Times they are a-changing: last Tuesday U.S. voters elected an unprecedented number of women to Congress. They supported women in state and local races too.
(Pure speculation, but maybe the confirmation of Bret Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, despite credible testimony of attempted rape and indications of outright lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee, paradoxically fueled outrage and helped propel women candidates into office?)
So...some way to go yet.
Here is a complete list of women newly elected to Congress. Ten incumbents who were not up for re-election this year (complete at the time of compilation), courtesy of Politico.
More remain up in the air.
Out of at least 30 House seats flipped Democratic, 23 reportedly were flipped by women candidates, coincidentally or not the exact number needed to flip the House.
AND, the women who won office on Tuesday are a markedly impressive and diverse group. Among them:
Muslim women: Somali-American Ilhan Omar, in Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib, a daughter of Palenstinian refugees, in Michigan.
Lucy McBath, in Georgia,
...African-American two-time breast cancer survivor, retired flight attendant, fiery gun control advocate and mother of Jordan Davis, shot and killed in 2012 for being a black kid listening to music...
Native American women took two Congressional seats: Deb Haalund of New Mexico, and Sharice Davids,
...first openly lesbian indigenous representative, who flipped a red seat in Kansas.
The country elected its first Latinas to Congress, four at once: Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia of Texas, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico.
Just because I’m a Virginia native, special little shout-out to Abigail Spanberger, who will replace Tea Party Republican Dave Brat, famous for complaining about "women in my grill wherever I go” as he supported repeal of the ACA. Don’t let the door hit ya’, Dave. (And thanks to local DKos members who campaigned for Spanberger.)
Just a few among state and local victories that deserve special mention:
In North Dakota, Native American Ruth Buffalo becomes a state legislator, replacing a man who tried to limit the Native American vote.
As Democrats swept 59 judicial races in Harris County, Texas, nineteen black women will become judges — every black woman who ran. As well,
...the longtime incumbent Republican county judge, Ed Emmett – in effect, the county’s chief executive – lost to Lina Hidalgo, a 27-year-old first-time candidate who immigrated from Colombia as a teenager.
The New Yorker has more.
Among the results not immediately decided was the race for Governor of Georgia, pitting Democrat Stacey Abrams, a black woman, against Republican Brian Kemp. As of late Saturday, Kemp had a slim lead.
As results in Broward County, Fla., tightened, in a near-replay of a tactic that shut down the vote count there in 2001, Republican operatives and Trump supporters descended on the office of the supervisor of elections, turning their anti-Hillary Clinton mantra of “Lock her up” against Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes (who happens to be a black woman).
Politico profiled innovative political admaker Sarah Ullman, 30, and her all-woman crew, who did work for almost 200 candidates for state-level offices.
...Ullman saw a market inefficiency...decided to make her ads fast, cheap and straight to the point, allowing her to provide them pro bono to progressive candidates in crucial state-level races. Moving from state to state, Ullman’s crew has attempted a small-scale revolution in the political admaking process, providing professional-quality spots for candidates who might otherwise have had to cough up crucial campaign dollars for them. Of the 190 candidates for whom Ullman’s group cut ads, 76 won their races this week...
Whew! I’m sure I can’t have done full justice to everyone, so please pitch in with additions!
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Also on the judicial front, the redoubtable Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, is recovering and working from home after she fractured three ribs in a fall at the office. At her age she "has shown few signs of slowing down, physically or mentally,” USA Today noted.
Coincidentally a new biopic about RBG, “On the Basis of Sex,” is due for release in the U.S. on Dec. 25. A Guardian reviewer found a lot to like, but thought British-born Felicity Jones was seriously miscast in the lead. The reviewer preferred RBG, released earlier this year.
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The battle for U.S. women’s physical autonomy and right to make their own medical decisions has swayed back and forth on different fronts.
While we were mostly concentrating on the election,
Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services quietly finalized two rules empowering employers, universities and nonprofits to refuse birth control coverage to women.
A third rule, also announced Wednesday, would require insurers on the Affordable Care Act marketplace to charge women a separate monthly bill for abortion coverage — a change that advocates say would be so prohibitively expensive it could force insurers to stop offering the procedure altogether. (Rolling Stone)
In anticipation that Roe V. Wade may be overturned by the Kavanaugh Court (is the echo of “Kangaroo Court" coincidence or does God, once again, have a sense of humor?) almost 60% of Alabama voters approved
...an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended; to declare and otherwise affirm that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, most importantly the right to life in all manners and measures appropriate and lawful; and to provide that the constitution of this state does not protect the right to abortion or require the funding of abortion. (Ballotpedia)
Alabama already has some of the most restrictive abortion rules in the U.S. This could not only pave the way to outlaw abortion but affect birth control, IVF, and other aspects of medicine. AL.com reported earlier:
Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician-gynecologist and one of few abortion providers left practicing in Alabama, said she is concerned the new amendment will pave the way for women who miscarry to be scrutinized under the law.
