Time Out

After considerable thought, I am going to put this blog on hiatus. I simply do not have time for making my original vision come to life. I still think that women must come together, find common ground, and stop sabotaging each other. We need to speak up and stand up to sexism and misogyny and demand better. I hope it happens but I don’t have much faith right now that it will. I still see women writing articles a month after the election, bashing Palin while they wrap themselves in the cloak of “feminist”, because the writers think abortion is the number one cause of feminism, and it doesn’t even make my top 10!

Top 10 Reasons to Embrace the Term Feminism

10. Women are still paid less then men.
9. Reporters and writers can slam women on TV and in print with impunity
8. I’m sick of young women growing up believing this is “just how it is”
7. No woman has ever won a major party nomination for president
6. Only 2 women have EVER been on a major party ticket as a VP candidate
5. Institutionalized sexism and woman-hating defeated Clinton and Palin, with women colluding
4. Women undermine other women more than support them
3. Women are in danger of rape and attack every time they leave their homes. Think I’m over-reacting or kidding?
2. Beating women is still called “domestic violence”, like that makes it understandable/less appalling than what a similar assault on any other person would be called
1. Women together can do anything

Howard Dean Awakens from 9 Month Stupor

…to point out the – gasp! – “untold story” of sexism in the just ended presidential campaign!

‘Say it ain’t so, Howard!

Because remember back when a prominent female candidate and member of the Democratic Party was being skewered by members of the press and of her own party, you told us you didn’t know about that because you “didn’t watch cable”.

Get the cable connected, did ya?

Just so you know, Howard, many people have been talking about and writing about the sexism and misogyny since the beginning of the primaries! Well, except for the mainstream press, who still maintain that there wasn’t sexism, but then they are only now beginning to admit their culpability in the overwhelmingly glowing terms with which they covered Obama, which contributed HUGELY to his victory because things like sexism, caucus fraud, illegal contributions, well, they just weren’t important compared to important stuff like Obama shooting a basket or eating a waffle.

This is why women have to unite behind other women. Men will not fight for us. Sexism is allowed and encouraged. Dean was silent when it mattered, but now, siting on a panel for C-Span’s Presidential Election Analysis Panel, sponsored by the Smithsonian Associates, Dean suddenly wants to talk about this untold story, like he is the one who just now, just his minute!, discovered it.That this panel is all men says all that needs to be said about where the power is in this country. We need women to stand up and demand all women are treated with at least – at least! – the respect men receive. Not special treatment. The same standards and expectations applied to ALL, not just those with penises.

Check it our, around the 3:45 mark.

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What does this picture have to do with poker?

I used to subscribe to “Bluff” magazine, but cancelled it. For some reason, in the past months, a few stray issues have appeared in my mailbox, including this jaw-dropping, and totally irrelevant, cover.

These two women in their underwear are, supposedly, professional poker players. Perhaps part of their strategy is that they don’t want anyone to take them seriously. If so, hey, it’s working. They embody the bimbo stereotype, the kind of woman who is so foolish as to think being asked to pose pretending to pull down your panties is a compliment. They look like two girls ready to fulfill every man’s two-fer sex fantasies, rather than two young women to be treated respectfully.

How can young women continue to take off their clothes and pose like this, allowing themselves to be masturbation fodder? Does the idea of men jerking off to their photos seem like something good to put on a professional resume?

Here’s how seriously Bluff magazine takes them – which is not at all. From the Bluff website:

“Since the inception of BLUFF we have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to have a cover featuring beautiful women wearing lingerie. We’ve thought long and hard about it, attempting to create the perfect scenario where we could go ahead and pull the trigger. Well, we finally have our chance with the lovely Lacey Jones who was named the Hottest Woman in Poker by Wicked Chops Poker and the equally hot up-and-comer Christina Lindley. While neither has won a major title yet, it’s clear that poker is in their blood.”

