Previously Blamed on Mom, Now Dad Takes a 'Savage' Hit for 'Causing' Autism
Since then, Bettelheim's work has been disproven. A biological basis for autism has been established, and we know better now. At least some of us do.
But conservative talk show host Michael Savage, following in the footsteps of Bettelheim, last week blamed the lack of he-man dads for 'causing' autism.
As you can imagine, parents of autistic children are incredulous - and mad. My colleague Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com's Autism Guide, quotes Savage and also describes how a couple of angry moms are rallying parents to protest the controversial host.
Wordless Wednesday - Hello, Dolly
Wrapped in a rain slicker, a child clutches a woman as both evacuees are helped to a shelter at Porter High School in Brownsville, Texas, earlier today. At 2 pm CST, Hurricane Dolly came ashore 35 miles northeast of Brownsville with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.
© Davel Einsel/Getty Images
Interview with Young Adult Author Shannon Hale Reveals Half Her Readers are Women
When my daughters find a book of their own that they like, I encourage them to pass it along to me. And that's how I found Shannon Hale. Though she writes young adult fiction, as she revealed in an interview, "according to my fan mail, about half my readers are adults."
She's a gifted and imaginative writer who uses fairy tales as the inspiration for her stories. Some novels rework classic tales while others introduce completely new and different characters and themes. Nearly all her books feature females as the lead characters - not warrior princess girls wielding swords, but realistic girls who don't have all the answers and often make painful mistakes as they figure out their lives.
In the case of her first novel, The Goose Girl, Hale explains that she decided to write about "a weak girl, a sheltered girl thrown into an adventure against her will....It was the joy of the story for me to watch that girl struggle into her own kind of strength."
Harry Potter may be fine and dandy, but we need more books with female protagonists. We need to encourage girls to read books in which girls - not boys - take the lead. And we need to support writers like Shannon Hale who depict ordinary girls turning into extraordinary young women as they overcome adversity with intelligence, creativity, and courage.
Have a tween or middle school-aged girl in your life? Start with The Goose Girl or Princess Academy, which was named a 2006 Newbery Honor Book. (And don't let the title throw you - it's not a girly-girl book.) These are wonderful books to read, to read out loud, or to listen to on long car rides this summer (audiobook versions are available.)
You might also treat the inner girl inside you and buy yourself a copy. (Don't be embarrassed. Half of Hale's fans are grown women.)
Still not convinced? Read my interview with Shannon Hale and see what she - and her writing - are all about.
When 'Contraception' is Mislabeled 'Abortion' - Clinton Speaks Out
The New York Times broke this story on July 15 and noted:
The proposal defines abortion as follows: “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.”The very next day, on July 16, two women senators who have consistently stood on the front lines of reproductive choice - Patty Murray (D-WA) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) - released a joint statement calling on DHHS Secretary Michael Leavitt to reconsider the new regulations, citing "this proposal's potential to affect millions of women's reproductive health."
Yet this sweeping and very real threat to women's access to safe and legal contraception has gotten scant national coverage. So what's a reproductive rights champion to do? Hillary Clinton has written a powerful commentary in yesterday's Huffington Post, "An Outrageous Attempt by the Bush Administration to Undermine Women's Rights."
Of course you know she'll get criticized for this. Especially by those who'll say this is her way of stealing the thunder from Obama's visit to Afghanistan and Iraq.
But once again, it's another example of how the Bush administration finds a way around legislation it doesn't like. So what was she supposed to do? Keep her mouth shut?
Say what you will about Clinton's presidential candidacy and the legacy of her husband Bill. But keep in mind that Clinton and Murray have consistently questioned the current administration and called them to task whenever women's reproductive rights are at risk. I, for one, am grateful for that.
Related article: What Does this Broader Interpretation of Abortion Have to Do With the Atkins Diet?
There's Still a Woman Running for President This Year
She's former US Representative Cynthia McKinney, and she's the Green Party 2008 nominee for President.My colleague Tom Head - who covers Civil Liberties - has only good things to say about her platform of equality and human rights. And he profiles where she stands on a number of issues.
Yes, she's a third party candidate (as is female presidential candidate Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.) But she's another choice for anyone dissatisfied with the way this election is going.
