TresSugar

Candidates Differ on Drafting Women - Where Do You Stand?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:00:21 -0700

While neither candidate is anticipating reviving a draft any time soon, they disagree on one key component: whether to require women to register for Selective Service. Obama supports a requirement for both men and women to register for the draft while McCain doesn't. The Selective Service system was revived by Jimmy Carter in 1980 to require all men between the ages of 18 and 25 to register, just in case a massive expansion of the military is necessary.

Keeping women out of the Selective Service has long been controversial among women's rights groups as well as men who've faced penalties for not registering. While Congress and the Supreme Court have exempted women using the military's combat rules, Obama's national security spokeswoman says, "Women are already serving in combat [in Iraq and Afghanistan] and the current policy should be updated to reflect realities on the ground. Barack Obama would consult with military commanders to review the constraints that remain."

McCain is in favor of the current Department of Defense restrictions on women in combat units. A campaign spokesman says of his position on the Selective Service, "Sen. McCain strongly believes that an all-volunteer force is preferable to a conscripted force. The tools available to recruiters have historically enabled the all-volunteer force to attract sufficient numbers of qualified recruits."

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Bra-Burning Never Happened!

TresSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:24 -0800

Jessica Valenti, founder and editor of Feministing, recently told the New York Times Sunday Magazine bra-burning is a myth. This I did not know! She said:

"Bra-burning never happened. It was completely made up by the media. A couple of women protesting a Miss America pageant threw some bras into a garbage can, and somehow that became this longstanding idea of feminists as bra-burners."

We doubled checked, and Snopes - the Internet's definitive, if sadly designed, myth-busting site - confirms bra-burning never happened. Born out of the 1968 Miss America protest and the dissent du jour being draft-card-burning, a journalist, hungry for a headline, coined the phrase. However, NPR talked to Carol Hanisch, an organizer of the protest, last year and she said, "We had intended to burn it, but the police department, since we were on the boardwalk, wouldn't let us do the burning." Oh, well - maybe the next myth will be true!

Source: Flickr User (nz)dave

A Generation of Male Commitmentphobes?

TresSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0800

A recent Marie Claire trend piece takes on a certain species of man: the commitment-phobe. Lest you think this is but one unavoidable type of man, the writer suggests that there's a whole generation of 30-something men having early midlife crises:

These guys are part of a cause-less generation. They didn't grow up burning their draft cards or fighting the Nazis. They weren't part of the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, or any other movement. They were spoiled as kids and now they want to spoil themselves as adults. The old cliché was that a man would wake up one morning and realize that he wanted his youth back. The new version is that he never reached adulthood in the first place.

This type tends to be drawn to Type-A women who can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let him forget he's a man . . . but the writer wonders if part of what the male commitmentphobe is thinking is that this type of woman doesn't need him at all. (Hmmm. So it's her fault?)

I don't think many would argue for a return to old-school gender roles and the suffocation that went with them, but do you think there's a whole generation of young-ish men who don't know how to commit?

The Palins! Group Drafts Sarah While Bristol Ditches Levi

CitizenSugar — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:30:07 -0700

Love it or hate it, it looks like this might be a four-year presidential campaign. The "2012 Draft Sarah Committee" has started collecting donations for a Palin 2012 run for president. The funds raised by the Connecticut political group will be used for grassroots organizing.

Meanwhile, Levi Johnston's sister is making sure all the Palins stay in the news (or tabloid magazines, same thing). Levi's sister Mercede told Star magazine that Bristol Palin broke up with the father of her son Tripp a month ago, and won't bring the baby to the Johnstons' house because she doesn't want him around "white trash."

If Palin throws her hat in the ring, I'm sure we'll be hearing all about the Palins for a while. Let's just hope the presidential campaign waits more than two months into Obama's term to begin. That's probably wishful thinking.

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Berlusconi Insults Women Again - And They're Fighting Back

TresSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Feminism is back in vogue in Italy. Some say it lay dormant in spite of a vibrant '70s feminist movement, but thanks to raging misogynist Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, largely silent Italian women have had enough and are speaking up.

"[T]he scandals surrounding the prime minister have been like a violent slap in the face for millions of women who are just now waking up from a state of passivity," said political scientist Francesca Izzo.

A favorite tactic of the 73-year-old Berlusconi is to disparage the looks of his female political opponents. In a heated debate with 58-year-old opposition party member Rosy Bindi, he said, "You're more beautiful than you are intelligent," to which the annoyed politician shot back, "I am not a woman at your disposal." (Perhaps she was referring to his multiple girlfriends, which finally led his wife to file for a divorce.)

