Most of you know this since I mention it once a week or so, but I moonlight as the Reproductive Justice and Gender editor over at AlterNet, and I put all kinds of interesting articles up over there that I rarely have time to write about here. So you should head over and check it out — and sign up for my weekly newsletter. Here are a few of my recent favorite pieces, all worth a read:
–The American Health Care System is Failing Women of Color. Not surprising, but the statistics are nonetheless abhorrent. Just stay out of the comment section — I think my personal favorite note (and one that’s particularly representative) says, “hello…um…its failing us ALL… don’t make it about race and/or gender!” Uh, ok. Except that when it’s failing some of us a whole lot worse than others, and those failures are often drawn along racial and gender lines.
–Are Modern Women Miserable? Don’t worry — it’s not another backlash piece arguing that women are unhappy because we have too many rights and we should get back in the kitchen. The author posits that many women are unhappy because the promise of gender equality is dangled in front of us, but not yet fulfilled. Another one to skip the comments on, as the MRAs are out in full force.
–Poverty has a woman’s face. And the lack of political representation is fueling it.
–Horton Hears a Wingnut. Anti-choicers demonstrate at a children’s movie to send the message that “a person’s a person no matter how small.” Unless the person has a uterus. In that case, fuck her.
–Iraqi women hit hard by occupation. Hey, remember when Iraqi women actually had rights? You know, before we brought them “freedom”?
–Women as weapons of war. The Western media depicts women’s bodies as war tools as deadly as guns.