Jessica Valenti column
Daily commentary on feminism, politics, culture and more from
Jessica Valenti
Follow her on Twitter @JessicaValenti
Follow her on Twitter @JessicaValenti
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The Women's March reminded us: we are not aloneThere are more of us who care about equality – 3 million more to be exact – than there are those obsessed with walls and fear. We showed our strength today
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The week in patriarchy: your worst nightmareThe future seems bleak – we must find ways to cope together. Here is Jessica Valenti’s inaugural newsletter on sexism and feminism this week
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Forget what's 'in Trump's heart'. Listen to his wordsMany are trying to convince themselves that Trump is a good person deep down. But there is too much at stake to gloss over the hatred
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America: don't be polite in the face of demagogueryInstead of bending over backwards to bolster the self-esteem of bigots, we must make clear that the country we want is unapologetically progressive
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Will Trump cause progressives to forget about women's rights?Americans cannot afford to treat feminism as something that can be pushed aside for a time and picked up later. Especially not now
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Phyllis Schlafly won some battles, but she lost the warWhile the conservative crusader helped defeat the ERA, the country has largely embraced the causes she feared most – from working women to LGBT rights
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Why do girls want labiaplasty? They're told to hate every inch of themselvesDespite all the feminist progress we’ve made, women and girls are still subject to mixed messages about how their bodies must be perfect
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On the internet, you can never be quite sure who said whatTrump may think Einstein said it – actually it was Dianne Feinstein. The way quotes circulate online is bizarre, often hilarious, but sometimes downright scary
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Anti-abortion politicians deserve to be asked if they've helped a woman get oneThose who judge women’s private decisions should face personal scrutiny – but preserving the privacy of their female partners must come first
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Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have gone full cavemanThe Republican hopefuls moved on from penis size to trade barbs over their wives’ honor in the latest colorful incident. This is the locker-room election
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It's OK to be unhappy around kids. So put away that forced smileResearch shows that there is a cost to hiding our feelings from children, even though the temptation is to protect them from negative emotions
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Single ladies have increasing impact in a culture that still dismisses themUnmarried women have changed the way we think about politics, culture and marriage, and now the fate of the country could come down to how they vote
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It's OK to feel insecure sometimes – confidence lapses aren't character flawsThe anxiety around women being more confident is starting to feel like a bigger problem than the insecurity itself
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If women with Zika risk shouldn't get pregnant, they need abortion accessWomen who don’t want to be pregnant will find some way not to be, including illegal and unsafe abortions
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Calling Megyn Kelly a 'bimbo' is sexist, but so is calling her a 'lightweight'Donald Trump’s language reflects a social shift that makes it unacceptable to hurl blatantly sexist slurs at women – but veiled ones are still game
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Women are overcharged every day. Imagine if that happened to menNow we have more proof that the system is rigged to fleece women, who have historically been portrayed as financially irresponsible and frivolous
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Bernie Sanders must deliver more than platitudes about abortionWomen voters aren’t looking for talking points in 2016: we want candidates who will fight back against any and all restrictions on reproductive health
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Hillary Clinton supporters: it is OK to care about gender on the ballotOnly in a sexist society would women be told that caring about representation at the highest levels of government is wrong
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Why would you trust a teen to raise a kid, but not to have an abortion?Laws that restrict teenagers’ access to abortion services make no logical sense. It’s time to repeal them all
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Bill Cosby will finally face charges. There's no guarantee he'll face justiceIt’s been 11 years since a woman first reported being sexually assaulted by Cosby. His arraignment is a start, but there are no sure things in a courtroom
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Feminism isn't just a fad – and that's why so many anti-feminists are angryThe movement for gender equality is so deeply embedded in our culture that even those who deride it as a ‘trend’ are scared of its staying power
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Why are top women politicians still peppered with gender-specific slurs?For as long as women have wanted to have a voice in our political process there have been men looking to shut them up
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Beauty pageants are embarrassing – even if you name the right winnerSuch events are nothing more than an opportunity to ogle gorgeous, scantily-clad women and pit them against each other – so why do they still exist?
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The misleading Planned Parenthood videos shouldn't be 'free' speechWhether or not a ban on the Planned Parenthood videos is upheld is a matter of life and death for people who work at abortion providers
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This Christmas there is one less thing on my to-do list: holiday cardsSending a card doesn’t really make sense these days, so I am just going to enjoy the holidays instead
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Abortion by wire coat hanger is not a thing of the past in AmericaWe know how scared and desperate a woman needs to be to self-induce an abortion with a household object. So why is this still happening?
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My daughter won't ever know of TV commercials – and I'm surprisingly sadCommercials were a huge part of my childhood, and it’s odd to think of a new generation of children not experiencing that
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Let's stop acting like our guns are more important than our childrenOur children need us. They don’t need fear; they don’t need classes on how to get a gun away from a shooter. They need grownups
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Trigger warnings aren't the campus censorship woe opponents believeA new study show that trigger warnings, used as exhibit A in the argument that college students are babies who can’t handle life, barely exist in reality
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Women are already on the front lines. Now they get official recognition for itThe reasons that have kept women from combat positions are so steeped in sexism it’s near impossible not to throw your support behind those who serve
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When busyness is our key social currency, our lives become poorerThere is a strange sense of pride in being busy – even if it comes at the expense of happiness
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Violent anti-choice rhetoric must end, or anti-abortion violence never willThe man arrested in the Planned Parenthood shooting allegedly told police ‘no more baby parts’. Can we stop pretending that pro-life lies don’t have an effect?
It is not 'indoctrination' to talk to our children about politics. It is necessary