Heroine Update

BBC News - 'Booth babes' stir controversy at 2012 CES

2012-01-15T04:39:00.000-08:00

BBC News - 'Booth babes' stir controversy at 2012 CES

BBC News - Eve teasing in India: Assault or harassment by another name

2012-01-13T04:04:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Eve teasing in India: Assault or harassment by another name

A Murder at Paradise - NYTimes.com

2012-01-13T03:45:00.000-08:00

“She put herself between the evil coming up the mountain,” said her father, the Rev. Paul Kritsch, “and the people at the other end.” The gunman opened fire on the ranger. At least two shots, one to Anderson’s head, the other to her torso, were enough to kill her. Barnes plunged into waist-deep snow. The next day he was found, dead of exposure and drowning, in the icy creek that drops quickly into a waterfall, the subject of countless pictures.
A Murder at Paradise - NYTimes.com

BBC News - The French women who defied the Nazis and survived Auschwitz

2012-01-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

Caroline Moorehead's book, A Train in Winter, takes a different approach to the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War.

In it she tells the story of a group of 230 French women deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau together in January 1943.

Only 49 of the women survived the infamous brutality of the concentration camp, but A Train in Winter is not a story about victims. Instead the book celebrates the spirit of resistance and friendship that persisted, despite the hardship, among these heroines of World War II.

BBC News - The French women who defied the Nazis and survived Auschwitz

Karyn McCluskey: the woman who took on Glasgow's gangs | Society | The Guardian

2011-12-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Karyn McCluskey: the woman who took on Glasgow's gangs | Society | The Guardian

Hedy’s Folly — By Richard Rhodes — Book Review - NYTimes.com

2011-12-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

Richard Rhodes tells the story of how the movie star Hedy Lamarr teamed up with an avant-garde composer to design a sophisticated weapons system during World War II.
Hedy’s Folly — By Richard Rhodes — Book Review - NYTimes.com

Paula E. Hyman, Who Sought Rights for Women in Judaism, Dies at 65 - NYTimes.com

2011-12-19T03:01:00.000-08:00

Paula E. Hyman, Who Sought Rights for Women in Judaism, Dies at 65 - NYTimes.com

Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Who Probed Roots of Ideology and Bias, Dies at 65 - NYTimes.com

2011-12-07T03:12:00.000-08:00

Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Who Probed Roots of Ideology and Bias, Dies at 65 - NYTimes.com

Invisible Among the Uncounted - NYTimes.com

2011-12-07T03:02:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI — Officially, Chandni doesn’t exist, nor is there any space for her in Delhi. Unofficially, the 14-year-old has grown up in the national capital, on its streets, one of the thousands of uncounted homeless women and girls in a city that has little time or empathy for her.
Invisible Among the Uncounted - NYTimes.com

BBC News - Last survivors of the Holocaust keep memories alive

2011-11-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Last survivors of the Holocaust keep memories alive

Catharine MacKinnon

2011-11-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

Raising Awareness of Sex Trafficking, One Lecture at a Time

By JAMES WARREN

Published: November 25, 2011

As Catharine MacKinnon spoke in a university auditorium about sex trafficking, Datqunn Sawyer was convicted in a federal courtroom of running a prostitution ring.

Raising Awareness of Sex Trafficking, One Lecture at a Time - NYTimes.com

The Face of Modern Slavery - NYTimes.com

2011-11-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

Opinion

The Face of Modern Slavery

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: November 16, 2011

When 6-year-olds are sold to be tortured and raped, it’s time for a 21st-century abolitionist movement to end human trafficking.

The Face of Modern Slavery - NYTimes.com

Leymah Gbowee - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 11/14/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

2011-11-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

Leymah Gbowee - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 11/14/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

Sisters Unto Death

2011-11-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

Caroline Moorehead recounts the Nazis’ internment of a group of women involved in the French Resistance.
A Train In Winter — By Caroline Moorehead — Book Review - NYTimes.com

Women march in Yemen's capital - CNN.com

2011-10-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Women march in Yemen's capital - CNN.com

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Has Fanboys

2011-10-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Has Fanboys

BBC News - Australia concern for Iranian actress 'facing lashing'

2011-10-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Australia concern for Iranian actress 'facing lashing'

Domestic Workers Convention May Be Landmark - NYTimes.com

2011-10-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

Domestic Workers Convention May Be Landmark - NYTimes.com

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman - NYTimes.com

2011-10-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman - NYTimes.com

BBC News - Australia lifts ban on women in military combat roles

2011-09-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Australia lifts ban on women in military combat roles

Shehla Masood battled corruption in India. Was that why she was killed? | World news | The Observer

2011-09-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Shehla Masood battled corruption in India. Was that why she was killed? | World news | The Observer

BBC News - Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections

2011-09-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections

Libya’s War-Tested Women Hope to Keep New Power - NYTimes.com

2011-09-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Libya’s War-Tested Women Hope to Keep New Power - NYTimes.com

Iranian sentenced to blinding for acid attack pardoned

2011-07-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

A noble gesture (though since it comes from Iranian state television, consider the source):

An Iranian man who was ordered to be blinded for carrying out an acid attack on a woman has been pardoned by his victim, state television has said.

BBC News - Iranian sentenced to blinding for acid attack pardoned

India 'Slutwalk' sex harassment protest held in Delhi

2011-07-31T07:48:00.000-07:00

A rally has taken place in India's capital inspired by the "Slutwalk" protests held in a number of countries.

The protest is to challenge the notion that the way a woman looks can excuse sexual abuse or taunting - "Eve teasing" as it is known in India.

