8-Year-Old Girl Forced to Leave Christian School for being a Tomboy

Below is a story a friend sent me about a girl who was forced to leave her Christian school because she dressed and behaved like a boy. In other words, a typical tomboy. Tomboys are actually quite normal and tend to be the girls who get really into sports and other more male dominated activities.

What I find deplorable however is how the school has chosen to openly discriminate against tomboys - as if being a tomboy is a sin. Shame on them!

Source: ABC News

Eight-year old Sunnie Kahle likes to have short hair, wear sneakers and play sports. That’s also the reason why her school said she was no longer welcome there and her grandparents had to pull her out. The family received a letter from Timberlake Christian School telling them that if their girl did not comply by the school’s biblical standards, then she would not be allowed to enroll for the next academic year. Kahle’s grandparents pulled her out immediately and got her admitted to a public school.

[Note, by Bible standards all modest women are supposed to cover their hair in public. I wonder how many young girls at their school actually do that???]

According to Kahle’s grandparents, she is like any other girl who goes to Timberlake Christian School.

“She cries every morning to get on the bus, she cries when she comes home because she wants to go back to Timberlake Christian with her friends,” said Doris Thompson.

The letter received by Thompson states that fellow students have been confused about whether Kahle is a boy or a girl and that the administrators can refuse enrollment to a student based on grounds of sexual immorality, being homosexual or other alternative gender identities.

[Of which the girl in question is none of those things. She is not sexually immoral. She is not homosexual. And being a tomboy is not "alternative".] 

“You're probably aware that Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible believing institution providing education in a distinctly Christian environment… We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education,” read Thompson.

[Where in the Bible does it say women cannot wear pants and do sports???] 

Doris and Carroll Thompson, Kahle’s grandparents adopted and raised the little girl when she was even younger.

“How do you label a child, eight years old, or discriminate against an eight year old child? It just don't happen,” said Thompson.

According to an administrator at Timberlake Christian School, the problem with Kahle goes “far beyond her hair length” and that the little girl is a good student, but that “things disturbed the classroom environment.”

“How do you tell a child when she wants to wear pants and a shirt, and go out and play in the mud and so forth, how do you tell her, no you can't, you've got to wear a pink bow in your hair, and you've got to let your hair grow out long, how do you do that? I can't do that,” said Thompson.

School administrators clarified that they had not accused Kahle of being anyone or anything and simply asked her family to make sure she follows the guidelines set forth for every student but the Thompsons say that they do not wish to re-enroll Kahle at the Timberlake Christian School.

[Apparently Timberlake Virginia is full of religious nutjobs who don't know that being a tomboy is perfectly natural - and that discriminating against women because they are tomboys is just like discriminating against women with red hair (because they might be witches, oh no!) or discriminating against women because they want to study science (because science is not in the Bible, oh no! And yet apparently it is okay for men to study science...) or discriminating against women because they happen to think for themselves (women can think? Oh no!)... Anywho, I rest my case.]

The Truth about Girl Gamers

ENTERTAINMENT - The inspiration for this blog post came to me from Amanda Kirby from La'Riot. Give her all the credit.

Ah... girl gamers.

Now there is a rare breed.

Nerdy, addicted to videos games (or cards / board / dice / roleplaying games in the case of Magic the Gathering, Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, etc), and are metaphorically kittens amongst lions when it comes to the gaming industry. (Kittens with claws!)

Women gamers are very rare. That doesn't mean they're any less good at what they do. Women gamers have sharp analytical minds and can kicka$$ as much as the men do (with the possible side benefit that they don't have the male ego and can sometimes surprise their ego-prone male counterparts with their sophisticated strategy and skills).

The problem however is that because they're so rare girl gamers are often prone to sexism. They're the sex symbols of the gaming industry. What every male gamer wants: A female gamer they can play with and frolic with after the game is over.

Talk about pleasure junkies.

What is interesting is why there is so few female gamers.

#1. Females are not the target audience when game designers sit down. They know most games are action packed adventures or war strategy games... and they're aimed at men. Very few games (ie. The Sims) are aimed at women.

#2. Pink controllers is really just an insult. (Real girl gamers don't buy pink controllers... because they're playing the blood and gore games just like the guys do.)

#3. Women crave more intelligence in their games. Playing a mindless game gets boring regardless of what gender you are, but men will play mindless games if there is the least hint of sexually enticing images along the way.

#4. Playing video games is considered to be nerdy / masculine hobby and many women don't want to be associated with being a tomboy or nerdy. Darn stereotypes.

#5. Women tend to spend their money differently. Gaming is an expensive hobby to get into. Gym memberships are cheaper comparatively, which explains why there is so many more women at the gym.

#6. Gaming is associated with being fat and lazy couch potatoes. (Another reason why gym memberships are more popular.)

#7. Fear of social rejection. "Oh you play video games?" *sound of disgust in the person's voice* Video games is considered low brow. Its not chic.

#8. Sexism in video graphics. This is a biggie. Because so many video game companies market towards men they often make the graphics as sexually revealing as they dare in an effort to sell more product and keep men coming back for more pixelated mammaries. Part of this is because nerds have difficulty finding girlfriends and thus have lots of money to spend since they're evidently not spending it on dates. Don't expect the women in the graphics to be realistic. (Although we could say the same about women on reality TV shows that are less than realistic shapes too. It really should be called Phony TV.)

#9. Videos games often have fantasy / sci-fi / war plots that are uninteresting to many women. Its too macho.

Check out the website girlgamer.com if you want to learn more.

For years now the video game industry has been bigger than the movie industry. Its estimated it may someday even dwarf the p*rn industry because of all the free p*rn now available via the internet. In the combat for the wallets of men, the gaming industry is winning all the way and its just a matter of time before it dwarfs other industries too.

On a separate note:

I have a theory about obesity rates in the USA. Television alone didn't cause obesity rates to skyrocket. But when videos games and the internet became popular during the 1990s obesity rates began to skyrocket. Suddenly more Americans were watching television AND spending time in front of computer games or on the internet. As the internet usage skyrocketed so did obesity in America.

So if you want to play games, go ahead. But try to get outside and exercise more often.

Or better yet, buy a Wii Fit and do both. :)

A video worth watching: Miss Representation Trailer

ENTERTAINMENT/POLITICS - I highly recommend everyone watch this video. It will make you THINK.

