Rejecting the Pence Amendment

The House of Representatives voted on a bill entitled the Pence Amendment to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding. The margin came down to 240 to 185 in favor to stop federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the leading reproductive health care provider. The pence amendment will stop 102 affiliated reproductive health care organizations from receiving any federal funding including STD testing, cancer screenings, and pregnancy testing. Cutting the funding of Planned Parenthood is supposed to be apart of the budget cut because of the countries debt. According to Mike Pence (with whom the pence amendment is named after) Planned Parenthood receives 363 million dollars from the U.S government. If this bill is past many women’s lives will be at risk. The pence amendment will cut 4.8 of Planned Parenthoods patients which is 1.4 million people, most of which who are low income patients. The idea of cutting funding for Planned Parenthood seems ridiculous, and narrow minded. The idea of saying that the country will save such an amount of money is just a smoke screen for why people like Mike Pence really want to cut the funding, and its because of religious moral reasons. But the problem is that Planned Parenthood provides more needs than just abortion. Its helps all women and men to be able to safely test for STD’s, women to have breast cancer screenings, and provides women and men with information on ways of preventing unwanted pregnancies and having safe sex. Many republicans who voted for the bill believe that stopping funding to Planned Parenthood is going to put an end to abortion and save lives, but it’s going to have the exact opposite effect. Not only will this amendment not end abortion its going to force women to conduct more self abortions, putting more lives at risk. This goes far beyond a religious moral concern; this is about people’s rights and people’s lives. Whether you believe abortion is right or not one thing that people should be able to agree on is that if these women are going to make this decision they should be able to be in a safe clean place for the procedure rather than in an un sanitized environment using coat hangers and endangering their lives. If a woman feels she needs an abortion she’s going to get an abortion, that’s a fact many people opposed need to come to terms with, so rather the abortion be in a clean, safe, sterilized place. Sometimes people need to be less stubborn about their beliefs and realize what’s probably best for the safety of people rather than what their believes say what they can and cannot be involved in.

Rejecting the Pence Amendment

Video

Operation rescue sets up shop

http://feministing.com/2011/03/30/operation-rescue-sets-up-shop-across-the-street-from-dr-carhart/

This blog is about an organization by the name of Operation Rescue.This organization has set up shop in a building right across the street from an abortion clinic.Operation Rescue is an extremely anti-choice organization.I thought that it was realy controversial that an anit-choice clinic would set up right across from the most famous late term abortionist.The blog states that they chose this location to provide help for people that have already had an abortion or to try to persuade others not to get the aboriton but to come across the street to the other clinic.I thought it was ironic that this came up in a blog since we have been on the topic of unplanned pregnancy and birth control methods.

intersex and music

http://intersexandthecity.blogspot.com/2010/01/intersex-and-music.html

This blog discusses the topic of inter sex and music. The writer briefly talks about a popular artist (Lady GaGa) who once joked about being an inter sexual. This caused a lot of rumors on whether she was or not even though in the end her manager claimed she in fact wasn't. I believe that this is a serious issue and if the artist is then she should used her status in the world to bring light to the cause instead of joking about it or starting rumors to further her career. The write then went on to list a few songs that they believe "captures the intersex experience". One of the most interesting ones to me was a song called Herm Aphrodite by Stephen Lynch.

Mattel Doll Preaches The Gospel Of Hair Removal

http://jezebel.com/#!5782870/mattel-doll-encourages-girls-to-pluck--shave

I was really surprised to see the blog Jezebel’s article on Mattel’s Monster High Doll, Clawdeen Wolf. The Monster High line of dolls are based on famous monsters, and Clawdeen is a werewolf’s daughter and is causing uproar with parents. On the doll’s box is the description: “My hair is worthy of a shampoo commercial, and that's just what grows on my legs. Plucking and shaving is definitely a full-time job but that's a small price to pay for being scarily fabulous. “. This statement has gotten attention because people worry that this will give girls the impression that in order to be considered beautiful and to fit in, they have to remove their body hair. Not to mention the fact that the doll helps to enforce a number of society’s other beauty ideals, with her thin build, super-short skirt, and profile that states that she likes shopping and flirting with boys. While I know that it is just a sentence on the back of the doll’s box, if a child reads that it could give them the wrong impression about beauty. My favorite part of the article is when Mattel made a statement saying their dolls "deliver a positive message of celebrating ones imperfections and embracing those of others.". As the author stated, creating a doll that extensively removes its body hair to fit in, is not really giving the message for girls to embrace their differences.

FAQ: "What is "slut-shaming"?

