Suzanne Venker
Suzanne Venker, a.k.a. "No Bull Mom," is an author, blogger, and speaker. You can find her at www.suzannevenker.com.
According to yesterday morning’s segment on Good Morning America, getting kids to sleep in their own beds has become so difficult it’s costing parents money. Parents like George Stephanopoulos and his wife have turned to sleep therapists to help them get their kids to bed at night.
“Ellie and I are now waving the white flag in our battle to get our kids our of our bed at night, but we know this is not a unique struggle. So how do you get your kids to sleep in their own rooms?”
“You are definitely not alone,” says ABC contributor Cameron Mathison. “Vanessa and I love our kids more than anything else in the whole world, just like you, but our kids, 3 and 6, were sleeping in our bed every single night.”
Happy Feminist Jessica Valenti
Feminism may be dead in the minds of thoughtful Americans (on both sides of the political spectrum) who are too busy working and raising families to whine about perceived injustices in a supposed patriarchal society — but in certain very powerful circles, feminism is very much alive.
March is Women’s History Month, when all good feminists salivate for 30 days trying to convince Americans that women are oppressed. One of the ways they’ll attempt to prove their claim is via the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) — which was introduced this week in the Senate by members of both sexes and both parties. According to the United Nations, 6 out of 10 women — or 1 billion people — will experience abuse or sexual brutality in their lifetimes. Well, perhaps — if you’re talking about the entire world. But what about in America? As The Washington Times highlights from one of my former posts, under the VAWA domestic acts don’t have to be violent to be punished under the definition of domestic violence. Name-calling, put-downs, shouting, negative looks or gestures, ignoring opinions, or constant criticizing can all be legally labeled domestic violence. (And don’t think for a moment this applies to women. They’re free to do these things all they want.)
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The new brouhaha about parents Joseph and Rebecca Reyes, one of whom is Catholic and the other Jewish, is a classic example of two broken institutions in America: the judicial system — and marriage.
The problem with the judicial system is simple: Judges have taken their power and run with it. As one lawyer from Rochester, NY, writes in a review of The Supremicists: The Tyranny of Judges — and How to Stop It:
‘There is no doubt judges see their branch of government as superior in authority to the legislative and executive – combined. They do not recognize the other two branches of government as legitimate checks and balances to their own power.”
In the Reyes’ case, the dispute is over the fact that, according to the wife, Rebecca Reyes, her husband “had pledged in the marriage contract to raise Jewish children” — and now he’s gone and taken their daughter to mass without telling her first. So Ms. Reyes takes legal action and finds the support she needs in one Judge Edward R. Jordan, a Chicago family court judge. He barred Joseph Reyes, the father, from exposing the child to “any other religion other than the Jewish religion.” read more…
Now this is priceless since it comes from lefty Jane Fonda, who founded the Women’s Media Center with fellow activist Gloria Steinem. In an article for HuffPo about there not being enough females in Hollywood (everyone get out their violins), Fonda writes this:
“What we view in the media — and who presents it to us — does so much to determine how we think, how we feel about ourselves, and how we view the world.”
Amen to that, Ms. Fonda! You got it exactly right. Oh I know, you were referring to the need for more women’s voices in Hollywood. But you probably don’t realize you just made the case against media bias. What we view in the media and who presents it to us absolutely determines how people think.
That’s why FOX News, talk radio, and the Internet are crucial to this nation. Betcha didn’t think of it that way, did you?
I’m not much of a fiction reader — I should read it more.
It’s a great escape from reality and I’m way too mired in reality — but I did pick up a new book from the library called Not My Daughter, by Barbara Delinsky. It’s no great piece of writing — in fact it’s awful — but the subject matter caught my eye. It’s about three high school seniors who make a pact to get pregnant — and are successful. It’s supposed to be a “timely” book, what with all the talk of teenage pregnancy going on. However, it’s also telling about the nature of the American family. Because it’s one thing to accidentally get pregnant like Bristol Palin — this can happen to even the nicest of girls — but to purposefully get pregnant means something has gone terribly wrong.
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Megyn Kelley, anchor of the new FOX news program America Live (1 pm EST), has been dubbed a “postfeminist babe.” Sarah Palin has been labeled a postfeminist as well. Which begs the question: Just who or what is a postfeminist?
According to the dictionary, postfeminist means “of, relating to, or occurring in the period following widespread advocacy and acceptance of feminism.” Traditional feminists (oops, that’s a misnomer) would say it pertains to women who were fortunate enough to be born after feminists did all the hard work for them. In other words, women like Kelly who, born after 1970, can’t possibly appreciate what their mothers did for them. It is because of them that women like Kelly have such great lives. read more…
I just returned from CPAC – you can find some details about it here — and saw Gloria Allred on TV again. She was on some panel with five other people yapping about the Tiger Woods debacle. The five other people had the wisdom to shake their heads at this pitiful excuse for a woman who’s defending one of Tiger’s mistresses.
The question is, Defending her from what? What the hell does this mistress of Tiger’s need a lawyer for? According to Allred, her client deserves compensation because she’s a “victim” of Tiger’s. read more…
This morning I found my almost 10-year old daughter with a towel wrapped around her head so that it was draping down past her waist. She was pretending to be a bride. “This is what my veil will look like when I get married, Mom. Do you think it’s pretty?”
And then, this: “Mom? Why did you say your first wedding was a bigger deal than your second?” She didn’t mean “bigger deal” as in it mattered more; she meant why was it literally bigger.
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Marriage seems to be a hot topic these days — perhaps because of all the politicians who can’t keep their penises in their pants.
Or maybe that’s just a coincidence. Regardless, there’s a new book out called Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough, by Lori Gottlieb. The gist of the book is that women need to be smarter about picking a husband. Rather than reject guys for no real reason, or thinking passion is enough of reason to go out with someone, women should consider what qualities are most important in a husband. In other words: Lower your expectations, gals. read more…
I admit it sounds good. Who doesn’t want to put an end to childhood obesity? We all have a stake in this fight. Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, and as a result American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents. So what is the answer?
Michelle Obama’s answer includes a $400 million a year “Healthy Food Financing Initiative” and another $10 billion over the next decade to “update” the Child Nutrition Act. But the truth is, money can’t solve this problem. Education can’t solve this problem. The only thing that can solve this problem is the sheer will of the American people: a conscious choice to lead a healthy life. read more…
As we all know by now, there was outrage among feminists about CBS allowing the Tim Tebow ad to air during the Superbowl. But that was only the beginning. After the National Organization of Indoctrinated Women saw the commercial and realized it was actually benign, they needed something else to complain about – so they came up with this outlandish notion:
“I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it,” she said. “That’s what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don’t find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself,” says NOW President Terry O’Neil.
That O’Neil is a “survivor of domestic violence,” or so she says, is no small matter. The most significant thread of feminist thought is victimhood: a simple study into the backgrounds of all feminists will tell you this is true. Almost all of them have pasts that include violence, abuse, alcoholism, or neglect on the part of a parent or spouse; and they are under the impression this somehow makes them unique — as if they’re in a special position to help women because of their experiences.
The truth is, these women can never help other women because they have not found a way to move forward with their lives. Instead they hold on to past grievances and encourage other women to do the same. Moreover, they package their policies – such as the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) – in such a way that people feel compelled to sympathize. After all, who would be against the Violence against Women Act? read more…