Hundreds took part in Delhi, though there was little of the skimpy dressing that has marked protests elsewhere.

The protests originated in Canada after a policeman said women could avoid rape by not dressing like "sluts".

BBC News - India 'Slutwalk' sex harassment protest held in Delhi

Tristane Banon Frees Herself by Speaking Out Against Strauss-Kahn - NYTimes.com

2011-07-23T06:39:00.000-07:00

Excerpt:

Ms. Banon, who is often shown in magazines here looking like a pale, skinny adolescent and wearing ripped jeans, sounded mature, self-confident and determined. If French prosecutors decide there is not enough evidence to bring her case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn, she said, “I’ll have to live with this, but I’ll live badly.”
In early 2003, she was a 23-year-old journalist, working as an intern for the magazine Paris Match when she interviewed Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a leading Socialist, for a book she was researching about the mistakes of powerful people.
In various settings since 2007, and most recently in the French weekly magazine L’Express, she has described what she says happened — how Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who arranged to meet her in a sparsely furnished apartment, had tried to rape her, undoing her bra and jeans and putting his hand in her underwear.
But for eight years, advised by her mother and her friends to keep silent, Ms. Banon said she did not find the courage to bring a criminal complaint against Mr. Strauss-Kahn, whose second wife was her godmother. “I was too young and fearful at the time,” she said.
In the interview, Ms. Banon said the episode destroyed her self-confidence, affected her relationships with men and hurt her chances to find work in journalism.
“I never understood why some people destroyed my career, my life, insulted me while I was the victim,” she said.

Tristane Banon Frees Herself by Speaking Out Against Strauss-Kahn - NYTimes.com

Heroine: "Samia"

2011-06-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

After years of failed appeals, Samia and the human rights society are gearing up to face the Saudi Supreme Court which, according to Amnesty International's Saudi Arabia researcher Dina el-Mamoun, will be a tough battle.

"It's difficult to win these cases because there are no clear guidelines in terms of what they have to prove. The judges have huge discretion in relation to these cases. The outcome really depends on which judge gets the case and who rules on it," says Ms Mamoun.

Samia's case is not a one off. Across the oil-rich desert kingdom, dozens of women are taking guardianship grievances to court. And they are gaining public support.

"I think in terms of public opinion, you do see a lot of sympathy with these women," says Ms Mamoun.

Samia, now 43, is still clinging to her childhood dream of having a family. Her special man, she says, is waiting for her and fighting bravely alongside her.

"I'm still dreaming," she says. "The flame will be alive until my death."

BBC News - Saudi Arabian woman challenges male guardianship laws

Outcry in America as pregnant women who lose babies face murder charges | World news | The Guardian

2011-06-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Outcry in America as pregnant women who lose babies face murder charges | World news | The Guardian

Silence lifted: The untold stories of rape during the Holocaust - CNN.com

2011-06-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

Silence lifted: The untold stories of rape during the Holocaust - CNN.com

Michelle Obama's Africa Trip: Why It Matters

2011-06-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Michelle Obama to young women leaders in Soweto: "You can be the generation that holds your leaders accountable for open, honest government at every level, government that stamps out corruption and protects the rights of every citizen to speak freely, to worship openly, to love whomever they choose."

Michelle Obama's Africa Trip: Why It Matters

Pakistani woman forced to parade naked

2011-06-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

In Pakistan, targeting a woman for the alleged crimes of her family members is not uncommon. There are regular reports of feuds being settled through women being burned with acid, mutilated, raped or even killed.

Pakistan's penal code even has a specific law relating to stripping a woman and exposing her in public. It is punishable by life imprisonment or death.

"I want them punished, though it won't help me much," says Shahnaz Bibi.

"Before all this, I was poor but I had a respectable life, I was happy. But after something like this, my life is finished," she weeps.

"How can I go back to a village where every single person has seen me naked? I feel ashamed even to show my face to my own brothers and sisters."

BBC News - Horror story of Pakistani woman forced to parade naked

Albertina Sisulu

2011-06-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Mrs Sisulu rose to prominence in 1956 when she played a leading role in a mass protest against racism laws in the city of Pretoria, then the citadel of white power.

Her political career reached a peak in 1983 when she was elected co-president of the United Democratic Front, then the internal wing of the banned ANC.

The apartheid regime detained and put Mrs Sisulu under house arrest on numerous occasions, but she remained resolute in her commitment to the anti-apartheid struggle.

"She was very brave," Ms Tolashe told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Working as a nurse in between her activism, Mrs Sisulu remained loyal to her husband, Walter, while he was jailed for nearly 30 years on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela.

The twice-divorced Mr Mandela once recalled that the Sisulu couple shared a "generosity of spirit".

"Because they as a couple were totally giving of themselves, they have at all times been secure in their relationship," Mr Mandela said.

BBC News - Albertina Sisulu: South Africa loses a moral compass

An interesting but predictable twist

2011-05-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

With fewer women the "marriage market" has taken an interesting turn.

Usually, a bride's family pays a large dowry to the groom's family. But these days prospective grooms in areas short on women often need to have substantial amounts of land and a secure government job if they are to win a wife.

BBC News - India's 'imported' brides

Libya: 'Forced to rape in Misrata'

2011-05-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

"We felt scared, but when we refused to rape, they started to beat us.

"There were four girls aged between about 20 and 24.

"They were conscious [during the rapes]. I raped one.

"The girls said nothing. They were tired and they were in bad shape because there were 20 officers before us.

