feminist blogs

A Corny Conundrum

1) Hue and Cry - Labour of Love
2) Ferraby Lionheart - Before We’re Dead (New Orleans Song)
3) Man Man - Banana Ghost
4) Har Mar Superstar - Let’s Get This Party Kickin’
5) Deadbolt - A Hit Gone Wrong
6) The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes
7) Bunky - Chuy
8) Das EFX - They Want EFX
9) Def Leppard - Let’s Get Rocked
10) Daniel Johnston - Good Morning You (Have you seen the documentary on Johnston yet? You should.)

As for the AWESOME 80’s. I was a little lost when The Darkness came out a few years ago, popular for parodying the excesses of 80’s glam metal, because why would anyone settle for satire when the real thing is just as ridiculous? Presenting Savatage with “Hall of the Mountain King.” Fantastical.

The best part? When the guy at the end finds a SAVATAGE CASSETTE TAPE on top of the BOX OF TREASURE. Brilliant!

Columnist Georgie Anne Geyer of The Dallas Morning News reports on the alarming state of mind of the always alarming Madman in the Oval Office: "The White House sees terrorists as born, not created by history, bearing the mark of Cain, not the mark of circumstance. There is a scarlet 'T' written on their foreheads at birth and the only answer is to destroy them. This kind of thinking, of

Surprisingly, there are a lot of people out there who don't know how horrible declawing is and what it actually entails. Here is some graphic and disturbing information. Please pass it along and discourage anyone you ever hear contemplating it.

The Facts About Declawing

"Declawing is actually an amputation of the last joint of your cat's "toes". When you envision that, it becomes clear why declawing is not a humane act. It is a painful surgery, with a painful recovery period. And remember that during the time of recuperation from the surgery your cat would still have to use its feet to walk, jump, and scratch in its litter box regardless of the pain it is experiencing."
Christianne Schelling, DVM

"General anesthesia is used for this surgery, which always has a certain degree of risk of disability or death associated with it. Because declawing provides no medical benefits to cats, even slight risk can be considered unacceptable. In addition, the recovery from declawing can be painful and lengthy and may involve postoperative complications such as infections, hemorrhage, and nail regrowth. The latter may subject the cat to additional surgery." The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR)

"The consequences of declawing are often pathetic. Changes in behavior can occur. A declawed cat frequently resorts to biting when confronted with even minor threats. Biting becomes an overcompensation for the insecurity of having no claws. Bungled surgery can result in the regrowth of deformed claws or in an infection leading to gangrene. Balance is affected by the inability to grasp with their claws. Chronic physical ailments such as cystitis or skin disorders can be manifestations of a declawed cat's frustration and stress" David E. Hammett, DVM

The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR) position on declawing cats:

"A major concern that the AVAR has about declawing is the attitude that is evident in this situation. The cat is treated as if he or she is an inanimate object who can be modified, even to the point of surgical mutilation, to suit a person's perception of what a cat should be. It would seem more ethical and humane to accept that claws and scratching are inherent feline attributes, and to
adjust one's life accordingly if a cat is desired as a companion. If this is unacceptable, then perhaps a different companion would be in order."

"The inhumanity of the procedure is clearly demonstrated by the nature of cats' recovery from anesthesia following the surgery. Unlike routine recoveries, including recovery from neutering surgeries, which are fairly peaceful, declawing surgery results in cats bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain. Cats that are more stoic huddle in the corner of the recovery cage, immobilized in a state of helplessness, presumably by overwhelming pain. Declawing fits the dictionary definition of mutilation to a tee. Words such as deform, disfigure, disjoint, and dismember all apply to this surgery. Partial digital amputation is so horrible that it has been employed for torture of prisoners of war, and in veterinary medicine, the clinical procedure serves as model of severe pain for testing the efficacy of analgesic drugs. Even though analgesic drugs can be used postoperatively, they rarely are, and their effects are incomplete and transient anyway, so sooner or later the pain will emerge." (Excerpted from The Cat Who Cried For Help, Dodman N, Bantam Books, New York).

Just don't do it.

After successfully triggering a backlash against the movement for universal HPV vaccination, right wingers are working hard on the health-scare angle. The conservative group Judicial Watch has made public the FDA's records on adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine:

Three deaths were related to the vaccine. One physician's assistant reported that a female patient "died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine." Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.

As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions. Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.

Yikes, right? Well, maybe some stuff to be concerned about, and some not. After all, 77% of the "adverse reactions" were typical vaccination side effects -- itching, dizziness, etc. Kaiser reports:

CDC, FDA and Merck have said that the adverse events likely were unrelated to the vaccine and were caused by underlying health problems or other factors, the Journal reports. According to CDC, two of the three women who died were taking oral contraceptives and died of blood clots, which are associated with oral contraceptives. The third, a 12-year-old girl, had heart disease and died of a heart inflammation triggered by the flu.

I read the same reports the Judicial Watch people did. One of the women died of a blood clot two weeks after receiving the vaccine. And the 12-year-old also had chicken pox and Hepatitis A vaccines on the same day. Granted, I'm not a medical professional. But nothing I read made me feel uneasy about getting the vaccine. This isn't exactly like three women and girls have received the shot and then dropped dead on the spot -- it seems like they had other health issues. I have yet to read an evaluation from an apolitical medical professional who believes these reports are an indication that the vaccine is dangerous.

