A Congressman Questioned A Woman Living In Poverty And Revealed A Lot About Himself, Bryce Covert, ThinkProgress, July 11, 2014
On Thursday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) held his fifth hearing on the War on Poverty, and for the first time he allowed a person actually living in poverty to testify. Tianna Gaines-Turner shared her personal experiences struggling to make ends meet and provide food for her three children who suffer from medical conditions along with her husband. She works as a seasonal employee with children for $10.88 an hour, while her husband works at a grocery store for $8.50.
But when Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) got the chance to ask questions of Gaines-Turner and the two other witnesses, he directed much of his attention toward calling into question whether she is dependent on government programs, whether she has tried to find more work, and if she is partisan. He gave a “theoretical example” in which the government would increase spending on government programs like food stamps and welfare by 500 percent and asked, “They [people on the programs] would be out of poverty and that would be a good thing?” to which Gaines-Turner responded, “Yes, the programs work, yes it would be good to move them out of poverty.”
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Rokita’s questioning seemed to imply that Gaines-Turner could make more money and escape her “dependence” if she worked harder. But for many of those living in poverty, that’s just not the case. The majority of adult, able-bodied, non-elderly poor people work. But in this economy, finding extra work, or any work at all, can be nearly impossible. In May, the most recent month for which there is data, there were more than two times as many job seekers as job openings. And unemployment rates are even higher for those with less education, who also tend to have lower incomes.
The Senate flunks basic biology: Inside a disgraceful hearing, Andrea Flynn, Salon, July 20, 2014
Tuesday’s hearing was representative of the broader debate over abortion rights. Those in favor of the bill argued that securing guaranteeing unfettered access to reproductive health care, including abortion, is critical to the health and lives of U.S. women and their families.
Those in opposition used familiar canards about abortion to argue the law would be calamitous for U.S. women. Representative Diane Black of Tennessee had the gall to make the abortion-leads-to-breast cancer claim, one that has been disproven many times over. Others repeatedly cited the horrific cases of Kermit Gosnell, insinuating that all abortion providers (abortionists, in their lingo) are predatory and that late term abortions are a common occurrence. In fact, if women had access to safe, comprehensive and intimidation-free care, Kermit Gosnell would have never been in business. Given the opposition’s testimony, you’d never know that late term abortion is actually a rarity. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 90 percent of all abortions occur before 13 weeks gestation, with just over 1 percent taking place past 21 weeks.
Some Things I’m Tired Of Hearing From Men About Women in Tech, Cate Huston, Accidentally in Code, July 9, 2014
The angry Feminist is unlikely to do any harm to your career. The last idiot who got fired for after calling women the C word was bragging about how easy it was to find another job the next day.
And most men who call women the C word do just fine.
The problem isn’t my tone, it’s structural fucking inequality. Put that in your pipe, and set yourself on fire.
Conor Oberst and the Myth of the Woman Who Cried Rape, Amanda Marcotte, The Daily Beast, July 15, 2014
In this environment, the Conor Oberst story presents a temptation for those who believe in the myth that women routinely lie about rape to cover up their own sexual indiscretions, or to get revenge against men who rejected them. But that temptation should be avoided, in the interest of basic honesty. After all, this story has nothing to do with the claim that women have consensual sex and “cry rape” afterwards. How do we know this? Because there was no sex to “cry rape” about. The story appears to be made up whole cloth.
Contrary to the common and ironically false accusations of anti-feminists, feminists don’t deny that false rape reports do happen. (It’s estimated that 2 to 8 percent of rape reports are false.) But even though there are false rape reports, that doesn’t mean that there’s any reason to believe men are in any real danger of having consensual sex with a woman, only to find her pointing fingers and yelling “rape” afterwards. Most false rape reports appear to fall into two categories, neither of which comes close to the “regrettable sex” claim: 1) Situations where a rape did, in fact, happen, but the wrong man was accused of the crime and 2) Situations where a mentally unstable woman makes the whole thing up and there was no sexual contact at all.
