Beyond International Women's Day 2011

Girly bikes for kids

2012-01-27T22:33:00.000Z

Gendered marketing for bikes - Raleigh promises to look into the comments

more later

Three faces of feminism - Libertarian Lou's blog

2012-01-27T11:20:00.002Z

Why Jodie Marsch is more interesting than the Mensch-Penny discussion on Newsnight. I confess to turning off partway through Newsnight, but didn't even think of Channel 5.

Post from Left Eye Right Eye on the 3 faces of feminism

Worth a closer look. Last two paras are very good.

Why are so many men scared of feminism?

2012-01-20T15:37:00.002Z

http://www.michaelkaufman.com/

worth a read.

Men and depression

2012-01-17T16:11:00.001Z

An article in the Guardian by Ally Fogg argues that the 'boys don't cry' culture is largely to blame for the suicides of under-35-year-old males. They need to be more open about their emotions, and more prepared to ask for help. The Dean Windlass story, and Gary Speed's death were the immediate triggers for the article.
As ever comments beneath are enough in places to drive me to despair - in others they are brilliant.
My own take? Definitely an issue for anyone concerned with gender equality.

Go, Riley!

2011-12-29T16:11:00.001Z

Watch this

Yay, kiddo! Right on.

Female 'Faces of the Year' . Thanks Beeb!

2011-12-28T12:59:00.003Z

London Feminist points out :

Our active women, and their reasons for making the news, are: Adele (pop star), Sarah Burton (dress designer), Pauline Pearce (“heroine of Hackney”) and the Duchess of Alba (got married aged 88.)

Our passive women are: Gabrielle Giffords (got shot in the head and survived), Eman al-Obeidi (beaten and gang-raped by Gaddafi’s militia), Nafissatou Diallo (was allegedly subjected to a sexual attack by DSK), Jelena Lecic (her identity was stolen by a man pretending to be a Middle Eastern blogger), Charlene Wittstock (wept as she reluctantly married the Prince of Monaco – seriously, this woman’s fame is not something we as a society should be proud of), Rebecca Leighton (got falsely accused of murder) and Kelsey de Santis (got taken on a date by Justin Timberlake).

and don't forget the panda.

BBC link - Faces of the Year

Cuts hit women hard in the UK

2011-11-04T08:39:00.001Z

Report from the Fawcett Society and various other groups. Article in the Guardian

As always some of the comments below the line show that some people's attitudes are well in reverse already.

Sneery male writers

2011-10-29T14:09:00.005+01:00

Reading what I normally find an intelligent site, Craig Murray which makes a decent analysis of the state of the world, I was annoyed by a (superficial? trivial?) issue today. He refers to Polly Toynbee as 'that poor deluded old bat'. Is there a male equivalent? Should anyone be referred to in this way, however much you disagree with their opinions?

Is the female version of ad hominem ad mulierem? I really fear that man cannot include woman in this case, since the patronising tone seems saved especially for women.

Yes, Polly can be too forgiving of the Labour Party, but where is the real alternative? Is it not true that the lesser of two evils is nevertheless, less evil. I paraphrase Chomsky, I think. And i do think that this government is more 'evil' than the last one.

I don't often allow myself to be provoked into a rant these days, but this did it. Hit both buttons - ageism and sexism.

Women in Tunisia

2011-10-23T08:34:00.003+01:00

hope that their rights are not side-lined as the new democracy takes shape.

Guardian/Observer publishes article by their Paris correspondent, Angelique Chrisafis.

Ms/Miss/Mrs - Madame/Mademoiselle

2011-10-01T18:41:00.001+01:00

A load of trivial bullshit, or something more?

Have you ever been in the position of being asked 'Miss or Mrs' and feeling annoyed, embarrassed, put on the spot? Perhaps it applies more to my generation (60+) than to younger women, but it always struck me as acutely unfair that personal questions start from something so simple as a child wishing to write a teacher's name on an exercise book.
For a man, it's just 'Mr'. No problem, no wondering. Simple.

And even now, in England, Ms is seen as the title mainly used by stroppy feminists, though it is useful in business situations, when a single title avoids the embarrassment of using the 'wrong' one.

In France feminists are demanding that all adult women should use the title 'Madame'. Now, would it be more practical, more equal, more feminist for all female English speakers over 18 to use 'Mrs'?

The fact that people think about this doesn't mean they cannot also think about social injustice, violence, people-trafficking.

Jo Brand interview in Graun

2011-09-22T07:39:00.000+01:00

I do like a lot of what this woman does and says.

What is science-fictional in a story about equality of the sexes...?

2011-09-11T13:56:00.000+01:00

Over at The Future Fire blog, where we are writing about a subgenre a day this month, Deirdre Murphy talks about Feminist Science Fiction. She begins:

I remember growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s, looking out at the vital civil rights movement and imagining that I would one day live in a world where women were seen as equal partners in all things, a world where we didn’t suffer from a gender gap in terms of respect, power, airplay, or paychecks. I envisioned a world where gender wouldn’t matter, unless someone wanted to create a new baby. In contrast, I looked at stuff like Dick Tracey’s cool wrist communicator more as science-fantasy.

You see where this is going, right? Read the whole post here.

FeministSF Twitter chat in honour of Joanna Russ

2011-05-04T22:33:00.000+01:00

Next Sunday at 14:00 Eastern US time, a group of interested writers, editors, readers and feminists will be participating in an informal Twitter chat in memory of Joanna Russ, the Feminist Science Fiction writer who died after suffering a series of strokes last week. (One of the best reminiscences of Russ's life is at the Body Impolitic blog; more links are collected at this SH post.)

If you're interested in taking part, either as a fan of Russ's novels The Female Man, Picnic on Paradise, etc., or her nonfiction writing such as How to Suppress Women's Writing; as a reader or producer of science fiction with an interest in women's or queer issues; or as a feminist who cares about imaginative and literary work in this field, details follow.

The conversation will take place on Twitter, the microblogging social network site, on Sunday May 8th at 14:00 (2pm) EDT (=17:00 BST, 11:00 PDT, etc.), and will last about an hour. All are welcome. To follow the conversation, search for the hashtag #FeministSF, and/or contact the chat coordinators @thefuturefire and @traciewelser. To post to the chat, simply use this same hashtag in a tweet, and it will appear to all other chatters who follow that search.

(And if you ever wondered how people could possibly have a meaningful conversation in 140-character snippets? Just watch.)

Watch this woman - Eva Joly

2011-04-07T18:51:00.002+01:00

I didn't pick this up when it was first published in February this year, but she sounds like someone who's trying to do some good. And she hasn't lost her enthusiasm as she's grown older.

More later.

Sarah Outen sets off around the world

2011-04-02T18:46:00.001+01:00

Sarah Outen, from Ashwell, Rutland, has set off on a two and a half year journey round the world, using human power - kayaking, cycling an rowing.
She is raising money for various charities - including breast cancer awareness charity Coppafeel, The Jubilee Sailing Trust, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and WaterAid

Not an April Fool - just a fool?

