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Femme Writes

Know it. Write it. Say it.

Friday Roundup – Sexism, Abortion Flights, & Banning Women Priests

Sep 3

Posted by Marie in Gender Inequality, News Roundup, Politics & Religion, Reproductive Rights, Women in the Workplace | No Comments

Been a while since the last roundup and it’s about time right? Well let’s jump right in then.


Should Women Avoid Workplaces That Lack Female Leadership? Jezebel asks this question in their article about female equity partners in law firms. Seems like there is a small percentage of women at the top in law firms. Jezebel questions the advice a columnist gives in the article Hard Stats About Female Equity Partners where he says that when women are looking for jobs at law firms, they should first look to see the percentage of women who are top partners and if it’s low, they should “put their foot down” and refuse the job stating why. Jezebel however points out that if women do put their feet down and refuse to work at such law firms, then how is anyone going to make any changes at such firms? Interestingly enough, this can be applied to other jobs where female CEOs, managers, etc. are lacking.

*****

Desperate U.S. Women Forced to Go to Mexico to Take Care of Unwanted Pregnancies article found in AlterNet begins by describing the experience of a woman who lives in Texas close to the US-Mexico border and who wanted to abort her pregnancy. Instead of going to a clinic that is over 25 miles away, a friend of hers said he knew where to buy an abortion pill. He heads to Mexico, purchases the much cheaper pill, and heads back to give it to her. Unfortunately several women find themselves in similar situations where abortion clinics are too far, expensive and where the community/society around them will shun them if they found out they had an abortion. An easy alternative? Head south of the border to seek a pill that will hopefully cause an abortion and hope for the best.

*****

Women Fight Exclusion In Catholic Priesthood and seem to slowly be growing louder. For the first time in 2001 a woman made the leap and was ordained a Catholic priest. Other women followed. Of course the Vatican wouldn’t stand for such acts and all women were excommunicated. This, however, hasn’t stopped them. There are women in the Catholic church who are fighting against the patriarchal system of the church and even when threatened with excommunication, they are still pushing along one step at a time.

*****

In her post Feminism: Still Needed! Pauline discusses the issue of how sexist terms and phrases (e.g. “bitches,” “hos,” or “women can’t drive”) are continuously used in everyday vernacular, sometimes without even a blink of the eye as they go unnoticed. Can feminism help change this type of sexist vocabulary and attitude? Or is it something that grows within culture, society, education, at home, etc. and can only be changed through such channels? What do you think?

*****

Hey Ladies, Want a Raise? Wash Your Vagina — Women’s Day Magazine’s Ultra-Sexist Ad article originally from the Daily Kos points out an ad that was placed in Women’s Day magazine from the people over at Summer’s Eve giving women advice on how to get a raise by correctly cleaning their lady bits. Terrible much?

*****

Last but most certainly not in the bit least, Salon’s Broadsheet article on Calling out cable news sexism writes about a new campaign that is targeting sexism in the media but in a Jon Stewartish-Onionish way. The campaign is called Name it. Change it. Go check out their first video showing gender stereotyping in quite the extreme satirical way.

Don’t forget that September 5th is this coming Sunday which means Femme Writes posts on this month’s topic Politics, Religion and Women!

September’s Femme Writes Topic Is…

Sep 2

Posted by admin in Les Femmes, Politics & Religion | 2 Comments

Politics, Religion and Women

Granted the 5th of September is a Sunday but we are going to welcome Femme Writes posts through all of Monday.

Remember you can write about anything related to this particular topic for this month and there is a lot that happens to or with women in relation to politics and religion globally whether it be perceptions of women in political elections or religious pressures placed on women.

As always, please do remember to place the Femme Writes badge on your blog and some sort of verbiage that could go something like this (but doesn’t have to be exactly the same) before your post:

On the 5th of every month, bloggers from around the world are open to write about rights and issues concerning women. First started by Shine and Marie, we’re hoping to bring a variety of women’s issues to the forefront to make people aware of what’s going on. For the month of September, we’ve chosen to write about Politics, Religion, and Women. Please join us in telling us your stories, thoughts, and ideas on a monthly basis. To read previous installments, click here.

If there is something that you want to say but would like to remain anonymous please contact us at femmes@femmewrites.com. We will post your story on Femme Writes Anon and you can remain completely anonymous.

Can’t wait to read your posts and stories!

