Derogatory Term for Native Women to be Removed in California

The derogatory term "squaw" will be removed from over 30 geographic features in California by 2025, according to an announcement yesterday by the state's natural resources agency.

This derogatory term that has been used to describe Native American women will be removed from streets, buildings, cemeteries, and even a forest fire fuel break, according to the California Natural Resources Agency. 

In the past two years, the word has been removed from geographic locations and features on federal lands across the country. In 2022, the Interior Department announced plans to remove the term from more than 660 geographic features and sought public comment on name replacements.

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/16/nx-s1-5193831/derogatory-native-indigenous-women-removed-california

Trump is President, the Death Struggle of Hierarchies is Fierce

Now that it has sunk into all of us that Donald Trump will be president for the next four years, we know that the death struggle of hierarchies is upon us as strong as ever. 

The death struggle hopefully will mean that the strength of hierarchies, now greatly manifested in the MAGA movement, will eventually wobble on the edge of the see saw, and will eventually fall off. 

Trump and the MAGA movement are not great at playing the role of the top of the hierarchy. They do not really send crumbs down to lower groups, even though they promise to do so. They lie, cheat, manipulate, and steal more than is typical of control tactics of the top when the top is successful at keeping the hierarchy strong. They play their hand way more than usual, as seen in Trump's cabinet appointments.

Time will tell if they take the country and the rest of us down with them. But we think they won't. There is too much bulk and too much history of working for equality for these radical hierarchy supporters in MAGA to easily prevail.

It is time to shift to using a frame of hierarchies, instead of individual issues, to unite us like never before.

Catholic Church is Now Going after the Girl Scouts

The Catholic Church is so scared of strong women, that they are now disallowing any Girl Scout troops from associating with churches in the Cincinnati area. 

"In a letter addressing the decision, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr said the Girl Scouts of the USA organization has "embraced and promoted an impoverished worldview regarding gender and sexuality."

Funny how this happened after the monthlong meeting of Catholic bishops and lay people at the Vatican ended with no real consideration of increasing the power of women in the church, only giving them more lay jobs to do. 

Wonder if they would ever dismiss the Boy Scouts, disallowing them because of all their child abuse. We all know the answer to that. 

https://www.wlwt.com/article/cincinnati-archbishop-dennis-schnurr-girl-scout-partnerships/62742989

Even Though Men are Half of a Pregnancy, Reproductive Rights Don't Determine Their Votes

In this election, the gender gap is at a record high. The gender gap is defined as the difference between the vote margin among women and the same among men. This will be key to a victory by Kamala Harris. 

Since the US Supreme Court ruling restricting reproductive rights, abortion has been a top voting issue for female voters, especially younger women. 

The economy and inflation are men's most important issues in deciding how to vote.

Since men make up half of a pregnancy, how long will it take for men to take responsibility? Why are they not as concerned as women about reproductive rights? If men were held more accountable financially and in other ways that would alter their lives, similar to how pregnancies change women's lives, maybe they would care more. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/20/elections-2024-gender-data-abortion

People with Disabilities Encouraged to Vote

Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc. (WDOM) and the League of Women Voters of Westchester, New York joined forces to encourage people with disabilities to learn their voting rights and register to vote.

An estimated 25 percent of the population is classified as having a disability.  There are roadblocks for people with disabilities who often face challenges on being able to vote and make their voices heard.

Established in 1984, WDOM is a nonprofit, community-based organization that is part of a national network of Independent Living Centers dedicated to independence and equal rights for individuals with disabilities.

With Republicans working so hard to keep people from voting, efforts to include all eligible people are encouraging. 

https://www.theexaminernews.com/advocates-highlight-voting-rights-for-people-with-disabilities/

Women Make Some Employment Gains, but A Long Ways to Go

According to Pew Research, job opportunities look much different than they did 50 years ago for American women. Gains have been made in labor force participation and wages, and women increased their presence in the highest-paying jobs. Some of that progress has stalled in recent years, however, and large gender gaps persist at the top levels of government and business leadership.

Women outnumber men in the U.S. college-educated workforce, now making up 51% of those ages 25 and older, about a third of workers in the country’s 10 highest-paying occupations (35%) are women – up from 13% in 1980, the share of women in opposite-sex marriages who earn as much as or more than their husband has roughly tripled over the past 50 years, and the gender pay gap – the difference between the median earnings of men and women – has remained relatively flat in the United States over the past two decades.

Read more details in the link below.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/27/for-womens-history-month-a-look-at-gender-gains-and-gaps-in-the-us/

End to Nonconsensual Intersex Surgeries is Recommended

Teams of prominent scientists and ethicists have called for the end of medically unnecessary nonconsensual surgeries on intersex children in two new papers.  

The United Nations Human Rights Council has affirmed the rights of intersex people. The papers signal growing international resolve to address rights violations experienced by people born with variations in their sex characteristics, sometimes called intersex traits. 

As when breaking down any hierarchy, one type of body, or any other normal human characteristic, is no longer viewed as superior to others. 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/04/experts-urge-end-nonconsensual-intersex-surgeries