Kirsten Gillibrand Pays The Price For Speaking Out Against Al Franken

No one in Congress is more associated with the Me Too movement than Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Long before Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer became infamous creeps, Gillibrand was focusing her attention on sexual assault and harassment in the military, on college campuses and in the workplace.

But the two-term senator cemented her prominence in the movement last year when she called out members of her own party. In November, she said that Bill Clinton should have resigned the presidency over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. And then the following month, she became the first Democratic senator to publicly call on then-Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to go after multiple women accused him of engaging in sexual misconduct.

In Leaked Chats, WikiLeaks Discusses Preference for GOP Over Clinton, Russia, Trolling, and Feminists They Don’t Like

On a Thursday afternoon in November 2015, a light snow was falling outside the windows of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, despite the relatively warm weather, and Julian Assange was inside, sitting at his computer and pondering the upcoming 2016 presidential election in the United States.

In little more than a year, WikiLeaks would be engulfed in a scandal over how it came to publish internal emails that damaged Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and the extent to which it worked with Russian hackers or Donald Trump’s campaign to do so. But in the fall of 2015, Trump was polling at less than 30 percent among Republican voters, neck-and-neck with neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Assange spoke freely about why WikiLeaks wanted Clinton and the Democrats to lose the election.

Celebrity Sexual Abuse Scandals Highlight Widespread Sexism

Better late than never.

Film mogul Harvey Weinstein’s case felt like a watershed moment. After decades of whispers within the Hollywood community, the high-profile movie producer’s sexual misconduct was brought into the light by a scathing report by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Even more amazing, a powerful man actually faced consequences for his actions, being fired from the company he helped found and being booted from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Julian Assange and #MeToo: Skeevy guys strike back

As the fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandals continues to play out, and more women step forward with stories about men in entertainment and journalism sexually abusing them, a peculiar development has emerged: Two prominent men who have faced legal trouble after being accused of rape have injected themselves into the mix. Perhaps even more disturbingly, they are framing themselves as righteous crusaders for justice.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says Sexism Was A 'Major, Major Factor' In 2016 Election

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Tuesday that there was “no doubt” sexism played a role in the 2016 presidential election between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

Ginsburg, in conversation with journalist Charlie Rose, spoke on a wide range of issues during an event at the 92nd Street Y, including her future on the court, her legendary exercise routine, her mentors and advice she had for young women. When asked about Clinton ― the first female presidential nominee for a major political party ― and her loss in last year’s election, however, Ginsburg commented that sexism was a “major, major factor.”

This “bitch” won’t shut up: Sexist attacks on outspoken women are a problem for men to fix, too

When the message arrived with the photograph of my bedroom, the intent was clear: We know where you live, where you sleep at night. Be afraid.

I was. I am.

The message appeared in my inbox after I had published an essay on Salon sharply criticizing Sen. Bernie Sanders. The essay went viral and I received an onslaught of hate, threats and intimidation, which is not unusual for me — reactions to my pieces criticizing Sen. Sanders have typically been delivered with more velocity and opprobrium than any of the many other controversial political and feminist subjects I’ve written about — and apparently it’s not unusual for feminist writers in general to receive threats, either.

Uber Board Member Resigns After Making Sexist Joke At Company Meeting On Sexism

Uber board of directors member David Bonderman has resigned after making a sexist crack about his female colleagues at a Tuesday meeting on the company’s plans to address complaints of sexism and other workplace culture problems.

New York Times reporter Mike Isaac was first to report the news of the resignation, citing two people with knowledge of the decision.

Two black women hit Fox News with lawsuit claiming ‘top-down racial harassment’

Two black women filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Fox News for racial discrimination they experienced while working at the news network, the New York Times reports.

Tichaona Brown and Tabrese Wright, who managed and coordinated the payroll department, accused Fox’s former comptroller, Judith Slater, of “top-down racial harassment.” Brown and Wright allege in their case that Slater made comments calling black men “women beaters” and about black people wanting to cause physical harm to white people.

Saudi Arabia Is the Most Gender-Segregated Nation in the World

For decades, the United States has supported Saudi Arabia despite the latter country's record of human rights abuses and working against American interests. What explains this alliance that has endured across multiple US presidential administrations? Fearless firebrand Medea Benjamin tackles this question in her new book Kingdom of the Unjust. Get it now by making a donation to Truthout!

The following are two excerpts from the chapter, "The Struggle of Saudi Women for Equal Rights," in Kingdom of the Unjust.

RNC Chair Says ‘People Just Don’t Care’ About Reports Donald Trump Mistreated Women

WASHINGTON — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday said voters don’t care about reports that the party’s presumptive presidential nominee has disrespected women and made unwelcome advances toward them in the workplace.