2011-04-02T10:05:00.002+01:00

How many brains? Universities minister?

Progress, where is thy backlash leading?

Words (clearly) fail me this morning.

The best article I have read on this is from Laurie Penny in the New Statesman on 7 April.

Social mobility is a scam. It's a scam that is useful to governments implementing austerity programmes: after all, if anyone can make it, anyone who fails to do so must be personally at fault. Social mobility, however, is not an adequate substitute for social justice.

Which brings us neatly back to feminism, and to the uncomfortable admission that David Willetts does, in fact, have a point. Mass female employment has affected social mobility. Feminism is nowhere near as significant a factor in the stagnation of social mobility as the destruction of industry or wage repression. The fact remains, however, that if one accepts an unequal system whereby only a handful of elites make it into well-paying professions, and if one also accepts a feminism which settles for cramming a few extra women into those elite jobs, then some people are going to be nudged off the podium. What we have, to paraphrase Willetts, is neither feminism nor egalitarianism. What we have is a ruddy mess of recrimination and sharpened elbows.

Willetts has a point, and he is using that point to stab innocent bystanders in the back. Along with most of Westminster, Willetts has mistaken bourgeois feminism, which merely boosts the life chances of wealthy women within an unequal system, for feminism proper, which demands redistribution of work, wealth and power in order to deliver equality. Along with most of the country, Willetts has mistaken social mobility, which merely boosts the life chances of a few middle-class aspirants, for social justice.

A call for women's equality in Haiti

2011-03-21T22:07:00.006Z

Marking the milestone of 100 years of International Women's Day is a cause for celebration - the fight for gender equality has come a long way. But there are still injustices that range from pay differences to glass ceilings; unfortunately the spectrum of inequality runs to far deeper injustices.

There are too many examples to list here, so I'll just pick one country: Haiti. It's been over a year since the earthquake devastated the region but the aftermath has given way to serious violence against women.

Here is a moving video of 15 year-old Katty Jean speaking at a meeting of the Zafe Fanm (Women's Issues) in Port-au-Prince, calling for the rights of women to be respected.

Let's hope someone will listen to her call.

Anecdotal evidence: why we still need feminism

2011-03-20T17:10:00.001Z

A column from a couple weeks ago, Lucy Mangan's The feminist fight is not over yet, and especially the criticism in some of the comments that it is all anecdotal and therefore meaningless, has clearly been percolating in the back of my mind since. I've heard more instances than I can count of similar, purely anecdotal, stories—on Twitter, overheard on commuter trains, from friends, in the news—that support my original reaction that the power of these anecdotal stories is precisely their representativeness, that we don't find them surprising. They're anecdotal, but they're not one-offs. This makes anecdotes powerful tools of argument in a way that an anomaly isn't; a two headed-lamb isn't an argument for anything, since it's unique or vanishingly rare—something that surprises no one is a powerful anecdote because it isn't rare. It's not a statistic, but it's a digestible instance of a bigger truth.

Arbitrarily I'll take Mangan's five examples and argue why I think they're representative, anecdotal or not.

15 year-old wolf-whistled: if this were a one-off, it would be upsetting and obnoxious, but it wouldn't be an argument for awareness-raising or the need for social change. But it isn't. I've heard so many stories recently (and forever) of women saying how unsurprised they are by street harassment (physical as well as verbal), that it's a daily occurrence, that the first time it happened to them they were 12; and seen people harass others online, on the train, in the workplace, that's it's hard to believe some people are still surprised when they learn things like this happen. Objectification and harassment, and the fear of it, is a daily fact of many people's lives, and it. Shouldn't. Be.
Berlusconi: this might look dangerously like a two-headed lamb, but do you really not know anybody who has said, "So he slept with a teen call-girl, so he's a red-blooded male..."?
Funny porn: this is already not really anecdotal, since the argument relies on large numbers of instances to start with, but there is a point here about (a) the nature of pornography (women inserting ridiculous objects in various orifices is not in any meaningful way an erotic display), (b) the lack of judgement of men in sharing such images and (by extension) their own interest in the source of such images, without wondering whom it might offend, or disgust, or trigger a traumatic memory, and (c) the casual and socially acceptable objectification of the female body in popular culture.
Top Gear: again, everyone knows that the two-headed lambs that are the presenters of this repugnant show are pathetic, popularizing throwbacks, so why quote them and pretend to be shocked? I'd be a lot less shocked by their puerile nonsense if it weren't spouted on network television to a huge popular audience that admires their iconoclastic "outspokenness" and laddish "naughtiness".
Casual domestic violence: the sad thing about this story is not that one man somewhere was physically cruel and disrespectful to his partner one time (and that she accepted it as unpleasant but apparently unremarkable), but that (i) he did this in a public place, with apparently no expectation that anybody would object to his treating his partner like chattel, in a way it's no longer acceptable to treat a child or an employee; (ii) that more than one woman present on the train had the same thought, that this was horrific treatment, that they recognised the pattern of abuse it foreshadowed, and were clearly personally touched by it; (iii) that nobody present felt able to say or do anything about it (and even a commenter on the Guardian blog felt the need to protest, "how dare you presume to know what this means in the context of their relationship?"), as if public violence suddenly becomes acceptable so long as it's performed by a man upon a woman of his house.

The fact that these five classes of sexist behaviour and attitude exist in our society are all arguments—not the only arguments, and not the strongest arguments, but arguments nevertheless—that feminism's work is not done, that we all, women and men alike, need to work for a more respectful and egalitarian society.

(Sadly comments on Mangan's column are now closed, but I've used rev="comment" microformat attributes in my links above to make this response discoverable.)

Female author wins award, but Jonathan Franzen doesn't...

2011-03-18T11:57:00.001Z

Thanks to Jo Swingler for her link on Facebook to this MobyLives article:

Earlier this month Brooklyn-based novelist Jennifer Egan was awarded the National Book Critics Award for her most recent novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad. However, ... instead of celebrating Egan’s achievement, the LA Times decided to interpret the story from a somewhat different angle. They instead chose to highlight the fact that Jonathan Franzen did not win the award. Not only did the story focus on his loss, but the main photo used was of Franzen himself, rather than Egan, the winner. In the UK, we roll out the word ‘gobsmacking’ for instances like these.

Hardy Girls, Healthy Women

2011-03-17T14:23:00.001Z

I just received the newsletter from Hardy Girls, Healthy Women based in Maine, USA. It includes Girls Rock Award Winners 2011, news of a Girls Rock weekend (April 8-10 2011), details of local (Maine) events, and some interesting links to explore.

Domestic violence in Glasgow

2011-03-12T12:56:00.006Z

The article linked in the title has given rise to lots of very interesting discussion. I'll pick out this one in particular:

IWD March 8th 2011

2011-03-01T10:12:00.002Z

This has actually been mentioned on Sky - a trail after the news...and on BBC World Service.

