This day in Herstory: Marianne A. Ferber, born January 30, 1923, was an American feminist economist and the author of many books and articles on the subject of women's work, the family, and the construction of gender. She held a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
She was most noted for her work as co-editor with Julie A. Nelson of the influential anthology Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics and her book The Economics of Women, Men and Work, co-authored with Francine D. Blau and Anne Winkler.
Highly regarded for her role as a central figure in the development of feminist economics, Ferber expanded the literature on women’s presence in the economy. She was one of the first people to confront Gary Becker’s work on economics and the family. (more)
Health fears over replacing 'mum' with 'birth-giver' as experts warn wider use of gender-neutral terms could have 'unintended consequences' for women and children
From The Daily Mail (UK)
By John Abiona
January 30, 2022
Women's health could be at risk by replacing words such as 'mother' with more 'inclusive' terms such as 'birth-givers'
Greater use of gender-neutral terms can have 'unintended consequences that have serious implications for women and children'
Experts warned against removing references to the sex of mothers in research and medical information
Women's health could be put at risk by replacing words such as 'mother' with more 'inclusive' terms such as 'birth-givers', women's health experts have warned.
Greater use of gender-neutral terms can have 'unintended consequences that have serious implications for women and children', according to a paper due to be published this week.
While the authors said that language meant to be inclusive of transgender people was appropriate in some circumstances, they argued against removing references to the sex of mothers in research and medical information. … read full article
The Observer view on the EHRC decision on Scotland’s gender recognition reforms
Observer editorial
From The Guardian (UK)
January 30, 2022
It is not uncommon for people’s fundamental rights to come into conflict. Democracies need legal frameworks and judicial systems that enable these conflicts to be resolved fairly and with civility. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 provides a robust legal framework that protects people against discrimination and helps balance rights when they are in conflict. It protects people against discrimination based on nine “protected characteristics” – including sex and gender reassignment – and sets out important exceptions that allow for single-sex services, spaces and sports as a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate aim.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the statutory regulator of the Equality Act. Last week, it told the Scottish government that its proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which allows trans people to change the way their sex is recorded for legal purposes, should be paused because the consultation on these changes has not adequately taken into account their impact on women’s sex-based rights. The Scottish government is proposing to move to a system whereby people can change their sex for legal purposes through self-declaration, instead of needing a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. …
But because reforming the Gender Recognition Act will affect another protected characteristic, sex, it is critically important that any proposals to reform it in the UK are informed by proper consultation with all those affected. That has not happened in Scotland. Instead, Nicola Sturgeon has simply denied such a conflict exists. Women raising legitimate concerns that opinion polls show are widely shared have been tarnished as “transphobic” by Scottish politicians.
This is politicians fomenting rather than diffusing contested debates. It has created a culture where women of the view that biological sex cannot be wholly replaced by gender identity in law – a belief itself protected by equalities legislation – get harassed out of jobs and visited by the police as a result of expressing lawful and legitimate views. Everyone loses: in a world where some people are bullied out of the democratic process of debate and consultation, it is impossible to build social consensus around the balancing of rights of two groups facing significant discrimination. … read full article
Nevis School Board debates Minnesota Student Survey
Questions on the Minnesota Student Survey and whether they are appropriate for students in grades 6-11 was a topic of discussion at Monday night’s Nevis School Board meeting.
From Park Rapids Enterprise (USA)
By Lorie Skarpness
January 30, 2022
Currently, students are given the survey unless the parents opt out.
“I’m not on board with it,” school board member Justin Isaacson said. “There are some good points and benefits from the survey, but I don’t think it’s good for all the children. There are a lot of questions in there that are kind of edgy and sexually risque and inappropriate in my mind for some of the younger students.
“Instead of being an opt-out survey, I think it should be more of an opt-in survey. It doesn’t coincide with my values and what I want to represent as a school district. I think we need to make it more transparent instead of having to request the information to even see the survey to decide if you want to opt out before your child is obligated to take it. They shouldn’t be exposed to a lot of these questions. I would like to see changes in the way we approach it in the future.” …
Isaacson agreed there are some good questions. “Others, like being gender fluid, can’t they just be a kid and not worry about that kind of stuff?” he asked. … read full article
How the Convoy Protest and Covid intersect with wokeness
Freedom Truckers Take Their Message To Ottawa
From Woke Watch Canada (Canada)
By Corrie Mooney
January 30, 2022
Woke Watch Canada is a big-tent group of concerned teachers, parents, school admin and citizens who seek to identify and speak out against divisive woke radicalism in our schools and culture. We come from a variety of political backgrounds and know that resistance to wokeness can be found from conservatives all the way to the far left. As such, we have been laser focussed on wokeness and have generally avoided other political topics. We have found that our priority needs to be to spread awareness of wokeness, and we don’t want to alienate potential supporters.
