- Four more women have banded together for a sex abuse lawsuit against Dov Charney, the CEO of American Apparel and noted Creepy McCreeperson. One woman, a former American Apparel employee, said that Charney invited her to his place to talk about “modeling opportunities,” then tried to have sex with her and photograph it.
- Uber-Conservative Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann will form a presidential exploratory committee this summer, according to sources. The top three Republican presidential primary debates are scheduled for June
- Four out of five members of the punk band Screeching Weasel have quit after lead singer Ben Foster twice hit different women onstage while performing at SXSW on Friday. The other members of Screeching Weasel called Foster’s violent behavior “shameful and embarrassing.”
- Lots of love for Anaiah Rucker, a nine-year-old girl from Georgia who pushed her five-year-old sister out of the way from getting hit by a truck and lost her leg in the process.
- Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the Fire Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where 146 people, mostly young immigrant women, were killed in the upper floors of a sweatshop in New York because they were trapped inside by their employers. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Tragedy has profound implications for the rights of workers, particularly in sweatshops.
- This is amazing: the University of Alabama’s women’s wheelchair basketball team has won its third consecutive national championship. I never cease to be amazed at the way the people we call “disabled” prove themselves to just be “differently-abled.”
- Who knew there were this many songs about abortion — both from men’s and women’s perspective?
- Earlier this week, Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts spoke out against Congressional Republicans to de-fund Planned Parenthood because it provides abortion. So why’s he under fire from Democrats, too?
- Meet the top black women in tech!
- Feministing co-founder Jessica Valenti on “why mom is miserable.”
- The American News Women’s Club will honor talk show host Diane Rehm of NPR, one of the first women in Washington, D.C., to host a radio talk show, in a ceremony next month.
- Check out the origins of the term “baby mama.”
INTERNATIONAL
- A Jamaican woman claims she was sexually assaulted by a border officer before being thrown out of Barbados. The female officer allegedly fingered the woman against her against her will, not once but twice, while saying demeaning things about Jamaicans.
- The State Department has decided to give a visa to Afghan women’s rights activist Malalai Joya, a former member of Afghan parliament, after it was criticized for initially denying it. The government reportedly refused giving Joya a visa because she is “unemployed” and “lives underground,” though some suspected it was because she is likely to criticize the U.S. while on a book tour here.
- Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and 16 other women in Congress has called on African and Middle Eastern leaders to include their countries’ women in politics.