Taking down the "Sex is Cheap" sexism

2011-02-27T21:54:00.000Z

A short article that pulls no punches in its criticism of the already-notorious Slate article that explains why men don't have to fear losing power to women in the bedroom, at least, because modern women "give it up" too easily and so have no power.

Why That Slate Article Pissed You Off (And Why You Should Be Livid), by Violet Blue

(Flashback to every horror film I see these days in which any woman who shows sexual initiative is punished for it by being eaten by the monster seconds later.)

"I'll Make a Man Out of You"--essay on strong women in Scifi TV

2011-02-27T21:46:00.001Z

This was published (uploaded as a PDF by the author to her blog) several months ago now, but I've just come across this interesting master's thesis about the role of strong female characters in science fiction and fantasy television shows. A fascinating study of gender stereotypes/archetypes and feminist theory, and why this popular culture phenomenon is important.

"I'll make a Man Out of You": Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, Anita Sarkeesian, York University, Toronto, Ontario

Ouch - why should we all be the same? Labiaplasty on the increase

2011-02-27T09:25:00.006Z

Having your vulva cut up to make it neater, the labia smaller or more symmetrical is becoming more frequent, according to this article , and some blame it on the availability of internet porn.

From the article in the Observer , Sunday 27 Feb, 2011:

A partner in the King's University research, Dr David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist in cognitive behaviour therapy, said he believed the surge in demand could be linked to easier access to explicit sexual imagery. "We haven't completed the research, but there is suspicion that this is related to much greater access to porn, so it is easier for women to compare themselves to actresses who may have had it done. This is to do with the increasing sexualisation of society – it's the last part of the body to be changed."

What imposed norm do we need to conform to now? Are our bodies and our genitals really so overwhelmingly important - as objects? Seems to me that we just become aware of perfectly normal variations, only to wish to remove them at whatever cost, financial, psychological or physical.

Is it all part of a rather worrying trend for people to seek surgery as a solution to problems, major or minor - gastric bands rather than exercise and diet, nose jobs and boob jobs for minor imperfections, not just real deformities, and now labiaplasty? Or are we increasingly scared to be different?

On the same paper's website there's a debate about women, fashion and beauty and the models who, it seems, are thinner each year.

Yet, I think my initial reaction has been too negative - lots of us are not going along with these things, are we?

Send a message to UN Women

2011-02-26T14:35:00.003Z

UN Women launched last Thursday, amid fears that funds will be short - any suggestions, messages, what needs to be done, why women need a separate organisation within the UN?

Link in title to Guardian article

They are setting up a Flickr group to collect your thoughts, opinions and messages. From the article:

you can submit your photo to our group www.flickr.com/groups/globalwomensvoices. If you are not on Flickr, don't worry - you can email your photo to development@guardian.co.uk and we will add it to the Flickr group for you. Please add some information when you post or email your picture so we know who you are, where you're from and what your message means to you. By posting your pictures in this group, or sending it to us in response to this request, you agree to let us use it on our site and potentially in the newspaper (though copyright remains with you at all times, and you will be credited).

Do feminists all hate men?

2011-02-26T09:11:00.008Z

Suzanne Moore writes for the Guardian and the Mail on Sunday. But I think this article has more than a smidgen of truth in it. I expect the comments to prove her point.

Coming back a few minutes later, well they do..and I'm going to have to go through with a fine tooth comb to see where she 'hates' or 'puts down' men as a group....

Later still - why, why, why do so many men react as though they think women's dearest wish was to exterminate them? (Tempting as it is, with some of the comments below the article ;-) )

Traveller and Roma women

2011-02-25T09:38:00.005Z

I don't always agree with Julie Bindel, but this is an interesting article.

It seems that the programme My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has fuelled even more prejudice against travellers than there was before.

More hopefully, many of the women now want their own children, especially the girls, to be more educated and independent than in the past.

Teenage pregnancies down

2011-02-23T08:11:00.006Z

I briefly saw an article in the Guardian on this topic - a reduction of approximately 5% between 2008 and 2009 (I think). I'm writing this from memory since the article has 'disappeared'.

There was also a comment from someone working in that area, that their organisation is facing cuts. Yet another case of this government trying to save money now by storing up problems for the future?

When I find more facts on this - or an article in the press - I'll add a link.

Ha - found one in the Independent

Planned Parenthood "exposed" in New Jersey

2011-02-16T15:51:00.004Z

The recent video recording of an employee of Planned Parenthood in New Jersey “aiding and abetting” a pimp in obtaining abortions and sexual health care for underage prostitutes has provoked substantial media attention and condemnation.

A clinic manager was shown – in an edited video – advising a pimp on how to obtain sexual health care and abortions for underage girls who he “managed”, without attracting the attention of the authorities to his activities.

Planned Parenthood as an organisation say that this clinic manager was not working to PP policies, and she has since been dismissed.

In fact PP have a policy of reporting sexual exploitation of young people, and following (what transpired to be) hoax visits to several of their clinics, reported their concerns about a possible trafficking ring.

"When Planned Parenthood learns of an operation that exploits young women, we vigilantly work with law enforcement authorities to uncover and stop this abhorrent activity," said Stuart Schear, PPFA vice president for communications. "Planned Parenthood’s top priority is the health and safety of our patients and the health and well-being of women and teens across the country, and we have been in contact with federal and local authorities to identify the persons involved in these visits." (Planned Parenthood press release 24.01.2011)

However, the incident raises several questions.

How ethical is it for anyone to enter a clinical situation, in which the professional person they are consulting is bound (in most cases, subject to legal reporting requirements etc) by confidentiality rules, and to deliberately trick them into potentially controversial responses by asking for help using false and manipulative stories?

Apparently 12 clinics were infiltrated in this way, but it is only selected sections of one of the consultations which have been made public. The selected video footage was obviously intended to show the clinic manager in the worst possible light in order to discredit the organisation for which she worked, and to push an extreme agenda.

Clinics such as these exist in order to help those who need their services.

Many clients may be under age and in difficult circumstances, and while clinic staff are obliged to work within the law, and would wish to protect their clients from abuse as well as unwanted pregnancies and infections, immediate reporting to the Police on a routine basis might not always be in the best interests of the group of clients they serve.

Establishing trust with vulnerable young people is a vital first step in helping them, and also in encouraging others to come for help. Staff therefore have to tread a very fine line, and risk either not being able to help those in need, or finding themselves in trouble with the law.

Right wing groups are exploiting this vulnerability of staff working with some of the most disadvantaged groups in society in order to advance their own cause. They are pushing for government funding to be withdrawn from PP, an organisation which provides abortion and other sexual health care.

Campaigns to discredit sexual health care services are widespread, and not just in the United States. They represent attempts to stigmatise all contraceptive and sexual health professionals by association, and can be highly damaging to the important health services provided by organisations such as Planned Parenthood. It is to the credit of staff of such organisations that they continue to work to improve the lives of often disadvantaged and vulnerable people despite the constant threats of adverse media attention and violence with which they are faced.

Scarr

UN Women

2011-01-27T17:58:00.004Z

Click on the title for an interesting article and comments below.

