Free Republic

The American Jewish Congress submitted this understated advertisement about the status of women in Israel to Ms. Magazine. Underneath the attractive photographs of Israel's foreign minister (Tzipi Livni), Supreme Court president (Dorit Beinish), and speaker of the Knesset (Dalia Itzik), the ad reads: "This is Israel." I think it is fair to say that in most parts of the United States it would be deemed an utterly innocuous ad. Ms. rejected the ad. Yesterday the AJC issued this press release with the following comments: "What other conclusion can we reach," asked Richard Gordon, President of AJCongress, "... a significant number...

After jeers from her Democratic rivals and many commentators, Hillary Rodham Clinton has backed off her suggestion last week that her opponents were ganging up on her because she is a woman. But the debate is still churning in feminist circles, where some women's activists said she had every right to invoke sexism and gender stereotypes as a defense on the campaign trail — and predicted that this tactic will prove effective against fellow Democrats and against a Republican, if she is the general election nominee. “It goes beyond logic — it’s a gut response,” Eleanor Smeal, president of the...

NEW YORK -- Like so many women, Suzanne Holstein, a schoolteacher and mother of two, has had her struggles balancing motherhood and career. So she was sympathetic when she heard that ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas, a woman she admires, was stepping down from her prestigious evening-news perch to focus on her growing family. And yet, like many women across the country, Holstein is not only a little disappointed by Vargas' move, but a little suspicious. "I can't believe that a woman who's worked so hard to get where she is would just resign like that," says Holstein, 39. "I think...

The people supporting Harriet Miers' Supreme Court nomination, who started out looking defensive, have acquired symptoms of outright desperation. Rather than strain themselves with the impossible task of justifying the appointment, they are now on the attack. They claim the critics oppose Miss Miers just because she's a woman. In truth, Miss Miers' sex was one of her two attractions for the president -- the other being her canine worship of him. But the complaints about her weak credentials would be made even if she had testosterone coming out of her ears. Miss Miers, after all, is by any standard...