31 August 2007

New Features! New Reviews!

This month’s update isn’t finished yet, but there’s already plenty of interesting stuff to read. First up, Irina Lester reviews One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, by Melissa Panarello. It’s definitely an interesting contrast to last month’s interview… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 31 August 2007

Angela Merkel named most powerful woman in the world; Margaret Beckett falls off list

Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, is the most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes magazine. Wu Yi, vice premier of China, came in second, while, interestingly US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dropped from second place to fourth… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 31 August 2007

30 August 2007

Discrimination hits corporations in their wallets; surgically replace your eyelashes!

US firms lose out on $64 billion, or about £32 million, a year from professionals who quit their job when they are discriminated against on the grounds of gender, race and sexuality, reports the Financial Times. The research by the… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 30 August 2007

Amnesty reports on Hungary

I think the problem with sexual violence in Hungary can be summed up by this quote from the report: “At least 85% of them are whores: but they do not manage to come to an agreement. They are prostitutes: overtly… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 30 August 2007

29 August 2007

7th September in Salford: Volunteers Needed

From The Big Issue In The North: “Organisations that want to know more about the benefits of volunteers from groups not normally attracted to volunteering - such as young people, asylum seekers, black and minority ethnic communities and the unemployed… Read more...

Posted by Barbara Felix at 29 August 2007

Playboy launches social networking site; has a confused boss

Playboy has already expanded its empire from porn to pencil cases, so it should be no surprise that it is responding to the Web 2.0 craze with a social networking site for students. The Chronicle of Higher Education suggests some… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 29 August 2007

Married men do less housework than co-habitees

Married men report doing less housework than live-in boyfriends, regardless of whether or not the couple holds egalitarian values, according to research by George Mason University in the US. The research looked at married and co-habiting heterosexual couples from 28… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 29 August 2007

Ladyfest Bristol is Here!

Ladyfest Bristol had a great launch at The Cube on Monday night. I must confess this has been my first time attending a Ladyfest, as I tend to get rather embarrassed when I am reminded that a celebration of… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 29 August 2007

Mind the gap!

The Guardian presents some sobering statistics on the pay gap between men and women, finding that it is as wide in the boardroom as lower down. The only two women heading any of Britain’s top 100 companies saw their… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 29 August 2007

Cardinal quits human rights champion because it does not support forced pregnancy for rape victims!

We’ve not mentioned it on the blog, I don’t think, but I’m sure readers will be aware that Amnesty International recently changed its policy, to support the right to abortion for cases where a woman has been raped, sexually assaulted,… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 29 August 2007

Feminism declared dead, again

Feminism has more lives than an average herd of very lucky cats, it’s seems. It’s been declared dead again by Magnus Linklater (see picture to right which I’ve captioned “Would you take feminist history 101 from this man?”) in… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 29 August 2007

Cosmo renames rape - as not rape

If anyone needed further proof that women’s glossy magazines are part of the problem see Cosmo’s renaming of “date rape” (a problematic enough term because people presume meanings not meant by the term) to “grey rape”. Yes that’s right, get… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 29 August 2007

28 August 2007

Witch burnings in Papua New Guinea

The Independent reports on the ignorance of HIV in Papua New Guinea, which has led to victims being buried alive for fear of them passing on the virus. In the absence of accurate information, HIV is being attributed to witchcraft:… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 28 August 2007

Is it better to pee like a man?

AdsoftheWorld.com highlights another interesting ad campaign, this time for a biodegradable thingymagig that allows women to pee standing up. Here’s a description of how the campaign worked in practice, seemingly in Canada: To drive trial where the product was most… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 28 August 2007

Lingerie firm shuns photoshop in favour of real women

OK, it’s hideously expensive, but kudos to Lille Boutique for using non-photoshopped models to advertise their lingerie. The Portland, Oregan boutique sells ‘bralettes’ for $225 each. On sale. But at least if you do pay this much, you have a… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 28 August 2007

27 August 2007

More on "Girl Power"

Following on from this discussion of the Spice Girls, the Halifax News (in Canada, not UK) has an interesting article on the “Perversion of Girl Power”. Including this: “The Spice Girls and that whole era of MTV feminism … really… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 27 August 2007

Love your hair as it is - buy our stuff!