UN Dispatch on Helping Women and Girls Face the Challenges of Post Earthquake Haiti

2011-01-06T20:58:00.000Z

The UN Dispatch website today podcasts an interview on the subject of the challenges faced by women since the earthquake in Haiti nearly one year ago. Just as the treatment and the equality of opportunity of women improves as a country becomes more prosperous and safe, so we see that when a catastrophe like the Haitian earthquake leaves a huge number of people in desperate poverty and physical danger, women suffer the effects disproportionately. From poor healthcare, lack of access to contraception and family planning education, poor security and the increased prevalence of sexual violence, things are pretty bleak (Haiti has the highest maternal mortality rate during childbirth in the western world). The director of women and population at the UN Foundation explains in this interview what her organization is doing to improve the situation for women in particular in the huge homeless camps across Haiti.

Women in the new Parliament?

2010-05-13T12:43:00.001+01:00

Some interesting statistics on the New Statesman website - link in title.

Ada Lovelace Day Post: Hypatia of Alexandria

2010-03-23T11:41:00.007Z

March 24th is Ada Lovelace day, a day when bloggers the world over pledge to write a post celebrating a woman in technology and science, in honour of Countess Ada Lovelace, nineteenth-century mathematician, the world's first computer programmer, one of very few people to understand Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and foresee its implications for science and society. (This little animation explains the Enchantress of Numbers herself for a young audience.)

In this post, therefore, I am not going to talk about Lovelace herself, but about another historical woman mathematician, Hypatia of Alexandria (murdered by a Christian mob in 415 C.E.). A note: Ada Lovelace day is supposed to provide female role models for women and girls considering a career in science and technology. Many of my colleagues in both the information technology and the science fiction worlds are women who would make inspiring role models, so it may be perverse of me to choose a historical figure instead. However, as a historian I am probably more qualified to talk about a figure of Classical Antiquity than I am any contemporary scientist, so I make no apologies.

First a historical caveat: most persons from the ancient world who were not political or military leaders are known primarily through their written work (whether they be poets, historians, philosophers or scientists), and ancient biographies of these people were often written in later antiquity by biographers who used anecdotal snippets to show how their subject's life influenced their work (or, if you prefer, who used details from their works to invent the life stories that influenced them). These biographies are notoriously unreliable. In the case of Hypatia, in addition, her death occurred at a time and in circumstances that led her to be written about within a tradition of martyrology and religious conflict, and so the biographical information relating to her is perhaps even more prone to invention and elaboration than would otherwise be the case. In this post I shall be less interested, therefore, in the "facts" of her life than in the meta-biographical information that these biographies preserve.

Hypatia was a Pagan philosopher and mathematician, daughter of Theon, a mathematician attached to the library of Alexandria. She wrote commentaries on works of mathematics, philosophy and astronomy (including the existing version of Ptolemy's Almagest), and is said to have invented the hydrometer. In a time of political and religious strife, she was attacked one day in the street by "a multitude of believers in God", stripped naked, dragged through the streets to the church, flayed with broken pottery, and her body parts burned. Different biographers speak of this murder with outrage or approval, but the details are more or less the same in either case. Martyrs, whether Christian or Pagan, tend to be murdered in grisly ways, and it is typical that the slaying of women would include stripping naked and the defilement of the body.

According to the Suda entry on Hypatia:

In addition to her teaching, attaining the height of practical virtue (πρακτικῆς ἀρετῆς), becoming just and prudent (δικαία τε καὶ σώφρων), she remained a virgin. She was so very beautiful and attractive that one of those who attended her lectures fell in love with her. He was not able to contain his desire, but he informed her of his condition. Ignorant reports say that Hypatia relieved him of his disease by music; but truth proclaims that music failed to have any effect. She brought some of her female rags and threw them before him, showing him the signs of her unclean origin, and said, “You love this, O youth, and there is nothing beautiful about it.” His soul was turned away by shame and surprise at the unpleasant sight, and he was brought to his right mind.

Several typical features here: (1) the virtues listed are commonly attributed to philosophers and other moral figures, and while σωφροσύνη (prudence) is perhaps a stereotypically female, practical virtue and justice are just as appropriate for male philosophers and lawgivers; (2) that a female philosopher with such virtue should be a virgin may be especially typical of the late antique period, but the idea that virtuous women should not be sexualized is common to many patriarchal societies (and even those sources who claim Hypatia was married rather tenuously insist she remained a virgin); (3) the inventive story of the philosopher putting off a potential suitor with the unpleasant (ἀσχήμων) sight of her sanitary towel is an interesting mix of male discomfort with the menstrual function (which was considered ritually unclean in the ancient world--menstruating women were barred from many temples and sanctuaries), and admiration at Hypatia's resolution and creativity in preserving her "virtue".

This post may seem more a catalogue of historical sexism than a story of an inspiring role model. On the other hand, what we have preserved here is not merely a story of a martyred woman like Saint Perpetua or Catherine of Alexandria, whose fame is that they were cruelly tortured (details of which torture are lovingly dwelt upon by their martyrologists) and rescued and/or rewarded by God for their virtue, but rather a record of a woman who was respected in her lifetime for her intelligence, learning, virtue and leadership abilities, and whose works continued to be read long after her death, and some are still the standard texts in use today. In an age when women had far fewer rights than men, could not hold public office, were usually less educated, and were held to different standards of virtue and behavior, that was quite an achievement and should be an inspiration to women in science and technology everywhere.

Paternity Leave?

2010-03-17T08:42:00.004Z

If you read the article from the Independent linked in the title of this post, you may agree that it looks as though attitudes have shifted little since the 1970s. Of course the inequality of pay between men and women, and the current fear of losing a job must also be factors. I do know many 'hands-on' dads now, as indeed I did way back when.

Women and public sector job cuts

2010-03-14T08:49:00.002Z

From Left Foot Forward, an article which includes interesting stats about women working in the public services.

I should like to add that women are also disproportionately represented in low-paid jobs, such as cleaning and caring agencies, once public and now private.

Boys and girls and science

2010-03-13T12:24:00.006Z

I've only just picked this article up, from BBC website, May 2009. According to an OECD study of 15-year-olds, girls in the UK lag further behind boys than in many other countries. Indeed in some countries such as Greece and Turkey, girls are ahead.

NYT blog about women who work harder than men

2010-03-08T23:40:00.004Z

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/where-women-do-most-of-the-hard-work/

One of many snippets appearing in the press today - It's 100 years since IWD was established, but (I think) next year is the anniversay of the first march. Must check this info!

The same blogger puts forward his three important steps to improve the situation of women in the world:
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/three-proven-steps-to-advance-the-worlds-women-on-international-womens-day/
1. education
2. deworming (!) and micronutrients
3. Support for women's businesses

Programmes on Women's Movement BBC4

2010-03-08T22:24:00.001Z

Oh my, just watched a programme on BBC 4 with so many of the women who were active in the 70s (Greer, Millett, Rowbotham, Marilyn French, Susan Brownmiller) - so much has changed, yet so much hasn't.

