Tag Archives: reproductive rights

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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WTF?! James Holmes—aka the Batman killer—is hot?! [Jezebel]

How to avoid jail as a pregnant woman. Or really, a woman who could potentially be pregnant at some stage in the future. [HuffPo]

Paul Murray is glad Nick D’Arcy didn’t qualify for the Olympic finals, and I am too. After getting a slap on the wrist for those gun photos—not to mention the infamous assault—he shouldn’t have even been in London. [MamaMia]

Charlie Sheen’s corporate appeal. [Daily Beast]

Was Katie Holmes the innocent bystander in Tom Cruise’s Scientological quest for world domination, as the media makes her out to be, or is there more to her and the divorce?

“I’m convinced that she’s the most fame-hungry person the world has ever seen.” [Vulture]

The psychology of rapists. [Jezebel] 

“Millennial expert” and “voice of a generation” Chelsea Krost isn’t a feminist because she “doesn’t think boys suck” but she can relate to the people whose “feet are in their own feces in Africa”. Nice. [NY Observer]

In the wake of the Herald Sun calling Leisel Jones fat, it seems as a female Olympian you also have to have perfect hair and not be too muscly so as you begin to resemble a man. [MamaMia, Jezebel, ThinkProgress]

Image via Jezebel.

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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Check out this fascinating look as to where your unwanted charity clothes actually go. [Slate]

Sloane Crosley on her guest spot on Gossip Girl, playing herself:

“Nuance aside, whether you’re playing yourself or a wink-wink persona, the law of cameo syllogism goes as follows: if you spend a certain amount of time playing yourself, you are no longer yourself but playing a version of yourself—a stereotype of you. Add a bonus layer if you are playing a stereotype of you in a fictional scene in which all the fictional characters are outraged by the possibility that the fictional (or fictional fictional) characters in a fictional book published by a real publishing house might be based on the actual real fictional selves they’re playing.” [The Believer Magazine, via Musings of an Inappropriate Woman]

Lara Croft, version 2.0: rape victim? [MamaMia]

“The Tyranny of ‘She’s Just Jealous’.” But sometimes, she just is. [Jezebel]

With all the hullabaloo surrounding vaginas in the U.S. Senate at the moment, here are 25 Republican-sanctioned alternatives to the anatomically correct name for your lady garden. [Jezebel]

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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Checkmate, Pro-Choicers, the latest in anti-abortion internet trolling. Good for a hate-read, not so good for logic. Ahh, pro-lifers, you odd little things.

How your birth control pill is contributing to water pollution and why you should pay for it. [Jezebel]

On plus-sized men, nude photos and male body image. [Jezebel]

The makeover as a patriarchal tool of oppression. [New Inquiry]

Stella Young on Daily Life’s feminist faux-pas embarrassing-crush countdown. [ABC Ramp Up]

Cutting off your misogynistic nose to spite your racist face: Clementine Ford discusses the two issues as they relate to the AFL. [Daily Life]

“Should Parents Be Allowed to Kill People Who Sexually Molest Their Kids?” Um, sure! While we’re at it, let’s kill that guy who cut us off at the intersection, and that woman who pushed in front of us in the lunch line. The article goes:

“Molesting any child is reprehensible, but taking advantage of a 4-year-old who has no awareness of what’s going on and no ability to fight back seems particularly deranged.”

I don’t disagree, but murder is a bit rich. Read the issue discussed further at Jezebel. [TIME]

Hey Christian Girl, for all your Ryan Gosling and associated conventionally-attractive-to-straight-women meme needs, with a religious edge.

What’s the male equivalent to Vagisil? Dick Douche? Dick Dip? Bacon flavoured Penisil? [psiakisterri, via MamaMia]

James Franco’s overly wordy take on Snow White & the Huntsman. [HuffPo]

Check out this mansplanation of what feminism’s really about. [Feminaust]

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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Check out Amy Mebberson’s series of Disney “Pocket Princesses”. Ever so on-point. [My Junk Drawer]

I never had a problem with the Lingerie Football League… until now. Did you know they have “accidental nudity” clauses in their contracts, meaning they can’t wear anything under their uniforms to prevent wardrobe malfunctions? Did you know the League refuses to unionise the players or give them health insurance? Did you know they don’t get paid because the League is classified as amateur and therefore they have to pay to play?! [Fit & Feminist]

Catherine Deveny on the new changes to domestic violence laws.

