So it's National Womens' Month

[mandyky]

We never got ERA passed, and I feel we're in reverse on civil rights of all stripes. The Handmaiden's Tale grows closer to reality each day. (supposed) GOP women like Ann Coulter have even questioned womens' voting rights. How can one country change so much in 5 short years? Is it all the testesterone and fear induced by 9-11? Were we asleep at the wheel? Can we get back on the right track?

[FloridaPat]

1. Yes, it's been amazing. I still can't believe the last 5 years.

And I am sooo sick of women getting the short end of all those sticks. It has been amazing what we've accomplished since I was a little girl - a few years back. OK, maybe decades. Long way to go though, but it's coming.

[beam me up scottie]

2. The fundies have a lot of help from the inside.

Such as ann-the-man whore and others like her that want us to go back to the good ole days when women were considered property.
I hate them more than the men because they piss all over everything that has been accomplished by the brave women who came before them.
If they want to stay home, scrub toilets and be incubators, fine, let them do it while shutting the fuck up. We have enough problems without being blind-sided by these prozac-mommies.

[Nikia]

3. A couple factors I see

1. Remember the whole "girly man" thing. The GOP has portrayed an image of the strong masculine leader. That image has no place for feminimity or women in general.
2. Angry poor men who hadn't quite bought into women's rights in the first place blame women for their plight. They are losing their jobs. They are losing income. They see women earning more and becoming employed in traditionally masculine jobs. They think that is why they are suffering, not outsourcing or the decline of the American economy, women.
3. Although I am not a fan of censorship, it seems that sex, especially attractive female bodies have become a commodity. Many young women embrace this. Unfortunately a body is not regarded as an equal person.
4. "Moral values" like no choice and no gay marriage. With these issues came debates on the sanctity of motherhood and proper gender roles aside from the inherent sexism of these values.

[rurallib]

4. When is white man's month?? /snark

[beam me up scottie]

7. Now don't get greedy, dear.

You've already ruled the planet for several thousand years, let someone else take a turn.
;) ;)

[catzies]

5. Here's a good interview from Buzzflash: author of "The Wimp Factor"

There's a lot of hypermasculinity in our politics and his book covers it.

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/03/int05011.html

Stephen J. Ducat: In a culture based on male domination and in which most things feminine tend to be devalued, even if they are secretly envied, the most important thing about being a man is not being a woman. This powerful adult male imperative to be unlike females and to repudiate anything that smacks of maternal caretaking is played out just as powerfully in politics as it is in personal life. In fact, political contests among men are in many ways the ultimate battles for masculine supremacy. This makes disavowing the feminine in oneself and projecting it onto one’s opponent especially important. This femiphobia--this male fear of being feminine--operates unconsciously in many men as a very powerful determinant of their political behavior. It also constitutes a very significant motive for fundamentalist terrorism.

BuzzFlash: You’re drawing a parallel between the extreme right wing in the United States and the Islamic fundamentalists, in that they are both highly fearful of overbearing feminine influence?

Stephen J. Ducat: Absolutely. Femininity, for male fundamentalists, is seen as a contaminant, and there is an attempt to repudiate those aspects of one’s self that seem feminine. This is something that fundamentalists around the world share. As I argue in the last chapter of my book, there is a surprising affinity between Christian fundamentalists in this country and the extreme Islamic fundamentalists elsewhere, when it comes to this kind of devaluation, repudiation and fear of the feminine.

(emphasis mine)

[catzies]

6. Ten years after historic conference in Beijing, women are worse off

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=19&u=/ap/20050304/ap_on_re_us/un_women_worse_off

The message was clear, starting with the title: "Beijing Betrayed."

"The women of the world don't need any more words from their governments — they want action, they want resources and they want governments to protect and advance women's human rights," the report said.

The women's report sounded very different from the speeches this week at the U.N. conference, where governments have been touting their records on women's rights.

"The realities women document often contrast sharply with the officials' reports," June Zeitlin, the executive director of Women's Environment and Development, said.

"What we see are powerful trends — growing poverty, inequality, growing militarization, and fundamentalist opposition to women's rights," she said. "These trends are harming millions of women worldwide."