CWLU Herstory Blog

Join sex worker organizer Pussy Willow and writer Kari Lydersen as they discuss issues that affect the lives and livelihood of sex workers - in particular the current controversy surrounding trafficking victim legislation - and the moralistic and dangerous crusade against prostitution.

June 26, Thursday, 7 PM
Sex Workers, Criminalization and Human Rights
Organized by Open University of the Left
Lincoln Park Public Library
1150 W. Fullerton Ave, Chicago
Info: www.openuniversityoftheleft.org

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On May 23, The Women's Media Center(WMC), along with their partners at Media Matters, launched, "Sexism Sells, But We're Not Buying It," a new video and online petition campaign illustrating the pervasive nature of sexism in the media's coverage.

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It was a long time coming and I resisted the emotion for as long as humanly possible, but yes now I really do hate Hillary Clinton.

When she and Bill burst on the national scene in 1992, I was willing to entertain the possibility of a new updated Eleanor and Franklin story, only this time "Eleanor" would have more than just "Franklin's" ear. She would have some real policymaking power.

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Veronica over at Viva La Feminista posted an excellent piece about her fear and loathing of economics classes. Like many of us who have tried to understand the "dismal science", she was repulsed by the one economics class she took. Imagine what it must feel like to be a feminist economics major and have to take dozens of the things?

It's not surprising that econ classes have such a bad name among people who have even a shred of human feeling. Academic economics is dominated by the infamous Chicago School popularized by Milton Friedman and by corporate shills bent on corporate world domination. I know the latter sounds like a joke, but the Third World isn't laughing. As for Milton Friedman, his brand of economics as practiced by such luminaries as Margaret Thatcher , Ronald Reagan and Augusto Pinochet has grown a helluva lot more poverty than wealth.

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By Angela Hayden

Where do you think you are? In America? Some men believe its a pain in the ass for women to want equal rights. Hell, my mama raised five kids on her own after my drunken, abusive father left. He broke her nose twice and nearly killed me. She didn't have time to think about being a feminist. She was just a poor woman trying to survive in our society.

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Working people face these issues every day. But all too often, women especially don’t have the resources or support to help meet these challenges.

Working America and the AFL-CIO are conducting a nationwide survey on what it's like to be a working woman. If you’re a working woman, your opinion matters greatly. Please take a moment to complete the Ask a Working Woman survey and share your thoughts and experiences.

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It's no secret that feminists are on both sides of the fence in the Democratic primary.

Despite the media stereotype of a vast leftwing feminist conspiracy made up of goose-stepping fembots, the actual women's equality movement is very diverse. Being the independent-minded people that we are,

Ellen Bravo wrote this article which was posted on the AFL-CIO blog. She is former director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women and author of Taking on the Big Boys: Or Why Feminism Is Good for Families, Business and the Nation.

Congratulations, working women! As of today, your salary since January 1, 2007, has finally reached the total earned by your male colleagues in 2007 alone. What’s more, this pay gap is all your fault!

According to the media, the problem is that women just don’t ask. If we learned to speak up in salary negotiations, pay equity would be a hard fact.

An ABC News segment called the negotiation process “something that each of us has the ability to control….No employer has an obligation to whisper in the woman’s ear, ‘Hey, you know, you just lost out on more money because you didn’t speak up.’”

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Anyone who has ever had a conversation with a know-it-all knows how flustering and frustrating that can be. But somehow, the know-it-all man comes equipped his own special brand of arrogance and aggravation.

In her blog post entitled "Men Explain Things to Me" over at AlterNet , Rebecca Solnit

Feministing.com is a bold brash feminist blog site where many women and some men start their day by reading the articles and opinion pieces and then posting their comments.

The youngish organizers of Feministing represent a generation of women who are fighting the complex 21st century battle for