Alter Net women

You are reading http://viridianariverstone.blogspot.com/.

THE 'CHOICE' GENERATION
Summer Wood, AlterNet
The concept of 'choice' is now the very definition of
mainstream feminism, an unholy union of women's rights and
shopping.
here

HIP HOP'S GENDER PROBLEM
Mark Anthony Neal, Africana.com
It's clear that hip-hop has a gender problem -- but where
do the influences for these images and ideas come from?
Perhaps we should be looking at the influences instead of
the performers themselves.
here

right to die

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My reply to the stupidest interview I ever heard:

Your "guest" from "right to life" lied on the air.

Abortion is NOT a cause of higher breast cancer rates!

From National Cancer Institute web site:

"In February 2003, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) convened a workshop of over 100 of the world's leading experts who study pregnancy and breast cancer risk. Workshop participants reviewed existing population-based, clinical, and animal studies on the relationship between pregnancy and breast cancer risk, including studies of induced and spontaneous abortions. They concluded that having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman's subsequent risk of developing breast cancer. A summary of their findings, titled Summary Report: Early Reproductive Events and Breast Cancer Workshop, can be found at http://cancer.gov/cancerinfo/ere-workshop-report ."

If she'll lie about that, she'll lie about anything.

And thank you SO MUCH for promoting THEOCRACY in this country! I also appreciate being equated, once again, with TERRORISTS for believing in choice!

I received decent sex education, thirty years ago. It wasn't "abstainance only;" it was GOOD information, provided by feminist women. As a result, I've NEVER had a sexually transmitted disease, because I know how to make responsible choices with my body.

Tell that liar this: I had an abortion. I had an unnatural pregnancy. The abortion didn't stop the pregnancy, as it was ectopic. But it was a necessary procedure, to try to save my life from an abnormal pregnancy.

I wanted that child more than I wanted my own life, and almost chose to die, rather than undergo the indifferent and brutal medical procedures necessary to save my life.

A year later, I went to the State Fair. There sat that bunch of post menapausal men and women, all white, with their plastic fetuses. It was all I could do, not to physically attack those sanctimonius FREAKS for calling ME, of ALL people, a "baby killer!"

I don't want to HEAR about your religion!

I don't want to HEAR your lies!

You have the pResident, Ashhole, and the rest of those losers, pushing your sick agendas on me every day!

I would have DIED without the medical procedures I endured!

My uterus is NONE of your ignorant business! Just because YOU fear normal sexuality is no reason for you to abuse ME!

What a sick, one sided, propagandist bunch of hog swill!

That proves it: "right to die in agony and poverty" is a bunch of PERVERTS!

Alter Net

You are reading http://viridianariverstone.blogspot.com/.

What Rainbow?
Kai Wright, Out Magazine
Queer people of color have been reluctant to engage the in the gay civil rights movement's marriage battle. That's because we don't see what's in it for us.
here

Personal Voices: Gateway Girl
Bethany Allen, Africana.com
Too black, not black enough, and other reasons I didn't want to be anyone's first black kiss.
here

The 'Choice' Generation
Summer Wood, AlterNet
The concept of 'choice' is now the very definition of mainstream feminism, an unholy union of women's rights and shopping.
here

Alter Net

You are reading http://viridianariverstone.blogspot.com/.

ON THE SPOT: RALLYING GIRL POWER
Darci Andresen, AlterNet
A rally aimed at mobilizing the women's vote reveals the
true sleeper issue of this election: idealism.
*In Movie Mix: here

THE MARRIAGE GAP
Jonathan Rauch, AlterNet
For generations, homosexuals have come of age understanding
that their love separated them from marriage instead of
connecting them to it.
*In Movie Mix: here

PERSONAL VOICES: GATEWAY GIRL
Bethany Allen, Africana.com
Too black, not black enough, and other reasons I didn't
want to be anyone's first black kiss.
*In Rights & Liberties: *In Movie Mix: *In Movie Mix: here here

Mothers' Day

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'IN THE NAME OF WOMANHOOD AND HUMANITY...'
Geov Parrish, WorkingForChange.com
What is now widely viewed as a sentimental tribute to
family -- Mother's Day -- was originally a call for women
to wage a general strike to end war.
here

March Update

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Dear March Supporter,
We would like to thank you for your support for the March for Women's Lives. �We made history together! �

Reminder! - If you attended the March and did not receive a green sticker signifying that you were counted, please go to the march website ( here ) and click on "Count Me In". �If you have already done this, thank you for helping us get a more accurate official count.

Did you attend the March or rally? �Did you take some great photographs? �Would you like to share them with the world? �Please send your favorite digital photos to photos@marchforwomen.org . �We will select photos to add to our online photo gallery of the March. �To view the gallery, you can go to the march homepage, here and click on "March Photos". �If you send in your photos, be aware that site visitors will be able to view them, download them and print them and by sending them you give the March Coalition the rights to use your photos.

