If you're a Nepalese woman in search of a tiara, the outlook is bleak. The ruling Maoist party has postponed the Miss Nepal contest, set to be held this weekend, for the sixth time this year. In the battle between beauty queens and bureaucrats, oddly their takes on the issue are at once at odds and the same.
on Yahoo! |
In the fight for girl power, three women have jumped into the ring in the past 24 hours with very different viewpoints. Katie Couric, in Israel covering Obama's world tour made this striking proclamation: I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance, and realizing what Hillary Clinton might have realized not long ago: that sexism in the American society is more common than racism, and certainly more acceptable or forgivable.
Sexism trumps racism?
on Yahoo! |
on Yahoo! |
The Roman Catholic Church has signaled the start of Schism 2.0 (at least), thanks to the Church of England's decision to allow women bishops in its Church. As for its own clergy, the Vatican has promised automatic excommunication for any Catholic bishop who attempts to ordain a woman as a priest.
The Catholic cardinal in charge of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity said: "Such a decision is a break with apostolic tradition maintained in all of the Churches in the first millennium, and is therefore a further obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England."
on Yahoo! |
on Yahoo! |
In Albania, gender equality has a literal meaning — and a less modern, more traditional translation that your 9 to 5 or Working Girl tropes. For centuries, sworn virginity has allowed woman to live as men, with all the responsibilities and rights that accompany the role in a conservative society.
In closed-off rural northern Albania, the practice of swapping genders was a practical solution motivated by social necessity, for a family with a shortage of men.
on Yahoo! |
Al Qaeda and the United States military do share one thing in common: the debate to allow women in combat.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s second in command, stated in April that the terrorist group does not have women in its ranks and that the women’s role should be restricted to domestic work and nurturing children. This raised an outcry from women eager to fight and who believe their right to fight are being denied.
on Yahoo! |
I knew the hijab (the scarf Muslim women cover their head with) is symbolic, but I hadn't given much thought to just how meaningful the decision whether or not to don it is until I read this piece in Slate. Especially for Muslim women living in America, covering up or not varies just as often as someone might switch jobs or leave a relationship, and it's just as life changing.
The author of the piece tells of her own decision to cover and shares other's stories, too.
on Yahoo! |
One politician wants to add a woman's right to sexual happiness to Ecuador's new constitution. While her opponents claim she is trying to legislate orgasms, Maria Soledad Vela says that she simply wants to recognize the right to enjoy sex in a more open society. Since the new constitution will recognize the rights of indigenous communities and the poor, she says women should also be represented.
on Yahoo! |
When the Taliban fell six years ago, it was thought that a new government would offer women in Afghanistan a greater freedom since their rights are now guaranteed in the new Afghani constitution. The women of Afghanistan can now go to school and find employment, yet except for a small number of wealthy, urbanites, a woman who escapes a setting of domestic horror can end up in jail.
The reality for most women parts of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan is less than free: a woman who runs away from home is usually assumed to have taken a lover and can be prosecuted for adultery.
on Yahoo! |
Enter your email below:
|
