Birth Control
Margaret Sanger: mother of planned parenthood, dreamed of a birth control pill decades before it existed.She was prosecuted for instructing women about contraception. After some consideration, I’ve decided that I passionately hate feminine hygiene. I am referring both to the phrase as well as the practice itself. Gross, you’re thinking, as if I’ve just admitted ...
Read more.The Wisdom of Untidiness: Less is More
When confronted with expressions like “clean house, clean mind”, when a new book like “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” makes the best seller list, or when TV shows like Hoarders make sweeping claims about the psychological reasons for clutter, I must again and again face the sorry fact that I am not, nor ...
Read more.In Small Places, Close to Home
Born in New Zealand, my son was an American citizen before he’d ever set foot in that country. Both citizenships are his birthright, a special privilege of being born the son of an American and a New Zealander. As a dual citizen myself I understand the implications of his new passport – that he may be ...
Read more.Noblesse Oblige?
U. S. Republicans are crowing that the Trump White House is paying some $5 million less in salaries than the Obama White House did, largely due to the fact that Melania Trump employs only five staffers compared to Michelle Obama, who kept 24 staff members busy. However it’s no surprise to anyone that the first lady’s ...
Read more.In Brief
Old Fashioned “Feminist” Advice Young Women Can Do Without
Last week I had the unfortunate accident of clicking into a dubiously titled article (“What Young Women Really Need to Know”) that might have reeked of clickbait had it not carried the semi-legit byline of Caitlin Moran
Read more.The Las Vegas Shooting is Not the Most Compelling Argument for Strict Gun Regulation
The recent gun rampage in Las Vegas by a ‘sick and demented’ man typically brought up the polarizing issue of gun control in the United States. If only we had stricter laws then this wouldn’t happen, goes the common logic. The problem with that logic is that it is unfounded. The unfortunate fact ...
Read more.Go Home Justice
“Charity begins at home and justice begins next door,” Charles Dickens wrote in his 1843 novel, Martin Chuzzlewit. On Tuesday, Trump began to wind down the DACA program (which stands for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals”), expecting Congress to step in with a legal solution by March for the 800,000+ Americans that it protects. The ...
Read more.Maryam Mirzakhani, 1977-2017
Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani died on July 14th of breast cancer. She had studied at Sharif University in Iran, earned a PhD at Harvard, and worked at Princeton and Stanford. In 2014 she became the only woman and the only Iranian to have won the Fields medal.
Read more.Remembering Betty Dukes, Workers’ Rights Hero
Monday July 10, Betty Dukes passed away, leaving her championship of marginalized workers to be carried on by others. She was 67. Engaged from the get-go, she worked as an activist in her community of Pittsburg, California in several causes, lobbying stores to place adult books and videos out of reach of minors, and participating ...
Read more.Kellyanne Conway: Complains about Gender Bias and Perpetuates it.
Kellyanne Conway complains that criticism of her is gender biased. USA Today reported on Saturday “Conway said the condemnation of her as a political operative or White House aide has been about “how I look or what I wear or how I speak.” It is not untrue that she has been treated with gender bias. ...
Read more.A Room of One’s Own … Or Not.
The ACA created a federal mandate requiring employers to provide reasonable break time and space for nursing mothers to express milk, for the first year of their child’s life. The space must be functional, shielded from view, free from intrusion, available as needed and most specifically, not a bathroom. Yet, some guys are still struggling to get their ...
Read more.Religious and Secular Activists Unite
An international effort to unite religious and secular social activists in addressing the needs of women and girls worldwide took form as a platform on “Gender Equality and Religion” established at the UN Commission on the Status of Women held in March 2017. A conglomeration of international women’s aid organizations resolved to convene discussions between religious ...
Read more.Church and State: Who’s the Bully Now?
In the name of religious freedom Trump signed an executive order May 4 that will allow certain employers to avoid paying for birth control. Birth control coverage is among required health insurance benefits under the ACA. But some religious employers have pushed back, sued, and refused to provide birth control coverage based on conscientious objections. ...
Read more.Just No
So marrying a child to her rapist is still a better solution in many states to actually pursuing criminal charges against said rapist. Read the op-ed piece by Nicholas Kristof on the New York Times.
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