There are programmes all week.

Trans inclusion at "women-only" events

2010-03-03T15:57:00.003Z

For a powerful discussion of the important issue which is the need to make explicit the inclusion of trans-women in feminist events, especially those events that are designated women-only, see this post at The F-Word. Especially where women-only events or demonstrations are safe spaces for protests about violence against women or children, it is important that trans-women know they are welcome and safe there too, since this is neither a given nor always obvious.

Article on gender differences

2010-02-26T08:47:00.002Z

To counterbalance all of the Men are from Mars/Women from Venus propaganda, try this:

http://www.anarchism.pageabode.com/aileenocarroll/men-are-from-earth-and-so-are-women

The Women in Space Program

2010-02-21T12:57:00.005Z

A few months ago I came across this article (via Wired):

Kathy L. Ryan et al. (2009), 'A forgotten moment in physiology: the Lovelace Woman in Space Program (1960–1962)', in Advances in Physiology Education 33: 157-164; available: http://advan.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/33/3/157.

I don't know whether the physiology is interesting in the context of that scientific discipline (I certainly don't find it particularly surprising that women were just as qualified as men for even a very physical job), or if this is considered a quirky historical story. Nor is it especially surprising that women were preventing from taking part in this high profile, prestigious and dangerous work at a time when women were unable to take active service in the military in most countries (not that this is something one should necessarily aspire to, but it's one of the most discriminating employers even today).

What I did find interesting (if not unusual) was the way that even when this particular group of women, the Mercury 13, had been allowed to take the tests, and had proved themselves as individuals, and had shown that in many categories (especially tolerance to sensory deprivation and claustrophobia) they were categorically superior to males in the same category, excuses were made to deny them the right to participate in the space program. From the unproven (menstruation will interfere with their ability) to the Catch 22 (only experienced test pilots, a career from which women are already barred, may qualify); men set the goalposts to get the results they wanted in the first place. Plus ça change...

Anyway, if you're a bit of a space geek like I am, this is a cool story.

Feminist Science Fiction

2010-02-15T22:26:00.002Z

This month's issue of the speculative fiction magazine The Future Fire (which I co-edit) is a Feminist Science Fiction themed edition, featuring five stories that focus on sex and gender, women's issues, strong female protagonists and other socially aware literary themes. TFF is a free online magazine that focuses on social, political and speculative fiction, and also runs a Reviews Blog.

The Feminist Science Fiction themed issue was advertised in early 2009 and called for stories that focus on "gender, sexual identity and sexuality; stories that take the "radical idea" [that women are human beings] and do something about it; stories that can engage, empower, educate, and inspire men and women alike." As always, only the most excellent stories, that were both useful and beautiful, would be published. In the end there were so many great stories submitted that the "feminist science fiction" issue was split into two parts: in January this year we published the first issue focused on sex and gender, women's issues and strong female protagonists. In March we shall publish the follow-up, with several stories focused on sexuality and gender identity, GLBT issues; the "Queer Science Fiction" themed issue, if you will.

All of the stories in this issue are wonderful, I can say without hesitation. They are also beautifully illustrated. If you read them, we'd love your feedback and comments--all of the authors and artists deserve your support.

Related links:

Feminist SF -- on feminist science fiction and fantasy
The Outer Alliance -- support and advocacy for queer speculative fiction
@thefuturefire on Twitter

What do Muslim women want?

2010-02-15T15:42:00.002Z

The question is rather disingenuous, since the category 'Muslim women' contains many different groups of women, whose opinions (and dress) vary as much as 'Christian women'.

But Salma Yacoob, a Muslim woman and Birmingham city councillor explores some of the issues in this article in today's New Statesman.

Afghan Women's Writing Project

2010-02-06T16:13:00.004Z

About a month ago I came across the Afghan Women's Writing Project, a website designed to give a voice and an international platform to women writing in Afghanistan, which is even now one of the most difficult countries for women to live in. The blog posts one or two pieces of writing a day, from creative writing or poetry to personal stories and accounts, and I find a lot of the writing simultaneously moving, heartbreaking or horrifying, and surprising, warm and hopeful. Alongside the testaments to abuse and repression and lack of freedoms are stories of hope, of women supported and encouraged by both male and female relatives, of people simply keeping hope and education alive even under the Taliban.

The story that first brought my attention to this site was "I am for sale, who will buy me?" via calls to try and save this young teacher of English from being sold to an abusive relative by her Talib brothers. But this same piece contains the story of the father who taught his daughter at home when it was illegal for her to go to school, who bought her books and encouraged her to learn and, later, to teach.

Others stories shared on AWWP include a profile of a female karate instructor, a girl whose letter to her parents persuaded them not to marry her off at 14 but allow her to enter higher education, a harrowing tale of escape from vengeful Taliban, and many other stories. As I say, both sobering atrocities and simple hope populate my news feeds in the morning thanks to this site. It's an excellent, eye-opening project.

Global Health blog by Sarah Boseley

2010-02-05T14:10:00.007Z

The title here links to this Guardian blog, started 25 January 2010. It has a story today about money going towards developing a microbicide to protect women against HIV caught from heterosexual intercourse. Not there yet, but it may be a more practical way for some women to protect themselves, rather than asking their partner to wear a condom.

IMF works toward cancelling debt in Haiti

2010-02-05T11:48:00.004Z

From Johann Hari in today's Independent

... something new and startling happened this month. For the first time, the IMF was stopped from shafting a poor country – by a rebellion here in the rich world. Hours after the quake, a Facebook group called "No Shock Doctrine For Haiti" had tens of thousands of members, and orchestrated a petition to the IMF of over 150,000 signatures demanding the loan become a no-strings grant. After Naomi Klein's mega-selling exposé, there was a vigilant public who wanted to see that the money they were donating to charity was not going to be cancelled out by the IMF.

And it worked. The IMF backed down. It publicly renounced its conditions – and even said it would work to cancel Haiti's entire debt. This is the first sign that exposing and opposing the IMF's agenda works. Klein says it is "unprecedented in my experience, and shows that public pressure in moments of disaster can seriously subvert shock doctrine tactics." Of course, the IMF needs to be watched vigilantly. Already it seems to be rolling back some of its panicked initial rhetoric and saying that "beyond the emergency phase" it may go back to business as usual. Very powerful interests want the IMF to continue to dance to their tune.

Not specific to women - but see post by Djibril below:

European Women's Forum in Cadiz

2010-02-04T10:41:00.006Z

This opened in Cadiz on Feb 3 2010, concentrating on combatting Violence against women. Calling itself Beijing +15. Co-hosted by Harriet Harman and Spanish Minister for Equality, Bibiana Aido, and also proposing regular meetings, and measures to encourage high-level participation by women.

I can't find a reference in normal UK press, so - http://7thspace.com/headlines/333670/uk_and_spain_co_host_unprecedented_european_womens_summit.html

Otherwise I found it on Canal Sur info page:
http://www.canalsur.es/informativos/noticia?id=100436&idCanal=713

It's a pre-forum for the UN meeting on 1 - 15 March 2010.

