Bicycles & Women’s Rights

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”

— Susan B. Anthony, 1896

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Zohar and Helga Go to the Moon

Early on Wednesday, NASA finally launched Artemis 1, a mission to put two fembots, Helga and Zohar, into lunar orbit. The mission is an effort to prepare for eventual lunar landings by actual female American astronauts. A third, male, humanoid figure, Commander Moonikin Campos, is named after a heroic NASA electrical engineer.

More:

“NASA Is Sending Artificial Female Bodies to the Moo n to Study Radiation Risks,” Passant Rabie, Gizmodo

“Orion ‘Passengers’ on Artemis I to Test Radiation Vest for Deep Space Missions,” NASA press release

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U.S. Open Tennis: The Men Have Fuzzy Balls

Émile Vernon (1872 – 1919)

At the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the men have fuzzy balls. The women have smooth balls, and they’re not happy about it.

To explain: Wilson makes both “regular-duty” and “extra-duty” tennis balls. The regular-duty balls are sold as “ideal for clay and indoor surfaces,” while the extra-duty are “ideal for longer play on hard court surfaces.” The U.S. Open is outdoors, a hard-court event. Men’s matches are played with “extra-duty” balls, as you’d expect, but women play with “regular-duty” balls.

The felt on the men’s “extra-duty” balls is fluffier, and the racquet strings get a better purchase on the thicker surface. The felt on the “regular-duty” women’s version has a tighter weave, feels lighter on the stringbed, and the balls play faster and go farther because they’re more aerodynamic.

Men and women play on the same courts, with the same type of racquets. No other major tennis tournament uses different balls for men and women. To make matters even worse, the “extra-duty” ball is used in the Open’s mixed doubles, a severe disadvantage for women doubles partners who have been playing with the “regular-duty” ball in the tournament’s women’s matches.

More:

“Women use faster balls than men at U.S. Open. Some players are over it.” Julian Mark, Washington Post

“‘You’ve just started a war’: Iga Swiatek wades into row over US Open balls,” Tumaini Carayol, The Guardian

“Badosa joins Swiatek as she hits out at U.S. Open balls,” Anita Kobylinska, Reuters

“New Balls Please,” Giri Nathan, Racquet

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Kavanaugh Asserts Constitutional Right to Steak

US Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh was eating at Morton’s steakhouse in DC on July 6th when womens’ rights activists found out, and protested in front of the pricey eatery. Mr. Kavanaugh had to sneak out the back without dessert. Sad, but there’s always Grubhub.

Morton’s angrily responded that “Politics … should not trample the freedom … of the right to … eat dinner.” Protesters reponded by flooding Morton’s with fake reservations by phone and on Open Table.

There were other reactions. “Sounds like he just wanted some privacy to make his own dining decisions,” Chasten Buttigieg tweeted, alluding to Kavanaugh’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that guaranteed abortion access on the basis of Americans’ right to privacy. And after Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if “These justices … have no right to privacy?”, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted “Pretty sure they overturned that right 2 weeks ago Doocy.”

More:

“Brett Kavanaugh is the latest target of protests at D.C. restaurants,” Emily Heil and Tim Carman, Washington Post

“‘Let him eat cake’: AOC reacts to Kavanaugh being forced out of restaurant by abortion rights protesters,” Axios

“Sorry, but the Constitution contains no right to eat dinner,” Washington Post

“Group offers up to $250 for SCOTUS justices sightings after Kavanaugh protest,” Axios

“Protests of Public Officials in Restaurants Aren’t Going Away,” Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian

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Right to Meddle in Women’s Lives Demo in DC

The annual Right to Meddle in Women’s Lives demonstration was held in Washington DC last Friday, sponsored by the Zygote Liberation Front and the Committee to Restrict Women’s Health Care, or something like that. Theme of this year’s pep rally was “Equality Begins in the Womb,” a bid to promote fetal personhood and negate the human rights of the, um, womb-owners. This biology-denying sect is said to have infiltrated the federal judicial branch recently.

More:

“Anti-Abortion Marchers Gather With an Eye on the Supreme Court,” Kate Zernike and Madeleine Ngo, New York Times

“As March for Life returns to D.C., antiabortion activists wonder: Is this the last march under Roe?” Casey Parks, Washington Post

Related:

“Catholic pro-choice activists project messages onto DC basilica in protest,” by Jack Jenkins, RNS, via National Catholic Reporter

“White nationalists are flocking to the US anti-abortion movement,” Moira Donegan, The Guardian

“‘You never forget it’: These are the stories of life before Roe v. Wade transformed America,” Shefali Luthra, The 19th

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Sex-Scandalized Matt Gaetz to Meet with Women at Trump Resort

Scandal-plagued Matt Gaetz will emerge from hiding this weekend to address the Save America Summit, a gathering of Trump’s diehard female supporters, held at Trump National Doral Miami, probably because the ex-president needs the money. The event is produced by Women for America First, the ladies whose post-election bus tour and January 6th Save America Rally culminated in the mob assault on the U.S. Capitol, deaths, and hundreds of arrests.

Matt Gaetz at a women’s event boggles the mind, as he is under investigation by the Justice Department for transporting a 17-year-old woman across state lines for purposes of sex. Mr. Gaetz is also known for showing nude photos of his sexual conquests to colleagues on the floor of Congress and back when he was a Florida legislator. Matt Gaetz was the only “no” vote on the 2017 human trafficking bill, and opposed a Florida bill outlawing “revenge porn.” He’s making Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood escapade look like a women’s rights rally.

More:

“Amid federal probe, Matt Gaetz will speak to conservative women’s group at Trump golf course,” Jaclyn Peiser, Washington Post

“Gaetz Will Speak At Trump Doral For Summit Hosted By Jan. 6 Rally Planners,” Matt Shuham, TalkingPointsMemo

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Harriet Tubman: On the Money, Again.

American hero Harriet Tubman will replace the genocidal, slave-owning killer Andrew Jackson on the face of the US 20 dollar bill, says the Biden adminstration. The move was first proposed in 2016, but nixed after the election of Donald Trump, who hung a portrait of Jackson in the Oval Office.

$20 dollars was the monthly pension Harriet Tubman received from the government as a war widow and for her own service in the Civil War. And the pension wasn’t awarded until 1899.

More:

“Biden administration revives effort to put Harriet Tubman on $20 bill,” Jacob Bogage, Washington Post

“Biden Administration Will ‘Speed Up’ Efforts To Put Harriet Tubman On $20 Bill,” Laurel Wamsley, NPR News

Related:

“The $20 Bill Honors Harriet Tubman In A Relevant Way You Might Not Know About,” Amée LaTour, Bustle

“How Harriet Tubman’s military service added up to $20 — a month,” Kevin Lilley, Army Times

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Only 208 Years To Go Before Gender Equality!

A video from Equality Can’t Wait.

More:

“Three women walk into a bar. 208 years later they get paid the same as men,” Cassie Werber, Quartz

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Equal Pay Day 2018

It’s Pay Equality Day, last of the 99 extra days into 2018 that American women worked to finally make the same amount of wages that men made by Dec. 31, 2017. The concept originated with the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1996 as a way to point out the economic injustice of  American women earning 82 cents when men are earning a dollar. Want to change that inequity? Look here.

In a timely decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that employers can’t use workers’ salary histories to justify paying women less.

More:

“When Is Equal Pay Day? 2018 Is The Year Women Can Help Close It Once & For All,” Sarah Friedmann, Bustle

 

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A Beginner’s Guide to Hijabs

A beginner’s guide to hijabs, from The Secret Life of Muslims team.

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