Web Fetus

Of course I'm not surprised reading this article that 2 male Harvard alumni students (Remember Zuckerman?) have created a fetus fetish online extravaganza called Totspot.com. Facebook for the fetus. It was bad enough that I saw pictures of a bloody bath birth from an old high school acquaintance back in the day when I was on Facebook for three weeks. But now the emby can even be profiled and spoken for before the dip in the tub. Expect an inundation of fetus fetishizers and prolife advertisement banners.

the Doctor is in

Dr. Henry Morgentaler Receives Canadian Labour’s Highest Award

Teen Moms

Statistics Canada reports today that teenage moms and socioeconomic doom may not be a causal relationship. With the findings of these statistics, May Luong reports in her article, "Life after Teenage Motherhood":

[A]ccording to more recent research, the link between teenage childbearing and a poor socioeconomic outcome may not be causal—the probability of being a teenage mother and the probability of being disadvantaged later on may be due to having a disadvantaged family background from the start. That is, women from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to end up disadvantaged even if they delay childbearing. And while teenage childbearing continues to be a significant indicator of lower socioeconomic outcomes, the effect is smaller than originally believed.

She goes on to conclude that education is perhaps the largest determining factor is socioeconomic success of teen mothers and adult mothers alike:

Teenage childbearing has been shown to have negative and long-term effects on women’s socioeconomic outcomes. Overall, teenage mothers in Canada had a lower probability than adult mothers of completing high school and postsecondary education, even after controlling for family background and other characteristics. Teenage childbearing and education are significantly related to a woman’s labour market participation. In terms of labour force participation, the results suggest education matters more than family background—women with similar education had similar likelihoods of being in full-year full-time employment. Only women who were teenage mothers with a postsecondary education were more likely to be working full year full time during the reference year than women who were adult mothers with similar education. And although the mean wages for teenage mothers were lower than for women who were adult mothers, teenage mothers and adult mothers with similar education were almost equally likely to be living in low income. Furthermore, family background was no longer statistically significant for these mothers when it came to the likelihood of living in low income. Similar results were found for the probability of living in low income. These results suggest that education may help counter the negative effects of teenage childbearing. However, other unobserved characteristics such as family support, social network and a variety of other resources, psychological traits, and other factors may also have an influence on outcomes.

In summary, the results from this study suggest that teenage childbearing is related to lower educational achievements, which may in turn lead to longer-term effects on labour force participation and rates of living in low income. However, teenage mothers and adult mothers with similar levels of education also had similar labour market participations and rates of living in low income—suggesting that education is more important in determining labour force participation and income in the long run.

Morning After Laughter

The ladies can rest-easy in Canada should a morning-after pill be desired:

The Canadian National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities ruled last week that emergency contraception will be available over-the-counter in Canada. <Feminist Daily News>

More from Reuters.

Credit Crunching Women

Although there's change in the wind here in isolated boomtown Calgary, and despite the oil exec's smacking their lips with $130 oil, we must remember how bad it's getting south of the border. This story out of California illustrates that even the middle class are being credit crunched. There are parking lots set up for homeless people to sleep in their cars and go to work the next day:

There are 12 parking lots across Santa Barbara that have been set up to accommodate the growing middle-class homelessness. These lots are believed to be part of the first program of its kind in the United States, according to organizers.

The lots open at 7 p.m. and close at 7 a.m. and are run by New Beginnings Counseling Center, a homeless outreach organization.

It is illegal for people in California to sleep in their cars on streets. New Beginnings worked with the city to allow the parking lots as a safe place for the homeless to sleep in their vehicles without being harassed by people on the streets or ticketed by police.

Harvey stays at the city's only parking lot for women. "This is very safe, and that's why I feel very comfortable," she said.

The tip of the iceberg is terrible - but from beneath it devours.

Waging on

Maddening tidbit in Calgary's news today: man randomly stabs a woman at a bus stop.

Rating Shmating

Boing Boing directed me this afternoon to the following "Marital Rating Scale" from the 1930s for wives. By husbands, that is.
The Monitor on Psychology describes:

The test was designed to give couples feedback on their marriages. Either husbands or wives could take the test, which rated wives in a variety of areas. For instance, if your wife "uses slang or profanity," she would get a score of five demerits. On the other hand, if she "reacts with pleasure and delight to marital congress," she would receive 10 merits. The test taker would add up the total number of merits and demerits to receive a raw score, which would categorize the wife on a scale from "very poor" to "very superior."

How do I rate? A big bad NEGATIVE 30. I better start dressing for breakfast!

Being Absent

I know, it's been weeks since any bloggy goodness has been going on at Lilith Attack. I have a whole list of excuses but mostly that I haven't had much chance to slack at work and dig around in the news over lunch! Been working long days at the office and was consumed with taxes the last month so now that those are out of the way hopefully I can get some time in for the blogosphere! I saw Sarah Slean a few nights ago for the 7th or 8th time; she's so lovely and brilliant. Here is a video of her performing Duncan (not from this concert), my favourite song of her's still, and a stunning anti-war melody.

Whatever happened to Duncan?
He was a good boy they say
The girls all wanted him to dance with
The boys to play to play

When the policeman came knocking
She didn't know what to say
Except his shoes and socks were all gone
It seems he ran away

Oh you fool you fool!
Don't give in to fate
If this is all we've got to fight for
Rage my darling, rage!
Duncan good for you!
Sad but on your way
Well the army never turned his crank
But love sure made him brave

A sweeter infatuation
Oh you'd be hard pressed to find
He loved so deeply and madly
He nearly lost his mind

And oh behold the mayor's daughter
She was a treat for the eye
Why this the only thing to live for
Just made you want to die!

Oh you fool you fool!
Don't give in to fate
If this is all we've got to fight for
Rage my darling, rage!
Duncan good for you!
Sad but on your way
Well the army never turned his crank
But love sure made him brave

This is holy war!
We must fight and fight again
And go a thousand times for the sake of love
But never once in vain