Women World Wide

• S’poreans swapping wedding photos for nude photos… – September 1, 2010
  When Choh and Lim (with their daughter Reena and Choh’s parents) got married, they opted to have nude photos of themselves taken instead of the traditional wedding pictures, which they then hung in different parts of their home.
• Hillary Clinton has the second most important job in the world, so here's a story about her hair | Women's Views on News – September 1, 2010
  Yes, Hillary Clinton may indeed be the US Secretary of State but that hasn’t stopped the Washington Post from writing about 1000 words of utter drivel about the fact that she has grown her hair.
• Men Can Now Sit Next to Unaccompanied Minors on Airplanes | Strollerderby – August 31, 2010
  This is not just a victory for Fischer, but a victory for all of us who are seeking to make parenting an equal opportunity experience for moms and dads. It is not, after all, simply enough for us to insist on co-parenting, or demand that our male partners do their fair share of the childcare. For true change to occur, society needs to treat men and women equally when it comes to how we expect them to relate to kids.
• Female Athletes Risk Deferring Dream of Parenthood Too Long – Series – NYTimes.com – August 30, 2010
  “As an athlete, you have this attitude, ‘I can do anything with my body,’ ” Fernandez said. “That’s how you think. So your biological clock is ticking, but you’re in denial.” The intense physical stress that world-class athletes subject their bodies to can lead to ovulation dysfunction.
• Rights Group Denounces Illegality of Abortion in Philippines – NYTimes.com – August 30, 2010
  MANILA — A new study of abortion in the Philippines denounces the government for keeping it illegal, causing what the authors describe as a “human rights crisis” that victimizes tens of thousands of women every year,
  "Criminalization of abortion has not prevented abortion in the Philippines, but it has made it extremely unsafe,” the report says.
• Don’t Write Off Men Just Yet – NYTimes.com – August 30, 2010
  I think we exaggerate the degree to which the sexes are mired in conflict. As Henry Kissinger once said, “Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy.” We men want our wives and daughters to encounter opportunity in the workplace, not sexual harassment; women want their husbands and sons to be in the executive suite, not jail. Nearly all of us root for fairness, not for our own sex.
• Why women won't ask for a pay rise | Life and style | The Guardian – August 29, 2010
  They don't want to be perceived as pushy.
  
  When was the last time you asked for a pay rise? Does the very thought bring you out in a sweat? If so, you're not alone. A 2006 survey found that while 80% of women felt underpaid, two-thirds had never asked for more money – and those who had, described it as one of the most stressful things they'd ever done. Corinne Mills, a businesswoman who provides professional advice and coaching, says, "Men don't have an issue about asking for a pay rise. They will do it as a routine. Women will do it more reactively if a disparity has been revealed – and they agonise over it more."
• Saudi couple hammer 24 nails into Sri Lankan maid | Reuters – August 27, 2010
  (Reuters) – A Saudi couple tortured their Sri Lankan maid after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday.
• Want a raise? Wash your vagina. – August 27, 2010
  So, ladies, you say you want a raise? How should you go about getting it?
  
  First, you have to figure out how to compete with the guy in the next cubicle. After all, he went to a school almost as good as yours. His grades were nearly as good as yours, too. He works hard. In fact, most mornings, he's the second person in the office. You know this, because you're always first. He is young, ruggedly good looking, and he washes his balls with a manly but fresh sandalwood soap.
  
  What to do?
  
  Fortunately, the good folks at Women's Day and Summer's Eve have a few words of advice for you.
• Feminism and Veganism – August 27, 2010
  There are vegans who are complacent about the sexualization of women. Some say, “so what if a guy is really macho, as long as he’s vegan.” That complacency is dangerous. The sexual politics of meat is what stays most unchanged. It finds new iterations; ads that may be tongue-in-cheek about men needing to eat meat, for instance, but they still convey the same message: men believe it is more masculine to eat meat, still, and that this is their right. Some men who are vegans have called themselves ‘hegans’, as if the word vegan itself is tainted by being associated with women. Given the association of women and vegetables, some vegan men appear to feel a need to recoup threatened maleness.
• BBC News – The politics of paternity leave – August 27, 2010
  But it is an experience that not all his fellow fathers feel they can justify. Thanks to decades of shifting attitudes, their reluctance is not based chiefly on chauvinism or a belief that childcare is woman's work. The problem, instead, is money.
• Whither The Marlboro Man? Feminism Killed Him, Duh – August 27, 2010
  Good news, ladies: According to a new editorial, feminists have finally managed to turn "steak-eating, plaid shirt wearing, Old Spice smelling" American men into "skinny jean wearing, satchel carrying, pierced ear metrosexuals." Unfortunately, conservatives are on to our secret plot!
• Women's Views on News: Former Israeli president on trial for rape – August 25, 2010
  Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav, currently standing trial on two counts of rape, exploited his position to sexually harass female employees, the prosecution has said.
• Prostitution Runs In The Family – August 24, 2010
  The Nat community is patriarchal and male dominated. The women in the community may be divided into two groups prostitutes and non-prostitutes. The sex workers in spite of their earning status are shunned by both society and their families. They are given less respect in comparison to the married women.
  
  The sex workers are not allowed to attend auspicious rituals or marry within the community. Conversely, the married women are expected to be chaste. They are expected to wear veils and maintain distance from elders. Pre-marital sex and extra-marital affairs are condemned in the Nat society.
  
  A sex-worker is the most important earning member in the family who is also bestowed with the responsibility of getting her brother married. However she is not allowed to marry with in the community. The high price for virgin girls motivates the families to sell their daughters soon after attaining puberty.
• Women's Views on News: 12-year-old Saudi girl files for divorce from 80-year-old husband – August 22, 2010
  Sky news reports that a girl of 12 is fighting to divorce her 80-year-old husband in a landmark test case in Saudi Arabia.
  
  The child (because that's what she is) was married to her father's cousin last year against her wishes and those of her mother for bridal money of about £14,500.
  
  The girl's mother had earlier filed for divorce on her daughter's behalf but withdrew, without giving a reason, after a second court hearing in early February.
  
  Saudi's Human Rights Commission is now filing for divorce on behalf of the child, the first time it has ever done so. Child marriage was previously seen as a "family affair" and outside the commission's remit.

 
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