The Truth about Work Place Abuse in Adult Entertainment

The video below was sent to me and contains footage (censored) depicting how female p*rn stars are treated in California's adult entertainment industry.



And if this is the kind of abuse happening in California, what kind of abuse is happening in the rest of the world?

Note: This isn't to say all p*rn is bad. ie. There is a growing movement of Feminist P*rn, including the Feminist P*rn Awards.

Feminism: The Sliding Scale

FEMINIST - Seriously, feminists will protest almost anything they think causes inequality.

ie. The Muff March

Activists in London and Southampton are staging a "Muff March" on Saturday December 10th to speak out against labiaplasty and what they call a ‘pornified’ culture driving increasing numbers of women to seek vaginal cosmetic surgery, and to protest against the cosmetic surgeons profiting from it. The activists will be wearing fake ‘muffs’, will march down Harley Street, famed for its cosmetic surgeries, and stage a synchronised "muff dance".

Demand for labiaplasty is increasing rapidly due to the online porn industry. Its not just saggy breasts women are seeking surgery for. Between 2007 - 2008 there was a 70% increase in the number of labiaplasty operations carried out by the NHS, and last year the Harley Medical Group received more than 5,000 inquiries about cosmetic gynaecology. Researchers at Kings College London are studying the demand for labiaplasty and have suggested this increase stems from the increasing ‘pornification’ of culture. The protest comes two weeks before Christmas, a period during which demand for cosmetic surgery has been found to surge.

The "Muff Marches" protest includes slogans likr: “Keep your mits off our bits!”, “there’s nothing finer than my vagina!”, and “Harley Street puts my chuff in a huff”.

Over 325 people have so far signed up to the London event on Facebook.

Ahem...

Which brings me back to the real reason I am writing this post: The concept of a Sliding Scale of Feminism. A scale of 0 to 10, sort of like wine dryness to sweetness.

0 - A woman who doesn't care that she is treated poorly and basically does whatever men want her to do.

5 - The average woman in the world.

10 - A hardcore feminist.

Obviously there are some women out there who want labiaplasty and have a specific idea of what their vagina should look like on an aesthetic level. On the opposite end there are women who think body modification for the sake of male standards of beauty is wrong.

Now I admit there is always the potential for some kind of horrible accident and a woman might want to seek labiaplasty as an effort to get her self esteem back, and yes, she should totally have that option. But that isn't really a feminist issue to me except on the level that it gives the victim back some of their self-esteem.

Thus I would leave the door open to people doing these things because they might see it as part of their healing process after some horrific accident.

Also some people are just really into body modification... tattoos, piercings, implants... there is a whole sub-culture for such things. Not my cup of tea, but people are free to make their own choices.

There are some things I believe in that makes me think I might be more of a 9.5 on the Sliding Scale of Feminism. Maybe a 9.1 or a 9.9. There is no way to accurately measure unless I come up with some kind of more scientific survey which determines exactly where people are on the scale.

So... on my list of things to do in the future I need to craft a survey which does two things, 1. gauges what topics people consider to be a feminist issue, and 2. asks people to gauge themselves on a scale of 0 to 5 how much they agree to disagree with a specific feminist issue. Add up all the scores, come up with a score out of 100, and then pinpoint based on the responses people give whether they are a 5.2 or a 9.7 or whatever on the scale.

Note: The questions and answers on the survey should be made precise and avoid any vagueness. Vagueness decreases the accuracy of a survey because then people will just pick one of the numbers when uncertain which number reflects their own beliefs.

1 - Disagree Strongly (worth 0 points).
2 - Disagree (worth 1 point).
3 - Not sure (worth 2 points).
4 - Agree (worth 3 points).
5 - Agree Strongly (worth 4 points).

Times 25 questions... a grand total of 100 possible points. Divide the total by 10 to get your result. Voila! Suzy's Sliding Scale of Feminism.

Why Anti-Feminists should be Pro-Choice

ABORTION - In theory anti-feminist men (who constantly complain about having to pay child support and spousal support for children they sired) should be leading the fight for the right to legal abortions. Not just in Europe or North America, but globally.



And the reasoning is simple...



Men who fear being a parent and the responsibilities that come with it (ie. marriage, child support, etc.) should be in the front line of people asking / demanding that safe and legal abortions become a global phenomenon, and that a woman's right to choose an abortion (and it is a CHOICE) should be respected in the same way we respect anti-slavery laws.



Without that choice and that right the woman becomes a slave.



It is true there are men out there who are anti-feminists and anti-choice, but they're often (perhaps even always) coming from a religious perspective. They would very quickly change their minds if they had some children out of wedlock and started paying child support. (In other words they're hypocrites. They might claim they would support the child, but many of them would likely end up being deadbeat dads.)



And that is truth of the matter.



Criminalizing Women



Every Woman's Right to Choose



Wombs for Rent

The Truth about Bigots

The following is an excerpt from one of the chapters from my forthcoming book "Feminist Truths". This is not the final draft of the chapter.



A bigot is a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, often exhibiting intolerance / animosity towards others whom they consider different usually on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, inter-regional prejudice, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Often they have particularly ideology.



In the case of feminism the anti-thesis therefore is a sexist bigot, a person who is intolerant and prejudiced against women... a "woman hater".



The origin of the word bigot in English dates back to at least 1598, via Middle French, and referred to at the time a "religious hypocrite". The exact origin of the word is unknown, but it may be from the German phrase "bei gott"



Etymology aside, sexist bigots are essentially why there is a feminist movement in the first place.



Bigotry is largely a learned behaviour.



We could debate the causes as being influenced by parents, family members, friends, peers, teachers, past lovers, etc... Lots of blame to go around. Although stubborness is often considered a hereditary trait, nobody is born a bigot. Parents teach their kids a variety of behavioural things by accident / design and once children are imprinted with these skills / habits they grow.



Thus a father who hates women will often make sexist comments and impressionable children pick up on these things. By the time they are teenagers these children are either following in their parental footsteps, rebelling against their parents, or both.



One might argue therefore that sexism will never be eradicated simply because bigotry will be passed from one generation to the next... however the degree to which it is passed on is lessened. Each generation is less sexist than the one before because they are also being influenced by friends, teachers, peers and society in general.



