(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . This Week in the War on Women, 9/24-30/23: Another Caregiver Edition [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-30 Since caregivers are so overwhelmingly women, I find this an appropriate opening topic for WOW. And since I care about climate, I have recently been wondering about adult diapers (Mom is bed-bound, so diapers are essential). So I recently found this website, supposedly the most environmentally friendly solution around. Note that disposables are claimed to be actually more environmentally friendly than reusables, after you account for electricity, water, detergent and their containers spent to launder diapers! So these diapers are supposed to hold up to 2.6 Liters of fluid each, and keep that fluid away from skin, so that fewer diapers are used. I ordered my sample packages this week. We will see! Note also that they mention that the diapers can be burned for energy, and that some communities are trying this for diapers in general, given the heavy load of diapers used by nursing homes etc., and that as the percentage of elderly increase, the use of adult diapers is increasing. Of course, burning diapers for energy does not solve our carbon emissions problems. But they can substitute for other sources of fuel burned for energy until we get to a fully solar/wind energy world. And this keeps them out of landfills. We also are looking into a “Purewick” type system that will greatly decrease the use of diapers. This is an external catheter that sends liquid into a canister that can be emptied relatively easily. So in addition to keeping Mom drier, diapers will be less soaked and less heavy for me to manage disposal. Most likely, diapers and pads will still be needed, but hopefully many less. I’ll keep DKos members posted how these options work in real life. Meanwhilst, any other suggestions are greatly appreciated to be added to the comments! In Other News Workplace It only seems like I order this many cases at once! ;-) Since I’ve been having groceries delivered a lot recently, I wondered how drivers are faring, as well as male/female disparity. As we all might anticipate, it ain’t good: In the gig economy as of March 2023: Lowest pay bracket: 58% are women; Highest pay bracket: 68% are men Earning over $100K a year in gig work: 18% are female, 28% are male Just 8% of women surveyed have a pension plan On average as of 2022, men make 48% more than women in the gig economy. (Story is behind a paywall, but we can read the first several lines!) Note that whilst the first article partly blames the discrepancy on more women “choosing” domestic services whilst more men “choose” IT, this August 2022 article shows that actually the biggest pay discrepancy exists in IT and computer sciences: With men charging $100.90 per hour compared to women who were only charging $30, or 3x less for the same work. Yikes! Colour me surprised! I’d be happy that I’m in the more-equitable creative fields, then, if not for the fact that both men and women in creative fields are relatively underpaid. As for delivery drivers specifically, the group I am mostly interacting with, as of 2022 they are about 60% white and 83% male (the above link is to a career site with just about all the stats you might want to know about drivers!). Even so, the rare women earn about 89% of what men earn. This compares with an earnings gap of 83% for women in the US generally. But the delivery-driver reference doesn’t say how they determine that percentage. That may be per hour. Another site mentioned that women tend to work shorter hours, and tend to refuse certain areas and times of day (i.e., it’s more dangerous for women to deliver in some areas). So they may be in a position where they can’t take advantage of the relatively higher pay because they don’t feel safe working evenings, for example. If you can afford it, remember to tip your delivery drivers generously, especially women and minorities! Politics (h/t officebss) From The19thNews Republican men and women disagree on how many women should hold political office. Survey: “Republican women are less likely than Americans overall to think there are too few women in elected office. But they’re way more likely to think so than men in their party...” From the Atlantic - the Republicans' next target in the War on Women: No-fault divorce. https://www.theatlantic.com/... From The19thNews U.S. history classes are mostly about men. ‘It messages that women are not foundational to our political system.’ Two teachers are looking to change that. They’re petitioning the College Board to offer an AP U.S. Women’s History course for the first time. From The19thNews Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the longest-serving woman in the U.S. Senate, died Thursday at age 90 after more than 30 years in Congress and a barrier-breaking career. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to appoint a Black woman to fill this critical Senate vacancy, at least temporarily. There are currently no Black women in the Senate, and he’s said he’s not considering any of the high-profile Democrats vying for the seat for months. Newsom’s early Friday statement praised Feinstein as a “powerful, effective leader” but did not comment on the potential timeline of her replacement amid a Senate spending fight and looming government shutdown. Senator Feinstein in happier days Injustice Here's a chilling article about cases where police coerced sexual assault victims into recanting - by using interrogation tactics that are normally reserved for suspects. Some of these cases resulted in the victims being criminally charged. Police interrogation (h/t Meteor Blades) This discussion reminds me of this article from last year, about a junk science theory that certain word choices by 911 callers indicate that