2008 November Archive

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Many of us are working to eliminate violence against women on a daily basis and we should be, but let’s take today to really let it be heard, that we take a stand against violence and we will work to make a better world for women. According to the UNFPA,

Around the world, as many as one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way – most often by someone she knows, including by her husband or another male family member; one woman in four has been abused during pregnancy.

Violence against women crosses sectors, racial barriers, ethnicity, religion, ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

Taxis by women, for women.

In Iran a cab company has started that is by and for women only. It has provided employment for widowed women and given them ownership over their own means of transportation.

At the centre, the women drivers are also given lessons in basic car maintenance and such essentials as how to change a burst tire. All the operators at the centre are women too. But the concept was the brainchild of a man, Mohsen Uruji, who says he spotted a gap in Tehran’s transport system.
“What was missing was a role for women,” he says.
“By setting up this purely private sector company, we’ve been able to provide jobs for many women, as well as a service for other women who ...

In Iran a cab company has started that is by and for women only. It has provided employment for widowed women and given them ownership over their own means of transportation.

At the centre, the women drivers are ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

Sexy is as sexy does. But only if you are a dude.

Last week Salon put up a list of the sexiest men alive and boyyyy they sure were sexy! The list included some hotties including, Kal Penn, Robert Downy Jr., Van Jones and even our favorite, Ill Doctrine. I had no choice but to tease Jay about his sexy status, but realized as I was joking that when I get written about as sexy on other people’s blogs it is usually in a “get back in the kitchen-shut up bitch-you are hot” kind of way which is far from flattering.
So this morning I was reading through the HuffPo and came across the world’s sexist woman alive. Here is the list as decided by E!

Last week Salon put up a list of the sexiest men alive and boyyyy they sure were sexy! The list included some hotties including, Kal Penn, Robert Downy Jr., Van Jones and even ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

Michelle Obama: Disrupting normative standards of beauty?

(How can one track be so wrong and so right at the same time?)
In a culture where what a woman looks like counts more than what is between her ears, it does make a difference that the first lady is not white, but is black and therefore disrupts normative standards of white femininity. Last week controversy stirred due to a Salon article titled, “First lady got back,” a tongue-in-cheek response to the Obama victory as not only for Obama, but for black women with an overemphasis on her “back” a subject of mass introspection academically and in popular culture as a culture signifier of black women’s beauty and oft sexualization.

It emerged right before our eyes, in the midst ...

(How can one track be so wrong and so right at the same time?)
In a culture where what a woman looks like counts more than what is between her ears, it does make a difference that ...

By Vanessa • 15 years ago

NY Times’ Advice: Single Woman’s Gift Registry is Greedy and Tacky

Heh. A reader sent us this New York Times advice column:

Q: I’ve decided that marriage is not for me. But at 32, I’m missing the domestic “set up” that my friends received from their bridal showers. I love to cook and bake, and have so far made do with cheap appliances and tools.
I will soon be moving from an apartment to a house, and I would like to leverage this change into a housewarming that I can register for. After being in eight weddings, I feel it’s time my friends and family set me up for domesticity — even if it isn’t in the traditional mode. But the Midwestern Puritan in me thinks this may be tacky and ...

Heh. A reader sent us this New York Times advice column:

Q: I’ve decided that marriage is not for me. But at 32, I’m missing the domestic “set up” that my friends received from their bridal showers. ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

What does a state where abortion is criminalized look like?

It looks like 1,200 women deep investigations where women are interrogated for their personal choices dealing with their own bodies. A family planning center is under investigation in Brazil and subsequently so are potentially 1,200 women that have had abortions. Approximately 150 women are being charged along with 30 partners or medical professionals.

The authorities only became aware of the clinic following a television interview, which led to a police investigation that could eventually involve more than 1,200 women and some of their partners, as well as medical staff.
To gather evidence, Judge Aluizio Pereira dos Santos is said to have interviewed husbands, ex-boyfriends and relatives of some of the women accused of having abortions.

Oh, it gets even worse.

Human ...

By Courtney • 15 years ago

Domestic Violence in Military Families

I was glad to see that the New York Times is continuing their important coverage of veteran issues, especially when it comes to violence stateside. Sunday they ran a story about the Army’s major domestic violence problem.
This piece continued their commitment to reporting on the ways in which veterans’ families have born the brunt of much of their PTSD problems. In February, they gave a deep and broad view of the emotional and physical violence characterizing so many families lives when a loved one returns from war. Prior to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon had committed to revamping the military response to domestic violence (there has been a rash of “wife-killings” that prompted response). ...

By Vanessa • 15 years ago

Monday Monty Blogging (smackdown edition)

So Monty loves his new cousin Tweet – I mean LOVES her. He goes absolutely nuts every time I bring her over to Jessica’s, hence this adorable video of them playing. My favorite part is 0:50 in where Tweet starts batting at him at super speed; kitty don’t fuck around.

So Monty loves his new cousin Tweet – I mean LOVES her. He goes absolutely nuts every time I bring her over to Jessica’s, hence this adorable video of them playing. My favorite part is 0:50 ...