WMC News Brief: Women’s Movement, Native Women, Gaza Strike

December 30, 2009

A Career And A Movement, Summed Up In One Word
12/25/09
Boston Globe: Women thought the movement would advance on two legs. With one, we’d kick down the doors closed to us. With the other, we’d walk through, changing society for men and women.

Despite Barriers To Justice, Native Women Persevere
12/20/09
Journal Star: Amnesty International reported that Native women were 2 1/2 times more likely to be sexually assaulted. Yet when a Native woman dials 911, a series of legal obstacles arise.

Holocaust Survivor Stages Hunger Strike For Gaza
12/28/09
AFP: An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor was among a group of grandmothers who began a hunger strike in Cairo on Monday to protest against Egypt’s refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed.

U.S. Will ‘Find And Fix’ System’s Vulnerabilities
12/30/09
USA Today: The Obama administration is determined to find and fix the vulnerabilities in our systems.

Breast Cancer Goes Blue
12/28/09
Salon: PSAs about women’s health use sex to target men.

Warden Leaving Fluvanna Prison
12/28/09
AP via Daily Progress: The warden at Virginia’s largest women’s prison is retiring amid allegations the prison discriminated against gay inmates and denied others access to religious services.

On The Road: A Milestone For Susan B. Anthony’s House
12/29/09
NY Times: Is Susan B. Anthony’s house really 150 years old?

Israel: Ex-Foreign Minister Declines To Join Right-Leaning Government
12/28/09
NY Times: Tzipi Livni, leader of the opposition Kadima Party, turned down an offer from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join his government.

Mexican Activist Brought To Light Killings, Rapes Of Women
12/30/09
Washington Post: Esther Chávez, 76, a vocal champion of human rights who against enormous odds drew attention to the killings and rapes of hundreds of women in the violent border city of Ciudad Juárez, died Dec. 25 of cancer.

China Shopping Centre Builds ‘Car Park For Women’
12/28/09
BBC: A shopping centre in China’s Hebei province has built a car park with wider spaces that it says is designed especially to suit women drivers.

Palestinian Women Join The Global Skin Whitening Epidemic
12/29/09
Examiner: Doesn’t seem as if women wanting to appear more white will fade away anytime soon.

UK’s Brown Pledges Support To Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi
12/30/09
BBC: UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has written a personal letter to Burma’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nepal’s Widows Reject Govt’s Remarriage Proposal
12/30/09
Women’s eNews: Nepali widows and their advocates are pushing back at a government proposal to pay engaged couples for a widow’s remarriage. Not only is the law like a new form of dowry, they say, many widows feel better off staying single and earning their own incomes.

As Bones Age, Who’s At Risk For Fracture?
12/29/09
NY Times: Who should be treated with bone-enhancing drugs?

Boozy Grandmas Add Humor To TV, Films
12/28/09
CNN: The melodrama of certain shows and films improves when a boozy grandmother is written in.

Women Play Harder Than Men In Online Games, Study Finds
12/29/09
LA Times: The words “You play like a girl” could turn out to be the ultimate compliment.

To Keep Home Fires Burning, Grab That Boa
12/29/09
NY Times: This is an example of a long and honorable tradition of military wives going the extra romantic mile for spouses returning from war.

Tyra Banks To Leave Her Chat
12/29/09
BBC: Former model Tyra Banks has announced she will no longer present her chat show after its fifth season finishes.

Canada Owns U.S. In Women’s Hockey, But Olympics Are Different
12/30/09
NY Times: For a team that has lost five of its last six games to its chief rival, Team Canada, in the lead-up to Vancouver, the U.S.Olympic women’s hockey team seemed unusually spirited and playful at  practice.