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Gloria Steinem On Racism, Young Women, And Modern Feminism
Domestic Violence Made Visual
Google Blocks Abortion Ads On Multiple Continents
The Good Book
On Race, Gender, Michelle Obama, And The Politics Of Twitter
Obama: Gotta Get That Dirt Off Your Shoulder
How Did "No Means No" Become A Fun Rape Joke?
Why Are Newspaper Newsrooms So Sexist? I Ask Veteran Newspaper Reporter "Moi"

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bellzar08
09/14/09

In reply to Gloria Steinem On Racism, Young Women, And Modern Feminism
I'm 15 and I have officially identified as a feminist for about 1 year and a half now, thanks in large part to Jezebel.
I'm now reading Gloria's book, "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" and it is so illumating and insightful... To be honest, I feel like I am reading a close friend's intimate diary.
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teenypanini09
09/14/09

In reply to Gloria Steinem On Racism, Young Women, And Modern Feminism
isn't she christian bale's step mother? i know it's off topic, but that's kinda cool.
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Hana Maru
09/14/09

@teenypanini09: Yeah, she married his father, activist David Bale.
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Lana Leigh loves Meryl Streep
09/14/09

In reply to Gloria Steinem On Racism, Young Women, And Modern Feminism
Did I read her correctly. Didn't a lot of white woman vote FOR Obama and not for McCain.
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Flackette Goes Retro promoted this comment

Flackette Goes Retro
09/14/09

@Lana Leigh loves Meryl Streep: I think she was saying if absolutely no non-white women had voted it could have swayed the election - ergo, that non-white women are important and must be included in the movement. Of course, I'm a late-20s white woman who voted for Obama, so what do I know?
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Seeräuber Jenny
09/14/09

@Lana Leigh loves Meryl Streep:

I believe the Op Ed addressed the primaries, not the general election.

I think she was correct that older women are probably more sensitive to the "sexual caste system." The group she's talking about were the first to have access to first-class education in large numbers and thought that sexism might end in their lifetime. They weren't prepared for structural sexism and all the other issues thwarting the progress of women and understand that one key is for women to support qualified women candidates. A smart, talented woman often can't do it on her own.
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Flackette Goes Retro
09/14/09

In reply to Gloria Steinem On Racism, Young Women, And Modern Feminism
"Older women ask her if she's surprised about the way young women and dress and she responds, "well I wore miniskirts and a button that said 'cunt power,' so...""

Full. Of. Win.
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LolaQuinn is full of beans
09/14/09

@Flackette Goes Retro: Where can I get that button?
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Seeräuber Jenny
09/14/09

@Flackette Goes Retro: Although I like Steinem, don't forget that she was criticized for being the feminist leader who was most acceptable to America, i.e., very attractive and unthreatening.

It's no accident that she's blonde and thin.
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Edited by Seeräuber Jenny at 09/14/09 3:57 PM Seeräuber Jenny was starred Seeräuber Jenny was unstarred

BytheSea
08/20/09

In reply to Domestic Violence Made Visual
I'd like to know the percentage for America.
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whynotshesaid
08/20/09

@BytheSea: Me too.
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Penny
08/20/09

In reply to Domestic Violence Made Visual
The visual is, indeed, striking. But, I would have liked to see more western/Christian countries (as Erda says below).

I think I am pretty smart, educated and aware, not to mention the fact that identify as feminist....but I've been hit once in my life and I still think I deserved it. It's not surprising for me to see these numbers. But it is heartbreaking.
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Erda
08/20/09

In reply to Domestic Violence Made Visual
Why do they focus so heavily on third-world countries (and particularly non-Christian ones)? It would be interesting to look at "developed" countries (like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe) and see if the numbers are really that different. I doubt as many women in America think it's acceptable as women in Jordan, but I'm sure we'd be disturbed by just how many do.

I just feel by focusing on less-developed nations, we're subtlely reinforcing this "we first-worlders are so enlightened and progressive" idea when I really don't think a lot of women here are much more "enlightened" than their counterparts in these countries.
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NefariousNewt promoted this comment Edited by Erda at 08/20/09 11:08 AM Erda was starred Erda was unstarred

NefariousNewt
08/20/09

@Erda: Very true. It's not a representative sample by any stretch, but I do think it highlights the the fact that the problem goes further than most people think. It would have been nice to have say, France, the United States, and maybe Japan, as counterpoints.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
08/20/09

@Erda: " It would be interesting to look at "developed" countries (like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe) and see if the numbers are really that different."

Yes. Yes, it would.

(How interested might you be in emailing Jessica over at Feministing and sharing that posit with her?)
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cate3710
08/20/09

@Rooo sez BISH PLZ: Feministing didn't produce this chart, another website did. And the point was raised in the comments there as well.
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LaFemme
08/20/09

@Rooo sez BISH PLZ: You know what could happen with doing the U.S. and Western Europe though (just a hypothesis, maybe it wouldn't be this way) you would get really, really low numbers of women saying it is acceptable, which are not really indicative of the actual prevalence of domestic violence in our own societies. Women know it is wrong and unacceptable to be hit by your partner for the most part (I think) which is where the shame comes in in not wanting to tell anyone! Domestic violence is a huge problem in Western societies, but I bet if you asked most women in these societies, "do you think it is an acceptable practice for a man to hit his wife?" they would say no. They could be victims of abuse and say no. I would be worried putting in the US/UK/France etc. on the same graph as the countries surveyed would only serve as a "and see, look how progressive WE ARE!" stat.
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BritneyCanadaWhore
08/20/09

