January 25, 2013

The Women of Mexico’s Drug War

U.S. photographer Katie Orlinsky moved to Mexico in 2006, just after graduating from college. The drug war surrounded her, and she quickly realized that women — not just men — were serving as its weary warriors, ferrying contraband and kidnapping kingpins. Between 2007 and 2011, the number of women incarcerated for federal crimes rose 400 percent. Orlinsky began to wonder: Who are these women? Innocent victims of a broken system? Cold-hearted criminals? Both?

In 2010, she entered the female prison in Ciudad Juárez and began photographing the convicted women inside. 

See more. [Images: Katie Orlinsky]

1:25pm
(Notes: 587)
  
Filed under: Mexico Women Drug war Photography 
January 24, 2013
Women in Combat: History, Aided by Technology The Pentagon’s decision to end its ban on women-in-combat — a change announced, formally, this afternoon — is simply a decision whose time, in many, many ways, has come. But it is also, importantly, a decision that technological advances have made easier: more sensible, more practical, more impermeable to objection. While some will still make social and cultural arguments against women serving on the front lines — most of which will boil down to the idea that it’s hard for “bands of brothers” to coalesce when sisters are part of the equation — most other objections are now, or will soon be, preempted. And that’s in part because of technology. Read more. [Image: David Kamm, U.S. Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center]

Women in Combat: History, Aided by Technology

The Pentagon’s decision to end its ban on women-in-combat — a change announced, formally, this afternoon — is simply a decision whose time, in many, many ways, has come. But it is also, importantly, a decision that technological advances have made easier: more sensible, more practical, more impermeable to objection. While some will still make social and cultural arguments against women serving on the front lines — most of which will boil down to the idea that it’s hard for “bands of brothers” to coalesce when sisters are part of the equation — most other objections are now, or will soon be, preempted. And that’s in part because of technology.

Read more. [Image: David Kamm, U.S. Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center]

3:25pm
(Notes: 167)
  
Filed under: Women Military Combat Pentagon Technology History 
January 24, 2013
This Week Women Are 66% Harder to Find at Davos Than Anywhere Else The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has brought together more than 2,600 invitees from around the world to discuss business, politics, economics, justice, and policy. Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer and PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi are in attendence. They are joined by fewer than 500 other women. Read more.

This Week Women Are 66% Harder to Find at Davos Than Anywhere Else

The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has brought together more than 2,600 invitees from around the world to discuss business, politics, economics, justice, and policy. Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer and PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi are in attendence. They are joined by fewer than 500 other women.

Read more.

2:16pm
(Notes: 69)
  
Filed under: Women Gender gap Economics Davos 
January 24, 2013

The Never-Before-Told Story of the World’s First Computer Art (It’s a Sexy Dame)

During a time when computing power was so scarce that it required a government-defense budget to finance it, a young man used a $238 million military computer, the largest such machine ever built, to render an image of a curvy woman on a glowing cathode ray tube screen. The year was 1956, and the creation was a landmark moment in computer graphics and cultural history that has gone unnoticed until now.

Using equipment designed to guard against the apocalypse, a pin-up girl had been drawn. 

She was quite probably the first human likeness to ever appear on a computer screen. 

Read more. [Images: Lawrence A. Tipton]

11:06am
(Notes: 806)
  
Filed under: Technology Science History Gender Women Culture 
January 22, 2013
"I’ve never had an abortion, and at this point in the game, I never will. Nor do I have daughters, so this is not an issue that will affect my own life in any immediate way. But I understand that the reality of women’s and girls’ lives is that they include as strong an impulse for sex as men’s. And maybe because I am a woman, the practical has always had a stronger pull on my emotions than the theoretical. Those old debates about the nature of the human soul have never moved me; surely a soul is no more valuable to God if it exists in this world rather than the next. And a thousand arguments about the beginning of human life will never appeal to me as powerfully as a terrified pregnant girl desperate for a bit of compassion."

— Caitlin Flanagan in the May 2007 edition of The Atlantic

5:29pm
(Notes: 509)
  
Filed under: Women Roe vs. Wade Abortion Politics Sex Gender Health 
January 22, 2013

‘I Pledge to Walk Alone’: Activists Demand Safer Cities for Women in India

The swift action is an attempt to answer critics who say that official response to rape in India has historically been slow, tepid, and ineffective. Some 95,000 rape cases are currently pending in Indian courts, according to the BBC, and in the capital, where sexual assaults are at a record high, only 1 of the 635 rape cases filed last year has resulted in a conviction to date.

