THF Quick Hit: White House's new site for Council on Women and Girls

Posted by: The Happy Feminist (HappyFeminist at gmail dot com)

First off, Happy Equality Day, y'all. Pay may not be equal, but, hey, the economy's not doing great anyway so we never had a chance! Jokes! Heheh...heh...

[Think happy thoughts, Sabrina...HAPPY thoughts...Equality Day...semester is starting...cookies]




RIGHT. SO. This is just a quick hit to let y'all know that the White House has a new website for the Council on Women and Girls! Here's Chair Valerie Jarrett giving a brief run-down of the Council's duties and brief history.

THF: With this heat, we need fans.

Posted by The Happy Feminist (HappyFeminist at gmail dot com)
Image via Wedding Ideas (no, I'm not dropping any hints)


Feeling lonely on Facebook? Want to keep up-to-date with any last-minute changes? Want to support us anymore?

Do you appreciate the bad pun in this blog post's title line?

Have I got a Fan Page for you!

http://www.facebook.com/hunterequality

It's new. It's awesome. It's feminist and it's on campus! Just one more way we're trying to make it as easy for anyone to get involved! I've connected my cell phone to the status updates so any last-minute event changes will be posted as they happen.

Thanks for all of your continued support, and I hope you're as excited as we are about the new semester!

Our first club meeting
September 2, 2009
1 PM - 3 PM
Student Resource Center
Room 202, Thomas Hunter Hall

See you all there!

PS: 841 followers on Twitter? You're all making me blush!

THF: May I have health care reform, now, please?

Posted by: THF (HappyFeminist@gmail.com)
Image via: WebMD

Now, I know we're all freaking out about Sarah Palin's resignation and trying to figure out which scandal caused it. But there's other stuff going on in D.C. this summer! Like health care: a huge deal that has great timing right now and means a lot to Americans. About 22,000 people lose their lives in the U.S. every year due to lack of insurance. This is a national issue, and this needs to be addressed. And soon! But I did not know how exactly it affected women until I got on twitter and saw @daninespencer (Danine Spencer) post a link to a blog post she wrote. She quotes the following data (emphasis mine):

"The good news is that most women do have health insurance.

• 64% have employer-based coverage
• 10% are on Medicaid.
• 6% have private policies
• 3% are enrolled in other government programs (i.e., military)

The bad news is that women are much more likely than men to be covered as a dependent on a spouse's employer-sponsored health insurance. (This may change as the "he-cession" continues.) Twenty-five percent of women (23.7 million) are covered as dependents. This makes them more vulnerable to losing their insurance if their spouse loses his job or the employer drops family coverage. They are also more likely to lose their insurance if they are divorced or widowed. (I know one woman who divorced her husband of 40 years when she was 62 years old. Since she wasn't eligible for Medicare yet, she had to negotiate for three years of health insurance in the divorce settlement.)

Only 39% of women (37 million) have their own job-based insurance. These are the women the system is supposedly "working" for but health care costs are rising every day whether you have insurance or not."

You can read the rest of this great, informative post here. She gets her data from a Kaiser Foundation report, found here.

But, as always, I put the good news up here. So here it is:
Obama is making a serious push for health care this year. This has to pass first, though, through Congress.

According to NARAL, "the Republican leadership on the Senate Finance Committee is demanding health care reform language that will take away access to women's comprehensive reproductive health services." You can take action on this issue here.

So I urge you today, really, really urge you, to contact your representatives and senators and tell them that women need health care reform and they cannot wait. Do not let this issue go by another year.

UPDATE: NOW provides us with more fun data: "insurance companies tend to charge women age 55 and under more than men for the same coverage, even without including maternity care."

THF: Follow-ups to make you smile

Posted by: The Happy Feminist (HappyFeminist@gmail.com)

WASP pilot Bernice Falk Haydu pulls back the chair of President Barack Obama after signing S.614, a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, in the Oval Office Wednesday, July 1, 2009. At far left is WASP pilot Elaine Danforth Harmon, and at right is Lorraine H. Rodgers. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is at right in green. Current US Air Force pilots are in the background. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was established during World War II, and from 1942 to 1943, more than a thousand women joined, flying sixty million miles of non-combat military missions. Of the women who received their wings as Women Airforce Service Pilots, approximately 300 are living today. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

6/3/09 Edit: I previously posted on this topic, the link for that post is here.

