O'Connor: I'm Not a 'Feminist'

That's 'no impingement on personal rights,' ruling determines

(NEWSER) - German bosses can order female workers to wear bras, and even dictate the length of their fingernails, a court has ruled. "Being told to wear a bra and to keep fingernails to shorter than half a centimeter does not impinge on personal rights," ruled the Cologne court. Bosses also have the right to demand that male workers' beards be neatly trimmed—but can't ban certain hair colors or shades of fingernail polish for any employee, notes the Daily Mail . The ruling was the result of a lawsuit by workers challenging demands of an airport security company, but the decision will affect all workplaces, said legal experts. More»

So much for girl power, writes Ruth Marcus

(NEWSER) - Just when Ruth Marcus was feeling good about the women in the 2010 race, Carly Fiorina had to make that catty comment about Barbara Boxer’s hair. Fiorina tried to laugh it off—“It sort of goes with the territory,” she told Greta Van Susteren. “No no no no no!” writes Marcus in the Washington Post . Attacking your opponent’s appearance never “goes with the territory,” no matter your gender. More»

Obama poised to change high court's gender balance

(NEWSER) - The prospect of nominating another woman to the Supreme Court appeals to President Obama and may strongly influence his choice of the successor to John Paul Stevens. With the Court's imminent retirees made of up mostly of liberals, Obama will probably only preserve the court's ideological status quo. What he can change, however, is its gender balance, Daniel Klaidman writes for Newsweek . More»

Believe it or not, baby boys used to wear pink, too

(NEWSER) - If ever there was a color that stereotypically symbolized the feminine, it’s pink. But the history of the girly shade hasn’t always been so ladylike. Slate takes a look back:

• Financial Times: Its salmon-pink pages have turned “salmon press” into British shorthand for any newspaper business section.
• Boys' rowing: Teams at Eton and Westminster competed for the right to claim pink as their school color in the 19th century.
• Nantucket Red: The shade, which looks a lot like pink, became popular for preppy men and women in 1945.

John O'Connor, 79, suffered Alzheimer's complications

(AP) - John J. O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, died today at age 79 due to complications arising from Alzheimer's disease. John O'Connor, himself a lawyer, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's nearly two decades ago. His condition deteriorated markedly in mid-decade and when she announced her retirement in 2005, the justice cited the need to care for her husband. More»