Feminism Drives People to Deny Basic Facts

The number of foolish statements made by men and women who consider themselves feminists is essentially equal to the number of people who strongly identify as feminists.

I write “strongly identify” because if asked, “Are you a feminist?” most women will say yes.

They will do so for two reasons.

One is that there is no social price paid for saying that one is a feminist, while there can be a huge price paid—on a college campus, for example—for saying that one is not a feminist.

The other is that a great number of women define feminism as “belief in women’s equality.” And by that definition, who isn’t a feminist? I certainly am.

Intelligence varies among these women and men as much as it does among members of any group of people; there are both brilliant individuals and dummies who say they are feminists.

But the women today—I am not talking about suffragettes in the early 20th century—whose identities are wrapped up in being a feminist are nearly all dummies.

That doesn’t mean they all lack brainpower. There are many people with a fine brain who are fools. Indeed, such individuals dominate our universities.

This realization occurred to me again when reading a CNN column written last week by Jill Filipovic, one of CNN’s feminist writers. (Does CNN employ a non-feminist female writer?)

The column was about Australian Sen. Larissa Waters, who breast-fed her child in the parliamentary chamber while Parliament was in session. The CNN writer, as would be expected, lauded the parliamentarian: What could be more beautiful or natural than breast-feeding in Parliament?

Among the writer’s arguments defending Waters was one in which she said, “Yes, for many people, breasts are sexually alluring or arousing—but so too are lips and hands, and having those out in Parliament doesn’t bring on sexual chaos.”

This was similar to the argument advanced by the highest court in the state of New York in a 1992 ruling that said women could go topless in public because men can, and there is no difference between a man’s chest and a woman’s.

In the court’s words, the law that prevented them from doing so “discriminates against women by prohibiting them from removing their tops and exposing their bare chests in public as men are routinely permitted to do.”

Now back to our feminist at CNN who compared the sexually alluring and arousing nature of visible lips and hands with visible breasts.

It is difficult to overstate the foolishness of that comment.

For one thing, the only inference to be drawn is that women in parliament and all other public spaces should uncover their breasts just as they do their lips and hands.

But what is truly absurd is the equation of seeing women’s breasts with seeing their lips and hands.

Is the author unaware of the fact that men pay to enter “topless” bars in order to look at women’s breasts wherever on Earth it is permitted?

Now, why is that?

Some will say it’s only because women’s hands and lips are visible, while their breasts are covered. If all women were to wear gloves in public, the argument goes, men would pay to see women’s bare hands.

I trust that most readers find such an argument risible.

Men from Saudi Arabia, where women’s lips are regularly covered, go to the West and pay to see women’s breasts, not their lips.

Why?

Because in virtually every society, heterosexual men have found the female breast a particularly sexually alluring part of a woman’s body.

Evolutionary psychologist Carole Jahme, a science columnist for the left-wing pro-feminist publication the Guardian, summarized a whole host of academic studies. She wrote:

The full, plump bosom seen in the human ape is an anomaly. No other primate has a permanent breast. … The sex appeal of rounded female buttocks and plump breasts is both universal and unique to the human primate.

So, then, the sole purpose of women’s breasts is not for nursing babies. It is also to attract and arouse men.

Yet, whoever argues that women’s breasts are there to arouse men, not just to provide a baby with milk, is dismissed by feminists as a sexist heterosexist patriarchal pig, a product of a sexist culture that renders women and their baby-feeding mammary glands sexual objects.

But it turns out that science, not just common sense, rejects the feminist argument.

So, how does a CNN columnist, along with myriad other feminists, not know this? Why did my grandmother, who never went to high school, know this, while a vast number of graduates of our universities do not?

The answer is that today’s universities—especially women’s studies and gender studies departments—generally make people stupid.

The only remaining question is: Did anyone at CNN find this column absurd? I suspect not.

And that’s more than absurd. That’s frightening. (For more from the author of “Feminism Drives People to Deny Basic Facts” please click HERE)

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Transgender Conundrum: Massive Genetic Differences Between Men and Women Uncovered in Recent Study

Men and women differ in obvious and less obvious ways – for example, in the prevalence of certain diseases or reactions to drugs. How are these connected to one’s sex? Weizmann Institute of Science researchers recently uncovered thousands of human genes that are expressed – copied out to make proteins – differently in the two sexes. Their findings showed that harmful mutations in these particular genes tend to accumulate in the population in relatively high frequencies, and the study explains why. . .

