Happy Mother's Day!

Yes, I know I'm late.  Get over it.

What kind of women's blogger would I be if I didn't mention Mother's Day?!?

Mother's Day has roots in fighting for rights, which continues today.

So I'm putting up this video for my mum, Mama McBlogger, just a small thanks for everything she does day in and day out, for me, Sister McBlogger, Papa McBlogger, and the rest of the Family McBlogger.

(When that guy mentions peacekeeping, he is NOT kidding.  Sister McBlogger and I are exactly two years apart, and we've spent most of our lives together.)

While the Mother's Day is for relaxing with your favorite mom, there's always a little room for activism, no?

This is the text in the crawl on the bottom of the screen in the video link, via Lisa Belkin at NYTBlogs:

Moms in this country are way undervalued – Mothers make 73 cents to every dollar an equally qualified man makes at the same job – Single mothers make only about 60 cents to a man’s dollar – Those two facts, it should be noted, really suck – especially because men aren’t making much these days either – Over a lifetime mothers are paid anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million less than men doing the same work due to gender wage disparity. That’s a ridiculous “Mommy Tax.” A full quarter of US families with children less than 6 years old live in poverty – Well duh, all these other statistics would lead to this likely outcome – Motherhood is one of the hardest full-time jobs that does not come with Social Security or health benefits – It does however come with a lot of labor as well as love.

Make sure you tell your mother you love her!  

White House Council for Women and girls leads to the most random post.

In March, President Obama launched the White House Council on Women and Girls.  

The council is a part of a renewed initiative "to ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly in all matters of public policy," said President Obama." 

The press release included a list of the inaugural members of the council (I've added their names. It makes me feel close to them).  Do you think this is enough people?

The Cabinet
The Secretary of State - Hillary Clinton
The Secretary of the Treasury - Timothy Geithner
The Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates
The Attorney General - Eric Holder
The Secretary of Interior - Ken Salazar 
The Secretary of Agriculture - Tom Vilsack
The Secretary of Commerce - Gary Locke
The Secretary of Labor - Hilda Solis
The Secretary of Health and Human Services - Kathleen Sebelius
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Shaun Donovan
The Secretary of Transportation - Ray LaHood
The Secretary of Energy - Steven Chu
The Secretary of Education - Arne Duncan 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Eric Shinseki
The Secretary of Homeland Security - Janet Napolitano

So that was just the Cabinet.  The council also includes independent agencies:

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations - Susan Rice
The United States Trade Representative - Ron Kirk
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget - Peter Orszag 
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency - Lisa P. Jackson
The Administrator of the Small Business Administration - Karen Mills
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management - John Berry

And finally it includes these departments I've never heard of:
The Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors - Christina Romer
The Director of the National Economic Council - *Lawrence Summers* (Remember this for later!)

The Director of the Domestic Policy Council - Melody Barnes

Reaction of women:

NOW loved it.

Jezebel talked about criticism, specifically that of the "Clintonistas."

Feminist Majority approved.

Lisa Belkin of NYT was cautious, but positive.

Basically, everyone loved it, except people who are bitter about something that is over and done with.  I have no idea if it's actually done anything since inception.

I also think that the representation of women on a council for women (Do you think you'd see that during Dubya?), and many racial and ethnic minorities, is great.

Okay, so most of these Cabinet members and advisor people having been flying under the mainstream's radar (not you, P.Fal).  But while Lawrence Summers is now disliked for accepting perks from Citigroup pre-bailout, he used to be hated for something completely different.  You see, Summers is a former president of Hah-vaahd College, a little school out in Cambridge, Mass.

So back in 2005, Summers was a speaker at the National Bureau of Economic Research Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce.  He was speaking about the pronounced dearth of women represented in academia, specifically the sciences.  He had three hypotheses, but the one that stirred the most crap up was the one that basically said women are innately inferior to men in some fields, in this instance, intelligence. 

While he was told by the conference he was supposed to be inciteful, the problem was he was presented information like it was his personal opinion, rather than academic-based theory.  He later clarified that (not apologized).  His remarks inspired a conference member to pack up and leave.  (She was a Hah-vaahd grad.)

