Perhaps it’s a sign of how much feminism has become mainstreamed: the right is now trying to repackage anti-feminist judge Amy Coney Barrett as a “feminist icon.” They’re even ripping off the “Notorious RBG” image and hawking “Notorious ACB” t-shirts.
We’re constantly reminded that she had a distinguished career as a professor and (briefly) a judge, while raising seven children. Leaving aside the fact that she’s wealthy enough to get all the help she needs raising kids, the bigger issue is that she’s willing to deny other women the right to make their own choices around having or not having kids. Her distinguished career means she’s benefited from feminism, but it doesn’t make her a feminist. As Emily Peck observes, feminism isn’t about elevating one privileged white woman — it’s about elevating all women to equality.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t a feminist legend because she was a working mother any more than Brett Kavanaugh is a feminist legend for being a working father. RBG is a feminist hero because, as a litigator, she took on hundreds of cases fighting for gender equality and is literally responsible for getting the Supreme Court to put women’s rights into the Constitution. As a justice on the high court, she continued that project.
Conservatives are playing identity politics with Barrett, selling the idea that one woman is interchangeable with any other woman. That any woman who gets to the top is a win for women.
Reproductive Rights:
The AMA asks the Supreme Court to overturn the “gag rule.”
In Mexico, women demanding abortion rights clash with police.
Model Chrissy Teigen and husband john Legend shared their grief online this week after a stillbirth. While most people responded supportively, there were some who felt the need to shame them for not grieving the “right” way, or try to turn their experience into an anti-abortion lecture.
Economics:
The COVID-19 pandemic has left many women in academia fearing for their careers. And it’s not just academia: as the pandemic goes on with no end in sight, one woman in four has considered scaling back or leaving her career as a result.
50 ways to fight gender bias at work.
Michelle Obama says “leaning in” doesn’t work. Here’s the study that backs her up.
In her book The Fix, Michelle King (Head of The Global Innovation Coalition for Change at UN Women) argues that the solution isn’t telling women to change — it’s changing the systems that hold them back.
The Society of Women Engineers discusses the “leaky pipeline/broken pathway “ that hinders women and Latinx people in STEM fields.
Study: on average, women doctors spend 16% more time with their patients and put more energy into preventative care...and get paid 11% less than their male counterparts.
Violence:
Former *rump campaign manager Brad Parscale was arrested in an incident that was initially described as him threatening to harm himself. It now appears to have been a domestic violence incident that included threats with a loaded gun.
There’s still no accountability for sexual harassment in Hollywood.
WHO is investigating reports of sexual abuse by aid workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More here.
Outrage in India after a teenager dies after gang rape.
in England, John Broadhurst served less than two years after killing his girlfriend during what he described as consensual “rough sex.” This case resulted in the law being changed to remove consent as a defense in homicide cases.
Chinese vlogger murdered by her ex during live stream (Warning: this story is even more horrifying than even that description suggests).
Harvey Weinstein charged with six more counts of sexual assault in California.
Remember Aaron Coleman, the 19-year-old candidate for for the Kansas Sate house, who was boosted by Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Grim despite a history of bullying and revenge porn? Turns out he also threatened to shoot a girl at school, and he got off with a misdemeanor harassment charge. Coleman is still on the ballot after narrowly defeating the incumbent in a primary. Incumbent Frownfelter is running a write-in campaign.
Pandemic:
The COVID-19 crisis is threatening the worst rise in child marriages worldwide in 25 years, as shuttered schools and devastated economies leave parents increasingly desperate.
Uncategorizable:
Researchers at the University of Kansas are studying a “facial action coding system” to determine if a woman is flirting. Wouldn’t it be easier to just ask?
At the UN, women’s rights “still too low on the agenda.”
Hail and Farewell:
Passing of an icon: singer Helen Reddy, who suffered from dementia for the last few years, has died at 78.
Action Items:
Call your Senator: No Supreme Court confirmation until after the inauguration.