[The scientists] looked closely at around 20,000 protein-coding genes, sorting them by sex and searching for differences in expression in each tissue. They eventually identified around 6,500 genes with activity that was biased toward one sex or the other in at least one tissue. For example, they found genes that were highly expressed in the skin of men relative to that in women’s skin, and they realized that these were related to the growth of body hair. Gene expression for muscle building was higher in men; that for fat storage was higher in women. . .

Less obvious locations included genes that were found to be expressed only in the left ventricle of the heart in women. One of these genes, which is also related to calcium uptake, showed very high expression levels in younger women that sharply decreased with age; the scientists think that they are active in women up to menopause, protecting their hearts, but leading to heart disease and osteoporosis in later years when the gene expression is shut down. Yet another gene that was mainly expressed in women was active in the brain, and though its exact function is unknown, the scientists think it may protect the neurons from Parkinson’s – a disease that has a higher prevalence and earlier onset in men. The researchers also identified gene expression in the liver in women that regulates drug metabolism, providing molecular evidence for the known difference in drug processing between women and men. (Read more from “Transgender Conundrum: Massive Genetic Differences Between Men and Women Uncovered in Recent Study” HERE)

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Miss USA Winner Stirs Controversy With Answers on Health Care, Feminism

Kára McCullough was crowned Miss USA Sunday night. But before being pronounced winner, Miss District of Columbia sparked a social media controversy with two of her answers during the Q&A round.

Host Julianne Hough asked McCullough, 25, about health care.

“Do you think affordable health care for all U.S. citizens is a right or a privilege and why?”

“I’m definitely going to say it’s a privilege,” the scientist responded. McCullough works at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She continued:

As a government employee, I am granted health care. And I see firsthand that for one, to have health care you need to have jobs, so therefore we need to continue to cultivate this environment that we’re given the opportunities to have health care as well as jobs for all the American citizens worldwide.

McCullough’s response drew cheers from the audience, but criticism on Twitter.

The Washington Post noted another of McCullough’s answers that drew ire. Host Terrence Jenkins asked McCullough, “What do you consider feminism to be, and do you consider yourself a feminist?”

McCullough said she preferred to “transpose the word feminism to equalism.” She added that she believes men and women are equal “when it comes to opportunity in the workplace.”

McCullough said she has witnessed the “impact” of leadership from women in offices and in medical science.

“As Miss USA, I would hope to promote that kind of leadership responsibility globally to so many women worldwide.”

Disappointment quickly followed on Twitter.

Other Twitter users praised McCullough for her responses to both questions.

The Post reported that McCullough helps teach children in her community about science.

“My plan is to inspire and encourage so many children and women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields,” she said. The Post also noted that producers called her “one of the most intelligent contestants in recent memory.”

McCullough was preceded in her Miss USA title by Deshauna Barber, a U.S. Army Reserve captain. McCullough is the second consecutive representative from Washington, D.C. to win the pageant. Miss USA 2017 first runner-up was Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg.

Watch McCullough’s full responses to the health care and feminism questions below.

(For more from the author of “Miss USA Winner Stirs Controversy With Answers on Health Care, Feminism” please click HERE)

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Comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Wife’s Experience With Tumor ‘Strengthened My Faith in God’

Comedy writer Jeannie Gaffigan suffered from headaches, dizziness and coughing fits for months. The wife of comedian Jim Gaffigan chalked it up to her busy lifestyle and having five kids. But when she started to lose her hearing, Jeannie decided to get it checked out. Doctors found a tumor the size of an apple.

The benign tumor was wrapped around her brain stem. “I was a ticking time bomb, waiting to be paralyzed,” the 47-year-old told People magazine recently. On April 18, Jeannie underwent a nine-hour surgery to remove the tumor.

Jim said he thought maybe they would have removed the majority of the tumor, but they were elated when they found out all of it was removed. She also didn’t have any damage to her cranial nerves. Her doctor said that if she’s clear at her three-month check she will be cured.

