the apiary

How the Susan G. Komen Foundation Lost Its Way

[the Susan G. Komen Foundation] claims to be apolitical, but CEO Nancy Brinker identifies as Republican, donates large amounts of money to Republican political candidates, and served as ambassador to Hungary during the George W. Bush administration. The addition of pro-life Georgia politician Karen Handel to the executive suite wasn’t an aberration, but rather a continuation of the gradual reddening of the foundation. It’s hardly surprising that they exhibited so little courage in the face of right wing confrontation; the organization has grown from a sweet promise to a dying sister into a pink clad right-wing sorority of sanctimonious hypocrisy.

By cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has broken its promise. It’s shown it values its anti-abortion agenda more than it values its anti-cancer purpose.

http://jezebel.com/5881401/how-the-susan-g-komen-foundation-lost-its-way

2 notes
Leave Note / Reblog
politics cancer abortion feminism jezebel

In Defense of the Spice Girls

“There was lots of giggling, with the Spice Girls; there was lots of hugging; there were a lot of bright, colorful outfits; there was a lot of hyper, bubbly silliness, and sometimes it would just wear a cynical person right out. But the Spice Girls weren’t for cynical people. They were for very young girls—sometimes girls who were still in grade school. (Those Spice Girl dolls weren’t selling to 22-year-old gender-studies majors. At least not unironically.) And in the moment that those girls were starting to figure out what “girlhood” meant, to them, they were relying on an image of ladies having fun together and supporting one another. Maybe they were even reading interviews in which those ladies said things like this: “Just because you’ve got a short skirt on and a pair of tits, you can still say what you want to say. We’re still very strong.””

http://rookiemag.com/2011/11/in-defense-of-spice-girls/

1 note
Leave Note / Reblog
rookie spice girls feminism

IF RIHANNA IS REALLY REUNITING WITH CHRIS BROWN, I’M LOSING FAITH IN HUMANITY

“Part of being a feminist means believing that it’s not my job to police what a woman chooses to do with her body, her relationship, and her life; it’s none of my business. There’s a part of me that believes that Rihanna, as with any woman, has a right to be with whoever she chooses; saying that she can’t, or shouldn’t be, with a partner who she believes is reformed, takes me down an ethical slippery slope that feels far too treacherous to tread.

But at the same time, it feels patently anti-feminist to be OK with any woman returning to a man who savagely, violently assaulted her. For me, Brown’s actions were unforgivable, and I could never in good conscience buy one of his albums or even happily listen to one of his singles on the radio. And yet, it’s not my call to say.”

http://www.xojane.com/entertainment/rihanna-chris-bronw-reuniting-birthday-cake-remix

5 notes
Leave Note / Reblog
rihanna feminism feminist

Rick Santorum, Meet My Son

“I love my son more than any person in the world and his life is of utmost value to me. I don’t regret a single minute of this parenting journey, even though I wake up every morning with my heart breaking, feeling the impending dread of his imminent death. This is one set of absolute truths.

Here’s another: If I had known Ronan had Tay-Sachs (I met with two genetic counselors and had every standard prenatal test available to me, including the one for Tay-Sachs, which did not detect my rare mutation, and therefore I waived the test at my CVS procedure), I would have found out what the disease meant for my then unborn child; I would have talked to parents who are raising (and burying) children with this disease, and then I would have had an abortion. Without question and without regret, although this would have been a different kind of loss to mourn and would by no means have been a cavalier or uncomplicated, heartless decision. I’m so grateful that Ronan is my child. I also wish he’d never been born; no person should suffer in this way—daily seizures, blindness, lack of movement, inability to swallow, a devastated brain—with no hope for a cure. Both of these statements are categorically true; neither one is mutually exclusive.

…Santorum’s ideas advocate a return to that oppressive historical situation where women were punished for having sex, for making any kind of reproductive choice whatsoever, for being women, for being human beings, for making decisions about the course and shape of their lives. Do I think people with disabilities are of value in the world? Obviously, as I am one of them, and I love my life. Do I wish my child wouldn’t suffer, that it would have been better for him to have never been born than to watch him struggle to breathe? To know that he will never speak, walk, chew solid food, toddle, or move? Yes. One statement doesn’t cancel out the other.”

Rick Santorum and prenatal testing: I would have saved my son from his suffering

7 notes
Leave Note / Reblog
abortion santorum feminism reproductive rights