Copyranter is on a roll with the vintage sexism! (You can view the full-sized ad my clicking on the picture.)

This 1974 ads reads: "Be the you he likes. Good to be around, any day of the month." You know, not like those bitches who don't take Midol. They get dumped.

Amazing.

These go in actual vaginas! Isn't that hilarious?!

Sexists' shocking lack of originality never ceases to amaze me. Take the idiots who pranked called a group of women's basketball coaches:

The prank callers, who were claiming to be legitimate reporters from actual media outlets, managed to get on and ask at least six questions to more than half of the league's 12 coaches. The questions were graphic in nature and included inquiries about coaches having sexual relations with players and players' performances based on their menstrual cycles. (Emphasis added)

This reminds me of the first prank call I got after I started Feministing (and was stupid enough to have my cell phone number listed with domain info). It was intensely disappointing. Do misogynists really have no better jokes than "girls get their periods?"

Thanks to Andy for the link.

Dennis P. Gallagher, who was accused of raping a woman in his Queens campaign office on July 8 after meeting her at a neighborhood bar, has been dismissed of all charges. Earlier, a grand jury indicted the councilman on 10 counts of rape, criminal sexual acts and assault. A judge just threw out the case based on the charge that prosecutors had unfairly prejudiced members of the grand jury when presenting the case against him.

Is this a case of the law's formalities getting in the way of true justice? I don't know enough about the law to comment but I'd love to hear what you all think. Here's the New York Times on the case.

Girl with Pen has a fascinating guest post by sociologist Virginia Rutter on Juno and love. Anyone obsessed with the movie (which seems to be just about everybody, including Ms. Oprah, these days), should check it out.

Be sure not to miss one of the links later on to an academic article called "Must We Fear Adolescent Sexuality?" by Dr. Amy Schalet. It is a cross-cultural study of parental attitudes towards teen sexuality in the United States (where adolescent sexuality is an evergreen hot button issues) and the Netherlands (where anxiety around adolescent sexuality is nill). She essentially asks: how is it that two countries similar in terms of wealth, education, and reproductive technologies have had the highest and lowest rates of teen pregnancy, respectively, in the Western world?

The answer: basically that adolescent sexuality is dramatized in one country (good ol' U.S. of A.) and normalized in the other. Parents in the Netherlands repeatedly expressed believing that love between teens is very possible, whereas American parents scoffed at it. Parents in the Netherlands said they'd be fine with their teen spending the night with a boyfriend or girlfriend (9 out of 10), whereas America parents said "No way Jose" 9 out of 10 times. Dr. Schalet also talks about the ways in which Dutch educators diffuse tension around adolescent sexuality by taking an open, informational approach. Again, normalizing sexual feelings and approaching responsible choices as inevitable! Damn do we have a lot to learn.

Thanks to Debbie at Girl with Pen for the great discovery!

A federal appeals court said this week that inmates in Missouri have the right to obtain elective abortion. Damn straight.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It throws out a policy by Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration and the Missouri Department of Corrections that restricted an inmate’s access to abortion.

Thomas M. Blumenthal, the St. Louis lawyer who brought the suit on behalf of an anonymous “Jane Roe” inmate, applauded the decision.

“This (abortion) is not a right that is lost at the jailhouse door,” he said.

Blunt responded, "Over the last three years, we have … enacted laws that reflect our profound respect for the inherent dignity of each and every life...I am hopeful and prayerful that we can further protect life by enhancing our laws to defend the dignity of human life.”

Unless that life is an incarcerated woman, then her dignity doesn't really mean shit to Blunt.