Hillary

I'm listening to to Hillary Clinton's DNC speech from last night, and, wow. I felt ambivalent about her during the primary and now I'm having a bit of regret that she is not our presidential candidate.

I love that she mentioned gay rights - DNC platform be damned! I love that she mentioned crying - yes, that's what passion means sometimes. I love that she paid tribute to Michelle!

I like her message, the Democratic message, about single purpose and unity - it's way past time the Dems figured out that's what we need.

I keep thinking that Bill Clinton was her biggest Achilles heel. If she had come from a more independent background - not a wife of a leader, not a Clinton with a wishy-wash background. If she could have come to our attention like Obama did via her own merits only, and inspired a grassroots movement the way he has... If only...

At least we can rest assured that the glass ceiling has been shattered and we will have a woman president someday soon. A woman who did not have to get to her place of power by being attached to a powerful man.

Let me know your thoughts....
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Hormones

I was having dinner with some friends last night when I mentioned the NuvaRing, a birth control alternative that releases a steady flow of hormones, much like The Pill. I only just learned about this handy device and I'm particularly interested in it because you can make it work so you never have a period. Hallelujah! This is a Goddess-send to someone like me - a newly single bi girl, nearly 40-years-old, who plans never to have children. I mean, what's the point of menstruating for a woman like me?

But my friends, who are health-conscious sorts like me, were appalled by the idea. They find the artificial hormones to be too scary. Doctors say the NuvaRing is safe as can be. But is it a bad idea to play chemist with one's own body chemistry? I've been doing so for years with other medication so I guess I'm just not that freaked out by it.

I'm curious to hear from readers on this. Send us your hormone stories, birth control preferences, rants and raves...
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Guest Post: Local Election Results!

This is from Guest Blogger Zora Neale Hurston:

Power to Teton County, Wyoming! Do you know that Teton County had the nation's first all-woman town and county governments? In the early 1900s every town and county official from Mayor to Sheriff was a woman. Finally, some thoughtful, strong, sensible women are stepping up to the political plate to help fix local politics. Not one, but two great advocates for my home town have advanced to the general election in November. Louise Lasley is Public Lands Director at the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. Her participation on the Town Council is critical during the current Master Planning cycle.

Claire Fuller, a 24-year-old 3rd generation Wilsonite, couldn't be a better advocate and example to women of all ages. Fair, intelligent, and motivated, Claire will carry her ideas and values into the world. Her grandmother is one of my heroes. Ginny Huidekoper taught me how to drive a tractor on the ranch she homesteaded at the base of Teton Pass. With views of the valley from the bench, huge granite boulders dot her hay fields like a Wyoming Zen garden. Ginny's an author, homesteader, pilot (the first woman pilot in the state), entrepreneur (she started one of Jackson's news paper on a dare received at the Stagecoach Bar in Wilson), Olympian, and a no-nonsense liver of life.

If Claire has been smart enough to pick up one iota of the magic possessed by the women in her family (her mom, Zadie, is an outstanding musician and fantastic educator), then we'll be in damn good shape for her term of office. And I know she has been.

"To me success means effectiveness in the world, that I am able to carry my ideas and values into the world - that I am able to change it in positive ways." - Maxine Hong Kingston
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Daily Reflection

Oh, the glory of growth, silent, might, persistent, inevitable.
To awaken, to open up like a flower to the light
of a fuller consciousness.
-Emily Carr

I love this quote for the day. Emily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

The Importance of Solitude

Privacy is essential not only to the souls of painters and poets, who thrive in solitude, but to the rest of us too - individuals whose canvas is our lives.
- Sue Halpern

Good luck to all for whom solitude is going to be the state of existence for a while. May you find it nourishing and the building block for increased integrity.

Skulking

Look at this man's posture. He's positively skulking! Could it be that he actually feels a tinge of shame over the fact that he votes in this county even though he only spends a few weeks here a year? Could it be that the 90,000 (!!!!) civilian deaths in Iraq are finally weighing heavy on his shoulders?

Nah.. his bones are just brittle. Leave it to gravity to be the force that finally brings this man to his knees.

In defense of bikinis?

