I only know one grandma whose grands are here for me to rent.

(lengthy, urgent read)


The Patriarchs’ War on Women
5/15/2023 by Zoe Marks and Erica Chenoweth
The backlash against feminist progress that’s overtaking the U.S. is part of a global trend. Free and empowered women are a threat to authoritarianism worldwide—and the autocrats know it.

The United States was officially designated a backsliding democracy in late 2021—a full six months before the fall of Roe v. Wade. At the time, journalists warned that such a descent is precisely when “curbs on women’s rights tend to accelerate.” But can a country that has never truly addressed women’s equality ever be a thriving democracy? And are democracies that have abysmal records on gender equity destined to falter? Explore “Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies“—a multimedia project comprised of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.


Inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was meeting to confirm the election of Joe Biden; autocrats try to maintain control by attacking the rule of law, separation of powers and fair elections. (Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images)

U.S. feminists have been raising alarms about persistent assaults on gender equality. Across the country, GOP-led legislatures are rolling back reproductive rights, legislating against trans youth and their families, and censoring school curricula about racism, sexism, LGBTQ+ issues and even what to expect at the gynecologist’s office. These developments in the U.S. reflect a troubling pattern: Around the world, patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. The connection between sexism and authoritarianism is not coincidental, or a mere character flaw of individual misogynists-in-chief. Women’s political power is essential to a properly functioning multiracial democracy, and fully free, empowered women are a threat to autocracy. Assaults on women’s and LGBTQ+ rights—and attempts to put women “in their place”—constitute a backlash against feminist progress expanding women’s full inclusion in public life. As women’s participation becomes more prominent in domestic and international politics, our research sheds light on why political sexism and gender policing are also becoming more virulent—and what to do about it.

Patriarchal Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism rejects political competition and promotes a strong central power that upholds the political and social status quo. Autocrats try to maintain control by attacking the rule of law, separation of powers, political expression and fair elections. But strongmen and their enablers also tend to usurp power in part by promoting a conservative and binary gender hierarchy. Patriarchy is, in the words of political scientist Valerie Hudson and her colleagues, the “first political order.” And it is closely related to authoritarianism. Authoritarian backsliding occurs when women are stripped of equal access, opportunity and rights in the workplace, in the public sphere and at home. By strengthening men’s control over the women and girls in their lives, authoritarian leaders strike a patriarchal bargain, doling out private authority in exchange for public loyalty to the strongman. Incidentally, many women buy into the bargain, too. Women from dominant groups and classes are often willing to promote conservative gender norms and policies that retrench the status quo. The policing of gender expression and relations becomes a powerful tool for promoting a hegemonic racial, religious or ethnic national identity.

. . . .




Lawmakers in Texas signing the six-week abortion ban into law. (Bryan Hughes @SenBryanHughes/ Twitter)




Abortion rights activists rally at the Texas State Capitol on Sept. 11, 2021, in Austin, against S.B. 8, which prohibits abortions in Texas between the fifth and sixth weeks of pregnancy. (Jordan Vonderhaar / Getty Images)

. . . .





Toward a Feminist Democracy

There is much we can do to protect and expand the hard-won rights that are already enshrined in policy and which, in turn, protect democracy. First, it is crucial to fully understand that assaults on women’s and LGBTQ+ autonomy, well-being and rights are assaults on constitutional democracy. A country in which more than half the population is subordinated politically, socially, economically and culturally is not a democracy. Corresponding assaults on democracy—including restrictions on ballot access, protest and public expression, and weakening the rule of law—can unravel women’s equality, particularly for marginalized and subjugated groups. The fate of women’s rights is tied to the fate of democracy, and women’s mobilization can help to secure both.

More than 100 years ago, women worldwide mobilized for their inclusion in democracy. And they have since used their political power to demand fundamental rights in healthcare, employment and domestic life. As a result, women have become key constituents with whom authoritarian leaders and parties have to contend—and often seek to control. This finding is instructive: Women and their allies mobilize when their rights are under assault, but they are even more powerful when they mobilize on broad-based issues. Women from all walks of life must continue to be vocal champions of inclusive democracy. Feminist candidates, women elected officials and feminist policies are fundamental to the health and well-being of democracy. Feminists must find their political homes and invest in them. Women, gender minorities and feminists of all genders who are already engaged need to stay engaged. For those who have taken these hard-won rights for granted, the time has come to take a stand.


https://msmagazine.com/2023/05/15/patriarchy-war-on-women-lgbtq-reproductive-rights/

here. Have given it the appropriate salute.

Belated congratulations on your posting milestone!

this incredible community that has been my sanctuary, my safe haven, my rock, these last 20 years. Thank you to our wonderful EarlG and Elad (and Skinner) for creating this space. And thank you to each and every member of this community for all the learning, the laughter, the joys and sorrows shared, from the most erudite of posts to pets, from heartbreak to truly tacky jokes.

You all have been keeping what little remains of my sanity through this century, through good times, and some truly terrible ones. I love you all!

May you all be blessed.