Now, Larry, as someone who, as the boss, was a minority in most places he worked (He was the first Jewish president of Hah-vaahd), don't you think you should be a little more supportive of all minorities, including women, in academia?  He said that it was inexcusable that only 4 women were offered tenure at the institution, out of 32 offers in school year 2003-4, but wasn't supremely committed to fixing that, according to faculty.  So does he really need to be on a council that, based on past statements, he doesn't hold in the highest esteem>  

Oh, yeah, he also has a thing for Cornel West.

Oh, and Obama just made a little dig at Larry in his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday:

We've also begun to change the culture in Washington. We've even made the White House a place where people can learn and can grow. Just recently, Larry Summers asked if he could chair the White House Council on Women and Girls.

You'll never escape it, Lar.

Good Lord.  This was like four posts in one.  What say you?

Update on Kenyan sex strike!

Last week, I discussed a protest by the women of Kenya, who rallied against the combative national government, by withholding sex from their husbands until peace is embraced.  Crazy, right?  They even asked the president and prime minister's wives to join.

If you saw my little edit at the bottom of that post, the PM's wife endorsed the strike on 1 May.  

On 3 May, a bunch of religious leaders and groups condemned the strike.  Muslim Women Groups of Mombasa (home of Fort Jesus, haha) called the strike "Un-Godly."

The strike ended on Wednesday, 6 May.

Well. it just got crazier.

A Kenyan man has sued the organizers of the boycott for giving him "anxiety and sleepless nights," ailments spurred by his wife's refusal to participate in, as Steve Urkel would say, "the horizontal polka."

According to the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), James Kimondo is seeking "damages" from the G10 group, a syndicate of women's groups in Kenya.  G10 organized the protest.

"Through his lawyer Wanjohi Gichuhi, he says his wife Teresia Wanjiku denied him his conjugal rights resulting to mental anguish, stress, backaches and lack of concentration and sleep," said KBC.

Seriously, while this may not have worked exactly as they intended, I think these women did a great job of thinking outside the box.  No one would have paid them any attention, especially in the West, if they had held a march or a prayer service.  This got attention, and demanded action from political leaders.

Nice work, ladies.

What say you?

Yikes, when did Europe become America?

Today, European Union Members of European Parliament (MEPs) failed to pass a proposal that would have extended the minimum maternity leave to 20 weeks, and provided at least two weeks of paternity leave.  Six weeks of the new maternity leave would have included full pay.

The paternity leave part specifically was an issue, the pet project of proposal writer Edite Estrela, a Portuguese MEP.  Sadly, it was also the pet peeve of employment, social affairs and equal opportunities commissioner Vladimír Špidla, a Czech MEP.

The European Parliament is comprised of 27 member nations, and convenes in Strasbourg, Brussels, and Luxembourg.  Today’s proceedings took place in Strasbourg.

Fingers were pointed in all directions, by Liberals, Conservatives, and Others.

European People’s Party (EPP) MEP Edit Bauer said, "There are countries, such as Germany, where the maternity leave is paid by the employer.”  Basically, she thinks these rules will deter employers from hiring women.  The EPP are a conservative group, with alternate names that include the term “Christian Democrats.”  They are the current majority in European Parliament.

Estrela said the European Parliament was attempting to “modernize legislation that is 17 years old and really out of date.”  She also said she “introduced a new concept of paternity leave because I think it's very important for women and men to share parental responsibilities.”

Personal favorite quote of the day, by Green MEP and vice president of the women's rights committee Raül Romeva:

Conservatives and Liberals in the European parliament apparently don't think it is a priority to support mothers and fathers and address their difficulties in reconciling work and family responsibilities… I hope that voters will be aware of where the political groups truly stand on family issues when they go to the polls next month.

Yeee-owch!  Suck on that, Conservatives and Liberals!

Maternity leave was kind of a huge part of why I was going to move to Europe.  What an I gonna do now?

What say you?

Oh, Catholic Church, you’re just going out of your way to find followers, aren’t you? /sarcasm

Special thanks to Robert for helping me find this. 

On 4 March 2009, a nine-year-old girl from the city of Recife, Brazil, had to undergo an abortion.  She was a victim of rape, the alleged perpetrator her stepfather.  This had been going on for quite sometime (Police say since she was six), and culminated in her pregnancy.  She was carrying twins.  Her pregnancy was discovered after she came to the hospital with stomach pains.  Some reports said she was four months pregnant.

