Socal Mom by Donna Schwartz Mills

My Million Moms Can Beat Your Million Moms: Shopping at JCP in Support of Ellen

As this is a Presidential election year, I shouldn't have been surprised that the "culture wars" have heated up again.

What has surprised me is how virulent it's been.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been consumed by tasks related to my work over at the MOMocrats -- much of it having to do with Susan G. Komen's phenomenally badly received decision to defund breast cancer screenings by Planned Parenthood. And then came last week's brouhaha over contraception.

So I was already weary when I heard that an organization calling itself the "One Million Moms" was organizing a boycott of JC Penney for contracting Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokesperson.

I remember this "Million Moms" group for their previous boycott of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, because they created a flavor called "Schweddy Balls" -- after the old SNL sketch with Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon as NPR food hosts and Alec Baldwin as an artisan baker. It's a silly sketch with an obvious joke -- and it never fails to make me laugh...

...unlike the "Million Moms," who apparently have no sense of humor whatsoever (which in my book, is even worse than trying to bully the rest of the country into receding back to some 1930's Hays Code existence).

The "Million Moms" are "fed up with the filth [of] many segments of our society," specifically with our entertainment media. They don't think Ellen DeGeneres is a good role model for their children because she happens to be a lesbian. It doesn't matter that she's kind, and personable, and smart and funny.

That's their opinion and they've got a right to it, and they even have a right to organize their silly boycott. Thank goodness that most of the country appears to have made the transition into the 21st Century.

JC Penney refused to bow to the pressure. For one thing, the "Million Moms" only seems to consist of a few thousand. But the bottom line is, Ellen DeGeneres is a beloved entertainer, and who the hell cares how she lives her personal life? She was hired to sell JCP as a shopping destination. I don't see how her presence in their advertising does anything to contribute to the nation's moral decay (unless you are of the ilk that gays and lesbians should not visibly contribute to society -- in which case, you probably feel the same way about Jews and Hispanics and anyone else who isn't exactly like you).

Anyway: most people I know are appalled by this, and blogger Tracey Gaughan-Perez (a.k.a. Sweetney) came up with an easy way to take action and show JCP our support for their choice: a shop-in. 

I was one of thousands of people around the country (many who had never stepped foot in a Penney store) who took part in this yesterday -- and I even got my friend GiGi to join in, as you can see in my little vlog below:

By the way: The "Million Moms" are also angry at Macy's for running a commercial that features two grooms on a wedding cake. I may have to use them as an excuse to do a little shopping there, too.

We Get Mail: Did Someone Say "Douche?"

As a mom blogger, I get a lot of email pitches to review or feature products on my sites. Occasionally, I receive one that makes me do a spit-take into my morning coffee. Here's one of them:

Hi, Donna:

I thought you’d benefit from reviewing the new and only FDA approved douche, WaterWorks, on 50-Something Moms.  

This email only gets better:

While douching may be a sensitive topic to talk about, I know that we fellow mommy bloggers are fearless when it comes to hot issues like our vaginas.  WaterWorks is the first and only patented and FDA-cleared douching alternative that harnesses the cleansing power of ordinary tap water and medical grade stainless steel into one remarkable odor-eliminating product. WaterWorks is a safe and effective vaginal cleansing system clinically proven through six years of research to eliminate feminine odors.

I'll spare you all the rest. It concludes with the following: 

This would be a hot topic to feature on your website and would get a lot of reader traffic and comments.  Please feel free to contact me for one to try and I'll have them ship it to you to review. 

I'm not sure I want the traffic and comments from people who are searching the word "douche," but I suppose it's too late now. If you are reading this after such a search, you will find everything you need to know about the product here. The rest of you can see my latest post on parenting over at 50-Something Moms.

DISCLOSURE: No monetary compensation nor promotional products were received in exchange for this post.

Still Second Class Citizens

I was going to write a post today about my daughter's performance at her meet yesterday (she got her first 36 score, and came in FIRST in the All Around!!!), but the following email from Cooper Munroe has me seeing red:

Hey Donna!

A quick update on an issue, and maybe you can help me get the word out? Recently I saw the documentary film, The Motherhood Manifesto, and through the film I learned that in Pennsylvania, where I live, it is legal to ask someone in a job interview if they are married or have children. Yep, dark ages. As you can guess, this hurts mostly moms and single moms. PA is one of 28 states that is in this predicament, and we, and the other states, aren't covered by the federal regs either.

I have been working with Joan Blades (co-founder of MoveOn.org) and others at MomsRising.org, as well as women in Pennsylvania to help get legislation passed (it has been stalled in the state house and senate -- for 6 years!) that would make this practice illegal.

I wrote an article about it that ran today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, please read it if you get a chance, it explains the problem: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06260/721997-109.stm

Anyway, if Pennsylvania can do this, it means so much to moms everywhere, and could create momentum for many critical issues involving moms and families, and on this type of discrimination. PA could start a chain reaction, and we need to drum up some noise. Momsrising has create a web page for this, and we have been blogging over there too. We have information, links to PA legislators phone/email info and a petition. You don't have to be from PA to send a message that this is important.

Thank you!

Cooper Munroe

I followed the link to read Cooper's article, and I'm outraged. It is hard enough to be a single mom and have to struggle for pay equity, but to be shut out of the job market altogether because employers don't want to pay health insurance on families is unbelievable. Of course, the problem is much bigger than discrimination against women (who bear the brunt of this -- I bet they don't ask men if they are married and have kids right off the bat). We need universal health coverage in this country. The current system is broken, the custom of leaving health coverage to business is making us less comnpetitive (think of all the recent long strikes, which have been less about labor and more about workers trying to keep their benefits packages).

The problem is big and won't be solved easily - but we can take small steps, and the first one is to show the legislators that we are not going to roll over and allow them to marginalize us, that we have a voice and more important, a vote -- and that allowing this kind of discrimination is not just wrong, it's BAD BUSINESS.