MOMocrats™

Thank You, Anita Hill

I shushed my daughter on the drive home from school yesterday. Nina Totenberg was reporting on the weird, WTF news that Virginia Thomas was asking Anita Hill for an apology.

"Who's Anita Hill?" my daughter asked.

"Let me listen to this and I'll tell you later."

There's no reason why my 14-year-old would recognize Hill or understand why she was in the news. The world she lives in is very different from the one nearly two decades ago, when the young law professor was called to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her experience working with Clarence Thomas, who was nominated to succeed Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court.

Working women in 1991 lived in a world where few had heard the term "sexual harassment," and fewer companies had any kind of policy for dealing with it -- but most of us had experienced it.

If you've watched Mad Men, you know what I'm talking about. Even though the women's movement was in full swing by the time I entered the job market as a teenager (in the early 1970's), it was obvious that the men who worked in management had not yet received the memo.

Go Read It: The Young Guns Anti-Woman 9

If you live in certain districts in the states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Masschussetts, Tennessee, Connecticut, Michigan or Iowa, there's a possibility a Republican candidate with a pronounced, strongly anti-woman background--maybe even criminal allegations filed against him--could be elected.

Take a look at a summary of the anti-woman records of some of the GOP candidates for Congress.

One example: Republican "Young Gun" Tom Ganley (OH-13) is involved in a lawsuit filed against him by a disillusioned conservative female campaign worker alleging sexual assault and employment discrimination. It's troubling, especially when you consider the woman was a Tea Party "true believer" who seems to have withheld her accusations, not wanting to help another candidate who is pro-choice. (Incumbent Betty Sutton, the Democrat being challenged by Ganley, has no such record of sexual assault of her campaign staff, is pro-choice, and has voted in support of consumers, women, and supported the enormously popular public option as part of the health care reform bill.)

That is, Ganley's accuser is hardly a liberal with a political axe to grind, but instead a die-hard conservative who had every reason to prop up Ganley. While there's been no determination of guilt or innocence of the allegations, Ganley's involvement does raise the question: can he reasonably and impartially stand up as a lawmaker for women who have experienced those kinds of abuses? After all, what's wrong is wrong and sexual assault is wrong, no matter the politcal party of the person who committed it.

As usual, there are crickets on the right in support of the conservative woman who was mistreated and possibly assaulted by Ganley. You'd think "mama grizzlies" would speak up for one of their own. Too busy appearing on FOX tv, maybe?

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

Stop the Bullying--Blog Action for National Coming Out Day, October 11, 2010

The latest suicide of a young person who was bullied about his sexuality by his classmates and acquaintances has me shaken up. Tyler Clementi's is the fourth such reported death in less than a month. And yet we continue to hear of more such suicides.

I'm stunned and horrified that two Rutgers students thought it would be "funny" to livestream schoolmate Clementi's sexual activity over the internet without his permission or knowledge, directly contradicting Clementi's request for privacy.

As a parent, I'm devastated by the Clementis' terrible loss of their beautiful, gifted son. There is nothing so heart-wrenching as parents forced to bury their child; a situation so profoundly unjust and sorrowful it goes against everything parents attempt in the simple, hopeful act of nurturing children. People of all ages recognize this grief; you need not be a parent to understand it. But I think parents feel a particular pain knowing that in some cases, their vast love and acceptance, like Wendy Walsh's for her now-dead son Seth, was not enough to counter the hate. When he came out to his mother, Wendy Walsh told Seth, "It's okay, sweetheart, I love you no matter what." I'm heartbroken that despite her abiding love, her son couldn't endure torment from his schoolmates and the deafening, indifferent silence of teachers and staff.

Ellen DeGeneres immediately made a moving and urgent plea to suicidal young LGBT people to "stick around." Be around for the changes, because society is changing--unevenly, slowly, in pockets here and there. But it is changing for the better.

Dan Savage, the popular sex-positive advice columnist, started "It Gets Better," a similar movement to reassure and encourage LGBT youth that they will find love, that with luck and perserverance and the warm support of friends and allies they will find their niche in the world.

National Coming Out Day is October 11, 2010--seven days from now. And October is Anti-Bullying Month.

