Women's History is Every Month: A broken idea of sex is flourishing. Blame capitalism; Black Subjectivity and the Origins of

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philip panaritis

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Jun 4, 2018, 9:23:21 PM6/4/18
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Women's History is Every Month: A broken idea of sex is flourishing. Blame capitalism; Black Subjectivity and the Origins of American Gynecology; Bill Clinton’s #MeToo Defense Is Shocking; Why so many American women are deciding not to have kids; February 1943. "Girls on wheels expedite aircraft production. Literally helping to speed the war effort; Senators are split on whether America deserves the wealthy world’s stingiest maternity leave policy, or just the fourth-stingiest

A broken idea of sex is flourishing. Blame capitalism;

"In this world, women are marketed as toys and trophies. Are we surprised when some men take things literally?"






Black Subjectivity and the Origins of American Gynecology

"In her new award-winning book, Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology, historian Deirdre Cooper Owens describes the experimental work of early American gynecologists, including Dr. James Marion Sims, “the father of modern gynecology.” Beginning in 1844, Sims famously performed his experiments on enslaved women in Alabama, including Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsy, who he leased for the purpose of gynecological experimentation. Repeatedly performing his crude experiments without any form of anesthesiaas he attempted to be the first to repair vesico-vaginal fistulae, Owens writes that, “After five years of medical experimentation, Sims performed his thirtieth surgery on Anarcha and successfully repaired her fistula” (38). “Thanks in large part to his experimentation on enslaved black women,” she adds, “Sims had established himself as one of the country’s preeminent gynecological surgeons less than a decade after he began his gynecological career” (39). Due to these experimental procedures on enslaved Black women and the subsequent rapid advancements in the field of gynecology, Sims eventually served as the president of the American Medical Association in 1875 and the American Gynecological Society in 1879."






Bill Clinton’s #MeToo Defense Is Shocking;

“I had a sexual harassment policy when I was governor in the '80s,” Clinton declared. “I had two women chiefs of staff when I was governor. Women were overrepresented in the attorney general’s office in the '70s. For their percentage in the bar. I’ve had nothing but women leaders in my office since.”

Clinton didn’t invent his particular brand of self-righteous deflection. Plenty of men in power have tried to use their public-facing record with women as a way to shield their private lives from scrutiny. Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s propensity to talk about women’s empowerment into a microphone while privately abusing women in his life is so blatantly hypocritical that it almost seemed like a kink. In Clinton’s case, the women he promoted in the AG’s office in the '70s, I’m sure, didn’t volunteer to have their professional lives used in the defense of a man’s behind-closed-doors misogyny. And yet, there they were on Monday morning, the latest variation of human shield for a man who projects power but can’t stand to stomach a simple moment of introspection.

Sometimes it’s women doing the obfuscating. Nancy Pelosi originally defended Rep. John Conyers as an “icon” who had long fought for the rights of the disenfranchised. Conyers’ office had paid tens of thousands of dollars to settle sexual harassment claims. Conyers also stepped down and to this day has not acknowledged or even seemed to understand that doing good work in public doesn’t buy you Sin Bucks to spend in private.

Of course, it’s not just the Democrats who do this. (It’s never just the Democrats.) President Donald Trump’s minions often cite his promotion of women in the Trump organization as a sign that the man can’t possibly be sexism personified. Kellyanne Conway has trotted out her status as the first ever woman to successfully run a presidential campaign, effectively throwing her body between her boss and the 19 women who have accused her boss of sexual misconduct. Sarah Huckabee Sanders clumsily invokes her womanhood in arguments against sexism. Ivanka Trump has used her gender to defend her father from harassment and misconduct allegations. How can Donald Trump be sexist? Some of his best children are women!"





February 1943. "Girls on wheels expedite aircraft production. Literally helping to speed the war effort,

February 1943. "Girls on wheels expedite aircraft production. Literally helping to speed the war effort, Dolores Richardson and Geneva Carpenter are 'expeditors' at Douglas Aircraft in El Segundo, California, where they deliver inter-departmental messages on roller skates." Medium format acetate negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information.




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