ast Friday, 81 women filed a lawsuit against a San Diego hospital for allegedly recording them during intimate medical procedures without their knowledge or consent. Women were filmed during Caesarean births, birth complications, treatment after a miscarriage, and other operations, according to the lawsuit. On Thursday, 50 additional women joined the complaint against Sharp Grossmont Hospital.
“The addition of 50 plaintiffs to the lawsuit demonstrates that Sharp’s misconduct affected a significant number of women in a deep and harmful way,” Allison H. Goddard, their attorney, told Gizmodo in an email. “We expect to add more plaintiffs in the near future, since many women are just learning they were secretly recorded by Sharp. Sharp could have, but did not, inform the women directly about the secret recordings, so we will continue to work very hard to make sure that every woman affected is aware of her legal rights.”
Use of isolation booths in schools criticised as ‘barbaric’ punishment | Education | The Guardian
Parents have criticised the use of isolation booths at secondary schools across the country, after concerns were raised about the “zero-tolerance” behaviour policies run by some academy trusts.
Guardian analysis found this week that 45 schools in England excluded at least 20% of their pupils in the last academic year. The Outwood Grange Academies Trust – which runs 30 schools across Yorkshire, the Humber and the east Midlands – ran nine out of the 45.
Outwood Academy Ormesby in Middlesbrough topped the list, with 41% of its pupils receiving at least one suspension in the last academic year.
Parents with children at schools in the trust raised concerns that, as well as the high levels of exclusions, many schools were also using “consequences rooms” – small booths in which a child sits alone and in silence for hours on end as punishment for breaking school rules.
via Use of isolation booths in schools criticised as ‘barbaric’ punishment | Education | The Guardian
Mother sues over daughter’s suicide attempt in school isolation booth | Education | The Guardian
A woman whose daughter tried to kill herself while in an isolation booth at an academy school is to take legal action against the government.
The child, who cannot be named, has autistic spectrum disorder and mental health problems, but was put in an isolation booth by her school in Kent for more than a month.
Prior to the intervention of lawyers in mid-March, she had spent every day since mid-January in isolation, meaning she had to remain silent throughout the day and had no directed teaching.
via Mother sues over daughter’s suicide attempt in school isolation booth | Education | The Guardian
Designers behind Princess Awesome to launch gender-neutral clothing for boys | World news | The Guardian
A children’s clothing company which revolutionised gender-neutral clothing for girls has turned their attention to boys, launching a crowdfunding campaign on Tuesday that reached 50% of its funding aim in the first hour.
Frustrated that they couldn’t find shirts for their five sons with unicorns on them or bright colours, animals, sparkles and rainbows, Eva St Clair and Rebecca Melsky decided to make them themselves.
“Gender stereotypes work both ways,” said St Clair. “Things that have been deemed ‘for girls’ do not appear on boys’ clothing anywhere and that limits what all kids can be and do.
Lucy Flores on Joe Biden: 'I Want Him to Change His Behavior'
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper what she would say to critics who accused her of being “politically motivated” in her decision to speak out about Joe Biden’s inappropriate behavior, former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores said: “I would say politics was definitely the impetus.”
In her response, Flores upended the script that women are expected to follow, one in which they must play defense against cynical, sexist attacks that insist women come forward against powerful men for fame or personal gain. Instead, Flores, a former candidate for Nevada’s lieutenant governor, said she told her story at precisely this moment because Biden is now considering running for president. Addressing his behavior with women should be part of that vetting process. It is, in other words, absolutely political.
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via Lucy Flores on Joe Biden: 'I Want Him to Change His Behavior'
Ironic Racism Is Just Racism – MEL Magazine
Remember them when right-wing ideologues, who would rather be spewing the same Islamophobic garbage they’ve poisoned us with since 9/11, take a brief pause to condemn “hate” and “violence” — without speaking to the seed of that rage. Or when the edgelords of 8chan and YouTube defend their toxic content as “just memes” and “trolling” — as though humor is never a weapon (or a recruitment tactic). Remember, too, that hate can’t be pried from the crucible in which it was forged. There’s no such thing as ironic racism — not when defenseless human beings were massacred in their place of worship.
Much of the media narrative around the attacks has been centered on the alleged shooter’s manifesto and all the shitposting it contains. Frankly, let me save you some time: Where the alleged killer’s polemic is concerned, you can skip most of it. You already know this person, one in an endless sequence of men radicalized online. Their fixations vary mildly, but all rise from a single bedrock. Strip away the pages upon pages of self-mythologizing, and you will eventually find it, stated in very few words:
Judge Overturns Dress Code Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts
First #LeggingsGate, now this: a judge in North Carolina has ruled against a charter school’s sexist dress code requiring girls to wear skirts, deeming it unconstitutional.The New York Times reports that the ruling was part of a multi-year effort spearheaded by three girls attending Charter Day School in Leland, North Carolina. The students, ages 5, 10, and 14, launched a petition calling for an end to the school’s uniform policy prohibiting girls from wearing pants, arguing (correctly) that it was unfair for their movement to be restricted when the boys were free to move as they pleased.
via Judge Overturns Dress Code Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts
Mum’s plea for girls to ditch leggings sparks protests – BBC News
A letter written by a mother concerned by the number of women wearing leggings on a university campus in Indiana has sparked backlash and protests.
“I’m just a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings,” Maryann White wrote in a letter published in the student newspaper.
Ms White explained that the sight of leggings “obtruded painfully” on her during a visit with her four sons, and made it “difficult for young guys to ignore” women’s bodies.
“Think of the mothers of sons the next time you go shopping and consider choosing jeans instead,” she suggested to the female students of the University of Notre Dame.
via Mum’s plea for girls to ditch leggings sparks protests – BBC News
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Girls Say Hell No to Boys Ranking Their Looks
It’s a scene cut straight from an episode of My So-Called Life: a list of high school girls, ranked by their attractiveness, gets circulated at school. Except this time, the girls on the list don’t let the gross ranking slide on the basis of “boys will be boys.”
The Washington Post reports on Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, where a list of 18 girls ranked by their looks (with a scale of 5.5 to 9.4) was passed around at the school earlier this month. Despite the ubiquity of such lists among pimple-faced teen boys with too much time on their hands, the girls were understandably violated.
via Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Girls Say Hell No to Boys Ranking Their Looks
Report: European Parliament Screwed Up Their Chance to Amend Copyright Directive By Voting Wrong
The European Parliament approved a massive, sweeping overhaul of online copyright rules on Tuesday, leaving the extremely controversial Articles 11 and 13 untouched on as the EU Copyright Directive cruised through the legislative body. According to a report on TechDirt, they may have done so in part because several members of the European Parliament cast incorrect ballots on a key vote to allow amendments.
Article 11, sometimes called the “link tax” by detractors, requires web platforms to obtain a license to link to or pull quotes from news articles. It is ostensibly intended to ensure that publications get a slice of the revenue that big services like Google News pull in, but critics say it could undermine the ability of users to share content across the web.
via Report: European Parliament Screwed Up Their Chance to Amend Copyright Directive By Voting Wrong