"It happened in the morning, and lasted about an hour and a half.

"The officers brought in a music system and listened to pop music, and smoked and danced during the rapes.

"I'm not happy with what I did but I don't feel nervous or frightened now, and I want to emphasise that the officers forced us to rape.

"They told us that if you rape any girls, we will give you money and we got 10 dinars [$8, £5] each afterwards.

"This was my first time to have sex. I have four sisters at home."

BBC News - Libya: 'Forced to rape in Misrata'

Where are India's millions of missing girls?

2011-05-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

"My mother-in-law taunted me for giving birth to girls. She said her son would divorce me if I didn't bear a son."
Kulwant still has vivid memories of the first abortion. "The baby was nearly five months old. She was beautiful. I miss her, and the others we killed," she says, breaking down, wiping away her tears.
Until her son was born, Kulwant's daily life consisted of beatings and abuse from her husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Once, she says, they even attempted to set her on fire.
"They were angry. They didn't want girls in the family. They wanted boys so they could get fat dowries," she says.
India outlawed dowries in 1961, but the practice remains rampant and the value of dowries is constantly growing, affecting rich and poor alike.
Kulwant's husband died three years after the birth of their son. "It was the curse of the daughters we killed. That's why he died so young," she says.

BBC News - Where are India's millions of missing girls?

Najla Hariri

2011-05-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

The 45-year-old says she was inspired by the protests taking place elsewhere in the Middle East.

"Enough is enough", she told the BBC as she drove around the city. "I have the right to [drive]."

BBC News - Saudi woman seeks to put women in the driving seat

Women of Spirit and Power by J Michael Walker

2011-04-19T10:33:00.001-07:00

Find more photos like this on Black Art In America

BBC: The Saudi women taking small steps for change

2011-04-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

The on-going battles to bring about change for women in Saudi Arabia tend to be small ones but some are being won

Sue Lloyd-Roberts
BBC Newsnight

Before I flew to the Saudi capital Riyadh to make a film about the position of women in the kingdom, I met a Saudi woman studying in the UK who told me, "Saudi Arabia is the biggest women's prison in the world".

Read article and watch video here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9436095.stm

Heroine: Eman al-Obeidy

2011-03-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

Libyan Woman Struggles to Tell Media of Her Rape

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: March 26, 2011

A woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli Saturday and fought off security forces as she told journalists that she had been raped and beaten by Qaddafi militia members.

“They say that we are all Libyans and we are one people,” said the woman, who gave her name as Eman al-Obeidy. “But look at what the Qaddafi men did to me.” She displayed a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks lower on her leg, and marks that seemed to came from binding around her hands and feet.
She said she had been raped by 15 men. “I was tried up and they defecated and urinated on me.,” she said. “They violated my honor.”
She pleaded for friends she said were still in custody. “They are still there, they are still there,” she said. “As soon as I leave here they are going to take me to jail.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/world/middleeast/27tripoli.html

Who are you calling past it? | Life and style | The Guardian

2011-02-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

Who are you calling past it? | Life and style | The Guardian

Amal and Minna

2011-02-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

Yet side by side with the ugliest of humanity, you find the best. The two sisters stood their ground. They explained calmly to the mob why they favored democratic reform and listened patiently to the screams of the pro-Mubarak mob. When the women refused to be cowed, the men lost interest and began to move on — and the two women continued to walk to the center of Tahrir Square.

Read the rest of this column by Nicholas Kristov

Watching Thugs With Razors and Clubs at Tahrir Sq. - NYTimes.com

Ask a Woman Who Knows - Ta-Nehisi Coates - Culture - The Atlantic

2011-01-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

Excerpt:

Take a moment to consider this. We live in a world where it's okay to badger brilliant and accomplished human beings—who presumably have many, many fascinating things to talk about relating to their lives' works—about marriage and childbirth simply because they have female reproductive organs.
I'm not trying to be flippant about this, because really, it's depressing. And even more depressing is the fact that women have to be gracious while answering, because these questions assume that marriage and babies are ever-present, important issues on every woman's mind. Again, it's little wonder that women are making such small inroads in Congress.

Read the entire article (with videos) here:
Ask a Woman Who Knows

15 Good Things to Celebrate in a Bad Year - Including 3 Inspirational Women

2011-01-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

15 Good Things to Celebrate in a Bad Year

By Medea Benjamin

This year was marked by turmoil at home and abroad, including a deepening financial crisis that continues to leave millions jobless and homeless, as well as ongoing and expanding wars. But despite the setbacks and disappointments, here is a list of victories to be thankful for, starting with three inspirational women.

1. On November 13, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. In 1990 her party, the National League for Democracy, won the elections but the military junta refused to let them take power. Instead, Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest for almost 15 of the last 21 years. Her release brings great joy and hope to millions of people in Burma and supporters of democracy worldwide.

2. Dilma Rousseff was elected president of Brazil and takes power on January 1. Dubbed by the media "the most powerful woman in the world," Rousseff was tortured and jailed for three years for opposing Brazil's military dictatorship. She later became Chief of Staff for the popular outgoing president and former metalworker, Lula da Silva, whose policies of growth with equity have helped pull millions of Brazilians out of poverty. While some worry about Rousseff's commitment to the environment (she was also Lula's Energy Minister), the fact that a progressive woman from the Labor Party will rule a powerhouse like Brazil is cause for celebration.