Remember the video Dove put out last year, showing the transformation of a real-life model, with blemishes, etc, into the kind of perfect image you see in advertising? Well, they’ve done it again, this time with hair. The video (below)… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 27 August 2007

26 August 2007

A social network for professional women?

Most websites designed “for women” tend to be dire, falling into the trap of assuming that it’s possible to meaningfully target something at half the population, and assuming the way to do that is through shoes, shopping and pink things…. Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 26 August 2007

Trafficked women auctioned in pubs

Trafficked women are being auctioned in Cambridgeshire pubs, before being locked away in brothels, reports the Observer. The discovery was made after police carried out a series of raids on 73 brothels in Cambridgeshire, which resulted in the rescue of… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 26 August 2007

News Flash - Kate Moss has lost weight!

From that bastion of journalistic integrity the Daily Mail comes a shock report about the latest developments in Kate Moss’ figure. Kate’s “friends” have informed the Mail that she “has lost half a stone over the past three weeks and… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 26 August 2007

Cool Vs. Freak

Yesterday at the supermarket checkout, I saw a very young girl (let’s say about 7 or 8 tops) wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the legend COOL VS. FREAK. Whilst the first few immediate reactions I had ranged from “Oh my… Read more...

Posted by Barbara Felix at 26 August 2007

Inside the host clubs of Osaka

The Great Happiness Space is a documentary by Jake Clennell about the hosts of Osaka, who entertain women for money. Not sleep with them for money - although they occasionally do have sex. They are charming, make their customers… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 26 August 2007

PS2 - for panty-sniffers?

As regular readers know, you can always count on Sony to come up with a truly offensive advert for the PlayStation. Well, AdsoftheWorld.com has dug out some more examples in this genre, this time advertising the PS2 with… men sniffing… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 26 August 2007

25 August 2007

Purple Protest in London - Video

A video has been posted on youtube of the first Purple Resistance roving protest through London about the low conviction rate for rape and the culture of blaming victims for being raped by men. The sound is a bit difficult… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 25 August 2007

Women are apparently not allowed to have women's bodies

After the coverage of Jacqui Smith’s cleavage and Hilary Clinton’s cleavage we now have the case of Emily Maitlis’s legs. Newsreader extraordinaire has been criticised for wearing a skirt which was so unedifyingly short (i.e. knee length) it might… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 25 August 2007

Sexual Violence in Congo at epidemic propotions

Sexual violence against women in the southern province of South-Kivu (number 7 on the map) has reached epidemic proportions according to reports by the local commission on sexual violence. Between January and June 2007 some 5,470 cases of sexual… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 25 August 2007

More improbably research "results"

According to the Telegraph and a research team from University of California, Santa Barbara and Yale University, women have a “homing” instinct for food. “Today, a scientific study says that over many thousands of years evolution has designed women to… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 25 August 2007

24 August 2007

Men let off with puny fines after viciously beating wives

A man branded his wife with an iron for not pressing his shirt. He slashed her feet with a knife while she slept, because she had not made his sandwiches. When she “complained”, as the Daily Mail puts it, he… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 24 August 2007

Sweden only country to call out Sloggi's 'cynical and sexist' campaign

Underwear maker Sloggi has outraged many Swedes, with a competition which revolves around finding “the world’s most beautiful bum”, reports The Local. As far as I know, the same campaign has received exactly zero attention in the UK. Users on… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 24 August 2007

Six weeks without a toothbrush, shower or makeup

A woman went six weeks without makeup, washing or brushing her teeth, and recording the whole thing for the BBC, reports the Daily Mail. As usual with these types of ‘social experiments’, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. On… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 24 August 2007

Quinceañera dolls 'a bit racist' and more

Dolls don’t have a good rep with feminists anyway. But Mi blog es tu blog has found a particularly hideous example. Laura points out that the porcelain doll is a touch racist, noting that the press release describes the doll… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 24 August 2007

23 August 2007

Workplace discrimination against ethnic minority women and what's being done about it

Women are subject to discrimination in the workplace, but for women from ethnic minorities the problem is often worse, as racism and religious and cultural ignorance come into play as well. Pickled Politics points to this feature in Personnel Today… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 23 August 2007

"Girl Power" - yay or nay?

