Rush Limbaugh Denies Sexism With Sexist Joke

Young women are angry and organizing themselves: Jessica Valenti

(NEWSER) - There's no stopping SlutWalks now, and they're starting to look like the "future of feminism," writes Jessica Valenti in the Washington Post . What began as a single protest in Toronto over a police officer's safety tip—to avoid rape, don't dress like a "slut"—has morphed into "the most successful feminist action of the past 20 years," writes Valenti. These marchers are women fed up at sexist stereotypes who are organizing themselves, and they're not doing so under the umbrella of an established women's group. More»

Conservatives shouldn't be shunned from the cause

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin is taking heat from the left for daring to adopt the label of feminist, writes Cathy Young. Palin clearly isn't a great spokesperson for the cause—she's big on slogans but not so much on substantive ideas—but Young thinks feminists are making a mistake by automatically rejecting conservatives from the cause. Given the country's center-right leanings, it alienates a huge number of women right off the bat. More»

(NEWSER) - Americans like to thank Barack Obama or George Bush or even Twitter for Iran’s revolution, but the real movers and shakers are Iran’s women, writes Anne Applebaum in the Washington Post. They’ve spent years organizing and campaigning for equal rights, and their presence in the streets “could strike the deepest blow against the regime.” By rejecting the theocracy’s gender discrimination, tens of thousands of women are rejecting its supposedly divine authority, too. More»

Rush convenes 'female summit' to find out why babes don't like him

(NEWSER) - Women don’t like Rush Limbaugh, and he wants to know why. A new poll shows that the radio host has a 49% disapproval rating among women—with only 37% favorable—so he held a “female summit” on his show yesterday, inviting women callers of all political stripes to tell him what he’s doing wrong. “I own the men, and what must I do now to own women?” he asked. And women answered. More»

Ex-PM advanced women's rights; but not as much as hoped

(NEWSER) - Benazir Bhutto wasn't always a staunch defender of women's rights, but for Pakistani women the fight for gender equality is a lot tougher now that she's gone. Bhutto may have jump-started women's health care and job programs, but she missed opportunities to repeal harsh anti-egalitarian laws—failures her defenders chalk up to the demands of political compromise. "She walked the walk," said one. "We just expected her to walk more." More»