Article here. Excerpt:

Some Obamacare supporters want to tax cosmetic surgical procedure as a way of helping pay for its costs. I am no fan of cosmetic surgery, but oppose taxing it on principle, as I wrote here.

At the time, I had no idea feminism has devolved into what we could call “Victoria’s Secret Feminism,” which holds that “feeling good” about oneself through cosmetic alteration should be a driving principle of the sisterhood. But that seems to be the case as the National Organization for Women opposes the tax because it wants nothing to interfere with women getting those frown lines removals and tummy tucks. From a column by New York Times columnist Judith Warner:

Yes, standing up for the rights of middle-aged women to have access to cosmetic enhancement is part of the work of contemporary feminism, [NOW president Terry] O’Neill told me this week. It’s the sorry consequence of a number of sorrier truths: The economy is terrible. Middle-aged women, many of whom reduced their working hours, limiting their earning power and ambition, when they had kids or, later, found themselves having to care for their parents, are in a particularly vulnerable spot these days, as they’re increasingly called upon to supplement or take over the lion’s share of family money-making. And any number of studies have shown that people with better (read: younger) looks have a better chance of getting a good job. Particularly women.

...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Bra-burning, man-hating females still exist in America. Overall, however, their cry for female superiority is less aggressive than it has been in previous decades.

Nonetheless, their historical legacy remains at the forefront of the feminism label. This last Wednesday, Whitworth hosted a feminism panel, appropriately called “The F Word,” which took part in discussing feminism as a whole, revealing many aspects of feminism that have nothing to do with burning bras or hating men. As the evening’s motto suggests, “you don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.”

Why be pro-woman in this day and age? American women have the right to vote, the right to drive, and the right to an education and career–which is more than women in some other countries can boast. Nevertheless, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women still are paid only 77 cents for each dollar a man makes. That means a woman will make an average of $2 million less than a man will during lifetime, despite a woman’s education or career position.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'I frequently receive stories similar to the following one. Unfortunately, there is no advice I can offer the fellow who has become another victim of the unreasonable and brutal DV industry. ...

My story briefly:

November 4, 2009 6 AM - My wife had a seizure due to a medication problem and fell out of bed. I called 911. EMS decided I'd been beaten her over the head, although there was no head trauma. They kept me away from her and called the police, who detained me and ruled the incident accidental. Still the the EMS workers insisted she'd been beaten and fabricated stories about an imaginary bloody bat and blood on my shoes (I'd just woken up).

Story here. Excerpt:

'SUITLAND, Md. — A 29-year-old homeless woman has given birth to a baby girl after, police said, she was befriended by a Maryland woman who held her captive for several days and tried to cut the baby from her womb.

Officer Michelle Reedy, a spokeswoman for Prince George's County police, said 40-year-old Veronica Deramous of Suitland, Md., has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, false imprisonment and other related charges. Police said Deramous befriended Teka Adams at a southeast Washington homeless shelter and persuaded her to come to her apartment on Dec. 1 with a promise of baby clothes and other items for the unborn child.

Once there, Reedy said, Deramous bound the woman, who was in her third trimester. Days later, the woman escaped after Deramous tried to cut the unborn baby from her body, Reedy said.

"She bound the victim's hands and proceeded to try to cut the victim's abdomen to try to get the baby out," she said. "They believe she wanted the victim's baby."'

Blog post here. Excerpt:

'I'm not sure if this has been discussed already. there's a new SNL skit that you can watch on hulu:

at first when i watched it i did laugh at the "breaking news" aspect and mockery of the situation. but soon i was just disturbed at the way it mocked domestic violence. if there's a possibility that Tiger Woods's wife really assaulted him, then we shouldn't be making light of the situation, no matter how many shocking extra marital affairs he has. besides that, the violence joked about in the skit was serious and can't be made fun of in any domestic violence situation.

I certainly wouldn't have appreciated any jokes about rihanna. So I don't want to see a double standard when the violence is the other way around.

Also, I was going to post this under "domestic violence" category, but alas, Feministing has "violence against women" not "domestic violence." time to add another category!'

Via the Dec. 8, 2009 F&F Newsletter, item one here regarding getting PAS into the next edition of the DSM (in case you haven't taken action already), and a new one: Are You a Military Parent Who Has Had Family Law Problems?. Excerpt:

'Are you a military parent who has had family law problems? Fathers & Families is submitting military parents’ cases to the Secretary of Defense—to be included, please fill out the form below.

Fathers & Families‘ legislative representative Michael Robinson worked with Mark Sullivan of the American Bar Association on the National Defense Reauthorization Act (HR 2647), which was signed by President Obama in October, 2009. The bill mandates that the Secretary of Defense produce a report on child custody litigation involving members of the Armed Forces, as well as international intrafamilial abductions of servicemembers’ children.'

This is a French Orangina commercial which is one of the most bizarre and demeaning misandric commercials I've ever seen. It depicts a black cat-woman in a bikini with a whip vocally demanding that a man dance and strip. The cat-woman is, of course, very fit and the man, of course, fat and bald and appears to be terrified. At the end the cat-woman hits the man across the face with the whip.

Looks like we have something else to add to the boycott list.

Can you imagine a commercial in which, say, a muscular tiger-man with a whip wearing only shorts does the same to an overweight woman? Can you imagine the uproar that would cause?