It’s ten years since the Spice Girls stormed the charts and stole the phrase “Girl Power” from the band Shampoo. And some people are fating this as a cultural landslide… Sex expert Tracey Cox says: ‘Girl Power didn’t just leave… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 23 August 2007

African-American Lesbians in NYC…

West Village has always been thought of as synonymous with LGBT freedom. Not anymore. On August 18th 2006 a group of seven young African-American lesbian-identified women travelled to West Village from Newark for a night out. Outside an independent cinema,… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 23 August 2007

22 August 2007

Prostitutes told to reform or face jail

The government plans to put prostitutes behind bars if they are caught soliciting sex, reports The Guardian. Under the proposed legislation, the courts will be able to force women to attend three sessions with an “expert”, to talk about exiting… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 22 August 2007

Organise your own Ladyfest

In today’s Guardian, Leonie Cooper explains how to organise your own Ladyfest. The Ladyfest is a relatively recent phenomenon, the first happening in Washington in 2000. The idea is simple: it’s a not-for-profit feminist festival celebrating all things female and… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 22 August 2007

In answer to the question…..

Are there any women music bloggers out there…? Blogher.org has prepared this response confirming the existence of this apparently rare breed…. Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 22 August 2007

Evidence from Darfur confirms widespread use of sexual violence against women

The UN has released detailed reports of new crimes against Darfur women by soldiers and the government sponsored Janjaweed militia. The report also accuses the Sudanese government of failing to investigate these crimes and protect it’s population. “The abuses may… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 22 August 2007

21 August 2007

Racism puts mothers at risk in Sweden

Sweden has a reputation as one of the best countries in the world to give birth. But, according to a new study, the outlook is not so good for mothers born outside the Scandinavian country. The Local reports that women… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 21 August 2007

Sexual Assault is second most common injury for Jamaican Women

And 70% of rape victims in Jamaica are under the age of consent. Amnesty International has published a new report on sexual violence against women and children in Jamaica. “Just a Little Sex” is the result of research concluded in… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 21 August 2007

Barbie through the ages

One of my favourite things to look at on YouTube is old skool advertisements. They provide such a fascinating insight into which products were available, to whom they were marketed, how things were promoted in different decades and what techniques… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 21 August 2007

Women prefer pink - it's apparently genetic…. (Additional)

As flagged in a previous post theres much nonsense being spread about “genetic” liking of different colours by men and woman. On the basis of showing 208 participants 1,000 coloured squares either on a computer screen or flashcards (Reuters and… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 21 August 2007

40 reasons not to have children

French writer Corinne Maier has scandalised the parents of France by writing a book entitled No Kid: 40 Reasons Not to Have Children and has been the subject of an interesting interview in The Times. On the face of it,… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 21 August 2007

20 August 2007

Hair-raising interview

Pam Spaulding from Pam’s House Blend and Pandagon did a really interesting video interview for a project called Hair Stories. You can read more about it on her blog (sorry, I can’t get the embedded video to work): I am… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 20 August 2007

Silly survey links love of pink with cavewoman love of berries

The female love of pink has deep, deep roots, according to research by the University of Newcastle. The Times reports on a study which purports to trace girls’ and women’s preference for fluffy pinks to “humans’ hunter-gatherer days, when women… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 20 August 2007

Kenyans fail to secure 50 seats for women

Kenyan campaigners have failed in a bid to secure 50 seats in parliament for female politicians, reports the Feminist Majority Foundation. Out of 222 seats, women fill only 18. According to media reports, a bill to increase the representation of… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 20 August 2007

The fashion mag lifestyle: really, really expensive!

