December 2012 – Feministe

The Pope and Killing Gay People

The Pope met with one of the leaders of the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda, and reportedly gave her a blessing. I write about it in the Guardian, and discuss how the Catholic church uses sexuality to control its followers when it feels its power is threatened:

Shameless Self-Promotion Monday

Sorry this is late! Self-promote away.

The Better Bombshell: Writers and artists redefine the female role model

It’s been an interesting year for gender politics. Anne-Marie Slaughter had everyone buzzing with her Atlantic article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” the online version of which had record-breaking page views and which sparked a multitude of articles, blog posts and commentary from fourth-wave feminists and male social conservatives alike. We’ve had women in positions of influence, who wouldn’t be where they are today were it not for the feminists who came before them, making public statements against feminism, like Yahoo CEO Melissa Mayer, who just this year became the youngest CEO in the Fortune 500 and, more recently, Billboard’s Woman of the Year, Katy Perry. Hanna Rosin’s The End of Men launched the Fox-fueled hysteria over an imminent “war on men,” which we might dismiss with an eye roll were it not for the alarming number of elected officials, most of them male, some on the national stage, bloviating views and proposing vagislation that would take us back decades.

Yelp to the rescue

Remember that dentist who fired his female assistant because he couldn’t control his own boner? And the Iowa courts that said it wasn’t discrimination and she has no recourse? Looks like Yelpers are taking matters into their own hands.

Holiday Redux

Christmas, for those of us who celebrate it, is over, along with many of the other December holidays. New Years is yet to come. How were your festivities? Mine involved an iPad from Santa, so that was fun, and lots of wine. And I just started watching Homeland (not even through Season One, so NO SPOILERS in the comments please!). What did you all get up to?

A bit of holiday advice

This list is (mostly) for folks who celebrate the upcoming holidays, and are fortunate enough to have people and resources to celebrate with; if you don’t fit that group, skip to the bottom. If you do fit, then even if your family are your favorite people and you look forward all year to the holidays, you still may find useful hints here.

Too sexy? You’re fired.

An all-male court in Iowa decided that a dentist in that state didn’t violate sex discrimination laws by firing an assistant who was by all accounts excellent at her job, but also pretty. The woman, who is significantly younger than the dentist, saw him as a mentor and was not sexually attracted to him and did not behave flirtatiously or inappropriately at work. The dude, though, is a religious guy who kinda had a boner for this lady, so instead of keeping himself in check, he fired her. And then said it was basically her fault because she sometimes wore tight shirts.

Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday

Promote yourself.

This is just a very good plan from the NRA to prevent further mass shootings.

The NRA held a press conference today detailing their plans to prevent more mass shootings in the United States. Mass shootings now happen with some regularity, and your standard run-of-the-mill shootings where only one or two or three people are hit happen daily. The NRA’s response? Put armed security guards in schools, and create a national database of mentally ill people (what this database will be used for is unclear). A few thoughts:

NRO’s Charlotte Allen blames the Sandy Hook massacre on a lack of men

What would have saved the women and children killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting? Men, says the National Review’s Charlotte Allen. In her contribution to the NRO’s “Newtown Answers,” Allen’s answer is that women are the reason that 26 people were killed that day.