As society becomes more focused on equality for women and men, bigotry is reduced in incremental amounts.



We can see this more dramatically overseas in Africa and Asia where feminism is growing at a faster rate and will someday catch up to feminism in Western Culture.



We also know that bigots are being left behind. They are less likely to get married, if they do produce children there are more mothers who are willing to be single mothers now (thanks to government enforced child support payments), which means bigots aren't passing on their faulty beliefs unto their children as often as they used to.



So the good news is that bigots are an endangered species, but will probably always be there.



To some extent we should be secretly thankful to bigots. They keep feminists on their toes and give us something to be angry about. Anger can be an inspiring thing when used in a righteous way.



I'd argue however that you can't let that anger become hate however. That leads down the path of Zealotry / male hating. (*cough cough, hate leads to the Dark Side*)



As feminists we have to be better than the bigots. We have to stand for Truth, Justice and Equality... and to do so we need to behave with honour and virtue without personal bias, unlike the bigots who are ruled only by their hate and prejudices.

How to Pick a Fight with Sexist Pigs

Recommendation #1. Never pick a fight with a super famous celebrity. Why? Because when and if they Google their name your website will be lost in a long list of websites both praising them and dissing them. Plus super famous celebrities are being dissed constantly so you'd really be piling on the bandwagon and its unnecessary.



Thus ideally what you want to do is pick a fight with someone who is vaguely famous or semi famous, someone who is an egomaniac and Googles their own name regularly.



Recommendation #2. Research your target. Don't just pick them because they stuck their foot in their mouth more than once. You should try and determine how whether this person is a genuine scumbag or whether they just maybe a whoops.



ie. Comedian Michael Richards losing his temper at hecklers and using the N word. That was a BIG whoops and he later apologized for it. Another example is Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Israel rant, blaming Israel for why there is war in the Middle East, something which he later apologized for. These are extreme examples of sticking your foot in your mouth.



No, what I mean is you should only go after people who are unrepentant sexist pigs. Meaning they don't apologize, they refuse to admit their guilt and they instead continue to consistently make sexist comments.



One way to determine who these people are is to visit anti feminist websites or Facebook groups and track which people are saying bad things about women or feminists.



Recommendation #3. Stay local if you can. ie. The local mayor, city councilor, MP or pseudo-celebrity makes a much better target.



ie. I would love to go after Lord Maurice Glasman (British House of Lords) for making a variety of comments about immigrants in the UK, but he hasn't said anything about women so I am picking my battles here.



Recommendation #4. Don't bother with them if you don't REALLY despise them. You will get bored quickly of arguing / picking a fight with someone who is kinda blah in the first place.



Recommendation #5. Email them directly and keep copies of all their responses. You are looking for the angry belligerent tidbit where they show their true colours, but remember to...



Recommendation #6. Always stick to the TRUTH! Your argument against them has to be credible. Don't go making up phony quotes. Honesty is the best policy.



Recommendation #7. Video is even better. Catch them on video using the C word or something like that and their a** is grass!



Recommendation #8. Avoid excessive name calling and losing your temper. Keep your argument based on reason, logic and facts. Its much harder to argue against facts.\\

Recommendation #9. Remember your goal is to make this discussion public. ie. A message board may be a good place to start.



Recommendation #10. There are pros and cons to going after someone who is stubborn. Pro, they're likely to say a variety of stupid things out of anger / sheer stubbornness. Con, this isn't an argument you will win because they will never admit defeat. Your goal therefore is to bombard them with enough facts and well reasoned arguments that they eventually give up talking to you, even though they refuse to concede they were wrong.



Notes



While it is sometimes fun to ridicule their poor grammar / spelling / lack of brain power, don't keep bringing up their lack of intelligence. Throwing insults won't win the argument. Your goal is to unveil their bigotry so that other people can see what they're doing is wrong and then make their own decision whether that person deserves to be ostracized.



If they send you hatemail first (ie. they are picking a fight with you) try and research who they are before responding to their hatemail.



Don't say anything you might later regret. If you stick to the truth you can't go wrong.

The Truth about Anti Feminist Hate Speech

FEMINIST - If you've ever read someone's blog post, misogynistic essay or YouTube rant supporting anti-feminism or violence against women you know how annoying and infuriating it can be to think there is very little you can do to prevent such horrific hate speech from being spread over the internet.



And the saddest part is that such hate speech is really just a bunch of lies and misinformation, often depicting feminism as some kind of female supremacy movement. ie. http://bit.ly/oo5paM



Well I am here today to tell you there is a way to fight back against such websites. Here is some useful tips on:



HOW TO FIGHT ANTI-FEMINISM



#1. Blogspot and similar free websites have Terms of Service which prohibit the posting and promotion of hate and/or violence. In the case of Blospot all you have to do is click the "Report Abuse" link at the top of the page, follow the instructions and submit the website where you saw hate speech. (You can also report nudity, exploitation of minors, illegal activity, copyright violations, etc. Do not submit false claims however, it won't help.)



#2. YouTube (and similar video websites) also have the option to report videos for hate speech. On YouTube you need to click Share, and then click "report this video as inappropriate". ie. Today I reported a video on YouTube which compared feminists to the KKK.



#3. Independent websites (the server is owned by the user)... there isn't much we can do about them. Its their own website and their own server so we can't do much about it, can we. Or is there? If you visit Alexa.com you can visit the entry for that website and place a negative review. If the website in question is also a company (or the person who owns it works for a specific company) you can also post negative reviews via Google Maps / Google Places.



#4. NEVER, EVER link directly to the website you are trying to get rid of. Linking to the website is just free promotion for that website. Refer to the site by name only or use a bitly.com shortened version of their URL, and even then I recommend only posting it like "http://bit.ly/oo5paM" and not as a clickable URL.



#5. Post responses to that website or video. Fight back against their argument using reason, logic, facts, statistics with references (don't make up false statistics), quotes by famous personages. Refute their claims. ie. If they are saying things like "feminists hate porn", inform them that this is inaccurate. There are way more pro-sex feminists than there are anti-sex feminists.



#6. Don't bother emailing or responding to emails from anti-feminists. They won't listen to reason and will talk until they are blue in the face out of sheer stubbornness. Don't waste your time on people who have already gone down the road of hate.



