That chick hit the streets at noon
Today…
is National Ampersand Day. Random question: do you know anyone who actually writes an ampersand? Can you write an ampersand? We all just use the upside-down 4 in writing, yeah?
is the birthday of union organizer Mary Morton Kimball (1859-1918), who fought to improve the living and working conditions of low-wage women in Boston. She co-founded the Union for Industrial Progress and became the first president of the National Women’s Trade Union League.
Just because it was on my mind this morning. A longtime favorite favorite is this story Janis Joplin tells before Try (Just a Little Bit Harder). I love the whole thing, and especially the line, “I got up at 9:30 in the morning, which, I want you to know was… an effort on my part.”
“So I figured out what you gotta do, man. Every time you’re lookin’ for a little piece of… action… and you ain’t gettin’ it, man, you know what you better do, baby…
You better try harder.”
Abortion
Pence makes pitch to anti-abortion voters in battleground states
Caroline Kelly | CNN
Vice President Mike Pence is making a strong pitch to a potentially crucial base of swing-state anti-abortion voters heading into the last two months of the presidential campaign.
Politicizing Safety Of The Abortion Pill Mifeprex
Joshua Cohen | Forbes
Mifeprex has been in use in Europe for nearly three decades with minimal safety issues. And, Mifeprex has had a similar safety record in the U.S since its approval in 2000. Between September 2000 and December 2018, 24 of the 3.7 million women who had undergone medicated abortions have died
The Real Consequences Of Getting ― Or Being Denied ― An Abortion
Melissa Jeltsen | HuffPost
Does abortion actually harm women? And what of those who are denied a desired abortion? How might their mental health be impacted by a forced pregnancy? These questions are at the heart of research done by Diana Greene Foster, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco in the obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences department.
LGBTQ
More than twice as many LGBTQ+ people of color are taking pay cuts as states reopen
Anagha Srikanth | The Hill
LGBTQ+ people of color are more than twice as likely to have taken a pay cut since some states began reopening than the general population, according to a new report by the Human Rights Campaign and PSB Insights.
The 'S' word: LGBTQ+ advocates take on stigma of suicide
Anagha Srikanth | The Hill
For LGBTQ+ youth, hiding their identity can be a matter of survival. But hiding “in the closet” can be a double-edged sword.
A crisis hotline for transgender people, by transgender people
Laura Newberry | Los Angeles Times
Trans Lifeline, which describes itself as the only crisis hotline for trans people operated entirely by trans people, is flooded with calls every time the nation’s highest office does something that threatens the LGBTQ community.
Republicans are waffling on LGBTQ+ issues. Will it matter?
Kate Sosin | USA Today
The Trump campaign can't decide if it should dispel the president's reputation as anti-LGBTQ+ — so it's playing both sides of the issue.
Marine Convicted of Murdering Trans Woman to Be Released on “Good Behavior”
Serena Sonoma | them.
Activists in the transgender community are criticizing a court order to release Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, a United States marine who was convicted of murdering 26-year-old Jennifer Laude, a trans woman in the Philippines, in October 2014.
Metro Weekly | Court orders release of U.S. Marine jailed for killing transgender woman in the Philippines
New York Times | Duterte Pardons U.S. Marine Who Killed Transgender Woman
NPR | Philippines Pardons U.S. Marine In Killing Of Transgender Woman
Michigan
A conservative group launched an anti-trans digital ad campaign in Michigan to steer votes away from Joe Biden
Yelena Dzhanova | INSIDER
The American Principles Project, a conversative think tank, released three anti-trans ads in Michigan, a battleground state in the 2020 elections.
LGBTQ Nation | New pro-Trump ads demonize trans people & claim Biden supports “legal child abuse”
NBC | Conservative group releases anti-transgender political ads in Michigan
Texas
Texas prosecutor fired after his violent, racist & anti-LGBTQ tweets were exposed
Alex Bollinger | LGBTQ Nation
Texas assistant attorney general Nick Moutos has been fired after his violent, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Muslim tweets – many of which promoted bizarre conspiracy theories – got media attention.
Pregnancy & Parenting
Feminists Have Been Fighting for Universal Childcare for Decades
Elena Schilder | Bitch Media
There was once a time when the right to childcare had top billing for a generation of feminists.
Reproductive Chattel: The New Jane Crow
Michele Goodwin | Harvard Law & Policy Review
As scholars, we should commit ourselves to reflecting on the personal costs associated with states policing women’s pregnancies and bodies. In doing so, our task must be to highlight how states’ selective interest in and punishment related to reproductive rights often targets women of color and the poor.
Moms are running on empty, but hungry for change
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner | The Hill
Moms are running on empty. This pandemic is exposing just how urgently we need wide sweeping, national workplace protections like child care, fair pay, health care, paid family and medical leave, earned sick days and emergency solutions to improve access to nutritious food, housing and K-12 education. Individual moms are trying to do everything — work, raise children, educate children and more — and we simply can’t. We’ve hit a wall. There’s no other avenue forward than transformation.
Child care crisis pushes US mothers out of the labor force
Cathy Bussewitz, Alexandra Olson | Associated Press
Research is increasingly pointing to a retreat of working mothers from the U.S. labor force as the pandemic leaves parents with few child care options and the added burden of navigating distance learning.
