Weekly Feminist Reader

There’s a new in-depth report on the Global Gender Gap (PDF).
The U.S. named the first female four-star General, Ann E. Dunwoody.
Audio: New America Media on the glass ceiling for Asian American women.
The latest Carnival Against Sexual Violence is up now at abyss2hope.
Rachel Setzer on why we still need an ERA.
Aimee Wilcoxson, a transwoman from Aurora, CO, was found dead in her apartment. Police say it’s suicide, but her friends and family say she was murdered.
The Women’s Appointments Project, which pressures incoming presidents to appoint women to high-level positions, is running out of cash.
Rebecca Traister on the mom-ification of Michelle Obama. Gina MacCauley’s alternate take.
Die-hard Beatles fan Cara lists the top (bottom?) five anti-feminist Beatles songs.
A sex-trafficking group operating out of the UK and Thailand has been broken up.
How not to make the case for organ donation.
Single mothers’ college attendance has dropped.
My review of Jeanne Flavin’s Our Bodies, Our Crimes and Carol Gilligan and David A.J. Richards’s The Deepening Darkness is up at Bookforum.
Girls in Afghanistan are staying home from school after a series of brutal acid attacks.
Check out the National Women’s Law Center’s Platform for Progress, which “offers concrete proposals and outlines steps that should be taken by the new Congress and Administration in the areas of education, employment, basic economic security, health, and legal rights.”
A Pakistani 17-year-old, Taslim Solangi, “was forced to give birth, and the baby was thrown into a canal. Taslim was then put in front of dogs to be mauled, and subsequently shot dead.” Female senators in Pakistan staged a walkout to demand better protections for women.
Another reminder that new media isn’t much better than old media when it comes to women’s bylines.
A woman was banned from British department store Marks and Spencer after she pulled an emergency bell because her wheelchair was stuck in a bathroom. The store deemed her a “health and safety hazard“?!! WTF.
The U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs has new shelters and outreach efforts for homeless female vets.
Jessica Yee on Barack Obama and the Native vote.
Actions
A fund has been set up to help cover Duanna Johnson‘s funeral expenses. Jack at Angry Brown Butch suggests that folks match the donation they made to No on 8.
Tell the Bush administration — again — not to implement that HHS rule protecting employees who want to exercise their antichoice beliefs.
Call for submissions: The Body as a Site of Discrimination – A Multidisciplinary, Multimedia Online Journal.
Events
New York, NY: Paradigm Shift: A discussion of feminism and motherhood with Amy Richards on Nov. 19.
New York, NY: Toward a Greater Understanding: Transgender Identity and the Jewish Community on Nov. 25. More info here.
Portland, OR: Susie Bright speaks on the Sexual State of the Union on Nov. 18.
Washington, DC: Feministing/Racialicious happy hour on Nov. 18!