Read more. [Images: Blank Noise]

11:57am
(Notes: 250)
  
Filed under: India Women Harassment Rape Activism Politics 
January 17, 2013
My Dream College Won’t Accept Me Because I’m a Woman My initial reaction to finding out I couldn’t apply to Deep Springs was anger. These trustees nullified the application that I had spent hours crafting because of an archaic sentence which pertained to “the education of promising young men.” In the fall, I had been given the chance to apply to my dream school, and just a few months later, these trustees took that away from me suddenly, and in my opinion, unfairly. I was hurt. Read more. [Image: Wikimedia Commons]

My Dream College Won’t Accept Me Because I’m a Woman

My initial reaction to finding out I couldn’t apply to Deep Springs was anger. These trustees nullified the application that I had spent hours crafting because of an archaic sentence which pertained to “the education of promising young men.” In the fall, I had been given the chance to apply to my dream school, and just a few months later, these trustees took that away from me suddenly, and in my opinion, unfairly. I was hurt.

Read more. [Image: Wikimedia Commons]

1:24pm
(Notes: 88)
  
Filed under: Women Sex Gender Politics College 
January 14, 2013
The High Price of Being Single in America As two straight women with no desire to get married, we are not against marriage per se. We’re not callous and repressed man-haters. We’re not bitter about ex-boyfriends who cheated or tried to teach us the correct way to pour laundry detergent (ok, well maybe a little bitter about that last one). We’re not even necessarily uncomfortable with the institution’s arguable gender expectations and socio-political history. We just don’t much care whether we’re married, or not. But governments and corporations do. Read more. [Image: Universal]

The High Price of Being Single in America

As two straight women with no desire to get married, we are not against marriage per se. We’re not callous and repressed man-haters. We’re not bitter about ex-boyfriends who cheated or tried to teach us the correct way to pour laundry detergent (ok, well maybe a little bitter about that last one). We’re not even necessarily uncomfortable with the institution’s arguable gender expectations and socio-political history. We just don’t much care whether we’re married, or not. But governments and corporations do.

Read more. [Image: Universal]

12:14pm
(Notes: 220)
  
Filed under: Women Sex Gender Relationships Single Dating Politics 
January 11, 2013
One Dad’s Ill-Fated Battle Against the Princesses …There is no one theme that has anywhere near the prominence and influence that Disney Princesses do. Regardless of the more recent generations of empowered princesses in Disney movies, the overall princess trope promotes traditional notions of femininity and an unhealthy focus on physical beauty. Even the most feminist-friendly princess derives her social currency, her political power, and her personal identity as “princess” from the make-believe patriarchy. Read more. [Image: Disney]

One Dad’s Ill-Fated Battle Against the Princesses

…There is no one theme that has anywhere near the prominence and influence that Disney Princesses do. Regardless of the more recent generations of empowered princesses in Disney movies, the overall princess trope promotes traditional notions of femininity and an unhealthy focus on physical beauty. Even the most feminist-friendly princess derives her social currency, her political power, and her personal identity as “princess” from the make-believe patriarchy.

Read more. [Image: Disney]

12:20pm
(Notes: 330)
  
Filed under: Gender Sexism Feminism Fatherhood Women Princess Disney Children Marketing 
December 26, 2012

In Focus: Violent Protests in India Over Rape Case

Last week, in New Delhi, India, news stories of a horrific gang rape spread quickly, igniting widespread outrage. A 23 year old woman was attacked by six men on a moving bus and brutalized for 45 minutes, in the most recent and alarming of several high-profile incidents. Protesters have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the growing incidence of rape, and its slow and ineffective prosecution. Riot police have responded, dispersing crowds with forceful tactics including water cannons, batons, and tear gas. India’s government has now ordered a special inquiry into the incident to identify any negligence or errors on the part of police. 

See more. [Images: AP, Getty, Reuters]

4:11pm
(Notes: 6,621)
  
Filed under: Rape Women Protest Women;s rights India 
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