3. Elizabeth Warren became "consumer czar." After the financial meltdown in 2008, Warren was appointed Chairwoman of the five-member Congressional Oversight Panel created to investigate the banking bailout and oversee TARP. She won tremendous public support by sharply criticizing the banks and calling for greater transparency and accountability. Warren advocated for a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect borrowers from abuses in mortgages, credit cards and other consumer loans. On September 17 President Obama named her special adviser by to oversee the development of this new bureau.

Read article in full:
15 Good Things to Celebrate in a Bad Year |

Dr. Hawa Abdi - Heroic, Female and Muslim

2010-12-16T04:16:00.000-08:00

'But there’s another side of Islam as well, represented by an extraordinary Somali Muslim woman named Dr. Hawa Abdi who has confronted the armed militias. Amazingly, she forced them to back down — and even submit a written apology. Glamour magazine, which named Dr. Hawa a “woman of the year,” got it exactly right when it called her “equal parts Mother Teresa and Rambo.”'

Heroic, Female and Muslim - NYTimes.com

Anuradha Koirala: CNN Hero of the Year

2010-12-09T12:51:00.001-08:00

Woman fighting sex slavery named CNN Hero of the Year - CNN.com

Harriet Tubman

2010-11-30T06:40:00.000-08:00

Excerpt:

But one night in the midst of the secession crisis, while staying at the house of another black leader, a vision came to Tubman in a dream that all of America’s slaves were soon to be liberated – a vision so powerful that she rose from bed singing. Her host tried in vain to quiet her; perhaps their grandchildren would live to see the day of jubilee, he said, but they themselves surely would not. “I tell you, sir, you’ll see it, and you’ll see it soon,” she retorted, and sang again: “My people are free! My people are free.”

Moses' Last Exodus - NYTimes.com

Why Are Women in Some Countries Oppressed? - NYTimes.com

2010-11-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

November 19, 2010, 1:54 pm

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF

There’s much debate about why women in some countries are presidents and business executives, and women in others are locked up in the home and beaten or brutalized if they try to stand up for themselves. Obviously the differences are rooted in culture, but there are diverse theories about why some cultures resulted in more emancipated women and others in more oppressed women.

One theory, which originated with Ester Boserup in 1970, is that it has to do with the emergence of the plow in agriculture. The idea is that in areas (such as Africa or southern India) where plows were little used, women engaged in agriculture and became important to the economy. They became valued by society to some degree. In contrast, where the plow was introduced, such as northern India and parts of the Middle East, women could not compete so readily because plowing required great physical strength. The result was that women were relegated to work in the home, were valued less, and even today women have less labor force participation in those countries.

This issue is the topic of a thoughtful new paper and Aid Watch blog post. Apparently there’s a correlation between plow use and the marginalization of women, and it makes sense to me. But I also think much depends on whether women were part of the cash and trading economy: where they were, they had more economic value, while where they grew vegetables for subsistence they had less value. I also look at China, and it’s not apparent to me that there’s any correlation in terms of the status of women with those parts where the plow was used and those where it wasn’t.

Your thoughts?

Why Are Women in Some Countries Oppressed? - NYTimes.com

Freed Suu Kyi Calls for 'Non-Violent Revolution'

2010-11-16T04:24:00.000-08:00

Freed Suu Kyi Calls for 'Non-Violent Revolution'

Here’s a Woman Fighting Terrorism. With Microloans. - NYTimes.com

2010-11-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

Here’s a Woman Fighting Terrorism. With Microloans. - NYTimes.com

Burmese Dissident Tells Crowd Not to Give Up Hope - NYTimes.com

2010-11-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

Burmese Dissident Tells Crowd Not to Give Up Hope - NYTimes.com

t r u t h o u t | Burmese Democracy Leader Freed, But Next Steps Unsure

2010-11-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

t r u t h o u t | Burmese Democracy Leader Freed, But Next Steps Unsure

BBC News: Burma releases Aung San Suu Kyi

2010-11-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

Burma releases Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi's first day of freedom | World news | guardian.co.uk

2010-11-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

Aung San Suu Kyi's first day of freedom | World news | guardian.co.uk

Aung San Suu Kyi release: live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk

2010-11-13T04:53:00.000-08:00

Aung San Suu Kyi release: live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk

Aung San Suu Kyi

2010-11-12T04:37:00.001-08:00

Born 1945, daughter of Burma's independence hero, General Aung San assassinated in 1947
1960: Leaves Burma and is later educated at Oxford University
1988: Returns to care for sick mother and is caught up in revolt against then-dictator Ne Win
1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law
1990: NLD wins election; military disregards result
1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted
2000: Near continuous period of house arrest begins
Sept 2007: First public appearance since 2003, greeting protesting Buddhist monks
November 2010: NLD boycotts first election in 20 years and is disbanded

Source: BBC News

BBC News - Burma generals 'sign Aung San Suu Kyi release order'

2010-11-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

Burma generals 'sign Aung San Suu Kyi release order'

A Girl, a School and Hope - NYTimes.com

2010-11-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

A Girl, a School and Hope - NYTimes.com

Book Review - Cleopatra - By Stacy Schiff - NYTimes.com

2010-11-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Book Review - Cleopatra - By Stacy Schiff - NYTimes.com

Sonia Sotomayor's Last Laugh - NYTimes.com

2010-11-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

Sonia Sotomayor's Last Laugh - NYTimes.com

Angelina Jolie's controversial film divides Bosnian rape victims | World news | The Observer

2010-10-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

Angelina Jolie's controversial film divides Bosnian rape victims | World news | The Observer

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

2010-10-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

An Uncompromising Woman - NYTimes.com

The Art of Social Change - Campaigns against foot-binding and genital mutilation. - NYTimes.com

2010-10-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

The Art of Social Change - Campaigns against foot-binding and genital mutilation. - NYTimes.com

Erin O'Connor: From supermodel to role model - CNN.com

2010-10-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

She's been the face of Versace, Dior, Armani, and Gaultier -- and after 16 years commanding catwalks around the globe, the porcelain-skinned belle is still at the very top of her profession.

