OPINION
Obama must overcome the stereotypes that come with his heritage, and success
Boston Globe Sep 29, 08 3:40 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama’s revolutionary candidacy is in trouble, and the very things that make him a breath of fresh air are to blame, James Carroll writes in the Boston Globe . “Race, gender, and class define American identity, but Obama, just by being who he is, directly challenges the core assumptions that undergird each,” Carroll writes. And that makes voters, and supporters, nervous.
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Male-dominated outpost needs women with, uh, a pulse
Townsville Bulletin Aug 18, 08 9:03 AM CDT
(Newser)
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An Australian mayor thinks he has a solution for the crisis facing his town: More ugly girls. Men outnumber women 5-to-1 in Mount Isa, so John Molony is begging women, particularly desperate ones, to migrate there. “Often those who are beauty-disadvantaged are uphappy with their lot,” he said. “Some… need to proceed to Mount Isa where happiness awaits.”
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Boys seeking sex changes will now have to wait untl they're 18
Bloomberg Aug 5, 08 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Until recently in Thailand, boys who wanted to change gender could have their testicles removed for just $150, no questions asked. But as Bloomberg reports, a new law pushed by gay rights activists will force Thais to wait until they turn 18 before undergoing a sex-change operation. Many doctors, though, are opposed to the legislation, insisting that castration qualifies as essential surgery.
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Gender-equality law looks beyond sports
New York Times Jul 15, 08 8:59 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Title IX, the federal mandate that requires gender equality in education funding, has been applied mostly to sports teams, but recently a new push has begun to apply it to university science departments. Decrying a dearth of women in physics and engineering programs, some women's groups and members of Congress have called for compliance reviews. But reviews haven't yet turned up hard evidence of discrimination, the New York Times reports.
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Spy agency wants women, Asians, Arabs, to help fight terrorism
Associated Press Jul 13, 08 4:32 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Next year's 007's may look more like Charlie's Angels than James Bond, as MI6 seeks to recruit more women and minority agents, the AP reports. The drive, which has netted 20,000 résumés over the past 12 months, welcomes Asian and Middle Eastern language speakers, the disabled, and women—and guarantees that female agents won't be used as "honey pots."
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Girl born naturally, not via C-section, for transgendered Oregon resident
ABC News Jul 3, 08 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser)
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"Pregnant man" Thomas Beatie has given birth to a baby girl, ABC News reports. The 34-year-old transgender male gave birth at a hospital in Bend, Ore., sources said. The birth was natural, not by caesarean section as some reports have claimed. "She's really cute, really pretty,'' one source said of the child. Beatie, born a woman, had his breasts removed and legally changed his gender but kept his sex organs.
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But site remains sensitive to those who find gender limiting
CNET Jun 27, 08 3:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Facebook announced a seemingly minor change today: Users will soon be prompted to specify a gender for their “mini-feed” updates. The site has been using the awkward “themself” to avoid gender specificity, but Facebook managers say that doesn’t work so well when the site is translated into languages that ingrain gender into grammar, CNET eports.
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Opinion
Candidate should do for gender what he
did for race
New York Times Jun 12, 08 8:27 AM CDT
(Newser)
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It’s a shame that Hillary Clinton never gave a speech about gender to match Barack Obama’s speech about race, writes Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. So why not make that speech yourself, Barack? Kristof even has the talking points for you: Racism is deeper, but sexism may be wider. More Americans say they’d vote for a black man than a woman. Biases are stealthy. Americans don’t mean to discriminate based on gender; but the subconscious harbors stereotypes.
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Some see gender roles smashed, others see them enforced, by Hillary's run
New York Times May 19, 08 10:43 AM CDT
(Newser)
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While some observers look at the waning Hillary Clinton campaign and see a milestone in the march of gender equality—“a historic if incomplete triumph”—others, especially Clinton’s female supporters, see “a depressing reminder” of lingering sexism. The New York Times examines the mixed legacy of the first viable presidential run by a woman.
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Lyrics' 'men' and 'sons' are out of date, chief argues
Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY) May 16, 08 10:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The head of West Point is calling for changes to the military academy's two most beloved songs to represent thousands of female graduates, the Times Herald-Record reports. References to "men" and "sons" in the Alma Mater and the 1902 hymn The Corps should be switched to something more gender-neutral, Lt. Gen. Buster Hagenbeck told a congressional committee.
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Voices found
to be most alluring
during ovulation
BBC May 2, 08 1:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barflies take note: A woman's voice is sexiest when she's most fertile, a new study says. Scientists recorded women counting from 1 to 10 and found that their voices were rated most attractive when they were closest to ovulation, the BBC reports. What gives? Researchers aren't sure, but they speculate that hormones may affect the voice box.
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Gender influenced by diet, researchers find
Guardian (UK) Apr 23, 08 7:27 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Women who want to conceive boys should eat potassium-rich bananas as part of a high calorie, high protein diet, according to the latest British research into influencing gender at conception. Scientists found that 56% of mothers on a high calorie diet conceived boys, compared with 45% of those on a low calorie diet, reports the Guardian .
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Hot 'accessories' earn their pay with flattery, companionship
CNN Apr 7, 08 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A new breed of companion is the rage in Japan, entertaining women with lavish compliments, conversation and undivided attention—the male geisha. Businesswomen pay upwards of $1,000 a night for these men, CNN reports—with, industry reps say, nothing physical being exchanged. Hundreds of such services have sprouted across the country, driven in part by the increased spending power of Japanese women.
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Many women in denial about husband's adultery, author says
New York Times Mar 16, 08 4:12 PM CDT
(Newser)
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He may have strayed, but prostitutes? No way, say Manhattan wives who reflected on the Eliot Spitzer scandal this week with the New York Times . But "there is a trememdous tendency toward denial" among unsuspecting women, said Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake . “I’ve heard thousands of stories from women who got blindsided by a version of this."
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