CFDA Honors Gloria Steinem As Trump Moves To Curtail Women's Right To Birth Control, Bowing To Religious Forces

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem arrived on the national stage with her 1962 essay 'The Moral Disarmament of Betty Coed'. In 1963, Steinem famously used her good looks and socially-perceived 'hot bod' to work undercover at the Playboy Club, penning her experiences in an essay called 'A Bunny's Tale'. Feeling the backlash, in 2969 Steinem explained why men shouldn't fear feminists in 'After Black Power, Women's Liberation'. 

In 2017, many American women wonder why we can't cement our equality in 21st century America, where anti-feminist forces are perhaps more formidable than ever. Surrounded by pundits who argued that Hillary Clinton should drop the allegation that misogyny played any role in the 2016 election, former RNC chairman Michael Steele agreed that misogyny DID play a role, describing America as a very provincial nation with traditional views about women's roles. 

In the aftermath of Clinton's loss, the fashion industry is galvanized around women's issues, having taken a Clinton win for granted. On June 5, Steinem will receive the CFDA Board of Directors' Tribute for her endless legacy of work within the women's movement, in an honor presented by her close friend Diane von Furstenberg, a board member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. 

In a week when the Trump administration is a Trump Tweet away from abandoning the Democrats argument that contraception is a fundamental plank of women's health with a dilution of the contraception mandate, the battle to control women's reproduction is a Republican priority. The move would impact thousands of women who currently get contraception from employer-provided insurance plans with no out-of-pocket costs. Trump believes that a company's CEO's religious beliefs should dictate the right of women's employees to affordable contraception. 

Gloria Steinem agrees that "we're all enmeshed in this political system that is devoted to controlling reproduction." This staggering reality is a dagger in the hearts of the majority of American women living in the 21st century. 

Vogue.com invites 17 self-described feminists to share their thoughts about feminism today and what Steinem means to them, from her writings to her street activism and also her revolutionary fashion style. 

As Modern Orthodox Jews, Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump Share Deep Connection To Israel & Chabad

Even though Israel has seen a decline in women's rights that correlates with the rise of the ultra-Orthodox right-wing, Melanie and Ivanka Trump didn't live up to the worst fears of Israel's right wingers by choosing to avoid the women's prayer section of the Western Wall and praying with the men.  

Israel's Supreme Court ruled earlier in 2017 that women should be allowed to read from the Torah at the men-only, primary section of the wall. It also ruled that a separate egalitarian prayer area known as Robinson’s Arch did not represent access to the Western Wall.

Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz joined US President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who put prayer notes into one of the crevices in the wall, while Melania and Ivanka Trump did the same in the women’s section with the rabbi’s wife, Yael Rabinowitz and Dvora Berkin, director of public relations for the Western Wall.

“The Western Wall today is the spiritual center of the Jewish people and the heart of Judaism,” said Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites in Israel.

It was Rabbi Rabinowitz who ruled in 2010 that women visiting the holy site should not use a Torah in the designated female area of the wall.

“This visit showed respect for the Jewish people and for tradition,” said the rabbi. “Jews don’t need international approval to recognize the connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, but we also cannot hide from what happens around the world where people try to deny the Jewish connection to the wall, the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.”

Ivanka Trump & Judaism

Ivanka Trump converted to Judaism ahead of her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, a devout Orthodox Jew. The couple visited Israel in 2010. Trump has spoken little about her faith but told Vogue in February 2015: 

We're pretty observant, more than some, less than others. I just feel like it's such an intimate thing for us, It's been such a great life decision for me. I am very modern, but I'm also a very traditional person, and I think that's an interesting juxtaposition in how I was raised as well. I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.

The Trump-Kushner family have said they practice Modern Orthodox Judaism and Jared Kushner graduated from The Frisch School, the prestigious New Jersey yeshiva. In Washington the family has joined the Chabad synagogue attached to Washington's Kalorama neighborhood.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, heads the small membership synagogue, which is a seven-minute walk from their home. Throughout the years, many Jewish politicians have attended TheSHUL, including former senator Joe Lieberman and current Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, several Jewish ambassadors posted in Washington, and Israeli Cabinet ministers from the Orthodox parties. If Trump and Kushner attend the synagogue on a regular basis, it is likely to gain a lot of public attention, writes The Forward.

In a separate article The Forward poses the very question that captured my attention, writing "It might seem odd for a Modern Orthodox Jewish family to join a Chabad synagogue.  The relationship of Jared and Ivanka to the Chabad movement, also known as Lubavitch and Chabad-Lubavitch, was explored in one of the two Zembla videos exploring Donald Trump's relationship with the Russians. Chabad is the largest Hasidic movement in the world. 

This evening, Thursday May 25, all US media confirms that Jared Kushner is under scrutiny by the FBI for his involvement with the Trump campaign and the Trump White House. Trump's lawyer, Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter, Jamie Gorelick, has said that Jared Kushner will be fully cooperative with investigators. 

Related: The Media Goes Deeper and Deeper Into Ivanka Trump: Zembla Looks At Jared, Ivanka & Lev Leviev.  (Zembla videos embedded). AOC Redtracker Daily

Dem Lawyer Jamie Gorelick Navigates Ethics Waters For Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner  AOC In-Depth

“I would say Ivanka is definitely the CEO of our household,” says her husband, Jared Kushner. Trump, in an Erdem embroidered tweed dress, with their son, Joseph. De Beers diamond earrings.Photographed by Norman Jean Roy, Vogue, March 2015

48% Of White Men Continue To Support President Trump, As Record Poll Lows Haunt His Presidency

In the new Quinnipiac Poll, 48% of white men continue to believe that President Trump is doing a good job running the country. The poll was completed last Thursday, May 4 prior to the Comey firing.

While the 48% approval among white men represents a decline from April where 53% approved, clearly white men dominate and prop up President Trump's reckless actions. They are his strongest cohort of supporters.

Understand that -- according to all polls -- white men "get it" last, in understanding President Trump's reckless attempts to plunge America into the abyss. What a conundrum: white men dominate our politics and our government. And guess who gets the truth last, according to polls? White men.

What better argument do we have for ending white men America's boys club, as Trump works on their behalf to roll back the gains of women, gays, and people of color over the last 50 years. ? It's a national disgrace, and we're waiting for the voices of America's white men to tackle this subject loud and clear -- while some Dems argue that the party should end a focus on identity politics -- and get cozier than ever with white men. ~ Anne