When I first saw this blog post, it had me wondering what exactly was slut-shaming? It was a term that I hadn't exactly heard before. According to the article, slut shaming is the idea of shaming and/or attacking a woman or a girl for being sexual or having one or more sexual partners. It is also labeled as an "out of control, trampy female" who is "not worth knowing or caring about." This got me thinking about how often on campus you hear guys and girls call other girls sluts or whores. People have started saying this so much that we don't really think about the effects of calling someone a slut, unless someone calls yourself one. People seem to think so lightly of such a negative word. The article also mentioned the double standard of men being called a "man slut." If you call a guy a slut, it has a completely different meaning. According to Urban Dictionary, a male slut is "one who prowls a regular bar route to lure coyote ugly women home for selfish reasons." It is not nearly as negative as when a girl is considered a slut. In the "Constructing Masculinity" article, this got me thinking how John Money says it is better to be an imperfect female rather than an imperfect male. Money believed that females are born imperfect and nothing can change that. The definition of a women slut compared to a male slut seemed to make this statement true. As a society, we are socially accepting this degradation to be allowed towards women.

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/what-is-slut-shaming/

"Why don't you just hit him?"

http://geekfeminism.org/2010/12/07/why-dont-you-just-hit-him/

This blog caught my eye when I first read the title. We had been talking about sexual harassment in the work place in class and I thought this tied in well with our discussions. This blog is a response to comments at a conference that encourages women to literally fight back when harassed by men. The author has a very valid point that it is not the victim's responsibility to "stand up" for themselves when sexually harassed. So it's not fair to encourage victims to take such actions especially when it can possibly conflict with their moral codes. Instead, it is the business's responsibility to protect employees from work place harassment. Employers have a duty to set policies in place punishing such inappropriate behavior in the office. Such polices would hopefully prevent a situation in which an employee needs to physically defend or stick up for themselves. Mary, the author of this blog, also touches on the point that a public conference is not the appropriate place to be telling people that violence is an acceptable solution to harassment. The author isn't saying that you should never physically defend yourself, but she is saying that it is not a general solution to all harassment issues because it can have many consequences. Such consequences are assault charges, making yourself an easy target for further harassment, onlookers aren't sympathetic to the person who physically assaults someone, and the most severe consequence is that the harasser may hit back. Overall, I think the author of this blog has some very valid points to her argument that hitting back is not the right solution and can be counterintuitive.

Words & House Bill 14 in the State of Georgia.

http://www.ihollaback.org/blog/2011/02/25/words-house-bill-14-in-the-state-of-georgia/




After reading "Words & House Bill 14 in the State of Georgia" by Lauren Zink (iHollaback.org), I felt enraged. Zink explains how Representative Bobby Franklin proposed to change the word "victim" to "accusor" until convictions are obtained regarding rape, domestic violence, etc. Starting with changing the name "victim" to "accuser" is turning the tables on who is at fault in the situation. The rapist now seems to be the good guy here. Zink also makes a good point- we are now making it clear that "...not even the government believes their story." Granted, there are stories of some women, who I would consider a little screwed in the head, have accused someone of rape or violence without it even happening. Those are the exceptions...but for someone who is actually assaulted to feel like there will not be justice for them is depressing and just out-right wrong. I decided, after reading the article, to look into a few other stories. First, I found that a police officer in Toronto stated (to women) that the way they dress causes sexual assault. In finding that, I was directed to a story about a judge in Canada setting a rapist free because the victim (oh wait, ACCUSER) was "asking for it". There is a serious problem here... because no one deserves to be taken advantage of- I don't care if they have a sign on their forehead that says whore- no still means no.

Exclusive: New York Fashion Week Was The Whitest In Years

I read the article "Exclusive: New York Fashion Week Was The Whitest In Years." In this article they shared how 84.8% of the models used in Fashion Week this year were white models. Out of the 5,269 looks Black models were used 384 times, Asian models were used 323 times, Latina models were used 79 times and models of other races we used only 15 times. This was the least diverse show since 2008. Many designers used all white models.
This article made me think of our in-class discussions of what the ideal beauty is. 84.8% of the models used were skinny, white, tall, and young, "the ideal beauty." This blog also made me think about the racial retsrictions that we still have tooday. Many ethic models were passed over due to their race. I thought this was suprising, especially in New York, because that is "one of the most racially diverse places on this planet."

http://jezebel.com/#!5772606/exclusive-new-york-fashion-week-was-the-whitest-in-years

Tale as Old as Time?

http://chelseamarie23.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/tale-as-old-as-time-a-false-sense-of-feminism-in-beauty-and-the-beast/

I chose this Blog Tale as Old as Time? A False Sense of Feminism in the Beauty and the Beast.
I chose this specific blog because I was obsessed with it when I was a young girl.  Also, this blog depicts the images and concepts of how Disney princess, though, are seemingly independent, still are categorized  as a stereotypical women. For example, Belle seems independent and strong willed, but when it comes down to it, she still seeks the love/ appreciation of a man in the end... "Happily Ever After".
This blog is congruent to articles we read and topics we have discussed in class.  Like the Disney classics, real life women are seen as different, by means of independency. But after all is said and done, it seems the stereotype of women, that they need a "good looking boyfriend" remains the TRUEST measure of happiness and success.