Keira Knightly Beaten

Ken AshfordWomen's IssuesLeave a Comment

The Brits really don't pull their punches (no pun intended) when it comes to their Public Service Announcement advertisements. Here's a new and compelling one, directed by Atonement director Joe Wright.  If it doesn't bring your attention to the issue of domestic violence, nothing will. [NOTE: contains graphic violence]

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Sarah Gronert?

Ken AshfordWomen's IssuesLeave a Comment

22 year old Sarah Gronert is a professional tennis player.  Sarah was born with male and female genitalia. She retired from tennis at 19 because of her condition, and the locker room jeers that came with it.  She then had gender reassignment surgery, having the "male" removed, and is now medically certified as a woman.  Then she rejoined the tennis circuit. She … Read More

Orgasmic Birth

Ken AshfordWomen's Issues1 Comment

I'm no expert on women's sexuality and biology, but this strikes me as highly implausible: Amber Hartnell did not intend to have an orgasmic birth – it just happened. "Trying to have an orgasmic birth defeats the object," she says, "I just got into this ecstatic state where I had these peaks of orgasm. There were these rolling waves coming … Read More

Another Good Beginning

Ken AshfordObama & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Obama reversed the gag rule: THIS WEEK marks the 20th anniversary of a profound and misguided change in US foreign policy: the Reagan administration's "global gag rule," which was first announced at an international family planning conference in Mexico City in August 1984. The "Mexico City" policy prohibits US dollars and contraceptive supplies from going to any international family planning … Read More

Women Are, Apparently, Really Stupid

Ken AshfordWomen's IssuesLeave a Comment

We know this because women’s magazines are instructing women on how to do the simplest things: The spine of Allure reads "The Beauty Expert." That’s the mag’s claim to fame. Nowhere does it say that the publication is for the mentally handicapped, three year olds, those recovering from spinal cord injuries or Neanderthals. (Or Cro-Mags, heh.) So it is impossible … Read More

Rape Victim Pleas For Help On Youtube

Ken AshfordCrime, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

This is painful to watch: CNN: The video is hard to turn away from. A sobbing 16-year-old sits in her bedroom and, staring into a camera, says she has been raped. "Hi, my name is Crystal … I need some help. I didn’t want to do it this way, but it’s the only way I know that’s going to work, … Read More

What “Pro-Choice” Means (And Courting The Evangelical Vote)

Ken AshfordElection 2008, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

From a Salon interview with author Amy Sullivan ("The Party Faithful"), a Christian evangelical who is a Democrat: You’re pro-choice. Does that interfere with being an evangelical? Well, I don’t like the [pro-choice] label. I guess the reason I wrote about abortion the way I did in the book is because I have serious moral concerns about abortion, but I … Read More

Things I Didn’t Know

Ken AshfordWomen's IssuesLeave a Comment

Men are apparently having abortions now, too. I actually have more to say on the issue, but perhaps some other time.  Suffice it to say, I see much of this whining by men, sincere though it may be, as part of a calculated effort to re-exert control over a woman’s uterus.  It’s a cold and calculated move by the anti-choice … Read More