Femme Writes – Abuse

Aug 5

Posted by admin in Abuse, Domestic Violence, Rape, Women's Rights & Issues | 6 Comments

On the 5th of every month, bloggers from around the world are open to write about rights and issues concerning women. First started by Shine and Marie, we’re hoping to bring a variety of women’s issues to the forefront to make people aware of what’s going on. For the month of August, we’ve chosen to write about Physical and Mental Abuse. Please join us in telling us your stories, thoughts, and ideas on a monthly basis. To read previous installments, click here.

This month’s topic is ABUSE. Since it’s such a sensitive topic, we wanted to make sure that we offered the Femme Writes site as a platform for those who might have personal stories they didn’t want to share on their own blogs. That led us to Femme Writes Anon. All of the anonymous submissions we received can be viewed there, and it will be a great way for us to gather anonymous stories to share in the future.

This month’s anon submissions* are:

Hiding the Bruises

The “R” Word

Mom’s not racist, she’s right.

*If you have your own story that you’d like to add here, please check out Femme Writes Anon or email us at femmes [at] femmewrites [dot] com. We promise to honor your anonymity, and we think it’s important that these stories be told.

Other Femme Writes Contributions:

Marie’s Responsibility

Shine’s Maybe it’s MEN who shouldn’t be drinking

Sometimes Meaningful Ramblings’ Femme Writes

Mommy Loves Stilettos’ The Long Drive

Heather’s Did I Really Do This to Myself?

Jeney Peney’s A Victim. A Survivor. A sufferer.

Katie’s A Girl Named Sarah

Mary’s Femme Writes: Abuse

Jenny’s Black & White

Sherry Rose’s Getting it Out

VeryBadCat’s Withholding is for Paychecks

Liebchen’s Bullying

Friday Roundup – Burqa, Laws & Feminism

Jul 23

Posted by Marie in News Roundup | 1 Comment

It’s been a while since the last Friday News Roundup but it’s back! And of course there’s always news swirling around…

Have you heard? France has banned the burqa, but a French real estate tycoon is putting aside money to pay for any woman who gets fined for wearing the dark outer garment. It looks like Syria is moving to ban the burqa as well with some who are glad to see the new restriction. The question that arises – is this a limitation on women’s rights or is the burqa itself a type of suppression on women?

*****

A Nebraska judge recently blocked a new screening law that would have required women who are seeking an abortion to go through a mental health examination. Had it not been for Planned Parenthood bringing a preliminary injunction against the law, it would have taken effect last week. The matter, however, has not been resolved until the lawsuit is decided upon.

*****

She’s BACK! Actually Sarah Palin never left to begin with (well except leaving her post as Governor of Alaska). Seems like she’s toting her “Mama Grizzly” version of feminism wherever she goes. Eleanor Clift gives a quick analysis of Palin’s feminism in her article Are Sarah Palin’s Mama Grizzlies’ Feminist. Keep an eye out for the transformation feminism is taking under Palin’s public wing. It’s – for a lack of a better word – disturbing.

*****

Speaking of feminism, AlterNet’s Nina Power discusses 10 Things Feminism Could Do Better one of them being clarifying what feminism is. In other words properly defining it because it seems powerful media personas – such as Sarah Palin – have taken the term and twisted it for their own purposes and agendas which could lead down a dangerous road.

*****

Last week the lovely Shine highlighted an issue Feministing picked up on about how movies such as the Twilight series are strongly promoting abstinence and that certain gender roles are the norm. Shine points out that while we can’t control what books or movies promote, parents have some of the greatest influence over what their kids learn and take in each day.

All right y’all, have a lovely weekend! And remember: Know it. Say it. Write it.

It’s almost time for Femme Writes again!

Jul 22

Posted by admin in Abuse, Domestic Violence, Rape, Women's Rights & Issues | 4 Comments

On August 5, we will be writing about Physical and Mental abuse as it pertains to women.

You can share a personal story, if you’d like, or just talk about it in general terms. This will include all kinds of physical, sexual, verbal, mental, emotional, and any other types of abuse. If you’d like to post something personal, but you don’t want it on your own blog, please let us know and we’ll be happy to post it here. We promise to respect your anonymity.

Please grab the badge from the sidebar for the top of your posts and (if you want) use this verbiage:

On the 5th of every month, bloggers from around the world are open to write about rights and issues concerning women. First started by Shine and Marie, we’re hoping to bring a variety of women’s issues to the forefront to make people aware of what’s going on. For the month of August, we’ve chosen to write about Physical and Mental Abuse. Please join us in telling us your stories, thoughts, and ideas on a monthly basis. To read previous installments, click here.

If there is something that you want to say but would like to remain anonymous please contact us at femmes@femmewrites.com. We will post your story on Femme Writes and you can remain completely anonymous.

Of course, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We can’t wait to read your posts!

–Marie & Shine