I'm starting up a Blog Action that I hope everyone will join, from the parenting blogosphere, to LGBT bloggers who have already written and vlogged so movingly about homophobic bullying and the courage to come out. I know caring educators will have something to say, as will activists in the youth and feminist movements. I think we allies need to find one another.

If you've blogged a memorial about the suicides of of kids tormented because of their sexual orientation, if you have a hopeful coming out story to share, if you have resources to help people who witness bullying become the ones to stop it, please add your blog post link to the Simply Linked below. For the next seven days until National Coming Out Day, October 11, let's demonstrate that there's more love, compassion, and acceptance out there than there is cruelty and hate.

Dear Women Who Shop at Wal-Mart: We Need More Advocates in Congress, Wouldn't You Agree?

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post wrote a post called "Tough Love for Obama." It's a quick read.

Marcus writes:

I spent a fascinating evening last week listening via video hookup to focus groups, 30 women in all, in three battleground states: Pennsylvania, Missouri and Colorado. These were, literally, Wal-Mart shoppers -- the retail giant sponsored the discussions -- screened to exclude committed partisans of the left or right and split evenly between 2008 supporters of Obama and John McCain.

Go Read It: Elizabeth Warren, Newly Appointed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Wrote a piece for Blogher on Warren's appointment by President Obama. It's just the facts, ma'am.

But because we're all about good times here at MOMocrats, here's a little country-rap to celebrate in your living room. "Stand up if you feel me!"

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

Sarah Palin, My Sarah Palin

I learned the hard way about two weeks ago, that when you have an idea, especially a good one, you'd better not sit on it too long because someone else will beat you to the punch.

As all writers, I keep a list of long-term post ideas. And on my list (really, I swear) was one about how Democratic women need a Sarah Palin of our own if we want to give our national political aspirations a good jump start! Not a Sarah Palin who isn't sure what newspapers she reads or the Sarah Palin who can't keep three key points in her head at a time, but the Sarah Palin who seems to excite the women of her political party beyond any logical explanation.

Unfortunately, Rebecca Traister and Anna Holmes beat me to the punch. Of course, because of who they are (Traister has a new book coming out that I can't wait to read and interview her about), they were able to get an op-ed placed in the New York Times entitled A Palin of Our Own.  But their point deserves a little more discussion.

Meet Two Democratic Women Candidates for Texas State Board of Education: Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Judy Jennings

There are ideologues front and center in the classroom where instead there should be teachers and students.

Two highly qualified women in Texas have stepped up as State Board of Eduction (SBOE) candidates so they can roll back some of the more outrageous changes to the curriculum that non-educators with a fringe agenda have imposed on Texas schoolbooks.

Judy Jennings and Rebecca Bell-Metereau both believe teachers and educational experts should determine what's taught in classroom.

Does Dana Loesch think or is she just a Luntzian robotron?

I am not a feminist. I am a woman who has assumed I have the same right as anyone else to choose my own course, make my own future, and do so on equal footing with men. I believe the government exists to serve citizens, not to act as an authoritarian axe or discriminate against one class of citizens over another.  I really don't care if moms stay at home or work. I've done both, both have advantages and disadvantages., and I'm not out to overturn patriarchy. I actually like men.(see note below) I'm married to one. I get along well with them. Those who act like idiots don't get any attention from me.

I respect those liberal women who call themselves feminists but personally resist 'isms' in general as a personal matter.

Now that you know a little about my perspective...

I debated about whether to take on the latest turd Dana Loesch dropped on SFExaminer.com in the form of an op-ed column or ignore her. Other than being the latest Ann Coulter wannabe, she hasn't said much original for the past year or so. (Yes, I snark. It serves as a reminder not to take her too seriously.)

The Sarah Palins, Michele Bachmanns, and other members of the "feminist right" can always be counted on to echo the newest Luntz talking points through the echo chamber. Now that Betsy McCaughey, Pamela Geller and Dr. Laura have been thoroughly discredited, they just pick up some other woman looking for her five minutes of fame and hackery. Dana is the newest candidate. Not the first and she won't be the last.

