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Feminist Friday: Akin’ for a Better Candidate

This Week in Ladybits

Hey, remember when Texas made an awesome political point by cutting its funding for family planning by 73 million dollars? Do you think that might have had any effect on the general well being of Texan women? Dingdingding! Correct. So far 53 clinics that once offered family planning services have closed and 38 have cut their hours.

Budget cuts also mean that women who can actually get to a clinic are offered less expensive birth control options – which means they miss out on more effective methods that have high initial costs, such as IUDs.

Hey, was there a study released just this week in Obstetrics and Gynecology on the measurable societal benefits of giving women access to free, reliable birth control? Why, yes, The Contraceptive CHOICE Project did that very thing! If only there were some sort of easily digested short film that could sum up the results.

(Full disclosure: I am proud to have been a part of this video project.)

In stark contrast to the CHOICE Project’s solid good sense, we have this video (via Wonkette) from the Sisters of the Children of Mary. I know that Feminist Friday has long voiced its support of feisty nuns, but we reserve the right to withdraw that endorsement when the nuns in question are being complete whackadoodles about how women on birth control become harlots and make men confused and maybe also gay.

OK, two things about this, among many many MANY points of crazy wrongness.

1. The video shows chimpanzees, but the “study” it quotes refers to monkeys. If you’re going to quote a stupid study, get your stupid facts straight.

2. The study it quotes is from freaking Lionel Tiger, who is an anthropologist who somehow manages to come to the conclusion in every single study that dudes rule and ladies should get back into the kitchen because dudes are meant to be studly and women sweet and passive and fertile and seriously, ladies, quit wanting to have jobs and control your own reproductive organs and stuff lest you risk giving dudes a sad.

And that’s in just like the first two minutes.

Anyway, those nuns are cray.

This Week in Todd Akin Being a Platehead

Wow. I have to hand it to Senate candidate Todd Akin (R -MO) for sheer force of purpose. If you and I were Todd Akin – and let us take a moment to be thankful that we are not – we might think “Hey, I should maybe stop talking about ladies and ladybits for 30 seconds.” Or “Hey, maybe I should take some time to learn something – ANYTHING – about the female anatomy.” Or “Perhaps I should hire some sort of female assistant who could scream “NOOOOOOO!” and whack me in the kidneys or perhaps set something on fire as a distraction when I start babbling about complete horsepuckey.”

But Todd Akin is not us, and he has vicious sexist pudding for brains, and he has had himself quite a week. On Friday, he said it should be totes cool for employers to pay women less for equal work if they feel like it. Because Freedom!

But he understands what it means to be confined. Akin also admitted to being arrested for blocking an abortion clinic, but then backed off of his promise to release the details.

He also has some truly nutbag ideas about stem cell research.

Oh, and he says that it’s “common practice” for some doctors to give abortions to women who are not pregnant. Mr. Akin, you keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Criminy. I know a lot of people vote with their guts, but don’t forget to let your brain and ute have a say, OK?

This Week in Hmm…

Just in case you were feeling optimistic about the state of the world, Buzzfeed taught us about what Google can teach us about women and wondered whether Pinterest is killing feminism.

And Pussy Riot‘s appeal has been adjourned until October 10 to give one of the members of the band time to find new lawyers.

This Week in Argh

Ikea helpfully Photoshopped the women out of its catalog for Saudi Arabia and Walmart stores in Tennessee have apparently been using the Todd Akin rule.

Put down that greasy chicken sandwich. I know the company said they’ll stop donating to creeps, but Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy does not like you and won’t shut up. Besides, as we’ve noted before, you can totally make them at home.

This Week in Good

Hey – here’s some good news in the it’s-about-time category: The Department of Homeland Security now includes in its written guidelines that immigration officers should take same-sex relationships into account when making decisions about deportation.

The “Good” category covers “fanfreakingtastic,” right? Because news anchor Jennifer Livingston‘s response to a viewer who oh-so-helpfully wrote in to insult her – and also helpfully point out that girls should have skinny role models – is fanfreakingtastic.

…And The Mary Sue pointed us toward this wonderful Xena and Gabrielle re-imagining.

Have a great weekend. Get out there and re-invent something of your own.

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