Scanner : equal rights

Sex is the Answer, Say Women in Kenya

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:02:00 GMT

The answer to the question, that is, about what women should do to stop their men from fighting and killing each other. Didn't the Greeks try that once?

Seriously, we have a term in America for guys involved with women who are withholding sex. They're called "married men."

All kidding aside, this is a serious national news story in Kenya and has been picked up all over the world:

Thousands of Kenyan women vowed Wednesday to begin a weeklong sex strike to try to protest their country's bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year.

Leaders from Kenya's largest and oldest group dedicated to women's rights, the Women's Development Organization, said they hope the boycott will persuade men to pressure the government to make peace.

Eleven women's groups are participating in the strike. The groups have also called on the wives of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to abstain. It was not clear how either wife responded to the request.

We're guessing they responded by muttering to their aides: "I've been practicing celibacy with these douchebags for years." It could explain why everyone's so angry about everything-- let's slip all these leaders some ecstasy and put on Caligula, see how that plays out.

Sex strikes are rare worldwide. Many men in Kenya are polygamous, as is allowed by law.

Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said he was unaware of the strike.

The disputed election between Kibaki and then-challenger Odinga led to violence that killed more than 1,000 people and left more than 600,000 homeless. The two were installed after a month of mediation, but infighting has threatened to break apart the fragile coalition.

Can an all-Kenyan production of Lysistrata be too far behind? (Seriously now, we do hope their strike is successful and catches on worldwide, just not in our households.)

Via SFGate.

10 Sexiest Women Over 50 (Part Two)

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:56:00 GMT

We continue our two-part series with some of the screen's top stars... some of whom are still box office draws, despite what the media wants you to believe...

Helen Mirren, 63

Helen Mirren never has to worry about studly husband/director leaving her for one of his younger leading ladies, since none of them can hold a candle to her talent, classiness, sex appeal, and status as an Academy Award-winning screen legend. The above photograph of the star in her bikini last year lit up internet wires across the globe-- for example, our traffic went through the roof the day we posted it. Thank you, Helen Mirren, for being our muse.

Carly Simon, 63

It's been a long time since James Taylor spotted Carly Simon's "incredible long legs" passing by on a summer day in a small Massachusetts town. Since then, she wrote a song about him, "You're So Vain," (or was it Warren Beatty?), won several Grammy's, topped the charts a million times over, and developed a solo career that has long outpaced her (now ex-)husband's. Simon and her gloriously pretty teeth and, we're guessing, still-dynamo gams continue to record and tour... but not often enough.

Susan Sarandon, 62

Tim Robbins whined about not being able to vote as his regular polling site last November, which must've made him feel really ridiculous when he woke up the next morning and realized, "Holy balls! Forget all my troubles-- I'm still sleeping next to the babe from Bull Durham any Playboy's best boobs 1981!" Speaking of those marvelous mams, it's difficult to pull off a dress like that at any age, let alone hers, without causing a media (i.e. tabloid journalism) firestorm, but here she is in all her glory...

Meryl Streep, 59

If anyone out there worries about how their "looks" will hold up at the age of 59, just take a gander at the Before and After photos of Streep depicted above. She is one of the greatest actors of all time, rivaling Olivier and Hepburn, and draws hundreds of millions in box office every year as one of the biggest names on the planet. But more importantly, at least for our purposes here, Streep is somehow more beautiful than even in 1977, when we first saw her in Julia. Can a nude, comic romp in a "getting old and falling in love" movie with Jack Nicholson be far behind?

Pam Grier, 59

Can you believe there's an African-American actress in her fifties who made a major comeback more than ten years ago and is still a major star, albeit on television, as she approaches her 60th birthday? Well, you wouldn't know it from the media. The announcement that she was joining the cast of the Showtime series the L Word was met with little tongue-wagging. Of course, that all changed the moment we saw how drop-dead gorgeous she remains-- not to mention the collective sigh of relief when it turned out the show's writers weren't going to blaxploitate her into irrelevancy. We eagerly await her next career move now that the show is sadly off the air.