THF OMG: ALPHA WOMEN ATTACK THE LOWER EAST SIDE!

Posted by: THF, HappyFeminist@gmail.com

Come to a FREE and fun concert by women & their supporters.
Sat., June 27th, 2PM at Tompkins Square Park

Co-Emceed by Our Lady of Perpetual PMS and Killer Killy

KILLER KILLY (subversive comedic songs)
JENNIFER BLOWDRYER: (LES punk writer w/Tales from The Lower East Side)
RACHEL CLEARY: (political storyteller)
MICHELLE LEONA: (haunting and horny accordian songs)
ROSIE REBEL: (showcases her bra inventions...on roller skates!)
JERIN ALAM: (speaker- Women's Rights Coalition)
SARAH B.: (punk teen poet sensation)
NEOANGIN: (one man electronics-gone-mad-art band from Berlin w/paintings & masks)
RACHEL TRACHTENBURG AND THE OH MY GOD GIRLS:
(debut of the Teen Girl Indie Pop-Rock Players!)
JESSICA DELFINO: (raunchy, insurgent rock & folk)
LONE VEIN: (Day of The Dead-inspired gloom tunes)
RUBBER ROOM RATS: (Female-fronted freaky post-punk)
DETHRACE: (a theatrical art rock experience...10 ft. tall fiberglass super-robots, playing 666 volts of metal!)

Plus MORE TBA, coming soon!

Also featuring:
The twisted art and underground comix of Jenny Devildoll Gonzalez, and Daniella Day's Coney Island collage art.

Clothing Swap:
Bring or Take CLEAN WOMEN'S CLOTHING only!
(no winter clothes please)

Helpful info. and literature from local political groups and non-profits!

Produced by Our Lady of Perpetual PMS and THE SHADOW - NYC's underground newspaper since 1988*

Sponsors needed – please call 212-631-1181 (24hrs) or email: TheSHADOW@MediaFilter.org

REBUILD THE TOMPKINS SQ. PARK BANDSHELL - Sign the petitions at the shows!

*These shows celebrate the vitality and creativity of the counter cultural scene that has survived on the LES, despite the rampant gentrification, soaring rents and lost venues that have contributed to the cultural genocide sweeping New York City.

We will also be on stage to discuss the CUNY-wide sexual assault policy.

THF: Chirp, chirp!!

Art by: blue bird, by Narelle Craven
Posted by: THF, HappyFeminist@gmail.com


twitter.com/HappyFeminist

Holy. As of this morning, I had 177 followers. Tonight, I have 184. Oh, my goodness! I don't even know what to say on that front. I'll post about how Hunter is awesome regularly and how its Women's Rights Coalition is amazing. ;)

Event posting to come later tonight! Stay tuned.

THF: NYS State Senator Eric Adams is my new favorite pen pal

Posted by: THF -- HappyFeminist@gmail.com

NYS Senator Adams recently sent me a response to an email of mine. Senator Adams represents state senate district 20, and you should check out his website. There are a lot of shout-outs to awesome NY women. (I cut out unrelated text that made this way long; bold emphasis is mine):

Dear Sabrina,

Thank you for your informative letter. It is my conviction that if you take the time to write me, I should respect your communication by reading it and responding. During these times of great demand it is important that we have knowledgeable citizens provide us with intelligent views on the various issues confronting our state.

I fully support legislation to render all gender-specific language in the NYS Domestic Relations Law gender-neutral, thus affording same-sex couples the identical opportunity, the identical freedom, to contract civil marriages in the same way as opposite-sex couples do currently.

I believe that no legal status, no rights, no benefits, no privileges, and no protections relating to marriage should differ based upon the gender of the parties involved. [THF: hmm...blocking gay marriage = gender based discrimination? I love legal minds!]

The unfairness inherent in depriving same-sex couples of this fundamental justice undermines the stability of family relationships, creates in every sense a second-class citizenry, and weakens our society. I will vote in favor of a gay marriage bill because I believe that gay couples desire exactly the same type of committed relationship as do straight couples, and that relationship, marriage, is a basic human right.

Please continue to reach out to my office. As our office endeavors to go green, I encourage you to continue to send future correspondence to my email address.

