This Week In The War On Women: The War is Everyday

[redqueen]

by Cali Scribe

The War on Women is more than just assholic legislators. It's a question of attitude. When you have men (and some women) who believe that women are somehow not worthy of the same respect as men solely because of their bodies, nothing is going to change.

In the UK, a group has taken to Twitter to expose the prevailing attitudes on that side of The Pond; I'm not aware of any similar organization here that is doing the same thing but if anyone knows of one I'd like to follow them as well.

...

It's not just a question of laws; it's a question of attitude. It's not "men and women" -- it's "human" and "other".

And certainly we're no better on this side of the Atlantic.

...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/30/1259247/-This-Week-In-The-War-On-Women-The-War-is-Everyday

There seems to be confusion about just what The War on Women entails.

It's not just about politics.

Femicide, rape culture, and the pandemic of violence against women aren't a result of right wing legislation. It's not just a result of religious customs. The legislation and the customs both stem from a cultural bias against women.

[niyad]

1. k and r-thank you for posting this.

waiting for the usual suspects.

[sheshe2]

2. This tweet...

View image on Twitter
Bishop Alan Wilson @alantlwilson
Follow
RT @boucherhayes: Beyond parody. Saudi Arabia's "World Conference on Women." Can you find a woman? Spoiler: You won't
2:24 AM - 27 Nov 2013

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/30/1259247/-This-Week-In-The-War-On-Women-The-War-is-Everyday


Reminds me of this.

Republican Hearing on Contraception: No Women Allowed
George Zornick on February 16, 2012 - 11:14 AM ET



This morning, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding a hearing titled “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?” The topic, as you might guess, is the recent administration decision to mandate birth control coverage.

As you might not guess, the first panel of witnesses doesn’t include a single woman. The five-person, all-male panel consists of a Roman Catholic Bishop, a Lutheran Reverend, a rabbi and two professors.

Democrats on the panel were told they were allowed only one witness. They selected a young female Georgetown student, Sandra Fluke, who was going to discuss the repercussions of losing contraceptive coverage. But Representative Darrell Issa, the chairman, rejected her as “not qualified.”

When the hearing began this morning, the Democratic women on the committee walked out. Representative Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat, put out a statement blasting Issa:

It is inconceivable to me that you believe tomorrow’s hearing has no bearing on the reproductive rights of women. This Committee commits a massive injustice by trying to pretend that the views of millions of women across this country are meaningless, worthless, or irrelevant to this debate. […]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/166311/republican-hearing-contraception-no-women-allowed#

Thanks for posting this, redqueen.

[justhanginon]

4. I remember sitting by my TV watching all the pomp as

the Catholic church was beginning the selection of a new pope. As the camera showed the Cardinals filing into the room one by one to be locked up until the process was complete, it struck me that there was not a woman to be seen. It seemed eerily unnatural. Not in the procession, not in the cadre of religious people surrounding the group or even in the background. I found this to be really upsetting. With these cardinals being the group that would select the next pope who would hold sway over millions of people, a good portion of whom are women, I found it to be insulting if not demeaning.
Were I a woman I would be pretty well outraged at not just this example but the continued absolute ignoring of women by many segments of our society by the people who doggedly hold on to the power of exclusion or inclusion specifically of women.
As the father of a daughter, I often wonder how long it will be before we treat women as equals in all segments of society. I am not catholic and I just use this as an example of inequity which has a presence larger than it should be in this day and age. This has just bothered me no end because to me it seemed so obvious.

[niyad]

13. one of the primary reasons I am a former catholic--challenged the papal powers-that-be about

the status of women in the church, and the males making laws that women had to obey. did not go over well.

[niyad]

16. that pic, and the images referenced in the post below, always make me smile. all these men,

deciding they can tell women how they must behave--and all dressing like women.

[sheshe2]

19. No women present

and no shame from the menz that they are not.

A "Hearing on Contraception" and one on "World Conference on Women." Hmmm, let me think for a moment, why would we possibly be interested in this? Wait, it will come to me. Oh got it! It is about our bodies and our rights!

As for them dressing like women. We have far more style and grace, even in our favorite comfort clothes. They can take their over-inflated egos and stuff them. We have more dignity, more brains than they have collectively and damn we have amazing grace~

Thanks, niyad.

[niyad]

3. now, did you check with the appropriate authorities to make sure this was fine enough, non-

contentious enough, to be approved for posting?

[BainsBane]

5. Oh right. You can't be a "real feminist" if you don't clear

it first with the menz. Can't have them seeing something they disagree with. That's just not lady-like.

[niyad]

8. the amusing thing is that they tell themselves that we truly, deeply care what they think, and

will listen and obey when they issue their imprimaturs.

[BainsBane]

9. or force us into submission

by calling us authoritarian, fascist, crazy, feminazis (or just plain Nazi), right-wing, and trolls, thereby putting us in your place. Did you know that only men get to decide what left wing is? Bourgeois entitlement, they insist, is progressive, while challenging that entitlement is not.

[ancianita]

6. It's about the bottom line ethic of "might makes right," or the threatening gesture.

Edit: Okay. Not ALWAYS.

[BainsBane]

7. and "you're not"

The number of men on DU who have told me I'm not a real feminist because I disagree with them on something is astounding. They of course are "true feminists." That apparently does not entail believing women have a right to voice concerns that challenge them in any way.

[ancianita]

10. This whole labeling and "purity test" bullshit is what we're swimming in. You can't move forward

with others being a drag. I don't agree with all women's opinions on DU, but I will support them and their right to have their opinion at least respected -- or treated with minimal public courtesy -- when it's voiced. I don't care if it's peevish, bitchy, frustrated or angry, at least we should provide a space of safety for recovery. There's much woundedness that words can't heal, but time and a recovery space likely can.

[niyad]

12. beautifully expressed. thanks, ancianita.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. thank you for this post.

[niyad]

11. it boggles the mind that that mindset is so prevalent on what is supposed to be a democratic

(possibly even progressive??) site.

[ancianita]

14. Welp, sometimes when the personal is political, the baggage gets dragged out. Anonymous boards

tempt these kinds of emotional habits and expressions, short-sighted as they are.

I always think of grown women talking with me, women as old or older than I, and try to address that audience.

[niyad]

15. this grown woman just cracks up at those thinking they can, on a message board, force women

to bow to their patriarchal bs. (doesn't work too well in the physical world, either, as some have found to their surprise). didn't care when I was younger, certainly could not possibly care less now.

[ancianita]

17. Yeah. I've been called absurd and other stuff. I just let it slide.

[niyad]

18. consider the source, always. or, "but you say that like it's a BAD thing"

[Tuesday Afternoon]

20. DU Rec

juxtaposed with the other thread about white hetero males not having friends ...