The make-up free celebrity TwitPic as marketing tool. [Daily Life]

Germaine Greer really threw herself under the bus with those Julia Gillard-jacket comments: she’s now writing about ugg boots. [The Age]

One blogger attempts to see how gross she can act on an online dating site before men will stop trying to get in her pants. [Jezebel]

Now this is compassion! The Christian abortion doctor who was formerly anti-abortion tells why he now performs late-term abortions for women in need. [Jezebel]

The orgasm and 18th century vibrators as tools against hysteria. [Jezebel]

Image via My Junk Drawer.

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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VICE’s period-themed photoshoot, and the commentary to go along with it. What do you think about it? Gross or taboo-breaking? [VICE, MamaMia]

Do tabloids hate women? [Daily Life]

A black man talks about white Girls. [Jezebel]

Is depicting a woman who’s been successful in the breakfast cereal market eating… erm… cereal on a magazine cover sexist? [BRW]

A tongue-in-cheek look at… well, everything, from a feminist point of view. Everything’s sexist; just give up on feminism already. [Is This Feminist?]

Following on from 60 Minutes’ story on selective reduction of foetuses conceived via IVF, Kass Hall examines the issue. I don’t agree with IVF personally (not because I don’t think it shouldn’t be available because it messes with “God’s intentions” or some anti-science crap, but because I think there are other—or should be more readily available—ways to have a child, and that not being able to or not wanting a child shouldn’t be stigmatised) and I’m pro-choice all the way. Awkward situation all ’round, I think. [MamaMia]

The cupcake is a metaphor for vaginas and the female orgasm. [Jezebel]

So Rihanna had a relationship with Chris Brown and is rumoured to have slept with Ashton Kutcher and Drake. That means she’s a slut, right? Two great pieces deal with the one-sided hypocrisy that is slut-shaming in the R’n’B and hip hop community, not to mention patriarchal culture as a whole, in addition to this equally awesome shoutout from Russell Simmons to Brown, Drake et al., telling them to “Get Off Rihanna’s Dick!”

I just don’t get this “she’s a slut” mentality if a woman expresses her sexuality in the same or similar way to any number of men. A woman’s a slut if she sleeps with someone outside of a committed relationship (or even if she only has sex with someone inside a relationship; if she has sex with a woman; gives the perception that she wants sex and then reneges; is deemed “too sexy”; is raped… Nay, a woman’s a slut no matter what.), but a man is a player, a stud, a lothario.

Here’s something to ponder: if women weren’t “sluts”, men wouldn’t have anything to put their dicks into apart from other men or fleshlights. (Well, there are other things, but we won’t go there!) [Jezebel, Ebony, Global Grind]

If life was a video game, “Straight, White Male” would be the easiest setting. [Jezebel, via Kotaku]

What it’s like to work at an abortion fundraising hotline. [RH Reality Check]

Andrew Clifton writes beautifully about Joe Hockey’s anti-same sex marriage stance, and that progressive types should refrain from vitriol-spewing when a social conservative has an opinion we don’t agree with:

“We (accurately) believe ourselves to be on a higher moral ground for knowing exactly why legislating in favour of same-sex marriage is important, but we should not judge those who disagree with us, we should only try to help them understand as well.” [MamaMia]

Remember in health class when you were given chickens or robotic babies to look after for a few days? Well, now you can have your very own chicken-cross-Tamagotchi in the form of the “Pregnancy Text” campaign, which is aimed at teenagers in an attempt to show them a fraction of what it’s like to raise a baby. Me want one. [Jezebel]

Shonda Rimes’ latest female-based creation, Scandal, also has a black female lead. The best thing about the character is that her race is a non-issue. The same can’t be said for her non-relatability as a person, though. [New Yorker]

Jezebel’s “your boyfriend” thing has always been reserved for Ryan Gosling, but apparently the term now extends to Michael Fassbender. Umm, you do know he’s a wifebeater, right ladies?

Bryce Dallas Howard is the size of a “Village” because she hasn’t lost the weight she gained during her second pregnancy which ended in January. Never mind that her first pregnancy saw her gain 80 pounds and, along with it, postpartum depression. Real nice, TMZ. [Jezebel]

TV: Adoption, Men’s Rights & Desperate Housewives.

