#Women's issues

[reasonsforhope]

"In an effort to increase protection for trans people, a Pakistani business has launched a ride-share service that will be available only to women and trans people.

Called SheDrives, the service was launched last weekend [early September, 2024] and seeks to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment, says Ammaz Farooqi, the company’s chief executive.

It currently operates only in the second-largest city of Lahore, but Farooqi said that expansion is possible...

Gay sex is illegal in Pakistan and punishable by up to two years in prison, though it rarely is. Queerness is looked down upon, which makes being openly trans or gay difficult.

It is estimated that Lahore is home to around 30,000 transgender people, with organizations advocating for their welfare estimating the transgender population across Pakistan to be about 500,000 out of the country’s population of 240 million.

Farooqi himself is not transgender, but he sees his business as a way to help two marginalized communities: women and trans people.

“I’ve taken a small step, and we may expand this service to other cities,” he said.

He also said that “a unique aspect of this app and ride service is that both drivers and passengers will be women and transgender individuals.”"

-via LGBTQ Nation, September 11, 2024

[she-is-ovarit]

There is a permanent, psychological disturbance from the experience in being coached that we must wear a shirt and boys can be free.

It causes a disquiet, a deep distress, a shame, a wound in so many of us that I don't think is accurately captured and it is hardly ever discussed.

It isn't an experience of learning "boys and girls have neutral biological differences". It is an experience of "boys and girls are biologically different, and exposing your female body is inappropriate".

I don't think humiliation and shame are correct enough words to define the confusing and nuanced interactions that shape this trauma. It is one of our first sexual abuses.

I remember my mother telling me that I needed to start wearing a shirt when for years it was absolutely fine for me to wander around as I was. I remember asking her why. I remember arguing that I see people (men and boys) without shirts. I remember at certain points after this conversation looking down at my shirtless chest and seeing no difference between me and the chest of the shirtless neighbor boy I was playing with. I remember not understanding why male friends of my mothers' would either stare for what felt like too long at me or would not look at me at all - like I wasn't in the room.

I remember continuing to not wear a shirt until the sexual humiliation from boys began. Verbal comments and sexual gestures that felt different than just bullying. It felt more private. It didn't just feel like hurt feelings. It felt like learning that a core and very material aspect of your self was really a secret and at the exact same time that you learned that it was a secret, it was exposed. It was like seeing someone being held down and crying while being dismembered, but from the outside looking in. And this was what was happening in a psychological sense - the dismembering of that body part, the dehumanization of the core self because of a female chest.

These types of experiences are a violation of the sense of self in being female. And the isolation through these experiences is in large part what creates it into such a lasting monster. Because when we talked about these experiences with our mothers or other female mentors, even when there was empathy and sympathy, and sometimes through no fault of their own because male sexual violence persists throughout culture and a shirtless girl is a target, we were still told to put on the shirt.

[diana-andraste]

A skeleton wearing a hat, holding newspapers and running, José Guadalupe Posada, c. 1880-1910

Skeletons in her closet? Nah. A clearly worded debunking by Melissa Goldin at AP News of the false claims against Kamala Harris and her background.

[mean-gills]

I have heard so many times this concept of men misinformed about a woman's body, I have been on the subreddit r/badwomensanatomy and I agree that medical misinformation about women's body is a very common issue especially in places like America, but I don't think people talk enough about how this misinformation effects women.

I went to a Catholic school and I remember talking to a girl about how I wore tampons and she made a face at me. She said that her parents told her tampons are only nessessary after you have had sex and that puting in a tampon could turn you on. This was the first time I had ever heard someone say stuff that I objectively knew was false. I explained to her not only the differences of menstrual products but also my experiences with them.

Ultimately she still felt uncomfortable with the idea of wearing tampons which is fine, but it sorta made me realize that there are people spreading around these ideas about women that just false. There are young girls and grown woman who don't know about their own bodies due to society's stigma against women.

It shouldn't be the job of a classmate to explain the pros and cons of various menstrual products. She was like 2 years older than me and she had so many misconceptions about her body. Yes I believe men should educate themselves about women's anatomy, but that stems more from a belief that education like this should be more freely available for everyone.

[2bpoliticallycurious]

An important article written by three primary care physicians (Erika Bliss, Joan Fleischman and Michele Gomez) to dispel the disinformation about abortion that is being spread by anti-abortion groups.

Jewel is a student in her early 20s who lives in Texas. When her doctor confirmed she was pregnant, Jewel felt panicked. She knew it wasn’t the right time for her to have a child, and that abortion was illegal in her state.

Fortunately, Jewel had resources. After doing her research, she packed a bag and flew to New York City, where her sister lives. From there, the two women came to see one of us — Joan Fleischman, a family medicine doctor who has been providing abortions in her small practice in New York City for over 20 years.

