Synopses & Reviews
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 Effect brings 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 Effect is 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 and 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 Reporting and Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species (April 2003).
Synopsis
In this unique and essential collection, Katha Pollit, Patricia Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jill Nelson, Vandana Shiva, and a host of other frontline thinkers, journalists, and activists employ wit, outrage, and cold, hard facts to expose the comprehensive incursion into women's rights. Taking stock of Bush-era policies at home and abroad, the writers in this book measure the gap between the women-friendly rhetoric and the deadly realities happening as a result of Bush era policies--what editor Laura Flanders calls "The W Effect." Both a harsh reality check and a hopeful starting point for new action,
The W Effect brings together today's premier feminist voices to provide cutting-edge reports; fresh, empowering analysis; and engaging, provocative ideas for the future.
As their work demonstrates, women around the globe have come under increasing attack in the new millennium, both literally, in the case of war, incarceration, and punitive repression, and more subtly, in the case of eroded rights and lost economic ground. The W Effect puts together the pieces: tax cuts and a marriage initiative for welfare recipients, civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq and a militarized United States, Title IX under siege and macho political posturing for the media, and yes, Roe v. Wade threatened and the return of the international gag rule.
A necessary book for anyone interested in current politics, for feminists of all ages and genders, for the activist community, for general readers, and for students, The W Effect provides the real information women need--and can't find in the mainstream media--about their rights and their future.
Synopsis
This essential primer for 2004 cuts through media neglect and disinformation to expose the overt and covert war on women.
About the Author
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.