BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

I have had the pleasure of meeting & working with, in my domestic violence advocacy work - a number of former escorts and/or strippers. Most are quite intelligent having been drawn into a world they had no idea how to get out of. Almost all of them suffer from permanent, irreversible damage to their reproductive system. Almost all of those I know tell me while they didn't abuse alcohol or street drugs - they did abuse prescription drugs in order to deaden their emotional connection to the men they "serviced." Almost all had their pat "stories" to tell their clients to help sanitize the paid rape. All said to me they lied to their clients about how "great" they were or how much they enjoyed the session and what they did for a living. Almost all suffered from some form of poverty, and after leaving "the business" now have: post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, mood and dissociative disorders as consequences of prostituti...

By Tzafi Saar "Why bother?" Hedva Yehezkeli was asked time and again, as the Green Party candidate for mayor of Hadera. Yehezkeli is one of about 30 women running for mayor nationwide in today's municipal elections. Another candidate, Anat Ziv of Kiryat Bialik, was targeted by fliers that read, "Being a blonde is not enough," and, "Every housewife thinks she can be mayor. Anat Ziv - your place is in the kitchen." Yehezkeli says that at Hadera municipal council meetings, which are open to the public, she receives remarks such as, "Why are you here? Go home, you have five children." The comments come from associates of the mayor, who is running for reelection. "If I were a man, it would look different," she says between campaign meetings. "We have a chauvinistic society and men have the upper hand. But I'm very assertive. Men don't sway me. I have achieved far more than many men." She therefore feels optimistic. ...

Seems Obama embraced it as part of his continued efforts to subjagate women. I think we need to impose a FINE on every politician that lands in a sex scandal. The deficit would be paid off in no time! (and for gosh sake, get rid of Nancy Pelosi!!) Please read this commentary from the inscrutable Uppity Woman , who - as always - says it better than I ever could! What day is the protest against the reinstated Abstinence Only program? Politics Daily noticed something interesting. The purpose of the program was to promote virginity among the ten remaining virgins in the USA, and discourage sex outside of marriage. It was a very Far Right Wing Whacko Chrstian-y thing, the kind of thing that sends the Far Left Wing Whackos into seizures of anger, complete with eyes rolling backwards into their sockets and uncontrollable body twitching. The 2010 Health Care Reform bill has a little noticed provision in it that provides $250 million for the reinstatement of the very same program. The Na...

For the women I counsel ... by Michele Toomey, PhD Abuse that begins in childhood takes the highest toll. Children are just forming their view of the world, their sense of who they are in relation to the world, and where the power lies. Abused girls tend to learn that they are unworthy and have little or no power and that the bullies are superior and have all the power. Some abused girls react rebelliously and counterattack, becoming abusers themselves, but they are the minority. Either way, childhood abuse takes a toll that has a lifetime effect. The most devastating toll is the self-abuse that evolves out of being abused. Children think they deserve the abuse, and they turn on themselves. Instead of learning how to live intimately and at one with themselves, in keeping with the integrity they were born with, they are at war with themselves, violating themselves and their integrity. They learn to say to themselves the abusive words and phrases that have been directed at them. They for...

Ron Reagan recaps the year in right wing buffoonery, highlghting such buffoons as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage. Listen below: (AUDIO) - The Ron Reagan Show - Air America

by Amy Siskind It's not been a particularly good press week for two well known misogynists: Rick Warren and Larry Summers. Both men were early selections of President Obama. If we are to judge our president by whom he surrounds himself with, then what do Obama's selections of Warren and Summers tell us? That Obama's version of diversity does not include gay and women's rights. And in fact, the selection of Warren and Summers will likely be a continual source of salt on the wound of inequality. President Obama's Inauguration was presided over by Rick Warren. Although Warren is perhaps best known for his opposition to gay rights, he also believes that women are second class citizens. Specifically, Warren's Saddleback Church has encouraged battered wives to stay in their abusive relationships. Hundreds of viewers wrote on our blog about their personal experiences at the hand of Rick Warren's church. Saddleback Church's advice to abused wives: "she...

