This has been a remarkable week in the war on women. Donald Trump, it seems, has inadvertently done a public service (possibly his first ever) by bringing sexual harassment and sexual assault into general discussion. Remind me to thank him on November 9 after he loses the election.
Women are coming forward telling their stories, and not just about Trump. Women are talking about the harassment and assaults they have experienced, and they are telling the men in their lives, in many cases for the first time. One woman came forward with her memories of being groped by Justice Clarence Thomas. Republican women are leaving their party and telling their own stories as they go. Men for the first time are having to deal with our reality.
And this week Michael Gross wrote an article about Trump’s parties during the 1990’s, where he brought young models — some of whom were underage — together with older rich men he did business with for drugs and sex.
I saw some reporter ask a woman outside a Trump rally why all these revelations make no difference to her. She said, “We don’t need a role model; we need a leader.” To her and others like her I have one question: If you wouldn’t leave your daughter alone with a man, and wouldn’t want him to teach your son how to behave, who exactly would he be leading? And if you wouldn’t trust him with your children, how can you trust him with your country?
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s move on to other news.
Violence Against Women
In Virginia, a 15-year-old high school student accused five boys of sexually assaulting her in a school bathroom. She (!?) and the boys are suspended, but no charges are being filed.
wtkr.com/…
Women across South America protested against femicide last week, after the horrendous rape/murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl. Here are photos from those protests.
www.huffingtonpost.com/…
When a woman declines a romantic/sexual relationship, why do men assume that means they enter “the friend zone” and can continue their pursuit from there?
www.salon.com/…
In a bizarre story from India, a Muslim woman filed rape charges after her husband lost her in a bet with a friend, then drugged her and brought her to his friend’s house where the friend raped her.
jagrukbharat.com/…
Not all violence is physical. From the BBC Shame series comes this story of a Jordanian woman whose husband secretly filmed her, then left her and blackmailed her using the videotapes, including those of them having sex. She lost her job after he sent the tape to her colleagues, and cannot find another teaching job.
www.bbc.com/…
And as we consider that we approach the election that may give us our first woman president, let’s consider this:
www.globalcitizen.org/...
“A recent study on women in politics has revealed worrying data on the reality of violence and harassment against female politicians.
Over 80% of the female politicians interviewed claimed to have experienced psychological violence during their political career. More than a fifth reported that they had been subject to one or more acts of sexual violence.”
And finally, Kossack Swedishjewfish wrote about her personal experience in light of recent revelations about Donald Trump. If you read the Michael Gross article I linked to in my introduction, you can skip the first part, but do go on to read the part after the blockquotes. So many of us are reexperiencing our own pasts through this election.
www.dailykos.com/...
Women’s Health
Another judge issues and injunction keeping two anti-abortion laws from taking effect, this time in Alabama, saying the laws are “probably unconstitutional.”
www.dailykos.com/...
A profile in the Women’s Health Policy Report traces the history of abortion issues in life of one provider.
www.womenshealthpolicyreport.org/...
The ACLU filed federal complaint against a Catholic hospital and health system that denied sterilization to a woman with a brain tumor that could worsen with another pregnancy. An interview with the woman involved is included in the Samantha Bee interviews below.
www.womenshealthpolicyreport.org/...
A UN study shows the strong relationship between women’s access to birth control and economic well-being of a country, and that such access varies greatly.
www.womenshealthpolicyreport.org/…
New Kossack (and new TWitWoW group member) margretminette wrote her first diary about the many reasons women need to be able to make our own decisions about whether to have children at all, or whether to continue a doomed pregnancy.
www.dailykos.com/...
Samantha Bee did a hard-hitting piece this week on Catholic healthcare providers failing to provide women with the healthcare they need. The video is followed by videos of interviews with four women that contributed to this report.
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Culture and Stuff
Women born before the women could vote describe voting for the first woman president.
www.iwaited96years.com
Calculate your gender wage gap.
www.epi.org/…
And in general hilarity, a group of female comedians mock the weakness of the male ego. www.huffingtonpost.com/...
To continue the mood, here are some writing samples that women might turn out if they wrote about men the way men write about us.
www.mcsweeneys.net/…
And finally, in the “You’ve come a long way baby!” category —
You know you’ve arrived when “mansplaining” shows up as the right question on Jeopardy.
www.huffingtonpost.com/...