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

Protecting the Unprotected

The Current today on CBC is going to be worth listening to. The murderer of the children in Merritt, BC, had violated a peace bond and yet the Merritt police were not informed of this when he was released from custody for threatening her daughter's school principal just days earlier. Check it out on your online media source or watch for the Podcast:

Two tragic stories of domestic violence have dominated the headlines this week: a woman in Toronto who has been jailed in order to get her to testify in her boyfriend's assault trial and the on-going hunt for a man from Merritt, British Columbia who is alleged to have killed his three children. We're taking a step back and looking at the most common way that courts deal with domestic violence, and asking if restraining orders help keep women safe or make them more vulnerable.

Horror Feminae

No need for feminism. Fuck that. A reminder to those stubborn 'why can't we all just get along and call it humanism?' hippies:

Women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world, a UN-commissioned report says.

It says that this is despite the fact that 185 UN member states pledged to outlaw laws favouring men by 2005.

It adds that 70% of the world's poor are women and they own just 1% of the world's titled land.

The report, which was prepared for UN Human Right Commissioner Louise Arbour, says rape within marriage has still not been made a crime in 53 nations.

A tip of the hat to Feminist Allies for the BBC link and full article.

Fetus Find

This morning's online Calgary Herald:

City crews at the Bonnybrook waste treatment facility made the disturbing discovery of a fetus. . . Police said the method of disposal is a concern, but medically at this stage of development, a fetus is considered a "product of conception" and not a matter for the medical examiner to investigate or issue a death certificate.

"Life and creation arguments do not form the basis of this investigation, rather, it is firmly rooted in the probability that this may have been the result of a spontaneous medical condition, a 'hidden' pregnancy situation, or a premeditated and or forced act upon an individual; the last of these three situations cannot be overlooked or end without police involvement and determination if a criminal act was committed," said Berti.

I feel for the woman who went through this miscarriage, be it a 'hidden' pregnancy or any of the possibilities described. Whether or not she wanted to have a child, she may have felt that our medical system could not be reliable, trusted, or affordable. In a case of potential violence I hope for her that she finds safety and protection. I appreciate the annunciation that this is not about "life and creation" but about the health of the woman who aborted outside of a hospital or abortion clinic, whatever the case may or should have been. Even with abortion servcies in Calgary, there can still be instances of limited access due to social pressures or knowing where and how to access those services. This is an interesting story and I will certainly be following up on the community's reaction to it.

Down wid' CPC's

Senator Robert Menendez introduced a bill in the Senate yesterday that would regulate the misleading advertising practices of Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs).

Read the article here.
I should say. I had a woman in my office campaigning a few years ago for a "Crisis Pregnancy Centre". At the time I wasn't familiar with it so before committing to give any money I asked straight up, "Does it give abortion referrals?" Room went silent and she said, "No." And I said, "Well you won't get any of my money then." Since then I've learned more about CPC's sneaky rhetorical tactics and make sure I mention them whenever the topic arises. There's many people who aren't aware that CPC's are anti choice.

This House is Clean

It's 1982 and Steven Spielburg's Poltergeist is terrifying audiences and leaving a lasting impression of the fuzzy late-night T.V. screen in our nightmares when we wake up on the couch to the static sound of a snowy screen and a little girl's voice, "They're He-re..." A new study that will be published in the scientific journal, Neuroquantology, claims that Speilburg was on to something with Carol Anne being the vessel for creepy, paranormal activity. I can safely say I do not understand quantum physics (contrary to What the Bleep Do We Know and Deepak Chopra's claims to simplistic explanations), but still I consider this study to be bunk and sexist by this small paragraph:

"Poltergeist disturbances often occur in the neighbourhood of a pubescent child or a young woman," the authors note in their paper.

I can't wait to read about how adolescent girls and young women are the source of things that go bump in the night and all things creepy.
(Via Boing Boing)

Friday Delight

I say it again: I [Heart] Robots! My partner surprised me yesterday with a random robot pressy (Robot Lilliput) at work which brought me to this vintage song: Mechanical Man.
Great Friday Afternoon Musical Entertainment!! Mechanical Man? Meet me in my bedroom...

Women Protest

Women are banding in protest of government crackdown on women's vendor businesses:

Women stage protest in N Korea

Seoul - Thousands of North Korean women staged a rare street protest early this month against a government crackdown on illegal market vendors, an aid group said on Wednesday, amid worsening food shortages.

The protest was reported on March 4 in Chongjin, a port city in the north eastern province of North Hamgyong, said the South Korean group Good Friends, which works in North Korea.