#7. Don't fight fight hate with hate. You have to be better than them. Speak and write things calmly, avoid using caps or bold text (use italics instead) and explain things logically and honestly. Anyone who can read between the lines and isn't narrow minded will be won over by your calm and logical argument. Anyone who is thinking with hate on their mind is a waste of time. Its the people who are open minded you need to win over to the side of truth, justice and equality.



The truth is there are many way you can fight back against anti-feminist hate speech. It just takes calm and affirmative action.



See also Dealing with Anti-Feminism







NOTE: Normally I am against censorship, but when it comes to hate speech we have to stand up for truth, justice and equality.

Eff Off Hef!

FEMINIST - British feminists are planning a 2nd protest against the new London Playboy Club. The first protest took place days ago on May 26th and a second protest is coming up June 4th.

Organized by OBJECT and UK Feminista, picketers will greet Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who is flying over from Los Angeles for the launch of the new Playboy Club, with calls to, “Eff Off, Hef!”

The London Playboy Club is situated on 14 Old Park Lane, Mayfair, London. W1K 1ND. If you want to join the protest please contact: Anna van Heeswijk on 07732 075835 / anna@object.org.uk or Kat Banyard on 07775 855037 / kat@ukfeminista.org.uk.

The new club comes 30 years after its previous location was shut down by a police raid for suspected gambling irregularities. Playboy Clubs are just one many products licensed by Playboy Enterprises, which includes a mix of magazines, films, websites, TV programming, clothing and even children’s stationary. (The latter of which has since been dropped by many stores due to public outrage.)

Kat Banyard, Director of UK Feminista, says:

“When it comes to today’s pornography industry, all roads lead back to Playboy. It was Hugh Hefner who laid the political and cultural groundwork for the brutal, violently misogynistic pornography that now floods society. But sadly for Hefner, you can’t trademark sexism, and Playboy’s retro brand of ‘gentleman’s porn’ can no longer compete with the extreme degradation of modern internet pornography. Hence we see this endless diversification into nightclubs, video games, clothing and even children’s stationary."

“But whatever product Playboy stamps its logo on, the basic brand concept is the same: woman reduced to sex object for man’s sexual satisfaction - and Playboy’s financial gain. Naturally Playboy Club London embodies this brand, offering champagne and sexism. So Eff off, Hef. And take your club with you.”

Anna van Heeswijk, Campaigns Manager of OBJECT, says:

"Far from a symbol of sophistication and class, the opening of a new Playboy club in London signifies a worrying step backwards in the quest for equality between the sexes. It entrenches the legitimacy of a porn empire which makes its fortune out of degrading women as fluffy animals who exist as sexual playthings for wealthy men. It opens the floodgates ever wider to the pornification of our popular culture. And it serves to embed further a porn emblem which insidiously grooms girls into accepting and embracing sex object culture by marketing its brand to children through playboy pencil cases and bed covers."

"It is time to cut through the crap of the Playboy PR machine. Sexualising and objectifying women as bunny rabbits is not sexy and it is not empowering. It is sexist, and everyone knows it. This is why hundreds of women and men across the country are signing up to the OBJECT and UK Feminista campaign to object to the opening of the new Playboy club. Our message is clear - ‘Eff off Hef and stop degrading women!’"

The Truth about the Montreal Massacre

CANADA - 21 years ago today (December 6th 1989) 14 women were shot dead by 25-year-old gunman Marc Lépine. He was carrying a Sturm, Ruger Mini-14 rifle (he bought it legally 15 days earlier) and a hunting knife. He shot 28 people before he killed himself.

Marc Lépine arrived began shortly after 4 PM in the afternoon at the École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal. At first he went to the registrar and sat there for a time, rummaging in a plastic bag. He later left and went to the 2nd floor mechanical engineering class of about sixty students at approx. 5:10 PM. He walked up to the student presenting and asked everyone to stop everything, ordering the men and women to opposite sides of the room. When nobody moved at first he fired a shot into the ceiling.

With 9 women on one side and 50 men on the other, Marc Lépine ordered the men to leave. In French he asked the women if they knew why they were there.

"Non," the women replied.

"I am fighting feminism," Marc Lépine said.

"Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life," said one of the students, Nathalie Provost.

"You're women, you're going to be engineers. You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists," Marc Lépine said.

Marc Lépine then opened fire, shooting each woman once. He started from the left and went to right. 6 of the women died from their wounds. 3 were wounded and survived.

He then stopped and wrote sh** twice on a student's project.

Marc Lépine then went into the 2nd floor corridor where he shot and wounded 3 more students. At one point he stopped in the staircase and reloaded.

He then went back towards the room with the 3 injured women, but they had locked the door. He shot at the door 3 times but it stayed locked.

Marc Lépine then went along the corridor, shooting at more people and wounded another. He stopped at the financial services office where he shot through the window of the locked door and killed a woman within.

He next downstairs to the 1st floor cafeteria. He shot a woman near the kitchen and wounded another student. People were fleeing in all directions.

He entered a storage room where two women were hiding. He shot and killed them both.

He told two students, male and female, to come out from under a table. He let them go.

Marc Lépine went to the escalator that goes to the 3rd floor. He shot and wounded another woman and shot 2 male students as well.

Lépine then walked up an escalator to the 3rd floor where he shot and wounded one

On the 3rd floor he entered a classroom and told 3 students to "get out". He shot and wounded Maryse Leclair. He fired at students in the front row. He shot and killed two more women who tried to escape out the door.

He moved towards a group of women, wounded three and killing a 4th.

Maryse Leclair was crying for help. Marc Lépine took out his hunting knife and stabbed her three times, killing her.

He then took off his hat, wrapped his coat around his rifle, said "Oh sh**!" and then shot himself in the head with his rifle.

The attack had lasted 20 minutes.

Approx. 60 bullets remained in the boxes he was carrying with him. He had killed 14 women (13 students and 1 employee) and injured 14 other people, including 4 men.

Why? Because Marc Lépine hated feminists and he blamed feminists for ruining his life. His suicide letters contained a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine wished to kill because he considered them to be feminists.

Lépine's father was an abusive woman-hater and later became a deadbeat dad. His parents later separated and his mother had to work constantly to pay for her children. Marc Lépine tried to join the Canadian Army in 1980-81, but was rejected according to his suicide letter because he was "anti-social". According to a police biography released Marc Lépine was intelligent but troubled, and hated feminists, career women and women in traditionally male occupations, such as women in the police force.

