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Released in 1999, I had never seen The Cider House Rules until a few weeks ago.  I’m not usually into period pieces or Tobey Maguire, so I didn’t expect much.  However, there were some powerful lines about the importance of a woman’s right to choose and to have safe medical treatments available to her once she’s made her choice.  Furthermore, there were some powerful examples of times that removing that choice is truly cruel, regardless of your political beliefs on the matter.

The Cider House Rules is the story of Homer, an orphan boy who never made it out of the orphanage, and has been trained as a doctor by his mentor and father figure, Dr. Larch, who runs the orphanage.  In addition to delivering the babies of women giving their children up for adoption, Dr. Larch offers safe medical abortions to any woman who asks for it.  He doesn’t advertise this service (as it is illegal), and he doesn’t suggest it to women no matter how many times he’s delivered their unwanted babies, but he won’t turn away a woman in need.  When Homer accuses him of playing God in this way, Dr. Larch responds:

Dr. Larch: I have been given the opportunity of playing God or leaving practically everything up to chance. Men and women of conscience should seize those moments when it’s possible to play God. There won’t be many. Do I interfere when absolutely helpless women tell me they simply can’t have an abortion – that they simply must go through with having another and yet another orphan? I do not. I do not even recommend. I just give them what they want.

Read the rest of this entry »

CBS doesn’t want America to think about Choice, so we have to do it virally.  Here are some awesome counterpoints to the anti-choice rhetoric that is being crammed down our throats with Doritos and beer this SuperBowl Sunday, starting with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards explanation of the meaning of Choice:

For a multitude of reasons I will not be watching the SuperBowl today, but welcome any tips on who the winners and losers in advertising are this year.

There were two things that had me pumped up about The Wild Things: 1. Jim Henson muppets, and 2. Karen O.  I was never very attached to the story as a kid, and was pretty sure that it was going to be a hyped-up-indie-fest as a film.  However, this was also during that period that I kept going to movies expecting little and being blown away (Away We Go, Jennifer’s Body, Paper Heart, and Whip It!), so maybe that explains the mild obsession that overtook me after seeing The Wild Things last fall.  The film, the soundtrack, and the book all made their mark on me, and all have a little feminist spin in my opinion.  Let’s break it down:

The Film

Sadly this trailer doesn’t incorporate the Karen O led music that really contributes to the feel of the film, nor does it capture what, to me, was the most meaningful theme: Max’s relationship with his mother.  What? you say?  His mother?  Please, this is a story about a naughty and wild little boy. On the surface, yes, but Max’s relationship with his mom is what gave the film depth.

Max is being raised by a single mother who has a new boyfriend, which can be hard on any kid.  It’s hard even into adulthood to understand split parents, and when a newcomer steps in things become even more difficult.  Max was already a pain-in-the-butt kid, and between a fight with his older sister and the apparent intrusion of a new man into his home, he loses it.  He runs away and winds up living among the Wild Things as their king.  And each Wild Thing offers us an insight into Max’s relationship with his mom.  Carol represents the possessiveness Max feels towards her; Alexander represents how ignored he feels; Judith represents his difficult and disagreeable side; Ira represents the doting and needy part of him; and the Bull represents the stoic role our society asks us to show when we’re really experiencing pain.  K.W. on the other hand, represents Max’s mom.

K.W. is warm, loving, kind, and is more complex than the other Wild Things can understand.  She has a different level of maturity, she needs relationships outside of the group.  Carol in particular is resentful of this and alternates between loving K.W. and not knowing how to express it and loathing her in a violent and possessive way.  This is a clear reflection of how Max has treated his mother on the night he ran away.  When Carol turns on Max for letting him down as a king, it is K.W. that protects him, hiding him in her mouth.  For a moment after it is safe, K.W. wants to keep Max, but she understands that as much as she loves him, she must let him go.  Whether Max has the capacity to understand this as deeply as I see it or not, this is the turning point where he realizes he needs his mother and must return to her, hopefully with a new respect for her as a person, not just a mom.

After the jump, an analysis of the soundtrack (including an interview with Karen O.) and the book

A number of hopeful stories in the news this week:

Human Rights Campaign Announces Comprehensive Campaign to End Failed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Law
From HRC:

“The Commander in Chief sent a clear message tonight that in a time of war, what matters is that our men and women get the job done – not whether they’re gay or straight,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Our ‘Voices of Honor’ campaign will bring about much needed action to end this law that the vast majority of Americans oppose.”

Research Shows Two Gay Parents Are Better Than A Single Straight One
From io9, Full scientific article available via Journal of Marriage And Family.

Anti-gay marriage activists have argued vigorously that children need a mother and father. Now a new research study shows that kids do need two parents — but that gender doesn’t matter… finding that it’s ideal if a child is raised by two parents who are “responsible, committed, stable,” but that the gender doesn’t cause radical differences.

Florida allows third gay adoption
From UPI.com via Jezebel.

A Florida judge allowed a lesbian to adopt a child while an appeals court decides whether the state’s ban on gay adoptions is unconstitutional, records show.