Best,

Eric Adams

NYS Senator

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Therefore NYS Senator Adams = My new favorite pen pal. :-D

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Homework!: Click here to find your State Senator and write to them!

Let me know if they write back!

Contact me at HappyFeminist@gmail.com if you need a sample letter.

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THF: I read the news today, oh girl

Image (C) Moody's for Youth
Posted by: The Happy Feminist


Ladies. Gents. Gender non-conformists. Lend me your ears.

Actually, let me lend you mine. I've been waking up unspeakably (though I will whine and bitch at length) early in the morning the past month to collect press clips for my internship. The list of news clips of interest are sent to everybody in the committee. And I feel special about that, oh yes I do.

Ok, no, I don't, not really. I'd actually feel more special if I were writing about feminism (did you miss me like I missed you?). So I wanted to do the same thing, but with the news you send me.

You know those articles on Feministing that you send to your friends? The absurd bullshit that the New York Times tries to pass as editorials sometimes? Or, you know, really anything that you post on Facebook that some asshat you knew in high school who you forgot you were "friends" with says is hateful towards men? True story. Also, wondering why there isn't birth control that men have to take isn't hateful. De-friended, kthxbye.

Send any interesting links or articles to HappyFeminist@gmail.com and I'll post the best clips once per week.

THF: A call to activism (a.k.a., letter-writing)

I, The Happy Feminist, am happy today to accept the title of President-elect of the Women's Rights Coalition. Feel free to add me on facebook (I'm listed as President-elect in our facebook group); you can message me anytime with anything you may need. I write my first blog from D.C. today.

I am not feeling awesome about the assassination of Dr. Tiller, but I took a page (pun...is it a bad time for puns?) from Carolyn Maloney's book and decided to make a call for action.

I invite you all to take any outrage you may have about Dr. Tiller's death and write to your senators and congressmen/women about it. Whether it be New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Transylvania, whatever. Contact them! Here's a letter I sent to mine, please read it and send it along:

To my esteemed Senators:

I would like to begin my letter explaining how much I appreciate the work that you do; I am fully aware of how little like a picnic your job must be.

I write to you today to ask for renewed enforcement of the FACE Act of 1994, and I am sure you know why. Dr. Tiller’s work is controversial to some, but we can at least agree that civil disobedience may be a tradition we respect in this country, sure, but violence is not. Trusting women is the belief of the pro-choice movement, but the health of a human being is the belief of those who support late term abortions.

Politics aside, domestic terrorism is unacceptable. I cannot imagine what those people attending church the morning of Dr. Tiller’s death felt upon hearing the gunshots. My fear of domestic terrorism is not unfounded:

“The man charged with murdering a high-profile abortion doctor claimed from his jail cell Sunday that similar violence was planned around the nation for as long as the procedure remained legal, a threat that comes days after a federal investigation launched into his possible accomplices.” (Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press Writer, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_re_us/us_abortion_shooting)

I am calling on you for renewed enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994. “FACE makes it illegal to intentionally use force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with individuals obtaining or providing reproductive health care services. FACE also punishes anyone who intentionally damages or destroys a facility that provides reproductive health services.” (http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/face_act.html)

I know that this issue will continue to be debated in the years to come, but I hope that we can at least do so peacefully.

Sincerely,

THF: Sonia Sotomayor

Hmm...a Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court of the United States. Hmm...

WAKE UP, SABRINA! YOU'RE DREAMING. Sigh. I hate waking u---WAIT.

Obama to name Sotomayor as Supreme Court pick

A Puerto Rican woman? Who served on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund? The first Latino...wait, no...Latina! Who worked to "provide mortgage insurance coverage to low-income housing and AIDS hospices"? An editor of the Yale Law Journal? Who was "considered as a potential Supreme Court Justice by both Republican and Democratic presidents"? With a pretty impressive resume outside of that, too?

I'll be whistling today.

THF: Alright, while I'm here.

This is not particularly celebratory. Here are two ways in which women are in the news lately:

Among women, Democrats maintain a solid double-digit advantage in party identification over Republicans, 41% to 27%.

