Women

Phyllis Schlafly went down to Furman University in South Carolina last week to spread her unique brand of militant anti-feminism and reiterate her belief that married women cannot be raped by their husbands while warning that feminism leaves women childless, bitter, and lonely: 

Feminists are "bitter, unhappy and not successful women."

These words were spoken to a packed house in the Watkins Room in the University Center on Wednesday, Jan. 20, as the Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow hosted 85-year-old conservative activist and author Phyllis Schlafly ... Schlafly made two main points in her lecture. First, that feminism is unnecessary and there is no such thing as a glass ceiling for American women. Secondly, women who are feminists will end up unhappy and alone.

In discussing the radical and superfluous nature of feminism, Schlafly argued that American women are the most fortunate class in history.

"The number one problem with feminism is it teaches women to be the victim," Schlafly said. She continued that there was no need for further feminist legislation or movements due to the ability for women in current times to receive an education and work in whatever field they wish, adding that feminism was never really necessary because her mother was able to receive an education from Washington University in 1920.

Many in the audience laughed when Schlafly proposed that women couldn't possibly be oppressed because they lived, on average, eight years longer than men, and again when she offered the success of Sarah Palin as proof that there was no limit for women.

Schlafly challenged the legitimacy of a variety of social programs and legislation put in place by feminist agenda, including abortion, shelters for battered women and sexual harassment counseling. She also said that welfare was a financial incentive for women to have children out of wedlock.

Other controversial comments included Schlafly's denial of the existence of spousal rape, as well as her statement that individuals shouldn't be able to "check out" of marriage.

Schlafly ended by discussing a women's biological clock and need for children. Her argument was that if women focus on careers first, they will end up forty, single and desperately wanting a child they can no longer produce.

By now you've probably heard about Rod Jetton, the former Missouri House Speaker who was recently charged with assault:

Rod Jetton, one of the most influential figures in Missouri politics, was charged Monday with felony assault against a woman in Sikeston, Mo., last month.

...

Detective Bethany McDermott’s affidavit says Jetton went to the woman’s home around 9 p.m. Nov. 15 with two bottles of wine, which he allegedly opened alone in her kitchen. After drinking some of the wine and watching football, the statement said, the victim “began ‘fading’ in and out and remembered losing consciousness several times.”

The affidavit says Jetton and the alleged victim agreed on a safe word — “green balloons” — that could be used to stop sexual relations during the evening.

Instead, the affidavit says, Jetton hit her on the face and choked her before engaging in intercourse. Jetton allegedly said, “You should have said ‘green balloons,’ ” before leaving her home the next morning.

Via Crooks and Liars we see that Jetton has been rubbing shoulders and getting awards from none other than Phyllis Schlafly at the 2003 Eagle Forum Leadership Conference:

It's too bad for Jetton that he was not married to this woman because then Schlafly would have come running to his defense since she believes that married women cannot be raped by their husbands.

UPDATE: TPM notes that the newly released police report "describes a much more violent and brutal encounter than does the probable cause document. And it suggests that there was no consent, at any point, to sex of any kind."

Apparently, Concerned Women for America is now concerned about women serving on submarines ... or, more accurately, the babies those women may or may not be carrying while serving on said submarines:

Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation's largest public policy women's organization, is disappointed in recent statements by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus indicating their wish to lift the ban on women serving aboard submarines. Admiral Mullen advocated the policy change in written congressional testimony on Friday. Navy Secretary Mabus said he was "moving out aggressively on this."

"Unlike any other assignment in the U.S. Navy, the submarine service is a hazardous environment for women of child-bearing age," noted CWA President Wendy Wright. "No other assignment exposes women to a constantly recycled atmosphere of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and more than 200 potentially toxic chemicals. Those contaminants remain even with filtering. While normal adults can adjust to this environment, a developing child in the first trimester cannot, and the levels of carbon dioxide that crewmembers are exposed to can be linked to birth defects. Also, no study has been done to determine the impact of this environment on a woman's fertility."

"Another serious consideration is the threat to the life and health of the women assigned to submarine crews should an ectopic pregnancy occur. These cases, about four out of every 1,000 women per year, can be life-threatening situations that demand evacuation," Wright said. "For a great many women, the acute symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy are their first indication that they are even pregnant. Pre-deployment pregnancy testing is not a silver bullet either, since tests may not give a positive reading in the earliest stages of pregnancy."

"Along with the medical issues, there are very real social and psychological difficulties posed by mixing the sexes in the 'Silent Service,'" Wright added. "Military readiness and cohesiveness will be affected, and commanders will have the added difficulties of harassment and fraternization to deal with, which are inevitable in this situation of confined quarters with extremely little privacy. National security is the Navy's primary mission, not advancing women's careers."

When she first burst onto the Republican scene, we wrote a few posts about the Religious Right’s newfound love of the idea of Sarah Palin as Vice President even though they would have opposed the idea of allowing her to be a leader in their churches.    

For those right-wing leaders who didn’t outright oppose the idea that Palin might have an “unbiblical” career outside of the home, their explanation was that so long as her husband Todd approved of her candidacy it was okay.

So I wonder what these Religious Right leaders think now that they are finding out that Palin wasn’t even planning on asking Todd if it was okay until John McCain suggested that she should at least run it by him:

PALIN: Just looking right in my eyes and saying, Are you ready for this? Would you like to do this? And I said, I would be honored to run with you. Absolutely. […]

VAN SUSTEREN: Todd wasn’t with you. Did you call Todd then?

PALIN: Well, before I said yes. That was Senator McCain’s recommendation. He says, Why don’t you call your husband and find out, you know, if he’s good with this also. I called Todd, and Todd, too, was no hesitation. He was like, Absolutely. This will be good. Yes, do this. And just good confirmation that, of course, we were to say yes.

It must come as something of a shock for Richard Land, who was advocating for Palin months before McCain chose her, to find out that Palin had to be reminded to talk to her husband about it - especially since Land believes that her husband’s approval was a fundamental requirement, saying the “only thing that would disqualify Gov. Palin from being governor or vice president … would be if her husband didn't want her to do it.”