According to this story at CBC Arts, three high school students in Cross River, New York were suspended from school for saying the word vagina! Amazing. The students were doing a reading of — wait for it — THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, and were ordered by their principal, Richard Leprine, to not use the word vagina! This is taking our hatred towards women’s bodies a little too far, don’t you think?

Recently American conservative commentator Ann Coulter made remarks during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in which she referred to current Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as (I kid you not) a “faggot.” If you don’t believe me, you can see the clip here. You’ll see that when Coulter makes the comment it is met with what seems like might be discomfort from the audience, and then soon turns into applause.

Coulter’s defense of using “the other f-word?” It was a joke. That’s right, a joke. That’s her defence. Now, if you know anything about Ann Coulter you’re likely not surprised by this at all. She’s “accused” Clinton of being a homosexual, called Al Gore a “total fag,” and in her book Godless: The Church of Liberalism accused 9-11 widows of “enjoying their husbands’ deaths.” She’s even criticized Canada, stating Canada is “lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent.”

Now my question is not how Ann Coulter can be this way, but rather how does she get so much air time? Why is she frequently called upon by Fox News and CNN to express her opinion, when she is clearly an inarticulate biggot? A misinformed well, lunatic, if you will?

John Edwards response to the “joke?” He obviously give a little more thought to his public statements:

“I think its important that we not reward hateful, selfish, childish behavior with attention,” Edwards told reporters in Berkeley, Calif. “I also believe that is important for all of us to speak out against language of this kind; it is the place where hatred gets its foothold, and we can’t stand silently by and allow this kind of language to be used.”

Following up Allison’s post below: if International Women’s Day, as Zoe Williams aptly puts it, isn’t about “fun-packed dancing from around the world, spice workshops and fashion shows,” (which I mostly agree with, although I do think protests/actions/events can and should be fun), then what is it about?

In Toronto, this year’s IWD is about continuing the struggle to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, which would be enough to see a person who works full-time, full-year, be lifted above the poverty line. It’s about addressing systemic violence against women. It’s about confronting the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s about demanding our right to a national childcare program. But I also think it’s about celebrating women’s struggles for social justice, at home and around the world.

Here are some event listings, please add to them in the comments section, especially events outside of Toronto.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY RALLY, MARCH, IWD FAIR
Saturday, March 10, 2007 - Rally 11 a.m., March 1 p.m., Fair 1:30 p.m.
OISE Auditorium, 252 Bloor Street West (St. George Subway), ending at Ryerson, 55 Gould Street

HOTEL WORKERS RISING - CITY HALL IWD RALLY
March 8, 2007, 5 p.m. - City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square

Over 4500 workers are now covered by the Toronto standard, with 15 hotels still holding out. We made tremendous strides last year as a worker-community movement, and won collective agreements that are good for the community as a whole. Now, one year after sisters from UNITE HERE led our International Women’s Day march, we are taking our movement to the next level.

On March 8, we are declaring to our city, our community and our fellow workers, both union and non-union, that the fight to raise standards in the hospitality industry has just begun. We must secure the standard for the remaining 15 hotels. We must make our gains real within the organized hotels, and stay strong. We must take the fight against poverty to the next level, and demand that non-union hotels begin to respect workers’ rights.

BROWNGIRLWORLD 7: DREAMING OF FREEDOM - AN IWD PARTY!
Friday, March 9, 2007, 8 p.m. - Goodhandy’s - Church at Richmond

Come celebrate IWD at Browngirlworld 7: Dreaming of Freedom, bringing you yet another night of the fiercest, sexiest spoken word, drag and performance by queer and trans artists of colour! On IWD, these diverse artists will explore what it means to be free as queer and trans people of colour.

Next up on Allison Reads The Guardian… Check out a critical take on International Women’s Day. Zoe Williams takes issue with the way it is celebrated:

What is not relevant is fun-packed dancing from around the world, spice workshops and fashion shows. Fashion is to international women’s rights as Agassi kitchen utensils are to gay rights. Yes, some women are interested in fashion; some gay men own more than one brightly coloured fish slice. But it is an outrage against people who take liberties seriously - who embody the core of feminism by interpreting it as a war that hasn’t been won until it’s been won for all women - to trivialise these matters.

What do you think? And what are you doing on International Women’s Day?

The Guardian reviews Lynne Segal’s memoir. It’s an interesting read on its own, especially if you’re interested in the history of feminism.