“My whole life has changed,” said Jeannie. “The people who have come out of this have shown me how loved I am.”

The couple experienced an outpouring of help and love from friends and family. “People are so generous,” said Jim, “it’s really made me believe that there’s hope for humanity.”

Drawing Closer to the Lord

Already a devout Catholic, Jeannie said the ordeal has brought her even closer to God.

“Every thing has completely strengthened my faith in God,” says Jeannie. “Because I told God, I said, ‘God, I’m not ready to go. I have work to do. Please help me.’”

Jim said it was a miracle that they found the doctor they did. It’s a miracle that the entire tumor was removed. It’s a miracle that her progress has been so swift. Still, she has a long way to go. She had pneumonia at the hospital and is now recovering at home with a tracheotomy and feeding tube. “The progress has been pretty amazing, but we’re far from normal,” said Jim.

Jeannie is convinced something good will come out her health crisis. “There’s just going to be so much to come out of this for me. All of this is a miracle.” She wants to comfort others as well. “I want to help people get through the worst news that you can get.” (For more from the author of “Comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Wife’s Experience With Tumor ‘Strengthened My Faith in God'” please click HERE)

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Teacher Fired for Giving Student a Bible Gets Job Back — Victory!

Mr. Tutka [was] a substitute teacher in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. But he was fired from that job after he gave a student a Bible.

The student happened to be the last person entering through a door. Mr. Tutka told the youngster, “The first shall be last, but the last shall be first.”

The student later inquired on several occasions about the origins of the quote. He showed the student the verse in his Bible, which led to the student asking for a personal copy of the Bible. And being a good Gideon, Mr. Tutka gladly supplied the child with a copy.

First Liberty Institute took on Mr. Tutka’s case — and eventually scored a victory with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They agreed that the school district had discriminated against Mr. Tutka on the “basis of religion and retaliation.” (Read more from “Teacher Fired for Giving Student a Bible Gets Job Back — Victory!” HERE)

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Students Sue Professor for Scrubbing out Pro-Life Chalk Messages

Students at the University of California, Fresno sued a professor Thursday for wiping away pro-life chalk messages that were approved by the university.

The Students for Life group at Fresno and the group Alliance Defending Freedom are suing Dr. Gregory Thatcher, who teaches public health at the university, for scrubbing out pro-life messages the group had chalked on a walkway earlier in May, according to a press release obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation . . .

“You had permission to put it down,” said Thatcher while scrubbing out a message. “I have permission to get rid of it. This is our part of free speech.”

The professor noted that Fresno State has a designated “free speech area,” but a Fresno State free expression policy obtained by TheDCNF and effective June 2015 shows that students can engage in free expression “in all outdoor spaces on campus.”

“Fresno State Students for Life received full permission to chalk pro-life messages near the library. Rather than countering with his own message, Dr. Thatcher took the illegal approach of censoring speech and inciting students to help in this,” stated Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life of America’s president, in the press release. “No students should have to endure this kind of intimidation and harassment for simply expressing their views, but especially not those who want to help the women betrayed, and the preborn children killed, by the abortion industry.” (Read more from “Students Sue Professor for Scrubbing out Pro-Life Chalk Messages” HERE)

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Faith-Based Film Filled With F-Bombs

An upcoming faith-based film is attempting to go where no previous movie from the genre has ever gone.

Generational Sins — directed by Spencer T. Folmar and written by Folmar, Dax Spanogle, Jason Spanogle, Casey Salviano and Fernando Salviano — is overflowing with profanity, including multiple uses of “f—,” “s***,” “b****,” “d***” and “ass.” . . .

Movieguide, a yearly report on the entertainment industry from a Christian perspective, breaks down films into several categories, and it will be giving Generational Sins its lowest ranking when it comes to language, given there are 32 uses of profanity in the film. “The movie won’t do well if it’s advertised as faith-based,” says Movieguide editor Tom Snyder . . .

Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer, an advocacy group for Christians, says he’ll be recommending Generational Sins, but to adults and not families. “It’s more graphic than I’m comfortable with, but it’s not unrealistic,” he says. “It’s an accurate portrayal of brokenness and sin, and some Christians will opt out.” (Read more from “Faith-Based Film Filled With F-Bombs” HERE)

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Texas House OKs Giving Adoption Agencies ‘Religious Refusal’

A bill headed to the Texas Senate would allow publicly funded foster care and adoption agencies to decline to place children with non-Christian, unmarried or gay prospective parents because of religious objections.

