Would Banning Penthouse And Playboy Hurt Military Morale?

Hey guess what–Playboy and Penthouse aren’t pornographic, at least according to the military:
“U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material “sexually explicit.”
A Department of Defense committee […]

Murder Attempt Against Puntland’s Last Woman TV Presenter

Murder Attempt Against Puntland’s Last Woman TV Presenter
Reporters sans Frontières
PRESS RELEASE
7 May 2008
Reporters Without Borders said today it was disgusted by a murder attempt against Bisharo Mohammed Waeys, celebrated presenter on the privately-owned Eastern Television Network (ETN), on 4 May, the last woman working openly as a journalist in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, north-eastern […]

Anna Greer on the Media Use Of Passive Voice In Describing Gender-Motivated Violence

Anna Greer has a very thought-provoking piece in Wo! Magazine about the use of the passive voice in describing gender-based violence. She writes:
“One of the first things journalism students learn is to avoid the passive voice. So, you have to wonder why journalists are drawn to using passive voice when the subject of their […]

Beijing Disney Ads Make Miley Photo Shoot Look Tame

“Disney’s Double Standard: Despite Playing the Victim in Hannah Montana Photo Episode, Company’s Ads in China Feature Even Racier Tween Models After Disney screamed in outrage over Vanity Fair’s controversial Miley Cyrus shoot, now photos of Disney underwear ads in China have popped up on the web showing even more skin on tween models. Disney spokeswoman […]

Stop The Impunity And Demand Justice For Barbara Italia Mendez And The Women Of Atenco

From Amnesty International:
Stop the Impunity and Demand Justice for Barbara Italia Mendez and the Women
of Atenco!
Dear Supporter,
Just over a month ago we told you about Barbara Italia Mendez who was one of 26 women arrested without explanation at a protest in May 2006, beaten, and raped by members of the Mexican police. May […]

Women’s Space: Why So Little Attention To Tracy Barker/Halliburton Story?

Heart  over at Women’s Space has an excellent, comprehensive report on Tracy Barker another Halliburton/KBR employee who experienced hrorendous sexual harassment and assault while working in Iraq. The blog takes a hard look not only at the facts of the case but also why it has received relatively little attention compared to the […]

Time Magazine Doesn’t Think Women Are Influential

In its annual exercise of misogynist myopia, Time Magazine has decreed that only 25% of the world’s most influential people happen to be women, and at that 8 of those women are in the arts and entertainment field (although 3 of them were listed in the Heroes and  Pioneers category).
So, much like the list of […]

Yet Another U.S. Serviceman Charged With Assaulting A Japanese Child

Note: It bears noting that the BBC devoted 13 paragraphs to this story, the New York Times only felt it merited one paragraph World Briefing. This then from the far more informative BBC report:
“A US serviceman on the Japanese island of Okinawa has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old girl.
Armando Valdez, a […]

Guatemalan Congress Approves Law Against Femicide

From LatinaAmerica Press”
“On April 5, 16-year-old Carmen del Rosario Aguirre and her friend Yesenia Adaly Pérez Arévalo, 17, went to the local market of La Parroquia. Both girls came from the village of Rincón de la Peña, in the municipality of Palencia, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Guatemala City.
Six hours later the two girls […]

Reverse The Curse: Don’t Buy Midol

Don’t you just love it when companies get in touch with their inner misogynist in coming up with ad campaigns. Midol (a product for relieving menstrual cramps) has an ad out that ends with the line,

“Reverse the Curse”

Already plenty of great commentary out there on this one. From See Emily:

“(J)ust what women need: […]