But beyond the extraordinary physique and angular, painterly features that define her appearance, O'Connor has emerged as a vocal proponent of change within the pressurized, often exploitative industry she inhabits.

Erin O'Connor: From supermodel to role model - CNN.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Making Ignorance Chic - NYTimes.com

2010-10-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

Miller once called Marilyn “a poet on a street corner trying to recite to a crowd pulling at her clothes.” - Maureen Dowd

Op-Ed Columnist - Making Ignorance Chic - NYTimes.com

BBC News - Can Chechen President Kadyrov stamp out bride-stealing?

2010-10-09T06:37:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Can Chechen President Kadyrov stamp out bride-stealing?

The Female Factor - A Woman Rises in Brazil - NYTimes.com

2010-09-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Female Factor - A Woman Rises in Brazil - NYTimes.com

Heroine: Sheryl WuDunn

2010-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Tens of millions of 'missing' girls - CNN.com

During their time as correspondents in China, WuDunn and Kristof learned of the phenomenon of an estimated 30 million "missing" baby girls in the nation.
WuDunn says part of the gap could be attributed to infanticide by families who were determined to have a male child under China's one-child policy and in part to the development of the sonogram. That medical device can be used to determine the gender of a child before birth, prompting some parents to obtain abortions.
"One peasant in the southern part of China once told us, 'The sonogram's great, we don't need to have baby girls any more.'

Iran: women on the frontline of the fight for rights | World news | The Observer

2010-09-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Iran: women on the frontline of the fight for rights | World news | The Observer

Half the Sky: combating "gendercide"

2010-08-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

Half the Sky: how the trafficking of women today is on a par with genocide | Books | The Guardian

Patricia Neal, an Oscar Winner Who Endured Tragedy, Dies at 84 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

2010-08-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Patricia Neal, an Oscar Winner Who Endured Tragedy, Dies at 84 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

Iranians still facing death by stoning despite 'reprieve' | World news | The Guardian

2010-07-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Iranians still facing death by stoning despite 'reprieve' | World news | The Guardian

Graphic account of Anne Frank story set for debut - CNN.com

2010-07-09T08:51:00.001-07:00

Graphic account of Anne Frank story set for debut - CNN.com

BBC News - Iran woman escapes stoning death for adultery

2010-07-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Iran woman escapes stoning death for adultery

Lady Power - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-06-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Lady Power - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

South African doctor invents female condoms with 'teeth' to fight rape - CNN.com

2010-06-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

South African doctor invents female condoms with 'teeth' to fight rape - CNN.com

Afghan Child Brides Escape Marriage, but Not Lashes - NYTimes.com

2010-05-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Afghan Child Brides Escape Marriage, but Not Lashes - NYTimes.com

Book Review - Nomad - By Ayaan Hirsi Ali - NYTimes.com

2010-05-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Book Review - Nomad - By Ayaan Hirsi Ali - NYTimes.com

Dede Allen dies at 86; editor revolutionized imagery, sound and pace in U.S. films - latimes.com

2010-04-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

Dede Allen dies at 86; editor revolutionized imagery, sound and pace in U.S. films - latimes.com

Another Dead Child-Bride - Nicholas D. Kristof Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-04-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

Another Dead Child-Bride - Nicholas D. Kristof Blog - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Worlds Without Women - NYTimes.com

2010-04-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

Maureen Dowd - Worlds Without Women - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - The Curse of the Wow Factor - NYTimes.com

2010-04-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Op-Ed Columnist - The Curse of the Wow Factor - NYTimes.com

Yemeni child bride dies of internal bleeding - CNN.com

2010-04-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Yemeni child bride dies of internal bleeding - CNN.com

BBC News - Saudi female poet Hissa Hilal loses in contest final

2010-04-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Saudi female poet Hissa Hilal loses in contest final

Technology Heroine: Ada Lovelace

2010-03-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

BBC News - Ada Lovelace voted most popular technology heroine

Ada Lovelace has emerged as the most popular role model in a day dedicated to celebrating women working in the fields of science and technology.

Hissa Hilal

2010-03-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Female Saudi Poet, Known for Controversial Verses, Reaches Game Show Final - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com

I have seen evil from the eyes of the subversive fatwas in a time when what is lawful is confused with what is not lawful;
When I unveil the truth, a monster appears from his hiding place; barbaric in thinking and action, angry and blind; wearing death as a dress and covering it with a belt [referring to suicide bombing];
He speaks from an official, powerful platform, terrorizing people and preying on everyone seeking peace; the voice of courage ran away and the truth is cornered and silent, when self-interest prevented one from speaking the truth.

- Hissa Hilal

Op-Ed Columnist - Driving Miss Saudi - NYTimes.com

2010-03-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Op-Ed Columnist - Driving Miss Saudi - NYTimes.com

Here's an excerpt from Maureen Dowd's Sunday column:

An American Muslim working here says there are hard adjustments, like hearing men use the occasional epithet “Dog” to address her, and not being able to leave the airport coming home from a business trip because she has no husband or male relative to pick her up.
She had to secure a letter from her employer stating that she could leave the airport on her own. When she wanted to buy a car, she had to use the subterfuge of having a male friend buy it for her, and even then, she can’t drive it except in one of the exclusive compounds with looser rules.
A recent article in The Arab News headlined “Working Mothers in a Double Bind” showed the growing pains of Saudi suffragettes. It told of a woman who secretly hired a cook to deliver meals and assuage her husband’s demand for home-cooked dinners. When her husband caught her, he divorced her — and Saudi divorces are easy as long as you’re male.
“He forgot his promises and left me just because of food,” said the woman, Huda.

