Free Republic

At Ohio State University, to avoid being guilty of “sexual assault” or “sexual violence,” you and your partner now apparently have to agree on the reason WHY you are making out or having sex. It’s not enough to agree to DO it, you have to agree on WHY: there has to be agreement “regarding the who, what, where, when, why, and how this sexual activity will take place.”There used to be a joke that women need a reason to have sex, while men only need a place. Does this policy reflect that juvenile mindset? Such a requirement baffles some women...

A small but vocal group of protesters from the militant pro-abortion group Stop Patriarchy invaded the vestibule of an Albuquerque hotel where Project Defending Life was holding its annual banquet and attempted to disrupt the event. The particular objects of scorn for this leftist, anti-male group? None other than Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman, who was the featured speaker for the event, and honored guest New Mexico Archbishop Michael Sheehan. The rowdy group of feminists broke into the hotel vestibule wielding signs and a bullhorn and chanting “Abortion on demand” and “Operation Rescue is a fascist organization!” as banquet-goers looked on...

For too long we have been lied to about the sexual revolution. But now the mask is coming off, and the younger generations are recognizing that they have been sold a pack of lies. It’s sobering and frustrating to consider that each and every time social conservatives raised the cultural alarm throughout the last five decades, pointing out that each new manifestation of the Sexual Revolution would lead to devastating consequences, they were written off with derisive laughter. They were accused of “provoking a moral panic,” or being “stuck in the past” or “too prudish.” The “slippery-slope” arguments of...

“When women go wrong men go right after them.” – Mae West “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill wrote this over a century ago. During my junior year in high school, the nuns asked about our plans for after we graduated. When I said I was going to attend State University, I noticed their disappointment. I asked my favorite nun, “Why?” She answered, “That means you’ll leave four years later a communist and an atheist!” What a giggle we girls...

The home-cooked meal has long been romanticized, from ’50s-era sitcoms to the work of star food writer Michael Pollan, who once wrote, “far from oppressing them, the work of cooking approached in the proper spirit offered a kind of fulfillment and deserved an intelligent woman’s attention.” In recent years, the home-cooked meal has increasingly been offered up as the solution to our country's burgeoning nutrition-related health problems of heart disease and diabetes. But while home-cooked meals are typically healthier than restaurant food, sociologists Sarah Bowen, Sinikka Elliott, and Joslyn Brenton from North Carolina State University argue that the stress that...

In all the bad days that opponents of same-sex marriage have had lately, few compare with the one they had this past week in a courtroom in Chicago. Lawyers defending the bans in Wisconsin and Indiana were buried in an avalanche of skepticism and incredulity. The judges demanded to know what worthy goals the prohibitions serve, and the attorneys had terrible trouble coming up with any. Perhaps the low point for their side came when one was asked why Wisconsin makes it so hard for same-sex couples to adopt and ventured to say, "I think tradition is one of the...

Fifty years after Julie Andrews starred as that practically perfect nanny, the character is still a role model for young women. Like all Disney movies, Mary Poppins is full of whimsy and adventure, good guys and, if not bad guys, at least shades-of-grey guys. And as we celebrate the film today, on its fiftieth anniversary, let’s not forget its feminist perspective.

In 1964 Bob Dylan wrote the amazing classic tune, “The times they are a changing”. Some of the words went like this: “The line it is drawnThe curse it is castThe slow one nowWill later be fast…Rapidly fadin'And the first one nowWill later be lastFor the times they are a-changin’." Fifty years after Dylan’s riveting verses, special interest groups’ claims about both the nature and dynamics of marriage are changing more dramatically than any of the social phenomenon of the 60’s. For years, the argument for deeply altering an ancient institution was framed entirely in terms of individual “rights.” We...

Just to recall a basic fact: Intercourse/PIV is always rape, plain and simple. This is a developed recap from what I’ve been saying in various comments here and there in the last two years or so. as a radfem I’ve always said PIV is rape and I remember being disappointed to discover that so few radical feminists stated it clearly. How can you possibly see it otherwise? Intercourse is the very means through which men oppress us, from which we are not allowed to escape, yet some instances of or PIV and intercourse may be chosen and free? That makes...

Journalist Soledad O’Brien and Abby Huntsman, an anchor on MSNBC’s “The Cycle,” join TODAY to talk about the state of modern-day feminism as an anti-feminist movement grows among young women online, as reported by NBC’s Hallie Jackson. From the Orange Room, Carson Daly asks viewers for their thoughts.