CBS News Research increasingly points to a retreat of working moms from the labor force
Patriot News | Child care in a pandemic
Wall Street Journal | Remote Schools’ Hidden Cost: Parents Quit Work to Teach, Prompting New Recession Woes
Parents Got More Time Off. Then the Backlash Started.
Daisuke Wakabayashi, Sheera Frenkel | New York Times
Pandemic policies at tech companies have created a rift between parents offered more benefits and resentful workers who don’t have children.
The Hostile, American Reality That Is Going Back to Work as a New Mom
Cassie Shortsleeve | Parents
Mothers in the U.S. are faced with a lack of federally-mandated maternity leave, inflexible workplaces, and worse, a feeling like they have to work harder than others to show their strength as employees.
Reproductive Health & Justice
Bayer offers $1.6 billion to end thousands of lawsuits over Essure birth control implant
Anne Saker | Cincinnati Enquirer
Bayer will pay $1.6 billion to settle lawsuits from thousands of American women who said they developed debilitating long-term health problems from the pharmaceutical giant’s product, the Essure birth control implant.
Rabbi Hara Person: Why Progressive Faith Leaders Must Defend Reproductive Rights
Micaela Brinsley | Ms. Magazine
Ms. spoke with Rabbi Person on the role of faith-based leaders in 2020, the importance of the separation between church and state, and her passion for advocating for reproductive justice and women’s rights.
California
Black mothers and babies are dying every year. What’s being done to save them in Fresno?
Dympna Ugwu-Oju | Fresno Bee
Though California’s maternal mortality declined by 55% between 2006 to 2013, according to the state’s department of public health, Black women are still three to four times more likely to experience pregnancy-related complications than mothers from all other racial groups.
Black doulas on racism, fear, and reproductive health in the BLM era
Sophia Hawkins, Sara Lam, Sofia Verani | The Oaklandside
An Oakland teen speaks with three local experts about racism in health care and the politics of birthing while Black.
New York
Foundation Targets Black Maternal Mortality After Loss of NYC Mother: ‘We’re Not Statistics’
Checkey Beckford | WNBC-TV (New York, NY)
New father Bruce McIntyre says the death of his son's mother could, and should have been prevented. It's that motivation, to protect other Black families from the same loss as McIntyre, that brought about a new foundation named after Amber Rose Isaac.
Texas
Texas is still using the coronavirus to interfere with women's health
Lisa Needham | The American Independent
Texas plans to cut programs providing birth control and cancer screenings to people with lower incomes. The Texas government is doing some belt-tightening, but it looks like they'll be letting anti-abortion groups escape the cuts.
Work & Money
No One Deserves This Labor Day More Than Women—Too Bad They Can’t Take Off
Sen. Elizabeth Warren | Cosmopolitan
Sure, women aren't just the backbones of their families, but as we celebrate Labor Day, we should acknowledge that women are also the backbones of our economy and our country. Despite their importance, it is clearer than ever that our economy is not working for them.
Here’s Why Major Companies Are Paying Employees To Skip Work On Election Day
Chris Iovenko | HuffPost
The fact that Election Day occurs during a workday disenfranchises many low-wage workers, working parents and others who might not be able to leave work, miss out on paid hours, or find child care in order to cast their ballots.
🠲 The End Of The University
Astra Taylor | The New Republic
A 2019 study reported that 20 years after starting college, the typical white student owes 6% of their cumulative debt, or around $1,000, while the typical Black borrower still owes 95%, or around $18,500. As fees and interest accrue over years and decades, Black borrowers, and Black women in particular, end up paying significantly more for the same degrees than white borrowers do.
New Jersey
NJ wage growth 'slow and uneven' for essential workers, minorities and women, report says
William Westhoven | Herald News
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new complications for New Jersey workers already facing barriers to economic security, and who now must cope with new threats to their health and safety, according to a report released Monday by the non-profit New Jersey Policy Perspective.
More, More, More
Gambling Addiction Among Women Is Growing At 2x The Rate Of Men, Figures Show
Alice Broster | Bustle
Figures from the gambling addiction charity GamCare show that the number of women reporting a problematic relationship with gambling has risen by over a third in the last year, which is more than double the rate of men in the same period.
Anita Hill vows to vote for Joe Biden and work with him on gender issues
Ann Colwell | CNN
Anita Hill never pictured herself voting for Joe Biden. But given the political reality the nation is facing, she's not only going to vote for Biden -- she's also willing to work with him, should he become president.
Infant Politician Blames 'Early Childhood Education Funding' For Making Him Abuse Women
Brianna Provenzano | Jezebel
Aaron Coleman, the 19-year-old answer to the question of what would happen if you spliced the most disingenuous college Democrat with the dweebiest frat boy on campus, is back this week with another round of excuses about which harrowing obstacles from his past are causing him to reportedly abuse women in the present.
Want a Better Way to Think About Gender? Use Math
Cathy O’Neil | The New York Times
Eugenia Cheng introduces mathematical structure to the debate on gender in order to clarify and focus the conversation in helpful, non-divisive ways.