Now, I'm not taking sides for either party. There are a ways to go on women's rights and equality. Now, sure, the Democratic party had Hillary and she keeps on fighting for the rights of women. And the Republican party had, you know...Sarah Palin. But I'm not biased. The fact that I'm interning for the DNC this summer is purely coincidental. I'm just, you know, saying.

Over this time, Republican identification among men has largely been on par with Democratic support, a clear negative sign for the GOP given the solid support the Democratic Party has among women.

HOLY CRAP WE ARE THE REASON THE DNC IS SO STRONG!! I mean, we should keep fighting for women's rights regardless of party affiliation.

Oh...but then...ugh.

This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.

Resume your pessimism. Yikes.

Via Gallup

THF: Uh...more good news?

One of these fine hombres might be gay. In Uruguay,
they are now allowed to use military weapons to serve their country.
GASP.

So. Uruguay is going to drop its ban on gays in the military.

"This could conceivably mean that gays can openly serve in the military in Uruguay before their U.S. counterparts get that chance."

So, kudos Uruguay. And let's go U.S.!

Via The Latin Americanist

Image: Uruguay, June 23, 2005 - LTG Bertolotti and honor guard welcome General Craddock at Uruguayan Army HQ. (U.S. Embassy photo by Vince Alongi) from southcom.mil

THF: Odd, odd places to find hope

There are times when I want to kill the internet (see map).

FAIL Blog is a place where I go to so often to laugh my butt off. The other day, looking through it for some distractions from my thesis from hell, I stumbled upon this. Now, this was funny for a minute, my reaction being, "LOLWTFOMG??" But the comments under it (I know, the hell am I thinking expecting smart comments on the intertubes) were vile.

Body snarking is so bad and common that Jezebel, a blog for FEMINISTS, is constantly on the lookout for it, but this:

“really,, i’m just dancing in this strip club to take care of my baby!!” never heard that one b4

Oy. Just OY. Yes. I'm sure that you're sofucknighotomg that she just WANTS TO WORK FOR YOU so much. What do you even mean by this? Let's not forget these wise words.

I got to thinking, is there ANY hope on the internet that ISN'T from a news website or a feminist blog? Do we honestly have nothing in common with the mainstream folks?

Nope! It's small, but even your friends who don't call themselves feminists believe in equal pay, and if it were blatant would get upset. So, I thought, some hope has to show up someplace!

I'm going to try to keep a better eye out for it, but just for starters:

Texts from Last Night: (207): using no condom is gross. my vagina has a dress code.

"Fare is Fair" from The L Magazine: I try not to pick up drunks now, unless it's a girl and she looks like she's in trouble. Better I not get paid than she gets in trouble, you know?

I hope you all start to do the same and congratulate those who say such things any way you can. Show them that what they're saying is awesome.

So thank you, 207, and thank you, Joseph. Nicely put. I now don't hate the internet that much.

Love,
The Happy/Hopeful Feminist

THF: Don't ask, I'll tell you anyway

Bad news first: "In 2005, the Government Accountability Office found that the cost of discharging and replacing service members fired because of their sexual orientation during the policy’s first 10 years totaled at least $190.5 million. This amounts to roughly $20,000 per discharged service member."

Great news second: "Sandy - Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama." [Emphasis mine]

This was Obama's hand-written response to Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao's letter coming out to her superiors.

I'll keep this brief because of finals (DEATH), but I hope y'all are excited about this!



Cross-posted at Interruption!

THF: Quick Hit - Good News from Iowa!

Iowa Court Says Gay Marriage Ban is Unconstitutional

Any more reasons to party, and we're holding a week-long carnival.

via NYTimes

THF: Gloria is Truly Outrageous

Buzz cut your hair.
Give a huge tip to someone that makes you coffee.
Join a union.
Come out at work.
Learn everything you can about a foreign conflict.
Tell the person you're making out with exactly how you like it.
Tell an old woman how beautiful she is.
Stop buying magazines that make you feel like shit about your body.
Write a letter telling that magazine why you're not buying it anymore.
Go see an independent film made by a woman.

-and-

Meet with your child’s school principal
Host a House Party/Fundraiser in honor of Gloria Steinem’s 75th Birthday
Join or start a discussion or book group

-or-

Write or comment on a blog entry

;-)

No, I don't have the balls to do #1, but definitely want to do all of the others. What's this, you ask? Well, they're OUTRAGEOUS acts, aren't they? (truly, truly, truly outrageous?)

