Free Republic

Mary C. Curtis is in high dudgeon. She is all twisted up inside over the seeming lack of support that feminists have for Michelle Obama. She has decided to scold all those recalcitrant feminists, too. Yes, she’s all upset over this thing wondering, “Where are Obama’s feminist defenders?” Curtis is even moaning that black women are second-class citizens, even with feminists. She is all in righteous indignation about the “The Loud Silence Of Feminists.” Curtis is agonizing over the fact that women aren’t defending Michelle Obama. She imagines that feminists have failed women, specifically black women. Well, I agree at...

The following email leaked to us from a prominent supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton shows us firsthand the anger among the older women who are the mainstays of her campaign, and a necessary ingredient of a victory for rival Sen. Barack Obama in November: "There are millions of voters who feel as you do, that the Democratic primary campaign uncovered the pervasive and insidious sexism that runs rampant through our country. That Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate, and that she is being cheated out of the nomination by the good old boys network, the DNC and the Mainstream...

The Kansas Supreme Court heard arguments today over subpoenaed medical records of notorious abortionist George Tiller, who is accused of performing late-term abortions — which are illegal in Kansas — at his Wichita clinic. In January, the Sedgwick County grand jury subpoenaed about 2,000 late-term abortion records from Tiller’s clinic; the judge reduced that to 250. Tiller is refusing to turn over the records, claiming it would violate his patients’ privacy. However, the grand jury requested that all patient-identifying information be redacted from the subpoenaed records before the jury receives them. Tiller's attorneys argued the grand jury investigation constitutes harassment,...

Women earn most of America’s Ph.D.’s but lag in the physical sciences. Beware of plans to fix the ‘problem.’ Math 55 is advertised in the Harvard catalog as “prob­ably the most difficult undergraduate math class in the country.” It is leg­endary among high school math prodigies, who hear terrifying stories about it in their computer camps and at the Math Olympiads. Some go to Harvard just to have the opportunity to enroll in it. Its formal title is “Honors Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra,” but it is also known as “math boot camp” and “a cult.” The two-semester fresh­man course...

Incredible…..incredibly stupid that is: Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on Hillary Clinton’s behalf here last night and quickly proved that she has lost none of her taste for provocation. ** snip ** “Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience. McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war...

"Papa loved Mama, so they got married and had babies." Thus does my earnest four-year-old summarize the mysteries of marital love. For scientific purposes that statement is terribly incomplete. For philosophical purposes, it hits the bull's eye. With those words Phil Lawler began a Wall Street Journal op-ed in March of 1996. His child's perspective stands in instructive contrast to an article in today's New York Times titled, "Talking With Children About Sex and AIDS: At What Age to Start?" The answer suggested in the lede is "How about, oh, 4?" The reporter tells us this is the subject...

The ancient and classic swedish military symbol, a proud male lion, was recently castrated by feminist forces in European society. Scandinavian soldiers (whose ancestors were Vikings 1000 years ago) are represented abroad (in Afghanistan and elsewhere) by a castrated lion. A castrated lion symbol was given in the Middle Ages to vassals whom the king wanted to humiliate. The video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYvE-rTxsBQ. In the past, any male would be greatly ashamed to be associated with such an unmasculine symbol. But today even the male military leaders will, without any hesitation, castrate their own symbols that for hundreds...

About six months after my son was born, he and I were sitting on a blanket at the park with a close friend and her daughter. It was a sunny summer weekend, and other parents and their kids picnicked nearby—mothers munching berries and lounging on the grass, fathers tossing balls with their giddy toddlers. My friend and I, who, in fits of self-empowerment, had conceived our babies with donor sperm because we hadn’t met Mr. Right yet, surveyed the idyllic scene. “Ah, this is the dream,” I said, and we nodded in silence for a minute, then burst out laughing....

