Are They Coming for Your Birth Control?

Interesting link to this article in Salon–Rick Santorum wants to make all contraceptives illegal, even for married couples. How did he get so far in the Republican party? and does the GOP want to be taken seriously by women? The political process is one of the most effective ways anywhere of getting your thoughts heard–at that level it is certainly more effective than writing, starting a magazine, or having a cable TV show. By the time a candidate reaches that level in the political process he (or, very occasionally, she) is able to leverage the total power of the media. It gives a kind of credibility to the thoughts and opinions of people participating in the political process. We in the media and we as citizens need to hold them accountable for that. http://www.salon.com/2012/01/04/rick_santorum_is_coming_for_your_birth_control/

The “New” Domesticity

Has anyone seen the recent article in the Washington Post on the New Domesticity? It raises some interesting questions about balance of home and work, the obsession with perfection, finding safety through controlling the environment, and lots of other issues (the role of hobbies in ones sense of self worth, for example). I was left feeling, however, that the article itself might be just a bit too self-referential–as in, who cares if I spend my Saturdays making jam, writing a book, or windsurfing?

What do you think?

Women Are…

I find the various trailers for Miss Representation as fascinating and powerful generators of dialog each in and of themselves. The Women Are… one that was just forwarded to me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z-hr6IS9_w) especially interested me because of the comments generated. Several people took exception to the comment: “and they do it in heels.” What do you think?

The Mood at Distripress

I’m just back from Distripress, the international publishing conference.  This year it was in Barcelona and the mood, interestingly, was upbeat.  The theme was “Print is Not Dead.”  The speaker said that he’d been tracking print all over the world, and there is no correlation between the rise in digital and the loss in print.  The correlation is with the recession. Still, I’m concerned about the lack of connection to digital that many participants appeared to have.  If anyone wants to comment on this page, I’d love to hear your thoughts!