Prime Ribs: Eschewing ‘SlutWalks’; Defending ‘Sister Wives’
In light of an email tirade in which Tea Party congressman Allen West called Democratic National Committee chairwoman (and proud Jewess) Debbie Wasserman Schultz “vile,” and wrote that she has proved that she is “not a Lady,” The Daily Beast’s Michelle Goldberg pulls back the curtain on what she sees as West’s history of misogynistic behavior.
As much as journalist Rebecca Traister wants to embrace the new phenomenon known as the SlutWalk — in which scantily clad women take to the streets in hopes of taking the sting out of the moniker “slut” — she writes, in this New York Times magazine piece, that the gatherings seem “less like victory than capitulation (linguistic and sartorial) to what society already expects of its young women.” (Listen to a recent Yid Lit podcast featuring Traister here.)
JTA’s Sue Fishkoff — who in September will become editor of the Bay Area Jewish newsweekly j. (Mazel tov, Sue!) — writes about the unforeseen complications of non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children.
Our Sisterhood bloggers have long mulled the appeal of having “Big Love”-style “sister wives.” In this recent New York Times op-ed, law professor Jonathan Turley defends the polygamous marriage of the Utah family that stars in the reality series “Sister Wives,” and calls state laws banning plural marriage examples of “unacceptable government intrusion.”
In the wake of the passage of Israel’s anti-boycott legislation, New Israel Fund president Naomi Chazan talks to Haaretz about what she views as Israel’s very own vast right-wing conspiracy.
DSK’s ex-wife says she may file a defamation lawsuit against the mother of the young French woman who is accusing her former husband of rape, according to New York magazine.
Following reports that Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann suffers from severe migraines, Slate’s “Explainer” takes on the question of why these debilitating headaches are far more common in women than in men.
Tablet reminds us that today is “The New Colossus” poet Emma Lazarus’ 162nd birthday.
And finally, The Sisterhood has been my “work baby” (now toddler) for the past two years. I’ve been enormously proud of how the blog — thanks to its diverse range of excellent contributors — has helped guide communal discourse on women’s issues. My maternity leave begins Monday, and over the next four months, as I shift my focus from “work baby” to “baby baby,” Debra Nussbaum Cohen, a veteran journalist and valued Forward contributing editor, will serve as the blog’s interim editor. Debra was The Sisterhood’s first regular contributor, and so readers of the blog are likely familiar with her thoughtful and provocative commentary. She’ll be taking Sisterhood pitches through the fall, and can be reached at dnussbaumc@forward.com.
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