salty femme.

This is from an actual ad campaign by UNICEF in Germany to raise awareness about education in Africa. I didn’t know blackface was making a comeback. More at Black Women in Europe, via BFP. (great comments underneath both of these posts, in case anyone is looking for a bit of analysis)

A Tale of Two Genocides. Check out this article raising questions about US inconsistencies when it comes to genocide in Africa. Turns out, shockingly, that what matters is not how many people are dying but who is vying for power. Via Sylvia.

Via TAN: white people think it’s easier to be black than to not have TiVo. Sounds like an Onion headline, right? Yeah, not so much.

Hollywood is not dealing with abortion in this summer’s blockbusters about accidental pregnancies. Curious. Via Kaiser.

Transpeople and bathroom issues at Feministe.

Ooooh I just lurve this headline. Corporate America: The New Gay Activists.

The next generation of republicans: more war, less gay. Or something. Via Feministe.

And finally, some satire. Stephen Colbert presents “the Susan B. Anthony of Pole Dancing,” your feminist of the day. Via Feministing.

This is old, but some of you might have missed it. I kind of love Manhattan Mini Storage. Via Feministing.

OK I admit it. It is way more difficult to keep up a blog in the summer. I can’t promise salty sunday every week, but I will try.

Salon had a great piece last week about reproductive rights and poverty in Mississippi. Catch-22s abound: without sex education, teenagers don’t use protection and also don’t get tested soon enough after getting pregnant - and in Mississippi, abortions become more expensive after the first trimester because you have to travel out of state in order to have one legally.

New queer group blog Bilerico Project reports on a Florida judge who declared “two victims” in a trans hate crime.

Check out this summary of the US Social Forum at Workers World and also this piece from the AFL-CIO blog on the exciting new National Domestic Workers Alliance formed at the USSF. Also in DW news, the July/August issue of the Brooklyn Rail includes an article about DW issues and the Bill of Rights. There is also some mention of the JFREJ campaign and has some great quotes from employers!

I’m totally psyched about the brand new health justice blog Cure This - there are already a bunch of great pieces up. Definitely check it out. Via BFP.

Also in the category of new health websites, the Kaiser Family Foundation has started Health08, a resource for health-related election news and analysis. Via Feministe.

At Feministe, Trailer Park Feminist reports that fundies are pissed that a Hindu prayer was read aloud for the first time at the beginning of a US senate session. There were hecklers! Jesus. No pun intended.

I haven’t done salty sunday in awhile and I missed some gems over the weeks that I want to share: Blackamazon on not being a radical (hard to sum up), How to destroy an African-American city in 33 steps (Via BFP).

Finally, some humor. Belledame points readers to genius blog Passive-Aggressive Notes, which accepts submissions from lucky folks who have been subject to the notorious notes left behind by angry flatmates and co-workers. (A personal favorite: “Erica, Thanks for cleaning! It’s so nice to have someone else do it once in awhile!”). I used to be the roommate who left passive-aggressive notes. I’m getting better. I think.

The NYTimes discusses ethical concerns about the high compensation fees for egg donation (and what effect this has on “informed consent” for a fairy extensive and potentially dangerous medical procedure).

DMI blog on the NYC housing myth: there is, without a doubt, enough vacant property in Manhattan to house every single homeless person. So why are they still living on the street? This entry links to a new study published by Picture the Homeless on why this is happening and what can be done to change it.

Angry Brown Butch links to previously classified NYPD documents from the RNC, released after a legal victory for I-Witness video.

Queer artists: consider submitting to the Borders and Bridges art gallery at the Southern Comfort conference in Atlanta in September. You do not need to attend the conference to submit your work.

Jill at Feministe responds to the recent criticism of Full Frontal Feminism.

Quench Zine likes the food stamp challenge (of which I am not such a fan).

Everything I know about feminism, I learned on on youtube - at Fetch Me My Axe. There’s some great stuff there, especially that video of Staceyann Chin. Damn.

The LA Times has a piece about the changing West Village and the recycling of homophobia. Via NSRC feed.

NYTimes on shelters for gay youth.

Birthright Unplugged made it into Newsweek.

Finally, a little bit funny and a little bit sad: Sam Brownback thinks he has a uterus. Via Pandagon.

DON’T FORGET TO BLOG FOR DOMESTIC WORKERS, TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH!