Brazilian law states that abortion is allowed only when the mother’s life is at risk, and in cases of rape.  According to Olimpio Moraes, one of her doctors, her case met both of the criteria. After an aborted [Sorry!] attempt to stop the procedure, a Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, the archbishop of Olinda and Recife, decided that this was a perfectly suitable way for a nine year old to get pregnant (let alone the appropriateness of a nine year old being pregnant), and called for the excommunication of her mother, her doctors, and any others who played a part in this incident. He did not excommunicate the girl because of her age.  (He later said he was just following the teaching of the Church.  He didn't say if he was personally in agreement with those tenets.)

He also did not excommunicate her stepfather, who attempted escape to another area of Brazil, but was caught and jailed.  He is also suspected of abusing the girl 14-year-old sister.  Oh yeah, she’s physically handicapped!

[Kay, I just need to interject real quickly: I can’t even describe what kind of an ASSHOLE the stepfather is.  There’s a special place in hell for you, buddy.  Enjoy it.]

On the 5 March, Brazialian President and self-identified Catholic President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva openly disagreed with the Church’s ruling.  He told the Agence France Presse (AFP),

As a Christian and a Catholic I deeply regret that a bishop of the Catholic Church has such a conservative attitude.  The doctors did what had to be done: save the life of a girl nine years old.  In this case, the medical profession was more right than the Church.

Oh snap, son!  Its about to get crazy!

On 6 March 2009, the Vatican announced its full support of Archbishop Sobrinho. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, said the following to La Stampa, and Italian newspaper:

It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated.  Life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian Church is unjustified.

Um, with respect, Cardinal Re, what about the nine year old girl’s life?!?  Doctors said that her uterus wasn’t big enough to carry ONE child, let alone two!  Would you have been so ready to speak out if she had died?  Something tells me no, you would have pretended nothing happened, while her family mourns.

Oh, you want my sympathy because people have rallied against the Church?  Nope, not going to happen.

Also, why have you ignored her stepfather?  In my mind, running away = admission of guilt.  Granted, he is only accused at this time, but should he be found guilty, will you be so quick to excommunicate him?  Oh that's right, I forgot, you guys are okay with that kind of stuff.  Yeah, that was a low blow.  I'm sorry.

What say you?

Photo credit: www.tldm.org

Map credit: www.robstacy.info

Dude, I love being African just for this.

What am I talking about?  This.

Relying on the old adage that men think with their penises, women in Kenya have been encouraged to withhold sex from their husbands until fighting in the national unity government is ended.  Quite a few activist groups are involved, including the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA).  Another group, the Women’s Development Organization, has committed to paying off sex workers to keep the movement alive.

Rukia Subow, chairman of the Women's Development Organization, said, "We have looked at all issues which can bring people to talk and we have seen that sex is the answer. It does not know tribe, it does not have a (political) party and it happens in the lowest households." (MSNBC)

Patricia Nyaundi said that representatives have been sent to inform Ida Odinga and Lucy Kibaki of the protests, and to encourage them to join.  Odinga is wife to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and Lucy Kibaki is married to President Mwai Kibaki.  The president and the prime minister are coalition leaders.  Nyaundi summed it up nicely:

"Great decisions are made during pillow talk, so we are asking the two ladies at that intimate moment to ask their husbands: 'Darling can you do something for Kenya?'"

According to BBC correspondent Anne Waithera, it’s about to get crazy in Kenya, where apparently, men can’t go more than two days without some lovin’.

Wow, just wow.  Hit ‘em where it hurts, ladies!

EDIT 1 May 2009:

The Kenyan PM's wife is backing the "sex-out!"

South of the Equator...

My next continent is South America.

I have searched for a news article, website, angry, ranting blog, ANYTHING.  I have found nothing.  NOTHING!

I have a few hypotheses on this.  Join me.

1.     The Church has control over everything there.  Including the Internet.  Very China-esque.

2.     They have no Internet.

3.     They have no pregnancy.

4.     You see where I’m going with this.

If you find something, please forward it to me.

Don’t worry P-Fal, I will be covering this continent, as soon as I find something.

EDIT:  The ever helpful Robert found me a story via Reuters.  Look out for it soon.