Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

‘No longer reasonable’ – the power of angry women

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Sarah Cheverton WVoN co-editor "…because we lack the capacity to be reasonable and emotions they said we must be distrusted because we are filled with rage that where emotion colours thought because we cry out thought is no longer objective because we are shaking and therefore no longer describes what is real shaking in our [...]

Does the world need a Linda Lovelace biopic? How about two?

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Sarah Cheverton WVoN co-editor American actress Sarah Jessica Parker is set to play Gloria Steinem in one of two new biopics of Linda Lovelace. Mainstream reporting has centred on the rapidly changing casts: Demi as Gloria, Mary Louise Parker as Gloria, or Chloe Sevigny as a journalist? But as my baffled, tired eyes attempted to [...]

Extremism conceals real threat of anti-abortion movement

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Sarah Cheverton WVoN co-editor North Carolina Republican Larry Pittman joined Rick Santorum this week in the race to decide who is the most extreme anti-abortion campaigner in the GOP. Following on from Santorum's 'make lemonade' comments calling for women who are impregnated as a result of rape to 'make the best of a bad situation', [...]

Who needs the Taliban when there is Maya Khan?

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Alison Clarke WVoN co-editor  There is nothing like a hypocrite to whet the appetite of a feminist. And Maya Khan, erstwhile presenter of a show on Pakistan’s Samaa TV, is certainly that. In a recent episode, she was televised entering a park in Karachi, accompanied by a group of other women. The group, led by [...]

‘In Wonderland’ celebrates female surrealist artists

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Emma Caddow WVoN co-editor  An exhibition showcasing dozens of female surrealist artists entitled “In Wonderland” opened yesterday in Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Over the next 14 weeks the museum will host the exhibition covering four decades of work by women artists whose contributions to the surrealist movement have been largely ignored or excluded. Co-organised [...]

Aung San Suu Kyi goes on the campaign trail

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Alison Clarke WVoN co-editor  Following the news that Burma’s opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, had decided to take part in forthcoming by-elections on 1 April (see WVoN story), she has now hit the campaign trail. Suu Kyi was mobbed by tens of thousands of people in the coastal town of Dawei at the weekend, [...]

Early test to detect gender may lead to more aborted girls

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Sara Dzregah WVoN co-editor  South Korean researchers have discovered a way to determine the sex of a baby in early pregnancy through a simple blood test, according to research published in The FASEB Journal and reported in Eurekalert earlier this month. “Although more work must be done before such a test is widely available, this paper does [...]

World Economic Forum agrees on importance of women’s education and leadership

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Jackie Gregory  WVoN co-editor  Thailand's prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is creating a national women's development fund to counter human rights abuses against women. Shinawatra, who was elected as the country's first female prime minister last July, said that education is essential in equipping women to resist sexual aggression and to defend their rights. She made [...]

Topless protesters arrested at World Economic Forum

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Jackie Gregory WVoN co-editor  Three women protesters were arrested as they tried to break through the security cordon surrounding the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday. The trio staged a topless demonstration against poverty and tried to climb a fence to gain access to the forum, according to reports from the Associated Press. [...]

Story links, 30 January 2012

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Every day we’ll post up a number of story links that we think are interesting. They won’t necessarily be from that day, but usually will not be more than a few days old.     Story links: Reports of sexual harassment in Egypt, Daily News Egypt, January 27, 2012 Italy must act to end violence [...]

Wired for Success: getting women into manual trades

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Amy Gardner WVoN co-editor Women make up 49% of the UK workforce, but just 1% of its trades people. While progress is being made in getting women to enter traditionally male-dominated fields such as science and engineering, the stereotypes of blokey builders, plumbers and electricians have proved harder to shift. Diane Johnson, the outgoing president [...]

Diane Abbott resigns from UK’s abortion counselling group

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Summary of story from The Guardian, January 26, 2012 A Labour party Member of Parliament (MP) has walked out of an all-party group convened to discuss the rules on abortion counselling, claiming it is no more than a front to push forward an anti-abortion agenda in the UK without a debate in parliament. Dianne Abbott [...]