A New York Times investigation published Saturday included dozens of interviews with women and men who worked with Donald Trump over decades, detailing crude comments about the female form, disturbing workplace conduct and more.

Gender pricing means women paying more than men

Should a pink razor or a purple pen cost more than a blue razor or black pen?

Logic dictates it shouldn’t, but in some cases, it does.

Known as the “pink tax” or gender-based pricing, it means women end up paying thousands of dollars more for goods and services than men — from deodorant to cologne to hair cuts to dry cleaning.

Female Veterans Face Pitiful Health Care

It's been a big few months for women in the armed forces. In December, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that for the first time, all military jobs would be open to women—including elite combat positions. On February 4, following the advice of top officials in the Army and Marine Corps, House Republicans introduced legislation that would require women to register for the draft.

A Racist, Sexist Demagogue Just Won The New Hampshire Primary

New Hampshire Republican primary voters on Tuesday made official their choice for president of the United States: real estate mogul and reality television star Donald J. Trump.

The businessman's resounding victory amid a crowded field of more experienced and accomplished candidates is a stunning turn of events for a party that vowed just four years ago to be more inclusive to minorities after failing to unseat President Barack Obama in the bitter 2012 election. What the GOP got instead is a xenophobic demagogue who's insulted pretty much everyone and even earned the endorsement of white supremacists. Trump's victory in New Hampshire likely points to a drawn-out slog between Trump and at least one of his rivals as they battle to secure enough delegates in hopes of winning their party's nomination this summer.

Madeleine Albright Declares a ‘Special Place in Hell’ for Women Who Don’t Vote for Hillary Clinton

Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea for Hillary Clinton to invite Madeleine Albright to campaign for her in New Hampshire.

During a campaign event in Concord on Saturday, the former Secretary of State declared: “Young women have to support Hillary Clinton. The story is not over!”

“They’re going to want to push us back,” she continued. “It’s not done and you have to help. Hillary Clinton will always be there for you. And just remember, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

50% female cabinet appointments lead to 5000% increase in guys who suddenly care about merit in cabinet

OTTAWA - With Prime Minister designate Justin Trudeau preparing to announce a cabinet that is 50% women, researchers have discovered a sharp 5000% increase in the number of men who suddenly have strong opinions about how cabinet appointments should be a “meritocracy.”

Across the nation statisticians are at a loss to explain a recent and drastic jump in the number of men who have spontaneously developed hard opinions about the qualifications of Federal Cabinet Ministers.

Professor Claims Women 'Don't Understand' Fracking

A science professor and the chairwoman of the United Kingdom's leading shale gas lobby claims women don't support fracking because they "don't understand" the science behind the oil extraction procedure.

"Frequently the women haven’t had very much in the way of a science education because they may well have dropped science at 16. That is just a fact," Averil Macdonald, a professor of science engagement at the University of Reading and chairwoman of U.K. Onshore Oil and Gas, told British newspaper The Times.

Fraternities Hire Trent Lott To Lobby For Limiting Campus Sexual Assault Investigations

National fraternity and sorority groups have hired former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to lobby for legislation that would prevent colleges from punishing certain students accused of sexual assault.

Lott is among a group of lobbyists who have collected $140,000 from the "Safe Campus Coalition" so far this year, according to congressional disclosure filings. The coalition is made up of the National Panhellenic Conference, North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), Kappa Alpha Order, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the Sigma Nu fraternity.

Anti-Feminist Ad Turns Up In Toronto Subway, Asks 'How's Feminism Working For You?'

An anti-feminist sticker from a men's right group was spotted in a west-end Toronto subway station on Thursday.

The image, which was uploaded on Instagram by user Andrew Cameron, features a series of questions to women, ending with the tagline: "How is feminism working for you?"

Meet the Engineer Who Forced Silicon Valley's Gender Problem Into the Open

BACK IN OCTOBER 2013, Tracy Chou, a top engineer for the social scrapbooking site Pinterest, was flying home to San Francisco with fellow attendees of the annual Grace Hopper Celebration, the nation's biggest conference for women in computing. "If this flight out of Minneapolis goes down," she tweeted, "Silicon Valley is going to be down a substantial % of female engineers."

She was only half joking. At the conference, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg had posited that the Valley's gender gap was actually getting worse, and the comment set Chou's geek gears whirling. "Not that I disagree with the premise," she says. "I just had this thought that nobody actually knows what the numbers are."

Bank CEO Wants To Mansplain The Financial System To Elizabeth Warren

Speaking at an event on Wednesday, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, said of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D), “I don’t know if she fully understands the global banking system.”
Warren has already offered her retort to this assertion in an April speech. At that time, she noted that finance executives have already argued that those outside the industry don’t understand it. “The problem was never that I didn’t understand what the finance guys were doing,” she said. “The problem was that I understood exactly what the finance guys were doing. I knew it, and they knew it.”