For a woman who spent most of her adult life as the Wife of Bill, a presidential campaign of her own should be the ultimate liberation -- and not just for Hillary Clinton but for her many longtime female allies. So why are so many of America's feminists shrugging her off, just as she is attaining this moment of glorious self-realization? This week, a group calling itself "New York Feminists for Peace and Barack Obama" came out to say that withdrawing from Iraq so we can focus on domestic issues should be the top priority of the next leader --...

Ecofeminist Perspectives by: Bethany Stotts, February 05, 2008 The readings presented by the panelists encompassed a strange synthesis of Marxism, feminism, environmentalism, and lesbianism, which they argued were in ideological continuity....Neocolonial Postnationalism “Land remains the common ground for all radical action. But land is more than the rocks and trees, the animal, and plantlife...For immigrant and native alike, land is also the factories where we work, the water our children drink, and the housing project where we live. For women, lesbians, and gay men, land is that physical mass called our bodies,” Professor LaRochelle read, quoting Moraga. Moraga also wrote...

From the looks of this photo, new pals Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama are enjoying an old-boys'-club moment at the Capitol - and women are fuming at the power pair's snub of Hillary Rodham Clinton just a few feet way. PHOTO GALLERY: Hillary Snubbed Some female leaders, in fact, are calling the apparently contemptuous stare-down - which took place before the State of the Union Address Monday night - downright sexist. "In general, they've been disre spectful, and I think that women voters are going to get very tired of seeing that," said Marsha Pappas, who heads the New York...

Marcia Pappas will probably consider me a male chauvinist pig for saying this, but her attack on Sen. Edward Kennedy yesterday was idiotic and suggests she is unfit to lead her organization. Pappas, president of the New York State chapter of the National Organization for Women, accused Kennedy of committing the "ultimate betrayal" of women everywhere. And what was his heinous offense, pray tell? Advocating reversal of Roe vs. Wade? Calling for repeal of women's suffrage? Supporting female circumcision? No. Endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for President instead of Sen. Hillary Clinton. "He's joined the list of progressive white men who...

We thank Michael Gargano for his resignation as Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. More importantly, we thank you- the current student body, and especially those who participated in the recent general student strike-for issuing the final blow to his career at UMass Amherst. Since Gargano's arrival in 2003, Student Affairs has attempted to… 1. Gentrify our campus by: - Cutting staffing and operating budgets for the Everywoman's Center, the Stonewall Center, and the ALANA support programs by approximately 50% - Allowing the University' outreach efforts to disintegrate: since 2003, the campus has lost all of its major grant-funded outreach programs,...

PRESS RELEASES Psychological Gang Bang of Hillary is Proof We Need a Woman President January 11, 2008 by Marcia Pappas, President NOW - New York State We've all witnessed scenarios where, on the playground little girls are being taunted by little boys while both girls and boys stand idle, afraid to speak up or even cheering. Or, in the workplace males tease young and older female co-workers; make obscene gestures, inappropriate comments, laughing and expecting (often correctly) that everyone will join in. Then there was that movie where Jodie Foster portrayed the true story of woman who was ganged raped...

The National Organization for Women’s New York chapter issued a scathing reaction to Sen. Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. Actually, the word “scathing” feels inadequate here. Read for yourself: “Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that...

The sports culture surrounding football and wrestling may be fueling aggressive and violent behavior not only among teen male players but also among their male friends and peers on and off the field, according to a Penn State study. "Sports such as football, basketball, and baseball provide players with a certain status in society," said Derek Kreager, assistant professor of sociology in the Crime, Law, and Justice program. "But football and wrestling are associated with violent behavior because both sports involve some physical domination of the opponent, which is rewarded by the fans, coaches and other players." Using a national...

There is a controversy over one UK dating agency's offer to connect men with Czech women "unspoiled by feminism." Feminist domestic violence advocates are protesting, and one politician said, "Material like this is frankly disgusting and I am certain that everyone will share my revulsion." My feeling about international dating agencies in general is that I wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't criticize it. If that's what men want, fine, it's their lives. As for the comment that has generated the controversy--women "unspoiled by feminism"--I have a few thoughts: 1) If it really is an advertisement for doormat women, then...