***

...Americans are sometimes shocked to see Saudi women and realize “we’re not cowering, we’re actually quite professional. Are there issues here? Absolutely. There isn’t a place in the world that doesn’t have issues.
“I’d like to live in a Saudi where the woman that chooses to cover from top-to-bottom is equally as respected as the woman who chooses not to cover her face, and people from the West can accept that it is a lifestyle choice, inasmuch as wearing a miniskirt or a long, flowing dress is a choice. I find a lot of people minimize the women’s cause in Saudi by how we dress, and that is actually offensive.”

First Lady marks International Women’s Day with Hillary ‘President’ joke - Yahoo! News

2010-03-12T04:09:00.000-08:00

First Lady marks International Women’s Day with Hillary ‘President’ joke - Yahoo! News

Excerpt:

In a fitting show of solidarity for International Women's Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made light of the brutal 2008 battle Clinton conducted to defeat Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. As Michelle Obama launched a State Department commemoration of International Women's Day, she briefly stumbled over Clinton's job title. "Let me thank my dear friend, Senator - Secretary Clinton. I almost said, 'President Clinton,' " said the first lady to laughter and applause. "But let me thank you for that kind introduction, and most of all thank you for your friendship, thank you for your support, and thank you for your indispensable advice in getting me through this first year and helping me figure out how to get my family settled in our new life in D.C."

The exchange stood as another rebuke to a favored theme of the Beltway pundit set: that tensions between the Obamas and the Secretary of State still run high. More than that, though, the series of events that the first lady presided over drew wider attention to the stubborn lags in gender equality beyond the developed Western world. Both women stressed this issue in their respective speeches. As Secretary Clinton put it, the world "can't solve problems of financial crisis, climate change, disease and poverty if half of the population is left behind."

Kathryn Bigelow - How Oscar Found Ms. Right - NYTimes.com

2010-03-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

Kathryn Bigelow - How Oscar Found Ms. Right - NYTimes.com

KATHRYN BIGELOW’S two-fisted win at the Academy Awards for best director and best film for “The Hurt Locker” didn’t just punch through the American movie industry’s seemingly shatterproof glass ceiling; it has also helped dismantle stereotypes about what types of films women can and should direct. It was historic, exhilarating, especially for women who make movies and women who watch movies, two groups that have been routinely ignored and underserved by an industry in which most films star men and are made for and by men. It’s too early to know if this moment will be transformative — but damn, it feels so good.

Let's hear it for the Land Down Under

2010-03-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

The World’s Best Countries for Women - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

The G.D.I. takes both absolute and relative levels of these factors into account, penalizing countries with a high disparity between men’s and women’s achievements. In 2007, the latest year for which data are currently available, the United States ranked 13th on the Human Development Index and 19th on the Gender-Related Development Index. Norway took first place on the H.D.I., but only second on the G.D.I. (Australia took the gold in G.D.I. rankings.)

BBC News - Profile: Kathryn Bigelow

2010-03-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

BBC News - Profile: Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win the best director trophy, as her tension-filled Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker collected six prizes.

Three Proven Steps to Advance the World’s Women, on International Women’s Day - Nicholas D. Kristof Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-03-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Three Proven Steps to Advance the World’s Women, on International Women’s Day - Nicholas D. Kristof Blog - NYTimes.com

Why I (still) don't celebrate Women's Day

2010-03-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

Women are not from Venus, we are from planet Earth. We represent 50% (or more) of the human race and according to the ancient Chinese proverb, we hold up half the sky. So why do we get just one day of the year?

Here's an entry I wrote in another post, on another Women's Day. It's still valid:

As you celebrate (if you do), remember the female foeticide and infanticide that still goes on in India and China, among other places. Remember the sex slaves in streets and brothels around the world. Remember the victims of female circumcision (RIP Katoucha Niane). Remember the victims of honour killings. Remember the girls being forced into marriage and women in traditional communities who are dying of AIDS, infected by their husbands. I could go on, but I'm getting a bit depressed, and more than a bit enraged. So please, don't wish me Happy Women's Day (again) this year.

Letting Women Reach Women in Afghan War - NYTimes.com

2010-03-07T05:56:00.000-08:00

Letting Women Reach Women in Afghan War - NYTimes.com

Excerpt:

Whatever the outcome, the teams reflect how much the military has adapted over nine years of war, not only in the way it fights but to the shifting gender roles within its ranks. Women make up only 6 percent of the Marine Corps, which cultivates an image as the most testosterone-fueled service, and they are still officially barred from combat branches like the infantry.
But in a bureaucratic sleight of hand, used by both the Army and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan when women have been needed for critical jobs like bomb disposal or intelligence, the female engagement teams are to be “attached” to all-male infantry units within the First Marine Expeditionary Force — a source of pride and excitement for them.
“When I heard about this, I said, Oh, that’s it, let’s go,” said Cpl. Vanessa Jones, 25.
The idea for the teams grew out of the “Lioness” program in Iraq, which used female Marines to search Iraqi women at checkpoints. Over the past year in Afghanistan, the Army and Marines have assembled ad hoc female engagement teams, but the women were hastily pulled from work as cooks or engineers.

