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Feminist Friday: Keep Your Mitts off Our Ladybits

This Week in Legislating Your Ladybits

After months of either agreeing with or pandering to the most extreme edges of the anti-choice movement, Mitt Romney attempted a spectacularly brazen and cynical move this week, telling the Des Moines Register that “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.” And with that, Romney joined the boy who cried wolf, Baron Munchausen, and my ex-girlfriend in the pantheon of the most baldfaced liars in history. In fact, his campaign scrambled backwards on that statement within a couple of hours. Romney, of course, has supported radical personhood language in the past.

The idea here is one of near-sociopathic cold calculation: Romney hopes that he’s thrown enough red meat to the radical anti-choice crowd that they will assume he’s lying to the moderates now and thus will nod and wink when he says non-insane things. Romney also hopes that moderates either haven’t been paying attention so far or will assume that he was just lying to his base to get through the primaries, and is only revealing his true self now.

I don’t know if Romney has a true self other than Silly Putty, but we need a new phrase for what Romney is asking Republican voters to do:

Romney Roulette – Backing a candidate that you know for sure will betray someone and hoping that someone isn’t you.

Rachel Maddow took Romney to the woodshed on Wednesday night.

CNN’s Soledad O’Brien didn’t go any easier on RNC chair Reince Priebus when it came to Romney’s weaseling.

Way to refuse to put up with eelspeak, Soledad.

And would the week be complete without a “pro-life” congressman deciding the rules didn’t apply to him? Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) actually recorded himself pressuring his mistress to get an abortion. Huh. It’s almost like a bunch of the dudes in the anti-choice movement are more interested in grandstanding and controlling women than they are in protecting life.

Tired of this nonsense? Lizz Winstead is too, and so she founded Lady Parts Justice. Go on over and give it a looksee.

And the good people at Draw the Line are pushing for a Bill of Reproductive Rights. Do you want to see Meryl Streep explain why you should sign? Yes you do. (Via Feministing.)

Bonus: If you sign, Amy Poehler will tell you you’re cool.

So where is Romney’s female support coming from? Selma Blair explains. (Just a wee bit NSFW.)

This Week in Horrible

In Pakistan, Taliban gunmen boarded a school bus and shot 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai in the head and neck, wounding two other girls in the attack. It was an assassination attempt; Yousafzai was targeted because she spoke openly about wanting to become a doctor and in favor of education rights. As of this writing, she is in critical condition. Faheem Younus wrote an interesting piece in The Washington Post decrying the attack and pointing out that Islam explicitly calls for women’s education.

And NBC News ran a disheartening series on child marriage across the globe.

This Week in Thinky

Representative Scott Tipton (R-CO) thinks that the Nuns on a Bus are being “divisive” when they point out that Paul Ryan’s proposed GOP budget really screws over the poor. And by “screws over,” I mean “cuts off from educational opportunities and quite possibly starves.” Apparently nuns shouldn’t be worrying about such things. There really are a lot of powerful men who have ideas about what nuns should and should not think. Perhaps they could do morning pages or write in their journals more to get it out of their systems.

Yekaterina Samutsevich of Pussy Riot has been freed, but Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are still in custody and will be sent to a penal colony to serve out their sentences. Yes, their lawyers will continue to appeal. Christiane Amanpour bagged an interview with Samutsevich.

Becky Chambers over at The Mary Sue gave us an excellent long thinky piece on what women want in female video game characters.

Gawker had a dead-on angry essay on “the modern gentle bigot.

And Jezebel ran the numbers on the NFL’s shady breast cancer campaign. Beware any organization that splashes pink crap all over creation.

This Week in Awesome

Sally Field spoke about how she loves her gay son, and about how not loving your LGBT kid is not an acceptable option.

About 3,000 people sent me this video (Send me things!), and I would like to thank each and every one of them. Get ready to spend a very enjoyable 15 minutes watching Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard pounding opposition leader Tony Abbott with the Hammer of Indignant Justice. The Telegraph has a few more details on the political complexities that led to this speech.

Wow. Rebekah Dryden over at the MaddowBlog wrote up this no-screwing-around ad that North Carolina State Senate candidate Deb Butler is running. That is some terrific plain speaking about why local elections really matter.

Oh, did you need some T-shirts all up in your awesome? What if they also kicked a few bucks to worthy causes? Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe‘s letter in support of gay marriage last month was so fantastic that Minnesotans for Equality is selling T-shirts bearing choice phrases from his missive.

Half the profits go to defeat the anti-marriage equality amendment in Minnesota, and the other half go to Kluwe’s charity, Kick for a Cure.

Oh, and what has Kluwe done for you lately? Only taken on an Archbishop who advised a woman to reject her gay son. Chris, I think we’re about to declare you an honorary LesBiLady. Stop by the AfterEllen offices for a pair of Converse and a nail trim.

You also might want to grab a stylin’ tee from the Vienna, Virginia chapter of NOW. You can choose whether a chunk of the proceeds goes to the National Organization for Women or Planned Parenthood.

And speaking of good causes, I know Trish Bendix mentioned this in yesterday’s Brew, but it’s worth repeating: Catapult is a website that funds projects for women and girls, and the current project is to set up vocational training for lesbians and bisexual women in Sri Lanka.

And the wonderful ladies of Frangela showed us that even straight ladies can love National Coming Out Day.

Have a great weekend. Get your booty out there and be fabulous.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

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