Lépine applied to the École Polytechnique in 1986 and in 1989 but lacked two courses required for admission. He completed 1 course in the winter of 1989, 9 months before the massacre. He could have taken the other course needed to get into the program and eventually succeeded in his career goals.

But instead he got frustrated and decided to take his frustration out on women.

THE AFTERMATH

The Montreal Massacre was the largest attack in Canada specifically aimed at women. The day (December 6th) is now commemorated as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The incident led to stronger gun control laws in Canada and introduced tactical changes in police response to shootings, something which benefited the police response to other shootings. (See Killer Goth in Montreal.)

The Truth about Rozsika Parker

FEMINIST ART HISTORY - British psychotherapist and feminist art historian Rozsika Parker has died... which means it is now an opportunity to bring her work to the younger generation and anyone interested in feminism, art, and women artists. Rozsika Parker was a pioneer... She was a feminist art theorist and activist from the 1970s and was active well into the 1990s, often collaborating with famed feminist / art historian Griselda Pollock.

Take the book "Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology" as an example, which Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock wrote together, one of the most important books of feminist art theory and history that you may ever read.

Parker and Pollock examined how art history as a discipline had misogyny at its core... like how most male art historians focus on male artists and give only token attention to women artists, and how art history as a discipline has a tendency to push women down and "smack down" anything that was remotely feminine.

In order words male art historians were basically b***h-slapping women artists down for being too uppity, but doing in such a way that it looked like they were just ignoring them because "women artists aren't important enough". Which they are, but when all the male art historians say you're not important it becomes a vicious cycle. Basically its a glass ceiling for female artists.

Parker and Pollock's second collaboration, "Framing Feminism: Art and the Women's Movement 1970-1985" was and still is a great source of information about the feminist art movement in Britain (which often got overwhelmed by the American Women's Liberation Movement).

Parker's "The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine" is also a very good book, informative and relevant. Its not like embroidery changes much in the last couple decades. You might take it for granted that knitting or embroidering or weaving were not previously accepted forms of high art, but read this book and you might change your mind. There is a lot of work and detail that goes into embroidery.

Parker's personal life was a bit of a mystery. She was a bit of a mysterious figure for who was largely unknown in the USA and even in Britain where she was still into feminist activism and working as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist.

Its difficult to say what she was like as a person. In her books you don't really know where Griselda Pollock left off and where Rozsika Parker began. Many of their beliefs evidently coincided.

She liked had a fierce feminism, was compassionate, very focused on her work and wanted to make the world a better place through both activism and writing. It was a very different era when she began writing in the 1970s, back when women were born instead of culturally constructed (a concept which grew in the 1980s).

"Old Mistresses" and "Framing Feminism" have long been out of print. Maybe in the future they can be re-issued.

Or maybe someone sneaky and intelligent could archive her writings online... for all the world to see and learn from.

The Truth about Rape Trials

FEMINISM - Fact: Only 49% of sexual assault trials in Canada end in convictions.

It doesn't take a genius to realize similar statistics likely exist in the USA.

But here is the kicker. Most sexual assaults don't even go to trial. Only 9 to 10% of sexual assaults in Canada are even reported to the police.

According to Statistics Canada there is approx. 26,000 sexual assaults reported to police each year. But because Canadians only report 9% to 10% of sexual assaults that means there is between 260,000 and 286,000 sexual assaults per year.

Lastly only 20% of those include physical injuries.

Thus for 80% of cases sexual assault is very difficult to prove. And for the 20% that does have physical injuries, there is still no guarantee it will go to trial.

What is also known is that you are more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone you know, a friend, co-worker or even a relative, not by a stranger. Sexual assaults by strangers is actually pretty rare. However because women are often assaulted by friends, family, co-workers, etc. this is why so few people report it to the police.

Once it does get reported however the police are (generally speaking) very thorough. They interview the woman multiple times, comparing her story to make absolutely certain she isn't making it up. If there is any doubt the charges end up being dropped.

Thus the percentage of false claims that make it to court is so small its not even a percentage point. It is 99.99% or better truth.

Which means its practically a fact, but the problem is how do you prove it?

And that is where the he-said-she-said system comes into play. Without secondary witnesses and character witnesses, how are we to know who is telling the truth?

He says it was consensual. Or claims they were both drunk. Or whatever excuse he can think of. ie. She seduced him and just wants his money. Seriously, whatever lie that sounds plausible is the one that he will use in court.

She says it was rape. There was nothing consensual about it. She said NO and she meant it. She wasn't playing around. She wasn't seducing him or flirting with him. She was tricked, cornered, fooled, abused, assaulted, and then dismissed like yesterday's garbage.

It would be wonderful if someone could invent a lie detecting machine which is 100% infallible and allowable in a court room. Perfectly accurate. It measures their vitals, their heart rate, their hormone levels and brain activity.

And then the liars would be caught and put behind bars for their crimes. The system would be so much simpler with a lie detecting machine which works perfectly.

See Also
The Vagina on Trial
Stop Rape
Abortion, Rape and the American Way
Gender Violence in Mexico
The 10 Worst Countries for Women

The Truth about Female Rites of Passage

Do you remember your first period? Was it embarrassing or were your proud of it?

Well, be thankful you live in a modern civilized part of the world... some regions have some pretty strange Rites of Passage for young women experiencing their first period. Some of these are done for religious reasons, some are mostly harmless traditions.

Genital Mutilation

The Massai tribe of Kenya uses female circumcision to completely remove the outer parts of the female genitalia. This results is complete deprivation of sexual sensation, increased susceptibility to HIV and may cause life-threatening infections. Crude tools and no anesthesia. The Massai tribe is not the only group that does this. Every year 2 millions girls are forced to undergo genital mutilation.



Burning Hands + Biting Ants

The Carib Tribe of Suriname burns the hands of young menstruating girls using a handful of burning cotton to symbolize their future "handiwork" as women. They're also forced to wear a mat/skirt covered with a breed of stinging, biting ants.

Abdomen Slicing

The Tiv Tribe of Nigeria slices young girls across the belly four times (or more) leaving deep scars to signify her womanhood and her fertility.

