I always have a problem with Bill Maher. I almost always agree with what he says. And I thought his movie “Religulous” was hilarious. But I don’t like his “style” as a comedian and he sometimes is unnecessarily “anti” particular individuals. And his comments on women sometimes (often?) sound sexist. But, on his HBO show [...]
Filed under: Feminism, Politics, Religion, Sex, Stereotyping | Tagged: Bill Maher, Michele Bachmann, sarah palin | Leave a Comment »
Politics and sports and women. Again we have the intermingling of the powerful men in a world sports organization with women athletes and politics. Last week, in an Olympic qualifying round in Amman, Jordan, FIFA (the world soccer governing body) officials refused to allow the Iranian national women’s team to compete in a match with [...]
Filed under: Burqa and Other Veils, International, Race/Ethnicity, Religion, Sports | Tagged: Burqa, FIFA, Football, Iran, Soccer | 5 Comments »
Friends of mine were showing me their photos from a recent trip to Spain. One of the photos was taken in the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor in Ronda, Spain. Remarkably, the photo is of a painting in the church that depicts the “Last Supper,” but with all women, including a female Christ. I [...]
Filed under: Feminism, Religion, Stereotyping | Tagged: Last Supper, Ronda, Santa Maria la Mayor | 6 Comments »
In April 2010, Newsweek had an article titled “A Woman’s Place Is in the Church” with the subtitle “The cause of the Catholic clergy’s sex-abuse scandal is no mystery: insular groups of men often do bad things. So why not break up the all-male club?” The article was strongly against the male officials of the [...]
Filed under: Politics, Religion | Tagged: Boycott, Catholic Church, Catholic Women | Leave a Comment »
It’s hard to believe that the U.S. Army has something known as the “Spiritual Fitness Test.” According to an NPR report, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, director of something called “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness,” supposedly found data that “spiritual fitness has a positive impact on quality of life, on coping and on mental health.” Since that “finding,” the [...]
Filed under: GLBT, Law, Religion, Uncategorized, Workplace | Tagged: Army, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Rhonda Cornum, Spiritual Fitness Test | Leave a Comment »
Well, isn’t this nice. “Pope” Benedict (I hate using the title “Pope” as if the position has some exalted status) has now said that condom use by male or female prostitutes is sometimes justified since it is a “lesser evil” than the spread of AIDS. And some people are calling that a step that will [...]
Filed under: Religion, Reproductive Rights | Tagged: condoms, Pope Benedict | 4 Comments »
In May, I wrote about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement that the United States would not abandon the women of Afghanistan by allowing President Hamid Karzai to make any deals with the Taliban. Clinton told three senior female Afghan officials that “we will not abandon you. . . . [I]t is essential that women’s [...]
Filed under: Education, International, Politics, Religion, Violence | Tagged: Afghanistan, Hillary Clinton, Karzai, Taliban | Leave a Comment »
An update to my post yesterday about the vote in the French Parliament to ban burqas: The French lower house today passed the bill by a 335 to 1 margin. (335 to 1???) The bill must still be approved by the French Senate, which is expected to vote in the week of September 20.
Filed under: Burqa and Other Veils, International, Law, Religion | Tagged: Burka, Burqa, France, Sarkozy | Leave a Comment »
The day has finally come. It has been more than a year since French President Sarkozy first proposed a ban on wearing burqas in public places. Tomorrow, the French Parliament will vote on the proposal. After some initial wavering, I came to my position on the proposed ban last July and have not changed my [...]
Filed under: Burqa and Other Veils, International, Law, Religion | Tagged: Burka, Burqa, France, Sarkozy | 5 Comments »
Emily
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