This week's categories may seem a bit strange and lopsided. There is lots of interesting stuff about reproductive choice, including the choice more women are making not to have children at all. And there are other important national stories, especially the bizarre story of the Missouri mayor-elect whose election has led much of the town officials to resign, and the confirmation finally of Loretta Lynch. There is are only two international stories, but I think they are important enough to merit their own category.
So on to the news.
National News
In Parma, Missouri, Tyrus Brown, an African-American woman,was recently elected mayor. Many of their small police force have quit as a result, according to this article in Jezebel, as well as some other city employees. They cited safety concerns, but it's unclear whether Brown's race and/or gender played a part. One of the staff who quit is the clerk who should have administered the oath to the new mayor.
In the Senate, a compromise was finally reached in the human trafficking bill that allows both sides to save face, but leaves the victims without reproductive care they might need. This allowed the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as the first African-American woman to serve as Attorney General.
I present the next story without comment. The article and the video tell very different stories and I feel that I still don't know all the facts. But the woman involved, Alix Tichelman, does seem to be treated unfairly by the police and prosecution, and her sexual history and parents' finances seem to have more to do with this treatment than anything else.
Finally, one CEO has decided to close any pay gap that exists in his company by reviewing everyone's salaries and fixing the discrepancies.
National/Reproductive Choice
One mother, invited by her son to attend one of his sex education classes that stresses abstinence, and she was shocked by what she saw.
Congress, exercising its oversight over the District of Columbia, has blocked a law the city passed that would not allow employers to discriminate against workers because of their reproductive health choices. Before the law can be repealed, it has to pass both Houses and be signed by the President.
Catholic Charities receives federal funding for their program serving refugees; the ACLU has filed suit against them because they are refusing to provide birth control or abortions.
Tennessee's new law requiring a 48 hour waiting period before an abortion has no exceptions for rape victims or for mental health issues.
More women than ever are choosing not to have children at all - here are some of their reasons.
International News
You probably know that ISIS was defeated, and Kobani retaken by the Kurdish militias. But I for one did not know the important role women have played in the story.
Since last August, when I first heard about the fight against ISIS in Kobani, I have been wondering why so few people in the United States are talking about the Rojava cantons. You’d think it would be big news that there’s a liberated area in the Middle East led by kickass socialist-feminists, where people make decisions through local councils and women hold 40 percent of leadership positions at all levels. You’d think it would be even bigger news that their militias are tough enough to beat ISIS.
An assassination of another human rights activist in Pakistan.
Miscellaneous
A timeline showing how American women lost and regained the vote.
The rip-off of women's plus size fashions. This is personal to me, but I think the pictures are a revelation of idealized body image and the scorn for actual plus size women.
Feminists play Grand Theft Auto for the first time.