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The moment Susan’s daughter Julie rocked up pregnant and with the intent to give the baby up for adoption, I knew there was trouble in the air. Susan tries to sabotage Julie’s efforts to find an adoptive family and, last night, she found out rambunctious little Porter Scavo from across the street is the father.

While initially Susan was appalled at the prospect of having a part-Scavo grand-offspring, she changes her tune when Porter decides he’d like to raise the baby. Susan offers her help to get Porter a lawyer and look after the baby when it comes. Susan expressly goes against Julie’s wishes and tells Julie that “birth fathers have rights”.

Well, in the current political climate of the U.S. (which has been popping up a lot on television in recent weeks), I had to double check that the foetus residing in a woman’s womb in the Western world is subject to her wishes, not the baby daddy’s.

While in some developing countries, men do have the legal backing to request their baby not be aborted or given up for adoption, this is certainly not automatically true in the U.S. I suppose Porter could apply for custody of the baby and relieve Julie of all her responsibilities but, as she puts it, how do you think she’ll feel having the baby she gave up for adoption living across the street and being babysat by her overbearing mother?!

I really feel for Julie here: last week she told her mother she doesn’t want to raise a child as a single mother as she’s seen what Susan went through. My reasoning is that she should have just got an abortion, but if that doesn’t align with her values (or she found out about the pregnancy too late), I understand her wanting to give it up to a family that can take care of the baby and give it the love it needs.

But I cannot believe (actually, Susan’s kind of flakey, so I can) that Susan is advocating for her daughter to lose her right as a woman to chose what happens to her body and what comes out of it in favour of upholding the patriarchy. Look, I don’t think that Porter’s feelings shouldn’t be heard and that they’re not valid, but at the end of the day, the father is young, unemployed and undereducated, living at home with his mum who doesn’t want another baby around and the mother doesn’t want the child, so who do you think the courts will side with?

Related: 2 Broke & Tampon-less Girls.

Grey’s Anatomy: “You Killed Our Baby”.

Image via The Voice of TV.

TV: Grey’s Anatomy—“You Killed Our Baby”.

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Owen has always struggled with Cristina’s decision to have an abortion at the end of last season, and it seems he’s still holding it over her head halfway into this one.

From the point of view of Owen, this is fair enough: Cristina never allowed him a say in the termination, and he struggled with her exerting her right to choose.

On the other hand, though: it’s just an abortion. It’s not like Cristina killed an actual living, breathing human with a personality and autonomy outside the womb. She killed his hopes and dreams that he projected onto something that could have been. Tragic on both counts for both characters who can’t seem to grasp where the other is coming from.

Cristina takes the position I do: a foetus is not a human. It doesn’t have rights. It’s subject to whatever the woman whose body it’s residing in chooses to do. Cristina had an operation to get rid of unwanted matter in her body, and now she’s moving on with her life.

I don’t pretend to really understand how the pro-life side, to which Owen evidently belongs, can get so hung up on the (non-existent) rights of the foetus which, at the time of Cristina’s abortion, would have been none the wiser.

Owen seems to think that Cristina committed murder, when he shouts at her during an argument in Meredith and Derek’s kitchen whilst Zola’s birthday/Richard’s 10,000th surgery party is happening in the next room, “you killed our baby!”

Personally, if you have the view that abortion is murder, then I don’t think you should be a doctor. A pro-life campaigner/terrorist out the front of an abortion clinic, perhaps? It’s less dangerous that way.

Related: Grey’s Anatomy Final Asks “When Does Life Begin?”

Cristina Yang as Feminist.

Private Practice: Pro-Choice?

Image via YouTube.

TV: 2 Broke & Tampon-less Girls.

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Bravo to 2 Broke Girls, the show which, last night, dealt with that time of the month and how ridiculous it is that men seem to be trying to regulate it.

Granted, in Australia, our tampons come without the applicator and are relatively government regulation-free (though hella expensive; the irony of two broke girls not being able to afford a “200% price increase”, as Caroline puts it, is not lost. It is a show about hipsters, after all.), but in the U.S., not so much. The war against women and their reproductive rights is raging, and Max has something to say about it.

When the owner of the diner, Han, raises the price of tampons from a quarter to 75 cents in the ladies bathroom, Max and Caroline lose their shit, and Max begins handing out free tampons to lady diners lest they find themselves stuck without them when Auntie Flow comes to town. (Did you know that Auntie Flow was actually Earl’s, the diner’s cool cashier, auntie?!)