Yesterday was too beautiful a spring day to be sitting at a computer. So I bring you the first salty Monday.

(a vast improvement from the scantily clad hipster girls, don’t you think? Apparently the founder of American Apparel is hot for the rebbe Woody Allen these days. The corner of Allen Street and East Houston will never be the same.)

First up: Maya Escobar, of the now-famous JAP videos, brings us a piece on cultural appropriation in the form of Guatemalan tallitot.

Petitpoussin on how the definition of ‘alternative media’ seems to be a bit skewed these days to some mainstream feminists. And why everyone should shut up about Rosie for the love of all things feminist and more freaking important!

Piny at Feministe on fetishizing trans folks. A really great introduction but also great if you’ve been trying to organize these thoughts on this issue in your head but can’t get a really good grip on it.

There are a great many feminists who are pretty pissed about “Full Frontal Feminism” and about the general state of the feminist blogosphere (mainly that it is replicating problems in the larger movement: silencing/erasing voices of women of color, dealing with issues that are vapid and ridiculous when there are clearly more important things to blog). For book reviews, clicky here, and here. On the rest, try here and here for some unbelievably powerful writing.

The Onion has a hilarious Women’s Issue. Highlight: Women Now Empowered by Everything a Woman Does. Via everyone.

Queer masculine folks of all stripes should consider contributing to Beyond Masculinity: Essays by Queer Men on Gender and Politics. Deadline is May 31st. Via Feministing.

Israel/Palestine news, Via Jewschool since it’s too depressing to follow. Violent police response to leftist protestors outside Hebron has sparked a storm of criticism. Also three new settlements have been approved on the land between East Jerusalem and Gush Etzion to continue creating contiguity between the two.

Finally, the best mother’s day post I read is at DMI blog. In Homage to All Mothers, Maureen Lane asks how we honor mothers living in poverty. A complicated and detailed piece, definitely a must-read.

Remember the bomb that was found at the abortion clinic in Texas last week? A man was arrested for allegedly planting the bomb, which apparently contained 2,000 nails. Via Feministing.

Marriage and divorce for economic reasons? But I thought it was all about love and baybeez! Via Feministing.

Pro-life = anti-woman, anti-child, anti-choice. Case in point, South Carolina.

I heart New York. Governor Spitzer introduced the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act. Via Feministing.

A Jewish woman in France was attacked, stripped, and had swastikas drawn on her body. The incident wasn’t called anti-Semitic. It also wasn’t called a sexual attack. Um, what? Via Jewschool.

A succinct summary of why anti-choicers are hypocrites. Via Feministe.

Domestic Violence as a public health issue? Interesting. Via Kaiser.

37th Carnival of Feminists is up!

Social justice and spirituality go hand in hand, at least according to Tikun Leil Shabbat in DC. The word is spreading!

Great May Day series over at Women of Color Blog - photos and videos - because words can’t convey everything, especially the emotion of protest. Click here and scroll to the bottom for #1.

The NYTimes profiles a shelter in Astoria for transgendered teens.

This article explains why I hate the new Grey’s Anatomy spinoff. It’s shallow, predictable, boring, and has three female leads who are all sex- and love-starved and can’t seem to be happy without pathetic men around giving them attention.

Finally, coherent policies to reducing poverty, thank you! So we can put the slumming aside and maybe make some real change happen.

(a little taste from yesterday’s salty fun with the lovely Miya. Saltyfemme will be changing servers very soon. Stay tuned for an exciting new layout!)

Philly-based activist April Rosenblum published a pamphlet about anti-Semitism on the Left called the Past Didn’t Go Anywhere: Making Resistance to Antisemitism Part of All of Our Movements. Via Jewschool.

Check out this very special d’var torah from the Forward on this week’s torah portion, which contains the infamous verses on anal sex. New Voices’ Ilana Sichel considers the functional purpose of Jewish guilt.

Um, this is really weird. Wetnurses are back in style. I wrote a whole post about this, linking the issue with the campaign I’m working on with JFREJ but then decided against it. I don’t know enough about it, except that (mostly low-income, women of color) wetnurses make $1000/week, significantly more than domestic workers.

JSpot covers a new MSNBC documentary about transgender issues and touches on trans stuff in the Jewish world.

On Rosie O’Donnell’s parting: Queer Sighted’s Kenneth Hill wonders if she’s gone because she was too dykie, too fat, and too opinionated.