Huge LGBT Family Law Victory in PA
From Feminist Law Professors via Jezebel.

For some time now, the Pennsylvania courts have been relatively good at handling legal issues involving lesbian and gay families. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has interpreted state adoption law to permit second-parent adoptions, and it has applied the in loco parentis doctrine to allow a former same-sex partner with no legal connection (e.g., through birth or adoption) to a child of the relationship to nonetheless obtain custody or visitation.

This is all great news, and shows that even though a lot of battles haven’t gone so well, some are still being won.  The war to extend equal rights to all U.S. citizens rages on.

Keep fighting the good fight, everyone.

Diablo Cody has done it again, folks.  The United States of Tara is complex, smart, progressive, and entertaining, and well worth your time.  The show is about a suburban family coping with the typical stresses of work, school, and relationships with a twist: Mom’s got four personalities.

Tara’s persona’s aren’t the most accurate representation of mental illness, although they do manage to use accurate terms: Dissociative Identity Disorder rather than Multiple Personality Disorder – something that Tara regularly has to correct others on.  Instead, her persona’s illustrate the various stereotyped roles women navigate – T, the wild, rebellious, and promiscuous teenager; Alice, the overly-sweet but passive-aggressive 50’s housewife; Buck, the grungy, rough and tough masculine side; and Tara herself who is trying to live a “normal” modern life with her husband and two children while coping with a buried childhood trauma that led to the development of these personas.  As Tara gets closer to that lost memory a fourth alter arises: Gimme, the animalistic child.

But the show isn’t just about Tara.  It’s about family.  Read the rest of this entry »

Wait, what?

So we already know that Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, is a rebellious republican who supports gay marriage, but now his wife, Cindy McCain, is speaking out as well.  From the No H8 campaign:

Aligning yourself with the platform of gay marriage as a Republican still tends to be very stigmatic, but Cindy McCain wanted to participate in the campaign to show people that party doesn’t matter – marriage equality isn’t a Republican issue any more than it is a Democratic issue. It’s about human rights, and everybody being treated equally in the eyes of the law that runs and protects this country.

File this under “Things that make you go ‘hmm…’” – but in a good way.

Shoutouts to feministing for this one!

“There’s a direct connection between a woman’s ability to plan her family, space her pregnancies, and give birth safely, and her ability to get an education, work outside the home, support her family, and participate fully in the life of her community.

When a girl becomes a mother before she becomes literate, when a woman gives birth alone and is left with a permanent disability, when a mother toils daily to feed her large family but cannot convince her husband to agree to contraception, these struggles represent suffering that can and should be avoided. They represent potential that goes unfulfilled. And they also represent an opportunity to extend critical help to women worldwide and the children who depend on them.

Investing in the health of women, adolescents, and girls is not only the right thing to do; it is also the smart thing to do.”

- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s
Remarks on the 15th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development

Full transcript here via Jezebel.

I pretty much have no words for this, but if you are as outraged, disgusted, and pissed off as I am about it, you can get involved with national groups and local chapters of groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the Courage Campaign.

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From The High Definite via Feministing.

1. She values health for health’s sake, not for beauty’s sake.

“Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.”

2. She believes in the importance of identity.

“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.”

3. She understands the difficulty inherent in being a working mother…

“The work-life balance is a harsh reality for so many women, who are forced every day to make impossible choices. Do they take their kids to the doctor…and risk getting fired? Do they work weekends so they can afford to send their kids to better childcare…even though it means even less time with their families? Do they take another shift at work, so they can pay for piano lessons for their kids…even though it means they have to stop volunteering for the PTA? It just shouldn’t be this difficult to raise healthy families.”

4. …and what that “personal is political” phrase is all about.

“Policies that support families aren’t political issues.  They’re personal.  They’re the causes I carry with me every single day.”

Read the rest of this entry »

She may be a fictitious character, but Donna Pinciotti is one bad dudette.  Whenever the guys are running their mouths, Donna is there to set them straight, and I like to think that her intelligence, outspoken attitude, and empowerment make up for their regular idiocy.  Just this week I saw the episode “Baby Fever,” which features some fantastic Donna moments.

In the episode, Kitty asks Laurie to watch an infant she is babysitting for a friend while she and Red visit the Pinciottis next door for fondue.  Laurie is inept at changing the baby’s diaper, and Donna steps in.  Eric is impressed with her maternal instincts and makes a bigger deal of her diaper-changing abilities than he did when she was published in the school paper.  Donna calls him out on this, but he doesn’t get it, telling her that it gave him warm fuzzies to think of what a great stay-at-home mom she was going to make someday.  Donna has other ideas.

In the end, Donna decides it’s too early to be having this fight with Eric, and they kiss and make up.  However, the fact that Donna thought about the issue, thought about her future, and shared her concerns with her friends (albeit in “the circle,” if you know what I mean) sends a pretty positive message to the teen and young adult audience the show is targeted to.  As reruns continue to air on The CW and TeenNick (formerly The “N”), I take pleasure in the idea that younger generations of women continue to be exposed to feminist role-models like Donna on TV.

Who are some of your other favorite TV feminists?

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