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grrrly news 4/30

April 30, 2003 10:06 PM posted by lisa : track it (0)

NOW backs away from comments by its Morris president
The National Organization for Women is sidestepping the uproar ignited when its Morris County chapter president opposed a double-murder charge in the Laci Peterson case.
NOW officials declined to comment Monday on statements made this weekend by Mavra Stark, "out of respect for (Peterson's) family and what they're going through," spokeswoman Rebecca Farmer said by telephone from Washington.

Up-Skirt Bill Clears Legislature
After a nasty bout of political bickering, lawmakers have passed a bill banning up-skirt photography in public places.
House lawmakers on Tuesday passed not only the up-skirt photography bill, but a measure banning the selling of humans for sex or labor, something that's already prohibited by federal law, and a bill allowing mail-order brides access to information about their potential spouses.

Santorum defends comments on homosexuality
Sen. Rick Santorum on Wednesday complained that his remarks about homosexuality -- under fire by gay rights groups and some Democrats -- were "taken out of context," but at the same time he defended them as an accurate reflection of the law on the matter.

Birth mothers regain privacy in adoptions
The Fourth District Court of Appeal Wednesday struck down what detractors have called the ''Scarlet Letter'' law, which required birth mothers who want to give a child up for adoption to publicize their sexual histories in newspaper ads.
The state's lawyers had refused to defend the law, which came under heavy criticism because it required all mothers, including rape victims and underage girls, to publish potentially embarrassing and invasive information to widespread audiences.

Discovery could silence debate over stem cells
Scientists claim to have discovered a way of producing embryonic stem cells that could side-step the entire ethical debate surrounding such research.
Researchers from the US bio-tech company Stemron have produced embryos capable of providing stem cells, but which can never become human beings.
It is the first time scientists have used a technique called parthenogenesis on human cells.
Parthenogenesis is a form of reproduction in which the egg develops without fertilisation. The phenomenon occurs naturally in many insects, while artificial parthenogenesis has been achieved in almost all groups of animals, although it usually results in abnormal development.

Woman pleads no-contest to rape-blackmail attempt
A North Sacramento woman who tried to blackmail eight men into paying her so she wouldn't report that they raped her -- an allegation she made up -- pleaded no-contest to multiple counts of extortion, filing false police reports and sending threatening letters, prosecutors announced Monday.
Jessica Langshaw, 20, accused each of the men of sexually assaulting her in separate incidents over 18 months in which she either knew them as friends or was romantically involved with them, according to prosecutor Michael Blazina.

Court rejects lawsuit on wartime rape
The Tokyo District Court said Thursday it had no choice in rejecting a lawsuit filed by wartime sex slaves, but it issued strong words to the government to settle the issue.
Presiding Judge Takaomi Takizawa rejected the suit filed by seven Chinese women and the families of three deceased women who were repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers during World War II. He backed the government's argument that there was no law at the time requiring it to pay compensation and that the plaintiffs' right to claim damages under the Civil Code expired 20 years after the rapes occurred

Court says domestic violence order not meant for 'boyfriend/girlfriend' cases
A judge's decision to issue a domestic violence order in a "boyfriend/girlfriend" case was reversed Thursday by the Kentucky Supreme Court.
The justices said domestic violence orders were not created for people in dating relationships. The two must at least share living quarters.
The case arose in Franklin County, where Laura P. Wiley obtained an order against Charles Barnett, with whom she had a relationship but did not live.
Wiley alleged that Barnett had, among other things, banged on her car window, threatened to kill her and tailed her car "in a reckless manner" from Frankfort to Lexington.

Breast-feeding pix kiddie porn?
Innocent family photos of youngsters at bath time prompted child-welfare investigators to take the children from their parents and nearly landed the mother and father in jail, reports the Dallas Observer.

Conceal-carry becomes law
It took the longest debate in memory on the floor of the Minnesota Senate, but a bill to make permits to carry handguns in public available to more people gained final legislative approval Monday and was signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
It is to go into effect in 30 days. Eventually, according to an official legislative estimate, it could increase the number of people licensed to tote guns on Minnesota streets from fewer than 12,000 now to about 90,000.

Why are there so few top women scientists?
Sanjida O'Connell reports on the latest attempts to redress the balance. While Stavia Blunt tells Sally Weale why she gave up a career in neurology for music

The moral bankruptcy of NOW
The double homicide charge filed against Scott Peterson for the murders of his wife, Laci, and his unborn son, Conner, has the National Organization of (some) Women headed for the tall grass.
Not surprising!
The NOW crowd and their extreme friends, who have promoted the wholesale slaughter of the most innocent among us, always have been afraid to say what they mean and to mean what they say.

Lay off Planned Parenthood
The youngster was accompanied by her grandmother. She was there for a breast exam. She had found a lump. The Taliban anti-abortionists formed a terrifying gauntlet she had to walk through to get in the front door of the clinic. She and her grandmother fled in the other direction.

