Week in Review – Page 9 – The Gender Report

Week in Review: Jan. 31 – Feb. 4

February 5, 2011February 5, 2011Joy BaconLeave a comment

*Week in Review is a weekly post that highlights some of the major stories related to gender issues this week. Some of these stories may have already appeared in our News Feed or in the week’s Gender Checks. We’ll at times include a longer analysis of stories as well as bring attention to stories that may have slipped through the cracks of the week’s news cycle.

Healthcare legislation

This week the GOP moved forward with its plan to dismantle Obama’s healthcare plan by focusing on portions of the legislation dealing with federal funds for abortions. On Monday H.R.3, named the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” introduced language that would redefine the terms under which a woman could receive federal funds for an abortion after rape or incest. The proposed change aimed to limit funding to pregnancies resulting from “forcible” rape. After criticism from several groups, a spokesman for Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), one of the bill’s authors, said the word “forcible” would be dropped. He told the Washington Post Thursday that lawmakers decided to change the term because it was being “misconstrued.” The bill will now revert back to the language already in place through the Hyde Amendment.

The Hyde Amendment*, originally passed in 1976, governs the current uses and restrictions of federal funds used for abortions. Federal funds cannot be used except in cases of rape, incest, or when a mother’s life is in danger. It also bans abortion funding for women on Medicaid, women in the military or Peace Corps, and those who receive medical care from Indian Health Services. The bill proposed by Smith and other sponsors will make the restrictions set in place by the Hyde Amendment a permanent appropriations law. Currently it has to be recodfied in appropriations each year.

Planned Parenthood also took the spotlight later in this week’s news cycle after undercover videos showed employees giving medical advice to men posing as pimps of child prostitutes. One worker was fired as a result of the tapes. Some members of Congress are using the videos as momentum to remove all federal funding from the organization under H.R.614. Live Action, the group responsible for the videos, claims staff turned a blind eye to sexual trafficking and exploitation of minors.

Thursday, 27 groups sent a letter to Congress in support of Planned Parenthood, including the NAACP and Sierra Club. “Right-wing groups are once again attempting to destroy an organization dedicated to providing crucial primary care services to Americans that need them most. Armed with heavily edited videos, countless lies, and a shameless echo chamber that repeats unfounded accusations ad nauseam, they’ve now turned their sights to Planned Parenthood, which offers a range of important health and reproductive services,” the letter reads (as taken from POLITICO excerpt).

According to its website, over 3 million men and women received health-related services from Planned Parenthood’s 820 health centers last year, including 1 million Pap tests and 4 million tests and treatment for STDs. Three percent of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services. Currently the organization does not receive federal money for any of its abortion services.

In Other News

A study released this week showed that after 10 years, Wikipedia’s contributor base consisted of less than 15 percent female authors. The disparity also shows up in the emphasis of posts by male vs. female authors. Sue Gardner, the executive director of the foundation, has set a goal to raise the share of female contributors to 25 percent by 2015 (as reported in the New York Times).

*The link to the full text of the Hyde Amendment was taken from the National Right to Life website. The site provided the most easily accessible link to the original legislation, but is not in any way an endorsement of this group or its stance on this issue. Whenever possible the Gender Report tries to link to original sources and primary documents or otherwise fully cites any reprinted quotes or information.

Week in Review: Jan. 24-28

January 29, 2011January 30, 2011Jasmine R. Linabary1 Comment

State of the Union

President Barack Obama gave his second State of the Union address Tuesday, discussing a plan to “win the future.” Media outlets focused in on key issues in the speech such as investing in education and infrastructure to stay competitive with other nations as well as working to reduce the deficit.

The blogosphere was a”twitter” with commentary, including some women who noted the absence of certain social issues. During their #sheparty discussion on Twitter on Wednesday, the Women’s Media Center asked what the take was on Obama’s speech. Commenters noticed missing issues such as equal pay, violence against women and abortion.

Also observed was the coverage of the speech. A post at Feministing provided a roundup of commentary on the address, noting at the end that it was “virtually impossible to find any female pundits commenting on the SOTU on the nation’s most notable progressive media outlets.”

At the same time, the Women’s Media Center released its report card for Obama on the state of the union for women and children, giving him an overall pass “with room for improvement.” Obama’s lowest grade on the report card, aside from some incompletes, was a C for appointing women. It cites the Center for American Women and Politics and notes that Obama appointed women to fill seven of 22 existing cabinet or sub-cabinet positions, or approximately 32 percent. The high for women was under President Bill Clinton at 42 percent. It also partly holds Obama responsible as a leader of the Democratic party for the lack of women running in recent elections. Quoting Katherine Kleeman with the CAWP, the report card notes, “the Democrats aren’t putting as much effort as the Republicans into grooming great women candidates at the local level.”

In other news

Also this week, women were part of the dialogue on the situations on Tunisia and Egypt. N’Dri Assie-Lumumba, a professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University, has noted that women are playing significant roles in these social movements. She says, “Even if African and Middle Eastern women don’t always have easy access to public platforms to express their ideas and voice their opinions,… they have consistently constituted a formidable and determining force in the struggle against any system of oppression.”

Here are a couple articles to check out if you’ve missed them.

-NPR: “In Tunisia, Women Play Equal Role In Revolution”

-AFP: “Tunisian women fear Islamist return”

-Guardian: “An eyewitness account (by a woman) of the Egypt protests”

-Daily Beast: “Egypt Revolution: the Purity Protests” (Women increasingly taking part in the politics of the street)

Week in Review: Jan. 17 to 21

January 22, 2011January 28, 2011Joy Bacon3 Comments

Women in Combat

A report released Tuesday by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission recommended women should be allowed to serve in front-line combats. The commission, composed of current and retired military officers, told the Associated Press it was time “to create a level playing field for all qualified service members.”

Currently women, who make up 14 percent of the armed forces, are usually restricted to combat support positions such as medics, transportation officers. However, many women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan already serve in these front-line positions, but cannot be officially assigned there, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Defense policy prohibits women from being assigned to any unit smaller than a brigade whose primary mission is direct combat on the ground.

Women have sometimes been viewed as lacking the physical strength and stamina for the work these kinds of positions require. Other opponents to the full inclusion site dangers to cohesion within units, or the negative public perception of female military casualties. As of January 3 Pentagon data (as cited in the Washington Post) showed 134 women had been killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (compared to the more than 5700 men) . Congress and the White house will hear the report in March.

Analysis

With the recent repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies that banned gay and lesbian women from open military service, this study’s timing, I think, is significant. While the debates about physical strength and capacity for service will continue as long as men can do more push ups in gym class, I think the bigger picture is the opportunities within the military that will be opened up if these changes occur. According to the Post’s coverage of the study, more than 10 percent of Marine Corps and Army occupational specialties positions are out of reach to women because of their lack of combat experience. These new opportunities could see more high-ranking positions filled by women.

Another potential impact is perception of what it means to be equal. Certain feminists would argue that any distinction between gender roles and strengths will default to discrimination and a lingering unbalance in society. I would disagree. A November feature in the New York Times highlighted the advantages female soldiers can have in access and communication with civilians, especially in areas such as Afghanistan where cultural gender expectations would exclude male soldiers from these interactions. This commission’s recommendation is a great step forward for a military that, unfortunately, has a history of stifling equality within its barracks. I just hope it doesn’t diminish the unique skill sets some women, and men, bring to the table outside of combat skills.