So mote it be.

realize that you all are medical miracles?? This realization came during a discussion in the thread, "The Defendant", during which several of us were commenting on the anazing collection of wisdom and learning that is our community. Learning new things regularly keeps the brain functioning, and many of us delightedly find ourselves learning new things each and every day here. A university education, mental acuity healing, companionship, cihesion, joy, laughtet! All in one community, without nasty side effects.

Thank you, everyone!

and blessings of this season, however, wherever, whenever, and whatever, or not, you celebrate or observe.

Thank you for being my stalwart companions on our journey. And may the coming year see a real awakening of peace, joy, love, compassion and caring everywhere.

The Anti-Abortion Movement Has a Long History of Terrorism. A Roe Repeal Will Make It Worse.
5/6/2022 by Kathy Spillar


In the face of the recent leak of a draft opinion that confirmed the Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion advocates and providers are bracing for a surge in clinic violence.



Clinic escorts watch an anti-abortion protester in the back entrance of Jackson Women’s Health Organization on August 19, 2021 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Montinique Monroe / Ms. magazine)

In the face of Monday’s unexpected leak of a draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito that confirmed that the Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion advocates and providers are bracing for a surge in clinic violence. In a Wednesday call, officials with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security raised concerns about an increase in violent rhetoric from far-right aggressors in the wake of the draft opinion’s release. And private intelligence groups have released reports detailing violent reactions and threats to bomb clinics and hurt pro-abortion protestors on far-right online forums in response to the draft leak. For nearly 50 years, as anti-abortion legislators in states around the country have chipped away at the constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion, they have done so with the steady drumbeat of violence at their back. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the most recent attack on the constitutional right to abortion last December. The question in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is whether Mississippi’s ban on pre-viability abortions is constitutional. Under the Supreme Court precedent set by Roe v. Wade in 1973 and reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood of Southeast Pennsylvania v. Casey in 1992, the answer is clearly no.

Though violence and threats of violence directed against abortion providers have been a prominent aspect of abortion in the United States since Roe was decided, anti-abortion legislators would like to ignore this history. Instead, they try to frame the history of post-Roe abortion as a “hard issue” and one of mere “controversy” that should be settled by these same state legislators. But decades of violence make clear that the debate over abortion in America isn’t a matter of some “civil disagreement.” It is the subject of unrelenting attacks by those who have no regard for the rule of law. In the decision expected within the next few months, if the Supreme Court overturns or severely guts Roe v. Wade, it will send an unmistakable and dangerous message: that the violence against abortion providers has worked.




Mississippi provides a dramatic illustration of how extremists have employed violence and other lawlessness to reduce access to abortion. After a rapid expansion of abortion services in Mississippi in the years immediately following Roe, anti-abortion extremists waged a campaign that included stalking, intimidation and violence against doctors who provided abortion care. This campaign was not isolated or sporadic but sustained and pervasive. The campaign of violence and threats was effective, coinciding with a sharp decline in the provision of and access to abortion services in Mississippi. In fact, Jackson Women’s Health Organization—now the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi and the target of the law at issue in Dobbs—was established in response to the clinic closures that resulted from this anti-abortion violence. At the time of its founding, only one other provider offered abortions for Mississippi residents.



Jackson Women’s Health Organization in on August 17, 2021. (Montinique Monroe / Ms. magazine)

. . . .





Anti-abortion extremists have employed and continue to employ violence and threats as part of a deliberate strategy to reduce or eliminate abortion, with a concerning number of anti-abortion extremists openly endorsing violence. Shortly after Gunn was murdered by Griffin in 1993, a statement signed by 34 extremists was released, stating:

“We, the undersigned, declare the justice of taking all godly action necessary to defend innocent human life including the use of force. We proclaim that whatever force is legitimate to defend the life of a born child is legitimate to defend the life of an unborn child. We assert that if Michael Griffin did in fact kill David Gunn, his use of lethal force was justifiable provided it was carried out for the purpose of defending the lives of unborn children. Therefore, he ought to be acquitted of the charges against him.” Over the years since, several more versions of the statement were released, each time adding more extremists as signers.


Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump protest inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election electoral vote certification. (Roberto Schimidt / AFP via Getty Images)

. . . .

https://msmagazine.com/2022/05/06/anti-abortion-violence-terrorism-roe-v-wade/

the agony and uncertainty, the medical consequences, the crippling debt, the lack of autonomy and agency, every single moment of grief and heartache, every single moment of horror and despair, of every single victim of your insane, woman-hating, theocratic, power-grabbing BULLSHIT.

As I decree, so mote it be, three times three.

secrets, NO sensitive intelligence, (little verifiable mental acuity amoung some members, either) involved.

So why the screaming poutrage? It is not as if these woman-hating scum have not been telegraphing their intentions. There is no real surprise here. But let us have screaming, foaming-at-the-mouth hysteria over it.

One wonders what in the hell they are hiding that is worse than that which we already know or at least suspect.

May they, and all their enablers and supporters, receive everything they deserve.