We've outlawed bullying, sexual harassment, and all sorts of mean behavior. Now it's time to stop condoning Talibanesque methods of intimidation exhibited by the lunatic fringe against Planned Parenthood

A Reading List For Every Young Woman
A Reading List For Every Young Woman
What books should every young woman read? We put this question to a distinguished group of writers and intellectuals. We asked them to name four books they consider essential for the educated woman. If you're curious, Jane Austen won the pageant with the most mentions. Tied for second place: two dead white males, Aristotle and Thucydides. Most surprising book to make the list … Mommie Dearest.

Feminism's left us in a fix
The promises of liberation have fallen short for an entire generation of women, writes Virginia Haussegger.

Dixie Chicks Speak Out on Backlash
to Anti-Bush Comment
The Dixie Chicks went from country music darlings to pariahs after bashing President Bush at a concert in London. Now they speak out on the controversy that looms over their careers.

What liberation, ask Iraqi women
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan was hailed as a triumph for the rights of women, but in Iraq women say liberation American-style has brought them little but hardship.
The fall of the hardline Islamic rule of the Taliban in 2001 meant big changes for Afghan women, allowing them to throw off the head-to-toe burqa, return to school or work and walk freely in the streets.
In Iraq, war has brought a different story. Women say the U.S. occupation has offered them few dividends in a secular society which already afforded women education and employment rights denied to millions of others across the Arab world.

A Trend for Women
June Wanish set a trend 25 years ago.

She was the first woman elected to the Roseville City Council and first woman to serve as mayor of the city. A woman has been on the council every year since - Martha Riley, Pauline Roccucci, Claudia Gamar and Gina Garbolino.

“I don’t think I did too badly of a job because people still continue to vote for a woman on the council,” Wanish said.

Women “not using contraceptives properly”
Many women become pregnant “by accident” because they are not using contraception properly, according to a French study.

Women choose brooding over breeding
Female graduates aren't having babies. They are 50% more likely than non-graduates to remain childless, according to the office for national statistics, and it is the kind of figure that can be relayed in all sorts of ways. The Western Mail said "clever women have fewer babies"; the Daily Express said the "childless are 'better educated' "; Susannah Herbert in the Sunday Telegraph reckoned "the west as a whole is breeding less and brooding more", and Allison Pearson in the Daily Mail mused: "One in five British women will never be a mother. A sad fact and a worrying one."

Girls rise above the cliches
I SHOULD hate the Gilmore Girls. The theme song, a re-recorded version of Carole King's Where You Lead, is the first clue.
Don't think this means I have a particular animosity towards Carole King or any of the tracks off her album Tapestry. It's just that the sort of shows I watch tend not to have King on the soundtrack. The people who make the sort of shows I watch are much more likely to reach for Marilyn Manson than King come theme-song-picking time.

Christina Aguilera Honored with a GLAAD Award
The singer, who performed at the event, received a special recognition award for including gay and transgendered images in her music video for Beautiful.

In War-Riddled Congo, Militias Rape with Impunity
As the five-year conflict rages on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, women and girls continue to be sexually assaulted by members of the many warring militias, the majority of whom are infected with HIV/AIDS

Ensler: This Is Most Fragile Time for Afghanistan
After her most recent trip to Afghanistan, playwright and women's activist Eve Ensler pleads for the U.S. to keep its promises to stabilize the country, which she likens to a patient at a dangerous point of recovery.

Indian Women Criticize 'Fair and Lovely' Ideal
Two attractive young women are sitting in a bedroom having an intimate conversation. The lighter-skinned woman has a boyfriend and, consequently, is happy. The darker-skinned woman, lacking a boyfriend, is not. Her friend's advice? Use a bar of soap to wash away the dark skin that's keeping men from flocking.

New South Tales: Gender Wars, Teen Porno
Political leaders this week in South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland became embroiled in controversies involving sex and human reproduction, ranging from a bill to build a fetus statue to being snagged taking self-portraits while having sex with a teen.

WNBA, Players Reach Agreement
The Women's National Basketball Association and its players signed an agreement after tense negotiations that almost derailed the entire 2003 season.

U.N. Pact Sinks on Issue of Violence Against Women
The U.N. commission on women found itself at a diplomatic impasse for the first time in its history over a document describing what steps nations should take to reduce violence against women and girls.

Sex-Spam Becomes More Prevalent, Pornographic
More e-mail inboxes are flooded with sexually explicit spam, yet most agree little can be done to limit the annoyance. To date, lawmakers, lobby groups and Internet service providers have not be able to reach agreement on preventative tactics.

Stories from Three Reporters Who Covered Vietnam
Women's eNews presents three excerpts from "War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam." The tales inspire sadness, outrage and awe for the journalists who broke the gender barrier in war coverage.

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