Op-Ed Columnist - Divorced Before Puberty - NYTimes.com

2010-03-04T04:30:00.000-08:00

Op-Ed Columnist - Divorced Before Puberty - NYTimes.com
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Nujood is a Yemeni girl, and it’s no coincidence that Yemen abounds both in child brides and in terrorists (and now, thanks to Nujood, children who have been divorced). Societies that repress women tend to be prone to violence.

Op-Ed Columnist - Loosey-Goosey Saudi - NYTimes.com

2010-03-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

Op-Ed Columnist - Loosey-Goosey Saudi - NYTimes.com
Maureen Dowd

excerpt:

Young Saudi women whom I interviewed said that the popular king has relaxed the grip of the bullying mutawa, the bearded religious police officers who patrol the streets ready to throw you in the clink at the first sign of fun or skin. Their low point came in 2002 when they notoriously stopped teenage girls without head scarves from fleeing a fire at a school in Mecca; 15 girls died. Two years ago, they arrested an American woman living here while she was sitting in a Starbucks with her male business partner, even though she was in a curtained booth in the “family” section designated for men and women.
“It is not allowed for any woman to travel alone and sit with a strange man and talk and laugh and drink coffee together like they are married,” the religious police said.

On air: Can rape ever be the victim’s fault? « BBC World Have Your Say

2010-02-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

On air: Can rape ever be the victim’s fault? « BBC World Have Your Say

Sabrina Gledhill participated in this rather bizarre exchange, which was dominated by the author of a book who insists that women who get drunk and climb into bed with men at frat parties shouldn't cry rape later on - as if the subject could or should be reduced to that one small demographic and context. (Opinion: good sense is essential, but rape is a crime, full stop. Women who make false claims of rape just make life all the harder for real victims)

Op-Ed Columnist - Postcard From Yemen - NYTimes.com

2010-02-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Op-Ed Columnist - Postcard From Yemen - NYTimes.com

Sana is not Kabul, and Yemen is not Afghanistan — not yet. Yemenis have the resources to save themselves, but they need to be mobilized by better governance.

BBC: Burma hints of Aung San Suu Kyi release in November

2010-01-25T04:52:00.000-08:00

Go to original BBC article

Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years

Burma's military government may be planning to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi later this year, say reports from the country.

Burma's home minister reportedly said Ms Suu Kyi would be freed when her current period of house arrest expires, which is scheduled for November.
Ms Suu Kyi's detention was extended last year, after a US man visited her house uninvited.
Critics say the junta intends to detain her until after elections this year.
Home Minister Maung Oo is reported to have made the comments about Ms Suu Kyi at a provincial town meeting four days ago.
The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says it is a measure of how tightly information is controlled in Burma that it has taken this long for the reports to filter out.
Burmese officials have hinted many times that Aung San Suu Kyi may be released, our correspondent adds, but this is the first time in recent months that a putative date has been attached to the idea.
Aung San Suu Kyi's own lawyer told the BBC he had heard the rumour but could not confirm it.
Undermined
Ms Suu Kyi's detention was extended by 18 months last August, over an incident in which an American man swam, uninvited, to her lakeside home.

Burma extended Ms Suu Kyi's arrest after an intruder visited her home

If she is released in November, key questions remain about the terms of her possible freedom.
Those include whether there would be conditions attached, whether her activities would be restricted and - crucially - whether the release would come before or after planned elections.
The Supreme Court is also due to deliver its verdict on a legal appeal against her current detention in the next couple of weeks.
But if the military government says she will continue to be detained until at least November, the court's decision has already been somewhat undermined, says our correspondent.
Maung Oo is also reported to have said the vice chairman of Ms Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), will be released in February.
Tin Oo, 82, has been in prison or under house arrest for more than a decade.
Analysts say if he is released, he could have a key role in deciding whether or not the NLD participates in the elections due later this year.
No date for the poll has yet been set.
But if Tin Oo is released in February, and Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention until November, it could indicate that the elections are pencilled in for a date sometime between the two, says our correspondent.

Heroine: Ana González

2010-01-23T17:28:00.001-08:00

Ana Gonzalez by Tomas Munita for The New York Times

A Serene Advocate for Chile’s Disappeared

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

Published in the NY Times on January 23, 2010

Ana González has transformed rage and grief at her loved ones’ capture into a challenge to the Pinochet dictatorship.

“They never thought that a woman, a housewife who didn’t know anything, not even where the courts were located, would take up the battle cry,” said Mrs. González, now 84, in an interview in the same modest home on Santiago’s outskirts where she lived with her husband and children. Faded pictures of her missing family members still hang in the dining room.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/world/americas/23chile.html