Roller derby - a woman's sport

2010-02-04T10:39:00.000Z

Alas, not one I'll be taking up now, but it looks fun - http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/04/roller-derby-britain-women

Stepmothers aren't always wicked

2010-02-03T17:51:00.001Z

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/03/sam-baker-stepmothers

Sam Baker examines a few literary stepmothers, some fit the stereotype, others don't.

Pregnancy does not cause memory lapses!

2010-02-03T10:12:00.003Z

Another quickie - so women aren't at the mercy of hormones...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8491493.stm

Suffering of women in Haiti

2010-01-29T20:32:00.006Z

From the Amnesty International blog today:

In 2008 Amnesty produced a report highlighting that sexual violence against women and girls in Haiti is particularly rife and that the government should pay greater attention to stopping these abuses. With the quake shattering Haiti’s already fragile infrastructure, the risk of sexual violence being carried out with impunity may well increase.

The post ends:

The situation for women and girls is often forgotten about in times of disasters and crises and yet it's these people who are often the hardest hit. The international community cannot simply keep tacitly accepting this. Let's hope that for this crisis, the rights of women and girls are central to Haiti’s reconstruction and development efforts.

Many links in the original post worth following for background and opinion. We should not be picking on Haiti at the country's lowest point, of course, but this is an issue that is bigger than any one country. When a people suffer, their women suffer most.

Feminist things for 2010

2010-01-08T09:21:00.002Z

From the Guardian, Viv Groskop's article on the Feminist Year ahead. Just noting this for future reference

30 years of feminism in Spain

2009-12-09T09:04:00.004Z

Thirty years since the first Feminist Congress was held in Spain. Celebrated by a meeting in Granada.

From Canal Sur (6.12.2009):
Las cifras se han desbordado. Cuatro mil participantes de todas las comunidades autónomas y ciento cincuenta ponencias ponen de manifiesto que el feminismo sigue muy vivo. Aseguran que la lucha por la igualdad debe continuar y extenderse a otros países.
‘Granada, treinta años después’ es el título que enmarca estas Jornadas Feministas Estatales que concluirán mañana lunes. A Granada han llegado cuatro mil quinientas mujeres de todo el país y representantes internacionales para tratar una batería de temas en torno a ciento cincuenta mesas.Mañana lunes concluye este congreso que ha puesto de manifiesto la importancia y la vigencia del feminismo español.Este domingo se concentran en apoyo de la activista saharaui Aminetu Haidar y posteriormente recorrerán en manifestación el centro de Granada.

Feminist books for under-fives

2009-12-04T14:08:00.006Z

Good discussion and some interesting books mentioned on a Guardian CIF article. Comments range from brilliant to the usual anti-feminist 'keep us all stereotyped or the world will grind to a halt' nonsense. Click on title of this post for the article.

I will collect a list of the books at some point. I hope.

Here is a site with recommendations - an anti-princess reading list from Mommytracked.com

Girls prefer pink - biologically - really???

2009-12-03T10:28:00.004Z

While ferreting around on the pinkstinks website and zapping off my own version of the email to the head office, I discovered this article by Ben Goldacre debunking the idea that colour preference is genetically determined by males' and females' biological make-up. Another way of putting us all into little boxes.

Pink stinks takes on ELC

2009-12-03T08:36:00.002Z

Check out the campaign against sex-stereotyped children's toys.

Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation

2009-12-03T08:32:00.004Z

...celebrates its 25th anniversary today - such women as Kelly Holmes, Rebecca Adlington, Paula Radcliffe, Rebecca Romero, Nicole Cooke among others.

But it still doesn't get the publicity that men's sport gets. Grr.

Go girls and women, go.

More headline idiocy

2009-09-16T14:34:00.004+01:00

As I understand it the TUC has passed/ is discussing a resolution to stop employers forcing women to wear high heels at work, on health grounds.
They are not forcing women to stop wearing high heels. They are not asking women to stop wearing high heels.
Yet it has been misreported in this way, under the headline:
Daggers drawn over stilettos
A TUC vote to ban high heels in the workplace has won support from doctors – but derision from women.
Where? In the Independent today. And all the usual suspects are up in arms.

Women's rights way to fight poverty

2009-08-22T21:32:00.004+01:00

The Slate short in the title link refers to a New York Times magazine article by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, who argue that women are more likely to spend money they earn on food and education, than on alcohol, and so empowering women is more likely to tackle poverty and even extremism.

Pink Stinks Campaign

2009-08-22T18:57:00.003+01:00

Revving up...

Feminism is not dead

2009-08-06T16:54:00.004+01:00

A Times article discusses how lap-dancing clubs, and lads' mags have come to increase under a Labour government whose only criterion seems to be that if people will pay for it, it must be desirable. Anyone who opposes these is easily dismissed as an outdated feminist puritanical party-pooper.

Of course, as well as the article itself, the comments, on both sides of the argument are enlightening. Mainly they enlighten me about just how far feminism has yet to go.

Malalai Joya

2009-08-05T21:05:00.003+01:00

An Afghan female politician speaks out. From the Daily Telegraph this time.

Solo crossing of Indian Ocean by Sarah Outen

2009-08-04T10:55:00.003+01:00

Sarah Outen , aged 24, from Oakham, Rutland, arrived in Mauritius on 3rd August, after spending 124 days rowing, on her own across the Indian Ocean. She is not only the first woman, but also the youngest person to complete the crossing, and the fastest.

She has already raised £13,000 for the charity Arthritis Care, in memory of her father who died from the disease in 2006.

Sponsorship details in the comment below.

Lubna Hussein trial

2009-08-04T10:48:00.003+01:00

Lubna Hussein is on trial in Sudan for wearing trousers, considered to be 'indecent clothing'. She has actively sought publicity for the trial, to highlight what she considers an injustice which affects many women in that country. If convicted she could face a punshiment of 40 lashes and an unlimited fine. The trial has now been delayed for a month.

From a BBC article:

"Before police caught me, there are maybe 20,000 girls and women getting flogged for dress reasons," she said.

If this could happen in a restaurant in Khartoum, imagine what the situation must be for women in Darfur, Ms Hussein said.

"This is my message."

Ms Hussein and two other women asked for a lawyer, delaying their trials.

Under a 2005 peace deal between the mainly Muslim north and the largely Christian and animist south, Sharia law is not supposed to be applied to non-Muslims living in the capital.

Ms Hussein says she has done nothing wrong under Sharia law, but could fall foul of a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing.

Aung San Suu Kyi

2009-08-04T10:42:00.002+01:00

The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi continues in Burma. Not just a feminist issue here, but one of democracy and repressive military government.

The election is coming?

2009-08-04T10:29:00.006+01:00

A few stirrings in the politisphere made me think it worth noting, as and when they arise, any news items which reveal the attitude of politicians and parties towards women, or , dare I say it, feminism.

