Like clockwork, whenever there’s a mass shooter, a quick review of his background usually shows domestic violence and other abuses aimed at women, which were ignored by authorities and allowed to escalate.
So, given that so much of ex-*resident *rump’s appeal to his followers is intertwined with misogyny, it should be no surprise to see misogyny playing a part in the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. Several of the men later arrested had histories of serious violence toward women. Here on dkos, Dartagnan has some more thoughts on this.
As always, this diary is a team effort. Thanks to mettle fatigue, SandraLLAP, elenacarlena, and the WOW crew for links and discussion.
Reproductive Rights:
Tennessee has proposed a bill allowing the father to legally forbid a woman to have an abortion. (The fact that biological paternity doesn’t have to be proven by DNA isn’t even in the top 3 worst things about this bill.)
Czech lawmakers urged to compensate Roma women for coerced sterilizations.
Women’s health is better when women have more control in their society.
Violence:
Alleah Taylor details the night that Chad Wheeler allegedly tried to kill her.
Utah bill proposes teaching about consent in sex ex classes — but the bill dies in committee.
In Spain, more girls are reporting sexual abuse and coercion.
In Lebanon, a “shadow pandemic” of domestic violence has sparked outrage after the murders of three women.
Workplace and Economic Issues:
Most men agree in principle with workplace equality, but often fail to see discrimination or harassment when it’s happening. Allyship requires paying attention.
Charisma Carpenter describes Joss Whedon creating an abusive, toxic environment on the set of Buffy.
United Way Worldwide CEO Brian Gallagher has resigned following multiple allegations of maintaining a hostile work environment where women who reported harassment experienced retaliation.
The usual media spin is that COVID is forcing women out of the work force, but Jessica Valenti notes that much of the real issue is men not doing equal parenting.
Harvard grad elite economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 66, dubbed "troublemaker" by friends and foes alike in Nigeria for her vigour in championing the poor, is on track to become the first woman and first African to run the World Trade Organization.
Women’s land rights seen as key in the climate fight.
The pandemic may cost women a decade of gains in Latin America.
Intersectionality:
Delegate Stacey Plaskett calls out the *rump defense team’s scapegoating of Black Women.
A new study finds a correlation between reports of police misconduct, and increased preterm delivery in the Black community.
Economist Nina Banks on the overlooked value of Black women’s work.
Via Chitown Kev’s Thursday Pundit Roundup, here’s Amanda Alexander on “How Black Women Have Built Movements And Cultivated Joy: A letter to my young niece about staying true to your goals, deriving sustenance from nature, and other insights I've gleaned from activists.” Here’s a taste, but read it all:
Find what brings you joy and put it to use for movements.
It’s important to come out to demonstrations and protests if you’re able. But when the task is ending mass incarceration, making policing and prisons obsolete, and creating conditions for all people to thrive, the problem is so deep that there’s work for everyone all the time. Everyone can be part of the solution. Cooks can feed and fuel the movement, as Georgia Gilmore and the Club from Nowhere did in Montgomery. Architects can refuse to design torture chambers. Mathematicians and data scientists formed Data for Black Lives because they were tired of seeing things they loved — math and data — being weaponized to redline, police, and exploit Black communities. We need artists, healers, teachers, parents, carpenters, and scientists. Everyone has a role to play.
Remember that this is intergenerational work.
Years ago, Mama Lila Cabbil, a lifelong activist, asked a roomful of us here in Detroit, “How are you building on the wisdom of three generations back, and passing wisdom forward for the next three?” Another activist I admire prides herself on never showing up alone; she always has younger activists with her.
Recognizing movement work as intergenerational helps us use our full imaginations. It can keep us from getting stuck in only reacting to everything the White House or others in power are doing today. We must fight like hell against repression and show up for people who are being targeted. And we must focus on what we want to create in our communities and what we’re building up over the long haul.
Media:
The documentary Framing Britney Spears explores how sexism creates a narrative around female celebrities.
Larry Flynt has died. He became somewhat trendy among Democrats during Bill Clinton’s impeachment, when Flynt offered money for proof of adultery by Republicans. But I first heard of him when his Hustler magazine mocked a gang-rape victim, and if anything it only got worse over the years.
Uncategorizable:
Laurie Penny uses AOC’s experiences around January 6th as a springboard to discuss how “F*ck your feelings” never applies to white men.
This stubborn inability to tell the difference between facts and feelings is rotting our politics. In recent years, autocrats around the world have exploited this tendency by simply presenting the public with a range of facts from which they can select whatever fits their mood. For a decade now, populist leaders have exploited that prejudice and been praised by swivel-eyed acolytes for ‘telling it like it is’. When Trump warned Americans that their country was overrun with Mexican rapists, he was telling it like it is, just like when Jair Bolsonaro insists that only ‘fairies’ wear face-masks in the middle of a pandemic.
These men are not telling it like it is, they are telling it like it feels. In a culture held hostage by the emotions of white men, this apparently matters more than objective truth.
Good News and Action Items:
U.S. Women's History Month Starts in 15 Days.
Saudi feminist Loujain al-Hathloul has been released from prison.
Space: the next frontier for gender equality?