Do conservative women -- especially intelligent ones (yes, they do exist) -- ever wonder why the party faithful finds the dumbest, most extreme groupies to deliver their message? Republican cynicism at its best -- pay lip service to women's equality but find the ones dumber than a rock to deliver it. Bachmann, Foxx, Palin, Angle....need I say more?

At any rate, this little litany of smashes against "liberal women" is classic Luntz/Rove framing, and deserves a thorough debunking.

Let's begin with her assertions about Avastin, a drug originally developed to treat colon cancer.

This past month, liberal feminists made more hay made over Palin's "mama grizzlies" talk than the matter of the Food and Drug Administration jerking Avastin off the market. Avastin is a drug used to treat late-stage breast cancer and has been shown to extend the life of some breast cancer patients by five months, but was deemed "cost-prohibitive" by the government.

Not so much. This is one of the high dangers of fast-tracking cancer drug approvals before the clinical trials really prove their efficacy. (It's a big word, Dana. Look it up.) The FDA didn't "jerk Avastin off the market" in order to leave late-stage breast cancer patients adrift without a lifeline, even if Dana Loesch says so. The FDA pulled Avastin because it was ineffective against late-stage breast cancer. Out of three clinical trials, it was only reported as effective on one patient. One. single. patient. And that was in the first trial.The second trials, conducted with more controls, yielded no positive results.

As a conservative woman, you'd think Dana Loesch would appreciate this: Avastin costs $50,000/year. Is it really conservative to spend $50,000 for an ineffective treatment? Really?

Moving on to her litany of complaints about "liberal feminists"...

Go Read It: Gendering the Birthright Citizenship Debate

If the talk by various lawmakers of repealing "birthright citizenship," or citizenship by virtue of being born on U.S. soil, sounds surreptitiously anti-woman, it is. It's as familiar and toxic as the right-wing's bogeyman, the "welfare queen." Only, this is a way to transfer the negative feeling conservatives have attached mostly to African American women to Latina (and Asian) women instead. It's hateful talk and it's spreading from the home of racial-profiling law SB1070, Arizona, to Texas.

The idea is the same: dehumanize women of color and their children, characterize them as dependent on social programs meant for "real people," and deny their families dignity and legitimacy. By denying children of immigrants citizenship, 14th amendment repealers hope to deport undocumented parents and their citizen children, thereby uprooting and breaking up families.

It's an ugly trick and as old as the hills. Claims about reliance on social services are not even true. And it definitely speaks to the lesser impulses of our country and makes a mockery of the sentiments embodied by the Statue of Liberty.

Feminists need to read it: Gendering the Birthright Citizenship Debate, by Michelle Chen, Colorlines.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k. She was 6 years old when her parents, immigrants from China and permanent residents of the U.S. at the time, became U.S. citizens. She is a citizen of the U.S. by virtue of being born in the state of Wisconsin. She'll get into the face of anyone who thinks repealing birthright citizenship is a worthwhile idea--that means you, Senators Kyl & Graham.

Dear MSM, Mock Us and Ignore Us at Your Peril

The media love to mock women in the political world by using sexist terms that demean us and make us out to be something not worthy of serious consideration. We saw that time and time again during the 2008 presidential election as talking heads not-so-subtly suggested that Hillary Clinton was only a viable candidate for national office because we felt sorry for her after Bill cheated on her. And instead of focusing on Sarah Palin's qualifications, or lack thereof, as John McCain's running mate, the media focused on her looks and questioned whether a mother of five with young children still at home was up to playing with the big boys.

There's still plenty of that when it comes to powerful women -- one of the most recent examples is an article in the Washington Post about Elizabeth Warren, where they question whether she is a "zealot" because of her passion to help middle class families in these horrible economic times. When I see things like that, it's hard not to wonder whether a man in that position would have been described differently -- I'm betting a male counterpart would be described more positively as something like a "devoted advocate" rather than a "zealot," which has such a negative inference. (Not to mention the fact that the article was, yet again, another story about a politically powerful woman that got placed in the Style section. But that's another post for another day.)

Another increasingly common phenomenon I've been noticing is that some news outlets just act like we don't exist, implying through omission that it's just the big ol' menfolk who are out there trying to make change, with hardly a woman to be found!

The most recent outrageous example is a Politico article entitled, More Bloggers Throwing Hats in Ring.