Fattening Ritual

The Okrika Tribe of Nigeria has their young girls experiencing their first period enter a hut called "fatting rooms" where they feast on rich local foods until they've gained sufficient weight. Its intended to be a spiritual and physical metamorphosis.

Three Months in Isolation

The Ngoni Tribe of Malawi secludes the young girl in a flooded tent for up to three months. Her face and body are daubed with white flour as a sign of spirituality. Inside the tent she must sit in a pool of water until the women of her tribe determine she is finally a woman (which can take up to 3 months).

Swimming to Shore

The Nootka Natives of the Vancouver Islands in Canada used to take young girls who experience their first period for a canoe ride out to sea... and then leave them there to swim back to shore. This is no longer practiced.

Buried Neck Deep in Sand

The Luiseno Tribe of Southern California used to bury girls up to their neck in sand and then have an older woman of the tribe give them a stern talking to about "the birds and the bees" and the proper behavior of a woman and wife. This is no longer practiced.

Four Days of Running & Rituals

The Navajo Tribe of the American Southwest have their girls wear heavy buckskin outfits in a four day ritual involving a foot race, making food for all their relatives and sitting upright on the first night of the ritual. The Apache tribe have a similar ritual shown below.



I have a hunch many mothers these days simply take their daughters out for a day of shopping, food and buying their first tampons / pads. Not quite the status quo, but close enough.

The Truth about Human Trafficker Peter Nygard

Have you heard the recent news about Peter Nygard, a fashion guru from Canada?

Let me give you the summary... Peter Nygard is a 67-year-old millionaire fashion designer. He has a net worth of $800 million USD. He owns his own island in the Bahamas, a tropical Fort Knox with swimming pools and shark tanks that would make a James Bond villain jealous.

On Peter Nygard's island his employees aren't allowed to leave and they are docked so much pay they're basically his slaves. If they don't do what he tells them to he physically, emotionally and even SEXUALLY abuses them.

One of his sex abuse victims was a 16-year-old girl from the Dominican Republic and she has since gone missing. Peter Nygard's lawyers claim she is perfectly fine and have even shown members of the media letters claiming she thinks Peter Nygard is nothing but a "perfect gentlemen"...

In reality the poor girl was probably fed to one of Peter Nygard's sharks. Its just a theory, but its entirely possible when you realize how many bodyguards and lawyers work for Peter Nygard and get an insight on his intimidation tactics. Watch the CBC documentary about Peter Nygard.

The only reason Peter Nygard hasn't been caught is because he has an army of bodyguards, lawyers and all his workers have to sign confidentiality agreements. Those ex-employees who go against him (like those in the CBC documentary) are sued for breach of contract and intimidated until they agree to a settlement.

But wait there's more... Since the airing of that documentary 5 days ago its since come out that one Peter Nygard's pants factories in Jordan is using 1,200 slaves workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.

Here's what happens... the company imports the women, 75% of them just teenagers desperate for work, from their home country. They are stripped of their passports and all of their belongings, then forced to work 110 work weeks where they are constantly docked pay for "sloppy work" and help captive to pay off their indentured servitude.

But they never do. Many of the women in these sweatshops simply go missing when they've outlived their usefulness.

Peter Nygard's clothes is sold to a variety of stores including his own Nygard outlets. Other stores that sell his clothes include: Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Wal-Mart

The women are forced to work 16-hour shifts, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

"There are also mandatory, all-night 23-hour shifts, from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m. at least once a week," says Charles Kernaghan, director of the U.S.-based National Labor Committee (NLC). "The exhausted workers are at the factory over 110 hours a week, while being cheated of over half the legal wages due them. Instead of earning the 74.5-cent-an-hour minimum wage in Jordan, they are paid just 35 cents an hour."

Because the workers aren't allowed to leave the factory they must buy their food from the people running the factory. The end up in an endless cycle of wage slavery.

"When workers ask for the return of their passports and to be paid correctly, they are slapped and threatened with forcible deportation," said Kernaghan "There are also serious allegations of sexual harassment, even rape, and of workers being overworked to death."

The 1,200 slave workers are housed in filthy primitive dormitories without heat and with only sporadic access to water for two hours, three or four days a week. The dorms are infested with bed bugs and, shown photographs of the insects, entomologist Dr. Susan C. Jones of Ohio State University confirmed the bed bugs were engorged with blood.

"All labour laws in Jordan, not to mention the International Labour Organization's (ILO) internationally-recognized workers' rights standards, are being blatantly violated at the IBG factory," said Kernaghan. "In fact, the Jordanian Ministry of Labour has placed the abusive IBG plant on their "Golden List" of best factories."

In a single week, from January 28 to February 17, 2010, Peter Nygard imported more than 280,000 women's pants made at the IBG factory, worth $2.5 million. Many of the pants retail for $38 USD. The workers were paid approx. 9 cents for each pair of pants they sewed and make only 3.9 pairs of pants per hour.

Peter Nygard is famous for his alcoholism, his temper, his lechery and now he will be known as several more things: A rapist, a murderer and a human trafficker who deals in slavery.

See Also:
Peter Nygard's empire reeling from CBC expose
Fashion Salon: Boycotting Peter Nygard
In My Hair: Peter Nygard: 21st Century Slaveowner
Facebook: Boycotting Peter Nygard

UPDATE! THE OLD BOYCOTT PAGE WAS DELETED NO THANKS TO NYGARD'S LAWYERS: Please join the new group at Boycott Nygard's Brands

The Truth about Details

RELIGION/SEX - What does religion have to do with men's magazine "Details"? Well, I'll tell you at the bottom of the article.

Not like it really matters. The content of Details magazine was always a bunch of macho bullshit anyway. Here is list of sample articles listed in Details magazine (Jan/2010):

How Internet Porn is Changing Teen Sex

The Five Creepiest Substitutes For a Woman

Meet the Man Who Has Slept With More Than 600 Women

Should You Get a Sex Coach?

Robot girlfriend ushers in a new dawn in "solo" sex

In the January 2010 issue there is an article called "The Lure of Dating an Ex-Lesbian", which we have quoted below (complete with images):

Certain female archetypes capture men's sexual imagination because they represent that elusive thing men can't have. Among them: the porn star (for obvious reasons), the nun (for obvious, more disturbing reasons), and the lesbian. For Dudus Americanus, this last image tends to conjure up the predictable girl-on-girl fantasies that have consumed him since he first stumbled upon Dad's secret stash of Oui magazines. But what about the guys who manage to break through? Is landing a woman who once found gratification in her own sex really a cause for celebration—or something more like trepidation?