With the Convoy Protest in Ottawa, this is becoming increasingly difficult to do. …
Irrespective of whether or not you think the mandates should be in place today and remain there, you must concede that it is every Canadians’ right to question them, and question them openly. One of the main purposes of freedom of expression is to act as a check on abuse of power. We are living in a time where many are not respectful of citizen’s rights, who feel that their cause supersedes such concerns. This includes multi-national corporations, but also - definitely - the Woke.
The protest tells our governments that most Canadians aren’t going to put up with these mandates and restrictions on their freedom a moment longer than they need to. It tells them, finally, that there is a limit. … read full article
The Terrorist, the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court Justice
The women of the Christian Brotherhood who destroyed Roe v Wade and helped build a theocracy
From Feminist Giant (USA)
By Mona Eltahawy
January 30, 2022
When Roe v Wade is overturned, (”if” is a pipedream at this stage), convicted terrorist Raychelle “Shelly” Shannon can claim that she firebombed a path for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who is the face of a law that looks set to end the federally protected right to an abortion, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who will ensure a white, Christian woman deals the deadly blow to abortion rights when the Supreme Court decides on Mississippi’s law this summer.
It will mark the victory of what I call the Christian Brotherhood–an ideology that undergirds politics in white supremacist Christianity–over a fundamental tenet of feminism: the right to control one’s reproduction.
But let’s be clear: while the Brotherhood is absolutely patriarchal, this deadly blow to the federally protected right to have an abortion belongs to the “sisters”–white, Christian women who are what I call Foot Soldiers of the Patriarchy–a tag team of white, Christian terrorists, legislators, attorneys general, governors, and judges.
“We make the mistake of thinking this is a primarily male movement,” Karissa Haugeberg, author of Women Against Abortion: Inside the Largest Moral Reform Movement of the Twentieth Century, told DAME. “Really, when you get into all the different arms of the movement, women far outnumber men.” … read full article
UPenn May Sue if Transgender Swimmer Is Barred from Women’s Championship
From Yahoo! News (USA)
By Brittany Bernstein
January 30, 2022
The University of Pennsylvania is weighing whether to pursue legal action if transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is prohibited from competing in the upcoming NCAA women’s swimming championship, according to a report.
A swimmer on the university’s women’s team told Fox News, ““I have a feeling that if USA Swimming changes their rules, they will be filing a lawsuit for Lia to swim, but they wouldn’t do that for us.”
“That’s just really upsetting,” the swimmer told the outlet under the condition of anonymity, adding that she had heard about the potential lawsuit that from “some of the administrators.” … read full article
Report on transgender seminarians spurs discussion on screening
Rectors we interviewed scratch their heads over how applicants were admitted, in light of thorough vetting.
From Aletia (USA)
By John Burger
January 30, 2022
Current screening processes at Catholic seminaries are thorough enough to make some seminary rectors wonder how applicants who are biological women presenting as men were able to gain admission.
“It’s not a surprise that some might try to do something like this, but what is a bit more perplexing and surprising is how they go about it and make their way into a seminary,” said Fr. Mark Doherty, rector of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
Fr. Doherty and other rectors spoke with Aleteia in response to recent reports that an official at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was asking dioceses to be alert to possible future attempts of transgender women to apply to study for the priesthood. The official, Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee, had sent a memo last September saying that several such persons had been admitted, unknowingly, to seminaries and houses of formation for religious communities, but none had been able to advance to ordination. He did not name which institutions were involved.
“Based on my experience, I can’t see that happening,” said Sulpician Fr. Philip J. Brown, president-rector of St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. “I don’t see how it could happen. We go through an extensive admissions process that involves psychological evaluation, like clinical psychologists, and also physical examinations and, especially now, in the past several years, the psychological evaluation includes a complete sort of sexual history of the person’s sexual life and sexual activity. So I can’t see how that would not come up, both in the psychological and physical examination, because of our requirements.” … read full article