they actually committed the crime they called about. Like, police decided they were guilty because they said "blood" instead of "bleeding." SMH then and now! Amanda Marcotte: Conservatives rallying around accused rapists and harassers aren't doing it because they think Russell Brand or Rudy Giuliani is really an innocent victim of the "deep state." They're vice-signaling their approval of how they think women should be treated: Being seen as a sexual abuser makes a person more popular with some on the right, especially the extremely online MAGA set. It's a subculture of people who valorize bullying and hate women, especially women who they think are uppity. Sexual violence has been a primary outlet for that urge to humiliate women and put them "in their place." This isn't about a sincere belief that every accused rapist is a victim of a "deep state" conspiracy. It's just that MAGA's knee-jerk urge when they hear these allegations of sexual violence is to side with the perpetrator. #MeToo Actor Laurence Fox remarks ‘way past limits of acceptance’, says GB News boss Angelos Frangopoulos signals presenter is likely to be sacked by describing misogynist remarks as appalling. https://www.theguardian.com/… News reader Dan Wootton sacked by MailOnline a day after GB News suspension Journalist’s column and contract terminated after comments made by Laurence Fox on his GB News show. On Thursday Wootton was sacked by MailOnline over accusations that he used a pseudonym to send sexually explicit messages to former colleagues. Asked about Wootton’s future on GB News, Frangopoulos said: “Again, we’re following process and he has been suspended and he will be investigated and the circumstances around that programme will also be investigated https://www.theguardian.com/… Joseph Roberts was held up as an example of how "#MeToo has gone too far," claiming he was expelled and his life ruined over "false accusations." He's now being charged with murdering and dismembering his girlfriend. Quelle surprise (that’s snark, in case you’re wondering). Abortion h/t Meteor Blades From CNN California attorney general sues anti-abortion groups over mifepristone reversal claims The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed suit against two organizations operating operate crisis pregnancy centers, for misleading claims about taking high-dose progesterone to supposedly reverse medication abortions. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, there is no scientific evidence that this treatment is effective or safe. The complaint alleges that Heartbeat International (HBI) and RealOptions [know there is no evidence that this drug protocol is safe or effective, yet persistent in promoting it as] “abortion pill reversal.”… ... HBI operates more than 2,000 “pregnancy resource centers” in the United States. RealOptions operates five clinics in California under the name RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics…. -snip- ...[In a post on [X/Twitter claiming to cite cited “major studies” showing efficacy for the protocol.], HBI said … “Through our Abortion Pill Rescue Network hotline, we know that some women almost immediately regret their chemical abortion choice [and] These women deserve the right to try and save their pregnancies”... Reuters adds: HBI is an international anti-abortion group affiliated with more than 2,000 crisis pregnancy centers around the country. Through its website, it offers to connect women to providers who will perform abortion pill reversal…. (h/t dopper0189) The only clinical trial of the process was halted early after three of 12 patients experienced severe bleeding requiring [hospital care]. Colorado earlier this year banned the treatment. Kansas passed a law requiring healthcare providers to tell patients that medication abortion can be reversed, which Planned Parenthood is challenging…. Go get ‘em, Planned Parenthood! I would very much also like to see the American Medical Association involved in these lawsuits! From AP- California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law to protect doctors who mail abortion pills to other states. Heh. I like that man. Medical From WebMD Unexpected Vaginal Bleeding Rises After COVID Vaccination. The study was published in Science Advances. Researchers surmise a connection to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in the vaccines. They surveyed more than 21,000 women: They learned that 252 postmenopausal women, 1,008 perimenopausal women and 924 premenopausal women reported having unexpected vaginal bleeding. About half said the bleeding occurred within four weeks of the first or second shot or both. The risk of bleeding was up 3 to 5 times for premenopausal and perimenopausal women, and 2 to 3 times for postmenopausal women, the researchers found…. This does not look to me to be a serious complication relative to the dangers of Covid. However, the authors note: Postmenopausal bleeding is usually serious and can be a sign of cancer, Nature wrote. “Knowing a patient’s vaccination status could put their bleeding incidence into context,” said Kate Clancy, a biological anthropologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. So this knowledge could potentially pause doctor’s tendency to recommend massive invasive tests, biopsies, etc. Interestingly, peer-reviewed medical publishing from around the world through 2022 attributed women’s reports of intense adverse effects from Covid vaxxes as much to women’s psychological issues as to real physical phenomena. There they go again! However, my view is that the disease is much worse than the vaccines. Currently Covid is still the third leading cause of death in the US. Vaccines don’t even make the list. Most of the history of vaccine side effect questions centers on parental concerns for children, one article from the Organization