North America

Some People are Just Better at Sexism Than Others.  [United States] And now let us pause to celebrate Aug. 26, the anniversary of women's suffrage in the United States.  It's been 85 years since Harry Burn, a young Tennessee legislator, followed the advice of his mom and cast the deciding vote ratifying the 19th Amendment.  We honor Harry, his mom and generations of suffragists.  We also remember the hostile foes who chased Harry onto the third-floor ledge of the state capitol after his vote.  Since 1920, we've not only had progress, we've had generations of adversaries trying to force women's rights out the window.  In this spirit, our one-woman committee met again this year to dispense prizes to those who labored mightily throughout the past year to set back the cause of women.  Without further ado, we present the Equal Rites Awards.
Roberts' Court Will Show Women Who's Boss.  [United States] Roberts puts advances in gender discrimination and other civil rights protections--such as equal pay, contraceptive equity and women's athletic liberation under Title IX--in doubt.  He makes hard-fought laws that reflect true family values--such as family and medical leave--seem tenuous.  He imperils Roe v. Wade and with it the amazing notion that the Constitution safeguards women's right to make their own childbearing decisions without government interference.
Bush Reported Near to Nominating Judge.  [United States] President Bush is close to naming a successor to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and could announce his choice this week, Republicans close to the White House said.  One name that was the source of enormous speculation in Washington legal and political circles was Harriet E. Miers, the White House counsel, who is a leader in the search for Justice O'Connor's successor.  Ms. Miers, 60, was the first woman to become a partner at a major Texas law firm and the first woman to be president of the State Bar of Texas.  At one point, Ms. Miers was Mr. Bush's personal lawyer.  In 1995, Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, named her chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission and gave her the task of cleaning up that scandal-plagued agency.  Ms. Miers has never been a judge, although that is not a requirement for a Supreme Court justice.
Missouri Leaders Wrestle With Abortion-Rights Issues.  [United States] Missouri Right to Life supports the pro-life issues that are being addressed in the current special session of the Missouri Legislature.  Among the reasons the governor called the special session are three pro-life issues that have the potential to protect women, protect parental rights and save many lives.
Judge Orders 17-Year-Old Girl Not To Have Sex.  [United States] No sex.  That's part of a sentence imposed on a 17-old-girl by Texas state district judge Lauri Blake.  She's ordered the young drug offender not have sex as long as she is living with her parents and attending school, as a condition of her probation.  It is one of several unorthodox rulings Judge Blake has imposed since she was elected 10 months ago in the district court that covers Fannin and Grayson counties [Texas].
Bush's Lowered Bars.  [United States] ...if there ever was an exhibit of the misguided conviction that for some people very little is good enough, it's the current administration spin that the proposed Iraqi constitution is fine because the American founding fathers didn't give women equal rights either.  Since his failure to notice the Katrina disaster, Bush has stopped bragging that he doesn't read or watch the news.  If he's paying attention now, he should get a message from the outrage over Katrina and shrinking support for his policies in Iraq:  The American public has much higher expectations than he does for the president and his government.  In Iraq, the elimination of expectations is on display in the disastrous political process.  Among other things, the constitution drafted under American supervision does not provide for the rights of women and minorities and enshrines one religion as the fundamental source of law.  Administration officials excuse this poor excuse for a constitution by saying it also refers to democratic values.  But it makes them secondary to Islamic law and never actually defines them.  It's true that the U.S. Constitution once allowed slavery, denied women the right to vote and granted property rights only to white men.  But it's offensive for the administration to use that as an excuse for the failings of the Iraqi Constitution.  The bar on democracy has been raised since 1787.  We don't agree that the 218-year-old standard is good enough for Iraq.
In the Struggle Over The Iraq War, Women Are On The Front Line.  [United States] As President Bush traveled around the country last week, he got caught up in a battle of women.  Women - mothers and widows of men killed in Iraq - were the most vocal leaders of antiwar protests in Texas, Idaho and Utah that dogged Mr. Bush all week.  Another woman, Tammy Pruett, whose husband and five sons have served in Iraq, was showcased by the White House as a pro-war counterpoint.  The tableau was a striking change from the 1960's protests against the Vietnam War, when the demonstrations were largely led by young men, who were subject to the draft.   Although mothers protested that war too, they were not in the forefront of the movement.  What happened in 40 years?  How has that changed how the White House responds?  In interviews last week, some of the female protesters suggested that decades of feminism had pushed them more easily into leadership and public speaking roles in the antiwar vigils inspired by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a slain soldier, who is demanding to meet with Mr. Bush in a protest outside his ranch.  But they also viewed the war through the traditional prism of mothers and wives, and said that women felt the pain of loss more intensely than men.
Consider Women's Needs in New Orleans Rescue Efforts.  [United States] All at AWID extend deepest sympathies to those affected by Hurricane Katrina in the southern United States.  While we are behind those involved in the relief effort, we are deeply concerned that women's particular needs are neither being taken into account, nor are they receiving useful representation in the media or on the web.  We hear that police in New Orleans are ordering women off the street in case they are raped, murdered or both.  In the Superdome, intended as a refuge from the storm for those who were unable to leave the city, there were many reports of women falling prey to rapists.  Women were not even safe to visit the toilets unless escorted by men.  In some parishes, people are being allowed to return to their ruined homes for a few days to collect any salvageable possessions.  Women have been told not to attempt this unless accompanied by men.
Studying the Choice to Have a Mastectomy.  [United States} Although surgeons have been accused of resorting to mastectomies too often, a new study suggests that women themselves often prefer the more radical operation to the breast-conserving lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment.  The results of the survey appear in the Aug. 20 issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology.  The researchers interviewed 1,844 women with invasive and noninvasive breast cancers, asking them how they decided which procedure to have. Forty-one percent said they made the decision themselves, 37.1 percent said the decision was shared and 21.9 percent said the surgeon had made the decision alone.  But only 5.3 percent of the women who reported that their surgeons had made the decision received a mastectomy while 27 percent of the women who made their own decisions had a breast removed.
Some Notes on Reality.  [United States] It's not that female supermodels are not real.  They are flesh - a little flesh - and blood like anyone else.  But the phrase "real women" automatically excludes them, if "real" means something like well within the range of normal body types.   The new ad campaign from Dove featuring amateur models, with amateur bodies, in their underwear has turned the reality of real women into at least a temporary advertising asset.  These women - brightly lit, smiling broadly and unmodishly from the sides of buses - are not likely to put the tall, thin tribe of beauties out of work anytime soon.  But they give heart to real women everywhere. A nd they remind us how strange the human species looks through the lens of advertising.
Gap Targets a New Audience: Its Old Customers.  [United States] For the millions of American women over 35 who face the conundrum each morning of a closet full of clothes but nothing to wear, there is little solace to be found at the vast Palisades Center mall here.  With nearly 300 stores but more than half of them aimed at teenagers, this temple of consumerism in Rockland County, north of New York City, is full of clothes, but many women of a certain age find little to buy.  "These stores are for skinny little girls," said Irene Giachetti of New City, New York, as she was tugged at by her teenage son on a back-to-school shopping mission.  "It's very difficult to find anything for me."