Something from a Lib Dem, Jo Swinton is campaigning about the pernicious effects of airbrushed ads on how teenagers and others see themselves. Important stuff, since we as a society seem obsessed with perfect bodies, and intolerant of anyone who falls short. This causes real misery, and makes vast amounts of money for the unscrupulous who market products, including drastic plastic surgery.

Harriet Harman has taken advantage of her two weeks in nominal charge of the Labour party to talk some sense, which has been picked up as feminist nonsense by certain newspapers.
For a couple of articles giving her a positive welcome see here and here.

Fawcett Society and Katherine Rake

2009-07-17T09:03:00.002+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/17/feminism-fawcett-society-katherine-rake

Katherine Rake finishes her seven-year spell as director of the Fawcett Society today. She moves on to the research organisation Family and Parenting Institute.

How headlines change the story

2009-07-16T10:09:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Ben Goldacre's Bad Science column for this one:

http://www.badscience.net/2009/07/asking-for-it/#more-1250

I quote the intro verbatim:

There’s nothing like science for giving that objective, white-coat flavoured legitimacy to your prejudices, so it must have been a great day for Telegraph readers when they came across the headline “Women who dress provocatively more likely to be raped, claim scientists”. Ah, scientists. “Women who drink alcohol, wear short skirts and are outgoing are more likely to be raped, claim scientists at the University of Leicester.” Well there you go. Oddly, though, the title of the press release for the same research was “Promiscuous men more likely to rape”.

Women not at the top in Fashion

2009-05-31T09:07:00.003+01:00

Independent article about women's inequalities in industry in general and fashion in particular.

Reasons - inbuilt prejudice, old-fashioned attitudes (lol) and of course that old childcare problem.

Fashion designers and equalities campaigners complain that, while women account for 52 per cent of the workforce in the fashion and textiles sector, they occupy just 37 per cent of the top jobs, and are paid 15 per cent less than their male colleagues.

"Discrimination is everywhere, not just in male-dominated industries," said Katherine Rake, director of the Fawcett Society which campaigns for equality between men and women in the UK in areas such as pay and pensions. "Some employers do it unwittingly, so we are encouraging them to do mandatory pay audits to make sure they are not discriminating."

Although fashion is in the spotlight, some argue that the same obstacles block women's progress in all industries: in particular, that women continue to bear the brunt of childcare. The idea that a high-flying career is incompatible with motherhood is borne out by the statistics, which show that the average hourly wage for female workers prior to having children is 91 per cent of the male average, declining to 67 per cent for working mothers.

British women, on average, are paid 17.1 per cent less than their male colleagues, although this varies significantly from industry to industry. Recent research from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission last month revealed that women working in the financial sector earn, on average, a massive 55 per cent less then their male colleagues.

Many fashion insiders deny there is a problem with inequality; while others reject the idea that women are disadvantaged within their particular company, but confirm that it is a problem within the industry as a whole.

"The fashion industry is one of the largest employers for women, has many strong role models and provides a broad variety of career opportunities," said Caroline Rush, joint chair of the British Fashion Council.

"It is the whole thing of careers and children; they are very hard to juggle," said British designer Katherine Hamnett. "It tends to be gay men who are at the top in design – Yves St Laurent, etc," she added. "That's because they don't usually have any children at all, it is easy for them."

Click on title for full article

More feminist than thou or damaging the 'cause'

2009-05-17T10:01:00.004+01:00

A furore between more traditional feminists and those who proclaim the freedom to be bad.
Click on the title to read the article. I have skip-read - my quick precis may not be entirely accurate.

Pro Mujer

2009-05-15T22:46:00.002+01:00

Click on the title to read about how small loans are helping women in Latin America. Another BBC article.

The psychology of unequal pay?

2009-05-14T13:16:00.002+01:00

Click on the title for a link to a BBC magazine article.

Whether anyone should aim for vast pay packets is another question entirely of course.

Women in Spain

2009-05-11T22:21:00.002+01:00

A revealing article about Spain, and the role of women during the Franco years. No wonder, it concludes, that Spain is in the forefront of women's progress now.

New Equality Bill

2009-04-27T07:41:00.001+01:00

Harriet Harman is introducing a bill to increase awareness of inequalities, including the gender gap in pay.

Greater equality - greater happiness

2009-04-15T09:56:00.004+01:00

Not just about sexual equality, this time.

In a splendidly clear and partisan article in today's Independent, Johann Hari picks up on the book by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level. Not only are more equal societies happier, they are more likely to survive crises such as the current financial one, and the challenge of climate change.

See also Will Hutton's article in the Guardian, 15th March.

Large Gender Pay Gap in Financial services

2009-04-11T10:36:00.003+01:00

9 April 2009

Report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission

A new Commission report reveals significant gender pay gaps in the finance sector of up to 60 percent.
The findings also show that amongst the highest earners, the gender pay gap for full time hourly gross earnings is 45 percent, while women working full-time in the lowest paid roles in the sector receive on average 16 percent less in hourly gross pay than their male colleagues.

Picked up from Fabian Society blog

Female 'Cricketer of the Year'

2009-04-04T20:02:00.002+01:00

Clare Taylor, a member of the triuphant England women's cricket team was one of the five cricketers of the year named by Wisden, the 'Cricketers Bible', on Tuesday April 2nd.

GB women win cycling team sprint

2009-03-26T22:21:00.003Z

In the Cycling World Championships, Great Britain secured their first gold by winning the women's team sprint title.
Wendy Houvenaghel, Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead beat New Zealand by 1.273 seconds in a time of 3 minutes 22.720 sec in the final.

And we shouldn't forget the women's cricket team who won the world chamionship last weekend!

Bike Belles

2009-03-26T15:43:00.005Z

Sustrans has part of its website devoted to encouraging women to cycle safely and in style!

My personal mixed feelings about some women being too wimpy, and too concerned about appearances may be totally unjustified. (100 times, I will not be negative. Grr.)

It includes sections on:

Why cycle

Looking good

Staying Safe

Cycle basics.

Ada Lovelace Day

2009-03-26T09:35:00.005Z

March 24th was Ada Lovelace Day - to celebrate women in technology. It is named after Byron's daughter, Ada, the woman who is considered to be the first ever programmer.

Reading habits male and female

2009-03-25T12:17:00.002Z

According to a survey reported in the Daily Telegraph, women read more, and are more likely to finish books than men.

More details later (I hope)

Women and mental health

2009-03-25T09:21:00.004Z

Information from this article in the Independent

According to a report from the NHS Information Centre, 56% of the 1.2 million referrals for treatment (inpatient and outpatient) last year were women. The total was up 3.4% from the previous year, and women accounted for 70% of the increase.

There has also been a rise of more than 12% in proportion of women suffereing depression and anxiety since the mid-1990s. Men have shown no increase in mental health problems.

The increase has been blamed on the increasing need to care for elderly parents in their 80s and 90s, and the fact that women still bear the major responsibility for caring. This has to be seen in the context of a policy to keep elderly people at home as much as possible, with the financial pressures of paying for domestic care.

