‘Tendance Brute’ starring Agnes Nabuurs by Maria Burns. Interview writes:

Tendance Brute, the new digital short by Swiss-born, New York-based filmmaker Maria Burns, begins in the dark. Hands creep into the frame and a model appears, Agnes Nabuurs. She is beautiful, certainly, but also fierce and feral looking, as if a cat had metamorphosed into human form and is exploring its newfound long limbs. As the film progresses, Nabuurs’ outfits become more developed and á la mode, but she does not lose her wildness. Instead, the extremity of her look—the horned shoulders, her spike-soled boots, artfully unkempt hair, kohl-rimmed eyes, and, later, her elaborate headpiece—make her seem even more alien. An exploration of fashion’s constant search for an abnormal beauty.

French Roast News

Anne is reading …

Writing for The Daily Beast, Kathleen Parker asks: Will Clinton’s Agenda Survive?

“Let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.”

These critical words uttered by then First Lady Hillary Clinton brought international women’s rights into the public dialogue.

Now that Hillary Clinton has left the State Department, many worry around the world — what will the US policy be on women?

“It’s a totally open question,” says Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for President Bill Clinton and the author of Why Women Should Rule the World. “Under Hillary, everyone knew that the global women’s issue was a strategic priority, an organizing principle. She was completely committed. How do you re-create that?”

New Secretary of State John Kerry has no strong history on women’s issues. In fact, before Hillary, DC’s state department was rather clueless about the importance of empowering women worldwide as a primary deterrent to terrorism and global insecurities. It was former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who backed Hillary on this issue.

The good news is President Obama’s decision to make permanent the Office of Global Women’s Issues and the women’s-ambassador-at-large position, which Hillary created. The sad news is that Melanne Verveer, the first ambassador left her position to run the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.

The newly appointed ambassador, Cathy Russell, is Jill Biden’s former chief of staff, “an unexpected choice to some veterans in the field.” In March 2012, Hillary issued a directive advising American embassies and posts of the “strategic imperative” of advancing women’s equality: “The department is focusing across all of our work to reduce disparities and proactively promote gender equality.”

The question is: will Kerry care? And will President Obama — or Michelle — stand tough if he doesn’t.

Allyson Schwartz for PA Gov

Anne’s friend Liz Forrest was candid in her lead-in to today’s Philadelphia Inquirer story Allyson Schwarta’s political baggage worries some Democrats.

“People always ask, ‘Will she play outside Philadelphia? Is she too liberal?’ ” Forrest said Thursday night during the monthly dinner meeting of the Pike County Democratic Committee. “Who cares? Philadelphia and Pittsburgh produce enough votes to win it.”

Forrest cites Schwartz’s “money and political chops” to send Republican governor, close-your-eyes ultrasound Jim Corbett packing.

Her great liability? The five-term congresswoman in not only prochoice, but she founded a Philadelphia women’s health cllinc — the Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center in 1975. It provided prenatal, care, a birthing center and other health services including abortion. It’s alleged in some circles that Schwartz hasn’t sufficiently promoted other women candidates in PA politics. Why support her in return, say the women?

She’s an established fiscal moderate, lessening her appeal to some progressive Democrats. Keystone Politics writes today Is Allyson Schwartz Too Conservative To Be the Nominee for Governor?

That’s not our issue at AOC, where we are already on record committed to electing Alysson Schwartz as the first woman governor of the state. PA ranks about 46th in the country in electing women to political office.

Most polls show Schwartz ahead of the pack in a state that went for Obama with a 16-point gender gap with women. The state was very energized in 2012, electing Kathleen Kane as the first woman attorney general. Kane wasn’t supported by the state Democratic party boys either, but the Clinton machine stepped in to help her.

For Emily’s List, Schwartz, an established political figure with a strong record as a fund-raiser, represents a prime opportunity to pick up a governorship in big state.

MSNBC writes that former Pennsylvania Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies, who represented parts of Schwartz’s district in the 1990′s, is eager to see a woman fill one of the Pennsylvania’s top jobs. “Kathleen Kane and Catherine Baker Knoll proved that women can run just as well as men in Pennsylvania,” Margolies said. “I want more women at the table.”

Lynn Yeakel, the founder and co-chair of Vision 2020, a national initiative for women’s social and economic equality, based at Drexel University, was the last female statewide nominee in Pennsylvania to run at the national level, and only the second woman in Pennsylvania’s history to become the nominee for the U.S. Senate. In 1992 she came up short in her challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. “If anyone can do this, Allyson can,” Yeakel said. “She’s a very tough campaigner.”

Just In

1) PA Democratic Senator Bob Casey today publicly announced his support for same-sex marriage. Previously, the devout Catholic Casey — who voted against America’s women in supporting the Blunt Amendment slamming President Obama’s contraception mandate —was one of nine Democratic senators not in support of same-same marriage.

The second-term Democrat had previously backed civil unions and LGBTrights legislation, including the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He also co-sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, but he had not voiced support for full marriage rights.

“After much deliberation and after reviewing the legal, public policy and civil rights questions presented, I support marriage equality for same-sex couples and believe that DOMA should be repealed,” Casey said in the release. “If two people of the same sex fall in love and want to marry, why would our government stand in their way?”

2) Connecticut legislators announced today a bipartisan agreement on gun control, initiatives they called “the most far-reaching gun-legislation in the country.”

Writes the New York Times: “It would require new state-issued eligibility certificates for the purchase of any rifle, shotgun or ammunition; mandate that offenders convicted of any of more than 40 weapons offenses register with the state; require universal background checks for the sale of all firearms; and substantially expand the state’s existing ban on assault weapons.”

The legislation bans the future sale of high-capacity magazines of more than 10 bullets. All assault weapons — past and future — must be registered.

Although negotiations became protracted in a Democratic-controlled state, it’s hoped now that the bipartisan agreement could become a model for other states.

3) The Washington Post writes that Caroline Kennedy is set to be ambassador to Japan. Kennedy was a key early supporter of President Obama.

4) Catholic women are hoping for stronger roles for women in the Francis papacy, writes NPR.

A group of American women pilgrims visited the many inscriptions and images on tombstones, frescoes and mosaics showing images of early Catholic women in roles of leadership, holding roles identical to men as prophets, priests and deacons.

“Certainly in the first two centuries, we see women — at least parts of the early communities — holding co-equal roles with men,” says Sister Chris Shenk, executive director of the Catholic group FutureChurch, which organized the pilgrimage.

Related: The Death of Jesus and the Rise of the Christian Persecution Myth The Daily Beast