So we are at the end of 2009, and it amazes me how many lingering social/racial/socio-political issues have suddenly raised their ugly head late in the year. We have body issues - are we too fat or thin? Hair problems - straight or curly, natural or relaxed, weaves or wigs? And the latest problem...skin color.

What if a white male single dad had a 10 month-old, adorable baby boy. Say his wife had died tragically and he had no extended family….The dad was in the army, and he was deployed to Afghanistan. The dad had nowhere for his baby to go while he was deployed… what would happen? I bet that baby would not go to foster care.

Not long after I graduated from college, I worked at a government agency. One of my co-workers was in the middle of a bitter divorce. Prior to the divorce, he stayed home caring for his two young sons. Once his wife left him, however, she filed for custody of the children. At the time, he did not contest the filing, as he did not want to upset his kids any more than they already were. However, he was clearly heartbroken and missed nurturing his children.

Count me underwhelmed by Sarah Palin, or, to be specific, the person Sarah Palin has become. Or, to be even more specific, the person Sarah Palin became to be interviewed on Oprah about her book yesterday morning.

When I  received this assignment, I thought it would be easy to take a clear position on the issue of whether I believed the Stupak Amendment to the House health care bill was worthwhile or even necessary. As I thought further, it became less clear to me, as someone who believes in the foundations of small government and individual liberty upon which this country was built, and given the reality of the time in which we live, it became more difficult for me to make a definitive statement.

I visited a friend in London this past weekend. While I was there, I ate lots and lots of yummy chocolate and cheese and baked goods. I basked in the idea that national health care was a given. Even more, the UK National Health Service doesn't rob women of their reproductive rights by allowing religion to dictate what health services are covered; except for in Northern Ireland, termination (abortion) services are covered. After a horrible week in the US, where Democrats sold out women and allowed religious lobbies to impose their beliefs on my health, I thought about defecting. London is perfect! Well, except that even in the UK, women are told that you need set aside your own preferences and needs if you want to get and keep a man.

First they called her "that girl". Then, "madam". Eventually, they referred to her as "sir."

The release of the movie Precious has gotten black folk atwitter.

I hadn't realized that this was actually something that real women actually did, but apparently it is: vaginal cosmetic surgery is maybe not as popular as Botox, but women are getting it done. The thing is, according to a British study, getting your hoo-hah snipped carries a lot of risks. More risks than Botox. About the same amount of risk as female genital mutilation.I know. I squeezed my legs together, too. You might as well keep yours squeezed, because this topic doesn't get any prettier.

 This is going to be sticky, so please, bear with me.  I just saw the film "Precious" and I can barely breathe. The only way I'm going to be able to write about this movie is in two parts: my hopefully professional and objective review of the movie, and then my gut level, emotional reaction to the movie.  So as I said, please bear with me.

Whenever I hear arguments about how women perform their jobs differently than men, I cringe. Usually it is meant as a compliment, like the idea that because women are supposedly inherently nurturing, consensus seeking, peacemakers, we are better managers or legislators or whatever. Really, what's important is when women who are able and competent get jobs they deserve. No example is more obvious than that of Ft. Hood civilian police Sgt. Kimberly Munley.

Okay, that's an incendiary headline, isn't it? I'm not one to enter the circular firing squad on Republicans (okay, so yes, I am, but not fresh-out-of-the-box governors who are serving as a bellweather for the Democratic agenda's chances in 2010), but there are certain issues on which I feel, as a libertarian feminist, on which I have to seek clarification, the question of whether a certain candidate actively works against the interest of women being one of them.