Patty Murray on Foster Friess and Congressional hearing [View all]

[suffragette]

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/mitchell-reports/46431598/#46431617

Sen. Patty Murray talks about Foster Friess’ contraception comments and the lack of a female presence at a Congressional meeting on women’s health saying it’s like “waking up on the set of Mad Men.”

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if it was a joke, it was an insulting joke to women . if he was being real, that is frightening. as we watch what is happening here on capitol hill from a panel of men talking about health care choices for women and the comment on your show yesterday about using aspirin between your knees for contraception, i feel like i'm waking up on a set of the "madmen" going back centuries here, it's astonishing but this is what is going on, we are seeing the republicans coming out and talking about the deficit and the other things they care about, but the policies they are putting forward here are frightening for women and their health care choices. we will not sit back and be silent. we will take them on.




There's video and a rushed transcript at link.

Also includes statement from the young woman who was not allowed to testify.


Adding link to Murray's website with more information:

http://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=21ec1ba5-07fa-48fc-86d4-455b1350ed22

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) spoke on the Senate floor about the continued attacks by Congressional Republicans on women’s health care. She highlighted the House Oversight Committee hearing yesterday on contraception, which included only male witnesses to discuss this critical women’s issue.

Key excerpts from the speech today:“

"The Chairman of the House Oversight Committee decided that he wouldn’t allow a young woman who had been asked by the minority to testify to tell her story…So this 19 year old woman was left to watch – just like all of the rest of us – as five men addressed the committee about how they supported efforts to restrict access to care.”

“I’m sure by now many of my colleagues here have seen the picture of this all-male hearing. It’s a picture that says a thousand words. And it’s one that most women thought they left behind when pictures only came in black and white.”

“There is nothing new about the Republicans’ attacks on our family planning decisions. In fact from the moment they came into power Republicans in the House of Representatives have been waging a war on women’s health.”

“But Republicans have made clear from the start that this isn’t about what’s best for women, men, and their family planning decisions. This is about their political calculations. This is about their constituency. And it’s about their continued push to do whatever it takes to push their extreme agenda.”







As I watch this, I keep thinking back to the conformity films made after WWII and in the 1950s, especially this one:

http://www.archive.org/details/AreYouPo1947

Are You Popular? (1947)
One of the best examples of post-World War II social guidance films, with examples of "good" and "bad" girls, proper and improper dating etiquette, courtesy to parents, and an analysis of what makes some people popular and others not. A scream and a sobering document of postwar conformity.