(Thoughtful and though provoking diary. Thanks for sharing it with us, LT. - promoted by boadicea)
During the current month I have been devoting much of the blog postings to the subject of choice. However, the subject of choice covers much more than whether or not a woman has the right to choose to have an abortion. In fact abortion is simply the lightening rod; it is the beginning of the discussion of the much broader subject of women's rights. Part of the discussion of women's rights must be male privilege, and how men must acknowledge these privileges.
Barry Deutsch, aka "Ampersand," compiled a list of 46 male privileges which was based on the 1990 Wellesley College professor Peggy McIntosh's essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." In the essay McIntosh notes that she was "taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group." Deutsch notes that "in the spirit of McIntosh's essay, I thought I'd compile a list similar to McIntosh's, focusing on the invisible privileges benefiting men."
In analyzing this list of privileges I identified ways that I am privileged, and I also tried to delve deeper into the privileges themselves.
Some of those who supported Senator Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Primary that are now pledging to support Senator McCain are the wrong side. Those behind groups like "Just Say No Deal" and "Clintons 4 McCain" and not honoring Clinton by supporting a candidate that stands against everything Clinton stands for. Joe Conason of TruthDig.com asks,
"Is this the politics of revenge? Is it the cult of personality? Is it just stubborn idiocy?"
Senator Hillary Clinton gave a resounding speech at the National Democratic Convention, and urged those that voted for her to support Senator Barack Obama. Senator Clinton ran a historic campaign, and with those that voted for her put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling.
(It's well past time that the military took sexual assault against its members seriously. - promoted by boadicea)
Camouflaging of sexual assault in the military and how the military ignores the culture of sexism.
In a recent hearing of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs Dr. Kaye Whitley, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SARPO), and Michael Dominguez, principal deputy undersecretary for defense, were subpoenaed to testify but Dr. Whitley did not appear under direction of Dominguez. This is just the latest resistance from the Department of Defense in regards to sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military.
Texas is an interesting place to live. Women here are multi-talented, and sometimes go against the grain of conventional wisdom. My late mother-in-law could make the best plate of fried chicken anywhere, and she was very independent for her time. And Texas women have a reputation for being sassy, Molly Ivins, for example. The founders of the state were often people who did not fit in somewhere else. And, fortunately, we are not all Republicans. Today's post is an amalgam of the anachronistic, a digest of digression, a roundup of news from and about talented women from Texas that might be of interest to you, too.
Lone-star stars win Five Grammys! - Fellow Texans, The Dixie Chicks won a total of five Grammys in a comeback that has wonderful irony for our current president Bush. ABC News carried a good Grammy overview from which I quote,
The Dixie Chicks completed a defiant comeback on Sunday night, capturing five Grammy awards after being shunned by the country music establishment over the group's anti-Bush comments leading up to the Iraq invasion.
The Texas trio won all the biggest categories, including record and song of the year for the no-regrets anthem "Not Ready to Make Nice." They also won best country album, which was especially ironic considering they don't consider themselves country artists anymore.
Beautiful singer & Texan - Carrie Underwood won a Grammy last night. Gaining fame as an American Idol, she won for Best Female Country Vocal, "Jesus Take the Wheel," according to The Age.com.
Burlington Northern, the national freight rail company based in Fort Worth, Texas, appealed the original verdict on grounds that neither White's transfer nor her suspension was bad enough to qualify as unlawful retaliation under Title VII. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the company's argument. Undeterred by its defeat at both the trial and appellate levels, Burlington Northern then petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case.
The company and its supporters argued that courts should not interfere with employers' ability to change workers' job assignments or to suspend them without pay pending disciplinary proceedings, even if those things were done in retaliation.
There's nothing more natural and perhaps as intimate than a mother breast feeding her baby.
And perhaps its that intimacy that makes some people so nervous around a woman who is nursing her baby.
And yes of course there is that thing about exposed breasts.
It is awkward.
I'm sure you can picture the snickering and the furtive glances. The men try not to stare at...well, damn!
Or perhaps it's awkward because we are too prudish a society. An exposed breast was too much for the sensibities of Americans and so we pushed breast feeding mothers so far into the corners of American society that she disappeared altogether.
So when a woman is brave enough to come out - & do something so natural & innocent as feed her baby - it really shocks us.
Perhaps it is not awkward afterall. Perhaps we just need to grow up.
Whatever the case, a Wisconsin mother tried to accomadate society's childishness and prudes when she needed to breast feed her baby at a Victoria Secret's store.
You guys still not sure why having an Attorney General who's going to protect our Constitution rights is important? Not sure that we need David Van Os as our AG?
Just ask these guys at Abu Graib or Guantanamo. They can clarify it real quick.
Or, even closer, ask Kansas women because they have to deal with a nutcase for AG that may make Gonzalez look tame.
The nucase in question is Attorney General Phill Kline who is trying to force two Women's clinic to release their patient records. Kline claims it's so that he can search the records for any child rapes.