How is that clear? Do they have spades and clubs on their panties? Is their naughty girls pose a sign of poker skill? I don’t think so. Professional poker players who happen to be women must be rolling their eyes over this disgusting display. Women pros only have been on the cover of “Bluff” twice before – Jennifer Harmon in February 2007, and Jennifer Tilly in October 2005. Both were fully dressed and photographed as professionals, as women of skill in the poker world who are respected and accomplished. Both are World Series of Poker bracelet winners.

These two gals? As Bluff tells us, neither has won a major title. The only reason they are on the cover is to be in lingerie. How sad is that?

Say No to Appearance Bashing

We saw plenty of woman bashing during the campaign, with Clinton and Palin held up to national ridicule for their appearance, voice, and clothes. A blog post came to my attention yesterday, trashing Valerie Jarret for being “one strange lookin’ woman.

This is my response to the email that shared an URL for this blog and I left comments at the blog as well. If you’ve had enough of women being judged on their looks, not their abilities, leave your own comments. Perhaps it will hold up a mirror to help the writer realize that being part of the solution is better than perpetrating the problem.

“This kind of sexist language needs to end. Every time a woman is judged and put down because of her looks, other women need to step up and say “oh no you don’t”.

We’ve got plenty of ugly men in the government, and they have no problem getting elected, and nobody makes such juvenile comments about their appearance as I read on this blog.

Don’t like  Obama? Fine. But if you were a Hillary supporter, and were appalled by the way her looks, voice, laugh, cleavage, and pantsuits were bashed and trashed, this kind of rhetoric should piss you off. Palin got the same treatment.  Both got it often at the hands of other women, which is the worst betrayal.

So don’t trash a woman associated with Obama, based on her looks. Her record, her qualifications – fair game. Her face, no.”

Be part of the solution!

Look what crawled out from under the rock… and how to stomp on it. Tricia points us toward groups working to see that the woman-hate of the past election is eradicated.

Campaign for Gender Equality

and a petition worth signing on Women Count

We can’t afford to let this crucial subject fade from the public mind and our national dialogue. Let’s this be the last year women are ridiculed for their looks, voices, clothes, and hair, rather than being judged on their policies, experience, and resumes!

(Cross-posted at Spiral Gate.

More Glass Ceiling…

Marie Cocco writes that The Glass Ceiling Holds Strong and gives us the numbers that show women made no advancements this election cycle:

“The Senate will add one woman next year, bringing the number of female senators to 17. Ten newly elected House members are female. This means that as the class of 2008 enters the Capitol’s marble halls, it will include less than half the number of women who first won office in 1992 — the so-called “year of the woman.”

Including incumbents and newcomers, a record number of women will be serving in Congress, but still only 17 percent of its members will be female. This is where that record places us: on a par with the legislative representation women have achieved in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. The United Nations, which tracks women’s global political advancement, says that at this rate, it will take women in the developing world 40 years to reach parity with men.”

And she says plainly what needs to be said, heard, and understood by women, if we are ever to end the horizontal hostility that keeps us from expanding women’s representation in ever area of life:

“Those who watched the media’s sexist hazing of both Clinton and Palin often rationalize this treatment as the result of these two candidates’ particular personalities and the legitimacy — or presumed illegitimacy — of their campaigns. But Barbara Lee, whose Boston-based family foundation has conducted extensive research of gubernatorial races involving women, routinely identifies the same undercurrents in state campaigns. Voters demand more experience of a woman candidate, and judge her competence separately from whether she is sufficiently “likable.” Male candidates typically must clear only the competence bar to be judged — as Obama indelicately put it during a primary debate — “likable enough.”"

First Woman Baseball Pro In Japan

Eri Yoshida, a 16 year old, will play for the Kobe 9 Cruise, in the Kansai Independent League. This is the U.S. equivalent of being on a farm team for the majors. No matter. It is pro ball, she’ll get paid, and she’s made history.

“I’m really happy I stuck with baseball,” Yoshida said in a news conference after she was chosen with 32 other players in the new league’s draft. “I want to pitch against men.”