"'Life' in this 'society' being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of 'society' being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and eliminate the male sex." - Valerie Solanas.Professor Breanne Fahs is a revolutionary. She teaches Women's and Gender Studies at Arizona State University. Recently, she decided to give extra credit to her female students for "defying social norms" by refusing to shave their armpits. In the name of equality, she also gave her male students an opportunity to earn...

In the early hours of Thursday morning, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on CBS featured a guest musical performance with vehemently anti-religious lyrics, including a line wishing the mother of Jesus “would’ve had an abortion.” Kristeen Young was host Craig Ferguson’s guest, performing her song, “Pearl of a Girl,” which takes all three of the world’s major, monotheistic religions to task for allegedly repressing women. “I never knew I was a girl until they stooped to tell me,” Young sang in the first verse of her song. “I never knew I was disturbed until they dropped three volumes...

People who disagree with same-sex marriage and birth-control use have been met with accusations of bigotry. Are some Christians being unfairly shamed out of the public sphere? Is evangelical Christian morality still viable in American public life? This is the question lurking in recent debates over religious-liberty issues, from the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision to the Christian bakers who object to baking cakes for gay weddings. In discussions of these cases, objections to same-sex marriage and contraception are described as a retreat from “secular society.” And in some cases, evangelicals actually have retreated: Since the Boy Scouts of America...

By Rebecca Ryskind Teti * There’s a March for Marriage in Washington, DC today, and the chairman of the US Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, will be there as a featured speaker. This in spite of the fact that a number of California politicians and other public figures wrote him an open letter asking him not to attend.The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi wrote a similar private missive to the Archbishop, invoking Pope Francis’ “who am I to judge?” as she requested he not march.  It’s a bit chilling...

Male and Female He Created Them February 24, 2014Dr. Gregory Popcak I have been reflecting a great deal on Eve Tushnet’s excellent article in The Atlantic that many of you have probably, already read (and if you haven’t, by all means, check it out).  I’ve been thinking of her article, in part, because she’s a great writer, but also, because I spent the weekend with my best friend from childhood with whom I remain very close despite the fact that we have many very different views, me being a promoter of the Catholic vision of the person and sexuality and him, being an expert on and professor of queer theory. ...

Medical science is making bold new leaps every day. Not only is there a new medication out that is just like the old medication, except it costs 10 times as much, but the American Medical Association has decided that gender is purely imaginary.For thousands of years, human ignorance convinced us that there were two genders. Now the AMA says that gender is imaginary. You can be any gender you want. Change gender every week. Or every day. We’re in Hopechangeistan now. Biology, like economics and military science, are purely imaginary fields. “Science” says so. In other action Monday, the AMA...

Barack Obama has integrated promotions of homosexuality and other alternative lifestyle choices into his policy and practice since his election, successfully promoting the “gay” lifestyle in the U.S. military and forbidding the enforcement of the federal law called the Defense of Marriage Act that supported traditional marriage. The extent of the reach of his actions perhaps was epitomized by last week’s announcement that the U.S. Embassy in Israel was flying a rainbow flag – representing homosexual activism – along with Old Glory. But now a coalition in Congress, made up exclusively of Democrats, wants to take the effort further and...

A gender non-conforming teenager from South Carolina is demanding to have a driver's license retaken after DMV staff barred him from wearing make up. Chase Culpepper claims DMV staff said the make up should be removed because the teenager didn't look like how a boy should. The 16-year-old, who wears androgynous clothing and make up, agreed to the staff's demands to get a license, but now wants to have the photo redone. Chase says staff claimed that DMV rules stated that the photo needed to show the person as they appear normally, and banned pictures taken in 'disguise'. 'This is...

Catholic sociologist Gabriele Kuby meets Pope Benedict in November 2012. VATICAN – Pope Francis strongly condemned “gender ideology” in a private conversation with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun earlier this year, the bishop related in a recent essay. In doing so, the pope follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Nearing the end of his pontificate, the pope emeritus spoke twice about gender ideology as “a negative trend for humankind,” and a “profound falsehood,” which “it is the duty of pastors of the Church” to put the faithful “on guard against.” Bishop Laun, auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, wrote...

The Washington National Cathedral is welcoming the first openly transgendered Episcopal priest to its altar this month. The Rev. Cameron Partridge, a transgendered man, is set to give the June 22 sermon at the cathedral, a fixture in the D.C. skyline and one of the nation’s most well-known houses of worship. “We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” Mr. Hall said. “We want to proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender identity...