A 2003 report by the charity Women at the Crossroads pointed out that women in mid-life are likely to find themselves in financial difficulties as a result of lower pay, part-time working, and divorce. They were less likely than men to own their own home, and carried a greater share of household duties.

My solution would be to encourage a more equal distribution of tasks between men and women, along with equal pay (of course). And our priorities should be towards money for public services at basic levels, such as home care, and other social services, rather than high salaries for top civil servants. Or of course bankers.

Young women and self-harm in Britain

2009-03-22T08:11:00.004Z

From the Independent on Sunday, an article linking these statistics to the growing inequalities in wealth. Direct quote:

The number of people harming themselves deliberately has leapt by a third in the past five years, according to new figures seen by The Independent on Sunday. The biggest rise in self-harm and attempted suicide has been among young women between the ages of 16 and 24 as they struggle to cope with the pressures of modern living in Britain.

There were 97,871 hospital admissions for deliberate self-harm in England in 2007-08 – 4,337 of them for children under the age of 14. Meanwhile, one in eight young women admitted to self-harm in 2007 – an 80 per cent increase since 2000.

According to new research published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the growing gap between rich and poor has led to an increase in mental health problems such as depression and self-harm in countries including the UK and US. People are surrounded by stories about the rich and famous – lifestyles that are unattainable for the majority. These inequalities cause psychological and physical stress which leads to mental and physical health problems, the report concludes.

Dora going 'tween'

2009-03-21T07:39:00.004Z

A Pink Stinks blog entry about how young girls are manipulated for marketing purposes, in particular objecting to the way Dora is being made to grow up into a 'tween'. Dora is a cartoon character who so far has presented some kind of active role model for little girls.

Comments are interesting too.

There is a petition you can sign here

Geek Moms

2009-03-21T07:31:00.002Z

An article on the BBC website on how mothers at home with young children are finding online social networking a real lifeline, not a substitute for real friendships, but a way of maintaining them, and a creative outlet.

I think this is also true about many retired people, and indeed those who are unemployed.

Reminder to self - catch the 'feminist' programme before Tuesday morning.

Call yourself a Feminist - programme 2

2009-03-16T21:41:00.003Z

9 am Tuesday 17th March

Call Yourself a Feminist Radio 4
17 March 2009
Bettany Hughes presents a series of discussions tracing the development of feminism. 2/3: Linda Bellos, Roz Morris, Lynne Segal and Beatrix Campbell discuss feminism in the 1980s.

repeated at 21.30

Women's Health

2009-03-16T15:15:00.002Z

A survey covering a million women aged 50 and over is providing masses of information about lifestyle and health. From links between alcohol and breast cancer to HRT. Read about in this Guardian article.

Inequality is the root of all evil?

2009-03-15T08:13:00.003Z

Will Hutton discusses a recent book (The Spirit Level, by Wilkinson and Pickett) in this Guardian article. Social inequality, not sexual, but very interesting for its take on co-operation versus individual greed, and how the UK fits in. (Not very well, and little change in the New Labour years - there's no surprise!)

Lesbians "corrective rape" in South Africa

2009-03-14T12:48:00.000Z

Lesbians living in South Africa are being subjected to "corrective rape" and severe violence by men trying to "cure" them of their sexual orientation, human rights groups have said.

Reported in Guardian, Telegraph and others

Men, women, unemployment and housework

2009-03-13T17:17:00.004Z

An article in Slate magazine asks if men could be doing more round the home if they are unemployed. Memo to self, read it soon.

Had a quick glance, it seems many men are adapting to this with ease, and doing a bigger chunk at home. A few, as ever, sit on their arses and play computer games..

Interesting article, investigating the intricacies of male/female roles.

Ten liberating washing machines

2009-03-13T09:34:00.005Z

More discussion about the item that has been most liberating for women, in Times online blog. The usual crass comments, and of course some decent ones as well.

Is it the machine? Is it chemicals and preservatives in food? Could it be a more equal sharing of work inside and outside the home? Legal rights? The vote? Contraception?

Progress in Africa

2009-03-12T07:57:00.002Z

Johann Hari's article in the Independent is worth reading.

In villages across Africa, old women suspected of witchcraft are hacked to death, while young girls are mutilated to preserve their virginity. But attitudes are changing – and thousands of lives are being saved. Johann Hari reports from Kenya and Tanzania

Action Aid and IWD

2009-03-11T12:04:00.001Z

International Women's Day (IWD) connects women around the world and aims to inspire them to achieve their full potential. It is an opportunity to highlight the abuse of women’s rights across the world, while celebrating the central role that women play in creating a fairer and more just world.
ActionAid celebrated International Women's Day on 8 March with comedy, campaigns and film.

Older women rock?

2009-03-11T09:19:00.003Z

See this article in the Daily Telegraph, in praise of older women and their efficiency and work rate - yes, and wisdom. It's written by Emma Soames, the editor-at-large for Saga magazine. But as a counterbalance, read the comments too - some women, older or otherwise have made as many mistakes as testosterone-driven men. Be careful which examples you choose if you wish to claim that women have innate superiority.

Binge-drinking and role models

2009-03-11T07:34:00.003Z

Clare Clinton on AOl front page pontificates about the terrible role models presented to young women - Amy Winehouse and others. But isn't her article doing exactly what she claims to deplore - giving this behaviour publicity? I suppose it would be too much in our celeb obsessed age to ask the media to ignore drunken celebs. And now I've clicked on the article twice, so I suppose I'm helping to push it up their 'most read' list.

Call Yourself a feminist? worth a listen?

2009-03-10T09:36:00.007Z

I caught this on Listen Again. It is here . To those of us who were around in the late sixties and early seventies, it didn't say anything new or startling, but was an interesting trip down memory lane. Will try to summarize later.

(I know - the road to hell...)

It contains some interesting observations about clothes and feminist humourlessness, as well as taking stock of the very real progress made in Europe and the US in particular. Though one of the contributors thought the programme concentrated too much on trivia.

Interesting timeline of women's achievements - feminist or otherwise.

Incontinence

2009-03-09T12:56:00.007Z

Ulrika Jonnson gives lots of information here about causes of urinary incontinence in women, after childbirth or menopause. There are also simple exercises which can improve the condition.

From the article:
New research by the Wellbeing of Women charity shows that one third of British women over the age of 30 have experience of this condition. However, women often suffer in silence falsely assuming they are alone and too embarrassed to seek help.

The condition is linked not only to childbirth, but also to the menopause, which results in a loss of hormones that play an essential role in keeping the muscles strong and elastic.

Equality in European Union

2009-03-09T12:42:00.004Z

Another BBC article caught my eye, balm to the soul, after I've been indulging in online arguing the case for equality with a man who claims to have biology, and all logic on his side, and that women should 'pull the strings behind the scenes'

At least this can be a reference site

2009-03-09T09:54:00.001Z

So, even though we don't seem to be very active, at least we're gathering some useful website addresses for reference.