Beauty pageants have always befuddled me. Apparently certain beautiful women need to go beyond mere peer validation of their perfection, to also compete in televised contests to see who truly is the fairest of them all. But until recently, these events seemed to be left to their own devices to primp women who prance around stages in bathing suits.

In response to J. C. Penney’s appointment of Ellen DeGeneres as its new spokesperson, the conservative group OneMillionMoms.com (OMM), a sub-group of the American Family Association, campaigned to get the department store to revoke its decision. Apparently employing an empowered, hilarious, openly gay woman offended these traditional mothers who are worked up that J.

After merely three days, Susan G. Komen for the Cure bowed to public outrage by repealing controversial funding cuts to Planned Parenthood. The foundation justified its original decision by pointing towards a change to its grant rules that banned funding for organizations under local, state or federal investigation.