Rudy Giuliani has changed his mind and now hates the gays. Er, I mean, now he is opposing civil unions to pander to the homophobic republicans who are now his potential supporters. Via Pandagon.

This is a little delayed but still important – the World Health Organization published a new report presenting findings from a 10-country study, which tracked the link between HIV/AIDS and violence against women. Via Reproductive Rights Prof Blog.

Ms. Foundation sponsors its final Take Our Daughters to Work day. Now that we’ve achieved equality in the workplace (hhmm), can we work on it everywhere else? Via NSRC feed.

That swimsuit covers too much skin. Or maybe I’m just your run-of-the-mill islamophobe. Via Pandagon.

Tech dept: RSS feeds made easy. Via Michael.

Finally, an ex-gay parody from Queer Sighted.

(This photo by Israeli photojournalist Oded Balilty won a Pulitzer for best breaking news photography of the year. The woman in the photo is a resident of the Amona settlement, east of Ramallah, which was evacuated February 1, 2006. Via Jewschool.)

Today’s salty sunday is a doozy. So much happened this week. I have attempted some categories.

Feminism
Kaiser has a pretty great list of opinions, editorials, and basic coverage of the so-called “partial-birth” abortion ban, upheld this week in the supreme court. Oh, and here’s the original text of the ban.

If you’re looking for some well-written and comprehensive pro-choice commentary on the “partial-birth” abortion business, go read this article, written by Jill from Feministe at HuffPo.

All five justices who voted to uphold the ban are Catholic. Coincidence? Geoffrey Stone at HuffPo thinks not. Via Feministe.

American women have greater health needs than men but have lower incomes and therefore less access to health insurance, according to a new study. Via Feministing.

This month’s carnival of feminists is so F-ing long. I can’t get through all of it. Maybe you can. Part 1, part 2, part 3. There’s a salty post buried in part 3 somewhere.

This week in homos
Kol Ra’ash Gadol at Jewschool responds thoughtfully to some more reckless rhetoric from the homophobic Rabbi Einat Ramon.

Women may soon be able to produce babies without men. But only girl babies. Radical lesbian feminists rejoice! Via Feministing.

Blatant transphobic humor in the Illinois state legislature. Via Feministe.

A transman is running for prom king in Fresno, CA! Rock on. Via NSRC feed.

A fantastic piece on Jewish approaches to intersexuality at Jewish Mosaic.

Funny, not Always on Purpose
Pollution is good for you! (it’s a video, and it’s short)

Ever wanted to watch cheddar age? Yeah me neither, but apparently 900,000 people do.

Blog post title of the week: “Gynoversity” not, in fact, attended by vaginas. This article is truly hilarious. Boo hoo, it’s so hard to be a man in the world these days.

Israeli academics with time on their hands came up with this nifty tool that uses an algorithm to guess a writer’s gender based on a prose selection of 500 words or more. I tested it with three saltyfemme posts – every time the Gender Genie told me I was a man. Hhmmm. Via Majikthise.

From the Onion: This American Life Completes Documentation of Liberal, Upper-Middle-Class Existence.

Miscellaneous
On VA tech shootings: Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon explains why placing blame and making generalizations are unhelpful and problematic responses to this tragedy. She also links to some hilarious right-wing bloggers who have been quite creative in explaining this shooting spree.

Also on VA tech: Talk about victim-blaming. The first sentence in this article about the first woman killed who was being stalked by the shooter: “This is the face of the teenage student who may have sparked the biggest gun massacre in US history.” Via Feministe.

Eyal Press in the Nation on New Voices magazine’s funding crisis, which was essentially a discussion of journalistic integrity vs. Israel advocacy. Covered at Kabobfest and analyzed at Muzzlewatch.

Quentin Tarantino’s character from Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse movie Planet Terror, “the Grindhouse Rapist No. 1” has been made into an action figure! Retails at $12.99. Via Perez Hilton.

Finally, do check out this thoughtful piece from the American Prospect about Muslim radical reformer Irshad Manji.

(How many problems can you find in this photo? source.)

If you think the Darfur issue is simple, if you think it’s a better focus than Iraq, if you think there are no other ethnic conflicts happening in the world, if you are calling for international intervention, if you feel an unexplainable desire to save helpless children in a faraway land, if you think this issue has nothing to do with politics, or if you know the Darfur rhetoric is problematic but can’t quite put your finger on why, please read this long piece (worth the read) by Mahmood Mamdani: The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency.