There are plenty of reasons to diss fashion mags (I can’t quite bring myself to call them women’s magazines). But one of the easiest is the consumer fantasy they embody, a fantasy which is way out of pretty much everyone’s… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 20 August 2007

Hockey film has audiences lapping up feminist message

A new Bollywood flick meshes together the best of The Mighty Ducks with an exposition on gender stereotyping. Chak De India follows the story of a once-successful (field) hockey star, who makes a come back as a coach for… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 20 August 2007

BA(Hons) Homemaking - teaching women's inferiority since 1910

Before I start, yes it’s at a private university in the US. However, as the radical and/or religious right get more air-time over here, then let’s see what’s on offer. Southwestern Bapist Theological Seminary in Texas (not to be… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 20 August 2007

Flagging up….

this excellent article on Women’s Health News on how anti-abortion groups “spin” research findings…. Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 20 August 2007

PIs zone in on arranged marriages

Families in India are increasingly hiring private detectives to investigate potential son-in-laws, reports Women’s eNews. The trend has been fed by the use of internet dating sites to find matches for arranged marriages: “Since people who meet online know little… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 20 August 2007

19 August 2007

I'm a roller girl, in my roller world…

The London Rollergirls have already been getting some great press. Hell, they were even on Richard & Judy (that video is actually worth watching, if, like me, you have no idea what a roller derby is). Now they’re putting on… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 19 August 2007

I'm Just a Girl

There are so many little subtle (and not so subtle) ways in which boys and girls learn what it means in our society to be male or female. Being female is generally represented as being attractive, being male is… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 19 August 2007

18 August 2007

Psychologies article makes feminist fume

The September 2007 issue of Psychologies magazine includes a feature guaranteed to increase my stress levels. Under the dubious headline “Are Women Better at Being in Charge?”, various bosses, Chief Executives and leaders, both male and female, give their… Read more...

Posted by Catherine Redfern at 18 August 2007

A police officer tells it like it is…

A female police officer has a blog. In that blog, she reveals some very interesting things about the way rape cases are treated by the police and criminal justice system. For example, in this post, PC Bloggs compares the notes… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 18 August 2007

17 August 2007

The life of a Hong Kong maid?

The BBC investigates the mistreatment of Filipino women when they go to Hong Kong to work as maids, as part of a series called Maids: The Untold Story You can download part one of the series here. In particular, the… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 17 August 2007

Eating disorders may have a genetic basis

Professor Janet Treasure reports in The Times about her research into eating disorders, courting the possibility that these severe psychiatric conditions may be caused at least in part by the physiological functioning of the brain. Professor Treasure likens eating… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 17 August 2007

Racism against indigenous peoples - alive and well

We all know that to be a woman is hard, to be a woman on minority ethnic descent harder. Spare a thought for Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize winner, UNESCO ambassador, Guatamalan Presidential Candidate, women’s and indigenous people’s rights… Read more...

Posted by Louise Livesey at 17 August 2007

The Daily Mail profiles women who fail to "dress their age"

Today’s issue of the Daily Mail features a profile of five middle-aged women who dress like teenagers. To be honest, I’m a bit bemused as to what is so newsworthy of this. Women daring to dress in a manner not… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 17 August 2007

16 August 2007

Introducing our new blogger: Samara Ginsberg

We have a new addition here at The F Word family: Samara Ginsberg is joining us as a regular blogger. You might remember her name from her contributions to the main F Word site, such as ‘Honey! Your vagina needs… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 16 August 2007

JLo's cellulite shocker insults women

Today’s issue of The Metro, a free tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail Media Group, distributed every weekday on the London Underground, advises us that women can now breathe a sigh of relief because JLo has cellulite. The version… Read more...