West Virginians narrowly approved a more limited Constitutional amendment that
…undoes a 1993 state Supreme Court decision that said low-income women had the right to an abortion with Medicaid funding.
Oregonians said nope to a similar proposal.
The Federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, recently heard arguments over a Texas law banning dilation and evacuation as an abortion method. This is the most common method in the second trimester and, medical professionals testify, the safest.
Abortion rights in Puerto Rico are fragile due to both legislation and the aftereffects of Hurrican Maria (excellent, in-depth piece from The Daily Beast).
Anti-abortion terrorist Rachelle Shannon has been released from prison after 25 years. Among other felonies, she shot and wounded Dr. George Tiller in 1993. (He was killed by another extremist, Scott Roeder, in 2009.)
At least seven governorships flipping blue should help to protect reproductive rights. (Think Progress)
And self-managed early abortion care is becoming accessible to Americans.
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Sex ed has been in the news too:
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Women advocates criticize "squeamish" sex ed in Britain.
Another Guardian piece with an international perspective says adults have to stop being scared to think about teenagers having sex.
Michelle Obama reveals her miscarriage and IVF experience conceiving her daughters. A columnist responds to say thanks for speaking out.
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Potpourri, well worth the click-through:
Latest on FGM: reported rate looks a lot better, but how reflective of reality?
https://www.theguardian.com/...
“Equal pay day” in the UK:
www.theguardian.com/...
The construction industry could benefit from making room for women:
www.curbed.com/…
Sylvia Plath’s last letters:
www.thedailybeast.com/...
Special dystopia for older women (Britain):
www.theguardian.com/…
Stuntwoman Jean Coulter describes being harassed out of Hollywood:
https://themuse.jezebel.com/...
#Metoo in the “South Cinema”:
www.thenewsminute.com/…
Thousand Oaks shooter assaulted a female coach in H.S.:
www.rawstory.com/…
He lived with his mother:
www.thedailybeast.com/…
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Story from BBC about South Africa:
'We are sick and tired of being killed'
At a special summit about violence against women and children in South Africa, women protested by holding up underwear as President Ramaphosa was speaking.
The underwear had messages like "she is only a child - stop raping children."
The women want action to end the violence, not more talk.
https://www.bbc.com/...
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First Afghan woman to climb her country's highest mountain:
https://www.theguardian.com/…
The girl supergroup called “Boygenius”:
www.thedailybeast.com/…
Gertrude Morgan, New Orleans artist and mystic:
www.thedailybeast.com/...
Muslim fashion:
theconversation.com/…
Some friction over the Womens March 2019, explained:
www.amny.com/…
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Various think pieces (may want blood pressure medicine handy in some cases):
Per officebss: “The Fragility of Feminist Progress and Why Rage is a Luxury We Can’t Afford”
(“I believe the headline is a bit misleading,” says officebss)
Impressive essay by Anne Summers about the difference between anger and rage, and her outsider's view of the strategy and tactics of the U.S. Republican Party in their war against women. She's a well-known Australian feminist, publisher, editor and columnist, whose reputation was damaged by false rumors that she sexually harassed one of her employees, then was further impugned by accusations that she "couldn't get along with male staff" because she "wasn't a mother."
www.theguardian.com/...
From Angmar: (Another Guardian article, saying the opposite):
Rape and sexual assault
After the Google walkout, is #Me Too about to get more militant?
Women’s stories of abuse have hardly made a mark on institutions like the tech giant. If talking alone doesn’t work, action will do:
https://www.theguardian.com/...
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White women, what is wrong with you?
www.thedailybeast.com/...
What is the matter with white women?
www.theguardian.com/…
Women in Congress as mediators (aargh, includes false equivalency):
www.rawstory.com/…
Confusing discussion IMO of masculinity, women, weakness:
theconversation.com/…
Violence Against Women Act unlikely to help, give men jobs instead?
truthout.org/…
Nuclear family solidarity replaces true love's kiss in fairy tales:
https://www.theguardian.com/...
First world probs/funny/not funny?
www.theguardian.com/...
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Thanks:
Angmar, Besame, officebss, SandraLLAP, Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
Big hugs Besame who escaped the Paradise fire (w/ parrots!)