Important Alert: from the Feminist Majority

In a last-ditch effort, we tried to stop the FDA from rejecting over-the-counter status for emergency contraception.

Outrageously, after more than one million of us Marched for Women's Lives in Washington, DC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late Thursday decided to reject over-the-counter status for emergency contraception. We must now make our voices heard once again expressing our anger that the FDA has allowed right-wing politics to trump women's health.

The FDA sent a letter late Thursday night to Barr Laboratories, the distributors of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, rejecting its application for over-the-counter status for the drug. This decision is despite the fact that the FDA's own expert advisory panels voted 23-4 in favor of making Plan B available over the counter. The FDA, however, left the door open and said Barr Laboratories could apply again if they provide evidence that Plan B is safe for young women under 16 or if they provide a two-tier marketing plan that would only allow over-the-counter status for women 16 years of age or older.

Right-wing groups and anti-reproductive rights members of Congress have been pressuring the FDA to reject approval of over-the-counter status. Medical research has overwhelmingly demonstrated the safety, efficacy, and need for emergency contraception over the counter.

We cannot allow anti-reproductive rights extremists to get away with taking this women's health and public health breakthrough product away from women seeking to avoid unintended pregnancy. It is imperative that we send thousands of messages to the FDA expressing our outrage that it has succumbed to political pressure and rejected approval for Plan B over the counter.

We urge you to send this critical alert to all of your friends and family. Together, we can make a difference.
here
Alice Cohan, for the March for Women's Lives.
info@marchforwomen.org

PR Watch women

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19. FOR ABORTION RIGHTS? THEN THE TERRORISTS HAVE ALREADY WON
here

�Members of Congress and women's groups are asking long-time Bush
�adviser Karen Hughes to apologize for remarks they say "liken
�abortion rights advocates to those in the 'terror network'." As
�hundreds of thousands rallied for reproductive rights in Washington
�DC on Sunday, Hughes told CNN: "I think that after September 11,
�the American people are valuing life more and realizing that we
�need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life...
�particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy, and really the
�fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight
�is that we value every life." Women's groups are changing their
�message and tactics, reports the Wall Street Journal: "To counter
�abortion foes' use of the pulpit, they are mining college campuses
�for grass-roots organizational heft."
SOURCE: Reuters, April 27, 2004
More web links related to this story are available at:
� here
5. SCHWARZENEGGER'S MORE FEMINIST SIDE
here

�PR Week's Douglas Quenqua asks: "Of the three men honored by a
�women's-empowerment group in Los Angeles last week for their
�'support and advocacy of the issues that are important to women,'
�how many... have publicly mused over his great fortune at getting
�to stick a woman's face in the toilet?" If you guessed just one -
�named Arnold Schwarzenegger - you're correct. The W.O.M.E.N group
�(Women Organized for Mentoring, Education and Networking) honored
�the Governator for "his promotion of after-school programs."
�According to a spokesperson, the group had "no discussion" of the
�more than a dozen sexual harassment charges and at least one
�pending lawsuit leveled against Schwarzenegger. Quenqua wonders:
�"Did the muscle man exert some influence... to get rubbed the right
�way, PR-wise?"
SOURCE: PR Week, May 3, 2004
More web links related to this story are available at:
� here

11. MAYDAY FOR GI JANES!
here

�A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Selective
�Service System acting Director Lewis Brodsky, in a February 2003
�proposal to Pentagon officials, recommended that the draft "be
�re-engineered toward maintaining a national inventory of American
�men and, for the first time, women, ages 18 through 34, with an
�added focus on identifying individuals with critical skills." The
�agency's public and congressional affairs director noted that they
�"would have 'to market the concept' of a female draft to Congress."
�After the document release, a Selective Service spokesperson called
�the proposal mere "food for thought." But the agency did admit that
�it "has begun designing procedures for a targeted registration and
�draft of people with computer and language skills."
SOURCE: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 1, 2004
More web links related to this story are available at:
� here

"John Ashcroft, keep your mouth off my wife!"

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Joe Bageant: 'John Ashcroft, keep your mouth off my wife!' link:here

Fair action update re: Women's march

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here

ACTIVISM UPDATE:
CBS Responds to FAIR on March Coverage
May 4, 2004

A May 3 FAIR Action Alert encouraged readers to contact the broadcast
networks about the scant coverage given to the April 25 March for Women's
Lives in Washington, D.C. CBS sent this response to FAIR activists:

----
On April 25, The Evening News did two pieces on the march, therefore
devoting a major portion of The Evening News that night to the march.
CBS's other news programs also devoted time to covering the historic
event.

----
The Action Alert counted CBS Evening News's April 25 coverage as a single
segment, although it involved reports by two separate correspondents
joined by an anchor segue. (ABC's coverage of the march involved a similar
double segment.) If you separate all double segments, CBS News had four
stories on the March for Women's Lives, and the three broadcast networks
together had eight.