Article here. Excerpt:

'STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., Dec. 7 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Leading scholars concerned about today's men and boys will convene here April 7, 2010 to plan for a new academic discipline focusing on male studies at the university level. The event sponsored by The On Step Institute will be held at Wagner College and hosted by Professor Miles Groth, Ph.D., Editor, The International Journal of Men's Health and Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies. It will lay out the groundwork for the First International Conference on Male Studies scheduled for October 2010 and the launch of the Male Studies Journal.
...
It will encompass a broad range of topics relevant to the study of boys and men in contemporary society ranging from their roles in the family, and workforce, as well as their physical and emotional health, to the growing problem of misandry -- the hatred of males, an unacknowledged but underlying socio-cultural, economic, political and legal phenomenon endangering the well-being of both genders.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'ISHPEMING, Mich. - The country is suffering through economic crises and high unemployment rates that some have dubbed the "Great Recession."

While many are facing hardships, today's numbers don't compare with the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"By 1933, it's hard to believe but 45 percent of the people in the Upper Peninsula were on welfare," said local author Larry Chabot, who gave a presentation on his newest book "Saving Our Sons: How the Civilian Conservation Corps Rescued a Generation of Upper Michigan Men" recently at the Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library. "In this poverty atmosphere, the character of the people began to change."

As the nation began to see its young men living as hobos, riding the rail lines to wherever they could find food, and watched small-town banks closing, it became clear something had to be done.

"The picture became bleaker and bleaker and bleaker," Chabot said. "There were no social nets at that time."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'OSBORNE — An Osborne woman was charged with providing alcohol to her dance students from an Allegheny County school and indecently assaulting one of them.

Cassandra L. Sproch, 42, of 1433 Beaver Road, was charged Tuesday with indecent assault, child endangerment, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and providing alcohol to minors.

According to a complaint filed by Allegheny County police, Sproch was a part-time dance instructor at the Propel School in Homestead on Nov. 15, when the incident is alleged to have taken place at her home.

Police wrote that Sproch’s 14-year-old son asked Sproch to pick up three students, two males and one female, and around 6 p.m., all the juveniles were at Sproch’s house.

Sproch gave the males wine during dinner, her son told police, and got drunk on wine herself.

At one point, the boy told police, Sproch put her hand on a 15-year-old boy’s crotch, kissed him and offered him sex.

Story here. Excerpt:

'(ALBANY, Ore.) - Linn County detectives say an Albany female preschool teacher sent cell phone text messages with sexual content to a 14-year-old boy. Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller says text messages were discovered by the boy's parents and reported on November 29.

"The woman is a preschool teacher at Central Valley Adventist Academy on Highway 34 near Tangent, the same school where the boy is an eighth grade student."

Mueller says the investigation has revealed that in addition to the text messages, the woman and boy had kissed and had other inappropriate contact both on and off school grounds.

On December 2, 34-year old Jenifer Stitzel, was arrested on two counts of third-degree sex abuse, a class A misdemeanor.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Movember is a month-long event that both celebrates the moustache and raises awareness on men's health issues.

"Movember is a fundraising effort throughout the month of November," said Ryan Morimura, Interfraternity Council public relations vice president. "It benefits men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer."

Morimura said throughout the month of November, men grow mustaches and when they are asked why he is growing a mustache, they can talk about Movember's fundraising efforts.

"The money goes to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer," Morimura said.

According to its Web site, the Movember Foundation is a not-for-profit organization. Beginning with the 2009 campaign, the money raised will be donated evenly between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'HIGH Peak looks set to have a female Labour candidate at the next election after the local party proposed an all-woman shortlist.

Constituency Chairman Alan Barrow said "At our meeting on Friday an overwhelming majority of members present favoured an all women shortlist."

"With several examples of high performing women locally including former Chapel County Councillor Anne Western who is now leader of the Labour group on the county council and the current Leader and Deputy Leader of the High Peak Borough Council's Labour group, it was an easy decision to reach," he said.

Buxton Councillor Caitlin Bisknell is the leader of the Labour Group on High Peak Borough Council while Jacqui Wilkinson from Glossop is the deputy leader.

Procedure Secretary Cllr Anthony McKeown, said: "Our local decision now goes to the national party for agreement and a timetable for the selection will then be put in place."

Story here. Excerpt:

'A motivational women-only cardiac rehabilitation program helped reduce symptoms of depression in women with coronary heart disease, a U.S. study has found.

Depression, which is more common in female heart disease patients than in males, can interfere with adoption of lifestyle changes meant to improve health and willingness to attend cardiac rehabilitation.

"Women often don't have the motivation to attend cardiac rehab, particularly if they're depressed," lead author Theresa Beckie, a professor at the University of South Florida's College of Nursing in Tampa, said in a news release from the American Heart Association.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts refused to appear at the Clover Club, an Irish American group of businessmen and community leaders in Boston over the weekend because it is a men-only club.

Deval was dead wrong.

I hope he will similarly cancel visits to the National Organization of Women for the same reason.

The club was founded in 1883 by Irish-American men as a dinner and card-playing venue. But it is now an organization of prominent business and civic leaders, and one that helps many groups.

Clearly, there are some men's clubs at which Patrick should not appear, but the Clover Club is not one of them.'