While the subplot to Extreme Couponing (a real reality show!) was a throwaway moment of clarity for the hit-and-miss offensiveness of 2 Broke Girls, I do hope a show about two likeable Brooklynites weaves more women’s issues into its tapestry.

Elsewhere: [Jezebel] “If Men Were the Ones Who Got Periods, Tampons Would be Thrown Free From Floats Like Mardi Gras Beads.”

Image via Putlocker.

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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Dreams do come true! I now have my first piece up on MamaMia about labiaplasty and “designer vaginas”. Go check it out! Alternatively, you can read it here next week.

Feminist sites seem to be raving about the above video for Sauza Blue Tequila, in which a shirtless fireman with a kitten generalises the shit out of what women like and want. It makes me want to gag (the video, not the tequila!). So sexist. [Jezebel, MamaMia]

Wikipedia was seeking comment from users as to what pro- and anti-choice groups should be called on their site (you can see the results and arguments here). What do you think? What would you like the camp you belong to to be called? [Jezebel]

Why do Arab states hate women?:

“Name me an Arab country, and I’ll recite a litany of abuses fueled by a toxic mix of culture and religion that few seem willing or able to disentangle lest they blaspheme or offend. When more than 90 percent of ever-married women in Egypt—including my mother and all but one of her six sisters—have had their genitals cut in the name of modesty, then surely we must all blaspheme. When Egyptian women are subjected to humiliating ‘virginity tests’ merely for speaking out, it’s no time for silence. When an article in the Egyptian criminal code says that if a woman has been beaten by her husband ‘with good intentions’ no punitive damages can be obtained, then to hell with political correctness. And what, pray tell, are ‘good intentions’? They are legally deemed to include any beating that is ‘not severe’ or ‘directed at the face.’ What all this means is that when it comes to the status of women in the Middle East, it’s not better than you think. It’s much, much worse.” [Foreign Policy]

Hipster racism: but I was a racist before it was cool! [Jezebel]

Enough with the dead artist hologram craze. [Jezebel]

This Pulitzer prize-winning article by Wesley Morris examines why the Fast & the Furious franchise is so racially important:

“… The most progressive force in Hollywood today is the Fast and Furious movies. They’re loud, ludicrous, and visually incoherent. They’re also the last bunch of movies you’d expect to see in the same sentence as ‘incredibly important.’ But they are—if only because they feature race as a fact of life as opposed to a social problem or an occasion for self-congratulation… “… [U]nlike most movies that feature actors of different races, the mixing is neither superficial nor topical. It has been increasingly thorough as the series goes on—and mostly unacknowledged. That this should seem so strange, so rare, merely underscores how far Hollywood has drifted from the rest of culture.” [Boston.com]

Cheerleading in Australia: yay or nay? [MamaMia]

Check out the latest Twitter hashtag trend: #ReplaceBandNamesWithRape. Actually, don’t. [Twitter, Jezebel]

The curse of soapie sex. [TheVine]

Image via Our Stage.

On the (Rest of the) Net.

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The Dolly model search is back and seeking 13-year-old girls for their looks. Oh, and, like, a great personality and stuff. [MamaMia]

We need more men like THIS, who speak out about the blatant turning of blind eyes to violent and entitled footballers. [MamaMia]

Gloria Steinem urges voters to re-elect Obama, as he’s the only candidate who really cares about actual women’s rights. [Jezebel]

Rick Santorum used to work for the WWE?! Yikes! [Mother Jones]

Bristol Palin writes about President Obama and Sandra Fluke. I hate to say this about a Palin, but she makes a good point… [Bristol’s Blog]

Forced pre-abortion transvaginal ultrasounds, from a doctor’s perspective. [Jezebel, via Whatever]

Following on from last week’s article by Gala Darling on feminism and high heels, Jenna Sauers voices her own concerns on our sartorial choices dictating our political stances. [Jezebel]

On lady writers profiling “tall, brooding famous men with lots of money” for men’s magazines. [Gawker]

Jess McGuire on Jackie O’s Sunday Life profile. [The Vine]

The beauty politics of Snog, Marry, Avoid. [MamaMia]

What it’s like to be an executioner. [MamaMia]

Image via Perth Now.