Women Bleed Too--And Newsweek Knows It

Kudos to Newsweek for not only tackling one of the many hidden results of this War of Terror--our tens of thousands of wounded Vets--but for also putting a wounded female soldier on their cover. If you read the whole article, you get a better sense of what this war is going to mean for us here at home for a generation or more; plus, it leaves you with the bitter taste of outrage at how poorly we're treating folks who put their lives on the line to defend the freedoms we're all so used to taking advantage of. Despicable. Really.

To Do: Stop Rape Now

My neighbor, who works with UNIFEM, let me know about an event taking place this coming Monday, March 5, at the UN. The panel, entitled "Stop Rape Now" will take up the issue of what the UN can do "to intensify its efforts to end sexual violence in conflict." Panelists will include: Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court; General Daniel Opande, UN Force Commander, Liberia and Sierra Leone; Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues; Sapana Pradhan Malla, Director, Forum from Women, Law and Development; and will be moderated by CNN anchor Isha Sesay.

The event is scheduled to take place in Conference Room 4 of the General Assembly Building at UN Headquarters in NY, and will run from 1:15 to 2:45 pm. Guests who do not have a UN pass must pre-register for the event by emailing: gaella.mortel@unifem.org.

Take the time to lend the folks at UNIFEM your support on this important issue.

Oprah Winfrey is Rad (Seriously)

Last night after getting our Heroes fix, Jessica and I watched Oprah's prime-time special on the founding of her new Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Call me predictable ('cause I am), but I was utterly and profoundly moved by what Oprah has done in giving these girls nothing short of the education they truly deserve. The lives of each of the girls she selected to attend the Academy is a lesson to each of us about all that we take for granted, and Oprah's generosity in providing for the well-being of their bodies, minds and souls is, simply put, awe inspiring. To be able to change lives on such a grand level is clearly rewarding for Oprah, but I imagine that the bigger reward--for her and for humanity--will be seeing how many other people of privilege (which means most of us in the Western world) will be moved to be generous as well, thanks to her own good deeds.

So Oprah is my hero for today. Anybody who chooses to do, and inspire, that much good, definitely deserves our applause. The special will be airing again this Saturday, March 3rd at 8pm EST--check it out, and keep your Kleenex close at hand.

"When women speak more than 30% of the time, men perceive them as dominating the conversation."

That's an old truism from writer Ursula K. Le Guin, and it still holds its water today, irritatingly enough. On the CBC News site, Heather Mallick writes of her frustration with Harper's Magazine, which still seems to be publishing entire issues with nary a byline from a woman in sight. It's infuriating, and it simply is not enough for these male publishers to keep claiming that they are just publishing the "best" writing--irrespective of gender (or race or class). We ought to be holding them to a higher standard, given that we (women) make up MORE THAN 50% of the total US population. By what measure does that make us a minority, a pocket of the population these guys can continue to ignore? The Women's Media Center has been working on this issue for over a year, alongside operations like SheSource and WIMN. It'll be great to finally see them get some traction, but in the meantime I think it is up to us, as individuals, to do what Mallick did and start writing letters demanding we see more women in print (and on air). Like my mother said this weekend: The media belongs to us.

Weekend Round-up

Does anyone else have the same Academy Awards hangover I do? So much hype, and now it's all over. Which is good, I guess, because that means we can get back to thinking about topics other than Tinseltown.

My picks for great reading from the past weekend:

Do the Lives of Mothers Matter?: While here in the US we're taking ever greater measures to ensure the quality of maternal health, around the world, pregnant women continue to die by the millions. Go to the Times' front page to watch a 3 minute video about the plight of pregnant women in East Africa, or, if you have a Times Select membership, read the full article.

Feminist Votes = Hillary Votes??: On AlterNet, an interesting meditation from a young woman who ponders whether her feminist beliefs oblige her to vote for Hillary. It's a question a lot of women are asking.

Women Take It to the Turf: Almost 2 years ago now, I spent a Saturday afternoon at a women's professional football game. It was dope, and the tailgating beforehand wasn't bad either. Now, MSNBC's picked up on the fact that there's a women's league out there worth paying attention to. Plus, Ickey Woods (remember the Ickey Shuffle?) is coaching in Cincinnati! It's an older story, but still relevant.

Must Writers Be Good?

At writing, yes--but this article by Tania Kindersley of The Guardian asks us to think again about why we insist these days that authors be morally "good" as well. I'm not sure that I entirely agree we do, but still worth the read, especially for the readers' comments/dialog at the end.

"The thing is, you can embarrass somebody to death."

It was never my intention in starting this blog to spend much, if any, time giving further attention to the overhyped actions of the celebrity caste. And I can pretty much promise you that the occasions will be rare that I focus my lens on the comings and goings of people whose contributions to building a better society are minimal at best (for that, there is Gawker). But Rebecca Traister's article in Salon today about the tragedy that has become Britney Spears' life, touched a nerve with me--mostly because it asks us to stop and consider our own (lack of) humanity in reveling at this girl's mishaps.

For the record, I am 100% tired of the sideshow Spears inspires, but I am twice as tired at having to listen to the blame adult people seem to lump on this relative child for the dissolution of her sanity--a dissolution, once could argue, we are all complicit in by way of our support of the celebrity magazines that hound her day and night. Yes, I've bought People Magazine, too, and those other ones on occasion... but as priggish as it sounds, I've really tried to curb my fiduciary support of those publications because I do believe that buying them destroys lives.

In any case, Traister's article is worth the read; plus, it's nice to see public figures like Craig Ferguson take a stand on the issue.