"don't come crying to me when you get hurt!" - u.s. government

female veterans are still not receiving adequate care. and we're just talking basic standards of care here. the medical care they can expect to receive once they return from combat isn't anywhere NEAR dependable, high-quality or even available in some cases.

we've heard so many stories about the insult added to (sometimes literal) injury that our veterans are subjected to (hello, walter reed!). but can you imagine being a woman, having already faced overt sexist treatment while enlisted, and likely having feared for your bodily safety at least once, at the hands of your fellow servicemen (i.e. the ultimate betrayal)...and then you finally get home, and you are denied mental health care, or your exams aren't even private, or you have no access to a doctor specializing in women's health at the VA facility.

this is another glaring example of something i've heard a few people mention recently...and it's so........maddening! white, straight, middle/upper class, able-bodied MEN are considered NORMAL. if you posess any characteristics other than that- you're deviant from the norm, and somehow 'odd', 'biased', or 'special' (and not in a good way.)

because, you know:

~it's so HARD to cater to all of female veterans' special needs (whiiinnnneeee)...

~women who don't serve in active combat don't need mental health services. (are you flipping kidding me?)

~judge sotomayor is suspect of being racist, but "the obvious point — that the background and heritage of old white guys influences their decision-making all the time, too — would not have been the politically sound one to make." (i just have to laugh, or i'll cry...)


the whole world is geared toward what has been established as 'normal'. god forbid if you're not normal. don't bother expecting fair treatment. if you demand equality (which, by the way- doesn't mean THE SAME treatment, but rather, the same quality of treatment, or availability of options, or the same access to opportunities) prepare to be labeled a reverse racist, a bitch, or (gasp) hillary clinton.

this does not bode well...

...for me personally.

Male Nonprofit Executives Earn 27% More Than Female Leaders, Study of Fla. Executives Finds

That pay gap is partially due to the fact that men are more likely to lead large organizations — which offer higher salaries — than are women, according to Margaret Linnane, executive director of the Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Center at Rollins College, in Winter Park, Fla., which conducted the survey.
But men tend to make more money even at smaller organizations, she said.
At the biggest organizations, female CEO’s earned 34.8 percent less than their male counterparts, according to a Guidestar study last year.

hmm, wonder why men are leading all the big organizations?

sweet. sure makes me glad i'm getting my masters, so i can hopefully move up in the ranks some day and make less than my male counterparts!!

c'mon female central florida nonprofit executives- check this study out and raise some Lilly Ledbetter hell!

real life

real life SVU. new york city bouncer brutalized, murdered and raped boston student.

real life effects of war. 1100 women are raped in the congo every month. more than 16 women (and girls) per day.

the part of that article that made me stop was this: Sexual violence in conflict zones has become so pervasisve that its threat to individual victims as well as entire communities and nations and requires an international response, said Margot Wallstrom, vice president of the European Commission.

ok, i appreciate the sentiment...but does anyone else think that the threat to individuals ALONE should prompt a response? only when it affects the larger community (i.e. not just WOMEN), does this become a 'crisis'.

but any effort to STOP RAPE is a step in the right direction. i want one of these:

troops = war = bad news for women

two articles today, speaking out about the problem of the continued war in afghanistan. in particular, the problem for women. women in afghanistan already face one of the harshest realities in which to survive. war only intensifies the injustices.

self-immolation is on the rise. in other words, life is so unbearable, the only option that provides relief is suicide.

"peacekeeping" forces do not peace bring. in fact, life in occupied afghanistan is not getting better for women at all.

the implication of a troop surge for afghan women is frightening.

just like that time...

this reminds me of that story i heard about a woman kidnapping her husband, and holding him prisoner during a violent stand-off with police...

oh wait.

no it doesn't. because i don't think i've ever heard that story. just this one.

the good news is, she got out alive. note, however, that her ex-husband has other pending criminal charges, including threatening, violating a protective order, arson and forgery. she's been dealing with this threat, this fear, for years. this story is what you would find in the dictionary under 'broken system'.

WWII WASPS get their due

FINALLY.

ok, i admit, this wasn't on my radar until i read the article. but seriously- FINALLY.
these women weren't even recognized by the government who asked them to serve until 30 years later. typical.

rape, murder and infidelity, oh my!

husbands have property rights in their wives' bodies. and no, we're not talking about husbands in the dark ages. great article linked there about spousal rape- its prevalence and the shameful way it's STILL prosecuted in many states. (the article doesn't even begin to address the issue outside of the u.s.)

boy, that protective order really worked, huh? the murdered woman did everything right. but she's still dead.
i wish i could personally look women in the eye and really make them hear and believe me: he DOESN'T love you, he WON'T stop hurting you, and you should NOT, under ANY circumstances, take your abuser back.

jeez, sanford just can't shut up. it would be funny if it wasn't so disgusting and (of course) degrading to his wife. i hope she pitches him.