Crush of the Week: Lisa Batiashvili

Cindy Crawford: Still Naked At 43

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part One)

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part Two)

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:33:00 GMT

Continued from Part One.

Mary Pickford. Mary Pickford, one of the biggest movie stars of the Golden Age, was so powerful she was able to create her own film studio. Along with her husband, Douglas Fairbanks (full disclosure: yes, we're related, but that's beside the point) and Charlie Chaplin, she founded United Artists, an early attempt to give creative people more control of Hollywood, and began producing her own films. These two leaps made her the most powerful woman in the business. (Back in 1916, Pickford accepted a record-shattering salary and went on, via her box-office take, to prove women could be just as-- and more-- profitable than men.) She went on to cause a major scandal in the sound era by cutting off her long curls, then a "sign of female virtue," for Coquette, a real which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Bella Abzug. Did you know her husband wrote trashy dime novels whose covers are now available as fridge magnets? We know because our ex-girlfriend has one-- not because we buy those things. Anyway, Abzug was the Congressional Rep who coined the phrase "a woman's place is in the House." Seeing as how we've included her on a list of iconic feminists, you know to which house she was referring. "She was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights, introducing the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974." Abzug narrowly missed out on becoming a Senator from New York in 1976 (one of the reason's Hillary Clinton wanted that seat) and went on to lose several other high-profile races, including one for New York City Mayor. Undeterred, she headed Jimmy Carter's commission on women and even appeared in Woody Allen's Manhattan.

Amelia Jenks Bloomer. You know why they call 'em "bloomers" now? Amelia Jenks was a publisher, distributing The Lily, a pre-Bust periodical covering her views on social issues and other topics of the day-- that day being the late 1800s. "In her publication, Bloomer promoted a change in dress standards for women that would be less restrictive in regular activities." She suggested women wear a specific costume, which she described in print, to help make their leisure activities more, well, leisurely. "Articles on the clothing trend were picked up in The New York Tribune. More women wore the fashion which was promptly dubbed The Bloomer Costume or 'Bloomers'. However, the Bloomers were subjected to ceaseless ridicule in the press and harassment on the street."

Alan Alda. We're not kidding. Not kidding about including a male feminist on this list or about it being Alan Alda. According to his biography, Alda used his TV fame, in part, to champion the cause of equal rights: "His 'sensitive male' persona, derived in large part from his characterization on M*A*S*H, has lingered into the 1990s and continues to be sustained by public awareness of his efforts on behalf of women's rights. An ardent feminist, Alda campaigned extensively for ten years for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and in 1976, was appointed by President Ford to serve on the National Commission for the Observance of International Women's Year. Alda's status as a feminist led a writer in The Boston Globe to dub him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon."

Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery, taken from her family and sold at age 9, and beaten with rods for much of her childhood, Sojourner Truth went on to become what I consider feminism's greatest icon. She was certainly the earliest one on our list and all others must acknowledge she helped start the wave. Her first major move was to become the first African-American woman to go to court against a white man and win-- in this instance, for the custody of her son, who had been sold illegally. But it was her speech at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851 that made her an historical figure. "Ain't I A Woman?" is part of many a high school curriculum for its eloquence, passion, impeccable craft, and lasting power. No other speech made on behalf of women's rights has ever been as effective in waking up the populace. You can read more about it here.

All quotes via Wikipedia entries for these great figures.

Behold: the Feminist Bridezilla?

Some Kind of Monstrous Documentary

Am I a Bad Feminist?

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part One)

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:10:00 GMT

This is Scanner Brian-- and Scanner Brian alone-- with a list that needed to be done. Males have something against admitting they are feminists, perhaps because they mistakenly believe the term applies only to women.

Today, I decided to set out to right that wrong-- much as these women (and one man) did over the course of their very interesting lives. The result is pure history-filled entertainment and not meant to be definitive by any means. For one thing, Gloria Steinem, Virginia Woolf, and Sylvia Plath should be on a list of the great feminists, to be sure, but I found that so much has been written about them already and decided it was best to spare you my half-assed attempts to say something original about them. (By the way, we excluded Susan B. Anthony from this list because of her staunch anti-abortion stance-- these ten, in no particular order, were the ones we personally appreciate the most...)

