Thursday, January 17, 2008

Why You Should Buy the Winter Issue of Ms. Magazine



The main reason is so that they can pay me for the book review I wrote for that issue.

Just kidding, about the payment part (I hope). But the issue has other goodies in addition to my humble review (of Martha McCaughey's The Caveman Mystique: Pop-Darwinism and the Debates Over Sex, Violence and Science.). The editors note some of the other goodies:

The cover story looks at the dire effects of punitive U.S. family-planning policies including the "global gag rule"—which restricts health providers in developing countries from even mentioning abortion if they want to keep their much-needed U.S. funding. The piece includes a close-up view of a gynecological ward in Nairobi, Kenya that treats the victims of botched, unsafe abortions.

Ms. also undertook an investigation of the big-money interests behind the so-called "civil rights initiatives" initiatives sponsored by Ward Connerly, which are really intended to wipe out affirmative action programs for women and minorities. In addition, the magazine examines the threats to our voting rights in 2008—and profiles two feminist secretaries of state who are setting new standards for protecting voters from fraud, purges and defective voting machines.

Other articles include a feminist scholar's take on the women in hot sitcoms (Tina Fey, Wanda Sykes, Sarah Silverman, etc.), an analysis of the never-flagging interest in Jane Austen (and her attack on the patriarchy!), and a heart-wrenching memoir excerpt from a woman who was tortured in Iran's notorious Evin prison.

For more information about the Ms. magazine, go to their website.