The state House gave final approval 93-49 on Wednesday, after lengthy debate the previous night. The state Senate is even more conservative, though passage isn’t guaranteed with the legislative session weeks away from ending.

Sponsors say the bill is designed to keep faith-based organizations offering child placement services. They say LGBT couples will be able to find agencies without religious objections. (Read more from “Texas House OKs Giving Adoption Agencies ‘Religious Refusal'” HERE)

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The Tip of the Transgender Spear

One Virginia school district was ahead of the curve. Even before President Obama issued his “transgender bathroom” rule, Fairfax County was planning to allow students access to bathrooms and locker rooms that did not correspond to their sex. They rushed the vote on the policies without giving parents the chance to respond. Now parents are fighting back. Last week, the Family Research Council hosted a panel led by FRC senior legal fellow Cathy Ruse to help equip parents for the fight.

Parents Fight Back

On May 7, 2015, Fairfax County School District voted 10-1 to allow transgender students to access bathrooms and other facilities that did not correspond with their biological sex. At a meeting, parents were told that the policies were necessary to protect transgender students and required by law. Neither were true, said Ruse. Parents requested a public hearing about the policies, but the school board refused. Normally, it would take months to make policy changes. It took the school board all of two weeks to vote to install these policies.

Some parents want to know why.

Rushing to Embrace Transgenderism

It takes a systemic approach to implement changes, said Elizabeth Schultz. Schultz is a Fairfax County School Board Member and a parent. They are not quick procedures. “From origination to full implementation of the adoption of gender identity within Fairfax County happened in a matter of weeks,” Schultz said. In this case, there was no study or community engagement. People on both sides of the issue are dissatisfied. They’ve “never … seen a consultant report” or had a data-driven discussion on how to address transgender issues.

“I was stunned,” said Meg Kilgannon, Executive Director of Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County and a parent. “How could something so very extreme have happened? And how was it done in two weeks?” It took ten years to put in place new school start times, she said. Kilgannon’s organization has taken steps to reverse the implemented policies. Kilgannon warned that if this could happen in Fairfax, it can happen anywhere. She suggested ways for other parents to fight changes in other school districts. Kilgannon encouraged both parents and concerned members of the community to get involved.

Transgender Students and the Law

Josh Hetzler is the Legislative Counsel for the Family Foundation of Virginia. He said that Virginia has been the epicenter of the transgender issue. Particularly Fairfax County, as it is the 10th-largest school district in the nation. Hetzler said there’s been a lot of confusion regarding the law. “Depending on who you talk to, you’re going to hear totally different things,” he explained. Part of the confusion has to do with Title IX and the Obama administration’s reinterpretation of the 1972 law regarding sex of students. “What they said was basically, ‘We are going to reinterpret the word sex to now include sexual orientation and gender identity,’” said Hetzler. “In 1972 they didn’t think they needed to define ‘sex.’”

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals questioned whether federal agencies, state or school boards would have the final say on the issue. The law has not yet been settled, he said.

Besides working with federal law’s Title IX, Virginia also has the Dillon Rule, which limits the power of Fairfax County. The county admits that “the Dillon Rule narrowly defines the power of local government. It also states that if there is any reasonable doubt whether a power has been conferred on a local government, then the power has not been conferred.” Fairfax County doesn’t have the power to revise nondiscrimination or harassment categories, Hetzler said. That’s especially true of those “that the General Assembly hasn’t included in the Virginia code.”

The transgender issue was “hanging by a thread,” but it “was beginning to infiltrate school boards over a lawless letter.” At just the right moment it seemed, Hetzler noted, a new administration came to town. The Trump administration revoked the letter. But people at the grassroots level are still needed to make a change.