But applying the same standards to the Promise Keepers rally of 1997,
which FAIR used to compare media attention, also increases the number of
stories the networks devoted to that event. CBS News ran eight segments on
the Promise Keepers march; the three networks combined ran 26. The
question FAIR raised in our Action Alert remains: Why are the Promise
Keepers, with a smaller demonstration, three times more newsworthy than
the March for Women's Lives?

Darwin revisited

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THE MOST NATURAL SELECTION
Steven Kotler, LA Weekly
Charles Darwin would say that since homosexuality is not a
reproductive strategy, it's an aberration that should die
off. But a new book arrives at another conclusion: Darwin's
theory of sexual selection must be wrong.
here

What Women's March?

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here

ACTION ALERT:

Hard to Find Women's March on Television News
May 3, 2004

On Sunday, April 25, hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of
Washington, D.C. to demonstrate for women's reproductive rights. �Crowd
estimates ranged from 500,000 to 1.15 million, but it was clear that the
March for Women's Lives was one of the largest demonstrations in the
capital's history-- and perhaps the largest ever. �One might have
expected, then, to see extensive coverage on national television-- but a
look at both network and cable news during the days surrounding the march
turned up remarkably few reports.

A Nexis search of the week surrounding the women's march found a total of
six stories from the broadcast networks (not counting incidental mentions
of the march): �CBS ran one story the day of the march and two the next
morning; NBC ran two stories and ABC only one, all on April 25.

�CNN, as a
24-hour cable news outlet, gave more extensive coverage to the event,
running several reports on Sunday.

But even CNN failed to treat the march
as the historic occasion that it was, running just a small handful of
brief march-related stories on Saturday and Monday.

Other cable news outlets focused not on the march itself but on abortion
opponents, a few hundred of whom held a counter-protest at the march. �Of
three Fox News stories found on Nexis related to the march, two focused on
anti-abortion activists (Special Report with Brit Hume, Hannity & Colmes,
4/22/04). �Special Report examined anti-abortion opposition to the
National Education Association's endorsement of the march-- a story that
MSNBC also covered in that network's only march report found in the Nexis
database. �(Fox and MSNBC do not transcribe their news coverage as
thoroughly as CNN does, so the amount of coverage on the three cable
channels cannot be compared.)

To put the women's march coverage in perspective, FAIR conducted a similar
Nexis search of the week surrounding the Promise Keepers march in 1997.

The Promise Keepers, an evangelical men's organization that has been
widely accused of promoting misogyny and homophobia, drew an estimated
480,000-750,000 demonstrators to Washington-- roughly three-quarters the
size of the women's march. �Despite its somewhat smaller size, the Promise
Keepers received much more media attention: �Stories began appearing on
network news three days before the march and continued for two days
afterward, with a total of 19 stories between the three networks-- more
than three times the coverage the networks devoted to the women's march.

Was the Promise Keepers march three times more newsworthy than the March
for Women's Lives?

Why such little coverage? �Women's issues routinely get short shrift in
the media, and during this election year, news outlets found even more
reason to discount women's voices.
�NBC Nightly News reporter Jeannie Ohm
asked (4/25/04), "But just how big a factor will abortion rights have in
the November election?... Political analysts say it's the economy and
jobs, war in Iraq, homeland security and health care that will have more
of an impact with undecided voters." �CNN correspondent Elaine Quijano
sounded a similar note (4/25/04): "This election year, each group hopes to
spark renewed interest, enough to have an impact at the ballot box. But
political analysts say more than three decades after Roe v. Wade, most
voters have already made up their minds."

A record-breaking number of people-- mostly women-- marched on Washington
to demonstrate their commitment to women's rights and their
dissatisfaction with Bush's record on women's issues. �By minimizing
coverage of the event and reducing women's rights to a low-ranking concern
in the presidential horse race, television news stifled critical public
dialogue on women's rights and health, and relegated women and their
concerns to the sidelines.

ACTION: Please let the networks know that you were disappointed by the
scant coverage given to the historic March for Women's Lives.

CONTACT:

ABC World News Tonight
Phone: 212-456-4040
mailto:PeterJennings@abcnews.com

CBS Evening News
Phone: 212-975-3691
mailto:evening@cbsnews.com

NBC Nightly News
Phone: 212-664-4971
mailto:nightly@nbc.com

Alter Net Women

You are reading http://viridianariverstone.blogspot.com/.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH CURVES?
Ruth Rosen, AlterNet
Physical fitness chain Curves is the fastest-growing
franchise in the world, helping some 2 million women get
easy and accessible exercise. Yet, despite the pro-woman
outlook, its owner has given at least $5 million to
anti-abortion groups.
here

GENDER (HOOP) DREAMS
Mark Harris, AlterNet
Men might make more slamdunks, but if you want lightening
passes, grace, ferocity and pure love of the game, there's
nothing like women's basketball.
here

Woman Bashing

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When Women Are Fair Game
Ashley Day, Tolerance.org
The student newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University came under fire for
an April Fool's edition that used the N-word, but not its blatantly
misogynistic humor.
here