Karen Silkwood. In her lifetime, nuclear plant whistleblower Karen Silkwood was not known as a feminist, but that doesn't matter to us. She stood up to those (men) who tried to put her in her place, who told her she couldn't have a romantic relationship with another woman. They told her she should keep quiet about being contaminated by plutonium at the plant where she worked, even though incompetent management had caused the exposures. But she didn't listen, even when there were numerous threats on her life. As you may already know, Silkwood was killed in one of the great unsolved murder cases in American history. Of course, everyone knows she was run off the road by agents of Kerr-McGee and/or the US Government-- although she crashed into a guardrail en route to deliver documents to a New York Times reporter, documents that were missing from the wreckage, damage was also found to her rear bumper, suggesting she was actually hit from behind. Nora Ephron scripted and Mike Nichols film of Silkwood, which was nominated for several Academy Awards in 1984.

Louise Brooks. Brooks was a dancer and movie actress who told the studios to stuff it when they wanted to force her to perform in lame "sound pictures." She ignored the "You'll never work in this town again" threats and decided she didn't need those control freak men in Hollywood. Instead, she moved to Germany and starred in the first film to ever feature a lesbian character, Pandora's Box, now regarded as a classic. Her sexually-charged performances in German cinema were all censored or remained unreleased for years. "By her own admission, she was a sexually liberated woman, not afraid to experiment, even posing fully nude for "art" photography, and her liaisons with many film people were legendary, although much of it is speculation."

Crystal Lee Sutton. A sadly overlooked feminist icon if there ever was one, Sutton is known as "the real Norma Rae." In the early 1970s, Sutton worked at a textile plant in South Carolina, making $2.65 folding towels. She soon got union fever and stood up to harassment and sexism to become the spiritual leader of the entire labor movement in this country. Of course, a few years later, Sally Field starred as a character based on Sutton's early work with the ACTWU.

Kate Chopin. Missouri native Chopin wrote the Awakening at the turn of the 20th century, and it couldn't have been better timed-- from the perspective of history. In 1899, it couldn't have been met with more of an out-of-touch backlash. Chopin's novel about a woman's struggle with societal standards, motherhood vs. self, and "the woman as property" norm took America by storm, with the outcry so great that her publisher delete the book before most members of the public were able to purchase it. Nonetheless, its "unwholesome" attitude toward sex was one of the key factors in sparking the century's feminist movement.

Shirley Chisholm. What didn't this feminist superhero accomplish in her life? (We didn't want you to actually answer that, but if you're looking for a torch-bearer, see Bella Abzug, below.) Chisholm, who would be my Congresswoman were she still alive to represent my district, was the first African-American woman of Congress, the first on a major-party ballot for President and the first woman on the Democratic ticket. Chisholm went on to receive more than 150 votes for President at the 1972 DNC. (The best anecdote about her is one unrelated to her feminism. When racist Governor George Wallace was shot and very nearly assassinated during that same Presidential campaign, Chisholm caused a huge uproar for visiting him in the hospital.)

Continue reading in Part Two.

Video of the Day: Women For McCain

Emily Farris — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:07:00 GMT

Scanner Alum and, uh, McCain supporter Katie Halper put together a little video for Women for McCain. You know, women like to know why other women are voting for the old man and his young lady.

We especially love the last part.

[KatieHalper.com]

Scanner Highs And Lows: Let's Protest Anyone Who Protests Packages & Boobs

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:02:00 GMT

We figure, what with all the topless women running around the site this week, we're going to offset it with some ridiculous Speedo action... and the following stories...

HIGHS:

Scanner Nicole has figured out how to trap men. Luckily, this post didn't say anything about marriage...

A nationwide rally reminds us women are allowed to go bare-breasted in public in this country. As one reader put it, who besides Fred Phelps is dumb enough to disallow this behavior?

