I recently finished reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert, a mere 11 months after it came out – a true feat for me.  It was hardly what I’d expected, an interesting read, and possibly not the best idea for someone so neutral on marriage to be reading.  I felt myself saying, “Yes! I agree – exactly [...]

 The UConn women’s basketball team has received a lot of attention in the past week, having just set a new record for consecutive games won in college basketball. Some of the attention has been positive, some negative, but there do seem to be signs of progress. Yet in the area of professional sports, women remain [...]

ABC is a popular network, made all the more so by shows like Grey’s Anatomy and its spinoff, Private Practice.  But as popular as these shows are, and as much as I’ve enjoyed watching them over the years, like so many of my 20-something, female friends, they are striking the wrong chords lately.  Mainly in [...]

"You were raped?  Congratulations!" Of the many things you can say to some who just shared with you they were raped – that is not one sentiment I, or most people, would choose.  But one seller on Etsy has chosen just those sentiments.  In a variety of offensive and just disgusting cards available, one is [...]

Cross-posted with permission from Marcia G. Yerman When it was announced that the TED enterprise—which features global conferences with idea innovators and change agents—was gearing up to present a TEDwomen conference, there was immediate push back.  Reactions included, “Why are women being siloed? Why not more diversity and gender parity in the TED conferences that [...]

Last Saturday, the Senate voted to repeal the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy that prevented gay men and women from serving in the armed forces.  On Wednesday, President Obama will sign this repeal into law.  This is not just a victory for gay servicemembers and their families, or even for Americans and our quest to [...]

Reading Materials The new book “The Possessed Adventures with Rusian Books and the People who Read Them” by Elif Batuman is a smart and winning book, offering a new look at Russian authors in an "absurdist" way (via Amazon).  "Disaster Preparedness" by Heather Havrilesky is a series of essays exploring life in the 1970′s, "namely [...]

“The objectification of women” is one of those phrases that I think causes people to roll their eyes at this point – it’s trite and overused and misunderstood as a phrase. But yesterday I was reminded of exactly what we mean when we talk about this objectification. When we’re very young children, we think of [...]

Never ask a woman her age or weight.  Is that still a rule?  It’s hard to tell.  It would be hard for me to tell, as I’m asked my age almost monthly.  The shocked look people have when I tell them I am 28 is also unpleasant.  And unnecessary.  As an old rule of etiquette [...]

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a happy hour event hosted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). I had a great conversation with one of their writers about young women’s involvement in feminist organizations. I’ve read some of the hand-wringing about younger women not becoming involved, and some of the counter-arguments. [...]