Gertrude Pswarayi informs us that  "Menstruation Remains Taboo, Hinders Education Causes Health Problems" in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE — Growing up in the rural Chibi district of Masvingo in Zimbabwe, Tsitsi Moyo, 16, has never used a sanitary pad. She has never seen a tampon. Other sanitary wear such as keepers and moon cups, small internally [...]

Stay cool this weekend and spend your time with good friends and family: What about us? We are heading to the beach. Reading Materials: Charlotte Chandler‘s lated, I Know Where I’m Going: Katharine Hepburn, A Personal Biography. At the opening of the first chapter, she says: ‘Onliness is my word for what I call my [...]

Rachel Peck  tells us that “Elena Kagan’s Hearings to Begin Next Monday”. Don’t miss it (via WomenStake.org).   The Senate Judiciary Committee has officially announced that Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing will begin next Monday June 28th at 12:30 pm. Like many court-watchers around the country, we’re going to be following the hearings closely, so stay tuned [...]

In mid-June, the “No to Violence Against Women” annual conference was held in New York City.  It was presented by the National Council for Research on Women and the U.S. National Committee for Unifem. Over 300 people were in attendance, hailing from the fields of government, non-profit, policy, activism, and the media.  On the agenda [...]

"If You Have to Cry, Go Outside",  a book by Kelly Cutrone When someone first recommended this book to me, I said, “No, thanks.”  I had seen Kelly Cutrone on Bravo’s reality show and I thought, “The last thing I need is some barking, crazy reality star telling me how to get ahead. I don’t [...]

Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow, June 22, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, and listen to Melissa Silverstein, blogger at Women & Hollywood, host a Fem2.0 radio show about the entertainment industry and its relationship with breast implants and with plastic surgery generally. She will be joined by Command Trust Network founder Sybil Niden Goldrich, actress [...]

The next few days the thermometer will be up to 95°. I bet you re ready for the beach, or at least the pool on the rooftop of your building! Before that please check out our recommendations for the weekend. Reading Materials: Patricia Earnest Suter, Russell Earnest, and Corinne Earnest tell us the truth story [...]

A number of years ago, I had a part-time gig at an elementary school where I taught afterschool classes in art and film classics.  One warm June day, it was decided that the kids could spend thirty minutes in the playground.  As I watched a scene that was a combination of raw energy and mayhem, [...]

Dodai @Jezebel tell us that “It’s Time To Confront Our Fear Of The Aging Female Face”. Actress Harriet Walter has curated an exhibit at London’s National Theater called "Infinite Variety," which celebrates something we seldom see in magazines or advertising: "the beauty of the aging female face. "As Janice Turner asks in The Times Of [...]

Listen to my interview with Nora Shourd, mother of Sarah Shourd, one of three imprisoned hikers in Evin prison, Iran. For the past ten and a half months she’s been in solitary confinement in Evin prison, Iran. Before that she was traveling in Syria, Yemen and Ethiopia, writing about women in these cultures, struggling to [...]