If you haven’t seen in yet, don’t miss February’s In the Life (PBS’s gay and lesbian news magazine), this time hosted by Ani DiFranco. The episode, the Principles of Youth, tells a few stories of queer youth from around the country. The highlight for me is the first segment about a brave and honest high schooler, Emily, who struggles with coming out in a small Christian town in Iowa. Via saltyfemme’s newest blogger.

The Boston Globe on the transmen at women’s colleges debate. Not a great article but I felt like I should link.

A surprisingly sensitive post at an urban parents blog on the complications of transmen giving birth.

Immigrants who want to bring children still abroad into the US undergo DNA tests ($450, which the government, shockingly enough, does not cover) to ensure biological relationships. Does anyone else find this insane?

Many states have begun refusing federal funds for abstinence-only sex education, perhaps because of the new study that came out that boldly declares that abstinence-only sex ed does not result in abstinence? (full study is here, it’s way long but the executive summary, pages 14-24, is worth reading).

Sheelzebub at Pandagon discusses choice (as in the “my body my choice” rhetoric) and race, as a response to this post at women of color blog.

Watch out for seething sapphic septets next time you catcall. Headline of the week: Attack of the Killer Lesbians! It brings warmth to my heart to know that the NYPost is the 5^th largest newspaper in the US. Via Feministing.

Should presidential candidates know the price of a gallon of milk? Discuss at jspot.

The Imus drama, as documented by the bloggers, is really hard to keep up with. Among the deluge of posts, here are some of the most thoughtful I’ve read:
Black Women: First Dissed, Now Disappeared (Women in Media & News)
Resisting the Soundbite Culture (Pandagon)
Gender Discrimination in Sports: Don Imus and the Shaming of the Fan (Bleacher Report, a sports site, especially impressive considering the other garbage written there re: Imus)

In the laughs department, check out Shalom Auslander’s glossary of Jewish terms. Snip:

Feygele: Derived from the Yiddish for “little bird,” a disparaging appellation for a male homosexual, considered an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. There is no disparaging appellation for a lesbian, since they are really hot. In the eyes of the Lord, I mean.

Via Jewschool.

(and a happy Pesach to you. photo credit, via Jewschool.)

“Converting the new septic tank into a hot tub was inventive, but we really won’t get a lot of use out of it.” The Onion on Alternative spring break turning into real spring break. Via JSpot.

Peeps do the 10 plagues! Via Jewschool.

On the Media got in a pretty fantastic April Fool’s Day joke last week – Bob Garfield interviewed the creator of a new show called “Jihad to be There” on a new terror channel. Both transcript and audio available.

Also in the joke category, if you happened to miss the Geraldo and Bill O’Reilly shouting match and you want a clear and definitive answer for the basic problems plaguing our mainstream media, you should go watch it. Via everyone.

Gays, grab your guns. Because if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Or something. Via NCRS feed.

More corporate sponsorships at lesbian weekend in Palm Springs means civil rights! Yes, exactly what I was thinking.

Queer Sighted’s Richard Rothstein on the plight of gay elderly folks as the next gay health crisis. Rothstein, as always, confronts with a strong charge to the GLBT community. Snip:

What’s wrong with us? And don’t give me this bull that this is the way it is in America. We are gay men and women, a community that revolutionized patient advocacy and patient care. We forever changed the way America cares for its vulnerable.

In NY health news, while the HPV vaccine debate rages nationally, NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has begun distributing vaccines to city health providers, including some school-based clinics. Via Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy.

Also in NY-related health news, former mayor and now presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, republican though he may be, says he still backs some government funding for abortions. Via Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that more US HIV/AIDS-related foreign aid is spent on abstinence education than on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment – even though women often contract HIV from their husbands. Thanks to Jill at Feministe for putting these two articles together.

Best post title of the week: My Hymen Gives me Wings! (Feministing)

Not another April fool’s joke, I swear! The winner for this week’s “most extreme distortion of facts” goes to the Jewish Press for their delicious article entitled Palestinians Illegally Build on Jewish-Owned Land - with JNF funds! The same JNF? Oh yes. I can’t make this stuff up. I hate to send them readers but this it is just too ridiculous not to share.