The main takeaway, Hetzler said, is that elections matter. The rule of law is only as good as those who enforce and uphold it. “We’ve got to elect people who have the right values and who have the courage to uphold them when it’s difficult, because it’s a lot of pressure.” (For more from the author of “The Tip of the Transgender Spear in Virginia” please click HERE)

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School Sides With LGBT Group, Axes Chick-Fil-A

The P.C. police at a university in New York have successfully deprived their fellow students of access to a popular fried chicken chain, for all the reasons you’ve already heard before — this time at a college that is at least nominally Catholic.

According to the Fordham University student paper, The Fordham Observer, and further reported by The College Fix’s Rebecca Downs, the decision to decline a proposal to open a Chick-fil-A on campus came late last month after backlash from students at the Jesuit institution who smeared the corporation as anti-gay.

The student groups that were consulted in responding to the proposal were the United Student Government (USG), the Commuter Students Association (CSA), the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and the Rainbow Alliance [a student LGBT group].

The Rainbow Alliance was consulted in the decision-making process because of a controversy regarding Chick-Fil-A’s stance on LGBTQ issues that has been stirred up to varying degrees since 2012. That year, the family that owns the fast food chain made public statements against marriage equality, a stance backed up by several million dollars in donations they have made over the years to organizations working actively against same-sex marriage. When the chain opened their first location in New York in 2015, they faced protests on the issue.

Representatives from Chi[c]k-Fil-A offered to collaboratively run unspecified programming with the Rainbow Alliance in conjunction with the rollout of a venue on campus. Due to continued concerns regarding this issue, however, the Rainbow Alliance unanimously voted against the proposal. Several students independently reached out to USG to voice their concerns, according to then-USG president Leighton Magoon, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’17.

“If they want to bring in Chick-Fil-A, they can bring in Chick-Fil-A,” Rainbow Alliance Co-President Renata Francesco told the paper. “But we’re not going to partner with an institution, a corporation that has so strongly supported other institutions that work to destabilize and demolish movements for queer equity.”

Yet this clear kowtow was not enough. Other students quoted in the story want the school to buy even further into their sexual and biological beliefs. The quote from Francesco’s counterpart, who doesn’t see this move as anything to celebrate, is also quite telling.

“This is something that I don’t want to congratulate Fordham for, like ‘Oh my [G]od, I’m so glad that you can see this. You’re such a good person,’” Rainbow Alliance co-president Roberta Munoz said. “I don’t want to pat them on the back. You can’t say ‘Oh you’re such a great ally’ when there’s still so many issues with our queer students. Like great, love it, but keep going.”

Indeed, the school’s administration, once having capitulated to the demands of the world, will received no applause for doing so, only more demands. There’s a lesson in that for all of us.

The message this sends to the public is pretty stark. A Jesuit school with one of the worst-ranked dining systems in the country and a dearth of outside vendors to supplement that system has decided to turn down a proposal from one of the most successful food chains in America, which has made a concerted effort to offer a slate of healthy options.

Certainly, the placement of a chicken joint on campus is far from a doctrinal issue and a school’s Catholicity is not measured by its food court, but the context of the decision sends a fairly clear message to students, applicants, and donors about whose message carries weight on campus, what will not be permitted on the grounds, and why.

But the bigger question here lies with the students who simply will not materially cooperate with people who have publicly disagreed with their politics.

What did these students demanding a chicken-sandwich-free campus and “trans-inclusive spaces” (think biological males in the ladies’ room) expect when they filled out an application and signed a tuition check to a Catholic school? Do they know what the Catholic Church actually believes about marriage?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church certainly isn’t a secret, and – despite the great deal of confusion sown by some Pope Francis’ public statements – the Church’s doctrines on marriage, the family, and the nature of man and woman (which align for the most with those espoused by Chick-fil-A’s oft-pilloried owning family) are as intrinsic and immutable today as they were two millennia ago.

Certainly, if these kids subscribe to the standard political wish list prescribed by the cadre class of this movement and refuse to partner with institutions who disagree with them, why in the world would they continue to prop up a Catholic institution by voluntarily attending it? When exactly do they stop?

It’s hard to tell if this inconsistency is humorous or just sad. It’s probably a mix of both.

However, given the school’s willingness to cave to a student group whose positions stand diametrically opposed to Church teaching, it’s not hard to see where these students’ clear confusion comes from. (For more from the author of “School Sides With LGBT Group, Axes Chick-Fil-A” please click HERE)

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