The State of Prop 8!

David Cruz's blog is a great source of information about the latest on Prop 8 legal struggles as well as other developments. http://mylaw.usc.edu/blogCruz/index.cfm

The State of Prop 8
Panel Discussion with Professor David Cruz of USC and Sharon McGowan of the ACLU LGBT Project
The speakers will focus on the current challenges to Proposition 8 and the implications for the acquisition of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in other states.
Monday April 6th from 11:45 AM until 1 PM
Caplin Pavilion
Sponsored by the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the Feminist Legal Forum

Strip-Search of a Girl Is to Test Limit of School Policy

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/us/24savana.html

Let them be our inspiration.

Having a Bat Mitzvah in Their 90's Because It's a Hoot!
(and because it is the feminist thing to do.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/22batmitzvah.html?_r=1&em

One Last Post for the Day. . .

Europeans Debate Castration of Sex Offenders

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/world/europe/11castrate.html

Girlhood

Thanks to everyone who came to watch Girlhood the other night.

I tried to do some research on where the two young women featured in the film are now to no avail. It appears there are tons of people with different stories on what has become of each of them. (One post said Megan died of a drug overdose while another said she is married to another woman and raising two children.) Needless to say, I am not convinced either of them is reliable. I guess we won't know unless Liz Garbus decides to update us.

Also, if anyone saw the DVD in the room (it was in a sealed Netflix envelope) please let me know or just drop it in the mail!

What Is the State of Feminism Today?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090323/feminism_video

As we mark the 98th annual International Women's Day, what have the feminist movements of the last half century achieved? Today on GRITtv Linda Martin Alcoff, Staceyann Chin, and Jennifer Baumgardner discuss the politics of feminism today.

"Teaching women to submit to their husbands, for the love of Christ."

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/03/books-purpose-driven-wife

[Martha] Peace is here to help. Over the past two decades, the 62-year-old Georgia native and former nurse has written five books on biblical womanhood, conservative Christianity's answer to the women's movement. Among them are The Excellent Wife, now a classic in this burgeoning niche, and Damsels in Distress, a set of biblical solutions to female problems ranging from pms to depression to "feminist tendencies." It's common for a young Christian wife to rebel against home life as her primary ministry, Peace writes in Becoming a Titus 2 Woman, which lays out the principles of her ministry model. It's the role of older women to help her understand her priorities.

Maybe we would not be in this pickle if Lehman Brothers and Sisters existed?

Mistresses of the Universe
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08kristof.html?em

Feminist Law Firms: Apparently, They Do Exist!

A 'Feminist Law Practice' in Canada
http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sfb/lawArticleSFB.jsp?id=1202423108430

Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

A Life Term for Rape at 13
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/us/03bar.html?_r=1&hp

Porn Causes Fainting!!! (Written by a Woman as well)

http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-can-a-woman-write-porn-and-still-call-herself-a-feminist/

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Passes Congress

Keeping the Promise to America

This is What a Feminist President Looks Like

Barack Obama is on the Cover of Ms. Magazine (the first man in over a decade)
But is it too early?
http://i1.democracynow.org/2009/1/27/ms_magazine_on_barack_obama_this

Anti-Feminist Decision by France's Justice Minister?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article5489466.ece

Can't We Just Fight Fair?

Dawn of Virginia FLF also sent along this article of interest.
http://skirt.com/node/25976

Striking the Brothels' Bottom Line

An Op-ed from Kristof on economic strategies to rid Cambodia of brothels:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/opinion/11kristof.html?ref=opinion

Carolyn Kennedy: the Feminist Choice?

Responses from Feminist Groups to Kennedy
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/nyregion/06demwomen.html?bl&ex=1228712400&en=87713734acb711c3&ei=5087%0A

A Criticism of Kennedy's Bid:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6172370.html

Obama: Feminist in Chief Part II

A Site from UVA FLF Member Gabe!

The economic stimulus is a great place to start addressing gender inequality. In a recent Boston Globe op-ed, "The Macho Stimulus Plan," economist Randy Albelda points out that the jobs Obama talks about--building roads, bridges and schools, developing eco-friendly technologies--are overwhelmingly held by men. It would be nice if suddenly half of construction workers were female, but given that they're now 2.7 percent, realistically that is not going to happen. Even doubling or tripling the small number of women in the relevant job categories would be a stretch. Albelda proposes an additional stimulus plan, for the female side of the economy: "Caring for those who cannot care for themselves, healthcare, and primary education are the very foundation of a civil society. Investing in these outcomes is as vital to our long-term economic health as airports, highways, wind turbines, and energy-retrofitted buildings." Not only do these jobs disproportionately employ women, she points out, but "investments in direct care, education, and healthcare would also go a long way in alleviating poverty."

"We need to put pressure on him now, about concrete policies," historian Linda Gordon, co-founder of Feminists for Obama, told me. "You can be sure that's what the right is doing."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081222/pollitt

Top Obama Aide in Sexist Photo

Sexist Photo is no Laughing Matter
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/12/favreaus-sexist-photo-is-no-laughing-matter.html

Sketches of Michelle Obama?

An interesting post from Slate.com's XX Factor on the inability of fashion designers to draw Michelle Obama. Also within the post are links to the drawings themselves.

http://slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/12/03/how-hard-is-it-to-draw-michelle-obama.aspx