Tag: feminism

A military veteran wrote a disturbing op-ed about how rape is treated in the army titled, “‘She didn’t act like a rape victim.’” That veteran and rape survivor, Ryan Leigh Dostie, joins Stephanie Ruhle to discuss why most victims don’t…

The current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, was originally Ms. Marvel, starring in her own comic book launched by Marvel in 1977 lasting a couple of years. It has become somewhat of a hot political potato amongst some – the allegation is that Marvel has taken a classic superheroine character from the seventies and used her for their identity politics and virtue signalling ends, betraying the original character – especially that her costume is from the most recent comics version of the character that doesn’t show off her navel anymore. And it’s been framed as some kind of modern politically correct, radically feminist diatribe against men and a betrayal of how the character was originally created in the good old seventies. Here are few letters from the first year the comic was published, from its letters column, Ms Prints. Literally, identity politics… This was echoed by Mary-Catherine Gilmore, who found fault with all of Marvel’s leading ladies on feminist terms – but who also rejected the Ms. title as it was too aggressive towards men. She would later be Mary Bierbaum, co-writer with Tom Bierbaum on Legion Of Super-Heroes. Longstanding letter writer Jana C Hollingsworth complained that Ms Marvel’s origin was too tied to that of Captain Marvel, the male Kree warrior Mar-Vell, a complaint that has been echoed of late, and dealt with very differently in both the movie and in the recent The Life Of Captain Marvel comic book mini-series. The discussion of Ms Marvel’s feminine identity continued, as further letter writers took issue with each other’s interpretation. Even back then, few it seemed could agree… And still more came, with Suzanne P Elliott, criticising the gendered use of language on the cover as an insult, while Tony Bole talked about initially not wanting to buy the comic because it had a woman in the lead. And Jo Duffy, comic book letter writer and now Marvel editor as of 1978.

During a Senate hearing this afternoon, Republican senator Martha McSally (Ariz.) revealed publicly for the first time that she had been “preyed upon and then raped” by a superior officer when she was serving in the Air Force. Jill Filipovic, a progressive attorney and feminist writer, decided that McSally’s heartrending story would make a good launching pad for reminding her Twitter followers that conservatives don’t care about preventing violence against women: This is complicated by the fact that McSally is a member of the exact movement that is hostile to sincere and holistic efforts to combat violence against women, and that folds misogyny into much of its politics. But feminists do want all women to benefit from our gains. — Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 6, 2019 Filipovic went on to note that McSally supported the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, as if this is sufficient evidence that she doesn’t care about eliminating assault, and the entire thread implied that the senator is complicit in a culture of violence against women merely because she’s a conservative. This moment shouldn’t be “complicated” at all, nor should it be about left-wing politics, the conservative movement, or third-wave feminism. Had a conservative commentator attempted to use a Democratic politician’s account of sexual assault to make a political argument, surely feminist pundits would have been outraged. Filipovic pointed out, after I criticized her commentary, that she had called McSally “brave” and said that this is “an important moment.” But those qualifications in no way negate or alleviate the fact that she used someone else’s vulnerability to hammer home a political point, and an inaccurate one at that. “I think McSally is incredibly brave for speaking out,” she reiterated. McSally said that she observed “weaknesses in the processes involving sexual assault prevention, investigation, and adjudication” while in the military and that her experience led her to “make recommendations to Air Force leaders, shaped my approach as a commander, and informed my advocacy for change while I remained in the military and since I have been in Congress.” Debate over how particular policies and broader political optics affect the incidence of sexual assault is all well and good, though I’m highly wary of the third-wave feminist tendency to blame the conservative movement for violence against women without any effort to substantiate those claims. McSally’s story of having been raped is not an appropriate vehicle for the airing of those grievances.

This new record shatters the 1992 “year of the woman” in which five women were elected to serve in the Senate. Here are three things to keep in mind about women and politics as a new Congress prepares to take office. If you look at gender alone, 54 percent of women identify as Democrats or lean Democrat, and only 38 percent of women identify as Republican or lean Republican. This thin margin among white women was clear in the 2016 presidential election: 45 percent of white women voted for Hillary Clinton and 47 percent voted for Donald Trump. Conservative feminism Experts have found that conservative women and conservative women’s groups consider themselves part of the “women’s movement” even as they reject the traditional goals of that movement: equal rights legislation, legal abortion, some forms of birth control and the ability of women to serve in combat. Concerned Women for America founder Beverly LaHaye, whose late husband was a politically prominent evangelical minister and conservative activist, saw her organization as a way to represent more traditional and religious values in the women’s movement. The efforts of powerful conservative women’s groups including Concerned Women for America help explain why voters in Alabama elected its first female governor, Kay Ivey, with 60 percent of the vote and passed socially conservative measures. For example, Nevada and South Carolina are politically mixed states but vary dramatically in their ranking on women’s equality and political empowerment. Only two of the seven female candidates (both Republicans) won in South Carolina. This is not true of South Carolina, where it was seen as an achievement in 2016 when just four women were elected to the state Senate, which has 46 seats.