Yoshida throws a mean knuckleball, one of the hardest pitches to hit. She started playing baseball in second grade, played on a high school team, and has continued to work on her game.

Yoshida’s accomplishment may signal a rise in the number sof young Japanese girls into the sport of baseball. Congratulations, Eri!

That Glass Ceiling…

A poll from The Daily Beast, outlines “the depth of women’s anger in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s and Sarah Palin’s campaigns.”

Some numbers to ponder:

* By an overwhelming 61% to 19% margin, women believe there is a gender bias in the media.

* 4 in 10 men freely admit sexist attitudes towards a female president. 39% of men say that a male is “naturally more suited” to carrying out the duties of the office

* Only 20% of women are willing to use the word “feminist” about themselves. Only 17% of all voters said they would welcome their daughters using that label.

* 48% of women thought Hillary Clinton received fair media treatment and only 29% believed Sarah Palin was treated fairly. In contrast, nearly 8 in 10 voters thought the press gave fair treatment to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

* More than two-thirds of women said they were being treated unfairly in the workplace (68%)

The race appears to have crystallized attitudes among women that they face discrimination in almost all areas of private and public life.

It’s worth a read so please visit the link.

Officer Germaine Greer, Fashion Police

Germaine Greer, who used to be a major voice in Feminism, has joined the ranks of the fashion police. In a column in “The Guardian”, Greer criticizes the dress Michelle Obama wore at her husband’s victory party in pretty ugly terms:

“all black with an eye-burning red panel that splattered itself down the front like a geometrical haemorrhage, held in by a criss-cross sash of black. The red extended upwards almost to the neckline, and downwards to mid-thigh, petering out top and bottom in a sort of cast-off splatter. The effect of the strong contrast was to turn a mere frock into a poster in the most disturbing colours known to man, the colours of chaos..”

And worse, Greer then criticizes the clothes of Michelle’s daughters as not being “girly” enough.

Yikes!

This from a woman who encouraged other women to get to know and accept their bodies, and railed against the constraints of the bra?

Don’t our young girls get enough of that crap without hearing it from a woman who used to be representative of putting an end to this kind of body/clothes consciousness?

Sadly, Michelle Obama’s wardrobe will be the major focus of media coverage of her, from now until her husband’s term is over. Once again we are seeing a complex, intelligent, and interesting woman presented as a caricature – as a clueless airhead who can’t dress herself appropriately, or worse – as someone who purposely and selfishly chose to wear a shocking dress to draw attention to herself on her husband’s big night.

I really doubt Michelle Obama is that small of a person, and shame on Greer for painting her as such.

Media Matters – Bernard: Hillary Clinton “will run a parallel government” if named secretary of state

You might want to put on a tinfoil hat before watching this, because honestly, I don’t know what planet Michelle Bernard and Jennifer Donahue live on. It is one thing to have an opinion, but it is quite another to make things up. Senator Clinton is being vetted for Secretary of State, and these two women talk about her like they are in the locker in high school.

Bernard puts forward the fantasy that Clinton would run a “parallel government”. To which government? The government of the United States of America? The government she served as First Lady and where she has represented the State of New York in the Senate for 8+ years? To so glibly accuse Clinton of planning treason is despicable slander.

And Donahue points out that when Obama and Clinton were running against each other, Clinton tried to bury Obama…. I think, when you are competing with someone, you DO try to beat them. That’s the whole point of a race.

Of course these comments are made on MSNBC, the network that has had to repeatedly apologize for their slams of women, from Chelsea Clinton to Sarah Palin.

My question is, why do seemingly bright women embarass themselves on national television, by taking unfounded pot-shots at a woman who did more to elect Obama than any other Democrat in the Party, beyond Obama himself? To question how loyal she would be to this nation is ludicrous.But they got their face time on television, at the expense, once again, of a woman who has done nothing more than have the audacity to consider accepting a call to service as Secretary of State.

I apologize for not having the video here, but unlike every other blog in the known universe, WordPress does not support the function for some mysterious reason, and VodPod didn’t work.