Jewel, who asked to be identified by her middle name, told Dr. Fleischman about her experience in Texas. Medical staff members “were trying to push a happy pregnancy, while I was miserable and crying,” she said. Jewel sensed her doctor was afraid to even talk about other options because the doctor feared losing her license.

Dr. Fleischman performed an ultrasound, which dated the pregnancy between five and six weeks. She discussed Jewel’s options and, after confirming that Jewel wanted to end the pregnancy, completed a manual uterine aspiration procedure. This method uses a hand-held device and takes a few minutes to complete in a regular exam room.

Dr. Fleischman then conducted a routine tissue examination. This involves rinsing the tissue with water using a fine sieve. She identified decidual tissue, or uterine lining, as well as a gestational sac, the visible evidence of the pregnancy. At this stage of pregnancy, the embryo is not typically visible to the naked eye.

Afterward, she offered to show Jewel the early pregnancy tissue. Jewel told Dr. Fleischman that it wasn’t what she expected. “I thought you were going to bring in something that was shaped like a little fetus or something, and it was not that at all,” Jewel said.

Primary care clinicians like us who provide early abortions in their practices have long known that the pregnancy tissue we remove does not look like what most people expect. [...] It’s important to us to counter medical misinformation related to early pregnancy because about 80 percent of abortions in the United States occur at nine weeks or earlier. So much of the imagery that people see about abortion comes from abortion opponents who have spent decades spreading misleading fetal imagery to further their cause.

[See more below the cut.]

Last fall, as members of the MYA (My Abortion) Network, a clinician-led organization dedicated to educating people about abortion and expanding early abortion services into primary care settings, we launched a multimedia project to provide accurate information regarding early pregnancy tissue after abortion.

The Guardian published our first photos on Oct. 19; they went viral, appearing in media outlets and getting shared widely on social media.

Many people, even those who support abortion rights, did not believe the photos were accurate. Some insisted we had deliberately removed the embryos before taking the photos. The images weren’t consistent with those often seen in embryological textbooks, magnified on ultrasounds or used in anti-abortion propaganda; these enlarged images are not what you see with the naked eye after an abortion. A Stanford gynecologic pathologist has validated our photos, but many people could not believe the pictures were presented unaltered. [...] But showing these images is vital to counter misinformation, not only for patients but for our colleagues as well. Dr. Jeffrey Levine is a professor of family medicine and director of reproductive and gender health programs at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. [...] “When we examine the tissue after a procedure, everyone is consistently surprised. They expect to see an embryo, fetus or at least some body parts,” he told us, describing the students’ experience as “underwhelmed.”

But our primary daily work, of course, is with patients. And when our patients look at the tissue, it often makes them realize how much guilt or even shame they have internalized from society’s judgment in making this deeply personal decision.

Relief was how Jewel experienced seeing the pregnancy tissue. “I was really scared about all the horror stories and the trauma. The anxiety of coming here was worse than actually going through it,” she told Dr. Fleischman.

In many ways, medical care related to abortion has never been more straightforward. And we know abortion is an important part of primary care and could be widely available in mainstream practice settings — if the Dobbs decision hadn’t suddenly thrust many of our colleagues in states across the country into jeopardy.

Instead, we find ourselves in a country divided by politics rather than by patient need. Ensuring that our patients, colleagues and the general public have clear, objective information about abortion is critical for patients to get the care they deserve.

[marzipanandminutiae]

maybe I'm losing my mind, but does anyone else on the left ever feel like some people here think misogyny is either Solved Forever or Not Real Oppression?

(t*rfs get lost)

[aux-squiggle]

Women (and Girls) are the largest oppressed group with the longest standing form of oppression with the most widespread reach.

As such, as a Women's liberationist, and anti-oppressionist, Women are first in everything.

Women over men.

Women over economy.

Women over ethnicity.

Women over race.

Women over nationality.

Women over monetary class.

Women over exploitation.

Women over religion.

Women over spirituality.

Women over marriage.

Women over relationships.

Women over sexuality.

Women over gender.

Women over rightism.

Women over leftism.

Women over the elite.

Women over government.

Women over politics.

Women over privilege.

Women over institution.

Women over pain.

Women over pleasure.

Women over science.

Women over God.

Women over lies.

Women over truth.

Women are truth.

Women over hate.

Women over love.

Women are love.

Women over beauty.

Women over food.

Women over air.

Women over life.

Women over Everything.

Women Number 1.

[palatinewolfsblog]

"No one is more arrogant towards women, more aggressive or scornful than the man who is anxious about his virility". Simone de Beauvoir.

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Edna Flannery Kelly was elected to the House seat of the deceased congressman from Brooklyn's 10th Congressional District in 1949. Seen here with her daughter the following day, November 9, 1949, she proves that even though she's a politician, she's also a woman, by preparing bacon and eggs in her kitchen.

