Marcia G. Yerman

Women's History Month — it should be a celebratory time as women reflect on all they have accomplished.

Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee. Moving forward, whatever happens during the ensuing general election, the fact that she is a woman will be an inextricable part of the narrative.

Thanks to social media, consumers are able to reach out to brands and directly express their pleasure — or displeasure — with a company’s product. I frequently react to advertisements that annoy my sensibilities via Twitter (I give shout outs, too!), using the hashtag #fem2. This summer’s Schick ad, with three bikini-clad young women standing behind bush-type trees in front of their pubic area, irritated me to no end.

In her letter to CEO Steve Shiffman, Zak pointed out, “You and I view the world very differently. I believe women can do anything, and that we should take every possible opportunity to teach and remind them of that. Anything less, in this day and age, is irresponsible marketing.”

It looked a lot like the photo in 2012. The one of the panel of white men testifying on the Affordable Care Act regulations calling for health coverage of contraception. It prompted New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney to ask indignantly, “Where are the women?”

Wendy Carrillo is part of a field of 23 candidates who are competing to fill the Congressional seat in the 34th District in California. A child who was smuggled to America to escape the civil war in El Salvador, Carrillo has spoken about her personal journey in the context of the current fight for immigration rights.

In a poll just released by Pew, only “23 percent of women are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today.” So make a point to call your elected representatives.
Tell them you want affordable and comprehensive healthcare.

I reached out to Kate to discuss her film, her impact on the 2011 Massachusetts anti-trafficking law, and her take on the distinctions between “sex work,” “sexual exploitation,” and “abolition.”

OK. Full disclosure. I don’t watch Fox News. I’m an MSNBC kind of girl. Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, and Melissa Harris-Perry are my peeps. But I do know who Megyn Kelly is, albeit from clips of Jon Stewart (what are we going to do without him?) where he highlighted some of her more puzzling statements like “Jesus was white.”

A friend of mine, who self-identifies as a life coach, repeatedly tried to push a concept on me termed “self-care.” I always thought it was her version of wrapping selfish behavior in an appealing package, tied up with a bow of convenience. My resolution borrows from that premise, but it is rooted much deeper than just doing what is best for my own physical and mental health.