Gloria Steinem talks about Outrageous Acts, "a Ms. Foundation for Women social networking, social change campaign that invites each of us to engage in, celebrate, and support acts in the cause of simple justice on behalf of women, families and communities."

If you, like Jerin, are obsessed with this woman, she made a little video for the campaign here.

And we are sooooo having a Gloria Steinem party, are you kidding?

Via Feministing
x-posted at Interruption!

THF: Chick lit v. Jane Austen

I'm aware of chick lit. I am aware that it can lead to soft-core porn.

I am also aware of shit books that are "women's interest" that get made into movies.

But I love Jane Austen, even if she IS put in that category (where the Brontë sisters are not). I also love Ms. K. Beaton. Her history-based comics are hillarious, but this one about Jane Austen struck a chord. Read it! I hope you all enjoy!

THF: Badasses to be rewarded, finally

HOLY CRAP. WOMEN PILOTS. (NO, I did NOT know they existed in WWII, thank you education).

"All 17 female senators want to see female pilots who served during World War II receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can give."

Dude, a female senator coalition. That shit is dangerous and awesome in every way. What else are they capable of!? Has this happened before? I'll have to get Steven on this!

They want to award the "WASPs" (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Congressional Medals of Honor, "the highest civilian honor Congress can give." Why hasn't this happened before?

More on the Women Airforce Service Pilots available on their webpage or in the book Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith (of which, PBS provides an exerpt).

Via Jezebel/AP


PS: Don't forget to follow the WRC's Tweets from the Conference this weekend!

Edit: The PBS excerpt comes from A WASP Among Eagles by Ann Baumgartner Carl. My mistake!

THF: Sarah and Barbie, bff

Sarah Haskins tackles Barbie. Because I've had enough of this "50 years of awesome" thing. It's the face that launched a thousand eating disorders, it's kind of hard to celebrate...though, God I loved them as a kid. What a weird relationship most people have with this thing.

UPDATE:

Enjoy.

THF: WEDDINGS

love and marriage, love and marriage...

This subject will NEVER GO AWAY. Whether you're super excited about it and want to make good, informed choices. Or want to go batshit crazy on your family who's suposed to create the best day ever for you--I mean, you and your future husband (click the link, Sarah Haskins is brilliant).

Maybe you want to use it as way to make the gays remember how much more fun they could have as straight folks! Not that you want the gays to get married, though. Why would two people who love each other vow to stay together forever in front of their loved ones to make them officially a part of their lives...if everyone has to see them KISS?! EW. It's OK in porn for girls to kiss, but in real life? Ew. No. And DUDES kissing, don't get me started on that. That's so...gay.

/obvious sarcasm

BUT! There IS good news. Visibility of gay folks in mainstream media is rising (think Will & Grace, The Ellen DeGeneres Show). It's not much, BUT, it's something considering the rise in acceptance noted in the American public by Gallup.

Where do we find this visibility, though? Is it channels like LOGO? Or magazines like GO? Well, they're mainly for the gay community and rarely reaches people outside of it.

But then today, I found something cool in New York Magazine...I know what you're all going to say; Sabrina, don't be ridiculous, New York Magazine ads don't count, and New York state is totally "blue," anyway. To which I say that the wedding guide is basically all for straight couples. NY Magazine is also more "mainstream" than, say, TONY.

Also, gay marriage is not legal in NY State yet, though it does recognize marriages from elsewhere, which motivated this couple.

Long story short (too late), I'd like to applaud anatoli photograffi. Hooray for capturing lovely images of same-sex couples on film! Also, it was the ONLY image I could find of a gay couple (there was a picture of a drag queen in the "entertainment" section...not entirely sure what to make of the magazine's handling of gender non-conforming people). And yes, I know, it was an ad, not an effort from the magazine themselves. But they could've chosen to keep it out, which they didn't. Baby steps.

Not as widely distributed as Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" video or Brokeback Mountain, but hurra at the attempt to make it mainstream. And we (me) here, at THF, are always happy to see any steps forward.

Here's one of their lovely images:



Update: This used to read "magazine's handing of gay people" but I changed it to gender non-conforming since not all cross dressers are gay. We now return you to your regularly scheduled procrastination.