On 'Hannity,' senior adviser for Trump 2020 fires back at the left bashing Sen. Collins and urges Republicans to vote in the midterm elections. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as…

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called President Trump's attack on her fundraising a 'sexist smear'. Ben Shapiro sounds off on 'The Story' FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as…

More women are heading to the classroom to learn how to run for office and how to win. Anita Vogel has the story for 'Special Report.' FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking…

But this is not just an important moment in abortion rights. Until now the public image of pro-choice politics has been heavily influenced by 1970s “women’s liberation” movements in the US and the UK (also known as Second Wave feminism). This group did not just look at abortion or sexual liberation. ‘Intersectional’ feminism Ireland’s Repeal movement and Argentina’s Ní Una Menos are not just feminist campaigns, they are intersectional feminist campaigns. Social justice activism must include all voices and injustices or it is not socially just. By adopting an intersectional approach, the current global pro-choice discussion uses individual rights to start a conversation on collective experiences which are linked to, but not solely about, abortion rights. Transforming politics The most obvious example of how pro-choice feminist movements are transforming what it means to “do politics” is found in their use of social media. Public demonstrations and protests have been marked by mass arrests and protests positioned as less effective than engagement in politics through other means. Global pro-choice movements are now showing that broad-based, social justice oriented movements that mobilise online and engage in spectacles and protests are effective. They prove that disruption (whether through mass coordinated protests or small spectacular actions) is an important political tactic.

Female activists all around the world have initiated global feminist movements to promote awareness and increase women participation in different sectors throughout the world. Similarly, activism in Pakistan regarding female participation in politics is another feature being promoted by our female politicians by their remarkable work. Two most prominent political parties in this regard are PLM-N and PTI. Zartaj Gul Wazir from PTI and Maryam Nawaz from PLM-N are both influential and inspirational women. "A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.” said Maya Angelou. The domain given to Zartaj Gul was not easy to deal with. On the other hand, female contender of PLM-N Maryam Nawaz is also known for her work in the field of feminism. Party’s political reputation was then handled by Maryam Nawaz as she continued to promote local agendas for public welfare in several campaigns. Maryam Nawaz has played her influential role for law against honour killing. Efforts of both party members are remarkable and hence prove that the stereotypical mind-set and feudalism does not mean that one should refrain from heading towards success.

In a recent essay for HuffPost, author and self-described feminist iconoclast Lisa L. Kirchner narrates how she met her soon-to-be husband. Coming off a decade spent mostly single, Kirchner recounts how the day after Trump was elected she went online to change her dating profile. Right at the top, she added a note: “If you voted for Donald Trump, keep scrolling.” She admits that, living in deep-red St. Petersburg, Florida, she rarely used the account. But she didn’t make the change “to winnow potential partners so much as to announce how sickened [she] was by the president-elect.” Seeing as the headline for this essay is “I’m a Liberal Feminist and Next Month I’m Marrying a Trump Voter,” it’s pretty clear that her note had the opposite effect. Unfortunately—or fortunately depending on how you view the unfolding romance—Kirchner’s profile started attracting more and more Trump voters, even despite the fact that one of Kirchner’s photos included a life-size cutout of Hillary Clinton. She soon realized that these MAGA-ites were interpreting “keep scrolling” as “keep reading.” An understandable error, but one that prompted Kirchner to seriously consider deleting her profile, especially after discovering her Trump-related anxiety was causing heart attack–like symptoms prompted by “a swelling of the cartilage around [her] sternum.” However, this drastic step was forestalled by one magical message from her now-fiancé: “Nice use of the parenthetical.” What parenthetical this was we sadly never find out, but the rest was, as they say, history. In a month, Kirchner will get married among a variety of guests—“some rabid Republicans, others die-hard Democrats.” “No one,” she cheers, “will refuse to celebrate love over political differences [and] … by learning to put love above all else, the pains in my heart—physical and emotional—have finally disappeared.” It’s a touching love story. Rather than votes that directly contribute to policies that make people’s lives better or worse, differing political views are analogous to contradicting opinions on whether fitted sheets are scams: With enough patience and love, they can be easily solved. — Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes) March 29, 2018 That same idea, as my colleague Jamelle Bouie pointed out, is one implicit in Politico’s recent “safari into Clinton country,” which ignored communities of color who overwhelmingly voted for Clinton to interview upper-crust white people on their feelings about Trump. Only in a world where the daily exhausting machinations of policy and politics don’t directly affect your life can you really detach yourself from the madhouse that currently is Washington, D.C. Only in that world can someone’s willingness to put himself in “a submissive stance,” as Kirchner’s fiancé did, be enough for you to look beyond their vote for a noted xenophobic sexist.