[selected gems -- read the article for even more crap!] But the books also serve as a reminder that we still haven't figured out what gender equality means or how to prepare kids to live it in the world they will assume. "Dangerous" limits boys to tasks, ideas and ways of being associated with boyhood, neglecting knowledge about girlhood that would serve them well as men working and raising children alongside women. "Daring," on the other hand, urges girls to learn both female and male skills and lore -- a good thing for advancement into what is still a man's...

Couple conceives child through anonymous sperm donation, egg from one woman implanted in partner. Interior Ministry only recognizes birth mother as child’s parent. Couple demands joint recognition Vered Luvitch Published: 01.06.08, 17:58 / Israel News Whose child is this, really? A lesbian couple, who together conceived a child six months ago, is now demanding that the Interior Ministry jointly register them as the child’s biological parents, rather than having to undergo an adoption process as has been the case with same- sex couples to date. The Ramat Gan Family Court has set precedent for such a request, by allowing one...

Protests from female soldiers have led to the Swedish military removing the penis of a heraldic lion depicted on the Nordic Battlegroup's coat of arms. The armed forces agreed to emasculate the lion after a group of women from the rapid reaction force lodged a complaint to the European Court of Justice, Göteborgs-Posten reports. But although the army was eventually happy to make the changes in the interests of gender equality, the artist who designed the insignia was less than pleased. "A heraldic lion is a powerful and stately figure with its genitalia intact and I cannot approve an edited...

Make no mistake about it - when the nation's largest pro-life group endorsed Fred Thompson on Tuesday its goal was to shake up the Republican contest for the presidency. The National Right to Life's endorsement is the gold standard coveted by those Republicans seeking the White House because it bestows a legitimacy and authenticity on the candidate who receives it as the standard-bearer for those who want to end abortion on demand. The Thompson endorsement not only signals how the organization representing 3,000 pro-life groups has grown up, but it shows just how close the country is to seeing Roe...

Chivalrous men resist the image, but it's a problem that has become so pervasive that we must summon up the courage to face it — an epidemic of women who pummel their husbands and boyfriends. A recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control found that among physically aggressive couples, 71% of the instigators in nonreciprocal partner violence were female. And last year Renee McDonald of Baylor University published a study in the Journal of Family Psychology with almost identical results. What's going on, ladies? The problem isn't just gals who clean their boyfriends' clock in a drunken rage. These...

“Feminists are never as militant as they are when promoting peace,” said historian Sondra S. Herman. Code Pink is a prime example. Their name mocks Homeland Security alerts which inform law enforcement and citizens of increased terrorist threats. Their website states, “While Bush’s color-coded alerts are based on fear, the Code Pink alert is based on compassion and is a feisty call for women and men to ‘wage peace.’” The tactics employed in their “compassion” and “feistiness” while “waging peace” are more than even Rep. Nancy Pelosi can stomach. Code Pink women activists are vehemently anti-war and claim to...

...beyond my ability to shoot and think, I would be a burden on any infantry force in a desperate situation in which everyone needs to pull his own load and assist others with theirs. I think this is true for most war correspondents, though many would never admit it. Infantry campaigning is difficult, and it has been ever since man first picked up a few stones, shouldered a club, and moved against a neighboring tribe. And despite modern weapon-systems and many of the new modes of delivery — helicopter, various ground conveyances — that difficulty has not changed. Of course,...

Rush Limbaugh earned the eternal enmity of feminists when, years ago, he coined the phrase 'Feminazis' to describe today's' liberated feminists. Rush has been proven, once again, to be ahead of his time. When reviewing the state of feminism today, one can only marvel at his prescience. Feminism has evolved. Not unlike the evolution of the far left, feminism has turned into a militant, no dissent allowed, alliance of shrill, decidedly un-feminine harpies. The self-anointed leaders of this evolved brand of feminism have arbitrarily declared themselves 'The Experts' on all things relating to the female sex. Period. End of discussion

The "feminist” radio company whose founders include Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem failed to attract an audience and it signed off the air for good on Friday. When the talk-radio network, called GreenStone, officially launched in September 2006, NewsMax reported that it was a "new left-wing radio network that plans to appeal to women listeners and counter the dominance of conservative talk radio.” GreenStone claimed it would deliver "de-politicized, de-polarized talk radio by women hosts for female listeners,” and Steinem said it would offer an alternative to current radio talk, which she described as "very argumentative, quite hostile, and very...