Paul Mattingly, a 34-year-old actor, was doing "Klingon work" at Star Trek: The Experience in the Las Vegas Hilton when he met Anne, the pretty young manager of the attraction's gift shops. He chatted her up at a party (out of costume) and found out she'd dated a few other guys at the Experience, which didn't bother him. But after he and Anne became serious, he learned she'd been romantically involved with a woman for years.

"There was a minute there where I had a little Ben Affleck Chasing Amy moment," says Mattingly. "It was this feeling of 'Clearly, this person has out-experienced me—is that going to come back and bite me in the butt?'" Five years later, it has not; in fact, the two have been married since 2007. And while Anne admits she will probably always be attracted to women, he isn't worried. After all, the Mattinglys now have celebrity analogues. After three years as one half of the most famous lesbian couple ever, Anne Heche ran off with Ellen DeGeneres' very vagina-less cameraman Coley Laffoon. When she split with him, she didn't seek comfort in the arms of someone of her own gender—but instead shacked up with Men in Trees stud James Tupper. Even Ani DiFranco, folk guitarist, feminist icon, and prominent bisexual, just hitched up with a man for the second time last January—in freaking Hawaii. And Lindsay Lohan—well, these days it's safe to say Firecrotch will take whatever she can get.

There are no reliable statistics by which to gauge how many refugees there are from the isle of Lesbos. Nor could there be: Bisexual women, for instance, don't have to "switch teams" to enter into relationships with men, even if they've lived with other women for decades. But if the hasbian (and for simplicity's sake, we'll include bisexuals who've shifted from women to men) really is having a coming-out moment, it might be because the lesbian had her big coming-out moment in the nineties—the decade that saw Cindy Crawford shaving k.d. lang on the cover of Vanity Fair, the birth of Lilith Fair, and the mainstream popularity of lesbian-friendly folksingers like DiFranco, the Indigo Girls, and Dar Williams, not to mention a slew of literal "coming-out moments" set off by Ellen's "Yep, I'm gay" in 1997. Today, The L Word has come and gone, Katy Perry has qualified her confession about kissing a girl with "I hope my boyfriend don't mind it," and the tabloids are far more preoccupied with LiLo's dropout antics than with her sexuality—just as we are more compelled by Rachel Maddow's intelligence than by her orientation. It's safe to say the novelty has faded. A woman who began her sexual exploration in the lesbian-leaning nineties would be in her thirties now. Is it unreasonable to suggest her biological clock could also affect her sexual proclivities?

"It's impossible for women reaching their child-rearing years not to be aware of that at some level, and to have that influence who they're with," says Dr. Lisa M. Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah and the author of Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire. "I've seen bisexual women who say they could go either way, but as they get older, that structures how they want to be and who they want as a partner. The standard first question, Mattingly says, is "Aren't you afraid she'll go back to dating women?" "Continued change is really the norm," says Diamond. "We have this notion that as people get older, things stabilize. Not so. Meredith Baxter just came out at 62."

Benji Friehling, 26, a restaurateur in upstate New York, had another concern when he started dating his fiancee, who had been in a 12-year relationship with a woman and identified fully as lesbian: Could he possibly navigate the female anatomy as skillfully as a woman? Those concerns weren't limited to the usual matters of clitoral mastery and G-spot triangulation. "I worried that perhaps I was a bit inadequate," says Friehling, "that my penis wasn't as big as her dildo." This sort of fear raises a question about that whole adolescent obsession with girl-on-girl action. Though these guys may be in a better position than the rest of us to act on it, none, including Friehling, has any interest in actually following through—not because they're worried their wives and girlfriends will revert, but because they fear that they themselves won't be able to handle it. And that might be the greatest irony of dating a hasbian: In the end, we're the ones who lack the balls to explore our sexual margins.

"Of course I think about it. What man wouldn't?" Mattingly says. "But my wife's argument is that I wouldn't be able to emotionally survive it because I'm the one hung up on the 'sex is love' thing. She knows enough to know that it'd probably end in tears—and I'd be the one who's crying. She's the one who wears the pants." Anne Heche's rugged-looking new beau, Tupper? He enjoys bird-watching. After high school, he lived on a coffee farm in East Africa where he studied Swahili, and he has since appeared in several Off Broadway plays—not the resume of a dude who opens MGD with his molars and whacks off to Coochie Hoochies 2. It is hardly a stretch, then, to suggest that the reason modern men are more ably attracting hasbians is that modern men are, quite simply, offering these women something close to what they had before. Just look at Tom Cole, a pastoral-care director at International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Without a healthy exploration of his feminine side, he probably wouldn't have met his wife, Donna—who like Tom identifies as a "former homosexual." Before the two met years ago at church meetings for born-again Christians, Donna was in a lesbian rugby league. "They didn't even wear pads or anything," Cole recalls. "She had a tattoo and she drove a motorcycle." Since then, Cole notes, Donna has "softened up," and he's learned that the right woman can get him "extremely aroused." But a few aspects of their former selves never changed. "She doesn't love to cook, that's for sure," says Cole. "But I do, so it works out really well."

So according to Details magazine...

Lesbianism was just a fad from the 1990s.

There is a mass exodus of lesbians back to being straight.

Lesbians need a man to have babies.

And WTF is up with the photo of a woman sucking a banana?

Okay now here is the truth of it... Details magazine has been hiring a lot of Christians (or born again Christians) on their staff in recent years, including former American evangelical preacher. Try reading the above article and look for hidden messages that sound remarkably similar to the same crap being spouted by right wing Christians who obsessed with trying to convert homosexuals.

Conclusions? Even men's magazines have a dual purpose, to convert people to the Christian right-wing way of thinking: Lesbians and gays are evil! We must convert them into born again Christians!

Details my ass.

The Truth about Feminism in the United States

UNITED STATES - Remember Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin? Both were criticized for their looks, their clothing, their voices, their husbands and their children. It wasn't exactly "fair game", but it was certainly sexist. (Please note Sarah Palin is NOT a feminist.)

