By now, all of us are aware of the tragic circumstances of Rehtaeh Parsons’ rape, torment, and suicide. I don’t need to provide the details of what happened to her. To be honest, and perhaps selfishly so, I know I can’t bear to write about it. Because this isn’t the first time we have written [...]
Tag Archives: features
Promoting Female Condoms:12 Short Films Do It
PATH asked filmmakers from around the world to create films on the theme “Female Condoms are (fill in blank)” for a contest. And filmmakers did! A dozen of the finalists are now posted on a branded PATH channel on YouTube. An international nonprofit organization working around the world on transforming global health through innovation, PATH [...]
What Facebook Continues To Tell Us About Violence Against Women
There is a photograph being shared in Facebook of a woman cowering in a corner, eyes downcast, as large man standing in the foreground swings his fist at her head. The caption reads, “Women deserve equal rights. And lefts.”
Big Name Donors Finance England’s Women’s Book Prize
Former winners Zadie Smith and Barbara Kingsolver are among this year’s finalists in the Women’s Prize, formally known as the Orange Prize.
Last year, the prize lost its original sponsorship. But Cherie Blair, entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox and novelist Joanna Trollope were among the many private donors who stepped in to save the U.K.‘s only prize for women. The relevance was clear: women writers do matter. This week also saw the first annual Stella Prize, a new literary award given to Australian female authors. That prize has been mostly funded for the next three years by philanthropist Ellen Koshland, a granddaughter of jeans mogul Levi Strauss.
How are children supposed to know about boundaries and consent when there are mixed signals everywhere?
When I was a young the first I heard about sex and all that jazz was through friends. Most of what they ‘knew’ isn’t worth speaking of now but as far as I was aware at the time they were fountains of knowledge on the matter and not to be questioned. I went to a [...]
No, ‘Oz the Great and Powerful,’ We Don’t Need More Male-Centric Fairy Tales
After seeing Oz the Great and Powerful, I was annoyed. And angry. Everything in the film revolves around one dude: James Franco as Oscar Diggs aka Oz. Bleh. It’s a patriarchal dream come true. Women in the film fawn over Oz, swoon over him, make googly eyes at him, get enraged by him and arguably [...]
The revolution will not be televised: Ruminations on #femfuture and what it all means
There’s been a lot of bitching on the feminist interwebs about this whole #FemFuture: Online Revolution, proposed by Valenti Martin Media, aka Feministing co-creators Vanessa Valenti and Courtney Martin at a launch event at Barnard College on Monday. At its core, the #FemFuture project seeks to unify a disparate online feminist landscape and help the [...]
Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli Makes His Mark as VA Board of Health Votes for Increased Abortion Clinic Restrictions
The Virginia State Board of Health voted just yesterday to adopt stricter building regulations for abortion clinics. These new regulations are designed to – you guessed it – force the clinics to close as it is virtually impossible to comply with the new standards in the time frame allowed. This is the new front of the [...]
Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards 2013
The Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards happen every year at the John F. Kennedy Center, and this year I was one of many inspired audience members. Essentially these awards honor extraordinary global leaders who are working to protect and strengthen women’s rights across the world. Their vital voices are speaking out on topics ranging from [...]
Breast implants as therapy? Not so much
Editor’s Note The Breast Implant Information Project is a project of the National Research Center for Women & Families. The project provides info that women need about breast implants, based on the latest research and talking to thousands of women with implants. Dr Diana Zuckerman, President of the National Reseach Center for Women & Families [...]