Veteran actress and feminist Jane Fonda has been slammed for not paying her female employees working in the actress' radio network Green Stone Media. The twice Oscar winner and the radio network's co-founder Gloria Steinem have been accused of "putting their own reputations above their female employees' finances." According to the New York Post, Fonda and Steinem are 'refusing to pay severance, and the founders won't file for bankruptcy protection because it would publicly embarrass Jane and Gloria.' However, the 'Klute' star's spokesperson has denied the reports and said that the accusations are unfounded. "This is pure speculation. There is...

When I had a son of my own six years ago, I looked around for the sort of books that would inspire him. I was able to find some, but none with the spirit and verve of those old titles. I wanted a single compendium of everything I'd ever wanted to know or do as a boy, and I decided to write my own. We began with everything we had done as kids, then added things we didn't want to see forgotten. History today is taught as a feeble thing, with all the adventure taken out of it. We wanted...

We worshiped. A glorious worship service. See the Order of Service on lcna.org or goodsoil.org. My words are not adequate to describe it. First, we were in a very large dining room in the hotel. The color of the day was red, Vigil of Pentecost texts. Banners of red, paraments too. Soloists with crystalline voices. Flute, piano, organ (a wonderfully full throated organ – did not know that something that powerful could be portable, … well, moveable). A choir put together from amongst us – clearly knew what it was doing. There were 650 people for the service. There were...

Much clucking behind television anchor desks follows the airing of popular internet footage of girl fights. After repeated displays of adolescent girls slapping each other, pulling hair, and ripping off clothes, news anchors wonder out loud about the reasons for their popularity among YouTube and other internet viewers. It’s no big secret: This is a genre of pornography. The occasional tough-girl fight on school grounds that one came across with flinching embarrassment is now captured by a video camera for the titillation of millions of sick viewers. The violence factor and the authenticity of the fight are the draws that...

When the British Ministry of Defense found out that Harrier pilots and ground crews in Afghanistan had painted racy images ("nose art") on their aircraft, they ordered the troops to cease and desist. In addition to the possibility of women in the Royal Air Force complaining (none have, so far), there was the risk that some Afghans would be offended. No Afghans have complained yet, and Afghan men who had seen the nose art, usually studied it intently. The concept of nose are was invented by American pilots and ground crews during World War II, and quickly adopted by their...

Feminists cower in fear at the picture, the symbol, and the meaning of a strong father today. Actually atheists, Marxists, leftists, and liberals all do as well but with feminists it’s a particularly pronounced phenomenon. What a strong father represents to this time, life, and world has never been more underestimated and modern feminists have taken it upon themselves to attempt to eliminate the need for them all together. It was one year ago this month, I sat in a hotel room in Denver before a major book seller's convention. I was preparing for a series of interviews slated that...

RUSH: Kim Gandy, who is the president of the NAGs -- the National Association of Gals -- has written a piece. It's on the NAGs' website: www.NAG.org. She writes this. "Try to put yourself in this picture: Imagine you are a woman with two children, and you live in perpetual fear. Your husband hits you frequently, and threatens to put you on the street if you ask for money to buy groceries or clothes for the kids. As primary caregiver to your kids, and due to lack of money and other resources, going to school is not an option. You...

There are legitimate arguments on both sides of the immigration debate, but most reasonable people on both sides acknowledge that most immigrants are hard-working, decent people who (understandably) came to the US for a chance at a better life. Not the National Organization for Women. In a recent statement I would've more expected from the Ku Klux Klan than from NOW, NOW president Kim Gandy (pictured) describes immigrant men as men who "hit their [wives] frequently," threaten to put their wives and children on the street if they "ask them to buy groceries or clothes for the kids" and make...

