News

5 Stories Every Woman Needs To See This Week

by Katie Halper

In this, the era of the war on women and wage gaps, it can be awfully depressing to keep up with all the ways we women are being screwed over. Why, just this week, we got some extra-infuriating news when the New Yorker reported that New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson was fired for inquiring about her unequal pay. According to the report, weeks before her firing, Abramson found out that she was making considerably less money than her male predecessor, Bill Keller. When she confronted her superiors about it, Auletta explains, management reportedly felt that she was being "pushy," and canned her.

But that wasn't all — no — we wish that were all.

Women's reproductive rights were under their usual assault, with Missouri passing a three-day abortion waiting period, despite a valiant citizens’ filibuster. And in El Salvador, where abortion is illegal under any circumstance, 17 women who are in jail not just for obtaining abortions — but also for having miscarriages — may finally be pardoned. (May be?!)

So, what else happened? And can it please not all be depressing? Luckily, Bustle has you covered. Here's a handy roundup of some of this week’s most outrageous and notable stories concerning women.

(Ice for your face and palm sold separately.)

A "fat girl" appears on a show, and not as a punchline!

On Monday's episode of Louie , Vanessa, a nuanced, well written, and very well acted character who doesn't want to be told she's not fat, delivered a pretty epic speech on weight and body issues. Yes, it was written by a man, and had problematic elements. And, no it shouldn't be so newsworthy. But it is, because this is our society.

Anti-choicer too busy protecting the unborn to think about the post-born

That pretty much encapsulate one of the worst things about the anti-choice movement: tons of empathy for zygotes, not so much as a thought for human beings.

Meet State Rep. Jim Buchy (R-OH), the co-sponsor of HB 248, AKA, the “heartbeat” abortion bill, which seeks to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, around the 10th week of pregnancy.

Never mind the fact that some women don't even know they are pregnant at 10 weeks, or that certain genetic abnormalities aren't detectable at 10 weeks. Guess what else this bill would do? Make it a fifth degree felony for doctors to perform a post-fetal heartbeat-detection abortion. (It also defines conception as fertilization, just as an added bonus.)

Clearly, Buchy and his cohorts have put a lot of thought into this. So much thought, in fact, that when he was asked by a journalist What do you think makes a woman want to have an abortion?he said,

“There’s [sic] probably a lot of reasons. I’m not a woman, so (chuckle chuckle chuckle). I’m not a woman, so….I don’t know. So I’m thinking ‘if I’m a woman, why would I….’ I don’t know. It’s a question I never even thought about. “

Exactly what I want to hear from a man trying to legislate my ovaries. He hasn't really thought about the person attached to them.

woman has to sue for sex toy

This week, a woman who has multiple sclerosis was forced to literally sue for her right to obtain a sex toy. An ordinance passed by Sandy Springs, Georgia, prohibits the buying and selling of, "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs" which it considers "obscene."

Of course, people in Georgia can still buy sex toys. They just need a medical prescription! America, ladies and gents. Which brings us to...

you can now buy a bust camisole "holster" with detachable garters and hand-gun pockets!

You may not be free to buy sex toys, but in America, at least you're free to put a gun next to your privates. Yes, thanks to these lady-friendly and very sexy lines of gun-concealing clothes and lingerie, you can now enjoy all sorts of freak accidents and fetishes. According to the media, they are a "huge hit."

In its latest interactive exposé on sexism, New York Times Fires its underpaid female editor

First, the newspaper underpaid its female editor, Jill Abramson. Then, the paper was apparently forced to fire her after she became impossible to work with, pushy, bitchy, aggressive, and otherwise paranoid about sexism — which she manifested by inquiring about the pay gap. (Typical.)

Either way, great job shattering your image of being an archaic relic run by stuffy, old, white, sexist, out-of-touch men!

Tune in next week, for more news, straight from our intuitive woman wires.