March 8 is International Women’s Day. It occurred to me that perhaps the best way I could honor women on this holiday would be to offer to women something that has been missing for far, far too long: an apology from us men. For our violence. For our abuse. For our sexism. For our continued promotion of patriarchal structures and practices.

(Special thanks to Julie Reynolds for posting a link to the NPR story discussed below.)

This past week the brutal issue of men raping women has featured prominently in the news. First, there was the horrific gang rape of an internationally prominent female journalist in Cairo’s Tahir square during the “celebrations” over the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Then there was the report that several current and former members of the U.S. military are suing the U.S. government over its continual failure to address the epidemic of the rape of military personnel by their brothers-in-arms.

Valentine’s Day is upon us again. It’s the time of year where here in North America we are supposed to scrounge around for some cream-filled chocolates, perhaps a bottle of bad champagne, some scratchy lingerie, a dozen high-carbon-footprint roses, and an over-priced greeting card that communicates thoughts of love in bad rhyme.

Over the past few years there has been a lot of debate about the link between the Super (?) Bowl and the issue of violence against women. Before I address the Super (?) Bowl specifically, let me begin by saying that I understand the appeal of watching NFL football. I really do. Growing up in the Washington DC area I was a huge fan of the Redskins.

I recently followed the recommendation of a friend and finally got around to seeing “The Hangover” – a film about a bachelor party in Las Vegas that goes terribly wrong. Now I need to talk to that friend about how I might go about getting those 100 minutes of my life back!

I think it is probably safe to say that recently Sarah Palin has become one of the more hated women in the United States. I personally think that she is a very mean person. I believe that the smiles, the winks, and the “knowing” nods all serve to obscure the deep cruelty that is in her heart. I think that she is both hateful and hate-filled. I have no love for her. So I do not mind it at all whenever her political star fades a little bit.

(*refudiate: (verb) refute + repudiate. Coined by Sarah Palin, summer 2010.)

It’s been a tough week to be an angry right-winger in the United States of America. A Congresswoman who is a moderate Democrat was the target of an assassination attempt by a deranged man. This Congresswoman’s district had been targeted, literally, on a website sponsored by the conservative celebrity Sarah Palin. (Palin had also encouraged her followers not to “retreat” but instead to “reload.”)

There's a great deal that one can say about the gendered dynamics and implications of the horrid act of violence that a man perpetrated against U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords yesterday. But right now it seems to me more appropriate just to take a moment to breathe, to hug our loved ones, and send our thoughts and prayers to all those directly impacted by this horrible event.

I'll be back next week with more thoughts about how we can continue to work to end men's violence against women.

For the past few years there has been a lot of handwringing and chest beating about the supposed “boy crisis” in education. The argument goes something like this: “We have been paying far too much attention to girls. And that hurts boys.” (Evidence that the “boy crisis” is actually an antifeminist myth can be found here: http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/upload/whereGirlsAre.pdf).