More naked Olympian dudes, please. And any excuse to show Daniel Radcliffe in the buff is fine by us.

We have no problem saying a repeat pervert harassing women at work deserves some pain-- unless he wants it, of course.

Michael Phelps, you may be awesome and you may be entitled to any mermaid you want, but stay away from the redhead who's in "The Little Mermaid" Broadway show, okay? We called dibs months ago.

And we celebrated the opening of the Erotic Heritage Museum, where this blog will hopefully end up someday...

LOWS:

This guy wants women to go topless... in his office. By the way: he's a married father of two and the women who wants to go topless are the teenage interns at his job as a New York State Assemblyman.

Googlers in Kentucky and Virginia are very interested in sex, but not the pretty kind, we don't think...

Floridians, meanwhile, are too concerned that a bigoted asshole gets away with his crimes to be Googling "lesbian sex."

We kinda wish these mean ol' debate coaches had overseen the lives of those "Spellbound" kids-- now that would be a movie!

This could also be a high point in our week-- the story of a couple that got tasered and jailed and their wedding night, then repeated the joyous experience the following evening.

Expose The Cover Up-- This Saturday At The National Go Topless Day

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:01:00 GMT

The ladies behind GoTopless.org are putting together a gargantuan nationwide protest honoring the Constitutional right to bare breasteses...

Here's the lineup for Saturday's events, all of which begin at noon unless otherwise noted:

LOS ANGELES: Venice Beach "Where Navy Street meets the sand" on the board walk
NEW YORK CITY: Central Park: Merchants Gate at Columbus Circle (59th Street at the corner of Central Park West and Central Park South), right by the giant Time Warner Mall
MIAMI: South Beach meeting time 12:30 PM -- 7th and Ocean Blvd across from News Cafe. Look for the topless women:))
CHICAGO Lakefront (across from Buckingham Fountain)
HAWAII: Honolulu and Hilo Big island
AUSTIN, TX: Hippie Hollow Park
BERKELEY, CA noon to 1pm Sproul Hall on the Mario Salvio famous "free speech" steps
SANTA FE, NM 1-2pm Alameda Park between Guadalupe and Sandoval
OMAHA NE "Heartland of America Park" near Downtown Omaha, Nebraska, and the parking lot is between Capitol Ave, and Douglas St. on 8th St. a link to the map is as follows. http://maps.google.com/maps?source=ig&q=41.25859%2C-95.926609 (starting time is not noon but 3PM for Omaha.
BLOOMINGTON, IN at the sample gates on campus at Kirkwood and Indiana
DENVER: (on Aug 26) at the door steps of the Presidential Democratic Convention.

Spiritual leader "Rael" says the event will raise awareness that the 14th Amendment, that pesky old footnote indicating we're all equal under the law, means women can go bare-chested if men are permitted to do the same. Some judges have-- gasp-- read this well enough to realize it applies to the cases of women who are arrested or ticketed for baring their breasts.

Thanks, Karen F.!

Scanner : equal rights

Sex is the Answer, Say Women in Kenya

10 Sexiest Women Over 50 (Part Two)

Fired Cheerleading Coach Receiving Support From Unlikely Source

Crush of the Week: Lisa Batiashvili

Cindy Crawford: Still Naked At 43

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part One)

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part Two)

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part Two)

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part One)

Behold: the Feminist Bridezilla?

Some Kind of Monstrous Documentary

Am I a Bad Feminist?

Top 10 Feminist Icons... From A Male (Part One)

Video of the Day: Women For McCain

Scanner Highs And Lows: Let's Protest Anyone Who Protests Packages & Boobs

Expose The Cover Up-- This Saturday At The National Go Topless Day

John McCain Signs His Wife Up For Topless Contest

Jim Beam Peeping Tom Ad Too Naughty, Even For Australia

Boobs On Bikes Rides Again, Despite Violent Anti-Violence Protests

Sloppy Seconds: More Naughty Miley Cyrus Photos Leaked