Women's movement mourns death of 3 Haitian leaders

2010-01-21T07:16:00.000-08:00

By Jessica Ravitz

(CNN) -- One returned to her Haitian roots, to give voice to women, honor their stories and shape their futures.
Another urged women to pack a courtroom in Haiti, where she succeeded in getting a guilty verdict against a man who battered his wife.
A third joined the others and helped change the law to make rape, long a political weapon in Haiti, a punishable crime.
Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan, founders of three of the country's most important advocacy organizations working on behalf of women and girls, are confirmed dead -- victims of last week's 7.0 earthquake.
Remembering the victims of the Haiti earthquake
And their deaths have left members of the women's movement, Haitian and otherwise, reeling.
"Words are missing for me. I lost a large chunk of my personal, political and social life," Carolle Charles wrote in an e-mail to colleagues. The Haitian-born sociology professor at Baruch College in New York is chair of Dwa Fanm (meaning "Women's Rights" in Creole), a Brooklyn-based advocacy group. These women "were my friends, my colleagues and my associates. I cannot envision going to Haiti without seeing them."
Myriam Merlet was until recently the chief of staff of Haiti's Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women, established in 1995, and still served as a top adviser. She died after being trapped beneath her collapsed Port-au-Prince home, Charles said. She was 53.
iReport: A tribute to Merlet
Merlet, an author as well as an activist, fled Haiti in the 1970s. She studied in Canada, steeping herself in economics, women's issues, feminist theory and political sociology.
In the mid-1980s, she returned to her homeland. In "Walking on Fire: Haitian Women's Stories of Survival and Resistance," published in 2001, she contributed an essay, "The More People Dream," in which she described what brought her back.
"While I was abroad I felt the need to find out who I was and where my soul was. I chose to be a Haitian woman," she wrote. "We're a country in which three-fourths of the people can't read and don't eat properly. I'm an integral part of the situation. I am not in Canada in a black ghetto, or an extraterrestrial from outer space. I am a Haitian woman. I don't mean to say that I am responsible for the problems. But still, as a Haitian woman, I must make an effort so that all together we can extricate ourselves from them."

I felt the need to find out who I was and where my soul was. I chose to be a Haitian woman.
--Myriam Merlet, in her essay "The More People Dream"

She was a founder of Enfofamn, an organization that raises awareness about women through media, collects stories and works to honor their names. Among her efforts, she set out to get streets named after Haitian women who came before her, Charles said.
Dubbed a "Vagina Warrior," she was remembered Tuesday by her friend Eve Ensler, the award-winning playwright and force behind V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
"She was very bold," said Ensler, who at Merlet's insistence brought her play "The Vagina Monologues" to Haiti and helped establish safe houses for women in Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien. "She had an incredible vision of what was possible for Haitian women, and she lifted their spirits. ... And we had such a wonderful time. I remember her dancing in the streets of New Orleans and just being so alive."
Magalie Marcelin, a lawyer and actress who appeared in films and on stage, established Kay Fanm, a women's rights organization that deals with domestic violence, offers services and shelter to women and makes microcredits, or loans, available to women working in markets, said Charles, the chair of Dwa Fanm.
Charles remembered a visit to Haiti about two years ago when Marcelin, believed to be in her mid-50s, called seeking help. Hoping to deflect the political clout of a defendant in court, she asked for women to come out in droves and pack the courtroom. Charles watched as the man on trial was convicted for battering his wife.
Her death has been reported through various media outlets, and was confirmed to CNN by Carribbean Radio Television based in Port-au-Prince. Her own daughter helped dig her body out from rubble in the aftermath of the quake, Charles said she learned when she got the call from Marcelin's cousin.
In an interview last year with the Haitian Times, Marcelin spoke of the image of a drum that adorned public awareness stickers.
"It's very symbolic in the Haitian cultural imagination," Marcelin said, according to the Haitian Times report. "The sound of the drum is the sound of freedom, it's the sound of slaves breaking with slavery."
With Merlet, Anne Marie Coriolan, 53, served as a top adviser to the women's rights ministry.
Coriolan, who died when her boyfriend's home collapsed, was the founder of Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity with Haitian Women, or SOFA), which Charles described as an advocacy and services organization.
Her daughter, Wani Thelusmon Coriolan, said in Haiti children bear only their father's surname, but her mother insisted on keeping her maiden name and making sure her two children shared it, too.
"She said my dad was not the only one who created me. She was involved, too," her 24-year-old daughter, who lives and is studying in Montreal, Quebec, said with a laugh.
Even though Wani and her brother no longer live in Haiti (he is in Paris, France), she said her mother was determined to make sure they were proud of their homeland.
"She loved her country. She never stopped believing in Haiti. She said that when you have a dream you have to fight for it," Wani said. "She wanted women to have equal rights. She wanted women to hold their heads high."
Coriolan was a political organizer who helped bring rape -- "an instrument of terror and war," Charles said -- to the forefront of Haitian courts.
Before 2005, rapes in Haiti were treated as nothing more than "crimes of passion," Charles explained. That changed because of the collective efforts of these women activists -- and others they inspired.

She had an incredible vision of what was possible for Haitian women, and she lifted their spirits.
--Eve Ensler, on her friend Myriam Merlet

RELATED TOPICS

With the three leaders gone, there is concern about the future of Haiti's women and girls. Even with all that's been achieved, the struggle for equality and against violence remains enormous.
The chaos that's taken over the devastated nation heightens those worries, said Taina Bien-Aimé, the executive director of Equality Now, a human rights organization dedicated to women.
Before the disaster struck last week, a survey of Haitian women and girls showed an estimated 72 percent had been raped, according to study done by Kay Fanm. And at least 40 percent of the women surveyed were victims of domestic violence, Bien-Aimé said.
And humanitarian emergencies have been linked to increased violence and exploitation in the past, she said.
"From where we stand," Bien-Aimé wrote in an e-mail, "the most critical and urgent issue is what, if any, contingencies the relief/humanitarian agencies are putting in place not only to ensure that women have easy access to food, water and medical care, but to guarantee their protection."
Concerned women in the New York area plan to gather Wednesday to strategize their next steps, Ensler said.

And while they will certainly keep mourning, she and the others are hopeful that Haitian women, inspired by these fallen heros and leaders, will forge ahead -- keeping their fight and legacies alive.

link to original article