Kelly served in the House for 19 years. She had expertise in foreign affairs and helped enact legislation to settle displaced people and refugees from Russia and Eastern Europe after World War II. She also helped to create the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and was active on women's and social issues. She drew attention to inequities in pay, credit, and tax laws, including what she considered inadequate deductions for child care. And she led the fight for the "equal pay for equal work" law, which was passed in 1963.

Photo: John Lindsay for the AP

[merelygifted]

OMFG

[she-is-ovarit]

Even despite the United States being the country with the highest maternal mortality rate, the leading cause of death for pregnant women is murder by their male intimate partner.

[thenib]

Jen Sorensen.

[painandmovies]

The argument that if Taylor Swift/Greta Gerwig/any rich white woman can face sexism and discrimination it means any middle class to poor woman (white and especially of color) can face this sexism and discrimination, so you should be in support of their agenda is stupid and I'll tell you why. No one is saying women of all races and classes don't face discrimination. Of course they do. But there is a fundamental difference in the capabilty between these women and others: safety. A system in place for physical and emotional safety. Taylor Swift and Greta Gerwig and whoever else have a system of safety in place. If they walk the streets of LA, they have bodyguards and protection in place. They have better access to resources for mental health and overall emotional wellbeing. That's not saying bad or unexpected things can't happen and definitely not saying that people don't have feelings. But when I see the things that people deem as issues, it highlights a large contrast in the issues of those in power vs. issues of people with no outlet, no platform, and no voice. Because in the long run the outrage of these things does not help or engage with the fundamental injustices of the world. The outrage over these "issues" that involve privileged celebs in the long run really don't incite change at all or trickle down to the larger population the way people think it does. The Barbie movie getting snubbed does not contribute to injustices and an overall look to feminism. Can it draw attention to a male-dominated culture and space? Absolutely (and it should). But the Barbie movie not receiving nominations for it's female producers and actor is not the same as say a woman in the workplace paid scraps for her hard and far greater labor than 1 or more of her male co-workers. Their world will still go on, not in the way of someone who struggles financially due to these issues with no justice. Because they still have the money and resources to make movies. Looking at the state of our world-if you even just look at the people in Palestine vs the women in Hollywood who just got to attend the Grammys, where they didn't say anything about the horror people are facing, and some and others will later attend the Oscars, you are reminded of the fundamental difference between people with privledge and people with no freedom. They even have financial safety in place. But even if we're not comparing the 2 extreme opposites of Hollywood and Palestine, there still is a vast difference between those people and us when it comes to the right to that safety. Even if you look at Lizzo (bad example given what's happened, but I'm using her as a specific example as someone with 2 forms of discrimination against her), there is privilege there. Do black women in the public eye generally face more scrutiny? Yes. But it is the luxury of that lifestyle that separates from where they were (talking about minorities specifically, but for any woman whatever race) to when they become famous. So, when I see people say that essentially we're all screwed if even a rich, white, and successful woman can get hated and endure what they deem as mistreatment, it makes me upset, because all these statements do is put in place a continuous worldview where white women in power are prioritized above lesser in power women of lower classes and minorities the same way it's always been, and that doesn't incite change. All it does is keep these women in power, who can't even call support for Palestine when they have the luxury to celebrate their music and movies (which in the scope of what I'm talking about add nothing of value to a wider problem and topic). So, these causes for concern from a large section of the public are really minor in the overall look of underprivileged people, grand injustices that don't even make news a lot of the time, and the state of our world/economy (which are never considered priority). And these people that are causing concern for their "being wronged," multiple "snubs," movies, and music can't even say ceasefire when they trend for far more minor things.

[diana-andraste]

Repubs, you've been scathed.

[west4bexposed]

The "West 4B" Movement Is A Scam

There is an extremely narcissistic woman who has named herself as the "creator" of the "West 4B" movement. She is notoriously manipulative and it only interested in developing a cult of personality around herself.

She does not care about women's issues or the 4B movement. This is a dangerous individual fracturing relationships between other women in order to achieve her own ends. She targets women whom she can leech something from, and proceeds to discard them afterward.

She seems to be directing all criticisms of her at a single mother named "Amara", several women have come forward about questionable and toxic behavior from her.

She will form superficial friendships between several women, only to gossip negatively about them to each other, driving wedges between them that she can exploit for her own purposes.

She alleges that this all began with the $1,000 purchase of an app, that Amara demanded money for. West 4B could not repay this, so Amara was upset and began to tell people about it. West 4B claims she urged Amara not to make the purchase, but she did so anyway.

However, she is constantly stirring controversy with transphobia, lesbophobia, harassment, abusiveness and manipulation.

[black-radical-rising]

If the whole bear vs man conversation has taught me anything, it's that a concerning number of men aren't willing to listen to a woman's prespective. They're not willing to view themselves through a critical lense and ask why a majority of women would rather face the possibility of being mauled to death by an animal than the potential things a man can come up with.