My newest patron saint
Today…
is the birthday of Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911), another “first woman to do everything she did.” First woman admitted to MIT, to graduate from MIT, to teach at MIT. First American woman admitted to any science/tech school, first to get a degree in chemistry. She’s considered the founder of home economics, first to apply chemistry to the study of nutrition, and a vocal advocate for teaching more women more science. She developed the model for the national school lunch program. She co-founded the organization that became AAUW.
I MEAN. Point me to the Etsy shop that’ll put ESR on a candle, I need it.speaking of home ec, is National Green Bean Casserole Day, and good, as it is the target of much undeserved disrespect. If you’re picturing canned green beans and Campbell’s mushroom soup, stop that. Fresh green beans, mushrooms, caramelized onions and garlic, roasted in the simplest béchamel. Do keep the French’s onions, though, they’re great.
Made real progress yesterday of hitting my goal of 200 readers by the end of December. Share the good word of my new patron saint Ellen Swallow Richards.
Abortion
The American Prospect | Potential HHS Nominee Gina Raimondo Has a “Mixed” Record on Abortion | David Dayen
The Rhode Island governor engineered a budget deal in 2015 that stripped abortion coverage from thousands of families. She’s a top contender to become Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Secretary.
VICE | Indie Abortion Clinics Are Shutting Down All Over the Country | Carter Sherman
Over the last eight years, more than 100 independent abortion clinics in the U.S., or more than a third, have closed their doors, according to a Wednesday report from the Abortion Care Network, a membership organization for independent abortion clinics, or clinics that don’t belong to Planned Parenthood.
Rewire News Group | The COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Everything, Including Abortion Care | Kelli Pate
Time Magazine | Many Independent Abortion Clinics Are Closing, Permanently | Abigail Abrams
Georgia
BuzzFeed News | Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler Donated Her Salary To Anti-LGBTQ And Anti-Abortion Organizations | Ema O'Connor
Loeffler donated large portions of her Senate salary to anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ rights organizations. Among these organizations are several “crisis pregnancy centers” that often pose as abortion clinics in order to dissuade people from getting the procedure and an adoption agency that has a strong anti-LGBTQ ethos and bans same-sex couples from using it.
LGBTQ
The Daily Beast | Conversion Therapy is ‘Abuse’ and ‘Brainwashing,’ Say Its LGBTQ Survivors | Tim Teeman
After the 11th Circuit delivered a pro-conversion therapy ruling, survivors of the practice reveal what they endured and how they recovered in this second of our special series.
LGBTQ Nation | Corporate America loves LGBTQ people & anti-LGBTQ politicians | John Gallagher
Corporate America wants you to know that it loves LGBTQ people. Just look at the array of them you see in ads for the holiday season. But when push comes to shove, the love has its limits, particularly when it’s in the corporations’ financial interests.
Metro Weekly | For fourth year in a row, Donald Trump omits LGBTQ mention from World AIDS Day proclamation | John Riley
For the fourth year in a row, Trump failed to acknowledge or specifically mention LGBTQ people in his annual proclamation as part of World AIDS Day.
The American Independent | McEnany: Trump was right to ignore LGBTQ people on World AIDS Day | Oliver Willis
Slate | Elliot Page’s Vulnerability Is a Gift to the Trans, Nonbinary Community | Melissa Kaplan
We’re in an awkward evolutionary phase of trans and nonbinary media visibility, and Page is honest about the duality of having protection in his celebrity status and the difficulties he still faces. And while he’s had to come out before, this is challenging in a completely different way, and he’s still allowing himself to be vulnerable about the process. That’s really hard. But he’s doing it right.
Indiana
GoMag | Indiana Asks the Supreme Court To Hear An Appeal Limiting Same-Sex Parental Rights | Isabelle Lichtenstein
The nine Supreme Court justices will meet on December 11th to choose whether or not to allow a challenge on same-sex parental rights to make it to the Court.
Metro Weekly | Indiana AG says same-sex parents shouldn't be listed on children's birth certificates | John Riley
Michigan
NBC | Funeral home settles landmark transgender bias case for $250,000 | Daniel Wiessner
A Michigan funeral home has agreed to pay $250,000 to the estate of a transgender former funeral director to settle a landmark lawsuit that prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule discrimination against transgender workers is a form of unlawful sex bias.
The Hill | Michigan funeral home to pay $250K in settlement over transgender discrimination case | Zack Budryk
New York Daily News | Michigan funeral home to pay $250,000 for firing the late Aimee Stephens because she was transgender | Muri Assunção
UPI | EEOC reaches $250,000 with funeral home in Aimee Stephens transgender bias case | Daniel Uria
Washington
The American Independent | New lawsuit could pave the way for better transgender health care | Casey Quinlan
A lawsuit recently filed on on behalf of a transgender teenager could lead to significant legal progress for transgender people across the country who need gender-affirming care but have been unable to access it through their employer health plans.
Pregnancy & Parenting
Business Insider | One chart shows why more companies should invest in paid parental leave | Marguerite Ward
A new survey of over 440,000 working parents at ~1,200 companies shows that employees who work for companies that offer generous paid parental leave and other parental benefits report higher rates of retention and engagement.
HR Magazine | Double Duty Takes a Toll on Working Mothers | Theresa Agovino
Struggling with the demands of jobs and child care, working moms are feeling the strain—and leaving the workforce in droves.