Posted by Samara Ginsberg at 16 August 2007

Matt Damon calls James Bond out as a misogynist

At the premier of the latest Bourne flick, actor Matt Damon called James Bond an “imperialist and misogynist”, reports the Daily Mail. “The Bond thing, I understand the comparison because they are both agents and it’s the world of espionage… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 16 August 2007

Latest carnival of feminists out now

Click your way over to Femtique for the 43rd Carnival of Feminists. Interesting tidbits from this edition include this profile of a Thai artist who has set up an art gallery-come-laundrette-come-cafe in Bangkok, called Rinse and Relax. She has quite… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 16 August 2007

Long-live the assertiveness of WAGs?

I nearly laughed out loud on reading today’s ‘news’ that some people hold in contempt footballers who ‘allow’ their wives and girlfriends to influence their life choices. According to the BBC, Roy Keane (Sunderland boss), believes that footballers who make… Read more...

Posted by zohra moosa at 16 August 2007

15 August 2007

The bra you can never take off

Israeli researchers are developing a silicon bra - which is surgically implanted under your skin, to permanently prevent sagging! Yes, it’s really horrifying. Israel21c reports: Dr. Eyal Gur, head of microsurgery at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital: “I call it an… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 15 August 2007

14 August 2007

Ubisoft Game Excludes Boys (and Nauseates Feminists)

Girl in the Machine has an excellent post about Ubisoft’s forthcoming release of a series of games “for girls ages 6 to 14 years old” in October 2007. We’re told they will have Imagine™ Fashion Designer, Imagine™ Animal Doctor, Imagine… Read more...

Posted by Holly Combe at 14 August 2007

13 August 2007

Ladyfest lands in Bristol

Bristol is to host yet another Ladyfest I can’t go to. There’s only a few short weeks to go before the ‘fest kicks off, with gigs galore and arty fun lasting from 27 August to 2 September. To give you… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 13 August 2007

Tattoo ladies on the TV

If tattooed ladies are still a bit taboo, how about ladies that tattoo? I have to admit, in all of the times I’ve been to tattoo parlours, I’ve rarely seen a female tattooist at work. So, I was pretty intrigued… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 13 August 2007

11 August 2007

July comments out now!

Go check out the comments sent to us during the month of July, up now! People really tuned into Emma Hadfield’s feature on the stigma associated with the decision to stay single. We also got lots of comments about our… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 11 August 2007

New Reviews!

Men! Men! is more intelligent than other dating books, but still assumes that women are incomplete as single individuals. Diane Shipley reports The Great Big Glorious (Sexist) Book for Girls While boys are instructed on the art of the catapult,… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 11 August 2007

Men more confident than women on workplace equality

Men and white people are confident that women and ethnic minorities will have an easier time in the workplace a decade from now, according to a Business Week poll The magazine surveyed 2,000 executives, and found that folks with privilege… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 11 August 2007

Why don't more women of colour identify as feminists?

Following on from zohra’s post yesterday, about the apparent paucity of black, British feminist bloggers, I highly recommend this recent episode of the Addicted to Race podcast, dealing with the issue of feminism and women of colour more generally. Sparked… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 11 August 2007

10 August 2007

Race and gender in blogland

There’s been a bit of noise recently about the lack of diversity in the blogsphere. It was triggered in part by the lack of coverage of the BlogHer ’07 conference, which brought together 800 women journalists and bloggers. According to… Read more...

Posted by zohra moosa at 10 August 2007

From protests in Kenya to Hello Kitty

10,000 women attended a rally in Nairobi, and 1 million have signed a petition, calling for a law to be passed reserving 50 seats in Parliament for female politicians, reports the BBC. A man has been sentenced to prison for… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 10 August 2007

9 August 2007

New Features!