A Baptist megachurch in Decatur, Ga., is preparing to take the rare step of calling a female pastor to lead its congregation. First Baptist Church Decatur and its 2,696 members have been without a pastor for about a year. The search committee sought out to find a pastor young enough and mature enough to appeal to both young and old congregants, a dynamic speaker, and passionate and warm leader with a vision for the future of the church. On Sunday, the committee presented the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell to the church. The Decatur congregation reportedly reacted positively to the announcement of...

News from NOW-NYS For more information contact: Marcia Pappas, 518-452-3944 Human Rights Violation Complaint Against United States Supported by National Organization For Women-NYS ALBANY, NY (05/22/07; 1221)(readMedia)-- The New York State chapter of the National Organization for Women strongly supports a complaint against the United States with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regarding the human rights violations that occur in the family courts of the United States during custody proceedings. The complaint charges that U.S. courts are failing to protect the life, liberties, security, and other human rights of abused mothers and children by frequently awarding child custody to...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading feminist who is known for trying to get the Augusta National Golf Club, the location of the Masters, to allow women said at a press conference that abortion women's political issue. However, polls of women show that a majority are pro-life and abortion is low on the list of priorities. Martha Burk, the former chairwoman of the National Council of Woman's Organizations, spoke at the National Press Club on Friday. "Women vote differently than men. Women have different priorities than men," Burk said. "Women are the majority. They can control any election." Saying that...

During my three years as a columnist for my college newspaper, I’ve resisted frequent requests that I explain my opposition to feminism. Apparently, a lot of people are shocked to discover a female college student who does not spend her days singing the praises of the National Organization for Women. Feminists fight for my rights, my readers tell me – so why am I constantly criticizing them? I usually decline to answer because I think my columns speak for themselves. However, since I’m currently working on a book about this subject, I’ve decided to answer the question I hear most...

On a recent radio diatribe, Limbaugh gives mouth to the core brutality and idiocy of women-hating in certain circles of far-right America. Limbaugh blasts feminists while grousing and lamenting how hard it is for him to find a good, old-fashioned gal anymore to cook and clean and genuflect for him. Limbaugh says that feminism and the ERA are supported only by what he calls "ugly women and lesbians," whom he accuses of not being able to make it on their own. This comes from the same guy who once compared the looks of a 12-year-old girl named Chelsea Clinton to...

The subjection of women in Muslim societies--especially in Arab nations and in Iran--is today very much in the public eye. Accounts of lashings, stonings, and honor killings are regularly in the news, and searing memoirs by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Azar Nafisi have become major best-sellers. One might expect that by now American feminist groups would be organizing protests against such glaring injustices, joining forces with the valiant Muslim women who are working to change their societies. This is not happening. If you go to the websites of major women's groups, such as the National Organization for Women, the Ms....

First, there was the question of the title: "The Dangerous Book for Boys." HarperCollins Publishers' Chief Executive Jane Friedman just didn't understand what it meant. Sure, the book had been a hit in England and Australia, but that didn't mean it would work in the U.S. But the sales staff urged her to stick with it, and in just two weeks, "Dangerous" has become the breakout hit of the season. The News Corp. unit initially ordered up 91,000 copies. There are now 405,000 copies in print. One senior HarperCollins executive, extrapolating from overseas sales and population data, projects that "Dangerous,"...

Mother's Day is, to be honest, somewhat of an annoyance. It's manifestly one of those tedious Hallmark holidays wherein everyone is supposed to run out and support the revenue stream of cardboard manufacturers in the name of expressing gratitude to mothers, fathers, grandparents and anyone else to whom we might be related. I imagine it won't be long until Sept. 18 is declared Anonymous Sperm Donor's Day, which will probably be celebrated by giving matching card sets to one's two mommies and lighting a candle for dear old anonymous sperm donor, whoever he might be. Mothers are not only important,...

