Name It. Change It. Or Not.

    "Name It. Change It." is a website with a mission to "work to end sexist and misogynistic coverage of women candidates by all members of the press—from bloggers to radio hosts to television pundits."  According to their website, they are a "non-partisan project of WCF [Women's Campaign Fund] Foundation, Women’s Media Center, and Political Parity."  A recent post on the site by Leigh Ann Renzulli called out Slate’s Hanna Rosin for insinuating that "women only care about 'women's issues.'"

In a blog on Slate’s DoubleX Factor that was probably meant to demonstrate how important these recent issues are to women, Hanna Rosin seems to be saying that women only care about women’s issues (read: birth control) and not, say, the economy.

There is a moment in every recent election when issues that women care about become the critical issues of the campaign. This moment might arise because of a candidate’s mistress (Clinton) or because a women is on the ticket (other than Clinton, Sarah Palin)…This was supposed to be an election about the economy.

Rosin, a founding editor of DoubleX, clearly cares about women’s representation in the media, but she probably could have found a better way to discuss the role of women in the election.

So where might Hanna Rosin get the idea that women only care about women's issues ("read: birth control")?  On the home page of the Women’s Campaign Fund website (yes, the same WCF that sponsors Name It. Change It.) is their mission statement that reads in its entirety:

Women’s Campaign Fund (WCF), a nonpartisan organization, is dedicated to dramatically increasing the number of women in elected office who support reproductive health choices for all [emphasis added.]

So who is suggesting that women need only concern themselves with women's issues ("read: birth control")?  The very sponsors of Name It. Change It!  But not to worry.  I have used the reporting form on the Name It. Change It. site to alert them of this egregious example of sexism.  Now that I've Named It, let's see if they Change It.  Or not.