teen pregnancy

It's Wednesday again! Here's some feminist news to start your day.

Stay tuned!

We as a nation just can’t seem to trust women to make their own choices, especially when their reproductive organs are involved.

It’s not earth-shattering to point out a good deal of language tossed around by our nation’s lawmakers, major media presences and religious institutions, is detrimental to the agency of women.  The wave of laws restricting abortion rights in 49 states often portray the woman as nothing more than a vessel for a fetus from the point of conception  

But recently, rhetoric has taken the issue even further. Current public education campaigns imply that we have a civic duty to tell women when they should get pregnant and reinforce the idea that pregnant women’s bodies are public property.

Here's the latest of what we're reading up on.

• Advertising in men's magazines try to convince dudes what really "makes a man."  And who are the targets of these ads? Most often, it's young, low-income men. [XX Factor]
• Misogyny and violence are unfortunately all too common in the lyrics of rap and hip hop.  Lil Wayne's latest song, though, compares having sex with the beating of Emmett Till. *Trigger Warning.*  [Crunk Feminist Collective]
• Although minister of women's affairs, Sihem Badi, admits things should've happened much sooner, Tunisia has opened their very first domestic violence shelter. [Ms. Magazine]
• At 58, Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, has died. [BBC]
• Teenage and pregnant? Well "shame on you" says the politicians behind New York City's latest advertising campaigns to discourage teen pregnancy rates. Nevermind that those rates have seen a drop of over 25 percent over the past decade. [RH Reality Check]
• While the notion of poverty in the U.S. is nothing new, here's a video, with commentary by Feministing, on the current rates of poverty in the country. [Feministing]
• Here are a few graphs on the discrepancies between the rates of published male and female authors, as well as reviewers. As if we needed another reminder as to how real the gender gap still is... [VIDA]
• The good folks over at Racialicious tackle the White straight privilege of rapper Macklemore of "Thrift Shop" fame. [Raciailicious]
• Although National Eating Disorder Awareness Week came to an end a few days ago, that doesn't mean we should stop our efforts to bring awareness to the issue.  Here's a raw and eye-opening video about the realities of living with an eating disorder. (For more info or support, visit NEDA.) [YouTube]

Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments!

Good morning! Happy Monday! Here's our list of feminist news links to kick off your week. 

• Grammy Time: Was Frank Ocean stiffed awards because he's unconventional? [Guardian] Will we all let out a collective sign of relief at some future date when Rihanna dumps that jerk Chris Brown? [Jezebel] 

• Millions of immigrants could be cut out of immgration reform. Here's the infograph to prove it. [Colorlines] 

• FOX News accidentally endorses same-sex marriage: The news agency mistakenly runs a photo of a lesbian couple to illustrate a story about the need for traditional gender roles in marriage. [Feministing] 

• Standing up to domestic violence... on Social Media: An American woman living in China posted photos online of the bruises she received from her husband, building support as she fought for justice through an apathetic and discouraging court system. [NYTimes]

• Hooray for contraception! The US teen pregnancy rate is at an all-time low. [Jezebel]

• Science says: Gender doesn't determine whether you're "assertive" or other traits traditionally thought of as male. [Buzzfeed]

• Who are these "female readers"? A great little historical retrospective on peoples' conceptions of what women want to read. [LA Review of Books] 

• Sylvia! Today is the 50th anniversary of great writer Sylvia Plath's death. [Guardian] 

• One more reason to never listen to Rush: On gun control, he disrespects and distorts the histories of African-Americans. [Miami Herland] 

• Who made Mardi Gras for tourists? A history of the race and class behind Mardi Gras Krewes. [Sociological Images] 

• Finally! A statistical analysis of what rappers actually say about the police [Sociological Images] 

Did I miss anything? Post it in the comments!

Good morning Bitch readers! Here's your daily feminist news, fresh off the press. 

• The Pakistani schoolgirl activist attacked by the Taliban speaks out and announces the creation of a new foundation for children. [Democracy Now]

• Shocker: Teen pregnancy declines in NYC thanks for use of contraceptives.  [NY Daily News] 

• Do you want a dolphin or a tiger with those fries? Sounding off on gender stereotyping in kids' meals. [The Baltimore Sun]

• Ugh. Take a look at the Western coverage of South Korean beauty standards.  [Racialicious]

• In Britain, people are having sex-selection abortions. [The Telegraph]

• Writing characters of color on TV is not as hard as it’s made out to be.  [Geek Quality]• Activists in Nepal are trying to eradicate the practice of child marriage. [Global Press Institute] 

• Getting Closure: Oregon has a new program where domestic violence survivors can ask questions of their abusers. [Willamette Week]

• Call for submissions! Share your strategies for wealth redistribution in Dean Spade's project Enough: The Personal Politics of Resisting Capitalism.  [Enough]

That's all for today folks! Stay tuned for more news from our radar.

 

Teen birth rates in the U.S. have hit an all-time low.

Much of the conversation has revolved around this: in a generation with greater freedom to break free from gender norms, "boys will be girls" and "girls will be boys."

The astronomically high pregnancy rate in majority black Shelby County, which includes Memphis, has sparked public outcry as well as an initiative called "No Baby!" run by Girls Inc. For decades, Girls Inc. has aimed to help Memphis girls improve their self-esteem. But its "No Baby!" campaign—slated to kick off Jan. 20—may do little to curb the high teen pregnancy in the Memphis area. Why? Because the campaign promotes abstinence only, according to AOL's Black Voices.

Watching Bristol Palin's teen pregnancy PSA the other day and reading reactions to it (including Bitch's own Kelsey Wallace), I was reminded of a question that I've been turning over in my mind lately, namely who has the authority/credibility/legitimacy to speak to issues of class and privilege?

(WARNING: Video contains graphic images)

I think it's great that the British kids who came up with the concept for the above video were committed to a teen pregnancy PSA that wasn't preachy.

Too bad the end result is problematic for other reasons.

It’s sad to remember how high my hopes were for CW’s 90210 last summer. I love Fox’s original series, Beverly Hills 90210 (though bad dialogue and one-dimensional characters make for a rocky relationship) and I love Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars), who was supposed to be writing this thing and making it awesome. But he backed out at the last minute to work on stupid Cupid , leaving us with a badly acted, poorly lit, script-challenged mess.

I thought it’d at least be worthwhile to see Shannen Doherty reprise her role as Brenda Walsh, but not even one of my favorite characters ever could keep me watching for more than 3 episodes. I gave it another shot for the sake of research, and what I found out was…it’s still not good. But it had a good moment. You might even call it a feminist moment.