custody disputes - As this article indicates, a dubious diagnosis of "Parental Alienation Syndrome" is giving family court judges the cloak of "scientific" authority to punish mothers who report child abuse by ex-husbands.

What the article leaves out is how this poisonous myth reinforces the built-in pro-dad bias of the mediation system, which is where most custody disputes are really resolved. Judges are happy to hand off responsibility to social workers; the mediators are under pressure to produce agreements; the easiest way to get agreement is to lean on the more vulnerable party (guess who), and besides the social workers all have psych degrees and are influenced by the likes of Gardner, so...

Ladyfest! - I'm heading to New York City late tonight in order to participate in the "International Feminist Politics for Dummies" workshop tomorrow at ladyfest east, which is going on through the weekend. the invitation, I'm certain, was largely due to everybody here who contributes to FMW ... somehow they got the impression that I was up on the status of women around the world. wish me luck!

abortion attacked again - The Catholic church is attacking abortion rights again. This time they're suggesting that "the Supreme Court says you can choose to have an abortion for any reason at any time right up through the ninth month." I don't know much about the US abortion laws, but I'm sure this sounds misleading. Their website is here if anyone wants to see how accurate their figures are.

G-spot controversy - an article on yahoo's dailynews is claiming that the G-spot could be A Gynecological UFO ... the metafilter thread on the topic goes back and forth, with some folks claiming that they are very effected by pressure on their G-spot; but nobody ever mentions that the pressure could actually just be indirect stimulation of the clitoris ... for instance, see this drawing of the female genital anatomy - the clitoral legs are being stimulated by stimulation in the spot that most folks have called the "G-spot". also, the urethral sponge could be the cause of the stimulation/sensation.

strangely enough, I've been thinking about these things quite a lot lately ... the anatomy varies, of course, from woman to woman, and I think some women's clitoris's are closer to the inner wall of their vaginal cannal, and therefore more easily stimulated through penetration/vaginal intercourse.

I highly recommend the book a new view of a woman's body for more information about female anatomy. it's really fascinating, with excellent research and commentary. that was definitely the first place I learned about the legs of the clitoris -- most anatomy books depict the clit as this tiny ball.

the-clitoris.com has quite a few other photos of female anatomy online.

Love Your Body Day - "[A] national day of action to speak out against ads and images of women that are offensive harmful dangerous disrespectful." Love Your Body Day is a project sponsored by the NOW foundation. interested in knowing what you can do to help this campaign? I think I'll be organizing a house party, so I sent off a request for promotional materials.

read up on some advertising & health facts: Over 3,000 women and girls begin smoking each day. Approximately 1 of 5 teenage girls is now a smoker (1995 CDC study) 38.1% of lesbians smoke versus 22% of all women. The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 8% of females in this country. University studies show that alcohol is implicated in 80% of all campus rapes and many college men reported that they drank specifically to feel uninhibited, powerful, and the sexuality they associate with drinking, as well as to justify their actions.

they also had a poster contest with some really neat results ... and I like the tagline of the winner: "Liberate yourself from the chains of smoking and unhealthy dieting". Seems like smoking + dieting are the focus; I have often thought about the connections between smoking and being a feminist, I guess it has to do with valuing your body in a different way.

I urge you to get involved and think more positively about your body!

[link borrowed from Erica.]

Tomboy link to hormones in pregnancy - Two articles from the BBC News site about possible links between mother's testosterone levels in pregnancy and children's behaviour. Click on the 'more' link for details...  [... more]

breast biopsies to become thing of the past? - Another New Scientist article, this time reporting a possible breakthrough in breast cancer diagnosis. Ultrasound waves will distinguish benign lumps from malignant ones without the trauma of a biopsy.

seasonal link for abortions? - According to this article on Italian research reported in the New Scientist magazine, there may be a seasonal link to a woman's decision whether or not to abort an unwanted pregnancy, demonstrated by a peak in annual female suicides which corresponds to a peak in voluntary abortions.

episiotomies - received this note in my guestbook and figured I would pass it on to all of you -- thank you, Jenn, for telling me about it:

"just wanted to alert you to something that disturbed me (not about you, but something in the world): this website talks about episiotomies during birthing procedures and how they are done very frequently but are not at all necessary and are in most cases harmful. This line especially caught my eye: Davis-Floyd also points out that episiotomy, the destruction and reconstruction of women's genitals, allows men to control the "powerfully sexual, creative, and male-threatening aspects of women." This is what lurks behind DeLee's emphasis on surgically restoring "virginal conditions.""

Over-40 women at CNN - Never give too much credibility to media rumors. This is an interesting one, though: ""Every female on-air personality over 40 knows there's a bullet, ready to be fired, with each person's name on it," an anonymous CNN source told the New York Daily News. We'll have to watch and see...

Women's Equality Day - Have you heard anything recently about Women's Equality Day? It is supposedly August 26th, but it took me a bit of searching to find anything about it. the Presidential Proclamation claims that it was specifically August 26th 1999, so that may indicate that it wasn't supposed to be a yearly thing, but rather was just a one-day celebration. Radical Women, a socialist feminist group here in Seattle, is having a bit of a party, but I haven't found anything else. there is this interesting piece on the historical significance of 26 August, it was actually the day that the nineteenth ammendment to the US Constitution (giving women the right to vote) became law.

female circumcision in the UK - British doctors are being issued with guidelines to help them spot young girls at risk from female genital mutilation. It's illegal in the UK, but still traditional amongst Eritreans, Ethiopians, Somalis and Yemenis.
Hopefully these measures will help protect some of the most vunerable young female refugees in the UK.