Photo by Nate Mandos (Mirrorcle World)

This week in blogland, feminist Robin Morgan on the recent “sex scandals,” glimpses of award-winning fabrics being born, and why the Paycheck Fairness Act is the ultimate example of family values.

• We’ve all felt slapped by the news lately, with more powerful-men-behaving-badly stories than usual. It’s time, we guess, for the premier Feminist News Junkie, eminence grise et belle Robin Morgan. She slices through what’s most creepy about the recent stories about Arnold S., criminal cases involving New York City cops and the head of the International Monetary Fund, and even Osama bin Laden’s porn stash. Raising questions about the meaning of consent in the Schwarzenegger and John Ensign cases, Morgan then inoculates us: “Inappropriate.  Consensual. She came onto him. Womanizing.  No sense of humor. Rumors and allegations. Conspiracy to frame him. Phrases we all, men as well as women, by now ought to recognize immediately, which would save us from repeatedly falling over platitudes with an air of great discovery.”

• Women in Uganda are taking the future of their country into their hands with a “Walk to Work” campaign, writes Beatrice Lamwaka at Ms. Musings. Earlier this month, they marched through Kampala demanding change, carrying placards “with demands such as ‘For a country without bread, bullets cannot be food,’ ‘Stop shooting our babies,’ ‘Women of Uganda want peace,’ ‘Fuel prices must go down’ and ‘Respect women’s bodies during arrests.’ ” We’d like to add one more demand, Listen to those women, because we’ve got their backs.

• Lara Hinz, director of programs at the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), guest blogs at Your Wo(Man) in Washington. She notes what we all know about caregivers: it often interferes with the financial planning we know we need to do. “For most women, there is little room for error, and being financially unprepared for the last nearly third of their lives will have consequences. Women need to know what their risks are and make moderating those risks a priority throughout their lives. So while caring for others, take some time to care for yourself — it’s well worth it, and you deserve it!”

• Along the same lines, Women Drivers makes a new case for the Paycheck Fairness Act as what’s needed for the economy. “Maybe this time the act will be correctly cast as a family economic stability act, not an entitlement for women. As though we all need a third shift: fighting for the right to get what we earned in the first shift.” After all, she notes, “Women carried households through the recession.”

• Ever wonder how compelling fabrics and homes are dreamt up? Wouldn’t it be cool to go behind the scenes in a top design studio? WVFC’s own Stacey Bewkes did, got her wish, and shared it at her site Quintessence. Click over for highlights of her visit to Kravet Fabrics, including lush rugs, clean linens and some semi-secret designs you’ll see next at Disney World.