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Word. Obama at a town hall meeting:
“When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include — which should include abstinence education and teaching the children — teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual. But it should also include — it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at the age of 16. You know, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.”
Emphasis mine.
A baby shouldn’t be a punishment — but that’s exactly what babies become when you force pregnancy on someone. The “pro-life” movement very much uses forced pregnancy as a slut-punishing tool, placing children squarely in the category of “punishment” rather than “joy.” Yet somehow they manage to argue that they’re the ones who actually care about children — even as they cut off children’s health care; even as 100 percent of the worst legislators of children are “pro-life;” even as they think babies should be physically forced on women instead of joyfully and openly wanted.
Good on Obama for calling that out, however quietly.
I spent the weekend at the Women, Action and Media conference up in Boston, and it was so fantastic I’m not even sure where to start. First, a million thanks and a big round of applause for WAM organizer (and Feministe guest-blogger) Jaclyn, who put together a really wonderful conference and whose hard work is deeply appreciated. Second, apologies for not posting during the conference or immediately afterwards. I didn’t present at the conference, and I wanted to take the full three days to just take it all in and fully process it before I put up a post. Then I got home last night and saw this, and it just put a damper on my good feelings about the weekend. But WAM was awesome, and deserves to be written about, so here we go.
Friday night started with a keynote from Helen Thomas, one of my long-time journalist heroines. When I was a bitty journalism student at NYU, I wanted nothing more than to be Helen when I grew up, and her speech didn’t disappoint. Ann from Feministing introduced her, designating her “the patron saint of not shutting up.” Thomas eviscerated the media for not properly questioning and challenging the current administration, and told a series of stories about the nine presidents she’s covered in her career. Thomas is pretty old-school when it comes to her feminist views — and considering that she’s 87 years old, that isn’t so surprising (also, fun fact: Her birthday is the day after mine). So there were a few things she said that I wasn’t quite on board with, but her insights and wit were nonetheless a wonderful way to kick off the conference.
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Summary: On his radio program, after airing comments by Sen. Barack Obama, in which he stated, "Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants," Rush Limbaugh said: "Can I translate that for you? 'I don't know why the B-I-itch is staying in. I feel like a damn hostage here. But I can't say it because she's a woman. And if I say that, they're going to jump down in my throat for being a sexist.'"
Summary: On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist repeatedly mocked Sen. Barack Obama's bowling performance -- which Scarborough called "dainty" -- at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. Deriding Obama's score, Scarborough said: "You know Willie, the thing is, Americans want their president, if it's a man, to be a real man." He added, "You get 150, you're a man, or a good woman," to which Geist replied, "Out of my president, I want a 150, at least." After guest Harold Ford Jr. said that Obama's bowling showed a "humble" and "human" side to him, Scarborough replied, "A very human side? A prissy side."
This is a substantive difference between these candidates - one wants to win election by counting the votes, even if it means doing over the voting, and the other wants to win by disenfranchising voters who might not vote for him.
Next Tuesday, HBO is featuring a documentary exposing the scope of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo titled, The Greatest Silence, reports UN Dispatch.
The Enough Campaign and HBO are working together to coordinate house screenings across the country. You can even hold your own screening or take part in a conference call the following day with filmmaker Lisa Jackson, ENOUGH Co-Chair John Prendergast, and Director of Public Policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Kiersten Stewart, to discuss the film and find out about ways that you can help end violence against women in the DRC.
Check out more background on violence against women in the DRC.
Jill posts about vegans being seduced by Mannon, and mentions Skinny Bitch. (It will get no link love from me.) Its creator has been criticized for publishing a how-to book for especially health-conscious anorexics:
Philly tickets on sale not soon enough.
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