Was Kathleen Parker of Parker Spitzer a Victim of Sexism?

From the get-go, CNN’s show Parker Spitzer pitted Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kathleen Parker against former New York State Attorney General and Governor Eliot Spitzer, literally. The show hoped that the strong opinions of both a high-profile conservative and liberal would prompt interesting and lively debate, buttressed by Spitzer’s colorful ousting from office. But only few months after airing, rumors of real conflict between the anchors coupled with low ratings prompted CNN to ditch Parker and keep Spitzer on in his own show, In the Arena. Because of this quick move, some are arguing that this is part of larger issue that CNN has with women.

Amy Siskind is one of them. In a Huffington Post article, she …

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Naomi Wolf, and the Value of a Polarizing Feminist

photo of naomi wolf pictures photographs

I love Naomi Wolf. There, I said it. Many feminists, especially young ones, will hate me for that, but I’ll never fully be able to dismiss her ever since reading The Beauty Myth. I felt, and still feel, as though she targeted an issue that hadn’t been acknowledged actively; how much societal obsession with appearance has prevented female progress. I would never argue that she is the best or most structured writer, but as someone whose thesis was largely …

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Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Speaking Out on The Oprah Winfrey Show

Photo of Oprah Winfrey and Male Sex Abuse Victims

Female victims of sexual abuse are generally received with sympathy. While there are at times accusations of “she made it up” or even “she deserved it for dressing that way,” there is a basic connotation of empathy for girls and women who have survived everything from childhood molestation to rape.

Men aren’t sexually abused.

Except, of course, that they are, to the tune …

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Teacher Demoted for Revealing Sex Work Past – Further Proof Society is Afraid of Sex Workers?

photo of stripper prostitute teacher pictures

An elementary school teacher from the Bronx, New York, has been reassigned for publically revealing her past as a stripper and prostitute, the New York Post reported yesterday. The question this story has thrown up is whether this demotion, as well as the coverage the story has received in the press, confirms that society is afraid of sex workers.

Melissa Petro has been teaching art at the PS 70 elementary school in the Bronx for three years, and has been open about her profession prior to becoming a teacher. In an essay for The Rumpus, published in the June of 2010, Petro wrote about her experiences and explained her need to speak out about sex work, despite what her colleagues might think. And in a Huffington Post article earlier this month, Petro revealed that she had used Craigslist to facilitate a brief career as a prostitute. It was this revelation that apparently caused PS 70 to remove Petro from her classroom.

Parents of pupils at PS 70 are predictably outraged – and have …

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