With the Return of Womanliness, Fashion Begins to Grow Up.  [United States] In the battle between girlie and womanly, adult elegance seems finally to be winning.  It is a long time since the lost days of innocence, when "coming out" referred to a girl breaking bud into a woman.  Then came the youth quake and womanliness went out of fashion.  But after a lingering period of girlishness as a mantra, fashion is starting to grow up.
Older Women, Younger Men.  [United States] Always a pairing ripe for fiction -- the films "Harold and Maude," "The Graduate," "Something's Gotta Give" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" are examples -- the allure of the older woman is also a Hollywood reality.  "The younger man is attracted to an older woman most likely because of her poise, her social graces, her contacts.  She has a polish he hasn't yet acquired," Dr. Joyce Brothers says of the younger man-older woman dynamic.  "She, on the other hand, could be attracted to his promise in their mutual endeavor -- in this case Hollywood.  Or his exuberance, his fresh way of looking at the world," Brothers told The Associated Press.
Candace Bushnell Explores 'Lipstick Jungle'.  [United States] In her new novel, the "Sex and the City" author presents the swanky, jet-setting lives of three super-successful forty-something New York women at the white-hot peak of their careers.  "Women with money and women in power are two uncomfortable ideas in our society," Bushnell says.
Turtle-Protection Ad Lays Egg with Feminists.  [Mexico] Women in scanty dress are used to sell everything from cars to cigars in Mexico, but the efforts of env ironmentalists to harness one model's sex appeal to stop men from eating turtle eggs as an aphrodisiac has created a stir here.  The advertising campaign features an Argentine model in a swimsuit, giving the camera her loveliest come-hither look.  Next to her are the words "My man doesn't need turtle eggs."  The caption below reads, "Because he knows they don't make him more potent."

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