It has taken me a year to come to grips with my sadness over the women’s suffrage centennial. Like Ellen Goodman and Lyn Scherr, I expected “confetti and cocktails, triumphant gatherings of women and men. White pantsuits and a red rose. A national shout-out to three generations of [brilliant, visionary, heroic] suffrage leaders.” But the …
Why Was the 19th Amendment Centennial Such a Disappointment? Read More »
Within seconds after she drew her last breadth, the media had a Phyllis Schlafly Festival. Pundits of all political stripes covered almost every aspect of her political legacy, from her Barry Goldwater cheerleading to her anti-feminist and anti-gay activism to her support of Donald Trump. Not surprisingly, most of the articles had wildly different “takes” …
It Took More Than Phyllis Schlafly to Kill the ERA Read More »
On that beautiful day when the women’s suffrage amendment was finally ratified, Alice Paul boldly declared, “August 26 will be remembered as one of the great days in the history of the women of the world and in the history of this republic.” Unfortunately, time has proven Alice Paul wrong. On August 26, 2015, the …
Why Was Media Coverage of Women’s Equality Day So Absolutely Awful? Read More »
Another Mother’s Day has passed. We heard that same ole paeans to motherhood from right wingers and the same ole reflections about mothers’ frustrations from progressives. In articles that haven’t changed much since Anne Crittenden penned her classic, The Price of Motherhood fourteen years ago, we saw appalling statistics about mothers, children and poverty. We …
After Dave Goldberg’s tragic sudden death on a treadmill last week, numerous condolences and accolades poured in from around the world. Many praised his leadership as CEO of SurveyMonkey. Several lauded him as a technological visionary. And of course, he was always listed as Sheryl Sandberg’s beloved husband. However, one surprise among all the tributes …
Dave Goldberg: Pro-Feminist Role Model or Super Rich Regular Guy? Read More »
My friend and colleague, Riley Holden recently wrote an article for Feminist Fever about why interviewers should not ask female celebrities if they are feminists. Riley, as usual, made a lot of excellent points. Nevertheless, I still believe that interviewers should ask public figures about feminism – and do it intelligently. As long as we …
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has gotten so many accolades for his stance against domestic violence that you’d think he started the battered women’s movement. The blogsphere is loaded with articles lauding the “man’s man mayor” for his “leadership” on the issue. But does Rawlings deserve it? That’s highly debatable. I am glad that Rawlings is …
1848 was a year of revolution in the Western world. Numerous European countries revolted against royalism and class oppression. The Communist Manifesto was published. Irish immigration to America skyrocketed as The Potato Famine ravaged the beautiful island. And Thaddeus Stevens, the outspoken, uncompromising abolitionist, was elected to Congress. But nothing was a revolutionary as what …
Last year, an interviewer asked Elizabeth Moss, one of the stars of Mad Men, if her character, Peggy Olson, was a feminist. Her reply was a revelation: “She’s a different kind of feminist. She’s the one who works really hard, and concentrates on her job, and wants to move up in the world of her business. …
Is Peggy Olson Really a Different Type of Feminist? Read More »
I have been briefly following the controversy that erupted following Michelle Goldberg’s cover story for The Nation entitled “Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars.” The premise for the story was that a group of feminists formed a group to work toward getting funding for online feminism (something Kathleen and I definitely support!). However, after they issued their report on the …