of American Historians tracing a particularly feminist thread from the ‘60s onward, on multiple medical issues rather than women continuing to simply accept all health pronouncements from doctors and authorities. Issues included health and safety concerns about the original Pill and other means of contraception, some of it turning out justified — but pregnancy itself is a lot riskier than commonly admitted, so every woman needs the freedom to weigh competing risks for herself. Note that I do not agree with what I read as the above article’s implications regarding vaccines, in that I believe that everyone should be vaccinated to protect others (with the rare life-threatening medical exception such as severe allergies) — it should not be just about one person’s decision for oneself, but where infectious disease is concerned, we each have an obligation to protect our community. However, the article’s presentation of the history of the interaction of feminism and environmentalism with anti-vaccine sentiment is interesting, so I am including it because so many of us are interested in both issues. Just read this in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/... Health experts are calling for a “feminist approach” to cancer to eliminate inequalities, as research reveals 800,000 women worldwide are dying needlessly every year because they are denied optimal care. I strongly suspect that another and intersectional inequality is people in poverty denied optimal care — although the longer we allow healthcare to operate on the for-profit or fact-free-religious model, the more none of us receive optimal care. I even recall reading many years ago that the most wealthy receive poor care, because they are seen as cash cows — so receive more tests, more invasive procedures, more hospitalizations, more surgeries, and so die younger from medical mistakes. If this is your worst medical experience, you are doing well! Native Women From NativeNewsOnline: Ho-Chunk Trucker Elizabeth Johnson Spreads MMIP Message, Offers Safe Haven from Domestic Violence Elizabeth Johnson's semi-tractor trailer stands out from the typical flow of highway traffic. The trailer bears striking images of Native women in powwow regalia, one with a red handprint over her mouth, alongside the words: "Invisible No More." For Johnson, a member of the Ho-Chunk Tribal Nation of Nebraska, her message is two-fold: spreading awareness of the ongoing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis and serving as a safe haven for any woman who needs help. "If any woman sees my semi-truck and needs help, me and my dog [Delihla] will help you to safety," Johnson told Native News Online. "Knock on my semi-truck door."….. Latinx From The19thNews Latina child care providers see America headed for a caregiving crisis Latinas are more likely to be child care providers and to have care-age children in the home. Their work combines roles of teachers, nurses and moms to the youngsters in their care, many of whom come from low-income families that can only afford it in qualifying for government child care subsidies. Which in turn — especially pandemic-era funds — supported child-care workplaces and individual child-care workers. The last of the largest federal subsidies expired September 27. The end of federal funds could hit them hard and spread far beyond. (h/t Thandisizwe Chimurenga) ...Over 70,000 child care centers could close, according to one estimate, which would lead to 3.2 million children losing access to child care. Already, many parents have had to cut back their hours or leave the workforce due to a lack of child care options and high costs. More child care closures threaten to further escalate those difficult choices for families — and Latinx families and providers are poised to be especially hard hit…. Culture Books/Interview: ‘Motherhood is a cult, to a degree’: Anne Heltzel on her horror novel about parenthood The author explains how Just Like Mother, her gothic horror tale of a cult fixated on childbearing, is uncomfortably close to reality https://www.theguardian.com/… Banned Books Week starts tomorrow! The top 10 most challenged books of 2022 include: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez: “E xposing the reality of life in East Texas in 1937,” “It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that racism — as well as sexism — is going to play a brutal role in Naomi’s story”. ,” “It is obvious from the beginning of the novel that racism — as well as sexism — is going to play a brutal role in Naomi’s story”. Out of Darkness is based on a true-events: In 1937, a natural gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas, killed nearly 300 students and teachers — one of the deadliest school disasters in U.S. history But they want to ban it for depicting abuse. Because tragedies don’t happen if you don’t read about them, I guess. Another eye roll. Please check out the “top 10” link above to read about all the most-banned books. All the would-be banners claim the books are sexually explicit, but it sure doesn’t sound like that’s their agenda. Minority authors, women, LGBTQIA+, tough topics. Heaven forbid our children should be so exposed! Child’s eye roll (h/t meinoregon) https://www.abc.net.au/... After a lifetime of painting the Australian landscape, June Boase Weller is still as passionate as she was the day she first picked up a paintbrush. At 94 years old, the prolific artist is not letting fading eyesight stop her from pursuing her passion. As always, War on Women is a group effort! Many thanks to mettle fatigue, Tara (the Antisocial Social Worker), thurayya, ramara, SandraLLAP, and Angmar for news, links, and discussion! And of course all those who uploaded to the Image Library for a great range to choose from. 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