In reply to Domestic Violence Made Visual
this is sad and disturbing, and the commenters on feministing rightly called out a few equally disturbing things, like why there are no western or "developed" countries on here. also i'd like to know why this is being framed such that the onus is somehow on the women who "let" themselves be beaten - how would the chart look if it depicted the "percentage of men who think it's okay to beat their wives"? i understand that this chart is highlighting the pervasiveness of violence and patriarchal thinking, but it sure seems . . . incomplete.
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ytuhermanotambien
08/20/09

@BritneyCanadaWhore: I came here to say I'd really like to see what the percentage of American women would be. I also wonder how close the percentage of men v. women in a given country would be.
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alouette
08/20/09

In reply to Domestic Violence Made Visual
I saw this yesterday and it broke my heart. I just wish the information was better arranged though, for a bigger impact (i.e., Rwanda and Jordan have fields almost the same size). It's not until you read through it carefully that you really understand.
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cate3710
08/20/09

@alouette: True. The sizes of the fields don't seem to correspond with the actual numbers all that well. I'm also curious as to why these 16 countries in particular were chosen. Do they have the highest percentages? Glancing at the full list at the Unicef link indicates that that's not the case - Zambia isn't included, and it was 85.4%. Though that number is from 2001-2002, so maybe these are the countries with the most recent numbers?
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alouette
08/20/09

@cate3710: Yeah, I can just imagine my statistics professor:

"alouette, do you think your audience can understand this clearly from 3 feet away without reading any of the text?"

And you're absolutely right, an explanation of the sample would have been great.
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NefariousNewt
08/20/09

In reply to Domestic Violence Made Visual
I'm 100% certain this is disturbing.
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Lucille van Pelt
07/02/09

In reply to Google Blocks Abortion Ads On Multiple Continents
Are they also banning anti-choice ads? that would be fair (although stupid for both sides), but if it's just banning pro-choice and abortion services, that's crap.
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Hana Maru
07/02/09

@Lucille van Pelt: I think not since they said that they allow ads from religious orgs.
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sybann
07/02/09

In reply to Google Blocks Abortion Ads On Multiple Continents
DON'T MAKE ME SWITCH TO BING MOTHERFUCKERS!
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Laulau
07/02/09

@sybann: Seriously, the ads for bing creep me the eff out. I had a friend suggest Wolfram Alpha, though.
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TildeMarks
07/02/09

@sybann: This. I just told someone the other day I'll never switch. I am now. Fuck in tarnation.
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stacyinbean
07/02/09

In reply to Google Blocks Abortion Ads On Multiple Continents
Um, didn't we just have a post about how there was an ad for photographs of female genital mutilation in Google Ads? So it's ok to advertise messing with the bodies of the already born, but not the unborn. Thanks Google!
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counterclockwise's using her promoting-power for good
07/02/09

In reply to Google Blocks Abortion Ads On Multiple Continents
Wait, there are ads for abortions?
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schweppes
07/02/09

In reply to Google Blocks Abortion Ads On Multiple Continents
In a lot of those countries, abortion is illegal (Google is pretty stupid not to have made that clearer in their explanation). So linking to advertisements for something that is illegal seems reasonable - and not "censorship"
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Laulau
07/02/09

@schweppes: Abortion is available on demand until ten weeks in France and twelve weeks in Germany. I think they are a bit more restrictive thereafter until the US, but it's still weird.
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Laulau
07/02/09

@Laulau: Hmm, googling (oh, irony, how you slay me) suggests that the law is actually a bit more contested in Germany, but it looks like de facto you can still get an abortion until twelve weeks without penalty.

Sometimes I really hate having a uterus. I wish we could all go on a childbearing strike until men agreed to let us control our own damn bodies.
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schweppes
07/02/09

@Laulau: Yeah, some countries are a little more liberal, abortion-wise, but most of them flat-out have it illegal for the vast majority of the pregnancy. So it makes sense (but Google has bad PR)
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sybann
07/02/09

@Laulau: Not an entirely bad idea - want them to really fall in line? Go Lysistrata on their asses. We can wear vibrating panties and withold the remotes.
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SunburnedCounsel
07/02/09

@schweppes: But there are many, many other countries where abortion is illegal. So if "not advertising illegal services" is their angle, they are going about it all wrong.
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counterclockwise's using her promoting-power for good
07/02/09

@Laulau: It's easy to get an abortion in Germany, you just have to prove that you had counselling with a licensed institution other than the clinic/doctor who provides the abortion.
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Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
07/02/09

@schweppes: Actually, it only makes sense in the countries that outlaw abortion outright. Of course they wouldn't advertise for something that is illegal. But as Lualau pointed out it is legal for a portion of the time in Germany and France and Google should therefor not block abortion ads in those countries.
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Laulau
07/02/09

@sybann: Yes! I've been advocating the Lysistrata option for years now, on all sorts of matters.

And, I repeat my at least weekly apology for all of my crazy typos. I get a little too excited when commenting on Jez.
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notheretomakefriends
07/02/09

@SunburnedCounsel: exactly, not only are abortions legal in France - up to 12 weeks without hassle except maybe one counselling session (which basically consists of making sure you know what you about to do, you know the alternatives, and you do it willingly), and then under certain medical circumstances after that- it a non issue for our society, has not been contested/protested since the late 70s (to the best of my knowledge)

I will make sure to send a mail to Google France to remind them of that.
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notheretomakefriends
07/02/09

@notheretomakefriends: let's clarify that answer a bit further and make you american ladies jealous: the only controversy is around abortion for the underage: underage girls do not need parental consent anymore, and pharmacies have to distribute the morning after pill to them for free.

yep, that' right there's no typo here: morning after pill for free
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notheretomakefriends
07/02/09

@notheretomakefriends: not that the MAP is abortifacent, but you get the drill

*** off my soap box now***
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