If you read nothing else today, PLEASE READ DONNA DARKO This appears to be an updated post from August that begins by accounting the history of how the primaries and caucuses were used to skewer The Woman. The updates are a complete account of what women are thinking since the House betrayed them this week. The bottom line is blind trust of the third wave in Barack Obama endangers pretty much all their rights as human beings of the “Wrong” gender. This is a huge wakeup call for the Third Wave of lax feminists. We owe them this because they are about to have a lot of water to carry. Well, maybe we don’t owe them this, but the truth is Women’s Rights are in huge danger all the way around under this congress and administration. This is not over. It’s just the start. If the House can do what they did under Democratic Leadership in the House, Senate and White House, they can and will do it again. It’s as simple as that. Wake Up Sleeping Giant! or lose your rights as a person. Even if ...

(a powerful piece for and about women... everywhere) by Michele Toomey, PhD They said not a word, yet their deafening silence blocked out any sound. They did not stir, but their immobility stopped all movement. They were invisible, but in their view, nothing could be seen. They were the shamed. Piled each on top of each. They lay there face to face. A fitting way for shamed and shame to meet. Across the continents they reached. They covered all the earth. Their suffocating presence sucking out all the air. No one could breathe. No one could move. Life stopped and time stood still. Only their mind's eye could look. Only their inner voice could speak. But what to see or what to say? Better to stay asleep. For years they slept and never moved, frozen in time and space. For years their blank forgetfulness hid them from the shame. Exposure could not catch them as long as they weren't awake. Who would desire to know such shame? Better to stay asleep. Years passed and buried them in t...

By: Sara Esther Crispe I'll never forget how I felt the day my gender studies teacher made the claim that there are absolutely no differences between men and women. I looked around, shocked at the proposition, and wondering if anyone else felt the same. For most of the semester, we had it pounded into our heads that all distinctions between those of different races, geographical locations or habitats were really all the same, and that it was merely society that tried to push that there were actual differences. Perhaps she was right, we all thought. Maybe we had really just bought into society’s definitions and desire to separate. Perhaps it was racist to claim that generally speaking black men were taller than asian men. And sexist to feel that men were physically stronger than women. But then one day, when I could resist no longer, I had to ask a question. If we were really the same, I mean, practically the exact same, then why were women born with a womb and the ability to carry ...

PUMAs were screaming about this before the election! When are we going to stop letting that liar, Obama - scream racism and start calling him and all his political cronies on their RAMPANT SEXISM!? No one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility. - Simone de Beauvoir Time for a Summit on SEXISM by Kirsten Powers Now that we've had a beer summit on race, how about a wine sum mit on sexism? In the latest edition of an online feature called "Mouthpiece Theater," Washington Post political reporter Dana Milbank attempted a joke about what kind of beer Hillary Clinton would drink at the "beer summit." Clad in a Hugh Hefner-style silk bathrobe, he smirks to viewers, "We won't tell you who's getting a bottle of 'Mad Bitch' beer." A photo of the secretary of state then appears. Hilarious. This isn't some random blogger or even an opinion columnist expressing vile views. Thi...

Projection , blame-shifting and minimizing , whitewashing or outright denying the abuse. These are three of what I consider to be the WORST OFFENSES an abusive personality or abusive group can do to someone. And a culture of denial literally rips the very soul and spirit of the person from them at its root. Here's some explanation (excerpts): Projecting blame. Abusers often engage in an insidious type of manipulation that involves blaming the victim for their behavior. Such perpetrators may accuse the victim of "pushing buttons" or "provoking" the abuse. By diverting attention to the victim's actions ("they went into it with eyes wide open" or "they are at fault too", the perpetrator avoids taking responsibility for the abusive behavior. In addition to projecting blame on the victim, abusers also may project blame on circumstances, such as making the excuse that stress caused the abuse. Or even that the victim "led them on....

This study doesn't surprise me at all. There are far too many smart, independent, college-educated women in the workforce and public life these days for this not to be the case. Bullies always threaten what scares them. Usually its someone who is more competent, perhaps perceived as being smarter, and even people whistleblowers. And when you can't find some character flaw to pick on - pick on their gender. Bullies also hate truth tellers. Truth tellers must be eliminated, defamed and silenced at all cost! When I was working I had this happen to me more times than I could count. I would end up working for someone (sometimes another woman) when it became apparent they weren't as intelligent or intuitive as me. And if I tried to better my position, they'd pick on me as a woman. I've been called a lesbian, a castrator, a man-hater, overwrought female, and asked if I 'had PMS' because of a management decision someone else didn't agree with. I am going...