American women are getting "bitch slapped" back down where 'they belong' on a regular basis in the United States. For all their beliefs about equality Americans still can't accept women as leaders or equals.

The Oklahoma legislature recently approved a move that would compel doctors to fill out 10-page forms on each abortion they perform, including questions about the woman's relationship with the "sperminator"... worse, all these details would then be posted on a public website.

The idea is being pushed by the religious right-wing in an effort to discourage women from having abortions by fear-mongering them and exposing them publicly.

This is just one example of how women's rights are under attack.

If you read Maria Shriver's report "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything" or "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present" by Gail Collins you will get a better idea of just how much women's rights is under attack by the religious right-wing.

Gail Collins' book has lots of little stories like the woman who couldn't get a lease unless it was signed by her institutionalized mental patient husband or the woman who was shouted out of traffic court by the judge for wearing slacks instead of a skirt.

Collins also writes "Back then, if you wanted a career that involved travel, you'd have to have become a flight attendant..."

"Coffee, tea ... or me?"

The Great Pink North (Canada) meanwhile has free health care and maternity leaves, greater numbers in the workforce and halls of academia, but Canadian women still fall behind in government jobs and executive positions compared to the USA. So we're not much better if you we are realistic about it.

There's also the wage gap, both for wages and pensions. Women in particular suffer in their old age after their husband dies (or leaves in divorce) because they have little or no access to their husband's pension despite serving as homemaker and mother for decades.

Worse, feminism has been so attacked over the years by men and the religious right-wing that young women now associate the F-word with hairy-legs and man-hating Feminazis. So regardless of whether you live in the USA or Canada, the truth is feminism has yet to be accepted as what it really is: Equality.

"Feminism needs to rebrand." - Cristina Simonetto, ad copywriter.

Misogynism at the Cannes Film Festival

ENTERTAINMENT - Want to see a movie that is rather... misogynistic?

The "Antichrist" is a horror film starring William Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg and is rather graphic... featuring a scene in which she lops off her clitoris with a pair of rusty scissors.

I shit you not. Thats pretty graphic.

The film was recently shown at the Cannes Film Fest... and festival chief Thierry Frémaux remarked that the Cannes jury made "a ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship" when the primarily Christian jury gave the film the "anti-prize" for being "the most misogynistic movie" at the fest.

Now evidently people are going to get upset about this film. The name "Antichrist" alone is sure to offend some religious folks and create confusion about what the film is about.

The film wasn't the only film at Cannes that was anti-woman. Its actually a theme this year. "Kinatay" features the kidnapping, rape, torture, murder and dismemberment of a prostitute.

"Enter the Void" is about a Tokyo stripper named Linda who is haunted by the spirit of her recently murdered brother, and the end of the film features a rape scene viewed from inside the vagina.

"The White Ribbon" is set in a remote German village just before World War I, where the village elders variously commit incest with their daughters, physically and emotionally abuse their spouses and lovers and treat women like slaves.

Then there's the opening scene in "Map of the Sounds of Tokyo" about a female fish cutter who moonlights as a hit-woman. In the scene a group of Japanese businessmen sitting around eating sushi off the torsos of naked women who lie before them, all the while making sexist and racist remarks.

So what is the point of these films? Well, you might say they are to provoke the audience in the hope that people realize times are changing, but in some cases they really haven't changed that much. Women are still seen as sexual playthings by many men.

Thus these films are just a wake up call to women. I am not saying we should start burning bras again (thats just silly in my opinion), but it is certainly past time that many women start taking a more active role in promoting equality.

German gunman kills 11 women, 4 men

The German highschool student who killed 15 people yesterday was deliberately targeting women.

Tim Kretschmer's motives are still unknown, but his victims were primarily female: eight of nine students killed were teenage girls, and all three teachers were women. Three men were killed later as the suspect fled and had a shoot out with police.

A 17-year-old schoolmate said he had been studying this year with Tim Kretschmer at a private business school, and described him as quiet and reserved.

The two played poker together, both in person and online, as well as a multiplayer video game called "Counter-Strike" that involves killing people to complete missions. Tim was quite good at the game apparently.

Based on Tim Kretschmer's choice of targets one would think he just hated women, like the École Polytechnique Massacre in which a gunman in Montreal killed 14 women and injured 10 other women and 4 men.

In that massacre, Marc Lépine deliberately separated the men from the women in the room and started executing the women. Lépine claimed he was "fighting feminism", while he shot all nine women in the room, killing six of them. Lépine then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot.

In Lépine's suicide note he included a list of nineteen women whom he considered to be feminists and wished to kill.

See Also:
Dealing with Anti-Feminism
Feminism vs. the Evil Lessers
NRA Subverting Feminism for Guns
Femicide in Guatemala & Canada
Gender Violence in Mexico

Obama ends abortion-linked ban

FEMINISM/POLITICS - President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information – an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century.

Obama's executive order, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious policies of the previous president was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.

The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since Republican President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.

"For too long, international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back and forth debate that has served only to divide us," Obama said in a statement released from the White House. "I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."

He said the ban was unnecessarily broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.

"In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world," said President Obama.

Obama signed the executive order, without coverage by the media, late on Friday afternoon. The abortion measure is a highly emotional one for many people, and the quiet signing was in contrast to the televised coverage of Obama's Wednesday announcement on ethics rules and Thursday signing of orders on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and banning torture in the questioning of terror suspects

His action came one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade that legalized abortion.

The Bush Administration had banned money from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion as a family planning method.

Critics have long held that the rule unfairly discriminates against the world's poor by denying U.S. aid to groups that may be involved in abortion but also work on other aspects of reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS, leading to the closure of free and low-cost rural clinics.

Supporters of the ban say that the United States still provides millions of dollars in family planning assistance around the world. The ban has been known as the "Mexico City policy" for the city a U.S. delegation first announced it at a UN International Conference on Population.

Organizations and legislators that had pressed Obama to rescind the Mexico City policy were jubilant. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the move "will help save lives and empower the poorest women and families to improve their quality of life and their future."

Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the rule during the presidential campaign. Clinton visited the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier Friday but made no mention of the step, which had not yet been announced.

Anti-abortionists condemned Obama's decision.

See Also:
International Women's Day
Criminalizing Women