Many American women claim they aren't feminists, but I wonder if they'd change their tune if the president were speaking this way every day! To find out how Italian women are fighting back and to see a clip of a documentary about how women are represented on Italian television, read more

After Berlusconi's nasty comment to Rosy Bindi, pissed off women drafted a petition saying that his sexism was an insult both to women and to democracy. 11 days later, more than 100,000 women had signed it, claiming that Berlusconi participated in the "cretinization of women."

It took long enough for more women to speak up, but it's great they finally did it. Alas, Italian feminists have more than Berlusconi and his rhetoric to fight. In the following clip from filmmaker Lorella Zanardo's documentary Women's Bodies, you'll see that almost all the representations of women on Italian television depict them as sex objects.

West Point Grad Gets Drafted to Football Field

LibertySugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:00:44 -0700

Soon to be West Point graduate Caleb Campbell (#13) will start his active duty as a member of the Detroit Lions professional football team. If he hadn't been drafted, he would be headed to Iraq or Kuwait as a platoon leader in charge of 32 soldiers.

Campbell's first dream was to serve his country, as he turned down offers to play football at other colleges as a high school senior. He didn't have hopes of going pro, as when he began his career at West Point the military had not yet implemented its "alternative service option," which allows graduates to play professional sports.

The Army hopes that Campbell will be a successful high profile recruiting tool. During the off season, he will work in a Detroit Army recruiting office.

Critics of the policy feel it betrays the American people who expect West Point men and women to serve as military leaders in exchange for their education, not play professional sports. In addition, it may undermine camaraderie among West Point alumni and the armed forces in general. Even Campbell admitted that his classmates didn't understand his decision at first.

Do you think Campbell can serve his country just as well on the gridiron or is he backing out on his commitment? Will a NFL player help the Army successfully recruit more Americans to serve in the military or is a better West Point football team all the Army has in mind with the "alternative service option"?

Source

Front Page: The Public Wants a Public Healthcare Option

TresSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:00:12 -0700

A majority of Americans want a public option for health insurance according to the latest poll. - WSJ
George W. Bush will be giving talks as a motivational speaker. - Talking Points Memo
After drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter this weekend, Rio de Janeiro says it has a long way to go before it's safe enough for the 2016 Olympics. - New York Times
The Heene's episode of Wife Swap has been pulled out of the rerun rotation following the balloon-boy incident. - CNN
Iran, the US, France, and Russia have drafted a deal that should ease concerns about Iran's nuclear program. - BBC News

UN Drafts Controversial Sex Ed Guidelines

TresSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Is it possible to have an international standard for sexual education? The United Nations thinks so. The new global sex ed guidelines, to be handed out to education ministries, school systems, and teachers, are designed to help reduce the number of HIV and STD infections around the world, but some find them to be too explicit or culturally insensitive.

Religious groups, primarily based in the US, object to the following guidelines: recommending a discussion of homosexuality, presenting abstinence as only one option available to young people, and suggesting a discussion about masturbation with children as young as 5-years-old.

The UN's global coordinator for HIV and AIDS has a response for the critics. He said: "In the absence of a vaccine for AIDS, education is the only vaccine we have." If they might save lives, it seems that the guidelines are worth a shot, even if one size doesn't fit all.

Front Page: AIDS Vaccine Shows Promise

TresSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:00:42 -0700

A new HIV/AIDS vaccine shows unprecedented promise, as it became the first to successfully cut the the risk of contracting HIV in a clinical study. - Bloomberg
Apple will allow porn star apps in its online store, but the apps will not be allowed to include full nudity. - CNET
Michelle Obama will entertain the spouses of the G20 leaders in Pittsburgh this week by treating them to the Andy Warhol Museum and a performance by Yo-Yo Ma. - AP
The UN unanimously approved a US-drafted resolution aiming to rid the world of nuclear weapons. - New York Times

Do, Dump, or Marry? Alex Rodriguez

TresSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:00:00 -0700

During the Summer, baseball season offers a little something for everyone. Fans can cheer on their favorite team, while those who don't find the sport amusing can still enjoy the eye-candy - if a man in a (baseball) uniform is their cup of tea. Alex Rodriguez is one of those players who has a variety of female fans, including actress Kate Hudson. The famous pair have been spotted stealing ~~bases~~ kisses recently. Things didn't work out between A-Rod and his ex-wife, which makes me think the slugger might not be marriage material. Would you draft him?