Motherly | New research proves it: Dads get more 'me time' than moms | Heather Marcoux
A new survey from Zulily found that 68% of moms say they take only 1-5 hours of "me time" each week, while 37% of dad say they get 6-10 hours to themselves each week.
Washington Post | This pandemic has exposed our nation’s broken caregiving system | Melinda Gates
With child-care centers closed, schools operating remotely and families caring for sick adults and aging parents at home, what was previously untenable has become almost impossible — especially for single mothers, essential workers and others working low-wage jobs with unpredictable hours.
Colorado
Colorado Public Radio | The Pandemic Parental Juggling Act | Ryan Warner
Massachusetts
New England Public Media | 'Something's Got To Give': Health Risks, Lack Of Child Care Force Many To Leave Jobs | Nancy Cohen
Reproductive Health & Justice
The Lily | ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is the latest to include the iconic first period scene. Why don’t we ever see normal menstruation on TV? | Caroline Kitchener
Despite its ubiquity off-screen — a monthly occurrence, experienced by half the population for a good portion of their lives — menstruation rarely appears in pop culture. When it does, it’s almost always a “drama.”
Idaho
Idaho Press | As Scotland moves to end period poverty, Idaho continues taxing period products | Harrison Berry
Nationwide, 35 states tax period products at rates between 4.7% and 9.9%. Idaho taxes them at 6%, a little below the national average, even as period poverty is believed to affect nearly a quarter of menstruators.
Work & Money
Bloomberg News | Adobe Says Women Earn 99% as Much as Men in New Disclosure | Jeff Green
Adobe Inc. said in a new report that its female workers earn 99% as much as men, becoming the first major U.S. tech company to disclose worldwide median pay based on gender.
The New Republic | The Girlboss Feminism of Joe Biden’s Cabinet | Melissa Gira Grant
We have yet to hear how, specifically, the first woman selected to head the Treasury Department or Defense would deliver something different than any or all of the men who preceded her. And there is nothing new in the symbolic being elevated over the reality of the daily lives of the people these powerful appointees are meant to serve.
So, one random thing about news feeds is that they sometimes turn up for me with a draft version of the headline, before it was punched up by an editor. This one 🠱🠱 first appeared as “The Consultant-Class Feminism of Biden’s Cabinet” and while, yes, I realized it is meant as critique, lemme tell you I clicked that link with updated resume in hand.
The 19th | Pregnant health care workers a question for early immunization | Shefali Luthra
The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccines should be given to health care personnel and people who live in long-term care facilities, a major federal advisory committee voted Tuesday. The recommendation … could have major ramifications for women, who make up 75% of the nation’s health care workers. But the implications for pregnant health workers are less clear.
Poynter Online | The ‘missing perspectives of women in news’ is alarming and grim, a new report shows | Amaris Castillo
A report released this week found a stubbornly persistent underrepresentation of women in news organizations (especially at leadership and governance levels), as experts cited in reports, and as protagonists of news stories.
Roll Call | Comment period under way on paid family leave policies for Capitol Hill workers | Katherine Tully- McManus
Paid family leave on Capitol Hill has long been governed by a patchwork of policies depending on what office or department employees work for, but interim guidance and a new proposal for Legislative Branch employees could set a baseline for family leave policies.
California
San Gabriel Valley Tribune | Del Taco to pay $1.25 million to settle sexual harassment lawsuit | Kevin Smith
Del Taco will pay $1,250,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment against female employees at the company’s Rancho Cucamonga-area locations, federal regulators said Wednesday.
New York Times | Fast-Food Chain Del Taco to Pay $1.25 Million to Settle Sexual Harassment Suit | Kwame Opam
Colorado
Slate | Can the campaign for Colorado’s paid family leave law be a model for other states? | Jennifer Oldham
Colorado State Sen. Faith Winter will share her strategies in December training sessions with legislators looking to introduce similar bills when their statehouses reconvene. One of them is: Don’t be afraid of putting forth a bill that may not pass.
More, More, More
Colorlines | How Can Brothas Dream Up a More Radical Black Love and Liberation for Black Women and LGBTQ+ Folks? | Richard Wright
Previously, I have written about how patriarchy harms women, LGBTQ folks, and us men, and merging radical love into our relationships and movements… [A]ll of these concepts open a way to begin dreaming of new forms of liberation, especially around how we as cisgender straight men must get past our internal stumbling block of being marginalized people who then oppress the most marginalized within our own communities
Harper's Bazaar | The Lessons I Learned From My Bubbie, RBG | Clara Spera
I learned from her that it was important to keep my room neat and tidy, that I shouldn’t raise my voice because it wouldn’t get me anywhere, and that I could imagine a future for myself unimpeded by stereotypes about “the way women are.”
Ms. | What Women Can Expect from a Biden Presidency: On Ending Violence Against Women | Carrie Baker
In terms of women’s right to be free from violence, the Trump administration was brutal. Reversing this damage is a key part of Biden’s pledge to pursue an “aggressive and comprehensive plan to further women’s economic and physical security and ensure that women can fully exercise their civil rights.
Ms. | Violence Against Women Deserves More Than a 16-Day Campaign | Nicole Behnam
November marks the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign. But after the year we’ve had, we’re going to need to dedicate way more than 16 days to the ‘shadow pandemic’ of gender-based violence.