In this unique and essential collection, Molly Ivins, Maureen Dowd, Maria Hinojosa, and a host of other frontline thinkers, journalists, and activists employ wit, outrage, and cold, hard facts to expose the "W Effect,"a comprehensive incursion into women's rights. In recent years, women around the globe have come under attack-both literally, in the case of war and punitive repression, and more subtly, in the case of eroded rights and economic power. Yet this dangerous trend has not, to date, been comprehensively documented and deconstructed-in part because women are finding it harder to gain access to the mainstream media.

Both a harsh reality check and a hopeful starting point for new action, The W Effectbrings together the premier feminist voices to provide cutting-edge reports; fresh, empowering analyses; and engaging, provocative ideas for the future-including a resource guide for information and activism. At this pivotal time, The W Effectis a necessary book for feminists of all ages and genders, for all progressive activists, for students, and for anyone interested in current politics and the future of women's rights and women's lives in America and around the world.

With reports on: affirmative action, the Patriot Act, welfare "reform,"sexual freedom, reproductive rights, the impact of the religious right, education funding and Title IX, public health policy, globalization, international HIV/AIDS policy, the International Court and the U.N., and more.

Journalist and broadcaster Laura Flanders was the founder of the Women's Desk at FAIR (Fairness &Accuracy in Reporting), where, for 10 years, she hosted the syndicated radio program CounterSpin. Flanders currently hosts "Working Assets Radio"and is a contributor to The Nation, The Progressive, Ms.and In These Times. She is the author of Real Majority,Media Minority, The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reportingand Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species(April 2003).

"President George W. Bush has said that 'W is for women'; Bushwomen author Flanders has assembled a group of 60 or so issue-oriented essays by various authors who argue the contrary. The 'Family Time Flexibility Act' can actually result in the loss of pay for professional women by reclassifying them as managers ineligible for overtime. Women in Afghanistan remain remain disenfranchized (to the point of being at risk of rape by armed factions and of forced marriage) despite their 'liberation' from the Taliban. The administration's support for the gradual recriminalization of abortion, for the campaign against Title IX, for the imposition of global gags on discussing family planning and for the cutting of welfare and health care by converting to block-grant financing, together result, Flanders argues in her introduction, in the 'W Effect' — i.e., 'stealth misogyny.' Though many of the pieces were previously published in places like the Nation or Ms. by the likes of Ehrenreich, Steinem, Pollitt and Sheehy, an account of the sharp rise of domestic violence against military wives and excerpts from 'Baghdad Burning,' a Baghdad woman's blog by 'Riverbend' that reports firsthand on the occupation, are just two of the less familiar sources and stories. While there are a few diatribes that pompously overstate, the polemics always take off from verifiable facts on the ground. (July 1)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Flanders, author of Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species, and host of the public radio show "Your Call" on Working Assets Radio, presents 60 essays from progressive voices which expose the overt and covert war on women by the Bush administration. Contributors such as Gloria Steinem, Barbara Ehrenreich, Richard Goldstein, Gail Sheehy, Katha Pollitt, and Jill Nelson call attention to the damaging effects of Bush's policies and legislation, and show how they are not only threatening to women's rights, but to human rights as well.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In this unique and essential collection, a host of frontline thinkers, journalists, and activists employ wit, outrage, and cold, hard facts to expose the "W Effect," a comprehensive incursion into women's rights.

Laura Flanders is the host of Working Assets Radio, a daily call-in program heard on public radio (KALW-FM) in San Francisco and on the Internet. She writes a column for Tompaine.com and appears regularly on MSNBC, Fox News Watch, PBS, and CBC. She's the former Director of the Women's Desk at FAIR.