Skirting the issue From tampons with skirts to silky pads, sanitary product manufacturers will try anything to hawk their goods. Harriet Reuter Hapgood reports Abby Lee - girl with (not just) a one-track mind Sex-blogger Abby Lee faces down the… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 9 August 2007

Teachers pigeonhole black girls

Teachers tend to discipline black girls for not being “ladylike” enough, when they show traits such as assertiveness and curiosity, according to a Texas study. The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition reports that teachers at the Texas school were observed over… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 9 August 2007

7 August 2007

Against 'herstory'

The term herstory is used by feminists to call attention to the long-term failure of historians to record and explore women’s experiences and deeds. Of course, the term has come under attack plenty of times from the ‘political-correctness-gone-mad’ crew, mostly… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 7 August 2007

Female game characters tremble, while men kick ass

Girl in the Machine presents a well-argued case for sexism in the games industry, specifically in the way the protagonists are portrayed in “horror” games. I have limited experience of this one: horror games cause me to drop the controls… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 7 August 2007

What happened in a place called Dunbar Village

Every once in a while a truely horrific story comes along, which undermines your belief in essential human goodness. This is one of those stories, so if you don’t want to read about it, stop right here. A Haitian woman… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 7 August 2007

New, Feminist Translation of Qur’an

Laleh Bakhtiar, a Muslim feminist Iranian-American is soon to publish a new English translation of the Qur’an. The new version was conceived at a gathering of Muslim feminists in New York last year, which decided to create the world’s… Read more...

Posted by Lynne Miles at 7 August 2007

6 August 2007

Mothers raising sluttish preteens?

Today’s Daily Mail includes a long piece of hand-wringing journalism about the sexualisation of pre-teen girls. On the face of it, the natural feminist response is to join in the hand-wringing enthusiastically. Here’s a description of one nine-year-old’s daily routine:… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 6 August 2007

Sun has fun with women's body parts

Head on over to The Sun’s website to create a mashup of your favourite celebrity. As you can see from the example on the left, the tabloid has managed to eerily capture the media’s penchant for reducing women to tits… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 6 August 2007

3 August 2007

Ex-Wonder Years star sells maths to girls with lipstick

Danica McKellar, who played Winnie on The Wonder Years, has just published a book on maths aimed at girly-girls. Wired briefly interviews her this issue. I have to admit to a bit of skepticism about this: I have to admit… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 3 August 2007

Against women-only refuges from groping

Jessica Valenti from Feministing.com has a very well-argued piece in today’s Guardian, arguing that women-only train carriages and other efforts to segregate women in order to protect them from harassment are fundamentally flawed. As well as pinning down the way… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 3 August 2007

42nd Carnival of Feminists

The 42nd Carnival of Feminists is up at Uncool and has a whole host of brilliant posts. These are two of my personal favourites: Jill at Feministe picks up on the question ‘how much time should she do’? That is,… Read more...

Posted by Lynne Miles at 3 August 2007

2 August 2007

31 days of Brown

With the parliamentary summer recess now upon us, the first chapter on the new Prime Minister and his new government is now closed. It is a good time to assess what he managed to do for women in his first… Read more...

Posted by zohra moosa at 2 August 2007

1 August 2007

The Daily Mail, foregoing sex and 'promiscuity'

The Daily Mail has profiled six women who, as the newspaper puts it, haven’t had sex for a combined period of 33 years. Here’s the lede: We live in a promiscuous society, but many women are choosing celibacy. Dismayed with… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 1 August 2007

Afghan women learn to box

A group of women in Afghanistan are taking boxing lessons in the football stadium where the Taleban once carried out public executions, reports the BBC. A new generation is challenging the usual stereotype of Afghan women as shadowy figures concealed… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 1 August 2007

Bindel in trans debate

Over on Comment is Free, Julie Bindel revists the topic of transgender people, in anticipation of a Radio 4 debate going out tonight. A couple of years ago, Bindel wrote a thoroughly objectionable column called Gender benders, beware. She’s certainly… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 1 August 2007

Fourth carnival of radical feminists out now

The latest carnival of radical feminists has been published over at A Room of Our Own. There’s some really interesting posts linked to, so it’s definitely worth checking out! There’s quite a lot of controversial stuff in there, as has… Read more...

Posted by Jess McCabe at 1 August 2007

More tits!

Apparently we’re *still* talking about women’s tits insead of their politics. Thanks, guys. Not at all insulting …… Read more...

Posted by Lynne Miles at 1 August 2007