Photo of Cynthia McKinney © Mario Tama/Getty Images
Related article: Cynthia McKinney on Civil Liberties
Despite Excommunication, Women to Be Ordained as Catholic Priests
As the Boston Globe reported Thursday:
The ordination ceremony Sunday, at a historic Protestant church in the Back Bay, is the first such event to take place in Boston, one of the most Catholic cities in the nation.Today's scheduled ordination, which will be conducted by a consecrated woman bishop, is the work of a little-known group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Since 2002, 28 female priests in the US have been ordained by bishops who in turn have been ordained by Catholic bishops in good standing. The group does not reveal their names to shield them from any punitive action by the Vatican.The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, in accord with Vatican teaching, says the participants in the ordination ceremony will be automatically excommunicating themselves.
As planned, the three women were ordained as Catholic priests in front of a church crowded with both female and male Catholic worshippers. TheBostonChannel.com has further details as well as video from the ceremony.
Related article: Leap of Faith - Church of England Votes to Approve Women as Bishops
Come Saturday Morning: Confessions of an Orphan Sock Queen
My compulsive nature surfaces every time I do laundry and - after folding and putting everything away - I'm left with a pile of unmatched socks. Rationalizing that the mates will surface in the next wash, I lay them aside and bring them out again when the next laundry day rolls around. Sometimes the socks match up. Usually they don't. And so more orphan socks come to join a growing mismatched family that lives in a wicker picnic hamper.
I cannot throw these socks out. No joke. Some are older than I care to admit. Funny thing is, once they match up, then I have no problem giving them the old heave-ho. But there's something about incompleteness that bothers me. So I hang onto them until - through pairing them - I achieve sock closure.
Joke's On Us If We Think McCain is Funny...or Worthy of Our Vote
After blogging about McCain's lack of real support for women, my colleagues sent along more examples of his gender insensitivity.
Buck Wolf of Weird News pointed me toward the fact that in 1986, when now-presidential candidate John McCain was first running for the US Senate, he reportedly told a very tasteless joke about an ape, a rape, and whole lot more not worth repeating. (If you must know what he said, the joke is at Huffington Post.)
Deborah White
Team McCain denies that he ever cracked these jokes.
To give you a sense of how truly off-color McCain's comments are in the context of contemporary stand-up comedy, I'll share an email I received on this subject from another colleague who asked to remain anonymous:
I was on the phone with my buddy who's an emcee at NY's Comic Strip and I challenged him to think of a joke anyone has ever said on a stage that could possibly piss off a woman more. (He has worked with Dice Clay and Andy Dick and Tom Greene.)Hey, did you hear the one about the country's oldest presidential candidate who tried to recast himself as supportive of women? You'll have to wait until election day for the punch line.He couldn't do it.
Related articles:
Equality For Women? McCain Talks the Talk But Doesn't Walk
New York Times columnist Judith Warner points out that John McCain's words of support for women are directly contradicted by his voting record and his opposition to legislation that can help women achieve pay equity and equal opportunity. He sees the issue purely in the abstract.
Her commentary - just published today and entitled "Trust Buster" - should give pause to any former Hillary supporter who's now thinking that McCain is the way to go.
Those who continue to support McCain will be heartened by what my colleague Justin Quinn, Guide to US Conservative Politics, sees as McCain's steadfast commitment to women; Quinn points out that as a seasoned legislator, McCain refuses to do what others have done (such as "waving along legislation that has a feel-good name" that will ultimately make for bad legislation) in order to cater to the women's vote.
Although Quinn and I disagree, as always I urge to you read and decide for yourself.
Photo © Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Related articles:
Carly Fiorina Meets with 'Hillraisers' Who Resist "Notion of a President Obama"
Though Barack Obama will receive the bulk of the so-called women's vote on Election Day, John McCain isn't out of the running.
According to a Wall Street Journal article (via the Huffington Post), McCain dispatched his right-hand woman, Carly Fiorina, to Westchester, NY at the request of a group of Clinton supporters (including some Hillraisers) who are, in Fiorina's words, "intensely uncomfortable with the notion of a President Obama."
The group met on Tuesday for over 90 minutes in a private home.
Photo of Carly Fiorina ©Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
Related article: Equality For Women? McCain Talks the Talk, But Doesn't Walk