The other night, the Cowgrrls joined up to watch the Olympics women's beach volleyball competition. I, being a sports luddite, was surprised to find that the uniform of choice for the players is a bikini. Actually I suppose it's the official required uniform. Whatever. My question is, why? They're not exactly sexy bikinis - the top looks more like my sports bra than a cleavage enhancer. And the bottom is just a little snug triangle, nothing special. Still, each time I saw one of the players tug a bikini wedgie out of her bum, I had to wonder what the advantages to this outfit are. Could someone enlighten me? What would be so wrong with shorts? Bad aerodynamics? Bad ratings?

Meanwhile, over in Kanab, Utah, the City Council has been fighting bad press about the ban on bikini's at the new town pool. These sort of paradoxes really try my feminist filosophies. On the one hand, I want the Olympians to wear something more appropo of Olympic standing; on the other hand, I want the good Mormon girls of Kanab to be free to flaunt all the flesh they care to without the town getting its panties in a twist.

Oh, if all women's issues were so breezy to puzzle over...
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Anthrax Suspect Suicide Was Antiabortion

Yesterday, NPR ran a story about Bruce Ivins, who is accused of sending out deadly anthrax letters post 9/11/01. Ivins killed himself last month.

There was some speculation that Ivins had targeted Daschle and Leahy because he saw them as holding up funding that would have helped pay for his research into an anthrax vaccine. Now, officials close to the investigation say another possible motive could have been that Ivins saw the senators as bad Catholics because of their votes in favor of abortion rights.

This news dovetails with what I'm reading in Jennifer Baumgardner's excellent new book, Abortion & Life. She notes:

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, abortion providers were struck with a sick recognition: They had already been receiveing death threats from fundamentalists on a regular basis. Innocent people had been murdered and stalked, letters that claimed to contain anthrax had been sent.

Wish some of those "Homeland Security" dollars could go to protect clinic workers and patients..
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Paris Does D.C.

I'm a latecomer to this whole McCain v. Paris Hilton wrangle. I just read up on the face-off on The Nation, and I watched Paris Hilton's comeback to McCain's put-down of her. I never thought I'd hear myself say this but, I *heart* Paris Hilton!

XY Games

I heard a very interesting story on Talk of the Nation this morning about gender testing at the Olympics. For years, all female Olympians were subjected to a pretty degrading physical examination to determine whether or not they were in fact women. Male Olympians were not subjected to testing. I'll infer that the organizers believed that men would disguise themselves as women in order to compete against "lesser athletes" and have a better chance of winning but that women would not disguise themselves as men. This value judgment does not strike me as entirely valid. I imagine there have been women that wanted to compete in events that were not open to women and therefore disguised themselves as men. Moreover, there are many events were men and women can compete on an equal footing, I'm sure. For instance, would women competing in equestrian events be subjected to testing? I think male and female equestrians compete against each other. I digress. The point is, in China, they plan to perform genetic testing on some female athletes if their gender comes into question. The 'genetic test' label gives the results the appearance of scientific authority. However, apparently gender is not always black and white. There are certain syndromes that cause individuals to test positive for some markers of the opposite gender. These people have no knowledge of this condition. They told the story of an Indian marathoner who "tested" male but was a woman. She looked like a woman and had always identified as a woman. Nonetheless, she was stripped of her medal and demonized in the media. This phenomenon whereby some people may appear on a genetic level to not be 100% female or 100% male was fascinating to me. I'd love to learn more about it.

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Good News: A Step Toward Pay Equity!

Via The Gavel:

House Passes the Paycheck Fairness Act

July 31st, 2008 by Jesse Lee

The House has just passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by a vote of 247-178. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, gender-based wage discrimination remains a problem for women in the U.S. workforce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. Furthermore, loopholes created by courts and weak sanctions in the law have allowed many employers to avoid liability for engaging in gender-based pay discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close the loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay.

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Stuff that's not in the recruiting ads....

Women in the military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than to die in combat. Only 8% of reported sexually assaults are referred to courts martial. An 'army of one' shouldn't mean defending yourself from other US soldiers.


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Back assward

Haiti just ratified Michele Pierre-Louis as prime minister. She is the second female prime minister in the country's history. Haiti has had two female prime ministers. Haiti. Sigh.


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