Which 1/2 has more rights?

It's here! Happy International Women's Day!

Unfortunately, it is not a national holiday in the United States, otherwise women here (like in Armenia, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan) would be able to get the day off.


Take today to look back - and forward. There's still so much to be done! Don't let this be a daunting task; consider it a challenge, an adventure. People are completely up-in-arms, for example, about Rush Limbaugh's recent onslaught of sexism toward Sandra Fluke [whose namesake has been put to use for t-shirts that say 'Sandra Fluke: Original Feminazi', no doubt in a ploy to side with Rush]; sponsors were called to pull from his radio show and he was forced into a (non-)apology.


If women and men can rally this quickly over widespread hate speech, think of all the other sexist hurdles we can jump!

So where does this leave me? Ah, a plug for activism, of course! Please consider, particularly if you are from Missouri, signing this petition to disallow a bust of Rush Limbaugh to become a memorial in our Capitol's Hall of Famous Missourians alongside others like Dred Scott, Walter Cronkite, Scott Joplin, Samuel Clemens, and Sacajawea. There is a difference between being famous and infamous. I encourage both of you to sign a petition against his celebration on a state level. One writer says, if he is allowed in, "we can look forward to tour guides under the dome of the Missouri Capitol pausing groups of students in front of Limbaugh’s bust to explain “This famous Missourian gave us the Barack the Magic Negro song and recently demanded sex tapes from women in exchange for access to birth control without co-payments!”

Please enjoy this International Celebration of academically-, socially-, family-, artistically- and independently-driven women! We are strong, brave, creative, and important. We are powerful and proud. We are here!

K.O. for Fashion Requirement!

After hearing from the more than 55,000 people who signed Eli Plank’s petition, the President of the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) has publicly stated that female boxers will not be forced to wear skirts during the Olympic Games.

Men-only panel discusses men-only hearing on contraception without a hint of self-awareness?

"Beat me, Chris Brown"

We have a serious problem in this society when women think it's funny or okay to want to be beaten by someone they find attractive or talented.

Chris Brown's mediocre singing is apparently one such exception. During his (lip-synched) performance at the Grammys, Twitter women were abuzz with pleas for the rap star's violence, proclamations that they would be willing participants in any potential future abuse.

Is violence really endearing? One girl posted that she would gladly be punched in the face by Brown if he kissed her afterward. Apologies and false love do not discount abuse! They perpetuate the cycle of violence!

So not only are women and girls accepting these apologies, they're seeking situations in which they are (or are NOT) evident before/during/after violence against themselves. Truly disgusting.

To see the Twitter feed, click here.

"In a world..."

Ever noticed how movie trailers are almost ALWAYS voiced by men? Recent movies are moving away from voiceovers all together, which may be a bit of a solution, but why are women never chosen to be the bearer of news about upcoming films?

Are their voices not strong enough? Are their voices not trusted?

Do moviegoers want to hear female voices? Research indicates that our brains are wired to prefer theirs to male ones; that’s the reason robotic voices, like those in GPS devices, tend to be female. (This probably has an evolutionary explanation: fetuses in the womb, identifying with their caretaker, can distinguish their mother’s voice from others, a study published in the journal Psychological Science found.) When it comes to credibility, however, research into the perceived believability of a voice — an important quality for the omniscient narrator of a trailer, as well as the spokesman or -woman for any product, which is the function a trailer serves — tells a different story.

“On average both males and females trust male voices more,” said Clifford Nass, a professor of communications at Stanford, noting some gender disparity exists in that women don’t distrust female voices as much as men distrust them. In one study conducted at Stanford two versions of the same video of a woman were presented to subjects: one had the low frequencies of the woman’s voice increased and the high frequencies reduced, the other vice versa. Consistently subjects perceived the deep voice to be smarter, more authoritative and more trustworthy.

"It’s a fascinating subject. I’d never given much thought before to why the voices telling me to see movies are men’s voices; it’s something I’ve simply always taken for granted. But now, I can’t stop noticing it. Every time an ad comes on the TV or radio, I’m making a note of whether it’s voice by a man or a woman, and whether their voices are noticeably deep or high. Gender is everywhere, folks, and it’s amazing how often we don’t even see it."

Female Boxers: Work in Skirts Mandatory?

Women's boxing will make its debut at this year's Olympic Games in London -- a huge victory for female boxers who have fought for years to be taken seriously. But now it seems their participation will come with an outrageous catch: female boxers might be required to wear miniskirts in the ring.

The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) is reportedly considering the new dress code because it thinks skirts will make the female athletes look "elegant" and help "distinguish" them from their male counterparts.

Sign the petition against this mandate here.