All vaccines carry a certain level of risk. All come with warnings that if you have certain conditions you should probably choose not to be vaccinated. During 2003 and the first half of 2004, there were eight reported deaths related to the chicken pox vaccine. Three deaths in the past year -- which may or may not be attributable to the HPV vaccine -- doesn't exactly seem like a "catalog of horrors" to me.

That said, the deaths potentially caused by oral-contraceptive-related blood clots are troubling. I'm guessing that a lot of women in the "catch-up" age range for HPV vaccination -- ages 18 to 26 -- are on the Pill or other hormonal contraception. And it sounds like you should just hold off on the vaccine if you're pregnant.

This is a good time to issue a reminder about conservative hypocrisy on this issue. It's a right-wing group that's ringing alarm bells over reactions to the vaccine. But for years, uber-conservative groups sounded some of the loudest warnings about the dangers of HPV. (From the American Family Association, in 2003: "HPV, a Bigger Killer, Takes Back Seat to Agenda-Driven Issue of AIDS.") But of course they wouldn't celebrate a vaccine gaining wide acceptance, because HPV is of great use to the abstinence movement. It's one of the few STI's that condoms don't effectively protect against, meaning HPV-related cervical cancer was proof of the "grim cost of sexual promiscuity" and "100 percent preventable with proper sexual behavior." So now that there's a vaccine for HPV, they have to catalog the "horrors!" of the adverse reactions in order to keep up their "SEX KILLS" talking point.

Contributed by Kate Harding

I just attended an amazing panel called Prisons as Agents of Reproductive Oppression. I had a hell of a time deciding which of the 13 awesome-sounding workshops to go to (a problem that's only going to get worse as the conference goes on), so I went with the subject I felt I knew least about.

For whatever reason I’ve taken it upon myself to watch the entirety of “The Sopranos” this month, and tonight my goal is to finish up Season Five. Yes, I know what’s coming. My beloved Adriana is getting wacked, and even though Carmella was finally getting some she’s getting back together with fucking Tony. Damn. I have tons more to say about the series but I’m saving it until the whole thing finishes up on June 11th.

In the meantime, a little story and a littler complaint:

The subject of my tube-watching goal came up at Chef’s workplace the other night, and Chef reports that some of his coworkers were shocked. A feminist?! Watching The Sopranos?! And the kicker, She loves gangster movies??!

Why, yes. Yes, I do.

Which leads me to question what the hell people think feminists do, exactly, in their free time. Chant the lyrics to Meredith Brooks songs while dancing pantless over a runway of mirrors? By moonlight? Trade baby-cookin’ recipes, and then argue over why we always find ourselves in the kitchen? Discuss about Very Serious Things approved by Gloria Steinem, our glorious leader, with pen and paper in hand, brows knitted in Very Serious Concern? Get together (angrily) and glitter paint anti-man protest placards?

I don’t even know.

Seeing these pairs of earrings makes me wish I hadn’t stretched my earlobes to 8 gauge rings I can’t remove by myself. That said, nothing beats Chef’s ears.

via Chaos Theory (If you haven’t noticed, I get half my weird and interesting links from Jen, so if you want to cut me out of the middle I suggest you cruise over to her blog where she aggregates cool links from all over the place all day. I’ve been cribbing off her for a couple of years so it’s about time I offer a shout-out. ‘Sup!)

On how he would resign from the Peace Movement, not that he is planning to do so.

A forty-nine year old woman who is unable to conceive but who uses the birth control pill as a medical treatment for some complaint goes to a pharmacy, Snyder Drugs, to get her prescription refilled. Instead of the pills she receives a note saying that the pharmacy will no longer dispense birth control pills.

The pharmacy has new owners, see, and these new owners believe that birth control pills are abortion. Even when taken by women who can't conceive, it seems. The new owners also signed onto an ad running in the Great Falls Tribune on Mother's Day:

"The sanctity of human life has always been one of our most cherished heritages. The family unit is the foundation of our society. The devotion and sacrifice of mothers over the years and the continual care and concern for their unborn has been the cornerstone of the family. On this Mother's Day 2007, we wish to express our gratitude to all mothers for their unselfishness in our behalf. As health-care professionals, we call upon the American people to once again reaffirm the right to life for future generations of the unborn and join with us in our efforts to restore respect, dignity and value to each human life—born or unborn."

What a fascinating piece of ideology that ad is. Note how it places family as the foundation of the society and then places the "unselfish" mother caring for the babies as the cornerstone of this family concept. If the mother stops being "unselfish" (the quotes are because having children might be quite selfish, too, based on enjoying the children) the family unit will fall down the tree of civilization and all will be lost. Hence, women can't have the pill, because then they might not carry out the needed selfless toil. What a sad view of life this is in some ways.

But what is even sadder is the fact that when I wrote about the radical right's tendency to equate birth control pills with abortion the first time the response was one of shock and outrage. Now we are used to this way of thinking, the faith-based one where medical evidence doesn't matter and where the needs of the patients count very little.
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The source is a Planned Parenthood e-mail. See also this Montana blog.