As The Stiletto predicted, Socialist Ségolène Royal did not capture the women’s vote in Sunday’s presidential election. Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy won 52 percent of the votes cast by women, according to an Ipsos exit poll. The Wall Street Journal calls the women’s vote "largely a liberal feminist myth," noting that choosing Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate did not give Walter Mondale any advantage over Ronald Reagan, who got 56 percent of the women’s vote in the 1984 election.Post-9/11, to win men’s votes - never mind women’s - Hillary needs to be less Ségolène and more Margaret (Thatcher) or Angela...

We sat around the dinner table, a group of 50-something progressive feminists, talking to a friend from England about presidential politics. We were all for Hillary, weren’t we, he asked. Hillary? We hated Hillary. He was taken aback. Weren’t we her base? Wasn’t she one of us? Why did we hate Hillary? Of course, a lot of people seem to hate Hillary. According to some polls, anywhere from 39 to 50 percent of respondents claim they’d vote against her no matter what; her “negatives” continue to be high. Many of these are Republicans and men. But many are not. According...

FIRST-PERSON: Not your mom's Girl Scouts http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25503 By Penna Dexter Apr 26, 2007 DALLAS (BP)--Did you get your Girl Scout cookies this year? Those delectable Thin Mints, those yummy Do-Si-Dos, the melt-in-your mouth Tagalongs. Ya' know, they say these treats no longer contain trans fats. Perhaps the cookies are more wholesome than they were when I sold them oh-so-many years ago. But the national organization that promotes their sale, the Girl Scouts of the USA, is not. Pro-family Americans have admired the Boy Scouts' unwavering opposition -- even under intense pressure -- to get the organization to permit homosexuals to...

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 04/24/2007 Pelosi: ‘Working Women and Their Families Deserve Equal Pay for Equal Work’ Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this morning at an Education and Labor Committee hearing on equal pay: “I want to thank the Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller for convening this critical hearing today on Strengthening the Middle Class: Ensuring Equal Pay for Women. “I also want to recognize the leadership of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, a champion for equal pay in the Congress, who for 10 years has been introducing the Paycheck...

SOMETIMES in life we find ourselves facing dilemmas so great that all you can hope for is that nobody else ever ends up in the same predicament. That's how I felt when I recently discovered that construction has started on the world's first female-only town, where disobedient men will get a spanking. On hearing of this utopia with the original name of Woman-town - obviously created by some marketing whiz - I wrestled with my conscience. It lost and I won. For if we can have Woman-town, what's to stop the blokes from making it a Man's-world? Then, in our...

The Return Of The Women's Equality Amendment By Ashley Herzog April 10, 2007 I didn't plan on writing another column about feminism, but I keep discovering more examples of pernicious ideas the so-called "women's rights activists" are pushing on society. Last week, the Democrat-controlled Congress reintroduced the long-dead Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which gained popular support in the 1970s but died when Americans found out what it actually entailed. Thirty years later, feminists in Congress seem to think we've forgotten. The language of the ERA, now renamed the Women's Equality Amendment, is deceptively simple: "equality of rights under the law...

NOW Demands Access to Program Geared to Fathers By Christopher Lee Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 29, 2007; 11:30 AM It's called the Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Initiative, and the Bush administration doles out up to $50 million annually to fund its programs to build job skills and help fathers connect better with their children. But the National Organization for Women says the effort is illegal because it's only about men. NOW and Legal Momentum, another advocacy group, filed complaints yesterday with the Department of Health and Human Services alleging sex discrimination in the initiative that is funding about 100...

Have a Pizza, Humiliate a Dad By Glenn Sacks Pizza boxes with “Wanted” posters for child support debtors. Amazing how creative government agencies can be when they’re trying to enforce child support. This is coupled with their mulish, “Gee whiz, we can’t solve that” attitude towards enforcing visitation rights. The Fox News story below details the latest creative effort from child support enforcement to beat child support out of men. Some of these men may be legitimate “deadbeats,” but many are either: victims of a system which demands that they pay beyond their means; victims of a system which demands...